night by all the muftlna of Balkh. The most lucid biography of his life, his character and his achievements, in a Western language, is that furnished by Hamid Algar in the Encyclopaedia Iranica. Baha' al-DIn was a preacher and a mufti in Balkh. He preferred the title of 'dlim and during his travels he insisted upon being accommodated in madrasas and not within khdnaqdhs. Not surprisingly, he came under Sufi influences though how truly a Sufi he became, in the sense of being openly affiliated to an order, is far from certain. Hamid Algar casts doubts on his connexions, through his grandfather, with Ahmad Ghazzall, and even more so with Najm al-DIn Kubra, whose disciple he was claimed to be. Sufi links are more reliable in regard to Sayyid Burhan al-DIn MuhaqqiqiTirmidhl (d. 638/1240). This matter has been re-examined by Muhammad Isa Waley, in his article on ' Najmo'd-Din Razi and the Kobrawiya Order', published in the journal, Sufi, 4, 1989-90, 21-22. According to Waley, Baha' al-DIn was possessed by ' some of that ecstatic tendency which is often said (although this is a generalization) to characterize the Suflsm of Khorasan in contrast to the more " sober" Sufism of Iraq.' Waley also refers to him as a ' significant Sufi master in his own right' and he accepts that he was probably an immediate disciple of Najm al-DIn Kubra. The discourses of Baha' al-DIn {Ma'drif) are the key to the life of the man himself and the key to the treasurehouse of his thought and his most original and profound contribution to the legacy of CentralAsian Islam in his age. This work, by Fritz Meier, is a major contribution to the study of Baha' al-DIn Walad. Soundly based on the text of the Ma'drif, which is discussed in the opening chapter, it proceeds to build up a comprehensive picture of his life in Central Asia, his subsequent journey via Nlshapur to Baghdad, to Arabia, and ultimately to Malatya, Aksehir, Larende and Konya. Special attention is given to Baha' al-DIn's credentials as a mystic (ch. vi) wherein the whole debate as to the distinct contribution made by those Muslims who were influenced by Sufism, yet who, for various reasons, either stand apart from it or whose profundity of thought in theology and in legal questions assures them a very special place, is thoroughly aired and reinterpreted from every aspect of Baha' al-DIn's writings. Much of the book is occupied with the author's theological thinking and (p. 412) Meier clearly draws the distinctions separating Baha' al-DIn and Kubra on matters relating to 'ma'iyya' (see also pp. 435—7). The book offers a final summing up in ch. xxvii. That adds enormously to, and in some respects revises, Algar's article, and it casts doubt on Waley's assumptions.


There have been a lot of debates about whether witchcraft is real or is just based on superstition among African communities (Bond and Diane 2001:6, 7). Different scholars in the area of anthropology and philosophy who have studied the phenomenon have established varied views based on ethnographic studies they conducted among different African people groups over the years. Based on such studies, Bond and Diane suggest four positions that have been established by such scholars on witchcraft: These include: "[1] Witchcraft [beliefs] are real, [2] There are no witches, only the belief in them, [3] Witches may or may not be real, and further research may shed light on the issue, [4]. For the study of witchcraft the above positions are irrelevant" (Bond and Diane 2001:6). This divide has created a never-ending discussion about the reality of witchcraft manifestations among African communities. For instance, early anthropologists like Wilson (1951), Middleton (1960), and Marwick (1965) viewed witchcraft as a phenomenon that was used to maintain social order in smallscale societies. Bongmba points out that there could be at least two reasons those anthropologists do not hold the view that witchcraft is real: (1) it does not fit their view of rationality (Bongmba 2001:xxii), and (2) it is just a "way of moralizing terminologies"1 (Geschiere 1997:12, cited in Bongmba 2001:xxii; see also Bond and Diane 2001:44). Therefore, Bond and Diane argue that, any conclusion arrived at as to whether witches exists or not, largely depends on the mindset of the ethnographic researcher (Bond and Diane 2001:7). Nonetheless, such scholars who believe that witchcraft is not real in the African context may be viewing the phenomenon through "scientific" lenses. By scientific lenses I mean, they may be drawing their conclusions based on what they may claim as either evidential or non-evidential. I The Cosmology of Witchcraft in the African Context: Implications for Mission and Theology SAMUEL LUMWE


A trinuclear rare-earth metal hydride complex was synthesized from the dialkyl complex supported by a monoanionic [NNNN] macrocycle and shown to catalyze the hydrosilylation of olefins efficiently.


Experimental Studies of Chaotic Mixing (J M Ottino & R McCormick) Scum Floating on a Moving Fluid - A Dynamically Comprehensible Physical Fractal (J C Sommerer) Chaos, Patterns and Spatiotemporal Complexity in Simulated Scattering (R G Harrison) Observations of Induced Subcritical Bifurcation by Near-Resonant Perturbations (K Wiesenfeld & L Fabiny) Stochastic Versus Deterministic Activity in Simple Neural Circuits (S Schiff) The Crayfish Mechoreceptor Cell - A Biological Example of Stochastic Resonance (F Moss) Chaos Control for Cardiac Arrhythmias (J N Weiss et al.) Broad-Band Synchronization in Monkey Neocortex (S Bressler et al) Applicability of Correlation Dimension Calculations to Blood Pressure Signal in Rats (Y Almog et al) Controlling Symbolic Dynamics for Communication (S Hayes) Chaos During Heterogeneous Chemical Reactions (J L Hudson) Stabilizing Periodic Orbits and Stationary States in Chemical Systems (K Showalter) Recursive Proportional-Feedback and Its Use to Control Chaos in an Electrochemical System (R W Rollins et al) Transition from Soliton to Chaotic Motion During the Impact of a Nonlinear Structure (M A Davies & F C Moon) Sono-luminescence in a Single Bubble - Periodic, Quasiperiodic and Chaotic Picosecond Light Source (R G Holt et al) Chaology of Quantum Billiards - Microwave Experiments (A Kudrolli & S Sridhar) When Small Noise Imposed on Deterministic Dynamics Becomes Important (M Franaszek & L Fronzoni) Control of Chaos in a CO2 Laser (JM Perez et aL) Temperature Patterns on Catalytic Surfaces (D Luss). (Part contents).


We report the design and experimental demonstration of high quality factor, trapezoidal shape subwavelength grating waveguide micro-ring resonators (SWGMRs). A 5 μm radius SWGMR with a quality factor as high as 11,500 has been demonstrated for the first time.


The reaction of 2-tert-butylcyclohexanol with dimethyl carbonate resulting in 2-tert-butylcyclohexylmethyl carbonate (1a) and di-(2-tert-butylcyclohexyl) carbonate (1b) was studied. A second part investigates the reactions of 2-tert-butylcyclohexanone (obtained by dehydrogenation of 2-tert-butylcyclohexanol) with diols resulting in the corresponding ketals. The sensoric and fragrant characteristics of the synthesized compounds were also described.


Intermetallic silicide compounds, LaScSi and Y$_5$Si$_3$, known for being hydrogen (H) storage materials, are drawing attention as candidates for electrides in which anions are substituted by unbound electrons. It is inferred from a muon spin rotation experiment that the local field at the muon site (which is the same site as that for H) in these compounds exhibits a large negative shift under an external magnetic field, which is mostly independent of temperature. Such anomalous diamagnetism signals a unique property of electride electrons associated with transition metals. Moreover, the diamagnetic shift decreases with increasing H content, suggesting that the electride electrons existing coherently in the hollow interstitial positions are adsorbed by H to form hydride ions (H$^-$)


The effect of high-pressure nitrogen annealing at up to 50 atmospheres (atm) on Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films at relatively low temperatures (450 °C) is analyzed using polarization-electric field curves, bipolar switching endurance measurements, grazing angle incidence X-ray diffraction, and piezoelectric force microscopy. Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films annealed at 450 °C/50 atm have excellent characteristics, including remanent polarizations greater than 20 μC/cm2, a switching speed of 200 ns, and reliability, measured by sustained performance after 1010 bipolar switching cycles. The enhanced device features are attributed to the transition to the orthorhombic-phase from the tetragonal-phase of Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 at high pressure, which is also consistent with the results of "wake-up" analysis, and the variations of the pure polarization curves, extracted from the total displacement field under pressure.


Allergen labelling for foods continues to be an active issue for the UK government despite the current distractions.1 Representatives from the allergy patient organizations and British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (including myself) met the UK Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, at the end of November. Also present were officials from the UK Food Standards Agency and representatives from the UK food industry. The meeting was very constructive with lots of common ground. Our understanding is that the government will run an consultation exercise in early 2019 with a view of bringing in improved allergen labelling for foods later in 2019. Let us hope that BREXIT politics do not get in the way of this plan.


The study has been made to analyse changes in heart rate, in mechanical and bioelectrical muscle activity during thythmical handgrip contractions. Loads of 20% to 100% of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) were applied. The working frequency was 30 cpm. With loads of 40%--100% of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) the following characteristic changes were obtained: Both the plane of the mechanogram and the duration of the mechanogram increased permanently. The heart rate rose to the end of the experiment and so did the EMGs of the flexor, the extensor, the brachioradial muscle and the muscle of the thenar. The rate of the rise (%/s) of all physiological functions was greatest during maximal load test and decreased with decreasing contraction strength. The endurance as a function of the force showed a parabolic curve. The physical endurance capacity of this rhythmical hand work is between 20% and 40% MVC.


