1. The response of triceps surae motoneurons to linearly rising ramps of depolarizing current injected through intracellular micropipette electrodes has been studied in cats. Most of the data were obtained in animals anesthetized with pentobarbital but some units were studied in spinal unanesthetized preparations with anemic destruction of the brain. There were no essential differences in results from the two types of preparations.2. The speed of contraction of the muscle fibers innervated by the motoneurons studied was measured following stimulation of the cell through the intracellular micropipette. Motor units could then be classified into two groups, fast twitch or type F and slow twitch or type S, on the basis of the speed of contraction of the muscle fibers innervated.3. The presence or absence of accommodation in each motoneuron was determined based on the shape of the current-latency curve obtained during passage of linearly rising depolarizing currents of widely varying slope. About one half of t...


A small clear-distance, double-arch tunnel under an asymmetrical load combines the characteristics of small clear-distance, tunnels and double-arch tunnels, and the influence of an asymmetrical terrain must be considered. Its construction stability is a problem worth studying. This paper used the Wengcun tunnel as the engineering background. Midas/GTS finite element analysis software was used to study the effects of eight excavation sequences and two excavation methods on tunnel stability. The results showed that the deformation and force of the tunnel were asymmetric under the asymmetrical terrain. Both middle partition walls were deformed towards the shallowly buried side, and the shallowly buried side was deformed to a greater extent. Excavating shallow side tunnels first can effectively mitigate the impact of asymmetric terrain. The arch settlement of the Center Diaphragm Excavation Method is 1.33 cm, which is smaller than the three-step excavation method of 1.48 cm; however, this difference is not significant. The Three-bench Excavation Method was more efficient. Based on the conclusion of a numerical simulation, the construction site adopted the construction sequence of excavating the shallowly buried side tunnel first and adjusted the excavation method to the Three-bench Excavation Method.


This paper presents a model of international trade with imperfect competition to show that in the absence of price discrimination it matters which economic agent pays the tariff. The analysis indicates that the effects of trade protection (or liberalization) are not uniform across industries, and that they could even not exist.


The aim of current research is to study the relationship between psychological flow and happiness among a sample of Damascus University students (Faculties of Law and Fine Arts), in addition to knowing the differences in happiness and psychological flow due to variables (gender, faculty). The research used the descriptive correlative approach. the researcher used Jackson and Elkland flow questionnaire, and the Oxford happiness questionnaire prepared by Argyle and Hills; which applied to a sample of (300) students of the third year. The results showed that there is, a statistically significant correlation between psychological flow and happiness (0.70) and there is a statistically significant correlation between Happiness and each loss of self-consciousness, Merging of action and awareness, and sense of control with (0.63, 0.59, 0.47) respectively. Also, the results showed there are no statistically significant differences in the psychological flow or in happiness among the members of the research sample due to the variable (sex) at level (0.05≥α). While there were statistically significant differences in the psychological flow among the members of the sample due to the variable of (faculty), in favor of the students of Fine Arts faculty. According to the results of research, psychological flow explains about 70% of the total variance in happiness. Based on the results, the researcher presented a number of recommendations to improve the psychological growth and happiness among the two colleges.


This paper focuses on the wheel of experience in translation activity in a metaphorical way. The wheel of experience can be imagined as the wheel of the car that moves forward enabling the translation process to proceed smoothly. The translator (driver) is only occasionally aware of the turning of the wheel(s). Once the experiential processes of intuition, experience of world and experience of translation have been sublimated, they operate subor semiconsciously. The smooth spinning movement can be interpreted as follows: the translator approaches new texts with an intuitive readiness that with experience steeped in the automatisms of habit. This movement is one of the most important keys to successful, effective, and enjoyable translation.


This report provides methods for estimating flood characteristics at most natural flow sites on rural streams in Montana. It also contains significant flood data and related information for many gaged sites on Montana streams. Frequency curves are provided for 442 gaged sites as defined by log-Pearson Type III analysis. To allow estimates at ungaged sites, mathematical equations relate the 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, and 100-year flood magnitudes to basin characteristics. Drainage area, main channel slope, and mean annual precipitation were found to be the most significant estimating variables. Equations presented are limited to use on streams with drainage areas from about 0.1 to 2,600 square miles (0.3 to 6,700 square kilometres), with slope from about 5 to 1,200 feet per mile (1.5 to 366 metres per kilometre), and with precipitation from 10 to 100 inches (250 to 2,500 millimetres). Nomographs provide a simple graphical means of solving the estimating relations, and illustrative examples are presented. 1


Poultry production, facing modernization and increasing competitiveness, shows itself to be enterprising in the adoption of new technologies which enable increased productivity. Knowing that poultry productivity and rectal temperature (Tr) are affected by environmental conditions, this research was done with the objective of developing and evaluating artificial neural networks (ANNs) for the prediction of Tr in function of thermal conditions (air temperature, Tair; relative humidity, RH; and air velocity, V). The architecture chosen for this purpose was a single hidden layer Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), which was developed and trained under Scilab 4.1.1 aimed with ANN toolbox 0.4.2. The total data available, 139 data points obtained from literature, was divided into two sets, training (94) and validation (45). The selected MLP presented excellent results, providing estimates with an average error of 0.78% for the training set and 1.02% for the validation set. Thus, artificial neural networks constitute an appropriate and promising methodology to solve problems related to poultry production. Index Term— Multilayer Perceptron, estimation, poultry, thermal comfort, heat stress


Simple Summary How ferrets across sectors are housed and the environmental enrichment provided (e.g., toys, beds, exploration of new sights and smells) can directly impact their health and wellbeing. Through an online questionnaire reaching ferret caretakers from pet owner, laboratory, zoo, rescue, and working (e.g., pest control) sectors, we describe how ferrets are housed, the enrichment they receive, enrichment types that ferrets most enjoy and those which may be harmful or problematic. Of 754 responses, 82.4% were from pet owners. Most ferrets were housed with at least one other ferret, and the type of housing varied across sectors from single-level cages to free-ranging housing. Environmental enrichments most commonly reported were hammocks, tunnels and human interaction, with ferrets reported to most enjoy digging, tunnels, human interaction and exploration. Scent trails were also reported to be among the most enjoyable enrichments but were rarely provided, suggesting that they could be used more. Problematic enrichment included rubber items, such as Kongs®, which could be chewed and swallowed, narrow tunnels trapping ferrets, and fabrics catching claws. These items should therefore be avoided. Our results suggest that all sectors have room to improve both housing and enrichment to better ferret welfare. Abstract Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) are kept and used in multiple sectors of society, but little is known about how they are housed and what environmental enrichment (EE) they may benefit from. We aimed to help guide caretakers about what housing and EE can be provided for ferrets. Through an online questionnaire of ferret caretakers, including pet, laboratory, zoological collection, rescue and working animal sectors internationally, we described ferret housing, opportunities for exploration, EE provision and caretaker opinions on ferrets' preferred EE types, and problematic EE. In total, 754 valid responses from 17 countries were analysed, with most (82.4%) coming from pet owners. Most ferrets were housed socially, with housing varying across sectors from single-level cages to free-range housing in a room or outdoor enclosure; pet owners mostly used multi-level cages. The most commonly reported EE included hammocks, tunnels and tactile interaction with caretakers. Respondents reported that ferrets particularly enjoyed digging substrates, tunnels, human interaction and exploration. The most frequently reported problems were that ingestion of unsuitable chew toys and rubber items could cause internal blockages, narrow tunnels could trap ferrets, and certain fabrics that could catch claws. This suggests a need for increased awareness of the risks of these EE types and for more commercially available safety-tested ferret EE. Scent trails were relatively rarely provided but were reported to be enjoyed and harmless, so we recommend that these should be provided more commonly. Our results suggest that there is scope to improve ferret housing and EE provision to benefit ferret welfare across all sectors.


Abstract: The effects of the probiotic bacteria Enterococcus faecium (EF) and selenium were studied on methotrexate (MTX) treatment in rats with adjuvant arthritis. Arthritic rats were treated orally with the following substances: lyophilized EF (15 mg/kg/day, 5 days a week), sodium selenite pentahydrate (SSe; 0.050 mg/kg containing 0.015 mg/kg selenium, 5 days a week), MTX (0.6 mg/kg/week), and their combinations for the period of 50 days from adjuvant application. Levels of serum albumin, serum nitrite/nitrate concentrations, hind paw swelling, arthrogram scores, whole‐body bone mineral density (BMD), and bone erosions were evaluated as markers of inflammation and destructive changes associated with arthritis. Long‐term preventive treatment with low‐dose MTX significantly inhibited the markers of both inflammation and arthritis. EF or SSe when administered singly or in combination had no significant effect on the given parameters in arthritic rats. EF, but not SSe, potentiated the beneficial effects of MTX, which resulted in a more significant reduction of hind paw swelling, arthrogram scores, and whole‐body BMD decrease. EF also had a tendency to improve the effect of MTX on serum albumin and nitrite/nitrate concentrations. Our results indicate that EF may increase the preventive effect of MTX treatment in rat adjuvant arthritis by improving its anti‐inflammatory and antiarthritic effects.


In this paper a Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) is used to test the hypothesis r = r0 against the alternative r


In this paper different competitive learning algorithms for self-organizing maps (SOM) are experimentally examined. The characterization of the results obtained is presented in terms of quality of SOM. The competitive learning algorithms evaluated through SOM are winner-takes-all, frequency sensitive competitive learning, and rival penalized competitive learning. Case study: their performance in the classification of partial discharges on power cables.


