YARA is a tool for pattern matching used by malware analysts all over the world. YARA can scan files, as well as process memory. It allows us to define sequences of symbols as text strings, hexadecimal strings and regular expressions. However, the use of regular expressions is limited because of the concern that it can slow down the scanning process. In this paper, we analyze the true nature of regular expressions in YARA and their implementation. We have, in fact, discovered several reasons why regular expressions can slow down scanning based on the nature of the used algorithm, Aho-Corasick. We have proposed a new version of this algorithm and have implemented it in the original version of this tool. The experiments are presented, proving that the speed of pattern matching with regular expressions can indeed be improved. In selected cases, the proposed version was about 27% faster than the original version. And in instances where strings were optimized for the original version, their speed was found to be comparable.


Carrageenan is a linear or straight polysaccharide and galactan molecules with main units are  galactose has many benefit as food, raw material of industry, and has a high economic value. Flour of  carrageenan can be processed from seaweed by solvent extraction using an alkaline of solutions in  certain condition. Extraction of carrageenan from seaweed has performed in West Seram coast using  solvent NaOH 9% for 4 hour with an average value carbohydrate, fat, protein, ash, water, and  rendemen are 66,83± 0,24%, 1,60± 0,06 %, 2,04± 0,05 %, 17,09± 0,06 %, 12,45± 0,14 % dan 36,10 ±  1,16%, which still fulfilled carrageenan standart.  Keyword : Solvent Extraction, Carrageenan, Foodgrade


IEEE 802.16 adopts a centralized resource allocation mechanism that polls nodes with three modes: the unicast, multicast and broadcast polling modes, depending on the residual bandwidth of the base station. In the multicast and broadcast polling modes, the base station uses the Truncated Binary Exponential Backoff (TBEB) algorithm as the Contention Resolution Process among distributed mobile nodes while the network traffic load is nearly saturation. Although TBEB supports random contentions in Initial Ranging and Bandwidth Request, it suffers from high collision probability under a high traffic load. TBEB thus significantly degrades the grade of service especially while considering handoff in the mobile (IEEE 802.16e) or multi-hop relay WiMAX (IEEE 802.16j) networks. Moreover, two problems exhibit in WiMAX's TBEB. First, TBEB neglects the node priority (i.e., new or handoff node) and the service flow class (i.e., low or high service class). Second, in TBEB the connections win the contention will go back to the same minimum backoff stage, and then lead to unnecessary collisions at the next contention. Thus, this work first proposes an efficient contention resolution algorithm that consists of three key contributions: 1) providing an adaptive minimum-maximum backoff values algorithm (AM2) to partition collision domains, 2) supporting a dynamic waiting-penalty algorithm (DWP) for successful contentions, and 3) differentiating the decrement of contention window algorithm (DDW) to dynamically decrease CWs while contentions randomly selecting the same CW. Second, we model the proposed approach as a discrete-time Markov chain model, and then mathematically analyze important metrics: collision probability, access delay, GoS, and throughput. Numerical results indicate that the analytical results are very close to the simulation results, which justifies the accuracy of the analytical model. Additionally, the proposed algorithm outperforms IEEE 802.16 and all compared approaches in collision probability, delay, GoS and network throughput.


This paper was prepared for the opening address at the symposium and is intended to provide material for contemplation whilst considering the latest in monitoring and communications. By examining case studies ranging from the successful to the disastrous, and by considering modern understanding as to how we humans think, it is hoped that the issues raised will provide an appropriate framework for the symposium.


In terms of the current situation where individual lamp control and monitoring system is of high delay, low reliability, and inconvenient maintenance when using power line communication, an individual lamp control and monitoring system based on wireless communication is proposed in this paper. Through the research on the overall structure design, fault maintenance mechanism, antenna housing design, and deployment of the individual lamp monitoring and control system, an individual lamp control and monitoring system based on wireless communication that meets the standards with high reliability and easy maintenance is designed and applied in an airport in Guangdong. In addition, through the tests on the performance and function, the system design verification has been completed, which lays the foundation for applying the individual lamp control and monitoring system based on wireless communication to the IV-level light guidance function of the A-SMGCS system and the construction of the runway status lights system.


This aricle focuses on the experimental study of the mechanical properties of reactive powder concrete (RPC) that is produced with different aggregates, such as korund, basalt, limestone, quartz, sintered bauxite, and granite. The effects of aggregate type on mechanical properties were investigated under standard, atmospheric, and high-pressure steam curing in this article. The test results indicate that very high compressive strength can be achieved even with low-strength or smooth-surface aggregates; however, superior flexural performance requires high-strength aggregate with rough surface characteristics. A compressive strength of approximately 200 MPa (29 ksi) can be obtained when strong and rough-surface textured aggregate were used under standard curing conditions. Atmospheric and high-pressure steam curing improved the compressive strength significantly. These curing regimes, however, did not considerably improve the flexural performance. Pressure application in fresh state resulted in a great improvement of the compressive strength of RPC, particularly in the case of high-strength and rough-surface textured aggregates. In this way, a compressive strength over 400 MPa (58 ksi) was obtained with bauxite aggregate after pressure application and autoclaving.


AbstractOBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of immediate concurrent feedback on dose adjustment in patients with renal failure.
 DESIGN: Prospective 12-month study in patients with various degrees of renal failure, with comparison to a retrospective control group.
 SETTING: A 39-bed unit of a university hospital providing primary and tertiary care.
 PATIENTS: Patients with renal failure (estimated creatinine clearance ≤50 mL/min) receiving at least 1 pharmacologically active drug.
 INTERVENTIONS: Education of physicians and immediate concurrent feedback on the ward giving estimated creatinine clearance and dose recommendations for renally eliminated drugs adjusted to individual renal function.
 MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The percentage of dosage regimens adjusted to renal function and cost assessment of drug therapy were calculated. Overall, 17% of the patients had at least 1 estimated creatinine clearance ≤50 mL/min. In the intervention group, the dose of 81% of renally eliminated drugs was adjusted to renal function, compared with 33% in the control group (P<.001). The mean difference in cost between standard and adjusted dose of renally eliminated drugs in the intervention and control groups was 5.3±12.3 and 0.75±2.8 Swiss francs (approximately US$3.5 and US$0.5), respectively (P<.001), accounting for 16.5% and 2.8%, respectively, of daily medication costs of all drugs.
 CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of doses of renally eliminated drugs adjusted to renal function can be substantially increased by immediate concurrent feedback. This saves drug costs and has the potential to prevent adverse drug reactions.


The invention relates to a fluid treatment plant, in particular of gas, comprising at least a container (R) treatment, for example one or more adsorbers or catalytic reactor containing a first bed (L1) of particles (P1 ) having a first size (g1) and a second bed (L2) of particles (P2) having a second particle size. The first and second beds (L1, L2) of particles (P1, P2) are adjacent and separated by a separation structure (G), as a grid or a perforated plate, having passage openings (OG) fluid having a dimension (d), where: g1> d> g2. The first and second bed of particles can consist of adsorbent particles and / or catalytic, in particular zeolite, alumina, hopcalite or the like. Use of an installation according to the invention to separate, purify or to convert one or more components from a gas stream, such as air, synthetic or hydrocarbon gases, such as olefins.


Informational education and digital teaching material are two new-rising features in modern education reform. Furthermore, carrying out school management with computer teachnigue means making full use of advantages existing in informational teaching material. It is a new trial to apply the data mining to ethic management in vocational school. This can provide certain theory baisi for students' management through analysis of inner relation among students' psychology, physical action and family by the data-mining technique.


Space Imaging face serious dynamic range problem. Images captured by conventional cameras will loss important information of overexposed or underexposed regions. In this paper, we proposed a novel HDR imaging method with camera array based on Sandroid Cubesat to obtain accurate images of space target. It has been introduced from two aspects of hardware and software and has been tested the accuracy of variety space conditions in DST environment. Experiments proof that our method can obtain clear and artifact-free images from high dynamic range scene, and it cost only a little computation. As the platform of our approach, Sandroid Cubesat is a small satellite with smart phone cluster as the core. It carries powerful computing capability, which could be used to solve complex image processing algorithms on-board.


Regular observations of atmospheric mixing ratios of CO2 and CH4, combined with sodar measurements of the mixing layer height in the lower troposphere were used to assess night-time surface fluxes of these gases in the urban environment (Krakow, southern Poland). The measurements performed over the 4-yr period (May 2005–May 2009) revealed a distinct seasonality of surface night-time fluxes of CO2, with the minimum of ca. 2 mmol m-2 h-1 during winter months and the maximum of ca. 20 mmol m-2 h-1 observed during summer months. The observed seasonality was induced by the biospheric component (soil respiration) which dominates the measured surface CO2 fluxes during summer months. The surface fluxes of CH4 scatter between ca. 50 and 200 ¼mol m.2 h.1, without clear seasonal trend. Significant flux of CH4 into the atmosphere (mean value over the whole observation period equal to ca. 97 ¼mol m-2 h-1), indicates a presence of relatively strong methane source on the investigated area. This source is linked to methane leakages from the city gas distribution network.


High purity titanium tetrachloride hydrate is one of the fundamental materials to synthesize high purity titanium dioxide and its double oxide for the perovskite structure of electronic materials in the liquid phase and it is used not only in industrial production but also in much research and development. It is synthesized by the partial hydrolysis of titanium tetrachloride and the reactivity of the reaction is violent.In this study a new method to produce titanium tetrachloride hydrate is shown. The titanium tetrachloride hydrate is safely produced by this reactor in large scales. The hydrate produced by this process is transparent without any crystallized deposits and it is of very high purity.