Objective To investigate the possible etiological factor of higher neurologic complications in pregnants given epidural lidocaine or serum.Methods Forty-three SD rats of sex-matured,forty-four rats with 20 to 28 days pregnant were randomly divided into 8 groups.Non-pregnant rats were assigned into control group(NC,saline),lidocaine group(NL,2%lidocaine),serum group(NS,serum) and lido-caine-serum group[NLS,2% lidocaine+serum(1∶1)].Pregnant rats were assigned into control group(PC,saline),lidocaine group(PL,2%lidocaine),serum group(PS,serum) and lidocaine-serum group[PLS,2% lidocaine+ serum(1∶1)].0.2 ml was administrated each time,which was repeated for 3 times.The motor block score and SBP of rats were observed at 0,2,5,10,20,30 and 40 min after each administration.The spinal cord(3 cm around the tip of catheter) was immediately removed at 24 h after the last injection for histological examination by light microscopy.Results There were no differences in SBP and motor block scores between group NC and PC or between group NS and PS.The SBP decreased and motor block scores increased in group NL and PL,but no significant difference was found between the two groups.The same phenomenon was found in group NLS and PLS.The SBP and motor block scores were recovered at 40 min after each epidural administration.At 20 and 30 min after each epidural injection,SBP of group NL was lower than that of group NLS,and SBP of group PL was lower than that of group PLS(P0.05).Within 10 min and during 20-30 min after each epidural injection,the motor block score of group NL or PL was higher than that of group NLS or PLS,respectively(P0.05).There was no significant difference in histological change of the spinal cord among all groups.Conclusion Whether pregnant or not,no neurologic impairments of epidural administration with 0.2 ml 2% lidocaine,serum or 2% lidocaine/serum(1∶1) was found.


Based on the analysis of 4-level Differential Polarization Shift Keying technology, design and implementation of the receiver of 4DPolSK is first proposed, which includes the design of Stokes parameters extraction in optical part, the design of amplifying and sampling in the electrical part, the design of demodulation algorithm and judging in the FPGA. The scheme of the receiver is novel and cheap which can be used as a demodulator in any Polarization Shift Keying system by reconfiguring the FPGA.


ArcGIS Engine is a typical representative of secondary development of embedded GIS.Based on the function,feature,and development procedure of ArcGIS Engine,an agricultural resource information management system is established.


The study area has a pathetic and deplorable condition of landuse/ landcover. The vegetal cover in the area has to be removed from the activities of tin mining which consequently resulted into adverse environmental effect such as erosion. Different forms of human induced stress such as tin mining and heavy rainfall have severely degraded soils on the Jos Plateau. Such degradation problems are also caused by deforestation, inappropriate farming system, bush burning and over-grazing which are hostile to the environment. The impact of tin mining has greatly affected the natural ecology of the study area Bukuru. Micro and macro organisms and plants have been stripped off their natural habitat due to tin mining activities. This paper therefore, assesses the mining activities impact on the vegetation in Bukuru area of Jos plateau in Nigeria. Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) techniques was adopted to Maps effect of tin mining on the vegetation for the period between 1975 and 2007 using LandSat satellite data. The result of the differential vegetation index analysis reveals a decline in vegetated surfaces in 1986 ranging from 0.04 to 0.58 indicating 0.05 and continuous loss in vegetation over the study area in 2007 (vegetated surface decrease by 0.08 between 1986 and 2007). The decrease in vegetated surface is due to intensive mining and cultivation.


A classical approach used to determine the mass distribution of a galaxy in terms of observed rotational velocities is applied to analytic solutions of Newtonian systems of N discrete bodies (so mass distributions are known). Predictions significantly exaggerate the amount of mass distributed at larger distances from the center; e.g., rather than the actual 5% of mass on the outer edges, the method could predict over 80%. Explanations are given for the differences.


Self localization is a term used to describe the ability of a network to automatically determine the location of its nodes, given little or no external information. Self localization is an enabling technology for many future capabilities; specifically those that rely on a large number of sensors that self organize to form a coherent system. Most prior work in this area focuses on centralized computation with stationary nodes and synchronized clocks. We report on preliminary results for a setting that is more general in three ways. First, nodes in the network are moving. This implies the pair-wise distances between nodes are not fixed and therefore an iterative tracking procedure is needed to estimate the time varying node positions. Second, we do not assume synchronization between clocks on different nodes. In fact, we allow the clocks to have both an unknown offset and to be running at differing rates (i.e., a drift). Third, our method is decentralized, so there is no need for a single entity withfaccess to all measurements. In this setup, each node in the network is responsible for estimating its state. The method is based on repeated pair-wise communication between nodes. We focus on two types of observables in this paper. First, we use the time between when a message was sent from one node and when it was received by another node. In the case of synchronized clocks and stationary nodes, this observable provides information about the distance between the nodes. In the more general case with non-synchronized clocks, this observable is coupled to the clock offsets and drifts as well as the distance between nodes. Second, we use the Doppler stretch observed by the receiving node. In the case of synchronized clocks, this observable provides information about the line of sight velocity between the nodes. In the case of non-synchronized clocks, this observable is coupled to the clock drift as well as the line of sight velocity. We develop a sophisticated mathematical representation that allows all of these effects to be accounted for simultaneously. We approach the problem from a Bayesian viewpoint, where measurements are accumulated over time and used to form a probability density on the state, conditioned on the measurements. What results is a recursive filtering (or tracking) algorithm that optimally merges the measurements. We show by simulation and illustrative data collections that our method provides an efficient decentralized method for determining the location of a collection of moving nodes.


It has been shown [2] that for any ergodic birth-death process the p.d.f. of Ton, the passage time from the reflecting state 0 to any level n is log-concave and hence strongly unimodal. It is also known (cf [2]) that the p.d.f. of Tn, n+1 or Tn+1, n for such a process is completely monotone and hence unimodal. It has been conjectured that the p.d.f. for the passage time Tmn between any two states is unimodal. An analytical proof of the result is presented herein, based on underlying renewal structure and methods in the complex plane. It is further shown that the p.d.f. of Tmn can always be written as the convolution of two p.d.f.s, one completely monotone and the second PF and hence log-concave.


Soil salinity is one of the most damaging environmental problems worldwide, especially in arid and semiarid regions. The objectives of this study were to improve the inversion accuracy of soil salt content (SSC) in soils with spectral heterogeneity by using optimized spectral indices. Soil samples at a 0–20 cm depth were taken from Keriya Oasis (98 soil samples), Ugan-Kuqa Oasis (49 soil samples), and Ebinur Lake Basin (57 soil samples). SSC and spectral reflectance (SR) of all the 204 soil samples were determined. To comprehensively analyze the field-collected hyperspectral data, various band combinations were used to calculate a normalized difference spectral index (NDSI) and ratio spectral index (RSI). Then, the relationships between the indices and SSC were examined, and the most robust relationships were demonstrated. The partial least squares regression (PLSR) method was utilized to develop a predictive model of SSC, and the variable importance in the projection (VIP) method was used during modeling. The results revealed that (i) the salinized soils in different regions had apparent differences in both reflectance and spectral curve morphology, but the optimized spectral indices method effectively overcame the regional heterogeneity of salinized soil hyperspectral characteristics, and the correlation with SSC was always kind, with correlation coefficients up to 0.748 at 0.001 level of significance; (ii) the VIP filtering method effectively selected the optimal independent model, and the modeling accuracy was better than the single optimization index (R2Pre = 0.83 and RMSEPre = 2.31 g·kg−1) by using the combination of two optimal indices; (iii) although the global modeling accuracy was significantly lower than the local modeling accuracy due to the inconsistent salt sensitivity bands of salinized soils in different regions, combined with cross-validation analysis, the global model had the ability to predict soil salinization accurately (R2Pre = 0.69 and RMSEPre = 8.45 g·kg−1). The methods developed in this study can be applied in other arid and semiarid areas. Besides, the study also provides examples for aerospace hyperspectral remote sensing of cross-regional soil salinization.


The helical slow wave structure technique is discussed for measuring the complex permittivity of high-dielectric constant materials, including high-loss bio-samples. The theoretical background of the technique is presented here for measurements on high-permittivity solids, viscous dielectric samples including bio-samples, and aerosols. To prove the feasibility of the technique, ϵ and ϵ— values of the phantom muscle sample (30% gelatine + 69% water + 1% NaCI) are determined experimentally at 2·45 and 2·55 GHz in the S-band and are compared with those values obtained theoretically.


This paper presents a broadband frequency doubler chip working in the WR-03 band (220–325 GHz). The chip is implemented in a 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology with an of 250/300 GHz. It consists of an integrated high-gain wideband amplifier to drive the frequency doubler. The doubler is based on a cascode push-push topology. Conversion loss of the doubler is reduced by utilizing an inductive feedback in the common-base stage. A very wideband operation of the doubler is achieved using optimally sized transistors and 4-reactance based input matching network. On-wafer measurement of the chip shows a state-of-the-art 17.4 dB peak conversion gain at 270 GHz. It delivers a maximum output power of almost 1 mW with a 3-dB bandwidth ranging from 257 GHz to 307 GHz, which is the highest bandwidth for Si-based frequency doublers working entirely in the WR-03 band. The chip consumes around 429 mW from a supply voltage of 3.3 V.


The objectives: this research is meant to find correct phonological solutions to the deleted and reduced segments at the underlying level of jussive verbs in Modern Standard Arabic. The methodology: to account for any phonological change in jussive, the researcher refers to Chomsky's and Halle's (1968) theoretical views on Generative Phonology. The results: the lax vowels [u & a] are deleted in jussive verbs if they are followed either by a consonant in one environment and the lax vowel [a] in another. The vowels [ā, ū & ī] are reduced if followed by a consonant and the lax vowel [a] of the definite article al 'the'. The conclusions: it is evident that the deletion and reduction of segments are not only syntactically motivated due to the occurrence of a jussive entity in the structure but also phonologically because there are certain specific environments in which such process take place.


SWASH owes a deep debt of gratitude to ACON, particularly the staff in the Policy, Planning and Research and the Lesbian Health Project, for continued practical and financial support. This research could not have happened without their commitment, enthusiasm and contacts


Type of funding sources: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Laerdal Foundation for Acute Medicine, Novo Nordisk Foundation
 Background/Introduction: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a frequent condition in acute cardiac care and is potentially fatal. Cause of death is right ventricular (RV) failure due to increased RV afterload from both pulmonary vascular obstruction and vasoconstriction. Inodilators are interesting drugs of choice as they may improve RV function and lower its afterload.

