Academic) Security threats to cyber-physical systems are targeting institutions and infrastructure around the world, and the frequency and severity of attacks are on the rise. Healthcare manufacturing, financial services, education, government, and transportation are among the industries that are the most lucrative targets for adversaries. Hacking is not just about companies, organizations, or banks; it also includes critical infrastructure. Wireless Sensors Networks, Vehicle-to-everything communication (V2X), Dynamic Message Signs (DMS), and Traffic Signal Controllers are among major Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) infrastructure that has already been attacked or remain vulnerable to hacking. ITS has been deployed with a focus on increasing efficiency and safety in the face of dramatic increases in travel demand. Although many studies have been performed and many security primitives have been proposed, there are significant concerns about flawless performance in a dynamic environment. A holistic security approach, in which all infrastructure performs within the satisfactory level of security remains undiscovered. Previously, hacking of road infrastructure was a rare event, however, in recent years, field devices such as DMS are hacked with higher frequency. The primary reason that transportation assets are vulnerable to cyber-attacks is due to their location. A more dramatic scenario occurs when hackers attempt to convey tampered instructions to the public. Analyzing traveler behavior in response to the hacked messages sign on the basis of empirical data is a vital step toward operating a secure and reliable transportation system. There may be room for improvement by policymakers and program managers when considering critical infrastructure vulnerabilities. With cybersecurity issues escalating every day, road users' safety has been neglected. This dissertation overcomes these challenges and contributes to the nascent but growing literature of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) security impact-oriented risk assessment in threefold. • First, I employ a risk-based approach to conduct a threat assessment. This threat assessment performs a qualitative vulnerability-oriented threat analysis. The objective is to scrutinize safety, security, reliability, and operation issues that are prompted by a compromised Dynamic Message Signs (DMS). • Second, I examine the impact of drivers' attitudes and behaviors on compliance, route diversion behavior, and speed change behavior, under a compromised DMS. We aim to assess the determinants that are likely to contribute to drivers' compliance with forged information. To this extent, this dissertation evaluates drivers' behavior under different unauthentic messages to assess in-depth the impact of an adversarial attack on the transportation network. • Third, I evaluate distracted driving under different scenarios to assess the in-depth impact of an adversarial attack on the transportation network. To this extent, this dissertation examines factors that are contributing to the manual, visual, and


Abstract In a sequence of fine‐grained, thinly bedded flysch of Lower Emsian (Lower Devonian) age, a sharpstone conglomerate, thought to be a proximal turbidite, is lithologically out of character and shows a different provenance. The rudite remained plastic after deposition, and penecontemporaneous forces caused it to intrude the overlying shaley flysch. The intrusion is partly concordant and partly discordant. Its mode of emplacement is interpreted from study of its primary and secondary structures and its lithology.


Abstract : A laboratory investigation to determine the effects of moisture on charcoal filters has been conducted. The results indicate that moisture has no significant adverse effects on the capability of charcoal to filter organic chemicals such as chemical warfare (CW) agent simulants. (Author)


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the degree of consumer interest in an eco‐labeling program for the Ontario wine industry and determine whether there is a willingness‐to‐pay a premium for eco‐labeled Ontario wines.Design/methodology/approach – The study was a quantitative survey of 401 wine consumers in Ontario, collected at Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) retail stores and winery retail stores. Results were analyzed using quantitative non‐parametric statistical analyses.Findings – It was revealed that while most Ontario wine consumers do not presently purchase eco‐labeled wine regularly, the majority (90 per cent) are at least somewhat interested in purchasing eco‐labeled wine and that the majority would be willing to pay a premium of $0.51 or more (65 per cent). Consumers also indicated a preference for a seal of approval style label with multiple levels that contained a website from which they could obtain detailed information on certification.Practical implications – These resu...


This study reports about experiments performed at a generic lab-scale combustor under well-defined boundary conditions contributing to the today's knowledge base of the spray ignition process. The combustor consists of a flow channel and a vibrating orifice monodisperse droplet injector generating five co-planar monodisperse fuel droplet streams. The fuel sprays were ignited with focused laser radiation to provide well-defined ignition conditions. The development of the laser-induced plasma, the subsequent flame kernel formation and the growth and propagation of the initial flame were investigated for different fuels and combustor operating conditions. High-speed imaging, planar laser induced fluorescence, particle image velocimetry and optical spectroscopy techniques were applied to provide a comprehensive data set for the development and validation of numerical models of the flame initiation process.


This paper discusses a vehicle speed measurement and display/recording system using Magnetostrictive amorphous wire as speed sensor. The system basically consists of two parts namely vehicle speed sensor based on amorphous wire and recording/display system based on Atmega 32 microcontroller. The Magnetostrictive Amorphous Wire (MAW) sensor operation is based on Large Barkhausen Jump, a unique feature of the wire. Voltage pulses from the sensor, which correlate well to the vehicle speed are fed to a microcontroller for measurement of frequency. Vehicle speed is calculated from this frequency and displayed via LCD. The data (speed) is stored in a memory for future retrieval. From the tests performed, it is observed that the pulse frequency measured by the sensor can be used to compute the vehicle speed giving results that compare well with the speedometer readings. In addition it is shown that the MAW sensor has several advantages compared to conventional vehicle speed measurement methods.


. We report the results of a re-analysis of KPNO-IRS spectroscopy of 30 locations in the prototypical WR shell nebula NGC 6888 (WN6 central star). The spectra covered a 3500-7200 A wavelength range with R ~ 360 effective spectral resolution. Electron temperatures for a majority of the locations were derived from the [N II] AA(6548+6583)/5755 and the [0 III] AA(4959+5007)/4363 emission line ratios. Te([N lID ~ 8000 ± 2400K for eleven locations in the north and west parts of the shell and Te([N lID ~ 13000 ± 4000 K for five locations in the southwest part. By contrast, the [0 III] temperatures show great variation with location, ranging from 12000 K to 55000 K, with the highest value being that for an [0 III] filament located to the north and outside of the ensemble of knots defining the northern extent of the mass loaded ejecta from the star. Using a combination of spectral 'arithmetic', shock- and photoionization models, we demonstrate that NGC 6888 is permeated by a strong hot wind-shocked gaseous medium (which extends outside the mass-loaded ejected material in the north and west) that contaminates the spectrum of any given location and must be removed to determine realistic Ts, Ns, and abundances for the ejected material in the observed knots. For some knots, the effects are such that the abundances obtained via naive empirical methods were found to be several times too small (particularly for O/H) than in reality. We present a few illus-trative examples and discuss the implications the results have on abundances previously derived for NGC 6888, but more importantly, what these results im-ply about the origin of temperature fluctuations in other types of nebulae which may be influenced by stellar winds (i. e., planetary nebulae and H II regions).


Plants are being explored as a major source of medicinal compounds. The present study was intended to explore the efficacy of dietary doses of Psidium guajava leaf extracts mixed with Maize bran (control) on growth performance, immunological parameters and disease resistance against Pseudomonas fluorescens infection in mono-sex Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Fishes (average weight 16.5±1.5) were fed five different doses of herbal diets for four weeks which prepared with 0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% of P. guajava leaf extracts where maize bran used as control (0%). Growth performance and immunological parameters including bacterial activity and phagocyt activity were investigated. Among those doses 8% showed highest significant responses in phagocytic activity, specific growth rate, specific and non-specific immune responses on week 2 and 4 compared to control diet whereas the changes did not manifest on first week. Further the P. guajava leaf extracts enriched diet at 8% level resulted in lowest mortality (20%) indicating highest protection (Relative Percent Survival 76.5%) from P. fluorescens infection than 2%, 4% and 6% doses diets that resulted 60%, 45% and 25% mortalities respectively. Eight percent (8%) dose also showed highest growth (36g) compare to other doses. The results are suggested that the dietary supplementation of P. guajava leaf extracts act as immunostimulants, reduce mortality and disease resistance in O. niloticus against P. fluorescens.


The article is devoted to the research of the criminal legislation governing the peculiarities of bringing to criminal responsibility for the illegal circulation of amber, jade, other semi-precious stones, precious metals, precious stones, pearls, and law enforcement practice in this area.


This work presents a pilot study related to teachers' conceptions about innovative learning environments. The research methodology used was an exploratory case study with seven teachers that attended the course Innovative Learning Environments of an academic Master's degree. The data presented in this study were collected throughout the course and consisted of students' outcomes and a focus group interview. Participants had no initial experience with the subject, but data analysis revealed the alignment of teachers' conceptions with the characteristics and learning principles of innovative learning environments explored along the course, namely: the change in the role of teacher and student; the use of multiple technological resources; interdisciplinary learning activities; increase in students' motivation and autonomy.


In Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) vehicle detection from the road image is very important for drivers and pedestrians awareness. Detection of vehicles from the road area is important to prevent the accident or collisions. This paper proposes a method for improving traffic control and management system for different condition of roads. Four basic steps based on appearance are presented in our proposed method. Initially, to segment the object, we use pitch color from the road image. In the next step, labeling and filtering is applied on foreground objects for getting the region of interest (ROI). Then, for extracting features we use Haar-like feature on ROI. Finally, test images are classified by support vector machine (SVM) classifier for recognizing the vehicle, which provides high accuracy with a very fast and reliable detection rate. Various road images were used with a variety of conditions to test proposed method and results are presented to prove it effectiveness. Moreover, it will satisfy the needs of ITS.


in sheep. The drUgs caused both pressure and lymph flow to fall. The relationship between pres- sure and lymph flow is steep (from Foy, Marion and Brigham,47 reproduced by permission of Journal of Ap- plied Physiology).


