We focus on the well‐known northern daytime neutral density spikes detected by CHAMP on 25 September 2000 and related coupled magnetospheric‐ionospheric‐thermospheric processes. We investigate the underlying magnetic events and resultant thermospheric variations plus the state of the ionospheric polar region by employing multi‐instrument CHAMP and DMSP data. Results show the unfolding of a weak (SYM‐HMin ≈ −27 nT; ~0345 UT) magnetic storm during which these northern density spikes occurred. Some smaller southern daytime density spikes were also detected prior to this storm on the previous day. All these density spikes were detected in or near polar convection flow channels (FCs). Each FC was characterized by strong antisunward zonal ion drifts that excited the zonal and meridional neutral winds leaving the signature of FC in the CHAMP neutral wind measurements and thus providing direct observational evidence of FC underlying the density spike. Additional to the small‐scale field‐aligned current (SS‐FAC) filaments, the sudden intensifications of ionospheric closure current in the FC fueled the thermosphere and contributed to the development of upwelling and density spike. Some smaller density increases occurred due to the weak intensification of ionospheric closure currents. Equatorward (poleward) directed meridional neutral winds strengthened (weakened) the density spike by moving the neutral density up and along (down and against) the upwelling fueled by the ionospheric closure current and SS‐FAC filaments.


The ability to deposit thin films of various materials is important for the fabrication of modern microelectronic devices and for enabling a variety of investigations of fundamental physical principles. There are many techniques for controllably depositing thin films onto a substrate with thicknesses as small as a few nm. And Nanoparticles are commonly defined as particles less than 100 nm in diameter. Due to this small size, nanoparticles have a high surface-to-volume ratio. This increases the surface energy compared to the bulk material. The high surface-to-volume ratio and size effects (quantum effects) give nanoparticles different chemical, electronic, optical, magnetic and mechanical properties from those of the bulk material. In this paper, we used thermal evaporation technique to deposit Nickel layer on silicon wafer & the deposited sample post annealed at different temperatures in vacuum and or different gas environments, and the sheet resistance of the films was measured using conventional four/two probe method.


−A Nuclear Fusion device is composed, among others, of thousands of sensors connected to a variety of data acquisition systems through hundreds of km of cables. One of the objectives of the INTELLECT is the application of standards to improve self-identification and configuration of the sensors side from the data acquisition system. The paper describes the application of IEEE 1451 Std. to integrate a Transducer Electronic Datasheet (TEDS) in a specific sensor for measuring radiation. The proposal is applied to an existing bolometer system in the TJ-II stellarator [1], located at CIEMAT (Madrid, Spain).


The CCTV main building has some characteristics,such as the structure is unique,steel members have many section types,joints construction is complicated.The on-site design of joints is the emphasis and difficulty of steel structure detail design.By introducing the principle of member segmenting and the types of butt joint,authors introduce on-site design technology of complicated steel members in CCTV main building.


Particulates from fossil fuel combustion are common and linked to allergic airway disease. Changes in the quality of the air we breathe related to air borne "pollutants" are likely one critical factor in the increasing worldwide incidence, prevalence, and severity of allergic airway disease. The dramatic rise in expression of human allergic airway disease in the past two hundred years parallels the increase in fossil fuel combustion -airway allergic disease was even called a disease of industrialization as early as 1907. Burning of fossil fuels generates a variety of xenobiotic compounds among which the polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and monofunctional inducers of oxidative stress (MIOS) are of particular interest. This type of pollution has increased 1000's of fold since the industrial revolution began. The enormity and extent of


The critical current, pinning, and resistive state of single-crystal niobium of texture orientation are studied in various structural states obtained by rolling by 42% at 20 K and subsequent polishing of the surface layers. It is found that the heterogeneous structures typical of the strained sample have a lower current-carrying capacity even after thinning to ∼10% on account of the enhancement of the thermomagnetic instability in the parts with fragmented structure in the subsurface layers. For the case of a homogeneous defect structure of the mid-region of a sample with a uniformly distributed dislocation density of 1.3×1011 cm−2 in the resistive state a correlation between the component of the normal current and the critical current density is found, in accordance with the concepts of flux creep due to the scatter of the local values of Jc.


The Internet of Things (IoT) technology with a variety of smart devices, communication networks, and software systems for data processing is critical for optimizing Smart Grid operations. While energy demand forecasting is an integral part of Smart Grid management, there is no a general forecasting method which works best across different situations and scenarios. In this paper, we design, build, and compare three forecasting methods to show how these approaches can be trained on time-series data with limited intervention from users, i.e., enabling automated model selection. Using smart meters measurements collected from 114 residential apartments over two years, and weather information for the same period, we build the following three models: (i) a piecewise linear regression model, (ii) the univariate seasonal ARIMA model, and (iii) the novel multivariate LSTM model (a special form of Recurrent Neural Network). While the designed linear regression model could be used for longer-term planning, the constructed LSTM model significantly improves the accuracy of short term (24 hours) demand prediction compared to both the linear regression and ARIMA models. However, training LSTM and modeling with ARIMA require higher computing resources and longer runtimes (45 min and 125 min respectively) compared to 2 min for building and predicting with linear regression model. Therefore, the automated best model selection can be driven by the user-defined metrics of interest, such as model accuracy, required computing resources, model usability, and model construction/execution time.


The Argument The last two plates (78 and 79) of Aby Warburg's unpublished picture-atlas Mnemosyne, which is thought today to be among Warburg's most innovative contributions to the study of art history, are here analyzed in detail. These plates were assembled in the summer before his death in 1929; they reflect experiences of the time he spent in Rome during 1928 and 1929 and are here understood as Warburg's attempt to visualize his theory of the symbol. The Bilderatlas was to have a two-fold function: Warburg planned it to be a summary of his life's work; he also wanted its plates to reflect his theory of pictures and images. I argue here that particularly plate 79 is indeed an attempt to visualize the theoretical foundation of Warburg's view of the representational function of pictures. It refers to the origin of the power of images in sacrificial rituals and to the limits of this power. Warburg singles out the Eucharist and the doctrine of transsubstantiation (as pictured in Raffael's Mass of Bolsena, 1511) to illustrate the role of the symbol in rituals. With this emphasis on ritual as a necessary complement for the functioning of the symbol, Warburg reaffirms his theory of the image to include the social act. This inclusion can be shown to be motivated by contemporary political concerns.


Since 2006, government has started to launch the housing micro finance system for low incomehousehold, and has been implemented in Jakarta, Semarang, Solo and other big cities. In Semarang, thehousing micro finance is used for early home construction and home renovation. This research is todefine the contribution between two implementation of housing micro finance and BMT Mitra Khasanahis selected as a case study. This investigation used the triangulation method, and is supported with theusing of dicriminant technique analysis, scoring and frequency distribution. About 17 respondent areinterviewed, and they have been facilitated by BMT Mitra Khasanah.The research reveals that 83% of housing micro finance application in Genuk is for home renovation,while 17% is for early home construction. There are 3 dominant factors influenced the applicatio;,namely the economy, installment ability and home condition. The results shows that the applicationwould be very useful if there have been an initation to facilitate the low income household in technicaland managerial assistance.


The boundary of an object image in a digital image is distorted by noise or other elements of the system that mix with the image during transmission. In this paper, it is proposed that the object boundary be detected and exactly divided for optimal edge detection method. After bringing up the object boundary by applying adaptive morphology on the threshold of the input image, the optimal edge is detected using wavelet-cellular neural network (CNN). The proposed method is compared with the conventional Sobel method used as an edge detection algorithm. The proposed algorithm is confirmed to be superior than the conventional methods.


Background: Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare type of aggressive large B - cell Non Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) which was initially described in HIV positive individuals and later was also described in immune competent individuals. It constitutes about 2-3% of HIV associated malignancies. It was included as a distinct entity in WHO lymphoma classification in 2008.
 Methods: The clinical features, HIV status, treatment details and outcomes of patients diagnosed with plasmablastic lymphoma during the period of January 2012 to December 2018 were retrospectively collected from the patient records and analyzed. The survival analysis was done by Kaplan Meier analysis and the comparison was done by Log Rank test.
 Results: Median age of 25 patients, included in the study was 41 years (Range 13 - 71 years). Males constituted 76% (n=19). HIV positivity was 72% (n=18). Stage 4 disease was present in 76% (n=19). Extra nodal involvement was seen in 96% (n=24), of which the common sites were gastrointestinal tract and bone. Out of 25 patients, 7 did not receive any treatment and 3 received metronomic oral chemotherapy due to poor performance status at presentation. Fifteen patients received chemotherapy on a curative intent. Infusional EPOCH chemotherapy was given in 13 patients. CHOP and CHOPE chemotherapy was given in one patient each. The median number of cycles was 6 (Range: 3 - 8). The overall response rate of patients treated on a curative intent was 80% (Complete response and partial response in 8 and 4 respectively). Three patients underwent high dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell rescue at first remission (2 HIV patients and 1 Non HIV patient). The median overall survival (OS) of the whole study population was 12.4 months with a median follow of 15.9 months. The Medial OS was not reached in the curative intent group and the 2 year OS of the curative group was 55% with a median follow up of 22.8 months. The factors adversely influencing the OS were Age > 40 years and High IPI (International prognostic index).
 Conclusion: Plasmablastic lymphoma commonly presents as stage 4 disease with extra nodal involvement. It is more common in immunodeficient individuals especially HIV positive patients. Infusional EPOCH chemotherapy is a promising option which induces long term remission in fit patients.
 Figure

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Marine pollution has always shown many impacts on the environment all around the world. In this study, two of the impacts of debris are evaluated on the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Morocco. The evaluation of the ingestion phenomenon of micro plastic in the fish, demonstrated that 10% was the percentage of fish samples which ingested microplastic for both species with higher values for the benthic fish, Diplodus cervinus, for the pelagic fish, Auxis thazard. The other impact detected is the presence of marine litter; 86% is the percentage of occurrence of waste in the fishing nets, which means the accumulation of debris in the seabed. This growth of marine litter leads to increased risk for marine biology in general, and to the appearance of other negative effects; in particular the low economic yield of this maritime activity.


