Objective:To review the studies during the latest 15 years on sleep quality of young students in China.Methods:Through literature search,we consulted 49 articles,with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI)as measure tool to investigate the sleep quality of Chinese young students between the years 1994-2009.The sample size was 41130.The data of these articles were converted to effect sizes via comparing with the total score of PSQI in normal adults and the effect sizes were analyzed by meta-analysis based on multilevel modeling.Results:(1)Comparing to the normal adults,the average effect size of the PSQI total score in young students was 0.853ES-SM0.967),and the effect sizes were 0.289(0.076 ES-sm0.502),0.942(0.781 ES-sm1.103),and 1.191(1.133 ES-sm1.249)in junior high school students,senior high school students and college students,respectively.(2)Comparing to males,the average effect size of the PSQI total scores in females was 0.012(-0.053ES-sm0.077).(3)In the multilevel model,the coefficient of year-of-publication was 0.063,which had statistical significance.Conclusion:Chinese young students,especially college students and senior high school students don' t have high-quality sleep.In general,as the year goes on,the sleep quality of Chinese young students shows a tendency toward worsening.


[Objective]The paper was to study the composition of rice stem borers in western Sichuan Province and the characteristics of their occurrence and damage.[Method]Rice stem borers in western Sichuan rice region was composed of Chilo suppressalis,Tryporyza incertulas and Sesamia inferens.C.suppressalis was the dominant population in most rice regions in western Sichuan Province.T.yporyza incertulas had distribution and damage in Longquan,Qingbaijiang and some rice regions,showing increasing trend of spread.The population of S.inferens was the minimum,but it caused serious damage in later period of rice.[Conclusion]The result provide theoretical basis for proposing effective control measures against rice stem borers in western Sichuan rice region.


Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Mubbashir Ali Name of the doctoral dissertation Domestic Space Heating Load Management in Smart Grid: Potential Benefits and Realization Publisher School of Electrical Engineering Unit Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 161/2016 Field of research Power Systems and High Voltage Engineering Manuscript submitted 6 May 2016 Date of the defence 26 October 2016 Permission to publish granted (date) 9 August 2016 Language English Monograph Article dissertation Essay dissertation Abstract In future power systems, intermittent renewable generation sources are expected to have a considerable segment in the total generation assortment. Given the inconsistency and unpredictability of intermittent renewable energy sources, the fast growing integration of intermittent renewable generation could negatively affect the operations of power system. Since demand response (DR) is a flexible load shaping tool, it is viewed as a practicle solution to enhance the overall system efficiency in future smart grids. The overall objective of this dissertation is to evaluate the possible advantages of responsive domestic heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) loads for DR applications and the development of practical frameworks to realize them. Due to its considerable share in energy consumption profile and operational flexibility, the DR treatment is restricted to the HVAC load. The DR applications include the minimization of customer energy cost and increased utilization of intermittent generation while taking into account customers' thermal comfort. The goal of this dissertation is divided into three major tasks so as to describe the DR benefits for various applications. A comprehensive assessment of HVAC DR potential for up/down ramping is suggested in the first task. The second task proposes generic frameworks for HVAC load management that are directed towards minimizing customer energy payments while taking customer's preferences into consideration. Finally, the last task establishes tools for increased utilization of wind generation by optimally managing the cyclic operation of responsive HVAC loads. To accomplish this dissertation objective, simulations are conducted using the proposed frameworks for Finnish systems. The following significant deductions are indicated in the results. The flexibility to unleash DR for up/down ramping is affected by the heat demand requirements, while upward DR is strongly limited by HVAC power ramping capability and allowed thermal comfort limits. Furthermore, utilization of DR will greatly shrink customer energy payments which mainly depends on the permissible indoor temperature deviation. The monetary savings are value added when DR is jointly activated in both energy and balancing market using the proposed model. Additionally, it is revealed that joint optimization of DR and RTTR will attain greater utilization of wind generation in distribution networks as weighed against DR activation alone. The developed models can be utilized by power system operators and stake holders to enhance the system operation. Consequently, the developed tools will help to achieve a better understanding of HVAC DR potential and advantages and will act as support to maximize the DR enrolment at the end user level.


A central question in the physics of interacting electron systems is whether conditions exist under which the conventional Landau description fails to describe the low energy excitations of the ''normal'' metallic state. Measurements of the temperature and magnetic field dependences of the magnetization and resistivity—in particular of the de Haas–van Alphen and Shubnikov effects which provide sensitive probes of microscopic processes in metals—are currently being used to examine this question. Advances in material preparation and detection techniques have made it possible to conduct exhaustive studies in selected examples of systems of highly correlated d and f electrons. Most of our results will be shown to be consistent with the broad predictions of the Landau model. In some extreme circumstances, however, near low temperature transitions as a function of hydrostatic pressure or applied magnetic field, evidence has been collected which appears difficult to reconcile with the standard model of the metal...


Objective:To investigate expressions of survivin and APC protein in gallbladder carcinoma and analyze its possible relation with pathological characters.Methods: Expressions of survivin and APC were determined by an immunohistochemistrical method in 50 cases with carcinoma of gallbladder,20 with adenoma of gallbladder and 20 with chronic cholecystitis.The pathological data from patients with carcinoma of gallbladder was analyzed.Results:The positive rates of survivin and APC protein in carcinoma of gallbladder,adenoma of gallbladder and chronic cholecystitis were 64.0%(32/50) and 48.0%(24/50),20.0%(4/20) and 85.0%(17/20),10.0%(2/20) and 90.0%(18/20),respectively.The positive expression of survivin in carcinoma of gallbladder was significantly higher than those in adenoma of gallbladder and cholecystitis(P0.05),however,the corresponding expression of APC protein was significantly lower than those in adenoma of gallbladder and cholecystitis(P0.05).Both expressions of survivin and APC protein in gallbladder carcinoma had no significant correlation with pathological features(P0.05).Based on this findings,we could see the expression of survivin in carcinoma of gallbladder was negative correlation with expression of APC protein(rs=-0.530,P= 0.000).Conclusion:The results,i.e.the positive rates of survivin in gallbladder carcinoma were significantly higher than those in gallbladder adenoma and cholecystitis,illustrate that apoptosis may play an important role in the carcinogenesis.Both expressions of survivin and APC protein in gallbladder carcinoma have significant correlation,suggesting they may play a synergistic effect in the carcinogenesis of gallbladder carcinoma.


An integration of business etiquette training and spoken English practice is designed into business English speaking classroom.The objective of this integration is to explore effective method to teach culture in language classroom and business classroom to improve students' intercultural communicative competence.It was proved that the integration is quite effective.


The current study evaluates the potential of the profitability ratio in predicting corporate bankruptcy. The research is focused on Romanian companies, with the targeted event being represented by the manifestation of bankruptcy 2 years after the date of the financial statements of reference. All tests were conducted over 2 paired samples of 1176 Romanian companies. The methodology employed in evaluating the potential of the profitability ratio was based on the Area Under the ROC Curve (0.663) and the general accuracy ensured by the ratio (62.6% out-of-sample accuracy). The results confirm the practical utility of the profitability ratio in the prediction of bankruptcy and thus validate the need for further research focused on developing a methodology of analysis.


The ellipsis VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) precisely portrays the circumstances under which today's corporations and institutions function. As there is no predictability or approach to plan for 'every issue' or problem that may arise, it becomes essential to plan for 'any issue' that may crop up. The VUCA world stipulates innovative strategy and procedures which can be used to contrive in any given circumstances, and if managed accurately, the VUCA world will be an opportunity for the information workers to discover and build up efficient and receptive strategies. (Claire Adamson, 2012) This is an exploratory research involving study of relevant literature which highlights major challenges faced by sales departments of mutual fund companies, and also the digital sales strategies being adopted by them for meeting the challenges of 21st century VUCA world. The paper analyses current research in other parts of the world, and draws insights from in-depth interviews with industry practitioners. The paper presents several strategies highlighting the involvement of technology at different stages in resolving digital selling and distribution challenges. The presented contemporary and practical discussion supported by academic inputs should be helpful to both academicians and practitioners.


Two new genera of the Senecioneae from Colombia are described, and their relationships with other genera are discussed. A diagnostic key for 14 genera of Senecioneae, known to be found in Colombia is also given. The article is dedicated to the memory of Dr. ENRIQUE PEREZ ARBELAEZ.


A companion piece to Child Welfare Managed Care in Florida, this piece summarizes the drivers of child welfare managed care, the attributes of successful programs and four major challenges facing such approaches to services for abused and neglected children. These are adequate funding, legal liability, preservation of appropriate state parens patriae role, and appropriate use of "for profit" motives. The audience for this article is the community of practicing lawyers, and, therefore, the article focuses on providing them with a number of systemic and case-based advocacy tips.


According to the defects of information retrieval on Internet, this paper described the architecture of information retrieval system based on distribute-agent,combining with the artificial intelligence techniques and the distribute-agent techniques, and analyzed the function of each module and the realization of the system.