Primordial magnetic fields are generated during inflation by considering actions that break the conformal invariance of the electromagnetic field. To break the conformal invariance, the electromagnetic fields are coupled either to the inflaton or to the scalar curvature. Also, a parity violating term is often added to the action in order to enhance the amplitudes of the primordial electromagnetic fields. In this work, we examine the effects of deviations from slow roll inflation on the spectra of non-helical as well as helical electromagnetic fields. We find that, in the case of the coupling to the scalar curvature, there arise certain challenges in generating electromagnetic fields of the desired shapes and strengths even in slow roll inflation. When the field is coupled to the inflaton, it is possible to construct model-dependent coupling functions which lead to nearly scale invariant magnetic fields in slow roll inflation. However, we show that sharp features in the scalar power spectrum generated due to departures from slow roll inflation inevitably lead to strong features in the power spectra of the electromagnetic fields. Moreover, we find that such effects can also considerably suppress the strengths of the generated electromagnetic fields over the scales of cosmological interest. We illustrate these aspects with the aid of specific inflationary models that have been considered to produce specific features in the scalar power spectrum. Further, we find that, in such situations, if the strong features in the electromagnetic power spectra are to be undone, the choice of the coupling function requires considerable fine tuning. We discuss wider implications of the results we obtain.


In the present market for manufacturing of high performance structural parts for various applications such as aerospace, transportation, infrastructure, marine, sports and recreation, low weight, h ...


Objective: To associate or compare the goodness of fit of Principal Component Regression (PCR) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) models using metrics such as RMSEP, MSEP and R2. Methods and Statistical Analysis: Regression analysis is used in the study that involves investigation of correlation among an independent and dependent variables. Analysis is made simple when researchers understand and use the preeminent suitable method based on type of dependent variables, independent variables and dimensionality of data. Cross-validation method is used in both predictive models (PCR and PLS). Dataset and Findings: This study presents the comparative analysis on PCR and PLS by applying these methods on a public dataset named octane dataset, where the spectral data of gasolines with 401 attributes are provided. This study concludes that partial least squares regression model yields better prediction results than Principal Component Regression model since PLS accurately select the principal component. Also the number of principal components identified by the PLS is comparatively less. An analysis on preprocessing is also performed with same regression methods and dataset in this paper. Improvements: In this analysis the importance of removing Region of no interest is focused. If Region of No Interest is removed then number of principal component is also reduced which in turn increase the prediction accuracy. The study reveals the number of principal components is high if Region of No Interest is not used, which decreases the prediction accuracy.


Synopsis A study is reported of the energy dissipated in damage and in damping when cement paste prisms are loaded in uniaxial compression. Damage, characterized both by change in initial elastic modulus during sequential loading-unloading cycles and by the energy dissipated in damage, is detected at axial strains as low as 500 to 600 × 10−6 As the axial strain increases, the initial elastic modulus falls and the energy dissipated in damage gradually increases. Volumetric strain measurements indicate that the mechanism of fracture in cement paste in uniaxial compression is basically the same as in concrete: the formation of cracks introduces a dilating effect in opposition to the normal reduction in volume of the specimen under load. Whereas energy is only dissipated in damage during the first loading over a given strain range, it can be repeatedly dissipated by the damping process. The experimental data on cement pastes indicate that the energy dissipated in damping depends uniquely upon the strain range...


Abstract : This book, on the basis of materials published in the domestic and foreign press, presents the thermogasodynamics principles of the design of engines, the engineering methods of calculating heat exchange processes, the principles of solid propellant combustion, and the calculation of the indicator curve of pressure in the engine combustion chamber. The book gives basic information on solid propellants used in solid rocket engines. Thrust regulation in solid rocket engines and the ballistic principles of solid rocket engines are examined. The book is intended for students in higher technical education institutes and for engineers-technicians specializing in solid fuel rocket engines. (Author)


In order to produce new-type compound medical talents,our hospital has constructed a model of "four-combination and one-penetration" concerning clinical practice teaching and specialized practice under the background of construction of clinical practice teaching curriculum and reform of teaching mode.


This research was aimed to study of effects of anorganic.fertilizer to seed bulb quality of shallots at coastal sandy land. The research was conducted with completelly block randomized design, which consists of two factors. The first factor was Urea+ZA level : 1/3, 2/3 and 1 dosages. The seconds factor was phosphor+potassium level : 1/3, 2/3 and 1 dosages. The fertiltzer recomendation were Urea of 150 kg.ha-1, ZA of 250 kg.ha-1, TSP and KCL of 15A kg.ha-1. To control was used land no fertilizer. The observation of parameters were bulb diameter, bulb hight, bulb color, bulb particle weight, solubility, total, content of N, P and K. The data were analysis by variances and orthogonal contras 5%. The results showed the usage anorganic fertilizer at coastal sandy land increased seed bulb quality of shallots. The increasing Urea+ZA and phospor+potassium level did not significant on seed bulb quaiity of shallot. Keywords : shallot, fertilizer, seed quality, seed.


Prostate tissue microenvironment is susceptible to several risk factors including carcinogens, dietary factors, hormones, cytokines and growth factors that could induce chronic inflammation. Because of the difference in the serum levels and the intrinsic ability of monocytes/macrophages to cause harm, the transcriptional responses triggered by inflammatory stimuli must be controlled. Unfortunately, an in‐depth association between prostate cancer and potential mediators of inflammation has not been completely investigated.


In vitro growth inhibitory effects of ethanol extract of mace which will be used as a spice for the meat products and eugenol, one of the principal constituents of the essential oils of clove were tested using 6 laboratories stock strains isolated from Vienna sausages. Consequently, it was found that the presence of these substances in the culture media inhibited the growth of most of the organisms tested. Vienna sausages immersed in the solution containing 2% of eugenol and 50% of ethanol for 10sec. prolonged their preservation period by 12 days at 10°C storage, when compared with that of the non-treated specimens.


cause of disease and disability. It is hypothesized that intervention to slow the biological process of aging can simultaneously prevent/delay many different chronic diseases, extending healthspan. To develop such interventions methods are needed to quantify the biological process of aging in humans. The symposium participants use several promising approaches to quantify biological aging, including genetic, genomic, and physiologic-index-based methods. Key applications of these tools are in identifying novel therapeutic targets to slow aging and extend healthspan, and in measuring effectiveness of such therapies. With the aim of advancing those applications, our symposium focuses on (1) genetic research to identify molecular mechanisms of biological aging; and (2) linkages between biological aging measurements and age-related disease, with an eye toward intervention evaluation. The overarching goal of this year's symposium is to provide an update on several ongoing programs of biological aging research and to position research on biological aging within the broader field of geroscience. We view biological aging research as a bridge connecting clinical and basic-biology investigations of aging mechanisms with demographic/ epidemiologic studies of aging populations. In sum, our symposium will integrate bioinformatic, clinical, and population research on biological aging and report on recent advances in the geroscience research agenda.


Kenya is a land of excesses, contrasts and living forces. Viewed from the air it is a jagged, volcanic Africa where shapes and colours clash violently beneath flashes of lightening; it is also an immense, flat land that the sky seems to reflect out to infinity. Lush and green lands at high altitudes dominate desolate plains. This wild Kenya can be experienced by only a few privileged flyers. Yann Arthus Bertrand's aerial view makes it possible here to observe a medley of landscapes and populations: a herd of elephants or gnus in toy-like detail, a pink swathe of millions of flamingoes or the vibrant patchwork of wares laid out on blankets in a marketplace. We see dense green plantation carved out by meandering rivers, washed by the Indian Ocean in the east and bejewelled by lakes to the west, contrasted by the rich textures of the plateau. We peer over the snowy lip of the volcano Kilimanjaro. Anne Spoerry began flying over Kenya as a bush doctor. Anne Arthus-Bertrand lived in Kenya for three years studying the behaviour of lions in the Masai Mara. Yann Arthus-Bertrand has made photo-reportages devoted to Africa for some 20 books.


Exposure to an aqueous environment will change the physical properties of polymer materials with time. Due to water absorption, surface hardness is reduced and mechanical properties are adversely affected. The composition of polymer dental materials varies greatly. The organic substances are represented by monomers, oligomers, polymers, initiators, activators, inhibitors, anti-oxidants, UV stabilizers, plasticizers, fluorescent compounds, and other additives. The inorganic substances are represented by oxides and glasses (fillers and pigments) of various composition. Both organic and inorganic substances are released into water from composite materials. Combined-HPLC/UVspectroscopy analysis of an aqueous extract from a composite filling material demonstrates that the eluate contains several components. Several inorganic metal-ions released into aqueous solutions have been identified. Only a few of the released organic substances have been identified. Several investigators have determined the quantity of residual monomers in the polymerized materials, and the decrease of such residual monomers with time. Exposure to water, or aqueous salivary enzyme solutions, results in release of degradation products, such as formaldehyde, methacrylic acid, and others.