The study presented in this work investigates the impact of forms of logical reasoning on company performance. Under changing market conditions and uncertainty, executives too often fail to foresee strategic options that lead to superior company performance. One reason for this is that executives tend to rely on deductive/inductive logic in order to reduce the risk associated with decision making under uncertainty. Deductive/inductive logic relies on general rules or prior observations. This means, rules or observations must be known prior to the decision. However, during early-stage innovation and strategic planning, future conditions are usually unknown. Therefore, it is unlikely that one will have made all observations necessary for such an explanation. As a consequence, executives often become risk averse and make predictable decision errors. In order to successfully foresee strategic options—despite changing market conditions and uncertainty—executives need to change their approach and particularly the reasoning they apply. In the area of design and concept selection, scholars promote the use of abductive reasoning. This type of logic forms plausible hypotheses about future outcomes and events instead of deducing/inducing what is known from the past. When using abductive reasoning, thinking becomes more future orientated, and the potential of yet-not-existent concepts and outcomes can be better recognized despite the present uncertainty. This is important not only for design and concept selection, but also for other processes such as strategy development. Building on prior studies and literature from the field of cognition, strategizing, opportunity recognition, design and abductive reasoning, I hypothesized that abductive reasoning should positively influence company performance. Under the umbrella of a larger research project funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), I conducted a study investigating this link both qualitatively and quantitatively. The research was conducted at the University of Sydney in cooperation with Delft University of Technology under supervision of Dr. Massimo Garbuio, Dr. Boris Eisenbart and Prof. Andy Dong, and with Prof. Petra Badke-Schaub as chair of the graduation committee. The study is based on secondary data of 30 US companies in the Software and Development Industry that went public on the US-stock market (NASDAQ) in the period between 2013 and 2014. The data was derived online via the US Securities and Exchange commission database. For the assessment of abductive reasoning, a framework was developed that expands existing frameworks used for the assessment of (abductive) reasoning during concept selection. Financial data were acquired via COMPUSTAT. Results of the study confirm that abductive reasoning leads indeed to significantly greater company growth performance. Furthermore, abductive reasoning positively influences company profitability when used in conjunction with deductive/inductive logic, and was found to 1) introduce new business or revenue models 2) identify market segments 3) define a product or service offering, 4) invent technical solutions 5) revise and form beliefs/missions, and 6) explain observations such as (market) behavior. Qualitative analysis suggests that specific observations made prior to or during early-stage venturing—referred to as observation sets—stimulate abductive reasoning. Three different categories of these observation sets were identified: analogy, anomaly and paradox. Observations about technological developments are suggested to enable innovation, i.e. the technical component of a new venture idea, while demographical and organizational observations are often the source of new strategic options. Up to this point, the most commonly accepted view has been that strategic decisions are made rationally. Therefore scholars advise the use of tools which rely on deductive and inductive logic to assess and create strategic options. Results of the presented research, however, suggests that companies should instead make an effort to complement their strategy development with abductive reasoning approaches. In this paper, the results are discussed, managerial implications and contributions to literature are presented, and future research is suggested.


Objective To compare indomethacin and nifedipine in children neurogenic frequent micturition.Methods 62 children with neurogenic frequent micturition were divided into two groups randomly. 30 cases were given indomethacin 0.5~1mg/kg tid,and 32 cases were given nifedipine 0.3~0.5mg/kg tid.The course of treatment was one week.Results The effective rates of the former and the latter groups were 93,3% and 90.6% respectively (P0.05).The frequence of micturition was 12.2 times and 13.3 times each day (P0.01)after a week's treatment.The adverse reaction was 9 cases and 3 cases respectively.Conclusion The two medicines are effective in chilchren neurogenic frequent micturition.But the adverse reaction in the indomethacin group is more than that in the nifedipine group.


This paper proposes a new method for learning bilingual collocations from sentence-aligned parallel corpora. Our method comprises two steps: (1) extracting useful word chunks (n-grams) by word-level sorting and (2) constructing bilingual collocations by combining the word-chunks acquired in stage (1). We apply the method to a very challenging text pair: a stock market bulletin in Japanese and its abstract in English. Domain specific collocations are well captured even if they were not contained in the dictionaries of economic terms.


Objective To identify critical genes in evolution of Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus).Methods A total of 2457 genes from two whole genomes of S.aureus strains were amplified for fabricating whole genome microarray,which was employed for comparative genome hybridization (CGH) analysis of 23 strains of divergent MRSA clones,including ST239-spa t037 and ST239-spa t030.Representatives of differential genes were confirmed by PCR.Results Four gene clusters were identified to be associated with evolution of major epidemic MRSA clones.The four gene clusters were specific to ST239-spa t030,and belonged to three known genomic islands (vSa4,prophage ΦSa1 and ΦSa3).Eight genes were variable expressed in ST239-spa t030 MRSA from different coutries.Conclusion The acquisition of genomic islands vSa4,prophage ΦSa1 and ΦSa3 enhanced the virulence and resistance of ST239-spa t030 MRSA,and contributed to its rapid replacement of ST239-spa t037 MRSA in China.

Key words:
Methicillin-resistant S. aureus;  Comparative genomic hybridization;  Genomic island; Evolution


Properties of QCD at finite chemical potential (µ) are extracted using Taylor series expansions. The continuum limits of lattice results are presented. The result of expanding the free energy density, i.e., the pressure, to 6th order in the expansion is shown. The Taylor coefficients of the chiral condensate are also shown. Relations between various Taylor coefficients are demonstrated. All this information is utilised to remove various lattice artifacts from the determination of the Wroblewski parameter in strangeness production.


The modern digitized world has led to the emergence of a new paradigm on global information networks and infrastructures known as Cyberspace and the studies of Cybernetics, which bring seamless integration of physical, social and mental spaces. Cyberspace is becoming an integral part of our daily life from learning and entertainment to business and cultural activities. As expected, this whole concept of Cybernetics brings new challenges that need to be tackled. The 2017 IEEE Cyber Science and Technology Congress (CyberSciTech 2017) provided a forum for researchers to report their research findings and exchange ideas. The congress took place in Orlando, Florida, USA during 6–10 November 2017. Not counting poster papers, the congress accepted over fifty papers that are divided into nine sessions. In this report, we provide an overview of the research contributions of the papers in CyberSciTech 2017.


The aim of this study is to determine the factors that affect tourists on creating their images and perceptions while experiencing Ohrid, the most famous tourist destination in Macedonia. In this regard, the presence and affection of five factors was investigated: (i) Perception of place; (ii) Pull motives; (iii) Perception of safety; (iv) Type of experience; and (v) Fulfilled expectations. The analysis was based on face-to-face survey conducted with 500 tourists in June-August 2016. Generally, the findings indicate many suggestions and recommendations for tourism-policy makers. Towards the perception of the place, tourists found the sampled locations to be historic, legendary and religious places, which do not serve just as tourist places for sightseeing. As for the pull factors, the cultural heritage was perceived as attraction that brought tourists to the surveyed locations. Towards the perception of safety, Ohrid and Macedonia were perceived as fully safe and secure for tourism. Based on Cohen's (1979) classification of tourists, the results revealed that recreational tourists are the dominant group visiting Ohrid, followed by the existential, experiential, and experimental types of tourists, while the diversionary tourists were virtually absent. Finally, the surveyed tourists found highly fulfilled expectations evaluating Ohrid as destination worth visiting which gave a value to their money. The findings in this study may serve as a valuable starting point in creating new strategic approaches that may support tourism development in Ohrid and Macedonia.


This article puts forward a kind of distributed control system based on embedded intelligent controller,introduces the structure and function about its overall system,and elaborates on the intelligent controller's construct and feature.Major softwares and hardurare config used in implementing the system are also presented.


Improving the cognition and numerical accuracy of stability failure is urgent for carrying forward the direct assessment stability of the new-generation performance-based criteria for intact stability issued by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2020. Firstly, the CFD method utilizing commercial software is developed for predicting stability failure in following seas. The CFD method employed overlapping grid techniques to achieve coupled motion calculations with a free-running model. The actual propeller rate, the implemented auto polite course-keeping, the coupled effect of the ship hull–propeller–rudder, and the instantaneous wet hull are considered in the CFD method. Secondly, a comprehensive 6-DOF mathematical model, employing the MMG framework and potential flow theory, is utilized to predict stability failure in the following waves. The radiation and diffraction forces are calculated around the mean wet hull using an enhanced strip method, and the FK and hydrostatic forces are calculated around the exact wet hull in waves. Thirdly, the occurrence of pure stability loss and subsequent large roll motions or capsizing for the ONR tumblehome ship are simulated by the time domain CFD and potential flow method. Finally, the computed results are cross-referenced with the available experimental data, and the trends of maximum roll angle are found to be consistent with the test data. Additionally, the alterations in thrust and torque exerted by the twin rudders and propellers are assessed across various sailing speeds, as well as the characteristics of the flow field distribution around the hull and appendages during capsizing at the critical sailing speed, which are newly analyzed by the CFD method.


This dissertation emphasises the importance of the Swediesh priesthood during the 1600s, when the Kingdom was developing into an early modern state. I am looking from a new perspective, based on th ...


Characteristics of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) magnetic sensors have been investigated using a three-dimensional physical simulator which accurately couples the magnetic field equation and the carrier transport equations. The effects of the device geometric parameters, the bias conditions, and the magnetic field on the relative sensitivity of a split drain magnetic sensors are accurately determined. The MOSFET magnetic sensor capability is further enhanced by suggesting an integrated smart structure which is able to fully detect the magnetic field variations in two-directions. The current deflection and relative sensitivity for the suggested magnetic sensor under different operating conditions are finally investigated with the present efficient physical simulator.


