We analyse star formation rates (SFRs) derived from photometric and spectroscopic data of galaxies in pairs in different environments using the 2-degree field galaxy redshift survey (2dFGRS) and the Sloan digital sky survey (SDSS). The two samples comprise several thousand pairs, suitable to explore into detail the dependence of star formation activity in pairs on orbital parameters and global environment. We use the projected galaxy density derived from the fifth brightest neighbour of each galaxy, with a convenient luminosity threshold to characterize environment in both surveys in a consistent way. Star formation activity is derived through the η parameter in 2dFGRS and through the SFR normalized to the total mass in stars, SFR/M*, given by Brinchmann et al. in the SDSS-second data release (SDSS-DR2). For both galaxy pair catalogs, the star formation birth rate parameter is a strong function of the global environment and orbital parameters. Our analysis on SDSS pairs confirms previous results found with the 2dFGRS where suitable thresholds for the star formation activity induced by interactions are estimated at a projected distance r p = 100 h -1 kpc and a relative velocity A V = 350 km s -1 . We observe that galaxy interactions are more effective at triggering important star formation activity in low- and moderate-density environments with respect to the control sample of galaxies without a close companion. Although close pairs have a larger fraction of actively star-forming galaxies, they also exhibit a greater fraction of red galaxies with respect to those systems without a close companion, an effect that may indicate that dust stirred up during encounters could affect colours and, partially, obscure tidally induced star formation.


Abstract—A multiband circularly polarized microstrip patch antenna including a Minkowski fractal slot for wireless communication applications in the frequency bands 1.39GHz, 2.45GHz (WLAN band), 3.48GHz (Mobile Wi-Max), 5.8GHz (U-NII high-band), and 6.29GHz has been proposed. The proposed antenna consists of two substrates mounted on top of the ground plane. The antenna has been fed with a 50Ω microstripline which is etched on top of the lower substrate. The second iteration Minkowski fractal slot is etched on a truncated square patch which is on top of the upper substrate. The substrate has a size of 80mm × 82mm × 1.6mm. The measured results show that the proposed antenna could excite for five resonant bands of 1.35GHz, 2.45GHz, 3.5GHz, 5.8GHz, and 6.25GHz, and has reflection coefficients of −15 dB for 1.35GHz, −16 dB for 2.45GHz, −22 dB for 3.5GHz, −23 dB for 5.8GHz, and −13 dB for 6.25GHz as well as an axial ratio bandwidth of 3.42GHz–3.47GHz. The maximum gains of the antenna are 5.92 dBi for 1.39GHz, 6.15 dBi for 2.45GHz, 8.36 dBi for 3.48GHz, 9.64 dBi for 5.8GHz, and 6.69 dBi for 6.29GHz. The simulations and optimizations have been carried through Computer Simulation Technology Microwave Studio (CST-MWS) software.


A class of distribution-free tests for the two-sample slippage problem, when the random variables take only nonnegative values, is proposed. These tests are consistent and unbiased against the general slippage alternative. Recurrence relations for generating small sample significance points are given. The tests have been compared with the Savage test, the Wilcoxon test and the appropriate locally most powerful rank test by considering Pitman asymptotic relative efficiencies for several alternative hypotheses. Some of these tests exhibit considerable robustness in terms of efficiency for the various alternative hypotheses which are considered.


This article presents data on residential mobility for the Seoul Metropolitan Region. It addresses two questions-why do households move and who moves and finds that like research undertaken in other cities that a wide range of factors impact on the residential mobility process. Key outcomes include the impact of housing dissatisfaction on residential mobility and the impact that life cycle, period of residence and housing and dwelling characteristics have on discerning between movers and non-movers.


The present invention discloses a Chinese medicinal composition for lowering blood sugar, it is composed of wuxue rattan extract, green tea extract and solid preparation acceptable auxiliary material, in which the weight ratio of wuxue rattan extract to green tea extract is 20:1 to 2:1. Animal experiments showed that the invented Chinese medicinal composition possesses apparatus sugar lowering action, it can be used in the prevention of diabetes.


Two introductory speeches and 38 papers on radiocarbon dating presented at the conference are included in this NSA volume. A separate abstract was prepared for both introductions and for each of the 34 papers. Four papers were not within the scope of NSA. (LCL)


Text detection in natural scenes holds great importance in the field of research and still remains a challenge because of size, various fonts, line orientation, different illumination conditions, weak character and complex background in image. The contribution of the proposed method is filtering out complex backgrounds by utilizing two masks filtering based on text confidence map in the first step and multi-channel maximally stable extremal regions (MSERs) in the second step. Both steps are designed to enhancement, maximize capacity of zones text pixels candidates to distinguish text boxes from the rest of the image. Then non-text components are filtered by the classification of character candidate based on Support Vector Machines (SVM) using HOG features. The false positives are eliminated by geometrical properties of text blocks. Finally we apply boundary box localization after a stage of word grouping. The proposed method has been evaluated on ICDAR 2013 scene text detection competition dataset and the encouraging experiments results demonstrate the robustness of our method.


The introduction of an impairment test for goodwill under IFRS is seen as another step toward moving financial accounting and reporting from its traditional historical cost paradigm to one of fair value. This regulatory change has been the subject of a growing body of literature which has often criticised many of the technical aspects of the new standard and highlighted the increased discretion it has afforded managers in the determination of periodic profit. One example of this increased discretion is the opportunity to undertake an impairment test using a methodology based on value in use or fair value less cost to sell. While previous empirical studies examining the contemporary practice of goodwill impairment testing in Australian have focused on the large number of firms that have elected a value in use methodology, this paper examines the less popular practice of impairment testing using fair value less cost to sell by drawing from a sample of 200 of the largest Australian firms. One average, these firms tended to have greater levels of goodwill suggesting a higher potential sensitivity to impairment losses, yet they recorded a lower incidence of impairment recognition compared to those firms using a value in use methodology. Our analysis also identifies a systematic failure among these firms to comply with the basic disclosure requirements required under the standard which increases the likelihood of unverifiable estimates polluting financial statements. Our results assist in understanding the impact the introduction of IFRS brings to the reliability of financial reporting in Australia, and identifies issues that may assist regulators and standard setters in shaping future policy.


A second wave of parallel and distributed computing research is rolling in. Today's multicore/multiprocessor computers facilitate everyone's parallel execution. In the mid 1990s, manufactures of expensive main-frame parallel computers faltered and computer science focused on the Internet and the computing grid. After a ten year hiatus, the Parallel Symbolic Computation Conference (PASCO) is awakening with new vigor.
 I shall look back on the highlights of my own research on theoretical and practical aspects of parallel and distributed symbolic computation, and forward to what is to come by example of several current projects. An important technique in symbolic computation is the evaluation/interpolation paradigm, and multivariate sparse polynomial parallel interpolation constitutes a keystone operation, for which we present a new algorithm. Several embarrassingly parallel searches for special polynomials and exact sum-of-squares certificates have exposed issues in even today's multiprocessor architectures. Solutions are in both software and hardware. Finally, we propose the paradigm of interactive symbolic supercomputing, a symbolic computation environment analog of the STAR-P Matlab platform.


The present experiment explored a situation in which 5s were unexpectedly required to recall the target words from a perceptual decision-making task. The targets were denned with respect either to their phonemic or semantic attributes, and 5s held these attributes in "working memory" for varying time intervals prior to target presentation. Semantically defined targets were better recalled subsequently than were phonemically denned targets, although the latter gave rise to longer decision latencies in the initial task. Also, subsequent target recall was not affected by the length of time the target-defining attributes had been held in working memory. These results were discussed within the context of Craik and Lockhart's "levels-of-processing" approach. Craik and Lockhart (1972) described a framework for memory research in which the memory trace is viewed essentially as the by-product of perceptual analyses. Central to their argument is the notion that the stability of the memory trace is a positive function of the type and depth of processing involved in the encoding of perceptual events. Greater depth of processing is denned in terms of the degree of cognitive involvement in carrying out stimulus analyses. Memory is assumed to be tied to a continuum of levels of processing which range, for example, from sensory analyses to the activation of associative semantic attributes. As Craik and Lockhart (1972) suggested, this formulation implies that research should be directed toward determining the memorial consequences of various types of perceptual operations. Craik (in press, Experiments IV and V), for example, reported 2 studies in which 5 was given an initial perceptual decisionmaking task followed by an unexpected memory test. The purpose of the initial decision-making task was to lead 5 to


We discuss the general conditions under which a Jahn-Teller effect can be meaningfully associated with the solvation shell of an ion in solution. Unlike the Jahn-Teller effect in solids, no distortion of the solvation shell exists on the longest time scales. On intermediate time scales, the solvation shell exhibits cubic ({ital O}{sub {ital h}}) symmetry and on the shortest scales it shows the Jahn-Teller distortion ({ital D}{sub 4{ital h}}). A molecular-dynamics simulation of a model in which the frame of reference for the Jahn-Teller potential rotates in time exhibits these features and shows how the time scales involved vary with parameters in the potential.


