Assuming the existence of a monster model, tameness and continuity of nonsplitting in an abstract elementary class (AEC), we extend known superstability results: let $\mu>LS({\bf K})$ be a regular stability cardinal and let $\chi$ be the local character of $\mu$-nonsplitting. The following holds: 1. When $\mu$-nonforking is restricted to $(\mu,\geq\chi)$-limit models ordered by universal extensions, it enjoys invariance, monotonicity, uniqueness, existence, extension and continuity. It also has local character $\chi$. This generalizes Vasey's result which assumed $\mu$-superstability to obtain same properties but with local character $\aleph_0$. 2. There is $\lambda\in[\mu,h(\mu))$ such that if ${\bf K}$ is stable in every cardinal between $\mu$ and $\lambda$, then ${\bf K}$ has $\mu$-symmetry while $\mu$-nonforking in (1) has symmetry. In this case (a) ${\bf K}$ has the uniqueness of $(\mu,\geq\chi)$-limit models: if $M_1,M_2$ are both $(\mu,\geq\chi)$-limit over some $M_0\in K_\mu$, then $M_1\cong_{M_0}M_2$; (b) any increasing chain of $\mu^+$-saturated models of length $\geq\chi$ has a $\mu^+$-saturated union. These generalize VanDieren-Vasey's result and remove the symmetry assumption in Boney-VanDieren and Vasey's result. Under $(<\mu)$-tameness, the conclusions of (1), (2)(a)(b) are equivalent to ${\bf K}$ having the $\chi$-local character of $\mu$-nonsplitting. Grossberg and Vasey gave eventual superstability criteria for tame AECs with a monster model. We remove the high cardinal threshold and reduce the cardinal jump between equivalent superstability criteria. We also add two new superstability criteria to the list: a weaker version of solvability and the boundedness of the $U$-rank.


Social action orientated citizenship education curriculum is a great transcendence of the 3 traditional social studies orientations.The belief of this orientation is "rational justice,sensitive care".Curriculum of this orientation implies the following characteristics:the content is meaningful and challenging,the organization is gradual and integrated,the implementation is active and sustainable,the evaluation is reflective and comprehensive.


I present an argument, based on the topology of the universe, why there are three generations of fermions. The argument implies a preferred unified gauge group of SU(5), but with SO(10) representations of the fermions. The breaking pattern SU(5){yields}SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1) is preferred over the pattern SU(5){yields}SU(4)xU(1). On the basis of the argument one expects an asymmetry in the early universe microwave data, which might have been detected already.


Augusto Pinochet, comandante-en-jefe of the Chilean Army, was an avid global traveller in the 1990s. As the former military dictator had developed into a potent symbol of Cold War anti-communism, authoritarianism, and market radicalism, his trips across Latin America, East Asia, Southern Africa, continental Europe, and to the United Kingdom usually made a great stir. This article looks at public reactions, political debates, and legal consequences that were caused by Pinochet's appearance. It argues that different attitudes towards the Chilean visitor reflected how local groups positioned and envisioned themselves in the transformative period around 1989. Drawing on documents from the Chilean Foreign Ministry, interviews with Chilean generals, and newspaper coverage from four continents, it demonstrates that many anti-communists as well as liberal economists did not see Pinochet as a representative of a criminal past. Rather, his "Chilean model" had become a source of legitimacy of an authoritarian path of modernisation.


Baldacchino's article 'The eidetic of belonging' is premised on the claim that the emotional dimension of collective experience has either been neglected by social scientists, conceived as fundamentally irrational and destructive, or couched within an inappropriate 'hydraulic' framework in which in group members are viewed as 'expressing' the primordial emotions of the (essentialized) social categories to which they belong. To resolve these limitations, he argues, we need a new psychol ogy. This psychology should be built around recognition of the so-called 'eidetic of belonging': a concept designed to capture the affectively charged processes through which 'ego objects' become superimposed on 'a collective we-image'. Although the article focuses on the experiences of members of ethnic and national groups, the author implies a more ambitious agenda at several points. Indeed, he proposes nothing less than a generic framework for 'restoring affects to their central place in subject formation'. Let us declare from the outset that we are both social psychologists who work in the field of intergroup relations, and inevitably we view Baldacchino's arguments through this disciplinary lens, with all of the preconceptions and biases that this entails. Bearing this in mind, our response below is organized into three parts. First, we outline some of Baldacchino's main arguments regarding the 'eidetic of belonging'. Second, we interrogate some of the assumptions on which those argu ments are based. Specifically, we suggest that Baldacchino has exaggerated the


The present article uses semiparametric regression to capture the impact of foreign-aid given for health purposes on the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of poor developing countries, after controlling for other covariates. We also investigate whether education (general awareness) helps lower IMR directly or helps improve effectiveness of health-aid in reducing IMR. In addition, the study investigates whether various disaggregated components of health-aid (for example, aid that goes for infectious disease control or nutrition) help lower IMR. We find that although adult education (awareness) always lowers IMR, the overall effect of health-aid remains insignificant. Our conclusion is robust to various disaggregated components of health-aid as well. We also check if health-aid has improved prenatal care for expecting mothers but our conclusion regarding the overall ineffectiveness of aid remains unchanged. Interestingly, we find that total health-aid as well as nutrition aid may lower IMR only after education exceeds a threshold level – a new angle that has not been explicitly explored before. We also find interesting role of education in making the aid more effective for prenatal care. Our semiparametric nonlinear estimation strategy helps us unravel certain interesting thresholds and facts which cannot be captured in a linear parametric estimation framework.


One of Romania's priorities for the fulfillment of the objectives generated by its accession to the European Union is to improve its business environment. As part of this objective we have presented the essential role of the economic and financial analysis that provides the necessary information for decision.


In this paper we study the problems of invariant and ergodic measures under G-expectation framework. In particular, the stochastic differential equations driven by G-Brownian motion have the unique invariant and ergodic measures. Moreover, the invariant and ergodic measures of G-SDEs are also sublinear expectations. However, the invariant measures may not coincide with ergodic measures, which is different from the classical case.


Purpose: In this paper, the author reflects on her researcher experiences of attempting to construct co-productive epistemic relations in her ethnographic doctoral research about a gallery youth collective. The paper engages with debates about the nature of co-productive relations, advocating for a more affective approach which attends to multiple, temporary moments within the research, rather than seeking a grand or unified process of collaboration. Design/methodology/approach: This methodological paper draws on the records and reflections the author generated in the process of undertaking collaborative ethnographic research, considered with a specific theoretical resource (Lauren Berlant's Cruel Optimism (2011)) to construct a reflexive narrative from her doctoral research experiences. Findings: The paper discusses the multiple, shifting ways in which research relationships unfolded in my doctoral research and the impasse this generated in the author's understanding of desirable co-productive relations. Reflecting with Berlant's Cruel Optimism (2011) allowed the author to understand the Covid-19 crisis as the rupture of the author's attachment to this relational fantasy. Beyond this rupture, the author was able to more fully attend to fleeting, affective moments as a form of co-production within the research. Originality/value: The paper contributes to the growing anthology of critical and reflexive narratives about co-production;these collectively provide a resource for researcher reflection and for teaching about collaborative practices. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.


Software Defined Networking (SDN) has the potential to enable novel security applications that support flexible, on-demand deployment of system elements. It can offer targeted forensic evidence collection and investigation of computer network attacks. Such unique capabilities are instrumental to network intrusion detection that is challenged by large volumes of data and complex network topologies. This paper presents an innovative approach that coordinates distributed network traffic Monitors and attack Correlators supported by Open Virtual Switches (OVS). The Monitors conduct anomaly detection and the Correlators perform deep packet inspection for attack signature recognition. These elements take advantage of complementary views and information availability on both the data and control planes. Moreover, they collaboratively look for network flooding attack signature constituents that possess different characteristics in the level of information abstraction. Therefore, this approach is able to not only quickly raise an alert against potential threats, but also follow it up with careful verification to reduce false alarms. We experiment with this SDN-supported collaborative approach to detect TCP SYN flood attacks on the Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI), a realistic virtual testbed. The response times and detection accuracy, in the context of a small to medium corporate network, have demonstrated its effectiveness and scalability.


On-orbit capture is an important technique for the space debris removal, refueling, or malfunction satellite repairing. While due to the uncertainty of the motion parameters of the space noncooperative target, the impact between the capture device and the noncooperative target during the capturing process is inevitable, which may bring strong vibration perturbation to the base satellite, and potentially alter the position and the attitude of the servicing spacecraft, or even cause failure of on-orbit tasks. This article presents a new and alternative method for passive suppression of spacecraft impact and perturbation during noncooperative spacecraft capture. The passive device based on bioinspired X-shape is installed between the satellite and the capture device. In the capture process, nonlinear damping of the passive isolation structure can significantly reduce impact/vibration perturbation. For performance analysis, dynamic equations of the isolation system are established. Based on which, the relationship between structure parameters and isolation performance is systematically analyzed. Experiments are conducted for verification of the effectiveness of the proposed method. Moreover, an optimal process using the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II optimization method is developed to minimize impact/vibration perturbation effect, and optimal solutions can provide useful reference for the passive isolation system design.


