Injection networks arise as a way to deal with the network partitioning problem in ad hoc networks. In this kind of networks, it is assumed that devices might have other communication interfaces rather than Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth that allow them to connect to remote devices, such as GSM/UMTS. The problem considered in this work is to establish remote links between devices (called bypass links) in order to maximize the QoS of the network by optimizing its properties to make it small world. Additionally, these bypass links are not free, so the number of this kind of links in the network should be minimized as well. We face the problem with six different GAs and compare their behaviors. These alorithms are two panmictic algorithms, two GAs with the population structured in islands and two cellular GAs. One of the island GAs (a simple distributed GA with steady-state GAs runing in the islands) and the two cellular GAs were applied here for the first time to this problem. The other island GA, a cooperative coevolutionary GA, is considered the current state-of-the-art algorithm for this problem. As a result, we conclude that the two cellular GAs outperform all the compared algorithms, including the CCGA, for the three studied network instances.


To meet the development trend of the multi-project operations, this paper describes the concepts of project family and general work breakdown structure (GWBS), and then presents a data mining approach to forming GWBS. Work breakdown structure (WBS) instances are represented by a tree graph, and then we propose a similarity metric between a pair of WBS trees. The results of the pairwise comparisons are used as a distance metric for the following k-medoids clustering algorithm that groups the project WBSs into project families. Each classified cluster represents a project family, and it is expressed by a GWBS. Since the GWBS comes from large amount of historical WBS data, its adaptability and configuration ability are improved effectively, and all of these provide a strong guarantee for enterprises to respond quickly to customer needs.


This study was carried out during growing season 2011-2012 on 17 years old Taifi in a private vineyard located near Zawita town, Duhok governorate, Kurdistan region, Iraq, in order to study the effect of type and dates of taking the cutting on rooting and growth of grape transplants, two types of cuttings (basal and middle cutting) were taken at three dates, first at late autumn ( November D1), second at winter (February, D2) and the third at late winter (March, D3), the basal cutting were taken with a part of wood. Results indicated that the basal cutting overtopped in shoot length, No. shoots and leaves per plant, root dry weight and rooting percentage, while never shows it influence on the content of chlorophyll. Whereas first date of taking cutting significantly increased all parameters mentioned above. Interaction of basal cutting + first time of taking had the best significantly values.


The fine structure of polymorphic MHC class II molecules determines their interaction with antigenic peptide and their specific recognition by the TCR, and hence, controls the immune response (1). The class II MHC of individuals identified as DR3, DR5, and DRw6 is characterized by two active DRB loci, DRBI and DRB3 (2). The allelic series at the DRB3 locus consists ofthree members, DRw52a, DRw52b (3), and a third member, DRw52c, which is described here. DRw52c represents an intermediate sequence between DRw52a and DRw52b and may have arisen by a gene conversion-like event. The recognition of cells bearing these molecules by a number of alloreactive and antigen-specific, DR-restricted T cell clones was analyzed. HLA-DR is favorable for the study of structure-function correlations since its polymorphism is determined exclusively by the /3 chain. Using a theoretical model of HLA class II structure (4), different T cell recognition specificities were assigned to specific amino acid positions. Cloning and Sequencing. cDNA was prepared from poly(A) RNA from the homozygous typing cell (HTC), WT46(DRwl3 ; Dw19; DRw52), using a modified Gubler-Hoffman procedure (5), inserted into X gt10 via linkers, and the cDNAs were screened by plaque filter hybridization using a B3-specific oligonucleotide probe. Positives were purified, subcloned in M13 (6), and sequenced by the dideoxy procedure (7) .


By ustng the Thomas- Fermi potential, the Schroedinger equation was numerically solved for all possible values of n and l in the nuclear charge range from 0 to Z = 100. A graph of energy E as a function of the nuclear charge of an atom was constructed. The obtained results were compared with the results of Latter and also with calculations performed by the Hartree and HartreeFock methods. (auth)


Bayesian knowledge tracking model is used to track learners' knowledge state and predict their mastery level and future performance in intelligent teaching system. The original BKT model assumes that learners do not forget any knowledge after learning. This assumption will lead to the deviation between the predicted results of the model and the actual situation. In order to deal with above situations, this paper proposes a Bayesian knowledge tracking model based on learner behavior and forgetting factors. By using the decision tree algorithm to obtain the behavior node data information, and then initialize the forgetting parameters and assign values to update the algorithm of learners' knowledge mastery level.


Female adolescents and individuals participating in activities that emphasize body shape and control have been identified as risk groups for eating disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine whether certain groups of adolescentfemales are more vulnerable to disordered eating patterns or usage of pathogenic weight control techniques (e.g., diuretics, diet pills, fasting, laxatives, induced vomiting). Questionnaire responses were obtainedfrom 650 high schoolfemales-302 athletes (basketball, track andfield/crosscountry, volleyball, tennis, and softball), 89 performance squad members (e.g., cheerleaders, pom-pom teams, majorettes), and 259 students not engaged in these activities. Although sport and performance squads emphasized body shape and control, involvement in these organized physical activity contexts did not differentiate adolescents most at risk. However, I of every 5 students in the total sample had responses reflective of disturbed eating patterns, and 5% through 7% reported daily use of pathogenic weight control techniques.


MWCNT/Ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (MWCNT/UHMWPE) composite was prepared by adding purified MWCNTs into the precursor solution of UHMWPE. Based on that, MWCNT/UHMWPE fibers were obtained using a gel spinning-molding technique. The thermal, mechanical and aggregation structure of MWCNT/UHMWPE fibers were characterized by TGA, mechanical property measurement and XRD, respectively. The results indicated the incorporation of MWCNTs into UHMWPE macromolecular chains have not change the aggregation structure of UHMWPE significantly, and the as-prepared MWCNT/UHMWPE fibers have evidently improved thermal stability and mechanical strength compared with the pristine UHMWPE fibers.


Cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) is one of the most important physiologic structures that should be detected in Ultrasound (US) scanning for the normal development of the fetal central nervous system. However, manual measurement of CSP is still a difficult and time-consuming task due to the high noise of US images, even for experienced sonographers. Especially considering that maternal mortality remains high in many developing countries, a data-driven system with a medical diagnosis can help sonographers and obstetricians make decisions rapidly and improve their work efficiency. In this study, we propose a novel data-driven system based on deep learning for the diagnosis of CSP called CA-Unet, which consists of a channel attention network to segment the CSP and a post-processing module to measure and diagnose the anomalies of CSP. We collected the US data from three hospitals in China from 2012 to 2018 year to validate the effectiveness of our system. Experiments on a fetal US dataset demonstrated that our proposed system is able to help doctors make decisions and has achieved the highest precision of 79.5% and the largest Dice score of 77.5% in the segmentation of CSP.


This thesis considers the structure of international production and trade. Chapter 2 uses direct information on factor input requirements to consider which elements best explain the patterns of actual technologies. If there is factor price equalization, all countries will share the same capital-labor ratios, regardless of endowments. I find that actual technologies are inconsistent with this view. Estimates of country productivities which ignore the patterns of factor substitution are incorrect. Once allowances are made for differences in capitallabor endowments, 90% of the variation in output per worker can be explained by countryspecific and industry-specific parameters. I also find that factor-augmenting productivities are negatively related to factor endowments. In Chapter 3, I consider the implications of these technological differences for measures of the factor content of trade. Typically, the factor content of trade is measured by applying one country's technology matrix to the output of all countries. Contrary to theory, this approach finds no relationship between factor endowments and the factor content of trade. Since countries use techniques which are biased towards their abundant factor, the factor content of trade flows in the correct direction when measured using actual technologies. However, the mystery of the missing trade remains: even when factor contents are measured correctly, they are a very small percentage of factor endowments. In Chapter 4, I use disaggregated price data from Canada and the United States to consider the propostion that the price of goods is equalized across countries. Using time-series cointegration methods, I find evidence in favour of the law of one price for some, mostly homogeneous traded goods. However, most goods, both traded and nontraded, provide little support for the law of one price. Moreover, deviations from the law of one price can persist for many years. Thesis Supervisor: Rudiger Dornbusch Title: Ford International Professor of Economics Thesis Supervisor: Daron Acemoglu Title: Associate Professor of Economics