Full and permanent recognition of the anesthesiologist as a practicing physician depends on the accomplishment of several major aims. Among these are an adequate supply of physicians competent to render complete service in anesthesiology to every patient, establishment of adequate education in this subject in all medical schools, dissemination of accurate information about the specialty, assumption of full responsibility by the anesthesiologist as a physician and the development of economic security for the practitioner. The armed forces realize the value of the physician in this special practice. They have established special teaching centers where medical officers are being instructed to become the directors and teachers in the larger units. Is there a place for anesthesiologists in the postwar plan? In 1941, of 5,700 hospitals reporting anesthesia services, only 2,750 had a physician in charge. If all doctors received basic instruction in this field, that situation would not exist. The American


The magnetic susceptibility along the c axis (Z, ) and in the basal plane (Zb) has been measured on a single crystal of Gd in the reduced temperature range 4x10 & t & 1.3X10 . Uniaxial anisotropy is observed. Magnetic dipole-dipole interactions are shown to account for the magnitude of the uniaxial anisotropy and also to lead to complex crossover effects. The observed temperature dependence of Z, (T) and Z (T) is described by effective exponents y, s =1.23+ 0.02 and 1 —a, a=1.01 ~ 0.03, respectively.


A novel compact dielectric loaded Exponentially Tapered Slot (ETS) antenna using Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology is presented in this paper for Millimeter (Mm) wave wireless communication applications. The dielectric loaded ETS antenna and compact SIW feed are fabricated on a single substrate. The compact SIW feeding structure results in a considerable reduction in size and eliminates the unwanted radiations from feed. The proposed antenna is designed, fabricated, and investigated at 60GHz. Furthermore, the proposed antenna design is simulated using electromagnetic software CST Microwave Studio and the comparison is made with Ansys HFSS to validate the design procedure. The measurement results are compared with simulated results.


As a newly developed lensless imaging technique,PIE(ptychographical iterative engine)does not only maintain the simplicity and convenience of the equipment of traditional coherent diffraction imaging (CDI)methods,but also overcomes the drawbacks such as restricted field of view and slow convergence.With the extensible imaging field,better convergence speed and higher immunization capability to noise,PIE is widely researched and used in optical,X-ray and electron beam imaging fields.PIE is a new method which is possible to replace the current phase imaging methods.The background,development,applications,problems and developing trend of the PIE method are introduced.


By means of a removable insert which may be sterilized, an ultrasonic cleaner for operating room use has been found practical. Used in connection with oto-surgery, such as tympanoplasty and free-laying of the semicircular canals prior to ultrasonic irradiation, etc., it cleans burrs, drills, curettes and other instruments from bone chips as well as coagulated blood.


Crowdfunding has been touted as a nancial archetype to raise fund through digital technology, giving shape to nancial inclusion whichcontour thethreshold for growth and development in India. This nancial innovation curving the funding structure through digitalised social platform. Crowdfunding bracketcoversdonation, reward, debt, and equity. It is an open choice to fund the idea, concept or cause as it does not pose compulsion on an individual.The umbrella of crowdfunding curtails the gap of funds for start-ups. It isan alternate and auxiliary source of capital where efforts are funded by drawing small contribution from large number of individuals or legal entities without long establishednancial intermediaries. As the digitalisation fuels advancement in different ways to communicate, connect and participate with others, it gives spark to the nancial inclusionin varied realmof the country. Thispaper attempts to hold broad insight into crowd funding in India for new innovative valueadded ventures. Further, this paper highlights the challenges and associated riskalong with future prospect to foster nancial inclusion into thedeep-seated roots of the country.


In this paper we present a VLSI fuzzy processor whose main features are a scalable parallel architecture, and the computation of fuzzy inferences based on the α-level set theory, both of which are important in the field of intensive fuzzy computing, as in fuzzy expert systems. A specific analysis is made in the paper, of techniques for the representation of fuzzy sets, in relation to the amount of area occupied and the forms they can assume. From this analysis a solution is extracted and then used for the processor presented in the paper. The architecture of the processor is chosen after the assessment of possible alternatives by analyzing an appropriate probabilistic model. The processor comprises a set of units which work parallelly and asynschronously to process the various rules. The structure is easy to scale up, as an increase in the number of processing units does not produce bottlenecks in performance. The performance obtainable is about 310 KFLIPS, with a clock frequency of 60 Mhz, 8 input variables, either crisp or fuzzy, and an 8-bit resolution.


Design has usually been linked to art and applied in scenarios related to everyday life. Even when design has, on occasion, made its way into the world of academia, it has always been closely linked to art and scenarios related everyday life. At last, however, the idea of design has reached the field of epistemology: an area within the very heart of philosophy that has always focused, in theory, on the foundations of knowledge. Consequently, design is being studied from different approaches interested in the foundation of knowledge, theoretical and practical. This is one of the reasons why abduction and pragmatism have been considered relevant from a design perspective. This paper first shows the main features of abduction and pragmatism, describes their evolution and considers their mutual implications. Second, the epistemology of design is analysed considering its most relevant characteristics. Third, the connection between abduction and, on the one hand, pragmatism and, on the other, design epistemology is addressed. Finally, the role of abductive inference in grounding a real epistemology for design theory from the naturalised cognitive perspective of abduction is outlined. The central proposition is that this approach is essential as a methodological innovation, as it allows us to analyse both the inquiry process and the design process as interdependent when dealing with practical problems of a social and cultural nature. This approach allows us to analyse how human actions determine changes in the theoretical framework from which we make our inquiry. In short, the world is an open-ended project that humans design through our daily inquiry.


Argues against the growing acceptance of euthanasia in modern society. Offers both medical and theological reasons for affirming the dignity of the person, and claims that the church ought to take a firm stand against the "culture of death."


The Commission on European Family Law is an international group of academic experts on family law. The principles aim is to help harmonize European law and to inspire national legislators to modernize their legislation. The principles try to capture the common core of individual national legislations. If some substantial question has no common core, the Commission creates a new rule, so-called "better law". The Principles relating to couples in de facto unions deals mainly with the definition and application framework, general rights and obligations, agreements, property and debts, termination of cohabitation, death and mutual disputes. The Principles are of a recommendatory nature only. In Czech Republic the conservative approach prevailed, and de facto unions have no specific legal regulation. In the future, there can be some interesting legal constructions of rights and duties of couple in de facto union that could be an inspiration for Czech legislator. In this contribution I will choose such rights and duties according to the Principles.


Modulated-temperature calorimetry measurements on the bulk glass-forming Pd40Ni40P20 alloy yielded the complex specific heat response of the deeply undercooled melt near the static glass transition. The imaginary contributions to the complex signal give direct access to the spectrum of slow α-relaxation modes of the undercooled liquid state that are frozen in upon vitrification. The results are discussed with respect to the kinetics of the glass transition and compared to results obtained from static equilibrium measurements.


Results from the 2015–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), using measured heights and weights, indicate that an estimated 39.8% of U.S. adults aged 20 and over have obesity, including 7.6% with severe obesity, and another 31.8% are overweight. Body mass index (BMI), expressed as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared (kg/m2), is commonly used to classify overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9), obesity (BMI at or above 30.0), and severe obesity (BMI at or above 40.0).


Enthusiasm for a radical reorganization of society initiated from "above" involved a transition to a free and flourishing society the economic foundation of which was to be the market. Initially, the plan was to cut the number of administrative prohibitions and restrictions, to release people's energy and enterprise, to allow them to work and earn as much as they wished, to make their own choices and bear responsibility for them, and to learn and act in a new way, to "walk without crutches." In a word, one of the essential (core) aspects of social adaptation was adjusting to the circumstances of a qualitatively different (or greater) freedom in all spheres of life activity.


This paper presented the vibration trouble of a 150MW turbo-generator unit,which occured in the No.3 bearing of the unit.Vibration amplitude increased gradually and varies widely,which influenced the turbine operation a lot.By fully testing,the writer found out reasons of the trouble and determined the solution approach to the problem.At last,the writer carried out the high-speed balance in the unit,which eliminated the defects of the machine.Vibration characters and the process of treatment was pieces of a representative case.This paper provided the way of thinking and treatment,which could provide the reference for the similar fault and could be valuable.


Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) a rare condition that leads to severe maternal and fetal complications in pregnancy. In this report, we aimed to present the successful conservative medical treatment of PHP diagnosed during pregnancy. Case Presentation: A 32-year-old pregnant woman was referred to our clinic at 14 weeks of gestation with severe vomiting, chronic constipation and proximal muscle weakness. According to the clinical presentation, PHP was diagnosed on the basis of biochemical and ultrasonographic findings. The patient was treated with high fluid intake, low calcium diet, oral phosphate supplementation and intramuscular injection of calcitonin. At 38 weeks of gestation, healthy infant was delivered by cesarean section with mild preeclampsia. Conclusion: Treatment options of PHP, including medical and surgical therapy are debated in the literature. Early diagnosis and effective management may reduce perinatal mortality and morbidity. Although surgical treatment in the second trimester is the definitive therapy, conservative management can be preferred in mild cases of PHP in pregnancy.


The k -Hankel wavelet transform ( k -HWT) is a novel addition to the class of wavelet transforms, which has gained a respectable status in the realm of time-frequency signal analysis within a short span of time. Knowing the fact that the study of the theory of the localization operators is both theoretically interesting and practically useful, we investigate this theory for the k -HWT. Firstly, we study the L p boundedness governing the simultaneous localization of a signal and the corresponding k -HWT. Secondly, we investigate the L p compactness of localization operators associated with the k - HWT. We culminate our study by formulating several typical examples of localization operators associated with the k -HWT.


