Farmers' financial management skills need to be improved continuously, as this is the driving force for economic sustainability and prosperity in agriculture. The field of financial management as it relates to risk management and the allocation of resources is both dynamic and rewarding. If you put in the hard yards to be a master of financial management, you will enjoy farming and achieve success.


Discussing challenges involves some knowledge of future trends. Can one say anything about the future of computer science? Can one predict the future of computing generally? In the September issue of Communication of the ACM [1] in his column The Profession of IT, Peter Denning relates to this question and concludes by saying: "Don't feel bad if you can't predict the future". Following this encouragement I will not predict the future in my presentation, but rather describe the current situation of computing education, the challenges we are facing at the moment, and concerns we share worldwide.
 This very short paper presents in a nutshell the main issues that were brought up in the presentation, including the main references containing more information related to the discussed issues..


Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are fatal neurodegenerative diseases that represent ends of the spectrum of a single disease. The most common genetic cause of FTD and ALS is a hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the C9orf72 gene. Although epidemiological data suggest that traumatic brain injury represents a risk factor for FTD and ALS, its role in exacerbating disease onset and course remains unclear. To explore the interplay between traumatic brain injury and genetic risk in the induction of FTD/ALS pathology we combined a mild repetitive traumatic brain injury (rTBI) paradigm with an established bacterial artificial chromosome transgenic C9orf72 (C9BAC) mouse model without an overt motor phenotype or neurodegeneration. We assessed 8-10 week-old littermate C9BAC+/+ (n = 21), C9BAC+/-(n = 20), and non-transgenic (n = 21) mice of both sexes for the presence of behavioral deficits and cerebral histopathology at 12 months after rTBI. rTBI did not affect body weight gain, general neurological deficit severity, nor survival over the 12-month observation period and there was no difference in Rotarod performance, object recognition, social interaction, and acoustic characteristics of ultrasonic vocalizations of C9BAC mice subjected to rTBI versus sham injury. However, we found that rTBI increased the time to the return of the righting reflex, reduced grip force, altered sociability behaviors, and attenuated ultrasonic call emissions during social interactions in C9BAC mice at 12 months. Strikingly, we found that rTBI caused widespread microglial activation and reduced neuronal density that was associated with loss of histological markers of axonal and synaptic integrity as well as profound neuronal transactive response DNA binding protein 43 kDa mislocalization in the cerebral cortex of C9BAC mice; this was not observed in non-transgenic rTBI and C9BAC sham mice. Our data indicate that rTBI can be an environmental risk factor that is sufficient to trigger FTD/ALS-associated neuropathology and behavioral deficits, but not paralysis, in mice carrying a C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion.


The sheer magnitude of the progress that has been achieved in the Information Age we live in is undeniable. This period has been marked by tremendous growth in knowledge and perhaps more importantly, it has empowered people to access and freely exchange ideas. Information is acquired in seconds and the days where information was carefully researched, evaluated, and processed in order to synthesize new ideas are long gone perhaps. With all the tools available today, research may be conducted in a coffee shop with free wifi and laptop rather than in libraries and a notebook. Information is gathered with a few key strokes (ie, control-C). Even previously 'safe' formats such as portable document format (ie, pdf) files can easily have passages copied and pasted on other documents. These tools are considered indispensable in today's need for instant snippets of information. Half-legible scribbles on notepads are not the norm for performing background research. Superimposed on these developments, are the pressures for publishing. Those individuals in academia are always under pressure to produce publications as are individuals seeking to complete training requirements as stipulated by specialty boards. Perhaps it is in this environment that lapses in judgment result in publishing misconduct. Recent scandals involving well established names in the field of anesthesia and critical care have certainly resulted in major repercussions in medicine. In 2009, Baystate Medical Center associated with Tufts University School of Medicine announced that one of its esteemed faculty members, Dr. Scott S. Reuben, MD, committed the biggest sin in publishing – fabrication of data. A number of journals were informed and 21 retractions by various journals quickly followed. Several investigations were initiated; some were academic but a federal criminal investigation also resulted in imprisonment and fines for a conviction of health care fraud. Although only 21 articles and abstracts were retracted, scores more are potentially tainted and their results brought into question. Coinvestigators were also investigated and every piece of work reanalyzed. The impact of having various publications retracted was assessed and trials have to be repeated. The following year, Anesthesia and Analgesia retracted a paper by Dr. Joachim Boldt, a name not unfamiliar to those who follow the literature on synthetic colloids. The investigation that resulted in that retraction was prompted by concerned readers who questioned the veracity of reported results. In his editorial published in March of 2011, Dr. Shafer commented that unlike the scandal surrounding Dr. Reuben, the situation as they understood at that time was that this was a single fabricated study although, as he put it, 'even one fabricated study casts a large shadow over Professor Boldt's entire body of work.' Sadly, as that editorial went to print, a historic joint statement by 16 Editors-in-Chief was issued on March 2, 2011 announcing that a thorough investigation resulted in a retraction of 89 articles by Dr. Boldt due to failure to obtain Institutional Review Board approval for carrying out clinical trials. Retractions were issued by each journal involved. Investigations to determine whether these trials were also the product of data fabrication are ongoing. As of this writing (one can never be too sure nowadays), a similar scandal affecting a veterinary journal has not been uncovered. However, it is my belief, and this is shared by other veterinary editors, that publishing misconduct is very much a reality in the veterinary literature. Since the inception meeting of the International Association of Veterinary Editors in 2004, issues of publication ethics and publication misconduct have been discussed annually and accounts of failure to declare conflict of interest, publication misrepresentation, (eg, author advancing his or her name in order of authorship or worse yet, falsely claiming authorship of an verified publication or falsely claiming authorship of a nonexistent publication in a verified journal – the latter of which has affected this journal), misappropriation of authorship, and plagiarism (also encountered in this journal) was reported. Reports of data fabrication in a veterinary publication have not surfaced. The issue of plagiarism is of particular importance because it appears to be the most common type of publication misconduct encountered by veterinary journals. Plagiarism, as defined by the now ubiquitous 'source of all knowledge,' Wikipedia, is the 'wrongful appropriation, close imitation, or purloining and publication of another author's language, thoughts, ideas or expressions, and the representation of them as one's own original work. . . .' [The irony of using Wikipedia's freely available definition, without worry of obtaining permission for usage is intentional and in the spirit of full disclosure the idea of using the Wikipedia definition stems from an editorial in the Journal of Pathology on their approach to publication ethics and misconduct.] There are also different forms of plagiarism and not all are captured by the definition quoted above. For example, self-plagiarism or autoplagiarism refers to 're-using significant, identical, or nearly identical portions of one's own work without acknowledg-


This paper starts with the analysis of the current situation of China's modern sightseeing and leisure agriculture, and then makes an in-depth analysis on how to actively develop sightseeing agriculture in the contemporary era, including detailed discussion and planning on improving the quality of residents, scientifically planning sightseeing agriculture, strengthening the attention of the countryside to modern sightseeing agriculture, and increasing the cost input in the development of sightseeing agriculture. Furthermore, this paper specifically expounds the impact of the development of sightseeing and leisure agriculture on the development of rural economy, starting from the reality of rural economy, promoting the rapid development of sightseeing and leisure agriculture while promoting the progress of rural economy.


In Tiansheng Laws and Decrees,a Xixia code,sales contract was regulated in great detail,which shows that legislation of sales contract was rather well developed in Xixia.An analysis of Xixia sales contract available proves that Xixia sales contract was complete in its content and serious in form.Law was well executed in the practice of sales contract.


The utility model provides an electromagnetic pump (1) comprising a first valve system (12), a second valve system (13) and a piston (4). The piston (4) comprises a channel (19), and liquid can flow through the channel (19). The electromagnetic pump is characterized in that the first valve system and/or the second valve system comprise/comprises plug components (21a and 21b), and the plug components comprise protruding pieces (25a and 25b) and are set to face an inlet pipe (2); or the first valve system comprises a plug component (30), the plug component (30) is buckled to the piston (4) in a matched mode, the plug component (30) can move linearly between a first position and a second position relative to the piston (4), when located at the first position, the plug component (30) extends from the piston (4) so that the liquid can flow between one or more openings (35) in the plug component (30), and when located at the second position, the plug component (30) plugs the piston (4).


Recent experimental studies on the laser manipulation and control of a single atom in a cavity are reviewed, focusing on the latest results of laser cooling and trapping of a single atom in a cavity and its applications in single photon sources, one atom lasers, and quantum information processing.


Projection lithography systems are being developed to print 0.1 μm features over a large field, using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light of a wavelength of around 13 nm. At this wavelength the optics must be all-reflective with multilayer coatings. Current designs of the projection optics consist of off-axis ringfield systems with three or four mirrors (see Fig. I). The demands of microlithography are that the image must be of high quality across the entire field and within a large depth of focus, and that image distortion must be less than 10 nm. These requirements put severe constraints on the quality of the mirrors, which, in general, must have figure errors better than 0.2 nm rms. Although such tolerances can be met by the present state of the art there are various sources of error which can degrade the optical performance of the system. Of those sources, many may cause only low-frequency, quasi-static errors. These error sources include deformation due to stress of the multilayer coatings, thermal and gravitational loading, optical manufacture, and maintenance and alignment of the system. We are investigating the possibility of actively controlling the figure of the mirrors to correct for such errors and achieve the desired imaging performance. Control of the surface figure may also allow a greater throughput of the system, by being able to accommodate a higher heat load from a more intense EUV source.


