Hörbst and Gerrits show how assisted reproduction in two sub-Saharan countries is affected by transnational configurations of power. They use the concept of 'medicoscapes' to analyse the geographical origins and influences on medical practices in the settings studied. Medicoscapes are defined by the authors as 'worldwide dispersed landscapes of individuals; national, transnational and international organizations and institutions as well as heterogeneous practices, artifacts and things, which are connected to different policies, power relations and regimes of medical knowledge, treatments and healing'. The analysis focuses on the providers and the technological practices adopted at one assisted reproduction clinic in Ghana and one in Uganda. The providers of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in both countries came from and trained in a wide variety of countries, with only a minority of medical and nursing staff from Ghana and Uganda. Both clinics had local Directors who had received medical training from countries which formerly colonised their own; Germany (which had held the Volta region of Ghana as a protectorate) and the UK. Largely through the networks they had built up during their higher education and early professional life in these countries, they had assembled medical teams comprising some from the former colonising countries and others from all over the world who had assembled in Germany and the UK for educational and professional reasons. In Ghana, these countries included Cuba and Poland; in Uganda, Belgium, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Sweden, South Africa and the UK. In Ghana, employment of medical staff from Cuba arose from political ties between the two countries during the period of socialist government and the medical outreach strategies of the Cuban government (Kirk 2015). There was also some evidence of South-South links, with collaborations having taken place with professionals from other countries where ART have become institutionalised, such as South Africa, Nigeria and India. An important finding of this paper is to counter a simplistic idea of 'brain drain' (Ahmad 2004), since both clinics were led by nationals who had returned to their country of origin and were staffed by a multinational team, meeting a gap in the market for this type of service. This paper contributes to the literature on 'brain circulation' in highlighting benefits as well as losses to countries of origin from health care worker migration and movement (Blouin and Debnath 2011). A remarkable picture is provided of how the existence of high-level medical skills in developing countries is shaped by the


This paper proposes a new speaker localization method that is based on a preliminary estimation of the head orientation. The basic information on which the estimation is accomplished is called Oriented Global Coherence Field (OGCF). The new algorithm is shown to be significantly more robust than the traditional ones so far explored. Its robustness is also due to an effective speech activity detection, implicitly performed by a thresholding technique applied to OGCF information. To show the performance of the proposed system, experiments were conducted on the NIST RT-05 Spring Evaluation source localization task, which is based on real recordings of lectures in noisy and reverberant environments.


ABSTRACT. Eight children and adolescents, seven female and one male, aged 7.1 to 15.0 years, referred over a 12‐year period for a solitary mass in an otherwise normal thyroid gland, exhibited a hyperfunctioning nodule on thyroid scintiscan. Tracer uptake in the surrounding thyroid tissue was reduced or completely suppressed, but could be restored after TSH stimulation. Only one patient had mild clinical hyperthyroidism with normal T4 but increased T3 serum levels and blunted TSH responsiveness to TRH. A similar hormonal pattern suggestive of subclinical hyperthyroidism was found in three other subjects who were clinically euthyroid. One patient initially euthyroid progressed to subclinical hyperthyroidism two years later. In the whole group a significant negative relationship was found between serum T3 level and TRH‐stimulated TSH peak (r= ‐0.829, p<0.02). All the patients underwent selective surgery after a 3‐month to 2‐year period of follow‐up. Microscopic examination was consistent with adenoma in seven patients, while in one case a well‐encapsulated papillary adenocarcinoma was found. Though hyperfunctioning nodules are seldom malignant, their surgical removal must be recommended when they become thyrotoxic, exceed 3 cm or show progressive enlargement.


We report the results of a high temporal resolution spectroscopic monitoring of the flare star AD Leo. During 4 nights, more than 600 spectra were taken in the optical range using the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) and the Intermediate Dispersion Spectrograph (IDS). We observed a large number of short and weak flares occurring very frequently (flare activity > 0.71 h − 1 ). This is consistent with the very important role that flares can play in stellar coronal heating. The detected flares are non white-light flares and, although most solar flares are of this kind, very few such events have been observed previously in stars. The behaviour of di ff erent chromospheric lines (Balmer series from H α to H 11 , Ca ii H & K, Na i D 1 and D 2 , He i 4026 Å and He i D 3 ) was studied in detail for a total of 14 flares. We estimated the physical parameters of the flaring plasma by using a procedure that assumes a simplified slab model of flares. All the obtained physical parameters are consistent with previously derived values for stellar flares, and the areas – less than 2.3% of the stellar surface – are comparable with the size inferred for other solar and stellar flares. We studied the relationships between the physical parameters and the area, duration, maximum flux and energy released during the detected flares.


The past century has seen developments in communications technology probably unrivalled in any other field of human activity. Significant advances are made every year, and both our work and leisure activities are critically influenced by these developments. Getting the message explores the fascinating history of communications, starting with ancient civilisations, the Greeks and Romans, then leading through the development of the electric telegraph, and up to the present day with email and cellular phones. The technology is explained in a particularly simple and accessible way, and themes from politics, economics, and society weave in and out of the scientific ideas. The book concludes with a look at the possible future of communications, the new developments to come, and the implications these will have for our everyday lives. Lavishly illustrated, and including many original illustrations that show just how these new developments were received in their time, the book presents an informative and highly entertaining introduction to the field of communications.


So much can change in a short time. In February 2019, I wrote a C&EN Comment describing the activities of the American Chemical Society Committee on Ethics and encouraging local sections to develop...


We report on the fabrication of high quality microlens arrays on 4', 6' and 8'-fused silica wafers. Refractive, plano-convex microlenses are fabricated by using photolithography; a reflow or melting resist technique and reactive ion etching. A diffraction-limited optical performance (p-v wave aberrations of < (lambda) /8, Strehl ratio $GTR 0.97) is achieved. Aspherical lens profiles are obtained by varying the etch parameters during the reactive ion etching transfer. The microlens arrays are used for Microlens Projection Lithography (MPL) and within UV-light illumination systems. Microlens Projection Lithography is an innovative technique using KARL SUSS Mask Aligners equipped with an ultra-flat microlens-based projection system. The projection system consists of 500.000 identical micro-objectives side- by-side. Each micro-objective consists of 3 to 4 microlenses. A fully symmetrical optical design eliminates coma, distortion and lateral color. The lens system is frontal- and backside telecentric to provide a unit magnification (+1) over the whole depth of focus. Each micro- objective images a small part of the photomask pattern onto the wafer. The partial images from different channels overlap consistently and form a complete aerial image of the photomask. Microlens Projection Lithography provides an increased depth of focus ($GTR 50 microns) at a larger working distance ($GTR 1 mm)than standard proximity printing. Microlens Projection Lithography allows photolithography on curved on non-planar substrates, in V-grooves, holes, etc. using a KARL SUSS Mask Aligner.


Abstract This article presents a method for testing the dimension of a general regression model without assuming any specific model for the distribution of the regressors. Examples of application and comparisons with existing methods are also studied.


Visible and near infrared (Vis/NIR) spectroscopy combined with a hybrid calibrations of partial least squares (PLS), BP neural network (BPNN) and least squares-support vector machine (LS-SVM) was investigated to determine the pH values of rice vinegars. Five varieties of rice vinegars and 300 samples were prepared. After some preprocessing, PLS was implemented for calibration as well as the extraction of principal components, which would be used as the inputs of BPNN and LS-SVM models. Finally, the BPNN and LS-SVM regression models were developed with a comparison of PLS. The correlation coefficient (r), root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and bias for prediction were 0.982, 0.042, and -0.012 by PLS, 0.992, 0.027, and 0.004 by BPNN, while 0.996, 0.018, and 0.005 by LS-SVM, respectively. The results indicated that Vis/NIR spectroscopy combined with chemometrics could be applied as a high precision way for the determination of pH of rice vinegars.


Objective:To investigate the antitumor activity and mechanism of trichostatin A(TSA).Methods:A human leukemia cell line HL-60,a human lung cancer cell line A549 and a breast cancer cell line MCF-7 were exposed to TSA.Cell proliferation was assessed by the MTT assay,cell cycle by flow cytometry and the expression of p21 gene by semiquantitative RT-PCR.Results: MTT assay showed that all tumor cell lines were sensitive to the growth inhibitory effect of TSA.Cell cycle analysis indicated that the proportion of cells in S phase was decreased and the proportion of cells in the G2/M phases was increased after treatment with TSA.The up-regulation of p21 expression was observed within 48 h after the treatment.Conclusions: These results suggest that TSA is effective in inhibiting growth of human tumor cell in vitro.The findings raise the possibility that TSA may be particularly effective in treatment of tumors.


An investigation was carried out in a fluidized bed reactor to study the kinetic and fluodynamic behavior of oxychlorination catalysts that make 1,2 dichloroethane from ethylene. The parameters for the derived kinetic equations help identify a first improvement in terms of 1,2 dichloroethane yield attainable in both once-through and recycle reactors. Fluodynamic behavior was correlated with an HCl/ethylene feed ratio through an equilibrium between different forms of active copper on catalysts. Higher values of this ratio allow further improvement of EDC yield up to 96.8% molar values, 2 to 3 percentage points higher than those attainable heretofore.