Primary pulmonary hypertension is characterized by a progressive elevation in pulmonary arterial pressure that eventually leads to right ventricular failure and death [1-3]. The median survival of patients who were prospectively entered into the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Registry on Primary Pulmonary Hypertension was 2.8 years after diagnosis [4]. No known cure exists for primary pulmonary hypertension; however, treatment for this disease has improved substantially over the past decade. Medical approaches include therapy with vasodilators [5-12], anticoagulant agents [13], inotropic agents [7], and diuretic agents and oxygen [14]. Nevertheless, some patients are refractory to medical therapy and require transplantation (heart and lung, single lung, and bilateral lung) [15-17]. In these patients with severe pulmonary vascular disease, the waiting time for transplantation may exceed their expected survival. Prostacyclin is a potent, short-acting vasodilator and inhibitor of platelet aggregation that is produced by the vascular endothelium. Prostacyclin decreases pulmonary vascular resistance and increases cardiac output and systemic oxygen delivery when acutely administered to patients with primary pulmonary hypertension [18]. We have previously reported that at the end of an 8-week randomized study, patients treated with prostacyclin had increased exercise capacity and improved hemodynamics compared with those who received conventional therapy [19]. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of long-term intravenous infusion of prostacyclin on exercise capacity, hemodynamics, and survival in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension. Methods In a previous 8-week randomized study [19], 11 of 25 patients were randomly assigned to receive prostacyclin plus conventional therapy, and 14 of the 25 patients were randomly assigned to receive conventional therapy alone. At the completion of the 8-week study, all survivors were eligible to enter this open, multicenter, uncontrolled trial of long-term intravenous infusion of prostacyclin regardless of their baseline hemodynamic response to prostacyclin or the treatment group to which they were initially assigned. The clinical diagnosis of primary pulmonary hypertension was established in all patients before entry on the basis of the criteria of the NIH Registry [3]. Thromboembolic disease was excluded on clinical grounds by perfusion lung scanning, or, when this was inconclusive, by pulmonary angiography. Patients with associated conditions such as portal hypertension, human immunodeficiency virus infection, collagen vascular diseases, and pulmonary vasculitides were excluded from this study. Sterile, lyophilized prostacyclin sodium powder (Flolan, epoprostenol sodium), synthesized by the Upjohn Co. (Kalamazoo, Michigan) and formulated by the Wellcome Research Laboratories (Beckenham, Kent, United Kingdom), was refrigerated until use. Immediately before administration, prostacyclin was reconstituted with a sterile buffer (pH, 10.5) at a concentration of 5 mg/mL and was filtered. All patients were treated with warfarin. Hemodynamic measurements were obtained by catheterization of the right side of the heart using standard techniques. After baseline hemodynamic measurements were obtained, an intravenous infusion of prostacyclin was begun at a rate of 2 ng/kg of body weight per minute and increased by increments of 2 ng/kg per minute every 10 to 15 minutes. Hemodynamic measurements were repeated at the end of the infusion of each dose. The acute infusion dose was not further increased when one or more of the following occurred: a greater than 40% decrease in systemic arterial pressure, a greater than 40% increase in heart rate, or symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or severe headache. After the acute dose-ranging study, the dose of prostacyclin was decreased to a dose that did not result in any adverse effects. The long-term infusion dose was adjusted based on results of the most recently completed dose-ranging study or clinical needs of the patient. Patients were allowed to continue prostacyclin therapy until transplantation or death. Six-minute walk tests were done to assess exercise capacity [19]. Tests were carried out before long-term prostacyclin therapy was initiated and after 6, 12, and 18 months of long-term therapy. Venous access for the infusion of prostacyclin was obtained by inserting a permanent intravenous catheter into a jugular or subclavian vein and tunneling subcutaneously. Prostacyclin was infused continuously through a portable pump (Autosyringe AS2F, Travenol Inc., Hooksett, New Hampshire or CADD-1 Model 5100 HF, Pharmacia Deltec Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota). Before hospital discharge, patients were thoroughly trained in catheter care, sterile technique, and drug preparation and administration. Safety was monitored by physical examination, routine hematologic and chemical profiles, electrocardiograms, and adverse experience assessments. The prostacyclin doses and hemodynamic and exercise data are presented as the mean SD. Changes in exercise capacity and hemodynamics were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired data [20]. Survival analysis was done using a proportional hazards regression model [21] that models survival time against group (the 17 NYHA class III and IV patients treated with prostacyclin compared with the 31 NYHA class III and IV patients [historical controls] who were treated with anticoagulant agents). The model stratifies patients according to transplantation status and NYHA class and controls through a confounder score for baseline mean pulmonary artery pressure, mean right atrial pressure, and cardiac index. These three hemodynamic variables have been shown to be associated with survival in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension [4], and the particular covariate used here as a confounder score is the predicted survival at 1 year, which is a function of the three hemodynamic variables mentioned above. Patients were censored at the time of transplantation. We constructed Kaplan-Meier curves for the patients treated with prostacyclin and for the historical controls [22]. A two-sided P value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The Equation developed from the NIH Primary Pulmonary Hypertension Registry [4] was used to predict survival for the patients treated with prostacyclin as well as for the historical controls. The formula P(t) = H(t) A(x,y,z) H(t) = 0.88 0.14 t + 0.01t2 A(x,y,x) = e(0.007325x + 0.0526y 0.3275 z) where x = mean pulmonary artery pressure; y = mean right-atrial pressure; z = cardiac index; and t = 1, 2, or 3 years, estimates a patient's chances for survival (P[t]) at 1, 2, and 3 years given the values of the patient's three hemodynamic variables: mean pulmonary artery pressure, mean right-atrial pressure, and cardiac index. Results Patients Eighteen patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (17 adults and 1 child) were entered into this long-term study after informed consent was obtained. From the 25 patients enrolled in the preceding 8-week randomized study [19], the 10 surviving patients already receiving prostacyclin plus conventional therapy and 8 of the 11 survivors from the group receiving conventional therapy alone elected to enter this long-term study. The clinical and demographic characteristics are shown in Table 1. The mean age was 35.9 13.4 years. Twelve patients were female and 6 patients were male. Seventeen of the 18 patients were NYHA class III or IV despite conventional therapy, which consisted of vasodilators, oxygen, diuretic agents, cardiac glycosides, and anticoagulant agents as deemed necessary. Six patients were receiving oral vasodilator agents before entering this study, and 5 of these patients continued this therapy. Table 1. Clinical Characteristics and Baseline Hemodynamics Treatment Regimen Before long-term treatment with continuous intravenous prostacyclin was started and during the baseline acute dose-ranging study, the range of maximal tolerated doses of prostacyclin for the 18 patients was 4 to 22 ng/kg per minute. After the acute dose-ranging study, the dose of prostacyclin was decreased until it did not result in any adverse effects. The initial dose of the long-term prostacyclin infusion ranged from 2 to 8 ng/kg per minute (mean, 6.9 3.0 ng/kg per minute). Sixteen patients had repeat hemodynamic evaluation and dose-ranging study after 6 months of therapy, and the hemodynamics of 14 patients were re-evaluated at 12 months. Three patients had transplantation at 6, 10, and 12 months, respectively, before repeat hemodynamic measurements were obtained. One patient declined catheterization at 12 months. One patient had catheterization at 12 months but not at 6 months. The mean dose of long-term prostacyclin was 17.6 11.2 ng/kg per minute (n = 14) at 1 year, 36.7 21.2 ng/kg per minute (n = 11) at 2 years, and 52.9 30.2 ng/kg per minute (n = 7) at 3 years. Exercise Capacity Exercise endurance evaluated on the basis of the 6-minute walk test is shown in Figure 1. At 6 and 18 months, patients could walk, on average, more than 100 meters farther than they could before prostacyclin therapy was started. The length of the 6-minute walk increased from 264 160 meters at baseline to 370 119 meters at 6 months, 348 142 meters at 12 months, and 408 138 meters at 18 months (P < 0.001 at 6 months and P = 0.02 at 18 months compared with baseline). Figure 1. Effect of prostacyclin on exercise capacity. P P Hemodynamics Mean hemodynamic measurements at baseline (n = 18), 6 months (n = 16), and 12 months (n = 14) are shown in Table 2. In the patients who had follow-up cardiac catheterization at 6 months, the cardiac index increased 18% (CI, 0.1% to 36.7%), mean pulmonary artery pressure decreased 9% (CI, 1.4% to 15.7%), and total pulmonary resistance improved 26% (CI, 6.1% to 46.3%). Among patients re-evaluated at 12 months, a 27% increase remain


This paper describes the application of multiwavelength photoplethysmography (MW-PPG) in reflectance mode for noninvasive measurements of total hemoglobin concentration. Consumer wrist-wearable devices (smartwatches, wristbands) typically contain a photoplethysmography sensor operating in reflectance mode, as opposed to clinical pulse-oximetry sensors operating in transmittance mode. We assume that the generally accepted approach to the analysis of the transmittance-mode MW-PPG signal, based on the direct implementation of the Beer-Lambert law, is not applicable to the analysis of reflectance-mode MW-PPG signals. We propose that the shape of the MW-PPG signal carries information regarding the distribution of optical paths at different wavelengths within the tissue, which is crucial for the correct estimation of the absorption of light in the probe volume. We have developed and tested several machine-learning algorithms to analyze the reflectance-mode MW-PPG signal and to estimate the total hemoglobin concentration based on this analysis. To train and validate the algorithms, we collected a dataset of 840 MW-PPG signals measured from 170 volunteers by using a wrist-wearable PPG sensor. Three reference devices were used to label the data and test the performance of the developed algorithms: an invasive laboratory blood test, minimally invasive HemoCue Hb 201+, and noninvasive Masimo Radical-7 transmittance mode pulse-oximeter. The best performance achieved with the developed algorithm, mean absolute error MAE $\approx 12.6\pm $ 1.7 g/L and correlation coefficient R $\approx 0.66\pm $ 0.09, is comparable with the performance of the clinical noninvasive device.


Background: Few clinical trials have head to head compared bortezomib, doxorubicin and dexamethasone (PAD) and bortezomib, cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone (VCD) regimen in multiple myeloma (MM), especially for the elderly patients. Methods: In this study, we included 64 fit patients who were treated with frontline induction of PAD or PCD. The effect of the bortezomib triple regimens and prognostic factors were evaluated. Results: Among the 64 patients, 20 (31.25%) were with international stage III disease. The median age was 67 years [65–75]. After completion of induction therapy, the overall response rate (ORR) 93.7%, complete remission (CR) rate was 32.8%. With a median follow up time of 28 [8–79] months, the median progressive free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 21.6 and 56.8 months respectively. There was no difference in term of CR rate, PFS, OS and adverse effects between two groups of patients induced by PAD or VCD regimens. Multivariable Cox analysis showed that low albumin (ALB) ( normal) were independent prognostic factor of OS (OR=2.980, 95% CI, 1.021–8.699, P=0.025 and OR=2.715, 95% CI, 1.184–6.223, P=0.018). Conclusions: PAD and VCD regimens showed equivalent efficacy and tolerability for fit elderly MM patients. Low ALB and high LDH were adverse prognostic factors associated with inferior OS, even in the era of novel agents.