ABSTRACT This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of time use towards microbes amount in koorntang. Koorntang is one of the reuse instrument. It might be used in few times before re-sterilize and contact with the air. The contact might cause a con


Background: The most severe form of nervous dysfunction among young individuals is Multiple sclerosis (MS). Symptoms usually appear at (15–40) years of age.MS is identified as an affective disorder in patients for a long time, characterized by current nervous system (NS) injury structure and rising accumulative damage.Recent years have seen a rise in the number of MS. This affects more than two million individuals every year in the world. Methods: Ethical approval for this study was granted by the Ethics Committee for the Medical Research/University of Mosul. This was a retrospective and a hospital-based study performed. In the latter, MS patients' medical records fulfilling the McDonald diagnostic criteria were analyzed, and both demographics and clinical characteristics were reviewed. We did exclude patients with neuromyelitis optica and isolated transverse myelitis. A retrospective study design was applied in Ibn-Sina Teaching Hospital, City of Mosul, Iraq. Results:This section summarizes the main findings of this research. Identified 500 patients who fulfilled our criteria for having MS. The crude estimated Prevalence of MS in the Mosul population was thus 50/100,000. The research population's demographic and clinical characteristics were identified and found a positive first or second-degree family history of MS at least 11.4% of Mosul patients. Conclusion:Based on the assumptions and previous studies that patients with multiple sclerosis in Mosul suffer from milder disease severity than those in western countries, it was surprising that half of the patients suffer from gait disability.


I. Introductory. Character of railway concessions in Italy, 619.—Railways not profitable, State aid always essential, 621.—Oscillations of public and private management, 623.—Public management now settled, 625.—II. Conventions of 1885 and resumption of State operation in 1905. Three railway systems established in 1885, 627.—Complicated financial relations, 629.—Reserve funds, 631.—Inadequacy of reserve funds because of failure of traffic to grow, 632.—Other causes of trouble, as to rates and wages, 634.—Immediate occasion of resumption of State operation in 1905: procrastination in negotiations with the companies, 635; and friction with the employees, 636.—III. State operation since 1905. How far autonomy of railway administration has been established, 638.—The balance sheet and budget, 642.—How rates are regulated, 644.—Financial outcome; difficulty of reaching precise conclusions, 645.


Continuity of medication management relies on accurate and complete medication information being communicated at transitions of care. Polypharmacy and older age are risk factors for medication‐related events on discharge from hospital.


Originating from the city states of the ancient Greece, the theory of democracy and its practice has gone beyond the capitalist democracy and reached its highest point--the socialist democracy. Generally speaking, supervision, which can be dated back to the ancient times, came into being and is bettered with the birth and development of public power. In the application of the theory to real practice, democracy couples supervision. Democracy embraces the connotation and function of supervision while political system of the modern democratic states fully represents the principle of supervision. Supervision itself is a kind of concrete and real democracy, furthermore, a kind of democratic right and procedure. Democracy and supervision interact with one another. Democracy is realized through supervision and its development makes supervision possible. Whether supervision is effective or not depends on the level of democratic politics and the perfection of democracy, with the existence and promotion of effective supervision system.


AUTHOR Brown, Ann L.; And Others TITLE Intrm,iion of a Thematic Idea in Children's Comprhension and Retention of Stories. Technical Report. No. 18. INSTITUTION Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.; Illinois Univ., Urbana. Center for the Study of Reading. SPONS AGENCY National Inst. of Child Health and Human Development (NIH), Bethesda, Md.; National Inst. of Education (DHEW), Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Feb 77 GRANT HD-00111; HD-05951; HD-06864 NOTE 39p.


OBJECTIVE: Identify and rank barriers to exercise perceived by adults with PD. BACKGROUND: Despite attention given to exercise and health promotion over the last decade, specific studies on exercise preferences and barriers to exercise among persons with PD are scarce and results are conflicting. DESIGN/METHODS: We administered a validated instrument on physical activity and structured exercise - the Barriers to Physical Exercise in Disability Survey (Rimmer et al., 2002) to a convenience sample of 11 ambulatory patients with PD. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Respondent characteristics: 63% male; 63.0±6.3 years of age; 1.5±1.5 years post-diagnosis; HY PDQ-39 22.0±13.5; MMSE 28.5±1.9; CES-D 9.4±6.3. Top three physical exercise preferences were: yard work (72%), strengthening (63%); and housework (54%). All respondents reported 1 or more barriers to exercise participation. The top five barriers were: lack of motivation (72%) and time (63%), no equipment at home (54%), laziness (50%), lack of energy (40%). Ninety percent wanted to begin an exercise program tailored to their needs but were restricted by the barriers reported. The majority belief was that "exercise will not worsen my condition", but 54% reported "my doctor never told me to do any specific exercise". In 63% of the sample, an exercise program had been developed by the patient or caregiver. Less than 50% had ever been to a physical therapist. 54% believed "an exercise instructor in a fitness center would not know how to set up an exercise program for me". CONCLUSIONS: Adults with PD are interested in becoming more physically active but are limited in doing so because of their inability to overcome several barriers to increased physical activity participation. Barriers due to non-motor features or lack of trained personnel may be modifiable. The study needs to be replicated in a larger sample. Supported by: Duke Foundation; Carolinas HealthCare Foundation. Disclosure: Dr. Englert has received personal compensation for activities with Medtronic, Inc., Teva Neuroscience, and UCB Pharma. Dr. Englert has received research support from Schering-Plough, Schwarz Bioscience, and Teva Neuroscience. Dr. Hirsch has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sanjak has nothing to disclose. Dr. Russo has nothing to disclose. Dr. Quinlan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Crum has nothing to disclose. Dr. Iyer has received research support from Schering-Plough, Schwarz Biosciences, and Teva Neuroscience.


Temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation time T1 was measured in an antiferroelectric liquid crystal, 4-(1-methylheptyloxycarbonyl) phenyl-4′-octyloxybiphenyl-4-carboxylate (MHPOBC) by means of 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The activation energies determined by the temperature dependence of T1 are the same for most of the carbon nuclei in the SmA and SmCA* phases, whereas they are different for carbon nuclei at the chiral center and at the carbonyl carbons. The rotational correlation time changes continuously through the phase change from SmA to SmCA*. Critical slowing down of the molecular rotatioin was not observed.


The Bullion Pit is an immense but curiously obscure abandoned gold mine in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. It is relatively unknown, even within its region and province, receives few visitors, and has not been documented by historians to nearly the extent of some comparable but more famous mines, particularly Barkerville, in the same district. Indeed, most British Columbians have never heard of the Bullion Pit, although it is well known to mining experts. The fi rst objective of this article is to provide an overview of the Bullion Pit's history and, in doing so, describe a case that has not been well documented to date. The second is to explore, in a non-revisionist way, some of the ecological aspects of the case. Since the Bullion Pit has not been worked on a large scale for decades and its recovery has largely been left to natural forces, it off ers a sort of laboratory in which to consider an historical process of rapid disturbance followed by slow geological recovery. In the latter respect, the Bullion Pit case is not unique, but its large scale and remoteness combine to make it an interesting case. In researching the Bullion Pit, the authors made several visits to the mine and area and reviewed available government records. In tracing the history of the Bullion Pit,1 we are guided by two main questions: • Why are some signifi cant resource-use cases so much more obscure than others? • Why is this particular case less well known than others?


Among the nutrients, nitrogen (N) is the element required in greater quantity by the bean plant. Depending on the cultivar, it has greater or lesser N-fixing capacity. The aim of this work was to evaluate the performance of two common bean cultivars under nitrogen topdressing in corn succession, on yield components and yield. The experiment was carried out in randomized blocks in a 2x5 factorial scheme, the first factor being the common bean cultivars (IPR Campos Gerais and BRS Estilo) and the second factor the nitrogen rates (0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 kg ha- 1), with four repetitions. At harvest, plants were collected in one meter, in the useful area of each subplot to determine: number of plants per meter; number of pods/plant; number of grains/plant; number of grains/pods; mass of a thousand grains and productivity. The cultivars differed regarding the number of pods per plant, grains per plant and yield, but they were equivalent for the number of plants per meter, grains per pod and mass of a thousand grains. Comparing the production component number of pods per plant and grain yield, it is concluded that the cultivar that produced the highest number of pods per plant and showed the highest yield was BRS Estilo. There were differences between the treatments for the two cultivars, only in the yield obtained. The highest yield averages were obtained in treatments with doses above 60 kg ha-1 of N.


Although gait analysis provides an estimate of joint loading magnitude and patterns during a typical step, accelerometry provides information about loading frequency. Understanding the relationships between these components of loading and knee osteoarthritis (OA) progression may improve conservative management, as gait interventions may need to account for physical activity levels or vice versa. The primary objective was to examine relationships between gait patterns that have previously been associated with OA progression and accelerometer‐derived metrics of loading frequency. The secondary objective examined the association of accelerometer‐derived metrics and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) at a mean follow‐up of 3.5 years.


Contract maintenance is one of many tools used by transportation agencies to meet their goals. This guide summarizes current contract maintenance practices for transportation systems, and is intended to provide an overview of current practices to those agencies considering the use of contract maintenance. While this guide is not meant to serve as a handbook, it does contain sufficient information to differentiate between the types of contract maintenance currently being used, to identify some key issues that should be considered in developing a contract, and to illustrate the potential benefits through case studies.