Integrated Sexual Health Services in Rotherham from April 2017 From 1 April 2017, all sexual health treatment, advice and contraceptive services in Rotherham will be provided from one central location at Rotherham Hospital with outreach services delivered in community venues. This


Proxy signature scheme with certificateless and blind properties is called certificateless proxy blind signature (CT-PBS) scheme which holds many security properties such as unforgeability and delegation. This paper makes a security analysis on an improved CT-PBS scheme proposed recently and shows that the improved CT-PBS scheme yet does not solve the security drawbacks existing in original scheme. Four types of forgery attacks are presented: 1) The attacker (acts as a malicious Key Generation Center (KGC)) can imitate the selected original signer to authorize a selected proxy signer to get the signer right of the original signer without being known by the original signer; 2) The malicious user can forge a proxy blind signature on any message by replacing the public key of the selected original signer and the public key the selected proxy signer; 3) The attacker can authorize a selected proxy signer to get the signer right of the original signer A by replacing A's public key; 4) The malicious original signer can forge proxy blind signature on any message by replacing the public key of the selected proxy signer. We also give an improved method on these security problems and a security analysis.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * S corporation tax attributes make ESOPs very attractive. More companies installing ESOPs are arriving at an employee-owned company often with 100% of the stock. * S corporation and C corporation attributes (including the IRC [section] 1042 tax-free rollover) may be combined to forge a flexible succession plan meeting the goals of sellers, senior management and ESOP participants. * The potential for future tax increases magnifies the tax incentives enjoyed by ESOPs. * An aging population increases the demand for succession alternatives, including ESOPs. * Optimal financial results are obtained when the ESOP is combined with ongoing communications to educate employees about the responsibilities and obligations of ownership. * ESOPs are practical for both business owners and CPA firms. ********** [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The scenario is all too common. A majority partner wants to retire, but the remaining partners can t afford to buy him or her out, or they want out themselves. Key employees eye the door as rumors swirl that the company may be sold to a larger competitor that is sure to clean out any "redundancies." And other interested parties--key customers, suppliers and lenders begin to ask about the owners' succession plan. The confluence of 35 years of progressive employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) financial successes, S corporation tax attributes, potentially higher taxes on the horizon and an aging baby-boomer generation combine to make ESOPs an attractive option that private company CFOs--and the CPAs who advise them should consider. This article examines why ESOPs are more appealing to both selling shareholders and ESOP participants now than in years past, defines issues that must be fully considered before installing an ESOP, and highlights common attributes of successful installations. THE GROWTH OF ESOPs FOR S CORPS Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Trusts (ESOP) became available under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) as qualified retirement plans. In the intervening years ESOPs have evolved into a powerful and comprehensive exit planning option for many business owners. An ESOP is a tax-qualified defined contribution employee benefit program intended to primarily invest in the stock of the plan sponsor company. Significantly, the ESOP is primarily invested in employer stock; it's generally understood that more than half the plan assets are employer stock. The ESOP owns the stock for the beneficial interests of the employees, with the stock allocated to the accounts of the employees and not other legal entities such as a partnership or LLC. More significantly, at the higher employee ownership percentages, the ESOP is the controlling shareholder. From the earliest days until 1996 the number of C corporation ESOP installations grew steadily. Such installations enjoyed certain tax advantages but were still subject to C corporation income taxes and had the repurchase obligation, which requires the sponsoring company to make a market for the stock allocated to the ESOP accounts of departing employees. Together these formed an onerous financial obligation. But following a legislative change in 1996 that opened ESOPs to S corporations, it is now estimated that 70% to 80% of ESOP installations since then have been in S corporations. Exhibit 1 indicates the growth in ESOPs and other equivalent plans as estimated by the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) after eliminating sham plans from the early 2000s. TRANSITION PLANNING OPTIONS Theoretically, business owners enjoy a wide range of exit options. These include sale to a strategic buyer (often a competitor or other player in the same market or industry) who sees synergies with existing business interests; sale to investors such as private equity firms and wealthy individuals; or an initial public offering (IPO). …


The invention discloses a fast wide satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) geocoding method. In the method, a fast satellite SAR image geocoding method frame is obtained by integrating a slope-distance Doppler positioning model strictly meeting a star-to-space geometric relationship and a ground control point (GCP) development-based remote sensing image polynomial calibration model, so that theprocess of conventional satellite SAR geocoding is simplified, the efficiency of wide satellite SAR geocoding is improved, and geometric deformation caused by inaccurate Doppler central frequency in an SAR imaging algorithm is eliminated. In single-pixel geocoding, the algebra analytical solution of slope-distance Doppler nonlinear equations is given and the problem of initial value selection facing a numerical iterative method used by the conventional slop distance-Dropper positioning model is solved by the method. The invention discloses a new fast satellite SAR geocoding method, which can be widely used for satellite SAR image geocoding.


Community Tourism as a Strategy of Survival, Resistance and Indigenous Cultural Claim of Mapuche Communities in the Los Ríos Region (Chile). The recovery of ancestral territories, the cultural strengthening and the recuperation of traditional knowledge are priorities for indigenous peoples of Chile. Among this weave of demands, tourism transcends its conventional role as a dynamizing agent of local economies and becomes, from the indigenous imaginary, an alternative to enhance the value of their culture in face of the dominant hegemonic national society. This is the case of Mapuche communities in the municipality of Panguipulli, located in the Los Ríos Region (Province of Valdivia), in south-central Chile, where community tourism is positioned as a survival strategy in which resistance; worldview and the generation of opportunities converge. In this context, using a qualitative approach that is complemented with some quantitative techniques the imaginaries and experiences of these communities are explored. The analysis identifies elements that contribute to the construction of a of tourism development model relevant to the most pressing needs of local realities in territories that, as in our case study area, progressively reflect the effects of globalization. * Doctora en Geografía Humana por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España. Magister en Desarrollo Rural por la Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia. Diploma en Estudios Avanzados en Geografía y Diplomada en Mediación Social Intercultural por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Administradora de Empresas de Turismo por la Universidad Austral de Chile. Investigadora asociada al Grupo de Investigación en Estudios Urbanos y del Turismo (URByTUR) de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Estudios y Perspectivas en Turismo Volumen 25 (2016) pp. 439 – 459 440


This article studies the function of the poetry of memory of the Spanish Civil War in public spheres, seventy years after the war. Focusing in two poems, "El campo de batalla" by Angel Gonzalez and "El pasado" by Luis Garcia Montero, an analysis of the mechanisms of collective remembrance is carried out. Thus, the two poems are presented as a homage to the lyric written and published during the Republic and the War, and also as a meeting point for the memory of the defeated.


Similar to conventional compression with the original, unencrypted image as the input, the recently emerged compression on encrypted images generally exploits statistical correlation of natural images to improve compression efficiency. Most of these compression schemes in the literature leverage statistical correlation at the content-owner or service-provider side, which would either increase the computational burden on the content-owner or disclose statistical distributions to the service-provider and thus probably hinder their practical applications. Through analysis on properties of the compression system for encrypted data, we believe that it is more preferable to exploit statistical correlation of natural images at the receiver side with both encryption key and sufficient computational capability, which in turn would improve compression efficiency while achieving low computational complexity and sufficient security for the content owner and the service provider. In light of this, we use the Markov random field (MRF) to characterize binary images in the spatial domain and represent it with a factor graph. The constructed MRF representation of the binary image in the factor graph is then integrated seamlessly with the factor graph for low-density parity check (LDPC)-based decompression, yielding a joint factor graph for binary image reconstruction. By deriving message update equations for the joint factor graph, we develop a new lossless compression scheme for encrypted binary images, which involves stream-cipher-based encryption, LDPC-based compression, and factor-graph-based image reconstruction. Preferable parameters for the proposed scheme are first determined numerically on a specific binary image and then applied to other binary images. Extensive simulations show that significant improvements in terms of compression bit rate over the state of the art are achieved, demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scheme.


Contrary to popular belief, not all generic and branded topical preparations are created equal in terms of efficacy and tolerability, in part due to the crucial differences in the vehicle used.


In this paper we produce testing methods for the mathematical model of the multipath environment of the radio-wave propagation. These methods may be applied in determine effectiveness and reliability of results of the scale-down simulation on specialized complexes or stands. In particular, the technique of realization of random processes modeling of additive and multiplicative line noises is presented.


Nanosatellites architectures have been proposed as a cost-effective solution to extend the network access in rural and remote areas. To guarantee a reliable service and a large coverage, a good number of nanosatellites and ground stations (or hot spot) must be deployed. During a data connection, a server on the Internet that wants to reply to the user on rural area, has many hot spot alternatives to whom it can deliver data. The problem of choosing the "optimal" hot spot becomes important because a wrong choice could lead a high delivery delay. In this paper, we propose "HotSel": an hot spot selection mechanism able to minimize the delivery time. HotSel is simple and practical, and outperforms two other selection mechanisms used as comparison.


This paper presents a comparative analysis between the traffic performances of turboroundabouts and roundabouts in terms of capacity, delays and queue lengths. First, roundabouts and turboroundabouts with different geometries and different traffic demands are selected, thus presenting a wide range of operational conditions. As calculation procedure of turboroundabout capacity, a recent German procedure for roundabouts, which has been adapted for turboroundabouts, was chosen. One found that the capacity of a turboroundabout entry is higher when the flows on the circle inner lane are high and the flows on the circle outer lane are low or lower-middle. Under undersaturation or saturation conditions of at least one of the entries, the total capacity of turboroundabouts is lower than the capacity of roundabouts when traffic conditions are very unbalanced and two one-way two-lane roads converge into the intersection. When traffic conditions and geometric configurations are different, one must evaluate capacity on a case-to-case basis. To calculate capacity, sensitivity analysis regarding psychotechnical times and percentages of entry lane selection are also performed. Waiting times and queue lengths are, in almost all the situations analyzed, higher for turboroundabouts in comparison with roundabouts.