The 356 nt noncoding satellite RNA C (satC) of Turnip crinkle virus (TCV) is composed of 5 ′ sequences from a second TCV satRNA (satD) and 3 ′ sequences derived from TCV. SHAPE structure mapping revealed that 76 nt in the poorly-characterized satD-derived region form an extended hairpin (H2). Pools of satC in which H2 was replaced with 76, 38, or 19 random nt were co-inoculated with TCV helper virus onto plants and satC fitness assessed using in vivo functional selection (SELEX). The most functional progeny satCs, including one as fit as wild-type, contained a 38-39 nt H2 region that adopted a hairpin structure and exhibited an increased ratio of dimeric to monomeric molecules. Some progeny of satC with H2 deleted featured a duplication of 38 nt, partially rebuilding the deletion. Therefore, H2 can be replaced by a 38-39 nt hairpin, sufficient for overall structural stability of the 5 ′ end of satC.


In business intelligence data is an essential feature in decision making. An incomplete or lake of information can damage the entire project ideas. Therefore sometimes different business dimensions are collaborating their sensitive and personal data for enhancing decisional ability. During this, the dataset is significantly growing in dimensions. Therefore it is much intense to find a method by which the higher dimensional data can be handled. This paper contributes two key directions of the PPDM (privacy-preserving data mining), first a survey conducted on the various PPDM models to understand the working and requirements of the PPDM systems. In addition to an experimental comparative study among PCA, k-PCA and Correlation coefficient based feature selection or dimensionality reduction is conducted. On the basis of experimental observations, the PCA and k-PCA feature selection techniques are degrading the classification accuracy as compared to correlation coefficient based classification. Therefore, in further system design and implementation, the correlation coefficient is used to handling a huge quantity of data dimensions.


Common wisdom holds that conventionally designed gable frames fabricated from rolled sections cannot compete with metal building system frames fabricated from plate and bar stock, from a cost standpoint. The author has recently joined forces with a small fabricator/erector to debunk this viewpoint. In competitive bidding, this fabricator/erector has recently been able to supply five (5) gable frame buildings (frame, purlins, and girts), fabricated from rolled sections, at a substantially lower price than any metal building system supplier. (Figure 1.) The largest building had a span of over 33 meters (108 feet). This was made possible by utilizing several innovative design and fabrication concepts.


Preface - Introduction - PART 1 AN UNPOPULAR CAUSE - The Temperance Reformation - The Teetotal Lifeboat - So Many Christian Icebergs to Melt - Legal Suasion - PART 2 THE GREAT CRUSADE - Introduction - To the Rescue - Come All Ye Children - A Wave of Blue: The Temperance Army - The Temperance Party - A World Free from Drink - Conclusion - Notes - Bibliography - Index


Noise is a known pollutant of the environment, especially noise coming from road traffic. This paper describes the study of noise levels at 4 locations in the town of Trstenik, which was carried out during the 2017. Based on the obtained results, appropriate analyzes were carried out and recommendations for reducing the noise level to the allowed limits are given.


Our open resonator accelerating structure can efficiently accelerate charged particles with a high gradient using stored electromagnetic (EM) field energy that can be provided by a variety of EM sources including lasers. In our technologically simple structure, field generation and particle acceleration can be combined in a single device, greatly simplifying accelerator design. In a mirrored open resonator, the EM field amplitude varies slowly along a particle trajectory because diffraction limits the focused spot to a diameter greater than the EM wavelength. Thus energy is inefficiently transferred from the field to the particle, especially if the particle is slow [1]. So an open mirror resonator cannot generate EM fields and accelerate particles. However, the selective placement of perturbing dielectric or metal strips in the resonator cavity can cause the field to vary strongly. Particles passing through small holes in these strips will experience an efficient field-particle interaction that can be used to accelerate, as well as velocity modulate and bunch, charged particle beams [2].


The effectiveness of the nitrite test available on the N‐Multistix (Ames Co.) was compared with that of the microscopic examination of urine as a screening test for the detection of urinary tract infections in children presenting to a general paediatric clinic. The nitrite test gave a positive result in 59% of children with urinary infections, while microscopic pyuria (more than 50 white blood cells per cubic millimetre of uncentrifuged urine) was found in 72% of the same group. Of children who did not have a urinary tract infection, 2$md8% had microscopic pyuria compared with only 0$md2% who showed a false‐positive nitrite test result. The ease and rapidity of the nitrite test make it a useful screening test for the presumptive diagnosis of urinary tract infections, and in certain circumstances it is preferable to the conventional microscopic examination of urine. However, as in the case of microscopic examination, urine culture must always be performed to avoid missing the urinary infections that are not detected by the screening test.


In recent years, a pair of large-scale circulation patterns consisting of an anomalous ridge over northwestern North America and trough over northeastern North America was found to accompany extreme winter weather events such as the 2013–2015 California drought and eastern U.S. cold outbreaks. Referred to as the North American winter dipole (NAWD), previous studies have found both a marked natural variability and a warming-induced amplification trend in the NAWD. In this study, we utilized multiple global reanalysis datasets and existing climate model simulations to examine the variability of the winter planetary wave patterns over North America and to better understand how it is likely to change in the future. We compared between pre- and post-1980 periods to identify changes to the circulation variations based on empirical analysis. It was found that the leading pattern of the winter planetary waves has changed, from the Pacific–North America (PNA) mode to a spatially shifted mode such as NAWD. Further, the potential influence of global warming on NAWD was examined using multiple climate model simulations.


Depression is a prevalent and debilitating psychiatric disorder characterized by symptoms such as anhedonia, disrupted social behavior, and alterations in stress-responsive neurobiological systems, which have all been replicated in animal models ([Nestler et al., 2002][1]; [Ansorge et al., 2007][2


Copy-move, which copies part of an image and pastes to another part of the same image, is one of the most commonly used image tampering operations. The copied part may suffer to post-processing operations such as rotation, scaling and blur to make the forgery visually convincing. To detect the copied parts with large-scale rotation and scaling, this study proposes a copy-move forgery detection method based on multi-radius polar complex exponential transform (PCET). First, the multi-radius PCET with graphic processing unit acceleration is used to extract the rotational invariant and multi-scale features. Then, the lexicographical order matching algorithm, optimised with minimum heap is applied to get a coarse match result. After that, the accurate detection based on radius ratio and position information is used to get the accurate detection result. Compared with the state-of-the-art methods, the proposed method can detect the copied parts with large-scale rotation or scaling and is robust against Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) compression, smoothing and noise degrading.


The utility model provides a flame detection optical filter with a central wavelength of 3800 nm which has high peak transmittance and can greatly raise a signal to noise ratio. The aviation tail gas detection optical filter comprises a substrate with infrared quartz as a raw material, a first coating layer of G e and S i O and a second coating layer of G e and S i O; the substrate is located between the first coating layer and the second coating layer. The flame detection optical filter has a central wavelength of 3800 nm +/- 40 nm, and can substantially raise a signal to noise ratio and test precision in a flame detection process. The peak value transmittance Tp of the optical filter is no less than 80%, the bandwidth is 180 +/- 20 nm, 400-11000 nm (except passband ), and Tavg is smaller than 0.5%.


The aim of this survey was to investigate the perceptions of respondents regarding learners with a disposition to bully, the main reasons for peer victimisation and measures against bullying.
The non-probability sample consisted of 1873 learners from nine primary, eight secondary schools and two special schools in District 4, Tshwane South. The survey was conducted in the first term of 2003.
Nearly half (43,1%) the respondents believed that they were as able (27,9%) or more able (16,9%) than other learners to bully others if they wanted to. When asked, "Have you ever felt like hurting or upsetting another learner?", a substantial percentage (64,8%) indicated that they had felt like hurting or upsetting another learner either "sometimes" (54,6%) or "often" (6,8%).
More than 40,0 percent (43,6%) of the learners had been a member of a group who had bullied another child during 2002. Nearly one fifth (24,2%) of the sample group admitted to having bullied a learner as part of a group. More than one third (38, 4%) of the learners appeared to have bullied another learner on their own during 2002.
The three most common reasons learners cited for bullying others were to show how tough they were (show off) (63,0%), for fun (54,6%), and to get even (retaliation) (52,4%). An overwhelming majority of the respondents believed that the following would be sound measures against peer victimisation :
Teachers should try to stop bullying (86,8%).
Learners and teachers should cooperate to stop peer victimisation (83,8%).
Teachers and learners should be concerned enough to stop bullying in their schools (82,5%).
The group as a whole reacted positively to the question, "Do you think learners themselves should help to stop bullying?" (78,8%). Fewer pupils supported personal involvement in measures against bullying.


: Learning engineering design requires more than simply having design experiences. Design experiences provide a context for students to practice design skills and an opportunity for students to learn deep lessons about the nature of engineering design. Reflection on the experiences is necessary in order to recognize and realize these lessons. Student questions like "Why do we have to do so much paperwork" and "When are we going to get to the real design work of building" indicate when students are not taking the time to understand the lessons that are afforded by the design experience. We believe that the writing of learning essays can help students expand and enhance the lessons that they are learning from design experiences and, as a result, we have been using them in our design classes for over ten years. Learning essays are short, structured compositions in which students explore the lessons they have learned from experiences.