Background: Stress may cause immunity impairment especially in cellular immunity responses, while BCG vaccination may increase it.
Objective: The aim of this study was emphasized on the effects of stress and combination of BCG vaccine – stress in cellular immune responses alteration through lymphocyte count in spleen.
Method and subject: This study adapts laboratory experimental and Post Test Only Control Groups Design . This particular study is designed using mice as a model. The 24 female BALB/c (6 – 8 weeks old and average weight 21.48  1.70 grams). All mice then divided into three groups and received standard lab diet daily. The first group (control group / K) received no other additional treatment. While the second group (stress group / EFS) received stressed by electrical foot shock start on day 12th until day 21st and the third group (Stress + BCG group / EFS+BCG) received intra peritoneal injection of 0.1cc BCG at day 1st and 11th and stressed by electrical foot shock start on day 12th until day 21st. At day 21st, all groups were injected 0.1cc intravenously with 105 live Listeria monocytogenes (LD50 = 2x105 bacteria) and terminated at day 26th. Number of lymphocyte cel per cc and spleen weight were measured. Within group difference of data were analyzed by One Way ANOVA.
Result: There are no significant differences in the lymphocyte count and spleen weight (p>0.05) among groups. The lowest number of lymphocyte count was found in the EFS group. The lowest measuring of weight spleen was found in the EFS group.
Conclusion: It could be concluded that stress is immunosuppressant, while additional treatment with BCG can restore immune responses indicated by the increase of lymphocyte count in stress mice.
Key words: BCG, Stress, lymphocyte count.


The length of the leave system is one of the important factors which influence citizen's travel behaviors.But with the three major adjustments of the leave system,the structure and length of the citizen's leisure time has changed greatly.Based on the evolution process of the leave system,this article analyses the specific performance of travelling behaviors changes and its main reasons through the overall analysis of research results and the comparisons of group differences after exploring the influence of adjustment of vocational system on Shanghai residents' traveling plan.


The following article discusses a system for thermal cleaning of stainless steel swarf. In conjunction with a chamber furnace and the appurtenant control system, the use of a new heating system with integrated pollutant disposal and no extra energy input constitutes an optimum solution for the cleaning of oil-contaminated swarf. All contamination on the swarf, including that on the interior of the handling boxes, is entirely removed after the thermal treatment. The furnace's flue gases contain no combustible constituents.


In order to strengthen the safety and environmental protection of laboratories in colleges and universities,the Department Laboratory and Equipment Management of Zhejiang University investigated some laboratories of three universities in Hong Kong,got some advanced ideas and put forward some suggestions.


This article underlines the need to move beyond the exhausted notion that all religions preach peace to studying the specific manner in which violence is legitimised in each religion. This articles examines the theological underpinnings of legitimate violence in Hinduism and Islam in order to demonstrate that neither of these religious traditions has inherent difficulties with violence per se: instead, both of these religious traditions have focused on the problem of legitimate violence. This article then moves on to examine what liberal responses in an Indian context to religious violence ought to be.


To determine the extent and pattern of treatment failure (TF) among children hospitalised with community‐acquired pneumonia at a large tertiary hospital in Kenya.


Vitázek I., Klúčik J., Uhrinová D., Mikulová Z., Mojžiš M. (2016): Thermodynamics of combustion gases from biogas. Res. Agr. Eng., 62 (Special Issue): S8–S13. Biogas as a respected source of renewable energy is used in various areas for heating or in power cogeneration units. It is produced by anaerobic fermentation of biodegradable materials. The utilization of biogas is wide – from process of combustion in order to obtain thermal energy, combined heat and power production, gas combustion engines, micro turbines or fuel cells up to trigeneration. Biogas composition depends on the raw material. The aim of this paper was to develop a new methodology; according to this methodology, by means of gas mixture thermodynamics and tabular exact parameters of individual gaseous components, all the necessary thermodynamic and operating values of biogas composition were calculated. The mathematical model of biogas combustion was elaborated. For an accurate realization of calculation, a computing program was designed.


Objective: The aim of this meta-analysis is to compare the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and intratympanic steroids (ITS) as salvage treatment for patients with refractory sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Data Sources: Electronic search was performed in the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, and Wan Fang databases to June 1, 2020. Methods: For each outcome measure, a forest plot was generated and a pooled relative risk (RR) or mean difference (MD) was calculated. Potential publication bias in the meta-analysis was assessed using funnel plot. Results: The numbers of cases with hearing improvements and pure tone averages (PTA) changes after salvage treatment were entered into the R software to calculate the pooled effect of HBOT compared with ITS. When pooling the results of the studies reporting the proportion of patients with hearing improvement, a fixed-effects model was used. We calculated the RR and found no significant difference when HBOT compared with ITS (RR = 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.83–1.42, p = 0.55). With respect to the PTA changes, a fixed-effects model was used. The improvement in the PTA (in dB) was calculated in MD and no significant difference was found between the two groups (MD = 0.55, 95% CI: –1.76–2.86, p = 0.64). Conclusion: Both HBOT and ITS offer some benefits for refractory SSNHL patients, and there were no significant differences in hearing outcomes between the two modalities. Future RCTs that include large samples are needed to demonstrate superiority of one of the treatments.


The purpose of this study is to figure out the structure of network between regions in Daejeon, Gwangju, Daegu and Busan metropolitan city areas composed of many cities and districts through social network analysis. This study investigated urban sprawl, centralization, spatial distance and how many city is networked for cooperation by analyzing network pattern between regions in metropolitan city areas from 1990 to 2005. As a result. metropolitan network structure in Korea shows that suburbanization is still progressing steadily and slowly while centralization in inner-cities is rapidly growing. Especially. Daejeon and Busan make rapid progress of centralization and suburbanization. And inter-regional network shows that the spatial distance is about 40km. Additionally, population is an important factor for this result. Finally, this result may be useful for making metropolitan plans.


Vector data plays an important role in geographical information system.But the topology of vector data should be constructed correctly before use and storage.No intersection should remain after reconstruction,or results of the succeeding process are unpredictable.One difficulty in reconstruction is that the inputted data can be of arbitrary forms,bringing about numerous intersection points.It is generally time-consuming to find out all intersection points correctly.In this paper,a grid index made of regular grid or quad-tree grid was presented.The index by subdividing 2D space into some subregions was created,and each of the subregions contains fewer polylines.Based on the index,the problem of analyzing global topological relationship can be transformed into calculating intersections of very few segments within a single grid,which saves operations greatly.Each grid is processed in this way respectively.Finally,a reconstruction algorithm is used to organize original vector data into standard data,which must contain nodes where no intersections exist.The experimental result indicates that the algorithm is specially suitable for mass data and highly irregular data.


ABSTRACT The relationship between offense-specific forgiveness and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms was examined in a cross-sectional survey of 178 college students reporting interpersonal trauma exposure, that is, a trauma exposure in which they identified a specific perpetrator. Higher levels of offense-specific forgiveness were significantly related to lower levels of PTSD symptoms. In path analyses, however, when gender and offense severity were allowed to directly predict both forgiveness and PTSD symptoms, the relationship was reduced to marginal significance. Exploratory analyses revealed that within the five most-commonly endorsed trauma subtypes, the relationship between forgiveness and PTSD symptoms may differ in strength and direction as a function of trauma type. Implications for research and treatment are discussed.


School-based research is an efficient,workable,teachers are willing to participate in teaching and research activities.School-based teaching and research carries out and makes teachers' teaching philosophy have changed,teachers' teaching methods have changed,and teachers begin to study and reflect on their teaching.School-based research and teaching also needs to determine the overall theme of the school;need to establish the school's "teacher work" and need to establish long-term mechanism-based teaching and research.


Automated control of devices in our homes using a PC or wearable touch
interfaces is becoming a reality and has already been adopted by industry. Voice
has the potential of a more natural interaction but puts high barriers to a
deployment due to its error prone and invisible nature.
In this paper we introduce a prototype that allows the use of
established voice user interface design concepts known from telephony
applications in this environment bringing in a conversational approach that is
suitable to lower the barriers, leading to a better user experience.


Asymmetry in the transverse wave number spectrum of the radiated power of a screenless fast wave antenna at an ion cyclotron range of frequencies is calculated with a model that takes into account the nonsymmetry of the plasma surface impedance matrix for an inhomogeneous tokamak plasma in front of the antenna. The directivity of the wave number spectrum transverse to the ambient magnetic field caused by the asymmetry in the surface impedance is found to be strongly asymmetric with respect to the parallel wave number by the effect of the nonperpendicular angle between the antenna current strap and the magnetic field. The latter is shown to be responsible also for the asymmetry in the parallel wave number spectrum of an undirected antenna, and can lead to deviations of order ≤30% in the corresponding spectrum of a phased antenna array with directivity. The consequences of the observed effects to the antenna performance in the current drive applications as well as in excitation of poloidally asymmetric spec...


Objective To obtain Three dimensional image of implant in human maxillary Complex in order to develop its 3 D finite element model. Methods Combining spiral CT scanning, digital image conversing and recording technology, together with ANSYS software, the CT tomographic scanning image was changed to the numerical image used to finite element solid modeling. Results Compared with 3 D image reconstructed by spiral CT, geometric similarity and sharp restoration of 3 D finite element solid model were good. Its material structure was reasonable, also. So, an ideal 3 D finite element model of implant in human maxillary was constructed. Conclusion The method to develop 3 D finite element model of implant in human maxillary complex by spiral CT scanning and ANSYS software was feasible and the results were satisfying.


In order to offer the theoretical base for black soybean natto development,black soybeans were taken as the raw materials and bacillus subtilis natto as grains,some influencing factors,such as soaking time,boiling time,inoculation amount and fermenting time,were studied to seek the optimal technology for natto from black soybean.With single-factor experiment,orthogonal test and sensory evaluation,the optimum fermenting conditions were set as the following:black soybean soaking time 20 h,addition of NaCl 0.5% glucose 2%,boiling time min(121℃),inoculation amount 2.5%,fermenting temperature 37℃,fermenting time 24 h,and post-maturation time 24 h at the temperature of 4℃.