In order to address driver's dazzle caused by the abuse of high beams when vehicles meet at night, a night vision anti-halation algorithm based on image fusion combining visual saliency with YUV-FNSCT is proposed. Improved Frequency-turned (FT) visual saliency detection is proposed to quickly lock on the objects of interest, such as vehicles and pedestrians, so as to improve the salient features of fusion images. The high- and low-frequency sub-bands of infrared saliency images and visible luminance components can quickly be obtained using fast non-subsampled contourlet transform (FNSCT), which has the characteristics of multi-direction, multi-scale, and shift-invariance. According to the halation degree in the visible image, the nonlinear adaptive fusion strategy of low-frequency weight reasonably eliminates halation while retaining useful information from the original image to the maximum extent. The statistical matching feature fusion strategy distinguishes the common and unique edge information from the high-frequency sub-bands by mutual matching so as to obtain more effective details of the original images such as the edges and contours. Only the luminance Y decomposed by YUV transform is involved in image fusion, which not only avoids color shift of the fusion image but also reduces the amount of computation. Considering the night driving environment and the degree of halation, the visible images and infrared images were collected for anti-halation fusion in six typical halation scenes on three types of roads covering most night driving conditions. The fused images obtained by the proposed algorithm demonstrate complete halation elimination, rich color details, and obvious salient features and have the best comprehensive index in each halation scene. The experimental results and analysis show that the proposed algorithm has advantages in halation elimination and visual saliency and has good universality for different night vision halation scenes, which help drivers to observe the road ahead and improve the safety of night driving. It also has certain applicability to rainy, foggy, smoggy, and other complex weather.


The selection of anti seismic design scheme for a steel tower type stack,the calculation principle,result and analysis for anti seismic structure were introduced in this paper.


Various PZT/epoxy 1-3 composites were investigated for high power applications. "Hard" lead zirconate titanates (PZT4 and PZT8) were chosen for active piezoelectrics owing to their high mechanical quality factors, Qms, while the passive polymers were selected based on the desired properties for high power composites - low elastic loss, low elastic modulus and high thermal conductivity. The results demonstrated that the composites with high thermal conductivity polymers generally have degraded electromechanical properties with significantly decreased mechanical quality factors, whereas the composites filled with low loss and low moduli polymers were found to have higher Qms with higher electromechanical coupling factors kt: Qm ~ 200 and kt ~ 0.68 for PZT4 composites; Qm ~ 400 and kt ~ 0.6 for PZT8 composites. The effects of high drive field on the behavior of 1-3 composites were further investigated by varying active and passive components. Improved high power characteristics of 1-3 piezoelectric composites were achieved by selection of optimized composite components, with enhanced electromechanical efficiency and thermal stability under high drive conditions.


Hand dominance represents an evident example of hemispheric specialization. Though the vast majority of the population are right-handed with dominant left hemisphere, some adults have a non-dominant hand and they can use both hands equally. Evidence from neurophysiological studies established that the left dominant cerebral hemisphere integrates the motor skills the dominant hand including the precision, speed, and co-ordination of motor acts. The non-dominant hemisphere is specialized in the perception and control of goal-directed behaviour and visuospatial processing related the performed motor task. Lesions in dominant cerebral hemispheres can, thus, result in considerable compromise of the motor skills. Learning new motor skills is essential in these cases, and the capability of the cerebral hemispheres to learn new tasks has long been studied and debated. To evaluate the potential motor learning capacity of cerebral hemispheres, neuroscientists have studied the motor learning in adults with non-dominant hands. Those adults exemplify a model for testing the impact of practice and learning on the brain acquisition of new motor tasks. This article aims at reviewing the recent neuroscientific and psychological evidence about the motor learning among adults with non-motor hand.


To overcome the difficulty that crucial biological variables(such as biomass concentration,substrate concentration,product concentration,etc.) cannot be effectively controlled during the fuel ethanol fermentation process due to a lack of real-time on-line instrumentation,a soft sensing method is proposed by combining the Kernel Principal Component Analysis(KPCA) with the Least Square Support Vector Machine(LSSVM).The ethanol concentration in the key biological parameters was utilized as an example.First,KPCA was applied in choosing the nonlinear principal component of the model input data space,and then the LSSVM was used to establish the soft sensing model of ethanol concentration.Simulation results indicate that the KPCA-LSSVM model has a higher accuracy,better tracking performance and better generalization ability when compared with the PCA-LSSVM model.Therefore,the proposed method can satisfy the requirements of on-line measurement of ethanol concentration in the fuel ethanol fermentation process and is proved to be an efficient modeling method.


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Cells maintain a balance between LTP and LDP synapses.

Royer/MacMillan

Long-term potentiation (LTP), a phenomenon by which previously stimulated synapses become increasingly sensitive to stimulation such that the same level of presynaptic input induces a larger postsynaptic


We selected 35 loins muscles from market at random,in order to study the variation and relationship between TVB-N and current value of hydrogen sulfide for fresh pork in the corruption process. The results showed that the pork at the temperature of 30℃ and humidity of 85% was kept for 3 days,TVB-N and current value of hydrogen sulfide were gradually increased with the corruption of pork at different time periods,correlation test between current value and TVB-N value was highly significant( P 0. 01) and the correlation coefficient was 0. 926. Current value of hydrogen sulfide and TVB-N presented a linear regression relationship,the regression equation was y = 33. 186x-119. 24,the coefficient of determination was 0. 906. By using hydrogen sulfide gas sensors to measure pork response current value,the TVB-N value can be calculated,which realize simple,fast as-sessment pork freshness.


The reaction-diffusion Holling-Tanner prey-predator model considering the Allee effect on predator, under zero-flux boundary conditions, is discussed. Some properties of the solutions, such as dissipation and persistence, are obtained. Local and global stability of the positive equilibrium and Turing instability are studied. With the help of the numerical simulations, the rich Turing patterns, including holes, stripes, and spots patterns, are obtained.


Explosive Children and Adolescents: The Need for a Different Paradigm. Identifying Pathways and Triggers. Options for Handling Problems: Three Plans. Plan B Basics. Beyond the Basics. Skills Trained with Plan B. Collaborative Problem Solving in Schools. Collaborative Problem Solving in Therapeutic / Restrictive Settings. Last Call. Epilogue: Beyond Explosive Kids.


Collaborative filtering based recommender system is prone to shilling attacks because of its open nature. Shillers inject pseudonomous profiles in the system's database with the intent of manipulating the recommendations to their benefits. Prior study has shown that the system's behavior can be easily influenced by even a less number of shilling profiles. In this paper, we simulated various attack models on Movie-Lens 1 dataset and used machine learning techniques to detect the attacks. We compared five classification algorithms and proposed a new model by integrating two models with high performances. In our experiments, we investigated and proved that the combination of random forest and adaptive boosting algorithm is more accurate than simple random forest model. Keywords— Collaborative filtering, recommender system, shilling attack, prediction shift, precision, recall, fmeasure, classification


A variational formulation is presented for electromagnetic boundaryvalue problems involving anisotropic media. Specific functionals are given, along with a discussion of the property of the resulting numerical system, for general problems involving general anisotropic media, for lossy problems involving anisotropic media having symmetric permittivity and permeability, and for lossless problems involving anisotropic media having Hermitian permittivity and permeability. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


We propose a new type of magnetic shield which is made by piling the many U‐shaped soft magnetic materials. We call it ♯‐type shield because of its shape as shown in Fig. 1. The principle of magnetic shielding is based on the zero vector sum of the applied field and demagnetizing field outside the soft magnetic specimens. In this way a weak field region is produced inside the ♯‐type shield which screen out the external field. Therefore, shielding effectiveness can be controlled by changing the demagnetizing factor which primarily depends on the shape of the specimen. It is hard for the conventional magnetic shield like a cylindrical shell to control its demagnetizing factor, therefore, the shielding effectiveness is based on only the permeability of the soft magnetic materials. However, it is easy for the ♯‐type shield to control its demagnetizing factor by changing the length of U‐shaped speciments. The shielding ratios S (external field/internal field) of the ♯‐type shield have the maximum as the extern...


The present invention relates to a process for producing radionuclides. According to the method, the irradiation in the irradiation zone having the neutron radiation target medium comprising at least a target nuclide material. As a result of the radiation, the target nuclide radionuclides formed material, and some of the radionuclides formed nuclide emitted from the target material at least. Then emitting radionuclides are captured and collected in the carbon-based recoil capture material, the carbon-based material does not have an empty recoil capture cage structures on the crystal level.


Abstract Organizational culture is a system values and beliefs that are shared by people who interact in an rganization that serves as an identity and as reference behavior to achieve organizatinal goals. One of the success factor of an organization goals is leadership, especially leadership style will determine the perfomance of an organization that is shown on the employees performance. This study tried to assess the relationship of organizational culture and leadership style influence on employee performance. The object of this study were employees in Badan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat, Perempuan, dan Keluaraga Berencana in Magelang district. The result in multiple regression analysis showed that organizational culture and the leadership style have significant positive effect on employee performance either partially (t test) and simultaneously (F test)


The doctrine of the Trinity understands God's nature as a communion of persons, implying various possible dimensions of relation with God. Religious traditions may differ in the dimensions they appropriate or the terms in which they integrate the dimensions, leading adherents to distinct human ends. Two real relations with God need not be the same relation. This paper describes how distinct religious ends may be understood as grounded in the trinitarian God, and clarifies the distinctive inclusive nature of salvation as communion with the God whose nature is communion.


In this report the concept of "order by fluctuation," that has appeared recently in physico-chemical and biological systems, is applied to the description of urban growth. It is shown that fluctuations play a vital role in the evolutionary process of urban growth. The evolution of a complex system cannot be known simply by studying the deterministic equations describing the system. It is necessary, in addition, to study the effects of fluctuations or historical accident which can drive the system to new modes of behavior. Taking account of both the deterministic elements of urban growth and the occurrence of fluctuations in population in an urban region, a transportation-sensitive, dynamic model of the evolution of the spatial distribution of urban populations was developed. This is the second of two volumes. Volume I presented a model of the evolution of the organization of urban centers.