 We aimed to investigate the cardiovascular effects of three clinically relevant inodilators: levosimendan, milrinone and dobutamine in acute PE.

 We conducted a randomized, blinded, animal study using 18 female pigs. Animals received large autologous PE until doubling of baseline mean pulmonary arterial pressure and were randomized to four logarithmically increasing doses of each inodilator. Effects were evaluated with bi-ventricular pressure-volume loop recordings, right heart catheterization and blood gas analyses.

 Induction of PE increased RV afterload and pulmonary pressure (p < 0.05) causing RV dysfunction. Levosimendan and milrinone showed beneficial hemodynamic profiles by lowering RV pressures and volume (p < 0.001) and improved RV function and cardiac output (p < 0.05) without increasing RV mechanical work. Dobutamine increased RV pressure and function (p < 0.01) but at a cost of increased mechanical work at the highest doses, showing an adverse hemodynamic profile. See Figure.
 Conclusion(s): In a porcine model of acute PE, levosimendan and milrinone reduced RV afterload and improved RV function, whereas dobutamine at higher doses increased RV afterload and RV mechanical work. The study motivates clinical testing of inodilators in patients with acute PE and RV dysfunction. Abstract Figure. Inodilators in acute pulmonary embolism


A new reagent trichloro fluoroarsenazo(TC-FAsA) is synthesized,and a simple and rapid spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace cerium in hot-dipping zinc alloy with the reagent has been studied.In the strong acid medium,cerium reacts with TC-FAsA to form a stable violet-blue complex,which shows maximum absorption at 620 nm with a apparent molar absorptivity of 1.15×10~5 L·mol~(-1)·cm~(-1).Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 0-25 μg/25 mL for cerium.This method has been used for the determination of trace cerium in zinc alloy with satisfactory results.


Algae are found in varied habitats ranging from wetlands, water bodies and moist soil of forest areas. Algae play important role in ecosystem as primary producers and a lot of industrially significant products have been developed using them. Nowadays, algae are also desirable entities for study of carbon sequestration. Thus, there is a requirement to study and document the varieties of algae occurring in various ecological niches and specific geographical areas. Panikhaiti village is located in Chandrapur Tehsil of Kamrup Metropolitan district in Assam, India. It is situated 15km away from district headquarter Chandrapur. Chandrapur is the sub-district headquarter of Panikhaiti village. The total geographical area of village is 304.74 hectares. Panikhaiti has a total population of 3,817. Guwahati is nearest town to Panikhaiti which is approximately 15km away. The present study covers some of the village area as well as some of the surrounding forest area. In this study, an attempt has been made to gather information about the algal varieties in these locations. This will add to the pool of existing information about algae diversity present in Assam. Till now there is no work on detailed investigation of algal diversity in Panikhaiti area of Guwahati, Assam. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 3 (2017) pp. 1195-1204 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com


In The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, Tobias Smollett shows his understanding of the "new husbandry" movement, which revolutionized agricultural practices in eighteenth-century England. This article examines writers such as Walter Harte, whose Essays on Husbandry appeared in 1764, seven years before the publication of Humphry Clinker. Toward the end of the novel, Smollett describes a community of like-minded gentleman farmers, who embrace the ethical values of traditional georgic poetry as well as the technical and practical concerns of the "new husbandry." This article also explores the contradictions and tensions that arise from the collocation of these two georgic modes, the new and the old.


T he lymphatic system, a component of the circulatory and immune systems, has been described as "a one-way drainage route," eliminating excess interstitial fluid and particulate matter from tissue through the lymph, lymph vessels, and lymph nodes. Lymph (also called lymph fluid), which is clear and colorless, consists of interstitial fluid, white blood cells, proteins, and other particulate matter; the exact composition varies somewhat, depending on where it forms. Some plasma crosses the arterial wall of capillaries and enters the interstitial space,


The article discusses the interactive as a substantial feature of cultural space. There are examples of specific interactive places where we can extract different groups of visitors and determine factors of impact on audience's experience. Besides, the article examines the influence of technic profusion in cultural segment which reflects on displaying spectators creative freedom. There are practical recommendations for successful formation and promotion of interactive creative space.


Soil salinity problem is one of the main problems of soil degradation. In order to study the sieved sand thickness of saline-alkali soil physical and chemical properties and microscopic structure improvements, in 2013, in Fuping experimental base, in the salty soil tillage surface, cover thickness respectively 0, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 cm of sand, and saline-alkali soil magnetism 30 cm mix, in five years later, after wheat harvest, the analysis was developed for the determination of 0 60 cm soil layer soil pH, total salt, Na+ content, organic matter content and tiny view structure. Results show that: 1) the sieved sand treatment can effectively improve the saline-alkali soil pH and total salt, of which covered with soil thickness 15 cm is the best; 2) under each processing, with the increase of soil depth, Na+ ion content changes with the increase of soil depth of soil layer were not significant (P < 0.05); 3) the sieved sand sagebrush and less sieved sand can effectively improve the saline-alkali soil organic matter content of the lower; 4) by analyzing the sieved sand thickness of 0, 5, 9 and 13 cm, saline-alkali soil granular effect is obvious, porosity increases, breaking the powerful harden phenomenon of the saline-alkali land. To sum up, sieved sand 15 cm, overall improving soil effect is the best, sieved sand 5 cm and 7 cm, soil physical and chemical properties of 20 30 cm middle improved effect are the best.


One critical problem in robotic soccer is to adapt skills and the overall behavior in a changeable environment.Through the process of the opponent robots' information,a strategy based on various opponents is proposed.Experimental results in simulation show that the method is correct and feasible.


— The idea of adding metallic energy dissipaters to a structure to absorb a large part of the seismic energy began four decades ago. There are several types of metal-based devices conceived as dampers for the seismic energy absorber whereby damages to the major structural components could be minimized for both new and existing structures. This paper aimed to develop and evaluate structural performance of both stiffened and non stiffened circular shear panel damper for passive seismic energy protection by inelastic deformation. Structural evaluation was done using commercially available nonlinear FE simulation program. Diameter-to-thickness ratio is employed as main parameter to investigate the hysteresis performance of stiffened and unstiffened circular shear panel. Depending on these parameters three different buckling mode and hysteretic behavior was found: yielding prior to buckling without strength degradation, yielding prior to buckling with strength degradation and yielding with buckling and strength degradation which forms pinching at initial displacement. Hence, the hysteresis behavior is identified, specimens which deform without strength degradation so it will be used as passive energy dissipating device in civil engineering structures.


Perithecia of Erysiphe cichoracearum (powdery mildew) were found on several, but not all, accessions of Lactuca serriola, L. saligna, L. aculeata and L. serriola × L. sativa hybrid. Their occurrence varied between Lactuca species and different accessions of the same species. Perithecia were globular, had a mean diameter of 125.5 μm and contained an average 13–14 asci. Asci had mean dimensions of 55.0 × 26.1 μm and each contained two ascospores which measured an average 17.4 × 10.6 μm. There were however significant differences in the dimensions of spores and other structures obtained from different Lactuca accessions.


Evgenia Lefkaditou, Maria Karkani, Aikaterini Anastasopoulou, Stefanos Kavadas, George Christidis & Chryssi. Mytilineou Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), Institute of Marine Biological Resources & Inland Waters, Aghios Kosmas, 16777 Helliniko, GREECE. Presenter e‐mail: firstname.lastname@example.com, phone number : +30 210 9856705.  Summary Photographs of the total catch, taken by haul during Greek MEDITS surveys (1995‐2008), have been used for a preliminary investigation on composition and spatio‐temporal distribution of macro‐litter in the eastern Ionian Sea and the region of Argosaronikos (middle west Aegean Sea). Litter items were categorized, counted and reported following the recently established MEDITS protocol for litter. Litter was recorded in more than 85% of examined hauls on shelf and slope of both studied areas, with plastic items most frequently collected (shelf: > 66%, slope: ~80%), followed by metallic (>45%) and glass/ceramic objects (> 23%). Litter annual density estimates were generally higher in the region of Argosaronikos but a significant increasing trend of annual density was shown only for metallic and glass/ceramic items on the slope of the eastern Ionian Sea. Items of the 3 main litter categories, generally accumulated along navigation routes, apart from a high density of plastic items, observed on the southern Argosaronikos slope that might be rather associated to the water‐masses circulation along the western Aegean Sea and needs further investigation.  Introduction Monitoring of litter on the sea floor is considered of prime importance to obtain information concerning properties and quantities of marine litter do not cause harm to the coastal and marine environment assess marine litter spatio‐temporal abundance, to identify its origin and achieve an equal level of Good Environmental Status (GES) across all European Seas. The International Bottom Trawl Surveys in the Mediterranean Sea (MEDITS), performed annually by European countries under the Data Collection Framework (DCF) for the Common Fisheries Policy, have been considered an ideal tool to obtain standardized information on the amount, composition and distribution of litter on the continental shelf and upper slope, as requested for the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The present study should be considered as preliminary, since litter monitoring was not a target for MEDITS surveys until 2012 and it is based on available photographs of the total catch taken for each haul upon the release of the trawl net content on board.


Understanding multiparty human interaction dynamics is a challenging problem involving multiple data modalities and complex ordered interactions between multiple people. We propose a unified framework that integrates synchronized video, audio, and text streams from four people to capture the interaction dynamics in natural group meetings. We focus on estimating the dynamic social role of the meeting participants, i.e., Protagonist, Neutral, Supporter, or Gatekeeper. Our key innovation is to incorporate both co-occurrence features and successive occurrence features in thin time windows to better describe the behavior of a target participant and his/her responses from others, using a multi-stream recurrent neural network. We evaluate our algorithm on the widely-used AMI corpus and achieve state-of-the-art accuracy of 78% for automatic dynamic social role detection. We further investigate the importance of different video and audio features for estimating social roles.