One of the growing areas in the west of Iran is Sanandaj city, the center of
 Kordestan province, which requires the investigation of the city's growth
 and the estimation of land degradation. Today, the combination of remote
 sensing data and spatial models is a useful tool for monitoring and modeling
 land use and land cover (LULC) changes. In this study, LULC changes and the
 impact of Sanandaj city growth on land degradation in geographical
 directions during the period 1989 to 2019 were investigated. Also, the
 accuracy of three models, artificial neural network-cellular automata
 (ANN-CA), logistic regressioncellular automata (LR-CA), and the weight of
 evidence-cellular automata (WOE-CA) for modeling LULC changes was evaluated,
 and the results of these models were compared with the CA-Markov model.
 According to the results of the study, ANN-CA, LR-CA, and WOE-CA models,
 with an accuracy of more than 80%, are efficient and effective for modeling
 LULC changes and growth of urban areas.


This investigation was conducted to assess the relationship between sensitivity to pre-emergence flooding and effects of anoxia on ethanol production and glycolytic activity in order to identify flood-tolerant and flood-susceptible corn cultivars. Seed of 20 common corn inbred lines (Zea mays L.) were exposed to different durations (0, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 144 h) of simulated anaerobic conditions in the laboratory or, immediately after planting, to flooding in greenhouse and growth-chamber. (...)


Opera Batak Sampuraga is a play that began from the experience of seeing a site Sampuraga Hot Water Pond, located in the area Sirambas Mandailing. and stories are told from the mouth to mouth (oral literatur). Then do the rearrangement of both characterizations and events that happen by using some structures of modern theater of Indonesia, because Batak Opera has some similarities with the structure of modern theater plays Indonesia. Opera Batak Sampuraga as the field of art creation, experiencing a touch of creativity include the presence of various elements of art from other regions. Sampuraga play is a human obsession and ambition in reaching goals, which requires sacrifice, although eventually a curse that will befall. Opera Batak similar expression pattern play in the play-the play is too modern Indonesian theater-style realism with representation approach is realized with the flowing fabric of conflict.


State of the art VCSEL technology emitting at around 1μm will be reviewed in terms of speed, power consumption and high temperature operations. Monolithically integrated multi-wavelength VCSEL will be introduced in the talk.


Mammals are diagnosed by more than 30 osteological characters (e.g. squamosal-dentary jaw joint, three inner ear ossicles, etc.) that are readily preserved in the fossil record. However, it is the suite of physiological, soft tissue and behavioural characters (e.g. endothermy, hair, lactation, isocortex and parental care), the evolutionary origins of which have eluded scholars for decades, that most prominently distinguishes living mammals from other amniotes. Here, we review recent works that illustrate how evolutionary changes concentrated in the cranial and dental morphology of mammalian ancestors, the Permian–Jurassic Cynodontia and Mammaliaformes, can potentially be used to document the origin of some of the most crucial defining features of mammals. We discuss how these soft tissue and behavioural traits are highly integrated, and how their evolution is intermingled with that of craniodental traits, thus enabling the tracing of their previously out-of-reach phylogenetic history. Most of these osteological and dental proxies, such as the maxillary canal, bony labyrinth and dental replacement only recently became more easily accessible—thanks, in large part, to the widespread use of X-ray microtomography scanning in palaeontology—because they are linked to internal cranial characters. This article is part of the theme issue 'The mammalian skull: development, structure and function'.


Details of the n.m.r. spectra of the title compounds are reported and discussed. Both compounds show magnetic non-equivalence, and for the doubly asymmetric 2-cyanoethyl(phenyl)-1-phenylethylphosphine evidence is presented which suggests that asymmetric induction occurs during the last stage of the phosphine synthesis. With the doubly asymmetric NO-dimethyl-N-(1-phenylethyl)hydroxylamine, however, the non-equivalence was only observed below –10°(in [2H]chloroform) and the evidence to date suggests that the two diastereomeric (±)-pairs are of similar energy and therefore of equal population in the diastereomeric mixture.


Noise can be used by the stochastic resonance system to enhance the ability of weak signal detection. Based on classic stochastic resonance (SR) it can get good results but also can bring the problem of that it's hard to find the optimal parameters of the system at the same time. Single-well potential stochastic resonance (SSR) was used in this paper to detect weak signals. SSR has only one parameter to be adjusted. It is easier to adjust the system to get the best state. This paper takes cross correlation coefficient as the measurement index on the basis of single-well potential stochastic resonance, detects multi-frequency periodic weak signal from the test signal after find the optimal parameter of the system with self-adapting method.


In September 2012, cankers on branches and blighted fruit of pistachio (Pistacia vera) trees were observed in Arizona (USA). Infected fruit became dark brown to black, covered by small pycnidia, and rachises were dried up. Sometimes, dark discolored cankers extended from killed panicles to the sustaining shoot. A pycnidial fungus was consistently isolated from branch cankers and fruits and identified as Phoma fungicola Aveskamp, Gruyter et Verkley, based on morphological characteristics (Aveskamp et al., 2010) and analyses of the ITS and β-tubulin (BT) gene regions. The sequence showed high identity (ITS, 99%; BT, 99%) with a reference sequence (isolate CBS 633.92; accession Nos.: ITS, GU237900; BT, GU237609) for P. fungicola (Aveskamp et al., 2010). Sequences were deposited to GenBank (isolates: 7F90, 7F91 and 7F92. Accession Nos.: ITS, KC357253–KC357255; BT2, KC357256–KC357258; TEF-1α, KC357259– KC357261). Pathogenicity of P. fungicola to P. vera cvs Kerman and Peters was tested by inoculating isolates 7F90, 7F91 and 7F92 on 10 two-year-old branches per isolate. Inoculations were made in late October 2012 as described by Moral et al. (2010). Lesion length was measured 3 weeks after inoculation. The average lesion produced by isolates 7F90, 7F91 and 7F92 on cv. Kerman was 46.5, 57.5, 53.7 mm, and on cv. Peters was 45.0, 44.5, 49.5 mm in length, respectively. All lesions were significantly longer than those on the controls (average length 10.0 mm on two cultivars) (P <0.05). P. fungicola was re- isolated from the inoculated but not from the control branches. Results in this study indicate P. fungicola is a pathogen of pistachio branches and clusters. To our knowledge, this is the first report worldwide of P. fungicola attacking pistachio trees.


1. Trends and Scenarios in International Military Operations, Per M. Norheim-Martinsen 2. Five Parameters for Analysing International Military Operations, Tore Nyhamar 3. Future High Intensity Conflict: A Possible NATO Counter-Regime Operation in Africa, Sverre Diesen 4. Counterinsurgency Operations Revisited, Robert Egnell and David Ucko 5. Military Advising and Assistance Operations, Guro Lien 6. Special Operations Forces - A Weapon of Choice for Future Operations?, Iver Johansen 7. The Future of UN Peacekeeping Operations, Stian Kjeksrud 8. The New Urban Operations, Per M. Norheim-Martinsen 9. Transnational Operations, Tore Nyhamar 10. Cyber Operations, Siw Tynes Johnsen 11. Protection of civilians as a New Objective in Military Operations, Alexander William Beadle 12. Conclusions: New Missions, New Tasks, Tore Nyhamar and Per M. Norheim-Martinsen


Over time, various drivers affecting information technology architecture design have been proposed which favored either more centralization or decentralization. With the advent of RFID and other sensor technologies, the next inflection point heading towards decentralization might arise. This paper aims to improve the understanding of the decentralization debate by investigating the factors that influence the design decision on whether or not to store data on an RFID transponder label. By analyzing eight case examples from the manufacturing domain, the following main factors could be identified: synchronization, external data exchange, security, standardization, flexibility, and response time. A detailed discussion of these factors may be helpful to companies planning to implement RFID applications on how to design their systems.


Objective: This study estimated the annual economic cost of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in the United States in 2004, including the direct costs of medical care and the indirect costs due to lost productivity and premature death. Methods: The cost-of-illness method was used to determine the costs of medical care and lost productivity, and a modified value of a statistical life approach was used to determine the cost of premature deaths. Data were obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the Compressed Mortality File, a telephone survey of 180 adult patients with GBS, and other sources. Results: The estimated annual cost of GBS was $1.7 billion (95% CI, $1.6 to 1.9 billion), including $0.2 billion (14%) in direct medical costs and $1.5 billion (86%) in indirect costs. Most of the medical costs were for community hospital admissions. Most of the indirect costs were due to premature deaths. The mean cost per patient with GBS was $318,966 (95% CI, $278,378 to 359,554). Conclusions: The economic cost of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) was substantial, and largely due to disability and death. The cost estimate summarizes the lifetime health burden due to GBS in monetary terms, and provides some of the information needed to assess the cost-effectiveness of health measures that affect GBS.


We prove that any nef $b$-divisor class on a projective variety defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero is a decreasing limit of nef Cartier classes. Building on this technical result, we construct an intersection theory of nef $b$-divisors, and prove several variants of the Hodge index theorem inspired by the work of Dinh and Sibony. We show that any big and basepoint-free curve class is a power of a nef $b$-divisor, and relate this statement to the Zariski decomposition of curves classes introduced by Lehmann and Xiao. Our construction allows us to relate various Banach spaces contained in the space of $b$-divisors which were defined in our previous work.


