Arbitrators recently awarded $2.2 million to a woman whose employer, a large brokerage firm, systematically paid women less than men for similar work (1). Such discrimination is not unique to the world of high finance. Things seem to be much worse in medicine. In June 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau released an analysis of the earnings of full-time workers that reported that female physicians' wages averaged 63 cents for every dollar earned by their male colleagues (2). The Census Bureau report was limited in that it did not examine factors, such as specialty, practice setting, seniority, and performance, that are likely to contribute to salary differentials. In 1996, a Committee of the Association of Academic University Professors concluded that the gender gap in academic medicine was the result of women practicing in lower-paying specialties (3). If women in medicine decide to forgo increased earning power because of their choice of specialty or the desire to have more flexible working hours, then the salary gap would be expected and would be more acceptable. However, evidence from academic medicine suggests that these factors do not fully explain why women in academic medicine earn less than their male colleagues. In this issue, Ash, Carr, and colleagues analyzed data from a national survey of academic physicians and reported that women earned less than their male colleagues, even after accounting for specialty, hours worked, and many other measures of productivity and achievement (4). In addition, they found that women were less likely than men to reach the highest academic ranks. However, differences in rank did not fully account for the salary gap. Women still had significantly lower compensation than men at the same academic rank, even after adjustment for confounders, such as specialty, job characteristics, and productivity. More disturbing, women started out with a salary deficit that they never recouped over time; the salary differential increased as seniority increased. The strengths of this study are its national scope, detailed data on factors that are likely to drive compensation and promotion, and careful analyses that adjust for diverse confounders. Limitations include the 60% response rate and the fact that the survey is almost a decade old. Admittedly, the study by Ash, Carr, and colleagues is not the first study to report a salary gap for women in medicine (5-9). Yet, we have not been able to identify a more comprehensive or recent analysis of this contentious issue. Many factorsmeasured and unmeasuredcontribute to the gender gap in academic medicine. Female physicians themselves are at least partially accountable for their lower compensation. To balance family and career demands, women often make career choices, sometimes voluntarily and sometimes out of necessity, that sacrifice their earning power for greater work flexibility (10, 11). Women also shoulder a disproportionate share of clinical and teaching responsibilities in departments, activities that can restrict their ability to pursue lucrative research and administrative leadership activities (12). One might falsely conclude from this evidence that women in medicine are earning less by choice, but ample evidence, including the article in this issue, shows that women earn less than men, even after adjustment for hours worked, specialty, job responsibilities, and productivity. Women are also poor negotiators when it comes to the nose-to-nose business of determining compensation or receiving well-deserved promotions. We have personally been in the position of accepting salaries for full-time academic positions and then learning later that our salaries were in the lowest 5% of national salaries for faculty physicians at the same rank. Because information on compensation norms is hard to obtain at academic institutions, it took reviewing grants for the National Institutes of Health and a tip from a colleague about an Association of American Medical Colleges report on salary ranges for academic faculty by specialty and academic rank to garner the evidence that our salaries were way out of line. A recent book examined women's negotiating skills and found that women of all ages were less likely to initiate salary negotiation and more likely to accept whatever their employer or prospective employer offered (13). However, these traits may be advantageous in other settings. For example, women's receptiveness to the viewpoints and priorities of others may be one reason that they outperform men at patient-centered communication and participatory decision making (14). In addition, women's leadership styles seem to be more attentive to the personal needs of their staff and to rely heavily on trust (15). Without losing these important attributes, women must learn how to advocate for themselves and to value their own work. Toward this end, women should seek and develop workshops on negotiation skills within faculty organizations or professional societies. Although women's poor negotiation skills undoubtedly account for part of the salary gap, substantial responsibility lies on the broad shoulders of men (mostly) who are in charge of academic medical institutions across the nation. The old boys' network is alive and kicking. Evidence also shows that women researchers receive less laboratory space and fewer resources than similarly accomplished male colleagues (16). In a recent survey at an academic center, women reported discrimination more often than men (8). In a study at another academic center, women were significantly more likely than men to report feeling excluded from informal networking (17). Strong mentorship is a key prerequisite for academic advancement and guidance in career (and possibly salary) decisions. Research on women's access to mentoring is contradictory; some studies affirm (17) and others negate differences by sex (18, 19). In their review, Benz and colleagues concluded that discrimination against women in academic medicine was apparent on many levels, including lack of support for research, effective mentoring, and social isolation (20). Unfortunately, blatant sexism is on the list of factors that contribute to the gender gap in academic medicine. A common story among women in academic medicine involves a superior who told them that, because the woman belongs to a 2-income family, compensation should be less of a concern for her than for male colleagues who are the sole breadwinners for their families. Fortunately, a handful of local demonstration projects have begun to try to address gender inequity in academic medicine. The Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University systematically instituted interventions to increase the success of women in the department; these interventions seemed to result in a substantial increase in the number of women at the associate professor level as well as in an increased number of both men and women intending to stay in academic medicine (21). However, these results appeared in 1996, and, to our knowledge, no recent update is available. The University of Arizona has worked to improve gender equity among its medical faculty through an initiative called GRACE: Generating Respect for All in a Climate of Academic Excellence (22). A recent Association of American Medical Colleges report on increasing women's leadership in academic medicine identifies several faculty mentoring programs at various institutions. The Association expects that these programs will help both women and men achieve success (23). Leaders from several universities have begun to share annual analyses of salaries and resources for women (24), and at least 1 useful guide for women in medicine is available (25). To make compensation more equitable, every institution needs to have greater transparency in its promotion and compensation practices. Institutional guidelines for academic advancement and salary calculations should undergo scrutiny to ensure that they do not systematically place one group of individuals at a disadvantage. Deans should periodically request that department chairs provide information on faculty salaries by sex, specialty, rank, and measures of productivity and achievement. Institutions should then review this information for evidence of inequities. Institutions must develop venues for addressing concerns about sex discrimination that do not stigmatize the person who dares to complain. Periodic performance reviews should provide opportunities for faculty to compare their compensation and performance with local and national benchmarks. Such reviews would then enable faculty to identify unacceptable disparities or, ideally, opportunities to increase compensation through changes in performance. The profession should not tolerate complacency about the lack of equitable rewards for women and must hold leadership accountable for redressing unconscionable gender differences in salary. Sex discrimination in academic medicine has been evident for more than 2 decades (26). The article in this issue and the Census Bureau report are the most recent evidence that, despite near-equal representation of women and men in medicine (23), equal compensation remains evasive (23). The medical profession should be mortified that no other profession in the United States exhibits greater salary disparities by sex (2). Since the strongest evidence of inequity comes from academic medicine, academic medicine is probably the best place to identify solutions. Women may be from Venus and men may be from Mars, but it is high time to ensure that male and female physicians receive equal pay for equal work.


An energy-based system of exchange that combines the commodity and credit-clearing characteristics of currency can be adopted in parallel to or in place of fiat currencies in order to facilitate a sustainable societal transition. The universal adoption of fiat currencies and of the fractional reserve banking system coincided with access and ability to utilize energy-dense fossil fuels. Their combined effect allowed for unprecedented rates of economic expansion but the synergy of this combination switched from positive to negative due to the depletion of economically recoverable fossil fuels thus setting the stage for persistent systemic crises. An energy credit system concept that realigns the economic system to the thermodynamic limits of the physical world is described and a transition to an energy currency is postulated. The ability of energy currency to support sustainability objectives is shown to be more comprehensive than existing policy options based on a framework of sustainability principles including a debt as future consumption commitment constraint. An energy currency generally reflects the economic value-added of current activities but also addresses instances of undervalued energy services like the merit order effect for renewables.


a Constant Mine, whence Britain draws prodigious riches.' Its wealth and strategic importance in the Caribbean made it, as Marshall notes, the most valuable colony in the eighteenth-century empire, and the colony whose loss the British could have least afforded.' This article reports new estimates about how much wealth Europeans possessed in Jamaica on the eve of the American Revolution. Historians have been interested in this question before, but mainly in order to assess the contribution of the West Indies to British economic development. In an article published in this journal in 1965, Sheridan presented data on the wealth of Jamaica supporting Williams's thesis that the economic contribution of the British West Indian slave colonies to British prosperity in the late eighteenth century was considerable. Sheridan's contentions elicited a fierce response from Thomas who used a counterfactual model derived from Sheridan's own data to deny that Jamaica had made a positive contribution to British economic development. The theoretical arguments as to whether or not Williams was correct will not be addressed in this article. I agree with the recent findings of Eltis and Engerman that sugar cultivation and the slave trade did not form an especially large part of the British economy, although, as Solow has shown, profits from the slave trade comprised nearly 8 per cent of total British investment


AIM To study the effects of Huangqi Gegen Decoction(Astragali Radix,Puerariae lobatae Radix,etc.) on oxidative stress and expression of NF-κB in diabetic cardiomyopathy rats.METHODS Rats receiving high fat diet with STZ(ip,30 mg/kg) were modeled into Type 2 diabetic cardiomyopathy rats with eight consecutive weeks' administration.The effects of Huangqi Gegen Decoction were observed on general signs,blood glucose and blood lipids in rats.SOD,MDA and GSH-Px activities of myocardial tissue were detected by biochemical assay and NF-κB mRNA expression was detected by RT-PCR.RESULTS Huangqi Gegen Decoction obviously improved polydipsia,polyuria,polyphagia symptoms of diabetic rats,significantly reduced fasting blood glucose,blood lipids,significantly inhibited the production of MDA,prevented the decline in the activities of SOD,GSH-Px,and obviously inhibited over-expression of NF-κB mRNA.CONCLUSION Huangqi Gegen Decoction may protect heart of diabetes by reducing oxidative stress and lowering level of NF-κB expression in the heart tissue.