During the last few decades the number of immigrants seeking work in the construction industry in the United States has increased dramatically. Of those seeking jobs in construction, Hispanics represent the largest and fastest growing population. The proportion of reportable accidents among Hispanic on-site construction workers in the United States is higher than that of non-Hispanics. This trend of on-site construction accidents is evident not only in states that have traditionally high populations of Hispanics, such as New York, Florida, California, Arizona, and Texas, it is also manifested in the State of Utah. This research focused on causes of accidents among Hispanic onsite construction workers along the Wasatch Front of Utah, which includes Brigham City, Utah in the north to Provo, Utah in the south. General contractors, subcontractors, job-site superintendents and on-site workers were interviewed to determine both causes of and solutions to accidents among Hispanic on-site construction workers. Results of this research indicated that some of the major causes of on-site accidents among Hispanics included worker negligence, lack of proper safety training, and communication issues among job-site personnel. Suggested solutions include financial bonuses for good safety records, on-site translators, and recognition of workers who complete approved training in job-site safety.


The ab initio computational approach of distributed response analysis is used to quantify how electrons move across conjugated molecules in an electric field, in analogy to conduction. The method promises to be valuable for characterizing the conductive behavior of single molecules in electronic devices.


The utility model discloses a track type drilling trolley, which comprises a traveling mechanism, a drilling machine mechanism and a trolley gantry arranged on the traveling mechanism. The drilling machine mechanism comprises an arc track, a rocker arm and a drilling machine. The arc track is disposed on the trolley gantry, one end of the rocker arm is movably connected to the circle center of the arc track, the other end of the rocker arm is provided with the drilling machine, and the rocker arm is connected to the arc track through a rolling part. The track type drilling trolley not only guarantees drilling precision and drilling efficiency, but also is capable of drilling holes upwards and vertically. Further, labor intensity and equipment cost are low.


This article has two-fold goals: to develop a coherent concept of accommodation and explicate variable shaping the process of accommodation; and to analyse and evaluate the challenges and prospects of India's accommodation in the emerging international order. It defines accommodation as a 'state strategy' and 'process'. It figures out six determinants viz. the sphere of influence, structural variables, convergence/divergence of national interest, perception and intention towards the international order, political and socio-cultural values, and costs of non- accommodation. Instead of addressing the process of accommodation from accommodation-seekers' perspective, the article investigates the issue from accommodators' perspective. Therefore, rather than describing traditional foundations of India's claim of accommodation, i.e. population, territory, military, and democracy, it illustrates conditions under which the established power accommodate rising powers. By comparing and contrasting India's interests, principles, and values vis-à-vis the USA and China, it demonstrates how differing strategic calculations, economic and commercial interests and divergence in political socio-cultural norms and values, China is posing or may pose challenges to India's accommodation. It suggests that India needs to strike a balance between the declining America and rising China. It will have to learn how not to turn China from an adversary to an enemy. A prudent strategy for India will be to balance China, however, in the non-military, i.e. diplomatic, political and economic realms. Nevertheless, the engagement dimension should not be marginalised, actual or even perceived.


In the last years, research has revolutionized the use of valuable proteins for a variety of treatments and their production became possible since several genes can be efficiently expressed in many different biological systems.1 The expression systems so far available offer different advantages for the preparation of the recombinant proteins, in general, the optimal technical approach should guarantee the safety, the biological activity and the economic production. Molecular Farming, is a term indicating the technology for the production of high-value compounds in transgenic animals, and it is nowadays used to refer to the production of pharmaceutically important and commercially valuable proteins in plants.2


Introduction - the impact of the pioneers on EU environmental policy Sweden - setting a good example, Annica Kronsell Austria - a latecomer which became a pioneer, Volkmar Lauber Finland -from local to global politics, Marko Joas Germany - domestic obstacles to an international forerunner, Heinrich Pehle the Netherlands - a net exporter of environmental policy concepts, Duncan Liefferink Denmark - the shadow of the green majority, Mikael Skou Andersen Norway - a case of splendid isolation, Marit Reitan.


THIS PAPER DESCRIBES SOME ASPECTS OF THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL WORK CARRIED OUT IN SOUTH AFRICA, OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS, IN A STUDY OF 'CHICKEN NET' CRACKING OF A ROAD SURFACING, AND OF THE FLEXURE INDUCED IN IT BY WHEEL LOADS. THE ACCURACIES OF COMMON MEASURES OF THE SEVERITY OF FLEXURE ARE DISCUSSED. OF THESE, RADIUS OF CURVATURE HAS BEEN ADOPTED FOR GENERAL TESTING. RESULTS OF FIELD OBSERVATIONS WHICH REVEAL A DISTINCT RELATION BETWEEN CURVATURE AND DEGREE OF CRACKING OF A SURFACING ARE PRESENTED, A RADIUS OF ABOUT 125 FT. BEING CRITICAL IN THE CASE OF ONE ROAD STUDIED. A FIELD STUDY IS DESCRIBED WHICH REVEALED THAT ELASTIC THEORY IS APPLICABLE TO A LIMITED EXTENT IN REGARD TO THE DEFLECTION AND CURVATURE OF A ROAD UNDER ITS NORMAL TRAFFIC. A NUMBER OF FACTORS WHICH AFFECT THE SEVERITY OF THE FLEXURE DEVELOPED BENEATH A WHEEL LOAD ARE DISCUSSED. CURVATURES ARE PRACTICALLY INDEPENDENT OF THE NATURE OF THE MATERIALS BELOW A DEPTH OF ABOUT 15 IN., AND DEPEND MAINLY ON THE MATERIALS OF THE BASE AND SUBBASE. CURVATURES ARE AFFECTED CONSIDERABLY BY THE TIRE PRESSURES OF THE VEHICLE INDUCING THEM, BUT LITTLE BY THE WHEEL LOAD. EXISTING DESIGN METHODS DO NOT APPEAR TO TAKE ADEQUATE ACCOUNT OF FLEXURE CRACKING, AND THE LIKELY FORM OF POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS IS DISCUSSED. /AUTHOR/


For the extreme frequency signals such as ultra low frequency signals, ultra short frequency signals,ultra high frequency(adjacent Nyquist frequency) signals that existe in vibration engineering domain,the existing discrete spectrum analysis and correction methods aren't to be adapted to them exactly.The typical extreme frequency signals were firstly expatiated.In order to reduce the influence of negative frequency component,a discrete spectrum correction model with both positive and negative frequency component contribution was established for ultra low frequency signals by three frequency lines closing to the peak value.The frequency,amplitude and phase correction formula was deduced based on the Blackman window.Simulated gradually increasing real sine signals are adapted to assessment the formulas.Simulation results show that the proposed method that reduces the interference caused by the negative frequency components effectively can achieve higher accuracy correction results of spectrum parameters for ultra low frequency.


Background: Some problems related to migraine as one of the most common causes of headache is caused by psychiatric disorders associated with it. Understanding relation between personality disorders with migraine headache can be effective in the diagnosis and treatment of migraine. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between personality characteristics and migraine incidence in neurology clinic in Ardabil during 2013-14. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 50 migraine patients were selected randomly. In order to determine personality disorders, MCMI-3 questionnaire was used. Collected data analyzed using statistical methods in SPSS.16. Results: Of all patients,62% were female and 38% were male with the mean age of 37.02 years old (range 18-65). The personality disorders that observed among patients by the highest frequency order were histrionic personality disorder (70%) and obsessive (40%). The prevalence of depressive personality disorder among women (P = 0.020) and the prevalence of narcissistic personality disorder higher among men (P = 0.049) were significantly higher than others. Conclusion: Results showed that people with migraines have certain personality characteristics such as anxiety, irritation, depression, anxiety, and obsession that these characteristics leads into internal frustration and cause to headache and finally lead to migraine headache.


Dynamic models to simulate tearing of soft elastic bodies are an essential element of various medical and surgical training simulators. These models are also finding increased use in film and gaming applications, where control of the quality and style of the final output is highly valued. There is a general lack of models specifically designed to control tearing patterns, and in this paper, we present our work towards a soft-body tearing method that provides simple parametrizations to control the tear independently from the elastic properties of the soft body simulation. Our parameters can influence how clean-cut or jagged the tear is, in addition to allowing anisotropic influence using an embedded fibre model in the elastic body. We also aim for a real-time implementation suitable for interactive environments. Our meshless solution is discussed in a context that is aware of the importance of unified physics solvers.


In this article, we study a system of Hilfer (k,ψ)-fractional differential equations, subject to nonlocal boundary conditions involving Hilfer (k,ψ)-derivatives and (k,ψ)-integrals. The results for the mentioned system are established by using Mönch's fixed point theorem, then the Ulam–Hyers technique is used to verify the stability of the solution for the proposed system. In general, symmetry and fractional differential equations are related to each other. When a generalized Hilfer fractional derivative is modified, asymmetric results are obtained. This study concludes with an applied example illustrating the existence results obtained by Mönch's theorem.


The newspaper Public Administration Times from time to time prints evaluation-related articles and advertises evaluation-related jobs. None of the professional sections of ASPA is concerned exclusively with evaluation. Despite this, however, several of these professional sections do have active concerns with evaluation: the Section on Budgeting and Financial Management, the Section on Intergovernmental Administration and Management, the Section on Criminal Justice Administration, and the Section on Management Science. For further information contact me at the above address or call (202) 275-3593.


Computing the log likelihood ratios (LLR's) of the transmitted bits in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system is an NP hard problem. Many suboptimal soft MIMO detectors have been proposed to reduce the detection complexity. The state-of-the art tries to combine the search for the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimate and the counter-hypotheses in a single tree pass. However, not all possible counter-hypotheses are tested and have to be selected to reduce complexity. In this paper, the sorted parallel detector (SPD) is developed that is based on the parallel smart candidate adding (PSCA). SPD has a better bit error rate (BER) performance than the PSCA and exhibits a lower average number of visited tree nodes. Moreover, SPD has a fixed complexity and is suitable for hardware implementation.