Abstract In this paper, the genesis of carbonates in a shallow, polymictic and eutrophic coastal lake (Lake Sarbsko, Poland) is deciphered. Emphasis is placed upon the relationship between carbonate sedimentation and microbial degradation of organic matter, as well as on vertical mixing of sediments. The cycling of carbonates in the lake was investigated through the analysis of lake water chemistry (pH, Ca2+, Mg2+, alkalinity, SIcalc) and the stable carbon isotope composition of dissolved inorganic carbon and sedimentary calcite. It is shown that the calcite is precipitated within a relatively short time owing to the coincidence between the activity of photosynthesizing phytoplankton, the microbial decomposition of organic matter, and the physical mixing of lake deposits. In turn, the precipitated calcite is prone to dissolution within the sediments. The data presented in this paper can be applied to explain the processes affecting the carbonate saturation in freshwater systems and to interpret δ13C signatures in the sediments of shallow lakes.


The DNA-binding assay using mobility shift polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (pAGE) is a simple. rapid, and extremely sensitive method for the detection of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins in crude extracts. This assay also permits the quantitative determination of the affinity, abundance, association rate constants, dissociation rate constants, and binding specificity of DNA-binding proteins. Proteins that bind specifically to an end-labeled DNA fragment retard the mobility of the fragment during electrophoresis, resulting in discrete bands corresponding to the individual protein-DNA complexes.


This article aims to experimentally prove the feasibility of an impulsive observer in order to recover the secret information embedded in a hybrid chaotic system. The first challenge of such a communication scheme is to synchronize the analog circuits that compose it. That is the stage that this article fulfils and presents.


This article is intended to analyze the collateral effects of work associated with the completion of the work in an institution from the health area. The sample consisted of 113 staff from an institution belonging to the health area in the city of Bucaramanga. A descriptive exploratory study was conducted. The information was collected through the application of the Questionnaire on Quality of working life. The results show that participants perceive that the completion of the work causes an overload of work activity (ECT129), physical exhaustion (ECT131), mental saturation (ECT132), backache (ETC140), muscle tension (ECT141), and use of medications to relieve some of the symptoms mentioned above (ECT142).


This study presents local and synoptic conditions associated with extreme heavy snowfall events in the Yeongdong region, as well as the temporal and spatial variability of these conditions. During the last 12 years (2001~2012), 3 extreme snowfall events occurred in the Yeongdong region, which recorded daily snowfall greater than 50 cm, respectively. In these events, one of the noticeable features is the occurrence of heavy hourly snowfall greater than 10 cm. It was reported from satellite analysis that these heavy snowfall may be closely related to mesoscale convective clouds. In this paper the 3 extreme events are examined on their syn- optic environments associated with the developments of mesoscale convective system using numerical model output. These 3 events all occurred in strongly forced synoptic environments where 500 and 300 hPa troughs and 500 hPa thermal troughs were evident. From the analysis of diagnostic variables, it was found in all 3 events that absolute vorticity and cold air advec- tion were dominant in the Yeongdong region and its surrounding sea at upper levels, espe- cially at around 500 hPa (absolute vorticity: 20~60 × 10 �5 s �1 , cold air advection: −10~−20 o C 12 hr �1 ). Moreover, the spatial distributions of cold advection showed mostly the shape of a narrow band along the eastern coast of Korea. These features of absolute vorticity and cold advection at 500 hPa were sustained for about 10 hours before the occurrence of maximum hourly snowfall.


The disposal of acidic wastewaters has been a problem facing mining and processing industries. One way of neutralising the acid is by percolating it through limestone bearing sand, such as practised at Australind, W.A. The disposal of acid effluent from a process of converting ilmenite to titania pigment is effected in soakage lagoons located on calcareous sand dunes.

Laboratory sand column experiments have been conducted to obtain a better understanding of the processes involved in the neutralisation of sulphuric acid waste using beach sand. The flow of effluent through sand and the quality of the neutralised effluent are dependent on the deposition of calcium sulfate, the evolution of carbon-dioxide gas, and the carbonate equilibrium.

A simple mathematical model has been developed to describe the neutralisation process. It can be used to aid in the management of disposal, or the design of engineered systems. It is based on one-dimensional saturated flow in a porous bed, and neutralisation kinetics using a shrinking-sphere approximation for the limestone grains.


Some features of hydro- and thermodynamics, as applied to atmospheres and to stellar structures, are puzzling: 1. The suggestion, first made by Laplace, that our atmosphere has an adiabatic temperature distribution, is confirmed for the lower layers, but the reason why it should be so is understood only qualitatively. 2. Arguments in which a concept of energy plays a role, in the context of hydro-thermodynamical systems and gravitation, are often flawed, and some familiar results concerning the stability of model stellar structures, first advanced at the end of the 19th century and repeated in the most modern textbooks, are less than completely convincing. 3. The standard treatment of relativistic thermodynamics does not allow for a systematic treatment of mixtures, such as the mixture of a perfect gas with radiation. 4. The concept of mass in applications of general relativity to stellar structure is unsatisfactory. It is proposed that a formulation of thermodynamics as an action principle may be a suitable approach to adopt for a new investigation of these matters.
We formulate thermodynamics of ideal gases in terms of an action principle and study the interaction between an ideal gas and the photon gas, or heat. The action principle provides a hamiltonian functional, not available in traditional approaches where familiar expressions for the energy have no operative meaning. The usual polytropic atmosphere in an external gravitational field is examined, in order to determine to what extent it is shaped by radiation.
A new formulation of the concept of radiative equilibrium is proposed.


Tritium‐containing affinity‐labelling derivatives of phalloidin, an alkylating iodoacetyl compound (EAL) and a photolabile, carbene generating diazirine (PAL), have been reacted with rabbit muscle actin, the former after protection of thiol groups with N‐ethylmaleimide. Labelled peptides generated by tryptic and/or thermolysin digestion were isolated by paper peptide mapping and characterized by determination of their amino acid sequences. EAL binds to methionine‐119 and methionine‐355; PAL binds to glutamic acid‐117. These residues are located in regions with extremely conserved amino acid sequences. The cleft between the two domains of the actin monomer is suggested as the possible binding site for phalloidin.


The economic reality of South Africa is that the industries responsible for the greatest contributionto the country's Gross Domestic Product are also those responsible for the greatest loss of lifeamong their employee population. The South African mining and construction industries arenotoriously dangerous and were responsible for the loss of more than 200 employees' lives in2011 – an improvement over previous years. This notwithstanding, many organisations still thinkthat occupational safety is an ethical consideration that either impedes or hampers businessoutputs. This notion is one that stakeholder theory regards to be a fallacy, specifically theseparation fallacy, one that is in need of rejection and replacement by the integrated thesis, whichproposes that the term business ethics no longer be seen as an oxymoron but rather as tautology.In this article, the significance of this proposition will be outlined, as empirically tested within themining and construction industries of South Africa at two organisations – the Gautrain Project(predominantly located within the construction industry) and Diesel Power Opencast Mining(predominantly located within the mining industry


Investment is one of the important instruments as collateral in the future for every human being. Pawnshop institutions are now growing rapidly can be an alternative for customers whowish to invest. The purpose of this study was to determine oprasional Gold Investment in Islamic pawnshop-related goals, mechanisms, customer requirements the applicant, term, collateral, benefits and fees charged to customers in terms of the applicant's gold investment principles of Islamic economy in the form of fatwas and outlook muamalah fiqh. This study uses field research by visiting the direct object of study to obtain the required files through interviews, observation on operationality of Gold Investment. While the analysis is used to process the data that has been obtained is descriptive analysis to produce results. Results from this study is that Gold Investment to buy mortgage scheme on Islamic Pawnshop or Sharia Pawnshop has not fully correspond to some Fiqh Fatwa and Economic Islam Principles, that the clarity of the goods at the contract, which contains the value of speculative investments.


Objective:To compare the impact of bone graft in intervertebral disc on load distribution after instrumentation,and to provide the mechanical gist into the fatigue status induced by instrumention.Method:Six fresh samples of human lumbar vertebras were placed with the universal spine system(USS).Stress along the USS for intact intervertebral disc(group A),partial removal of intervertebral disc(group B) and bone graft in intervertebral disc(group C) were measured respectively.Result:The USS in group B shared more stress than in group C;the USS in group C shared least stress during all phase of movement.Conclusion:Bone graft in intervertebral disc can provide effective protection to the instrument itself which can be used to treat lumbar distabilization due to decompressional surgery.


The present invention relates to a cosmetic composition is an anti-oxidant, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a process comprising the use of herbs processing techniques and chrysanthemum at least one of the Citrus unshiu peel extract or the extract of unprocessed the mixture of extracts of chrysanthemum and Citrus unshiu peel of at least one antioxidant cosmetic composition as an active ingredient.


An epidemic outbreak of lac insect Kerria lacca on sandal and its host trees at Gottipura and Nallal in Hoskote range (Karnataka) is reported. It is found that 24.5% of the trees were heavily affected (9.3% of which are dead), 25.5% had medium attack and 50% were completely free. To control the lac infestation, the affected branches were lopped off, burnt and an insecticide viz., Ekalux 20AF 0.5% mixed with 0.05% sticker was sprayed on the tree. The treated trees were watered. This has completely controlled the lac infestation on sandal. A second spray with any insecticides, like Rogor 30 EC, Fenvalerate, Cypermethrin or Dimethoate, may be sprayed after formation of new flush of leaves, to check further secondary infection.