Rural settlements are the carrier of farmers' life and rural industries. This paper introduces symbiosis theory to construct an analytical framework for the symbiosis between production land and living land in rural settlements, taking three villages in Shanxi, China as examples (secondary industry-led: Tian Village, tourism-led: Shuiyukou Village, multi-industry integration: Jiling Village). The results show that: (1) From 2010 to 2020, the compatibility and coupling coordination degree between production land and living land in Tian Village increased; the compatibility degree between production land and living land in Shuiyukou Village decreased slightly, and the coupling coordination increased significantly. In Jiling Village, the compatibility between production land and living land decreased, and the coupling coordination showed an increasing trend. (2) From 2010 to 2020, the degree of symbiosis between production land and living land in the three Villages both showed an increasing trend, and the growth of symbiosis degree was mainly caused by the growth of coupling coordination. (3) In 2010–2015 and 2015–2020, the symbiotic growth between production land and living land in Tian Village was driven by farmers' demand and social economy, respectively. The dominant driving factor for Shuiyukou Village in these two periods was resource endowment. Jiling Village was driven by social economy and regional policies, respectively. This work can provide scientific support for the practical adjustment of land use structure and the reconstruction of rural settlements in China.


We will try to give a idea about the possibilities of the Composites Materials in the Construction area, examining their applications since along time.
We will begin by the integral closing the building, based in the panel sandwich concept.
Immediately we will comment a new material, the COMPOSTEEL, a hybrid product made of composites plus steel, indicated to the structural country.
Next, we will study the "Continuous Frame" oriented also at the structural area.
Finally, we will finish with two ideas: a) The composites solving the seism phenomenon.
b) The composites as a ceiling to big areas.


The article is devoted to the analysis of the combat experience of the USSR Air Force during the period of Soviet troops' participation in the war in Afghanistan in 1979–1989. The specifics of the mountainous desert terrain and climatic conditions of this country are characteristic of almost all the states with which the Russian Federation borders in the south, starting from Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and to China and Mongolia in the Far East. The combat experience acquired by the Air Force then is important today not only because of the very high price paid in 1979–1989 in Afghanistan by the blood and lives of soldiers and Via in tempore. История. Политология. 2020. Том 47, No 3 (607–617) Via in tempore. History and political science. 2020. Volume 47, No 3 (607–617) 608 officers, but also by its relevance. The equipment and weapons that are currently being used by the Russian aerospace forces, in many of their components remained either the same or modernized to various degrees, therefore, the forms and methods of working with them – operation, maintenance, supply, etc. – the former. In addition to technical issues, veterans of the war in Afghanistan – military leaders and commanders of various ranks and levels – emphasize in every way that issues of interaction and control play a special role. In order to avoid negative factors in the organization and conduct of hostilities due to poorly set interaction between the ground forces and aviation, constant improvement of command is necessary. Prepared large operations, as a rule, take place without large losses, while small unprepared often lead to failure. Therefore, the experience of organizing the interaction of large operations must always be transferred to small ones.


Temporary employment contracts have become increasingly common in many OECD countries during the last decades. In Sweden, the fraction of employees that are on temporary contracts has increased form 10 to 15 % since the beginning of the 1990s. This paper studies whether temporary jobs in the form of fixed-term replacement contracts help unemployed workers in their transition to regular employment. The results show a significant positive average effect of having a replacement contract, whereas the length of the contract that can vary between 3 and 12 months does not play any role for the future labour market outcome.


A 23-year-old woman with swelling in her right third finger was prescribed cephalexin and indomethacin for tenosynovitis. Over the next several days, a painful rash developed on the patient's extremities.


A caution procedure to use embedded sensor to measure internal RH of low W/C ratio mortars is proposed in this paper. Specimens made from OPC mortar and the one made with 40% BFS replacement cured under a sealed condition at 20°C. The results showed higher internal RH decrement when BFS was applied. The slag content, the creation of the early hydrated products, pore structures of OPC mortars introduced with BFS are considered as the main factors.


It is proved in this paper that the number of minimal tautologies for any given logic tautology of size п can be an exponential function in п, and it is also proved that for every tautology of the given logic there is some minimal tautology such that the number of its sequential form proof steps is equal to minimal steps in the proof of sequential form for the given tautology in cut-free sequent systems for classical, intuitionistic, Joganssons and monotone logics.


This paper introduces the main parts of the magcard laminating machine and the operation principle of the hydraulic system. The effective metheods for keeping pressure constant, compensating pressure,and depressurizng during overpressure, as well as main characteristics of the hydraulic system, are expounded.


Deep inside each of us is a seed that holds our vision of truth, peace, and happiness. Our early childhood attachments, societal influences, and innate capacity determine how well that seed is nurtured and the deepest inner vision is set free. This article is about the ways that vision becomes clouded by attachment deficits, trauma, and subsequent symptoms. The deep inner wish to heal allows for transformation, and approaches like Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and hypnotherapy can assist in creating a more rapid acceleration of trauma resolution and transformation of self.


Refereed journals are at the core of the contemporary academic enterprise, probably more so now than ever before: most new knowledge, however defined, is carried in their pages. At the same time, there is intense pressure for individual academics to publish in `high-quality' journals, to meet both individual (career progression) and collective (departmental evaluation) goals. As a consequence, there is increased pressure of submissions to journals. But how much do we really understand about the roles that journals play in our daily (academic) lives? Having decided to stand down after twenty-five years as a coeditor of Environment and Planning A (E&PA), I was asked to produce a `valedictory' editorial, and decided to use it to muse on this question.(1)


The covariant methods of Feynman and Dyson are applied to the problem of line shape. It is shown that the line center depends almost completely on the form of the ${{S}_{\mathrm{Fe}}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ function, that is the Feynman-type Green's function for the electron interacting with an external field ${{A}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}}^{e}$ and with the quantized radiation field. A finite equation for ${{S}_{\mathrm{Fe}}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ is derived, from which the line center and shape may be calculated to any desired accuracy. The method is illustrated by two examples: the elastic scattering of photons by a one electron atom in its ground state and the emission of photons by the same type of atom following thermal excitation.


In this paper, a two-dimensional (2D) rate model is proposed considering the joint impact of spatial (i.e., the frame size) and SNR (i.e., the quantization step) resolutions on the overall rate-distortion performance. A related 2D quality model is then proposed in terms of perceptual quality. Then the two proposed models are applied to scalable video to address the problem of optimal bitstream adaptation. Experimental results show that the proposed rate and quality models fit the actual data very well, with high coefficients of determination and small relative root mean square errors. Moreover, given the bandwidth constraint and required display resolution of the end users, the optimal combination of SNR and spatial layers that provides the highest perceptual quality can be achieved using the proposed models.


These days, most general knowledge question-answering systems rely on large-scale knowledge bases comprising billions of facts about millions of entities. Having a structured source of semantic knowledge means that we can answer questions involving single static facts (e.g. "Who was the 8th president of the US?") or dynamically generated ones (e.g. "How old is Donald Trump?"). More importantly, we can answer questions involving multiple inference steps ("Is the queen older than the president of the US?"). In this talk, I'm going to be discussing some of the unique challenges that are involved with building and maintaining a consistent knowledge base for Alexa, extending it with new facts and using it to serve answers in multiple languages. I will focus on three recent projects from our group. First, a way of measuring the completeness of a knowledge base, that is based on usage patterns. The definition of the usage of the KB is done in terms of the relation distribution of entities seen in question-answer logs. Instead of directly estimating the relation distribution of individual entities, it is generalized to the "class signature" of each entity. For example, users ask for baseball players' height, age, and batting average, so a knowledge base is complete (with respect to baseball players) if every entity has facts for those three relations. Second, an investigation into fact extraction from unstructured text. I will present a method for creating distant (weak) supervision labels for training a large-scale relation extraction system. I will also discuss the effectiveness of neural network approaches by decoupling the model architecture from the feature design of a state-of-the-art neural network system. Surprisingly, a much simpler classifier trained on similar features performs on par with the highly complex neural network system (at 75x reduction to the training time), suggesting that the features are a bigger contributor to the final performance. Finally, I will present the Fact Extraction and VERification (FEVER) dataset and challenge. The dataset comprises more than 185,000 human-generated claims extracted from Wikipedia pages. False claims were generated by mutating true claims in a variety of ways, some of which were meaningaltering. During the verification step, annotators were required to label a claim for its validity and also supply full-sentence textual evidence from (potentially multiple) Wikipedia articles for the label. With FEVER, we aim to help create a new generation of transparent and interprable knowledge extraction systems.


Purpose – A rapidly growing segment of the internet is e‐commerce. The future of economic competitiveness for most enterprises relies on entrance and active participation in the e‐commerce market. About a third of the time users fail when they try to purchase products on an e‐commerce site. An essential problem with e‐commerce is that the controls and organization are different for each site. There is no standard way of building the navigation of the e‐commerce site. Most sites do not have a global navigation system and the local one may be confusing, like solving a maze. The goal of this study is to minimize users' look up time and make e‐commerce sites usable so visitors can easily and quickly access information. The objective of this study is to provide an implementation method by which an agent of the artificial intelligence (AI) user interface creates a standard navigation menu, called E‐menu, to increase the usability of e‐commerce.Design/methodology/approach – The selected E‐menu items are based on...


Current scenarios frequently interpret the Late Jurassic bird Archaeopteryx as having had an avian‐type physiology and as having been capable of flapping flight, but only from "the trees downward." It putatively lacked capacity for takeoff and powered flight from the ground upward.


A collapsed pulmonary system is one whose airways are blocked by a thin liquid film that obstructs airflow. A bubble of air must peel apart these airways' walls in order to reopen them. This introduces large stresses on the pulmonary epithelial cells of a magnitude that could alter their biological functioning. We present a computational model whose goal it is to locally quantify the stresses acting on these cells.