We report the synthesis of capsule-embedded reduced graphene oxide (rGO) by photocatalytic reduction in the presence of peanut shaped α-Fe2O3 particles under visible light. This process is able to produce highly stabilized water dispersible rGO without the help of a stabilizer, which is suitable to make thin films on a glass substrate by the drop casting method. In addition, the evolution of the morphology with different visible light exposure times ranging from 5 to 120 minutes reveals that the catalyst leads to transformation of a few rGO sheets into capsules via a core–shell structure. These capsules are stable on the rGO sheet at a vacuum of 10−9 Torr, but unstable under vacuum annealing at 400 °C and 10−5 Torr that created impressions on the rGO film. The bandgap of the capsule-embedded rGO decreases non-linearly with the visible light exposure time; from 2.47 eV at 5 min to 1.73 eV at 120 min. The vacuum annealed rGO films on glass substrates show an electrical conductivity of 2000 S m−1 at 300 K and the conduction is dominated by two-dimensional variable range hopping. The formation of capsules is described based on electrostatic interactions in association with the dipole force of the monodispersed peanut shaped α-Fe2O3 particles, whereas, the bandgap opening and high conductivity are attributed to the residual oxygen functional groups such as carbonyl (>CO) and epoxy (C–O–C) on the rGO, in addition to the modulated surface morphology.


TRACER3D, a 3D density dependent solute transport model is used to simulate a tracer test, performed in the Belgian coastal plain. This tracer test was combined with a pumping test. Aim of the research was to derive hydraulic and solute transport parameters and to study possible scale effects of dispersivity.


The cleanser for ferric scale on Ⅰ effect heat exchanger in vacuum salt production was researched.The optimal conditions of ferric scale dissolving were got by scale dissolving and corrosion experiment when weak-acid cleanser was used.Chemical cleaning for Ⅰ effect heat exchanger was carried out.


HE Graduate Fortnight of the New York Acadmey of Medicine presented The Problem of Aging and Old Age in 1928. The proceedings were published in the Bulletin of January 1929. In addition to the 14 papers, seven of which were published in full and the others in abstract, there was an exhibition of 159 items including alchemical citations, books listed by pe-riod, poetry, and illustrations of old age. The subject was shown to be a distinctive field for social and medical attention. Among those present was Dr. Alfred Worcester of Harvard. His 1935 essay on the care of the aging has a 19th century essence with awareness of new needs for the 20th century as it passed its first trimester. Dr. Alfred Worcester's collection of three essays in a little volume, The Care of the Aging, the Dying and the Dead,l rarely is offered for sale. In 1987, when a copy was advertised in the catalogue of a bookseller, its purchase with mailed payment enclosed was requested immediately but lost out to a quicker buyer. studies aging early identification geriatrics.


This article offers an introductory study on Spain's public employment. It begins with a brief explanation of its historical evolution: the birth of a Spanish civil service in the XIXth century influenced by the French career model and the later appearance of a growing number of working contracts under labour law, which was initiated in the 1960s and intensified in the 1980s. This process gave way to a dual regime in Spanish public employment, where civil servants must coexist with labour personnel. This regime has certain constitutional limits: according to the doctrine of the Constitutional Court, labour contracting by the Public Administration must be exceptional and only allowed in cases specifically covered by the law. After going over this constitutional doctrine, the article takes a step further, analyzing the recognition of the dual regime in public employment carried out in the Basic Statute of Public Employees, particularly the current labour relations system in the Public Administration. This system is based on two legal sources: it is mainly regulated by the common labour legislation, but it has certain particularities which are dealt with in the Basic Statute of Public Employees. Following this brief study, the article presents the most relevant particularities of this labour relations system: the limits of collective bargaining, personnel restructuring procedures, the budget limits of wages and the contracting system. The paper closes with a brief explanation of the latest legal reforms in the context of the recession and concludes with a general view of the situation of public employment in Spain today, offering the latest statistical data.


This paper seeks to present the framework of teaching and learning Survey Camp course using project based learning in enhancing engineering professional skills among civil engineering students. This study was conducted at School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The Survey Camp is designed as a package of ten days which consists of surveying activities such as levelling, traversing and detailing, and also introduces the usage of latest technologies of surveying tools in civil engineering projects. Project Based Learning is implemented as teaching and learning approach to enhance students' content knowledge and professional skills development. Online assessments and feedback from students are used as tools to evaluate the outcome of the course. It was found that the learning environment has positively enhanced students' professional skills as needed for engineer of 2020. The impact on teaching and learning will be benefited to student, educator, educational Institution and employee/Industry. Furthermore, it will produce high quality of graduates with the ability to integrate knowledge, skills and attitudes associated with the requirement in preparation as a future engineer. For commercialization prospect, this framework could be packaged and offered to other institutions through licensing, offer courses or workshop on the designing and conducting the survey camp and being as a facilitator


Spectrum sensing is the key constituent in cognitive radio (CR) networks for detecting the primary users. Due to the destructive circumstances of sensing channel such as multipath fading and shadowing, local sensing is not appropriate for the requirements for consistent detection. Consequently, cooperative spectrum sensing is acquainting with to perceive the primary user more precisely. Clustering methodology is considered as an effectual method that is used in cooperative spectrum sensing to confrontation the degradation in the performance of spectrum sensing due to fading and shadowing of reporting channel and also to lessen the control channel overhead when the numeral of cooperative users becomes very large. Nevertheless, most prevailing cluster-based cooperative spectrum sensing methodologies have only been concentrated on sensing performance, whereas the power consumption leftovers rarely deliberate. In this research Exertion, we proposed an intelligent cluster-based cooperative spectrum sensing scheme using Centralized energy based selection scheme and genetic algorithm which can reduce the power consumption and prolong the network's lifetime. Keywords—Cognitive radio; cooperative spectrum sensing; clustering technique; energy efficiency.


According to the Global Consensus Position Statement on the Use of Testosterone Therapy for Women, testosterone can significantly improve desire in menopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder. Based on safety and efficacy of different formulations, the recommended treatment is 1/10th of a man's dose, using a government approved topical testosterone gel or solution, or AndroFeme which is approved for use in menopausal women in Australia. There are, however, a subset of women without significant improvement in desire with this dose who experience improvement using higher doses of testosterone. These women have low or lower tertile dihydrotestosterone blood test values despite their total testosterone being above normal range or even in the upper tertile. The enzyme 5α-reductase converts testosterone to the more active form, dihydrotestosterone, that has a higher affinity for the androgen receptor than testosterone. 5α-reductase activity varies in different individuals. It is postulated that there are menopausal women with HSDD who have reduced 5α- reductase activity and therefore require a higher dose of testosterone from the gel or solution, or need a different testosterone formulation to realize clinical benefit. This subset of women do not appear to experience the usual adverse side effects of elevated testosterone (acne, thinning scalp hair, facial hair, aggressive behavior), in part because of low levels of dihydrotestosterone.

 This study examines the efficacy and safety of higher doses of testosterone using products government approved for men.

 This is a retrospective chart review of menopausal women who were provided menopause management at our clinic focusing on women for whom 1/10th of a man's dose of gel or solution did not provide symptom relief. Options included increasing the dose of gel or solution, or administration of an alternative delivery system of FDA approved (for men) testosterone including insertion of one or two 75 mg testosterone pellets (Testopel) or weekly intramuscular injection of testosterone cypionate (100 mg/ml – 0.1 ml or 10 mg).

 A total of 11 women (mean age 58 +/− 6 years) failed the usual 1/10th dose of topical testosterone gel for treatment of HSDD. Using testosterone pellet therapy, with 1-2 pellets implanted every 4-6 months, 6 patients had excellent desire as well as energy and self-confidence; 4 patients had excellent clinical response to weekly IM testosterone administration; 1 had improved symptoms by increasing the gel to 1 tube/4 days. While these treatments resulted in systemic levels of total testosterone outside the normal range for women (100 – 200 ng/dl), dihydrotestosterone values remained low or in the lower tertile (mean value 36 +/− 8 ng/dl; normal range 30 – 80 ng/dl). In general, side effects to be expected with higher doses of testosterone were not experienced despite elevated testosterone values. No patient complained of side effects consistent with excess testosterone other than mild facial hair.

 In some women with reduced 5α-reductase activity, higher testosterone levels result in improved quality of life without expected negative side effects from higher physiologic levels of testosterone.

 No.


claim to genres like the Western does she betray feminism by adopting male stories and male myths? When a woman makes a Western about a cross-dressing female hero, should we read it as an allegory of the female director in Hollywood? Does female success in the world of popular entertainment mean that a woman's gotta do what a man's gotta do? In the early years of feminist film theory, writers such as Claire Johnston urged feminist film-makers not to abandon the formulas of the entertainment film which have given so much pleasure to women, but rather to work at transforming them. Many feminist critics began to study women's genres like Hollywood maternal melodramas and television soap operas in order to examine how women's fantasies have been shaped and how feminists might begin to reshape them. Although the fantasies of many women have surely been influenced by male genres too, we didn't really think much back then about how women might appropriate these genres. At the time, such an appropriation might have struck many of us as an affirmation of the very values and storytelling traditions we wanted to subvert. In those days female "transvestism"-a term we used figuratively to designate an identification with the opposite sex-was often held to be a sorry condition; in fact it became a major metaphor for the tragic plight of the female spectator, who because she was forced to project herself onto a male hero was thought Been Cowgirls