The invention provides bacillus subtilis DLD2 bacterial strain which is preserved in a China general microbiological culture collection center (CGMCC), the serial number is CGMCC NO.3222. The invention further provides a multi-functional biological agent formula and a preparation method thereof; fermentation broth, fulvic acid, zinc sulfate and other components of the bacillus subtilis DLD2 are formulated for preparing the multi-functional biological agent formula which is used for improving soil and continuous cropping resistance; the biological agent has the following functional effect: (1) bio-control microorganisms are utilized to prevent harmful flora from infecting plant and killing pathogenic bacteria, induce the plant to generate disease resistance and prevent seedling withering and rotting; (2) by utilizing synergia effect of formulation of the bacillus subtilis, fulvic acid and zinc sulfate, the root system growth can be induced, plant regeneration and root regeneration are realized, soil hardening is broken, granular structure is formed, no deep tillage is realized, moisture holding and soil moisture conservation is realized, fertilizer damage is relieved and soil fertility is improved.


Attention to future directions is valuable at several levels: field, provider, and learning group. This article explores ways in which the teaching-learning transaction can address future directions through valuing reflection, diversity; and creativity As educators, we hear of the need to help ourselves, our agencies, our programs and our students think outside the box. Still, we must ask ourselves if our real challenge is to blur the boxes and, if so, how? Why Blur the Boxes? In my Studies in Change course, I contend we are living in the time of greatest transformation humankind has ever known--a time Charles Handy (1990) calls rapid and discontinuous or unpredictable change. I believe this is true and yet know that earlier generations felt the same. In research on the 1930s in the U.S. (Adrian, 1993), popular magazines of the time depicted people's fears that automobiles and electric lighting were undermining traditional community and family values. Electric lights opened the nights for work and play Automobiles were thought to undermine families when teens exchanged the hearth for the joy ride. The "box" of the 1930s--the modern era--was heavily influenced by rising scientific discoveries and theories. Evolution, atomic energy, artificial hearts, vitamins, and agricultural production were topics of discussion and awe. Scientific knowledge transformed life. Scientific assumptions, often invisible, became the model used to develop our institutions and frame our realities. We came to see these assumptions as truth rather than as human concepts or representations. Some modern era assumptions are shown in Table 1. We are moving into an era with many names including postmodern ("post" meaning beyond the modern). The "box" of the present continues to honor the discoveries of science and technology (especially the new sciences such as evolutionary biology, field theory, and chaos theory), but also finds value in knowledge created through arts, common sense, and more. Below is a comparison of some of the assumptions from the modern era and those of the postmodern era. Einstein is quoted as saying that no problem can be solved from the same consciousness (mindset or assumptions of reality) that created it. We must learn to see the world anew. I think this is the challenge we currently face as we move into a world beyond the modern. But to discount what we have learned in the past is either/or thinking. Our challenge in seeing the world anew is to both keep the best of the past and to embrace the new ideas and tenets of today's world. So rather than only thinking outside the box, let us teach ourselves and others, our agencies and our programs to blur the boxes of our thinking. How to Blur the Boxes Here are four approaches for blurring the boxes in our classrooms or agencies. 1. Encouraging storytelling as a way to connect us through shared human experiences, deepening relationships. Meg Wheatley (2002), organizational consultant and writer, believes that we are increasingly more fragmented and isolated from one another. This is the wrong direction to be going, she points out, as our world becomes more complex and seemingly frightening. We need everyone's good thinking to help understand the complex and interrelated problems and opportunities we face today. We need to embrace our diversity of people and ideas. Storytelling is an important way to embrace diversity. In a tape-recorded 1991 interview, Juan Moreno of Student Diversity Institute, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities said, "Each of us are living parables. Our stories are our wisdom. Stories offer us ways to live in authentic community through being able to connect with each other at the level of our essential beings." A Student Diversity Institute storytelling activity, which I use in classroom introductions, asks students to select and respond to one of five questions. …


The implementation of the tax dispute trial is regulated by the Law of The Republic of Indonesia No.14/2002 concerning Tax Court article 4 which states that the tax dispute trial conducted by the tax court can be held in Jakarta and other regions if it is deemed necessary. The problem arises when local taxpayers whose tax dispute trials are held outside Jakarta hire a tax consultant from Jakarta, the taxpayer must bear the transportation and accomodation costs of the tax consultant team who come to the region where the trial is held, such as airline tickets, hotels, and other costs during the trial. The tax court institution also bear the travel cost of the official team of tax court judges who will lead the trial, because the judge who leads the trial comes from Jakarta. This study aims to analyze the implementation of tax dispute trial held outside Jakarta in terms of the principle of ease of administration. The results show that in terms of the four ease of administration principles, only the principle of efficiency is not fulfilled. This is due to the high costs incurred by taxpayers and tax courts side to conduct tax dispute trials outside Jakarta.


The patient support includes a cushion layer of gel-based, an air distribution manifold located below the cushion layer. Cushion layer comprises a plurality of transverse passage extending through the cushion layer so as to permit the flow of air into the cushioning layer to the boundary surface of the patient with the street and the cushion layer.


Introduction: After age 75, almost 60% of people with atrial fibrillation (AF) are women. Also the risk of stroke and death associated with AF is higher in women than men. Furthermore, the success ...


The current paper attempts to investigate learners' perspectives towards the strengths and weaknesses of peer assessment in academic writing in the context of tertiary education at a private university. The study was conducted on 55 third-year university students who had finished the academic writing module that applied peer assessment in writing. The research adopted the mixed method of qualitative and quantitative approaches via the questionnaire with both close and open-ended questions. The results of the study reveal that the use of peer assessment was feasible for large-size classes at university to provide learners with the opportunities to reflect and enhance their language scope and social knowledge to improve their writing performance. However, certain limitations were acknowledged, such as the lack of assessment competence among learners and the time constraint in the classroom, especially the hesitation to violate the positive face of their peers.


Leishmania parasites infect macrophages where they reside within phagolysosomal compartments but the mechanisms of entry and intracellular survival are not fully understood. The chemokine receptor CCR5 may facilitate L. donovani infection but whether this is through roles in individual macrophages or in coordinating the immune response is unclear. We aimed to determine the association between L. donovani LV9 amastigotes and CCR5 both in vivo and in vitro using an established infection model. We also performed comparative proteomics on isolated phagolysosomal compartments from cells infected with live and heat-inactivated (HI) parasites to better characterise the compartment and determine whether CCR5 was associated with it. Parasite burden between mice and macrophages either possessing or lacking CCR5 did not differ. However, CCR5-/- mice had a transient decrease in leukocyte recruitment to hepatic granulomas. In vitro, we observed a dose- and contact-dependent Leishmania-specific reduction in CCR5 cell surface expression during a short time-course of infection. CCR5 decreases were maintained when using the antagonist ligand Met-RANTES. When combined with reductions seen in CCR5 mRNA levels, the cell surface decrease was likely caused by gene down-regulation rather than pure receptor internalisation. Leishmania parasites were made magnetisable and then isolated from infected cells; we found that CCR5 was not associated with these compartments. Combined use of iTRAQ-labelled LC-MS/MS and mathematical techniques identified a number of protein groups differentially expressed on phagolysosomes isolated from cells infected with live or HI parasites, including those related to actin dynamics, phagosome maturation and intracellular signalling. Overall, these findings demonstrate that CCR5 has a subtle role in the immune response to L. donovani infection and give new insights into how the live parasite exploits its phagolysosomal compartment to fine-tune the host cell's response to infection.


Monoplegia, hemiplegia and paraplegia are motor disabilities that affect the control and movement of the body. This disability occurs when there are alterations in the muscles, bones, joints or spinal cord, as well as by some problem of the brain in the motor area that impact in the person mobility. As a consequence of this problem, prototypes of exoskeletons have been developed that support the rehabilitation and help the patients, mainly in the phase of walking; the devices also include the people who have the absence of some inferior extremity and need to learn to walk with the Prosthetic. This paper presents the methodology for performing a lower limb exoskeleton, designed for children aged 6 to 12 years. We present the literature review, as well as the various methodologies used to reach the conceptual design of the exoskeleton. As a result, we present the 3D impression of the exoskeleton designed scaled, as well as the matrix of the model resulting from the IPPMD methodology and possible reconfiguration that may have.


Ammonia-thiosulfate-copper leaching, aided by a direct current electrochemical impact, is proposed to extract gold (Au), silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) from old flotation tailings mixed with waste rock. Over 80 % of Au available in the waste material and over 75 % of Cu and Ag were extracted into the pregnant leach solution (PLS) at room temperature. Electrowinning from that PLS recovered around 92 % of Au and Cu, and about 87 % of Ag in the cathode deposit that is suitable for further metallurgical refining. The results are better, compared to leaching in the same system but without electrochemical impact and at air addition. The proposed direct current aided method is promising and more environmentally friendly compared to cyanide and even to sodium thiosulfate leaching.


The possibility to selectively induce thrombosis in tumor blood vessels offers an interesting approach to attack solid tumors. With the well known propensity of phosphatidylserine (PS) containing membranes to bind blood coagulation proteins with high affinity and catalyze coagulation reactions, it is hypothesized that a tumor vasculaturetargeted liposome containing PS may provide a means to achieve a therapeutic response based on this principle. This thesis presents a stepwise approach to the design of such liposomes. In order to develop thrombogenic liposomes that are able to induce tumor specific blood coagulation while avoiding unwanted side effects, several features must be engineered into the formulation. First, the PS liposome surface should be protected in circulation to prevent unwanted blood coagulation reactions and rapid plasma removal of such liposomes. Results from Chapters 2 and 3 have demonstrated that an elevated level (15 mol%) of poly(ethylene glycol)-conjugated lipids (PEG-lipids) is required to prevent the PS-mediated binding of blood coagulation proteins and the rapid removal of PS liposomes. While adequate protection of the PS liposome surface is essential in the circulation, exposure of the thrombogenic PS liposome surface is necessary to trigger the blood coagulation reactions once the liposomes have reached tumor blood vessels. Results from Chapter 4 demonstrate the potential of combining PEG-lipids which have different rates of desorption from PS liposomes to balance PS surface exposure and protection. In addition to controlling the surface thrombogenicity of the PS liposomes, localizing the blood coagulation response within the tumor blood vessels is desirable. A monoclonal antibody (Ab) that recognizes a


Chinese River Dolphin is a specific species of rare and valuable animal in the Changjiang drainage area.In the past few decades,its amount has been sharply decreased and now it is close to extinction.This paper studies the causes of its extinction of Meta population from the perspective of biology,analyses the problems of present protective measures and gives the suggestion to set up a natural protected area network in large backwater zones of middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River.