The thesis shows the study behind the design process and the realization of the robotic solution for museum purposes called Virgil. The research started with the literature review on museums management and the critic analysis of signi cant digital experiences in the museum eld. Then, it continues analyzing the museum and its relation with the territory and the cultural heritage. From this preliminary analysis stage, signi cant issue related to museum management analysis comes out: nowadays many museum areas are not accessible to visitors because of issues related to security or architectural barriers. Make explorable these areas is one of the important topics in the cultural debate related to the visiting experience. This rst stage gave the knowledge to develop the outlines which brought to the realization of an ef cient service design then realized following robot ethical design values. One of the pillars of the robot ethical design is the necessity to involve all the stakeholders in the early project phases, for this reason, the second stage of the research was the study of the empathic relations between museum and visitors. In this phase, facilitator factors of this relation are de ned and transformed into guidelines for the product system performances. To perform this stage, it has been necessary create a relation between all the stakeholders of the project, which are: Politecnico di Torino, Tim (Telecom Italia Mobile) JOL CRAB research laboratory and Terre dei Savoia which is the association in charge of the Racconiggi's Castle, the context scenario of the research. The third stage of the research, provided the realization of a prototype of the robot, in this stage telepresence robot piloted the Museum Guide it is used to show, in real time, the inaccessible areas of the museum enriched with multimedia contents. This stage concludes with the nal test user, from the test session feedback analysis, many of people want to drive themselves the robot. To give an answer to user feedback an interactive game has been developed. The game is based both on the robot ability to be driven by the visitors and also on the capacity of the robot to be used as a platform for the digital telling. To be effective, the whole experience it has been designed and tested with the support of high school students, which are one of the categories less interested in the traditional museum visit. This experience wants to demonstrate that the conscious and ethical use of the robotic device is effectively competitive, in term of performances, with the other solutions of digital visit: because it allows a more interactive digital experience in addition to the satisfaction of the physical visit at the museum.


A tagged female Atlantic sailfish, Isti<:rp/wn.ul platypterus, of 24.6 kg (54 lb) was recaptured on 14 January 1984, after being at large for 10 yr and 10 mo (4.025 d). Approximate age based on tagging records ranged from at least 13 to 15 + yr. Maximum estimated longevity of this species was therefore revised upwards from previously reported ';P7 yr to at least 13-15+ yr. Estimates of age based on sections of dorsal spine nwnbers 3-6 ranged from 2 to 8 yr and substantially underestimated the range in age known from tagging records (13-15 + yr). This discrepancy was due to enlargement of the porous, vascularized core of spine sections which obscured zonations associated with early growth history. Thus, dorsal spines do not appear to be useful in ageing older sailfish (i.e., ';P5 yr). Age estimates from sagittae (otoliths) were 13 yr based on scanning electron microscope counts of external ridges and analysis of internal otolith microstructure. Otolith age, therefol'(', agreed with age known from tagging records. The relatively large size of the sagitta (7.84 mgl also provides additional evidence that the otolith could be from a very old sailfish. These data strongly suggest that in older, larger sailfish (';P5 yr, 22.7 kg), sagittae, rather than dorsal spines, should be used as the source of age and growth information.


Colon cancer identification is of great significance in medical diagnosis. Real-time, objective and accurate inspection results will facilitate medical professionals to explore symptomatic treatment promptly. However, the existing methods depend on hand-crafted features which require extensive professional expertise and long inspection period. Therefore, we propose a multi-scale feature fusion convolutional neural network (MFF-CNN) based on shearlet transform to identify histopathological image of colon cancer. The characteristic of the framework is the shearlet coefficients of histopathological image in multiple decomposition scales were extracted as supplementary feature which were also fed to the network with the original pathological image. After feature learning and feature fusion, the MFF-CNN based on shearlet transform can achieve the identification accuracy of 96% and average F-1 score of 0.9594 for colorectal adenocarcinoma epithelium (TUM) and normal colon mucosa (NORM). The false negative rate and false positive rate can be reduced to 5.5% and 2.5%, respectively. The superior performance of the network opens a new perspectives for real-time, objective and accurate diagnosis of cancer.


A feeding trial was carried out to investigate the effect of different fish meal and wheat flour contents in extruded pellets on the growth and apparent nutrient digestibility of olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus. Four extruded pellets (HB1, HB1T, HB2 and HB2T) were prepared using two kinds of high quality brown fish meal and low quality tuna fish meal. Two diets (HB1 and HB2) contained two different kinds of brown fish meal, respectively; in HB1T and HB2T, we substituted 50 % of the brown fish meal with 10 % wheat flour. Three replicate groups of fish (initial body weight of 82 g) were fed the experimental pellets to visual satiation for 15 weeks. The highest weight gain was observed in fish fed HB1, and weight gain of fish fed HB2 was significantly higher than that of fish fed HB2T (P<0.05). Feeding efficiency for fish fed HB1 was significantly higher than that of fish fed HB1T and HB2T (P<0.05), but was not significantly different from fish fed HB2. Apparent dry matter digestibility in HB1 and HB2 was significantly higher than in HB1T and HB2T (P<0.05). The highest crude protein digestibility was observed in HB1, and protein digestibility in HB1T and HB2 was higher than in HB2T (P<0.05). The results of this study suggest that fish meal quality considerably affects growth and nutrient digestibility of olive flounder fed extruded pellets, and the use of HB1 is recommended over HB1T, HB2 and HB2T for efficient olive flounder production.


To address the longstanding issue of provenance interpretation of non-unique detrital zircon age populations, we integrated zircon U-Pb, rare earth element (REE), and εHf(t) data from upper Paleozoic strata in the northern Central Colorado Trough and Cambrian intrusions with petrography, paleocurrent data, and structural and stratigraphic observations. This data set indicates that Cambrian sediment was shed by multiple local sources instead of distant sources hundreds of kilometers away, and it reveals a detailed history of tectonic drainage reorganization in the northern Central Colorado Trough during Ancestral Rocky Mountain deformation. During the Early–Middle Pennsylvanian, Cambrian detrital zircons were a minor constituent of northern Central Colorado Trough sediment. However, during the Late Pennsylvanian–early Permian, westward advancement of the adjacent Apishapa Uplift deformation front precipitated drainage reorganization, which resulted in an episode of dominant Cambrian detrital zircon sourcing. Paleocurrent and petrographic data indicate that the source of Cambrian detritus was shed by an igneous rock body that was ≤15 km northeast of the depocenter, which has since been eroded away or mantled by Tertiary volcanic rocks. The addition of zircon petrochronology to the data set applied here was critical in confirming this hidden source of detritus and elucidating the compositional characteristics of that igneous rock. Zircon εHf(t) provided a regional provenance indicator of a western Laurentian affinity, and REE composition aided in discriminating possible local sources of Cambrian zircon. Furthermore, this work serves as a case study of a dominant Cambrian detrital zircon signature sourced from outside of the well-known Amarillo-Wichita Uplift, and it has implications for the interpretation of such detrital spectra in the context of a direct-from-basement source or the recycling of Cambrian zircon-dominated rocks. In summary, we demonstrate the utility of this multi-provenance proxy approach in interpreting a complex structural history of a dynamic hinterland and concomitant drainage reorganization through an in-depth investigation into the basin record.


SureScripts has signed up two more partners for its electronic prescribing network. Physician Micro Systems, a leader in the development of electronic health records, will connect its Practice Partner Patients Records clinical solution to the SureScripts network. Healthcare software solutions firm, Wellogic, will connect its Web-based healthcare portal, Wellogic Consult, and its underlying health information exchange platform to SureScripts as well. SureScripts will certify both firms and test the systems to ensure successful transmission of e-scripts.


A method for analysis of the SiO2 concentration in an electrolyte for plasma electrolytic oxidation and a method for life extension of an electrolyte using the same are provided to supplement an accurate amount of SiO2 into the electrolyte by promptly analyzing Si anions polymerized in an electrolyte in which a plasma electrolytic oxidation process is carried out. A method for analysis of the SiO2 concentration in an electrolyte for plasma electrolytic oxidation comprises: a step(a) of preparing a plurality of electrolyte samples having different SiO2 concentrations; a step(b) of obtaining a calibration line showing the change of plasma anode voltage relative to the change of the SiO2 concentration in the electrolyte by measuring respective plasma anode voltages of the plurality of electrolyte samples; a step(c) of measuring a plasma anode voltage of an electrolyte collected in the same conditions as the step(b) by collecting an electrolyte on which an actual plasma electrolytic oxidation process is conducted; and a step(d) of obtaining a current concentration of SiO2 that is not polymerized in the actual plasma electrolytic oxidation process-performed electrolyte by comparing the calibration line obtained in the step(b) with the voltage measured in the step(c).


This paper describes new results towards performance evaluations of a compressed air driven vane type rotary novel air turbine/engine. The compressed air has potential of becoming nearly zero pollution power source for running the prime-mover/engine of the small bikes/motorbikes. The proposed air turbine will transform the energy of compressed air into mechanical shaft work in place of the internal combustion engine. The effect of isobaric admission and adiabatic expansion of high pressure air for different rotor to casing diameter ratios at optimum injection and vane angles are considered in the mathematical model presented in this paper. The results are evaluated with optimal vane angles, injection angles, different rotor/casing ratios, and different casing diameters. It is seen that the power output is optimum to the typical values of rotor/casing diameter ratios (d/D). In this study, the maximum power outputs for linear expansion (i.e., for minimum air consumptions) are obtained as 3.98 kW (5.41 HP) a...


