Out-of-Distribution (OOD) Generalization aims to learn robust models that generalize well to various environments without fitting to distribution-specific features. Recent studies based on Lottery Ticket Hypothesis (LTH) address this problem by minimizing the learning target to find some of the parameters that are critical to the task. However, in OOD problems, such solutions are suboptimal as the learning task contains severe distribution noises, which can mislead the optimization process. Therefore, apart from finding the task-related parameters (i.e., invariant parameters), we propose Exploring Variant parameters for Invariant Learning (EVIL) which also leverages the distribution knowledge to find the parameters that are sensitive to distribution shift (i.e., variant parameters). Once the variant parameters are left out of invariant learning, a robust subnetwork that is resistant to distribution shift can be found. Additionally, the parameters that are relatively stable across distributions can be considered invariant ones to improve invariant learning. By fully exploring both variant and invariant parameters, our EVIL can effectively identify a robust subnetwork to improve OOD generalization. In extensive experiments on integrated testbed: DomainBed, EVIL can effectively and efficiently enhance many popular methods, such as ERM, IRM, SAM, etc.


Functionalized polymer comprises a reactive polymer, a and carbon-nitrogen multiple bonds free of aryl group and an active hydrogen atom having at least one directly bonded to OG The functionalized polymer, in certain embodiments, can be formed from a solution containing at least one polyene, in particular one or more ethylenically unsaturated monomers containing one or more conjugated dienes. Active end of the resulting reactive polymer is reacted with the Q substituent of the compound, the polymer having a radical of a compound containing an aryl group having at least one directly bonded to OG


of the Dissertation A Case Study of Contextual Factors Which Influence the Implementation of a Model Bilingual Program By Elizabeth J. Franks Dissertation Chairperson: Catherine A. Lugg, Ph. D. The political landscape of No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) created a sense of urgency about the performance of the growing population of English learners. As a result, emerging studies examined the characteristics of principals' and teachers' practices in exemplary schools and model programs for English learners. However, no studies have examined the larger contextual framework which impacts these model programs for English learners. This dissertation study identified contextual factors that influenced the implementation of a model transitional bilingual program through the lenses of various stakeholders at all levels of one educational community. From the national perspective to the socio-cultural features and responses at the district level, to the background experiences and practices of the school leaders, this case study, completed over a twelve month period, triangulated data through interviews, observations and documents. A conceptual framework guided the initial data analysis followed with the identification of emerging patterns. The data indicated three major factors which shaped the implementation of a model bilingual program: political landscape, the district instructional leadership which shaped the principals' interactions. First, the standards movement and accountability measures of the NCLB Act (2002) surfaced as a major catalyst at all levels. This


Intensity discrimination thresholds for a 70 dB SPL, 500-Hz pure tone presented in quiet, broadband, and notched noise were measured for six younger and older adults all with good audiograms using a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. All six younger adults had smaller thresholds in the broadband-noise compared to the notched-noise condition. The majority of the older adults had much larger thresholds than the younger adults in the broadband-noise condition and there was no significant difference between their thresholds in broadband and notched-noise conditions. This pattern of findings suggests that most of the older adults had difficulty making use of the temporal fine structure cues available in the broadband-noise condition, consistent with a possible age-related decline in temporal synchrony coding.


The goal of my diploma thesis is design of a training center and implementation of a training selected lean manufacturing method at the company Delta Electronics (Slovakia) ltd Thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part is aimed at selected method of lean production, lean administration, corporate training, training centers and project management. The practical part is focused on the company profile, project documentation, and analysis of the current state at the company on which base is designed a training center with creating training on one piece flow method and its implementation at the same time.


Objective
To compare the efficacy of oxycodone versus sufentanil for intravenous analgesia after radical resection of pulmonary carcinoma performed via video-assisted thoracoscope.

Methods
One hundred fifty-four patients of both sexes, aged 18–64 yr, with body mass index of 18–25 kg/m2, of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅰ or Ⅱ, scheduled for elective radical resection of pulmonary carcinoma performed via video-assisted thoracoscope, were randomly divided into either sufentanil group (group S, n=76) or oxycodone group (group O, n=78) using a random number table.The 2 groups received combined intravenous-inhalational anesthesia.When postoperative visual analogue scale (VAS) score ≥ 4, sufentanil 5 μg or oxycodone 2 mg was injected intravenously, and the administration was repeated when necessary until VAS score ≤ 3.Patient-controlled intravenous analgesia(PCIA) was then used for postoperative analgesia (lasting for 48 h). PCIA solution contained tropisetron 20 mg and sufentanil 200 μg in 100 ml of normal saline in group S. PCIA solution contained tropisetron 20 mg and oxycodone 50 mg in 100 ml of normal saline in group O. The PCIA pump was set up to deliver a 2 ml bolus dose with a 10 min lockout interval and background infusion at a rate of 1 ml/h.VAS score was maintained ≤3.When VAS scores ≥4, morphine 10 mg injected intramuscularly was used as rescue analgesic.The requirement for rescue analgesic, level of patient's satisfaction with analgesia, and analgesia-related adverse events were recorded.

Results
The incidence of nausea and vomiting was significantly lower in group O than in group S (P 0.05). No patients developed respiratory depression and pruritus in the two groups.

Conclusion
Compared with sufentanil, oxycodone can produce similar analgesic efficacy when used for PCIA after radical resection of pulmonary carcinoma performed via video-assisted thoracoscope, with lower incidence of nausea and vomiting.

Key words:
Oxycodone; Sulfentanil; Pain, postoperative


Introduced six table grapes of'Golden Queen of Shennong','Shinano Smile','Zuijinxiang','Bixiang Wuhe','Summer Black','Xiangyue'were used as materials in order to enrich grape resources in Harbin area,phenological phase,growth and fruit characteristics,fruit quality and resistance abilities were investigated.The results showed that'Golden Queen of Shennong','Xiangyue'and'Summer Black'integrally had better performance,and were suited to be cultivated under greenhouse in Harbin.There were high quality fruit and disease-resistant ability in"Zuijinxiang"and"Bixiang Wuhe",which could be properly cultivated.About'Shinano Smile',it was not suitable to culture on a large scale for late-ripening.


Chiral thiols are a class of chira compounds, which is gaining mone and nore attention the last decenniun. Especially α-mercaptocarboxylic acids are frequently found as a structunal unit in (biologically) important products. As a consequence, many synthetic analoga or derivatives of these natural products, but also other organosulfur compounds, have been prepared. Especially inberesting are the so-called pseudo-peptides. α-Mercaptocarboxylic acids often serve as the starting naterial for there syntheses. They are prepared synthetically, because they rarely occur in nature. ... Zie: Summary


When Europeans first arrived, the Native American societies of North America had a variety of systems of social control and conflict mediation. These indigenous peoples were not heir to the concept of equal protection of the law derived from the Magna Carta, nor to notions of individual rights defended in the English Bill of Rights (1689) and Western Enlightenment political thought. Theirs were systems of custom and commandment of their own need and development. Therefore, after the contact period, whenever conflict arose a central issue of cultural pluralism surfaced: whose resolution system would be used when mediation was necessary.


HPS is a high-performance agent-based simulation engine, used for stochastic simulation of complex cyber-physical systems (CPS). A CPS is defined as a network of probabilistic state machines, a set of determinisitic models (e.g. flow models defined for the CPS) and a model of an Adversary (i.e. cyber-attackers). The engine is written in Golang and can be embedded into an application or a service or can be started as a stand alone application from the command-line. The base component of the model is a state machine, which resides within an environment. The state machine can be implemented in various ways: as a Markov state machine, as a hierarchical composition of Markov state machines, or as an engine plugin. The .zip file includes the engine itself and a set of models (json files), related to NORDIC-32, a well-known Power transmission system, extended with a models of SCADA and of sub-stations instrumentation/measurement, compliant with IEC 61850. The archive also includes the results of some of the analyses completed to date.


Recently, the public policy debate on Medicare reform has turned to adding a prescription drug benefit. Currently, approximately a third of Medicare beneficiaries lack pharmaceutical coverage. Lack of coverage appears to be particularly detrimental to the chronically ill Medicare subpopulation that often needs prescription medications on a daily basis. Several Congressional proposals would establish disease management demonstration projects concurrently with a prescription drug benefit. Theoretically, implementation of disease management programs that improve coordination of drug therapy with hospital and physician care services would contribute to a more cost-effective drug benefit. This paper presents results from a Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development survey describing current disease management practice in the United States. The survey results suggest willingness on the part of commercial disease managers to negotiate performance- and (insurance) risk-based contracts with Medicare. However, at present, disease managers enroll only a small number of Medicare beneficiaries; less than 20% of their total enrollment. Disease managers also have very limited experience with government agency contracts, which comprise less than 5% of their total contracts. In addition, comparatively few disease managers surveyed focus specifically on diseases that are highly prevalent among Medicare beneficiaries, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, End-Stage Renal Disease, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. These survey findings suggest that disease managers are not currently fully prepared to enter the Medicare market en masse.