This paper addresses the problem of computing the ground potential rise of grounding systems during transients. Finite element analysis is employed to model the constituent parts of a grounding system. Short lengths of earth embedded electrodes are characterized as transmission lines with distributed inductance, capacitance and leakage resistance to earth. Leakage resistance to earth is accurately computed with the method of moments. The other parameters of the finite element, namely inductance and capacitance, are computed from the resistance utilizing Maxwell's equations. This modeling enables the computation of the transient response of substation grounding systems to fast or slow waves striking the substation. The result is obtained in terms of a convolution of the step response of the system and the striking wave. In this way the impedance of substation systems to 60 cycles is accurately computed. Results demonstrate the dependence of the 60 cycle impedance on system parameters. The methodology allows to interface this model of a substation ground mat with the Electromagnetic Transient Analysis Program thus, allowing explicit representation of earth effects in electromagmatic transients computations.


The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT; Frederick, 2005) is designed to measure the tendency to override a prepotent response alternative that is incorrect and to engage in further reflection that leads to the correct response. It is a prime measure of the miserly information processing posited by most dual process theories. The original three-item test may be becoming known to potential participants, however. We examined a four-item version that could serve as a substitute for the original. Our data show that it displays a .58 correlation with the original version and that it has very similar relationships with cognitive ability, various thinking dispositions, and with several other rational thinking tasks. Combining the two versions into a seven-item test resulted in a measure of miserly processing with substantial reliability (.72). The seven-item version was a strong independent predictor of performance on rational thinking tasks after the variance accounted for by cognitive ability and thinking dispositions had been partialled out.


Lubricants have much importance in several industries, principally serving to reduce friction and wear in mechanical elements. In this study, the influence of Castor oil as bio-lubricant on the friction and wear performance of AISI 4140 steel was investigated. For that purpose, pin-on-disk friction tests were conducted according to ASTM G-99, by using pins of tungsten carbide (WC) as counterparts. The experiments were performed at two different temperatures. This work also presents the Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and 1H-NMR analyses for the chemical characterization of oils and a study of their degradation by oxidation. The analysis of the damage caused to steel due to friction was deepened by analyzing its microhardness and microstructure in the worn zone. As a reference, the same experiments were performed with a commercial oil. The friction behavior of 4140 steel/WC with Castor oil lubrication at the two temperatures was notably better than that obtained under the reference oil lubrication. The kinetic friction coefficient (µk) was up to 76% lower. However, a slight increase in steel wear was observed under Castor oil lubrication. Despite this, these results suggest that Castor oil could be used as bio-lubricant in systems which are susceptible to levels of high friction.


Aliterature is steadily accumulating which indicates that the endocrine system exerts a supportive influence upon certain phases of blood formation. The evidence for this relation is derived in part from the behavior of the formed elements of the blood and the bone marrow histology and cytology in animals experiencing various forms of endocrine deficiency (Gordon and Charipper, 1947; Daughaday, Williams and Daland, 1948). That the hypophysis may represent the initiating source of the endocrine influence on hemopoiesis is indicated by the peripheral anemia and the hypoplasia of the bone marrow which follows removal of this gland (Vollmer, Gordon, Levenstein and Charipper, 1939; Crafts, 1941). Moreover, the administration of principles of endocrine organs regulated by the adenohypophysis results in the amelioration of the hemic dysfunctions induced by hypophyseal removal (Meyer, Thewlis and Rusch 1940; Vollmer and Gordon, 1941; Vollmer, Gordon and Charipper, 1942; Crafts, 1946 a, b).


This study investigated lead adsorption by carboxylated alginic acid and its application in cleansing cosmetics. Carboxylated alginic acid showed the highest lead adsorptivity after oxidation in a 4–6 mM hydrogen peroxide solution at 20–30℃ for 30–40 min. Carboxylated alginic acid adsorbed 648.1±2.8–653.0±2.9 mg/g of lead dry mass at pH 4–6. Carboxylated alginic acid modified by hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate adsorbed 651.3±3.8 and 639.9±4.0 mg/g of lead dry mass, respectively. Carboxylated alginic acid showed higher lead adsorptivity after modification by hydrogen peroxide than by potassium permanganate, with an increase of ~30% compared with raw alginic acid. To access the potential application of carboxylated alginic acid in cleansing cosmetics, we investigated the lead adsorptivity, conditions of the cosmetics procedure, and cytotoxicity of various concentrations of cleansing cosmetics added to 5% carboxylated alginic acid. The ideal cosmetic concentrations combined with 5% carboxylated alginic acid were 70% for peeling gel, 20% for massage cream, 20% for foam cleansing and 40% for cleansing cream. There was no cytotoxicity in cleansing cosmetics combined with 5% carboxylated alginic acid.


The design review is so embedded in the Architecture curriculum that alternative approaches are infrequently – if ever – considered. This article researches student peer review through a project evaluating students' experiences of them. Attention is paid to how they compared to the traditional review, how participants valued peer feedback and how the process affected subsequent leaning. The research concludes peer review to be a valuable formative feedback process, but not a replacement for traditional reviews; that they are an effective means of augmenting students' participation and agency within their learning; and offer significant value in developing critical analysis skills and self-reflection.


Starting in the early 1990's level set methods have become a popular mathematical framework for variational image segmentation. In many applications of segmentation, however, cost functionals which merely take into account the intensity information of the input image will not give rise to the desired segmentation results. To cope with missing or misleading image information, researchers have proposed to impose statistical shape priors into the segmentation process. Such shape priors favor the evolving embedding function to remain similar to embedding functions associated with a collection of training shapes. As a consequence, one can obtain shape‐consistent segmentation despite large amounts of noise, background clutter and partial occlusion of the object of interest. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Post-installed expansion heavy-duty anchors and wedge anchors have been used for fixing and bonding steel frames in the remodeling and construction of structures requiring a high level of safety. The use of post-installed expansion heavy-duty anchors and wedge anchors in the remodeling and construction of structural buildings have significantly increased since the 2000's. However, we observed that a reliable design standard or construction specification for post-installed expansion heavy-duty anchors and wedge anchors had not been established. Therefore, the objective of this study is to obtain basic technical data of post-installed expansion heavy-duty and wedge anchors in the remodeling and construction of buildings. Experimental tests were performed to evaluate the combined strength and fracture mode of post-installed expansion heavy-duty and wedge anchors implanted in concrete. The experimental variables were the loading angle and combined load (tensile and shear loads). The test results for the loading angles and combined loads were compared with the values obtained using the American Concrete Institute design standard.


An historical analysis of early intervention efficacy research documents the need for rigorously conducted longitudinal studies of early intervention with handicapped children. In this article the issues to be addressed in a series of 16 longitudinal studies recently funded by the U.S. Department of Education are described, the design characteristics of these studies are discussed, and the projected benefits of such research are summarized.


It is shown that the presence of equilibrium density gradients in a magnetized dusty plasma can introduce new types of drift-like waves. These give rise to oscillatory wake-potentials, which can focus ions and attract dust grains of similar polarity. Using a test particle approach, typical profiles for wake-potentials are obtained in several interesting cases. It is found that the effective attraction length is independent of the magnetic field strength for high density dusty plasmas, whereas it is larger for larger magnetic fields in a low-density dusty plasma. Furthermore, the dust attraction takes place predominantly in the inhomogeneous region of the dusty plasma having smaller lattice periodicity for smaller scale length of the density inhomogeneity.


Chloride-induced corrosion is a major cause of the deterioration for RC(reinforced concrete) structures exposed to marine environment. In practice,application of Fick's law to chloride diffusion in concrete is usually done without considering the chloride binding capacity of mortars and diffusivity as a variable. Based on Fick's first and second laws,a simple and reliable method to predict the distribution of chloride concentration was presented. Linear chloride binding and time-dependent diffusivity was taken into account in this approach. Based on a chloride concentration test of field-exposed concrete specimens,a numerical example was given. The result shows that the chloride concentration increases with service time,decreases with diffusion depth,and the chloride diffusivity is a variable with time,depth and chloride concentration.


This paper describes a case of electromagnetic interference at the intensive department of the cardiologic clinic of the University of Pécs where electromagnetic disturbances radiated by a loose electric contact of a lamp caused harmful interferences with the cardiac monitors. As a result of this disturbance the monitors suffered reversible interferences making them temporarily useless. Cause of this radiated disturbance emission was the joint impact of a loose contact and the vibrating ballast in a fluorescent lamp. Furthermore the art of the protection against electric shock applied in sick-wards contributed to the development of the interferences. Localization of the disturbance source has been performed with the help of a network and a spectrum analyzer. In a laboratory of the department the disturbance emission has been registered with the same lamp in a GTEM cell as well. To prevent this kind of interferences a regular check of the contacts in the electrical installation has to be performed and it is advisable to use lamps with electronic ballasts.