Author(s): Gou, Liangke | Advisor(s): Wu, Ying Nian | Abstract: The CRISPR base editors are programmable DNA editing systems that induce single-nucleotide changes in the DNA using a fusion protein containing a catalytically defective Cas9, a cytidine or adenine deaminase, and an inhibitor of base excision repair. This genome editing approach has the advantage that it does not require the generation of double-stranded DNA breaks or a donor DNA template. The single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) enables the precise editing at the designed region using CRISPR base editor. Different sgRNAs have largely different efficacy for base editing, and computational prediction can facilitate the optimized design of sgRNAs with high editing efficacy, sensitivity and specificity. Here we present a convolutional neural network-based approach to predict the sgRNAs editing efficiency for CRISPR base editing. Firstly, we designed a large-scale sgRNA library of over 7,000 sgRNAs to introduce pre-mature stop codons into essential genes in yeast, where the yeast would drop out from the population if the sgRNA works efficiently due to the disruption of essential genes. The base editing efficiency of the 7,000 sgRNAs was measured by the log ratio change of sgRNA abundance at 72 h after the editing induction and at the beginning. We built a CNN model using the sgRNA sequence and the surrounding DNA context as the training input to predict the editing efficacy of any given sgRNA sequences. With architecture and parameter tuning, the CNN model surpassed the machine learning approaches tested. In addition, the CNN model fully automated the identification of sequence that may affect sgRNA editing efficacy in a data-driven manner.


Background: The effect of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on human health differs depending on the duration and exposure path. Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of PAHs on the human health risks associated with long-term exposure both before and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: PM10 sampling for 24 h was conducted at six sampling sites (Al-Haram, Aziziyah, Al Nuzhah, Muzdalifah, Arafat, and Al Awali). On-site measurements were conducted from March 2020 to February 2021. PAHs were analyzed using Perkin Elmer GC/MS, which was adjusted with standard reagents for identifying 16 PAH mixtures. Results: The 24 h average PM10 concentration showed considerable inconsistencies, exceeding the WHO standards used for median exposure (25.0 µgm−3). The PAH intensities fluctuated from 7.67 to 34.7 ng/m3 in a suburban area, near a rush-hour traffic road, and from 6.34 to 37.4 ng/m3 close to business and light manufacturing areas. The highest carcinogenic compound levels were found in the Al-Azizia, Al Muzdalifah, and Al Nuzah areas because of the high traffic density, and the lowest concentrations were found in the Al-Haram and Arafat areas throughout the year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic health precautions that were undertaken by the government of Saudi Arabia involving border entry limits and limitations of the Umrah and Hajj seasons. Conclusion: This study period is considered extraordinary as the Saudi Arabian government has undertaken successful preventive measures that have had a great effect both on the spread of the pandemic and in reducing air pollution in Makkah. More studies are required to examine PAHs' carcinogenic effects after the pandemic measures are eased across Makkah.


To enhance the standard E-model, this paper proposes the new factor called Bias factor. Based-on the Thai environment, this factor can be computed by subtracting the subjective test results using conversation tests with native Thai users from the objective test results using an E-model tool. Both E-mode tests and conversation tests were conducted with the same VoIP system and test conditions. Then, the enhanced E-model using the Thai bias factor was evaluated with the test set from other groups of native Thai users. After evaluation, it has been found that the enhanced E-model can gain higher confidence. It delivers improved accuracy and reliability at approximately more than 20% when compared to the standard E-model.


In this paper, a model for MIMO capacity calculation with array element radiation patterns is proposed. The proposed model considers effect of radiation pattern, channel impulse responses and elements correlation separately. The effects of both directional and omni-directional antennas to the MIMO capacity are investigated. For the directional antenna case, horizontal polarized Dipole and Yagi-uda antennas are employed in the array. The omni-directional antennas case is considered to be an ideal MIMO capacity. We have shown that directional antennas reduce the narrowband MIMO capacity when the angle of arrival (AOA) is uniformly distributed. When the directional antennas with proper alignment to the mean AOA are used in a scenario where the AOA is Laplacian distribution, the capacity is increased. However, if the antenna alignment is off from the mean AOA, then the capacity is decreased.


A three-state calculation of electron-impact excitation of formaldehyde to the a^3A_2 and A^1A_2 states is carried out using the Schwinger multichannel variational method. The integral and differential cross sections so obtained agree fairly well with theoretical results obtained using the complex Kohn method. Though agreement between the calculated integral cross section and the single available experimental measurement is qualitative, similar conclusions regarding the excitation mechanism are reached. A generalization of the selection rule for (Σ^+⇆Σ^−) electron-impact excitation of diatomic molecules is used to explain the shape of the differential cross sections for the a^3A_2 and A^1A_2 excitations.


The interaction of aqueous metal· EDTA complexes with magnesium metal or bimetallic mixtures of magnesium with either palladium or silver were optimized to remove metals (Cu, Fe and/or Mn) from solution with concomitant release of the EDTA ligand. The analyte metals were removed by both cementation on the surfaces of the excess magnesium metal and by precipitation as hydroxides. In all cases, the reactions were rapid and very efficient. The accelerators (Ag or Pd) were cemented on the surfaces of the magnesium more efficiently so that the excess of Mg granules could be reused to mediate more metals removal without apparent loss of reactivity.


Introduction Locating Opportunities in the Global Private Power Business Regional and Country Risk Analysis Development of a Power Plant Professional Assistance for Power Plant Participants Land Acquisition, Transportation, and Construction Operating and Maintaining the Plant Financing the Venture Sourcing Project Funds and Structuring the Financing Risk Management for Global Power Projects Bibliography Index


Augusta Webster's poem "Medea in Athens" offers a dramatic interpretation of Medea's psychological responses to Jason's death. Using the technique of broken dramatic monologue, this poem allows the poet to offer a personal vision of a Medea in contention with her repressed emotions. Whilst the poem has been much studied by feminist scholars as a remarkable example of the struggle of the New Woman in Victorian England, this paper highlights the role played by the voice of Jason's ghost that represents Medea's unconscious, and that despite her desperate attempts reveals a strong patriarchal image of femininity. As the poem unfolds, it unveils how Jason's ghost projects the intense love that the protagonist feels for him, a love from which she cannot free herself. This paper reads the poem to pinpoint contrasting issues between psychological subjectivity and agency that affected many new intellectual Victorian women in their battles against patriarchy, and their own selves.


To prepare activated carbon,sawdust was impregnated in phosphoric acid,then activated in high temperature.The main parameters such as temperature,holding time and the concentration were studied to show the effect on the adsorption capabilities of the activated carbon.It was found that with the increase of temperature and holding time,methylene blue,iodine,benzene adsorption values of activated carbon showed overall upward trend.With the increase of the concentration of phosphoric acid,the methylene blue and iodin adsorption values of activated carbon decreased to a low value and then increased.Under optimized experimental conditions,the adsorption values of methylene blue,iodine and benzene of activated carbon were 330 mg·g-1,1 015.7 mg·g-1 and 59.2%,respectively.


To study the performance of chitosan nanoparticles systematically, we characterized MMA, chitosan and synthesized chitosan nanoparticles by Raman spectroscopy. Through analyzing the characteristic peaks of each substance, we found MMA grafted chitosan by opening its carbon-carbon double bond. So Raman spectroscopy is a very effective way in terms of the characterization of nanomaterials .


In this paper we give a thorough description of a liquid argon time projection chamber designed, built and operated at Yale. We present results from a calibration run where cosmic rays have been observed in the detector, a first in the US.


The present invention relates to a fastening device (6) for releasably attaching a first component (4) to a second component (5), in particular on a motor vehicle, comprising a at the one component (5) fixed to the bearing block (7) (an anchor bolt 13), and secured with one (on the other component 4) anchor bracket (8), the (an anchor hook 15) (for hooking the anchor bolt 13) and a locking device (16) connected between an unlocking, in which the anchor hooks (15) on the anchor bolt (13) can be hooked and which is detachable, and is adjustable to a locking state in which the anchor bolt (13) is fixed on the hooked thereto anchor hook (15).


The design of Horizontal Axis Water Turbine in pico hydro power plants involves many parameters. To simplify that, usually using computer simulation is applied. This research performs simulation process variation on turbine blade number, turbine blade curvature angle, turbine bucket angle and blocking system tilt angle. Those four variations were combined in order to obtain the best design of turbine. The study used Flow Simulation Solidworks application, and obtain data on turbine speed, pressure, force, and torque. However, this research focused on turbine torque value. The best design of turbine was obtained in the turbine with 6 blades, blade curvature angle of 65° and bucket angle of 10°, and blocking system tilt angle of 40°. In the best turbine, the produced torque value was 8.464 Nm.


This paper develops a framework for fitting functions with domains in the Euclidean space, when data are sparse but a slow variation allows for a useful fit. We measure the variation by Lipschitz Bound (LB). Functions which admit smaller LB are considered to vary more slowly. Since most functions in practice are wiggly and do not admit a small LB, we extend this framework by approximating a wiggly function, f, by ones which admit a smaller LB and do not deviate from f by more than a specified Bound Deviation (BD). In fact for any positive LB, one can find such a BD, thus defining a trade-off function (LB-BD function) between the variation measure (LB) and the deviation measure (BD). We show that the LB-BD function satisfies nice properties: it is non-increasing and convex. We also present a method to obtain it using convex optimization. For a function with given LB and BD, we find the optimal fit and present deterministic bounds for the prediction error of various methods. Given the LB-BD function, we discuss picking an appropriate LB-BD pair for fitting and calculating the prediction errors. The developed methods can naturally accommodate an extra assumption of periodicity to obtain better prediction errors. Finally we present the application of this framework to air pollution data with sparse observations over time.