Foreword, by Mary Deane Sorcinelli. Acknowledgments. About the Authors. Introduction. The People. The Places. The Methods. The Author: "I Had to Get Divorced to Find a Healthy Balance in My Life". Organization of the Book. 1. Early Career: "It Is Tenure or It Is Nothing". The Curse of Ill-Defined Expectations: "It's a Moving Target". Parents on the Tenure-Track: "I Always Feel Like My Attention Is Divided". Single Women0. The Two-Body Problem: "People Have to Think of This More as a Package Deal". The Immigrant Scholar: "I Feel Many Times I Live Between Cracks". Making It Work and Dealing with It: Enablers and Coping Strategies: "Keep Moving and Getting It Done". 2. Mid-Career: "I'm Not Sleepwalking I'm Making Decisions". Lumbering Under the Load: "It's Only Work, Work, Work". Mothering in Mid-Career: "We Are the Ones Who Never Have the Cookies Baked". Defining Your Identity: "I Didn't Want to Play This Game Anymore". Making It Work and Dealing with It: "Psyching Out What Does Really Count and Reconciling That with My Own Values and Priorities". 3. Late-Career: "This Is Who I Am, and I'm Going to Be Who I Want to Be". Defining the Relationship: "You've Reached That Level of Self-Actualization". Providing Elder Care: "Those of Us Who Are the Sandwich Generation". Regrets and Sacrifices: "There Are Always Costs". About Pioneers and Outsiders: "Nobody Is Going to Give a Five-Year Grant to a Seventy-Five-Year-Old Woman". Thinking About Retirement: "I Just Hope I Know When It Is Time to Leave". Making It Work and Dealing with It: Enablers and Coping Strategies0. 4. Comparisons0. Men: "I Still Experience a Lot of Male Privilege". Generations: "We Still Have Strides to Make, but at the Same Time, We Have Come a Long Way". 5. Recommendations0. What Women Want: Reform of Academe0. While Women Wait: Advice for the Interim0. Conclusion0. Appendix A: Balancing Professional and Personal Lives-A Quantitative Assessment, by Tim Bostic0. Appendix B: The Survey0. Appendix C: Frequencies and Histograms 0. References0. Index.


Objective:To improve the elderly patients' satisfaction at nursing job during the perioperativejian of elderly patients with biliary surgery by comfort care.Methods:To group 67 cases of elderly patients with biliary surgery randomly;33 cases of them use routinely care are comparison group;other 34 cases are test group use both of routinely care and comfort care.Results: Compare the comparison group and test group,the hospitalization term of test group less than comparison group obviously;the satisfaction of comparison group lower than test group.There is statistically difference between the two groups.Conclusions: Comfort care can improve treatment compliance of patient,shorten hospital stay of patient,improve patient satisfaction and promote patient healing after surgery obviously.


Objective
To observe the difference of macular microvascular features in superficial and deep vascular plexi in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO).

Methods
A total of 63 BRVO patients (63 eyes) were enrolled in this study. There were 28 males (28 eyes) and 35 females (35 eyes). The patients aged from 39 to 74 years, with the mean age of (59.76±8.48) years. All eyes were evaluated by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). The macular angiography scan protocol covered a 3 mm×3 mm area. The focus of angiography analysis included superficial vascular plexus and deep vascular plexus. The following vascular morphological parameters were assessed in these two plexi: foveal avascular zone (FAZ) enlargement, capillary non-perfusion (CNP) occurrence, microvascular abnormalities (MA) appearance, and vascular congestion (VC) signs. The FAZ area was measured by the built-in software. The macular microvascular morphology changes in superficial and deep vascular plexi were compared through McNemar test.

Results
The superficial and deep plexi showed FAZ enlargement in 43 eyes (68.3%) and 50 eyes (79.4%), CNP in 51 eyes (81%) and 50 eyes (79.4%), MA in 62 eyes (98.4%) and 62 eyes (98.4%), VC in 23 eyes (36.5%) and 52 eyes (82.5%), respectively. FAZ area was (0.55±0.37) mm2. There was no difference in CNP (P=1.000) and MA (P=1.000) between superficial and deep plexi. But, there was difference in FAZ enlargement (P=0.039) and VC signs (P<0.001) between superficial and deep plexi.

Conclusion
Deep vascular plexus showed more FAZ enlargement and VC sign than superficial plexus in BRVO patients.

Key words:
Retinal vein occlusion/diagnosis; Tomography, optical coherence


One of the difficulties in achieving completely unmanned and automated industrial robots is realizing the unmanned and automated charging process, which can be solved by wireless power transfer (WPT). In this paper, a wireless voltage source for industrial robots using all-direction antimisalignment coupled coils and voltage-doubler rectifier is proposed. When industrial robots dock to charge, the misalignment of the transmitter coil and the receiver coil occurs to destabilize the mutual inductance and output voltage. The alldirection antimisalignment coupled coils maintain the mutual inductance stable at the cost of lower coupling coefficient. Lower coupling coefficient leads meeting output voltage requirement to tough. Thus, the voltage-doubler rectifier is introduced to solve the problem of insufficient voltage output capacity. Finally, the antimisalignment property and the voltage output capacity of a 120-V output wireless voltage source are both validated by simulation results.


The action of ammonium acetate on 5-arylidene-3-phenyl-2-methylmercaptohydantoins 1g,h in acetic acid led to the formation of the 5-arylidene-3-phenylhydantoin derivatives 4a,b. In absence of a solvent, ring opening and rearrangement took place with the formation of the 5-arylidene-N2-phenylglycocyamidine derivatives 7a-c. Compounds 7a-c reacted with methyl iodide to afford the corresponding 3-methyl derivatives 9a-c. The structures of the synthesised products were established and the mechanism proposed for the rearrangement reaction was discussed.


Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are major contributors of cosmic dust to the universe. Typically, dust around AGB stars is investigated via radiative transfer (RT) modelling, or via simple deconstruction of observed spectra. However, methodologies applied vary. Using archival spectroscopic, photometric, and temporal data for the archetypal dusty star, Mira, we identify its circumstellar silicate dust grains. This is achieved by matching the positions and widths of observed spectral features with laboratory data. To do this comparison properly, it is necessary to account for the continuum emission. Here, we investigate various ways in which a continuum is eliminated from observational spectra and how it affects the interpretation of spectral features. We find that while the precise continuum shapes and temperatures do not have a critical impact on the positions and shapes of dust spectral features, it is important to eliminate continua in a specific way. It is important to understand what contributes to the spectrum in order to remove the continuum in a way that allows comparison with laboratory spectra of candidate dust species. Our methodologies are applicable to optically thin systems, like that of Mira. Higher optical depths will require RT modelling, which cannot include many different potential astrominerals because there is a lack of complex refractive indices. Finally, we found that the classic silicate feature exhibited by Mira is not consistent with a real amorphous silicate alone but may be best explained with a small alumina contribution to match the observed full width at half-maximum of the $\sim 10\, \mu$m feature.


Eating disorders and body image issues are significant problems which affect many domains of the lives of both men and women. These constructs have, in turn, been associated with health risk taking behaviors such as sexual risk taking and risky alcohol use. Ninety-six participants completed self-report data before and after a body image cognitive dissonance (CD) program or an active health education control to determine if participation in the program lead to less health risk taking behaviors such as disordered eating, risky alcohol use and, and sexual risk taking. T-tests and ANOVA revealed that participants who went through Reflections training exhibited lower global Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores, however did not differ on Sexual Risk Taking Scale (SRTS) scores. Future studies may require larger samples to address floor effects and may want to consider ways to improve random assignment in order to adequately assess whether cognitive dissonance training can be expanded to be used to lower risky health behaviors.


The existing EBIC techniques for diffusion-length (DL) determination are reviewed and a new technique using a wedge-shaped absorber is introduced. The reliability of DL data is tested by comparing different methods. Connections between DL and silicon microstructure (crystal defects, levels in the forbidden gap, impurities) are discussed. Finally, effects of DL on device behaviour (junction leakage, latch-up) are sketched. Resume Les methodes de determination de longueur de diffusion (DL) par la technique EBIC sont passees en revue et une nouvelle methode utilisant un absorbant en forme de coin est introduite. La fiabilite des mesures de lonqueur de diffusion est test6e par comparaison avec differentes mgthodes . La correlation entre les valeurs de longueur de diffusion et la microstructure dlGchantillon de sil icium (defauts cristall ins, niveaux d'eneraie dans la bande interdite, impuretss) est discutge. Enfin, les effets de la lonaueur de diffusion sur l e comportement du disposi tif (fuite de jonction, auto-decl anchement) sont esquises . The minority-carrier diffusion length (DL), L, is an important semiconductor parameter related to the recombination 1ifetimeZKby with D being the minority-carrier diffusivity /I/. In silicon of low and medium doping levels,T~is strongly influenced by recombination centres lying deep in the forbidden gap. These centres may be due to point defects (like heavy metal impurities) and/or extended crystal defects. The recombination lifetime resulting due to the presence of different deep recombination centres is ~ ; c ' a I; (NTi cii vtk) (21, 1 with N . being the concentration of the i-th centre,@j its capture crosssectioX1for minority carriers and v the thermal velocity of minority carriers. Fig. 1 shows lifetime andt&iffusion length of electrons in p-type silicon as a function of NT with G as parameter. In as-grown silicon typical DL values are in the range of 100)un or larger /2/. During processing, however, the DL may decrease down to a f e w p as a result of contamination by impurities and formation of crystal defects (see Fig. 2). Fo the a1 d ping levels of silicon substrates in the range lof4. ..lgJBp crnm9, recombination via recombingtion centres is the main recombination path and the doping concentration ND has nearly no influence on recombination. Article published online by EDP Sciences and available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/jphyscol:1989603 asgrown 750 850 95


&dquo;nothing more than the communist attempts to seize power&dquo; (p. 22)? Again it would be difficult to see the sanity of holding on in 1970 (that is, in the year in which Mallin wrote this &dquo;Introduction&dquo;) to a characteristically Cold-War view, namely that &dquo;communist leaders have historically not been hesitant in spending human lives as coin for the purchase of strategic arms&dquo; (p. 36). Mr Mallin, of course, excels himself when he approvingly quotes Admiral Sharp that in Vietnam the Americans never used their air power to its full advantage (p. 32). Going by Mr Mallin's analysis, Robert McNamara emerges almost as an angel of peace in Vietnam! t


The present investigation was carried out in the commonwealth of the Patate and Pelileo cantons once the problem was formulated and involving the Public Joint Public Company of Integral Toilet of the Patate and Pelileo cantons "EMMAIT-EP", with the objective of analyzing the degree of commercial, social, economic, and environmental impact that would generate the non-collection of solid waste and the visual impact that this would entail in this area, in order to determine the level that the cantons would be harmed, and other areas raising awareness among the population of the importance of the collection, and highlighting how damaging the suspension of the service would be.
To carry out the analysis, different information collection techniques were applied, having clear concepts and methodologies such as interviews, surveys, evaluating the quality of the service, solid waste management, user satisfaction, collection processes, processing , and final disposal of solid waste by the company in charge in order to measure the degree of compliance of each procedure and the effectiveness of each, as well as different types of research both bibliographic and documentary, determining a population and applying to a shows and thus obtaining results.