A previous paper gives a procedure for the testing and realization of linearly-separable switching functions, i.e., functions which can be realized by a single threshold component. That procedure can be considerably simplified, particularly when the given function is symmetric in sets of two or more variables. The simplifications arise due to a reduction of the number of functions in the function tree in view of the coefficient ordering. Although this procedure was derived with the aim of reducing the amount of computation below that required for straightforward solution of the simultaneous inequalities that define the problem, the resulting method has some interesting relationships to that due to Winder.


This paper proposes the automatic design method of comparator circuit by combination of game tree search and partial optimization. Because game tree search can remove redundant calculation, simulation time can be reduced. Using partial optimization can confirm the convergence of the optimize function of HSPICE. Thus, the proposed automatic designed circuit can satisfy the required specific. Compared with conventional method [1], we have succeeded in designing the comparator circuit whose design time is 3.3 times faster than the conventional one. Moreover, the automatic designed comparator satisfies all of the specific requirements.


Since simulation became the third pillar of scientific research, several forms of computers have become available to drive computer aided simulations, and nowadays, clusters are the most popular type of computers supporting these tasks. For instance, cluster settings, such as the so-called supercomputers, cluster of workstations (COW), cluster of desktops (COD), and cluster of virtual machines (COV) have been considered in literature to embrace a variety of scientific applications. However, those scientific applications categorized as high-performance computing (HPC) are conceptually restricted to be addressed only by supercomputers. In this aspect, we introduce the notions of cluster overhead and cluster coupling to assess the capacity of non-HPC systems to handle HPC applications. We also compare the cluster overhead with an existing measure of overhead in computing systems, the total parallel overhead, to explain the correctness of our methodology. The evaluation of capacity considers the seven dwarfs of scientific computing, which are well-known, scientific computing building blocks considered in the development of HPC applications. The evaluation of these building blocks provides insights regarding the strengths and weaknesses of non-HPC systems to deal with future HPC applications developed with one or a combination of these algorithmic building blocks.


It relates to an internal voltage generation circuit, the comparison block for generating a comparison signal by comparing the internal voltage to a reference voltage; And internal containing an internal voltage generating block for generating the internal voltage by controlling the amount of current flowing in the internal current, in response to the comparison signal in response to a bias voltage corresponding to the operating current of the comparison block corresponding to the internal current the voltage generating circuit is provided.


The utility model relates to a buried explosion-proof coaxial cable and aims at providing the coaxial cable which has the characteristics of compression resistance, good explosion-proof performance, aging resistance, high stability and improved transmission effect. The technical scheme is that the buried explosion-proof coaxial cable comprises a conducting wire, an insulating layer, a shielding layer and an insulated outer sheath; and the conducting wire, the insulating layer, the shielding layer and the insulated outer sheath are sequentially arranged from the inside to the outside in the radial direction. The buried explosion-proof coaxial cable is characterized in that the coaxial cable additionally comprises a metal wire net, the metal wire net is used as a middle layer and is embedded in the insulated outer sheath, and the metal wire net and the insulated outer sheath are coaxial. The metal wire net is a copper-clad steel net which is braided by using steel wires, wherein the surfaces of the steel wires are plated with copper.


A new method for computing the terminal reliability of communication systems using artificial neural networks is presented. The algorithm utilizes an improved method for minimizing Boolean functions to obtain the reliability expression, and a multilayer neural network to implement the system. It is assumed that reliable nodes and the probability of link existence of each link is known. Examples illustrate the new method.


Ecocity is generally viewed as a new city model which can help to realize sustainable development.However,it is still unclear about how to really use the idea of ecocity into strategic city planning.In this article,principles and methods about how to use the idea of ecocity into strategic city planning are presented through the case study of ecocity conceptual planning of Xiamen.By the conservation principle,resources-oriented principle and so on,the advantages and disadvantages of natural ecosystem,social ecosystem and economic ecosystem are holistically analysed,the urban orientation of Xiamen are determined as a regional international tourism city,and the whole city is divided into five function zones according to its leading industrytourism.A foresighted city development strategy made out by ecocity conceptual planning,and can guide urban master planning is a new model of sustainable city planning.


We investigate cosmology of massive electrodynamics and explore the possibility whether massive photon could provide an explanation of the dark energy. The action is given by the scalar-vector-tensor theory of gravity which is obtained by non-minimal coupling of the massive Stueckelberg QED with gravity and its cosmological consequences are studied by paying a particular attention to the role of photon mass. We find that the theory allows cosmological evolution where the radiation- and matter-dominated epochs are followed by a long period of virtually constant dark energy that closely mimics $\Lambda$CDM model and the main source of the current acceleration is provided by the nonvanishing photon mass governed by the relation $\Lambda\sim m^2$. A detailed numerical analysis shows that the nonvanishing photon mass of the order of $\sim 10^{-34}$ eV is consistent with the current observations. This magnitude is far less than the most stringent limit on the photon mass available so far, which is of the order of $m \leq 10^{-27}$eV.


Objective: to identify the frequency of DILI inpatients from abnormal liver enzyme levels using the updated Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method (RUCAM) causality assessment algorithm, as well as to provide a descriptive analysis of DILI cases. Methods: we conducted a crosssectional study in a medium complexity hospital in southern Brazil. Data regarding DILI was collected retrospectively from electronic medical records (EMR) in 2015. Inclusion criteria were all adult patients (≥ 18 years old) who presented alanine aminotransferase (ALT) greater than twice the superior limit of normality (ALT > 60 UI/L) with concomitant change of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or alkaline phosphatase (ALP) or change of ALP greater than twice the superior limit of normality (ALP > 250 UI/L) during hospitalization. The RUCAM was applied to all suspected DILI cases. Results: 84,134 inpatients in this period; 178 patients had abnormal liver tests, six patients had sufficient medical information to allow DILI causality assessment, and two patients had DILI described in EMR, although our group could not find suficient information to apply RUCAM retrospectively. Absence of information was mainly related to drug reconciliation at hospital admission, time of onset of suspected drug therapy and no description of previous clinical conditions in EMR. Four patients developed hepatic injury as a result of drug treatment initiated during hospitalization. Suspected drugs were antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antiviral, tuberculostatics and platelet antiaggregant. Liver injury pattern was identified as hepatocellular and mixed. Conclusion: DILI appeared as a rare ADR, but absence of data in most EMR affected the application of RUCAM and underestimated DILI frequency. There is an urgency to develop DILI knowledge in Brazilian hospitals. Pharmacists must be aware of the use of the updated RUCAM to prospectively assess possible DILI cases. For future research, we suggest to combine cross-linking DILI tracers such as ICD-10 liver injury codes, abnormal liver biomarkers, search for trigger hepatotoxicity drugs and EMR text search tools, adding artificial intelligence to pharmacovigilance and hospital pharmacy.


This 43-year-old man was involved in a light airplane crash on September 2, 1973. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was noted to be in hemodynamic shock, with a distended abdomen and moderate respiratory distress (a chest film showed fractures of the fourth and fifth ribs on the right). He did not move his legs. He promptly underwent a laparotomy at which time a large retroperitoneal hematoma was encountered and removed. His immediate postoperative course was uneventful. Examination. A neurosurgical consultation revealed the patient to have a complete paraplegia with a sensory level to pinprick and temperature to approximately T-7. Touch and proprioception were preserved. Thoracic spine films revealed a fracture dislocation at T-6. Subsequently, an attempt at myelography was unsuccessful. Because of suspected mediastinal widening, the patient was transferred to the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medicine, University of Maryland Hospital on September 8, 1973. On admission, the patient's condition was stable, and a Foley catheter was in place. There was a tender bone prominence in the midthoracic area. Neurological examination revealed a complete paraplegia, with a symmetrical sensory level to both pinprick and temperature to approximately T-7 with preservation of touch and proprioception. A


The seed multiplication of genetically modified (GM) plants requires a modification of the multiplication process used for conventional seed. The difference compared to conventionally-bred varieties involves the detection of the modified character during variety maintenance, seed multiplication and processing, the need for separate storage, processing and transportation, the extra cleaning required for the transportation, storage and processing equipment, and the extra administration necessary for the documentation and labelling of GM seed lots. All in all this results in the lower exploitation of seed-producing capacity and in additional costs. The appearance of GM plants also has an effect on the breeders and seed multipliers of conventional varieties, however, since the possibility of contamination cannot be excluded. The producers of seed free of GMs (within the tolerance threshold) are forced to employ costly cultivation techniques (temporal and spatial isolation, removal of volunteer plants) and lab...


Hirsch (Presse med., 1926, No. 37) based on 100 operated cases of pituitary tumors, distinguishes, in addition to the commonly mentioned forms, acromegalic and pituitary obesity the ocular form (la forme oculaire). This syndrome is characterized by visual disturbances without significant changes In patients, a decrease in visual acuity and a narrowing of the field of vision are found.


In the network virtualization environments, one of the most challenges is how to map the virtual networks (VNs) onto a shared substrate network managed by an infrastructure provider (InP), which is termed as virtual network embedding problem. Prior studies on this issue only emphasize on maximizing the revenue or minimizing the energy consumption while ignoring the reliability requirements of end-users. In our work, we incorporate the reliability probability into the virtual network embedding process with an aim to improve the QoS/QoE of end users from a new perspective. We devised two novel reliable virtual network embedding algorithms called RRW-MaxMatch and RDCC-VNE based on RW-MaxMatch and DCC-VNE, respectively. Extensive simulations demonstrated that the efficiency of our proposed algorithms is better than those of two primitive algorithms in terms of the reliability demands, the acceptance ratio of virtual networks and the long-term average revenue.


As machine learning techniques become ubiquitous, the efficiency of neural network implementations is becoming correspondingly paramount. Frameworks, such as Halide and TVM, separate out the algorithmic representation of the network from the schedule that determines its implementation. Finding good schedules, however, remains extremely challenging. We model this scheduling problem as a sequence of optimization choices, and present a new technique to accurately predict the expected performance of a partial schedule. By leveraging these predictions we can make these optimization decisions greedily and rapidly identify an efficient schedule. This enables us to find schedules that improve the throughput of deep neural networks by 2.6x over Halide and 1.5x over TVM. Moreover, our technique is two to three orders of magnitude faster than that of these tools, and completes in seconds instead of hours.