The solubility behaviour of praziquantel enantiomeric system at −15°C, 4°C, and 15°C is presented. This system exhibits both a pseudoracemate behaviour and one which leads to the formation of enantiomerically pure crystals. For solutions with lower enantiomeric purity, the pseudoracemate behaviour is more prominent. Solid solutions are formed when the mixtures of the enantiomers are crystallised. The phase diagram shows a complete absence of a eutetic. For mixtures with higher enantiomeric purity, pure crystals of the excess enantiomer are obtained when the solution is crystallised. Temperature dependency of this polymorphism is not significant. With these phase diagrams, a method is suggested to obtain enantiomerically pure isomers of praziquantel from a partially resolved mixture. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


In this note we explain how Day's fixed point theorem can be used to conjugate certain groups of biLipschitz maps of a metric space into special subgroups like similarity groups. In particular, we use Day's theorem to establish Tukia-type theorems and to give new proofs of quasi-isometric rigidity results.


This thesis set out to design and implement a new experiment for use in the second lab of the laboratory curriculum in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR. The second of three labs typically consists of data acquisition and the real world measurements of concepts learned in the classes at the freshman and sophomore level. This small electric motor dynamometer was designed to be a table top lab setup allowing students to familiarize themselves with forces, torques, angular velocity and the sensors used to measure those quantities, i.e. load cells and optical encoders. The data acquisition concepts learned in the first lab can be built on with this experiment. The dynamometer also allows the introduction of electric motor theory and methods of braking rotational loads. The dynamometer was developed using SolidWorks as a design tool and the data acquisition utilizes both LabVIEW and LabJack devices found in the market today. The data collected during the development of the dynamometer shows that the measurements of torque and speed can have less than 10% error to the manufacturer supplied data. The recommendations at the end of this thesis are provided to help the Mechanical Engineering Department with ideas on how to implement this dynamometer in the lab setting. There are also recommendations on how to develop a larger similar dynamometer for use with the Solar Boat senior design project. This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council.


Abstract: Place Identity, sense a person or in a collection that is motivated by their relevance. What we learn the identity of the urban space that we desire to live in cities today is yesterday backed body maintain policies and spending to revive identity and ignoring life today, is a serious challenge in urban space be. However, it should be noted that identity, a distinction is; the distinction between human to human, city to city, culture to culture. This study aimed to assess factors affecting urban space took place in defining identity. The research community and the people of experts, set up; which based on the response to the questionnaire, subjects randomly, and experts were selected by cluster sampling. In order to analyze the data according to the results of the SWOT, the technique of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the application form EXPERT CHOICE, is used. The results showed that components such as; sense of place, responsive place and spatial perception and location; components affecting urban location in explaining the cause. Access to scientific and practical components urban space design, using indicators such as; culture, history, readability, color, belonging, intuitive understanding of individual and collective memories, is considered. These results also show the need for practical application of these elements in urban design managers and designers to achieve their research goals.


Additional measurements of compressibility, compaction coefficients, porosities, permeabilities, and resistivities have been conducted on cores from Pleasant Bayou wells No. 1 and No. 2. All rock parameters show non-linear behavior with changing reservoir or pore pressure, which is of interest in modelling reservoir performance and subsidence. Compressibilities and uniaxial compaction coefficients decline by a factor of 2 to 3 as reservoir pressure declines from geopressured to normal hydrostatic conditions. Porosity reductions are 6 to 8% while permeability reductions are on the order of 10 to 30% over that reservoir pressure range. Measured formation factors were 2 to 4 times log derived values for F. Matrix compressibilities were not insignificant relative to bulk compressibilities.


ABSTRACT It is shown that the trivial solution of the equation x'' = A(t)x, where the dash denotes the time derivative, is asymptotically stable if the rate of change of the elements aij(t) of A(t) is sufficiently slow. An explicit bound for the aij(t) is obtained when the matrix A has a special form.


As the new services emerge, multicast function is demanded in optical networks. However, due to the high cost and complex architecture of multicast capable node, the splitter-sharing switch structure is introduced. Then, in order to make full use of the splitters equipment, we first analyze using the NSFNet and come to the conclusion that when the number of splitters is 25% of the full equipment, the performance has been close to the ideal result. Then after thousands of virtual networks testing, we proved that it can apply to most of the topologies.


This paper evaluated the entrepreneurial skills needed by students of Federal Universities in the South-East Nigeria. 3 research questions and 3 hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. This was a descriptive survey research design and the population consisted of 325 lecturers from only Faculty of Education in the five Federal Universities from five states in the South-East. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select a total of 98 lecturers as the sample. Well structured questionnaire was used to collect data, rated on a four point scale and it contained 40 items. The instrument was tested for reliability using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and it yielded an index of 0.79 which was adjudged high for measuring the consistency of the items. Mean and SD were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. From the analysis, it was observed that the entrepreneurial skills needed by the students of universities include innovative, creative, administrative, financial skills among others. It was then recommended that stakeholders should incorporate in curriculum those subjects that will help expose these students to other skill acquisition programmes in addition to entrepreneurship education.


Using numerical simulations of the formation and evolution of stellar clusters within molecular clouds, we show that the stars in clusters formed within collapsing molecular cloud clumps exhibit a constant velocity dispersion regardless of their mass, as expected in a violent relaxation processes. In contrast, clusters formed in turbulence-dominated environments exhibit an inverse mass segregated velocity dispersion, where massive stars exhibit larger velocity dispersions than low-mass cores, consistent with massive stars formed in massive clumps, which in turn, are formed through strong shocks. We furthermore use Gaia EDR3 to show that the stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster exhibit a constant velocity dispersion as a function of mass, suggesting that it has been formed by collapse within one free-fall time of its parental cloud, rather than in a turbulence-dominated environment during many free-fall times of a supported cloud. Additionally, we have addressed several of the criticisms of models of collapsing star forming regions: namely, the age spread of the ONC, the comparison of the ages of the stars to the free-fall time of the gas that formed it, the star formation efficiency, and the mass densities of clouds vs the mass densities of stellar clusters, showing that observational and numerical data are consistent with clusters forming in clouds undergoing a process of global, hierarchical and chaotic collapse, rather than been supported by turbulence.


Phase transitions and molecular motions in solid acrylonitrile and its deuterated homologue CH2=CDCN, have been studied between 100 and 191 °K (m.p.) by wide line n.m.r. and by T1 relaxation time m...


Immune-modulatory therapy in ARDS has been unsuccessful, despite promising results in animal studies. This might be due to poor biological phenotyping of the included patients. We hypothesized that ARDS patients can be clustered based on concentrations of 20 plasma biomarkers and that these unbiased biological phenotypes correspond to clinical outcomes. All ICU-patients were screened for ARDS for three years. Plasma was analyzed for 20 markers of inflammation, coagulation and endothelial activation. Cluster analysis based on biomarker concentrations alone was used to separate the biological phenotypes. A decision tree was used to predict cluster membership based on a limited set of biomarkers. The independent association of clusters with ICU-mortality was studied by logistic regression. 771 patients with ARDS were separated into three clusters: "mild" (N=383), "moderate" (N=224) and "strong responders" (N=164). ICU-mortality increased with response (16%, 26% and 47%, P In conclusion, three biological clusters were identified. "Strong responders" showed a profound cytokine and coagulation response, which was associated with higher mortality and more organ failure. These results may have important implications for inclusion of patients into future clinical trials. Cluster-analysis based on plasma biomarkers
 This abstract has been presented previously at the European Respiratory Society9s Lung Science Conference in March 2016.


The aim of this paper is to analyse on-line services as well as to classify them and show their main advantages and disadvantages. In the first part of the paper the author proposes a short taxonomy of on-line services. Then the typical course of on-line services realization is presented and the revenue models in on-line services selling are analysed. Next the main advantages and disadvantages of on-line services selling are shown. The last part of the paper describes the examples of Polish on-line services. The services are divided into three categories: fully-automated, half-automated and not-automated.


In the present paper, a numerical method is proposed to solve the fractional Fredholm integro-differential equation. The proposed method is based on the Chebyshev wavelet approximation. Using the approximation of an unknown function, its fractional derivative and its Integral operator in terms of Chebyshev wavelet, the fractional Fredholm integro-differential equation is ultimately reduced to a system of linear equations which can be solved easily. The test examples are given for illustration. The obtained results are compared for various number of basis functions in the Chebyshev wavelet. The proposed method is easy to understand, easy to implement and gives a very good accuracy. The errors are further measured with the help of different norms to show the good accuracy obtained.


During the 2016 SPIE DSS conference, nine panelists were invited to highlight the trends and opportunities in cyber-physical systems (CPS) and Internet of Things (IoT) with information fusion. The world will be ubiquitously outfitted with many sensors to support our daily living thorough the Internet of Things (IoT), manage infrastructure developments with cyber-physical systems (CPS), as well as provide communication through networked information fusion technology over the internet (NIFTI). This paper summarizes the panel discussions on opportunities of information fusion to the growing trends in CPS and IoT. The summary includes the concepts and areas where information supports these CPS/IoT which includes situation awareness, transportation, and smart grids.