The In-Mold Roller is a revolutionary printing process by which objects are 3D decorated. Products decorated by In-Mold Roller are waterproof and protected from fading. What's more, these kinds of decorations strongly increase the beauty, desirability and value of the objects. The In-Mold Roller is now using either of gravure printing and screen printing to print PET film. However, there are some problems with these two techniques. This research is to investigate potential usages of combining In-Mold Roller with digital UV inkjet printing in 3D decoration, e.g. in personalized printing services. Study results found that when the coverage and the resolution of inkjet printing become higher, the SIDs will become higher as well. When transferred to ABS, SIDs in each combination will increase. Each combination of inkjet conditions, with the isolation of white ink, color differences are less variant. TVIs of white ink decrease 30% to 40% halftone and display in "M" type. In print contrast, C and K colors of each combination are better than M and Y colors. After transferred into print contrast, each combination of PC will be higher about 2 to5. When transferred to ABS, color variances of each combination are not huge, and color differences are about 3to5.


In this paper, we propose an adaptive background modeling algorithm for crowd surveillance system. We employed Approximate Median Method (AMM) along with the Phase congruency edge detector to develop the background model. The resulting foreground of the proposed model was obtained by applying a logical AND operation between binary maps of the (foreground) of the AMM image and the gradient information of the (Phase congruency edge detector) PC. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is highly accurate while providing a processing speed of 24.8 fps allowing its implementation for real time application.


Abstract : Engines of all sorts, from steam engines to those used in nuclear power plants, require a knowledge of a) the precise location of phase transition lines, b) exactly what happens when a material (such as steam) is moved across a given phase transition line. This information is essential from the engineering point of view because only with this information can one hope to have a truly efficient engine design. Phase transitions have become an extremely active field of research because of this need. Engineers, chemists, physicists, metallurgists, and mathematicians have cooperated in a multidisciplinary effort to learn new information of this subject. These efforts can be broadly categorized as follows: a) studies focussed on critical point exponents describing the behavior of a single function as a single variable is changed; b) studies focussed on equation of state describing the behavior of a function when all thermodynamic variables are changed. The focus of this contract has been category (b), equation of state. A simple example of an equation of state is provided by a simple magnet in the vicinity of the Curie temperature Tc. (Author)


Objective To investigate effect of Maijian Prescription on the treatment of atherosclerosis obliterans (ASO). Methods 60 cases of ASO were randomly allocated to two groups. 60 Patients in treatment group were given by Maijian Prescription and 60 patients in control group were given by salvia miltiorrhiza. Symptoms, signs, Doppler echocardiography, blood lipid, platelet aggregation and activity of superoxide dismutase were measured in both groups. Results Maijian Prescription could improve symptoms of ASO and blood flow velocity of artery.It could decrease TC and increase HDL C.Conclusion Maijian Prescription can play a role of improving collateral circulation, decreasing blood lipid, inhibiting platelet aggregation and increasing activity of superoxide dismutase in treatment of ASO.


A new dominance relation with parameters dominance relation is defined by means of similarity degree of attributes set-value on the set-valued information systems,and its properties are investigated;Two kinds of dominance relations are compared,the precision of classification can improve as long as a reasonable threshold value is set,thereby improve the data prediction,accuracy of classification.


ANY PEOPLE are ambivalent about genetic testing. On one hand, it can be of tremendous value in identifying people most at risk for a disease, allowing them to take early preventive and diagnostic measures. On the other hand, many fear genetic testing will lead to discrimination in health insurance and employment. The history of eugenics is an example of applied genetics gone awry. However, the issues surrounding genetic testing are fundamentally the same whether we are talking about a low-tech history and physical examination or testing for "disease genes" with DNA chips. Thus, while we objectively examine the questions raised by recent advances in genomics and how they affect health insurance, we also must think about what we as a society can reasonably expect from health insurance companies.


Repetitive longitudinal impulses of the Stern-Gerlach force are proposed for attaining the separation of the opposite spin states of (anti)proton beams, circulating either in existing collider facilities or in a small ring, conceived just for producing polarized antiprotons at very low energy. After a brief presentation of the theoretical background which supports this proposal, the experimental features are discussed emphasizing in particular the bunch separation within the RF bucket and the feasibility of a high magnetic gradient TE cavity.


Like their contemporary Peter Paul Rubens, a few Antwerp history painters showed some interest in the graphic medium. They committed engravers for long periods or projects of limited duration to engrave their designs. The bulk of their designs for prints were specifically created for engravings, only a relatively small number of prints reproduced their paintings. Thus the serving role of the prints in 17th century Antwerp may not be overestimated. In the first place, prints seem to have been independent artistic creations (whether visual support tools to texts: e.g. book illustrations). The initiative for the publication of reproductive prints was often not taken by the painters themselves, but rather by print publishers, engravers, institutions or individuals.


During the last two decades, the knowledge base regarding the benefits and burdens for all stakeholders in service learning has expanded. However, service-learning research has neglected to address the foundation of the pedagogy, its definition, and stakeholders' perspectives on the meaning of service learning. The current research addresses this deficiency through the use of focus group methodology to explore how community partners, specifically, define service learning. By recognizing the community voice, we hope to empower all those engaged in service-learning pedagogy to communicate understandings, experiences, and expectations to develop beneficial service-learning partnerships.


A simple method for chemically synthesizing PANI inverse opals by templating colloidal crystals is presented. The use of dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid resulted in structures with reduced shrinkage, allowing the position of the optical stop band to be tuned. The conductivity of the inverse opals was increased, and that of PANI was estimated to be 8 S.cm -1 . The inverse opals were of good structural integrity and fidelity, and the overall thickness could be controlled by that of the templates. Optical reflection spectra provided additional evidence of the high crystalline quality of the samples. These inverse opals might be attractive materials for sensor applications and studies of novel optical properties.


The thesis of this article is that Bede's great work on time reckoning, the De temporum ratione (A.D. 725), contains the seeds of later calendar reform. The year 664 was distinguished not only by the Synod of Whitby, after which the Northumbrian Church conformed to the Roman method of calculating Easter, but by an event of computistical significance--the solar eclipse on 1 May. Since this date showed the Roman reckoning to be inaccurate, it was altered to 3 May. Bede knew of this alteration and was uneasy about it. He at first attempted to justify the ecclesiastical dating, although eyewitness accounts showed it to be wrong, and later, by referring to the Acta synodi, a document used by the Irish to justify their Easter reckoning, implied how a solution to the problem might be found. In the eleventh century, Gerland spelled out the heterodox ideas at which Bede had only hinted.


C a e s a l p i n i a sap p a n wood has been evaluated for its antiinflammatory effects based on its traditional usage in Oriental medicine to reveal that it is active in the fertile egg assay. Then, its extract has been fractionated monitored by the physiological activity, resulting in the isolation of brazilin as the actiue principle. Brazilin, together with hematoxylin a constituent of H a e m at o x y 1 o n c a m - p e c h ia n u m wood, have been subjected to various antiinflammatory assays. Both the substances have proved to exhibit significant antiinflammatory actiuities in the carrageenin-induced rat paw edema test and the fertile egg test: the order o f activity was brazilin > hematoxylin, and in the former test bmzilin at 20 mg/ kg P.O. was more effective than berberine chloride at 100 mglkg p.0. Brazilin has also been shown to be approximately as active as berberine chloride in the granuloma pellet assay in rats. These properties of brazilin support its clinical application of the crude drug sappan wood in certain inflammatory disorders. The crude drug sappan wood, the heart-wood of Caesalpinia sappan LINNB (Leguminosae), has long been used as an emmenagogue, as an analgesic, as an astringent antidiarrhoics, and as a cure for contution and sprain in Oriental medicine. The last usage suggested that this crude drug might have an anti-inflammatory effect, though pharmacological and chemical evidence for it has not been obtained. In order to corroborate the postulated antiinflammatory activity of the crude drug and, if it were active, to clarify the active principle, we


The paper analyzes the pre-performance routines which are highly desirable for visually challenged musicians due to their psychophysical specificities. The range of tasks solved by them includes the involvement of compensatory functions of touch, hearing, speech, and memory in order to intensively develop their thinking, communication and behavior skills, as well as to cope with their personal traits that provoke discomfort and mishaps. Taking to the concert stage requires more efforts from non-sighted musicians, including button accordionists, as it is a more challenging task. In this regard, a comprehensive pre-concert training, which includes two elements — the musician's work on the musical piece and the stage presence itself — plays a major role in preparing for a concert performance. The first involves such factors as the event context, the proper choice of a musical composition, the actual interpretation of the artistic image, and the specific training for blind performers. The second is related to their being on stage. Understanding of possible reasons of stage anxiety and misfortunes; maintaining a comfortable pre-concert state, as well as a pre-designed course of action reduce the risks of unsuccessful performance of blind button accordionists. Comprehensive pre-concert preparation allows the blind musician to successfully regulate his or her performance well-being.