BACKGROUND We hypothesized that our compliance was low with recommended imaging for evaluation of traumatic bladder injury, which includes either a computed tomographic (CT) cystogram or plain cystogram. We sought to determine if poor compliance impacted diagnosis, management, and outcome of patients with bladder injury. METHODS Patients with bladder injury were identified from all Level 1 hospital trauma registries in Utah from 1996 to 2010. Details including presentation, management, and outcome of bladder injury were described using descriptive statistics and bivariate and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS A total of 124 patients were identified from the trauma registries with bladder injury and adequate records for review. The mean age was 35 years. Blunt trauma occurred in 110 patients (88%). Mean Injury Severity Score was 26.3. The leading concomitant injury was pelvic fracture in 98 patients (79%). Bladder injury was extraperitoneal in 75 patients (60%), intraperitoneal in 39 (31%), and both or undetermined in 10 (8%). A higher risk of death was seen in intraperitoneal with or without concomitant extraperitoneal injury compared with extraperitoneal injury only (odds ratio, 12.4; 95% confidence interval, 2.37–99.2). Management was operative in 68 (55%) patients (95% intraperitoneal, 31% extraperitoneal). Of the 124 injuries, 100 were detected with imaging: standard CT scan in 70 (56%) and cystogram or CT cystogram in 30 (24%). The remaining injuries were discovered operatively or were undocumented (n = 24, 19%). Initial imaging missed or incorrectly diagnosed bladder injury in 13 (13%) patients (nine from standard CT scan and four from CT or plain cystogram). In five cases diagnosed by standard CT scan, extraperitoneal injuries were misdiagnosed as intraperitoneal and operatively explored. CONCLUSION There was poor compliance with imaging recommendations for evaluation of suspected bladder injury by either CT cystogram or plain cystogram at Level 1 trauma centers in Utah. We have implemented a genitourinary trauma imaging algorithm designed to minimize errors in bladder injury diagnosis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic study, level IV.


A three-dimensio nal model fully incorporating the interaction between the flow and electrical fields in MHD channels is presented. The model consists of Navier-Stokes equations in parabolic form, Maxwell and Ohm's law equations as they apply to the MHD situation, and a two-equation turbulence model. The model predictions are first compared against the supersonic flow experimental data from the AEDC facility; these data reflect weak MHD interaction in that the flowfield is little affected by the electrical power extraction. The model is then applied to high-interact ion subsonic flow in the AEDC channel to show the emergence of velocity overshoots, secondary flow, and the asymmetries in flow and electrical fields. Nomenclature B = magnetic field CD = turbulence constant E = electric field G = generation h = enthalpy H = channel height / = current density k = kinetic energy of turbulence K — load factor p = pressure field p = average pressure Pt = electrode pitch q = heat flux R( = load resistance u = velocity in x direction v = velocity in y direction w = velocity in z direction W = channel width x = axial direction y = electrode direction Z — sidewall direction o = electrical conductivity o = Prandtl or Schmidt number 0 = Hall coefficient /x = viscosity e - dissipation rate of turbulence energy p = density T — shear stress = two-dimensional potential ^ = three-dimensional potential Subscripts eff = laminar plus turbulent k = turbulence energy £ = laminar / = turbulent e = dissipation x,y,z = directions A — ( ^


End-users are often perceived as the weakest link in information security. Because of this perception, a growing body of research and commercial activity is focused on automated approaches to security. With these approaches, security decisions are removed from the hands of the users, and are placed instead in systems themselves, or in remote services or organizations that establish policies that are automatically enforced. We contend that although security automation is potentially beneficial in theory, in practice it is not a panacea for end-user information security. A number of technical and social factors mitigate against the acceptance and efficacy of automated end-user security solutions in many cases. In this paper, we present a discussion of the inherent limitations of automating security for end-users. We then discuss a set of design guidelines for choosing whether to automate end-user security systems. We conclude with a set of research directions focused on increasing the acceptance and efficacy of security solutions for end-users.


The longterm impact of involuntary childlessness and of involuntarily limiting family size to 1 child on maternal perceptions of life satisfactions was assessed among a group of married women raised in rural Pennsylvania in the US. The study used longitudinal data collected from a cohort of women who were initially interviewed when they were high school students in 1947. At that time the women were interviewed about their family background and their family attitudes. In 1951 the cohort was again interviewed and information on marriage education family formation and work roles was collected. The women were followed-up in 1971 when they were approximately 40 years of age and information on childbearing work and family roles and on 8 socioeconomic life satisfaction indicators was collected. Women who were single divorced separated remarried voluntarily childless or voluntarily only had 1 child were excluded from the present analysis. Fertility was treated as an independent variable and the 812 women included in the study were classified into 5 fertility categories. These categories were: 1) women who wanted and had 2 or more children; 2) women who wanted more children than the 2 or more they had; 3) women who wanted fewer children than the 2 or more they had 4) women who wanted more children but had only 1 child and 5) women who were involuntarily childless. The 8 independent life satisfaction variables were: 1) overall happiness 2) satisfaction with achievements in nonfinancial aspects of life 3) satisfaction with their position in the community 4) job satisfaction 5) satisfaction with wages and working conditions 6) happy with their current comparative financial status 7) financial achievement and 8) satisfaction with their expected financial status at age 50. Multivariate classification techniques were used to analyze the data. In reference to the nonfinancial life satisfaction indicators women with 1 child and to a lesser extent childless women rated themselves higher on overall happiness than the other groups of women but the findings were significant only for women with 1 child. Childless women were less likely than other women to feel that they had achieved as much as they wanted in nonfinancial areas of life. Childless women and to a lesser extent 1 child women were also less likely to be satisfied with their jobs than other women. In reference to the financial life satisfaction variables childless women in comparison with other groups of women were significantly more satisfied with their comparative financial status but they were significantly less satisfied with their wages and their financial advancement. Women with 1 child were similar to higher parity women in regard to financial satisfactions except that they were significantly more satisfied with their financial advancement than other women. The results did not fully support either of the 2 currently held views concerning the longterm consequences of involuntary childlessness and involuntary small family size. These 2 views are: 1) that failure in reproductive tasks leads to a sense of failure in later life tasks and 2) that childlessness and small family size enhances work and life satisfactions. To some extent the findings of this study may have been influenced by the fact that the women were raised in rural traditionally oriented families grew up with the expectation that they would raise children and in general were not educationally prepared for entering the labor market.


This study, using both the cross-lagged and synchronous effects models, examined the temporal and causal relationships between attachment and other critical psychological variables (loneliness, mental health) in university students under the restrictive conditions of campus activities due to COVID-19. The participants of the analysis were 150 university students (88 males, 62 females) who responded to two web surveys three months apart: one in early May 2020 and the other in late July or early August 2020. The main findings were: (a) AIC and BIC indicated that the cross-lagged effects model fit the data better than the synchronous effects model;(b) attachment anxiety had a negative cross-lagged effect on mental health three months later;and (c) loneliness had a positive cross-lagged effect on attachment avoidance three months later. This study's academic contribution was to extend the previous findings about the interrelationships over time in a potentially attachment-related threat situation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and to clarify whether attachment influences loneliness and mental health in this situation or vice versa. © 2021 Japanese Psychological Association. All rights reserved.


Sodium is the major cation present in almost all types of natural waters. Despite its relatively weak capacity of complexing with different anions at low temperatures, this association may play an important role in Na-rich hydrothermal solutions. This process may strongly affect the speciation and transport of minor elements present in anionic forms. Among these elements, boron is particularly important because, through its isotopic fractionation, it has been shown to be a powerful tracer of geochemical processes, including seawater-basalt reactions at oceanic ridges and subduction zones (Spivack and Edmond, 1987). In aqueous solutions the isotopic fractionation of boron is due to the differences in the inter-atomic vibrational energy and symmetry between B(OH)3 and B(OH)~. As a result, knowledge of the thermodynamic properties of B(OH)3, B(OH)~and NaB(OI-I)4 is essential for the interpretation of 11B:l~ fractionation in hydrothermal systems. Although the thermodynamic properties of B(OH)3 and B(OH)~are well known to 300~ (Mesmer et al., 1972), this is not the case for NaB(OH)4, the stability constant of which has been only determined at 25~ The purpose of this study is to measure the stability constant of NaB(OH)4 up to 200~ using new sodium selective glass electrodes. These data will enable accurate evaluation of boron speciation in Na-rich hydrothermal fluids.


In recent papers, the Prufer transformation has been used to calculate the eigenvalues of second order Sturm–Liouville boundary value problems. In the present paper, a Prufer transformation for fourth order vibration problems is devised using four-dimensional spherical coordinates. Some properties of the resulting angular system are investigated. These results are then used to develop a new computational procedure for finding the eigenvalues of a vibrating beam. This procedure is used to compute the eigenvalues of several singular and nonsingular problems.


97Background: With the growing use of oral chemotherapy, there is an urgent need to develop safe and effective systems to administer and manage these agents. A comprehensive synthesis of literature...


In Monks Wood National Reserve in Cambridgeshire, England, the death occurred of approximately half of a large, feral population of muntjac deer Muntiacus reevesi (Ogilby, 1839) during January to April 1994. From their body mass and from post-mortem examination, the deer were evidently starving, and pneumonia was the ultimate cause of death in a number of cases. The incident coincident with increased foraging activity. Mortality was much reduced in 1995. Examination of a sample of deer shot in 1995 indicated body mass to be higher than for the 1994 casualties, but still lower than for deer from other sites. Without direct management of the population, future mortality incidents may be anticipated when the winter population is relatively high of weather conditions unfavourable.