: Hydrogen is the most common gas used to operate FCs (fuel cells). The performance of proton exchange membrane FCs is sensitive to the hydrogen gas purity. Of particular concern are specific gaseous contaminants such as carbon monoxide, sulphur compounds, and ammonia that are known to drastically reduce the FC efficiency even when present at low concentrations (in the ppb range). To eliminate efficiency losses due to hydrogen purity, dedicated hydrogen gas purifiers are now available specifically for FCs; their adoption protects the FCs and guarantees that consistent gas purity is supplied throughout their lifetime. Different purification technologies have been developed to match the wide variety of applications and to manage various impurities that are dependent on the H 2 source. For gas sources where nitrogen is present above the acceptable limit, palladium membrane purifiers can be used to reduce the nitrogen concentration to the desired level. At the same time, the other impurities like carbon monoxide, sulphur compounds, ammonia, hydrocarbons, etc. are also removed. For applications where the main concern is the presence of reactive gases, such as carbon monoxide and sulphur compounds, adsorber purifiers can eliminate these impurities down to the single digit ppb range or better. This technology is suitable to cover a very broad range of flow rates, from a few sccm up to 1,000 m 3 /h. The purity performance of both technologies has been proven with state-of-the-art analyzers and will be discussed in the paper.


In this communication, a systematic approach for design of planar monopole ultra-wideband (UWB; 3.1 ∼ 10.6 GHz) antenna for wireless USB dongle has been proposed. The simple planar monopole antenna consists of a rectangular metallic radiating patch whose modal analysis is carried out first by means of the Theory of Characteristic Modes (TCM), in order to identify the different radiating modes and get the physical insights of these radiating modes of the antenna. Further, based on the physical evidences obtained from the radiating modes of the similar planar monopole antenna, a bevel transition feed with rectangular slot has been used to enhance the bandwidth and obtain the desired radiation characteristics of the proposed antenna. The modal analysis is carried out using characteristic modes (CM) analysis tool in CADFEKO 7.0 simulation software. The proposed antenna exhibits a very compact dimensions of 12 mm × 16 mm × 5 mm and yields a good insights in simulated and measured impedance bandwidth of 3.1 ∼ 12 GHz with VSWR < 2. Furthermore, the proposed antenna exhibits symmetrical radiation patterns, stable-high gain and efficiency and ultra-wide bandwidth making it suitable candidate for practical UWB-USB applications.


These three thought-provoking pieces were originally conceived of as a tripartite round table discussion at the end of our conference 'Exploring Queer Cultures and Lifestyles in the Creative Arts in Britain c.1885–1967' held at the LondonCollege of Fashion inMay2016.DeliveredbyMichaelHatt, Elizabeth Wilson andClare Barlow, they formed semi-scripted responses to the searching papers, lively questions and animated discussions that occurred on that day. Our aim in including them within this special issue of Visual Culture in Britain as three short texts is to retain the freshness and flavour of the plenary as a provocation and reflection at the culmination of a lively conference. We see, in the pages that follow, the perspectives of differentgeneration authors from varied disciplinary backgrounds who had spent the day engaging with the contemporary problematic of framing the insights of gay and lesbian studies and queer theory in relation to the examination of the historical past approached from the contemporarymoment. ForHatt, it is the shifting and complex realignment of lived experience and biographywith contemporary gay lifestyle and the ill-fitting intersection of earlier fluid historical identities with today's non-normative sexualities that is challenging. For Wilson, it is the bold claims made about the transgressive nature of queer studies that is open to reviewas the contradictions of the assimilation of earlier Lesbian and Gay radical politics becomes increasingly commonplace and itsmainstreamappropriationmore troublesome.And for curatorBarlow, it is the potentialities that experimental exhibition-making has for publicly engagingwider audienceswith queer artists (LGBTQ+or not), their artworks and its queer complexities through their encounters in the gallery spaces of thenationalmuseum that is exciting at the timeof Tate Britain's 'QueerBritish Art, 1861–1967' show. We thank them for allowing us to publish them here.


Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) has been used as replacement for virgin aggregates in road foundation, embankment, portland cement concrete, and hot-mix asphalt. The use of RCAs in drainage systems (i.e., base/subbase layer and French drain) has not received much attention because of the poor drainage performance of RCAs. Two major causes are (1) the accumulation of excess fines precipitated on geotextile and (2) deposition of calcite precipitation over time. To date, not many studies have been conducted on the drainage performance of RCAs. This limited and unavailable information hinders the use of RCA as drainage materials although there are many benefits to these in promoting sustainability in geotechnical and pavement engineering systems. In this paper, the drainage performance of RCA, No. 4 gradation used in a French drain system, has been investigated. Physical properties (i.e., abrasion resistance, gradation, absorption, etc.) of RCA were investigated, and a number of permeability (constant-head) tests were conducted. With the permeability test, the effect of fines (less than 75 µm) on the RCA permeability was evaluated. Lastly, accelerated calcite precipitation testing was devised and conducted to evaluate long-term performance of RCA associated with the calcite precipitation that can reduce permittivity of geotextile.


The harmonic means combination forecasting method is a nonlinear one. We study the properties of harmonic means combination forecasting method based on minimizing geometric distance to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method theoretically. First, we propose some new concepts of non_inferior combination forecasting, superior combination forecasting, dominant forecasting method, and redundant degree. Second, we point that the combination forecasting corresponding to the arbitrary feasible solution of this model is at least non_inferior, and we also give the sufficient condition of existence of superior combination forecasting. Finally, we prove the determining theorem of redundant forecasting method under the condition that a single forecasting method dominants another one.


The invention relates to a method for cleaning a sensor cover (4) for a vehicle (1), wherein the sensor cover (4) comprises an endless foil (4.1) which is movably guided over two rollers (4.2, 4.3) and at least one sensor (3 ) in a detection area (3.1), the endless foil (4.1) being cleaned in a different foil area (4.1.2) in a foil area (4.1.1) covering the detection area (3.1) and in a movement of the endless foil (4.1) the detection area (3.1) previously covering film area (4.1.1) is replaced by a cleaned film area (4.1.2). According to the invention, the movement and cleaning of the endless film (4.1) are started when a malfunction of the sensor (3) and / or contamination of the film area covering the detection area (3.1) is detected on the basis of data acquired by the at least one sensor (3) .1) is determined.


In order to discover the mechanism of thrust oscillation characteristics in solid rocket motors,large-eddy simulation with Wall-Adapting Local Eddy-Viscosity subgrid-scale turbulence model is carried out to study the oscillating flow field induced by obstacle vortex shedding based on the subscale motor of P230.An integrated method is presented to describe the relationship between thrust amplitude and pressure amplitude.The results indicate that the ratio of thrust amplitude to pressure amplitude is mainly determined by the throat to port area ratio J,and it varies inversely as J.It is concluded that odd-order acoustic modes have the greatest contribution to the thrust amplitude,while the effect of even order acoustic modes on thrust amplitude can be ignored.The contribution of vortex-shedding to the thrust amplitude is less than that of the odd order acoustic modes,and it increases with the level of vortex sound coupling.


The grain-boundary and its electrical characteristics in SrCoO3doped ZnO varistors were studied. The grain-boundary around ZnO-grain is probably composed of SrCoO3, and its electrical behavior is clearly different from two conventional types of Bi-and Pr-based ZnO varitors. The non-linearity and characteristic behavior could be explained by considering the n-p-n hetero-structure at the grain boundary. SrCoO3 in the grain-boundary region should play crucial roles of not only the appearance of non-liner property but also the formation of different hetero-structure from double Schottky-barrier model on conventional varistors.


This paper extends the scope of classical limit analysis to accommodate two types of uncertain but bounded parameters, namely externally applied forces and plastic material capacities.The proposed approach takes the form of a linear program with interval coefficients. A genetic algorithm is proposed to obtain a lower bound to the collapse load of the structure, and, as a by-product, its associated collapse mechanism. A numerical example is provided to illustrate application of the proposed method. The accuracy of the obtained result is validated using Monte-Carlo simulations.


The functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) had been pre- pared by free radical reaction with vinyltriethoxysilane. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)- based poly(urea urethane) (PUU) was also synthesized. PUU was further end-capped with aminopropyltriethoxysilane (A-silane), or with phenyltrimethoxysilane (P-silane). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman spectra and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) confirmed the functionalization of MWNT. The Mn and Mw of PUU were 85,123 and 235,876 g/mol, respectively. Both A-silane end-capped PUU and P-silane end- capped PUU showed improved dispersion of MWNT compared with that of PUU and MWNT. Moreover, the reduced discrepancy of surface electrical resistance of the two sides of the MWNT/PUU nanocomposite film was found due to the homogeneous dis- persion of MWNT. The microwave absorption and tensile strength of MWNT/PUU were also improved by the well dispersion of MWNT in PUU matrix. V C 2006 Wiley Periodicals,


This chapter outlines the necessary obligation—obrigação—that must be done to manifest the spirit of Betty Barney. Her initiation name and the name with which her spirit is called is Ṣàngó Funké. This chapter outlines the events leading up to and including the ritual calling of her spirit and its ultimate manifestation in the barracão (hall) as an aparaká – a preliminary spiritual vehicle for the spirit. The chapter discusses the necessary and possible path of Egúngún training for the author. Covering the time span of a second trip to Brazil a few months later, this chapter describes an initial ceremony for Egúngún where the participant receives a title and is welcomed into the temple.


Transportation affordability refers to people's financial ability to access important goods and activities such as work, education, medical care, basic shopping, and socializing. Making transportation more affordable can produce considerable socioeconomic benefits by lowering the costs and boosting mobility for people who are more disadvantaged. More affordable transportation is equivalent to higher income. There are many factors to consider when evaluating transportation affordability, including housing affordability; land use factors that affect accessibility; the quantity, quality, and pricing of mobility options; and individuals' mobility needs and abilities. Traditional transportation planning takes hardly any transportation affordability considerations into account. Greater emphasis on this field would shed more light on affordability effects and help policy makers to identify more affordable transportation solutions. However, to take transportation affordability into account, there should be practical ways of evaluating it. This paper investigates the concept of transportation affordability and suggests a metric for its measurement. The metric calculates affordability on the basis of the trade-offs that households make between transportation and housing costs. The transportation costs considered include car ownership, car use, and public transport costs. The suggested approach can be applied to any spatial zone (e.g., neighborhood or other) to reflect the average expenditure that households are willing to make to satisfy their basic travel needs.