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Although there have been many interesting works on outage performance analysis of cognitive AF relay networks, we have not found works taking into consideration all the following issues: multiple primary users PUs, the existence of the direct link from secondary user SU source to SU destination, non-identical, independent Rayleigh-fading channels, non-identical interference power limits of PUs, and non-identical noise powers in signals. Additionally, in outage performance analysis for such networks, the correlation issue, which results from the channel gain of interference links from the SU nodes to the PU, requires elaborate treatments. Hence, analyzing outage performance of non-identical-parameter networks where all channels are fully non-identical Rayleigh-fading channels, the PUs have different interference power limits, and received signals have different noise powers from the beginning is highly complicated. To overcome this problem, we conduct the analysis in two steps. In the first step, expressions of both exact and asymptotic outage probability of identical-parameter cognitive AF relay networks where all channels are fully non-identical Rayleigh-fading channels but all other parameters are identical are obtained. Then in the second step, we propose a method for transforming a network with all non-identical parameters into a new identical-parameter network, meanwhile guaranteeing that outage performance of the two networks before and after the transformation are the same. Hence, OP of the original non-identical-parameter network can be obtained indirectly by using the analysis results obtained in the first step. Our analysis results are validated through numerical simulations. The effects of the number of PUs and the diversity level of channel parameters which means the range of the channel parameter values are also inspected by simulations. The results show that taking these factors into consideration is of key importance in obtaining a more accurate estimation of outage performance of such networks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


NDTE plays a very important role on our daily production testing and in-service inspection of industrial and civil equipment in China.The history,personnel qualification and certification system,conference and instrument exhibition,standard,instrument,education,main research and application areas for NDT in China were reviewed.From the statistic results,we can find that there are more than 170,000 qualified NDT personnel and 2,000 NDT organizations in China.A lot of NDT instrument and equipment valued more than one billion Yuan RMB revenue were sold in 2007.Near 1,000 students of NDT major are graduated from college or University.China not only has a large requirement for conventional NDT instrument and service,but also for advanced instrument,technique and service.China is being a big market for NDT instrument,technique and service.Many advanced NDT techniques also have been studied,developed and successfully used.


Abstract Secreted microRNAs (miRNAs) are novel endocrine factors that play essential pathological and physiological roles. Here, we report that pancreatic β cell‐released exosomal miR‐29 family members (miR‐29s) regulate hepatic insulin sensitivity and control glucose homeostasis. Cultured pancreatic islets were shown to secrete miR‐29s in response to high levels of free fatty acids (FFAs) in vitro. In vivo, high levels of FFAs, promoted by either high‐fat diet (HFD) feeding (physiopathological) or fasting (physiological), increased the secretion of miR‐29s into plasma. Intravenous administration of exosomal miR‐29s attenuated insulin sensitivity. The overexpression of miR‐29s in the β cells of transgenic (TG) mice promoted the secretion of miR‐29s and inhibited the insulin‐mediated suppression of glucose output in the liver. We used selective overexpression of traceable heterogenous mutant miR‐29s in β cells to confirm that islet‐derived exosomal miR‐29s target insulin signalling in the liver and blunt hepatic insulin sensitivity. Moreover, in vivo disruption of miR‐29s expression in β cells reversed HFD‐induced insulin resistance. In vitro experiments demonstrated that isolated exosomes enriched in miR‐29s inhibited insulin signalling in the liver and increased hepatic glucose production. These results unveil a novel β cell‐derived secretory signal—exosomal miR‐29s—and provide insight into the roles of miR‐29s in manipulating glucose homeostasis.


The large protein of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) envelope was subdivided intothe preSl region with 108-115 amino acids, the preS2 region with 55 amino acidsand the S region with 226 amino acids. It was believed that the preSl region cotainedthe hepatocyte attachment sites of the virus as well as multiple highly immunogenicT-cell and B-cell epitopes. The antibody response to the preSl peptide was also oneof the most important serological markers of HBV infection.


The isomorphism problem for Coxeter groups has been reduced to its "reflection preserving version" by B Howlett and the second author. Thus, in order to solve it, it suffices to determine for a given Coxeter system (W,R) all Coxeter generating s e t s S of W which are contained in RW, the set of reflections of (W,R). In this paper, we provide a further reduction: it suffices to determine all Coxeter generating sets S ⊆ RW which are sharpangled with respect to R. © 2008 Mathematical Sciences Publishers.


A synthetic route to the new title compounds 4, which involves an intramolecular nitrile imide cycloaddition to an acetylenic moiety as the key step, is described.


A new synthetic method for the one-pot preparation of aldoximes in water was developed; the method is based on the combination of the enzymatic oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes using different acetic acid bacteria and in situ condensation of the aldehydes with hydroxylamine.


INTRODUCTION: A bronchopleural fistula (BPF) is a communication between the pleural space and a main or lobar bronchus. BPFs are rare, occurring typically after major lung resection and are associated with high mortality and morbidity. Therapeutic options include surgical and bronchoscopic procedures, which depend on patient status, location and size of the fistula. There are several BPF sealants but none is considered gold standard. Endoschopic treatment with trichloroacetic acid (TCA) leads to closure of BPF through its irritating properties. AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to understand if the instillation of TCA through a bronchoscopic procedure could be useful in closing BPFs. METHODS: Records of all patients treated for BPF with TCA in our Pulmonology Department between 2011 and 2015 were reviewed. Under local anesthesia patients were submitted to a bronchoscopy where BPFs were confimed and 50% TCA solution was instilled through a flexible tube into the fistula. RESULTS: We identified 3 male patients with a mean age of 62,7yrs. All fistulae occurred as postoperative complications (two after left pneumectomy and one after right lower bilobectomy). BPF size ranged between 1 to 3 mm. Two were located at the left main bronchus and the other at the right main bronchus. The mean number of treatments was 2,7/patient. One BPF was resolved after the procedure. Of the other two patients, none had status performance to proceed to corrective surgery. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience bronchoscopic treatment of BPF with TCA could be effective in selected patients. Further research is needed to understand which are the best endoschopic procedures, especially in patients that aren´t fit for surgery.


The film doping with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots has been fabricated and the emission cross sections of CdSe/ZnS quantum dots have been obtained by applying the McCumber theory. With the calculated emission cross sections depending on wavelengths the emission lifetime of 1.12 ns is obtained. By comparison of the calculated lifetime and previously reported ones, we find excellent agreement between the measured and calculated ones. It has been found that the McCumber theory can still be used to calculate the emission cross sections of quantum dots with discrete energy level structure.


Malaria parasite during its intraerythrocytic development digests considerable amount of hemoglobin (Hb) of the host red blood cell (RBC) and converts into a polymerized form of heme, referred to as hemozoin (Hz). The molar extinction coefficient of Hz greatly differs from that of Hb at certain optical wavelengths. Consequently, light absorption and hence, photoacoustic (PA) emission of an infected cell would vary from that of a normal cell. The PA signals were calculated from simulated blood samples with various stages of infection (normal, ring, trophozoite and schizont) employing a theoretical model. A Monte Carlo algorithm was used to simulate tissue samples in 3D. The simulation results showed that the PA amplitude monotonically decreased and increased with parasite growth, when probed with 411 and 700 nm laser beams, respectively. The PA amplitude for an ensemble of infected cells (schizont stage) was nearly 2 times lower at 411 and 79 times higher at 700 nm than that of healthy RBCs. The PA spectral power also demonstrated similar trends. For example, at 7.5 MHz spectral power nearly decreased by 6 dB and increased by 38 dB between the same stages at those optical wavelengths, respectively. It is conjectures that it may be feasible experimentally to differentiate intraerythrocytic stages of malaria parasite when illuminated by a suitable optical radiation.


Organizing Immigrants, which is the result of a May 1998 conference at UCLA, is one of the first attempts to explore a domain that has received little academic attention as of today: the relations between immigrants and labor unions in the contemporary United States. California, the state which counts the largest number and proportion of workers of foreign origin in its labor force, is a fruitful framework for this undertaking. The contributors—mostly sociologists, an economist and a jurist—e...


The epinastine hydrochloride,pregelatinized starch and microcrystalline cellulose were mixed and then filled into capsules.The drug-excipient compatibility,powder properties of the mixture of drug-excipient with different weight ratio and in vitro dissolution of the product were investigated.The results of preliminary stability test showed that after storage at(40±2)℃ and relative humidity of(75±5)% for 6 months or at room temperature for 12 months,the content and dissolution did not have significant changes but the amount of related substances had a slight increase.


This paper evaluates the impact of a sudden and unexpected nation-wide alcohol sales ban in South Africa. We find that this policy causally reduced injury-induced mortality in the country by at least 14%. We argue that this estimate constitutes a lower bound on the true impact of alcohol on injury-induced mortality. We also document a sharp drop in violent crimes, indicating a tight link between alcohol and aggressive behavior in society. Our results underscore the severe harm that alcohol can cause and point towards a role for policy measures that target the heaviest drinkers in society.


An optimized CTAB method for total RNA extraction was presented for use in accurately quantifying components of animal origin and fighting against adulterated food in the market as a sample preparation method.The use of the CTAB method to extract total RNA from pork was investigated with respect to sample amount,dissociation time,precipitation time and RNase treatment.As a result,a fast and efficient method for total RNA extraction was achieved by selecting sample amount below 0.05 g,0.5 h dissociation,0.5h precipitation and non-RNase treatment.The method showed a good linear relationship(R2 =0.9972) and stability(SD =0.18).


There have been mentioned that the intensiveness of labour is connected with sophisticated skills that demand extra expenditure of labour power connected with the increase of consumption of vital energy during the working day. There has been scrutinized the contribution into the elaboration of the theory of labour intensiveness, that was made by the following native economists: Patrusheva V. D., Umerov E. G., Cherkasov G. N., Sirotkin S. P., Klimov N. A., Solov'ev A. V., Shahovskaya L. S. There has been drawn a conclusion that the government must regulate the length of the working day, labour productivity and intensity. Taking into account this goal, it is necessary for the government to set up the national labour standards and to include labour productivity figures into the number of planned items at least for the national enterprises.