Availability of high-throughput, multicast/multiple-routing communication links in the presence of multipath fading channels is an important item for multi-hop and ad-hoc networks. To this purpose, channel equalisation by spectral processing is examined as an appealing enabling tool, as its exploits the low processing complexity of FFT. Spectral equalisation, which in OFDM is enabled by a cyclic prefix, is in principle applicable also to other access schemes like TDMA and CDMA; however several of existing schemes (e,g, standards like FDD HSDPA in UMTS cellular networks) do not comprise a cyclic prefix. This paper introduces BCSE (bias controlled spectral equaliser), a novel spectral equaliser not requiring a cyclic prefix; its performance, evaluated for UMTS FDD HSDPA, for SISO and 2/spl times/2 MIMO spatial multiplexing, is the same as when employing CP, with only a moderate increase of processing load and with a small duration processing window, which depends on the channel time spread. When used for UMTS TDD, FDD, FDD-HSDPA, BCSE requires no standard modification.


We succeeded in developing new ring-opening addition reactions of oxetanes with certain reagents such as acyl chlorides, silyl chlorides, phosphonyl chlorides, aryl esters, thio esters, phosphonic acids, carboxyli c acids, thiols, and phenols using suitable quatemq onium salts or crown ether complexes as catalysts. More recently, we also found anionic ring-opening polymerization of oxetanes containing hydroxyl groups such as (3-methyl-3-hydroxymethy1)oxetane and (3-ethyl-3-hydroxymethyl)oxetane using potassium tert-butoxide and 1 8-crown-6-ether complex as a catalyst, and anionic ring-opening alternating copolymerization of oxetanes with cyclic carboxylic anhydrides. These reaction systems have been widely applied to the synthesis of new functional polymers. In this paper, I would like to introduce the application of these reaction systems to the synthesis of photo-curable polymers and oligomers containing pendant or terminal (meth)acryloyl groups.


Introduction Patients with heart failure are usually a frail population characterised by complex care needs. To ensure an integrated care approach, it is necessary to work collaboratively across organisational boundaries. The purpose of this study is to measure and understand the perception of collaboration between clinicians participating in a comprehensive care programme for patients with heart failure, known as PROMIC. Methods A sequential mixed-method study design was used. A sample of PROMIC clinicians completed a survey in which they evaluated 10 dimensions of collaboration in 2010 and in 2014. The perspectives of clinicians were studied more in depth in a focus group in 2012, which was analysed using content analysis. Outcomes: Professionals' perception of collaboration showed an improvement by 1.18 points (53%) over the period 2010–14. The comprehensive programme proved to be of major support to the professionals. Sometimes, the study participants did not feel prepared to manage cases due to the complexity of the situations with regard to patients' care. Both, the quantitative and the qualitative methods, showed up a congruent information about the positive perception of participants of the programme itself and the collaboration. Discussion The complexity of care processes and the need for continuity of care mean that large-scale collaboration is necessary between care levels as well as major interdisciplinary teamwork, to achieve the best possible outcomes in terms of health. ProMIC intervention has helped to improve professionals' perception in terms of collaboration between levels.


Objective To study the epidemic features of chikungunya fever and to explore the effective prevention and control strategies for the future prevention and control.Methods According to the disease definition of chikungunya fever,epidemiological investigation was performed.IgM and IgG antibodies for the dengue fever virus were detected using enzymelinked immunosorbent assay.Real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to detect dengue fever virus nucleic acid and chikungunya fever virus nucleic acid.Results Between the 12 th September and 21 st October 2010,there were 27 cases(17 male and 10 female subjects) of chikungunya fever occurred at a construction site in Yangjiang city and the total attack rate was 11.07%(27 /244).Blood samples from 15 patients in the recovery period were examined for the anti-dengue fever virus antibodies.Two cases were found positive for the IgM isotype and the other 13 cases were negative.Antibody of the IgG isotype was not found.Blood samples from five patients were checked for the viral nucleic acid and all the samples showed negative result for the dengue virus nucleic acid.However,two samples were found positive for the chikungunya fever virus nucleic acid.Conclusion There is an outbreak of chikungunya fever.Strengthening of the migration and quarantine of the migrants,carrying out symptom monitoring and controlling the vectors of the virus are important in the prevention and control of chikungunya.


Copyright c © 2013 Kuldeep Singh Gehlot. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract In this paper we introduce a homogeneors liner differential equation whose one of the solution is the Generalized K -Mittag-Leffler function and deduce this differential equation for eariler definded different Mittag-Leffler functions. Mathematics Subject Classification: 33B15, 33C20, 33E12, 34B30


We develop a new, group-theoretic approach to bounding the exponent of matrix multiplication. There are two components to this approach: (1) identifying groups G that admit a certain type of embedding of matrix multiplication into the group algebra /spl Copf/[G], and (2) controlling the dimensions of the irreducible representations of such groups. We present machinery and examples to support (1), including a proof that certain families of groups of order n/sup 2+o(1)/ support n /spl times/ n matrix multiplication, a necessary condition for the approach to yield exponent 2. Although we cannot yet completely achieve both (1) and (2), we hope that it may be possible, and we suggest potential routes to that result using the constructions in this paper.


The invention provides a method for confirming an optimal motion vector in motion estimation. The method comprises the steps that the current frame where the current block is located is divided into a plurality of image blocks, wherein the current block is one of the image blocks; a motion vector of a subimage block of each specified adjacent image block of the current block is computed; at least one computed motion vector serves as a forecast motion vector of the current block; and the optimal motion vector of the current block is selected based on the forecast motion vector and a corresponding target reference frame of the forecast motion vector. With the adoption of the technical scheme, the speed and the accuracy for searching the motion vector in the motion estimation can be increased and improved.


335 THE PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY PANEL ON FEDERAL Tax Reform delivered its report to the Secretary of the Treasury in November 2005. The panel offered two sets of broad recommendations designed to improve the effi ciency of tax collection, simplify the tax code, preserve the distribution of tax burdens across income classes, and promote economic growth. The Simplifi ed Income Tax (SIT) is a modifi ed version of the current income tax structure, while the Growth and Investment Tax (GIT) is a consumption tax – income tax hybrid that combines a household-level tax on capital income with a cash-fl ow type tax on business enterprises. Each of the plans was presented as an integrated whole, but the panel recognized from the outset that the political process and the associated public policy debate would create strong pressures to "cherry pick." In discussing the proposals, the panel members emphasized the dangers of selective adoption of individual provisions. The GIT, for example, proposed expensing of new capital outlays. Panel members tried to link adopting the expensing provisions with repealing the deductibility of business interest payments, and underscored that adopting the former without the latter would generate negative effective tax rates on new investment. Just as positive effective tax rates discourage investment and result in an ineffi ciently small capital stock, negative effective tax rates lead to over-investment and corresponding distortions. A number of the specifi c proposals that were incorporated in the SIT and the GIT could, in contrast to the expensing recommendation, be part of an incremental initiative to reform the income tax system. While the benefi ts from adopting a unifi ed plan are likely to be substantially greater than the benefi ts of piecemeal adoption, there are some attractive components of the two reform proposals that bear careful scrutiny. This short paper begins with a brief discussion of why the Panel's proposals received so little political attention, moves on to THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY PANEL ON FEDERAL TAX REFORM: A TWO-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE*


Abstract:The grotesque in carnival is characterized by the inversion of hierarchies and the incongruous juxtaposition of what is incompatible. These are also features of postmodernism, although in postmodernity the grotesque transformations are now in the world and have come to be accepted as normal. A study of Martin Amis's novel Yellow Dog shows how there is a new order and a new aesthetic which are the result of the distorted perception of a society which has lost sight of the conventions and values of the past, now replaced by mass culture, in particular the vulgar manipulations of the tabloid press.


This dissertation explores various problems in logic synthesis and physical design, especially their interaction. Compared to devices, interconnects occupy more area and contribute comparable portion to delay in the submicron technology. This trend is more apparent in the deep-submicron technology, and ignoring the solution space of simultaneously considering logic synthesis and physical design results in unacceptable designs. In logic synthesis, cube intersection graph (CIG) is introduced to analyze the structural properties of Boolean functions. If a CIG attains certain properties, the corresponding function or sub-function is inherently simple. It has developed a tool, called CIGA. CIGA partitions a Boolean function into regular and random sets. CIGA employs CIG-based algorithms for factorization of regular sets and makes use of existing logic minimizers for factoring the resulting random sets. The dissertation classifies CIGs into five classes and proposed algorithms for each of them. It has proposed an optimal clustering scheme which clusters a CIG into members of classes to take advantage of efficient factoring schemes. A linear arrangement problem, called the minmax mincut problem, has been derived from a physical design problem considering minimizing the longest path first, and then minimizing the wire density (area). An algorithm produces a layout with O(k + log N) density, where N is the number of transistors and k may be as large as O(N). Another algorithm which utilizes logic resynthesis produces a layout with O(log N) wire density. Thus, the minmax mincut problem demonstrates the advantage of integrating logic synthesis and physical design. The reproducing placement problem, an incremental physical design problem, occurs in a logic resynthesis stage. The minimum floating Steiner tree problem, a central step in solving the reproducing placement problem, is to place a floating node which is connected to multi-nets while each net has multi-terminals. The cost function is the total wire length. Hanan-like theorem is established for the MFST problem and two approximation algorithms are proposed.