This essay takes up the issue of chaste intentionality in John Milton's A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle and Margaret Cavendish's Assaulted and Pursued Chastity. Each of these narratives presents a female protagonist who simultaneously embodies and theorizes sexual virtue, creating a problem of will: when women intentionally participate in the ideological structures that constrain their acts, whose agency is at stake? The essay locates this question in the context of early modern conduct manuals and other prescriptive codifications of feminine sexuality, in which the performance of chastity, even as it is idealized, often involves actual or potential acts of violence against patriarchal structures and the male subjects who inhabit them. Milton and Cavendish raise the stakes by creating characters whose chastity is militant even as it tends toward marriage, identifying intentional virtue as a profoundly social problem.


Accessible online at: www.karger.com/journals/psp Until today, the diagnostic systems for mental disorders such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association do not include neurobiological dysfunctions in the diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders [1]. The DSM-IV and relevant handbooks such as the American Press Textbook of Neuropsychiatric Disorders [2], however, distinguish the important links between neurobiological dysfunctions and many mental disorders. Indeed, a large amount of data from neuroscience suggest that most of the psychiatric disorders are frequently related to neurologic, neurophysiological and biochemical dysfunctions [2]. In my opinion, this can be very useful when relevant neurologic, biochemical and neurophysiological dysfunctions, which are linked to specific diagnostic traits of mental disorders, are also considered as diagnostic criteria. For example, antisocial personality disorders are frequently linked to 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), CSF 5-hydroxy indoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO), hormone abnormality, a history of brain injury and so on [3, 4]. More specific traits such as impulsivity or sensation seeking are related to 5-HT and MAO dysfunctions [3–5], while characteristics like irritability, hostility and aggression are associated with hormone and CSF 5-HIAA abnormalities [3, 4]. I think that a psychiatric diagnostic system that makes clear whether in a specific patient some diagnostic features are neuro(bio)logically determined or not, could make adequate and optimal (neuropsychiatric and multidisciplinary) treatment possible. For most of the therapists, it is important to know how behavioral, personality and biological factors interact with each other in order to (1) identify the precise origins and hidden patterns of problem behavior, and (2) to provide proper and adequate treatment, and to prevent unnecessary problems in the future. For example, in borderline patients, emotional instability (personality trait) is usually associated in a particular way with typical behavior such as impulsivity, suicide attempts, risk-taking behavior and a neuro(bio)logical determination of that behavior and/or some personality traits. Current diagnostic systems are not constructed to uncover those interactions, and are, moreover, not very helpful to make clear in which patients neurobiological abnormalities are related to episodically deviant behavior, and in which patients specific diagnostic features such as particular stable personality or behavioral traits are determined by biological dysfunctions. Such knowledge is thus essential for creative psychotherapists. More research on the interrelations between biological, behavioral and personality aspects of mental disorders is needed to make the psychiatric diagnostic systems more complete, precise and adequate.


Airports are vital to economic development, the connectivity of people and services, and the movement of goods. Moreover, airports are critical infrastructure for the COVID-19 response. In this study, we attempt to examine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. airports' outputs. Specifically, our analysis focuses on the impact on output with respect to airport size, legacy carriers' hubs, and multi-airport systems. Using the data on 59 U.S. hub airports in 2019 and 2020 and a stochastic frontier analysis with the difference-in-differences method, we find that large hub airports faced a sharper decline in their operations compared with medium hub airports; airports serving as a major hub to the three legacy carriers experienced larger output declines possibly as a result of their greater exposure to international markets; there is no significant difference in output decreases between airports in a multi-airport system and standalone airports. Regardless of the pandemic impact, large airports, airports serving as a hub of the legacy carriers, and airports belonging to a multi-airport system are on average more efficient than their respective counterparts. The initial impact of the pandemic on airports' output sheds light on the likely structural changes in demand that airports will face in the future.


Abstract This article explicates the importance of becoming aware of the social and personal past for the sake of effective psychotherapy. The image of the mental health practitioner as "shrink" is discussed in terms of stigma, both historically and currently, which tends to reduce instead of to help develop the faculties of those treated. Historical recounting includes witch-hunting in the Middle Ages and its analogous phenomena in this century, and the use of isolation, lobotomy and neuroleptics. Current pressures to reduce rather than to help troubled people develop are related to under par mental health coverage, breaching of psychotherapy confidentiality, a narrow version of the medical model limited to symptom targeting, promiscuous prescribing, and stringent limiting of psychotherapy length. The importance of tolerating remembering the personal past in psychotherapy is emphasized. Remembrance of both our societal and personal pasts is vital to our not automatically repeating in the present our prob...


(1973). ELECTROCHEMISTRY IN THIN LAYERS OF SOLUTION. C R C Critical Reviews in Analytical Chemistry: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 201-242.


COVID‐19 is a mysterious disease presented in different ways, so we have to deal with each patient nowadays thoroughly, including COVID‐19 testing as routine test. The Case report discusses the rare finding of COVID‐19 in CSF of GBS patient.


As it is well known, after the collapse of the totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, the economic development of the former communist states in the region was subject to a series of systemic transformation. One of the most important was the large-scale abandonment of state ownership in the agricultural sector, a transformation that was essential for boosting economic development. Our article aims to present the land property privatization process in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, pointing out the obstacles which hindered this action and represented barriers of the reform process. By using a comparative approach, the paper will also underline the main challenges in the land privatization process: state owned land reserves, farm restructuring, land transaction, mortgage, role of public and private sector.


AND THE MUSOPHAGIDAE BY ANDREW J. BERGERl M OST authors have placed the African touracos ("plantain-eaters") and the cosmopolitan cuckoos in a single order, the Cuculiformes or Cuculi (e.g., Mayr and Amadon, 1951, Wetmore, 1951). Bannerman (1933)) Moreau (1938,1958), Lowe (1943)) and Verheyen (1956a, 19563)) however, believed that the touracos deserve ordinal rank, the Musophagiformes. I agree with these authors but not for some of the reasons they cite. I have been interested in the anatomy and relationships of these two groups of birds for over a decade, but it now seems unlikely that it will be feasible to continue this work. Consequently, I have decided to publish certain information which, although still very incomplete, may prove useful to other investigators. The complete appendicular myology of a touraco apparently has never been described. My plan, therefore, is to describe this musculature for Tauraco leucotis donaldsoni ("Turacus donaldsoni") and then to compare the myology, osteology, and pterylosis of this touraco with that of the cuckoos. Such a comparison can not be made properly without also analyzing differences in morphology within the family Cuculidae. This paper is based on the dissection of one or more specimens of the following genera and species of cuckoos: Carpococcyx radiceus, Centropus bengalensis, C. superciliosus, C eu th mochares aereus, Chrysococcyx cupreus, Ch. ("Lampromorpha") klaa s and caprius, Ch. ("Chalcites") basalis, Clamator jacobinus, Coccyzus americanus, C. erythropthalmus, Coua serriuna, C. reynaudii, C. ruficeps, C. cristata, C. caerulea, Crotophaga sulcirostris, Cuculus canorus and sp., Dromococcyx pavoninus, Geococcyx californianus, Guira guira, Morococcyx erythropygus, Piuya cayana, Phuenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus, Saurothera merlini, Surniculus lugubris, Tapera naevia. These I8 genera represent less than half of the 38 genera recognized by Peters (1940)) although several of his genera have been suppressed by later workers (e.g., Mayr, 1944; Delacour and Mayr, 1945; Delacour, 1946; Berger, 19553). Consequently, it must be borne in mind that conclusions and generalizations presented here may have to be altered when data become available on the remaining genera of cuckoos. As a matter of convenience for other workers, I have, by and large, used Peters' genera and species of cuckoos. I do this in part because I do not agree with those who propose that it is not necessary to examine the internal anatomy of a given species merely because an earlier genus has been suppressed and its contained species have been placed in some other genus. Evidence presented here certainly casts doubt on the wisdom of


In this article, we examine the construct of perceived task interdependence and propose that there is variation in how members perceive interdependence with one another, even within the same team. In particular, we introduce centrality asymmetry—the extent to which members differ in their perceptions of how central they are in the team's task interdependence network relative to how central other members see them. Using field data (interviews, team surveys, and executive ratings) from 2,222 members across 319 teams in a large corporation, we test hypotheses regarding the relationship between centrality asymmetry and team success. We find that teams with more centrality asymmetry are less successful, above and beyond the level of perceived task interdependence centrality and variation in perceived task interdependence centrality on the team. We discuss the implications of our findings for future theory and research on task interdependence in teams.


The present invention provides a method of measuring the concentration of molecules in a sample fluid or analyte. Said method comprises the step of mixing the fluid with label particles within a cartridge, wherein the label particles are adapted to capture said molecules and to bind to a sensor surface of said cartridge. Then, the label particles are sedimented towards the sensor surface and the amount of label particles close to the sensor surface is measured. Subsequently, the label particles, which are not bound to the surface, are removed in a "washing" step and finally the amount of label particles close to the sensor surface is measured again.