The rising popularity of live IPTV has triggered renewed interest in P2P multicast. In particular, the simple and robust 'swarming' style of P2P multicast is currently favored over more traditional tree-based approaches, which are seen to be complex and fragile. Swarming approaches, however, exhibit a basic control-overhead-versus-latency tradeoff that gears it more towards high-volume, latency-tolerant applications. This paper presents a new unstructured P2P multicast protocol called Chunkyspread that is tree-based yet simple and robust. Chunkyspread uses multiple trees to provide fine-grained control over member load, reacts quickly to membership changes, scales well, and has low overhead. This paper gives a detailed description of Chunkyspread and an apples-to-apples comparison with the DHT-based Splitstream multi-tree P2P multicast algorithm. We show that Chunkyspread exhibits far better control over transmit load than Splitstream, while exhibiting comparable or better latency and responsiveness to churn. This comparison establishes Chunkyspread as the 'best of breed' among tree- based P2P multicast algorithms, thus setting the stage for future comparisons with swarming-based approaches.


A transient model, based on the concept of equilibrium temperature T E , and surface heat transfer coefficient K, is used to explore the transient response of shallow cooling ponds subject to fluctuating meteorology. The model can be viewed as quasi-steady in that steady state pond temperatures are computed as a function of exponentially filtered meteorology. For linear heat transfer, K is constant while values of T E are filtered. For nonlinear heat transfer both K and T E are filtered. Comparison with results from a numerical model with fully nonlinear heat loss suggests that the linear model provides acceptable results and errors on the conservative side of overpredicting extreme temperatures, while somewhat greater accuracy can be obtained with the nonlinear model. Use of a steady state model with averaged meteorology is also discussed. These models are suggested for use at the preliminary design stage where many potential ponds must be evaluated.


An exactly soluble one-dimensional model of electrons interacting with order-parameter fluctuations associated with short-range order is considered. The energy and momentum dependence of the electronic self-energy and spectral function are calculated and found to exhibit non-Fermi-liquid features similar to that seen for the two-dimensional Hubbard model: a pseudogap, shadow bands, anomalies in the self-energy, and breakdown of the quasiparticle picture. Deviations from Fermi-liquid behavior are largest close to the Fermi surface and as the correlation length increases.


With the worldwide adaptation of the internet, social network platforms have been rapidly engaging a vast global population. Such networks are subject to user engagement and interaction on various topics - social, political, economic, etc. The present work gathers such interaction between Twitter users over a period of 6 weeks, where the topic of interaction was restricted to the West Bengal state assembly election. The conversion of the acquired data to a node adjacency list was performed on the basis of the mention relationship between users. The network analysis was performed using a novel measure based on only the eigen-vector centrality of the users of the network, termed the NetworkPresenceFactor(NPF). The results reveal that network users affiliated with Party_1 had the most influence and presence over the dynamic network, followed by those affiliated with Party_2 and Party_3. The analysis of party-wise network influence also reveals a similar scenario. The weekly trends of presence reveal that Party_1 had a constantly reducing presence that was almost twice that of Party_2, while Party_3 started off with a minimum influence that peaked during week 6. On tallying, the results of our experiment differ from the ground truth. The authors conclude that the consideration of network structure alone (as in our work) is not sufficient in effective analysis of the network and the inclusion of the context of user interaction is essential for proper network analysis.


The paper makes a overall comparison for power supply system of DC750V and DC1500V and thethird rail and overhead contact line which are adopted by City orbit traffic in our country,giving anopinion that DC1500V is better than DC750V on power supply.It is also held that both the third rail andoverhead contact line has both advantages;overhead contact line is superior to the third rail involtage quality-self-adaptive and safety.At the same time,overhead contact line is more suitable forHigh-speed Railway;the third rail is superior to overhead contact line in urban landscape andinvestment.Taken overhead contact line and contact line type together,considering that the third railof DC1500V is adapted the demand for the city development better.


Smiles, laughter and caricatures detected on certain Palaeolithic human representations permit us to draw some conclusions about the ludic component of everyday life in Prehistory. This paper offers a definition, classification and analysis of the selected motives and suggests that this playful phenomenon, based on exaggerated forms and cheerful expressions, was developed on different regions in present-day France during the Magdalenian period. These documents provide the graphic proof of the existence of a real prehistoric sense of humour.


The salted-dried mullet(Mugil japonicus) roe is a kind of traditional food particulary in the area of Young-am gun, Chunnam province. This study was conducted to conform the scientific processing conditions and to evaluate the nutritional quality and changes of major components during storage times. The manufacturing method was that the fresh roe was salted for about 20 hours for the preparation of salted-dried roe, washed by clean waters, drained, shaped a flat piece with 1.2cm thickness by pressing, and spreaded sesame oils on the surface of the salted roe periodically during wind drying for 20 days. The dried roe was blanched in heated water and packaged the dried product for storages. The fractional compositions of free lipid of wind dried roe were 40% of neutral lipids, 12% of glycolipids and 9% of phospholipids and those of bound lipids were 13% of neutral lipids. 10% of glycolipids and 13% of phospholipids respectively. The major fatty acids of the roe were , , , and which was consisted of free and bound lipids in wind drying method during processing and storages. Total amino acids were 99.87g/100g and major amino acids were Glu, Pro, Leu, Lys and CySH and the protein score was average 155% and the chemical score was average 109%. Free amino acids was 1,376mg% that had 50.61% of Pro and the major kinds of those were Tyr and CySH.


Preface 1. Why interpersonal relations matter for economics Benedetto Gui and Robert Sugden 2. From transactions to encounters: the joint generation of relational goods and conventional values Benedetto Gui 3. Fellow-feeling Robert Sugden 4. Interpersonal interaction and economic theory: the case of public goods Nicholas Bardsley 5. Under trusting eyes. The response nature of trust Vittorio Pelligra 6. Interpersonal relations and job satisfaction: some empirical results in social and community care services Carlo Borzaga and Sara Depedri 7. On the possible conflict between economic growth and social development Pier Luigi Sacco, Angelo Antoci and Paolo Vanin 8. The logic of good social relations Serge-Christophe Kolm 9. The mutual validation of ends Shaun Hargreaves-Heap 10. Hic sunt leones. Interpersonal relations as unexplored territory in the tradition of economics Luigino Bruni 11. Authority and power in economic and sociological approaches to interpersonal relations: from interactions to embeddedness Bernard Gazier and Isabelle This Saint-Jean 12. Interpersonal relations and economics: comments from a feminist perspective Julie A. Nelson 13. Economics and interpersonal relations: ruling the social back in Louis Putterman Index.


Eighteen rice germplasm were evaluated against yellow stem borer (Scripophaga incertulas Walker) infestation, to estimate the reaction under field condition during Kharif, 2007 and 2008. Based on pooled mean data, among the tested germplasm; check variety, Savita had shown higher YSB infestation in farm of 17.79 and 11.45 per cent Dead hearts (DH) and White Ears (WEs), respectively. Based on per cent DH infestations at late tillering stage, two germplasm viz., Purrendu (4.97) and IET 20042 (4.59) were found resistant and identified as the promising, ten germplasm including Swarna Sub 1((7.39) was moderately resistant, two viz., IET 20048 (14.61) and IET 19185 (12.16) moderately susceptible and remaining four were found to be susceptible. However, at maturity only on the bases of per cent WEs IET 19171(2.49) was identified as promising one being relatively low infestation, while six germplasm viz., IET 20093 (3.17), IET 20042 (3.27), IET 19186 (3.66), Purrendu (4.16), IET 20039 (4.70) and Swarna Sub 1 (4.82) were moderately resistant, seven moderately susceptible and the remaining four were found to be susceptible. None of the germplasm was highly resistant or highly susceptible against yellow stem borer infestation at both the crop stages.


The sections in this article are:

1
Genetic Disorders of Receptor and Effector Molecules
1.1
Types of Receptor

1.2
Clinical Disorders

1.3
C Proteins

1.4
Receptors and Oncogenes

1.5
Antibodies Against Receptors and Autoimmune Disorders

2
Seven-Transmembrane-Receptor/G Protein–Coupled Disorders
2.1
Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Receptor/Toxic Thyroid Hyperplasia/Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Resistance

2.2
Luteinizing Hormone Receptor/Precocious Puberty/ Leydig Cell Hypoplasia

2.3
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Receptor/Familial Glucocorticoid Deficiency

2.4
Arginine Vasopressin/Nephrogenic Diabetes Insipidus

2.5
Rhodopsin/Retinifis Pigmentosa

2.6
Parathyroid Hormone/Parathyroid Hormone–Related Peptide Receptor/Jansen-Type Metaphyseal Chondrodysplasia

2.7
β3-Adrenergic Receptor/Obesity

2.8
Growth Hormone–Releasing Hormone Receptor

2.9
Somatostatin Receptor

3
Mutations of G Proteins
3.1
Gαs Mutations/Albright Hereditary Osteodystrophy

4
Single-Transmembrane-Receptor–Coupled Diseases
4.1
Insulin Receptor/Leprechaunism/Rabson-Mendenhall Syndrome/Type A Insulin Resistance

4.2
Growth Hormone Receptor/Laron Dwarfism

4.3
Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Receptor

5
Four-Transmembrane-Segment Receptor Diseases
5.1
Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid and Serotonin Receptors

5.2
Acetylcholine Receptor/Slow-Channel Syndrome

5.3
Abnormal Recognition, Regulation, and Signaling Pathways

6
Receptor-Specific Cross-Over Disease
6.1
Hyperprolactinemia Syndrome

6.2
Trophoblastic Tumors/Human Chorionic Gonadotropin

6.3
Non-Islet Cell Neoplasms/Type II Insulin-Like Growth Factor

7
Oncogenic Receptor Defects
7.1
Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Receptor/ Thyroid Adenomas

7.2
Gαs Mutations/McCune-Albright Syndrome

7.3
Disorders of Ras and Ras-Like Proto-oncogenes

8
Antireceptor Antibodies and Autoimmune Disease
8.1
Effect of Antireceptor Antibodies

8.2
Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Receptor Antibodies and Graves' Disease

8.3
Thyroid Growth–Stimulating Antibodies

8.4
Insulin Receptor Antibodies

8.5
β-Adrenergic Receptor Antibodies

8.6
Myasthenia Gravis

8.7
Other Receptor Antibodies


Chitradurga schist belt has traditionally been accepted as a long and narrow curvilinear Archaean geosynclinal pile, cratonised long ago. Important economic minerals are gold ore at Gadag, Bellara, Ajjanahalli and Honnemaradi; antimony at Chikkanayakanahalli; copper-lead-zinc and pyrite at Ingaldhal; iron and manganese ores at the western margin of the belt; limestone and dolomite around Dodguni, Chikkanayakanhalli and Javanahalli; barytes and fuchsite quartzite around Ghattihosahalli. Salient features of the zonation of metals and minerals show a trend from the central to peripheral areas in the belt: Cu, Pb, Zn, Pyrite → Au, Ag, Sb, As → Fe, MD, Carbonates → Barite, Fuchsite Quartzite, Kyanite → Feldspar, Quartz, Corundum. The appropriate name for the container of this varied mineral spectrum across the time and space concept, could be 'metallogen'. The significant features of mineral zones in the Chitradurga metallogen; could prognostically lead to search for ore and the speculative size-up of the mineral in a futuristic perspective, thus forming a basis for a Resource Base. Regional metallogenic analysis thus opens up new vistas for future mineral appraisals. Chitradurga metallogen could thus form a subject for case study.