This paper presents an overview of state-of-theart techniques for the analysis and simulation of microwave and RF nonlinear circuits. It is the result of the work done for preparation of "Provas de Agregacao" (the habilitation degree for full professorship in Portuguese Universities) of its author, and the various seminars given on this subject. Using a pedagogical approach, the paper first states the problem of nonlinear circuit simulation, as seen from a theoretical viewpoint. Then, it starts the presentation by the most natural and intuitive time-domain methods. Frequencydomain techniques are then introduced as a means to circumvent the most important disadvantages of timemarching engines. Finally, multi-rate techniques are addressed, and it is shown how they can become one of the most important breakthroughs of circuit simulation.


Common problems concerning housing in Spain include: overstocked and poorly distributed housing stock, where higher income families monopolize housing leaving groups of people with access problems; generation of good and bad quality urban fabric, including endemic social exclusion processes; or the absence of alternatives for people with little resources to buy a house. In Spain, secure access to housing is still an unresolved matter. Housing policy is conditioned to two objectives: giving access to decent houses to all Spaniards, and boosting the economy by promoting construction; thus creating an overstocked, underused and overvalued housing stock that is available to some groups of people. Through the analysis of the housing stock and housing policies developed in Spain and in the north of Europe since the second half of the XXth century, this paper studies the political strategies that caused this situation, ending with programs that may give guidelines for solving the problem.


Government and private efforts have driven the development of the National Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Industry, important activity in changing our status as supplier of raw materials for supplier of technology and high added value products. This scenario enhances the ability of the market to absorb graduate chemists to work in the development of industrial API processes able to meet market and regulatory requirements with quality, safety, robustness, competitive costs and the lowest environmental impact. This article presents reflections on the steps involved during the development of an industrial process to prepare an API and the required skills for this challenge. Thus, we seek to suggest to readers important disciplines which they should contact throughout their graduate and postgraduate studies to meet the requirements that this professional activity demands.


Solid state reactions, induced by mechanical energy, liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) and ball milling, have become established methods for the preparation of pharmaceutical cocrystals. Examination of the mechanochemical reaction pathways reveal the existence of different intermediate phases of variable crystallinity. Poor physicochemical properties (solubility and permeability) of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) are a serious concern in clinical development. Cocrystals and salts of APIs often have advantageous physicochemical properties, improved over the parent drugs, without change in therapeutic efficiency. Hydrochlorothiazide (HCT), is a BCS class IV diuretic drug with poor solubility and permeability. Physicochemical properties of HCT have been modified by cocrystallization with piperazine (PPZ), tetramethylpyrazine (TMPZ), picolinamide (PCM), pyrazinamide (PZM), isoniazid (INZ), malonamide (MAM), picolinic acid (PIC) and isonicotinic acid (INIC) using mechanochemical grinding (liquid assisted and neat). The solids obtained were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), FTIR spectroscopy and DSC and subjected to solubility and membrane permeability studies. SCXRD showed that the N-H...O sulfonamide catemer synthons found in the stable polymorph of pure HCT, have been replaced by drug-coformer heterosynthons in the cocrystals. HCT–PPZ, HCT–PCM and HCT–PIC cocrystals showed improvement in solubility and membrane permeability/diffusion compared to the parent API. The improved solubility and diffusion rates are due to the drug-coformer interactions in the new solid forms. A structure-property relationship is examined to evaluate the solubility and diffusion rates of the new solid forms. The cocrystal with INIC, which could not be prepared previously by conventional methods, was obtained by prolonged grinding for six days.


Many teachers whose backgrounds are not in statistics must teach statistical concepts. Nonstatisticians face extra challenges in preparing for a statistics class, including uncertainty about content and pedagogy. This article addresses this challenge by suggesting the use of CAUSEweb, an online repository of statistics education resources. Methods are described to incorporate this resource into the planning and teaching of several difficult statistical concepts, including time series and hypothesis testing, using resources tailored to different application areas, such as biology, engineering, and chemistry.


To meet the requirements arising from the increased complexity of the power, attitude control and telemetry systems, a full redundant high-performance control section with delayed command capability was designed for the Small Astronomy Satellite-3 (SAS-3). The relay command system of SAS-3 is characterized by 56 bystate relay commands, with capability for handling up to 64 commands in future versions. The 'short' data command service of SAS-1 and SAS-2 consisting of shifting 24-bit words to two users was expanded to five users and augmented with a 'long load' data command service (up to 4080 bits) used to program the telemetry system and the delayed command subsystem. The inclusion of a delayed command service ensures a program of up to 30 relay or short data commands to be loaded for execution at designated times. The design and system operation of the SAS-3 command section are analyzed, with special attention given to the delayed command subsystem.


Monitoring the looseness of bolted structures is important to ensure the reliability and integrity of engineering structures. In the past decades, various methods have been developed to characterize looseness states of bolted structures. However, in the long-term storage, transportation, and usage process of bolted structures, especially under random excitation, the vibration-based method for monitoring is the most applicative technology with merits such as low cost and comprehensive operability. To fulfill this task accurately and automatically, a novel looseness state recognition approach of bolted structures based on multi-domain sensitive features derived from quasi-analytic wavelet packet transform (QAWPT) and generalized Gegenbauer support vector machine (GGSVM) is proposed in this paper. To extract effective looseness feature information, the measured non-stationary and nonlinear vibration response signals are processed by QAWPT, and then multi-domain sensitive features are extracted from obtained frequency band signals. For accurate and automatic state recognition, generalized Gegenbauer kernel is introduced, and then multi-class GGSVM is developed to recognize looseness states. In order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a typical bolted beam structure is designed and fabricated, and various looseness states are implemented. The testing results show that the proposed method is effective for looseness state recognition of bolted structures. In addition, QAWPT owns superiority in processing vibration response signals compared with classical WPT, and GGSVM has higher recognition accuracy and better generalization ability than that of kernel SVM with radial basis function.


Chapter 2 deals with the concept of the company seat and seat transfers. It explains that the seat determines which specific national (company) law will be applicable to a company and that there are two different kinds of seats in the EU which can serve as the connecting factor to the applicable (company) law. The first connecting factor is the registered office and the second is the central administration. The chapter further looks at how the concept of a 'seat' is used in the European Union and illustrates this through the example of Dutch law in order to form an idea of how this is specifically regulated in national law. Thereafter, an analysis is made of how a company's 'seat' can be transferred from one EU Member State to another, and what problems arise in this context.


Objective The load and deflecting characteristics of 20 kinds of archwire at oral temperature was investingated,to help orthodontist choose NITI archwire in clinic.Methods 20 kinds of NITI archwire from 9 companies were selected,with 12 pieces of round wires and 8 pieces of rectangular wires,9 pieces of superelastic wire and 11 pieces of thermodynamic archwires.Three point bending test was conducted by material testing machine with a span of 10mm,the deflect rate is 2mm/s.Temperature was controlled at 35±2℃ by thermostatic box.Results The loading stress was becoming lower when the deflection was above 3mm,while the unloading stress is not significantly affected.Thermodynamic wire does not produce smaller stress than superelastic wire with same dimension.Tensic 16 mil archwire produce the smallest stress(37.03g)in this study,the second one was Forestadent 14 mil Martensitic NITI wire. Rectanguar NITI wires has greater hyterisis than round ones.Conclusions NITI archwire does not produce large stress under big deflection.The dimension of archwire is not the only property used to choose archwire.Thermodynamic arch wire does not produce small stresss.Rectangular wire can be used early after the rotation is corrected.


An insertion device for an intra-ocular lens (IOL) has a bilaminar, lubricious coating on the surface which contacts the IOL as it is being inserted into the eye. The bilaminar coating includes a highly lubricious top coat, and a polymeric base coat which is both highly adherent to the surface of the insertion device, and which has functional groups capable of grafting the base coat to the top coat. In its completed form, the bilaminar coating is essentially permanent, and exceedingly lubricious when wet, allowing the IOL to be advanced smoothly and without damage through the insertion device. The top coat may include hyaluronan, or another material capable of providing the required lubricity.


This chapter raises some key problems with Elias's approach, focussing particularly on his notions of civilization and modernity, and on his assumptions about violence and the intemalisation of norms. It argues that there is relatively little exploration of space for creativity, for the role of the imagination, or a dialectical interplay between some irreducible individual core and a surrounding framework of culturally constructed perceptions. The chapter thus functions to show how the following chapters serve collectively to revise and extend Elias's work and to present new perspectives on the development of culture and society in Germany.


Social crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic provide a fertile ground for radical actors and social movements to strengthen their radical mobilization—mainly using social media. In light of the deplatforming efforts of social media platforms that forced radical actors to establish new channels to continue their discourses and the recent crisis that opened a discursive opportunity structure, we investigate how radical actors use Telegram for mobilization. Based on a longitudinal manual content analysis of 13,371 messages from 188 German Telegram channels of the Querdenken movement, conspiracy, and far-right actors, we examine mobilization strategies (namely direct appeals and populist blame game) and their success (retransmission) between March 2020 and December 2021. We found that both offline and online appeals and the use of anti-elitism increased significantly over time. The use of direct and indirect mobilization attempts is related to the ideological background of the actors, with direct appeals being favored by the Querdenken movement. Furthermore, the results shed light on the mechanisms of radical mobilization on Telegram, showing that both direct appeals and the populist blame game are successful strategies for radical actors because they increase message retransmission.