For delivering supply power evenly into chip, a semiconductor device includes plural power supply pads 17 a and grounding pads 18 a, arranged in alternation in X-direction. The device also includes first upper layer power supply wire 17 b, extending in X-direction and connected to first ends of the power supply pads 17 , a first upper layer grounding wire 18 b, extending in X-direction and connected to second end, opposing first end, of the grounding pads 18 a in X-direction. A second upper layer power supply wire 17 c extending between first upper layer power supply wire 17 b and first upperlayer grounding wire 18 b, from the power supply pad 17 a nearly to neighboring grounding pad 18 a, and second upper layer grounding wire 18 c extending between first upper layer power supply wire 17b and first upper layer grounding wire 18 b, from the grounding pad 18 a nearly to neighboring power supply pad 17 a. The pads or wires 17 a , 17 b , 17 c , 18 a , 18 b and 18 c are formed on the samepad layer.


Risk management is about identifying all risks to which an entity is exposed or might be exposed (Which can be financial or non-financial) and defining and implementing measures that will help to monitor, measure, manage and report these risks As the Real Estate risk represents a part of the capital investment risk, a demarcation vis-a-vis other capital investments is necessary. Contrary to the alternative investments, real estate are marked through their special features like connection with the location, heterogeneity, high investment volume and transaction costs, length of the life cycle as well as duration of the development process. There are different types of risks occur during the life cycle of the real estate. Risks out of the development-, i.e. project development phase have considerable influence on the further risks of the life cycle of the real estate. In practice the real estate risk is seen as potential negative change in the value of individual real estates, through depreciation of the general real estate situation or the individual features (e.g. vacancies, construction damages, changed chances of use), and is interpreted e.g. with rent default risk, fixed costs risk, depreciation of going-concern value risk, loss on disposal risk and investment risk..


The utility model discloses a simple hoist fixing device, which comprises a base, wherein the four corners of the base are provided with through holes, fixing rods are arranged in the through holes, the upper ends of the fixing rods are provided with an upper frame body, the four corners and the sides of the upper frame body are fixedly provided with steel wires, the base and the upper frame body are made from metal plates, the fixing rod is metal rods, and the fixing rods and the base, the fixing rods and the upper frame body are connected by bolts. The simple hoist fixing device can hoist and unload heavy concrete products by a gantry crane or a driving vehicle after being integrally fixed rapidly and safely in a structure mode that the fixing rods are arranged between four corners of the base and the upper frame body, thereby increasing the production efficiency, and creating economic benefit for enterprises.


Till the Battle of Plassey, the European traders imported bullion into India in return for the exports of Indian cotton and silt goods which had a flourishing market in the west. But the situation was soon reversed after the conquest of Bengal when East Indian Company not only stopped importing bullion into India, but began to purchase goods from the surplus revenues of Bengal and profits made from duty free inland trade. Thus began the plunder of Bengal and by the close of 18 th century almost the whole of the country became "a playground of plunder" by the British 1 . This process of "Continuous plunder" of India's raw materials, resources and wealth by Britain to enrich itself at the cost of India's growing poverty, led to the formulation of theory of "Drain of wealth" by the nationalist like Dada bhai Naoroji. M G. Ranade and others.


The security of most cryptography systems is dependenton the secret key generators or pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs). PRNGs based on cellular automata (CA)have been studied and recommended by many researchersover the last decade. In this paper, we perform on analysisof 2-state, 3-neighborhood CA rules. In order to calculatethe probability of the CA rules, they were classified into different sets using logic combinations and various definitions of CA. The binomial probability of these sets are calculated using the properties of logic combination. As a result, we found three sets that have a high quality of randomness. In order to prove the high quality of randomness of these sets, the following experimental results on quality of randomness using the DIEHARD test suite are presented.


The output power per unit volume of the axial induction motor is directly proportional to the motor constant and synchronous revolutions of the rotating magnetic field, in¬ versely proportional to the total height of the machine and all multiplied by the integral number of assembly units. The axial induction motor constant Cax has been deducted in the paper. Flow chart and listed parameters enable computer pro¬ gramming of the axial induction motor from developed equations and graphs.


The modern society is greatly benefited by the advancement of the Internet. The quick surge in the number of connections and the ease of access to the Internet have given rise to tremendous security threat to individuals and organizations. In addition to intrusion prevention techniques like firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS) are an obligatory level of safety for establishments to identify insiders and outsiders with malicious intentions. Anomaly-based IDS is in the literature for the last few decades, but still the existing methods lack in three main aspects – difficulty in handling mixed attribute types, more dependence on input parameters and incompetence in maintaining a good balance between detection rate (DR) and false alarm rate (FAR). The research work proposed in this paper proposes a semi supervised IDS based on outlier detection which first selects the important features that help in identifying intrusive events and then applies a constraint-based clustering algorithm to closely learn the properties of normal connections. The proposed method can handle data with mixed attribute types efficiently, requires less number of parameters and maintains a good balance between DR and FAR. The standard NSL-KDD benchmark dataset is used for performance evaluation and the experimental results yielded an overall DR of 99.52% and FAR of 1.15%. It is successful in identifying 99.81% of DoS attacks, 99.71% of Probe attacks, 98.73% of R2L attacks and 96.50% of U2R attacks. Index Terms – Anomaly, Classification, Feature Extraction, NSL-KDD Dataset, Outlier, Intrusion Detection.


The use of iodides has been the standard form of therapy for the deep mycoses during the past half century. It has withstood well the test of time, not because it was remarkably effective, but rather because there were no remedies quite as good. For smaller localized lesions surgery could be used, and recently the stilbamidines became available and proved themselves potent remedies for blastomycosis. Nevertheless, iodide continues in use largely because of its availability, low cost, ease of administration, and relative harmlessness. Furthermore, its position in the treatment of the deep mycoses often justifies itself, as in the cutaneous forms of sporotrichosis, where the drug is almost regularly effective and curative. The way iodide works against the deep mycoses remains unexplained. It is known to have little direct restraining power over Sporotrichum schenckii, as shown by survival of the organism in 10% solution. 1 Yet iodide


A 39-year-old woman presented with a right intra-cavernous carotid aneurysm measuring 1.76 cm×1.33 cm. The aneurysm was treated with a self-expandable flow-diverter stent. Follow-up MRI showed normal flow in the internal carotid artery with partial thrombosis of the aneurysmal sac. Two weeks later, the patient developed a right direct carotid-cavernous fistula. The fistula was treated by transvenous route. We concluded that rupture of a previously unruptured aneurysm can occur after treatment with a flowdiverter stent.


The application of numerical approximation has been greatly enhanced by the introduction of digital computers. The main purpose for the use of approximating functions is to represent a set of known data points by means of simple and elementary functions so that values at some unknown points can be evaluated, as well as to perform many common operations such as differentiation and integration. Many phases of soil science still remain largely empirical because the soil is such a complex system. For instance, there is no known function to define the soil-water characteristic curve required to establish the relation between water content and water pressure in studying soil-water behavior. To determine soil-water diffusivity by infiltrating water into an air-dried soil, knowledge of how water distributes within the soil profile is needed and it is rather tedious to evaluate d&thetas;/dx manually. It is obvious that statistical approaches are not applicable to these instances and piecewise linear approximation does not always provide satisfactory results. The purpose of this paper is to formulate a relatively simple approximation method to provide a continuous and smooth curve through all points of interest, one which is differentiable as well as integratable everywhere throughout the specified domain. This spline function method has been developed only recently and is not included in most numerical analysis texts.


Lifetime measurements on the i{sub 13/2} band built on the proton configuration 1/2{sup +}[660] in {sup 173}Re have been carried out by the Doppler-broadened line shape method with the use of the GAMMASPHERE array in an early-implementation arrangement. Lifetimes of the stretched E2 transitions from states of spin 41/2{sup +}{endash}69/2{sup +} in this band were measured, and the transition quadrupole moments calculated from these lifetimes are consistent (average Q{sub t}=8.1{plus_minus}0.5eb) with a large and near-constant deformation ({beta}{sub 2}{approx}0.29) over the frequency range of {h_bar}{omega}=0.29{endash}0.47 MeV. This result attests to the strong deformation-driving effect of the intruder {pi}i{sub 13/2} orbital when it lies just above the Fermi surface. From thin-target measurements, it was possible to add three new levels to this band and to determine that the experimental aligned angular momenta gradually evolve over a large frequency range and level off with a total gain characteristic of alignment by i{sub 13/2} neutrons. Calculations carried out for diabatic configurations give a satisfactory accounting of the alignment gain. However, because of the large interaction between crossing bands, a more meaningful description of the deformation pattern in this band was achieved through calculations of the spin-adiabatic type. Both calculations are discussed and compared withmore » the experimental results. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}« less


The photorespiration in grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) leaves subjected to a water stress regime was analysed with the purpose of characterizing the behavior of different cultivars. Two-year old plants were used, grafted on Fercal, planted in plastic pots and cultivated in controlled environment. The photorespiration was calculated from leaf gas exchange measurements taken by means of a portable infrared CO2 analyser (LCA3-ADC), working in an open circuit. The absolute photorespiration values varied little among cultivars and level of irrigation, whereas the carboxylation efficiency and the CO2 compensation point were highly affected by the water stress, thereby evidencing different varietal sensitivity levels. The occurrence of a nonstomatal inhibition of the photosynthesis was verified affecting in a specific way the cultivars analysed. The Chardonnay adapted itself better to the water stress conditions as opposed to the high sensitivity on the part of Semillon and Ugni blanc.