Background The aim of this study was to compare the predictive accuracy of acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass for the largest area under the curve (AUC) below the oxygen delivery (DO2) threshold and the cumulative AUC below the DO2 threshold. Methods and Results From March 2017 to October 2019, 202 patients who had undergone cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled. The perfusion parameters were recorded every 20 seconds, and the DO2 (10×pump flow index [L/min per m2]×[hemoglobin (g/dL)×1.36×arterial oxygen saturation (%)+partial pressure of arterial oxygen (mm Hg)×0.003]) threshold of 300 mL/min per m2 was considered to define sufficient DO2. The nadir DO2, the cumulative AUC below the DO2300, and the largest AUC below the DO2300 were used to predict the incidence of AKI. Postoperative AKI was observed in 12.4% of patients (25/202). By multivariable analysis, the largest AUC below the DO2300 ≥880 (odds ratio [OR], 4.9; 95% CI, 1.2–21.5 [P=0.022]), preoperative hemoglobin concentration ≤11.6 g/dL (OR, 7.6; 95% CI, 2.0–32.3 [P=0.004]), and red blood cell transfusions during cardiopulmonary bypass ≥2 U (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.0–11.1 [P=0.041]) were detected as independent risk factors for AKI. Receiver operating curve analysis revealed that the largest AUC below the DO2300 was more accurate to predict postoperative AKI compared with the nadir DO2 and the cumulative AUC below the DO2300 (differences between areas, 0.0691 [P=0.006] and 0.0395 [P=0.001]). Conclusions These data suggest that a high AUC below the DO2300 is an important independent risk factor for AKI after cardiopulmonary bypass, which could be considered for risk prediction models of AKI.


To investigate the outpatient glaucoma care provided by Finnish private ophthalmologists and to compare this information with the data obtained from national databases.


We present an introductory discussion of deep-inelastic lepton-proton scattering as a means to probe the substructure of the proton. A resume of QCD is given, emphasizing the running of the coupling constant and the DGLAP evolution equations for the parton densities. The determination of parton distributions is discussed and their importance for predictions of processes at the LHC is emphasized. Going beyond the pure DGLAP regime, we briefly discuss the behaviour of parton densities at low x, and the evidence for non-linear absorptive contributions.


Salmonella enterica subsp. houtenae serovar 16:z4, z32:— str. RKS3027 was isolated from a human in Illinois, USA. S. enterica subsp. houtenae is a facultative aerobic rod-shaped Gram-negative bacterium. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the draft genome sequence and annotation. The 4,404,136 bp long genome (97 contigs) contains 4,335 protein-coding gene and 28 RNA genes.


The objective of this study was to evaluate neuropeptide Y (NPY) and sea bream gonadotropin-release hormone (sbGnRH) gene expression in juvenile and adult males of Brazilian flounder. Hypothalamuses from fish were sampled for total RNA extraction. After cDNA synthesis, real-time PCR was used to measure gene expression. NPY showed approximately 2-fold increases in their mRNA levels while sbGnRH showed 3-fold increases in adult fish. These results suggest that these peptides could be involved on hypothalamic regulation of Brazilian flounder sexual maturation.


The invention discloses a data display method and device. The method comprises the following steps of obtaining to-be-displayed game data in a game application running on a mobile terminal through a first application, wherein the game data comprises a game event or a game event with a corresponding relation and event time of the game event; and displaying the game data in a desktop plug-in corresponding to the first application, wherein the desktop plug-in is displayed on a desktop of the mobile terminal. According to the data display method and device, the technical problem of poor display effect caused by adoption of the existing data display method is solved.


Chomsky's (1970) analysis of English nominalizations has ~roved to be controverSl. aI l.P many. respec t s. ( l) Be y.o nd dl' spute, h owever, l.S th e fact t h a t this analysis has (re-)kindled the interest of many linguists in the aspect of linguistic structure known as "morphoiogy" or "word-formation". (2) Thus, during the past decade, Chomsky's lexicalist hypothesis(3) has served as a point of departure for various attempts at developing theories which aim to give an account of the structure and/or formation of morphologically complex words. (4)


The study was conducted to determine the mathematical skills and the academic performance of the junior and senior electrical engineering students of the University of Eastern Philippines. Descriptive-correlational method of research was used with a total enumeration of the regular students from third year to fifth year electrical engineering students. The findings revealed that male students dominated all the three year levels of the electrical engineering course. It was also found out that there were more regular fifth year engineering students than the third year and fourth year students. Meanwhile, the third year students got the highest average rating in the final grades of first year and second year mathematics and the lowest average rating belonged to the fifth year students. The learning style of the three-year levels was found to be visual while in terms of study habits, the third year students have very good study habit. Original Research Article Abaigar and Varela; JERR, 20(3): 20-31, 2021; Article no.JERR.65563 21 It was also found out that the level of mathematical skills of the three-year levels were low, but the level of academic performance of the three-year levels were found out to be good. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relationship of the student profile and their mathematical skills. The results showed that the average of final grades in all first-year mathematics, and the students' year level have significant relationship with the mathematical skills of the students. Meanwhile, the profile variables found to be significantly related to academic performance were the average of final grades in first year mathematics, average of final grades in second year mathematics and study habits of the students' respondents. Lastly, the mathematical skills had no significant relationship to the academic performance of the student-respondents.


The gravitational wave- and accretion-driven evolution of the angular velocity, core temperature, and (small) amplitude of an r-mode of neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries and similar systems is investigated. The conditions required for evolution to a stable equilibrium state (with gravitational wave flux proportional to average X-ray flux) are determined. In keeping with conclusions derived from observations of neutron star cooling, the core neutrons are taken to be normal while the core protons and hyperons and the crust neutrons are taken to be singlet superfluids. The dominant sources of damping are then hyperon bulk viscosity (if much of the core is at least 2-3 times nuclear density) and (e-e and n-n) shear (and possibly magnetic) viscosity within the core-crust boundary layer. It is found that a stable equilibrium state can be reached if the superfluid transition temperature of the hyperons is sufficiently small (≲2 × 109 K), allowing the gravitational radiation from Sco X-1 and several other neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries to be potentially detectable by the second-generation LIGO (and VIRGO) arrays.


A dance group requires a formation, quite unlike a solo dance, and thus the arrangement on the stage is critical. We have developed a system to simulate the formations of dance groups. The simulation is executed by specifying the number of dancers, the formation pattern, and the dancing motion with a gamepad. Typical formations used for classical ballet pieces were analyzed, and three formation patterns were obtained. Each dancer's position is calculated by the number of dancers and the selected formations. The system arranges dancers on a virtual stage and simulates dance animations by using motion-capture data obtained from a professional dancer.


The electronic multiple unit (EMU) circulation plan schedule EMUs to perform train tasks based on a timetable while satisfying a number of constraints. This paper propose a model considering several constraints such as maintenance capability, accommodation capacity and maintenance management modes. Then, the real-world case of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway is studied to analyze the impacts of maintenance-mileage limits and maintenance management modes.


Abstract Context: Obesity is associated with a number of diseases with metabolic abnormalities such as type 2 diabetes (T2D). Objective: We investigate the effects of tectorigenin on 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation and adipocytokines secretion. Materials and methods: The effects of tectorigenin on adipocyte differentiation were studied using Oil Red O staining. Effects of tectorigenin on adipogenesis-related genes expression and adipocytokines secretion were measured by the real-time quantitative RT-PCR and ELISA method, respectively. Reporter gene assays were performed to determine the PPARγ and NF-κB transactivation. We also used [3H]-2-deoxy-d-glucose to study the glucose uptake, and the IKK/NF-κB signaling pathway was assessed by western blot analysis. HFD/STZ rats were used to evaluate the therapeutic efficacies of tectorigenin. Results: Tectorigenin 10, 25, 50, and 75 μM inhibited 3T3-L1 adipogenesis and related genes transcription. TNF-α-induced changes of IL-6, MCP-1, as well as adiponectin in 3T3-L1 were markedly reversed by tectorigenin at 75 μM. Further investigation using reporter gene revealed that tectorigenin was a partial PPARγ agonist with an IC50 value of 13.3 μM. Tectorigenin improved basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Moreover, tectorigenin antagonized TNF-α-induced NF-κB transactivation and p65 nuclear translocation. Although tectorigenin (50 and 100 mg/kg) displayed the ability to promote insulin sensitivity and improve glucose metabolism in HFD/STZ rats, it did not cause significant side effects such as body weight gain, fluid retention, or cardiac hypertrophy. Discussion and conclusion: These results suggest that tectorigenin may ameliorate hyperglycemia by blocking preadipocyte differentiation and adipocytokines secretion in which PPARγ and NF-κB signaling pathways were involved.