2049 Background: While factors such as age, histology and tumor molecular variants (e.g. IDH status) contribute to prognosis in patients with high grade astrocytoma (HGA), there remains a wide variability in patient survival outcomes. The connectome, or brain network organization, incorporates biologic, molecular and environmental processes providing a uniquely parsimonious summary of key prognostic factors. This study compared the capacity of machine learning (ML) models based on baseline connectomics and clinical variables to predict patient survival in HGA. Methods: Patients with a new diagnosis of HGA and a presurgical 3D, T1-weighted MRI available were retrospectively identified. Individual patient connectomes were derived from MRI with 90 cortical/subcortical features. Presurgical clinical features included age, gender, histology, tumor grade and IDH status. Three ML algorithms were implemented: extreme learning machine with Buckley–James estimator (ELMBJ), random survival forest (RSF) with logrank splitting and RSF with concordance index (CI) splitting. For each algorithm, we used a 60/40 training/testing split with 50 iterations and CI as the performance metric. We tested three models: 1) connectome only, 2) clinical only, and 3) connectome plus clinical variables. Results: Of patients identified (n = 105), 66 had glioblastoma and 39 had anaplastic astrocytoma. Thirty-eight harbored IDH mutation. Median overall survival was 27.43 months (SD 39.57). Connectome-only models showed better prediction performance compared to clinical-only models across all algorithms. ELMBJ showed the best performance (connectome median CI = 0.522, clinical CI = 0.201). Connectome models also performed as well as combined models (e.g. median CI = 0.523 for ELMBJ). Conclusions: This study demonstrates the potential of a connectome model to predict survival of patients with HGA. Replication in a larger sample is required to validate these results and refine ML models including examination of additional clinical features. If successful, use of a simple T1 MRI could provide additional variables to augment existing prognostic prediction, especially in scenarios where tumor genotyping is not available.


The following study will discuss the quantitative and non-quantitative methodologies applicable to the cost and profitability of VoIP in the business environment. Furthermore, the study will examine recent regulation topics surrounding VoIP technology and provide examples of current applications.


The research presented in this document had the aim to find out if a webbased community of practice can be an environment for in-service lecturers at technological education to develop their pedagogical knowledge. The environment was developed as an alternative to stimulate lecturers' interaction between peers grounded on theories that are coherent with the thought that people learn and develop knowledge in contact with others, sharing and thinking together about their experiences. As in the major of non-state schools of higher education in Brazil, lecturers are coming just to give their classes, the virtual environment organized and managed by courses coordinators and coaching can be a solution for lecturers learning interaction. The environment to support dialogue between lecturers was grounded on Lave' and Wenger's (1991) concept of Situated Learning and Community of Practice which locates situated learning in the process of coparticipation. The group that took part on the research is composed by lecturers of Calculus. In order to understand what are lecturers thought about the research and in which level they value opportunities of reflections and sharing experiences with peers, ten of thirteen lecturers were interviewed before the beginning of the activities on the virtual environment. Conclusions about vantages and possibilities that a Virtual Community of Practice can give to improve lecturers ́ pedagogical knowledge are based on the participation of the members of the group and on their opinions about the experience.


Objective: To investigate the relationship betwee n coronary heart disease (CHD) and serum level of uric acid. Methods: Eighty six patients were divided into CHD group and control group guided by c oronary arteriography. The level of serum uric acid was examined with automatic biochemical analytic instrument in all cases. Results: The level of serum uric acid of CHD group was remarkably higher than that of control group (437.16±16.32 μmol/L VS 314.26±14.36μmol/L, P0.05). Conclusion: There was close relationship between CH D and serum level of uric acid. The increase of serum uric acid may be independe nt risk factor of CHD. [


Neural oscillations have been proposed to be involved in predictive processing by frequency-specific modulation of either power or phase. While this is supported by substantial evidence on unimodal processing, only few studies are currently available that have addressed the role of oscillatory activity in multisensory predictions. In the present study, we have recorded MEG during a serial prediction task in which participants had to acquire stimulus sequences and to monitor whether subsequent probe items complied with the sequence. The sequences comprised combinations of visual and auditory stimuli, but on a given trial, only one of the modalities was task-relevant and the other had to be ignored. Task-related changes of power and coupling of neural oscillations were analyzed using a data-driven clustering approach. We observed prediction-related theta-band coupling in a network involving cingulate, premotor, prefrontal and superior temporal regions. Behavioral performance of the participants correlated with phase delays between remote regions in this network. Two additional clusters were detected where beta power were stronger when the previous or next stimuli were same as the current one in the sequence. These clusters interacted with the theta-band prediction network through cross-frequency coupling. Furthermore, we observed asymmetrical effects of attention to the visual and auditory modalities in a network distinguished by changes in alpha power, where alpha phases modulated response times. Overall, our results provide novel insights into the neural dynamics underlying multisensory predictions and suggest that oscillations in multiple frequency ranges as well as coupling within and across frequencies may be critical for sequence processing.


The potential prejudicial impact of graphic evidence of violence (GEV) on juror decision-making has evoked concerns for defendants' due process rights. One hundred and twenty-eight student mock jurors were randomly allocated a murder trial summary containing either the presence or absence of GEV and either graphic-specific judicial instructions or standard judicial instructions. This study also explored potential emotive mechanisms underlying the proposed effect of GEV, including the Affect Infusion Model (AIM) and action tendencies. While the manipulations of GEV and judicial instructions were successful, neither the presence of GEV nor the inclusion of graphic-specific judicial instructions impacted upon mock juror verdicts. However, mock juror biases interacted with GEV to influence conviction thresholds, whereby the conviction thresholds of defence-biased mock jurors were higher in the presence of GEV. Furthermore, the presence of GEV resulted in mock jurors experiencing more stress upon reading the trial evidence. The study concluded that the proposed biasing effect of GEV was not supported by the research findings. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.


Intelligent defect recognition (IDR) is one of the important technologies in production. Deep learning (DL) has drawn more and more attentions in IDR. Whereas, DL methods usually need large labelled training datasets, while the unlabeled is idle and not considered yet. In some cases, the requirement is difficult to satisfy. This is because labelling large datasets are costly, and the defect recognition might be delayed until getting enough labelled samples. To overcome this limitation, a semi-supervised DL approach for defect recognition, which uses the unlabeled samples to improve the accuracy, is introduced in this paper. This method uses a convolutional autoencoder to extract the common feature from both labelled and unlabeled samples, and only a few samples are required to finetune the network. The experimental results suggest that the proposed method achieves competitive results under limited labelled samples, and the accuracy outperforms the other approachs. Furthermore, the noise analysis also suggest this method performs robust for noisey samples.


An apparatus for implementing a Head Related Transfer Function on an input audio signal in a headtracked listening environment comprising: a series of principle component filters attached to the input audio signal and each outputting a predetermined simulated sound arrival; a series of delay elements each attached to a corresponding one of the principle component filters and delaying the output of the filter by a variable amount depending on a delay input so as to produce a filter delay output; a summation means interconnected to the series of delay elements and summing the filter delay outputs to produce an audio speaker output signal; headtrack parameter mapping unit having a current orientation signal input and interconnected to each of the series of delay elements so as to provided the delay inputs.


Previously, it was shown that there occur the dispersion and the absorption of sound owing to the chemical reaction in the gas in general chemical equilibrium such as aA+bB+···⇄qQ+rR+···. As the velocity and the absorption coefficient of sound are affected predominantly by the imperfection of the gas over other factors, the case of imperfect gases is considered. The velocity and the absorption coefficient are derived from the complex velocity of sound, and the characteristic of the dispersion and absorption curves are examined. The velocity and the absorption coefficient of sound are formulated in terms of the pressure, the density, the virial coefficients, the equilibrium constant, namely, the composition, the reaction heat at a constant volume, the molar heat at a constant volume, and the rate constant of the chemical reaction. By measuring the velocity and the absorption coefficient of sound, it is possible to calculate the rate constant of the chemical reaction and the reaction heat. As special cases,...


The variational principle in hydrodynamics was first studied by Hargreaves, who has shown that, when the hydrodynamic equations are satisfied, the integrand in the variational principle is a linear function of the pressure. For steady, irrotational flows, Bateman ,3 has shown that the integrand is the pressure only, which can be written as a function of the velocity potential 4>. A direct method to obtain approximate solution in the case of subsonic flow of a compressible fluid can therefore be formulated following the Rayleigh-Ritz method instead of solving the original nonlinear differential equations. In applying this method to the case of a compressible fluid passing an arbitrary airfoil, however, there are two difficulties: first, since the fluid region is infinite, Bateman's integral is not directly applicable; second, it is not easy to assume the potential function satisfying the boundary conditions. The nonlinear problem of compressible flow passing an arbitrary airfoil has been formulated in this paper. I t is proved that, by conformal transformation, the velocity potential can be set up to satisfy the boundary conditions in the general case, and, hence, the Rayleigh-Ritz method can be applied. I t is also shown that, by using the Theory of Residues in the integration and a modified Crout method in solving the resulting simultaneous equations, the computational labor can be mate' daily reduced. Since the variational principle is valid for subsonic, sonic, and supersonic flows, the possibility of applying it to the study of mixed flow is indicated. A numerical example of the nonlinear problem of the compressible flow around a circular cylinder is carried out, and the results compare favorably with those found by the existing methods.


Aiming at existing problems of short delayed relief distance of safety for minor-caliber fuze, design a explosion isolator with a variable centroid plate rotor: add quasi-fluid in the plate rotor, and the centroid position of fluid changes along with quasi-fluid discharge, while the rotor could not rotate until quasi-fluid drained out, thus delay the complete safety relief and increase the delayed relief distance of safety for muzzles. Simulation shows the device can meet the requirements of widen the bouches' relief distance of safety to 20m.


The article reviews advanced methods for determining the riskiness of the enterprise. The authors' approach to assess the risk of economic activity of motor transport enterprises in conditions of uncertainty, characterized by a clear and balanced group of factors, manifested in indicative indices, reflecting the impact of domestic and external environment on the level of riskiness of economic activity of a MTE is proposed. The methodology of a comprehensive indicator of the risk of MTE has been improved. Proceeding from the generalizations, there have been formed conclusions and practical recommendations for evaluating the risk of economic activity of a motor transport enterprise.