Psychological studies on human interactions made surface the notion perspective taking. This notion, referring to reason on other persons' points of view, eases the communication between interacting individuals. For a robot interacting with people, we believe that perspective taking can play an important role that will allow the robot to understand, reason and act according to human's point of view thus allowing an efficient communication and cooperation. In this paper, we propose a group of algorithms to evaluate and generate robot configurations that are not only collision free but also obeying HRI constraints by reasoning explicitly on human's perspective.


Winch, particularly luffing winch with a winch drum (30), at least one of the drum shaft driving main drive (10) and at least one, if necessary, the drum shaft driving emergency drive unit (20) which, if necessary, to the driven wheel via at least a mechanical transmission element or a mechanical transmission unit (70) can be coupled to the drum shaft, characterized in that the at least a mechanical transmission element an intermediate gear (100) is or are intermediate gears, at least one intermediate gear (100) is mounted displaceably in the direction of Zwischenraddrehachse for coupling and uncoupling.


Purpose of reviewLeflunomide is a disease-modifying agent approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis and used off label for other conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus. It has several properties that generate significant interest for potential use as an immunosuppressive agent in transplantation. This article reviews some of the properties stimulating this appeal and the initial reports on the use of leflunomide in transplantation, ending with a discussion of similar agents in development. Recent findingsIn cell models, leflunomide is able to limit both cellular and humoral immune responses. In animal allograft and xenograft models, leflunomide has demonstrated the ability to prevent or limit acute rejection and slow or reverse chronic rejection processes, independently or in synergy with other immunosuppressive agents. Leflunomide has demonstrated antiviral properties against pathogens of concern in transplant recipients and may have a quite favorable cardiovascular risk profile. Reported use of leflunomide in human transplantation is limited, but two recent reports, one prospective and one retrospective, describe the successful use of this agent in solid organ transplantation. SummaryLeflunomide has several properties that make it an excellent candidate for use in transplantation, but concerns about the prolonged half-life and potential for hepatotoxicity temper the enthusiasm. As it will likely be several years before similar, shorter acting agents are available, continued study is warranted to discern the appropriate use in human transplantation of this currently available agent.


Group theory is a powerful tool for studying symmetric physical systems. Such systems include, in particular, molecules and crystals with symmetry. Group theory serves to explain the most important characteristics of atomic spectra. Group theory is also applied to the problems of atomic and nuclear physics. This paper gives examples of the use of the apparatus of group theory in research on crystallography, quantum mechanics, elementary particle physics. In particular, in these studies matrix groups and representations of unitary groups are actively used. For such groups we give an overview of the results on their recognition by the spectrum (by the orders of the elements of the group). This direction has been intensively developed in recent years both in our country and abroad. Recognition of finite simple non-Abelian groups by spectrum has been studied for last thirty years in Yekaterinburg at the Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics of the Ural Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in Chelyabinsk Federal University and in the Novosibirsk Institute of Mathematics of Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Some simple non-Abelian groups are not recognizable by their spectra. We have proposed an approach for recognizing groups by the bottom layer. The bottom layer of a group is the set of its elements of prime orders. A group is called recognizable by the bottom layer under additional conditions if it is uniquely restored by the bottom layer under these conditions. The paper considers some examples of simple non-Abelian finite groups that are not recognizable by spectra. For these examples, simultaneous recognition by spectrum and by the bottom layer is proved.


D4.1 – IMPLEMENTATION OF A PROJECT WEBSITE Due Date 01-04-2011 Author (s) PXO – Nathalie Cros Workpackage WP4 Workpackage leader PXO – Nathalie Cros Date released by WP leader 20-04-2011 Date released by Coordinator 28-04-2011 DISSEMINATION LEVEL PU Public X PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services) RE Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services) CO Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services) NATURE OF THE DELIVERABLE


Swirl-stabilized combustor utilizes recirculation zones for stabilizing the flame. A numerical study is conducted for understanding the effect of recirculation zones on the combustion of practical fuels in this burner. A time-dependent, detailed-chemistry CFD model UNICORN is used. JP-8 fuel is modeled using two independently proposed surrogate mixtures. A semi-detailed chemical-kinetics model involving 161 species and 1538 reactions is incorporated into UNICORN code for describing the combustion of these surrogate mixtures. Calculations are performed for fuel-lean, stoichiometric, and fuel-rich conditions. Flames simulated with different surrogate mixtures in all three equivalence-ratio cases yielded nearly the same structures even though the two surrogate mixtures are very different in chemical composition. For understanding the role of individual parent species in the surrogate mixtures, calculations for the swirl combustor are repeated after replacing the surrogate fuel with one of its parent species. Detailed comparisons of flames generated with different parent species revealed significant variations in flame structures. However, the flames generated by the surrogate mixtures are nearly similar—suggesting that these mixtures are formulated for representing the same JP-8 fuel.© 2010 ASME


The lattice constant (a0), crystallite size (d) and the crystallite orientation of a-Fe acicular particles in commerciallyavailable audio metal tapes were studied using x-ray diffraction. The value of a0 is determined to be 0.28669 ± 0.00005 nm, which is slightly larger than that of pure Fe. The reason of the small discrepancy of a0 was estimated to be due to 0.1 at%-Al addition into Fe. The acicular particle consists of many crystallite: the crystallite sizes along long axis of acicular particle (22 nm) is larger than the short axis (14 nm). The tendency that the [100] axis of Fe crystallite aligns with the long axis of the acicular particle is observed.


on Othello's arrival into love for Desdemona, Hamlet's arrival into a "readiness" for "what is to come" (136), of Macbeth into violence and evil, is occluded by quotations from Badiou, Žižek, Derrida, Bradley, and Hazlitt, among others. At some point—particularly in a book called Shakespearean Arrivals (as opposed to Badiouan Arrivals)—the emphasis must shift from critics and theorists to a reading of the plays in light of those theories and philosophies. The book is at its best, its most exciting and enjoyable, when focused on the texts at hand, which Luke makes new. There is a great deal to value here, especially for those who are looking for a philosophical and theoretical consideration of character as exemplified by Shakespearean tragedy. Shakespearean Arrivals is sure to excite debate and to force a reconsideration of character as dynamic and multiple, shifting and changing, and, hence, new.


Objective
To explore the effect of nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) apoplexy on growth rate of residual tumor after transsphenoidal operation.

Methods
The follow-up MR imaging data of 57 patients with NFPA who had residual tumors after transsphenoidal operation, admitted to our hospital from May 2005 to May 2015, were analyzed retrospectively. The tumor volume doubling time (TVDT) of residual tumors, rapid growth rate and apoplexy/tumor size ration were calculated. The relations of tumor rapid growth rate with existence of adenoma apoplexy, course of adenoma apoplexy and apoplexy/tumor size ration were compared.

Results
There were 30 patients with NFPA apoplexy and 27 without adenoma apoplexy. Postoperative follow-up indicated enlarged residual tumors in 49 patients, and shrank ones in 8 patients. The mean TVDT was (1305.82±1685.32) d. The rapid growth rate of residual tumors in NFPA apoplexy group (56.67%) was not significantly increased as compared with that in non-NFPA apoplexy group (66.67%, P>0.05). The rapid growth rate of subacute NFPA apoplexy group (81.82%) was significantly higher than that of chronic NFPA apoplexy group (36.84%, P 0.05).

Conclusions
Adenoma apoplexy isone of the factors that affect the growth rate of residual tumors of NFPA after transsphenoidal operation. For patients with NFPA apoplexy in subacute or chronic phase, if their symptoms are mild, they can be followed up regularly.

Key words:
Nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma; Adenoma apoplexy; Growth rate


The presence of the media is essential in teaching and learning. In the process of unclearness of the material presented, you can help by introducing the media as an intermediary. The complexity of the material presented can be simplified with the help of media. The media can present what the teacher cannot express with certain words or sentences. Even material abundance can be concretized by the presence of mass media. Thus, it is easier for students to assimilate the materials than without the help of the media. The authors would like to perform School Action Research at SDN Medokan Ayu I/270 Surabaya with the title "Improving the Ability of Homeroom Teachers in Implementing Learning Using Flash CD Animation Media through the Implementation of Supervision with Demonstration Teaching Techniques." ".This is a school action research project that will be carried out in two (two) cycles. Each cycle has four stages: 1) action planning, 2) action implementation, 3) action observation and interpretation, analysis and assessment, and 4) reflection. Ten homeroom teachers and two teachers from SDN Medokan Ayu I/270 Surabaya participated in this study. At SDN Medokan Ayu I/270 Surabaya, supervision with demonstration teaching strategies can be used to improve classroom teachers' ability to execute learning by using Integrated Science Edutainment Interactive CD-Based media.


What is tourette syndrome? Tourette syndrome (TS), also known as Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, is a disorder that usually begins between the ages of four and six years and is most severe between ages 10 to 12. By definition the tics must start before the age of 18. TS is much more common in males than females. Patients with TS experience a combination of motor and vocal tics, either simple or complex, and they must last for more than one year. Behavioral issues, including anxiety and obsessive compulsive behavior, may occur.


In this paper, an improved semi-active control method is proposed and applied to the vibration control of a composite beam. This method is an improved version of the previously developed SSDV (synchronized switch damping on voltage) approach. In SSDV, a voltage source is connected to the shunting branch, in series with the inductor, which can magnify the inverted voltage and hence improve the control performance. Optimization of the voltage source is an important issue in all SSDV techniques. In the proposed approach, called adaptive SSDV, the voltage coefficient that controls the damping effectiveness is adjusted adaptively. An improved switching algorithm, which prevents the switch from over-frequently switching on-and-off and accordingly improves the control performance, is also proposed. Compared with previous SSDV techniques, this adaptive SSDV is the most stable, is independent of the excitation level, and is more flexible because the voltage coefficient is adjusted adaptively to achieve optimal control performances. The adaptive SSDV has been applied to the vibration control of a composite beam and its control results were compared with those of previously developed SSDV techniques. The effectiveness of the new switching algorithm was also verified by comparing it with the conventional switch. An experimental setup of a semi-active control system for the cantilever composite beam was established, and control experiments were carried out using different SSDV methods.