Studies have been made on the physical and chemical properties and worsted processing char acteristics of two fine and two medium wools. Each of the wools studied was found to have essentially the same basic physical properties when reduced to the same cross-sectional area and to have the same chemical composition. The average diameter or fineness of a wool lot is the most important characteristic of the wool insofar as the efficiency of manufacturing operations is concerned. By aging the wool at 70°F and 70% R.H., an improvement in spinning and weav ing was observed. Steaming the wool in the form of roving was found to have the same bene ficial effect on spinning as aging under normal room temperature conditions. The aging process appears to be related to the relaxation of those stresses to which the fibers are subjected in previous processing operations.


A study of the mechanics of large dilatations of the heart shows that in such conditions the right lobe of the liver is actually displaced downward, if displaced at all; but owing to displacement of the bony thorax an apparently normal or elevated position of the liver may be found. This apparently high position of the liver is likely to be found in mitral stenosis with high degree of dilatation. Here the lower anterior and lateral border of the lung is pulled upward, giving a very narrow band of relative lung-liver dulness. In large hearts the upper border of this dulness may be at the fourth rib. In pericarditis with effusion the mechanical effect is to depress the right lobe of the liver without producing the apparent elevation; also to give a narrow band of relative lung-liver dulness, which is in a lower position than that found in dilatation


This study examines accommodations of 'national' minorities in the context of territorial neutrality and territorial democracy in American federalism and critiques Kymlicka's criticism of the United States as the foe of peripheral nationalism. Aside from the imagined nationalism of the white American South, peripheral nationalism has not been politically viable in the United States. Territorial democracy permitted territorially based cultural pluralism that facilitated immigrant assimilation while asymmetrical territorial governance arrangements accommodated 'national' minorities not necessarily desiring statehood. Secession, therefore, is not a credible threat in American federalism.


& PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING ORGANIZATIONS exist to provide their members with services, benefits, networking, training, idea sharing, leadership, and career opportunities. The IEEE Consumer Electronics Society (CESoc) has been doing this since 1983. However, where membership peaked at more than 6,000 in the 1990s, recent years have seen a steady decline—even while the consumer electronics industry itself has expanded massively in size and scope. That CESoc is not alone—the IEEE Computer Society, the IEEE's biggest professional society, saw even steeper declines over this period and total IEEE membership has also slumped—underscores outside forces at play. Global networking tools such as LinkedIn provide international reach that was once unique to professional societies while platforms that facilitate local meet-ups compete in terms of flexibility and specificity. "It used to be hard to find people in my field to meet with locally," says one US engineer. "That's not a problem today." Our research team of MBA students led by Matt Swatzell, with MIT faculty advisement from Sharmila C. Chatterjee, and IEEE CESoc liaison support from L. Dennis Shapiro, was commissioned by CESoc leadership to investigate these trends (team pictured in Figure 1). We believe the Society has a value proposition greater than any of these alternatives for consumer electronics engineers—through its publications, conferences, standards-setting abilities, educational offerings, training expertise, and,most importantly, community. However, this is not communicated well; moreover, it needs a significant refresh to remain relevant. We conducted more than 150 in-depth interviews withmembers and nonmembers which support this conclusion, and which have helped Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MCE.2019.2940753


To the Editor:

Dr Gould and colleagues reported the effects of an intensive cholesterol-lowering program using mostly low-fat diets.1 To monitor essential fatty acid (EFA) status, they measured the ratio 20:3ω9/20:4ω6 (triene/tetraene or T/T ratio). The authors stated that a ratio >0.4 in serum phospholipids indicates EFA deficiency (p 1532). In 1987, Siguel et al2 3 showed that measures of T/T currently in use were in error by a factor ≥10. The use of old technology, which had inadequate peak separation and erroneous peak integration, led to huge errors in measuring 20:3ω9. When 20:3ω9 was properly measured, T/T ratios >0.02 (in whole plasma) indicated EFA deficiency. For healthy people, T/T ratios in red blood cells (RBCs), RBC phospholipids, and serum phospholipids, which reflect the subject's plasma levels, give reference values that are >10 times below the values reported by Dr Gould (Siguel, unpublished data, 1997). The T/T reference values used by Gould et al appear to be too high and would account for the statement that "no patient showed evidence of EFA deficiency." If we seek to detect abnormal cholesterol using a method that can only measure cholesterol >1000 mg/dL, most patients would be found to have normal cholesterol, and saturated fat and obesity would be found not to increase cholesterol.

Patients are unlikely to develop the severe EFA deficiencies that would have dramatic symptoms, such as substantial hair loss, overt clinical dermatitis, and T/T ratios >0.4; this would require severe depletion of EFAs over a period of many years. However, biochemical evidence of EFA deficiency can be detected in patients after several months on a low-fat diet when appropriate technology is used. Insufficient levels of EFAs, a condition I characterized as EFA insufficiency (EFAI),4 and imbalance of the ω3/ω6 ratios is associated with abnormal lipid levels, …


Se–Se Insertion reactions were observed when ethyl diazoacetate and dimethyl diazomalonate were allowed to react with diphenyl diselenide (1) in the presence of catalysts such as copper–bronze or BF3·Et2O.


A pushdown automaton is said to make a turn at a given instant if it changes at that instant from stack increasing to stack decreasing. Let \hbox{NPDA-TURN}(\,f(n)) and \hbox{DPDA-TURN}(\,f(n)) denote the classes of languages accepted by nondeterministic and deterministic pushdown automata respectively that make at most f v ( n ) turns for any input of length n . In this paper the following inclusions that express the space complexity of turn bounded pushdown automata are given: \hbox{DPDA-TURN}(\,f(n)) \subseteq {\bf DSPACE}(\log f(n)\log n) , and \hbox{NPDA-TURN}(\,f(n)) \subseteq {\bf NSPACE} (\log f(n)\log n) . In particular, it follows that finite-turn pushdown automata are logarithmic space bounded: \hbox{DPDA-TURN}(O(1))\subseteq {\bf DL} and \hbox{NPDA-TURN}(O(1))\subseteq {\bf NL} , from which two corollaries follow: one is that the class of metalinear context-free languages is complete for NL , and the other is that a more tight inclusion \hbox{NPDA-TURN}(\,f(n)) \subseteq {\bf DSPACE}(\log^2 f(n)\log n) cannot be derived unless {\bf DL}={\bf NL} , though \hbox{NPDA-TURN} (\,f(n)) \subseteq {\bf DSPACE}(\log^2 f(n)\log^2n) holds.


By means of special enquire it is analyzed main indexes of life quality in children prior to treatment and after one-month course of gastroesophageal reflux disease therapy. During the leading analysis of questioning results with the help of Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale it is established the decrease of indexes according to the next scale: reflux syndrome, abdominal pain, dyspeptic syndrome and summary according to all the scales.


Innovation is the soul of a nation,and the innovation education in higher vocational colleges is an imminent important matter.It is the new task of development for higher vocational education demanded by the rapid development of the society.Higher vocational colleges must be committed to comprehensive education innovation,develop the characteristics of higher vocational education and enhance the educational function,so as to constantly promote social sustainable development.


Multiple addresses within an OSPF area can be aggregated and advertised together to other areas. This process is known as address aggregation and is used to reduce router computational overheads and memory requirements and to reduce the network bandwidth consumed by OSPF messages. The downside of address aggregation is that it leads to information loss and consequently sub-optimal (non-shortest path) routing of data packets. The resulting difference (path selection error) between the length of the actual forwarding path and the shortest path varies between different sources and destinations. This paper proves that the path selection error from any source to any destination can be bounded using only parameters describing the destination area. Based on this, the paper presents an efficient algorithm that generates the minimum number of aggregates subject to a maximum allowed path selection error. A major operational benefit of our algorithm is that network administrators can select aggregates for an area based solely on the topology of the area without worrying about remaining areas of the OSPF network. The other benefit is that the algorithm enables trade-offs between the number of aggregates and the bound on the path selection error. The paper also evaluates the algorithm's performance on random topologies. Our results show that in some cases, the algorithm is capable of reducing the number of aggregates by as much as 50% with only a relatively small introduction of maximum path selection error.


For detailed information please check the Regulation and Guideline of Special Issue at www.springer.com/12205 ※ The timeline may be subjected to change according to the decision of the Editorial Board. The KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering invites proposals for a special issue on a theme related to the topics of our Journal: all areas of research in civil engineering. Special issues are designed to provide a platform and give the opportunity to summarize the state-of-the-art on a specific theme, share new perspectives, and initiate discussion on the latest theoretical research. The KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering publishes one special issue each year.


This article initially approachs the industrial developing strategy in national area of Guizhou in periods of constructing the relatively comfortable society overall. After analyzing the current situation of industrial development environment and condition, this article raises the strategic policy and idea, and clarify strategic target; stage and assignment in industrial development, and advance the strategic countermeasure.


It takes a single-stage cylindrical spur gear reducer as the researched object,uses MATLAB optimal design soft ware to design gear reducer,and uses ANSYS finite element analysis software to analyze driving gear by dynamic modal analysis method,completes the design of gear reducer which can meet working requirement and with a relatively small volume,it lays the foundation for optimal design of gear transmission system.