Tables, Figures, and Exhibits. Acknowledgments. The Authors. 1. The Practicalities of Managing Cost, Care, and Health: Teaching Cases from Six Countries. Part One: Managing Cost. 2. Managed Care in Shanghai: Another Long March or a Great Leap Forward? 3. Westinghouse and Managed Care: Does the Emperor Wear Clothes? 4. Enhancing Access to Pharmaceuticals in Brazil. Part Two: Managing Care. 5. Moving from the Possibilities to the Practicalities: Health Care Reform in Krakow. 6. Germany's Ode to Alain Enthoven: Is Managed Care NewWine in Old Bottles or a New Rhine Whine? 7. Disease Management at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care: If You Build It,Will They Come? 8. Managing Care for the Dual-Eligible Population in Massachusetts. Part Three: Managing Health. 9. Threat to the Public's Health or Leaders in Public Health? Managed Care in the Twin Cities. 10. The UAW Bargains for Health Benefits. 11. The Next Wave of General Practitioner Fundholding: Welcome or Farewell? 12. PCGs an d PCTs: Can You Make an Elephant Dance Like a Bee? Index.


"Tarekat" is an institution that was raised as a medium for the servant of God who wants to achieve closeness to Allah and His Messenger, as did the Tijaniyah tarekat. In Tijaniyah congregation to reach these goals Sheikh Ahmad at-Tijani as the founder of the congregation Tijaniyah teach three different forms of remembrance, remembrance lazimah ie, Hailalah and wadzifah. The material contained in dakwah remembrance (zikr) is to invite people to a certain character to God with repentance istighfar begged forgiveness to God. Invite to multiply read Sholawat to the Prophet as well as materials related to faith.


Objective: To detect the expression of CCR5 in breast cancer stem cells and differentiated cells,and to discuss its clinical significance.Methods: The breast cancer stem cells were separated from MCF-7 cells by flow cytometry-based selection on freshly isolated cells.The expressions of CCR5 mRNA in different subpopulations were measured by real-time PCR.The relative quantification analysis was performed with comparative threshold cycle(△△Ct) method.Results: Melting curve analysis and agarose gel electrophoresis confirmed the specificity of the amplification products.Compared with that in breast cancer differentiated cells,the expression of CCR5 in breast cancer stem cells were significantly higher by 6.14 folds(P0.05).Conclusion: Compared with breast cancer differentiated cells,breast cancer stem cells might have stronger abilities in invasion and metastasis via over-expression of CCR5 genes,which is one of the key factors for metastasis of breast cancer.


Being able to estimate the behavior of a system from observable data is one of the great difficulties that any system presents. This problem presents a challenge for researchers who perform scenario estimation and forecasting. In most problems it is proposed to perform data analysis, but in this article, we propose to perform synthesis in such a way that a dipheomorphic attractor is constructed. that models the system. In the treatment of the analysis, we start from the inputs and assume some equations that describe the system, in the case of synthesis the most important thing is the data produced by the system, since these are real with some associated noise, so from those data and using Takens' theorem, we can build an attractor that models the system we model in a more real way.


Regional short-term system adequacy forecasting is performed based on an updated version of the model presented by the authors in previous papers which uses separate probabilistic models of dispatchable and non-dispatchable generation types. The updated version includes more accurate modelling of hourly wind generations based on Weibull distribution. The proposed probabilistic approach is in line with the fourth European Union energy package draft proposals concerning internal market for electricity, risk-preparedness and capacity mechanism assessments. Additional function for allocating exports from countries with positive balance to countries needing imports is provided based on two optional criteria. The resulting adequacy forecasts for a selected week are being compared with the results of the current short-term system adequacy model currently applied at ENTSO-E level.


PURPOSE: A machine level adjusting device is provided to enable the installation height and the parallelization degree of a tool to be easily adjusted with less force using a separate frictional-force adding/decreasing member. CONSTITUTION: A machine level adjusting device(10) is composed of a body(20), a lower slider(30), an adjusting member(50), an upper slider(40), a linear bearing(41), a tilting adjusting member(60), and a fixed anchor(11). The top of the lower slider is formed to slope. On one side of the adjusting member, a head is formed. The other side of the adjusting member is coupled to the lower slider. The adjusting member adjusts the coupling length to the lower slider and slides the lower slider. The bottom of the upper slider is formed to have a slope corresponding to the tilting surface of the lower slider. The top of the upper slider is formed in a spherical surface. The linear bearing comprises a plurality of rolling balls. The rolling balls damp the frictional force, which is generated between the upper slider and the lower slider. The tilting adjusting member comprises one or more filling grooves. A part of the fixed anchor is inserted into the ground.


Indonesia is one of the developing countries where economic growth in Indonesia is growing rapidly both materially and non-materially, this need can be in the form of procurement of goods / services. The challenge faced by micro, small and medium agro-industry players (MSMEs) is to maintain growth in local and global markets. With the Covid-19 pandemic this has also affected trade in Indonesia, namely the shifting behavior of trading patterns has changed, which was originally carried out directly (offline), now it is required to be indirect (online) so that the business continues. In realizing the success of achieving the vision in the economic sector at a broader level with the development of technology, especially in the procurement of goods / services quickly, precisely, transparently and efficiently in reaching customers. In Presidential Regulation No. 54 of 2010 concerning Government Procurement of Goods / Services, it is intended to facilitate MSMEs in carrying out marketing of goods / services through the E-Purchasing mechanism with the E-catalog system, to support government procurement in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT) to be aligned. with the changing times with the aim of making the organization more responsive, transparent and accessible so that checks and balances occur. This e-catalog is the government's way of encouraging MSMEs to rise again in the era of adapting to new habits or new normal to overcome the impact of decreased turnover in order to strengthen and empower MSMEs.


Coal is fuelling India's economic growth. In 2012, it accounted for 45 per cent of total primary energy demand and 72 per cent of generated electricity, making India the third-largest coal consumer in the world (IEA Medium-Term Coal Market Report, 2014). Energy demand in India is set to more than double from 2012 to 2040. Despite substantial investments in other energy sources, especially in renewables, coal will remain the dominant fuel to 2040, with demand doubling over the period. This dominance is in large part due to India's vast proved coal reserves – the world's fifth largest (BP Statistical Review, 2014). Domestic production was 605 million tonnes (Mt) in fiscal year 2012/13 and is expected to increase to 736 Mt by 2019. However, the actual economic viability of reserves and their suitability for high-tech applications, especially in the power and steel sector, remain debated among experts. For example, untreated Indian coal has only limited suitability for super-critical power plants that are to become the norm for all coal-based generation starting from 2017. Consequently, the share of imported coal will increase sharply over the next decades. In FY 2012/13, India imported 135 Mt (22 per cent of total demand). Imports are expected to triple to 2040 and import dependency to rise to nearly 40 per cent (all data from IEA World Energy Outlook, 2014; IEA Medium-Term Coal Market Report, 2014). Given coal's crucial role, the sector faces some important challenges that have implications for India's economic development.


Background and objectives: The objects of the study were to compare the laryngoscopic view and the hemodynamic changes by using flex tip McCoy laryngoscope with Macintosh laryngoscope.Observations and results:The mean rise in heart rate from a pre-induction value of 72.74 ± 0.1976 to 97.68 ± 0.2892 Beats per Minute (bpm) was noted in group Macintosh, while in group Mc'Coy the mean rise in heart rate was observed from 72.64 ± 0.1995 to 86.10 ± 0.2559 bpm. The mean rise in SBP from the pre-induction value from 113.5 ± 0.3490 to 145.3 ± 0.3366 mm of Hg was noted in group Macintosh, while in group Mc coy the mean rise in SBP was observed from 112.9 ± 0.2686 to 127.6 ± 0.1639 mm of Hg. Laryngeal view comparison: All patients in both groups were of Mallampati 1 and 2.patients intubated with Macintosh blade; it was found that 18 out of 50 patients were of Cormack and Lehane grade II.In patients intubated with McCoy blade, it was found that only 2 out of 50 patients were of Cormack and Lehane grade II.Conclusion:McCoy laryngoscope blade is useful in reducing the stress response to laryngoscopy when compared to Macintosh laryngoscope blade andMcCoy blade improves laryngoscopic view when compared to Macintosh blade.


e20578Background: Recent studies have come to the conclusion that MET exon 14 mutation would define an unique subtype of NSCLC and optimize the genotype-directed therapies. Here we report our diffe...


A method and an apparatus for providing a data service in a portable terminal are provided to omit a process of searching 1X paging channel by entering a mode using only an EVDO data service through communication mode setup when accessing the EVDO data service, thereby improving EVDO data receiving efficiency upto 15~20 percents. A terminal checks whether access to an EVDO(Evolution Data Only) data service is attempted(301). If so, the terminal displays a communication mode setup window for requesting a user to select one communication mode of a data mode and a hybrid mode(303). The terminal checks whether one communication mode of the data mode and the hybrid mode is set by a key operation of the user(305). If the data mode is set, the terminal changes a communication mode, set as the hybrid mode for simultaneously supporting an EVDO data service and a voice service, into the data mode for supporting only the EVDO data service(307). The terminal is connected to the EVDO data service to receive only an EVDO data service signal(309). The terminal checks whether an event for terminating the EVDO data service is generated(311). If so, the terminal re-changes the communication mode from the data mode to the hybrid mode as a base mode(313).