Research of antimicrobials use and resistance in food animals have been developed in various countries, although few studies include the bacteria prevalence in respiratory tract of companion animal. The aim of this paper was to verify antimicrobial resistance profile from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of health and sick dogs. Twenty animals were evaluated, 10 in the health group (group 1) and 10 in respiratory distress group (group 2). The bronchoalveolar lavage was performed through an endotracheal tube or guided by a rigid endoscope. Culture, identification and bacterial sensibility of the fluid were performed through agar diffusion method. The bacterial isolated were: Haemophilus aphrophilus, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosas e Proteus mirabilis. Of all samples, 63% showed resistance to at least one class of antibiotics. Therefore antibiotic resistance is present in sick as well in health animals and ceftriaxone and amoxicilin associated with clavulanic acid are effective against respiratory tract bacteria. KEY WORDS: Antibiotic resistance, bacteria, respiratory distress.


Adequate bacterial respiration (BR) estimations are necessary to understand the flow of carbon through marine plankton food webs. A considerably higher bacterial contribution to total microbial plankton community respiration (CR) has been observed in oligotrophic systems compared to more productive systems. Classical BR estimation procedures, typically oxygen consumption mea- surements, comprise pre-incubation filtration to separate bacteria from the rest of the plankton community and long incubation times (24 h). The resulting disruption of the community linkages over long time periods might affect BR measure- ments, especially in oligotrophic systems charac- terized by tightly coupled microbial food webs. In this study, BR data were compiled from 2 con - trasting environments: the highly productive Ria de Vigo (NW Spain) and the North Atlantic oligotrophic gyre. Standard procedures or in vivo electron transport system (ETS) activity (non pre- filtered and short-time incubation) procedures were used to obtain a total of 209 BR estimations. Bacterial contribution to plankton CR was signifi- cantly higher in oligotrophic than in highly pro- ductive conditions (155% and 42%, respectively) when using standard procedures, while similar values were observed (31% and 30%) with in vivo ETS procedures. The relation between plankton CR and BR along the studied productivity gradient suggests that bacterial contribution to total CR varies less than previously assumed with an aver- age value approximating 30% through different trophic situations.


Through an examination and critique of western notions of ideology my research aims to propose an alternative way of thinking about ideology and ontology. My argument relates specifically to art and culture and demonstrated through theoretical argument and artistic practice, how Indigenous art and culture allow us to conceive of an alternative understanding of ideology.


We present a CTIS system that uses an optimized diffractive optical element (DOE) to project the spectral and spatial information simultaneously onto a CCD. We compare the DOE with and older approach based on glass gratings and found that the DOE gave an improved spectral response. We argue that a DOE is the most effective approach for CTIS.


In order to study the immunological and biological characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) RpfA fusion proteins, in this study, RpfA fusion proteins were expressed in E. coli and BALB/c mice were immunized with it which had been refolded. four weeks later, ELISA was used to detect the anti-RpfA antibody titer in the immunized mice sera. After that, we separated the lymphocytes of the immunized mice and determined the stimulating index (SI), the content of IFN-γ and IL-2. To further evaluate protective immune response to MTB, the immunized mice were intravenously infected with 105 CFU MTB H37Rv and we determined the number of MTB H37Rv CFU in spleens. Different concentrations of refolded RpfA fusion proteins and the specific anti-RpfA fusion proteins antibody were added to MTB H37Ra in order to observe how the RpfA fusion proteins stimulated the growth of MTB H37Ra. In our study, we observed that the SI (stimulation index, SI) of the lymphocytes of the immunized mice restimulated by PPD in vitro could reach to 3.57 while that of the control group was only 1.27 (P0.05); The IFN-γ content of the immunized mice was 362.99±72.75 ng/L while that of the control group was only 32.45±18.97 ng/L(P0.05). The IL-2 content of immunized mice was 210.10±20.19 ng/ L while that of the control group was only 15.60±8.91 ng/L(P0.05). The number of MTB H37Rv CFU in the spleens of the immunized mice was 5.57±0.37(log10CFU±S)while that of the control group was only 6.54±0.22(P0.05); Refolded RpfA fusion proteins could stimulate the growth of MTB H37Ra, and the specific antibody could offset this effect. In conclusion, RpfA fusion proteins can induce humoral immunity and protective cellular immunity in mice and can stimulate the growth of MTB H37Ra, so it may be used as a component of a novel TB vaccine or be used in the rapid diagnosis of MTB.


We discuss the basic concepts of density functional theory (DFT) as applied to materials modeling in the microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic length scales. The picture that emerges is that of a single unified framework for the study of both quantum and classical systems. While for quantum DFT, the central equation is a one-particle Schrodinger-like Kohn-Sham equation, the classical DFT consists of Boltzmann type distributions, both corresponding to a system of noninteracting particles in the field of a density-dependent effective potential, the exact functional form of which is unknown. One therefore approximates the exchange-correlation potential for quantum systems and the excess free energy density functional or the direct correlation functions for classical systems. Illustrative applications of quantum DFT to microscopic modeling of molecular interaction and that of classical DFT to a mesoscopic modeling of soft condensed matter systems are highlighted.


At present,for the university student the trustworthiness crisis has become one of the outstanding problems.As the trustworthiness education gradually for the university student of just entering the society is to be of importance,development of vocational college student's trustworthiness principle becomes an important mission that the current vocational college thinks the political work.This paper aims at the current vocational college student present condition of the trustworthiness imperfection,analyze the reason that it produces,and put forward the educational strategy of the implement vocational college student's trustworthiness.


Combined production of aluminum hydrate by lime sintering-Bayer method is carried out by desilicification treating for stripped solution by Bayer method red mud, extracting while recovering for alumina and base in Bayer method red mud by 80%, and lowering base in Bayer method red mud under 1%. The silicon index reaches above 500. It has excellent effect and makes full use of Bayer method red mud and no waste residue discharge. Low-quality bauxite can be recovered and reutilized.


The proposed system aims to detect the lung nodules from a series of CT scan images. Otsu's thresholding and morphological operations are applied for nodules segmentation. After segmentation, the objects that do not hold the possibility to be nodules are removed. Geometric, histogram as well as texture features are then extracted for benign and malignant nodules classification. Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) is used for classification and the accuracy 95% has been achieved.


SCIAMACHY (SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY) aboard ESA's environmental satellite ENVISAT observed the Earth's atmosphere in limb, nadir, and solar/lunar occultation geometries covering the UV-Visible to NIR spectral range. Limb and nadir geometries were the main operation modes for the retrieval of scientific data. The new version 6 of ESA's level 2 processor now provides for the first time an operational algorithm to combine measurements of these two geometries in order to generate new products. As a first instance the retrieval of tropospheric NO2 has been implemented based on IUP-Bremen's reference algorithm [1]. We will detail the single processing steps performed by the operational limb-nadir matching algorithm and report the results of comparisons with the scientific tropospheric NO2 products of IUP and TEMIS [2]. The operational limb-nadir matching has been programmed in a generic way, meaning that the application to further trace gas species will require moderate adaptations only. Retrieval of tropospheric BrO by limb-nadir matching is planned for the next operational processor version.

References:

[1] A. Hilboll, A. Richter, A. Rozanov, O. Hodnebrog, A. Heckel, S. Solberg, F. Stordal, and J. P. Burrows. Retrieval of tropospheric NO2 columns from SCIAMACHY combining measurements from limb and nadir geometries. Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., 5, 5043-5105, 2012.

[2] K. F. Boersma, H. J. Eskes and E. J. Brinksma: Error Analysis for Tropospheric NO2 Retrieval from Space. J. Geophys. Res., 109 D04311, 2004.


Peach production in the USA has been in decline in recent decades due to poor fruit quality, reduced consumption and increased cost of production. Productivity and fruit quality can only be enhanced in the orchard through optimizing preharvest factors such as orchard design and training systems. Transition from low-density plantings (LDP) to high-density plantings (HDP) in peach is associated with the availability of reliable size controlling rootstocks. Increased densities must be combined with modern training systems to diffuse vigor and further increase light interception and yields, while optimizing light distribution, fruit quality and cost of production. Several training systems have been tested in peach with various objectives and goals, such as increasing light, water use and labor efficiencies, along with designing canopy architectures to facilitate mechanization and robotics. In general, increased planting densities increase yields, but excessive densities can promote shade, while excessive crop load can deteriorate quality. An ideal peach cropping system should optimize light interception and light distribution to balance maximum yield potential with maximum fruit quality potential. Successful management of high-density peach fruiting wall systems can lead to enhanced and uniform fruit quality, and ensure a sustainable industry.


The main characteristics of all low noise oscillators can be described by the same simple feedback circuit model. The model is essentially a positive circuit feedback Q multiplier circuit. The model shows how phase noise is fundamentally limited by the oscillator feedback power P relative to the noise N at the input of the feedback sustaining amplifier, and the effective open circuit mode Q which can be defined in simple terms for all oscillators. The figure of merit is PQ/sup 2//N, where N=1/2 FkT with F as the noise factor of the feedback amplifier. For all but delay line oscillators PQ/sup 2/ can be regarded as the stored energy of the oscillator. The stability of an oscillator is ultimately only determined by the physical stability of the values of the components which define the oscillator frequency, whether it be LC, delay line, or atomic resonance. Low noise oscillators can be designed conceptually by splitting the loop amplifier between input and output and then for the same phase shift designing the circuitry for best signal to noise match at the amplifier input. The paper concentrates on general rather than specific factors affecting oscillator performance, although some examples are given to indicate what factors are more important in practice. A conclusion of the paper is cryogenic operation of oscillators may be one of the only remaining ways forward offering substantial further improvement in oscillator performance.