Inasmuch as a greater part of the chlorine absorbed, as indicated by the chlorine absorption test, is used in oxidizing some organic matter and other oxidizable substances in water, it would seem probable that such a test should give values comparable with the oxygenconsumed value (1) which is used as a standard method in determining the capacity of a water to be oxidized, and hence an indicator as to the carbonaceous organic matter it contains. The purpose of this investigation has been to compare the permanganate method of oxygen consumed in water analysis with that of the chlorine absorption test by different waters. In doing so, it was hoped that a correlation would be found which would permit the use of the amount of the chlorine absorbed by a given water to determine in a large measure its organic content. The use of the chlorine absorption test has been studied by Wolman and Enslow (2), and the fact that the five-minute chlorine absorption test would compare very favorably with the permanganate test under certain conditions was shown. Their data disclosed a fairly close variation of chlorine absorption with the oxygen-consumed values of different supplies. They found that the five-minute rate of chlorine absorption shows a decreasing acceleration with increases in pollution as measured by an increase in the oxygen-consumed values. Froboese (3) has investigated the capacity of water to decompose hypochlorites and maintains that this determination is of value in addition to its oxygen-consuming power with permanganates. Keiser (4) has recently made a comparative study of the oxidizability of water as measured by the Kubel-Tiemann method and of the determination of the "chlorine number" of Froboese (3). His results are very interesting and will be referred to later. Before considering the actual data it is best that some of the principles of each of these tests be taken up. The oxygen-consumed


In the department of engineering, students are required to fulfil at least 80 percent of class attendance. Conventional method requires student to sign his/her initial on the attendance sheet. However, this method is prone to cheating by having another student signing for their fellow classmate that is absent. We develop our hypothesis according to a verse in the Holy Qur'an (95:4), "We have created men in the best of mould". Based on the verse, we believe each psychological characteristic of human being is unique and thus, their speech characteristic should be unique. In this paper we present the development of speech biometric-based attendance system. The system requires user's voice to be installed in the system as trained data and it is saved in the system for registration of the user. The following voice of the user will be the test data in order to verify with the trained data stored in the system. The system uses PSD (Power Spectral Density) and Transition Parameter as the method for feature extraction of the voices. Euclidean and Mahalanobis distances are used in order to verified the user's voice. For this research, ten subjects of five females and five males were chosen to be tested for the performance of the system. The system performance in term of recognition rate is found to be 60% correct identification of individuals.


Tungsten carbide coatings applied by the plasma spray process have been widely used in wear applications. In the W–C–Co ternary system, tungsten carbide can either be present as WC or W2C. Frequently WC transforms into W2C during the plasma spray process. In this study, tungsten carbide/17% cobalt coatings were applied by both the air plasma and the vacuum plasma spray processes using different power levels and plasma gases. The W2C phase was found by X‐ray diffraction techniques in the air plasma sprayed coatings. Decarburizing of the WC in the presence of the oxygen took place in the plasma. In this study air plasma sprayed coating hardness and microstructure are superior to those of the vacuum plasma sprayed ones. However the vacuum plasma coatings were found to be more wear and impact resistance than the air plasma coatings. This performance difference may be attributed to the presence of hard and brittle W2C phase in the air plasma sprayed tungsten carbide coatings.


References. Colonna, P. C., and Friedenberg, Z. B. (1949), "The Disc Syndrome; Results of the Conservative Care of Patients with Positive Myelograms", The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Volume XXXIA, page 614. Durbin, F. C. (1948), "Treatment of Sciatic Pain by Immobilization In a Plaster Jacket", The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Volume XXXB, page 487. Keegan, J. J. (1944), "Neurosurgical Interpretation of Dermatome Hypalgesia with Herniation of the Lumbar Intervertebral Disc", The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Volume XXVI, page 238. King, D. (1948), "Internal Fixation for Lumbosacral Fusion", The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Volume XXXA, page 560. Kugelberg, E., and Peterson, I. (1950), "Muscle Weakness and Wasting in Sciatica due to Fourth Lumbar or Lumbosacral Disc Herniations", The Journal of Neur08urgery, Volume VII, page 270.


The electron-induced L{sub 3}M two-step double ionization cross sections of metallic Pd were determined experimentally for incident electron beam energies ranging from the double ionization threshold up to 18 keV. The double L{sub 3}M ionization cross sections were derived from the intensity ratios (I{sub L{alpha}M}:I{sub L{alpha}}) of the resolved M satellites to the parent diagram lines. The sample was bombarded with monoenergetic electrons from an energy-tunable 20-kV electron gun. The diagram and M-satellite x-ray lines were measured by means of high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy, using a reflection-type von Hamos bent crystal spectrometer. The two-step partial cross sections were determined by subtracting from the measured total double ionization cross sections the contributions due to the shake process and L{sub 1}-L{sub 3}M{sub 4,5} Coster-Kronig transitions. Despite the thick target employed in the present study, the dependence of the two-step cross sections on the incoming electron energy could be derived using a target slice decomposition method. It is shown that the obtained energy dependence can be well reproduced by the semiempirical parametrization model of Pattard and Rost.


The significant relationship detected between mean serum leptin levels early in the second trimester in women who developed hypertensive disorders or gestational diabetes later on, suggests that there is an early predisposition for the development of these complications which can be predicted by the relatively higher serum leptin levels (in relation to each BMI category) among these women before the development of the disease.


PurposeThere can be many negative effects from a disruption in a central node of companies' supply chains, such as a port conflict that reduces capacity. Strategies for disruption management include flexibility and redundancy. This paper aims to analyse a supply chain disruption from flexibility and capacity perspectives.Design/methodology/approachA case study was conducted of the supply chain disruption caused by the port conflict in 2016–2017 in Gothenburg, in which the port operated at a reduced capacity. Companies importing and exporting goods, freight forwarders, hauliers, train operators, ports, shipping companies and their agents were interviewed.FindingsVarious capacity problems (ports, links, container chassis, empty containers) were encountered due to the port conflict. Flexibility measures such as node, mode and fleet flexibility can be used in response to changes in capacity. Difficulties with applying flexibility are discussed.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough based on a Swedish case, findings are relevant for disruptions or other types of disturbances in ports elsewhere and also in other important nodes in companies' supply chains.Practical implicationsActors influenced by disturbances in a port can increase their understanding of potential capacity problems and flexibility measures. Readiness and timely action are important due to competition regarding capacity.Originality/valueThe implications on the transport network surrounding a port, including many actors, are explained, illustrating how capacity problems propagate, but there is some flexibility to manage the problems.


Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a promising candidate for future 5G multiple access. Particularly NOMA uses power domain for multiple access and successive interference canceler (SIC) algorithm for multiuser detection (MUD). Different from the current downlink transmission scheme for NOMA, a novel joint coding scheme is proposed in this paper and corresponding improved SIC algorithms: zigzag SIC and iterative SIC are designed at the receiver side. Both zigzag SIC and iterative SIC algorithms are based on the novel offset frame structure. The goal is to take advantage of time domain diversity gain and certain long code gain of joint coding and advanced receiver to improve system performance without introduce additional degree of freedom. Practical considerations of NOMA, such as power allocation ratio, SIC, error propagation and channel fading are discussed. Simulation results show the proposed iterative SIC receiver and zigzag SIC receiver can both provide a better performance than conventional SIC receiver, so that the proposed joint coding scheme has obvious advantage over conventional NOMA.


This paper present review of the auxiliary systems used in diesel-electrical locomotive. Moreo ver, the paper presents a brief comparison of two diesel-electric shunting locomotives used in Estonian rail roads nowadays.


The diet of anuran species is based on a large variety of prey items, which may be related to the availability of prey in the environment. In Amazonia, studies on the diet of anurans have occurred mainly in primary forests. Because forest fragmentation promotes changes in the environment, it is expected that the diet of anuran species will also be affected. Here we describe the diet composition of anurans captured in a forest remnant at Fazenda Amoty, municipality of Placido de Castro, state of Acre, Brazil. Stomach contents of 34 specimens of Allobates femoralis (Aromobatidae), Adenomera hylaedactyla, Engystomops freibergi (Leptodactylidae), Rhinella sp. (Bufonidae), and Elachistocleis muiraquitan (Microhylidae) had 877 prey items belonging to 19 prey categories. The diet of most species were arthropods. Myrmicinae ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) was the most abundant and frequent item in A. hylaedactyla, Rhinella sp. and A. femoralis stomachs. Termitidae (Isoptera) was the second most abundant taxon in Rhinella sp. and A. hylaedactyla, and the only taxon found eaten by E. freibergi and E. muiraquitan. Most studied species showed generalist diet, which is the habit for most anuran species. Contrarily, E. freibergi and E. muiraquitan are likely specialized in Isoptera.


The Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) and the Statewide Children's Resource Program are members of the Equity in Education Coalition. The Coalition represents schools, parents, students and community sector organisations opposed to the Victorian Government's decision to cut the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) from 2015.


Abstract : The ability to rapidly scan a highly directive antenna beam has been made possible by recent advances in the art of microwave phase shifting. This report describes an experimental C-band phased array antenna. The antenna is composed of eight subarrays which may be arranged in several configurations to investigate the effects of a full array. Each subarray contains a reactive power divider, 48 ferrite phase shifters and their electronic drivers, and a radiating structure. The radiating structure has been designed to provide some compensation for impedance variation with scanning. The design and fabrication of the components are discussed in detail, and test results of the array are presented and analyzed.