Introduction: In forensic science, age estimation for identification purposes of living and deceased individuals, is of great importance. It is crucial for humanitarian reasons in both civil and criminal cases. Objectives: The aim of this study was to contribute to the process of forensic age estimation using dental age assessment with mineralization stages of Demirjian method, and maturity indexes of permanent mandibular second (I 2M ) and third molars (I 3M ). Material and methods: Two samples were used from a Portuguese population; for I 2M , 591 orthopantomo graphy's aged between 7 and 15 years and for I 3M , 350 orthopantomography's aged between 12 and 23 years. Age estimation was obtained using linear regression models, each model was estimated with all observations and without observations, in which I 2M or I 3M = 0. Results: The results of ICC for intra and interobserver validation varied between 0.608 and 0.999 for both indexes. Pearson correlation coefficient between each index and chronological age showed that all indexes were significantly negatively correlated with chronological age. The standard error of estimate and the mean absolute error were continually low without patients with null index. Conclusions: Application of I2M is reproducible in a Portuguese population for medicallegal application in a population aged 7 to 15 years, when the corresponding index is positive. Third molar must be used only if its index is positive. The inclusion of Demirjian staging in both models significantly increases accuracy.


Objective To analyze the effect of sperm factor on recurrent pregnancy lass.Methods Accordingto WHO criteria,we routinely analyzed the sperm of 21 unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss patients as study group.and 20 proven fertility men as control group.Meanwhile,we evaluated sperm chromosome aneuploidy for chromosomes 18,X and Y using standard FISH procedure,and sperm DNA ingegrity using sperm chromatin structure assay(SCSA)procedure.Results The percentage of normal morphology sperm is(10.8±2.8)%,and DFI value is(21.7±6.7)%,and the percentage of sperm aneuploidy for sex chromosome and chromosome 18 is(0.80±0.14)%and(0.23 ±0.09)%respectivelyin study group.The differences between the two groups were statistically significant(P<0.01).Conclusion Sperm morphology,DNA integrity and chromosome aneuploidy are the correlative factors to recurrent pregnancy loss.

Key words:
Spermatoza; Abortion,spontaneous/ET; Abortion,habitual/ET


Abstract. Given the unprecedented size of ultraspectral sounder data, there is a special process of radiance thinning in assimilating this data to reduce the data volume with minimal loss of atmospheric information. Considering the potential correlation between the selected data by radiance thinning and the unselected data, a lossless compression method for ultraspectral sounder data is proposed based on key information extraction and spatial–spectral prediction. Sensitive channels are first selected by stepwise iteration based on information entropy to maintain critical atmospheric information, and then auxiliary channels are further selected based on information content and correlation constraints to facilitate prediction. All of the selected channels are spatially thinned to generate key information, which is then used to predict original ultaspectral sounder data by spatially bicubic interpolation and spectrally sparse reconstruction. The residual errors are processed by the least-squares linear prediction to further reduce data redundancy. Together with the key information, the final residual errors are then fed into a range coder after positive mapping and histogram packing. Experimental results with IASI-L1C data show that the proposed method achieves an average compression ratio of 2.68, which is 4.7% higher than that of the typical methods, including JPEG-LS, JPEG-2000, M-CALIC, CCSDS-122.0, CCDS-123.0, and HEVC.


The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is growing at epidemic proportions in the United States and worldwide. Most alarming is the steady increase in type 2 diabetes, especially among young and obese people. An estimated 7% of the US population has diabetes, and because of the increased longevity of this population, diabetes-associated complications are expected to rise in prevalence. Foot ulcerations, infections, Charcot neuroarthropathy, and peripheral arterial disease frequently result in gangrene and lower limb amputation. Consequently, foot disorders are leading causes of hospitalization for persons with diabetes and account for billion-dollar expenditures annually in the US. Although not all foot complications can be prevented, dramatic reductions in frequency have been achieved by taking a multidisciplinary approach to patient management. Using this concept, the authors present a clinical practice guideline for diabetic foot disorders based on currently available evidence, committee consensus, and current clinical practice. The pathophysiology and treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, infections, and the diabetic Charcot foot are reviewed. While these guidelines cannot and should not dictate the care of all affected patients, they provide evidence-based guidance for general patterns of practice. If these concepts are embraced and incorporated into patient management protocols, a major reduction in diabetic limb amputations is certainly an attainable goal. This clinical practice guideline (CPG) is based on the consensus of current clinical practice and review of the clinical literature. This guideline was developed by the Clinical Practice Guideline Diabetes Panel of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. S–2 THE JOURNAL OF FOOT & ANKLE SURGERY Supplement to: Foot & An k l e Surgery The Journal of DIABETIC FOOT DISORDERS: A CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE (2006 revision)


By making use of the channel-rejection photonic-crystal directional coupler proposed by White, the configuration of an optical bistable switching element is attempted. By numerical simulation based on the finite-element time domain beam-propagation method, it is shown that a switching operation with a high extinction ratio should be achievable and that low-power operation is possible. An additional analysis using simple coupled-mode theory is carried out and the results are compared with those of the numerical simulation. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 89(5): 9–16, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20236


In service to full disclosure, a brief autobiographical note might be in order. I fully identify myself among those David Rowland describes as witnesses to the medicalization of sexual disorders and problems over the past decade. From 1983–2002 my work was that of a clinical psychologist in a school of medicine. As a psychotherapist for individuals with sexual problems and an educator about human sexuality to medical students and psychiatry residents, I witnessed the migration of our own Sexual Behaviors Consultation Unit to the renamed Center for Sexual Health and Medicine. On a personal level, my professional work over the past decade shifted from treating disorders and dysfunctions of human sexuality to full-time research in healthcare services. While I continue to have an interest in sexual behavior from a public health perspective, my clinical treatment of persons with sexual problems and disorders has ceased. Some may conclude that, as a nonmedical professional, I was one of the many casualties of the medicalization of the field of sexual therapy. This may be so—I'll consider the thought. In any case, what appears to me to have been a choice of new career direction with stimulating challenges provides me with what might be a unique view of the questions so thoughtfully posed by Rowland (2007). Cutting to my conclusion: the medicalization of sexual treatment and research may have initially constricted the options for treatment and the questions for research. But treatment efficacy is not treatment effectiveness. Current treatment of chronic medical problems suggests psychological and behavioral components are essential for effective and enduring treatment.


This study used data from 234 Jewish and Arab mothers in Israel to determine the association between cultural and socioeconomic factors on their views of punitive and non‐punitive discipline behaviours. Mothers highly approved the use of nonpunitive disciplines. For example, all mothers supported to explain to the child what the rules are to try to prevent misbehaviour; however, their support of punitive disciplines was not negligible. For instant, 15.32% approved spank, slap, smack or swat children; one out of 10 mothers endorsed using an object such as a paddle, hairbrush, belt, etc. on children. Mothers with lower levels of education (completing high school or lower) and Arab mothers approved the use of corporal punishment and psychological aggression more than others. More support and training are required for these families.


We examine whether analysts strategically time their positive recommendation on stocks that are part of institutional investors' portfolios. Using a sample of analysts' recommendations on U


It is very well known that the Rectangular Microstrip Antennas (RMA) are narrowband, but it is possible to enhance its bandwidth by cutting slots inside the patch. Some slots variations have been used to improve this important feature in modern mobile radiocommunication systems. Although U-slot antennas are employed in broadband applications, it is very important to consider the usage of a thick substrate with a low dielectric constant. In this paper, an RMA with a U-slot is presented and analyzed, which was built in a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) with a thin FR4 substrate for 800 MHz to 900 MHz. The PCB that is necessary to fabricate the antenna is very low cost and it is conformable in many mobile terminals. The antenna was simulated in HFSS and measured using return loss and its antenna patterns. Key-Words: Rectangular microstrip antenna, mobile radio communication, higher mode, broadband antenna, antenna bandwidth, U-slot, antenna pattern, return losses. Received: January 22, 2021. Revised: February 19, 2021. Accepted: February 23, 2021. Published: February 25, 2021.


: The goal of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect relationships that exist between artificial intelligence (AI), social innovation (SI), and smart decision-making (SDM). This study used a survey design and collected cross-sectional data from South Korea and Pakistan using survey questionnaires. Four hundred sixty respondents from the public and private sectors were obtained and empirically analyzed using SPSS multiple regression. The study discovered a strong and positive mediating effect of SI between the relationship of AI and SDM, as predicted. Previous researchers have investigated some of the factors that influence the decision-making process. This study adds to the social science literature by examining the impact of a mediating factor on decision-making. The findings of this study will contribute to the local government in building smart cities such that the factor of social innovations should be involved in the decision-making process because smart decision-making would share such collected data with entrepreneurs, businesses, and industries and would benefit society and all relevant stakeholders, including such social innovators.


A simple method using unsophisticated equipment is suggested for on-site toxicity testing of refinery effluents. This method will provide an inexpensive means of identifying problem materials and establishing priorities for coping with these materials. An arbitrary reference mixture, containing six common constituents of refinery wastewaters, was used for static toxicity tests on 15 species of freshwater invertebrates and 3 species of fish. Daphnia pulex was selected for further testing because it was the most sensitive of the animals tested, relatively inexpensive and easy to maintain, and a potential fish-food organism. If the reference mixture were representative of a refinery effluent, the Daphnia bioassay would be sufficiently sensitive to give reliable results within 48 h, whereas a fish bioassay would show no toxicity even after 96 h. To assess the suitability of the Daphnia bioassay, tests were conducted by personnel at six petroleum refineries. Duplicate tests were in agreement. Results of tests using actual refinery effluents ranged from no toxicity after 96 h to a mean lethal concentration of 1.2% effluent after 48 h. The data presented show that the method was reproducible and that refinery personnel were able to perform the bioassay. Potential problems and advantages of the method are discussed.