The electronic bands of BaB2O4 (BBO) and LiB3O5 (LBO) have been computed from first principles using the ab initio pseudofunction method. Optical conductivities and densities of states in good agreement with optical measurements and x‐ray photoemission are obtained. The gap in BBO results from the borate group to the Ba. In LBO, the gap is from a fourfold coordinated borate to a threefold coordinated borate. This suggests that cluster calculations based on the borate groups alone is a reasonable approximation for LBO, but not for BBO.


Mobile phone message provided a rich material for Chinese teaching. The article , based on the teaching practice , explores how to teach Chinese by using the message text .


MrBayes is a popular software package for Bayesian phylogenetic inference that is used to derive an evolutionary tree for a collection of species whose DNA sequences are known. At the high pace which biological data has been accumulating over the years, there has been a huge growth in the computational challenges required by this type of applications. To overcome this issue, researchers turned to parallel computing to speedup execution, for instance by using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). At the same time, GPUs architectures of different manufacturers evolved, presenting more and more computing power. Additionally, parallel programming frameworks became more mature providing more features to programmers to exploit parallelism within GPUs. In this work, we parallelized the MrBayes 3.2 in order to accelerate and reduce the execution time using the Open Computing Language (OpenCL) programming framework. Furthermore, we studied the performance of MrBayes execution using different computing platforms and different GPUs architectures of both NVIDIA and AMD vendors to determine the best architecture for this application. Results showed that even with GPUs with similar computing power NVIDIA's obtained better performance when compared to AMD's, with the later providing an unexpected low performance. Moreover, results also showed that for this particular application, NVIDIA architectural advances over the years provide limited performance improvement.


Fiscal rules have become popular to limit deficits and high debt burdens in many countries. A growing literature examines their impact based on aggregate fiscal performance. So far, no evidence exists on how fiscal rules influence deficit expectations of fiscal policy makers. In the context of the German debt brake, we study this expectation dimension. In a first step, we introduce a dynamic model in an environment characterized by lagged implementation of a new rule, which in turn characterizes the setup of the German debt brake and raises credibility issues. In a second step, we analyze a unique survey of members of all 16 German state parliaments and show that the debt brake's credibility is far from perfect. The heterogeneity of compliance expectations in the survey corresponds to our theoretical predictions regarding states' initial fiscal conditions, specific state fiscal rules, and bailout perceptions. In addition, there is a robust asymmetry in compliance expectations between insiders and outsiders (both for in-state vs. out-of-state politicians and the incumbent government vs. opposition dimension), which we attribute to overconfidence rather than noisy information.


ABSTRACT The determinants of non-life insurance expenditure in a panel data set covering 36 developed countries and 31 developing countries for the period 2000–2011 are analysed. Results of our instrumental variable analysis indicate that economic freedom, income, bank development, urbanization, culture and law systems are the key drivers of the non-life insurance expenditure across countries. However, their impacts differ significantly between the groups of developed and developing countries, suggesting that the heterogeneity among countries in terms of the level of development plays an important role. The global financial crisis is also found to influence the direction of those effects, especially in developed countries. The article yields useful policy and economic implications for governments and multinational non-life insurance companies with regard to the development of the non-life insurance sector, an important engine for economic growth and prosperity.


Background: Endocrine therapy (ET) is the preferred therapy option for patients (pts) with hormone receptor-positive (HR[+]) advanced breast cancer (ABC), except for pts with visceral crisis who often receive chemotherapy to achieve rapid symptom control. Cyclin-dependent kinases 4/6 inhibitors have improved the effectiveness of ET across all subgroups of pts with ABC by targeting potential mechanisms of resistance. An exploratory analysis revealed that the addition of abemaciclib to ET conferred the largest benefit in pts with poor prognostic characteristics (liver metastases, high grade tumors, or progesterone receptor-negative status) [Di Leo, NPJ Breast Cancer 2018; 4: 41]. ABIGAIL aims to provide consistent evidence that abemaciclib plus ET is superior or non-inferior to paclitaxel in terms of early overall response as first-line regimen in HR[+], HER2-negative ABC pts with poor prognosis. Trial Design: This is a multicenter, randomized, open-label, phase 2 trial. Eligible participants are men and women of any menopausal status aged ≥18 years with HR[+], HER2-negative ABC who had no prior systemic therapy in the advanced setting and at least one of the following aggressive disease criteria: (i) Visceral disease; (ii) High histological grade and/or progesterone receptor-negative status; (iii) Lactate dehydrogenase >1.5 × the upper limit of normal; (iv) Relapse while on or within 36 months of completing adjuvant ET. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1, measurable disease as per RECIST 1.1, and adequate organ function are also required. A total of 160 pts will be randomly assigned (1:1) to receive abemaciclib (300 mg/day orally during each 28-day cycle) plus ET as per investigator's criteria (either letrozole [2.5 mg/day orally] or fulvestrant [500 mg intramuscularly on days 1, 15 of cycle 1, and on day 1 thereafter], or paclitaxel (90 mg/m² intravenously on days 1, 8, 15). Men and pre-/peri-menopausal women will receive a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist if randomized to abemaciclib plus ET. At investigator's discretion, pts in the paclitaxel arm could receive abemaciclib plus ET at any point after the first 12 weeks or extend chemotherapy for a total of 6 cycles. Randomization will be stratified according to the presence of visceral disease and endocrine therapy. The primary endpoint is 12-week overall response rate (ORR) as per RECIST 1.1. Key secondary endpoints include ORR, clinical benefit rate, 12-week progression-free survival, progression-free survival, time to response, duration of response, overall survival, time to first subsequent therapy, time to second subsequent therapy, and time to first chemotherapy for pts in abemaciclib plus ET arm, patient-reported outcomes, and safety as per NCI-CTCAE 5.0. The sample size assumes the comparison of two proportions in an asymptotical normal test. We expect that 12-week ORR will be higher in the abemaciclib plus ET arm than paclitaxel arm (30% vs. 15%), with the assumption of a 5% non-inferiority margin. Based on a 10% dropout rate, a sample size of 160 pts is necessary to attain 80% power at nominal level of two-sided alpha of 0.05. We will test the superiority of abemaciclib plus ET as compared with paclitaxel if the non-inferiority is achieved. Both analyses, will be conducted with the Newcombe hybrid score method for confidence intervals. This trial was opened to accrual in May 2021.
 Citation Format: Antonio Llombart-Cussac, Joseph Gligorov, Serena Di Cosimo, Cinta Albacar, Patricia Cortez, Eduardo Martinez-De Dueñas, Ana López, Vicente Carañana, Jacques Medioni, Luigi Cavanna, Marina Elena Cazzaniga, Sofia Braga, Passos Coelho, Miguel Sampayo-Cordero, Andrea Malfettone, José Manuel Pérez-García, Javier Cortes. Phase 2 study of abemaciclib in combination with endocrine therapy with or without paclitaxel induction in patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer and aggressive disease criteria: ABIGAIL [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr OT2-19-06.


We study the formation and evolution of elliptical galaxies and how they suppress star formation and maintain it quenched. A one-zone chemical model which follows in detail the time evolution of gas mass and its chemical abundances during the active and passive evolution, is adopted. The model includes both gas infall and outflow as well as detailed stellar nucleosynthesis. Elliptical galaxies with different infall masses, following a down-sizing in star formation scenario, are considered. In the chemical evolution simulation we include a novel calculation of the feedback processes. We include heating by stellar wind, core-collapse SNe, Type Ia SNe (usually not highlighted in galaxy formation simulations) and AGN feedback. The AGN feedback is a novelty in this kind of models and is computed by considering a Bondi-Eddington limited accretion onto the central supermassive black hole. We successfully reproduce several observational features, such as the [ 𝛼 /Fe] ratios increasing with galaxy mass, mass-metallicity, M BH − 𝜎 and M BH − M ∗ relations. Moreover, we show that stellar feedback and in particular Type Ia SNe, has a main role in maintaining quenched the star formation after the occurrence of the main galactic wind, especially in low-mass ellipticals. For larger systems, the contribution from AGN to thermal energy of gas appears to be necessary. However, the effect of the AGN on the development of the main galactic wind is negligible, unless an unreasonable high AGN efficiency or an extremely low stellar feedback are assumed. We emphasize the important role played by Type Ia SNe in the energy budget of early-type galaxies.


Reef‐building oysters historically provided the main structural and ecological component of temperate and subtropical coastal waters globally. While the loss of oyster reefs is documented in most regions globally, assessments of the status of Asian oyster reefs are limited. The feasibility of restoration within the regional biological and societal contexts needs to be assessed before implementation. Here, we quantified the current distribution of natural oyster reefs (Crassostrea spp.) in the shallow coastal waters of Hong Kong, assessed the biological feasibility of reestablishing reefs using natural recruitment, and examined their current and potential water filtration capacity as a key ecosystem service provided by restoration. We found natural low‐relief oyster beds in the low intertidal coastal areas at a subset of the locations surveyed. These areas are, however, degraded and have sparse densities of oysters generally <2 years old. Recruitment was high in some areas (>500,000 indiv./m2) and while survival to maturity varied across sites there was adequate larval supply and survival for restoration. Filtration rates for a 1‐year‐old recruit (90 mm length, approximately 30 L/hour per individual) at summer temperatures (30°C) meant that even the small remnant populations are able to provide some filtration services (up to 31.7 ML/hour). High natural recruitment means that oyster reef restoration can be achieved with the addition of hard substrate for recruitment, increased protection of restoration sites, and would not only increase the ecological value of reefs regionally but also serve as a model for future restoration in Asia.