Abstract : Nonparametric statistics have been previously applied to spectral data in order to detect narrow band signals. Here we show the degradation in performance due to the presence of an interfering signal. A modified decision scheme is proposed to overcome this problem. It is shown that with this new technique the presence of even a strong interfering signal does not seriously affect the ability to detect signals. (Author)


AbstractAim:The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of silencing the livin gene by small interfering RNA (siRNA) on the expression of livin and the effects on apoptosis, cell cycle, and proliferation in human malignant melanoma LiBr cells.Methods:Three chemically-synthetic siRNA duplexes targeting livin were transiently transfected into the LiBr cells, and the effects on livin expression were detected both at the mRNA level by real-time RT-PCR and at the protein level by Western blotting. Apoptosis was evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated digoxigenin-dUTP nick-end labeling assay, flow cytometric analysis, and the expression of procaspase-3 and activated caspase-3 analysis by Western blotting. Cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cell proliferation was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide.Results:One of the 3 designed siRNA could effectively knock down the livin expression both at the mRNA and protein levels in dose- and time-dependent manners; 100 nmol/L with maximum downregulation on mRNA at 48 h, and on the protein at 72 h after transfection. Silencing livin could significantly induce apoptosis, arrest cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase, and inhibit proliferation in LiBr cells. Meanwhile, caspase-3 was activated.Conclusion:The livin gene could serve as a potential molecular target for gene therapy by siRNA for malignant melanoma.


Seed limitation, defined as the failure of seeds to arrive at sites favorable for recruitment, may be a critical force structuring plant communities. When seed limitation is strong, interspecific competition is reduced, and competitive exclusion may be slowed to the extent that diversity can be maintained through speciation and migration. In mature tropical forests, seed limitation may be especially important in determining the recruitment patterns of pioneer tree species. These species depend on dispersal to infrequent and ephemeral tree fall gaps for successful seedling establishment. Despite this requirement, pioneers show wide variation in the life-history traits that affect dispersal ability. Here we use seed trap data for pioneers from the 50 ha forest dynamics plot on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama to show that seed limitation has a significant effect on seedling recruitment patterns. We then assess whether the effects of limited dispersal in space can be offset by prolonged dispersal in time through the accumulation of a persistent soil seed bank. Using a simulation model we show that variation in dispersal in space may have surprisingly little effect on overall seedling recruitment rates. This is because there is a trade-off between the number of gaps colonized and recruit density per gap. While long-term seed persistence increases the fraction of gaps colonized, it cannot fully compensate for limited dispersal in space and carries a substantial fitness cost resulting from increased generation time.


Single mode anomalous dispersion As 2 S 3 on Er doped TeO 2 waveguides with near zero propagation loss under 1475nm pumping are demonstrated. Fully lossless waveguides with high nonlinear coefficient can be achieved with higher 1480nm pump power.


ould any of the following mistakes occur in your practice on a given day? You forget to charge for CLIA-waived lab tests even though your supplier charged you for the test kits, you inject a patient with 10 units of a drug but only bill for one unit, or you perform four minor surgical procedures but forget to note them on the encounter form. These simple mistakes are costly, and repeatedly forgetting to bill for services like these could cost you tens of thousands of dollars by the end of the year. A simple chart audit can help you remedy these and other costly problems. This article will guide you through the process.


This issue of photographies brings together six articles, each submitted to the journal independently, but taken together testifying to the continuing import of photographs as historical reference and evidence. The power of photography is apparent in the double-photographic impact of the eyes of the dead man, Eric Garner, reproduced on banners for a protest march, itself documented photojournalistically, included in this issue as the cover image. The impact of the photograph resides in the ontological; as a result of evidential uses of the camera, we believe both that these are the eyes of the dead man, and that this event happened. Donna Brett takes Thomas Demand's imagery as a focal point for reflecting on indexicality, memory and banality. She suggests that Demand disrupts meaning by alluding to rather than depicting actuality, thereby ensuring that photographs at one level retain their status as 'just photographs'. Likewise considering the legacy and significance of work by artists, Miguel Mesquita Duarte and Bruno Marques discuss archive, memory, historical narrative and the autobiographic through reference to the work of the Portuguese artist Julião Sarmento. The central concern is with the fluidity of perceptions offered through the artist's documentation, and with ways in which archives address us. Sean Birnie focusses on contingency in photography, on that which is unexpectedly revealed, that details something beyond or contingent to the intentions of the photographer. Also premising his investigation on notions of fluidity of meaning, Stephen Burstow analyses similarities and differences between the nineteenth century carte de visite and twenty-first century domestic digital photography, questioning perceptions of carte de visite portraiture as primarily operating within realms of (family) memory through relating them to contemporary photo streaming. Taking a historical overview, Albert Stabler links attitudes to punishment to state regimes in China, Europe and, in particular, to police killings of unarmed black Americans. Taking Georges Bataille's reference to a photograph of a Chinese execution by dismemberment as a starting point for a psychoanalytic reading of photographic documentation, he is centrally concerned to explore the nature of the pleasure of the spectatorial gaze when confronted, yet photographically distance from, pain and powerlessness. On a very different note, and in the context of an expanded emphasis on industrial skills within undergraduate programmes, Sharon Harper addresses photography education, arguing for a broadening of concerns more in line with film and media studies to encompass commercial practices (where many students aim for employment). It is argued that students would benefit from enhanced understanding of the potential for creative innovation within the constraints of industrial practices.


Over the past two decades, teleseismic receiver functions have proved to be a useful tool to investigate crustal structure. Because they represent a first-order approximation to the S -wave component of the teleseismic- P Green's function, receiver functions provide valuable information on physical properties related to shear modulus. However, the implicit use of the P -component seismogram as a proxy for the source precludes the recovery of information on discontinuous structure involving contrasts in compressional modulus. By deconvolving improved estimates of complex source time functions generated by earthquakes, one may move beyond the conventional receiver function paradigm to a more accurate approximation of the earth's Green's function. Using a new deconvolution method, we present estimates of the P -component of the teleseismic- P Green's functions at several stations of the Canadian National Seismic Network (CNSN) that clearly show the receiver-side pure P -wave crustal multiple. The identificat...


Objective: to study associations of DNA polymorphism in acute community-acquired pneumonia (ACAP). Subjects and methods. The study enrolled 243 patients with ACAP; a control group included 178 healthy individuals. Genetic variability was investigated for the following candidate locuses: the ACE renin-angiotensin system gene, the CCR5 chemokine receptor gene and 4 xenobiotic detoxification genes (CYP1A1, CSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1). According to the earlier data on the effect of CYP1A1 alleles on predisposition to pneumonia, haplotypes were determined by 3 polymorphic sites of this gene. Results. Protective and predisposing geno- and haplotypes were described by the above loci and their combinations. Homozygotes for the deletion at the ACE locus (OR=1.8; p=0.013); GSTM1-pos-itive genotypes (OR=1.7; p=0.010) and homozygotes for 606T allele in the CYP1A1 gene (OR=1.6; p=0.020) were found to have a higher predisposition to pneumonia. A combination of the two latter genotypes (OR=1.9 at p=0.006; its frequency in the control was more than 20%) proved to be prognostically most effective. Conclusion: three polymorphic markers were identified in the CYP1A1, GSTM1, and ACE genes associated with the development and course of ACAP. Key words: gene polymorphism, xenobiotic detoxification genes, pneumonia.


Ecologists often need to extract data from forests to determine the flora and fauna conditions. Tree climbing is one technique used for this. Climbers go to the top of the tree and use hand held equipment to collect and make notes while they are descending. This process demands expert climbing skills and biology expertise, which are two characteristics not commonly found. This paper describes the design of mobile system for 3D data collection and reconstruction of the field research environment for remote evaluation. The prototype can be used to reduce the time spent up trees and collected data that can be used for crowd-sourced evaluation.


The lighting device according to the present invention includes: a support plate (22) having a surface in the thickness direction opposed to each other (22a) and a back surface (22b) and an opening portion (22d) penetrating in a thickness direction; a light source module (23 ), placed on the front surface of the support plate; a drive circuit section (33), for driving the light source module; and a connector (27), which driver circuit section and the light source module. Is connected through an opening portion of the support plate and the back surface of the support plate abuts.


An influx of laws permitting recreational cannabis sales in the US has allowed for increased advertising. The purpose of this study was to describe how adolescents perceive outdoor and print cannabis advertising and to identify aspects of advertising that are appealing or eye-catching, focusing on five themes: price promotion, sex appeal, wellness, party, and text-only. We recruited adolescents ages 11–17 to participate in seven focus groups (44 participants) from 2019 to 2020. Participants viewed cannabis advertisements and responses were summarized using deductive thematic analysis. The party-themed advertisements were the most salient to participants, who desired to emulate the behaviors shown. Participants favored ads featuring young people and containing multiple colors. Participants disliked advertisements perceived to portray misleading or contradictory messages, such as the promotion of physical activity or use of sex appeal, and ads perceived to lack authenticity. Identification of youth appealing features can help inform cannabis advertising regulations.


s: THF-inactivated AlEt 3 has been found to have an interesting double reactivity: Lewis acidity and reduction activity, which can result in a novel tandem rearrangement/reduction of α-hydroxy (or amino) heterocyclopropane. On the basis of this observation, a facial and highly diastereoselective method for construction of 2-quaternary-1, 3-diheteroatom units has been developed. Three kinds of substrates have been proven to be effective for this reaction.