THE INVENTION CONCERNS A GLASS GLASSES WITH LOW RELEASE AND HIGH REFRACTIVE INDEX. According to the Invention, IT IS PREPARED FROM copolymer obtained by copolymerizing a Monomer ALLYL POLYFUNCTIONAL WITH AT LEAST ONE MONOMER IN SELECTED GROUPS REPRESENTED BY THE GENERAL FORM A: (CF DRAWING IN BOPI) WHERE: X: H, CH, CLY: H, CH, CH, N-CH ISO-CH, OCH, CH, CL, BR, CHCl, CHBr CH, CHCH, SCHM: 0, 1, 2N:. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 L ' iNVENTION APPLIES ESPECIALLY TO oPHTHALMIA.


Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an efficacious intervention for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Digital CBT may provide a scalable means of delivering CBT at a population level. We investigated the efficacy of a novel digital CBT program in those with GAD for outcomes of anxiety, worry, depressive symptoms, sleep difficulty, wellbeing, and participant‐specific quality of life.


The properties of metal thin films have been largely overlooked in discussions of the technical limitations and problems that arise in the field of direct detection of exoplanets. Here, polarization properties and anisotropy properties of highly reflecting thin metal films are examined within the context of the requirements for the ultra-low-scattered-light system performance of coronagraphs applied to space and ground-based high-contrast, white-light astronomy. Wavelength-dependent optical constants for highly reflecting thin metal films, taken from the literature, are used to calculate the polarization-dependent transmissivity of a typical coronagraph. The effects of degraded performance on the astronomical science are examined. Suggestions are made for future work.


In India the family planning program has been unable to generate the desired level of effective and efficient contraceptive practice among the couples. This has prompted research to move beyond understanding static measures of contraceptive use and to broaden the sociocultural demographic and programmatic forces affecting contraceptive decision making and resultant behavioral outcomes. As such a prospective study was undertaken in an attempt to understand the factors that influence method choice continuation and switching. This report which is an outcome of this undertaking has been organized into nine chapters. The rationale and study objectives as well as the review of relevant literature are set in the first chapter. Chapter two provides the details of the study design including sampling frame theoretical conceptualization and analytical procedures. Chapters three four and five focus on the background characteristics of the sample population their knowledge perception and preferences related to various contraceptive methods and details of service dynamics under the family welfare program. Determinants of contraceptive choice and switching patterns are examined in detail in chapters six and eight. Chapter seven on the other hand gives emphasis on contraceptive attrition rate and its covariates form. Finally chapter nine presents the salient findings of the study and draws important policy implications.


Based on sea surface temperature(SST) data by 1 square grid(source: http://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu) and the fishery and in situ SST data collected by Observer Programme(OP) sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture,China,the present paper deals with the analysis on the hooking rates distribution and its spatial-temporal relationship with SST by means of the format of 1° latitude by 1° longitude with the GIS software,Marine explore 4.0.The results indicated that catch(24.539 t) and CPUE(0.332 t/v·d) reached peak values simultaneously in November 2004.SST with mostly monthly hooking rates(about 80.3%) correspondingly were above 26.0 ℃.


To determine the relative benefits of minimal access surgery (MAS) as perceived by patients and health care professionals.

Prospective descriptive study (design classification III).

A large undergraduate teaching hospital in the North Thames Region.

100 patients (50 gynaecological, 50 antenatal), 70 obstetricians and gynaecologists, and 30 senior hospital managers.

A specially designed questionnaire was used which included 44 pairs of clinical scenarios for laparotomy and laparoscopy. Each scenario consisted of different permutations of four of the variables, incision size, operating time, major complication rate, hospital stay and recovery time. Respondents were asked to select their preferred route of surgery. They also ranked, in order of priority, the above five variables together with treatment cost.

MAS was preferred by the majority. Most patients chose endoscopy even if the operating time was four times longer and there was no reduction in hospitalization, and 25% accepted a quadrupling of the major complication rate. A minority of surgeons chose laparoscopy if the operating time exceeded 2 h or the risk of a major complication was increased fourfold. Most respondents preferred MAS, even if recovery time was equal to that of laparotomy. All respondents ranked complication rate as the main priority and cost as the least. Overall, patients were significantly more in favour of MAS than were surgeons, and the views of managers were in between the views of these two groups.

Both health care professionals and patients, especially the latter, prefer MAS to conventional surgery, even if the operating time is longer and the major complication rate is higher.


The process in which a system gives play of its funciton is marked to be complicated. The spontaneous funcition develops from satisfaction as dominatnt position to limitation. Meanwhile the consciously established function evolves in a much more complicated process. The change of a system begins from the resistance to the limited system by the social members. The change of a system aims at founding a civilized system, but the process in establishing a civilized system is interwoven with all kinds of contradictions. Therefore, system innovation must follow certain principles.


Geotechnical problems with total stress changes occurring rapidly relative to the soil consolidation time can be conveniently addressed using an effective stress-based approach. For saturated states, analytical formulations of pore-pressure coefficients adopting coherent effective stress concepts exist. These formulations allow the induced pore water pressure variations and the corresponding effective stress changes to be determined. For unsaturated states, there are no analytical formulations of pore-pressure coefficients that adopt a suitable effective stress concept. This paper presents analytical derivations of pore-pressure coefficients for unsaturated elastic isotropic soils using the generalised effective stress (valid for saturated and unsaturated states) for different total stress changes. The model performance is described, and flowcharts to be adopted in engineering practice are provided. Compared with an existing approach that is not based on the effective stress, the proposed one requires fewer constitutive parameters (one of which, conveniently, is the soil bulk modulus), allows to analytically obtain the existing expressions for saturated states when the degree of saturation is 1 and to readily determine the retention curve under undrained conditions. Existing experimental data were analysed, and satisfactory interpretations and predictions of the experimental results were obtained. The proposed framework is a valuable tool for undrained mechanical analyses of unsaturated soils under different practical applications.


Competition authorities are tuned into mobile app stores, trying to implement classical competition rules into nontraditional digital markets. This tendency is loudly revealed when European Commission ("Commission") deemed Google LLC ("Google") as the dominant undertaking in the app stores for the Android mobile operating system (i.e. Google Play Store) and hit the online search and advertisement giant with €4.34 billion for its anticompetitive practices to strengthen its position in various of other markets through its dominance in the app store market[1].


(57) Abstract: clamping device for use in clamping the turbine generator stator coil windings (54, 56) (62) extends across the spaced pair of coil windings (56), through holes ( having a holding platform (80) having a 84). Although the interior of the through-hole (84) for insertion coupling member (82) is supported, the member having a through hole (90), the through rod (72) by a separating engagement segment (92) It can be inserted into the hole (90). Elongated bar (72) can pass through the through hole of the insertion coupling member (82) (90), the bulbous end portion (88) is connected can pass through the through hole of the holding platform (80) (84) through holes of the use insert (82) (90) is dimensioned to not pass through the elongated rod (72) to the platform when tensioning (80) is biased to the coil winding (56).


An automatic type estimation method of the urban building is presented in this paper. This work analyzes the corner characteristic of common city buildings. Using morphological sieves of large scale, rough building contours are obtained. This method uses the segments and corners optimization to group each corner, and realizes the automatic differentiation between flat roof building and non-flat building. Finally, simulation examples show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method.


Unintended pregnancies are a long-standing public health issue nationally, with percentages hovering around 50% for at least the last five years. Vermont is doing slightly better than the national average, but is faced with it's own challenges due to it's rural nature. Agencies and organizations, such as the World Health Organization, March of Dimes and the Vermont Department of Health have made decreasing unintended pregnancies one of their priorities to improve maternal and fetal health outcomes, as well as social and economic opportunities for families. Current evidence-based guidelines call for longacting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), including intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants, as the first-line recommendation by healthcare providers for decreasing unintended pregnancies. This study, in collaboration with several Vermont state organizations and agencies, engaged healthcare professionals throughout the state with an electronically disseminated survey aimed at assessing their knowledge of LARCs. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether healthcare professionals caring for women of reproductive age, are using current evidence-based practice guidelines to counsel women in their contraceptive choices. Survey results revealed that the majority of the respondents consider themselves to be knowledgeable about and had received a high level of training in IUD counseling and/or insertion. Areas of uncertainty were primarily about side effects and the insertion and removal processes of the implant, as well as a few categories of medical eligibility. This was especially apparent when results were stratified by urban and rural regions of Vermont. Although there seems to be a high level of provider confidence in knowledge about LARCs and reported counseling of LARCs as first-line, there is a discrepancy between what providers think they know and current evidence based contraception guidelines. Many factors exist that could explain this discrepancy, including but not limited to lack of training, provider bias, and system barriers. This study aims to illuminate gaps in provider knowledge to improve uptake of LARCs and over time make a shift in the numbers of unintended pregnancies in Vermont.


ABSTRACT Western notions of race have never been for us. Yet culture has historically functioned as an "insider" discourse, representing our ways of living, knowing, and communing with one another. How, then, might Black folks remain mindful in our treatments of race and culture, ever cognizant of how we wield these constructs to our collective global advantage? In this essay, I reflect on how three Africana historical figures have engaged this question: (1) David Walker, whose sense of literacy in Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World centered free and enslaved Black audiences as cultural "insiders," (2) C.L.R. James, whose evolving sense of collective Black identity prompted him to write texts such as The Black Jacobins, a Black-centered interpretation of the Haitian Revolution, and (3) Reverend John Chilembwe, whose Africana global alliances and literacy-based leadership ignited the Nyasaland Uprising against colonial oppression in Malawi. I argue that these three figures resisted race by affirming global Black collectivity as a cultural homeplace, thus informing how we may theorize and practice Black rhetorical studies today.