Parallel and serial repeater-insertion strategies use, respectively, parallel and serial repeaters to minimize the propagation delay over global SoC interconnects. General performance trade-offs refer to any combination of silicon area (Area), delay (T), power (P), energy (E) and reliability. In this paper we address the VLSI designs performance metrics within the repeater-insertion strategies. We study the effect of modeling the power, reliability, as well performance trade-offs on the area-delay optimum found using the repeater-insertion strategies. Simulation results using a 0.25 mum TSMC technology show that the parallel repeater-insertion strategy starts achieving a better speed than the non-regenerated interconnect at wire lengths smaller than that achieved when the interconnect is serially regenerated. It also features a 47% time delay saving and a 96% Area-Delay product saving over the serial repeater-insertion strategy.


The bursa of Fabricius of 18 day normal and partially decerebrated chick embryos, and partially decerebrated embryos bearing a hypophyseal allograft was analysed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, focusing on the ultrastructural characterisation of the plical epithelium. The plicae of the normal bursa consist of interfollicular (IFE) and follicle associated epithelium (FAE). The FAE is composed of typical polygonal cells and is supported by a layer of epithelial cells which appears as a continuation of the corticomedullary epithelium. Bordering cells lie between the FAE and IFE. The IFE is composed of 4 cell types: (1) undifferentiated, (2) goblet, at various stages of maturity, (3) prismatic, and (4) globular light cells. Partially decerebrated embryos showed a gross impairment of plical epithelium development and the complex of FAE and IFE cells was largely undifferentiated. Partially decerebrated embryos with a hypophyseal allograft displayed the same cellular types as observed in controls, thus indicating a restored differentiation of plical epithelium. These findings suggest that the hypophysis affects the differentiation of plical epithelium during ontogenesis.


Modern detectors have to provide an ever increasing precision, that goes from the order of nanosecond in the large high energy physics experiments at CERN to picoseconds for other precision experiments. Moreover, they have to be capable of handling increasing particle rates both on the detection side and on the data readout speed. This thesis is focused on time measurements in gaseous pixel detectors and it is structured as follows. In chapter 1 a brief history of pixel detectors is presented, focusing mainly on the features of their readout systems. In the second part of the chapter, the focus is on the modern detectors at the Large Hadron Collider and their planned upgrades. Chapter 2 presents the operation principle of gaseous detectors with the basic mechanism behind ion-electron couples production and transport mechanism. GridPix detectors are also introduced describing some basic properties. Chapters 3 and 4 contain the main results of this thesis, illustrating the design and testing of two prototype chips featuring high-resolution Time to Digital Converter (TDC). The results on the TDC are complemented with results on other circuitry which has been designed and tested in view of a full size chip. Finally, chapter 5 presents the analysis of data from a beam test using a telescope that contains three GridPix detectors. Their limitations are studied and are used as a justification for the design of Timepix3, a full size chip which features some circuits developed in the prototypes.


Acoustic resonators were used to measure simultaneously the velocities of first, second, and fourth sound in He II to a typical precision of 0.2%. Data were taken at temperatures from 1.2 K to the $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ line in 50-mK steps, and at pressures from the saturated vapor pressure to the melting curve in 1-bar steps. Temperature and pressure were determined to better than 0.1%. Fourth sound was measured in a coarse (\ensuremath{\sim} 1-\ensuremath{\mu}m) and fine (\ensuremath{\sim} 90-\AA{}) packed powder. Smoothed and raw data values are tabulated for more than 1500 data points.


Uses numerical simulation software analyzing the surrounding rock stability of large section tunnel,reflecting the impact of increase in the size of the roadway on the surrounding rock stability and determining the weak parts of supporting bearing structure.While for those weak parts,based on the structural strengthening mechanism,the structural reinforcement technology of large section tunnel in deep mine is proposed.And the effect of the reinforcement on the roof and side of the roadway is analyzed by numerical simulation.


Introduction Due to the limitations of alginate-PLL capsules for mammalian cell immobilisation (weakness of the membrane, presence of intracapsular alginate), a novel type of aqueous-core microcapsules was developed, based on aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). The fact that two or more phases form in an aqueous medium through the addition of incompatible polymers, or polymer and salts, is known for over one hundred years. Since alginate is already widely used for many microencapsulation applications (Thu 1995) , and forms hydrogels suitable for constituting the membrane, the challenge consists in finding another salt or polymer forming an ATPS with this polysaccharide (Antonov 1980). The thermodynamic incompatibility of proteins and polysaccharides has been known for a long time (Simeone 2004), and the most studied ATPS involving alginate contains casein as a protein. The principle of ATPS may be extended in order to produce aqueous-core microcapsules, using the co-extrusion jet break-up technique, as the encapsulation device can be fitted with a concentric nozzle. Using two non-miscible aqueous solutions, the first one can be extruded through the inner nozzle, and the other solution, constituting the membrane, through the external nozzle. Applying a frequency on the nozzle would then allow breaking the jet, leading to the formation of aqueous-core microcapsules in a single step procedure.


We propose a new stepwise regression algorithm with a simple stopping rule for the identification of influential predictors and interactions among a huge number of variables in various statistical models. Like conventional stepwise regression, at each forward selection step, a variable is included in the current model if the test statistic of the enlarged model with the predictor against the current model has the minimum -value among all the candidates and is smaller than a predetermined threshold. Instead of using conventional information types of criteria, the threshold is determined by a lower percentile of the beta distribution. We conducted extensive simulation studies to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm for various statistical models and found it to be very competitive and robust compared with several popular high-dimensional variable selection methods.


This study aimed to determine the composition and catch rate of folded cube fish pots in the seawater of the Tuban Regency. The research was conducted in December 2018 located in the Sokorejo, Tuban Regency, using 30 units of folded cube fish pots with a size of 50x50x50 cm2. The cube folded trap installation was done in 10 times of catch trip and installed in the morning. The catches were collected, identified, and measured for their individual length and weight. The crabs were measured for the length and width of their carapace. The catching result of folded cube fish pots was classified into five types which are fish group (48.97%), crabs group (29.59 %), swimmer crabs (7.1%), Land hermit crab (6.12%), and mud snails (8.16%). The result showed that Two-spined Arm Swimming Crab (Charybdis anisodon) was the most dominant type of catch equal to 29.59% of the total catch, while other types of catch that were quite common are Pig Faced Leather Jacket (Paramonacanthus choirocephalus) (9.18%), and Crescent Pearch (Terapon jarbua) (8.16%). The average catch rate for folding cube was 32%/trip with a weighted average catch of 436.58 gr/trip.


Background Snakebite in India causes the highest annual rates of death (46,000) and disability (140,000) than any other country. Antivenom is the mainstay treatment of snakebite, whose manufacturing protocols, in essence, have remained unchanged for over a century. In India, a polyvalent antivenom is produced for the treatment of envenomations from the so called 'big four' snakes: the spectacled cobra (Naja naja), common krait (Bungarus caeruleus), Russell's viper (Daboia russelii), and saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus). In addition to the 'big four', India is abode to many other species of venomous snakes that have the potential to inflict severe clinical or, even, lethal envenomations in their human bite victims. Unfortunately, specific antivenoms are not produced against these species and, instead, the 'big four' antivenom is routinely used for the treatment. Methods We characterized the venom compositions, biochemical and pharmacological activities and toxicity profiles (mouse model) of the major neglected yet medically important Indian snakes (E. c. sochureki, B. sindanus, B. fasciatus, and two populations of N. kaouthia) and their closest 'big four' congeners. By performing WHO recommended in vitro and in vivo preclinical assays, we evaluated the efficiencies of the commercially marketed Indian antivenoms in recognizing venoms and neutralizing envenomations by these neglected species. Findings As a consequence of dissimilar ecologies and diet, the medically important snakes investigated exhibited dramatic inter- and intraspecific differences in their venom profiles. Currently marketed antivenoms were found to exhibit poor dose efficacy and venom recognition potential against the 'neglected many'. Premium Serums antivenom failed to neutralise bites from many of the neglected species and one of the 'big four' snakes (North Indian population of B. caeruleus). Conclusions This study unravels disturbing deficiencies in dose efficacy and neutralisation capabilities of the currently marketed Indian antivenoms, and emphasises the pressing need to develop region-specific snakebite therapy for the 'neglected many'.


The practice of teaching is the main way to develop students' practical ability and an important component of talent training in higher education. How ever,w ith the deep development of education reformation,the laboratory construction mode of traditional university is difficult to meet the needs of technological progress and social development,show ing the problems of rigid management,musty ideas,the dissociation betw een theory and practice,betw een teaching and application. A practice teaching base of school-enterprise cooperation can effectively take complementary advantages of both the school and enterprise,share the common resources and benefits,and it can be a new w ay of the new laboratory construction to adapt to the technological progress and the development of education.


In vieiv of the remarkable achievements of convolutional neural network in the field of computer vision, We propose a speech emotion recognition algorithm based on convolution neural network and feature fusion, Which extracts features from the original speech signal and its spectrogram for recognition. From the point of vieiv of feature enhancement, the features extracted from ID-CNN and 2D-CNN tivo models are fused by dimension splicing in this algorithm, and then the fused features are sent to the 2D-CNN model again to train. This Way of feature fusion makes better use of the emotional information of speech signal in time domain and frequency domain, and gives full play to the advantages of onedimensional convolution and tivo-dimensional convolution, in the three classified emotional recognition experiments of four databases, EMODB, CASIA, IEMOCAP and CHEAVD, the recognition rates of 91.6%, 96.5%, 80.5% and 62.7% Were obtained respectively, Which are the optimal recognition results in all the algorithms We proposed.