SUMMARY

Studies were conducted to determine the effects of iron, magnesium, and 8-hydroxyquino-line (oxine) in chill waters on growth of microorganisms and production of fluorescence in broth cultured from poultry chilled in the waters. When chicken was chilled for 16–20 hr in solutions containing 0, 10, or 20 ppm iron, fluorescence development was inversely proportional to iron concentration. Bacterial populations were greater on packaged poultry stored for 1 week at 5°C when no iron was added to chill solutions than when 10 or 20 ppm iron was included. Trials with pure cultures of pseudomonads in asparagine broth containing 0, 50, 100, and 200 ppm magnesium indicated that the greatest amount of pigment was formed with 100 ppm of the metal. Oxine added to chill water had the following effects: 1) produced greater amounts of pyoverdine than were formed when oxine was not present; and 2) inhibited bacterial growth.


View description: The purpose of this study is to investigate in what way the mother tongue language education integrates in a compulsory school activities and also which significance it has to the ...


Personal air samples were analyzed, radiofrequency (RF) radiation was measured and employees were given medical questionnaires at Elco Corporation (SIC-3678) in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on September 5 and November 5 and 6, 1980. Employees of Elco Corporation requested the evaluation due to their concern that RF or ultraviolet radiation was causing eye and skin irritation, nausea and scalp lumps. Of the 450 employees at the facility only 5 were exposed to RF radiation. Measurements of electric and magnetic field strengths were made for the eyes, neck, chest, waist, gonads, knees, ankles and hands. None of the RF measurements exceeded the OSHA standards of 40,000 square volts per square meter and 0.25 square amperes per square meter. Air samples contained concentrations of hydrogen-chloride (7647010) below the limit of detection and ozone (10028156) concentrations to 60 micrograms per cubic meter, below the OSHA standard of 200 micrograms per cubic meter. Medical questionnaires of five employees revealed one with eye irritation, two with skin irritation, one with sore throat and one with a heart problem. The authors conclude that a hazard does not exist due to RF radiation exposure. Problems due to infrared, ultraviolet and visible light may have caused skin and eye complaints;more » these problems were rectified by installation of a darkened plastic shield. Recommendations include shielding and tuning of machines, use of proper procedures during maintenance, and an increase in distance between worker and RF source.« less


Zinc oxide is a wide gap semiconductor whose chemical activity at surface can be enhanced by prop er electromagnetic radiation. This property opens the door to room temperature gas sensing with this material. In this work, nanosized ZnO powder was synthesized by sol-gel technique. Then, structural and morphological characterizations were carried out by means of X-Ray Diffraction and SEM techniques. Thin films were deposited by spin coating technique on both glass and alumina substrates, to perform optical absorption spectra and electrical conductance measurements, respectively. The electro-optic al properties were studied on the photo-activated films, in air and in nitrogen conditions, to investigate first on the basic surface-oxygen interaction in photo-activated condition. Then, gas measurements were also performed in air and in nitrogen, to acquire information on the photo-enhanced surface chemistry, in order to be applied to gas sensing. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of Eurosensors 2014.


Differences in the perceived usefulness of five multiple-attribute decision support systems versus a basic spreadsheet are empirically assessed. Twenty-four college faculty members participated in a repeated measures experiment in which they used decision support software for personal computers to analyse semistructured multiple-attribute problems. The software packages employed were Criterium, Expert Choice, Logical Decision, VIMDA, VISA and the spreadsheet package Quattro Pro. A questionnaire was developed to assess user-friendliness of the software, confidence in the procedure implemented by the software, and users' confidence in their results when employing the decision aids. Time to reach a decision was also measured. Significant differences were fund in the overall way users ranked these aids, in the perceived user-friendliness and the confidence in procedure among aids, and in the time it took to arrive at a result. Comments from users are also reported. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The ultrasonic transducer is an important component to determine the performance of ultrasonic microscope. The ultrasonic emission area become smaller in the high frequency range when impedance matching between the transducer and 50 Ω measurement system is considered. Small emission area causes decrease in signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) due to the low sound pressure in the focus point. Polarity inverted n- layered transducer operates with high frequency in n-th mode. Therefore, the emission area and film thickness increase by n- times. Large emission area improves S/N. In this study, we report the fabrication of ZnO thin film polarity inverted structure on the Si02 glass buffer rod by RF magnetron sputtering. The piezoelectricity and performance of transducer in water medium were investigated.


Hashing methods have proven to be effective algorithm for image retrieval. However, learning discriminative hash codes is challenging for unsupervised models. In this paper, we propose a novel distinguishable image retrieval framework, named Unsupervised Deep Embedded Hashing (UDEH), to recursively learn discriminative clustering through soft clustering models and generate highly similar binary codes. We reduce the data dimension by auto-encoder and apply binary constraint loss to reduce quantization error. UDEH can be jointly optimized by standard stochastic gradient descent (SGD) in the embedd layer. We conducted a comprehensive experiment on two popular datasets. key words: hashing, unsupervised learning, deep learning


The availability of more affordable open source Additive Manufacturing (AM) systems has lead to the increased awareness and use of AM technologies. However, further expansion will necessitate improved reliability and an increased understanding in the limitations of these systems. This paper will review previous benchmarking models, and present the development of a new benchmarking model and its application in the evaluation of an open source AM system based on fused deposition modeling (FDM). The proposed benchmarking model includes various geometric features to evaluate the AM system in terms of dimensional accuracy, thermal warpage, staircase effect, and geometric and dimensional tolerances.


The devotion and commitment of the teachers allowed for the continuation of instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Switching from traditional classroom instruction to an online learning environment was challenging. Learning institutions implemented several teachers' upskilling and skill-building programs to prepare for emergencies. However, teachers were not exempted from the impact of the COVID–19 pandemic. Two hundred eighty-nine (289) teachers from 19 non-sectarian private schools around the Philippines were profiled in the study using quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Roman Catholics and women composed most of the teachers. They employ a range of online technologies and instructional methods. When transitioning to the virtual classroom, teachers faced several difficulties, with intermittent internet connection as the main problem. The teachers agreed that online teaching was advantageous at the onset of the pandemic using varied online tools. They asserted that training initiatives in student motivation and engagement, skill development, and mental health programs are significant to maintaining high-quality teaching and learning.


The purpose of this project to design and develop a hypermedia prototype on topics "Cell as a basic unit of life". The aim of the prototype was to introduce and consolidate the concept learnt on the topic for student in secondary school level (Form One until Form Three). Additionally, researcher have done some evaluation studies about the usability of the courseware. The prototype was develop using the entity-relationship (E-R) model Relationship Management Methodology (RMM) as a design tool.


Abstract Person-centered principles continue to redefine the nature of dementia care, but less attention has been given to integration of person-centered principles into clinical assessment and dementia research. As a result, identification of deficits and cognitive impairment tends to dominate clinical and research efforts, whereas strengths and positive characteristics need more research. This paper examines existing positive psychosocial measures of psychological wellbeing, hope, spirituality, resilience, social relationship, dignity, and at-homeness. Many of these measures demonstrate strong psychometric properties and have been identified as promising outcome measures for strengths-based studies and approaches to care. This paper will evaluate the extent to which these measures used a person-centered approach to item development and testing, and whether item content is consistent with person-centered principles. Future directions for instrument development require greater inclusion of people living with dementia and family caregivers.


For whole blood there is no real substitute; the efficiency of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange and transport is unique to the red cell. A solution of pure haemoglobin, free of red cell stroma, offers some possibility of oxygen transport though it does not remain in the circulation for long (Sunder-Plassmann et al., 1972). Fluorocarbons, in the form of emulsions, will dissolve and transport oxygen (Sloviter, 1970) but, though they may have applications for the perfusion of tissues for transplantation, they seem unlikely to be suitable for human use. Blood loss can be replaced best with whole blood but when this is impossible electrolyte solutions may suffice for small losses. A better alternative is to give a colloid solution to replace the lost volume and hence restore the dynamics of blood circulation. The haematocrit will be lower but this may not matter too much if available red cells are circulating efficiently. In burns, where plasma is lost through the burn surface or into the extravascular space, through increased permeability of the capillaries, the haematocrit rises and there is a specific requirement for the infusion of plasma to maintain blood circulation. In the U.K., plasma from outdated blood is freezedried for storage and reconstituted with water. Few adverse reactions and a satisfactorily small incidence of hepatitis have been experienced, probably through careful operation of the Blood Transfusion Service. In freeze-dried plasma the lipoprotein is denatured and does not redissolve fully; this insoluble material partially blocks cells of the reticulo-endothelial system at a time when they might well be required to deal with other foreign material, but any disadvantage remains unproven in clinical use.


A high power pulse CO laser operating at room temperature has been developed using the modulated pulse rf discharge excitation technique. The fast pulse response and the good reproducibility of laser pulse were obtained for pulse frequency up to 1 kHz with a stable and homogeneous discharge. A maximum peak power of 920 W with a pulse width of 1.0 ms FWHM has been attained by the optimizing N2 and CO concentration.


A single factor duplicate test was designed to investigate whether neuropeptide Y affects the expression of pyruvate carboxylase (PC) mRNA and the activity of PC in vitro culture bovine hepatocyte.Neuropeptide Y was added to the media with 0,50,100,200,500,1000 pg/ml.Abuundance of PC mRNA in vitro culture bovine hepatocyte cultured for 12 hours after Neuropeptide Y was added was determined by real-time fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR,and activity of PC was determined by colourimetry.The results showed that the neuropeptide Y could stimulate the expression of PC mRNA was and the activity of PC in vitro culture bovine hepatocyte.