Undergraduate courses in construction and surveying serve a dual purpose. They must provide students with the intellectual development expected of a degree-level education, whilst also preparing them for entry to a professional workplace. As with most vocational degree courses, there is a balance to be struck between the demands of the professional world and the norms of higher education. The premise for the research presented here is that there are multiple inter-related factors that exert influence over the curriculum design process and it is misleading to consider the process in binary terms. Cultural-historical activity theory is used to examine the process as an activity system and to identify the complex inter-relationships between the various factors. The research findings are based on interviews with senior academic staff at seven English universities where construction and surveying degrees are offered. The findings identify how the curriculum design process is informed by key reference points. Inherent tensions within the process are highlighted and the implications of those tensions for both the academic identity of construction and surveying and the status of the professions are considered.


To study the curricula of science education , we 五rst investigated the trends of outlooks on education in Japan and other nations , and iden面 ed the problems by surveying and analyzing the competitive potential and the number of Nobel prize winners in Japan, the abilities and volition of students . and the views of fathers on education . We then analyzed the characteristics of society in which science


A case of severe toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is reported in which death resulted from fulminant gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Post-mortem exam- ination showed that there was associated lymph node Hodgkin's disease and prostatic adeno- carcinoma. This provides further evidence of the association between TEN and neoplasia.


The development of microwave radar vital sign sensing system brings many benefits to mankind. This system can be used to detect the location of living people buried under debris. Other important applications of microwave radar sensor are smart home, health care and defense. There are several main blocks in the radar sensor such as a transmitter, a receiver, a signal processing circuit and a display block. The transmitter propagates radio frequency signals toward the human and collects the reflected signals from the human chest. By analyzing transmitted and received signals, useful information like breathing rate, heartbeat, and people's location are taken. This work focuses on the studying mathematical model to evaluate the accuracy of radar vital sign sensing system when the operating frequency and distance change. Moreover, the integration between AI technique and radar sensor is also considered carefully in this study. The combination makes this system smarter, enables more applications and brings more benefits to users.


Contents: Preface Introduction: the origins and growth of English towns. Local Communities: Town and village formation in medieval England The English parish in perspective. Archaeology and Topography: The archaeology of British towns 1066-1530 Town defences in medieval England and Wales. Towns and Power: Towns and the English state, 1066-1500 Towns and the Crown in England: the counties and the county towns. Late Medieval Society: The role of minorities and immigrants in English medieval towns Urban society Civic mentality and the environment in Tudor York A regional capital as magnet: immigrants to York, 1477-1566. Urban Decline?: A crisis in English towns? The case of York, 1460-1640 Urban decay revisited. Index.


A novel scheme for the real-time optical demultiplexing by using the linearly chirped and time-broadened pulses is proposed. Simulation results show that the demultiplexing from 160 Gb/s to sixteen 10 Gb/s tributaries can be achieved.


We assessed the value of parasites of yellowtail rockfish, Sebastes flavidus (Pisces: Teleostei), as biological tags on the Pacific coast of North America. Of the 25 parasite species found, only Microcotyle sebastis (Monogenea: Microcotylidae) showed a latitudinal cline. Prevalence of this flatworm increased from 0–10% in samples from central British Columbia, to 80 and 100% in the California and Oregon samples, respectively. Mean intensity also increased from north to south. The results indicate that stock assessments for yellowtail rockfish, which treat the coastal population as five stocks from central British Columbia to northern California, can assume that harvests in one area will have little short-term impact on distant areas.


The relationship between energy consumption and economic growth has been extensively examined, using different methodologies, in a wide range of countries across the world. This paper focuses on a review of existing literature on the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. There are currently four views regarding the direction of causality between energy consumption and economic growth in the literature. The first view centres on the notion that energy consumption Granger-causes economic growth. This view is noted as the "energy-led growth hypothesis". The second view, known as the "growth-led energy consumption hypothesis", supports the view that economic growth Granger-causes energy consumption. The third view argues for a bidirectional causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth, whilst the fourth view argues for no causal relationship between the two variables. Although other literature surveys have focused mainly on studies that use total energy consumption as a proxy for energy consumption, few have consolidated the literature based on different energy sources and how this impacts on the direction of causality. The aim of this paper is therefore to review literature on the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth by energy source. The findings from the literature reviewed in this study reveal that although there is no consensus yet on the direction of causality between energy consumption and economic growth, the conventional wisdom is in favour of the feedback hypothesis, where energy consumption and economic growth Granger-cause one another. In terms of energy sources, the study reveals that electricity energy consumption predominates the growth-led energy hypothesis, whilst renewable energy consumption predominates the feedback hypothesis.


Introduction: alcoholic beverages have been present in all civilizations of the world. Today, alcohol abuse represents one of the main public health problems in all of America and Europe. Objective: to characterize the people who consume alcoholic beverages and belong to the Doctor's Office number 13 of the Jose Ramon Leon Acosta Polyclinic in Santa Clara. Method: a descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Doctor's Office number 13 of the Jose Ramon Leon Acosta Polyclinic from February 2013 to May 2015. The universe consisted of all persons aged between 20 and 70 years. A non-probabilistic sample was selected. A review of medical records was conducted in order to obtain the information; questionnaires that contemplated the variables of the study, the identification of alcohol consumption disorders and diagnostic indicators were applied. Results: there was a prevalence of people aged between 20 and 30 years, among the males, and between 31 and 40 years among females. The predominant schooling was that of unfinished pre-university and three quarters of the sample were non-professional. The consumption of alcoholic beverages was harmful or abusive, with the use of alcoholic beverages and toxic habits associated with smoking. The social impact was family violence, divorce, separation, etc. Conclusions: the high prevalence of alcohol consumption is an alarming signal within the health situation, some psychosocial reasons among consumers contribute to its deterioration, and they decrease the life expectancy of the population and increase the harmful effects on the economic and social spheres.


Mouse embryonic stem cells exist in two unique pluripotent states, Naive state and Primed state. PrimPNT represents the reverse of the embryonic development stage from post-implantation to preimplantation, which needed to overcome some important epigenetic barriers. In the previous reports, PNT usually required the infection of transcription factors by viral vector, which is cumbersome in operation and low in efficiency, hampering its widely application in the field. In addition, the underlining mechanisms for PNT remain to be further clarified.


The esterification of acetic acid with n-butanol was studied in the presence of ion-exchange resin catalysts such as Amberlyst-15 to determine the intrinsic reaction kinetics. The effect of various parameters such as temperature, mole ratio, catalyst loading, and particle size was studied. Kinetic modeling was performed to obtain the parameters related to intrinsic kinetics. Pseudohomogeneous model was developed The rate expressions would be useful in the simulation studies for reactive distillation. The experimental data generated for the reaction under total reflux were validated successfully using the developed rate equation and estimated values of kinetic parameters.In this work, the synthesis of butyl acetate, starting from n-Butanol and acetic acid, using reactive distillation on acidic polymeric resins is investigated. The study proceeds to the continuous process to achieve the steady state equilibrium of the involved multi component mixtures and then to the study modifications to be done for the achievement of the maximum seperation. Next, the separation-reaction process is investigated using a continuous Reactive distillation .( Gangadwala, J.; Mankar, S.; Mahajani, S.,2003)


Rainfall analysis is important in different domains such as: agricultural planning, water resources plannings, runoff prediction, climatological studies, environmental studies, stream flow estimation and human life activities. Variation of rainfall with space and time were studied in Duhok Governorate, Mean monthly, seasonal and annual values of rainfall were found in different weather stations (Duhok, Zakho, Semel, Zawaite, Sersing, Amedy and Akre station). Winter months represent about 45-55% of the total annual rainfall. The annual variability of rainfall in all these stations are high. Isoheytal method was used to estimate the mean monthly values and mean annual values of Variation of Rainfall with Space and Time in Duhok Government. ٣٣ rainfall over Duhok Governorate. Simple and Multiple Regression Equation were found between rainfall and different meteorological elements. Introduction Rainfall varies with space and time at various rates, some times very rapidly. This variation is measured either at a number of points using raingauges or areally, using radar and satellites (1.2). Rainfall being the predominant form of precipitation causing streamflow, especially the flood flow in many countries and is responsible for most runoff. In addition, vertical transport of air mass is a requirement for precipitation, so far rainfall to be formed, the atmosphere must have sufficient moisture, there must be sufficient nuclei present to aid condensation, of water vapour and the product of condensation must be good for condensation must reach the earth. (3,4). The amount, intensity and areal distribution of rainfall are essential factors in many hydrological studies (5,6). Rainfall varies geographically, temporally and seasonably (7,8). Regional and seasonal variations of rainfall are very important for water resources planning. Temporal variation in raifall intensity are extremely important in the raifall runoff process in urban areas (9). Rainfall is also highly affected by the meteorological elements and elevation from sea level, so simple and multiple correlations were found between these variables (10,11). This research can be considered as the first study of rainfall variation over Duhok Governorate, which is located in the northern part of iraq and lies between latitude (36° 38° N). and longitude (42° 45° E). The studied area contains seven weather stations, (Duhok, Zakho, Semel, Zawite, Sersing, Amedy and Akre). Fig (1) shows the studied area and the locations of the weather stations. The latitude, longtude, altitude and years of observations for the different weather stations were presented in table (1). Fig. (1): the location of chosen stations for study in the study area N Dr. Waleed I. AlRijabo & Diyar A. Bleej ٣٤ Table (1): The selected weather stations in Duhok Governorate and their geographical information. Weather stations Latitude (North) Longitude (East) Altitude (m) Years of observation Duhok 36◦ 50' 43◦ 02' 583,


Spectroscopic imaging observations of the CO fundamental vibration-rotation transitions at 4.6 μm, obtained at the Kitt Peak McMath-Pierce facility, show that the dynamics of both the solar granulation and, to a lesser extent, the 5 minute oscillations play an important role in CO line formation. Spectroheliograms made in the cores of strong CO lines display an inverted granular contrast with dark areas corresponding to granule centers and a bright network corresponding to the intergranular lanes. This observation is confirmed by multidimensional radiative transfer modeling of CO line formation in a solar convection-simulation snapshot. Unfortunately, current granulation simulations do not extend to high enough layers in the atmosphere to model formation of CO lines into the chromosphere and close to the solar limb where they exhibit their anomalous temperature behavior. The presented transfer calculations facilitate the interpretation of the observed pattern, predicting that the darkest CO line cores at disk center are associated with the strong adiabatic expansion and cooling that occurs over granule centers when warm upflowing material runs into the steep density gradient of the stable layer above the photosphere. The calculated granulation intensity contrast in the CO line cores is considerably higher than observed, and the calculated spatially averaged line profiles at disk center are deeper than the observed ones. It is speculated that both discrepancies result from the assumption of instantaneous chemical equilibrium which may not be valid in the convective flows. If the CO concentration in the hot convective upflow cannot increase fast enough to adjust to the lower temperatures in the radiatively cooled layer above the photosphere, CO lines would form deeper in the atmosphere, have higher core intensities, and show less contrast, more in agreement with observations.