Using nCB films adsorbed on MoS 2 substrates studied by x-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, we demonstrate that ordered interfaces with well-defined orientations of adsorbed dipoles induce planar anchoring locked along the adsorbed dipoles or the alkyl chains, which play the role of easy axes. For two alternating orientations of the adsorbed dipoles or dipoles and alkyl chains, bi-stability of anchoring can be obtained. The results are explained using the introduction of fourth order terms in the phenomenological anchoring potential, leading to the demonstration of first order anchoring transition in these systems. Using this phenomenological anchoring potential, we finally show how the nature of anchoring in presence of dual easy axes (inducing bi-stability or average orientation between the two easy axes) can be related to the microscopical nature of the interface. Introduction Understanding the interactions between liquid crystal (LC) and a solid substrate is of clear applied interest, the vast majority of LC displays relying on control of interfaces. However this concerns also fundamental problems like wetting phenomena and all phenomena of orientation of soft matter bulk induced by the presence of an interface. In LCs at interfaces, the so-called easy axes correspond to the favoured orientations of the LC director close to the interface. If one easy axis only is defined for one given interface, the bulk director orients along or close to this axis [1]. It is well known that, in anchoring phenomena, two major effects compete to impose the anchoring directions of a liquid crystal, first, the interactions between molecules and the interface, second, the substrate roughness whose role has been analyzed by Berreman [2]. The influence of adsorbed molecular functional groups at the interface is most often dominant with, for example in carbon substrates, a main influence of unsaturated carbon bonds orientation at the interface [3]. In common LC displays, there is one unique easy axis, but modifications of surfaces have allowed for the discovery of promising new anchoring-related properties. For instance, the first anchoring bi-stability has been established on rough surfaces, associated with electric ordo-polarization [4] and the competition between a stabilizing short-range term and a destabilizing long-range term induced by an external field, can induce a continuous variation of anchoring orientation [5]. More recently, surfaces with several easy axes have been studied extensively. It has been shown that control of a continuous variation of director pretilt, obtained in several systems [6, 7], is associated with the presence of two different easy axes, one perpendicular to the substrate (homeotropic) and one planar [7, 8]. Similar models can explain the continuous evolution of anchoring between two planar orientations observed on some crystalline substrates [9]. However, in the same time, two easy axes can also lead to anchoring bi-stability [10, 11] or discontinuous transitions of anchoring [9], which is not compatible with the model established to interpret observed control of pretilt. In order to be able to predict if bi-stability or continuous combination of the two easy axes occurs for one given system, it becomes necessary to understand the microscopic origin of the easy axes.


Congestion is the main cause for hospital admission for worsening heart failure. Diuretics are given in the great majority of these patients in order to relieve congestion. However, adequate decongestion is not always achieved, and residual congestion at time of discharge is associated with high mortality and rehospitalization rates.1,2 Current standard practice for the assessment of congestion is clinical examination, and the 2016 European Society of Cardiology heart failure guidelines recommend daily evaluation of signs of congestion (e.g. dyspnoea, pulmonary rales, peripheral oedema).1 In clinical practice, frequent assessment of congestion is difficult to achieve and the assessment is often considered unreliable as interobserver variability is considerable. Therefore, there is a need for a quick, reliable, and objective way to monitor a patient's congestion status. Adrenomedullin is a 52-amino acid ringed vasodilatory peptide hormone reflecting excessive volume overload.3,4 Adrenomedullin plays a role in maintaining endothelial barrier function, and disruption of the adrenomedullin system results in vascular leakage and systemic and pulmonary oedema.4 Recently, a new immunoassay has been developed that specifically measures the biologically active adrenomedullin (bio-ADM) in plasma.5 In emergency department patients suspected of having acute decompensated heart failure, plasma bio-ADM levels were associated with clinically important 30-day outcomes.6 In this study, we evaluated the value of bio-ADM in reflecting and predicting a patient's congestion status. We used data from the PROTECT trial, a randomized double-blind trial that compared rolofylline against placebo in 2033 patients with acute heart failure.7 Signs and symptoms of congestion were assessed by the treating physician daily until day 7 (or discharge if earlier). Plasma bio-ADM levels were measured from EDTA plasma samples collected at baseline, days 2 and 7, using an immunoassay developed by Sphingotec GmbH (Hennigsdorf, Germany).6 B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) was serially measured using high-sensitive single molecule counting (SMCTM) technology (Erenna® Immunoassay System, Singulex Inc., Alameda, CA, USA). A composite clinical congestion score was calculated at baseline, day 2 and day 7.8 Baseline clinical variables and standard laboratory parameters were summarized in tertiles of bio-ADM levels (Table 1). Frequency (percentage) was used for categorical variables, and mean±standard deviation (SD) or median (interquartile range) for continuous variables, depending on distribution. Trends over tertiles of bio-ADM were statistically tested with Cochran–Armitage trend test, Jonckheere–Terpstra test, and a linear regression model, depending on distribution. Association between baseline bio-ADM levels (per SD increase), residual congestion and severity of clinical congestion at baseline was evaluated in a binary logistic regression model, dichotomizing the composite clinical congestion score to mild/moderate (score<6) and severe (score≥6). Residual congestion was defined as a composite clinical congestion score≥ 3 at day 7. All statistical analyses were performed using R version 3.3.1 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). Bio-ADM levels were measured in 1562 patients, and median bio-ADM at baseline was 44.1 pg/mL (25.9–82.7). The following four findings support the hypothesis that bio-ADM is a marker of congestion: 1. Patients with higher bio-ADM levels had more signs of congestion. Table 1 shows that patients in the highest tertile of bioADM had greater severity of oedema, orthopnoea and elevated jugular venous pressure. 2. From 13 variables that were entered in a prediction model, bio-ADM showed the highest discriminatory value for baseline congestion [area under the curve (AUC) 0.66; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63–0.69; P< 0.001], which was greater than weight (AUC 0.60; 95% CI 0.57–0.63; P< 0.001) or BNP (AUC 0.55; 95% CI 0.52–0.58; P= 0.001). The association between bio-ADM and severe clinical congestion at baseline remained significant [odds ratio (OR) 1.44, 95% CI 1.25–1.65; P< 0.001] after adjustment for a multivariable model including six independent predictors of severity of clinical congestion at baseline (i.e. body mass index, serum albumin, total cholesterol, BNP, history of atrial fibrillation, and past heart failure hospitalization). 3. Baseline bio-ADM levels were significant predictors of the presence of residual congestion by day 7 (OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.62–2.17; P< 0.001), which remained statistically significant after adjustment for baseline variables associated with congestion (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.06–1.54; P= 0.012). Baseline bio-ADM also showed the strongest discriminatory value for the presence of significant residual congestion by day 7 (AUC 0.66; 95% CI 0.63–0.70; P< 0.001). 4. In patients with no/mild residual congestion at day 7, bio-ADM levels had decreased between baseline and day 7, whereas patients with significant residual congestion at day 7 had higher baseline bio-ADM values, and these levels remained higher up to day 7. In contrast, BNP levels decreased in all patient groups after admission, irrespective of residual congestion status by day 7 (Figure 1).


In the past half century, the development of information technology, computer technology and network technology has deeply influenced the production and management of power system from all aspects. SCADA, EMS, GIS and other information systems appeared. But the existing information systems have some problems to be solved, such as data cannot be shared, the level of integration is low; vast amounts of data extract information characteristics are difficult; timely monitor and forecast of business is difficult. The electric power information factory based on data warehouse and data mining technology is the solution of the problems. This paper mainly studies the applications of the data warehouse technology and the data mining technology in power system. After introducing the subject background, this paper firstly introduces the overall architecture of information enterprises and factories, individual components and their mutual relations. The paper mainly expounds the decision support system, data warehouse and data mining technology. Keywords-Data warehouse, Data mining technology, Enterprise information factory, Digital electric power system


A design method for artificial compound eye with large Field of View (FOV) is presented, where the lens array are arranged on curved surface. By researching the FOV characteristic of each lens and studying the FOV relationship between each lens and the whole system, an optimized design method was presented. The design method of single lens was also described and the arrangement criterion was also given. The imaging structure designed by using the criterion can not only realize the detection with no dead field but also use the least lenses. Experiments were carried out and the imaging performance of the artificial compound eye designed was verified.


As the mine hoist monitors video images with poor light, low brightness, heavy dust, and low contrast, the monitoring video images are not conducive to monitoring. They cannot meet the needs of applications. Based on actual video surveillance data, this paper proposes a dark channel prior (DCP) method integrated with a guided image filter video image enhancement algorithm. Firstly, we analyzed the characteristics of the mine hoist system's video images. Then, the DCP technique was used to enhance the video images. A guided image filter algorithm was introduced to ensure that the video has more clarity and visual impact. Comparing the suggested method to the other four algorithms, it performed better both subjectively and objectively than the algorithms mentioned above. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed technique can successfully improve the entire clarity and contrast of video images while avoiding the over-enhancement of bright areas close to the light source, meeting the practical application requirements of video surveillance.