In this paper,salicylic acid was used as a molecular probe to determine hydroxyl radicals in aquatic system.The steady state concentrations and quantum yields of hydroxyl radicals formed by ultraviolet irradiation of nitrate and nitrite solutions were explored.Formation rate of hydroxyl radicals and removal rate of organic pollutants through oxidation with hydroxyl radical in natural water were estimated on the basis of above results.


The cathodoluminescence technique (CL) performed in the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) offers opto-electronic characterization of some nanostructures and it is a powerful tool for studying the compositional variation or band structure of three-dimensional microscale or nanoscale structures. The major problem of the CL technique is the difficulty of high spatial resolution of the low-dimensional structure. In the present paper we propose a simple Monte Carlo calculation model to describe the interaction of electron beam with AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs nanostructure. This model takes into account the confinement phenomenon in the quantum well by an easy method. The influence of different parameters such as the thickness of barriers, Al mole fraction (x), and the diffusion length are studied. The carrier excess generated during the collision of the incident electron with the atoms of the material (random walk) is calculated taking into account the confinement phenomenon within the quantum well. The radiative recombination of electron–hole pairs is collected as a light (CL signal).


Presented at the XXV Marian Smoluchowski Symposium on Statistical Physics, "Fluctuation Relations in Nonequilibrium Regime", Krakow, Poland, September 10–13, 2012.


Sixteen patients (mean age 59 ± 9 years) who were to undergo carotid endarterectomy were examined pre‐ and peroperatively using pulsed Doppler‐shifted ultrasound; blood velocities in the middle cerebral artery were measured before and during common carotid compression in the conscious patient, and before and during measurement of carotid stump pressures at surgery in the anaesthetized patient. Measurements at endarterectomy showed a significant difference in middle cerebral artery blood velocities from patients with stump pressures of greater and less than 50 mmHg (t = 4·0, P <0·005). A threshold of 10 cm s−1 distinguished between stump pressures of greater and less than 50 mmHg in 15 of the 16 patients. Pre‐operative blood velocity measurements during carotid compression did not correlate with those taken peroperatively at carotid clamping.


In 1989, after a long period of socialist rule, Mongolia initiated a democratisation process of its political system together with a transition towards a market economy. This paper examines how changes in socio-economic conditions in Mongolia have affected fertility patterns in recent times. It also provides an outline of changes that have taken place in terms of pro-natalist policies. The study is based on data from the Reproductive Health Survey of Mongolia (RHSM) conducted in 1998. In terms of economic activity we find an inverse, although weak, relationship for older cohorts. This is in strong contrast to the young cohort, for which the economic downturn has had a strongly depressing effect on fertility. We also find important effects of micro level variables, including education and housing. Our findings suggest that the fertility decline observed for the older cohorts are very much part of the first demographic transition, in which the collapse of pro-natalist policies has been influential. (AUTHOR)


Among kinds of methods used in the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),chromatography fingerprint similarity is of high importance.And it is valuable for quality control of TCM to carry out research into chromatography fingerprint similarity algorithm.Three kinds of similarity algorithms were introduced,which were the number of similarity,similarity based on similarity calculation and similarity based on dissimilarity calculation.The characters and limitations of the above similarity algorithms were analyzed,and the methods to improve similarity algorithms were summarized.Lastly,the problems,improvements and applications of similarity algorithms were prospected.


The Hongshan Bridge,which will be completed in the end of 2002,is a 206 m long cable stayed bridg with on inclined pylon and without any back stays.This paper briefly introduce the main characteristics of the Bridge.


Nowadays, Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) has become the main block of mixed signal circuits. Hence, testing ADC circuits is of great interest. In this paper, a low cost structural test is developed for the Time Domain ADC (TD-ADC). The TD-ADC consists of a Voltage-to-Time Converter (VTC) and a Vernier Time-to-Digital Converter (Vernier TDC). The circuit under test is used in high energy physics, spectroscopy, medical imaging, radiation sensors, and environmental sensors. It is shown that only two test values are required to detect 98.1% of catastrophic faults in the fault set. The LTSpice simulator on 45nm CMOS model provided from MOSIS was used in the analysis.


Self-assembly of tobacco mosaic virus(TMV) particles by drying TMV buffered solution constrained in a capillary tube,between two parallel glass slides and in a cylinder-on-flat geometry were studied,respectively.Optical microscopy(OM) and atomic force microscopy(AFM) were employed to characterize the patterns produced.Effect of the concentration of TMV on patterns was also explored.The results show that highly ordered structures could be fabricated under these three confined conditions which were attributed to the periodical,repetitive "stick-slip" motion of the contact line.Stripes parallel to the contact line but perpendicular to the long axis of the capillary tube were formed in a glass capillary tube after evaporation.As the solution front moved inward,both l(span of a stripe) and w(width of a stripe) gradually increased.When drying TMV buffered solution trapped between two glass slides,patterns in a tetramerous radial symmetry were produced.From each side of the slide,both l and w increased as stripes approached the longitudinal axis to the center.Parallel gradient straight stripes were obtained when TMV buffered solution was allowed to evaporate from a cylinder-on-flat geometry.As the contact line propagated from the capillary edge toward the cylinder/Si contact center,both l and w decreased.The values of l for the outermost,middle and innermost regions are 28.4,20.9 and 8.4 μm,respectively.While the values of w are 17.5,9.2 and 0.8 μm,correspondingly.Moreover,the height of the stripe decreased from 33.9 nm to 30.4 nm,finally to 29.5 nm.In all patterns formed under these three kinds of confinement conditions,individual TMV particles aligned parallel to the contact line,which could not only relieve the strong dipole-dipole repulsion between TMV particles,but also effectively minimize the interfacial energy.Concentration of TMV had the same effect on patterns under these three confinements:both l and w increased with the increase of concentration until no stripe patterns were observed and continuous films of TMV were formed.


ABSTRACT Monotonic transformations of explanatory continuous variables are often used to improve the fit of the logistic regression model to the data. However, no analytic studies have been done to study the impact of such transformations. In this paper, we study invariant properties of the logistic regression model under monotonic transformations. We prove that the maximum likelihood estimates, information value, mutual information, Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) statistics, and lift table are all invariant under certain monotonic transformations.


ROTNICKA, J., 2011. Factors controlling the development of foredunes along the eeba Barrier on the south Baltic coast of Poland. Journal of Coastal Research, SI 64 (Proceedings of the 11th International Coastal Symposium), ���� – ���. Szczecin, Poland, ISSN 0749-0208 Th e pap er aims to show the roles of various factors controlling the evolution of foredunes along the eeba Barrier and explain why parts of the coast prograde while others suffer erosion. SW and W winds dominated the effective wind (> 5 m/s) regime of the area, as determined for the years 2007-2009 on the basis of data from a weather station, with a total frequency higher than 60%. As the barrier coastline changed from SW-NE to nearly W-E, these winds generated alongshore and oblique landward sediment transport. The aeolian mass flux on a beach was evaluated by field experiments. These experiments included measurements of the sand transport rate (by means of a 0.5-m-high vertical sand trap) as well as the wind speed and direction at 1 m height. On the basis of the established relationship and the wind data from the meteorological station, the potential annual sand transport was calculated. It appeared that the most effective winds accounted for more than 90% of the total transport. Taking into account the coastline orientation, the landward sand transport theoretically exceeded the seaward and alongshore transport only on the beach oriented 50o-230o, suggesting that this part of the coast should favour foredune formation. However, along the barrier zones, foredune development and erosion alternate regardless of the coastline orientation. A possible explanations including fluctuation of the littoral sediment budget along the shoreline and/or rhythmic changes in bathymetry need future investigations.


Abstract This study investigates the spatial dependence and mechanisms of international and domestic tourist distributions in 299 cities in mainland China through a set of Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-based spatial statistical tools. The results show that during the period of investigation (1999–2007), there was a significant degree of neighbouring effect (i.e. positive spatial correlation) in both international and domestic tourist distributions. We have also highlighted that tourism development in a given city is dependent on the developments in neighbouring cities. Specifically, the tourist distribution shows a polarized (core – periphery) spatial pattern, which is strongly connected to the economic development level and tourism resources of the cities. Furthermore, the findings reveal tourist distribution clusters that underscore the importance of geographical focus. Overall, the results imply that policy makers are encouraged to pay attention to patterns of tourist distribution.


In order to improve the utilization rate of wind and PV power, this paper proposes a dispatch model for IES with Wind-PV-Hydrogen storage system considering hydrogen energy storage conversion, methanation, and carbon capture. We add a hydrogen storage system in the IES to absorb the abandoned wind and solar energy to improve green power utilization; and use a methanation reactor to convert hydrogen into methane to improve the system's absorption capacity, while increasing the consideration of carbon. The captured gas turbines and gas boilers meet the electricity, heat and gas loads of the Regional Integrated Energy System (RIES). The total energy purchase cost, the minimum total operation and maintenance cost and the minimum amount of curtailment of wind and PV power are taken as the objective functions, and the stable operation characteristics of each equipment are taken as the constraint conditions. According to this, the economic dispatch model of RIES is established. The experimental results show that the RIES proposed in this paper has good economic efficiency and wind-solar absorption capacity.