This book proposes a new phenomenological analysis of the questions of perception and cognition which are of paramount importance for a better understanding of those processes which underlies the formation of knowledge and consciousness. It presents many clear arguments showing how a phenomenological perspective helps to deeply interpret most fundamental findings of current research in neurosciences and also in mathematical and physical sciences.


The paper is devoted to the simplified models of force plate measurements. The traditional models are used to describe the motion of a person. Human motion in the sagittal plane is described by the inverted pendulum model. Simplified three link model is used to frontal plane motion description. Two links of this model are parallel and support on the floor. These units model the legs, and the third link simulates the body, arms and head, which do not change the mutual arrangement. Links pivotally connected at the hip joints. It is assumed that the force plate (stabilograph) is a rigid body. These models are used to express force plate measurements through body model angles and ankle and hip torques. The approximate analysis shows that changes in the sagittal and frontal coordinates of the centre of pressure mostly characterize the change of ankle and hip torques, respectively. The obtained estimation is valid for arbitrary tempo of human movements, and it allows us to explain "deterioration of stability" for some patients during the rehabilitation. It is assumed that this effect is associated with the fact that these patients have weakened the muscular system in the beginning of the rehabilitation period, and the nervous system performs stabilization of vertical posture with fewer efforts. The muscular system is restored during the rehabilitation, and the patient can expend greater efforts for stabilization of the vertical posture.


Decision makers in South Africa's power utility require a reliable method to evaluate energy storage systems (ESSs) and its optimal geographical locations. Therefore, a contextual framework is needed to segment and clarify the various aspects of ESSs for the decision maker. To this end, this paper reviews existing contextual frameworks from literature and groups relevant information to clarify the different aspects considered during decision making. Three of the main technology types considered for the South African grid are lithium ion, sodium sulphur and vanadium redox batteries. Two diagrams showing the specifications for different ancillary services are drawn to compare use cases for ESSs. The first diagram shows response time needed for a certain power output per service, while the second outlines the duration of the power need per service. The complexity of optimal energy storage location is also reviewed by examination of available literature. Furthermore, methods of weight factor allocations in contextual frameworks are summarised from literature. Finally, the different software tools required for a detailed analysis of ESSs are discussed. This paper can therefore serve as a starting point to guide decision makers in strategic choices related to ESSs.


Recent studies by Rosalind Krauss and Martin Jay consider surrealist photography and film as part of a more generalized revolt against the philosophical tradition of the Cartesian self; for both writers, surrealism's protest often took the form of an assault against ocularcentrism-against the privileged status accorded the sense of vision as the correlative of the grail of hermeneutics, the achievement of some true theoretical perspective. For Krauss and Jay, Bataille's enucleated eye, Magritte's trompe d'oeil and Dali's sliced-eyeball are artistic anticipations of the philosophic interrogation of hermeneutics intensified later in the century by deconstruction.1 Of course, Hitchcock's admiration for DaIi is well known; their collaboration on Spellbound (1945) reflects a fascination with the eye as a metaphor that recurs in Vergigo (1958) and Psycho (I960).2 At the center of Psycho is Marion Crane's dead eye, which, in a famous dissolve, gradually replaces the image of a bathtub drain. Critics have interpreted the dissolve in many ways, without consensus.3 Following Krauss and Jay, I will examine it and the film as a whole as an extension of the same subversion of hermeneutics they find manifested in surrealism. At the same time, adapting the thesis of Paul de Man, I explore Psycho-in both its plot and its reflections on itself-as an allegory of seeing in the figurative sense of understanding-a dramatization of the necessity for the seer/interpreter to mistake a sign for a signified presence.4 If Marion's eye only apparently sees, it may signify the illusion of true vision or reading; its emergence from the dissolving bathtub drain suggests how both may be considered apertures to nothingness. By this reasoning, what the eye takes in, in viewing or reading, is like diluted blood down the drain-a sign only of emptiness and death. What the world calls perception may be no more than illusions that temporarily keep mortality at bay. On this level, what we see or read in Psycho is reducible to the drain-eye image that subverts psychologies and perceptions as mistakings of absences. No one-not Marion, Norman, Arbogast, Sam, LiIa, the psychiatrist, or the critic-ever sees truly; each is condemned to the search for a signifying presence ultimately exposed as illusory-love or money, reason or cause, theme or meaning-as a substitute for nothingness. Psycho allegorizes this universal delusion by showing that its characters' hunts for signified presences are mistaken. Marion Crane's search for love necessitates, first, a search for money. It is as if an advance toward a goal requires first a retreat, a substitution, a mistaking; the embezzlement is a literal example of "taking" new signs. (Of course, the necessity to "take" signs as real is as fundamental to reading or viewing films as it is to love, so Marion Crane's misappropriation only repeats as it exposes, belatedly, the viewer's act in taking as real a cinematic play of light and dark signs.) The idea that Marion's substitute goal, cash, consists of new signs momentarily taken as referents is reinforced when Marion hides it, like a signified message, inside an envelope. The idea that cash functions as the object of the viewer's curiosity is reinforced by the way the camera lingers over it. If we take Marion's cash as a metaphor for the sought-after locus of signified meaning-the goal of hermeneutics-we can observe how the film dramatizes the futility of its pursuit. The cash or putative meaning is wrapped in an envelope and also a newspaper, like the destination of a reading, and it is this signifier that provides the rationale for Arbogast's interpretive quest (which in turn triggers Lila's, which triggers the psychiatrist's and then the reader's). Marion converts some of her signsinto a new putative signified, a car, and hides the rest, which Norman unknowingly returns to her car. In the end, signifier and an interchangeable putative signified-cash, car, Cartesian self-sink into the quicksand, down the drain, into oblivion. …


exceeds 2%. Group-subgroup considerations inconjunction with the knowledge of unstable phonon modes, obtained by first-principles calculations, show thatthe low-temperature phase is a unique type of ferrielectric phase that exhibits planar antiferroelectric and axialferroelectric orders.DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.81.212101 PACS number s : 77.80. e, 77.84.Cg, 77.84.Ek


Nicaraguan youth like all young people worldwide face many challenges and difficult decisions as they become adults initiate sexual activity form unions and have children. The challenges they face depend on many factors including the time at which they initiate sexual activity if it happens within a union and the number of partners they have. The answers to the risks they face depend to a large extent on the access they have to information and services--which in turn is affected by their residential area economic status and educational level. (excerpt)


The first estimate for GDP and its components in the third quarter of 2010 is out and it is not a very encouraging one, at least as far as the recovery goes. The positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures and from changes in private inventories were attenuated by strong import growth and a further decline in residential investment. In all, GDP is estimated to have grown at an annual pace of 2 percent in the third quarter. To put things in perspective, just to keep up with its trend, GDP should be growing at an annual rate slightly above 3 percent, but since we are recovering from a recession it should actually be growing at an even faster pace.


Abstract : The purpose of this case study is to facilitate an analysis of the role and effects of network-centric operations during the National Guard's initial response to Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in Louisiana on August 29, 2005. The study explores the problem of establishing a hastily formed network during a complex humanitarian disaster scenario by focusing on the difficulties of establishing a network at the rifle battalion level during Operation Vigilant Relief. In particular, the study focuses on those operations along the Mississippi Gulf Coast between September 6 and October 1, 2005 conducted by the Virginia Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry, part of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 29th Infantry Division (Light). The 2-116th Infantry was designated as Task Force (TF) Stonewall prior to its deployment to Mississippi. A sister National Guard task force from Virginia designated TF Cardinal was deployed simultaneously to the Louisiana area of operations (AO). While both units eventually established operational networks, the initial stages offer valuable lessons on what to expect during a complex humanitarian disaster (CHD), especially in terms of communications networks and the attendant effect on continuity of operations. By reviewing the case study, future policymakers as well as civilian and military leadership will have a better frame of reference for solving communication problems encountered during a CHD and also potential solutions for similar incidents.