A 2-yr study of elm leaf beetle ( ELB ), Pyrrhalta luteola (Muller), populations was conducted at 2 locations in southern California during 1973 and 1974 to determine its phenology and seasonal pattern of increase, its seasonal pattern of defoliation, and the degree of biological control achieved by 2 parasites, Erynniopsis antennata Rondani (= E. rondanii Towns.) (= Erynnia nitida Rondani) and Tetrastichus brevistigma Gahan, introduced against the beetle 3 decades ago. ELB populations rapidly increased in the mid- to late-summer period and in most cases by late summer, severely defoliated Siberian elm, Ulmus pumila L., the major host in southern California. Although parasitization by E. antennata reached high levels (>50%) during this period, it failed to prevent defoliation. T. brevistigma was found at 1 location but never parasitized more than 10% of the ELB pupae. Limited samplings suggested that E. antennata parasitized a high proportion (65–88%) of overwintering adult ELB but that asynchrony between the emergence of adult E. antennata in the following spring (April) and the period of larval availability (1st generation) in the late spring (May) apparently resulted in low levels of parasitization of 1st (spring) generation ELB larvae. It was the survivors of this 1st generation as adult females which caused the rapid population increase in mid-summer.


In facing education 4.0, teachers should consider a student-centered approach. It is because one characteristic in education 4.0 is students learn together while the teacher act as a facilitator. It implies that in education 4.0, the teaching and learning process is more student-centered. Therefore, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) can be an alternative approach for the teacher to implement in their classes.

In Indonesia, many researchers have proved TBLT brings a positive effect on their students. However, there is little research that covers the teachers' side. Indeed, researching the teacher side brings beneficial for teachers, students, and organizations. Thus, the researcher wants to contribute another voice to the growth of TBLT research in Indonesia.

In this research, the researcher used qualitative research to get a better insight of teacher perception and challenge in implementing TBLT. The research subjects were 4 experienced teachers in University level. It consists of 2 General English teachers and 2 ESP teachers. The data were collected through interviews and narrative frame.

The results of the research showed that the teachers view TBLT as a positive approach. TBLT gives students a lot of change and flexibility to speak in the target language. Also, students can feel the real-world context in the use of the target language. For the challenge, the teachers perceived the students' English proficiency, motivation, and class size are the hindrances in implementing the approach.


Objective
To compare the CT findings of different phases in pediatric hepatoblastoma (HB) based on PRETEXT system in order to optimize pediatric HB CT scan protocol.

Methods
A total of 58 HB patients who were surgical and pathological diagnosed from January 2015 to December 2016 were analyzed. Pre-operation CT exams were analyzed respectively. Observing items included tumor size, intra-abdominal invasion, bleeding, intrahepatic metastasis, lymphatic metastasis, metastasis (except lymphatic in abdomen) main portal vein, three main hepatic vein, inferior vena cava (IVC) invasion, para-tumor hepatic arteries, and its branches. All image findings were compared to pathological and surgical findings to calculate the agreement rate. Exact Fisher test and R×C χ2 test were used.

Results
According to the surgery and pathological results, the agreement rate of tumor size was n=40 (68.9%) at non-contrast phase, n=43 (74.1%) at artery phase and n=52 (91.2%) at venous phase. Venous phase was adaptive for observing tumor size (χ2=8.16, P=0.018). For main portal vein, three main hepatic vein, and IVC invasion, none was found at both non-contrast and artery phase. N=12 (20.7%, P<0.001) was found at venous phase. For para-tumor hepatic arteries, and its branches, none was found at non-contrast phase. N=46 (79.3%) was found at artery phase. N=17 (29.3%) was found at venous phase. Artery phase was adaptive for observing (P<0.001). There was no statistical significant difference in intrahepatic metastasis, lymphatic metastasis and metastasis.

Conclusions
Suspected pediatric HB, artery and venous phase CT scan would meet the clinical requirement, there was no need for non-contrast pahse. Follow up cases, a single venous phase was enough. Venous phase contributed much more information on tumor size and high risk prognosis evaluation.

Key words:
Child; Liver neoplsams; Tomography, X-ray computed; Radiation dosage


Metabotropic glutamate receptor 6 (mGluR6) is a group III, pertussis toxin (PTX)-sensitive G protein coupled mGluR that plays a specialized role in the retina. Retinal ON bipolar cells, which receive direct glutamatergic input from photoreceptor cells, express mGluR6 as their primary postsynaptic glutamate receptor. Activation of mGluR6 in these cells initiates an intracellular signaling cascade ultimately leading to inhibition of a cation channel and cell hyperpolarization. The primary mediator of this pathway in vivo is Gαo, but the potential roles of other G proteins from the Gαi/o family in the regulation of this or other signaling pathways in ON bipolar cells are unclear. To determine which specific G proteins from the Gαi/o family are able to couple to mGluR6, a Gα reconstitution system was employed using PTX-insensitive Gα mutants expressed with mGluR6 in PTX-treated sympathetic neurons from the rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG). The efficiency of coupling to mGluR6 was Goa > Gob, Gi1 > Gi2, Gi3, whereas no coupling was observed with Gαz, nor with the retinal Gα proteins, rod (GNAT2) or cone (GNAT1) transducin (GαTr-R, GαTr-C). Finally, the expression of Gα proteins determined to couple with mGluR6 was examined in rat ON bipolar cells using single cell RT-PCR. Co-expression of mGluR6 message was used to distinguish ON from OFF bipolar cells. Expression of Gαo was detected in every ON bipolar cell examined. Message for Gαi1, which coupled moderately to mGluR6, was not detected in ON bipolar cells, nor was Gαi3, which coupled to mGluR6 in only a few cells but on average did not exhibit statistically significant coupling. Finally, though Gαi2 was detectable in ON bipolar cells, its coupling to mGluR6 in the SCG system was not significant. Together, these data indicate that signaling through mGluR6 in mammalian ON bipolar cells is highly focused, apparently acting through a single Gα protein subtype.


In order to provide some foundational information for soil fungi diversity,the fungi species of 35 soil samples from four provinces in China were investigated by adopting dilution plate methods in the current work.The results showed that the diversity of soil fungi is rich in all samples,up to 2683 fungal colonies.The population of Penicillium spp.is the highest,accounting for 59.6% of its total,which is followed by Aspergillus(23.41%),while the occurrence rates of the genus Acremonium,Paecilomyces,Gliocladium and Staphylotrichum fungi resources are small.In addition,the most abundant fungi species of the soils was investigated from Anhui Provinces,and that from other three provinces are almost the same level.


With the development of our national economy,faith in market economy is becoming more and more important.The integrity of the enterprise has become the moral core of measuring moral system.Accounting integrity is particularly important in business credit system.But through the investigation of some brand-name enterprises we found the problems of enterprise accounting faith is very serious.Accounting integrity problems emerge in an endless stream.This article analyzes the enterprise accounting integrity problem and puts forward effective strategies for the crisis of accounting integrity.


Absence seizure has been of interest because the symptom is related to sensory processing. However, the mechanism that causes the disease is not understood yet. To better understand the molecular mechanism related to the disease progress at protein level, we performed proteomic studies using the thalamus of mice for which absence seizure was induced by γ‐butyrolactone (GBL). Differential proteome expression between GBL‐treated mice and control mice was examined by fluorescence 2D difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE) at three different time points (5, 10, and 30 min) after GBL‐administration. We identified 16 proteins differentially expressed by >1.4‐fold at any of the three time points. All proteins besides the serine protease inhibitor EIA were down‐regulated in absence seizure‐induced mice. The down‐regulated proteins can be classified into five groups by their biological functions: cytoskeleton rearrangement, neuroprotection, neurotransmitter secretion, calcium binding, and metabolism. The maximum level of change was reached by 10 min after GBL‐treatment, with the expression level returning back to the original at 30 min when mice were awakened from absence seizure thereby demonstrating the proteomic response is reversible. Our results suggest that absence seizures are associated with restricted functional sets of proteins, whose down‐regulation may interfere with general function of neuronal cells.


Tea is the main crop of Lanshan district Rizhao.Through the study of planting conditions of Lanshan,combined with meteorological figures,record documents,local history and on-the-spot investigation.As a conclusion,this article indicate that several factors are key to the success of South tea to North,among which the unique natural conditions of Lanshan is most important.


Immigration and Democracy develops an intermediate ethical position on immigration between closed borders and open borders. It argues that states have the right to control borders, but this right is qualified by an obligation to assist those outside their borders. In democratic societies, the right of immigration control must also be exercised in ways that are consistent with democratic values. Part I explores the normative grounds of the modern state's power over immigration found in US immigration law and in political theory. It argues for a qualified, not absolute, right of states to control immigration based on a particular interpretation of the value of collective self-determination. Part II considers the case for open borders. One argument for open borders rests on the demands of global distributive justice; another argument emphasizes the value of freedom of movement as a fundamental human right. The book argues that both arguments fall short of justifying open borders. Part III turns to consider the substance of immigration policy for democratic societies. What kind of immigration policies should democratic societies adopt? What is required is not closed borders or open borders but controlled borders and open doors. Open to whom? The interests of prospective migrants must be weighed against the interests of the political community. Specific chapters are devoted to refugees and other necessitous migrants, family-based immigration, temporary worker programs, discretionary admissions, and what is owed to noncitizen residents, including unauthorized migrants living in the territory of democratic states.