Now the listed companies in China are facing a severe problem about the financial situation because of the financial tsunami. Certainly, the stakeholders of the enterprises will experience different levels of loss. Therefore, the build of effective early-warning index system of financial crisis make a significance to corporate investors, creditors, operators, etc. This article indicates the financial data limitation of China's listed companies, considers the cash flow as a vital factor in financial early-warning system and establishes three financial early-warning indexes based on cash flow, and then predicts three thresholds related with the three indexes respectively. The paper have a conclusion that the model on three financial early-warning indexes is applicable by calculation and empirical verification in listed companies in China.


Background: The process of ageing is accompanied with a progressive decline in skeletal muscle mass result- ing in sarcopenia. Aims: To test the association patterns between body mass index and appendicular skeletal muscle mass adjusted for height and total skeletal muscle mass adjusted for height among healthy women. Design: In a cross-sectional study the association between body mass index (BMI) and appendicular skeletal muscle mass adjusted for height and total skeletal muscle mass adjusted for height was tested among 834 healthy women ageing be- tween 20 and 92 years. Muscle mass was estimated by means of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Results: Appendicular skeletal muscle mass adjusted for height and total skeletal muscle mass adjusted for height were positively associated with BMI. Overweight women (BMI < 30.00) had a significantly reduced risk to develop sarcopenia in comparison with their normalweight counterparts.


The present contribution focuses on the results of a photoionization study of vinyl bromide cluster ions. Earlier contributions have reported on the detailed study of the spectroscopy and the dissociation dynamics of vinyl bromide isolated ions [1-3] as well as on the first results of the photoionization of clusters [4]. The study of the cluster ions is believed to bridge a gap between isolated ion and solvated ion reactivity.


Summary Mutational signatures are recurring DNA alteration patterns caused by distinct mutational events during the evolution of cancer. In recent years, several bioinformatics tools are available for mutational signature analysis. However, most of them focus on specific type of mutation, or have limited scope of application. A pipeline tool for comprehensive mutational signature analysis is still lacking. Here we present Sigflow pipeline, which provides an one-stop solution for de novo signature extraction, reference signature fitting, signature stability analysis, sample clustering based on signature exposure in different types of genome DNA alterations including single base substitution (SBS), doublet base substitution (DBS), small insertion and deletion (INDEL), and copy number alteration. A Docker image is constructed to solve the complex and time-consuming installation issues, and this enables reproducible research by version control of all dependent tools along with their environments. The Sigflow pipeline can be applied to both human and mouse genomes. Availability and implementation Sigflow is an open source software under academic free license (AFL) v3.0 and it is freely available at https://github.com/ShixiangWang/sigminer.workflow or https://hub.docker.com/r/shixiangwang/sigflow. Contact firstname.lastname@example.com


The wood cost of loblolly pine is lower than that of northern softwoods due to its fast growth rate and suitability for plantation harvesting. However, loblolly pine thermomechanical pulp (TMP) is difficult to bleach to high brightness. It also requires considerable refining energy to develop fibers, which limits its use mainly to low-value-added papers. We evaluated the potential for using the alkaline peroxide mechanical pulping (APMP) process for both mature and juvenile loblolly pine, with reference to the TMP process. Results of black spruce APMP were also used for comparison. In pilot plant trials, the APMP process, compared to theTMP process, required less specific refining energy and fewer bleaching chemicals to reach a given strength and brightness, and it produced a pulp with much lower shives content. For mature loblolly pine, 80%+ brightness was obtained with APMP, while the bleached TMP had a brightness ceiling of 76.6% ISO. The APMP process had more effect on juvenile pine than on mature wood with regard to pulp properties, and is therefore more beneficial for use with juvenile loblolly pine to maximize strength. In general, the APMP process is a technically viable method for dark and coarse fiber species such as loblolly pine because of the reduced amount of refining energy and bleaching chemicals required to reach a given strength and brightness. Application: This research may help mills lower fiber costs for higher brightness papers.


Due to the condition of the original material, there are unavoidable flaws in this reproduction. We have made every effort possible to provide you with the best copy available. If you are dissatisfied with this product and find it unusable, please contact Document Services as soon as possible. ABSTRACT Raytheon-Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) manufactures surface radars. In the past, Raytheon's Andover plant was primarily a systems integration facility receiving subassemblies from other sources to assemble the radars. Hence for a long time, building surface radars in low volume had been the norm. However, since the last few years the plant also has been producing some of these subassemblies in high volume. Due to this, the facility had to transition from a predominantly low volume manufacturing environment to one that includes high volume assembly lines. This thesis examines the challenges that arose due to the transition from a low volume to a high volume manufacturing environment. One of the major problems examined was throughput variability on a high volume assembly line. It has been determined that throughput variability can be reduced by achieving line coordination; i.e. "balance in the flow across the assembly line". This thesis emphasizes the importance of effective execution of the production plan to reduce throughput variability. It focuses on three key areas that needed improvement-Culture, Manufacturing Practices and Business Systems. The thesis includes improvements implemented to achieve line coordination.


valine metabolism, results from tissue accumulation and significant elevation of urinary excretion of 3hydroxyisobutyric acid. To date, 14 cases of 3-HiB-uria have been reported, the majority of which were male patients, including two sets of male twins, two brothers, and a brother-and-sister pair.1-7 The clinical course varies, from mild attacks of vomiting with normal brain and cognitive development,3,5 to failure to thrive with profound mental impairment and early death.2,4 Dysmorphic facial features and brain malformation have been described in patients with 3HiB-uria.1-4,6,8 Of the 14 reported cases, there were only two autopsies from four deaths. No gross or microscopic images exist. In this report, we document the post-mortem neuropathological findings in a 3-HiB-uria case with photographs for the first time.


Breast implants are in frequently complicated by infection. Acute infections associated with breast implants are usually due to skin pathogens (ie, group A streptococci, Staphylococcus epidermidis, or Staphylococcus aureus). Breast implantYassociated infections that occur long after the postoperative period are often due to aerobic gram-negative bacilli. Chronic Bculture-negative[ infections after breast implant procedures are often due to atypical mycobacteria in patients with breast cancer after mastectomy. We report an unusual case of late breast implantYassociated infection due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa that did not clear with implant removal. Her implant related soft tissue infection was successfully treated with meropenem 1 g IV every 8 hours for 7 days. (Infect Dis Clin Pract 2008;16:268Y269) The most common complication of breast implants is infection; approximately 2% to 2.5% of breast implants become infected. Acute infections associated with breast implants are commonly due to skin flora organisms (eg, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus). Chronic infections related to breast implants are often due to nontuberculous mycobacteria (eg, Mycobacterium fortuitumchelonei). Infectious complications include wound-site infections and/or pocket abscesses. We present a case of a breast implantYrelated infection due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a rare cause of late breast implant infection.


Objective: Knee medial loading is one of the most important biomechanical variables for knee joint diseases. Some easily-obtained variables, including knee adduction/flexion moment (KAM/KFM) and knee adduction angle (KAA) separately, have been proposed to indicate the variability of the medial loading. The purpose of this study is to undertake an informed evaluation of these predictors in walking task. Methods: In this study, we collected motion and kinetic data for 16 healthy subjects in straight walking. A previously validated musculoskeletal model Freebody 2.1 was used to calculated knee medial force (KMF), KAM, KFM and KAA. Linear regression models were established when KAM, KFM and KAA at peak KAM timing were successively added as predictors. Correlation analysis was used to explore the relationship between predictors. Results: KAA was a significant predictor in walking state, which improved the fit effect of the regression models with the adjusted R2 increasing to 0.809. The correlation analysis revealed that all the three indicators provided unique information for KMF evaluation during walking. Conclusion: Together with KAM and KFM, KAA is a significant predictor for KMF evaluation during straight walk state. Significance: These findings will help improve the accuracy of the evaluation of knee medial loading for clinicians and researchers to predict the risks of knee degeneration.


This paper is a case study of the stimulation and testing of tight lenticular sands in the paludal interval of the Mesaverde Group in the Piceance basin as DOE's Multiwell Experiment site in Colorado. Prestimulation data acquired include (1) geologic studies which delineate the size and shape of the lenses, (2) detailed core reservoir/rock property data, (3) stress test data showing the vertical distribution of stress throgh the interval, (4) drawdown, buildup, and interference tests which provide in situ reservoir properties, and (5) laboratory data on frac fluid invasion and damage. Stimulation of the zone was conducted in two phases. The first phase consisted of steprate/flowback tests and two minifracs in which pre-frac design information was obtained. The main stimulation was the second phase and it consisted of 75,000 gal (284 m/sup 3/) of cross-linked HPG and 193,000 lbs. (87,545 kg) of sand. Bottomhole pressure and temperature, as well as all surface data, were obtained and borehole geophones were used for fracture diagnostics. Detailed pre-frac, between-frac, and post-frac well test programs were conducted in conjunction with the stimulation. Severe cleanup problems and remedial actions are documented. The analyses and diagnostics give some indication of fracture geometry in this lenticular environment.more » Complications such as high treatment pressures and frac-fluid damage are detailed. Gas production was decreased (at least over short test periods) by both phases of the treatment; this was probably due to damage to the natural fractures which did not have sufficient time to clean up. 14 references, 10 figures, 1 table.« less


The measurements of solar irradiation are available for relatively small number of locations. Again the stations recording diffuse as well as global irradiation are fewer. In the UK only seven stations record both components whereas the latter component is recorded at 26 stations. Hence a correlation is desired which would enable computation of daily diffuse component of global irradiation. The present study serves this need. The traditional method is to develop a correlation between daily diffuse ratio (ratio of diffuse to global irradiation) against clearness index (ratio of global to extraterrestrial irradiation). Hence correlations were first developed for five widespread locations in the UK using 3-year daily data. Comparison of these correlations showed their closeness to each other and hence the possibility for a single correlation for the entire United Kingdom. The correlation developed for the UK was checked by various statistical tests and was found to predict the diffuse component quite accurately.