This study explores the rapid diffusion of mobile phones in India by analysing the government policy of spectrum allocation. Spectrum refers to the range of electromagnetic frequencies that make wireless communication possible, and decisions about its allocation are a fundamental influence upon the mobile industry. The analysis is informed by theories of social construction and devotes particular attention to the way regulators have sought to allocate the airwaves to serve the public interest. The research is focused on two key moments of disruption that were particularly influential for the diffusion of phones in India: the introduction of code division multiple access (CDMA) service in the early 2000s and an infamous spectrum scandal of 2008. Information is drawn from interviews with stakeholders in the Indian mobile industry, policy documents and prior scholarship.


This policy brief - based on the Nordregio report Skills Policies – Building capacities for innovative and resilient Nordic regions - focuses on how Nordic regions engage with skills development an ...


This research is aimed to increase the students' extrinsic and intrinsic learningmotivation on the high jump material of straddle style using the inclusion teachingmethod. The use of this method involves some tasks adapted to the students' ability.This research is a classroom action research. The subject of the research was thestudents Grade VIII C at SMP N 4 Depok, Sleman, Yogyakarta. Cycle 1 was done in twomeetings, involving planning, implementation actions, reflection and observation. Thetechnique of collecting the data was observation and interview. The data were analyzedby using descriptive analysis and reported in the form of table and diagram.The result of the research shows that the students' intrinsic and extrinsic learningmotivation increased. It can be seen through the observation of the early condition andCycle I. The intrinsic motivation covers the interest aspect, relevance aspect, confidenceaspect, and satisfaction aspect. The interest aspect increased from 41.43% (rather good)to 68.57% (good). The aspect of relevance increased from 77.43% (good) to 100% (verygood). The aspect of confidence increased from 77.14% (good) to 81.43% (good). Theaspect of satisfaction increased form 45.71% (not good) to 80% (good). Meanwhile, theextrinsic motivation covering material aspect, environmental aspect, infrastructureaspect, and teacher aspect increased. The material aspect increased from 30.29% (verypoor) to 57.14% (rather good). The environmental aspect increased from 65.71% (prettygood) to 93.33% (very good). The infrastructure aspect increased from 78.57% (good) to81.43% (good) while the teacher aspect increased from 75.71% (good) to 78.57% (good).Keywords: Learning motivation, Inclusion teaching methods, High jump of straddle style


The lesion of acute hepatocyte injury related to alcohol, consisting of swelling and degeneration of liver cells and alcoholic hyaline and polymorphonuclear infiltration, was initially described by Mallory in 1911.1 Subsequently, it has been referred to by various descriptions, including 'florid cirrhosis', 'acute hepatic insufficiency of the alcoholic', 'steatonecrosis', and 'acute sclerosing hyaline necrosis'. The most up-to-date clinical name for this entity acute alcoholic hepatitis was established only 10 years ago by Beckett, Livingstone, and Hill.2 In spite of the high frequency of this clinicopathological disorder, interest in its management as judged by clinical reports has waned remarkably. A review of the literature over the past five years indicates that papers pertaining to therapy of the liver itself (excluding complications of liver failure) have averaged one annually in Anglo-American scientific publications. Treatment has been largely empirical, based upon tradition, conservatism, and the avoidance of iatrogenic problems.


Privacy-preserving data mining is discovering accurate patterns and rules without precise access to the original data.This paper focused on privacy-preserving research in the situation of distributed decision-tree mining,and presented a decision-tree mining algorithm based on homomorphic encryption technology,which can get accurate mining effect in the premise of no sharing of private information among mining participators.Theoretical analysis and experiment results show that this algorithm can provide good capability of privacy-preserving,accuracy and efficiency.


The detection data to the horizontality of weather radar antenna pedestal were mainly obtained by two kinds of alveoli levels.The direct detection data existed obvious errors because the practical and standard detection conditions of levels on antenna pedestal were different,which could influence the accurate detection of antenna pedestal horizontality to some extent.Thus,the methods of error correction and mathematical treatment for two alveoli levels detection data were presented.The results indicated that the exact separation to reading error and the right mathematical treatment to detection data could improve the accuracy and reliability of weather radar antenna pedestal horizontality.


Introduction and background to the CAT judgment The merger of Stagecoach Group Plc ("Stagecoach") and Preston Bus Limited ("PBL") was referred to the UK Competition Commission (the "CC") by the UK…


A device for controlling the outlet cross section of at least one vent opening (O) for an airbag module, can escape from the airbag module through which gas, - at least one cover part (3), with the at least one vent opening (O) can be covered in order to close it at least partially, and - an actuating mechanism that cooperates with the cover (3) in order to change the outlet cross section of the at least one vent opening (O), wherein the actuation mechanism comprises a gas source (1) and a means of the gas source (1) inflatable element (2) with a sheath (20) of a flexible material which cooperates during inflation in such a manner to the cover (3) that the change outlet cross-section of the at least one vent opening (O) effected and the for filling the inflatable element (2) provided with gas-gas source (1) of a gas generator (G) for inflating an serving to protect a vehicle occupant airbag (a) provided is, forms various structural unit, characterized,...


Predictive Maintenance (PrM) exploits the estimation of the equipment Residual Useful Life (RUL) to identify the optimal time for carrying out the next maintenance action. Particle Filtering (PF) is widely used as prognostic tool in support of PrM, by reason of its capability of robustly estimating the equipment RUL without requiring strict modeling hypotheses. However, a precise estimate of the RUL requires tracing a large number of particles, and thus large computational times, often incompatible with the need of rapidly processing information for making decisions in due time. To circumvent this problem, the Risk Sensitive Particle Filtering (RSPF) technique is exemplified in this work by way of a case study concerning a mechanical component affected by fatigue degradation.


Objective: The main objectives of the research are to determine the phytochemical content and toxicity of stingless bee propolis from various provinces in Indonesia.
Methods: Phytochemical testing of alkaloids and triterpenoids on propolis used a qualitative method, while for testing phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins using quantitative methods. Then, to test the toxicity of stingless bee propolis using the Brine Shrimp Lethality Test method.
Results: Propolis with the highest alkaloid and triterpenoid content is Central Java propolis from Tetragonula laeviceps species. Then, propolis with the highest total flavonoid content is South Sulawesi propolis of Tetragonula biroi species. Propolis with the highest total tannin content and total phenolic content is South Sulawesi propolis from Geniotrigona incise species. Propolis with the highest toxicity is Banten propolis from T. laeviceps species.
Conclusion: Stingless bee propolis from various provinces in Indonesia contains various phytochemicals and toxicities. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation between total flavonoid content and propolis toxicity.


Research has shown that a person's values affect his behavior. While there has been considerable research regarding the ethical perception and behavior of business students, there has been limited research regarding the personal value that affect such perception and behavior. This study was designed to determine the differences between value and value types of accounting and non accounting majors, as well differences between value and types of male and females. The values survey questionnaire developed and validated by Schwartz (1992) was used for this study. The instrument, containing 56 values, was accounting and non accounting. Value types were derived by grouping responses to the 56 values. The results of this study showed a significant difference between accounting and non-accounting majors to 3 values, hedosim, tradition and conformity. by male and females there is only one distinct value is the value of tradition. Keyword : Perception of the value of student, professional public accountants, business managers.


We propose a Gaussian process regression network model where latent functions are arbitrarily coupled a priori. Driven by the problem of developing forecast methods for distributed solar and other renewable power generation, we propose coupled priors that exploit spatial dependencies in a scalable structure. We estimate short term forecast models for solar power at multiple distributed sites and ground wind speed at proximate weather stations. Our approach maintains or improves point-forecast accuracy relative to competing benchmarks. At the same time our approach significantly reduces forecast variance.


The purpose of this study is analysing the characteristics of vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gase emissions according to driving pattern of drivers. Current fuel economy has not established on official test methods. The difference between actual fuel efficiency and specification fuel efficiency...


The study involved 300 people with disabilities of working age who have undergone rehabilitation in the rehabilitation departments of clinics. The content of rehabilitation programs and the institutional structure of the rehabilitation route identified defects of outpatient medical rehabilitation stage: lack of focus on positive social purpose, lack of coverage with necessary rehabilitative effects of disabled, defective organization of the rehabilitation process (irrational sequence of rehabilitation), which reduces the efficiency of rehabilitation effects and fatigue patients. However, it should be noted the positive effect of rehabilitation in all patients.


Abstract The stable rank of Leavitt path algebras of row-finite graphs was computed by Ara and Pardo. In this paper we extend this to an arbitrary directed graph. In part our computation proceeds as for the row-finite case, but we also use knowledge of the row-finite setting by applying the desingularising method due to Drinen and Tomforde. In particular, we characterise purely infinite simple quotients of a Leavitt path algebra.


We performed deep spectropolarimetric observations of the prototypical starburst galaxy M 82 with the Subaru Telescope in order to study the kinematics of the dust outflow. We obtained optical polarized emission-line spectra up to ∼4 kpc away from the nucleus of the galaxy along three position angles, 138°, 150°, and 179° within the conical outflowing wind (superwind). The Hα emission line in the superwind is strongly polarized and the polarization pattern shows dust scattering of central light sources, being consistent with the previous works. The intensity weighted polarization degree of the Hα line reaches ∼30% at maximum. There are at least two light sources at the central region of the galaxy; one is located at the near-infrared nucleus and the other resides at one of the peaks of the 3 mm radio and molecular gas emission. The outer (>1 kpc) dust is illuminated by the former, whereas the inner dust is scattering the light from the latter. We also investigated the dust motion from the velocity field of the polarized Hα emission line. The dust is accelerated outward on the northwest side of the nucleus. A simple bi-conical dust outflow model shows that the outflow velocity of the dust reaches ≳ 300–450 km s−1 at ∼4 kpc from the nucleus, suggesting that some portion of the dust escapes from the gravitational potential of M 82 into the intergalactic space. At some regions on the southeast side, in particular along the position angle of 138°, the dust has a radial velocity that is slower than the systemic velocity of the galaxy, apparently suggesting inflowing motion toward the nucleus. These components are spatially consistent with a part of the molecular gas stream, which is kinematically independent of the outflow gas; thus the apparent inflow motion of the dust reflects the streaming motion associated with the molecular gas stream.