Results obtained from the ultrasonic inspection of tubes and other parts may not be satisfactory due t o insufficient sensitivity and inability to character ize a flaw (i.e. determine its shape and orientatio n) and then size it. It is therefore worth to develop s me special approach, which could significantly improve inspection capabilities by using some simpl e techniques. For example, one can employ a few transducers positioned differently and working in p arallel. The obtained image will contain a number of responses, related to various transducers. Combi ning these data, one can evaluate flaw shape and orientation, as well as estimate its dimensions.


The ship's engineering drawing life-cycle management is the basis of ship engineering informatization construction.The analysis and modeling of the organizational roles are the basic of modeling of life cycle of the engineering drawing.The research sets up the model of organizational perspective in life cycle management of navy ships and the requirements,acquiring mode and operating purview of the roles are described by analyzing the responsibilities and assignments of the organization roles in the engineering drawing life-cycle such as the designer,manufacture,management,user and maintenance of the ships.


Conformal antenna has several advantages: less influence on platform's aerodynamic factor, less space for installation, large scan range and so on. In the past twenty years, conformal antenna has promoted the development of commercial and military application. For instance, satellite communication [1], mobile communication and public safety [2] etc. However, when the classic antennas are used to design conformal ones, it is inevitable to find that the characteristics of antennas would change due to the effect of the platform. Taking patch antenna as an example, to design a conformal patch antenna by using original empirical equation is not appropriate in most condition. So that designing and optimizating the conformal antenna would become a formidable task. In order to solve this problem, space mapping is adopted to optimize the conformal antenna.


This paper presents the first controlled economic experiment to study celerity, i.e. the effectiveness of swiftness of punishment in reducing illicit behavior. We consider two dimensions: timing of punishment and timing of the resolution of uncertainty regarding the punishment. We find a surprising u-shaped relation between deterrence and the delays of punishment and uncertainty resolution. Institutions that either reveal detection and impose punishment immediately or maintain uncertainty about the state of detection and impose punishment sufficiently late are equally effective at deterring illicit behavior. Our results yield strong implications for the design of institutional policies to mitigate misconduct and reduce recidivism.


In this article, we have examined toxicity of nanostructures such as flower-like ZnO capped with starch, spherical uncapped ZnO and spherical CdS on aquatic plant Hydrilla verticillata, which has not done before. Hydrilla plant was exposed by these nanoparticles at a concentration of 400 mg/L for 7 days and changes in the biochemical parameters such as catalase activity, chlorophyll content and protein content were observed. It was perceived that spherical CdS nanoparticles were more toxic than the corresponding ZnO nanoparticles since there was a decrease in chlorophyll content and increase in catalase activity. This effort upsurge an interest in understanding the hazards of nanomaterials and their risk, which poses an impact on our environment and how they can be monitored via simple biochemical assays on plant systems.


The articles looks at the trends in the development of think tanks in major Asian countries. It reviews the posture of the Asian think tanks in global ratings. It also looks at the literature on think tanks in theUSA, western and Asian countries. Despite the fact that the first think tanks appeared inAsiain the 1950's, they did not turn into a politically significant force. The reasons are insufficient financial independence and shortage of skills. Asian think tanks are often preoccupied with research for corporations and government agencies that provide their funding. It negatively affects the ability of the think tanks to independently set the research agenda and express critical viewpoint. However, think tanks often provide valuable platforms for dialogue among experts that can be helpful during periods of deterioration of the political relations between countries. For instance, the role of Japanese and Russian think tanks as "track two" diplomacy actors was helpful particularly during the period of deterioration of Russia-Japan relations in 2014-2015. The article also looks at the development of the Asian think tank networks. Most of these networks were created in support of regional frameworks such as APEC, ASEAN Plus Three, ARF, etc. Asian think tank networks depend on a number of "core institutions" that regularly host events and ensure continuity of the agenda. The article then draws conclusions on the potential ofRussia's influence on ideological and political processes in the Asia-Pacific region.


We report on the permanent magnetism exhibited by 1 nm sized thiol-capped palladium nanoparticles, up to temperatures above 300 K. The hysteresis loop does not change appreciably between 5 and 300 K. The local magnetic anisotropy constant was found to be stronger than 2 meV per Pd atom. The localized character of electrons and holes of the 4d residual band, revealed through the structureless plasmon resonance curve, suggests that the origin of the permanent magnetism is associated with localized magnetic moments.


Shelf mud is an important sink for fluvial sediment, and it is sensitive to variations in river discharge and ocean circulation, which are significantly influenced by climate change. However, the evolution of shelf mud in response to climate change during the Holocene is poorly understood. Here, we present high‐resolution sedimentary records of heavy minerals and mass accumulation rates (MARs) from the East China Sea shelf to study the response mechanisms of the Holocene shelf mud supply, transport, and sedimentation to the climate‐driven variations in fluvial discharge and ocean currents. The results indicate that the shelf mud primarily originates from the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and has been mainly transported by wind‐driven longshore currents in suspension since approximately 8.0 ka. A comparison of the MARs with several shelf mud sedimentation‐rate records and climate changes during the Holocene on millennial timescales showed that strong (weak) precipitation in the river basin, which is positively linked with Asian summer monsoon and El Niño‐driven storms, could intensify (weaken) the fluvial sediment supply, thereby increasing (decreasing) the shelf mud deposition flux. On multicentennial timescales, changes in the relative intensities of different ocean currents due to climate oscillations during the Holocene could generate frequent migrations of the current shear front (a hydrodynamic barrier), which has trapped an abundance of suspended materials on the shoreward side and resulted in rapid mud sedimentation (~2.3 g/cm2/year) at different sites during different periods. Therefore, our study highlights that the Holocene shelf mud evolution responds sensitively to climate changes on different timescales.


This paper is a continuation of a preyious study whereby the planar anitude control of a deputy satelLlte encircling a central satellite body is discussed [1]. In this extension, howeyeg the inctusion efsensor and actuator noise is made. In reality the sensitivity ofboth the positional measurement and charge induction system will 1{mit the performance of the satellite formation. Attitude and positional control are achieved by exploiting the spacecraft charges. a Lyapunov based control lasg a switching control logic and a temporary guidarice eliipse rnethod. The desired attitude is defined as the deputy satellite body fixed y-axis pointing towards the composite satetlite centre of mass. In translational terrns the target path (nominal reference motion) is a Ctohessy Wittshire bounded solution relative to the centraE satetlite body. The infiuence of actuator noise into the feedback system is hereby investigated,


A method is given whereby one may graphically determine the radiation heat transfer properties of a number of closely packed radiation shields. The method uses the gray body formula, taking into account variations in total thermal emissivity of the adjacent shields as a function of temperature. Results were used in the construction of a high temperature vacuum furnace. Excellent correlation was found between graphically predicted and calorimetrically measured results.


Reports on the issuance of guidelines by the JEDEC JC-70 to test and evaluate wide bandgap (WBG) devices. For accelerating the adoption WBG power devices in power electronics systems, open standards are needed. Besides enabling market growth, standards ramp maturity of the industry and accelerate industrywide adoption by creating consistency across the supplier base, which is important to the users. In addition, it addresses specific market needs. Toward that goal, a new JEDEC committee JC-70 was created in 2017 with Dr. Stephanie Watts Butler, technology innovation architect in GaN and high-voltage power at Texas In - struments, as the Chair of JC-70 WBG committee.


Intimate partner violence (IPV) has devastating consequences for the women who experience it and a traumatic effect on children who witness it. Abused women are not passive victims but rather they adopt active strategies to maximize their safety and that of their children. This study determined the impact of IPV and coping strategies adopted among women in military and civilian communities of Abuja, Nigeria. Data was collected from 260 married or co-habiting women in civilian and military populations, on impact of IPV among them and adopted coping strategies including suggested solutions to evade or cushion the effect. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were also conducted to complement quantitative data. Result of analyzed data was presented in charts while FGD data was subjected to content analysis.All the respondents in the FGD groups unanimously agreed that IPV impacts negatively on a victim"s health. Majority of civilian 46 (42.6%) and military 59 (45.4%) IPV victims sought help from informal sectors like families, friends and churches. Most of the civilian respondents 16(14.8%) sought help because they were encouraged by family and friends while majority of the military barracks respondents 36(27.7%) sought help because they couldn"t endure the violence anymore. Early behavioral change communications directed at the male child, economic empowerment of girl child coupled with prayers were some of the suggested ways of curbing IPV during the FGD. The religious communities should be sensitized to preach against IPV and IPV "drivers" as well as stigmatize abusers as a deterrent. People in position of authority/opinion leaders should speak-out and champion positive behavioural change. Economic empowerment of women should be pursued with vigor by Governments at all levels to give women enough independence and confidence to escape IPV. Government should show more commitment by ensuring speedy passage of the bill on "Elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against women" which will aid legal process in handling cases of IPV.


Objective To evaluate the role of erythropoietin receptor (EPO-R) and CD31 in the Prostate cancer(Pca). Methods Fifty–one cases of Pca and ten cases of benign prostate hyperplasia(BpH) were studied by immunohistochmcal method using monocolonal antibody to EPO-R and CD31. Results It was showed that there were significantly correlation between EPO-R or CD31 and Grade, Score of Gleason and metastasis of Pca. Conclusion The expression of EPO-R and CD31_ may play a important role in the development and metastasis of Pca.