In 2001, an anthrax outbreak demonstrated the urgent need for agents to counter potential bioterrorism attacks involving anthrax spores. In response to this need, Merck Research Laboratories began developing a potent, selective anthrax Lethal Factor inhibitor (LFI), potentially for the Strategic National Stockpile, a repository for therapeutic agents for national emergencies. To provide bioanalytical support for impending human pharmacokinetic evaluation of this therapeutic, an analytical method with a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 5 ng/mL was required. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) detection is ideal for highly selective trace-level quantitative determinations of analytes like LFI in biological matrices. High polarity complicated the development of sample preparation and chromatographic conditions. The final method consisted of a liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate and reversed-phase chromatography with a highly aqueous mobile phase.


A social media is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationswith other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds or reallifeconnections. The impact of social networks on young people is significant. It is becomingincreasingly clear that social networks have become part of people's lives. Many adolescentpeople are using their laptops, tablet computers and smart phones to check Tweets and statusupdates from their friends and family. Due to the advancement in technology, people arepressured to accept different lifestyles.


The essay examines Amy Schumer's breakout performance in the controversial Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen to unpack and theorize the workings of ironic performativity. The essay offers processual language (the doing of racism, the doing of sexism, etc.) correctives for audiencing, naming, and making sense of layered ironic performances to foster more complex audiencing practices and engage the work with greater critical scrutiny and possibility. The analysis underscores the necessity of critical self-reflexivity in the processing of ironic comedy, as audiences are co-authors and co-owners of the meanings produced in this work (whether offense, laughter, subversion, or potentiality).


—There is an interaction between the equalization of public medical services and the level of new urbanization. Scientifically measuring and evaluating the relationship between them is of great significance to promote regional coordinated development. In this paper, the mean square deviation decision-making method and linear weighting method are used to measure the comprehensive score of the two systems, and the coupling coordination relationship of two systems is quantitatively analyzed by using the coupling coordination degree model. The study found that the level of new urbanization and equalization of medical and health services in Henan were continuously improved from 2010 to 2019; the coupling of the two systems has gradually transitioned from the uncoordinated period to the transitional period, but has not yet ushered in the development of high-level coordination. Finally, relevant suggestions are put forward.


Abstract. Lanternfishes currently represent one of the dominant groups of mesopelagic fishes in terms of abundance, biomass, and diversity. Their otolith record dominates pelagic sediments below 200 m in dredges, especially during the entire Neogene. Here we provide an analysis of their diversity and rise to dominance primarily based on their otolith record. The earliest unambiguous fossil myctophids are known based on otoliths from the late Paleocene and early Eocene. During their early evolutionary history, myctophids were likely not adapted to a high oceanic lifestyle but occurred over shelf and upper-slope regions, where they were locally abundant during the middle Eocene. A distinct upscaling in otolith size is observed in the early Oligocene, which also marks their earliest occurrence in bathyal sediments. We interpret this transition to be related to the change from a halothermal deep-ocean circulation to a thermohaline regime and the associated cooling of the deep ocean and rearrangement of nutrient and silica supply. The early Oligocene myctophid size acme shows a remarkable congruence with diatom abundance, the main food resource for the zooplankton and thus for myctophids and whales. The warmer late Oligocene to early middle Miocene period was characterized by an increase in disparity of myctophids but with a reduction in their otolith sizes. A second and persisting secular pulse in myctophid diversity (particularly within the genus Diaphus) and increase in size begins with the "biogenic bloom" in the late Miocene, paralleled with diatom abundance and mysticete gigantism.


These advanced manufacturing models called for self-protection mechanisms that bore characteristics similar to biological immune systems.We called this kind of quality management system the immune-type quality management system.This article introduced the concept,meaning and basic characteristic of immune quality management systems.A comparison and an analysis are conducted between immune quality management and total quality management from various angles to reveal the potential and application value of this innovative quality management concept.


Epidemiologists have long regarded relative risk (RR) as a key measure of association between two binary variables. Yet even when the sample is repre- sentative of the population, associations having a RR > 9 may have a relatively small value for Phi (φ < .3). This paper provides additional reasons for using RR instead of φ. (1) Formulas relating φ and RR are de- rived. A relative φ is constructed; the absolute value is shown to equal that of the attributable fraction in the population (AFP). RR is shown to increase monotoni- cally with this relative φ for a given exposure factor prevalence (H). (2) Constructs are created to measure degrees of necessity (N) and sufficiency (S). Related formulas are derived. RR is shown to increase mono- tonically with N for a given exposure factor prevalence (H). (3) Coordinates that will always generate admissi- ble results are discussed. (4) RR is a good measure of association between two binary variables because it increases monotonically with AFP, with a relative φ 2 and with N for a given exposure factor prevalence (H). In Appendix B, auxiliary identities are presented in- cluding a Bayes' rule comparison, the over- involvement rule and the non-response bias effect size.


The introduction of multimedia technology into college English teaching has posed a great challenge to the traditional teaching model.The paper makes an analysis of the objective factors that the traditional teaching model still exists.Under the guiding document College English Curriculum Requirements the paper reflects on the shortcomings of the traditional teaching model and tries to put forward some suggestions to reform it.


1 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan 2 Ningbo Institute of Material Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo, 315201, China 3 Nanostructures Research Laboratory, Japan Fine Ceramics Center, Nagoya, 456-8587, Japan 4 Institute of Industrial Science, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan 5 Department of Materials Science, Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka, 599-8531, Japan


A. Scope of this Review
Adenosine is a neuromodulator that plays a pivotal role in maintaining adequate oxygen and energy supply throughout the body,1 The actions of adenosine are mediated through specific cell-surface receptors, of which at least two subtypes are known, A1 and A2. Due to its potent actions on many organs and systems, adenosine is an obvious target for the development of new drugs,2 and in the past decade adenosine receptors have become a subject of intense investigation. Potential therapeutic applications for agonists include, for instance, the prevention of reperfusion injury after cardiac ischemia or stroke, and the treatment of hypertension and epilepsy.3 Adenosine itself has recently been approved for the treatment of paroxysmal supra-ventricular tachycardia.4 Adenosine antagonists might be effective in, e.g., renal failure and as cognition enhancers.3 There are also recent indications that selective A1 antagonists might be beneficial in cystic fibrosis.5

After an introduction on adenosine receptor subtypes, transduction mechanisms, and adenosine receptor regulation, this review will focus on the strueture of adenosine receptor ligands, and on the structural information contained in the deduced amino acid sequences of the recently cloned adenosine receptor cDNAs. Many tools for the delineation of receptor physiology and pharmacology, as well as some potential therapeutic agents, have become available in recent years. The structure–activity relationships (SARs) of these compounds will be discussed, with some emphasis on the insights that have been gained using molecular modeling techniques. In addition, information about the structure of the receptor gathered with the aid of receptor labeling agents will be discussed, and a detailed analysis of functional and structural domains of the receptor deduced from the amino acid sequences will be presented. The physiology, pharmacology, and therapeutic potential of adenosine receptors have been the subject of a number of recent reviews3,6–8 and will not be discussed in any detail in the present article.


Abstract : In the research on part I of this project we are carrying out ab-initio quantum chemical calculations and generating electrostatic molecular potential maps for cationic polymerization: on energetic monomers, on their interaction with catalysts and on the attack of the monomer-catalyst complexes on the substrates. This research is in support of an ongoing overall project of the Power Program Branch of ONR designed to develop energetic binders for use with energetic propellants. We are pursuing several approaches to the predictions of crystal structures and densities. The first is to calculate (from calculations on the super-molecules) the SCF intermolecular interaction, separate it into its various components and use these to construct the crystal structure. The second approach is to carry over the concept recently used successfully in calculations for biological systems where the same ab-initio calculations between two or several of such molecules for a large variety of inter-molecular configurations is used to derive atom class-atom pair-pair and three-body potentials which are then used to calculate the intermolecular structure of an arrangement of molecules.


Based on the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM), this study evaluates the spatial spillover effect of PM2.5 concentration in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) and its surrounding areas from 2000 to 2016, analyzes its main influencing factors and verifies the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). In addition, Social Network Analysis (SNA) is used to measure the regional air pollution transmission network. The results are as follows: (1) A significant inverted U-shaped EKC with spatial spillover effect between the sampled 48 cities was verified. (2) Industrial structure had both local and spillover effects on air pollution with a U-shaped curve; technological progress exerted a negative spillover effect on air pollution, while traffic evidenced positive local and spillover effects; meteorological conditions showed different impacts on air pollution. (3) Heze, Tianjin, Xingtai, Shijiazhuang and Liaocheng are the top five cities in the centrality of the air pollution correlation network, indicating air pollution in these cities have significant impacts on other cities within the network; while Sanmenxia, Weihai, Yuncheng, Langfang and Zhumadian are the bottom five cities, which indicates that the air pollution of these cities has the least correlation with other cities. The policy suggestions for 48 cities involve: building up a regional joint prevention and control mechanism, enhancing the supervision of cities located in the centrality of the air pollution correlation network, accelerating high-tech and service-oriented industrialization, encouraging technological innovation in energy conservation and environmental protection and implementing vehicle regulation.