This thesis attempts to study probabilistic analysis of dynamic responses of structures with considering of uncertainty in input excitation. According to building design codes for design structures with irregularities in plan and elevation dynamic analysis must have been performed prior to structural design. One of the proposed methods for dynamic analysis of structures is time history analysis that in this, ground motions are being selected accordance to the code base methods apply to structure in the base elevation. According to random nature of input accelerations the results of analysis are no longer deterministic and become probabilistic. Therfore in this study structures with 5 and 10 stories considered and actual ground motions in tree sets such as BHRC records, European records and 20 chosen records from most strongest in the world applied to them.
Selection and scaling of records and applying them on structures have been done by using base code methods. Also with assumption of shortage in quantity of actual ground motions for probabilistic analysis, the artificial spectrum compatible ground motions generated by using wavelet theory and based on iterative process.
Then dispersion of results such as drift ratio, lateral displacement and floor shears under application of actual and artificial records discussed.
The results show that the distribution of responses depens on the records set, structural characteristics, selection procedures and records scaling. Dispersion of responses could have differente values. if the responses reduce in ratio of static base shear to dynamic base shear, dispersions decrease and if structures subjected on artificial spectrum compatible ground motions, dispersions are minimized.
Keywords: uncertainty, probabilistic analysis, artificial earthquake motions, wavelet theory, time history analysis


Abstract While the home environment provides a crucial context for aging, considerable knowledge gaps remain regarding how perceptions of care and sense of security impact older people's subjective psychological well-being. The current study aimed to assess the attitudes of older people during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel and compared older people living in sheltered housing with those living in independent housing in the community. The participants included 235 respondents living in sheltered housing and 726 participants living in independent housing. Participants living in sheltered housing were more likely to feel that they were being cared for than those living in independent housing in the community. Perception of care received partially mediated the effect of type of housing on the sense of financial security and health security. In addition, a sense of security (both financial and health) partially mediated the effect of perception of care received on the sense of meaning in life, life satisfaction, and optimism.


Flood disasters have become a menace affecting the socio-economic, environmental, health and safety of the people living within the offinso district of Ghana-Kumasi. Monitoring and mapping out flood prone areas, assessing the extent of coverage is thus not in existence and this has been a problem for the government and the entire emergency agencies.
However, this literature uses remote sensing and GIS as an emerging tool within the African Region to address and improve the efficiency of flood monitoring, and mapping with reference to offinso District.
A Landsat ETM+ Remote Sensing Data of 2015 acquired through the GLOVIS website at the time of flooding to make a flood risk map with the help of GIS analysis tools and a generated DEM which shows the topography and elevation of the district.


Pseudomembranous colitis occurred is closely related to the use of antibiotics and the pathogenic bacteria approximately 100% is clostridium difficile.Diagnosis is mainly based on clinical manifestations, stool culture, toxin detection, colonoscopy and/or histological examination.Once the diagnosis has been confirmed or highly suspected, the initial antibiotic therapy should be discontinued, add with metronidazole and/or vancomycin, supplement by probiotic and nutritional support.The recent years, new treatment options have been proposed.This article presents an review of the related situation of pseudomembranous colitis to improve the comprehension for clinical doctors.

Key words:
Pseudomembranous colitis; Clostridium difficile; Diagnosis; Treatment


Formation of both p‐ and n‐type thermally converted surface layers in semi‐insulating GaAs is explained in terms of outdiffusion of impurities. Carrier concentrations and impurity profiles calculated on the basis of this outdiffusion model are in close agreement with the experimental values which were obtained by Hall measurements on a variety of heat‐treated samples. This excellent agreement is further backed by the mass‐spectrometric data and gives strong evidence to the adequacy of the model.


Abstract Located at the historic Lorraine Motel, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968, the National Civil Rights Museum is embarking on the first renovation of the permanent exhibitions in its 20-year history. The museum embraced a plan to engage the community in selecting the design team and in the design process. Through a series of public presentations, online and in-house surveys, forums, focus groups and community collecting events, the museum actively sought public input on this landmark project. Additionally, the museum set ambitious goals for the renovated exhibitions to challenge visitors to consider their personal role in the ongoing work to create a more perfect union. This article discusses the strategies used to build community interest and support for the capital project and inform the development of new interpretive methods that would create emotionally stirring and accessible yet intellectually challenging exhibitions in the first museum dedicated to the interpretation of the American civil rights movement.


At present there is lowly using factor and badly sharing of scientific research resources in university,this paper analyzes the reason which it formed and points out for enhancing innovation ability and achieving significant development,universities must innovate management mechanism and resources sharing mechanism.So the article discusses universities scientific research resources sharing mechanism from designing of the top layer plan ,establishing resources platform,setting up the special-purpose fund,innovating management pattern,perfecting rules and regulations.


The ADIC and ADIFOR automatic di(cid:1)erentiation tools have proven useful for obtaining the derivatives needed in many scienti(cid:2)c applications written in Fortran (cid:3)(cid:3) or ANSI C(cid:4) But many new scienti(cid:2)c programs are written for or ported to parallel platforms to achieve maximal performance(cid:4) We provide an overview of our approach to the complex task of applying automatic di(cid:1)erentiation techniques to parallel programming environments(cid:5) especially as applied to a parallel molecular dynamics application written in C(cid:6)(cid:6) with PVM message passing(cid:4)


The objective of this PhD Thesis is to design Genetic Fuzzy Systems (GFS) that learn Fuzzy Rule Based Systems to solve regression problems in a general manner. Particularly, the aim is to obtain models with low complexity while maintaining high precision without using expert-knowledge about the problem to be solved. This means that the GFSs have to work with raw data, that is, without any preprocessing that help the learning process to solve a particular problem. This is of particular interest, when no knowledge about the input data is available or for a first approximation to the problem. Moreover, within this objective, GFSs have to cope with large scale problems, thus the algorithms have to scale with the data.


Most of the control schemes for chemical plants are developed under the assumption that the sensors and the actuators are free from faults. However, the occurrence of faults will cause degradation in the closed-loop performance, having an impact on safety, productivity, and plant economy. In this work, the main novelty is given by the enhancement produced through the integration of the fault detection and identification (FDI) system over a robust adaptive predictive control (RAPC) strategy specially thought to turn it as a fault-tolerant control (FTC) scheme. Additionally, the FDI itself is original because of the sensor and actuator faults treatment. The biases in sensors are detected and quantified by using wavelet decomposition and the extra delays in actuators by applying online identification techniques to appropriately modify the controller action. It is important to remark that the extra time delay, detected particularly at the actuators, is a problem that occurs frequently in practice; however, th...


Vehicular emissions have been found to constitute the major source of environmental pollution. Unfortunately, in most developing countries such as Nigeria, the contribution of vehicular emission to soil pollution and its implication on the environment has not been studied in details. In view of this challenge, the influence of vehicular pollution on the accumulation of heavy metal in the surface soils of the Ado-Odo local government of Ogun State, Nigeria has been investigated.The main objective of this research was to determine the effect of vehicular emissions such as copper, cadmium, lead, manganese, nickel and sulphate on soil around Ota. Seven locations were selected due to the high concentration of traffic experienced in the location and three sites with little or no traffic concentration were also selected within the seven locations to act as a control sites. Samples were taken for the months of December, January and February and one sample was taken from each of the control sites making it a total of 24 samples. The concentrations of copper, cadmium, lead, manganese, nickel and sulphate in the samples were determined by Perkins Elmer 3300 and AA Winlab software. The concentration of the heavy metals from the main sites was higher than the concentration of heavy metals from their respective control samples. The concentration of all the heavy metals in the seven locations were below that of the European union regulatory standard except the values of copper in site C (32.73mg/kg) and site E (34.24mg/kg) which were slightly higher than the 30mg/kg stipulated value for copper. Nickel in site F (51.39mg/kg) was a little higher than the 50mg/kg stipulated the European Union for the concentration of nickel in a safe soil.


Involvement of spleen in tuberculosis mostly occurs as a part of miliary tuberculosis especially in immunocompromised individuals. It is extremely rare in the immunocompetent patients and only few cases reported internationally. Here we are reporting a rare case of 35 year old immunocompetent female who presented with evening rise of temperature , decreased appetite & loss of weight for the last 3 months and recurrent pain in left hypochondrium for one month. On evaluation found to have elevated ESR with a strongly positive mantoux test and multiple hypo echoic lesions in the spleen on ultrasound abdomen. Contrast enhanced computed tomography showed multiple hypodense lesions with significant wall enhancement in the spleen. Fine needle aspiration cytology showed focal areas of caseous necrosis with acid fast bacilli in Ziehl– Neelsen stain and the diagnosis of tuberculosis of spleen is confirmed. No primary focus of infection detected in the lungs or any other organs.