Purpose Two main approaches are used for spectral analysis of edited data: simple peak fitting and linear combination modeling (LCM) with a simulated basis set. Recent consensus recommended LCM as the method of choice for the spectral analysis of edited data. The aim of this study is to compare the performance of simple peak fitting and LCM in a test-retest dataset, hypothesizing that the more sophisticated LCM approach will improve quantification of HERMES data compared with simple peak fitting. Methods A test-retest dataset was re-analyzed using Gannet (simple peak fitting) and Osprey (LCM). These data were obtained from the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex of twelve healthy volunteers, with TE 80 ms for HERMES and TE 120 ms for MEGA-PRESS of glutathione (GSH). Within-subject coefficients of variance (CVs) were calculated to quantify between-scan reproducibility of each metabolite estimate. Results The reproducibility of HERMES GSH estimates was substantially improved using LCM compared to simple peak fitting, from a CV of 19.0% to 9.9%. For MEGA-PRESS data, the GSH reproducibility was similar using LCM and simple peak fitting, with CVs of 7.3% and 8.8% respectively. Conclusion Linear combination modeling with simulated basis functions substantially improves the reproducibility of GSH quantification for HERMES data.


This contribution explores the recent debates over Jewish intermarriage and conversion in Colombia, and the extent to which they revived "Old World" and early-immigrant ethnic identities. To this effect it focuses on Bogotá's Sephardic community and tries to elucidate through the speeches, letters, and resolutions stemming from a 1981 High Holiday controversy the non-linear nature of ethnicity and how ethnicity is transformed through struggle. In doing so, this piece also points to a pattern of gendered relations that crossed ethnic and religious boundaries among Jews in Colombia.


of the thesis : In this PhD-thesis, the studied material is an alum inium alloys 5182 containing two particles types: Al x(Fe,Mn) and Mg2Si. During industrial rolling, particles are broken up, and redistributed in the volume of the sheet. As particles controls surface aspect and formabilit y of the final sheet, the work presented is based on two issues: to highlight volu me distribution of intermetallic particles, and to characterize their three-dimensional shapes during the rolling process. Thus, samples extracted to different steps of the rolling process are been scanned by X ray micro tomography (performed at the ESRF). The obtained th ree dimensional images are segmented by a multi class thresholding method. Extraction of each particle type is allowed. A data basis containing each individualized particles is created . It ensures to reconstruct the material binary image and also to work particle by particle. The particles dispersion is highlight by the graph of distances and the covariance study. The analysis of linear erosion and covarianc e allows to model the material by a probabilistic Boolean model with spherical primary g ains. A set of morphological parameters characterizes the int rmetallic particles three dimensional complex shapes. A principal components a alysis is performed to sum up the information. In the obtained subspace, particles ar classified into 5 families of shapes. Their evolution is followed during the rolling process.


This chapter aims to examine critically the concept of pluralism in the Middle East as a multidimensional site of negotiation and contestation. It approaches the question of pluralism and community in the Middle East as the lived experience of populations constantly negotiating the state-sanctioned inclusion and exclusion mechanisms. Rather than addressing the question of pluralism and community through the framework of "minorities," this chapter aims to offer a wider perspective on the impact of state policies on the diversity and heterogeneity of national identities as manifested at multiple levels, including education, law, cultural heritage, urbanism, economic activities and citizenship.


1. A method of determining uniquely the course of the vehicle, comprising: determining a magnitude of error shows as a difference between the direction of movement of the vehicle according to a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and unauthorized movement direction of the vehicle according to the inertial measurement unit, an amendment to the magnitude of error in the exhibition 180o to hold it in a predetermined range, if the discrepancy is outside the predetermined range, the amendment of the inequality Permissions course inertial measurement unit of the vehicle using values venue error, determining approximate matches unresolved comprising a correction value for error rate exhibitions by the inertial measurement unit with true orientation direction front of the vehicle or a direction substantially opposite to the true orientation of the front portion of the vehicle; and computing definite rate by changing at 180o unauthorized comprising a correction value for error rate exhibitions by the inertial measurement unit when unauthorized course inertial measurement unit about the direction opposite to the true orientation of the front of the vehicle sredstva.2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises determining the status of the front or rear of the vehicle by comparing the stroke rate unequivocal movement direction of the transport means GNSS.3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the amendment to block unauthorized course yn


Driving apps have proliferated in the market, for the purpose of collecting personal driving information. Amid the public's concern about privacy protection, developers often market these apps as helpful tools for safe driving, sometimes by incorporating reward programs. In this research, we examine app developers' marketing offers using device-tracking data from a Chinese tech start-up. We find that the app improves driving only when the reward incentive is significantly high. The driving improvement in our context is comparable to that found in other usage-based insurance studies. When the incentive drops, users react by dramatically reducing driving quality. However, the improvement is hardly sustainable, with the analysis revealing that it is mainly driven by reward saturation due to the daily realization of small rewards. When the incentive is low, users show little improvement after the initial period, followed by a continuous deterioration in driving quality due to the mere monitoring effect. Consumer heterogeneity moderates the effect. Users with high incomes and living in a congested city are less sensitive to the reward.


4553Background: A retrospective study using an institutional database from MSKCC [ASCO 2017, abstract # 4555] on 231 patients, showed that the presence of teratoma (T) in the primary testicular can...


Hierarchical spinel NiCo2O4 nanowires were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method followed by an annealing treatment. The prepared NiCo2O4 nanowires presented a hierarchical mesoporous structure. Moreover, the effects of precipitant and solvent on morphologies of NiCo2O4 were researched. The results reveal that the hierarchical mesoporous structured NiCo2O4 exhibited corking supercapacitor performance with a high specific capacitance of 2876 F·g–1 at a current density of 1 A g–1, even increased to 10.0 A g–1, the specific capacitance could still remain 1290 F g–1, what's more, the capacitance retention reached 84.7% after 500 cycles, which indicates an excellent electrochemical performance. The results demonstrate hierarchical mesoporous NiCo2O4 potential to be a promising supercapacitor electrode materials and inspire furthered research on binary metal oxides as charge storage materials and offer a new route for the large-scale production of high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials.


Qualitative and quantitative profiles of volatiles in alcoholic beverages depend mainly on the quality of raw materials, yeasts used for fermentation, and processing technique. Saccharomyces bayanus is a yeast species which is not commonly used for the production of alcoholic beverages, but it is able to produce volatiles that add desirable aroma. Since there is little information regarding the application of that microorganism for the production of apple brandies and how it affects volatile profile of finished products, we decided to address that issue. The aim of the study was to determine the impact of S. bayanus on the profile of volatile compounds and sensory properties of apple spirits obtained from three apple cultivars (Topaz, Rubin, and Elise) in comparison to spirits obtained from fermentation carried out spontaneously or with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Obtained brandies were analysed using gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC–FID), solid phase microextraction–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (SPME–GC–MS) and sensorially. In our study, brandies produced from musts fermented by S. bayanus demonstrated the highest concentration of ethyl esters and increased concentrations of isoamyl acetate, 2-phenylethyl acetate, ethyl palmitate and hexanol. Moreover, our results support the hypothesis that non-Saccharomyces yeasts which are present during spontaneous fermentation and demonstrate higher β-glucosidase activities enhance aroma of alcoholic beverages through releasing aroma compounds from glycosidic forms, e.g., α-phellandrene, (E)-β-fanesene, (Z,E)-α-farnesene, α-farnesene, and farnesol. Considering results obtained in sensory analysis, we proved that S. bayanus is suitable for the production of apple brandies, improving their flavour. Brandies obtained from musts fermented by S. bayanus obtained the highest average range for "overall note" parameter in sensory analysis.


One of the distinctive features of multimedia systems is the wide range of applications they intend to cover, stretching the gamut from entertainment to life-critical applications such as real-time remote surgery. In the face of such a wide spectrum of applications, protocols used to deal with various issues in multimedia systems should be adaptable to the application. Synchronization is one of the key characteristics of a multimedia system. In this paper, we propose a mechanism for synchronization of distributed media data, the accuracy of which can be tailored to the intended application. The model is extended for both stored and live multimedia data. The synchronization mechanism we propose ensures synchronization for all possible temporal relations. The performance of our scheme is evaluated and some implementation issues are discussed.