The simulation of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel models is becoming increasingly important for testing and validation of fifth-generation new radio (5G NR) wireless networks and beyond. However, simulation performance tends to be limited when modeling a large number of antenna elements combined with a complex and realistic representation of propagation conditions. In this paper, we propose an efficient implementation of a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) three-dimensional (3D) channel model, specifically designed for graphics processing unit (GPU) platforms, with the goal of minimizing the computational time required for channel simulation. The channel model is highly parameterized to encompass a wide range of configurations required for real-world optimized 5G NR network deployments. We use several compute unified device architecture (CUDA)-based optimization techniques to exploit the parallelism and memory hierarchy of the GPU. Experimental data show that the developed system achieves an overall speedup of about 240× compared to the original C++ model executed on an Intel processor. Compared to a design previously accelerated on a datacenter-class field programmable gate array (FPGA), the GPU design has a 33.3% higher single-precision performance but a 7.5% higher power consumption. The proposed GPU accelerator can provide fast and accurate channel simulations for 5G NR network planning and optimization.


Bi 2 MoO 6 nanoplates with an Aurivillius structure and a uniform thickness of 15-30 nm were fabricated by a hydrothermal process at 413 K for 48 h with the assistance of the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The nanoplate structure was favorable to the photocatalytic O 2 -evolution performance under visible light irradiation.


Abstract Drought is the most damaging environmental phenomenon. During 1967–91, droughts affected 50% of the 2.8 billion people who suffered from weather-related disasters. Since droughts cover large areas, it is difficult to monitor them using conventional systems. In recent years the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designed a new Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer- (AVHRR) based Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and Temperature Condition Index (TCI), which have been useful in detecting and monitoring large area, drought-related vegetation stress. The VCI was derived from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is the ratio of the difference between AVHRR-measured near-infrared and visible reflectance to their sum. The TCI was derived from the 10.3–11.3-mm AVHRR-measured radiances, converted to brightness temperature (BT). Algorithms were developed to reduce the noise and to adjust NDVI and BT for land surface nonhomogeneity. The VCI and TCI are used to determine...


Capital structure decision remains always interesting puzzle for practitioner as well as for researchers. Capital structure of company fluctuates from company to company, country to country, nature of business to business and firm age to age. The current study examines the impact of capital structure (financial leverage and equity decision) on airline performance. The analysis is performed on secondary data. Data is taken from the financial statements of under consideration study of Pakistan International Airline. Sample period is taken from 2004 to 2020. The financial performance is measured by ROA and ROE, while independent variables are debt to asset (DTA), debt to equity (DTE), and size (natural log of total assets). Two econometric models are developed for the analysis. Regression and correlation are used to measure the impact of debt and equity on company performance. The study demonstrated that DTA has a statistically significant negative relationship with the dependent variable, ROA. Model 1 results indicated that only DTA was the good predictor of ROA and size had no significant relationship with ROA. Model 2 results demonstrated that the size had a significant but positive relationship with ROE. Meanwhile, DTA had an insignificant association with ROE.


In this paper an optimal state feedback design as a power system stabilizer (PSS) using particle swarm optimization (PSO) is presented. The problem of selecting the parameters of the state feedback PSS for a multi machine power system is converted to an optimization problem solved by PSO with the eigenvalue-based objective functions. Both the relative stability of low-frequency modes and the practical implementation of PSSs as Considerations for a stable system are included in the constraints. The locally measured states are fed back at the AVR reference input of each machine after multiplication by suitable feedback gains. The obtained stabilizer is confirmed by eigenvalue analysis and simulation results of a multi machine power system under different operating conditions and exposed to small disturbances.


EDNA MORA SZYMANSKI is Assistant Professor Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison; CHERYL HANLEY-MAXWELL is Assistant Professor Rehabilitation Institute, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; and SUSAN ASSELIN is Associate Professor Department of Vocational and Technical Education, Virginia Polytechnic and State University. This manuscript was prepared for the professional development group of the Employ-


In the thesis a brief introduction is given about the structure of teleoperated vehicle steering system and its working principle. The design scheme is based on P87C591 . The detailed description of hardware and controlling algorithm is given. Then, the system is testified in DEWE2010 which is a portable system for signal processing made by DEWTRON corporation. The experimental results show that the proposed approach possesses high reliability.


Cochlear implants help children with severe hearing difficulties achieve access to verbal language. We possess evidence of the capacities of perception and discrimination skills as well as knowledge relating to the development of verbal productions and intelligibility. In contrast, little work has been undertaken concerning the spontaneous use of language by children with implants in interactions with their friends and family. At the same time, the high level of variability observed in the language acquisition speed profiles has led us to consider the role of a number of variables. We hypothesized that the insertion of an implant and the consequent access to sound information should be followed by an increase in the number of different words used in spontaneous play interaction. The latter follows a different developmental process correlating to the age of the child at implantation, to the type of communication mode used before implantation, to the school integration level in a normal hearing environment (thus relating to the demands made on a verbal communication mode), and to the sex of the child.  38 pre-lingually deaf children (mean age: 3;08) using cochlear implants were filmed at regular intervals over a period of a year. Results tend to show that only school integration in a hearing environment seems to be a determining factor with regard to the development of lexical diversity in deaf children who have received implants. The demands made by age group peers seem to favor the use of verbal language and cause it to develop at a faster rate.


Identity of the hitherto incertae sedis Cochlearia minutissima O.E. Schulz is clarified and its close relationship up to possible conspecificity with Eutrema hookeri Al-Shehbaz & Warwick is established. The combination E. minutissimum is validated.


Background: KstR represses expression of numerous genes responsible for cholesterol catabolism in Mycobacterium. Results: 3-Oxo-4-cholestenoic acid is identified as the inducer molecule of M. smegmatis KstR repressor. Conclusion: Oxidation of C3 and C26 of cholesterol is required to activate the system. Significance: The finding of the KstR inducer molecule represents new insights in developing new targets to fight against M. tuberculosis. Cholesterol degradation plays a prominent role in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection; therefore, to develop new tools to combat this disease, we need to decipher the components comprising and regulating the corresponding pathway. A TetR-like repressor (KstR) regulates the upper part of this complex catabolic pathway, but the induction mechanism remains unknown. Using a biophysical approach, we have discovered that the inducer molecule of KstR in M. smegmatis mc2155 is not cholesterol but 3-oxo-4-cholestenoic acid, one of the first metabolic intermediates. Binding this compound induces dramatic conformational changes in KstR that promote the KstR-DNA interaction to be released from the operator, retaining its dimeric state. Our findings suggest a regulatory model common to all cholesterol degrading bacteria in which the first steps of the pathway are critical to its mineralization and explain the high redundancy of the enzymes involved in these initial steps.


The geologists' term 'geode' is used in continental Europe to describe the radiological appearance of cavities in the bone ends in patients with various forms of arthritis (Jayson, Rubenstein, and Dixon, 1970). We describe here a patient with rheumatoid arthritis and unusually large geodes, the contents of which were calcified-an appearance which, we believe, has not previously been described.


Background Maximising health gain for a given level and mix of resources is an ethical imperative for health-service planners. Approximately half of all patients who attend a regular NHS dental check-up do not require any further treatment, whereas many in the population do not regularly attend. Thus, the most expensive resource (the dentist) is seeing healthy patients at a time when many of those with disease do not access care. Role substitution in NHS dentistry, where other members of the dental team undertake the clinical tasks previously provided by dentists, has the potential to increase efficiency and the capacity to care and lower costs. However, no studies have empirically investigated the efficiency of NHS dental provision that makes use of role substitution. Research questions This programme of research sought to address three research questions: (1) what is the efficiency of NHS dental teams that make use of role substitution?; (2) what are the barriers to, and facilitators of, role substitution in NHS dental practices?; and (3) how do incentives in the remuneration systems influence the organisation of these inputs and production of outputs in the NHS? Design Data envelopment analysis was used to develop a productive efficiency frontier for participating NHS practices, which were then compared on a relative basis, after controlling for patient and practice characteristics. External validity was tested using stochastic frontier modelling, while semistructured interviews explored the views of participating dental teams and their patients to role substitution. Setting NHS 'high-street' general dental practices. Participants 121 practices across the north of England. Interventions No active interventions were undertaken. Main outcome measures Relative efficiency of participating NHS practices, alongside a detailed narrative of their views about role substitution dentistry. Social acceptability for patients. Results The utilisation of non-dentist roles in NHS practices was relatively low, the most common role type being the dental hygienist. Increasing the number of non-dentist team members reduced efficiency. However, it was not possible to determine the relative efficiency of individual team members, as the NHS contracts only with dentists. Financial incentives in the NHS dental contract and the views of practice principals (i.e. senior staff members) were equally important. Bespoke payment and referral systems were required to make role substitution economically viable. Many non-dentist team members were not being used to their full scope of practice and constraints on their ability to prescribe reduced efficiency further. Many non-dentist team members experienced a precarious existence, commonly being employed at multiple practices. Patients had a low level of awareness of the different non-dentist roles in a dental team. Many exhibited an inherent trust in the professional 'system', but prior experience of role substitution was important for social acceptability. Conclusions Better alignment between the financial incentives within the NHS dental contract and the use of role substitution is required, although professional acceptability remains critical. Study limitations Output data collected did not reflect the quality of care provided by the dental team and the input data were self-reported. Future work Further work is required to improve the evidence base for the use of role substitution in NHS dentistry, exploring the effects and costs of provision. Funding The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.