Cells move by forces associated with the assembly of an actin cytoskeleton network which are balanced by adhesive coupling of the cytoskeleton to the extracellular domain and counteracted by cytoskeleton contraction powered by molecular motors. The forces are orchestrated in space and time by feedback signals that process the mechanical and chemical states of the cell. Our goal is to decipher the largely unknown design principles and modes of operation of this complex molecular system. We developed a number of techniques to map out from high‐resolution live cell light microscopy the structural dynamics of the actin network, the contraction, adhesion, and propulsion forces transmitted through the network, and the activation of signaling molecules implicated in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton dynamics. Computational methods are being designed to integrate this data in a global model of the coupled regulatory and mechanical pathways mediating morphogenic events like cell protrusion. A corner stone of the framework is the concept of exploiting constitutive random fluctuations of pathway component activities observed over many experiments to infer from the similarity of fluctuations within and between cells the hierarchical relationships between pathway components.


Simulation of a crude distillation unit of a refinery is done using Aspen HYSYS V8.4 software. The exergy and economic analyses of the process are done using Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and energy-capital costs trade-off approach, respectively. The results of exergy analysis showed that the crude distillation unit has the lowest exergy efficiency of 52.1% and highest irreversibility of 313670.11 kW. This is followed by the pre-flash drum and furnace with exergy efficiency of 74.1 and 75.1% and irreversibility of 195763.10 and 39259.06 kW, respectively. The economic analysis of the process for varying number of trays shows that the minimum number of trays for profitable operation of the plant is 40. It is concluded from the study that the economic operation of the process must consider improving the performance of the crude distillation unit and pre-flash drum and operating the process at practicable minimum number of trays.


In order to observe the proportion of fiber types and the distribution of fiber types in the plantaris muscles of rats, rabbits and humans, histochemical characteristics of plantaris muscle fibers from these species were observed by both myosin adenosine triphosphatase ( ATPase ) and succinate dehydrogenase ( SDHase ) staining. Myosin adenosine triphosphatase staining in rats, rabbits and humans revealed that plantaris muscle fibers were multi-sided or ellipsoid and divided into typeⅠ, Ⅱ A and Ⅱ B, accounting for 25%,35% and 40% of the total amount of fibres respectively. After succinate dehydrogenase staining fibres were blue and divided into mediate, dark and light types, which were mosaic and interweaved. The proportion of mediate, dark and light fibers was about 25%, 30% and 45% in rats, rabbits and humans respectively. The activity of ATPase and SDHase showed the contractive physiology and metabolic features of the muscle fibers.


According to the analyses on applications of decision tree induction in railways,it is found that there is limitation in analyzing the imbalance-distribution main classes because "major voting" is selected as its leaf node measure.This paper presents the measure of using the key decision factor to improve the leaf node label measure of the decision tree,which aims at solving the unfair competition among the main classes between the majorities and the minorities for labeling the leaf nodes.This algorithm adapts to proceeding with the huge imbalance ticket datasets and extracts a kind of instructive rules that collect the advantages in both prediction and statistics,therefore it is suitable for supporting multi-level requirements of the decision-makers for predictive analysis.


Over the years, Advances in Nursing Science (ANS) has published a large number of articles addressing the harm of bias, prejudice, and stereotyping and how these cultural dynamics harm the health and well-being of all people, but especially those who are disadvantaged by them. A number of these articles acknowledge the persistence of harmful practices and attitudes in health care in general, and in nursing in particular, calling for emancipatory responses—awareness and action—to change the status quo. This issue adds to this significant body of literature in ANS, and yet as we take in the important insights of these and other nursing literature that address these challenges, we cannot avoid acknowledging the intractability and persistence of the very problems we aspire to change. The incredible growth of information technology, particularly offered on the Internet and the world wide web, was assumed by some to be a path to creating a more equal universe—a world where knowledge would be democratized. Now, it is clear that the vision of a democratized Internet environment has faded, and in its place we see information technology weaponized as a tool for domination and power. The fact is that technological tools are not free from bias. They are created by human beings, who build in to the technologies they create their attitudes, biases, and stereotypes, often in such subtle ways that most people cannot detect what is actually happening. A recent interview posted on the Scholarly Kitchen with Safiya Umoja Nobel, the author of the new book Algorithms of Oppression explores some of the challenges facing scholarly publishing and the persistence of bias built in to technologies, both in content and in structure. Another notable blog post by Charleton McIlwain, an edited volume titled The Intersectional Internet: Race, Sex, Class and Culture ONline, and Sara Wachter-Boettcher's


PURPOSE: A method for preventing online account piracy by locking login is provided to fundamentally prevent piracy of an account by using an application with a login lock function installed in a smart phone and plug-in installed in a user computer. CONSTITUTION: Login unlock information of a website is received from a mobile terminal when login approval of the website sets in a lock setting application in the mobile terminal. Time when a login request of an account is received is compared with a login grant time range if login is requested to the account. An access of the account is accepted when the time is within the login grant time range(S333). An access of the account is rejected when the time is out of the login grant time range. [Reference numerals] (10) User terminal; (20) Website server; (30) Normal user mobile terminal; (AA) Requesting login to a corresponding account; (BB) Transmitting login lock setting information; (CC) No; (DD) Yes; (S310) Inquiring setting of login lock; (S320) Has login lock been set?; (S331) Blocking access to the corresponding account; (S333) Allowing access to the corresponding account; (S340) Transmitting blocking completion information


The Integrated Circuits Design Research Laboratory at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) has been collaborating over the past several years with the Nuclear Reactions Group at Washington University (WU) on the development of a family of custom, multi‐channel Integrated Circuits (ICs). To date, the collaboration has successfully produced two micro‐chips. The first was an analog shaped and peak sensing chip known as HINP16C (Heavy Ion Nuclear Physics—16 Channel). The second chip, christened PSD8C (Pulse Shape Discrimination—8 Channel), was designed to logically complement (in terms of detector types) the HINP16C chip. The HINP16C chip, for use with solid‐state detectors, produces sparsified analog pulse trains for both linear (pulse height) and timing (relative to an external reference) signals. A shaper and peak detector are implemented in the linear branch, and a pseudo Constant‐Fraction Discriminator (CFD) and Time‐to‐Voltage Converter (TVC) are implemented in the logic/timing branch. The i...


Silver fir (Abies alba) is a common tree species in the mountainous areas in Europe. A number of natural stands in the hilly regions of northern Europe represent relic populations. The aim of the research was to evaluate the diversity present in Italian populations of the species. Genetic diversity was assessed in 45 silver fir populations covering the species' distribution range in Italy, based on the allelic variation present at seven microsatellite loci (SSRs). A consistent level of intra-population variability was present. Several of the populations displayed signs of ongoing genetic erosion, and evidence for a recent bottleneck in some was identified. Populations from the eastern Alps and the Apennines were more variable than those sampled from the western Alps. About 8% of the overall genetic variance was found between populations, with the remainder representing variation present within the populations. The data suggested that the southern Apennines acted as a refugium during the most recent Ice Age, and that many of the populations from this area have remained isolated over a prolonged period. Smaller and more isolated populations have experienced genetic drift, whereas the larger ones have preserved a high level of diversity. Identification of genetically homogeneous regions could be informative for the management of genetic resources.


Rainfall over the Vietnamese central highlands is governed by the Asian summer monsoon. The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon and related large-scale circulation anomalies, however, introduce disturbances that may lead to drought in the central highlands. Droughts cannot be prevented, but the consequences for human livelihood and economic losses can be alleviated if better prediction tools become available. Sea surface temperature (SST) is an indicator for the ENSO phenomenon and has been used here in an effort to develop prediction models for precipitation in the Vietnamese central highlands with a lead-time of up to three months. SST in both the Indian and Pacific oceans has been related to precipitation by means of canonical correlation analysis, a linear statistical technique. The best results were obtained for rainfall at the outset and at the end of the rainy season. Nonlinear techniques in the form of artificial neural networks (ANN) were subsequently applied. Additionally, discharge in three river basins in the central highlands was predicted with SST and meteorological variables as predictors. Although local effects have a considerable influence in certain parts of the area, reasonable prediction results were obtained for both rainfall and discharge.


Research progress of pharmacological function of Oldenlandia diffusa was reviewed through consulting to relative reports at home and abroad.Oldenlandia diffusa had pharmacological functions such as immunity,antitumor,antibacterial,anti-oxidant,chemical induction resistance,regulating central nervous system and so on.Therefore,Oldenlandia diffusa had prospect development future.


This study aims to understand how people living at the edge of their familial group as marginalized members (i.e., "black sheep") enact resilience. Inductive analysis of interviews with 30 marginal...


The paper presents a study of the application of Leak-Before- Break (LBB) concept in a relatively small-diameter high energy reactor coolant line, where it is proposed type AISI 316LN to be used as base material welded with type AISI 316L coated electrode considering a pipe with diameter of 273 mm. The pipe material was characterized in terms of tensile test with Ramberg-Osgood analyses and fracture toughness tests with J-Resistance curve determination, considering base material, weld joint and heat affected zones. For the mechanical properties found in tensile tests and using the PICEP software, were determined the leak rate curves versus crack sizes, to determine the size of a detectable leakage crack, and the critical crack sizes, considering failure by plastic collapse. For the critical crack sizes found in weld, which presented the lowest toughness, J-Integral analysis was performed considering failure by tearing instability. Results show a well-defined mechanical behavior where base material has a high toughness, weld has a low toughness, and HAZ showed intermediate properties. For the load limit analysis, the lowest critical crack size was found for base material presenting circumferential cracks. For J- Integral analysis, it was demonstrated that failure by tearing instability will not occur.