In commercial electrical equipment, interior permanent magnet (IPM) synchronous motors undergo variations in temperature and parameters under different operating conditions. Conventional maximum torque per ampere (MTPA) control using fixed parameters lacks accurate motor parameter information, which can negatively impact the operating efficiency of electrical equipment. To address the above problem, this paper proposes a simple online MTPA control method without motor parameters. To approximate the interface structure of the conventional MTPA controller, a back propagation neural network (BP-NN) adjuster with a space vector decomposer is designed as the MTPA controller. Moreover, by leveraging the similarity between the loss function of the BP-NN and the stator current representing the efficiency of the IPM motor, the teacher signal is cleverly chosen to update the parameters of the BP-NN online. In the discrete domain, the motion mechanism of the proposed method is analyzed and characterized by the perturb & observe technique. Compared to the conventional MTPA control using fixed parameters, the feasibility and high efficiency of the proposed method for copper-loss-minimization control were validated in the simulation. The feasibility of the proposed method was further validated in simulated scenarios involving sudden changes in torque and speed. Furthermore, the transient characteristics of the output stator current were analyzed. Overall, the proposed method can achieve true online MTPA control without motor parameters.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] They say timing is everything. The cliche certainly applies--in the negative sense--to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's decision to levy a premium hike for insurance this quarter. Banks in all risk categories will see premiums increase by seven cents for every $100 of deposits, because of, and despite, current conditions. It's one more element that makes the business of banking, including deposit gathering, a lot harder. Under the final rule, issued Dec. 16, risk-based rates will range between 12 and 50 basis points, annualized, for the first-quarter 2009 assessment. (Given their risk profiles, most institutions will, in fact, be charged between 12 and 14 basis points.) "This is bad news for the industry," says John Boucher, CEO, of the $950 million assets South Shore Savings Bank, South Weymouth, Mass. "This is bad news for this bank, operating as it does in the state of Massachusetts where the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF), applies. In effect, it will cost us about $600,000." His comments echo the frustrations of many bankers over the double whammy of sharply increased premiums (they were not needed at all for years) and a much higher level of insured deposit coverage. The scenario is complicating the already difficult math of deposit and loan pricing. While banks recognize the need for the premiums to rebuild the fund--and largely welcome the higher coverage--the frustration comes over the underlying causes of all this, which most of the industry had little to do with. Current events have certainly made most traditional bankers edgy. There was a coordinated pushback by the ABA and various state associations when the FDIC first announced its proposal. Their point was that rebuilding the fund faster than necessary would drain funds from banks that could otherwise be loaned. That message had some effect because the FDIC originally wanted a steeper rate hike--particularly for institutions with less than stellar risk ratings. In its December release, FDIC settled on a phased-in approach, with additional changes taking place in the second quarter. Strictly speaking, the rate hike was planned as early as last March, when drains on FDIC reserves kicked off rumblings of the need to rebuild the FDIC's fund. But clearly increase was in response to the drain on the fund from recent failed-bank resolutions, plus increased coverage and other commitments. "Does anyone believe that the increase to $250,000 will be temporary?" Boucher asks rhetorically. In fact, bankers polled at ABA's Annual Convention last fall indicated by an overwhelming majority that a rollback wouldn't be likely. "Flight" varies by region By now, anyone who cares knows the story cold: Wall Street investment banks and assorted hangers on had a run of excess, flamed out like a troubled airplane falling from the sky, and the economy has been left staggering as a result. In terms of deposits, conditions were set for a classic flight to safety. That is, if you can find the pattern--and read it like a trail of smoke. Charles Runde, president and CEO, First National Bank of Platteville in Wisconsin, wonders why the flight phenomenon hasn't been more pronounced for his $150.8 million-assets institution. "It could be that, at the bottom of the cycle, people are afraid to move their money," Runde says. Instead of seeking preservation or comparatively modest creep-back of value, consumers may be leaving funds parked on the Street waiting for a rebound. While he sees the logic to it, First National's CEO is still disappointed: "I would have expected more in the way of funds coming in," he says. John Boucher (pronounced Bu-shay) says, in contrast, that his bank's experience of the flight to safety was immediate and dramatic in September and October, when some individuals came in with checks to deposit for $300,000. …


Interpreting Electrocardiograms Using Basic Principles and Vector Concepts is the latest addition to a series on fundamental and clinical cardiology, edited by Samuel Z. Goldhaber. The book reflects work done by Dr. Hurst during a lifetime of devotion to patient care, teaching, and writing about cardiovascular disease, including electrocardiographic interpretation. His interest in vector electrocardiography developed early in his career, during his relationship with Drs. Robert Grant and Harvey Estes in the department of cardiology at Emory University.

This book explains the concepts that were originally described and popularized by Grant and Estes in Spatial Vector Electrocardiography in 1951. The volume is divided into 8 parts. Hurst's Part I, "How People Learn," describes what he believes to be the key components of the learning process.

Part II, "Historical Benchmarks and the Naming of the Waves," is a tribute to the men who developed the basics of electrocardiographic tracings. Hurst has always emphasized the importance of the historical aspects of cardiology.

The 3rd part describes the basic principles of electrocardiography. It is divided into 8 chapters that contain information essential to electrocardiographic interpretation. The 2 introductory chapters of this part describe the use of vectors to represent cardiac electrical forces and the electrical activity of myocytes. The next 4 chapters deal with the body as a conductor for the electrical activity of the heart, the anatomy of the heart chambers and conduction system, the process of depolarization and repolarization, and the electrocardiographic leads (including the contributions of Einthoven, Bayley, Goldberger, and Wilson). Part III ends with a chapter on how to measure cardiac electrical forces.

Parts IV and V are brief discussions (a chapter each) about the use of the electrocardiogram as a diagnostic tool and the normal measurements of the different waves and intervals. Part V includes charts and figures of normal recordings. These figures display the correlation between QRS and T wave spatial vector directions in the frontal plane and their antero-posterior orientation.

Part VI, the largest in the book, describes the most common electrocardiographic abnormalities and shows the vector relationships and their correlations with tracings. These chapters include the following topics: ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial infarction, abnormalities of the conduction system, pericarditis, pulmonary embolism, chronic obstructive lung disease, digitalis effects, and electrolyte disturbances. At the end of the book, Hurst briefly mentions other electrocardiographic abnormalities, which include preexcitation, postexcitation, the Brugada syndrome, and the long QT syndrome.

A couple of drawbacks deserve mention. Some of the important figures are difficult to read and interpret because too much information is crammed into the space allowed. Additionally, the book costs $165, which puts it out of reach for many medical students and residents. Nevertheless, it is well written and informative and will be useful to students of medicine at all levels who wish to understand electrocardiography using vector concepts.


An effective procedure for NASTRAN has been developed that permits any number of substructures Of any size to be synthesized for the purpose of developing normal modes of vibration of the complete structural system. The technique is extended to permit modal transient analysis of the subdivided !ystem. This latter procedure permits the use of NASTRAN's ability to include nonlinear forces in the problem. The five-phase process is accomplished using standard I_ASTRAN rigid formats with problem-independent alter packages and DMAP sequences. I I


A total of 3 262rainstorm-flood disaster records at county level in Hunan Province from 1983-2008 were collected to explore their spatial-temporal pattern.Correlations between evaluation index for agricultural loss(agricultural covered area,affected area and vulnerability)and hazard factors were further studied to build a model for rapid evaluation of agricultural damages


Frequency doubling method has been applied to measure polar Kerr rotation and ellipticity. Magneto -optical (MO) constants of some GdCo and TbFeCo films were obtained. The optical performance of A1N TbFeCo / glass bilayer structure calculated with the measured MO constants agrees quite well with the experimental results.


This paper mainly analyzes three user detection approaches in digital cellular mobile communication systems based on CDMA.Firstly,the performances of three approaches on anti multi address interferences and anti"far-near" effects,and their bit error ratio(BER) under equivalent conditions are mathematically compared and analyzed.The simulation results of three approaches are then presented and their applications are analyzed.


A field trial was conducted to investigate the effect of presoaking treatment and foliar application of KNO3 on the seed germination, growth and flower production of Gladiolus. Two gladiolus cultivar (White Friendship and Oscare) were experimented against pre-soaking and foliar application of KNO3 at four concentrations (0, 1, 3, 5%). The Experiment was conducted in a four replicated randomized complete block design (RCBD) having net plot size of 1.5m x 1.5m (2.25m 2 ) with plant and row spacing of 30cm and 30cm, respectively. The results revealed a highly significant (P<0.1) effect of presoaking treatment and foliar application of KNO3 (at various concentrations) on the seed germination, growth and flower production of gladiolus cvs. White Friendship and Oscare. White Friendship responded better to presoaking of corms with KNO3 concentrations of 61.43, 92.50 and 96.25% germination at wk 2, 3 and 4, respectively; 9.02 leaves plant


Recent Web apps have spurred excitement around the prospect of achieving speed reading by eliminating eye movements (i.e., with rapid serial visual presentation, or RSVP, in which words are presented briefly one at a time and sequentially). Our experiment using a novel trailing-mask paradigm contradicts these claims. Subjects read normally or while the display of text was manipulated such that each word was masked once the reader's eyes moved past it. This manipulation created a scenario similar to RSVP: The reader could read each word only once; regressions (i.e., rereadings of words), which are a natural part of the reading process, were functionally eliminated. Crucially, the inability to regress affected comprehension negatively. Furthermore, this effect was not confined to ambiguous sentences. These data suggest that regressions contribute to the ability to understand what one has read and call into question the viability of speed-reading apps that eliminate eye movements (e.g., those that use RSVP).


It has been commonly expected that improved operation of the ferrite parametric amplfier could be obtained by use of materials of narrower resonance linewidth, Delta H. This parameter is critical in determining the pumping power (P/sub p/) required for operation of the device. Also of importance, however, is the limitation of device properties determined by the dependence on Delta H of the instability threshold of the spin-wave system. Considering this limitation, the maximum voltage gain-fractional bandwidth product (g/sub v/Delta omega/omega/sub 1/) has been determined as a function of other device parameters, and typical values calculated for several modes of operation. In the electromagnetic mode, for example, there is an optimum Delta H which yields maximum g/sub v/Delta omega/omega/sub 1/) at a given pumping power. It is also shown that a minimum filling factor, also a function of Delta H for some types of operation, is required to reach the oscillation threshold even in the unloaded device.