Objective: This study aimed to evaluation of formation and development of blastocyst in in-vitro
fertilization in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Methods: Retrospective study on 53 women with
PCOS and 52 women with non-PCOS, who underwent in-vitro fertilization with blastocyst culture at Center
for Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital since
January 2019 until December 2020. Results: In women with PCOS, ovarian stimulation resulted in a greater
number of retrieved oocyte and blastocyst embryos. Study group with PCOS had a statistically significant
lower fertilization rate and day-5 embryo rate of 74.8% and 54% compared with those in the control group
(84% and 61.2%, respectively). No statistically significant differences were observed in the mature oocyte
rate, the good cleavage embryo rate and the pregnancy rate in the group with PCOS compared with the
control group. Conclusion: Women with PCOS have higher number of retrieved oocytes after stimulation.
The ability to fertilization and quality of blastocyst was lower in the group with PCOS but the potential for
implantation and pregnancy rate were similar to the control group after vitrified-warmed embryo transfer.
Key words: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), blastocyst, in vitro fertilization, infertility


Simultaneous determination of two important dopamine metabolites, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA), at physiological pH was demonstrated for the first time using the electropolymerized film of a 3-amino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole modified glassy carbon electrode.


Introduction: In recent months, the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 as a global pandemic has caused a devastating impact on health worldwide. Health systems have been overwhelmed, and the follow-up of those patients who require continuous monitoring and evaluation, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), have been negatively affected. Material and method: A search of the current literature has been carried out to determine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the quality of life of patients diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and their family. Results: The diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and home care of these patients have been modified, adapting them as much as possible to the technology and available resources to try to minimize the loss of quality of life of patients diagnosed with Sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral and ensuring comprehensive care. Conclusion: Despite numerous efforts and advances in research, both in the case of ALS and COVID19, there is still a long way to go.


Resonant cavity enhanced (RCE) HgCdTe structures are investigated for use in multi- and hyper-spectral mid-wavelength infrared detectors. RCE performance is shown in the responsivity of fabricated devices, with performance limited by surface recombination.


Early in 19871 received a copy of Walter H. Beale's A Pragmatic Theory of Rhetoric, courtesy of a journal editor who wanted me to review it. When the book arrived, I was in the middle of a project of my own: Four Discourse Theories, an assessment of Kinneavy, Moffett, Britton, and D'Angelo. I mention the context of my first encounter with Beale's theory to make a point: if anyone should have been fortified to resist it, I should have been. In many ways it challenged the theoretical constructs I had spent years trying to understand and evaluate. And so my first reading of it could be likened to a friendly sparring match between boxers, as I filled the margins with notes, counterthrusts to Beale's argument. "The text must be allowed to speak"; that is, the interpreter must be willing to hazard his or her own horizons of meaning before a genuine critical dialectic can occur (Gadamer 238). These notions from Gadamer's philo sophical hermeneutics have for me the status of axioms. But it was not so much my hermeneutical loyalties that opened up Beale's theory as it was the quality of the theory itself, which, after several readings and much study, asserted itself despite my prejudices. Consequently, though I always enjoy friendly sparring and even occasionally a serious fight, my purpose here is to come to terms with a theory that will, in my opinion, assume a significant place in our thought about rhetoric and discourse. This essay, then, is exploratory, an effort to understand A Pragmatic Theory and to place it in relation to other theories; in short,' 'come to terms" here means to begin the process of discussion, assimilation, and questioning. I stress' 'begin" for there is far too much in Beale for a single essay to engage. Of necessity I have been highly selective. Since my purpose is exploratory, I wish to set aside the question of overall evaluation. In my review I called Beale's theory "powerful and sophisti cated,' '' 'highly original,'' and potentially a genuine alternative to Kinneavy. I reaffirm those judgments here. For anyone interested in rhetoric and composition theory, Beale's work is not only required reading but also required study. It is a major contribution to thought in our field.


A method for manufacturing a semiconductor memory having a row-wise and column-wise array of bit lines (BL) and word lines (WL), wherein - is arranged at an intersection of a bit line with a word line in each memory cell, - the bit lines are connected conductively doped source / drain regions (8) in semiconductor material, - between two such source / drain regions (8) which follow in the direction of the word lines to each other at a distance from one another, in each case a channel region is present which by means of a load connected to a word line gate electrode (4) of the channel region is electrically isolated, is controllable, and - between the gate electrode (4) and the semiconductor material has a storage layer (5) is present, which is provided for programming the memory cell, in a first step, ribs (3) are formed of semiconductor material, which are arranged parallel to each other in spaced relation, and a memory layer (5) respectively on a top of a rib (3) is applied, in a second step...


In this study, the chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of the volatile oil of aerial parts Galanthus ikariae Baker plant were investigated.   The essential oil was obtained by Clevenger type hydrodistillation and analysed by GC-MS/FID. The structures of 41 compounds in essential oil were compared with the literature information. Hexadecanoic acid, linoleic acid, 2-tridecanone and linoleic acid methyl ester compounds were the main components and found as 19.05%; 14.67%; 11.49% and 6.97%, respectively. The amount of total phenolic and, % DPPH ˙ scavenging activity were found as 342.22 mg/mL GAE and %55.92 , respectively. The antimicrobial activity of e ssential oil was investigated against twelve bacteria and 5 fungi, by using agar dilution method. Essential oil was effective against Listeria monocytogenes and Saccharomyces cerevisiae , especially.


Objective:To explore the application of high-frequency gray scale ultrasonography combined with color Doppler ultrasound scanning on the emergency of scrotum.Method:High-frequency gray scale ultrasonography and color Doppler ultrasound were applied in 59 cases with scrotum emergency.Result:Diagnosis of 40 cases of non-surgical treatment were confirmed by follow-up with ultrasound.The other 19 cases were confirmed by surgery and pathology.The accurate rate was 89.8%(53/59).Conclusion:Combination of high-frequency gray scale and color Doppler ultrasound scanning can improve diagnosis rate of scrotum emergency.


The anti-jamming code used in a data communication system is analyzed, then software and hardware realization methods based on the Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) technology are put forward. Furthermore, several improvements that can greatly improve its communication security and anti-jamming performance are proposed, and these ideas also have universal design guidance in all kinds of datalink. Finally its FPGA-based realization and simulation results of the decoder are introduced, which can be adapted to higher data rate requirements in wide-band wireless networks.


Transportation professionals view the setting of appropriate regulatory speed limits on public roads, including those under repair or reconstruction, as an important tool in promoting safe and efficient operations. The Ohio Department of Transportation sponsored a study to evaluate its work zone speed zoning processes. Researchers observed motorists' speed choices upstream of and adjacent to several combinations of work zone conditions and factors that were used to justify reduced speed limits in Ohio work zones. Researchers also observed motorists' speed choices upstream of and within pilot variable work zone speed zones. Researchers confirmed that motorists reduced their speed only if they clearly perceived a need to do so. Therefore, whenever possible, the first work zone speed limit sign should be installed within view of a work zone condition. In general, the speed reduction downstream of the first nonvariable and variable work zone speed limit signs ranged from 1 to 6 mph and 3 to 11 mph, respectively. In addition, researchers found that the speed reduction on entering a lane shift, within a lane closure, and on entering a median crossover ranged from 4 to 15 mph. On the basis of previous research and the results of the studies documented in this paper, the research team developed work zone speed zone guidelines for multi-lane highways with original posted speed limits greater than or equal to 55 mph. Researchers also made recommendations for where variable work zone speed zoning should be considered.


In this paper, I study the wage differential between firms' union representatives and their coworkers using a linked employer-employee dataset. On the employee side of the data, the surveyed workers are asked if they are unionized but we do not know which unionized workers are union representatives. On the employer side of the data, I have access to the number of union representatives and unionized workers in each firm. I use this information to construct an indicator of the firm-level probability for a randomly drawn unionized worker to be union representative. This indicator is then used to split the directly observable wage differential between unionized and non-unionized workers into two differentials: one between union representatives and non-unionized workers and another one between unionized workers who are not a union representative and non-unionized workers. Estimates that control for individual characteristics and firm-level fixed effects show that union representatives' wages are 10% lower than those of other unionized workers and non-unionized workers. Additional tests suggest that this gap can be understood as the result of a non-cooperative strategic interaction between employers and union representatives.


Modulation of intrinsic stiffness is a key factor to achieve high performances while guaranteeing safety in human-robot interaction. Variable Stiffness Actuators (VSA) allow for simultaneous position and stiffness control of a joint through the use of two actuators, and are therefore used in the design of intrinsically compliant manipulators. It is known that biarticular actuators, actuators spanning two consecutive joints, employed in a redundant configuration improve stiffness modulation in manipulators. In respect to manipulators designed with monoarticular VSAs, the ones employing added biarticular VSAs are characterized by a higher stiffness regulation capability. However, this redundancy resulting from the presence of biarticular actuator leads to an optimization problem. In our previous work, we proposed a closed form infinity norm solution to address this problem of actuator redundancy resolution in biarticularly actuated manipulators. This infinity norm approach, in comparison with the traditionally used Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse, achieves a higher end effector maximum force. In this work, the advantage of the infinity norm resolution in end effector intrinsic stiffness modulation of manipulators employing redundant biarticular actuators is analyzed.