A hierarchical genetic strategy is an effective tool in solving ill posed global optimization problems. We use a context-sensitive stochastic Lindenmayer system to describe the structure of HGS. The results of simple numerical experiments are reported. We try to use this strategy in robot motion planning.


In this paper, New Open Economy Macroeconomics is served as an analytical framework to build a setting which is in line with structure of an imperfectly competitive market, we follow an open economy model with micro-foundation for two countries to explore the long-term and short-term effects of tariff shock on various macroeconomic variables (e.g. consumption, output, prices, exchange rate, terms of trade, and so on), and try to explain the role that consumption home bias plays therein. With theoretical derivation and simulation analysis, we find that the phenomenon such as undershooting, overshooting or mis-adjustment might happen to the dynamic adjustment process of each macroeconomic variable in face of domestic tariff shock while domestic and foreign consumers who have asymmetric behavior of consumption bias on the imported and exported goods.


It was earlier shown theoretically that the radioactivity released by spent-fuel elements into storage pool water is predominantly carried by positive ions. In this paper a decontamination method is described in which freshly contaminated metallic surfaces are decontaminated electrochemically, resulting in smooth, shiny surfaces. This method, which uses current densities of {approximately}15 {mu}A/cm{sup 2}, is quantitatively and qualitatively different from earlier electrochemical procedures, where higher current densities of the order of milliamperes per square centimeter or even amperes per square centimeter were used.


Elaeis guineensis, a medicinal herb, is commonly used in folk medicine to treat various diseases. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of E. guineensis against experimentally induced liver injury through serum analysis. Serum activity was measured by monitoring the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and billirubin. The results of the paracetamol-induced liver toxicity experiments showed that mice treated with the E. guineensis leaf extract (200 mg/kg) showed a significant decrease in ALT, AST, and bilirubin levels, which were all elevated in the paracetamol treated group (p < 0.01). The hepatoprotective action is likely related to its potent antioxidative activity.


In the development implementation of environmental technologies, many initiatives are taken by citizen groups and non-governmental organizations, outside the institutional structures of firms and governments. These initiatives are calied social experiments. Based on three case studies, this paper explores the emergence, organizational structure and innovation processes of these social experiments, and their contribution to the development of environmental technologies as a whole.


The widespread of the Novel Coronavirus has sparked heated debate over how to keep public-facing workers safe in a range of businesses. This is especially important in businesses and organizations where officials are responsible for checking in possibly unwell employees or visitors. Eliminating the need for dedicated staff for screening is a challenge. This can be addressed by developing access control, sanitization, and detection systems. The project aims to develop a Healthcare Kiosk with integrated access control and sanitization module. The Access control system would be based on Human body Temperature values set under the health parameter policy of the institution or company. The Kiosk will first check the prescribed parameters of the person entering using the check-up stations and if the parameters are in range and sanitization is completed it will actuate the door using a logic-based signal given by the Programmable Logic Controller or Equivalent Electronic Controller.


Data mining applications and business intelligence systems are used to make sense of data and to help organizations in their decision-making processes. In the study, it is aimed to manage the data by performing business intelligence and data mining processes on the personnel data of a government institution and to make strategic predictions with dynamic analysis. Microsoft business intelligence tools SSIS (SQL Server Integration Service), SSAS (SQL Server Analysis Service) and Power BI have been used in the implementation of business intelligence processes. First of all, the data structure was modeled and the data, which was made meaningful by passing the ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) process, was transferred to the data warehouse with SSIS program. Then, OLAP data cube was created with SSAS program. Finally, data analysis was carried out with various visuals using the Power BI business intelligence tool, which has been identified as the OLAP cube as a data source and has rich visual tools and makes data analysis much more effective. Thus, a decision support system has been developed where decision makers can perform data analysis effectively. In the study, personnel satisfaction analysis was performed using the K-Means algorithm, one of the cluster analysis methods, and the Apriori algorithm, one of the association rules, and the Internal Control System survey data in a government institution. As a data mining tool, WEKA is used because it is an open source tool that allows information extraction from data thanks to many algorithms it contains. The different staff groups formed as a result of the cluster analysis were examined in detail, and how these groups should be approached and addressed was determined. Different points of satisfaction status of each group were determined and strategies and implementation activities were planned according to the needs of this group. The Apriori algorithm has been used to find meaningful relationships between the responses of the personnel to the Internal Control System survey questions, to obtain meaningful results by comparing the satisfaction of the personnel from the unit they work in, and to discover the reasons for their dissatisfaction with the unit they work with. So it is aimed to obtain meaningful and useful information from the internal control system survey data and to support personnel decision support planning activities in the light of this information.


Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) is an important vegetable crop, belongs to the family Solanaceae, having a chromosome number of 2n=24. It is originated in IndoBurma region (Vavilov, 1928), Bangladesh and Myanmar region is believed to be the center of diversity (Isshiki et al., 1994). According to Zeven and Zhukovsky (1975) brinjal is said to be originated in India and spread to China, which became a secondary center of origin. Brinjal fruit (unripe) is essentially consumed as cooked vegetable in various forms and the dried shoots are used as fuel in rural areas. The recent nutritional and medicinal findings proved that eggplant is highly nutritious and possesses excellent International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 3 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com


The general goal of this research is to facilitate the development of visual language environments for the class of visual languages that are based on graph models. The approach the authors take relies on a conceptual framework to define general model components and behaviors; any particular language is defined by selecting and enhancing components and behaviors within the framework. The objective is to provide a system, based on the conceptual framework, in which the language designer defines a data model in conjunction with a distinct, but related, representation of the model. The language specific modules of the resulting visual language system are generated from the specification. These language modules can be viewed as system independent abstract data types which are placed into a fixed system environment. This work enables the visual language developer to easily experiment with different aspects of a visual language. It also provides a basis for the development of, and experimentation with, mechanisms used to support the use of complex visual languages and their environments. The authors address the issue of usability and language complexity by providing support for the development of mechanisms such as visual abstraction hierarchies, multiple views, multiple windows, language component filtering, etc.<<ETX>>


Abstract Super duplex stainless steel (SDSS) plates of 6 mm thickness have been welded using tungsten inert gas, activated tungsten inert gas, electron beam welding and friction stir welding processes. Among these, in the first two, melting and solidification of material occurs slowly whereas, it is faster in electron beam welding process and no melting occurs in friction stir welding. Macro and microstructural studies, hardness surveys, tensile tests and percentage of ferrite content were compared for all the welds. The ferrite–austenite phase balance is 50 % each, with electron beam weld metal at about 65 % ferrite. This showed the hardness of the weld metal and heat affected zones to be higher than base metal. The weldment joint efficiencies are more than 90 %. The fracture location is found to be in the weld metal for tungsten inert gas and activated tungsten inert gas weld, in the nugget for friction stir welds and in the base metal for electron beam welds. The ductility of electron beam weld joints is 32 % while it is around 20 % for the others. The preferred order while choosing the welding process should be activated tungsten inert gas welding, tungsten inert gas welding, electron beam welding, and friction stir welding.


Catheter-related urinary bladder discomfort in patients awakening from anesthesia can be bothersome. Ketamine in sub an esthetic dose has been demonstrated to be useful for this distress problem. Were port three cases wherein an analgesic dose of ketamine effectively attenuates the catheter-related urinary bladder discomfort in early postoperative period.


In this paper, we propose a mothod to deal with this prolem of statistical inference of accelerated life testing-step-stress models under an in verse law when the life distribution is the Weibull distribution. We get estimati ons of parameters of the inverse power law model and shope parameter of the Weib ull distribution for Type Ⅱ censored data. Furchermore we discuess interval esti mations of prameters.


Although it is provided by many international human rights documents,the right to attend cultural life is neglected in practice and in the status of "under-developed".The main reason for this is the unclear of contents.It is helpful for deepen the understanding of the right to attend cultural life and promote its realization,to expound the human rights that enjoyed by subjects participating cultural life,and the corresponding obligations states assume based on the provisions of international conventions and the practice of various states.


To describe the phylogeographic structures of Asparagus schoberioides Kunth (Asparagaceae) in Japan, we investigated its nucleotide sequence variations with respect to its geographic distribution pattern. Sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 region in 29 samples of A. schoberioides revealed 20 polymorphic nucleotide sites. As a result, the 29 samples of A. schoberioides fell into 15 distinct haplotypes and phylogenetic analyses revealed these haplotypes fell into two major clades, Clade 1 and Clade 2. The haplotypes of Clade 1 were distributed chiefly along the Pacific Ocean side of Japan, while those of Clade 2 occurred mainly along the Japan Sea side. This result suggests that A. schoberioides has migrated via two routes in Japan.


Objective To investigate the clinical application value of serum gamma-glutamyltransferase(GGT) and alanine aminotransferase(ALT) for the early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods 200 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were enrolled in experiment group(100 males and 100 females).200 healthy subjects were enrolled as control group.The levels of serum glucose(Glu),GGT and ALT of patients and healthy subjects were detected by Roche Modular automatic biochemistry analyzer system and the results were analyzed statistically.Results The difference of serum Glu and GGT between experiment group and control group had statistical significance(P 0.05).There was no difference of ALT between experiment group and control group.The abnormality rates of GGT among male and female patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were 13% and 16% respectively,which were higher than those in control group.Conclusions GGT may be a marker for the early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus.


The article introduces the process of forming and developing the medical service system in Zhejiang Province, it puts forwards the principles and evidences for constructing new style medical service system in the situation of marketing economy and the functions and tasks of medical institutions at various levels. It also explores how to realize the eq-uitableness for medical care and improve the efficiency of medical resources usage.