Objective: To observe the level changes of protein and mRNA expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-1(MCP-1) in peripherial blood of patients with essential hypertension(EH),and to probe the relationship between MCP-1 and EH.Methods: Concentrations of circulating MCP-1 of 62 EH patients(EH group) and 30 normotensive subjects(control group) were measured with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA),and the expression of MCP-1 mRNA in mononuclear cells were measured with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.Results: Protein MCP-1 in peripherial blood and expression of mRNA MCP-1 in mononuclearcell in peripherial blood of EH group were significantly higher than those of control group(P0.01).Conclusions: MCP-1 in peripherial blood might participate in the patho-physiology process of EH.The up-regulating expression of MCP-1 mRNA may be one of the mechanisms that increase protein MCP-1 level in peripherial blood of EH patients.


Ultra-high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology allows us to determine the sequence of nucleotides of many millions of DNA molecules in parallel. Accompanied by a dramatic reduction in cost since its introduction in 2004, NGS technology has provided a new way of addressing a wide range of biological and biomedical questions, from the study of human genetic disease to the analysis of gene expression, protein–DNA interactions, and patterns of DNA methylation. The data generated by NGS instruments comprise huge numbers of very short DNA sequences, or "reads," that carry little information by themselves. These reads therefore have to be pieced together by well-engineered algorithms to reconstruct biologically meaningful measurements, such as the level of expression of a gene. To solve this complex, high-dimensional puzzle, reads must be mapped back to a reference genome to determine their origin. Due to sequencing errors and to genuine differences between the reference genome and the individual being sequenced, this mapping process must be tolerant of mismatches, insertions, and deletions. Although optimal alignment algorithms to solve this problem have long been available, the practical requirements of aligning hundreds of millions of short reads to the 3-billion-base-pair-long human genome have stimulated the development of new, more efficient methods, which today are used routinely throughout the world for the analysis of NGS data.


In the present note we occupy ourselves with the cases in which we can say that a multifunction of two variables is jointly measurable. In particular we generalize onto the case of multifunctions the Theorems 2 and 3 from paper [6, pp. 150–151]. We start with the concept of "measurable space with negligibles" which is intended as a common generalization of the two principal examples: (S,M(S),N (S)), where (S,M(S), μ), is a measurable space and N (S) is the σ-ideal of μ-measure zero subsets of S and (S,B(S), I(S)), where (S, T (S)) is a topological space, B(S) is the σ-algebra of subsets of S with the Baire property and I(S) is the σ-ideal of meager subsets of S.


ABSTRACT Trafficked adolescent girls are at increased risk for sexual and physical abuse, HIV and STI (sexually transmitted infections) acquisition, mental health, and reproductive issues. While sex trafficking, in relation to adverse health outcomes, has been documented in prior research, this has been mainly explored once girls and women are already in the sex industry. However, less is known about the specific scenarios and contexts related to the recruitment and the different tools used to ensure women and girls remain in the sex trade. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico among 16 current female sex workers who entered the sex industry under 18 years old. Participants reported being forced or coerced into the sex trade by romantic partners, friends, acquaintances, strangers, and/or family members. The main tactics traffickers employed were: violence and threats of violence, use of pregnancy and children, addiction and forced substance use. Certain cultural and social practices facilitate interactions between traffickers and adolescent girls (e.g., older men dating adolescent girls, normalization of violence) that later result in exploitative dynamics (e.g., sexual exploitation). Institutions and social mechanisms are key to maintain and facilitate some of these interactions. Consequences of sexual exploitation go beyond health consequences; they impact women's emotions, construction of sexuality, identity, and sexual rights among other elements of their lives. The results of this qualitative study may inform potential efforts to prevent coercion of adolescent girls into the sex trade and to assist those who have already been trafficked.


We previously reported that intermittent hypoxia (IH) augmented Cav3.1 and Cav3.2 T‐type calcium channel subunit expression in adrenal chromaffin cells from neonatal rats. In the present study, we examined the mechanism of T‐type Ca2+ channel up‐regulation by IH in HEK cells stably expressing the Cav3.2 subunit. HEK cells were exposed to between 10–120 cycles of IH (one cycle is 30 sec at 1.5% O2 followed by 5 min at 20% O2). Whole cell patch‐clamp recordings showed that IH treatment increased peak CaV3.2 current density in a stimulation dependent manner and was not reversed for at least 16 hours following re‐oxygenation. IH also augmented plasma membrane expression of CaV3.2 protein levels, as determined by immunoblot. IH elevated ROS levels and ROS scavengers (MnTmPyP; 50μM or PEG‐catalase 500 U/ml) inhibited IH augmented Cav3.2 currents. Xanthine (250 μM)/xanthine oxidase (50 mU/ml) which generate ROS exogenously, mimicked the effects of IH. NADPH oxidase (NOX) are the major source of ROS, mediating cellular responses to IH. NOX activity and protein levels were up‐regulated by IH in HEK cells. The NOX inhibitors apocyanin (500 μM) and AEBSF (100μM), as well as silencing of NOX2, prevented IH induced up‐regulation of CaV3.2 current. These results demonstrate that in HEK cells expressing Cav3.2, ROS generated by NOX mediates IH‐increased CaV3.2 T‐type Ca2+ channel expression. (Supported by NIH‐HL‐90554, HL‐86493).


Abstract A study on marine sponges was conducted with the materials collected by SCUBA diving in Hongdo and Gageodo Islands, Korea from September 2004 to July 2005. Clathria (Clathria) hongdoensis n. sp. and Clathria (Clathria) sohuksanensis n. sp. turned out to be new to the science. Clathria (Clathria) hongdoensis n. sp. closely seems to C. (C.) acanthstyli Hoshino (1981), based on their spicules type. However, they differ in the size of spicules and growth form. Clathria (Clathria) sohuksanensis n. sp. is similar to C. (C.) bicalthrata Hooper (1996), except for lacking small toxas.


To the editor, " To all evils there are two remedies: time and silence [1]." This citation from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, written in 1844, in collaboration with Auguste Maquet, appears to be timely nowadays. This showed how novels can often be able to teach us how to lead some wars. The fight against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), that overwhelmed the planet for about two years, required and still requires silence to think and time to act, to find the right strategies for the beginning of the "new normal". This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


During the process of imagery, the factors including the motion between earth and the platform, atmosphere disturbance, out of focus, non-ideal sampling and so on, all can make the images blurred and degraded. Super resolution technology is the signal processing based method which can detect and remove the blur caused by the imaging system as well as recover spatial frequency information. Super resolution imaging processes one or more low resolution images acquired from the same scene to produce a single higher resolution image with more details. Recently, it has been one of the most active research areas to get high-resolution image from a low-resolution image, and for the communication purpose it is necessary to compress the information. In this paper, the various decimation algorithms are designed and implemented which can be used to compress the information which is very helpful for the communication purpose. At the receiver side, the decimated images are interpolated by using different interpolation algorithms to get back the original information. The performance analysis (PSNR and MSE) is calculated to know the error between the input and output images. The system is implemented using Matlab GUI.


Target strength to size relationships for fish and zooplankton are typically based on in situ field or ex situ tethered measurements. Combining backscatter measurements with species‐specific backscatter models improves the translation of acoustic data to computations of type, number, and size of aquatic organisms. Variability in acoustic measurements is largely due to the choice of carrier frequency and organism behaviors. Shoaling, schooling, and orientation are three behaviors that influence the amplitude of echoes received from individuals or aggregations of aquatic organisms. Kirchhoff‐ray mode (KRM) backscatter models of individual fish were combined with tilt and roll tank observation data to predict and visualize backscatter from individual and groups of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma). Model predictions were compared to in situ target strength measurements at 38 kHz in the Bering Sea. Incorporating behavior in distributions of echo amplitudes should increase accuracy of target strength to ...


Dear Authors, as I anticipated in the submission phase, I have two main suggestions: 1) adding a comparison not only with NSGA-II, but also with the other optimization model you merge in the Caramel (MEAS), since you are proposing an algorithm that should be an improvement above each one of the previous approaches. 2) the algorithm, in terms of hydrological modelling, is only tested on a single catchment (and in addition, the details of such application are lacking): in order to prove the generality of the improvement allowed by the proposed approach, you should test the


Objective: To study the frequency of ambulance utilization by the St-elevation Myocardial Infarction patients toreach hospital, perception of ambulance users about the facilities available in the ambulance, and evaluate theclinical outcomes of STEMI between ambulance users and non-users.Study Design: Cross-section survey-based study.Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Department of Cardiology at Chaudry Pervaizth th Elahi Institute of Cardiology (CPEIC) Multan from 14 April 2020 to 14 September 2020.Materials and Methods: Patients with the diagnosis of STEMI were included in the study and were classifiedinto two groups' ambulance and non-ambulance users, to reach the facility. Patients' demographics, initialpresenting symptoms, availability of ambulance, and time to reach the hospital were recorded. Moreover, theywere followed for complication during their stay and base line laboratory indicators. Ambulance users werealso evaluated for their perception about availability of medical services in the ambulance. The data collectedfrom both of the groups were compared through student's t-test and chi-square test. Statistical value less than0.05 was considered as significant.Results: Out of 300 patients, 32.6% were ambulance users while 67.4% were non-ambulance user. Nosignificant difference was found in age, gender, underlying comorbidity, and initial presenting symptomsbetween two groups. Majority of ambulance users (74%) arrived in less than 45minutes. Differentcomplications were recorded but no significant difference was found between two groups. Majority ofambulance users 31.5% were neutral about the level of satisfaction for ambulance facilities.Conclusion: Frequency of ambulance utilization by STEMI patients is not only low in Pakistan, but ambulancesystem is also not successful in producing significant change in clinical outcomes. Therefore an awarenesscampaign along with ambulance improvement campaigns should be launched to bring a meaningful change.