FDG-PET scanning is currently widely utilized in the assessment of patients with various subtypes of lymphoma [1 – 3]. Its role in the evaluation of patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is noncontroversial, particularly in the post-treatment setting [2,3]. While the current role of PET in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) and aggressive NHL subtypes other than DLBCL remains to be better defined, FDG-PET is increasingly being utilized in the staging/restaging and response assessment of these patients. In patients with noncutaneous PTCLs, PET may be particularly useful in distinguishing between viable tumor and necrosis or fibrosis in residual mass (es) that are frequently present following treatment with no other clinical or biochemical evidence of disease. This clearly has implications in patient management: if PET is positive, patients should undergo biopsy and, if the disease is confirmed, considered for salvage therapy while patients with a negative PET are observed until there is clinical and/or radiological evidence of relapse [4]. Because of the well-documented advantage of PET over CT or conventional MRI in this setting, the recently revised response criteria for lymphoma published by members of the International Harmonization Project (IHP) recommended that PET be used in addition to conventional imaging in response assessment of PTCLs if the overall response rate and, particularly, complete response rate are primary study end points in a clinical trial [2,3]. It was also recommended that if PET is to be used for response assessment of patients with PTCLs, a pretherapy PET be performed documenting PET positivity of all disease sites 1.5 cm by CT, a fairly strict requirement to utilize PET in this setting [2,3]. The latter recommendation was made because of the reportedly variable FDG-avidity of the various subtypes of PTCLs [5 – 11]. However, since these recommendations have been published, new reports are appearing (or are in press) on the diagnostic accuracy of PET, and, hence, indirectly, on the FDG-avidity of PTCLs and other aggressive lymphoma histologies [12,13]. Perhaps the most pressing question after reading such reports is whether some of the recommendations made only recently already need to be revised! In this issue of Leukemia and Lymphoma, Bishu et al. report on the PET imaging results in 24 patients with various subtypes of PTCL, imaged either at staging (n1⁄4 13) or at various timepoints post-therapy (n1⁄4 11) [12]. Their report clearly demonstrates a high sensitivity (95%) and specificity (100%) of PET at nodal and noncutaneous extranodal sites of systemic PTCLs whereas the sensitivity was very poor at cutaneous sites in patients with exclusively stage 1A primary cutaneouous PTCL (CTCL) of either the unclassified (CTCL-PTCL-U) or anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) histology (CTCL-ALCL) [12]. Although this report has some limitations, including the retrospective nature of the evaluation and the small or very small sample sizes for each of the 6 subtypes of PTCL examined, namely, CTCL-PTCL-U, CTCL-ALCL, systemic PTCL-U, systemic ALCL, angioimmunoplastc T-cell lymphoma (AITL), and natural killer T-cellnasal type (NK/T), a considerable strength of the work is the ''standard of reference'' used by the authors defined as the composite of ''all clinical, histologic, and radiographic data in conjunction with treatment response, repeat imaging results,


Kevin Rockett has been one of Ireland
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The three principal Wisdom books of the Jewish Bible never once mention the cardinal events of ancient Israel's historical tradition. Rather than drawing theological conclusions from traditions about Israel's historical encounter with YHWH, the biblical sages developed their understanding of the universe and its creator through the observation of human interactions and natural phenomena. The Greek text simply juxtaposes Wisdom and Torah without any verbal clues as to the nature of the relation. The doctrine of election draws a similar distinction between YHWH's relationship to humanity in general and the particular relationship that YHWH enters into with Israel. Election tends to be thought of in terms of particularism. That is, for many people, the idea that God chooses to enter into a special relationship with some persons and not others connotes exclusivism. Leo Perdue treats the theme of election in Sirach more fully than any other scholar.Keywords: election; God; Israel; Sirach; Torah; wisdom; YHWH


The place of penal transportation in Australia's economic history has always been controversial. Convict workers were frequently denigrated as worse than useless, yet without convicts the settlements would have lacked sufficient labour for development. In Van Diemen's Land in the 1840s, convicts constituted more than half the labour supply, and if emancipists are included it was more like three-quarters. After transportation to New South Wales was halted in 1840, amidst claims that the assignment of convict labour was akin to slavery, Van Diemen's Land continued to receive transportees but adopted a new form of labour management: the so-called 'probation system'. To distinguish the new probation system from the 'slavery' of assignment, wages were paid to convict workers. This study uses 17,997 convict employment contracts to explore the labour market for convict passholders at the probation period. Actions speak louder than words, and irrespective of what might have been said about convict quality, by the end of transportation in 1853 convict workers were eagerly engaged at rising wages by employers desperate for labour. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and the Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand 2005.


For some time, applying the theory of pattern recognition and classification to radar signal processing has been a topic of interest in the field of remote sensing. Efficient operation and target indication is often hindered by the signal background, which can have similar properties with the interesting signal. Because noise and clutter may constitute most part of the response of surveillance radar, aircraft and other interesting targets can be seen as anomalies in the data. We propose an algorithm for detecting these anomalies on a heterogeneous clutter background in each range-Doppler cell, the basic unit in the radar data defined by the resolution in range, angle and Doppler. The analysis is based on the time history of the response in a cell and its correlation to the spatial surroundings. If the newest time window of response in a resolution cell differs statistically from the time history of the cell, the cell is determined anomalous. Normal cells are classified as noise or different type of clutter based on their strength on each Doppler band. Anomalous cells are analyzed using a longer time window, which emulates a longer coherent illumination. Based on the decorrelation behavior of the response in the long time window, the anomalous cells are classified as clutter, an airplane or a helicopter. The algorithm is tested with both experimental and simulated radar data. The experimental radar data has been recorded in a forested landscape.


BACKGROUND We have assessed the role of stress on compliance of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN) with taking prescribed medications and following dietary and exercise regimens. METHODS A total of 9544 individuals more than 19 years of age were selected from three counties in central Iran. The presence of DM and HTN were asked from participants. We defined treatment adherence (compliance) based on agreement of individual's self-report behavior with recommendations from a physician. RESULTS Awareness about DM and HTN was 82.6% and 49.9%, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that odds ratio (OR) of high to low stress level was lower than one for both "usage of medication" and "following exercise regimen" in diabetics even after adjustment for either "age and sex" or "age, sex and education". In hypertensive patients, OR of high to low stress level was lower than one for "usage of medication" even after adjustment for either "age and sex" or "age, sex and education" and also lower than one for "following exercise regimen" only as crude index. CONCLUSION Cases with higher stress level had lower compliance for accepting either medication or exercise as a treatment option for their DM or HTN.


We introduce and study a new concept of strongly lp-summing m-linear operators in the category of operator spaces. We give some characterizations of this notion such as the Pietsch domination theorem and we show that an m-linear operator is strongly lp-summing if and only if its adjoint is lp-summing. 1. Introduction. The development of the theory of polynomials and multilinear operators can be divided into two periods. The first starts in the thirties of the last century, essentially motivated externally through holomorphic and differential functions on infinite-dimensional spaces. The second begins in the eighties, mainly due to Pietsch (Pie83) where the idea to generalize the theory of ideals to the multilinear setting appears. Motived by the importance of this theory, several authors have developed and studied many concepts relating to summability; see (Ale85, AM89, Dia03, Mat96, Mat03, MT99, Sch91) among so many others. In this note we introduce a new concept concerning summability of multilinear operators. The concept of strongly p-summing linear operators (1 ≤ p < ∞) was introduced by J. S. Cohen (Coh73) in order to obtain a characterization of the conjugates of absolutely p ∗ -summing linear operators. In (AM07), we have generalized this concept to the multilinear case. It is natural to try to develop the same concept in the non-commutative case. In the present work, we introduce a new notion of summability for multilinear operators, which we call strongly lp-summing m-linear oper- ators. Using this notion we prove some properties of multilinear opera- tors in the non-commutative case. Our motivation is that the adjoint of a strongly lp-summing m-linear operator is an lp-summing operator as studied in (Mez02).


approved: Jonathan Kaplan In the Capabilities Approach literature "capabilities" are the real freedoms individuals possess to achieve certain "functionings," which are the doings and beings that constitute a good life. I argue that this approach requires, or at least can benefit from, an account of the psychosocial mechanisms involved in capability limitation. The three mechanisms, or pathways, I consider include the cognitive resources perspective, the stress process model, and cumulative advantage and disadvantage theory. Each of these pathways begins with an individual's social characteristics and results in health outcomes with direct and indirect capability relations. Since these capability relations are distributed unequally according to individuals' social characteristics they are an issue of social justice and require policy attention. I highlight some policy recommendations made in the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health report and recommend policies to address the experiences of direct discrimination that report overlooks. I also explain some ways in which the pathways considered here can address two difficulties in the practical application of the capabilities approach, viz., measuring and selecting capabilities. Key Words:
 Capabilities Approach, freedom, social justice, psychosocial stress, cognitive resources, cumulative advantage/disadvantage, social determinants of health Corresponding e-mail address: email@example.com ©Copyright by Michael A. Trujillo May 27, 2014
 All Rights Reserved Social Determinants to Real Freedoms An Empirical Development of the Capabilities Approach by Michael A. Trujillo A PROJECT submitted to Oregon State University University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Science in Philosophy and Biology (Honors Scholar) Presented May 27, 2014 Commencement June 2014


The DNAs, taken from the hind silk gland of Silkworm C 108 , Dazao and from their first and second generations, were used for amplification by means of RAPD and it showed that 85.9% of the 477 random primers had stable products. The total number of amplified bands was about 5 155, with the bands of each amplifier ranging from 1 to 23, which averaged in 12.6. The polymorphic DNA fragments observed were 1 496, which was 29.0% of the total amplified products. After extensive repeat and experiments on large scale, it strongly suggested that only in a strict amplified condition and without any pollution in every step did the DNA polymorphism show repeatability and stability.


Struggles for recognition are at the same time struggles over what it means to recognize and be recognized. Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth propose two mutually exclusive ways to understand recognition: either as a matter of justice (Fraser) or as a matter of identity (Honneth). This article argues against the limitations of both of these construals of recognition, and offers a third way of construing it: as a matter of freedom. Recognition is not reducible, empirically or normatively, to any of these, however. Moreover, it needs to be regarded both more critically and more openly since what we are dealing with is a practice and an ideal that is by its very nature deeply contestable and therefore (more than most practices and ideals) subject to unforeseeable historical and normative change. Rather than trying to fix the meaning of recognition in order to give it a determinate role in ambitious theories of justice, it would be better to proceed more sceptically, attentive both to the complexities of recognition relations and to alternative ways of conceiving them and going on with them differently from before.