The plasma‐assisted slow wave oscillator (Pasotron) employs a plasma lens for initial focusing of the driving electron beam, enabling operation without a magnetic field. In this study, the XOOPIC particle‐in‐cell code is used to model the beam interaction with an expanding background neutral gas. The 40 kV beam electrons impact‐ionize the background gas, displacing the less energetic plasma electrons, and focusing the nominally 50 A beam in the neutralizing space charge of the remaining plasma ions. A particle‐in‐cell (PIC) Monte Carlo collision (MCC) model is described. The model treats charged particles (beam electrons, plasma electrons and ions) as particles. Collisions between charged particles (electrons and ions) and neutrals are included using a Monte Carlo collision model with a spatially‐dependent helium gas background. Time‐dependent space charge and self‐magnetic forces are included. The model is used to study beam focusing, as well as oscillations and instabilities at higher currents.


In this paper, study the influence of anti-stripping agent on the mesoscopic strength of basalt asphalt mixture in seasonal frozen region under different states and temperatures by experiments. Meanwhile Accurately and objectively evaluate the characteristics on engineering performance of two kinds anti-stripping agents. Results show that anti-stripping agent improves the mesoscopic strength of basalt asphalt mixture. The research results can provide theoretical basis for the design and construction of basalt asphalt pavement, which is suitable for Jilin Province and Jilin Province with the same weather conditions or engineering background.


Assume [Formula: see text]. Let [Formula: see text] be a [Formula: see text] equivalence relation coded in [Formula: see text]. [Formula: see text] has an ordinal definable equivalence class without any ordinal definable elements if and only if [Formula: see text] is unpinned. [Formula: see text] proves [Formula: see text]-class section uniformization when [Formula: see text] is a [Formula: see text] equivalence relation on [Formula: see text] which is pinned in every transitive model of [Formula: see text] containing the real which codes [Formula: see text]: Suppose [Formula: see text] is a relation on [Formula: see text] such that each section [Formula: see text] is an [Formula: see text]-class, then there is a function [Formula: see text] such that for all [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]. [Formula: see text] proves that [Formula: see text] is Jónsson whenever [Formula: see text] is an ordinal: For every function [Formula: see text], there is an [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] in bijection with [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text].


More than half of all refugees currently resettled in the United States are racial-ethnic-minority men. Yetrefugee health scholarship has not fully explored racial ethnic minority refugee men's encounters with resettlement environment norms about race, ethnicity and gender. This paper describes an intersectional-informed qualitative study of the daily stressors experienced by Black-African refugee men in the United States to explain how such experiences impact their health and wellbeing. These men's life narratives illumi-nate how stigma and discrimination associated with race, ethnicity, gender affect their health and wellbeing during resettlement. These findings offer evidence that the realities of ethnic minority refugee men in the United States, while unique, can contribute to broader discourses about minority men's health inequities.


Summary. The variogram is a standard tool in the analysis of spatial data, and its shape provides useful information on the form of spatial correlation that may be present. However, it is also useful to be able to assess the evidence for the presence of any spatial correlation. A method of doing this, based on an assessment of whether the true function underlying the variogram is constant, is proposed. Nonparametric smoothing of the squared differences of the observed variables, on a suitably transformed scale, is used to estimate variogram shape. A statistic based on a ratio of quadratic forms is proposed and the test is constructed by investigating the distributional properties of this statistic under the assumption of an independent Gaussian process. The power of the test is investigated. Reference bands are proposed as a graphical follow‐up. An example is discussed.


Objective To evaluate the possible mechanism of low-dose erythropoietin (EPO) alleviating renal interstitial fibrosis after ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI).Methods Renal interstitial fibrosis was induced by unilateral renal IRI in mice.Mice were randomly divided into three groups:sham-operated,ischemic control and low-dose EPO treatment.They were sacrificed at 28th day after operation.The kidneys were taken for pathological analysis.The expression of laminin (LN),fibronectin (FN) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in the kidneys was detected by using immunohistochemistry,and TGF-β1 by Western blotting.Results There was remarkable renal interstitial fibrosis in the control group as compared to the EPO group.The levels of LN,FN,and TGF-β1 mRNA and protein were significantly reduced in the EPO group (3.60 ± 0.46,3.85 ± 0.44,3.44 ± 0.52,0.77 ± 0.05) compared to the control group (4.39±0.54,4.99±0.22,4.33 ±0.29,0.91 ±0.04).Conclusion The results suggested low-dose EPO can reduce the accumulation of extracellular matrix through regulating TGF-β1 expression,thereby alleviating renal interstitial ftbrosis and protecting the kidney.

Key words:
Erythropoietin; Renal ischemia; Reperfusion injury; Tubulointerstitial fibrosis


Eighteen Holstein dairy cows averaging 141 days in milk were used in a complete randomized design to determine the effects of feeding liquid acid whey (LAW) on milk production and composition. Animals received a diet consisting of berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum., L), wheat straw and concentrate (Control). Treatments were control and control plus 40 liters/cow/day of LAW. Daily individual Dry Matter Intake (DMI) and milk production were measured. Diet digestibility was determined using the total collection method. Results showed that LAW increased (P 0,05) for both treatments. It can be concluded that including LAW in dairy diets, in a partial replacement of the concentrate, significantly improved FCM and milk fat and protein yields without affecting milk composition.

 Key words: Dairy cow, whey, milk yield, milk composition.


This research is a result of the practice of professionalizing internship in educational processes of the Psychology course, in which the difficulty of communication of students of Basic Education was verified in a private school in São Paulo, and two schools of the Etec of Centro Paula Souza. The complaint of parents, teachers and the students themselves evidenced communication problems in several relational spheres of children and teenagers. The observations obtained from the practice in the professional internship identifies a need for welcoming and active listening on the part of the students. This is a qualitative, bibliographic research with psycho-educational intervention. For data collection we used the observation of on-line classes, the application of psychoeducational workshops, group and individual listening. It should be noted that the classes in the first semester of 2021 were online due to the pandemic, and the professional internship practice was also developed online. The psycho-educational intervention workshops were developed with conversation rounds, thematic debates, and reflections based on videos, song lyrics, and interactive dynamics, as well as individual moments needed for psycho-educational guidance, requested by the students themselves. The data collection also used an online questionnaire prepared in google forms, answered by the students after the participation in the workshops. The data analysis used was the category analysis, from the observations during the psychoeducational workshops, which by the students' reports it was found that the initial complaint of the absence of communication was mainly between parents and children, which generated consequences such as difficulties in expressing themselves clearly, insecurities, pedagogical and emotional difficulties; all caused by the absence of dialogue. The pandemic highlights pre-existing problems: the busy life, excessive work, ending relationships, bereavement, health problems, and socioeconomic issues, among others, are situations that adults (parents and caregivers) experience on a daily basis and that interfere in the education and development of their children. Thus, socioemotional skills have been left adrift raising the need to develop the human being, communication being a primordial part of this development.


The stable wave packet has been missing in quantum mechanics for a long time. A consistent argument finds, in antimatter, regular group and phase velocities, along with negative energy and negative mass. For this, a new wave function is derived for free antiparticles, consistent with the Feynman-Stueckelberg switching principle. The wave packet, expressing internal periodicity together with external confinement, is ubiquitous in physics. The stable wave packet has many consequences, a few of which are mentioned. They extend to the debate about what is measurable in physics and to localization of quantized properties in entangled particles.


This paper describes the electrospray of resorcinol–formaldehyde (RF) sol on a carbon paper for making carbon electrodes. The sol layer undergoes curing, solvent removal, and pyrolysis under an inert atmosphere. In a separate study, the powdered carbon samples were derived from bulk RF-gel samples, prepared in bottles. The gel composition and the processing method were systematically varied. The EDX and BET analyses of the carbon samples helped in arriving at an optimized composition of the precursor sol, and the processing method for the electrospray derived carbon film. The electrodes showed a specific capacitance of 200 F g–1 at 0.1 A g–1 of current density with 2 M potassium chloride solution as electrolyte. The high value of specific capacitance was possible by the splitting of precursor sol prior to deposition on the current collector, and also by removal of solvent by lyophilization that retained the pore structure of the gel.


Progress is reported in the areas of thermal analysis of HTGR systems, axial mode spacing affects in flow distribution calculations, and performance calculations for the core auxiliary heat exchanger.


Harvesting of brinjal activities are not only drudgeries but time-consuming also. Hence, the present study was undertaken to introduce the ring cutter and assessing its acceptability among farm women in the adopted village of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Narsinghpur to performing harvesting of brinjal.. Reduction of women's drudgery with the use of ring cutter was asses in the terms of ergonomic cost. The ergonomic cost was calculated by measuring heart rate, energy expenditure, and total cardiac cost of the work. The results indicate that the ring cutter harvest 42 kg/hr brinjal as compare to bare hand 34.2 kg/hr with 33% labour saving.