Objective: To investigate whether acute phase intracranial CT angiography (CTA) independently predicts infarction and functional outcome in ischemic stroke. Methods: Hundred and fifty-one consecutive patients with acute (<12 h) ischemic stroke who received intracranial CTA were investigated. Stroke severity on admission was determined using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Reconstructed CTAs were investigated for relevant pathology. Follow-up imaging was performed 24–48 h after admission. Functional outcome was assessed after 3 months using the modified Rankin scale. Single factor and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to predict infarction and dependency (modified Rankin scale ≧ 3) on follow-up. Results: Median NIHSS on admission was 10 (IQR 3–14). Out of the 151 patients, 61 (40%) had pathological CTA findings. Infarction was demonstrated in 60/61 patients (98%) with and in 67/90 patients (74%) without vessel pathology. Presence of infarction on follow-up imaging and dependency at 3 months were correlated with pathological CTA findings on admission in single factor analysis (each p < 0.001). After adjustment for age (≧/<65 years), NIHSS (≧/<10), sex, therapy, and time to presentation (≧/<3 h), only NIHSS ≧10 on admission was predictive of dependency at follow-up (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Pathological CTA findings in the acute phase of ischemic stroke do not independently predict a poor outcome at 3 months after acute stroke.


Assembly of Phospholipids Modified with Poly(Ethylene Glycol) at AqueousLiquid Crystal Interfaces: Phase Segregation of Phospholipid Mixtures Driven by Nematic Ordering Michael I. Kinsinger, a David M. Lynn* a,b and Nicholas L. Abbott* Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1415 Engineering Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53706


In this paper, we present a direct meshless method of boundary integral equation (BIE), known as the boundary element‐free method (BEFM), for two‐dimensional (2D) elastodynamic problems that combines the BIE method for 2D elastodynamics in the Laplace‐transformed domain and the improved moving least‐squares (IMLS) approximation. The formulae for the BEFM for 2D elastodynamic problems are given, and the numerical procedures are also shown. The BEFM is a direct numerical method, in which the basic unknown quantities are the real solutions of the nodal variables, and the boundary conditions can be implemented directly and easily that leads to a greater computational precision. For the purpose of demonstration, some selected numerical examples are solved using the BEFM. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


us build here three tabernacles.&dquo; But ere long he became changed, his jealousy began to take another form. He became jealous of His Master, not for himself, but for the world; and on that rock, Peter, Christ founded His Church. The scarlet and crimson taints are taken from dispositions which in each character were capable of advancing God's glory ; and so whitened and purified, these same dispositions which were once ' sin' become righteousness. The sins which were as scarlet become white as snow, and those like crimson become as wool.


ABSTRACT Increasingly, leadership is being acknowledged as a shared responsibility across a professional team, rather than being reserved for those in a position of authority. There is support for team members becoming leaders within their own areas of expertise with the aim of supporting the broader leadership of an organisation. This approach can be a valuable opportunity for veterinary nurses to learn and practise leadership skills. This article addresses some of the theoretical concepts of leadership and aims to explain why learning and practising leadership behaviours at all levels of veterinary nursing can benefit the individual, the veterinary team and ultimately the veterinary nursing profession.


The objective of this paper is to propose a program option in terms of "Food Plant Operation and Management". The option can effectively produce professionals loaded with interdisciplinary knowledge and skills that includes food science, automation and control, quality and environment, and plant management. This paper comprehensively presents the course structure while looking at the modern global food industry needs. California is one of the most productive agricultural areas. Its economy significantly depends on the agriculture and hence the food industries. Since, about 25% of the US agricultural production comes from this state food processing industry is considered as important dynamic sector. The central San Joaquin valley is heading to accommodate more than 3,000 industries thereby claiming to be the world's largest single factory site. This is the reason why we have taken steps to propose this program option at CSU, Fresno. In recent years, such pressures as operational flexibility, advanced automation, modernization, regulations, quality control and management, and the environmental issues have motivated the food processing industry to search for interdisciplinary technical manpower. Moreover, as new and more complex technologies are created, the role of the technical professionals along with management skills has become important. However, the traditional form of education intended to provide manpower to such industries seems to be stand-alone in nature in the sense that a student usually chooses an option either in food science, plant automation and control, or food business management. What is necessary for them (food industries) is that the availability of well-educated, well-trained, and ready-to-work manpower so that additional in-house, on-the-job training after the hiring would not be required. In order to accommodate the needed attributes there is a pressing need to address a new curriculum structure for the University level undergraduate program.


Here "group" means additive abelian group. A compact group G contains δ–subgroups, that is, compact totally disconnected subgroups Δ such that G/Δ is a torus. The canonical subgroup Δ(G) of G that is the sum of all δ–subgroups of G turns out to have striking properties. Lewis, Loth and Mader obtained a comprehensive description of Δ(G) when considering only finite dimensional connected groups, but even for these, new and improved results are obtained here. For a compact group G, we prove the following: Δ(G) contains tor(G), is a dense, zero-dimensional subgroup of G containing every closed totally disconnected subgroup of G, and G/Δ(G) is torsion-free and divisible; Δ(G) is a functorial subgroup of G, it determines G up to topological isomorphism, and it leads to a "canonical" resolution theorem for G. The subgroup Δ(G) appeared before in the literature as td(G) motivated by completely different considerations. We survey and extend earlier results. It is shown that td, as a functor, preserves proper exactness of short sequences of compact groups.


Objective:To investigate current antipsychotic drug use among schizophrenic patients. Method:Cross-sectional survey method was used for this study,503 inpatients met the ICD-10 diagnostic criterion of schziophrenia were investigated and assessed with the drug treatment. Results:Most patients (90.9%) were on mono-therapy of antipsychotic drugs.The frequency of clozapine use was relative high (30.2%).Patients of first episode and with less than 5 years course were more likely be treated with new atypicals (20.7% and 31.5% respectively). Conclusion:Conventional antipsychotics are current mainstream treatment in schizophrenia, and the percentage of patients received new atypical antipsychotics are lower in China than in developed countries. Clinicians lack of attention to physical conditions when they use clozapine.


In order to study the wear of cylinder bore fundamentally, a reciprocating friction tester was produced and utilized. The friction between a cast iron and a piston-ring and the wear of the cast iron were examined under the corrosive oil with sulphuric acid. The findings indicate that the friction and wear around TDC and BDC was confirmed to be greater than between these reversal points and the friction and wear around the reversal points increased with the sulphuric acid which has caused the deficiency of oil film and the corrosion of the cast iron.


In conclusion, four photograms were shown exhibiting the results of a series of experiments on dogs. Four curves were displayed on each photogram: (1) The intraventricular pressure curve; (2) the sphygmogram of the femoral artery; (3) the electrocardiogram, and (4) the venous pulse with the well-known a, c and v waves of Mackenzie. By means of aconitine a pulsus alternans was produced in the animal. The sphygmogram of the femoral artery showed the alternation very strikingly, so that every second pulse almost entirely disappeared. Nevertheless, the electrocardiograms retained about the same form and dimensions. The intraventricular pressure curve also gave evidence of about equal force in the ventricular contractions, and thus was in accordance with the electrocardiogram. A slight difference in the intraventricular pressure was obviously sufficient to produce a great difference in the magnitude of the pulse. If in the first heart-beat the pressure in the left ventricle was a little higher than the pressure in the aorta, the pulse was large; if in the second heart-beat the intraventricular pressure was only a very little lower than the blood-pressure, there was no pulse at all produced. The last photogram showed premature heart contractions in the dog. The intraventricular pressure curve was no longer in accordance with the electrocardiograms. If the heart-beat was much too early the intraventricular pressure curve showed hardly any rise, whereas the electrocardiographic curve showed large peaks. Dr. Einthoven explained this phenomenon by pointing out that there is a difference between the relaxation and the lengthening of a muscle-fibre. When an ordinary systole has finished the fibres of the heart musculature relax, and the intraventricular pressure is reduced to zero. But before there has been time to permit of perceptible lengthening of the fibres after their relaxation the second heart-beat sets in. If the same maximum of shortening of the fibres is now not reached as in the first systole, there cannot be produced a new wave in the intraventricular pressure curve. Under these special conditions the force. produced by the heart contraction is even better judged of by means of the electrocardiogram than by means of the intraventricular pressure curve. Many of the curves shown were recorded by his pupils.


The French-Russian-German 4-channel ScaRaB (Scanner for Radiation Budget) instrument operated on board the Russian Meteor-3/7 satellite from February 1994 to March 1995. Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) detenninations depend on the two broad-band channels -an unfiltered total (TW) channel sensitive from 0.2 to at least 50 gm, and a short-wave (SW) channel in which a fused silica filter cuts off sensitivity at about 4 jim. In-flight SW calibration depends on lamp sources which may drift or fluctuate. Because daytime LW determinations depend on a weighted subtraction of SW from LW measurements, SW calibration errors will affect the results and can induce a spurious diurnal cycle in the LW. The relative SW sensitivity of the TW and SW channels can be checked, independently of on-board SW lamp sources, by using the ScaRaB JR window (IRW : 1O.5-12.5jim) channel and insisting on diurnal/nocturnal LW consistency. Both the IRW channel and the LW portion of the TW channel are calibrated by reliable on-board black bodies. Results for the first several months of ScaRaB operation are presented, considering also the difficulties arising from the thermal radiation in the near-IR portion of the SW channel. These results are compared with those obtained using the on-board lamp sources. They show that these two methods are complementary: iamps allow accurate monitoring of short-term gain fluctuations while the geophysical method ensures reliability oflamp calibration over the monthly time scale.