Resting and as a measurement of in Abstract Introduction and objective. Aging is a process that also affects the autonomic nervous system (ANS) making it less adaptable to environmental and intrinsic stimuli and affecting its ability to maintain body homeostasis. The aim of this study was to estimate the resting ANS function using heart rate variability (HRV) method and by noradrenaline measurement in aging, 2–12-months-old rats. Materials and method. Resting 15-minute-long ECG recordings were performed in anaesthetized rats with a subsequent spectral HRV analysis. Basic non-normalized HRV components in the range of very low (VLF), low (LF) and high (HF) frequency, along with the total HRV spectrum power (TP) were estimated. Moreover, normalized LF (nLF) and normalized HF (nHF) were calculated. Blood samples were also collected to assay plasma noradrenaline (NA) level. Results. In the overall assessment, plasma noradrenaline level as well as both TP and all non-normalized HRV components demonstrated a tendency for reduction when compared the first (2 nd ) and last (12 th ) months. In the case of nLF and nHF, a trend of nLF predominance in the 2 nd and 3 rd month was revealed while an inverse relation was observed from the 6 th month on, with nHF superiority. Overall, males reached comparable or slightly higher NA and non-normalized HRV values compared to females, although most differences were not statistically significant. A parallel decline of LF (starting from the 10 th month) and HF (from the 6 th month) was demonstrated in both male and female animals. Female rats had a little more stable nLF and nHF course in the study time. Conclusions. Rat ANS aging is associated with global HRV decrease with parallel plasma NA decline, although without selective impairment of individual (sympathetic/parasympathetic) ANS components.


A crystalline silicic acid H2Si14O29 · 5H2O has been prepared by topochemical reaction of sodium silicate Na2Si14O29·12H2O with acids. The compound has a layer structure with silicate sheets of about 11.2 Å thickness. The layer structure is clearly established by two dimensional reactions, mainly the formation of intercalation compounds with X-oxides (dimethylsulfoxide, pyridine-N-oxides etc.), acid amides, urea and its derivatives and bases such as hydrazine and pyridine. Typical exemples are 2 (CH3)2SO · H2Si14O29, 2C5H5NO · H2Si14O29, 2, 7 HCONHCH3 · H2Si14O29; 2, 3 HCON (CH3)2 · H2Si14O29; 1, 6 HCONHC2H5 · H2Si14O29; 1, 6 HCON (C2H5)2 · H2Si14O29.


The differential quadrature element method (DQEM) is used to solve the out-of-plane deflections of nonprismatic curved beam structures. The extended differential quadrature (EDQ) is used to discretize the governing differential equations defined on all elements, the transition conditions defined on the inter-element boundary of two adjacent elements and the boundary conditions. Numerical results obtained by DQEM are presented. They demonstrate the developed numerical solution procedure.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


A C TA P SY C H IA T RI C A B EL G IC A – N ° 11 2/ 1 – 20 12 – 3 338 The maternity, from pregnancy to childbirth, is an experience affecting three dimensions in the woman's life: biological, psychological and socio-cultural dimension. (i) The biological dimension includes mostly all hormone modifi cations related to pregnancy and postpartum period. (ii) The psychological dimension appears across (1) the motherhood experiment itself, (2) the changing representation of the child, and (3) the psychological preparation for childbirth and its aftermaths. (iii) The socio-cultural dimension includes the parturient's environment (couple, occupation, relatives) which is affected by pregnancy and the waiting of the child but also alters its good progress. Thus, the pregnancy represents a privileged ground for the appearance of mental health disorders if one or several of these three dimensions is impaired. Consequently, it is important to quickly be able to recognize the development of potentially dangerous psychiatric illnesses for the mother and her child. The multidisciplinary support, which often proves to be unavoidable, differs according to the type and the intensity of the disorders. It is the fi eld of perinatal psychiatry.


A method has been developed to predict the alkalinity generated by anoxic limestone drains (ALDs) using a specific mine water and a selected limestone material. Collapsible, 3.8-liter (1.0 gal) containers were loaded with. limestone, filled with untreated mine water, and the generation of alkalinity was monitored by periodic extraction of water samples. In order to determine the predictive capabilities of this method, tests were conducted at two ALD sites where samples of untreated mine water were available. After two days of contact between untreated water and limestone, mean alkalinity concentrations within the experimental containers were within 6% of the actual alkalinity concentrations in the respective ALD effluents. This experimental method was used to compare alkalinity generation of seven carbonate rocks with differing compositions and two different mine waters. Generation of alkalinity within the experimental containers was similar for all of the limestones tested within each of the mine waters. Dolomite generated significantly less alkalinity than limestone. After two days of contact between mine water and carbonate rock, dolomite generated only 50 percent of the alkalinity that was generated by limestone. The two mine waters generated significantly different alkalinity concentrations in the experimental containers containing the similar limestones indicating that the chemistry of the untreated mine water plays an important role in alkalinity generation.


World Wide Web with the rapid development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in HE has caused changes in the way teaching and learning is viewed increasing the diversity of the students' cohorts. Thus, students will increasingly be asked to interact with other students in multicultural environments for which they may be ill-prepared. This study identifies potential communication problems of students from South East Europe when they collaborate and co-operate in a synchronous chat and investigate if these problems can be related and attributed to differences arising from the diversity of students' cultural backgrounds. This study followed a mixed method approach to research by employing both quantitative and qualitative research methods of data collection and analysis was employed in a sample of 40 students. The results of this study showed that communication problems may arise between the participants from the investigated countries concerning the power distance cultural dimension. Although communication problems were identified, communication never broke down and the groups were all able to fulfill the goals of the activity more or less. The paper concludes that a sound appreciation or at least acknowledgment of the problems associated with diversity is essential for the survival of a multicultural teaching and learning activity not only for cultures with obvious differences such as between Chinese and American cultures that have already been proven, but for closer cultures of the same region (SEE Region) as well. This research is one of the few studies, which examines cultural communication problems between students coming from close cultures with common historical background.


This paper presents the results obtained from numerical and experimental studies of supersonic jets coming out from convergent - divergent conical nozzles. In the numerical calculations, the two-stage Runge-Kutta time-stepping scheme is applied assuming inviscid, axially symmetric How. Effects of Macb number and exit to ambient pressure ratio on shock cell lengths are investigated with the aid of schlieren pictures and density contour plots. A parameter [β2/(M2 e−1)]; has been employed to characterize the distribution of pressure along the jet axis which makes them invariant of the exit to ambient pressure ratio. The agreement or numerical results with the experimental data validates the applicability oT numerical analysis for predicting structure of supersonic axisymmetric free jet flows.


During the last half of the nineteenth century, American sportsmen-artists painted hunting-related images that were designed to promote the ideals of sporting behavior, conservationist thought, and the interests of elite sportsmen against non-elite hunters. Upper-class American attitudes regarding common hunters and trappers, the politics of land use, and the role of conservation in recreational hunting played a significant part in the construction of visual art forms during this period, art which, in turn, helped shape national dialogue on the protection and acceptable uses of wildlife. This dissertation takes issues critical to mid-century American conservation thought and agendas, and investigates how they were embodied in American hunting art of the time. Beginning with depictions of recreational sportsmen during the era of conservationist club formation (mid-1840s), the discussion moves to representations of the lone trapper at mid-century. These figures were initially represented as a beneficial force in the conquest of the American frontier, but trappers and backwoodsmen became increasingly problematic due to an apparent disregard for game law and order. I explore the ways in which market hunting was depicted, and how it was contrasted with acceptable "sportsmanlike" hunting methods. Subsequent chapters consider the portrayal of the boy hunter, an essential feature to the sportsman's culture and its continuance, and the tumultuous relationship between elite sportsmen and their guides, who were known to illegally hunt off-season. The last chapters address the subject of the wild animal as heroic protagonist and dead game still life paintings, a pictorial type that represented the lifestyle of sportsmen and their concern for conservative catches and adherence to game law. Developments in conservation during the period were significantly tied to class and


Nowadays, knowledge has become one of the most important strategic assets for firms. And knowledge management is the most interesting issue in strategic management. For international firms, how to learn and absorb the knowledge through knowledge transfer from their partners, especially when they deal with the great culture distance between them and their partners, who are located at different countries, is really a big issue. So, knowledge management ability will become a key factor of international corporations' competitive advantage. This study will focus on how the organizational culture between two companies affect the knowledge transfer performance, and also discuss how to choose the right entry mode to deal with the culture distance, which is concerned as a knowledge transfer obstacle. The main questions of this framework: 1.How the international culture distance between local companies and their foreign partners affect their knowledge transfer performance. 2.How the organizational culture distance between local companies and their foreign partners affect their knowledge transfer performance. 3.How the different entry modes affect the relationship between national culture distance and knowledge transfer performance? 4.How the different entry modes affect the relationship between organizational culture distance and knowledge transfer performance? The empirical results of this study show that: 1.National culture distance will not affect knowledge transfer performance. 2.Organizational culture distance will become a obstacle of knowledge transferring and learning. 3.Lower level control entry mode can decrease the negative affect of organizational culture distance to knowledge transfer performance.