The paper investigates the concept of hybrid (online and face-to-face) teacher professional development for in-service teachers in the light of the emerging concept of gamification. This study makes a case for future researchers to explore the effect of gamification on teacher engagement in teacher professional development programs. The existing literature indicates that gamification leads to better employee engagement. Therefore, the paper argues that it will also lead to better teacher engagement in training programs. A gamified hybrid training program for in-service teachers has been developed. Various game elements like points, badges, and profile customization have been proposed to induce game dynamics in gamification implementations. The paper analyses how gamification leads to better engagement by exploring the linkages with various psychological theories.


Twelve hybrid crosses among 3 cytoplasmic male sterile lines and 4 varieties of flue-cured tobacco popular in China were used to determine the heterosis in the following economic characters: yield, production value, average price, high class tobacco ratio, high and middle class tobacco ratio and tobacco class index. Results were as follows: (1) Heterosis from mid-parent was found in most crosses, and the yield and production value in 100.00% crosses were significantly different at 0.05 or 0.01 levels, so were the other economic characters in 12.50%-83.33% crosses; (2) Heterosis over higher-parent for yield and high class tobacco ratio was found in most crosses, and the heterosis of yield was in 75.00% and high class tobacco ratio in 66.67% crosses were significant at 0.05 or 0.01 levels, respectively. The others economic characters were in 8.33%-50.00% of crosses with signi-ficance at 0.05 or 0.01 levels respectively. (3) The cross of MsYZ203-6 × Honghuadajinyuan showed significant heterosis over higher-parent in all economic characters expressed above, and cross of MsYZ206-9 × Yunyan87 showed significant heterosis over higher-parent in all economic characters above except average price.


Objectives: To find the effects of bacterial sepsis on thrombocytes, in correlation with causative bacteria and mortality rate.
Methodology: This study was performed on 50 Sudanese neonates presenting with septicemia, with an additional 50 neonates matched for age and weight as control group. The standard microbiological techniques, in addition to antimicrobial sensitivity testing, were used for the identification of microorganisms. Platelet (PLt) count was performed using a fully automated hematology analyzer.
Results: Thrombocytopenia was more severe in neonates with Gram-negative (Gm−ve) septicemia, (PLt=72.1x103/cmm), in comparison with those with Gram-positive (Gm +ve) septicemia, (PLt=83.1x103/cmm) (p


Turkish yarrow (Achillea gypsicola Hub. Mor.) contains medicinally valuable bioactive metabolites. Light plays a key role in many physiological events in plants such as the accumulation of phenylpropanoid metabolites, particularly photosynthesis. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of light on the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoid metabolites and biomass growth in Turkish yarrow cell suspension cultures. In vitro plantlets obtained from seeds were used as explant sources and cell cultures of A. gypsicola were established using stem segment-derived callus tissues. Then, 8-day-old cell cultures kept in a B5 medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L BA (benzylaminopurine)+0.5 mg/L NAA (naphthalene acetic acid) were incubated in light and dark environments. Cells were harvested five times (1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , 6 th , and 12 th day) in total. The amount of camphor was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Other parameters were calculated using the spectrophotometric method. The total phenolic amount increased depending on the sampling time in dark and light conditions. Phenolic accumulation was increased by 29.25% compared to the initial culture. Also, light application increased the amount of camphor 1.12 times, the amount of flavanol 4.9 times, and the amount of flavonol 0.5 times. These results clearly demonstrate the effect of light on cell growth and phenylpropanoid metabolite accumulation in A. gypsicola cell cultures


Currently there are over 5,000 swimming pools in operation in North Cyprus. The paper briefly investigates the solar energy availability in North Cyprus, and proposes the use of solar electricity to operate the pumps used for circulating the water and cleaning swimming pools. The paper concludes that electrical energy can be saved if solar energy is used during the pool cleaning process.


In order to understand natural convection heat transfer of molten nitrate, natural convection heat transfer of lithium nitrate(Li NO3) and multi-components nitrate around a horizontal cylinder with different diameters(0.1, 0.4, 1, 4, 10, 40 mm) at different medium temperatures(573, 623, 673 K) was studied by simulation. The results fitted best with the Fand's correlation comparing with different classic correlations. After analysis of all calculated data, a simple correlation was proposed for predicting laminar natural convection heat transfer of molten nitrate around a horizontal cylinder. Compared with the natural convection experiment data of Li NO3, the proposed correlation had a maximum uncertainty of ±20%, and the reliability of the proposed correlation was verified.


DCF is the most respected method of company valuation. However, it does have a flaw related to the fact that the weights (share of debt and equity in total financing) that are used are based on book values. The problem may be overcome by using a technique based on iterations. In a real-life case, when one has to deal with numerous parameters and time periods, a numerical solution seems to be the only feasible approach. It is a chain of formulae that becomes so integrated that the information between cash flows and cost of capital moves freely. Loops run along columns (from V to WACC, and from E to k) and lines (from one year to another). The cost of capital "tracks" the capital structure and changes accordingly. The valuation is recursive, going backwards in time. In general, the recursive method of company evaluation overcomes a fundamental problem that is often ignored by many other methods: the fact that the cost of capital depends on the financial structure. Here in the paper, the valuation of Emcinsmed S.A. company is done in order to present the i-DCF valuation method. The company is highly leveraged, hence it serves as a good example.


Objective: To assess the cardiovascular risk of the elderly by waist-to-hip ratio and taper index in a long-term care facility and a living center for the elderly. Method: This is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach conducted in a Long-term Care Institution of the Elderly and in a Living Center for the elderly. It consisted of a sample of twenty-eight elderly and was collected by means of a structured form. The thematic analysis of the data was used and the ethical aspects were respected. Results: there was a predominance of males, with a mean age of 76 years and 77 years. The most prevalent chronic disease was hypertension, followed by diabetes mellitus. In both study sites, the average waist-to-hip ratio was 0.94 and 0.92 and the taper index was 1.35 and 136, both inadequate. Conclusion: it was found that the population studied has cardiovascular risk factors, as they obtained cutoff measurements above the recommended, according to current guidelines and protocols.


Concerning most of the existing reversible watermarking algorithms need a location map, this paper presented a reversible watermarking algorithm for images without using a location map. This algorithm employed full-enclosing prediction based on a new high efficient sorting technique and results in a forecast error set after sorting, which could embed data with a low distortion. The experimental results clearly indicate that this scheme is superior to most of the existing reversible watermarking algorithms and can embed large data with low distortion.


To make the Virtual Prototyping(VP)of complex mechatronic system replace the physical prototyping and to improve the quality and efficiency of complex mechatronic product design,the development and application of VP depends on advancement of its key supporting technologies were elaborated.The advancement and existing problems of several key supporting techniques were discussed,which included VP definition,modeling,multi-domain simulation,Multi-disciplinary Design Optimization(MDO),methodology of system integration and model management.The technology and the direction for VP of complex mechatronic system were given,which laid research foundation for VP design of complex mechatronic system.


Aim: To evaluate the difference and functional outcome between open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) and intermaxillary fixation (IMF) in mandibular fractures. Study Design: Retrospective study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faryal Dental College, Sheikhupura, Lahore from 1st February 2019 to 31st January 2021. Methodology: One hundred and fifty seven patients treated for fractures of mandible and reviewed their prognosis based on use of intermaxillary fixation after reduction of fracture. The patients were divided into two groups; Manual reduction group without the intermaxillary fixation and the intermaxillary fixation group. Results: Good results have been obtained in most patients after mandible fracture reduction. However, complications occurred in 19 (27.5%) patients in group 2 after surgery. 6 patients had an infection, 4 patients had a wound dehiscence, and 4 patients had osteomyelitis. No loosening of the mounting bolts and/or crack of the mounting plates was observed. Correct occlusion was achieved using posterior arch wires and elastic rings in 2 malocclusion patients. Occlusion failed in two patients in Group 1 due to osteomyelitis, and the second operation was performed under general anaesthesia. The mean complication severity scores for Group 1 and Group 2 were 1.37 and 1.38, respectively, with no significant difference. Conclusion: Among the patients treated with manual reduction, 2 patients had malocclusion and 1 patient required a new surgery. Such a simple mandible fracture can give good results even with manual reduction without intermaxillary fixation. For a simple mandible fracture, only manual reduction without intermaxillary fixation or intermaxillary fixation was recommended for a short time. Key words: Complication, Fracture, Internal fixation, Mandible


This paper presents the status of the sociolinguistics of the Basque language and, more specifically, that of its research, in recent decades. To this end many issues are discussed, such as the emergence, evolution and development of the current paradigm, its dimensioning, its main agents and promoters, the degree of consolidation, the scientific or applied orientation, etc. Similarly, we examine the social rooting that feeds this area of study. We conclude with an assessment about the progress that this sociolinguistics has made, as well as about its current weaknesses.


This paper deals with the representation and solution of asymmetric Bayesian decision problems. We present a formal framework, termed asymmetric influence diagrams. The framework is based on the sy...