This paper examines how domestic and foreign tobacco regulations affect tobacco trade flows and consumer health in importing countries. We develop a gravity equation incorporating domestic and foreign tobacco regulations into a country's tobacco import demand. We estimate the bilateral trade effects of marketing, counter-advertising, age and smoking tobacco location regulations. There are two striking results: smoking location regulations reduce tobacco exports and imports, and marketing regulations may actually increase tobacco trade. The magnitude of these effects is larger when the trading partners are rich exporters and poor importers. Using existing health effect elasticities in conjunction with our results, we show how these changes affect tobacco-related mortality and morbidity in importing countries. Our results highlight the importance of implementing policies that account for potential spillover effects in an increasingly multilateral economy.


Thirty-six live fishers (Martes pennanti), caught in central British Columbia, were released at three sites in western Montana in 1959 and 1960 in an effort to reestablish the species where it had been extirpated. Seven of these animals were recaptured at various intervals as long as 73 months after release. Analysis of the carcasses showed evidence of normal reproduction. Fourteen untagged animals, which probably represent progeny of the transplanted animals, have also been caught. Tentatively, it appears that at least one of the transplants was successful. The fisher once occurred in western Montana. W. S. Gibb and D. Stevenson reported a few animals trapped in what is now Glacier National Park prior to 1911 (Bailey 1918:90). A few track records in succeeding years remain unauthenticated (Hagmeier 1965:156). Newby and McDougal (1964:487), in discussing the status of the wolverine in Montana, say that no authentic recent fisher records exist in Montana, this despite intensive surveys of the furbearers by the Montana Fish and Game Department. Fletcher E. Newby, Fur Biologist, Montana Fish and Game Department, 195158, states (personal communication): "During the fur work of the 1950's, I talked with every fur dealer in the state many times. The occurrence of fisher was discussed with all that had some knowledge of the animal. A few of the older dealers had handled fisher pelts, but the most recent occurrence they could recall was in the 1920's. While the closed season on fishers would tend to suppress reports of captures, it is evident from our experience since the 1959-60 releases that some captures would come to our attention had there been any." In 1959 Vernon D. Hawley, Fur Biologist, Montana Fish and Game Department, 1958-61, working with Newby, planned the 1 A contribution from Montana Fish and Game Department Federal projects W49R, W71R, University of Montana, and the U. S. Forest Service. transplants and made arrangements for acquiring the fishers with the British Columbia Game Branch, Department of Recreation and Conservation. The Forest Service had special interest in the transplants because Cook and Hamilton (1957) had indicated that fishers preyed extensively on porcupines. The Montana Fish and Game Department wished to reestablish the fisher because of its value as a furbearer. Benson (1959) reported the probable success of a fisher reintroduction in Nova Scotia using game farm fishers for the transplant stock. He indicated they remained quite rare but were reproducing and extending their range. Areas chosen for stocking were thought to be ecologically suitable for fishers and had relatively low densities of martens (Martes americana). Live-trapped fishers w re caught by commercial trappers in central British Columbia and imported to Montana. The first transplant of 9 fishers was made in the Pink Creek Drainage of Lincoln County (Fig. 1-A) during March, 1959. The second release of 15 was near Holland Lake, Missoula County (Fig. 1-B) during April, 1959, and January, 1960. The third release of 12 was at Moose Lake, Granite County (Fig. 1-C) during February, 1960. Before release, fishers were held in cages until they could be examined and treated for injuries. They were also sexed,


Introduction. The unsolved problem of treatment of intervertebral discs degenerative changes and new cellular technologies development open new possibilities for researches in the different directions, one of which is restoration of structurally-functional properties of the diseased tissues. Materials and methods. In experiment in rats with model of constant and temporary asymmetric static compression-distension (ASCD) of caudal spine, dynamics of histological changes and morphometric values of intervertebral disc (IVD) tissues were studied, including after implantation of suspension of cultivated autogenous cells of nucleus pulposus. Results. It was found that autocells implantation has multilateral positive influence on IVD tissues condition: reduces their asymmetry in comparison to the side of compression and distension, frequency of large foci of necrosis in anulus fibrosus (AF). Conclusions. The parameters, reflecting IVD-tissues reactions on mechanical influence, depend moderately on autocells implantation, at the same time the parameters of IVD tissues condition after ischemic lesion in particular size of foci of AF necrosis on the side of distension and amount of necrotic cells in AF had a tends to optimization in discs with implanted autocells.


The durability, microstructure and hydration products of concrete containing 0-6wt% metakaolin (MK) were studied by analytical techniques. The hydration products were calcium hydroxide (CH), ettringite and calcium silicate hydrate gels in the control concrete, and additional monocarboaluminate and hemicarboaluminate were identified in concrete containing MK. CH content decreased by 28 days hydration in concrete containing MK, due to the pozzolanic reaction between MK and CH. Chloride diffusion coefficient decreased with the increase of MK content. By addition of 6wt% MK, chloride diffusion coefficient decreased by 60%.


The use of harmonic filters at both the low and medium voltage level is becoming quite prevalent due to the recent advances in solid-state power converters. The market structure and the real world application of passive harmonic filters is still relatively new, and as such, the real world aspects of the present harmonic filter market is not well understood by many consulting and facility engineers. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the present harmonic filter market and how harmonic filters are applied, designed, and manufactured in the US. There are many papers written about the subject of harmonics, but there are few, if any, that address the practical aspects of this relatively new market.


A steerable, three-dimensional printed, traveling-wave microwave slot array is presented. Inserted dielectric bars change the guide wavelength in the array, adding a constant phase shift between radiating slots. This in turn achieves a tilt angle of the main lobe away from boresight. The ability to adjust the direction of a beam radiated or received by a high-gain slot array with fixed physical mounting has a practical advantage compared to physically rotating the array: It minimizes the volume required for the mounted array. Mounting volume scales as <italic>W</italic> tan <italic>θ</italic>, where <italic>W</italic> is the array width and <italic>θ</italic> is the steering angle. The work presented here has <italic>W</italic> = 186.2 mm and <italic>θ</italic> = 8.5°, so the change in mounting volume thickness is 27.9 mm. This array is 11.6 mm thick, so the mounting volume is reduced by a factor of 3.4. Opening the center line of the back side of the array waveguides allowed the insertion of dielectric bars along the center of each waveguide. The described device was both simulated and built, and the experimental device achieved 8.5° of continuously adjustable beam steering with a reduction in realized gain of 2.1 dB.


Dimensioning radio resources in GSM/GPRS networks is particularly important because of the presence of mixed traffic: voice and data. Appropriate models are required especially when the implemented resources allocation strategy is Partial Partitioning. In this paper we propose three mixed traffic models suitable for dimensioning cells using PP scheme. In order to validate our models we define and compare several performance parameters: blocking probability for voice, throughput (total and per user), cell utilization and blocking probability for data. The models based on combined FR and HR voice traffic technique and the DHR voice technique implement an optimal use of resources based on half-rate mobiles capability and re-packing mechanisms. The mixed models we proposed could be used for dimensioning radio resources in GSM/GPRS networks in order to ensure the adequate QoS level for each type of service according to the voice and data traffic loads.


Objective To establish a simple,reliable and reproducible intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH) model in rats by injecting autologous blood slowly. Methods To obtain blood of rats by cutting arteria caudilis. 50μl on 100μl autologous blood was injected into caudate nucleus of rat slowly through infusion needle(0.7mm in internal diameter) and a epidural anesthesia tube(70mm long and 1.0mm in outer diameter)respectively. The volume was measured with microtome and image analysator,and neurological deficit score(NDS) was evaluated. Results The higher incidence of hematoma formation and bigger volume of hematoma were found in rat models injected 100μl autologous blood than in those injected 50μl autologous blood(P0.01). The higher NDS in rats model injected 100μl autologous blood was recorded too. Conclusion The difficulty of obtain blood of rats and pin hole backstreaming were solved by cutting arteria caudilis and autologous blood injected into caudate nucleus of rat slowly through a epidural anesthesia tube. The data suggest that this autologous blood ICH model is a reproducible and reliable one. The succeed rate in rats model injected 100μl autologous blood was high.


Agriculture accounts for one-third of gross domestic product and three-quarters of employment in sub-Saharan Africa, yet agricultural yields and productivity are the lowest of any region of the world. While there are many efforts underway to improve the incomes of poor farmers, a number of market weaknesses hamper these efforts, including poor infrastructure, lack of agricultural support services and credit, and difficulty accessing international markets.


detailed sales characteristics of cars 1990's. to the CO2 reduction effects of green of car possession. can be the effective method with a small tax burden and a revenue-neutral taxation. Comparing the several taxation methods, the most effective way is to add (reduce) a proportional figure to the fuel consumption per distance to (from) the present possession tax. The CO2 reduction is approximately six percent per year in the flow base, while it decreases to five percent per year considering into account the feedback on the increase of running distance. The less effective but more practical method is to classify cars according to the size and apply the green taxes for each class of size. In this case, the classification by the displacement is more effective than by car weight. And CO2 reduction in the city area is larger than the rural area the green taxation increases the running distance of the small size car, the ratio of which is lower in the


Along with the development of mobile internet, there are increasing devices running on top of mobile operating systems among which Android is the most popular on the earth. Ranging from screen size as big as modern TV to screen size as small as smartphone, Android is ubiquitous in mobile computing and is prevailing in every corner of our daily life. On the other hand, traditional desktop operating system like Windows owns more professional applications and stronger computing ability which are not available on devices running on Android. Hence, in this paper, we propose a hybrid encoder model to cast Windows screen to Android. Compared to classic way of solving this problem, our method is more efficient in screen casting in that a heuristic decision is made to determine whether traditional VNC mode or streaming mode is activated. The experiments between the server using our hybrid encoder model and classic VNC server show that our method takes less network bandwidth and renders more frames when sending multimedia over wireless network.