The reservoir type of fractured bottom water reservoirs was dual pore media.It was divided into fracture and matrix systems,it was common to study oil recovery percent of the whole reservoir at home and abroad,it was rarely to study oil recovery percents of the matrix and fracture systems respectively.Because of the existence of fracture and powerful energy of the bottom water,bottom water coning fast along the fracture,water-cut increased quickly and oil production rate declined rapidly.It was of great significance for accurately understanding the reserves producing extent from matrix system for the reservoir development at the stage.By using material balance method,a material balance equation was established for the matrix and fracture systems.Combined with Leverett function,and the ultimate reserves producing extent of matrix of a fractured bottom water reservoir was calculated through case study and ultimate recovery percent of the matrix system was predicted.The result is compared with oil recovery of the same type of reservoirs,it is indicated that the recovery percents of the matrix and fracture systems in fractured bottom water reservoir are higher than others.


The rapidly growing globalization that embodies new technologies has greatly characterized intergenerational difference by fostering change and hindering continuity of values and traditions. However, the effects of cultural change on intergenerational continuity and change in less technologically developed societies have not been documented adequately. This article presents change and continuity between adults and children in conceptualization of the "child" in the context of the Guji people of Ethiopia. It discusses how the meaning of "child" is variable across synchronic generations among the Guji people and how this variability reflects discontinuities and continuities in intergenerational transmission of local knowledge. The difference between adults and children in their knowledge of generational structure is observed as a ground for their divergence in conceptualization of the "child." Accordingly, for adults, one's position in generational structure is a basis for identifying somebody as a child. However, for children, one's level of physical maturity is a basis for defining somebody as a child. The data on which this article is based are drawn from 10 months of ethnographic fieldwork among the Guji people.


Comprising administering a compound of formula (I) of the eye pressure reduction or accommodation improvement amount, treatment or amelioration or prevention of glaucoma animal, including humans, improvement or improvement of accommodation of the reduction method or ocular intraocular pressure a method is provided.


Purpose of review Recent work identifying the wishes and preferences of patients and relatives about mental health care is summarized and discussed in the light of earlier findings. Recent findings Patients want more information and involvement in decision-making, good relationships with providers, clear management plans, good coordination among services, the opportunity to record their wishes in advance directives, and contact with fellow patients who can provide peer support. Clinical outcomes are predicted by patients' perceptions that services have met their needs. Relatives also want information and support, and good communication with services. Relatives, however, request more supportive and intensive interventions, whereas patients prefer options which preserve their independence. Professionals have difficulty in identifying their patients' priorities and desired outcomes of care. Summary Much attention has been devoted recently to establishing mechanisms by which patients can be involved in service development and planning, but it is not clear whether patients wish to be involved in this or feel involved. It may be that the majority of patients want more involvement in their own care as a first priority. Further work in this area would benefit from greater consistency in terminology and measurement, and should consider the views of other stakeholders, such as those responsible for the development and resourcing of services.


We face the end of an era of abundance. The world is running out of geological time. A generation ago, every person on the face of the Earth had a year of time on deposit in the geological column— 4.5 billion years of deep time for 4.5 billion people.

No longer! Earth's population has been growing faster than time has been passing, and with 6.5 billion people afoot, the average person's share of the geological column has shrunk to 252 days. At this rate of population growth, the supply of unexplored strata may melt away before the glaciers disappear, threatening a mass extinction of Earth scientists. Dividing the geological column equitably among the geoscientists alive today would allow each scarcely a millennium's worth of strata as the focus of their life's work, yet most commence their careers with thesis titles that lay claim to whole periods and epochs—a million-to-one disparity between supply and demand.


This article reports an acute ischemic stroke after cardioversion and atrial flutter catheter ablation in a patient on treatment by dabigatran 110 mg twice daily. Trans-esophageal echocardiography did not show any thrombi. Even if this event cannot be attributed to the treatment, this article indicates that prospective studies are necessary. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.


Metallic interconnect layers in a standard 65 nm CMOS back-end-of-line (BEOL) process are leveraged to form vertically oriented non-volatile (NV) nano-electromechanical (NEM) switches for compact implementation of hybrid CMOS-NEM integrated circuits. A reconfigurable look-up table (LUT) implemented with an array of vertical NV-NEM switches is experimentally demonstrated. A row/column addressing scheme is proposed and demonstrated via simulation for programming an array of NV-NEM switches. Scaled NV-NEM technology is projected to be advantageous for high-speed (sub-10ns), low-power reconfigurable computing applications.


The article is devoted to the necessity of development and management of innovative activity of the subject of entrepreneurial activity, using accounting and analytical support, the basic components of which are management accounting and budgeting process in order to make management decisions to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the enterprise during the strengthening of intellectual capital. Trends of innovative development in the conditions of distribution of information and communication technologies are defined. As a result of theoretical research, the essence of budgeting concepts and budget modeling options is determined, which are aimed at reducing costs, lossless production and have an adaptive nature to the management accounting system of domestic enterprises. The essence of the concepts of budgeting (kaizen-budgeting, activity-based budgeting (ABB), process-oriented budgeting (PBB), budgeting based on the driver system (DBB-method), off-budgeting (BB)) is studied. Their spread is observed mainly in foreign countries. The organizational aspects of the implementation of budgeting of innovation development processes are considered. The internal and external factors influencing the construction of this process, the prerequisites for drawing up generally accepted budget formats, including the processes of innovation development are identified. It is proposed to include in the budgets of the process of innovation development target financial indicators for: income from the sale of innovative products (works, services of innovative nature), costs of investments in innovative objects of non-current assets, costs of production of innovative products, costs not subject to capitalization, and costs of organizational and managerial innovations for sales. The organizational model of budgeting the process of innovation development, which, unlike others, includes a list of specific operating budgets and provides the ability to control the implementation of targets, optimize innovation costs, strengthen employee motivation, strengthen communication in the accountability system and provide feedback for budget changes is developed and proposed for use in the practice of enterprise.


The invention relates to a Phenyl-2,9-diimine pyridine-cycloheptane iron and cobalt complex catalyst and a preparing method and an application thereof. The metal complex is used for catalyzing vinyl polymerization reaction, and has a very high catalytic activity, wherein the catalytic activities of the iron and the cobalt reach 1.56*10 g.mol (Fe).h and 1.42*10 g.mol (Co).h respectively; in addition, the complex catalyst can still maintain a high and enduring activity at a high temperature, thus having a broad industrial application prospect.


Abstract: Weight stigma is the devaluation of a person because of excess body weight. Individuals who experience stigmatization are at increased risk for adverse physical and psychological health outcomes. This article provides an overview of weight stigma and the implications for nursing practice and policy. This article provides an overview of weight stigma and the implications for nursing practice and policy.


Beginning in 1988 and ending in 2005,IHPTET program which lasted 18 years and gained significant research development(RD) achievements,is the most successful RD program in USA up to now.The reason of its great success is closely related to the scientific effective management method—GOTChA,which is advanced,logic and versatile with explicit object as well as clear flow.This paper presents its main characteristics from the aspects of concept,frame principle and detailed application.In a word,GOTChA method is referential to the management of RD project.


A musical sound controlling apparatus preferably incorporated into a music synthesizer type electronic music instrument and capable of generating a musical sound controlling signal in accordance with vocal signals or musical sound signals produced by musical instruments other than the music synthesizer type electronic musical instrument. The apparatus comprises a voltage-controlled filter whose frequency characteristics is controlled in accordance with a control waveform applied thereto and a control waveform generator which produces a control waveform varying with time in response to a trigger signal applied thereto. An external musical sound signal is applied to a switching circuit having a hysteresis characteristic through a rectifier circuit. The switching circuit is arranged to produce a stabilized trigger signal to be applied to the control waveform generator and have first and second different input switching levels for switching the output of the switching circuit. The first input switching level is set higher than the second input switching level. When a rising DC output voltage of the rectifier circuit exceeds the first input switching level the output of switching circuit is switched to produce a trigger signal and when a falling DC output voltage of the rectifier circuit falls below the second input switching level the output of switching circuit is switched back to the original state.


In Drosophila, few studies have been devoted to the analysis ofthe relationship between ageing and behaviour. Recently, however, some progress has been made in the study of both the behaviour, including learning, (review in Tully, 1984) and the genetic dissection of behavioural and neurological phenotypes. Furthermore, and happily, some gerontologists now use measurements of behavioural patterns as biomarkers of ageing (Leffelaar and Grigliatti, 1984), although, sometimes, the methods used suffer from methodological flaws. Age-related behavioural changes are often assessed by performing crosssectional studies in which different subjects are observed at two or more different ages. Yet it may be safely assumed that behaviour influences lifespan. Therefore, in a cross-sectional study, a group of old flies could simply constitute a selected sam pie of younger flies. If this was the case it would be impossible to distinguish between the effects of ageing, on one hand, and the effects of selective mortality, on the other hand, on the age-related variations in behaviour. To avoid that possible bias it is necessary to make use of longitudinal studies, i.e. to make measurements on identical subjects at different moments of their life. Such studies allow the exclusive assessment of the effects due to ageing. Longitudinal studies also allow the study, at the individual level, of the relationship between a given behavioural pattern and longevity. Such could be, for instance, the analysis of the assumed negative relationship between the level of locomotor activity and lifespan. Furthermore, when, instead of being carried out at two or three ages, measurements are done throughout life on the same animals, a better insight into age-related behavioural changes is provided. The relations between behaviour and ageing must be studied from two points ofview. First, one should consider the variations in behaviour which are linked to ageing. Second, one should look at the possible influence of the behaviour of the animal itself upon its longevity. Longitudinal studies allow the simultaneous study ofthese two aspects ofthe relations between behaviour and ageing. An important problem in the study of age-related behavioural changes is the adaptation to the aged animals of the methods of measurement used. For instance, current geotaxis tests imply that the flies are able to walk, although it


Transmembrane proteins are gatekeepers of the cells; controlling the transport of substrates as well as communicating signals among cells and between the organelles and cytosol. Solute carriers (SL ...