LBO FRONTIERS IN THE 1990s: CAN ACCOUNTING KEEP PACE? LBO-type transactions aren't dead, and their accounting issues still are unresolved. The fall of 1989 brought troubles for leveraged buyouts. Problems developed at Campeau, Integrated Resources, Hillsborough Holdings (Jim Walter Corp.) and Resorts International. The potentially lucrative United Airlines and American Airlines buyout schemes never got off the ground. And the investment community now is waiting to see what happens when reset bonds get reset and payment-in-kind bonds begin to require payments in cash. Nevertheless, the entrepreneurial spirit still exists and companies always will want to divest themselves of unneeded businesses--so the LBO phenomenon will survive and continue. Buyers will become more selective and LBOs of the 1990s will feature tighter loan covenants and more achievable financial projections. These developments will force the dealmakers to design new and more complex LBO-like transactions--custom-tailored for each situation. This article discusses the current state of accounting rules in one alternative to an LBO transaction and the challenges faced by the accounting profession in keeping pace with LBO innovations. LBO ALTERNATIVES As the classic LBO loses its luster, alternative vehicles for divestiture and acquisition include joint ventures and other forms of spin-offs that resemble LBOs but whose economics are markedly different. The accounting issues associated with these transactions are an uncharted frontier for CPAs. The Financial Accounting Standards Board emerging issues task force (EITF) has answered some questions but many more remain. Let's examine one type of common transaction recently studied by the EITF and consider some of the questions that were left unanswered. Example: An operating company contributes assets and a financial partner invests equity capital in a newly formed entity. The contributed assets typically are underperforming and their true value may be realized only with the help of a new management team and/or an infusion of capital. The financial partner sees an opportunity to invest in a business with significant potential; the operating company is happy to reduce its investment but hedges its bet by keeping a noncontrolling equity interest. To equalize values, the operating company may receive or make a cash payment as well as contribute assets. Both parties can leverage the contributed assets, with the proceeds going to one or both or used to finance the new entity's operations. An initial public stock offering also is possible. THE ACCOUNTING CONSIDERATIONS Some accounting questions raised by these types of transactions were discussed, but only partially resolved, in EITF Issue no. 89-7, Exchange of Assets or Interest in a Subsidiary for a Noncontrolling Equity Interest in a New Entity. Assume: Operatingco is a diverse manufacturing company that has a trucking subsidiary with a carrying value of $8 million and a fair value of $60 million. Over the years, Operatingco's reliance on its trucking company has declined and it believes the investment is no longer warranted. Operatingco agrees to partially divest itself of the trucking company by transferring it to a new and revitalized entity, Truckco, in exchange for a 40% equity interest valued at $60 million, which it will account for using the equity method. It seeks a financial partner that believes Truckco can be turned into an independent profitable company. Financeco, an investment company, contributes $90 million in cash to Truckco for a 60% interest in Truckco. Assume Operatingco has no ongoing commitment to support any of Truckco's operations. The accounting entries for this transaction are shown in exhibit 1 Operatingco divests Truckco. Financeco's accounting is easy: It has a subsidiary with a 40% minority interest. Consolidation accounting normally would be required but many investment companies carry acquisitions at cost until their value clearly is impaired or there's substantial evidence it has increased. …


Developing, maintaining and enhancing software features and functions for production websites are challenging software engineering activities. There are many aspects of software engineering practices and methodologies that are different in developing software features and systems for 24x7 production website compared with developing classical standalone software systems or client-server systems. This experience paper describes software engineering lessons that we have learned from developing, enhancing and maintaining software features for production websites and summarizes the key software engineering principles and practices that are essential for delivering successful 24x7 E-commerce based production


Type of funding sources: None.
 Background
 The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing exponentially. The overall prevalence of NAFLD in the United States is predicted to increase to 33.5% of the adult population by 2030. Hepatosteatosis (HS) has been previously shown to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease events. We sought to investigate the association of clinical covariates and the presence of HS and coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients referred for computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA).
 Methods
 We performed a retrospective, observational analysis at a high-volume cardiac CT centre analysing consecutive CTCA studies. All patients referred for investigation of chest pain over a 28-month period (June 2014 to November 2016) were included. Covariates in those with CAD and patients without CAD were compared using compared using student"s t-test for continuous variables and chi-squared test for categorical variables. Logistic regression models were constructed for the multivariate analysis.
 Results
 In total there were 1499 patients referred for CTCA without prior evidence of CAD. Age, male sex, presence of hypertension and diabetes were significantly higher in those with CAD (table 1). HS evaluation was assessed in 1195 (79.7%). In the multivariate analysis significant predictors of CAD were male sex (OR 3.40, p < 0.001), family history (OR 1.90, p = 0.003), current smoking (OR 1.80, p = 0.03) and increasing age (OR 1.12, p < 0.001). The presence of HS was not associated with CAD when adjusted for risk factors (OR 1.05 CI:0.70-1.60, p = 0.80).

 We found a significant association between the increasing age, presence of hypertension, male sex, diabetes and current smoking with presence of CAD as detected by CTCA. In contrast to recent evidence HS may not be an independent risk factor for the development of the development of CAD.
 Summary statistics of the cohort No CAD (n = 881) CAD (n = 618) P Age (mean (SD)) 48.86 (±12.1) 57.9(±10.6) <0.005* Male Sex (%) 343 (38.6%) 326 (51.1%) <0.005* Hypertension (%) 193(21.9%) 239 (38.7%) <0.005* Diabetes (%) 59 (6.7%) 86 (13.9%) <0.005* Current Smoking (%) 139 (15.8%) 108 (17.5%) 0.423 FHx (%) 239 (27.1%) 167 (27%) 1 HS (%) 291 (33%) 247 (40%) 0.007* A comparison of clinical covariates for the cohort stratified by the presence of coronary artery disease. Statistical significance was assumed when p < 0.05 and is denoted with *.


Managing the talent of an organization's workforce effectively and efficiently, including developing and planning succession and employee self-development as much as possible, is the goal of talent management. One of the problems in the SME sector is that the utilization of talent has not been carried out optimally. The purpose of the study was to analyze the development of human resources (HR) in the SME sector in the city of Bandung. The research method used is descriptive qualitative and data collection through interviews and library studies. The study results show that talent management has become a basic need for SMEs so that they can and continue to grow in adapting to changes in the business environment. The utilization of information technology can be one of the talents that must be developed to operate competitively.


Human T‐lymphotropic virus (HTLV) blood donation screening has used a dual‐testing algorithm beginning with either a chemiluminescent immunoassay or enzyme‐linked immunosorbent screening assay (ELISA). Before the availability of a licensed HTLV supplemental assay, repeat‐reactive (RR) samples on a first assay (Assay 1) were retested with a second screening assay (Assay 2). Donors with RR results by Assay 2 were deferred from blood donation and further tested using an unlicensed supplemental test to confirm reactivity while nonreactive (NR) donors remained eligible for donation until RR on a subsequent donation. This "dual‐test" algorithm was replaced in May 2016 with the requirement that all RRs by Assay 1 be further tested by a licensed HTLV supplemental test (Western blot [WB]). In this study, we have requalified the dual‐test algorithm using the available licensed HTLV WB.


Since the discovery that pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridazine or pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyridazine exhibited antiproliferative activity and antiviral activity, much attention has been paid to the development of convenient and efficient routes for synthesis of heterocyclic bases such as pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyridazine and pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyridazine, which are C4N2−C4N type fused ring. In order to modify fused-heterocyclic skeletons for new fungicidal agents, we required C4N2−C3N (pyrrolopyridazine), C4N2−C3N2 (imidazopyridazine), C4N2−C4N2 (pyridazinopyridazine or pyridazinopyrimidine) and other type fused rings containing pyridazine moiety. For the synthesis of these fused-heterocyclic bases, 6-nitro and 6formylpyridazin-3(2H)-ones are useful. In order to synthesize useful intermediates for some fused pyridazinone and/or new fungicidal agents, we attempted to prepare some 6-nitro-(or amino, hydroxylamino and formyl)pyridazin3(2H)-ones. In this paper, we report the functionalization of 4,5-dichloropyridazin-3(2H)-one and 4,5-dichloro-2methyl-6-nitropyridazin-3(2H)-one.


Abstract Aim Occupational therapists are experts in determining domestic assistance levels. It is a complex multi-dimensional process resulting in different opinion regarding care hours. Method Therapists providing medicolegal reports on domestic care for the courts within Australia were surveyed. Results 58 occupational therapists responded with most aged between 41 to 50 years of age. There was a strong correlation between years of clinical and medicolegal experience (r = 0.730, n = 58, p = 0.000) as well as between years and numbers of medicolegal assessments conducted in 2017 (r = 0.264, n = 58, p = 0.420). Assessment based on occupational analysis interview combined observation of the claimant performing tasks in their home, medical information, and contextual factors such as family expectations. Translation of data to hours of care was based on therapist's clinical experience of medical diagnosis (x2 6.89, p = 0.009) and claimant's statements of performance combined with therapist's clinical experience (x2 = 5.58, p = 0.18). Therapists providing defendant only reports often use their own time to perform housework as a guide. Triangulation data combined confirmation of the person's statements through observation of performance, the environment in which they lived, and the occupational therapists own clinical reasoning skill. Conclusion Documenting all the factors influencing the occupational therapist's decision is the key to understanding clinical reasoning. Implication for rehabilitation When estimating domestic care occupational therapists should: •Provide written documentation that clearly explains the assessment methods used, the results and conclusion made regarding domestic care. •Triangulate data including claimant's statements of performance, confirmation by observation on tasks, medical report information in the context of the claimant's environmental and contextual factors. •Be aware their own years of experience do not equate to level of expertise.