Field of cardiac resuscitation and, in particular, rescuer system and a method for equipment to assist in carrying out cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is described herein.


Northeast crater is a pyroclastic cone near the summit of Mount Etna, built to its present volume (1 ×106 m3) by nearly constant strombolian activity since its birth in 1911. Detailed analysis of one typical photograph of a June 1969 eruption indicates that particles exit with a median velocity of about 51 m/s at angles distributed nearly uniformly between 70° and vertical. Ejecta consists of ash to 1-m bombs. Physical properties of ejecta include median bomb density, 1.53 g/cm3; particle size of ash found locally on the cone, 150 μ; median size of bombs constituting the cone, 15 cm; sphericity of bombs, 0.78; and surface roughness of bombs, approximately 0.05. Ballistic analysis using these data and including effects of atmospheric drag shows that cinder cone morphology can be predicted by a quantitative model that is in excellent agreement with observed cone features. Cone shape or profile, rim location, limit of continuous ejecta, the ballistic limit (maximum range of ejected fragments), and the size and location of talus slopes are uniquely determined by fragment exit conditions and ballistics. The model suggests that cinder cones grow through four distinct stages: (1) simple cone, with mantle bedding and a low rounded rim, (2) onset of an exterior talus slope, (3) destruction of the original rounded rim by backward migration of the talus, and (4) outward growth of the talus slope beyond the ballistic limit. In the lunar exterior ballistic environment, cinder cones (if they erupted at conditions qualitatively similar to Etna's Northeast crater) should form tuff rings with low, barely discernible rims. Small dark halo craters and dark mantling deposits observed on the moon (such as those near the Apollo 17 site) may be lunar equivalents of normal terrestrial cinder cones. Clusters of such lunar cones might form continuous blankets rather than groups of discrete cones as they do on the earth. Martian cones, formed under the same conditions, would be more like lunar cones than terrestrial ones.


Abstract : This report summarizes the development of a control system for an ultragravimetric microbalance. Included are the different control methodologies investigated and the characteristics of each. These methodologies are based on two types of control systems: one is a digital system implemented totally in hardware and the other a computer controlled system. The intent of the project was to replace the existing analog controller with a system that was more stable, had better response to transient conditions, was less temperature sensitive and could be operated unattended for long periods of time. Much of the work to date, on the computer controlled system, has concentrated on bringing the balance to equilibrium quickly and reliably, maintaining equilibrium once achieved and reliably tracking mass change. Data analysis and reduction techniques are still being developed and evaluated. As yet, there is no indication of the ultimate sensitivity obtainable with a computer controlled system, but a sensitivity of 0.2 microgram, with a sample mass of 5 grams, should be rountinely obtainable. In addition to the electrical/electronic characteristics, there is some discussion of the mechanical characteristics that affect the performance of the balance. But because of time constraints, the mechanical aspects are not discussed in detail. An adsorption/desorption experiment, on a devitrifying, microcircuit package, sealing glass (type 75-83), is presented to demonstrate the use of the system and illustrate the mass tracking behavior.


Hopping rovers have become a promising way of asteroid surface exploration. This paper focuses on the hopping trajectory design between two given surface points and discusses the irregular terrain's influence on the design process. By taking the hopping rover as a point mass, dynamical equations are derived based on the polyhedral method. The principle of hopping trajectory planning is summarized with the related solving algorithm. The initial velocity increments required to control the subsequent hopping trajectories are determined based on parabolic motion. The numerical simulations apply a triaxial ellipsoid to approximate comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro preliminarily. The smooth and rocky polyhedron models of the ellipsoid are constructed, respectively. With the two models, the different initial conditions' hopping trajectories are planned and compared to verify the proposed planning method and discuss the influence of terrain roughness on the trajectory design.


In this study, to analyze the factors affecting the use of smartphone applications, research model based on UTAUT (Unified Theory of Acceptance) model was hypothesized and empirically tested. Credibility and personalization were set as factors affecting performance expectancy, and flow was added as an antecedent of usage intention. Also, strategic implications are drawn by categorizing smartphone app as two types of practical app and entertainment app and then by testing the difference between the characteristics of two types. Survey was conducted with 215 persons who has experience in using smartphone including college students and office workers. The result showed that personalization has positive effect on performance expectancy, and performance expectancy and effort expectancy have positive effect on usage intention, use behavior, and recommendation intention. Also, the factors affecting usage intention and use behavior of smartphone app were found to be different between two types of applications. Therefore, it is expected that research findings would provide strategic implications to apps developers, mobile telecom providers, and related enterprises.


High energy ion irradiation to simulate neutron damage was applied to study the irradiation effect on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in stainless steels. Small tensile specimens of commercial purity type 304, high purity type 304L (HP304L) and high purity type 304L containing phosphorus (HP304L+P) were irradiated with 60 MeV He{sup 2+} ions by using a cyclotron at 560-580 K, up to a dose of 0.4 dpa. Slow strain rate tests (SSRT) were conducted in high temperature water containing 32 ppm dissolved oxygen (DO). No intergranular SCC was observed on 304 irradiated up to 0.4 dpa. HP304L and HP304L+P irradiated to 0.4 dpa failed by intergranular SCC and exhibited greater increases in yield strength. The results show that simulation irradiation is a potential method for use to study IASCC. Displacement damage by irradiation is essential for the occurrence of IASCC. The different response to the irradiation among the alloys was attributed to their impurity contents and damage characteristics of ion irradiation.


[Objective] The extraction of Chinese wolfberry genomic DNA and optimization of its RAPD reaction system were studied.[Method] The concentration range of Chinese wolfberry genomic DNA extracted with optimal CTAB method was tested and the RAPD reaction system was further optimized scientifically and reasonably.[Results] The concentration range of Chinese wolfberry genomic DNA was among 3.5-5.5 μg/μl,which could fully met the demand of RAPD-PCR.[Conclusion] This way has the advantage of few steps,low-cost and high-efficiency,which is more suitable for the Chinese wolfberry genomic DNA extraction.


With a comparison and analysis of the features of the financial investment in public education during the period of rapid economic growth,it can be found that the financial investment in public education in China is smaller than that in Japan,and that the amount of public finance for education cannot meet the needs of the national education.Therefore,it needs to be increased.In China,finance for education from the central government gives priority for higher education,while in Japan,the priority is given to compulsory education.We should take Japan as an example to enhance the financial investment in public education in China and in the construction of the financial system for education and its legality for that.


Bioinspired sea urchin-like structures were fabricated on silicon by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching using lens-like shape hexagonally patterned photoresist (PR) patterns and subsequent metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE) [1]. The lens-like shape PR patterns with a diameter of 2 μm were formed by conventional lithography method followed by thermal reflow process of PR patterns on a hotplate at 170C for 40 s. ICP etching process was carried out in an SF6 plasma ambient using an optimum etching conditions such as radio-frequency power of 50 W, ICP power of 25 W, SF6 flow rate of 30 sccm, process pressure of 10 mTorr, and etching time of 150 s in order to produce micron structure with tapered etch profile. 15 nm thick Ag film was evaporated on the samples using e-beam evaporator with a deposition rate of 0.05 nm/s. To form Ag nanoparticles (NPs), the samples were thermally treated (thermally dewetted) in a rapid thermal annealing system at 500C for 1 min in a nitrogen environment. The Ag thickness and thermal dewetting conditions were carefully chosen to obtain isolated Ag NPs. To fabricate needle-like nanostructures on both the micron structure (i.e., sea urchin-like structures) and flat surface of silicon, MaCE process, which is based on the strong catalytic activity of metal, was performed in a chemical etchant (HNO3: HF: H2O = 4: 1: 20) using Ag NPs at room temperature for 1 min. Finally, the residual Ag NPs were removed by immersion in a HNO3 solution. The fabricated structures after each process steps are shown in figure 1. It is well-known that the hierarchical microand nanostructures have efficient light harvesting properties [2-3]. Therefore, this fabrication technique for production of sea urchin-like structures is applicable to improve the performance of light harvesting devices.


Electric vehicles support low‐carbon emissions to revitalize sustainable trans‐ portation, and more charging stations are being built to meet the daily charg‐ ing demand. Charging piles and service workers are the most important re‐ sources for electric vehicle charging stations, and the scheduling of these resources is an important factor affecting the charging stations' profits and sustainable industrial development. In this paper, we simulate the charging piles and service workers in charging station resource scheduling and analyze the impacts of the number of service workers, the charging pile replacement policy and the charging pile maintenance times on an electric vehicle charging station's profits. An orthogonal test can achieve the following optimal re‐ source scheduling results when their range is known: (1) In the lifetime of the charging pile, seven maintenance times are needed; (2) Even if the charging pile is still in normal condition, it needs to be replaced in order to achieve the maximum profits for the charging station; (3) a comprehensive analysis of service efficiency and service costs indicates that 8 service workers are need‐ ed to achieve the optimal profits for the charging station. Therefore, the scien‐ tific contribution of this research is to establish one resource scheduling simulation model that can assess the effects of the number of service workers, the charging pile replacement policy and the charging pile maintenance times on charging station revenues and to obtain the optimal results. In addition, if the model parameters change, we can still obtain the optimal results. © 2019 CPE, University of Maribor. All rights reserved.