In three towns along the Siovenian littoral municipial sewage is treated mechanically. Municipial wastewater from the town of Koper empties into the estuary of the small Riiana River (annual mean flow is less than 5 m3/s), the wastewater from the town of Piran empties into the sea from two diffusers at the end of adjacent submarine pipes (length 3.5 km), while the wastewater from the town of Izola is discharged into the sea from a primitive diffuser at a distance of about 300m from the shore. In all three towns the sewerage system is in a renewal phase and modem sewage treatment plants (biochemical treatment) are to be built. Since even the best treatment plants do not operate continuously, there should be a safe, complementary back-up system that would prevent sewage contamination of the littoral strip. The model results of initial and secondary dilution of sewage that emerges from the submarine diffuser in front of the Bay of Koper demonstrate that a submarine outfall is such a system. It is shown that the total dilution (primary and secondary) of a sewage that emerges from a diffuser in the Gulf of Trieste, that is at distance of around 4 km from the shore, is of a factor around 104before the sewage reaches the coastline. List of abbreviations PE Population equivalent CTD Conductivity, temperature, depth


Soil-structure interface systems are encountered in various Geotechnical Engineering projects such as pile foundations, retaining structures, and pipeline infrastructure. The interaction between soil and structures is complex and increases in complexity after movements or failure. Research has shown that residual strength within a soil mass or along a soil/structure interface can increase, yet is difficult to quantify. Also, after structures are installed, the frictional interaction between the soils and the structure tends to increase. This increase has been attributed to many factors including the dissipation of induced excess pore water pressure, soil aging, or the relaxation of the arching effect. Understanding this behavior to be able to predict the amount of increase can significantly improve design and analysis efficiency of many geotechnical and structural engineering projects. A testing procedure has been developed to quantify the change in residual strength over time utilizing a standard direct shear machine. This procedure experimentally quantifies the amount of interface frictional strength increase over time between soil and various types of construction materials. An undisturbed silty, clay soil was tested to determine the changes of interface residual shear strength with time when interacting with steel and concrete plates. The results are consistent with previous experimentation that there is a considerable increase in shear strength as time increases. Also, the increase of shear strength is higher between the soil and concrete than it is with steel.


Although anti-TNFα therapies have revolutionized the management and care of IBD, their administration and usage remain suboptimal because 1) over 50% of patients do not have a lasting therapeutic response, 2) they increase risk of infections, liver problems, arthritis, and lymphoma, and 3) they are expensive. With approximately 1.6 million people suffering from IBD in the US and global prevalence of IBD on the rise, a predictive test for anti-TNFα response would greatly improve the efficacy and cost-to-benefit ratio of these biologics.

 We hypothesized that a multicohort analysis of the publicly available IBD gene expression datasets would yield a robust set of mRNAs for distinguishing anti-TNFα responders vs non-responders in the IBD patient population prior to treatment. We identified 5 datasets (n = 160) where whole-genome transcriptomic data was derived from colonic mucosal biopsies of IBD patients who were then subjected to anti-TNFα therapy and subsequently adjudicated for response. We used the MetaIntegrator framework which leverages a leave-one-study-out cross-validation technique in conjunction with effect size and FDR adjusted p-value to identify significant differentially expressed (DE) genes associated with a patient's predisposition to a response outcome. DE genes were subjected to a greedy forward search to derive a parsimonious gene signature for a response score (geometric mean of the expression level for all positive mRNAs minus the geometric mean of the expression level of all negative mRNAs, multiplied by the ratio of counts of positive to negative genes). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was subsequently calculated in a leave-one-study-out manner to assess discriminatory performance.

 We first identified 170 genes that were present in at least 40% of cohorts and significantly differentially expressed between responders and non-responders with effect size > 0.8 and q value < 0.1. A score based on these genes predicts responder vs non-responder across the 5 discovery cohorts with AUC of 0.82. Optimizing the variables with a greedy forward search algorithm allowed us to downselect to 7 genes from the set, and a score based on this parsimonious set of 7 genes improved the discriminatory performance to an AUC of 0.87. Choosing a high sensitivity (90%) for a rule-in scenario, the score had moderate specificity (60%); alternatively choosing a high specificity (90%) for a rule-out scenario, the score still had a good sensitivity (80%).

 These initial findings suggest that there is a strong signal for predicting anti-TNFα response in colonic biopsies. In particular, we showed using the leave-one-study-out approach that a predictive signature using mRNA can be generalizable (works in independent cohorts). These initial results warrant further investigation.


This paper considers the development of a smooth "starter" for a DC motor based on a switch controlled DC-to-DC power converter of the "buck" type. The dynamic feedback controller is based on a suitable combination of passivity based control, flatness and a /spl Sigma/ - /spl Delta/ modulator implementation of the average designed controller. The scheme proposes an indirect regulation of the motor shaft speed by means of input current regulation on the "buck" converter circuit. As a consequence, the proposed feedback controller does not require the use of an electromechanical velocity sensor for measuring the angular velocity. The effectiveness of the proposed controller was verified by computer simulations using the P-Spice circuit simulation program.


One-tenth percent sucrose significantly promotes dental caries induced by Streptococcus mutans in young gnotobiotic rats. Maximum caries activity was observed in rats provided a purified diet containing 3% sucrose.


An analytical procedure to obtain the response of soil-structure interaction problems, time domain is described. The procedure makes use of large domain for descritization along with co-ordinate transformation using Lanczos vectors. The responses are obtained in time domain using an adaptive direct integration method. The scheme has the ability to estimate errors due to temporal discretization as well as co-ordinate transformation. The procedure has been applied to half-space problems and non-convex domains for validation of the scheme, and the scheme obeys causality condition in both the situations. The present method has all the advantages of time domain scheme which is local both in space and time with small computational effort.


A simplified nomograph has been designed to permit rapid solution of Peirce's geo metric relationships for plain weaves. To illustrate use of the nomograph, several practical problems in cloth structure are presented and worked out in some detail. Advantages and limitations of the nomograph are discussed.


Introduction 1. Colonialism, Caste and the Beginnings of Tourism 2. Balinese Character (Assassination?) 3. The Efficacy of Ritual Action and the Transformation of Religion 4. The New Religions of Bali: Agama Hindu and Sathya Sai Baba 5. Controversies over Hierarchy 6. Tourism, Culture and Identity


Object tracking is a fundamental problem in perception, which is of great importance for intelligent robots. Recent years have witnessed breakthroughs of deep neural networks (DNN) in intelligent perception with a remarkable improvement on tracking accuracy. However, the huge computing cost and high latency restrict their applications in embedded robotic platform. In contrast, traditional correlation filters-based trackers use handcraft low-level features with higher tracking speed and lighter computational overhead. Both methods have their own advantages. Integrating them may provide a complementary strategy to achieve flexibility between speed and accuracy, which promises to handle more complex scenarios. This work proposes a hybrid neural state tracker (HNST) that combines DNN-based detection and Kernelized Correlation Filter (KCF) tracking using a policy to determine when to activate detection and whether to update the template of tracking target. Furthermore, we develop a similarity discrimination and establish a hybrid neural state machine for decision-making. Through comprehensive evaluation of the speed and accuracy of multiple standard video datasets, our approach improves more than 70% on precision and 95% on AUC with real-time tracking speed (~100 FPS) on CPU over the KCF tracker baseline, indicating the great potential of HNST in high-speed tracking.


In this paper we study the spatial spread of the COVID-19 infection in Lebanon. We inspect the spreading of the daily new infections across the 26 administrative districts of the country, and implement the univariate Moran's I statistics in order to analyze the tempo-spatial clustering of the infection in relation to various variables parameterized by adjacency, proximity, population, population density, poverty rate and poverty density. We find out that except for the poverty rate, the spread of the infection is clustered and associated to those parameters with varying magnitude for the time span between July (geographic adjacency and proximity) or August (population, population density and poverty density) through October. We also determine the temporal dynamics of geographic location of the mean center of new and cumulative infections since late March. The understanding of the spatial, demographic and geographic aspects of the disease spread over time allows for regionally and locally adjusted health policies and measures that would provide higher levels of social and health safety in the fight against the pandemic in Lebanon.


While there is now a rich literature on health care structures in Africa, few have been devoted to both public, private and confessional health facilities and have empirically explored health care providers' "real life" or "experiences" beyond their interactions with the care receiver. Based on a chapter of our doctoral thesis under way, this contribution analyses the physical, social and psychological "experiences" of health professionals in the gynaecological-obstetrical services of three health facilities in Lome. They belong respectively to the private, public or religious sectors. By dint of a strictly qualitative approach mixing basically semi-structured interviews and systematic and intensive observations, the empirical data produced over ten (10) months allow us to show that regardless of their health care sectors and health facilities which do not have the same configurations, the health workers have the same "experiences". Relatively painful, these "experiences" restructure the representations that these professionals have of themselves and their work, and condition their behaviour and attitudes in their daily interactions with users.
Keywords: caregivers, "experiences/ real life", interaction, health training, Lome


ABSTRACT Pets can reduce stress in their owner; however, they are not always permitted in public and institutional places. This study examined the impact of people viewing a picture of their pet versus other images on stress levels. One hundred and twenty participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions. These involved completing a mental arithmetic task while viewing a picture of either their personal pet; an unfamiliar animal; a familiar, supportive person; a stranger; a pleasant image of nature; or no image. Stress was measured through subjective and physiological methods. For participants, viewing a picture of their pet did not reduce their stress response to the task, while viewing a picture of a familiar, supportive person increased the stress response, relative to the controls. Post-stressor, participants in the personal-pet condition rated the picture as making them feel more relaxed, compared with the other conditions. Active interaction with a pet may be required to reduce stress.


Reproduction in flowering plants involves a complex series of events, beginning with floral induction and ending with germination of the seed. Characters of the reproductive cycle, especially those of the flower, but also those of embryology, pollen, and other features, are of great traditional utility in taxonomy. The argument has been made that understanding the functional significance of reproductive char- acters strengthens taxonomic judgments made using these characters, but this is probably only rarely the case. Nevertheless, most of what we know about floral anatomy and morphology, embryological characters, pollen characters, and seed morphology was acquired with taxonomic motivations in mind, and this vast store of information is now being re-examined by systematists and others concerned with understanding the adaptive significance of this array of characters.