This paper considers a two-user downlink transmission in reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)-aided network over fading channels. Particularly, by employing user grouping and fixed power allocation scheme to enable non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) approach, RIS-aided network can significant benefit from NOMA. To highlight the advantages of RIS, we compare the system performance of NOMA-RIS and traditional orthogonal multiple access (OMA) based RIS. Main practical circumstances are carefully analyzed, such as, RIS with direct link, system without RIS, and imperfect phase shifts. More specifically, we consider a RIS-aided downlink network, where the base station communicates with a group of two users under assistance of RIS, which acts equivalently as relay. As key expectation, the RIS is efficiently designed to improve the performance of users. To evaluate the system performance, two main system performance metrics including outage probability and average capacity are studied by deriving new closed-form expressions. The goal is to find out which system parameters need to be adjusted to achieve the expected performance. The numerical results reveal that: i) the outage probability and average capacity of considered NOMA-RIS aided wireless system outperforms the conventional NOMA network over fading channels; ii) with different power allocation factors assigned to users, the performance gap among two users can be adjusted to guarantee the fairness characteristic; iii) the number of reflecting elements in RIS has significant impact on the system performance of the considered NOMA-RIS system, which shows advantage of both RIS and NOMA compared with conventional OMA system.


This paper presents the design and implementation of an aerial surveillance quad copter for search and rescue application. The aim of this research is to develop a real-time, compact and cost effective drone that will be capable of search and rescue operation and the class is intended to provide the student with both theoretical and practical knowledge in the areas of electronic engineering and design, system integration hardware programming, and control system design and implementation. The frame of the quad copter was made up of very light glass fiber to ensure stability while flying and also to reduce weight of the overall material. The entire design generated a compact and low cost surveillance quad copter with weight of approximately 1.50 kg; which can take photographs from environments with the aid of the onboard mounted camera. Live streaming was done with the help of laptop during fight.


In spite of heightened interest in anthropogenic climate change, little attention has been paid to optimizing a building's carbon emissions at the source. Most work in building efficiency has assumed that generating plant carbon emissions are constant at their long-term average values. This study sought to improve our understanding of the temporal variations in carbon emissions on a diurnal time scale and their relation to electric system dispatch and load in order to motivate future work in optimizing building operation to reduce carbon emissions. Hourly fossil fuel plant emissions and load data, available from the EPA, were used to characterize power system performance for four US locations (IL, NY, TX, and CA). The study had set out with a hypothesis hoping to find a simple relationship between electric system load and emissions. It was found that there is a significant correlation between increased system load and decreased emissions rates, yet this correlation is not easily defined. During high load conditions, emissions reductions are related to the increased use of gas generators, or may be related to operating plants at more efficient part load ratios. The work conducted in this study shows that, while more complex than hoped for, there is indeed a strong relationship between electric system load and carbon emissions rates.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


(57) Abstract: The present invention, viral DNA was introduced into a packaging cell culture, and recovering after releasing the virus produced in the supernatant to a method for producing a recombinant adenovirus. The present invention is virus produced and also relates to its use.


Summary: The aim of this study was to investigate practicability of cervical mucus test, which is used for diagnosis of pregnancy, in field conditions and accuracy rate in ewes and goats. This study was performed in 50 Akkaraman ewes and 50 Angora goats. In ewes, % 80 accuracy rate, % 73.3 sensitivity, % 82.9 specificity, % 64.7 predictive value of positive and % 87.9 predictive value of negative were found with cervical mucus test and these rates were % 70, % 60, % 72.5, % 35.3 and % 87.9 respectively in goats. In addition, correlation was investigated between the size of corpus luteum and progesterone levels. Correlation was found important only in non-pregnant ewes of all pregnant and non-pregnant animals (r=0.58; p<0.05). Besides, an important difference was not determined between composition of cells in vaginal cytologic evaluation in pregnant and non-pregnant animals. As a result, cervical mucus test can be used in field conditions and the accuracy rates in ewes are higher than goats. Key words: Cervical mucus test, ewe, goat, pregnancy diagnosis, vaginal cytology.


Current treatments for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are useful in some cases, but have little enduring impact. This had lead to many parents seeking nonconventional treatments that often border on quackery.


After penetrating cortical wounds, the brain becomes gradually hyperexcitable and generates spontaneous paroxysmal activity, but the progressive mechanisms of epileptogenesis remain virtually unknown. The guiding line of our experiments was the hypothesis that the reduced cortical activity following deafferentation triggers homeostatic mechanisms acting at cellular and network levels, leading to an increased neuronal excitability and finally generating paroxysmal activities. We tested this hypothesis either in anesthetized adult cats, or during natural sleep and wake, using the model of partially deafferented suprasylvian gyrus to induce posttraumatic epileptogenesis. We evaluated the effects of acute and chronic cortical deafferentation on the survival of neurons and glial cells and how long-term input deprivation could shape up the properties of neuronal networks and the initiation of spontaneous cortical activity. Following cortical deafferentation of the suprasylvian gyrus, the deeply laying neurons, particularly the inhibitory GABAergic ones, degenerate progressively in parallel with an increased propensity to paroxysmal activity, mainly during slow-wave sleep. The chronic input deprivation and the death of neurons activate homeostatic plasticity mechanisms, which promote a gradual increased neuronal connectivity, higher efficacy of excitatory synaptic connections and changes in intrinsic cellular properties favoring increased excitation. The spontaneous cortical activity quantified by means of firing rate augments also progressively, particularly during slow-wave sleep, characterized by periods of silent states alternating with periods of active states, which supports furthermore our hypothesis regarding the involvement of homeostatic plasticity mechanisms. The degeneration of neurons in the deep cortical layers generates important changes in the laminar distribution of neuronal activity, which is shifted from the deeper layers to the more superficial ones, in the partially deafferented part of the gyrus. This change in the depth profile distribution of firing rates modifies also the initiation of spontaneous cortical activity which, in normal cortex, and in the relatively intact part of the deafferented gyrus, is initiated in the deep cortical layers. Conversely, in late stages of the undercut, both the cortical slow oscillation and the ictal activity are initiated in the more superficial layers and


Four 24-membered macrocyclic binuclear copper(Ⅱ) complexes for modelling Cu,Zn SOD were synthesized by condensation reactions of 2,6-diacetylpyridine with 3-oxapentane-1,5-diamine,in which two metal centers were linked via H 2O,im -,N 3 - or SCN - bridge.All complexes were characterized by several physical methods. The results showed that the coordination number of central atoms varied with different bridging.


This study utilizes structural equation modelling using SmartPLS 3.0 to process the data collected from 401 responses to assess the moderation effect of innovativeness on the relationship between the overall quality and actual usage of smart government in United Arab Emirates (UAE) from employees perspective. A model is proposed based on Delone & Mclean information system success model with considering the literature and the context of the study. Overall quality is proposed to be a second-order construct which includes three different aspects of quality; system quality, information quality, and service quality. In addition, innovativeness is proposed as a moderating variable which may control the relationship between the overall quality and actual usage of smart government. Results indicated that overall quality significantly influences the actual usage of smart government. The overall quality explains 44.7% of the variance in actual usage. Furthermore, the impact of the overall quality on the actual use is moderated by the innovativeness. This work enhances the insight into the significance of innovativeness in using smart government services.


The KIR2DS4 variants differ in exon 5 and play a role in hematopoietic stem cells transplantation (HSCT). A sequence‐based testing (SBT) and TOPO TA cloning system identifying and distinguishing alleles of the KIR2DS4 gene was established and applied to a total of 150 Chinese‐Han individuals: 75 patients received T‐cell‐depleted HSCT and their unrelated donors. The majority (139) of the 150 samples (92.7%) were positive for KIR2DS4. Four of the nine known KIR2DS4 alleles, KIR2DS4 *00101, *003,*004, and *007, were identified. In the haplotype A/A group, a higher risk of acute graft‐versus‐host disease (aGVHD) was seen when the donor carried two full‐length KIR2DS4 alleles (RR 9.0 [95% CI 1.2–66.9], P = 0.010). Our findings suggested that the expression of full‐length 2DS4 (*001) in A/A group may contribute to a worse clinical outcome after URD‐HSCT. These data would be beneficial for the selection of suitable donors.


This paper aims to show that semantic representation of verbs may require the inclusion of constructional inferences in addition to lexical specifications. By examining the transitive pattern of the Mandarin verb GAN (,y) 'rush' , we found that verbal semantics can only be adequately represented if constructionally coerced information is taken into consideration. The construction [GAN + NP] renders specific interpretations that are not directly derived from the lexical meaning of either the verb or the object NP. The construction itself carries salient information for the appropriate interpretation. Besides outlining a compositional approach with Qualia Structure (Pustejovsky 1995) , this paper attempts to account for the constructiontriggered meanings from the perspective of Construction Grammar and to explain their interrelationship with cognitive mechanisms for sense extension.


The scientific work illustrates the newly developed methodical approach to complex statistical research of environmental security of differentiated territories. It is based on the method of integrated assessment of the level of environmental security as the result of the mutual influence of industrial and economic, nature-protective activities of environmental innovations. On its basis, the analysis of environmental situation has been carried out both of the countries of the world and separate territories. The directions of improvement of statistical observation have been justified in the field of environmental security, which include modernization of the forms of manifestation of international observation practice. This provides a combination of statistical indicators and the correct conduct of interterritorial comparisons.


At the Planck scale I combine a finite subgroup of SO(3,1) operating in 4-dimensional discrete spacetime with a finite subgroup of the Standard Model gauge group SU(2)L x U(1)Y x SU(3)C acting in 4-dimensional discrete internal symmetry space. The unique combination is a specific finite subgroup of SO(9,1) in 10-D discrete spacetime related to E8 x E8 . The evidence for discreteness would be the appearance of a fourth quark family with its b' quark at about 80-100 GeV decaying to a b quark plus a photon at the Large Hadron Collider.