A method for determining consensus of hierarchical incomplete ordered partitions and coverings of sets is presented in this chapter. Incomplete ordered partitions and coverings are often used in expert information analysis. These structures should be useful when an expert has to classify elements of a set into given classes, but referring to several elements he does not know to which classes they should belong. The hierarchical ordered partition is a more general structure than incomplete ordered partition. In this chapter we present definitions of the notion of hierarchical incomplete ordered partitions and coverings of sets. The distance functions between hierarchical incomplete ordered partitions and coverings are defined. We present also algorithms of consensus determining for a finite set of hierarchical incomplete ordered partitions and coverings.


How to treat the geo-hazards of coal mining collapse is great hard for all over the world.Finding out the background condition of the coal mining collapse's formation,the growth characteristic and the ways of showing,summarizing the treatment mode of mining geology environment in the coal mining collapse area,these studies are very important to guide the treatment work of mining geology environment in the coal mining collapse area.This article collects the achievement data of the national typical mine geology environment treatment,analyzes the ways of showing of the coal mining collapse geo-hazards of the different coal mine and their treatment ideas,According to the formation scale and its growth characteristic of the coal mining collapse,after all generalizes two kinds of different treatment modes in view of the case whether easily comes into being some pools zones or not in the coal mining collapse area.On this foundation,this article carries on a discussion to the treatment mode applicability making use of the treatment actual case of the mining geology environment in the coal mining collapse area in ShiZui Mountain city of the Ningxia province.The result expresses that the treatment work of the coal mining collapse geo-hazards must be in line with local conditions,make a concrete analysis of concrete conditions,never copy others treatment method blindly,otherwise the result is just the contrary.


To improve the hydrophilic properties of poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) nano/ microfiber webs for tissue engineering scaffolds, PCL webs of various structures were fabricated by electrospinning with single or double nozzles connected to an auxiliary electrode. Surface-modified and layered PCL fiber webs were made by including water-soluble poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) in the PCL electrospinning solution (single-nozzle method) or by electrospinning of alternating PCL and PEO solutions using two nozzles (double-nozzle method), respectively. When the PEO component within the resulting webs was removed by dissolution with distilled water, the remnant PCL webs exhibited two distinct structures. Those made by the single-nozzle method consisted of nanofibers with high surface roughness, whereas those made by the double-nozzle method consisted of stacked layers of PCL nanofibers. Both types of structured PCL web showed improved hydrophilicity characteristics compared with those of nanofiber webs generated from a pure PCL solution using a typical electrospinning process. Cell culturing and scanning electron microscopy showed that the interactions between human dermal fibroblasts and the structured PCL scaffolds were very favorable.


A compact laser produced plasma x-ray source radiates 24 Watts average power of 1nm x-rays in 2(pi) steradians. The x-ray power conversion efficiency is 9% from the laser average power focused on the x-ray target. The laser-plasma x-ray source is generated by a 300W compact, diode-pumped, solid-state Nd:YAG laser system. The tabletop laser system is constructed on a 4ft x 8ft optical bench and the laser modules are 1ft high. The total wall-plug power consumption for this laser-produced-plasma x-ray source is 22 kW. The x-ray source is optimized for integration with and x-ray stepper to provide a complete x-ray lithography exposure tool for the manufacture of high speed GaAs devices.


This work aimed to evaluate the number of eggs in Macrobrachium pantanalense at different stages of embryonic development, since during period of incubation can result on embryos loss. Ovigerous females were collected in the Pantanal Sul Matogrossense and were selected in two size classes: small (29-40 mm) and large (53-64 mm). Twenty females were selected from each class at each stage of embryonic development (I, II and III). The differences between fertility and egg volume in each size class and embryonic development phase were compared using multifactorial analysis of variance. The fecundity of M. pantanalense increases as the size of females. The volume of eggs increased as embryonic development, being one of the reasons for reducing the number of eggs during incubation.


Purpose – To understand ageing well, one needs to study not only those who are ageing but also the places within and with which people are ageing. In the past, much ageing‐well research has been focused on ensuring individuals have the "right" resources and are engaged in the "best" types of activities. However, recent theorizing has prompted the study of ageing well as a process of making sense of self amid later‐life changes. Building on Rowles' attachment‐to‐place work, the purpose of this paper is to consider how the "thick concreteness" of place influences later‐life meaning making.Design/methodology/approach – This is a theoretical paper on ageing.Findings – The paper draws on Casey's phenomenological conceptualization of places as imprinting themselves on bodies and selves, much as humans shape the places they inhabit. Data from interviews with older rural women in western Canada illustrates how this conceptualization can enhance understanding of ageing well relative to place as a physical, socio‐c...


It is shown that the split inversion neural network algorithm can provide accurate interpolation for nonlinear situations that would be difficult to obtain with a look-up table. Neural networks trained with the algorithm are shown to provide complex interpolation when used as associative memories. The nonlinear relations need never be known; the network learns these from training with representative examples. The discretization of the parameters used in obtaining training samples and the nature of the underlying equations determine the accuracy of the interpolation. This approach has been shown to be valuable for engineering design where expertise is often dependent on association with previous designs that on following a set of rules. The neural network has been applied to the design of a beam-truss-spring structure.<<ETX>>


This Cd-Rom on sugarcane diseases is an interactive and easy to use multimedia software containing: - An identification system for sugarcane disease pathogens and disorders distributed worldwide including: bacteria phytoplasmas, viruses, nutritional deficiencies, physiological agents. - The contents of the book "A guide to sugarcane diseases" coedited by ISSCT and CIRAD. This scientific knowledge base contains the description of 79 diseases and disorders of sugarcane including 300 colour photographs. The Cd-Rom contains an additional 200 colour pictures and information about nutritional deficiencies and witchweed (Striga spp.). (Resume d'auteur)


UV/chlorine treatment is an efficient technology for removing organic pollutants in wastewater. Nevertheless, degradation of antihistamines in the UV/chlorine system, especially the underlying reaction mechanism, is not yet clear. In this study, the degradation of cetirizine (CTZ), a representative antihistamine, under UV/chlorine treatment was investigated. The results showed that CTZ could undergo fast degradation in the UV/chlorine system with an observed reaction rate constant (kobs) of (0.19 ± 0.01) min−1, which showed a first-increase and then-decrease trend with its initial concentration increased. The degradation of CTZ during the UV/chlorine treatment was attributed to direct UV irradiation (38.7%), HO• (35.3%), Cl• (7.3%), and ClO• (17.1%). The kobs of CTZ decreased with the increase in pH and the increase in concentrations of a representative dissolved organic matter, Suwannee River natural organic matter (SRNOM), due to their negative effects on the concentrations of reactive species generated in the UV/chlorine system. The detailed reaction pathways of HO•, ClO•, and Cl• with CTZ were revealed using quantum chemical calculation. This study provided significant insights into the efficient degradation and the underlying mechanism for the removal of CTZ in the UV/chlorine system.


In order to avoid the influence of heteroscedasticity on retrieval results in passive differential optical absorption spectroscopy(DOAS) using scattered sunlight,the retrieval method of passive DOAS is discussed in this paper.There is better statistical characteristic in local polynomial regression method,and the non-parameter regression does not need to give heteroscedastic structure and can be applied in almost all evaluations.Therefore the non-parameter robust local polynomial regression is applied to evaluate the slowly varying absorbed component and the slit column density of trace gases is retrieved.This method is used to process the measured spectra in field campaign.Results show that the new method obtains better retrieval effects than the least square polynomial regression evaluation and the measurement error of passive DOAS is reduced.


Drought Monitoring by remotely sensed moisture vegetation indexes is being an active research subject as the vegetation spectral responses are showed to be highly correlated to water content. The MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer) sensor of the Terra satellite provides MOD09A1 product of BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) used in computing moisture vegetation indexes (MVI). The exploration of an MVI time-series in the Kroumirie forest in Northern Tunisia showed important noise due to both clouds contamination and sensor defaults that had to be removed. Amongst methods for removing these imperfections, TIMESAT tool was designed for correcting time-series of satellite data and also to retrieve seasonal parameters from smoothed vegetation indexes. The methodology of smoothing functions to fit the time series data is based on two stages. First, a least square fit to the upper envelope of the vegetation indices series is applied. The second stage is achieved by local and adaptive fitting functions. The corrections have been made by spikes removal due to abrupt change of MVI variations and by fitting the MVI time-series to the upper envelop to correct the negative biases of remote sensing vegetation indexes. The adaptive Savitsky-Golay function filter compared to local filtering process produces variations that conserve local variations for all the tested MVI. Seasonal vegetation parameters were extracted for each year of the time-series analysis and compared to the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) calculated at meteorological station level and for different time scales. Positive relations were found between SPI and the seasonal parameters expressed by the length and the amplitude of the season, indicating MODIS derived MVI sensitivity to water deficit or surplus conditions. The 6-month SPI showed the best performance when related to water sensitive indexes suggesting that MODIS derived indexes are more correlated to the precipitation variations over seasons.


This book covers a detailed description of palatal rugae. The use of palatal rugae holds a signicant place in forensic identification of individuals. These anatomical landmarks are permanent in nature and do not undergo any change even after death. This static property has been useful to the forensic experts. With the advent of computerization in almost every field the data on rugae can be stored and later used for identification purposes. This is one of the premier books on palatal rugae and will be useful to research scholars as well as students.