Extreme machine learning and its variants have shown good generalization performance and high leaning speed in many applications through its fast convergence. Despite the parallel and distributed ELM on MapReduce framework able to handle very large scale dataset for bigdata applications, the process of coping up with the rapidly updating data is a challenging one. Among the unified algorithms, the ELM with kernel uses kernels instead of random feature mappings. After, analyzing the property of ELM, it is observed that its most expensive computational part is matrix multiplication and matrix inversion. With the exponentially increasing volume of data, the matrix operations cannot be directly implemented on MapReduce. This paper proposes a novel approach, online sequential ELM with kernel (OS-ELM-Ker) based on sparsification criteria. Consequently, the efficient learning of frequently updated massive dataset is obtained. Based on the extensive experiments on synthetic dataset, it is observed that the proposed OS-ELM-Ker is highly efficient in classifying massive rapidly updated training dataset in terms of generalizations error and training time.


Cigarette smoke (CS) exposure induces airway epithelial barrier (EB) disruption that results in structural changes associated to COPD. EB integrity is maintained, in part, by E‐cadherin (E‐cad). We have shown that hyaluronan fragments (SHA) increased epithelial permeability and downregulated E‐cad expression. In the airways, hyaluronan (HA) is present in a high molecular weight form at the epithelial surface and exposure to oxidants induces its degradation. Thus, we hypothesized that SHA are generated in smokers and that inhibition of HA synthesis would prevent EB disruption induced by CS. To test this hypothesis, HA size was determined by agarose electrophoresis in bronchoalveolar samples from smokers and non‐smokers and in apical washes of human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells exposed to CS or to air. In addition, to confirm the role of HA in EB disruption, HBE cells were pretreated with the HA synthesis inhibitor 4‐ methylumbelliferone (4MU, 1mM) and exposed to CS or to air and E‐cad expression was assessed by qPCR and WB. We found that secretions from smokers and apical washes from CS exposed cells contain SHA (< 100 kDa) and exposure to CS significantly reduced E‐cad mRNA and protein. Treatment with 4MU prevented these effects, confirming that HA fragmentation take place in vivo in the airways of smokers and SHA generation is able to induce EB disruption by regulating, at least in part, E‐cad expression.


Relationalism claims that the phenomenal character of perception is constituted by the obtaining of a non-representational psychological relation to mind-independent objects. Although relationalism provides what seems to be the most straight forward and intuitive account of how experience strikes us introspectively, it is very often believed that the argument from hallucination shows that the view is untenable. The aim of this thesis is to defend relationalism against the argument from hallucination. The argument claims that the phenomenal character of hallucination and perception deserves the same account, and that relationalism cannot be true for hallucinations, therefore relationalism must be rejected. This argument relies on the Indistinguishability Principle (IND), the claim that two experiences that are introspectively indistinguishable from each other have the same phenomenal character. Before assessing the plausibility of this principle, I first consider and dismiss versions of the argument which wouldn't depend on IND.Although widely accepted, no satisfactory support for IND has been presented yet. In this thesis I argue that defending IND requires that we understand the notion of 'indiscriminability' employed in IND in an impersonal sense. I then identify what underwrites IND: the intuition that, in virtue of its superficiality, the nature of a phenomenal character must be accessible through introspection, together with the claim that it is not possible to deny IND without denying the superficiality of phenomenal characters too.I argue that the relationalist can deny IND while preserving the superficiality of phenomenal characters. This can be done by adopting a negative view of hallucination and an account of introspection whereby the phenomenal character doesn't exist independently of one's introspective awareness of it and where having introspective access to our experience depends on our perceptual access to the world.


In general, the alteration and modification of water flow and regulating the extraction of water or the operation of hydroelectric dams and has caused great changes in the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. For this reason lies in the decade of the 70s the tool called "ecological flow" that seeks to protect and preserve the maintenance of a certain volume of water in the channel, among others, the ecological values of rivers. However, the methodological approaches used to determine the amount of water needed has been widely criticized for estimating minimum flow without constant green regardless and the importance of natural variability of the hydrological regime, as well as models created in environmental conditions, socioeconomic and biological very different to our particularities. This paper presents some methods used worldwide to estimate an ecological flow and is planned for a possible evaluation and implementation of this concept in the management of water resources in Colombia


The seiche in South Bay, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, consists of several components, some of which produce considerable displacements of the water which occupies the narrow entrance channel. Lateral currents displace Lake Huron water intruded into the bay by the seiche excursion, so that the return portion of the seiche cycle replaces the intruded water with Bay water, the exchange providing the mixing process. The seiche amplitude appears to be the major variable controlling the intensity of the mixing process.


The electrocardiogram (ECG) is graph of the electrical activity of the heart and is a cheap and widely used medical test [1]. Misinterpretation of the ECG causes severe adverse events and even death in around 100,000 patients each year [2] and costs millions in litigation payouts [3]. Human over reading is still however considered the most accurate and relaible method of interpreting ECGs [4]. Interpretation of the ECG is predominatly a visual search task. This work aims to improve the understanding of gaze behaviour as a function of interpretation accuracy. Current methods of analysing eye tracking data are lacking or suboptimal in this area. Some work has been carried out examining the use of eye-tracking within the domain of ECG interpretation. Accuracy has been considered in terms of participants age and years of experience [5] and in the presence or absence of clinical history [6]. No studies to date have looked at accuracy from the perspective of eye movement behaviour in detail. One of the challenges to doing this is the lack of readily available tools and methods to accomplish such analysis. Some of the commonly used methods of aggregating visual behaviour, such as heat maps (figure 1) can provide qualitative information about the focus of attention and other metrics.


Through cutting edge proteomics, our lab has identified Raf‐1 kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP), a molecule previously described as a regulator of MAPK and NF‐κB signaling, as a new potential therapeutic target for immune regulation of inflammatory disorders. We are currently investigating the breadth and mechanism of RKIP function within the immune system, and how this can be applied to future therapeutic intervention. Experimentally, we have illustrated that RKIP is critical for T cell receptor signaling and IFNγ production from antigen‐specific T cells in a model of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). This was evidenced by a 50% reduction in IFNγ+ T cells in RKIP‐/‐ mice after SIRS initiation and a 70% reduction in IFNγ from wild type T cells after blockade of RKIP with a small molecule inhibitor. Additionally, RKIP seems to play a role in proper toll‐like receptor (TLR) signaling in antigen presenting cells (exemplified by its rapid downregulation on immunoblot after stimulation with TLR ligands), and is necessary for maintaining the type I interferon signaling architecture in B cells as we observed a 2‐4 fold decrease in important transcripts by RNAseq in RKIP‐/‐ B cells (Table I). Taken together, our data suggest that RKIP is a critical player in driving cytokine responses from immune cells and provides a potential new target for the development of future therapeutics against inflammatory diseases.


Security at low cost is an important factor for cryptographic hardware implementations. Unfortunately, the security of cryptographic implementations is threatened by Side Channel Analysis (SCA). SCA attempts to discover the secret key of a device by exploiting implementation characteristics and bypassing the algorithm's mathematical security. Differential Power Analysis (DPA) is a type of SCA, which exploits the device's power consumption characteristics. Several countermeasures to DPA have been proposed, however, all of them increase security at the cost of increased area which in-turn leads to increased power consumption and reduced throughput. FPGAs are popular due to their reconfigurability, lower development cost, off-the-shelf availability and shorter time to market. Block RAMs (BRAM) are large memories in FPGAs that are commonly used as ROM, FIFO, Look-up tables, etc. In this paper we explore the DPA resistance of BRAMs in Xilinx FPGAs and verify if their usage can improve the security. The results of our Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) implementations show that using BRAMs alone can improve the security over a look-up table (LUT) only design 9 times. Applying Separated Dynamic Differential Logic (SDDL) for FPGAs, a countermeasure against DPA, to this design doubles the security again leading to an 18 fold increase over the unprotected LUT design.


There exist many problems with law enforcement on sea. A force of law enforcement on sea, who can carry out the functions of managing, maintaining the sovereignty of the state and fighting, is in urgent need. This paper expounds the necessity, feasibility and urgency of establishing such a force mainly made up of armed force on sea in terms of scientific, global and strategic perspective of the development.


In our days a portion of children live away from their families due to the fact that this was not suitable for their growth. These children find bulwark in institutions and organisms that provide them with suitable care and fulfill their basic needs.
Purpose: The aim of this survey is to investigate if the care that is given in the institutions fulfills successfully the basic needs of these children, to point out any insufficiency and to suggest solutions to get above them.
Methodology: Literature review was done in greek and foreign articles with key words in scientific data bases such as pubmed, google scholar, science direct about the subject of insufficiency that has already been observed and the problems we need to focus on our survey.
Results: The majority of children learned from their caregivers how to brush their teeth and most of them increased the frequency of brushing their teeth during the day. They visit dentist for prevention, so they don't feel usually pain on their teeth. They have known from their caregivers the importance of the balanced diet, however the majority doesn't follow a diet plan. In respect to exercise, they exercise at school and on their own almost daily, by taking up a sport or by playing outside which needs body moving. Most of the children that face a problem, will ask for help. So, they haven't witnessed any child that needs help and doesn't ask for.

Conclusions: Our sample doesn't face significant deficiencies in caring about their dental hygiene, however the prevalence of a dental problem depends on the gender of the child. In respect to nutrition there is no undernourishment in our sample, and as for the level of exercise and the time that is spent on exercising also depends on the gender of the child. Lastly, most of the children have faced stressful situations however, they are supported from their caregivers to find the solution.