The financial challenges currently faced by NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics programs have been of interest to academics and practitioners alike. According to the 2004–08 NCAA Revenues and Expenses Report, less than 6% of Division I athletics programs were profitable each year from 2004 to 2008 (Fulks, 2009). For the other 94% of programs, there is a reliance on institutional funding to sustain athletic operations (Fulks). Exacerbating this trend, the economic downturn in the United States is forcing institutions to make difficult spending decisions across all campus programs, including intercollegiate athletics. Currently, there are inconsistencies in the accounting practices of intercollegiate athletic departments; especially as those practices relate to allocation of costs (Sperber, 2000; Thelin, 2000; Zimbalist, 2006). The lack of consistency hinders the ability of institutional leaders to make informed decisions about athletics spending. This cross-disciplinary, conceptual paper examines how...


Newly designated as SSZ-95 crystalline molecular sieve, and the use thereof are disclosed. The MTT molecular sieve skeleton, of between 20 and 70 of silicon oxide: the total of the molar ratio of the fine aluminum oxide, 0.005-0.02 cc / g pore volume; And compared to the SSZ-32 it has a HD exchangeable acid site density of up to 50%.


We introduce in a general setting, the unitary similitude groups associated to ϵ-hermitian form over a ring A with involution. We concentrate next in the rank 2 case. The classical presentation of GL(2, F), F a field, originating from its Bruhat decomposition can be extended to these unitary similitude groups. Furthermore, the multiplier associated to ϵ-hermitian forms affords a signed non commutative version of the classical determinant of 2 by 2 matrices, which we recover exploiting Grassmann's approach to determinants. Finally, we present various examples of our groups and give some categorical properties of them.


Hand contours are hard to be extracted correctly when hand images are illuminated by a unsymmetrical light.Therefore,this paper proposes a contour tracking algorithm based on the directional maximal gradient value according to the characteristic that values of edge pixels turn sharply in the vertical direction of an edge.The algorithm firstly finds the starting point of hand contour,then depending on some searching rules,it calculates the gradient values of candidate points in a local region,chooses the point whose gradient value is maximal in the candidate set of local region and tracks it point by point to get the final contour.Tracking experiments are carried out on both the hand image database formed by ourselves and the HandImage database from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology(HKUST).Experimental results indicate that the accuracy of contour tracking is 100% in ourselves' database,and 85.8% in the database from HKUST.Moreover,the accuracy of contour tracking in the images eligible to our refined condition from HKUST database is 99.4%.These data show that the algorithm can directly track out the accurate,consecutive and integral hand contour in gray-level picture and it is suitable especially for the contour extraction of hand images affected by the unsymmetrical illumination.


Recommended Citation Eisner, Martin G. (2008) "Giovanni Boccaccio. Theseid of the Nuptials of Emilia (Teseida delle nozze di Emilia). Translated and with an introduction by Vincenzo Traversa. Currents in Comparative Romance Languages and Literatures 116. New York: Peter Lang, 2002. 595 pp.," Heliotropia An online journal of research to Boccaccio scholars: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/heliotropia/vol5/iss1/5


The NH 3 -SCR reaction was performed in a parallel 10-flow micro-reactor system with gas mixtures containing NO (0.1 vol%), NH 3 (0.1 vol%), and O 2 (5 vol%) with a balance of He. An amount of the catalyst (10 mg) was diluted with SiC (300 mg) and contained between two quartz wool plugs in a quartz reactor with an internal diameter of 4 mm. The total flow rate per channel was 50 mLmin (cid:2) 1 . The temperature was varied from 150 to 500 8 C. The reaction rate was measured during heating of the catalyst beds at a rate of 5 8 Cmin (cid:2) 1 . Pretreatment involved heating the catalyst samples to 450 8 C overnight at a rate of 1 8 Cmin (cid:2) 1 under a He flow at a flow rate of 50 mLmin (cid:2) 1 . For analysis, the effluent gas was analyzed with a Balzers QMS-200 Omnistar mass spectrometer.


Past research on workplace romance has shown that hierarchical romantic relationships in the workplace may have a negative impact on the participants involved. However less attention has focused on...


Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1979 - Requires appropriate State authorities to give full faith and credit to a child custody determination by a court of another State which has jurisdiction and meets specified conditions. Authorizes a State court with jurisdiction to modify a custody determination of another State court which no longer has or has declined to exercise jurisdiction. Amends title IV (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of the Social Security Act to include as a function of the Parent Locator Service the provision of information to authorized persons about any absent parent or child for the enforcement of a child custody determination or with regard to parental kidnapping. Prohibits the intentional restraint of a child in violation of any other person's right of custody or visitation arising from a State custody determination. Specifies (1) the jurisdictional basis for such offense, including the willful transportation of a child in interstate commerce, and (2) Federal investigation procedures.


DVD servo system requires high precision and rapid response,the focus servo system is the foundation of DVD system.We need to add the controller in order to enhance the control precision and response speed of DVD focus servo system,and then a new emendation arithmetic was put forward.Doing simulation research to test control algorithm and compare different control schemes before realization.Having analyzed the feature of DVD focus and adopted the lag-lead emendation arithmetic,we reached the controlling needs through Matlab simulation.


This essay examines the 1995 filmed version of Shakespeare's Othello, directed by Oliver Parker and starring Laurence Fishburne. For the first time in a big-budget movie, Othello was played by a bl...


What should be the minimum value of data security or privacy to a customer? We reason that at a minimum this value should be equal to the premium charged by an insurer for cyber insurance that compensates the customer for the claims resulting from the data security and privacy breaches. We calculate the premium for cyber insurance and the percentage coverage availed by a customer using Monte Carlo simulations.


Evidence-based medicine is still a young discipline whose philosophy has been in evolution. A mature presentation of the principle of evidence-based medicine emphasizes that EBM will be a humanistic approach to the clinical practice. Evidence alone can not be enough, patient's value and preference should be effectively incorporated in clinical decision-making.


textabstractA drift-diffusion model for semiconductors with nonlinear diffusion is considered. The model consists of two quasilinear degenerated parabolic equations for the carrier densities and the Poisson equation for the electric potential. We also assume Lipschitz continuous non linearities in the drift and {em generation-recombination terms. Existence of weak solutions is proven by using a regularization technique. Uniqueness of solutions is proven when either the diffusion term $varphi$ is strictly increasing and solutions have spatial derivatives in $L^1(Q_T)$ or when $varphi$ is non decreasing and a suitable entropy condition is fullfilled by the electric potential.


We, human beings finding the solutions on energy crisis. It may be in terms of Alternate Energy sources, Increase in Efficiency or Saving of Fuel. For proper combustion carbon from fuel of good calorific value and sufficient amount of oxygen from atmospheric air is required. But as we know we get only 21% Oxygen and about 79% of other gases which produces pollutants like Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen oxide, Hydrocarbons, Nitric oxide, Sulphur dioxide etc. Oxygenized air helps in proper combustion with reduction in the volume of flue gases and greenhouse effect. Oxygen enrichment results in rapid combustion of fuel which increases power output, mechanical efficiency and volumetric efficiency with increased amount of heat generation. concentration of oxygen i.e when the concentration of oxygen was increased from 21%to 27%.It was observed that BHP value increased by 9 to14% by increasing the percentage of oxygen in the intake air at low loads but at high loads BHP value did not increased conciderably even the percentage of oxygen in the intake air was improved to 27%.Reduction of BSFC by 11to 18% was also observed at higher percentage of oxygen for all load conditions. It was also observed that CO reduced by great extent at higher concentration of oxygen in the intake air. The experimental work was done to study the effects of oxygen enriched combution air on the 12 cylinder, GE 12-7FDL locomotive disel engines. Simulation test was carried out to study the effects of oxygen enriched combustion air on the overall performance and NOx emmisions of the locomotive disel engine. From the simulation test, it was observed that when the amount of oxygen in the intake air was increased to 28% the peak cylinder pressure increased by 4%. Due to increase in peak cylinder pressure,the net power of locomotive engine increased approximately by 13% with reduction in fuel injection timing by 4 degrees. Various experiments were done to investigate the net power of an engine at a perticular engine speed by varying throttle notches from 1 to 8. Performance parameters like BP, BSFC, BMEP and peak cylinder pressure were calculated at various concentrations of oxygen. It was observed that at notch 8 i.e at full load condition the cylinder break output and break mean effective pressure increased by 90% with reduction in break specific fuel consumption by 15% when the concentration of oxygen was increased from 21% to 35%. Fuel injection timing also decreased by 12 degrees by varying the amount of oxygen from 23% to 30% by volume. Experiment performed by Sunit Jadhav, S. N.Waghmare, Suraj Dalvi and Vinit Kamble [6] on the 4stroke Multicylinder compression ignition engine. They increase the Oxygen concentration by injecting pure oxygen from compressed cylinder to the mixing chamber. Flow meter was used to measure the oxygen supply.


The present invention relates to an ion beam is suitable, ion implantation or ion plasma treated resin composition. The resin is selected from one or more of the following components: a polyphenylene ether, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polysulfone, polyethylene terephthalate, polyether sulfone , polyphenylene sulfide, polystyrene, acrylonitrile - butadiene - styrene copolymers, polyetherimide, polyamide, polymethyl methacrylate, polyacetal, polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene - butadiene rubber, ethylene - propylene rubber and EPDM rubber. All the resin having suitable conductivity as a packaging material is well suited for mobile phones, computer monitors, liquid crystal displays, and the film or IC tube.