This essay intends to: [a] analyze if the proposal of a Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics really gives an account of the foundation of any and all hermeneutics; and [b] to evaluate the relevance or not of the locus of philosophy for hermeneutics. Therefore, it is necessary: [a] to evidence that the History of the Concept (Begriffsgeschichte) is disabled of offer a common core of meaning to the term Hermeneutics; [b] to reconstruct the arguments that make the Gadamerian expression Philosophical Hermeneutics possible; [c] to raise questions that present the central weakness of the argument from the Hegelian speculative property that was remembered by Gadamer himself. On the one hand, this essay is a bibliographic research – since it is based on consolidated references –, and, on the other, a documentary, as it intends to revisit some important documents to contribute to the outcome. Essentially, the essay discussion is done formally with Gadamer (2008) in his treatise "Truth and Method", which will not prevent the use of classics from the history of Hermeneutics, such as: Aristotle (2016), Schleiermacher (1999), Dilthey (1900), Heidegger (1997, 1999), and the treatise "Science of Logic", by Hegel (2016), as a counter point. The preliminary results of this essay call into question the idea of Philosophical Hermeneutics and it use the Hegelian speculative theory as an outlet for the Gadamerian problem.


The synthesis, transport and localization of a nuclear coded 22‐kd heat‐shock protein (HSP) in the chloroplast membranes was studied in pea plants and Chlamydomonas reinhardi. HSPs were detected in both systems by in vivo labeling and in vitro translation of poly(A)+RNA, using the wheat‐germ and reticulocyte lysate systems. Heat‐shock treatment of pea plants for 2 h at 42‐45°C induces the expression of ˜10 nuclear coded proteins, among which several (18 kd, 19 kd, 22 kd) are predominant. A 22‐kd protein is synthesized as a 26‐kd precursor protein and is localized in a chloroplast membrane fraction in vivo. Following post‐translational transport into intact chloroplasts in vitro of the 26‐kd precursor, the protein is processed but the resulting 22‐kd mature protein is localized in the chloroplast stroma. If, however, the in vitro transport is carried out with chloroplasts from heat‐shocked plants, the 22‐kd protein is preferentially transported to the chloroplast membrane fraction. In C. reinhardi the synthesis of poly(A)+RNAs coding for several HSPs is progressively and sequentially induced when raising the temperature for 1.5 h from 36°C to 42°C, while that of several preexisting RNAs is reduced. Various pre‐existing poly(A)+RNAs endure in the cells at 42°C up to 5 h but are no longer translated in vivo, whereas some poly(A)−RNAs persist and are translated. As in pea, a poly(A)+RNA coded 22‐kd HSP is localized in the chloroplast membranes in vivo, although it is translated as a 22‐kd protein in vitro. The in vitro translated protein is not transported in isolated pea chloroplast which, however, processes and transports other nuclear coded chloroplast proteins of Chlamydomonas. The poly(A)+RNA coding for the 22‐kd HSP appears after 1 h at 36°C. Its synthesis increases with the temperature of incubation up to 42°C, although it decreases after ˜2 h of heat treatment and the already synthesized RNA is rapidly degraded. The degradation is faster upon return of the cells to 26°C. None of the heat‐induced proteins is identical to the light‐inducible proteins of the chloroplast membranes.


In early 2005, the Taiwan government announced a 6-month pilot project permitting motorcycles with engine capacity over 250 cc to go on Expressways 68 and 72. Because of the long-term ban on motorcycles traveling on the expressways, motorists have limited experience in sharing the roads with motorcyclists. Therefore, it is essential to investigate traffic characteristics of motorcycles on expressways from a safety viewpoint. Traffic characteristics of motorcycles on the tangent sections of expressways were investigated during the trial period. The survey showed that motorcycles traveled faster than did other types of vehicles. The mean speed of motorcycles reached 86 km/h, 8 km/h faster than other vehicles. The 85th percentile speed was 108 km/h, 18 km/h higher than the posted speed. Motorcyclists kept shorter following distances than did other drivers, and other types of vehicles tailgated motorcycles as well. Most motorcyclists rode in the center-to-right of the inside lane and the center-to-left of the...


Our goal is to answer elementary-level science questions using knowledge extracted automatically from science textbooks, expressed in a subset of first-order logic. Given the incomplete and noisy nature of these automatically extracted rules, Markov Logic Networks (MLNs) seem a natural model to use, but the exact way of leveraging MLNs is by no means obvious. We investigate three ways of applying MLNs to our task. In the first, we simply use the extracted science rules directly as MLN clauses. Unlike typical MLN applications, our domain has long and complex rules, leading to an unmanageable number of groundings. We exploit the structure present in hard constraints to improve tractability, but the formulation remains ineffective. In the second approach, we instead interpret science rules as describing prototypical entities, thus mapping rules directly to grounded MLN assertions, whose constants are then clustered using existing entity resolution methods. This drastically simplifies the network, but still suffers from brittleness. Finally, our third approach, called Praline, uses MLNs to align the lexical elements as well as define and control how inference should be performed in this task. Our experiments, demonstrating a 15\% accuracy boost and a 10x reduction in runtime, suggest that the flexibility and different inference semantics of Praline are a better fit for the natural language question answering task.


The present invention discloses an apparatus and method for reading and observing the image of the upper and lower at the same time from the workpiece. ID reader of the present invention can have an enclosure for covering with an optical element for guiding the light from the workpiece to the camera, the upper section and the lower section of the workpiece. Optical element may be disposed to receive an image from a high angle relative to the surface of the workpiece. ID reader of the present invention may further have a light source assembly to illuminate the image. Light source assembly is preferably for bright-field illumination, can be utilized coaxial optical path with an image. Light source assembly is preferably also possible for the dark field illumination, utilizes the optical path of the non-coaxial. In embodiments, the simultaneous images reaching the camera, separated into two distinct images at the two different sections of the camera. In another embodiment, the simultaneous images reaching the camera are superimposed into a single image in the camera.


ABSTRACT One of the key problems in gas condensate reservoirs is condensate blockage phenomena or condensate banking that reduces the condensate recovery. This phenomenon occurs when by reservoir depletion the reservoir pressure declines below the dew point pressure. One of the most important and common methods to prevent condensate blockage is gas cycling. Nowadays, regarding the value of natural gas, the use of other gases such as CO2 as a suitable replacement has increased. The purpose of this study is to evaluate different parameters such as injection rate, injection pressure, and the number of wells in CO2 injection process, in order to determine optimum conditions for CO2 injection with the maximum condensate recovery and minimum economic cost. The two-parameter, Peng–Robinson equation of state (EOS) was used to match PVT experimental data. Then various scenarios of CO2 injection with different conditions have been studied, and optimum conditions for CO2 injection were compared with the natural depletion scenario. The results showed that the injection rate and pressure play important roles in determining the best condensate recovery.


Background: It is a known fact that majority of bony injuries in our
society are treated by traditional methods. Even the elite often-times
shows evidence of doubt in the efficacy of orthodox methods of bone
treatment. Method: Interviews using questionnaires were administered
to owners of traditional bone centres and their clients respectively.
Eight (8) of such centres were visited in Calabar and their environs.
Results: Results showed that all the practitioners had little or no
formal education. All of them claimed ancestral/supernatural
inheritance of the trade and do not want to disclose any secret. There
was complete lack of knowledge of anatomy, physiology and the sources
of complications. They lack basic knowledge of investigations and wound
care. Most of the clients found themselves at the Traditional bone
centres (TBC) because of poverty, ignorance and superstitious beliefs.
The traditional bone setters (TBS) do record some success in simple
fractures and dislocations but all of them see orthodox bone treatment
as rivalry. Conclusion: It may be difficult to stop traditional bone
setting in our society but may be easy to stop the complications by
drawing the TBS together for the purpose of basic education and
restriction. Training of more specialists in the area of Orthopaedics
and Traumatology and provision of adequate basic equipment/appliances
in our health institutions may reduce the rate of "Leaving hospital to
the Traditional bone centres against medical advice".


SYNOPSIS: This study is about people, about market participation and specifically about why Tibetans do not effectively participate in the market in the context of China's economic development process. Many political, social, cultural and environmental factors explain the difficulties met by Tibetan communities. However, this study focuses on three factors: the social and culture context, government policy and education. The Buddhistic nature of Tibetan communities, particularly the political and economic system in traditional Tibetan society, explains this, especially after implementation of new national economic policies. An inclusive economic development policy that promotes local people's participation in the market demands serious consideration of local conditions. Unfortunately, such considerations often ignore local Tibetan realities. The economic development policy in Tibetan areas in China is nearly always an attempt to replicate the inland model and open up markets, even though economic and sociopolitical conditions in Tibet are markedly unlike much of China. A consequence of these policies is increasing numbers of non-Tibetan migrants flowing into Tibetan areas with the ensuing marginalization of Tibetans in the marketplace. SYNOPSIS: This publication presents and discusses some of the key information available in the newly created Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC). The many graphs and tables include data on: immigrants' demography including age, gender and duration of stay; and their labour market outcomes including labour market status, occupation and sector of activity. The book consists of nine thematic chapters, each including a brief description of sources, and a discussion of cross-country differences. The chapters also include a short analysis of specific issues relevant to the data, such as the gender dimension of "brain drain", the international migration of health professionals, and the role of low-skilled foreign-born workers in domestic services. An introductory chapter provides an overview of the data to present a picture of international migration to the OECD from four regions: Africa, Asia, and Latin America and from within the OECD area. A methodological note completes the report by summarizing the different sources and methods applied and explaining the structure of the new DIOC.