The proposed method is based on classifying 15 types of plant leaf disease. Hue saturation value was used to delete the background and the healthy areas to show only the affected area in the image. Texture analyses adopted in image features extractions from the R component &G component &B component and creating 3 components which are RG and RB and GB color of the RGB color space images of diseased leaves. Building image classifier using statistical method for classification.


Upcoming cellular networks are based on the Internet Protocol (IP) to provide efficient support for applications with bursty traffic characteristics, for example, WWW browsers. Such IP-based networks must include Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms to enable the use of real-time applications such as mobile telephony. A major problem with regard to QoS is that such real-time applications have to be interrupted after a handoff if the new cell cannot provide sufficient resources. A large number of different schemes have been proposed to deal with this problem. Basically, they give priorities to sessions performing a handoff into a cell compared to newly arriving sessions in that cell. In this manner, such handoff prioritization schemes can avoid or reduce communication interruptions after a handoff. This article introduces the basic functions of handoff prioritization schemes and describes one proposal for a classification of these schemes. Based on this classification, it finally presents a survey of available schemes. recent trend in mobile communication is the integration of the Internet Protocol (IP) into upcoming mobile networks [1]. In such packet-switched mobile networks, applications with bursty data flows, for example, WWW browsers or video coders with a variable bit rate, can share network resources more efficiently than in traditional circuit-switched mobile networks. To fulfill the requirements of real-time applications, IP-based mobile networks must provide certain assurances on the IP Quality of Service (QoS) parameters such as bandwidth, delay, delay jitter, and packet loss. Current speech coders, for example, require a minimum bandwidth of 4.75 kb/s for an acceptable speech quality of a telephony session. Thus, additional network components to assure the QoS parameters must be integrated into IP-based mobile networks. This comprises suitable packet scheduling schemes, QoS signaling, and resource management [2]. One of the main differences of cellular mobile networks compared to fixed networks is that a mobile terminal can easily change its point of attachment to the mobile network during an ongoing communication session. This phenomenon, known as a handoff [3, 4], can lead to a resource shortage, which means that the negotiated bandwidth for a session is no longer available after a handoff. In such a case of handoff resource shortage, the communication session cannot continue to work on the same QoS level. In the worst case, it must be terminated if no further countermeasures are taken. This constitutes a major problem because the user of a mobile network, in general, expects a …


The chemisorption of CO on a Cr (110) surface is investigated using the quantum Monte Carlo method in the diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) variant and a model Cr2CO cluster. The present results are consistent with the earlier ab initio HF study with this model that showed the tilted/near-parallel orientation as energetically favoured over the perpendicular arrangement. The DMC energy difference between the two orientations is larger (1.9 eV) than that computed in the previous study. The distribution and reorganization of electrons during CO adsorption on the model surface are analysed using the topological electron localization function method that yields electron populations, charge transfer and clear insight on the chemical bonding that occurs with CO adsorption and dissociation on the model surface.


Rare earth elements (REE) are nowadays being used widely in many industries from electronics to petroleum industries as catalysts. However, their disposal caused serious problems to the environment. With the sharp growth in its usage, there is a better way to use and utilize REE from secondary sources such as their disposal rather than using new raw materials. The aim of this work is to study the potential of citric acid as a leaching agent to extract one of REE (i.e. lanthanum) in various acid concentrations and leaching temperatures. The raw material used in this work is spent catalyst from Pertamina Refinery Unit VI, Balongan, Indonesia. The spent catalyst is decarbonized with a heat treatment at 725°C for 10 minutes before the leaching process. The leaching process used 0.1; 1; and 2 M of citric acid with a varied temperature of 30, 60, and 80°C. The lanthanum recovery was calculated by comparing the mass percentage of lanthanum before leaching process and after leaching process using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX). The results were analyzed by response surface methodology (RSM) and are proved to be a reliable method to depict and analyze the leaching characteristics. The independent variables used in the research show significant effect on the response, especially the acid's concentration. A second order polynomial equation was used to correlate response and independent variables. The coefficient of determination (R2) shows a satisfactory result of 86.53% and the normal probability plot ensure the model's adequacy.


Wife beating, spousal abuse, domestic violence, or whatever else you want to call it, has been around for centuries, probably since the beginning of human existence. There are several reasons why this kind of behavior exists, but the present paper will not get into those reasons. For more on this aspect of the topic, see the items listed in the reference section of this paper.
The goal of the present paper is more modest, to merely measure the extent of support for wife beating, and rank the countries based on the acceptance of their people for this practice.
The present paper is part of a series on wife beating. Studies in this series examine male and female views on wife beating to determine if women think differently about this issue than men; a longitudinal study to determine whether wife beating has become more or less popular over time; two studies that examine the relationship between religion and wife beating; a study that ranks the acceptability of wife beating in 60 countries; and a study of attitudes toward wife beating in the United States. Links to these studies are provided in the reference section of this paper.


Background: Infected wounds extend healing time and are associated with higher treatment costs than noninfected wounds. Several observational studies indicate that negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation can effectively reduce bacterial bioburden and improve wound healing. Only a few randomized trials with small sample sizes have been published, and a meta-analysis directly comparing negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation to current standard care is lacking. It is therefore uncertain whether negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation actually improves wound healing. The authors performed a systematic review and hypothesized that negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation reduces wound closure time. Methods: The PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL databases were searched up to December of 2020 for English studies that compare negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation—to either negative-pressure wound therapy without instillation or to other types of wound care—for the treatment of acute or chronically infected wounds. Time to wound closure was analyzed using a random effects meta-analysis in predefined subgroups according to study design and comparative wound care. Results: The authors identified 14 studies describing 1053 patients. Meta-analysis of three randomized trials shows no significant difference in time to wound closure between negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation and that without (mean difference, 0.48 day; 95 percent CI, −0.70 to 1.65; I² = 0 percent). Data from eleven observational studies indicate that negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation reduces wound closure time (from 1.6 to 16.8 days; no pooled data). Because of imprecision and risk of bias, the available evidence provides only low-level certainty. Conclusions: There is currently insufficient evidence to support or discard the use of negative-pressure wound therapy with instillation for infected wounds. More randomized trials are needed to determine whether a beneficial effect can be substantiated.


We present a principled and efficient planning algorithm for cooperative multiagent dynamic systems. A striking feature of our method is that the coordination and communication between the agents is not imposed, but derived directly from the system dynamics and function approximation architecture. We view the entire multiagent system as a single, large Markov decision process (MDP), which we assume can be represented in a factored way using a dynamic Bayesian network (DBN). The action space of the resulting MDP is the joint action space of the entire set of agents. Our approach is based on the use of factored linear value functions as an approximation to the joint value function. This factorization of the value function allows the agents to coordinate their actions at runtime using a natural message passing scheme. We provide a simple and efficient method for computing such an approximate value function by solving a single linear program, whose size is determined by the interaction between the value function structure and the DBN. We thereby avoid the exponential blowup in the state and action space. We show that our approach compares favorably with approaches based on reward sharing. We also show that our algorithm is an efficient alternative to more complicated algorithms even in the single agent case.


Background: Patients of hematological malignancies are reported to be deficient in folate and vitamin B12. The
aim of this study was to estimate serum folate and vitamin B12 levels in children with hematological malignancies
to find out the frequency of deficiencies in different type of hematological malignancies.
Material & Methods: In this case control study, 102 children (24 females and 78 males, aged 1.5-16 years)
presenting with different hematological malignancies were enrolled. Serum folate and vitamin B12 levels were
estimated and matched with controls (30) children with non-hematological malignancies. Folic acid and vitamin
B12 levels were estimated by electrochemiluminescence technique.
Result: Children with hematological malignancies were categorized into acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL,
61), acute myeloid leukemia (AML, 18), Hodgkin's disease (HD, 12) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL, 11). The
vitamin B12 levels in these cases and controls were 482.06±480.29 pg/mL, 582.33±500.43 pg/mL, 438.2±355.09
pg/mL, 324.91±198.14 pg/mL and 864.54±733.49 pg/mL respectively. The serum folate was 9.23±8.53 ng/mL,
6.32±3.85 ng/mL, 9.66±10.16 ng/mL, 10.56±10.30 ng/mL and 12.73±15.96 ng/mL respectively. Serum vitamin
B12 levels varied differently among different hematological malignancies, it was significantly lower in ALL (p=0.003)
followed by NHL (p=0.02). Serum folate was lowest in AML as compared to controls but not statistically significant.
Conclusion: The frequency of vitamin B12 deficiency was higher in children with HD while folate deficiency in
AML. Serum vitamin B12 levels varied differently among different hematological malignancies, it was significantly
lower in ALL followed by NHL. While folate levels were lowest in AML as compared to controls but not statistically
significant.


A two-dimensional silicon boride phase, ``siliborophene,'' was formed on a ${\mathrm{ZrB}}_{2}$(0001) single-crystal surface, which coincided with the $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2$ periodicity of the substrate. The phonon dispersion relations were measured using high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy and were compared with theoretical predictions based on first-principles density functional theory. Among many theoretically derived surface models, only one structure made of ${\mathrm{Si}}_{3}{\mathrm{B}}_{6}$ can reproduce details of the measured phonon dispersion. That model consists of a cyclic boron ring ($c{\mathrm{B}}_{6}$) capped by a Si atom, ${\mathrm{SiB}}_{6}$ group, and $s{p}^{2}$-like Si atoms connecting them. This structure is much more robust than that of silicene: it shows no order--disorder transition until 1300 K; above that temperature, Si is desorbed gradually. Electron band calculation of the isolated film of ${\mathrm{Si}}_{3}{\mathrm{B}}_{6}$ displays a band crossing at the $\overline{\mathrm{K}}$ point, which makes this material promising for use with Fermi-level engineering.