The utility model relates to a special high voltage direct current isolator, including electrically conductive plug -in strip, move the assembly of side equalizer ring, move side post insulators assembly etc, it installs at the top of moving side post insulators wherein to move the assembly of side equalizer ring, electrically conductive plug -in strip is installed and is being moved side equalizer ring fit on, it installs on moving the side chassis to move side post insulators, post insulators installs and is moving between side chassis and the electrically conductive plug -in strip, it installs on moving the side steel bracket to move the side chassis, move the side and install the operating mechanism on the steel bracket, be provided with vertical connecting rod between operating mechanism and operation insulator, quiet side chassis is installed on the steel bracket, quiet side post insulators installs on quiet side chassis, be provided with the assembly of quiet side equalizer ring at quiet side post insulators, the static contact dress is at quiet side equalizer ring fit on. Carrying out the telescopic motion setting of level through electrically conductive plug -in strip, utilizing the moving contact to realize through -flowly with setting up contact in the ground connection static contact, ensure the flexibility and the sensitivity of contact, simple structure is reliable.


It is shown that the energy spectrum of the pure vibrational levels of the molecule consisting of two atoms interacting with each other via the modified Rosen-Morse potential, the analytical expressions for the vibrational partition function and enthalpy of the diatomic molecule, obtained in the paper Prediction of enthalpy for nitrogen gas, M. Deng, C.S. Jia, Evr. Phys. J. Plus 133, 258 (2018), are incorrect.


The paper investigates possibilities and limitations of polynomial approximation of scattering parameters of a high-power 2.45-GHz coaxial impedance transformer tuning element. The approximation is a basis for a simple and compact mathematical model of the three-stub coaxial tuner, intended for the use in automatic impedance matching devices. The input data are frequency responses of S11 and S21 for various settings of the sliding short. The approximation is a two-dimensional polynomial (in dependence on short position and frequency) of suitably modified S-parameters. Approximation with satisfactory accuracy can be achieved.


In response to our request to all readers of Vivat Academia, our colleague Amelia Calonge, Department of Geology has been the first to send us a brief summary about their research. In this issue we publish the document in this section of Teaching and Research, which will subsequently become the database to be permanently fixed and written up to date. In the same way proceed with all contributions of this type that we gather.


In this paper we study the manifestations of cooperative effects in the formation of clusters4-methyloxycarbonyl-2-azetidinone. Structural properties of the clusters were obtained at the DFT/B3LYP/6-311Gd level of calculation, while the energetic ones were calculated at the B3LYP/6-311Gd, B3LYP/6-31++Gd,p and HCTH407/6-31++Gd,p DFT levels. The calculated structural parameters were compared with those corresponding to crystal structures reported for similar compounds in the Cambridge Structural Database. It is obtained that the theoretically optimized clusters form hydrogen bond patterns resembling those patterns reported for the crystal structure of azetidinone derivatives. We find that, due to the formation of consecutives hydrogen bonds of the type N-H…O between the 2-azetodinone rings, the addition of monomers gradually increases the stabilization energy per monomer of the system. It is also observed that after the hexamer formation, the value of this stabilization energy tends to reach an asymptotic limit, behavior typical of the existence of cooperative effects. Additionally, manifestations of these effects were observed in the variations with the size of the clusters of the calculated charges and of the structural parameters.


A manufacturable self-aligned LDD GaAs MESFET process called SRD has been developed. In this process, we controlled the fabrication conditions from lot to lot. Excellent control of the device characteristics not only across the wafer but also from wafer to wafer is obtained. The controllability of Vth is within /spl plusmn/50 mV. The standard deviation of Vth across the 3-in wafer is less than 30 mV for 0.5 /spl mu/m devices. In addition, other parameters such as g/sub m/, g/sub d/ are also well controlled within /spl plusmn/7% (Max-Min).


The knowledge of mass and energy flows in a cane sugar factory is a crucial aspect in order to enhance the plant performance and detect process deficiencies. The development of the Advanced Monitoring System (AMS) based on the Sugars software allows nowadays visualising the sugar process by connecting the software to the process and laboratory information system. The AMS was first introduced in 2004 to the sugar industry. Experience gained over the last few years is reported in this paper. Besides the creation of the mass and energy balance, the system can be used for data reconciliation with special regard to measured flows, temperatures and pressures as well as laboratory analytical data. Calculated and measured data are compared to facilitate improvements to process performance and reliability. The AMS requires approximately 100-150 data points (cane mass flow, analytical data, pressures and temperatures) to characterise and display the actual process operations with high accuracy. The AMS is a process monitoring tool allowing the sugar engineer to validate the operation and performance of the process. By defining benchmark values (key performance indices), it is possible to monitor and subsequently improve the performance of process equipment and the processes.


Twenty-first century diseases, also called civilization diseases, are now considered to be one of the biggest health problems of the population of highly and poorly developed countries. Continuous technological progress and the consequences of environmental pollution have a crucial impact on the increase of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer and these constitutes to a global epidemic XXI. Inappropriate behavior related to sedentary lifestyle, total lack of physical activity or limitation of the exercise to the minimum predisposes to the development of these diseases. In the present study we examined whether the comprehensive spa treatment influences to chronic complications of diabetes, particularly in diabetic neuropathy and whether it improves the normalization of blood glucose, blood pressure or not. The second aim was to determine whether nutrition therapy and comprehensive physio therapy together with education conducted with patients with diabetes within the spa treatment effects on weight loss and BMI.


This research is to analyze the effect of price discount, visual merchandising, shopping lifestyle on impulse buying of Miniso Royal Plaza Surabaya consumers. The research data used were 105 respondents using multiple linear regression to analyze the data. The empirical results of the study prove that price discount has a positive and significant effect on impulse buying, visual merchandising has a positive and significant effect on impulse buying, shopping lifestyle has a positive and significant effect on impulse buying. Furthermore, it was simultaneously found that price discount, visual merchandising, shopping lifestyle onimpulse buying.


To reveal whether there exists a correlation between the number of references and the number of citations in a paper of the Artificial Intelligence‐related conference, we present an experiment based on a total number of 9,458 papers published in CVPR, ICML, and AAAI from the year 2014 to 2018. Spearman's rank correlation tests show that the number of references and that of the citations are correlated with a correlation coefficient of 0.435, 0.464, and 0.180 respectively, in each p < .01. This means an increasing number of references in a paper may be contributing to the increase in citations. However, citing more references does not guarantee that a paper will be a highly cited paper. We hope this finding can provide a basis for the prediction of the citation impact of the Artificial Intelligence conference papers in the future.


The research is devoted to the current state of the plant communities of the desert zone of the Republic of Kalmykia. On the example of key areas monitored rangelands a comparative analysis of the composition and structure of plant communities as a result of human impact is conducted.


Background: Mucosal inflammation in ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterised by an influx of neutrophils which secrete large amounts of human neutrophil elastase (HNE), causing matrix degradation. They also produce the elastase-specific inhibitor, elafin. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relative production of elastase and elafin in active UC, and to investigate the modulatory effect of elafin on mucosal proteolytic activity ex vivo . Methods: We utilised intestinal biopsies from 18 patients with active UC and 12 non-UC healthy controls. Biopsies were homogenised and lysed to extract mucosal proteins. Proteolytic activity, using elastin as a substrate, was determined. Concentrations of elafin were measured using ELISA. The effect of protease inhibitors on proteolytic activity were determined in vitro using elafin, marimastat (matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor) and the synthetic elastase inhibitor, AAPV [N-(Methoxysuccinyl)-Ala-Ala-Pro-Val Chloromethyl Ketone]. The effect of elafin on proteolytic activity ex vivo was assessed by 24 hour organ culture in the presence and absence of elafin. Results: Mucosal protein homogenates from patients with active UC displayed higher proteolytic activity in comparison to healthy controls (p=0.002). Elafin levels were increased in mucosal homogenates from active UC (p=0.007). The addition of elafin, marimastat or AAPV, in vitro, each diminished proteolytic activity. Organ culture of UC biopsies in the presence of elafin reduces the proteolytic activity of active UC ex vivo (p=0.002). Conclusions: Colonic mucosal tissue from UC patients displays significantly higher elastinolytic activity in comparison to healthy controls. The addition of elafin has a restorative effect on the elastinolytic activity of UC mucosal homogenates, with the most notable effect in those tissues that had highest proteolytic activity. This occurs in the presence of significantly higher quantities of elafin in active UC mucosa. These data also show a beneficial modulatory effect of elafin on human gut tissue, suggesting a possible role for supplementary elafin in the treatment of UC. Background: The prevailing dogma regarding the etiopathogen- esis of Crohn's disease (CD) that T-helper (Th)1 CD4+ T cell population overreacts towards the bacterial microflora, might be dispelled by the discovery of Th17 cell population. Although it is thought to contribute to the immune-mediated disease development, its role in CD remains unclear. The aim of our study was to evaluate the percentage of IL-17-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood of CD patients in flare-up in comparison with healthy controls and to assess the influence of anti-TNFalpha therapy on circulating effector Th17 cells. Methods: Patients and Methods: We evaluated CD4+IL-17+ and CD8+/IL-17+ T cell populations by flow cytometry in peripheral blood of 40 adult patients with active CD and 39 healthy volunteers. 20 CD patients were studied before and 6 weeks after the beginning of anti-TNFalpha therapy. The results were expressed as percentage of CD4+/IL-17+ and CD8+/IL-17+ Tcells of total Tcells. Disease activity was evaluated with the use of of CDAI score and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Results: The median percentages of both CD4+/IL-17+ and CD8+/IL-17+ T cells were significantly increased in peripheral blood in patients with active CD as compared to healthy controls (respectively, p < 0.0001, p < 0.005). We have also found the significant positive correlation between the disease activity assessed by CDAI as well as CRP level and CD4+/IL-17+ T cell percentage (respectively; r=0.53, p < 0.001; r=0.698, p < 0.0001). Moreover, the percentage of CD4+/IL-17+ T cells was significantly decreased in CD patients after anti-TNFalpha therapy compared to baseline by Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired determination (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Our data may suggest an important contribution of effector Th17 cell in the etiopathogenesis of Crohn's disease and may implicate their role as possible therapeutic target. Background: The urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) plays a key role not only in fibrinolysis but also is crucially involved in extracellular matrix degradation and regulates cell migration, behind its function could offer a new therapeutic target to control intestinal inflammation. Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation with unknown etiology. Interleukin-10 Knockout (IL-10 KO) Mice are known to develop intestinal inflammation that resemble CD. We investigated if a human adipose-derived stem cells (h-ASCs) are capable to attenuated colon inflammation in IL-10 KO mice. Methods: h-ASCs were isolated from adipose tissues obtained from human donors. Colitis was induced in the mice by administration of piroxicam orally. Mice treated with intraperitoneal h-ASCs injection (5 × 10 5 cells) or normal saline as control after induction of colitis. All mice were euthanized 14 days after colitis. Histopathologic score and level of inflammation related cytokines were evaluated. Comparisons were made between h-ASCs treated or control non-treated IL-10 KO mice and wild type littermate. Results: The flow cytometry showed higher expression of CD105, CD73, CD90, CD44, however, hematopoietic stem cell markers such as CD45, CD34 and CD31 were not expressed in ADSC. Clinical score was lower in h-ASCs treated IL-10 KO mice than in control. Histopathologic assesment of large intestine showed lower inflammatory cells infiltration and less mucosal damage in h-ASCs treated mice than in control. Tissue score was lower in h-ASCs treated IL-10 KO mice than in control. The level of Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and Toll-like receptor 4 expression in the large intestine was lower and anti human IL-10 and anti mouse IL-4 in the serum was higher in h-ASCs treated mice. Conclusions: These findings suggested that administration of h-ASCs show beneficial effect on T-cell induced spontaneous colitis model and emerge a therapeutic option in inflammatory bowel disease. Background: Frequency Rhythmic Electrical Modulation System (FREMS) is a recently developed treatment for painful diabetic neuropathy and chronic painful leg ulcers. Among the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of this therapy is the enhancement of microvascular blood flow and the modulation of the expression of angiogenic growth factors and cytokines. In this study, we investigated the effects of FREMS in an experimental model of acute inflammatory colitis. Methods: We used a model of TNBS-induced colitis in guinea pigs. Colitis was induced by trans-anal administration of TNBS (15mg/250 g of body weight in 30% ethanol) in 14 animals. An additional group of guinea pigs (n=3) did not received TNBS and was used as normal control. Successful induction of colitis was confirmed in all cases by positive fecal occult blood tests. One week after the induction of colitis, animals were randomized to the FREMS therapy group (n=7) or the control group (n=7). After 3 weeks, animals in the FREMS and control group were sacrificed and colons were harvested and used for further analyses. Results: Treatment with FREMS significantly decreased the severity of TNBS-induced colonic damages, both macroscopi-cally and histologically, as assesed by using established scoring systems that account for parameters of mucosal and