This thesis was conducted to investigate the language constraints in writing that experienced by the second grade of junior high school students at Ishafuddin, Banda Aceh. It is also to see the teachers' efforts in helping the students in solving the problems. The research design of this study is descriptive qualitative. The sample of this study are two teachers at second grade of junior high school Inshafuddin. This study used documentation and interview as instruments. The result of document collection showed that the biggest problems faced by the students was mechanics, followed by vocabulary and the content as the third problem. The last problem was organization. From the interview, it was found that the two teachers help the students with all the aspects of writing as well as additional effort like giving them assignment, bringing the dictionary, asking them to study outside the classroom, and correcting paper wih students.


According to various sources (e.g. [1, p. 102]), the terminology of the power of a point with respect to a circle is due to Steiner. His definition appears in most classical and contemporary geometry textbooks (to mention just a few references, see [2, 3, 4, 5]). The concept of the power of a point has been revisited not only in advanced Euclidean geometry, but also in computational geometry and other areas of mathematics. In the current literature there are two different definitions of the power of a point with respect to a circle, which we study in detail in section 2. In the first half of the twentieth century there have been published several attempts to generalise the concept of power of the point to real algebraic curves.


Bacterial virulence factors that interfere with cell signaling and result in disruption of normal cell division and apoptosis could facilitate cancer metastasis via unknown mechanisms. Pasteurella multocida toxin (PMT) is an intracellular acting bacterial protein known for its potent mitogenic properties in vitro and in vivo and its ability to induce strong anchorage‐independent growth for certain type of cells. These properties suggest that PMT might have the potential to act as a tumor promoter especially in the case of chronic infections. We have shown that rPMT induces cell proliferation in serum‐starved Swiss 3T3 cells by hijacking cellular signal transduction pathways via deamidation of heterotrimeric G‐proteins and leads to a sustained activation of mTOR, MAPK, and membrane associated tyrosine kinase signaling. In addition, further experiments revealed that PMT induced a prolonged upregulation of chromosomal passenger complex (CPC) proteins including survivin and aurora kinase B both at mRNA and protein levels in serum starved Swiss 3T3 cells treated with PMT in a manner dependent on both mTOR and MAPK signaling pathways.


Agricultural activity is subject to a wide range of risks due to the variable economic and biophysical environment in which farming operates. Agriculture risks arise due to uncertainty over factors determining returns to agricultural production. Crop insurance is one of the risk mitigating strategies for farmers. The objective of the study was to estimate WTP by the rainfed maize farmres to crop insurance premium and also factors influencing their WTP. The study revealed that farmers were willing to pay 0.34 percent more premium than the prevailing rate to insure their crop. The average probability of WTP of farmers for crop insurance premium was 0.53. Age was the important factor influencing their WTP. It was observed that farmers' awareness about the products and procedures of crop insurance was poor. Hence, efforts should be made to increase the awareness and help farmers to take advantage of crop insurance.


Introduced the structure and function of coal mine risk management and early warning system based on SMS.Designed and developed a SMS middleware,which managed message extraction,processing and delivery to an SMS gateway from where it was delivered to the end user using a GSM modem device.Major risk information was promptly transmitted to safety management personnel through SMS,making risk management and control more efficient and effective.


A communication needs of internet,TV media,phone in today's global era is very important in supporting our daily activities.It requires a high technology device to overcome the number of customer service traffics.One of the technologies that support for large scale comprehensive services is Metro Ethernet. Metro Ethernet has been established as a  Single Platform IP Transport for all Telkom Group services that it has an important role and strategic.With this application,can help us to monitor and check the condition of the device status via web without going through the Command Line Interface. Keyword : Metro Ethernet, Monitoring, PT Telkom Semarang


PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain the capacity of fast operation and changing an inputted photograph at a scanning step in a color resolving scanner scanning a two-dimensional color photograph such as a positive, a slide so as to generate an electrical signal expressing a resolved color. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a movable supporting body 10 arranged so as to mount a two-dimensional input picture 22 to be scanned, and a color resolution detecting means arranged so as to detect an input picture to generate the electrical signal expressing the color resolution of the picture. The color resolution detecting means involves a scanning head with the arrays of plural parallel electric charge combining devices, the arrays of the electric charge combining devices co-operate with dichroic filter to simultaneously scan the picture, each array of the electric charge combining devices simultaneously image-forms at the same line, and a dichroic filter means is arranged so that the incident angle of light beams for scanning is smaller than 45°C angular degree. COPYRIGHT: (C)1997,JPO


The developed three-axis mini nonmagnetic experiment turntable system is introduced.It is controlled by PC and ATmega128 single-chip computer.The structure of turntable and its control principles,the design of stepper motor driving circuits,the design of PC-end control software and the design of single-chip computer program are presented.The system is easy to operate,has high precision and satisfies the requirements of compass/gyroscope debug tests.


As the subsystem manager for manufacturing and production for the exploration upper stage of NASA's Space Launch System Program, I am in the front row as blueprint designs transform into actual hardware for the rocket that will launch NASA's Artemis missions — and astronauts — to the Moon.


The picosecond accelerator (PA) is a low energy electron linear accelerator facility under commissioning,which is built for the experiment of ps level pulse radiolysis in Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP). A practical distributed DA&C system for this facility has been developed. In view of the upgrading-ability and maintainability of the control system and controlled devices, Advantech(c) distributed intelligent DA&C products are adopted into the control system. ADAM 5000/TCPs with the protocol of Modbus/TCP are employed to accomplish data acquisition and device control. The PC-compatible programmable logic controller, ADAM-5511, is also adopted to handle the interlocks and the emergency events. On the software side, the integrated software package Kingview(c)V6.5, which friendly supports all Advantech products, has been used to develop the upper layer control logic and process the data. This paper describes the control system design and system architecture. The intelligent ADAM controllers and the software platform are also discussed in detail.


Purpose Sepsis-3 is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by dysregulated host responses to infection; and defined using the Sepsis-3 criteria, introduced in 2016, however, the criteria need to be validated in specific clinical fields. We investigated mortality prediction and compared the diagnostic performance of quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and burn-specific SIRS (bSIRS) in burn patients. Methods This single-center retrospective cohort study examined burn patients in Seoul, Korea during January 2010–December 2020. Overall, 1,391 patients with suspected infection were divided into four sepsis groups using SOFA, qSOFA, SIRS, and burn-specific SIRS. Results Hazard ratios (HRs) of all unadjusted models were statistically significant; however, the HR (0.726, p = 0.0080.001) in the SIRS ≥2 group is below 1. In the adjusted model, HRs of the SOFA ≥2 (2.426, <0.001), qSOFA ≥2 (7.198, p<0.001), and SIRS ≥2 (0.575, p<0.001) groups were significant. The diagnostic performance of dichotomized qSOFA, SIRS, and bSIRS for sepsis was defined by the Sepsis-3 criteria. The mean onset day was 4.13±2.97 according to Sepsis-3. The sensitivity of SIRS (0.989, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.982–0.994) was higher than that of qSOFA (0.841, 95% CI: 0.819–0.861) and bSIRS (0.803, 95% CI: 0.779–0.825). Specificities of qSOFA (0.929, 95% CI: 0.876–0.964) and bSIRS (0.922, 95% CI: 0.868–0.959) were higher than those of SIRS (0.461, 95% CI: 0.381–0.543). Conclusion Sepsis-3 is a good alternative diagnostic tool because it reflects sepsis severity without delaying diagnosis. SIRS showed higher sensitivity than qSOFA and bSIRS and may therefore more adequately diagnose sepsis.


Particle swarm optimization technique (PSO) is a promising evolutionary technique. Setting initial values of that technique depend on every domain of application. These values are chosen randomly in classic PSO technique which increases the computation time. This paper presents a new approach to modify PSO based on a prediction technique to determine the PSO initial values and number of particles for each optimization problem. The proposed modification makes the PSO technique faster and more applicable for electrical online applications. The new approach is used to solve the protective devices coordination problem by choosing the optimum initial values for the coordination domain. A comparison between the classic PSO and the proposed modified one shows that the new approach gives fast results and shortens the computation time. Keywords-Evolutionary Techniques, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Coordination, DG.


This paper presents an online smart meter measurement error estimation algorithm. Extended Kalman filter (EKF) and limit memory recursive least square (LMRLS) methods are used for remote calibration of a large amount of user-side smart meters. Then, a modified joint estimation model is obtained by selecting the estimation step that conforms to the actual working condition and filtering the abnormal estimation value according to the line loss rate characteristics. Finally, based on the experimental data obtained by the program-controlled load simulation system, the precision of metering error estimation is verified. The results show that the method improves the precision of error estimation by analyzing the coupling between line loss rates and metering error estimation. By using the limited memory RLS algorithm, the influence of old measured data on error parameter estimation is reduced so that new data can be added to correct error parameter estimation to enhance the precision of the real-time smart meter error estimation.


In wireless AdHoc networks, all its nodes behave as routers and take part in its discovery and maintenance of routs to other nodes. Therefore, the cooperation of nodes is very important. With presence of selfish or malicious nodes the performance of the network may greatly degrade. In order to enforce the cooperation between the nodes in the system many cooperation schemes have been proposed. This paper analyzes the typical cooperation schemes and then presents an efficient reputation-based mechanism to enforce cooperation in MANET. This approach also is based on constantly monitoring and updating first-hand and second-hand information. The nodes with in the network are able to monitor their neighbors and obtain the first-hand information based on the perceived behavior, second-hand information is obtained from the sharing of first-hand information with other nodes. The total reputation value is a function of first-hand and second-hand information. The simulation results show that in comparison with other suggested approach such as CONFIDANT approach, in the proposed approach the number of dropped packet is reduced. Also according to the simulation results it has a considerably lower overhead in spite of preserving the efficiency of network.