The origins of evolutionism in modern China include the change thought of ancient China,the naive evolutionism of confucian classics and the evolutionism in the west.In modern China,some thinkers believed in evolutionism,but the origins are different.So the evolutionism of modern China has characteristic of more sources.


All empiricists struggle with aspects of methodology at one point or another in their research. Moments of indecision with critical import for a research agenda occur at all stages of the research process, but particularly during the formulation of the research question, conceptualization of the project and its key variables, determination of the research design, selection of data collection methods, deployment of data analysis methods, and the publication of findings. Because feminist scholarship is rooted in a historical relationship between social movements and academe, because feminist empiricists work in concepts (gender, gender equality, state feminism, etc.) that are theoretically and essentially contested, and because data on women and gender norms and gender disaggregated data have not been generally part of public data collection efforts, feminist empiricists have often been methodological pioneers. From 2003 through 2005, Maria Stern, Jacqui True, and I arranged a series of conference panels in which feminist methodologists in international relations analyzed the methodological import of the challenges they faced throughout the research process. This Critical Perspectives section continues such feminist methodological reflections with three quantitative feminist IR scholars reflecting on their methodology. Laura Parisi, Clair Apodaca, and Mary Caprioli have done feminist IR work that uses quantitative analytical tools. Each is differently informed by feminism. In these scholars we see different theoretical feminisms at work, yet the similarities in their struggles, particularly around data and concerns about the reception of their work in the field, are interesting as well. A final essay reflects on the import of feminist empirical work, even work that utilizes a feminist theory that is not the theorist's, in the development of feminist theory and on the role of theory in strengthening empirical work. Together, these essays address the role


In the Article, 10 varieties and hybrids worthy of cultivation of onions from seedlings as a repeated crop in Uzbekistan were evaluated according toeksex and recommended for planting prospective varieties. At the same time, the optimal planting periods of germination of seedlings in their exact age have been determined. The correlation between the significant signs of this crop has been proven. Scientifically-based recommendations were made to expand the cultivation of onions as a repeated crop from the seedlings of Banko F1, Daytona F1 hybrids and Prospect varieties. Elements of the technology of cultivation, such as planting periods of seedlings, schemes of plant placement and planting of leaves and rootsizini 1/3 of onion seedlings, have been improved. Recommendations for the correct selection of the age of germination according to the period of planting onion seedlings are given.


In order to fix some important concepts of Fundamental Physics, either because they are not usually discussed in depth in theoretical classes and much less at laboratories, or because they are not sufficiently developed in textbooks, it is more effective not to tackle them directly, but to propose a mental or practical experiment to attract the student's attention by questioning their beliefs about it (erroneous preconceptions). We propose a new example about the conservation of angular momentum of a system of material points in this way previously explained.


We discuss the problem of producing an epitome, or brief summary, of a Bayesian posterior distribution and then investigate a general solution based on the Minimum Message Length (MML) principle. Clearly, the optimal criterion for choosing such an epitome is determined by the epitome's intended use. The interesting general case is where this use is unknown since, in order to be practical, the choice of epitome criterion becomes subjective. We identify a number of desirable properties that an epitome could have facilitation of point estimation, human comprehension, and fast approximation of posterior expectations. We call these the properties of Bayesian Posterior Comprehension and show that the Minimum Message Length principle can be viewed as an epitome criterion that produces epitomes having these properties. We then present and extend Message from Monte Carlo as a means for constructing instantaneous Minimum Message Length codebooks (and epitomes) using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. The Message from Monte Carlo methodology is illustrated for binary regression, generalised linear model, and multiple change-point problems.


Large marine vertebrates are particularly susceptible to anthropogenic threats because they tend to be long-lived, late to mature and wide-ranging. Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) are characterised by such life history traits and are listed as 'Endangered' by The World Conservation Union. Although juvenile movements and at-sea behaviour of adult females are relatively well studied, little is known about the movements of males and their subsequent exposure to threats. Shark Bay, Western Australia, is home to the largest breeding population of loggerhead turtles in Australia. We assessed the large-scale movements of nine adult male loggerhead turtles, with the goal of aiding conservation and management policies. During 7 months outside the breeding season, all nine turtles stayed within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, with most showing fidelity to small coastal foraging areas. Several turtles, however, showed relatively large movements between core foraging areas. None of the four turtles that continued transmitting through the breeding season exhibited obvious movements towards nesting beaches, suggesting that mating may occur on foraging grounds or that males are not mating every year. Quantifying male loggerhead movements assists conservation planning by identifying biologically relevant spatial scales at which research and management strategies should be designed.


The present study was planned to examine the pectinase production in bacterial species. Citrus wastes and soil samples were processed for the isolation of bacterial species using Hankin's medium. Morphological and biochemical characterization was carried out from purified cultures that showed clear zones in the Hankin's medium plate. The highest pectinase producing Bacillus sp.2 was selected for comparison of enzyme activity between the free and immobilized cell states. Increased enzyme activity was observed in free cell state as compared to the immobilized cell condition after 48 h and 72 h of incubation. However, pectinase production was higher in immobilized cell condition as compared to the free cell state after 96 h of incubation. Agroindustrial waste such as peel of citrus fruits, rotten vegetable wastes, molasses, etc. could be explored for isolating pectinase producing bacteria


We write seq(m) and fin(m) for the cardinalities of the set of finite sequences and the set of finite subsets, respectively, of a set which is of cardinality m . With the axiom of choice ( AC ), seq(m)=fin(m) for every infinite cardinal m but, without AC , any relationship between seq(m) and fin(m) for an arbitrary infinite cardinal m cannot be proved. In this paper, we give conditions that make seq(m) and fin(m) comparable for an infinite cardinal m . Among our results, we show that, if we assume the axiom of choice for sets of finite sets, then seq(m)=fin(m) for every Dedekind‐infinite cardinal m and the condition that m is Dedekind‐infinite cannot be weakened to weakly Dedekind‐infinite.


A simple method for achieving fast wavelength switching in a fiber laser was demonstrated using a Fabry-Perot semiconductor filter and a set of fiber Bragg gratings. A build-up time as short as 1.6microsecond(s) was obtained.


This document establishes the minimum training requirements for the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) personnel who are responsible for management of dangerous waste. The training plan outlines training requirements for handling of solid dangerous waste during generator accumulation and liquid dangerous waste during treatment and storage operations. The implementation of this training plan will ensure the PFP facility compliance with the training plan requirements of Dangerous Waste Regulation. Chapter 173-303-330. Washington Administrative Code (WAC). The requirements for such compliance is described in Section 11.0 of WHC-CM-7-5 Environmental Compliance Manual.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor Robert Krasny, without whom this thesis would never have been possible. The highest standard he always sets for himself has been inspiring me over all these years. Beside the knowledge he has taught me, I am particularly grateful for his enormous patience and encouragement during many periods when no progress in was made. I look forward to working with him in the future. I would also like to thank Professor Smadar Karni for being my second thesis reader, and Professor Werner Dahm and Professor Sijue Wu for agreeing to sit on my thesis committee. I am grateful to Professor August Evrard for letting me use their computer cluster to perform the computations. The staff in the graduate office of mathematics has been of tremendous help in non-academic affairs and I appreciate their assistance. I have been fortunate to know some good friends in Ann Arbor. I am appreciative to their friendship and hope that it will continue. Last, I would like to thank my family for their emotional support during this seemingly unending project.


The operation and maintenance management of telecom platforms puts more emphasis on operation and alarm monitoring and less on business flow, and it is difficult to have a seamless connection between operation and maintenance and sales. To improve the cooperative efficiency and the informatization level of telecom platform operation and maintenance, a new operation and maintenance system integrating Apriori association rules for a telecom platform is proposed. In this paper, the Apriori algorithm is firstly used to analyse the fault correlation of the operation and maintenance system of the telecommunications platform to get the alarm message. Then, the fault risk of the operation and maintenance platform is evaluated intelligently by the system-business alarm causality model. Finally, based on the fixed end and the mobile end, the dynamic presentation of the system running state and alarm monitoring, device query and positioning, and online and offline inspection are implemented and designed, respectively. Experimental results show that the proposed operation and maintenance systems integrating Apriori association rules for the telecom platform innovate the cooperative mode between the operations and sales team, and the average time reduces to 3.9 minutes from 4.7 minutes and the risk forecasting accuracy increases from 8% to 26%. The assumed method can significantly improve the operational efficiency and intelligent level of the telecom platform's system and business.


Legionnaires disease is an illness characterised principally by pneumonia which is caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila. Symptoms of Legionnaires Disease can appear quite suddenly and include high fever, chills, headache, muscle pain and a dry cough. Difficulty with breathing is also commonly experienced by patients. The illness can prove fatal. According to the National Surveillance Scheme for Legionnaires Disease, there were 226 reported cases in England and Wales in 1998, of which 25 resulted in death. Infection can be acquired by the inhalation of airborne water droplets or particles which contain Legionella and are small enough to pass deep into the lungs. mail: email@example.com; and www.ial.uk.com).


A multidimensional version of the results of Komlos, Major and Tusnady for the Gaussian approximation of the sequence of successive sums of independent random vectors with finite exponential moments is obtained.