This volume both engages the reader and provides a sound foundation for the use of immunoinformatics techniques in immunology and vaccinology. It addresses databases, HLA supertypes, MCH binding, and other properties of immune systems. The book contains chapters written by leaders in the field and provides a firm background for anyone working in immunoinformatics in one easy-to-use, insightful volume.


The aim of this study was to explore the status of implementing science experiments by science teachers who teach gifted students in Jordan. Randomly selected (65) science lessons, taught by (13) teachers were videotaped and viewed. The results revealed a low level of implementation of science experiments in teaching gifted students (32.3%). It was also found that there were two types of experiments implemented in this context. The first type was: (1) Verification Experiments accounting for (88.2%) of frequency where the teacher tells students in advance what they will see in the experiment. The second type was (2) Inquiry Experiments which accounted for (11.8) of frequency where students were given a role in planning, researching, implementing, and report writing. The study recommended the use of inquiry-based learning in teaching science for gifted students with regard to implementation of science experiments.


Receiving a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder often elicits strong emotional reactions from parents of the diagnosed child. Follow-up services and continued support for these families is a necessary component to help families adapt and meet their and their children's needs. This pilot study measured the effects of a six-session, co-facilitated, support group on the advocacy skills and self-efficacy of parents coping with a child's diagnosis. Statistically significant increases in the average mean scores for the three subscales of the Family Empowerment Scale were found. Implications for practice and research are discussed.


We present a clear case of a Diffuse Interplanetary Radio Emission (DIRE) event observed during 2002 March 11-12 in association with a fast coronal mass ejection (CME). In the previous event reported [1], there were two CMEs, and a detailed analysis was required to pin down the underlying CME. In the event presented here, the CME association is unambiguous, and the DIRE is found to originate from the flanks of the CME-driven shock. We also provide quantitative explanation for not observing radio emission from the shock nose. We also clarify that DIRE is not a type III storm because the latter occurs outside of solar eruptions.


THERE is no lack of problems in teaching medical students comprehensive, community care. 1 But I trust that I can suggest certain solutions to some of the problems. For if only the problems are noted, we become too easily discouraged, and I believe we have no reason to be discouraged. Before discussing the problems, it is necessary to define what we are trying to teach. What is comprehensive care? I suggest that five C's cover it pretty well: Comprehensive Medical Care: Five C's Complete. —Physical, social, behavioral, family. Competent. —Skilled, knowledge. Continuous. —From prevention, treatment to rehabilitation. Coordinated. —Health team. Compassionate. —Responsible, empathy. When we add to this the sixth C—community—we add a concern for the health of all children in a given population, not merely those who voluntarily present to the doctor. The major problem in teaching comprehensive community care is that most of us do not yet achieve this type of


Dr. EVERARD WILLIAMS suggested that the atypical giant-cell systems shown in the sections might be extensions of squamhous carcinoma into the body of the uterus and not tuberculous systems. The fact that the specimen had been hardened in formalin for several days before the uterus was opened might explain the caseous appearance of the pyometra. Examination of the specimen showed clearly a moderately advanced carcinoma of the cervix, in which extension to the body of the uterus and the formation *of a pyometra might be expected. He presumed Dr. Strachan would allow the specimen to be examined by the Pathology Committee.


Abstract Intensity of nest defense against a human intruder was recorded for 42 male and 43 female Northern Hobbies (Falco subbuteo) from 1992 to 1994. Defense did not vary between repeatedly and rarely visited nests. Except during incubation, intensity of nest defense by females was higher than that by males. For both sexes, defense intensity increased from incubation to fledging, within the nestling stage, and from fledging to the first 10 days of the postfledging period. Intensity of nest defense was positively correlated with brood size in females, but not in males. Experiments with dummy nests showed that defense was effective in deterring nest predation, and that its effect was positively related to its intensity. Hobby nest defense was an individually varying "plastic" trait, probably tuned to the reproductive value of the offspring. Parents apparently trade off the costs and risks of the behavior against the increasing likelihood of offspring survival.


Disclosed is a butterfly valve for controlling electrolyte proportion, comprising a butterfly valve, an oil cylinder, and a hydraulic control part. A three-position four-way electrolyte switching valve is used as an electrolyte switching element. A regulation resistance checks the rotating angle of a butterfly plate for forming closed-loop control. An electrical signal proportionally controls the rotating angle of the butterfly plate of the butterfly valve for achieving the purpose of controlling the fluid flow of the butterfly valve. The utility model which has the advantages of simple structure, high reliability, low cost and convenient realization of computer control is widely popularized and used in a chemical industry department, a fertilizer producing department, a water conservancy department, etc.


The main goal of this article is to understand what kind of knowledge allows us to find and solve problems or questions in research, advancing a hypothesis, with special reference to the field of scientific-legal knowledge. It is, in short, to participate in the dynamic and collective construction of strategies or heuristics for the proposal of research problems and hypotheses in the field of theoretical knowledge such as science. Special attention should be paid to the peculiarities within legal Science or Jurisprudence. In pursuit of this objective, we will take into account and analyse the differences between problems to find and problems to prove, well and ill structured problems, and between kinds of knowledge to solve them: heuristic and standard or logic reasoning. The work will also explore and underline courses of action that have been traditionally recommended to find and solve problems and how they function in legal knowledge or Jurisprudence.


Participation in faculty scholarship is increasingly emphasized in health science academic settings. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) defines scholarship as "the generation, synthesis, translation, application, and dissemination of knowledge that aims to improve health and transform health care."1 Scholarship activities can provide opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration; expand knowledge; solve scientific, educational, and clinical practice challenges; and contribute to health care transformation.2 In nursing education, scholarship is an expectation, regardless of terminal degree or track (research, educator, or clinical line, tenure or nontenure line). Although the expectations of productivity may vary in each pathway, the only opportunity at many academic institutions for increased compensation is through promotion of rank, which requires scholarly productivity. If barriers to faculty scholarship exist, identification of specific institutional barriers is important when implementing practices supportive of faculty productivity. Published literature from 2000 to 2020 was reviewed to find research articles that identified barriers to faculty scholarship productivity. Search of the following terms was carried out in the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and PubMed: "faculty," "nursing," "barriers," "scholarship," "tenure," "productivity," and "academic rank." These were evaluated for relevance to scholarship productivity, and


Jack Goody,British anthropologist,elaborated in his book that "the culture of flowers" must be based on horticulture and more developed agricultural technology.But in this article,the author thinks that we can find many types of cultural practices about flowers in ethnic minorities' life without horticulture(without planting flowers) .Rhododendron flowers are special for Yi people.Why? Yi people cherished rhododendron most and they share great attachment to the rhododendron for the belief of life connection.This article shows that we will gain a new prospect in understanding the minorities' culture through the study on this kind of culture of flowers and that will also offer us a new clue to know more about Yi people.


Rhetoric is considered the core of Arabic language reflected in the Holly Quran because of its beautiful techniques, eloquent phrases, accurate notes, brief words and the sound that corresponds at the end of the letters, the harmony among verbs and nouns, and the shift among tones and tenses. Qur'anic texts contain the core meaning of polytheism in its context that springs from the religion and other fields of art and knowledge. This study tackles this art to reveal the connotations and meanings indicated by the Qur'anic texts, and to show the aesthetic and creative impact in it with the intention of affecting the recipient.


This paper explores the outcomes of policy interventions related to Prosopis juliflora and how these outcomes have shaped communities' perceptions to-wards the tree. It set out to narrate the story of Prosopis in Baringo County, Kenya. An inductive research approach was used drawing its inspiration from the core ideas of political economy and political ecology. Findings indicate that Prosopis was introduced in Kenya's ASALs as a way of curbing desertification and soil erosion but later, the tree became a problem due to its invasiveness. The invasion of this tree to farmland, homesteads and pasturelands led to loss of communities' livelihood, human and animal health impacts as well as some perceived environmental problems like flooding. This resulted in communities suing the government demanding for its eradication as well as compensation for their losses. As a way of responding to the problem, the government lifted the ban on charcoal production, which in turn enabled a livelihood activity that has been widely taken up by some but not so much by others. There are indications that the tree is currently being appreciated due to its economic benefits from charcoal production as well as the halted desertification. Currently, a planned power plant that intends to use Prosopis for electricity generation has added a new dilemma to debates over Prosopis and local livelihoods. It can therefore concluded that, while planning of this intervention may not have been perfect in terms of ensuring educating the people on how to manage the tree to avoid or control invasion, the adaptive management approach that was used to minimise the impacts played a big role. The government's flexibility and willingness to adjust its policy through lifting of the ban on charcoal made a big difference. Further, ensuring continuous monitoring and research on ways of managing the tree through KEFRI and KFS is also playing a key role in helping the affected residents to adapt and benefit from the tree.