Although several methods have been used to assess the pain levels, few practical methods for classifying presence or absence of the pain using pattern classifiers have been suggested. The aim of this study is to design an pattern classifier that classifies the presence or absence of the pain using electrocardiogram (ECG). We measured the ECG signal from 10 subjects with the painless state and the pain state(Induced by mechanical stimulation). The 10 features of heart rate variability (HRV) were extracted from ECG MeanRRI, SDNN, rMSSD, NN50, pNN50 in the time domain; VLF, LF, HF, Total Power, LF/HF in the frequency domain; and we used the features as input vector of the pattern classifier's artificial neural network (ANN) / support vector machine (SVM) for classifying the presence or absence of the pain. The study results showed that the classifiers using ANN / SVM could classify the presence or absence of the pain with accuracies of 81.58% / 81.84%. The proposed classifiers can be applied to the objective assessment of pain level.


Results for the magnetization of DySb induced along each of the principal axes are captured in the quadrupolar coupling coefficients K and L, which vary rapidly and oppositely with temperature and whose inequality signifies a marked departure of the quadrupolar coupling from the spherically‐symmetric biquadratic form. (AIP)


Simple Summary Premature birth disrupts the continuity of bodily contact between mother and newborn, leading to greater prevalence of physiological, cognitive, and behavioral difficulties among prematurely born children. We followed a group of mothers and preterm infants who received skin-to-skin contact (Kangaroo Care, KC) in the neonatal period, as compared to a matched group who received standard incubator care, from birth to adulthood. Our aim was to investigate how a touch-based neonatal intervention shaped three outcomes in young adulthood: anxiety and depressive symptoms, levels of oxytocin, and markers of the immune system. Findings indicated that the effects of KC on adult outcomes were indirect and stemmed from its impact on mother, child, and the dyad across infancy, childhood, and adolescence. KC reduced maternal anxiety and depression in infancy, improved infant attention and child executive functions, and increased mother–child synchrony across development. These effects were interconnected and led to improved outcomes in adulthood. Our study uniquely describes mechanisms by which a birth intervention can influence adult outcomes through step-by-step enhancement and provides valuable insights into the topic of "developmental continuity", a key controversy in developmental research. Abstract Premature birth disrupts the continuity of maternal–newborn bodily contact, which underpins the development of physiological and behavioral support systems. Utilizing a unique cohort of mother–preterm dyads who received skin-to-skin contact (Kangaroo Care, KC) versus controls, and following them to adulthood, we examined how a touch-based neonatal intervention impacts three adult outcomes; anxiety/depressive symptoms, oxytocin, and secretory immunoglobulin A (s-IgA), a biomarker of the immune system. Consistent with dynamic systems' theory, we found that links from KC to adult outcomes were indirect, mediated by its effects on maternal mood, child attention and executive functions, and mother–child synchrony across development. These improvements shaped adult outcomes via three mechanisms; (a) "sensitive periods", where the infancy improvement directly links with an outcome, for instance, infant attention linked with higher oxytocin and lower s-IgA; (b) "step-by-step continuity", where the infancy improvement triggers iterative changes across development, gradually shaping an outcome; for instance, mother–infant synchrony was stable across development and predicted lower anxiety/depressive symptoms; and (c) "inclusive mutual-influences", describing cross-time associations between maternal, child, and dyadic factors; for instance, from maternal mood to child executive functions and back. Findings highlight the long-term impact of a birth intervention across development and provide valuable insights on the mechanisms of "developmental continuity", among the key topics in developmental research.


This paper mainly introduces the risks in the process of investment in a real estate and gives several ways to measure the risks of a real estate investment by using mathematical and statistical knowledge,then makes measures for these risks,and gives some measures to tackle the problem in view of the potential risks.


Objective: To study the protective effect of Shen Mai injection on lung after intestinal ischemia reperfusion of rabbits. Methods: Rabbits were divided into three groups: normal control group,inchemia reperfusion group and Shen Mai treatment group. Plasma TNF activity in different time points was observed. The TNF activity and pathologic changes in lung were observed.Results: Plasma TNF activity was enhanced at 1st post ischemia (P0.01). High level of TNF was at 1st after reperfusion (P0.01) but was lower then that of in inchemia reperfusion group. Shen Mai treatment group was obviously lower (P0.05) at 1st and 2nd points than inchemia reperfusion. The TNF activity in lung was obviously higher in ischemia reperfusion group than that of normal control group. But Shen Mai treatment group was not obviously changed than normal group. Lung pathological examination showed that actue lung injury was more predominant in ischemia reperfusion group than that of normal control group but lung pathological examination was not obviously changs in Shen Mai treatment group than normal ctroul group. Conclusion: The early treatment with ShenMai injection can protect lung after intetinal ischemia reperfusion.


This paper presents a simulation tool based on a combined Monte Carlo and Ray Tracing method for the prediction of power delay profiles within an indoor environment. The simulation tool and results for the CW-fading, time delay spread and low pass channel impulse response are discussed.<<ETX>>


Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The predominant HCV genotypes in Australia (G1 and G3) differ in the pathogenesis of liver injury and treatment response, but the molecular mechanisms are not well defined. The aim of this research is to determine specific HCV genotype differences in the global mRNA and miRNA expression associated with HCV induced liver injury.

The mRNA transcriptome and miRNA expression of HCV induced liver injury (G1 or G3) was characterised in progressive liver injury, advanced cirrhosis from individuals with and without HCC compared with non diseased liver using Illumina Whole genome BeadChip Arrays and Taqman Low Density Arrays. Further, the mRNA expression of HCV genotype-specific core chimeric JFH1 infected Huh 7 cells following lipid loading was similarly characterised.

In progressive liver injury, HCV genotype is associated with the greatest variation in gene expression between individuals. There is increased expression of interferon stimulated genes, inflammation and fibrosis genes in G3, and increased expression of fatty acid degradation and cholesterol transport associated genes in G1. In advanced cirrhosis, the cirrhotic gene signature masks the genotype specific gene expression patterns. No gene signature distinguishes cirrhotic liver injury from individuals with and without HCC. The miRNA expression is associated with the severity of disease with no HCV genotype specific differences identified. The mRNA transcriptome of a hepatic cell line infected with chimeric HCV specific for the HCV core protein is consistent with the in vivo analysis with increased expression of genes associated with fibrosis and proliferation in G3, but no differences were observed in fatty acid metabolism. In conclusion, the HCV genotype specific differences in gene expression are more defined in progressive liver injury compared with changes seen in advanced cirrhosis.


Social justice ideology has redefined the meaning of "equality" and "freedom," devastating the study of humanities. The answer? Return, without shame, to the reading of Great Books.


Introduction: Femoral fractures in the elderly increase the risk of morbidity and mortality, and are usually necessary for hospitalization. Due to the relevance of the theme in public health and the lack of information about the situation in the state in the period between 2015 and 2019, the following question arose: According to age group and gender, what is the profile of hospital admissions due to femoral fracture among the elderly in Roraima in this period? Objective: To describe hospital admissions for femoral fracture among the elderly, between 2015 and 2019 in the State of Roraima, Brazil. Method: This is a descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, using data from the Hospital Information System[2] of the Unified Health System[3] in the period from 2015 to 2019. For frequency analyses, codes related to femoral fracture were used according to the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, age group, gender and hospital deaths. Results: It was observed that female gender was the most prevalent in hospitalizations for femur fracture (56.4%). Stratified by age group, 80 years and more represented 38.7% of hospitalizations, mostly women. This same profile was observed when hospitalizations for femoral fracture with proximal location were analyzed. Among hospitalizations with the outcome of death due to femoral fracture, there was a predominance among women aged 80 years and over (66.7%). Final considerations: In this study, it was observed that hospitalizations and hospital deaths due to femoral fracture were more prevalent in octogenarian women. Health strategies, such as the prevention of falls, should be directed to the elderly population, especially women, who are the most affected by this disease.


Derived from the theory of dynamic equations explicit and implicit time integration format,For the classical central difference scheme for solving the Rayleigh β with damping structure to reduce the problem of computational efficiency,Research on a new points format for the explicit,Theory of numerical integration that the format can handle all kinds of complicated calculation of damping without reducing the efficiency of state.Through setting the adjustment parameters for different time step acceleration can be calculated than the classic explicit form and NEWMARK time integration gradually higher accuracy.Finally through the numerical example the calculation of the three formats to verify the theoretical analysis.