The various embodiments herein provide a method and mate rials to produce non-asbestos Fiber Cement Board (FCB). According to one embodiment herein, a new material includ ing Cement (60%-75% by weight), Acrylic fiber (1%-4% by weight), Nano silicate (1%-4% by weight), slake lime stone powder (5%-20% by weight), waste cardboard pulp paper (3%-12% by weight) and some polymeric additives are used to make FCB in the Hatcheck process. In another embodi ment, a method to make FCB using this method in the Hatcheck process, only some Small changes are needed. According to another embodiment, the FCB produced in this method can be used for cladding, internal wall and external walls.


The end point of intracutaneus test titration with a number of allergens was correlated with the RAST score in 76 patients with nasal allergy. The duration of the disease was also correlated with RAST scores and various other data.In the case of house dust allergy, the end point of intracutaneus test titration and the duration of the disease showed a significant correlation with the degree of sensitivity to the intracutaneus tests and the RAST scores.In the case of cedar-pollen allergy, the end point of intracutaneus test titration was not correlated with the RAST score, but a positive correlation was noted between the duration of the disease and the degree of sensitivity to the intracutaneus test.It was concluded that RAST scores and the degree of sensitivity to intracutaneus tests can be used in determining the initial concentration of house dust solutions for desensitization therapy.


CFD numerical calculation method is one of the important methods for analyzing the interaction of fluid and structure. Compared with traditional experimental methods, it can use powerful computer simulation system, simulate realistic fluid situation and study its effect on structure. In order to verify the accuracy of CFD numerical calculation method, this paper makes use of experimental parameters and conditions in the references for modeling and calculation with CFD numerical methods. Calculation result is close to the experimental one, thus the method is proved accuracy.


Abstract Strong magnetic fields in chemically peculiar A-type (Ap) stars typically suppress low-overtone pressure modes (p modes) but allow high-overtone p modes to be driven. KIC 11296437 is the first star to show both. We obtained and analysed a Subaru spectrum, from which we show that KIC 11296437 has abundances similar to other magnetic Ap stars, and we estimate a mean magnetic field modulus of 2.8 ± 0.5 kG. The same spectrum rules out a double-lined spectroscopic binary, and we use other techniques to rule out binarity over a wide parameter space, so the two pulsation types originate in one δ Sct–roAp hybrid pulsator. We construct stellar models depleted in helium and demonstrate that helium settling is second to magnetic damping in suppressing low-overtone p modes in Ap stars. We compute the magnetic damping effect for selected p and g modes, and find that modes with frequencies similar to the fundamental mode are driven for polar field strengths ≲ 4 kG, while other low-overtone p modes are driven for polar field strengths up to ∼1.5 kG. We find that the high-order g modes commonly observed in γ Dor stars are heavily damped by polar fields stronger than 1–4 kG, with the damping being stronger for higher radial orders. We therefore explain the observation that no magnetic Ap stars have been observed as γ Dor stars. We use our helium-depleted models to calculate the δ Sct instability strip for metallic-lined A (Am) stars, and find that driving from a Rosseland mean opacity bump at ∼5 × 104 K caused by the discontinuous H-ionization edge in bound-free opacity explains the observation of δ Sct pulsations in Am stars.


This sporting song of school days and the great game of life recalls the spirit of turn-of-the-century Eton or Harrow. It comes from the Tawfiqiyya School in Cairo, but the only things Egyptian about it are the names of the school and of Egypt's ruler. Gilbert Elliot, Tawfiqiyya's English headmaster after 1906, may well have written it. In the years between 1882 and 1922 when the British controlled Egypt, the Tawfiqiyya, Khidiwiyya, and Ra's al-Tin secondary schools turned out most of the men who would lead Egyptian political, cultural, and professional life until the 1952 revolution.


This chapter on the principles of neuroprotection includes information on cerebral metabolism, energy failure and pathophysiologic mechanisms, oxidative stress, acidosis, cell death, and difficulties encountered in the translation of neuroprotective strategies from animals to humans. It also covers peri-operative neuroprotective strategies (including barbiturates, volatile anaesthetics, etomidate, propofol, ketamine, and xenon), physiologic management and neuroprotection (including systemic temperature, neonatal hypothermia, induced hypothermia after cardiac arrest, hypothermia and spinal cord injury, hypothermia and traumatic brain injury (TBI), hypothermia and focal ischaemic stroke, arterial oxygen tension, arterial carbon dioxide tension, glucose management, cerebral perfusion pressure, and tPA). Finally, it covers interventional procedures (including mechanical thrombectomy) to treat acute ischaemic stroke.


Portulaca oleracea belongs to the family of Portulacaceae in the traditional system of medici ne and consists of large number of various medicinal and pharmacological importances hence represents a priceless tank of new bioactive molecules. Portulaca oleracea consists of number of pharmacological activities like antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, neuronal, antinocic eptive and anti - inflammatory activity . This review helps to create an int e rest in Portulaca oleracea in developing new formulations with more therapeutic and economic value.


trolled trial. Crit Care Med 2010;38(10): 1970-1977. 14. Allan PF, Thurlby JR, Naworol GA. Measurement of pulsatile tidal volume, pressure amplitude, and gas flow during highfrequency percussive ventilation, with and without partial cuff deflation. Respir Care 2007;52(1):45-49. 15. Dries DJ, Marini JJ. Airway pressure release ventilation. J Burn Care Res 2009; 30(6):929-936. 16. Kenney BD. Airway pressure-release ventilation. Respir Care 2007;54(4):452-458. 17. Byerly FL, Cairns BA, Short KA, Haithcock JA, Shapiro L, Page A, Boysen P. High frequency percussive ventilation can mimic airway pressure release ventilation in a test lung model (abstract). Crit Care Med 2004;32(12):A38. 18. Hall JJ, Hunt JL, Arnoldo BD, Purdue GF. Use of high-frequency percussive ventilation in inhalation injuries. J Burn Care Res 2007;28(3):396-400. 19. Hurst JM, Branson RD, Davis K Jr. Highfrequency percussive ventilation in the management of elevated intracranial pressure. J Trauma 1988;28(9):1363-7136. 20. Cioffi WG, Graves TA, McManus WF, Pruitt BA Jr. High-frequency percussive ventilation in patients with inhalation injury. J Trauma 1989;29(3):350-354. 21. Peck M, Harrington D, Mlcak RP, Cartotto R. Potential studies of mode of ventilation in inhalation injury. J Burn Care Res 2009; 30(1):181-183. 22. Fessler HE, Hager DN, Brower RG. Feasibility of very high frequency ventilation in adults with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Crit Care Med 2008;36(4):1043-1048. 23. Derdak S. Lung-protective higher frequency oscillatory ventilation. Crit Care Med 2008;36(4):1358-1360. 24. Allan PF, Osborn EC, Chung KK, Wanek SM. High-frequency percussive ventilation revisited. J Burn Care Re 2010;31(4):510520. 25. Salim A, Martin M. High frequency percussive ventilation. Crit Care Med 2005; 33(3 Suppl):S241-S245. 26. NHLBI Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network. Ventilation with lower tidal volumes as compared with traditional tidal volumes for acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J Med 2000;342(18): 1301-1308.


In this work the performance of Draining Beds for sludge dewatering was assessed. The sludge was provided from full cycle Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) that employ aluminum sulfate and polyaluminium chloride (PACl) as coagulants. The characteristics, drainage and drying of samples of sludge and characteristic of drained were analysed. The Draining Beds were shown to be efficient for dewatering and sludge volume reduction in the WTP, in a natural way, without energy consumption or adding of chemical products. On the seventh day, it was possible to obtain reduction around 87% in volume for PACl sludge and 83% for the aluminum sulfate sludge and total solids content of 28 and 31% respectively.


The purpose of this longitudinal study was to investigate how life satisfaction is affected by depression among poor baby boomers and non-poor baby boomers under a time wave. The subjects were 1,493 baby boomers who were selected from the first to seventh Korean Welfare Panel Studies. The resulting data were analyzed with the statistical program AMOS 20.0 in order to conduct latent growth modeling analysis. The major findings were as follows: First, the intercept of life satisfaction for poor baby boomers was lower than that of non-poor baby boomers, but the slope of life satisfaction ascended more steeply. Second, the intercept of depression for poor baby boomers was higher and that of life satisfaction was lower than for non-poor baby boomers. However, the slope of depression descended and that of life satisfaction ascended more steeply. In brief, regarding poor baby boomers and non-poor baby boomers, especially the life satisfaction of poor baby boomers was affected by depression more seriously according to a time wave. Finally, we discuss the implications and end by considering the limitations of this study as well as making some suggestions for future investigations.


Development in technology enabled us to use virtual money for online transaction. It is proven through a developed technology, when transaction can be done not only using real money but also virtual money. This technology is also supported by NFC. This paper gives an overview of NFC technology for generating tickets using intelligent NFC based android phone. We will see how through machine learning and NFC technology tickets can be generated in a more faster way as compared to the existing systems. This system uses QR code Technique for verification of ticket. The Paper also analyzes what will be future implementation of this System.


This paper presents the recent biomedical engineering research activity of the Medical Informatics Laboratory at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The research projects are carried out in the fields as follows: Computer aided identification of physiological systems; Diabetic management and blood glucose control; Remote patient monitoring and diagnostic system; Automated system for analyzing cardiac ultrasound images; Single-channel hybrid ECG segmentation; Event recognition and state classification to detect brain ischemia by means of EEG signal processing; Detection of breathing disorders like apnea and hypopnea; Molecular biology studies with DNA-chips; Evaluation of the cry of normal hearing and hard of hearing infants.


PE-LD samples containing two types of filler in concentrations of 2–10 wt.% (zeolite TMAZ 7 and nanoclay Cloisite 20A). The microstructural and morphological changes as well as mechanical features of samples were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and by tensile tests. The thermal degradation of PE-LD composites were achieved using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The permeability, the diffusion and the solubility constants of the gases in modified PE-LD films were calculated and the gas separation (N2/O2; O2/CO2) ability was determined. In the presence of nanoparticles, at lower content, the value of oxygen permeability of PE-LD decreases.