The American People's Agenda The Budget: Can We Learn to Live Within Our Means? The Federal Government: The Cause of Our Problems or the Solution? Affirmative Action: Is It Still Needed? Was It Ever? America's Welfare System: A Hand Up or a Hand Out? Crime and Justice: Broad Support for Stern, Sure Punishment Gun Control: Most Say Yes Softly, but Loudest Say Never Oklahoma City Bomb Shock: The Government's Ability to Prevent Attacks is Questioned Foreign Affairs: Americans Shun Policeman's Lot Americans Don't Like the Media or the Message Faith in America's Future Religion in American Life Index.


In the title compound, [Ag2(C8H10NO3S)2(H2O)4], each AgI atom is coordinated by three water molecules and one N atom from a 2-amino-4,5-dimethylbenzenesulfonate ligand in a severely distorted tetrahedral geometry. The two AgI atoms are bridged by two water molecules, forming a centrosymmetric binuclear complex. The distance of 3.615 (9) A between the two AgI atoms suggests that there are no Ag⋯Ag interaction within the binuclear molecule.


Coherence is a key issue involved in many topics of quantum and classical physics. At a fundamental level, coherence appears in two basic optical items, namely, interference and polarization. More specifically, the polarization state is the result of coherence for the superposition of waves with orthogonal directions of vibration, while interference is the result of coherence for the superposition of waves with nonorthogonal (usually parallel) directions of vibration.

The objective of this contribution is to develop a coherence-based relationship between interference and polarization focusing on the proper assessment of the amount of coherence.

We devote the following section to elaboration of the simpler two-dimensional case, i.e., the superposition of two scalar waves or two field components, as a suitable ground to sustain more complex situations. We examine several alternative formulations for the degrees of coherence, visibility, and polarization that are equivalent in the two-dimensional case but lead to diverging results for larger dimensions. Then we extend these ideas to more involved situations with a larger number of field components, such as the degree of polarization for three-dimensional waves and the degree of coherence for pairs of two-dimensional waves, where several approaches to the corresponding degrees of polarization and coherence currently coexist.

The multiplicity of degrees of coherence for dimensions larger than two need not be disturbing, and the coexistence can be peaceful and harmonious. Increasing the number of field components increases the degrees of freedom and the complexity of the problem so that a single measure of coherence may not be enough to account for all phenomena displayed by a richer situation.


Vaccination is the most effective means of controlling infectious disease-related morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vaccination prevents over 2.5 million c...


The article studies the mystical views of Shahabuddin Suhravardi, well-known representative of Persian and Tajik Sufiy literature, and enlightened by him in his treatises. The author analyzed the compositional and artistic peculiarities of the treatise: the symbolism of it and usage of symbolic significance treatises.


In order to enhance gas diffusion rates in a porous La(Sr)CoO 3 (LSC) cathode, additional μm-sized pores were introduced by Sintering a LSC paste containing fine polymer beads (d = 1.2 μm), coated on yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte. A thin and dense samaria-doped ceria interlayer was used to avoid unfavorable solid-state reactions between LSC and YSZ. Control of the microstructure of LSC cathode appreciably lowered the IR-free overpotential without an increase of the ohmic resistance. The performance of the LSC cathode with optimized microstructure was enhanced further with highly dispersed Pt catalysts at 3 wt % loading, especially at low operating temperature. The current density on the Pt-LSC cathode at an overpotential of - 50 mV was I A/cm 2 at 800°C in air.


Equal unpleasantness sound pressure levels of pure tones from 10 Hz to 500Hz were obtained by the method of adjustment in which subjects adjusted sound pressure levels equating to subjective degrees of unpleasantness on a 4–steps rating scale. In addition, the maximum acceptable sound pressure levels were measured at each frequency, assuming four types of situations, that is, a living room, a bedroom, an office and a factory. It was found that the acceptable limits were equivalent to very low levels of unpleasantness in some situations. The third order polynomial models of physical variables were well fitted to the subjective response data.


Boston - One technique doesn't work for all faces, said Rod J. Rohrich, M.D., chair of plastic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. "All of us, as plastic surgeons, like to settle into a technique that's comfortable, then use it for most of our patients," he said. "That's human nature, so you don't have to think as much when you go into the operating room. However, this can be problematic in facelift surgery."


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Stuck in neutral for years, personal financial management has been rejuvenated by tablets and other new technology. Banks have taken note Mention personal financial management and one envisions a person sitting at home, laboriously inputting account information from at least six financial institutions--including deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and expenses--all in an effort to update, in yet another file, the person's budget performance and projections. Some people do this, but not many. It's hard, it's time consuming, and often it's not accurate or helpful. That's why few banks offer PFM services right now. Where's the payoff? That's about to change. New technology is coming on board that makes all this easy, fast, and intuitive. More than that, new mobile devices, particularly tablets, are putting PFM capabilities in the hands of consumers when and where they need them. They can check instantly--in one place on their primary bank's online banking site--the status of accounts at all their financial institutions and determine if they can afford to buy or do something right then. This is being driven by many factors. People in general, and young people especially, are increasingly tech-savvy. They have mobile devices and want to use them in useful ways. More people are becoming aware of the need to save more and be more responsible in their spending. Banks, facing the reality that the average customer has accounts at about six separate institutions, seek ways to become the first place customers go for help. Banks also want to find ways to serve customers with product and service offers tailored to individual needs. In short, analysts and bankers agree that PFM eventually will completely redefine digital banking to the extent that there will be no distinction between the two functions. "Successful personal financial management is something that can be fully integrated into a digital banking environment that consumers don't have to think about, but provides value," says Steve Shaw, vice-president, strategic marketing for digital channels and electronic payments, Fiserv. Bankers on board Wilson Bank and Trust, Lebanon, Tenn., with $1.7 billion in assets, jumped into PFM in a big way in February. The bank now figures that more than 25% of its nearly 20,000 active online banking users have adopted the free tool offered by MoneyDesktop. It allows customers to aggregate all their accounts in one location, visualize spending habits, create budgets, and manage debt. "You can either be a spoke or a hub. With this, you're the hub. You're the driving force where the information is gathered," says John McDearman, executive vice-president at Wilson Bank. "It is truly an added value that says, 'My bank has something that can help me budget. It can help me manage my money. It can help me determine where I am on my financial goals.'" [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In its pre-rollout research, says McDearman, the bank found that many customers mentioned the need for such a service, particularly young, tech-savvy people and others who felt comfortable providing personal information online--to their bank, in particular. "I think they're more likely to go in and use us for the product than a third party, with which they have no relationship," McDearman says. Similarly, Union State Bank, an $80 million-assets bank in Fargo, N.D., got into PFM three months ago. "[We did this] in order to attract and retain new customers," says Lane Huseby, director of operations. "We wanted to be that focal point for all their financial needs." Demographics also played a role. "We want to make sure that we reach to the emerging, younger demographics and convince them that we have the tools that a larger brand name may have," says Mary Johnson, Union State's CEO and president. Still, overall adoption of advanced PFM services is slow. …


Background Intracoronary stent restenosis, characterized by excessive smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation and myointimal hyperplasia, remains a clinical challenge. Mitochondrial membrane potential has been linked to the proliferative rate of SMCs. This study aimed to screen a critical gene regulating mitochondrial potential and to confirm its effects on myointimal formation in preclinical animal models. Methods and Results We performed transcriptome screening for genes differentially expressed in ligated versus unligated mouse carotid arteries. We observed that uncoupling protein 2 gene (Ucp2) mRNA, encoding UCP2, was transiently upregulated during the first 3 days after ligation and then significantly downregulated from day 7 through day 21, during which time neointima formed remarkably. The UCP2 protein level also declined after day 7 of ligation. In ligated carotid arteries, Ucp2 −/− mice, compared with wild‐type littermates, exhibited accelerated myointimal formation, which was associated with increased superoxide production and can be attenuated by treatment with antioxidant 4‐hydroxy‐2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐piperidinoxyl (TEMPOL). Knockdown of UCP2 enhanced human aortic SMC migration and proliferation that can also be attenuated by TEMPOL, whereas UCP2 overexpression inhibited SMC migration and proliferation, along with decreased activity of nuclear factor‐κB. Moreover, nuclear factor‐κB inhibitor attenuated UCP2 knockdown‐enhanced SMC proliferation. Adenovirus‐mediated overexpression of UCP2 inhibited myointimal formation in balloon‐injured carotid arteries of rats and rabbits and in‐stent stenosis of porcine coronary arteries. Moreover, UCP2 overexpression also suppressed neointimal hyperplasia in cultured human saphenous vein ex vivo. Conclusions UCP2 inhibits myointimal hyperplasia after vascular injury, probably through suppressing nuclear factor‐κB–dependent SMC proliferation and migration, rendering UCP2 a potential therapeutic target against restenosis.


Online programming communities, a type of socio-technical ecosystem, enable a peer support cycle where users can receive technical guidance from other users who encounter similar issues. Yet, there are obstacles that discourage users from participating and gaining help from peers in these communities. This thesis proposes that there are both social and cognitive barriers, such as receiving offline assistance from an identifiable colleague and overcoming onboarding prerequisites, that exist in online programming communities. However, using interventions such as identity-based signals and mentorship, we can increase engagement in online programming communities. In this thesis, I present a conceptual framework that identifies barriers to participation that can be utilized to increase engagement in online programming communities. The contributions of this proposal are: 1) a conceptual framework explaining how programmers are inhibited from participating in online programming communities, 2) a set experiments and evaluations that assess how valid and actionable it is to explore and measure participation in online programming communities, and 3) a proof-of-concept mentorship program to demonstrate community impact and feasibility of self-sustaining support. My work demonstrates that it is possible to increase engagement of programmers in online programming communities using identity-based signals and mentorship.