The equilibrium between molten iron alld FeO 1\[nO- AI,03 slags 01 J 560 C has been eX/Jerimentally examined to delermine the activities qf the cOllstituent oxides. 111 the range oj liquid slag composition studied. the activity oj iron oxide shows /Jositive deviation from idealil)', increasing with increasing alumina contents and auaining maximum al about 50 mol~oFcO com/Jo;ition I'egardless q/ alumina contents . On the other hand, the activity qf manganolls oxide shows a /Jrogressive slight increase ill negali!'e deviation from ideality as the slag becomes rirher in alumina or mangallolls oxide. Isoactivify diagram q( the constituent oxidesJor the P('O- MnO- AI,O" slags and isoconcentralion diagram Jor the molten iron ill equilibrium lcith those slags are obtained by calculation on Ihe basis of Darken's quadratic Jormalism and experimental data. A statistical mechanical treatment is ap/Jlied to derive the thermodynamic behavior oj the FcO- 1\[nO- AI,03 slags. and the results are compared with those obtained by the same IreatmenlJor FeO- MnO- SiO, system ..


It has been shown that complete complementary codes can be applied into CDMA communication systems because of its good correlation properties. A digital watermarking scheme using complete complementary codes has also been proposed. In this watermarking scheme, it is possible to embed the multiple secret data in a single image at the same time, but the effectiveness and the limit of the method has not been fully explored. In this study, the properties of the watermarking method are analyzed when the multiple secret ID's are embedded into a single image simultaneously. The paper also includes the discussion on the extension to a kind of steganography.


Of several agronomic treatments imposed on commercial 'Calypso™' mango orchards with the intent of increasing fruit dry matter content, water denial was selected for repeated experiments in subsequent seasons. NIR estimated DM and lineal LWT was measured weekly. A 2-4 week water deficit before harvest increased DM levels by ca. 0.4-1.2% DM units without decreasing fruit size, while longer water denial periods were also associated with decreased fruit size. The DM% increase in water denied fruit was associated with increased Brix of ripened fruit, without impact on ripening behavior (time to ripen). Additionally it was demonstrated that the NIR-DM model was robust in use across fruit from trees grown under different water stress levels (R2=0.82, RMSEP=0.52).


In recent years, the continuously increasing number of space objects has caught great attention and triggered the need for space surveillance for the prevention of potential space collisions. Moving objects may appear as streaks in optical images in some situations. However, most of them are usually unknown so that they lack sufficient prior information, which brings great difficulty to detection. Motivated by the fact that streaks have their unique image characteristics, this article presents a novel detection pattern for streak-like targets in single optical images. First, a space target model from point-like target to streak-like target is studied to obtain characteristics. Next, the background removal method used in software named SExtractor is applied to find target candidates. Then, an operator is used to find local maximum points in each target candidate, and the points in the same candidate are clustered according to three domains including space, intensity, and distribution, to identify whether it contains a streak. Finally, the trajectory line of each cluster is extracted. The proposed method was tested on multiple sequences of collected real optical images, which contain targets of different features and found to obtain superior performance in the probability of detection, probability of false alarm, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC), in comparison to baseline methods. In particular, the setting of thresholds is intuitive because of the designed parameters with concrete meaning in images and the normalization process.


Abstract Few limitations to the availability of information on the Internet exist. Search engines are capable of filling knowledge gaps for those unfamiliar with more technical search strategies. However, significant limitations to usability of the Internet are present. This is especially true for older adults. Seniors comprise the largest segment of healthcare and wellness Internet-based information seekers. Advancing age is not a barrier to computer usage to access the Internet. However, vision changes can make reading a computer screen difficult for older adults. Declining visual acuity necessitates the need for webmasters to consider design components suitable for seniors and those with poor visual and motor abilities. Good web site design should increase accessibility and usability of information. Type fonts, color schemes, clarity of content, and information presentation would address many of the needs of elders and the visually impaired. Attention to these populations of Internet users would address a specific set of needs and increase traffic or "hits" to health-related web sites. Improving the accessibility and usability of healthcare and wellness information will lead to a more informed patient base participating as equal partners in their health care.


This paper Is part of a continuing effort by the World Bank to analyze labor migration in the Middle East and North Africa. It sets forth an approach to simulating the flows of labor between nineteen countries in this region. The methodology, however, could certainly have wider application in other regions of the world. The proposed systemic approach is similar in many ways to the well-known RAS approach for updating biproportional matrices. It differs from the RAS approach in that it is capable of greater interpretability and manipulability for policy purposes. The systemic approach also sets forth the possibility of defining certain parameters or movements in a behavioral fashion, relating economic variables to the modeling effort. In so doing, this modeling effort represents a distinct improvement over the previous models developed under the international labor migration in Middle East and North Africa research projects in the Bank (see Staff Working Papers 587-590), which were primarily of an accounting nature. The allocation mechanism described in this paper is soluble. Nevertheless, it is not clear at present whether it necessarily has a unique solution, and further proof may be required in this area. Its applicability should not be decreased, however, since many well-known simulation models do not necessarily have unique solutions. The paper also suggests other avenues for further study.


Purpose
This paper aims to understand how competing logics can co-exist in the organizational field of Indian microfinance.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses the theoretical lens of an organizational field to understand the composition of the microfinance field. Using the definition of an organizational field, key players in Indian microfinance are identified and their interactions within the field are analysed to understand the emergence and co-existence of multiple logics. The data used for this paper are collected from published work on Indian microfinance.

Findings
The co-existence of competing logics is sustained through the creation of two sub-fields within Indian microfinance. Each of the sub-field is dominated by one institutional logic. The field originated in developmental logic of microfinance and gradually adopted the banking logic post-2000. The sub-fields are dominated by different organizational forms with different nature of interaction within the field.

Research limitations/implications
Actors within the field would experience institutional complexity with lesser intensity because of the existence of two distinct sub-communities with individual logic. Dual logics can sustain itself independently provided these are embedded in two different sub-communities. Despite the emergence of a new logic, the previous logic can still remain relevant given the enabling support from institutional infrastructure.

Practical implications
The manifestation of development and banking logics through practices and the belief system in Indian microfinance would offer useful insights for social entrepreneurs balancing the dual goals of hybrid organizations. Due to the sub-communities, a professional working with different forms of organization would experience little pressure to adjust to diverse logic and would also experience no or little identity conflict.

Originality/value
This paper focuses on the microfinance sector in India as an organizational field and explores the mechanism of co-existence of the dual goals of microfinance at the field level.


President Byers reconstituted the Committee on Climatology in the autumn of 1947 with the ahore membership. No formal meetings could be held because the members were so widely scattered, but suggestions were obtained by correspondence on the proper function of the Committee. Certain concrete research projects were proposed, as well as suggestions of a more general nature. It was agreed that the Committee should undertake to summarize, insofar as its limited facilities permitted, the progress of climatology in the United States during the year. This first report is admittedly incomplete. Comments of the members of the Committee follow.