There is a method which identifies validity of program by transforming program to verification condition to verify program. If program is verified by generating verification condition, verification condition must have enough and accurate information for verifying program. However, verification condition is consisting of logical formulas, so the user cannot easily identify the verification condition. In this paper, we implemented program that visualize the poorly readable verification conditions. By the program, the users can easily identify information, such as the relationship between logical formulas that represent verification condition.


A majority of the population in India exists in villages and above 50 per cent of them, relies on agriculture (directly or indirectly) and one of the greatest threats to farming is water scarcity. Rain fed agriculture constitutes 55 per cent of net sown area in the nation. The annual rainfall of the country varies from 400 mm to >1200 mm, varying both in place and time. In the low to medium rainfall rain-fed regions the occurrence of high intense rainfall events is very less i.e., only for the short duration. Hence the necessary rain water management is necessary to increase water efficiency. Since the first light of independence concerning efforts has been made to uplift the standards of farmers and International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 10 Number 01 (2021) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com


Abstract In the last several decades, consumers have been given a more influential role in their recoveries through mechanisms which provide empowerment. The authors describe the start-up of one such empowering program, an in-patient advisory council at a Midwestern state psychiatric hospital. The first author, who was instrumental in starting up the group, said a number of challenges had to be overcome before a consumer advisory council could be installed as a permanent entity. The structure and operation of the council is described, including their complaints about the institution's quality of food and the use of restraints. The author also delves into the hospital staff's reaction.


The purpose of this study is to make a contribution to the effective management of medical literature in Korean libraries and specifically to help to select medical books and periodicals by determining the value and life of medical literature by means of citation counting and analysis. This report will present methods of calculation and data collection to measure the importance, half life of medical literature and the authority of author for Korean medical libraries. The writer conducted comparative studies based on data covering a two-year period, 1970-1971, using about 16,899 citations in 1,032 articles of the above journals. The references and citations are counted and analyzed by the number of authors, periodicals, books and publication dates. By the following ratio, calculated by the citation counting and analysis, we can decide the rates of medical periodicals to books, foreign literature to domestic literature and literature of the most numerously cited authors, for the selecting method of Korean Medical libraries. (1) It is disclosed that 61 main authors are cited 9 times. Most of them are Western authors, they are cited 14,374 times which represents 88.6% of the total citations. (2) The cited medical literature is classified as follows:The ratio of cited medical periodicals to the cited medical books is 82.0%. (The books at a rate of 18.0%.) Therefore, the wnter concentrated the efforts on the analysis of periodicals. (3) Classification of the periodicals by countries indicates that about 11.2% of total citations are made from Korean medical literature. The medical activities in Korea are dependent on the advanced foreign countries at ratio of 88.8%. Of the foreign medical periodicals cited, Japanese literature represents only 4.5% while literature of European countries and America constitutes 84.3%. (4) If medical journals are arranged in order of decreasing productivity of articles on a given subject, they may be revealed that it is necessary to have 98 titles of key jounals to cover 60% of information in the field of medical science and 60 titles for an average of 50%. (5) For the purpose of measuring the life of medical literature in Korea, the writer has calculated the half lives of periodicals and books as follows: Kinds of Literature Half-lives 1. Periodicals 7.75 years 2. Books 4.11 years 3. Whole literatare 6.37 years (6) The half lives of domestic and Japanese literature in the medical science are comparatively short.


The remit of the SACBC is to provide advice on the safety and quality of blood components to the UK Transfusion Services/NIBSC Joint Professional Advisory Committee. More specifically this includes setting specifications for blood components (evidence‐based where possible), developing and reviewing validation of novel components, setting and assessing requirements for storage and transport systems, developing protocols for evaluating methods for the collection and processing of blood components, liasing with other SACs as required and 'horizon scanning' for any new component developments. Work completed in the last 2 years has included revision of chapters related to components for the 7th edition of the UKBTS Guidelines for Transfusion Services ('Red Book'), feedback into the revision of 12th edition of the Council of Europe Guide to the Preparation, Use and Quality Assurance of Blood Components, and response to consultation on the EU Directive on Blood as it relates to component issues. Other specific projects completed have addressed the requirement for RhD labelling of leucodepleted fresh frozen plasma (FFP), the requirement for continuous agitation of platelets, the frozen and post‐thaw shelf life of FFP, the shelf life of red cells in additive solution, quality of red cells filtered by a novel prion removal filter and in vitro validation of a novel pooled buffy coat component for granulocyte transfusion. In 2006/7 SACBC will continue to review and provide recommendations on new component developments, which at present includes other prion filters, extension of platelet shelf life and use of platelet suspension medium. Aspects of quality monitoring will be reviewed, including leucodepletion performance, quality monitoring requirements for new processes and review of the application of Statistical Process Control for monitoring quality and conformance of blood components. Data on component quality related to changes in processing of blood will be assessed, e.g. with use of new processing technology and overnight hold of whole blood at ambient temperature prior to processing.


Objective: The study was conducted to see the presentation of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and its associated complications in thirty patients. Place: Medical departments of Holy Family Hospital Rawalpindi General Hospital and District Headquarters Hospital Rawalpindi Study Design: Descriptive Study Methods: Thirty patients were selected on non-probability convenient sampling from December 2000 to mid of July 2001. Patients who had history and clinical examination and investigations suggestive of TBM were included in the study. Result: Mostly patients were young; the mean age was 29.67 years with the highest age specific incidence between 12--24 years age group. Being a chronic disease the presentation to hospital was late with mean duration of illness 29.13 days. Majority presented with fever headache vomiting neck stiffness and altered conscious level. Different complications were seen in the patients; hydrocephalus was seen in 60% and cranial nerve palsies in 50% cases. Fits were not seen in any of the patients in this study. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and CT Scan were most helpful in diagnosis. There was lymphocytic pleocytosis with low sugar and high proteins in 93.3% cases. CT scan showed basilar meningeal enhancement with or without ventricular dilatation in majority of the patients. However positive smear AFB for CSF and sputum was low and seen in 6.6% cases. Pulmonary infiltrates on chest x-ray were seen in 33.3%and miliary pattern in 13.3% only. Regarding the outcome 30% fully recovered 46% made partial recovery while 23.3% died of TBM. Advanced stage at presentation and delayed treatment were associated with poor outcome in majority. Conclusion: TBM is a serious illness often with atypical clinical biochemical and radiological features. (authors)


The invention relates to a method for removing heavy metal in sludge. The method comprises the following steps: adjusting the PH value of the sludge to be 0.5 to 2 through hydrochloric acid solution, adding ferrous sulphate solution and shydrogen peroxide solution into the sludge, then stirring, heating, and removing water of the sludge to remove heavy metal after reaction. The method changes the heavy metal form in the sludge through a Fenton oxidation method, promotes the metal in the sludge to be migrated from solid phase to liquid phase, and reduces the heavy metal content in sludge phase, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing the heavy metal content in sludge by removing water in the sludge.


If managed properly, productive waqf can be used as a new strategy to alleviate poverty, create prosperity, and support economic stability. In Indonesia, productive waqf has been approved by national law and the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI). This is a positive opportunity to develop the better economy and education. However, there is still lack of understanding on the importance of productive endowments for development. as a consequence, there should be a specific stimulus so that that the management of waqf can be developed productively and supported by financial technology.


Surveillance of cities is a major topic in contemporary urban sociology and criminology. Both threats to personal safety and new forms of social control such as video surveillance or the deployment of private security are seen as a menace for the traditional public character of the European city. On the one hand, surveillance can endanger anonymity in public places and access to public places as the two main characteristics of public space. On the other hand, personal fear of street crime also inhibits free access to public spaces. Otherwise the public discourse of a general decay of public space seems to be curtate. The dialectic between public and private sphere is a complex constitutional factor of European cities, and privatisation of public spaces, for example, implies more than just a legal transformation of a geographically restricted territory.


School curriculum, and his longer, more complicated novels - including "The Bostonians", "The Portrait of a Lady", "The Ambassadors", and many more - are some of the greatest and most influential novels ever written. "Critical Companion to Henry James" covers the life and works of Henry James as well as the related people, places, and topics that shaped his writing. Other features in this new title include a chronology of James' life, bibliographies of his works and of secondary sources, and black-and-white photographs and illustrations, providing essential background for the study of this literary master. Coverage of this title includes: a concise but thorough biography; entries on James' works, including his novels, novellas, short stories, criticism, travel writing, and more; characters are included as subentries within longer entries on fictional works; related people, places, and topics, including William James, New York, and the Civil War; and, Appendixes, including a chronology of James' life, a bibliography of James' works, and a secondary-source bibliography.


Wideband detection of solid spherical elastic objects is approached via optimal detection and estimation theory in conjunction with acoustic scattering models for both the object and the seafloor. The objective is the time domain development of full field optimal decision methods for high‐frequency active detection of a target in the vicinity of the seafloor. This parametric approach incorporates the inherent uncertainty surrounding the physical composition of both the object and seafloor. The acoustic model used for the spherical object is the well‐known modal series solution and is parameterized by object size, density (object and medium), compressional wave speed (object and medium), and shear wave speed. This deterministic model is used to predict the target signature measured at an array of sensors. Acoustic modeling of the seafloor is performed through application of a modified point‐scatterer model. This model provides a physical mechanism for describing the spectral scattering properties of the se...