In this paper, we propose a measurement system to evaluate the swallowing by estimating the movement of the thyroid cartilage. We developed a measurement system based on the vision sensor in order to achieve the noncontact and non-invasive sensor. The movement of the subject's thyroid cartilage is tracked by the three dimensional information of the surface of the skin measured by the photometric stereo. We constructed a camera system that uses near-IR light sources and three camera sensors. We conformed the effectiveness of the proposed system by experiments.


Abstract. Total nitrogen (TN), which consists of total particulate nitrogen (TPN) and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), is transported with not only in river channels but also across the entire river basin, including via ground water and migratory animals. In general, TPN export from an entire river basin to the ocean is larger than TDN in a mountainous region. Since marine derived nutrients (MDN) are hypothesized to be mainly transported as suspended matters from the ground surface, it is necessary to investigate the contribution of MDN to the forest floor (soils) in order to quantify the true role of MDN at the river ecosystem scale. This study investigated TN export from an entire river basin, and also we estimated the contribution of pink (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and chum salmon (O. keta) to total oceanic nitrogen input across a river basin. The maximum potential contribution of TN entering the river basin by salmon was found to be 23.8 % relative to the total amount of TN exported from the river basin. The contribution of particulate nitrogen based on suspended sediment from the ocean to the river basin soils was 22.9 % with SD of 3.6 % by using stable isotope analysis (SIA) of nitrogen (δ15N).


To assess whether the TaqIB polymorphism of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) in Chinese population, we performed a meta-analysis in this paper. We searched PubMed, Embase, the Science Citation Index (SCI), the China Biological Medicine database (CBM), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and the Wanfang database for relevant articles. Data were extracted, and pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The literature search yielded 448 studies, in which 10 case-control studies including 1 694 cases and 1 456 controls matched the selection criteria. The combined B1 and B2 allele frequencies were 0.587 and 0.413, respectively. The pooled OR was 1.10 (95% CI, 0.89–1.34) for comparing the B1B1 or B1B2 carriers with B2B2 carriers, and was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.09–1.49) in the B1B1 carriers versus B2B2 or B1B2 carriers. In the present study, the TaqIB polymorphism of CETP was found to be associated with CAD in the Chinese population.


ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine the best osmotic dehydration (OD) condition for slices of mango cv. Espada through a factorial experiment, evaluating water loss and water activity during the process, and then perform convective drying at different temperatures to sensorially evaluate the obtained dried mango. An experiment was conducted in a 23 factorial experiment, with three central points, to evaluate the influence of thickness (1; 1.5 and 2 cm), sucrose concentration (35; 45 and 55 ºBrix) and temperature (30, 40 and 50 ºC) on water loss and water activity during the process. Convective drying was carried out in a tray dryer at temperatures of 50, 60 and 70 ºC, with an air speed of 1.5 m s-1. The optimal OD condition was found for slices with 1 cm thickness, sucrose concentration of 55 °Brix and temperature of 50 °C. Dried mangoes produced at temperatures of 50 and 60 °C were the most accepted among the tasters for the attributes of color, appearance, odor and taste, intensity of hardness, preference and purchase intention, and can be a promising alternative for utilization of Espada mango.


This paper mainly introduces the development of antibacterial and deodorizing fibers. It looks back to the history of antibacterial and deodorizing fibers and concludes the interactive pattern and mechanism of antibacterial and deodorizing fibers. In addition, it summarizes the present major products of this field home and abroad according to the different preparation methods of antibacterial and deodorizing fibers. The high\|effective, broad\|spectrum, safe, long\|lasting, and extensive\|suitable antibacterial and deodorizing fibers will be the research pivot in further development.


China's independent satellite industry has developed rapidly in recent years. With the increasing quantities and types of independent satellites in orbit, the data is booming as well. So applications and researches on it get deeper and deeper. The data preprocessing, a key part of these applications and researches, is required to be more convenient and more streamlined as the emergence of massive independent data. In response to these requests, after analyzing the characteristics and preprocessing methods of data from three kinds of satellites, China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS), Beijing-1 Micro-satellite and Huanjing-1 Satellites (HJ-1), this paper develops the China's Independent Satellite Data Preprocessing System based on ArcGIS Engine (ArcEngine) & Interactive Data Language (IDL).


A semi-implicit scheme using linear finite elements for the approximation of wave maps into smooth or convex surfaces is devised, and its stability is analyzed. Convergence is established for the case of the unit sphere as a target manifold, which is unconditional in the case of $(2+1)$ Minkowski space. Numerical experiments illustrate the theoretical results.


We present a simple derivation of the nuclear shielding in paramagnetic molecules, extendable to strong spin-orbit coupling cases of relevance to lanthanides and actinides, as well as encompassing contributions from excited multiplets. While our general formulation does not need electron paramagnetic resonance parameters, using them a simple and practical expression is obtained for the special case of the zero-field-split ground-state manifold, including magnetic (Zeeman and hyperfine) couplings between the sublevels. The latter method is implemented computationally and applied in the context of first-principles calculations on example Ni(II) and Co(II) complexes.


: The diarylurea is a scaffold of great importance in medicinal chemistry as it is present in numerous heterocyclic compounds with antithrombotic, antimalarial, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Some diarylureas, serine-threonine kinase or tyrosine kinase inhibitors, were recently reported in literature. The first to come into the market as an anticancer agent was sorafenib, followed by some others. In this review, we survey progress over the past 10 years in the development of new diarylureas as anticancer agents. Abstract: The diarylurea is a scaffold of great importance in medicinal chemistry as it is present in numerous heterocyclic compounds with antithrombotic, antimalarial, antibacterial, and anti-in-flammatory properties. Some diarylureas, serine-threonine kinase or tyrosine kinase inhibitors, were recently reported in literature. The first to come into the market as an anticancer agent was sorafenib, followed by some others. In this review, we survey progress over the past 10 years in the development of new diarylureas as anticancer agents. drugs. neovascular blocker prevents the formation of by the of cancer through multiple kinase inhibitors that target angiogenesis. inoperable An for treatment advanced GSTIs mCRC. may represent a promising therapeutic agent for hu- man gastric cancer, NSCLC, liver cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer. Ripretinib is ad- to GISTs. In this paper, we report an overview of the development and application of these drugs. The current treatment trends in oncology have shifted to immunotherapy combinations with ICI, as anti-PD-L1-directed monoclonal antibodies. Pending improved understanding of HCC, RCC, GSTIs, and mCRC tumorigenesis, it would be very interest- ing to evaluate the combination of various treatment modalities. Diarylurea combined with a checkpoint inhibitor could be a promising treatment strategy to be deeply investi- gated in the future. Moreover, this review encompasses the recent advances in scientific literature in the broad area of diarylureas as anticancer agents. The newly synthesized compounds of this class, that are now in phase of study, may promising small molecules to unseat or the already known existing


A collaboration between the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the Kansas State University (KSU), and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, (CEA), is funded by the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) program to develop and test Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (MPFDs), which are compact fission chambers capable of simultaneously measuring thermal neutron flux, fast neutron flux and temperature within a single package. When deployed, these sensors will significantly advance flux detection capabilities for irradiation tests in US Material Test Reactors (MTRs). Ultimately, evaluations may lead to a more compact, more accurate, and longer lifetime flux sensor for critical mock-ups, and high performance reactors, allowing several Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) programs to obtain higher accuracy/higher resolution data from irradiation tests of candidate new fuels and materials. Specifically, deployment of MPFDs will address several challenges faced in irradiations performed at MTRs: Current fission chamber technologies do not offer the ability to measure fast flux, thermal flux and temperature within a single compact probe; MPFDs offer this option. MPFD construction is very different than current fission chamber construction; the use of high temperature materials allow MPFDs to be specifically tailored tomore » survive harsh conditions encountered in-core of high performance MTRs. The higher accuracy, high fidelity data available from the compact MPFD will significantly enhance efforts to validate new high-fidelity reactor physics codes and new multi-scale, multi-physics codes. MPFDs can be built with variable sensitivities to survive the lifetime of an experiment or fuel assembly in some MTRs, allowing for more efficient and cost effective power monitoring. The small size of the MPFDs allows multiple sensors to be deployed, offering the potential to accurately measure the flux and temperature profiles in the reactor. This report summarizes the status at the end of year two of this three year project. As documented in this report, all planned accomplishments for developing this unique new, compact, multipurpose sensor have been completed.« less


Mercury laser system is a scalable driver for rep-rate inertial fusion energy. The performance goals include 10% electrical efficiency at 10Hz and 100J with a 2~10 ns pulse length. This laser is an angularly multiplexed 4-pass gas-cooled diode-pumped Yb:S-FAP amplifier system based on image relaying to minimize wavefront distortion and optical damage risk at 10Hz operating point. Recent progresses of Mercury laser system were introduced.


A liquid crystal display device includes a reflection plate; a light guide plate over the reflection plate; a light-emitting diode (LED) assembly including LEDs arranged along a side surface of the light guide plate, an LED flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) having LEDs mounted on its surface. The FPCB includes a bar and a leg portion extending from the body. The bar and the leg portion are integrated into a single body. The leg portion extends from the bar to a circuit for controlling the LEDs. A metallic bar is attached to bar of the LED FPCB to provide rigidity to the FPCB as well as cool the FPCB.


Using the technique of Adimurthy, F. Pacella and S.L. Yadava [1], we extend an uniqueness result for a class of non-autonomous semilinear equations in M.K. Kwong and Y. Li [8]. We also observe that combining the results of [1] with bifurcation theory, one can obtain a detailed picture of the global solution curve for a class of concave-convex nonlinearities.