Vitis hybrid (Sheridan)-Robus coreanus red wine was vinified by fermentation of a mixture of Vitis hybrid and Robus coreanus must at 25°C for 10 days. The Vitis hybrid-Robus coreanus red wine had ethanol contents of 10.9%. It had high antihypertensive angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of 57.8% and antioxidant activity of 64.8%. Changes in the physicochemical properties and functionality of the Vitis hybrid-Robus coreanus red wine was investigated during a post-fermentation period of three months. The ACE inhibitory activity of the red wine increased as the post-fermentation period prolonged, and showed the highest ACE inhibitory activity of 70.4% 60 days post-fermentation. However, the antioxidant activity declined significantly to 47.2% during the post-fermentation period of 60 days. In terms of sensory evaluation, the Vitis hybrid-Robus coreanus red wine had the best acceptability 60 days post-fermentation.


INTRODUCTION: The restorative treatment of compromised teeth due to caries, trauma or defective large restorations could have poor retention attributed to insufficient crown height and remaining sound tooth structure. Fiber posts are used to restore compromised endodontic teeth to aid in the retention of final restorations, therefore their retention within the root canal is dependent on the cement and adhesive system used to retain the post. Multiple studies have been carried out to understand the effect of cement type on the pull-out bond strength of fiber posts. Self adhesive cementation systems have shown successful retentions1,2 but combining them with an adhesive application on the dentin surface showed increased strength.3


The paper deals with the problems of determining optimal phase composition and structure, the proportion of phases of titanium alloys of mixed α-β and α structures, as well as the influence of heat treatment on the mechanical characteristics for providing improved characteristics of mechanical treatment and the quality of products.


This study focuses on the understanding and mapping of coupling hotspots of LE versus terrestrial and meteorological parameters. Single source surface energy balance model was used to derive surface energy balance parameters. Agro climatic region wise monthly information of terrestrial, energy balance and meteorological parameters were derived during JuneSeptember from decadal analysis of MODIS data (2003-2012) over India (68‐100°E, 5‐40°N) at 5 km spatial resolution. Information on rainfall was obtained from gridded rainfall data (1°◊ 1° spatial resolution) from Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The spatiotemporal variability of the parameters such as rainfall, evapotranspiration (ET), evaporative fraction (EF), soil water index (SWI), land surface temperature (LST) and air temperature (T a) showed strong influence on seasonal LE fluctuation. LE showed positive linear coupling with ET (0.52 <R 2 ≤ 0.91), EF (0.79 ≤ R 2 ≤0.96), SWI (0.80 ≤ R 2 ≤0.93) and negative exponential coupling with LST (0.63 ≤ R 2 ≤0.87), Ta (0.55 < R 2 ≤0.83). The pixel based knowledge of the parameters was incorporated into hierarchical decision rule algorithm and pixel-by-pixel segmentation of monthly coupling of LE versus parameters (ET, EF, SWI, LST, Ta) was generated. The rainfall zonations in a spatiotemporal domain were done based on the LE couplings that clearly demarcated the highest (West Coast Plains and Hills Region, Himalayan region), moderate (Gangetic Plains and Hills Regions, and the Plateau and Hills Regions) and lowest rainfall (Western dry region) areas. The transition of zone-wise availability of rainfall (both surplus and deficient) can be very well understood from the seasonal dynamics of the LE couplings. 1. INTRODUCTION Spatiotemporal variations of land surface parameters are transformed in to atmosphere through numerous interconnected land surface-atmosphere pathways. The paths may be either through terrestrial or atmospheric components. The terrestrial component deals with the exchange of surface energy fluxes from land surface to the atmosphere, which is sensitive to the changes of the land surface status and meteorological pattern. The latent heat flux (LE), the most dominant terrestrial parameter is the indicator of precipitation responds well to the moisture availability at the land surface to exert control on the properties of the atmospheric boundary layer to cause rainfall. The meteorological component which deals with the development of the atmospheric boundary layer leading to cloud formation and then precipitation is highly sensitive to the exchange of surface energy fluxes such as evapotranspiration (latent heat flux) or sensible heat flux. All these components are strongly coupled to each other and hence, the predictability in the climate system can be determined through the interaction of these parameters through "Coupling hot spots", where both terrestrial and meteorological components are strongly linked with each other. The sensitivity of surface fluxes to soil moisture, evaporative fraction, surface temperature and air temperature are indicated by either positive or negative correlation (Koster et al., 2004; Guo et al., 2006, Choudhury and Ghosh, 2014). With the availability of remote sensing sensors at various optical, thermal to microwave spectral ranges, estimation of the above parameters are possible to understand their spatiotemporal changes and hence, the resulting hydrological pattern.


Public transportation activities and processes can provide valuable data and information that be useful for public transportation management. As a matter of fact, metro ridership data can be used to assess ridership and traffic flow, which can be useful for building interconnected public transportation system. For instance, metro ridership can be used to understand intermodal relationship with taxi systems, further enabling taxi companies to capitalize on traffic flow and pressure that can be observed in metro ridership datasets. Different data mining and data processing techniques can be of great use for determining taxi distribution based on metro ridership dataset. This study used data mining techniques to determine the traffic and transaction pressures on metro stations in Dubai, further identifying the peaks hours to direct the taxi drivers to the best destination. Dataset was collected from Dubai Pulse, and preprocessed and manipulated. Findings of this study indicated that high traffic pressures in Dubai Metro Red Line zone six, with peak points at three different times. Taxis can use traffic pressures at each station, and calculate arrival time to stations for optimal travel and revenue.


Anne Adrain reflects on developments in Integrated Reporting and how organisations might benefit from the adoption of Integrated Reporting principles.


The objective of this study was to explore the potential of encapsulated calcium carbide (ECC) for improving performance of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under salinity stress. Three levels of salinity, 0, 1250 and 2000 mg kg−1 soil, were developed with sodium chloride (NaCl) salt, whereas ECC formulation was applied at 0, 15 and 30 mg kg−1 soil. The gas chromatography (GC) analysis revealed that 30 mg kg−1 soil of the formulation produced 154.12 μmols of ethylene (C2H2) and 8.44 μmols of C2H4 over a period of 60 days. The ECC decreased plant height, conductance (C), and transpiration (E) up to 7, 19 and 21%, respectively, over control. There was substantial elevation in net photosynthesis (Pn), number of tillers, grain yield and relative leaf water content (RWC) up to 14, 19, 17 and 3% with ECC over control. Both levels of ECC increased protein content significantly in wheat leaves up to 46 and 60% over control. Similarly, salinity increased the protein content up to 54 and 168% over control in the presence of ECC and salinity stress. SDS-PAGE protein profile of wheat leaves after the treatments of 15 mg ECC kg−1 soil and 2000 mg NaCl kg−1 soil showed a significant set of induced proteins of 8, 60 and 70 kDa. Similarly exposure of plants to 30 mg of ECC kg−1 soil and 2000 mg NaCl kg−1 soil resulted in the appearance of protein bands of 9, 10, 23 and 70 kDa. The induced levels of proteins detected at various levels of ECC and NaCl treatments correlated with its salinity tolerance.


Everything you need to raise awareness, membership and money! Nonprofits have certain advantages passion, motivation, a sense of purpose. But to raise the money and support required to achieve your goals you need to communicate your mission effectively. You can do it -- let Every Nonprofit's Guide to Publishing show you how! Practical and hands on, this book shows you how to overcome inexperience and budget constraints -- and produce publications that effectively promote your cause. From developing an idea to distributing the final publication, you'll get the information you need. Find out how to: design and print engaging magazines or newsletters create an appealing website locate the best freelancers and vendors develop successful ad sales and fundraising strategies meet IRS and postal requirements for nonprofits use time-tested publishing ideas and resources The book includes practical suggestions from veteran insiders, whose experiences range from tiny nonprofit startups to large, established organizations. The CD-ROM provides essential forms, checklists, schedules, worksheets, spreadsheets and more.


Two of the most critical properties for multiphase flow in a reservoir are relative permeability (Kr) and capillary pressure (Pc). To determine these parameters, a meticulous interpretation of coreflooding and centrifuge experiments is necessary. In this work, a machine learning technique was incorporated to assist in the determination of these parameters quickly and synchronously.
 A state of the art framework was developed where a large database of Kr and Pc curves were generated based on existing mathematical models. This database was used to perform thousands of coreflood simulation runs representing drainage steady state experiments. The results obtained from the corefloods including pressure drop and water saturation profile along with other conventional core analysis data were fed as features into the machine learning model. The entire data set was split into 70% for training, 15% for testing, and the remaining 15% for the model validation. The 70% of the training data teaches the model to capture fluid flow behavior inside the core. K-fold cross validation technique was also utilized to increase the accuracy of the model. The trained/tested model was thereby employed to estimate Kr and Pc curves based on available experimental results.
 The values of the coefficient of determination (R2) was used to assess the accuracy and efficiency of the developed model. The respective cross plots indicate that the model is capable of making accurate predictions with error percentage less than 2% on history matching experimental data. Furthermore, the latter implies that the AI-based model is capable of determining Kr and Pc curves with less effort and better reliability as opposed to the conventional way of creating an entire simulation model. Additionally, the results include multiple options for Kr and Pc curves from which the best solution can be determined using engineering judgement. This is unlike solutions from existing commercial software, which usually provides only a single solution. The model currently focusses on the prediction of Kr and Pc curves for drainage steady state experiments; however, the work can be extended to capture the imbibition cycle as well.