CCSD(T) calculations have been used for identically nucleophilic substitution reactions on N-haloammonium cation, X− + NH3X+ (X = F, Cl, Br, and I), with comparison of classic anionic SN2 reactions, X− + CH3X. The described SN2 reactions are characterized to a double curve potential, and separated charged reactants proceed to form transition state through a stronger complexation and a charge neutralization process. For title reactions X− + NH3X+, charge distributions, geometries, energy barriers, and their correlations have been investigated. Central barriers ΔE for X− + NH3X+ are found to be lower and lie within a relatively narrow range, decreasing in the following order: Cl (21.1 kJ/mol) > F (19.7 kJ/mol) > Br (10.9 kJ/mol) > I (9.1 kJ/mol). The overall barriers ΔE relative to the reactants are negative for all halogens: −626.0 kJ/mol (F), −494.1 kJ/mol (Cl), −484.9 kJ/mol (Br), and −458.5 kJ/mol (I). Stability energies of the ion–ion complexes ΔEcomp decrease in the order F (645.6 kJ/mol) > Cl (515.2 kJ/mol) > Br (495.8 kJ/mol) > I (467.6 kJ/mol), and are found to correlate well with halogen Mulliken electronegativities (R2 = 0.972) and proton affinity of halogen anions X− (R2 = 0.996). Based on polarizable continuum model, solvent effects have investigated, which indicates solvents, especially polar and protic solvents lower the complexation energy dramatically, due to dually solvated reactant ions, and even character of double well potential in reactions X− + CH3X has disappeared. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011


In 2003, the nuclear physics research at the Forschungszentrum Rossendorf focused primarily on experiments with the new ELBE facility. The available beamtime was still scarce; while it was devoted to systematic studies of electric and magnetic dipole strength distributions, mainly in medium-mass nuclei. During the experiments changes of the Bremsstrahlung-production and detection setup have been made resulting in significant improvements of the detection efficiency and the reduction of unwanted background. In a series of experiments the stable Molybdenum isotopes Mo-92 (the most neutron-deficient), Mo-98, and Mo-100 (the most neutron-rich) have been studied and dipole strength distributions have been derived. The results are compared to theoretical investigations which have been performed using a model based on a random-phase approximation from many particle theory here applied to nuclei without spherical symmetry. The aim is to understand the properties of collective excitations of nuclei close to the particle separation energies. Furthermore, the dipole response of Sr-88 has been investigated extending previous studies at the S-Dalinac accelerator at TU Darmstadt to higher excitation energies.


This article is based on a paper originally presented at the 2006 Conference of the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management. It discusses case studies of reform in developing countries presented at the Commonwealth Advanced Seminar, held annually in Wellington, New Zealand. The cases are analysed in terms of major reform issues such as civil service reform, strategic planning, management decentralization and accountability for results to draw out similarities in challenges and responses across jurisdictions and also some lessons about the uptake and implementation of policy ideas from other governments. The cases illustrate the influence on developing country governments of public management ideas, ranging from specific imitation of new management `technologies' to more generalized inspiration of the possibilities of reform. Points for practitioners There are significant similarities of reform issues across the diverse countries of the Commonwealth, indicating the value of cross-jurisdictional dialogue about reform agendas, particularly when participants share a common official language. Some ideas about New Public Management continue to exert a strong influence on reform agendas — particularly those relating to linking individual performance to organizational tasks and objectives. Nevertheless, inspiration, rather than imitation, may sometimes be the most useful result of cross-jurisdiction discussions about public sector reform, particularly when practitioners can discuss common issues and challenges.


Conformal radiotherapy is a cancer treatment technique, that targets high-energy X-rays to tumors with minimal
exposure to surrounding healthy tissues. Irradiation ballistics is calculated based on an initial 3D Computerized
Tomography (CT) scan. At every treatment session, the random positioning of the patient, compared
to the reference position defined by the initial 3D CT scan, can generate treatment inaccuracies. Positioning
errors potentially predispose to dangerous exposure to healthy tissues as well as insufficient irradiation to the
tumor. A proposed solution would be the use of portal images generated by Electronic Portal Imaging Devices
(EPID). Portal images (PI) allow a comparison with reference images retained by physicians, namely Digitally
Reconstructed Radiographs (DRRs). At present, physicians must estimate patient positional errors by visual
inspection. However, this may be inaccurate and consumes time. The automation of this task has been the
subject of many researches. Unfortunately, the intensive use of DRRs and the high computing time required
have prevented real time implementation. We are currently investigating a new method for DRR generation that
calculates intermediate DRRs by 2D deformation of previously computed DRRs. We approach this investigation
with the use of a morphing-based technique named mesh warping.


Abstract For 52 industry sectors and 42 services sectors, this paper tests how the local economic structure (local sectoral specialization and diversity, competition, average size of plants, and total employment density) affects the 1984–1993 employment growth of 341 local areas. These areas entirely and continuously cover the French territory. The impact of the local economic structure differs in industry and services. In industrial sectors, local total employment density, competition, and plant size always reduce local growth. Sectoral specialization and diversity have a negative impact on growth, but also increase the growth of a few sectors. Service sectors always exhibit negative specialization effects and positive diversity effects. Competition and plant size have a negative impact and density a positive one, but exceptions are observed for some sectors.


Background: Low muscle strength is linked to several adverse health outcomes. However, there are limited data regarding its prevalence and associated factors in Thai older adults. This study aimed to fill that gap. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with patients aged ≥ 60 years at the outpatient clinic of the internal medicine department of a tertiary care hospital from April 2020 to December 2021. Patient characteristics were collected, and a handgrip dynamometer was used to measure handgrip strength (HGS). Low HGS was defined according to the 2019 recommendations of the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Results: In total, 198 patients were recruited. The prevalence of low HGS was 51%. Median HGS was 17.8 kg and 27.7 kg in women and men, respectively. Every age per year increase, greater number of medications of any type, and lower Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score were independent factors associated with low HGS, with adjusted odds ratios of 1.1, 1.2, and 0.9, respectively. Conclusions: Low HGS was prevalent among older patients in this setting, indicating a high degree of possible sarcopenia. As there were some modifiable factors associated with low HGS, routine measurement, medication review, and cognitive evaluation are recommended for early diagnosis and management.


The article provides an overview of the digitisation project conducted by the Parco Archeologico dell'Appia Antica (PAAA) in Rome, focusing on an 11.7 km section of the Appian Way. This effort is part of the "Appia Regina Viarum" project, supporting the UNESCO heritage site candidacy of the Appian Way. Advanced sensor technologies, including the Mobile Mapping System (MMS), 360° Cameras, Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), digital cameras, and drones, are employed to collect extensive data sets. The primary goal is to create highly accurate three-dimensional (3D) models for knowledge enhancement, conservation, and communication purposes. Innovative tools are introduced to manage High Resolution 3D textured models, improving maintenance, management, and design processes over traditional CAD methods. The project aims to develop multi-temporal Digital Twins integrated with historical documentation, such as Piranesi's imaginary views and architect Canina's monument reconstructions. These informative models function as nodes within the DT, serving the PAAA's geographic hub by means of an eXtended Reality (XR) platform: the paper proposes bridging the physical object and virtual models, contributing to supporting the operators in the maintenance planning as well as information dissemination and public awareness, offering an immersive experience beyond conventional reality.


An increased focus on youth development has led to an understanding of the importance of the wellbeing, resilience and mental health of children and young people. As a result there is a growing body of research, especially over the last two decades, which increasingly recognises the complexities of learning and development across the years spent at school. Alongside this trend is the rise of positive psychology, which is changing our conceptions of youth, education and development. Support for a new era of student-centric teaching practices dedicated to enhancing student wellbeing has come not only from researchers and psychologists, but also from school and education authorities, who are showing an increased appetite for integrating positive psychology-based programs into the learning curriculum. While researchers are beginning to express cautious optimism about the effectiveness of such interventions, there is a large disparity between the initiatives being researched and what is being taught in classrooms. A set of key constraints relating to limited resources, an overcrowded curriculum, accessibility of information, teacher factors and quality training all play a role in shaping the effectiveness with which an intervention is implemented. This article reflects on the recent development of positive psychology school-based programs and offers insights into how these initiatives can be enhanced to reach a wider range of young people and translated more effectively into classroom practice.


Companies tend to produce over optimistic forecasts of demand. Psychologists have suggested that optimism, at least in part, results from selective bias in processing information. When high demand is more desirable than low demand information favouring high demand may carry more weight than information that suggests the opposite. To test this, participants in an experiment used a prototypical forecasting support system to forecast the demand uplift resulting from sales promotion campaigns. One group was rewarded if demand exceeded an uplift of 80%. All of the participants were also supplied with information some of which supported an uplift of greater than 80% and some of which suggested that the uplift would fall below this value. This enabled an assessment to be made of the extent to which those who were rewarded if the uplift exceeded 80% paid more attention to the positive information than those who were not rewarded. While the experiment provided strong evidence of desirability bias there was no evidence that the group receiving rewards for sales exceeding the threshold made greater use of positive reasons. Possible explanations for this are discussed, together with the implications for forecasting support system design.


Subjected to the sandstone reservoirs interbedded complicated,there is uncertainty in resolve a single channel sandstone exactly limited by the seismic data resolution,and usually a seismic waveform always is composited by two or more interference of channel sandstones.For that reason,the paper discussed the method to identify the intervedded sandstone by using waveform classification. Through comparing modeling seismic response with synthetic seismogram of well-to-seismic calibration,discussed seismic response characteristics of various interbedded sandtone,analyzed geological mechanization,established the seismic response mode between seismic and interbedded sandstone,then determined the classification,finally,based on the distribution of seismic response,the distribution of interbedded sandstone reservoirs was identified and predicted effectively.