562 Background: The incidence of young Asian women with breast cancer has been increasing but these patients are underrepresented in global data. We analyzed the epidemiology and outcomes of the young Asian patients with breast cancer in different subtypes with clinically unmet need. Methods: Female patients of age 20 years or older diagnosed with early breast cancer of stage I, II, or III from the prospective cohort of the Asian Breast Cancer Cooperative Group (ABCCG) were analyzed. For comparison, data of patients with early breast cancer from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER) cancer registry was used. The patients were divided into three age groups: young (below 40 years), alleged premenopausal mid-age (40-49 years), and alleged postmenopausal elderly (50 years and older). Multivariable Cox proportional-hazard models for survivals were adjusted with age, subtypes consisting of hormone receptor (HR) and human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, histologic grade, T stage, nodal status, and countries. Patients diagnosed in 2000–2010 were censored at 6 years for comparability with SEER database. Results: Total 45,021 patients with breast cancer from Asian countries, 496,332 of SEER Whites and 18,279 from SEER non-Whites were included. The median age at diagnosis was younger in Asians compared to SEER Whites and non-Whites (51, 62, 58 years, respectively). Among subtypes, HR-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer was more frequent among SEER Whites and SEER non-Whites, compared to Asians (75.89%, 73.38% vs. 65.75%, respectively). In the young group, HR-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer was prevalent in Asians and SEER non-Whites, compared to SEER Whites (61.2% and 59.8% vs. 54.7%, respectively). In the elderly group, the proportion of HR-positive breast cancer increased in SEER Whites, while that of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) increased in Asians. Elderly group showed the worst survival in all subtypes and in all populations. In Asian population, the mid-age group of the patients with HR-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer showed significantly superior overall survival (OS) than the young group (6 year OS 96.6% vs. 94.4%; hazard ratio 0.62, 95% confidence interval 0.50-0.76; p<0.001). Similarly, young patients in SEER Whites also showed early decline of survival curve compared those in mid-age group (89.1% vs. 94.0%, p<0.001), while young patients of SEER non-Whites showed equivalent prognosis to those in mid-age group (92.4% vs. 95.0%, p=0.118). Conclusions: Young Asian breast cancer patients diagnosed with HR-positive and HER2-negative subtypes, but not HER2-positive or TNBC subtypes, are more likely to have worse survival outcomes than those in mid-age. Further studies on young patients with breast cancer are needed for tailored treatments among different subtypes and ethnic groups.


Modern society is characterized by large migration flows and vigorous technological development. In line with that, the aim of this study is to explore the role of digital media in the lives of Serbian migrants and their families in the home country. Building on the theory of uses and gratifications, two main applications of online media are analyzed: for the purpose of communication and information seeking. Given that this topic is rather understudied in the regional context, a qualitative approach was adopted. The sample included 21 participants, both from rural and urban areas, belonging to 16 households which have at least one family member working abroad. In-depth interviews were conducted in order to establish the type and extent of the communication media that they use, as well as the preferred news media and domestic topics that migrants are interested in. Results revealed that the most commonly used applications are Viber and Skype, while participants tend to communicate on a daily basis or several times a week. Online platforms that migrants use to follow news in Serbia correspond to the most popular news portals among domestic public. The topics that the migrants are mostly interested in are politics, economics and social themes. The implications of the study for academia, media practitioners and policymakers are discussed.


Abstract We propose a subset selection procedure for use in observational studies of rare events. Departing from traditional selection applications, which necessarily involve experimental settings, these problems are characterized by large, uncontrollable sample sizes and extremely low incidence rates. Although these characteristics impose increased analytical and computational burdens, they are readily apparent in many problems of practical importance and thus warrant investigation. To this end we present an approximation of a bound on the selection probability function. We empirically demonstrate its quality and conclude our study by offering methods for determining the size of the selected subset that are consistent with the observational nature of our problem context. We begin with an analysis of the behavior of a bound on the selection probability function as the number of populations from which the selection is to be made increases. A simply defined function that emerges from this asymptotic analysi...


How do black students acquire academic literacy skills without being severed from their cultural and historical identit(ies)? In this article, the author presents instances of literacy events in an out-of-school program called Youth Voices that serves to create opportunities for development of a strong sense of historical and cultural identity. An examination of Youth Voices provides insight into African American adolescent language and literacy learning at the intersection of youth media production and civic engagement.


Annual activity patterns and changes in mass of Wyoming ground squirrels ( Sper-mophilus elegans elegans ) were studied in Colorado from 1978 to spring 1981. Dates of emergence differed among years and among sex and age cohorts, and were dependent both on endogenous rhythms and on exogenous factors such as temperatures and snow cover. Adult males emerged during March, 16–18 days before females. Females were bred within 1–4 days after emergence. Both yearling males and females bred during 1979 and 1981, but yearling females did not wean litters during 1980 when ground squirrels emerged late and at low body mass because of low temperatures and deep snow cover. Parturition occurred in late April or early May, and juveniles appeared aboveground in late May or early June. In contrast to most other ground squirrel species, adult females immerged 1–1.5 weeks before adult males (late July and early August, respectively). Juvenile females immerged before juvenile males. An endogenous rhythm of consumption interacted with high body-fat levels to induce immergence in adults, and with low temperatures and low food availability to induce immergence in juveniles. Mean masses for males were significantly greater than for females upon emergence and through the breeding season. Breeding males lost mass after emergence, gained mass at a rapid rate from May through mid-July, then gained little extra mass until immergence. Breeding females gained mass after emergence, lost mass for 1 month after parturition, then gained mass again before immergence. Loss of mass during hibernation averaged 42% for adult and yearling males, 41% for adult and yearling females, 38% for juvenile males, and 37% for juvenile females. Because adults are aboveground for a short period, the amount of temporal contact between adults and juveniles is small and this species is classified as one of the least social ground squirrels.


It is known that a family of interval polynomials has all its roots lying within a left sector if and only if a subset of the vertex polynomials has all its roots lying within the left sector. A simple, easy-to-apply, graphical approach to determining the subset of the vertex polynomials is presented. The number of vertex polynomials to be checked depends not only on the damping margins defined by the left sector but also on the degree of interval polynomials. Improvements afforded by the proposed approach over previous methods are also noted.<<ETX>>


This publication comprises two papers, both written during January and February 2002 when the author was a guest researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI).
In the first paper, "The Language Q ...


In 1950 Ernst Grafenberg, a gynaecologist who had left Nazi Germany to live in New York, published a paper in a somewhat obscure sexological journal describing a highly erogenous zone on the anterior wall of the vagina along the course of the urethra about a third of the way in from the introitus and below the base of the bladder (Grafenberg, 1950). Strong digital stimulation of this zone activated a rapid and high level of sexual arousal which, if maintained, induced orgasm. The stimulated area was claimed to swell up like a small cystocoele and protrude into the lumen. The finding and its implication for female sexual arousal was ignored until Ladas et al. (1982) redescribed, renamed and repopularized it in a popular book entitled The G-spot and the other discoveries about human sexuality in 1982. Since then the concept of the G-spot has never been far from controversy. This is especially so as the area became linked with another controversial topic, that of 'female ejaculation'. Anecdotal reports described women spurting a fluid at orgasm from their urethras (so-called urethral expulsions). The fluid was claimed not to be urine or vaginal fluid. Later studies showed that even sexual arousal could activate fluid expulsion in some women (Zaviacic & Whipple, 1993). The suggestion was that the fluid came from the 'female prostate' usually anatomically located as the paraurethral or Skene's glands. While no direct connection between the G-spot and the paraurethral glands has ever been shown there is an implication that the paraurethral glands and the G-spot are probably linked, if not the same. Lenke et al. (1992), for example, localised the G-spot in dissections of cadavers and in conscious women (as an hypoechogenic zone) at the urethral sphincter. However, according to the studies on the Prostatic Specific Antigen (PAS) component of the fluid, while they locate the principal source of the expulsions as the female prostate Zaviacic & Ablin (2002) claim that the 'majority of the prostatic tissue (the posterior


Reconfigurable lens is biomimetic as it mimics human eye and is a transparent actuating material that can change its curvature in the presence of external stimuli. Focus tunable, adaptive lenses provide several advantages over traditional lens assemblies in terms of compactness, cost, efficiency and flexibility. To further improve the simplicity and compact nature of adaptive lenses, we present lens system which makes use of an inline, transparent electro active polymer actuator. This paper reports the preliminary development we have achieved in reconfigurable lens systems made with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) using the principle of Kerr effect. Preparation of the hydrophobic CNC solution as well as the optical properties of the lens has been discussed. This soft gel actuator was analyzed by measuring the electric birefringence in the pulse field of constant and sinusoidal voltage based on the use of modulation of elliptic light polarization.


Modern economy presents the globalization in manufacture,market and finance,and a global economic network has been constituted.The essence of the globalization of economy is the objective historical progress with continuous growth which is stimulated by the best regrouping and the best distribution of the essential factors of manufacture on a golbal scale.The growth,essnce and extension of the golbalization of economy are restricted by the growth of productive forces.And its profiting and functioning styles are associate with the social ideology.


Background: Leprosy is also called leprosy caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. This bacterium undergoes a cleavage process for 2-3 weeks. Leprosy resistance reaches 9 days outside the human body. Leprosy bacteria have an incubation period of 2-5 years and can even take more than 5 years. Leprosy can reduce the quality of life of sufferers if it is not found and not treated early. Objective: To find out the relationship between the intensity of lighting and humidity with the incidence of leprosy in the city of Semarang Method: The type of this research was analytic observational with case control study design carried out in the work area of Semarang City Health Center with a sample of 23 people and 46 control groups. Data collection through interviews, observation and measurement of humidity and lighting. Data analysis using chi-square test. Results: The results showed a significant relationship between the intensity of lighting (p-value = 0.032) and leprosy and there was no relationship between humidity (p-value = 0.347) and leprosy in Semarang City. Conclusion: Based on the results of the interviews, the measurements found 62.2% of the respondents' houses in the case group with lighting conditions that did not meet the requirements. It is recommended to reduce the risk of leprosy transmission to improve the condition of the house, open the window every morning so that sunlight can enter well into the house and increase the effort to create a clean and healthy home environment.