To the Editor: The study by Edlund et al (Clin J Pain 2010; 26:1–8) presents important data on the disproportional increase between 2000 and 2005 of opioid analgesic prescriptions for patients in Arkansas with noncancer pain and concomitant substance use and mental health disorders. Their data clearly indicate that patients who may be most vulnerable to the potentially addicting and toxic effects of prescribed opioids are increasingly being prescribed these agents. These results further inform the issues around the risks and benefits of chronic opioid prescribing for noncancer pain patients and further establish that patients with mental health and substance abuse comorbidities, may be potentially at increased risks. We have found that, in addition to associating comorbidities with opioid prescriptions, determining concurrently prescribed, potentially abused psychoactive medications can add a further dimension to characterizing potentially vulnerable patients. Our prior pharmacoepidemiological studies of chronic oxycodone/ acetaminophen and anxiolytic benzodiazepine prescriptions to veteran outpatients in New England Veterans Healthcare System showed strong associations of concurrent, high-dose, opioid, and benzodiazepine prescriptions for outpatients with noncancer chronic pain and for those with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety-related disorders. We found that veteran outpatients with noncancer pain receiving long-term oxycodone/acetaminophen (Percocet; >80% of schedule II opioid outpatient prescriptions) were more likely than those with short-term treatment episodes to have preexisting alcohol or drug abuse/dependence diagnoses, HIV/AIDS and psychogenic chronic pain syndromes. Further, those patients receiving increasingly higher daily doses of oxycodone/acetaminophen were increasingly more likely to be prescribed benzodiazepines. When we examined correlates of long-term, high-dose anxiolytic benzodiazepine prescriptions to veteran outpatients without malignancies, not only were those receiving very high daily doses of prescribed benzodiazepine doses more likely to be prescribed oxycodone/acetaminophen prescriptions but also were more likely to have preexisting substance abuse, PTSD, and other anxiety-related diagnoses. Thus, our data indicate the specific association of long-term, high-dose opioid prescriptions with long-term, high-dose, anxiolytic benzodiazepine prescriptions in veteran patients with noncancer, chronic pain. In the clinical context of treating patients with noncancer, chronic pain and existing substance abuse and/or mental health disorders, the investigators are correct in their conclusion in questioning whether chronic use of (high-dose) opioids, and I would add concurrent use of high-dose benzodiazepines, ''are substituting for or interfering with appropriate mental health and substance abuse treatment.'' Such questions may be difficult to answer by prospective randomized or observational trials, but careful pharmacoepidemiologic analyses of existing pharmacy and clinical databases can provide useful and important information as to where potentially problematic prescribing of these agents has occurred and is likely to occur.


Water is the first element we think about when we want to purify something, someone, a place, or ourselves. Water played an important role also in the ancient Greek world. Saltwater, as well as salt on its own, seems to have been regarded as more effective than freshwater: Iphigenia affirms that 'sea washes away all men's evils' (Euripides, Iphigeneia in Tauris, 1153). Because of its characteristics, the sea was considered a suitable medium for carrying out purification, ordeal, and punishment. In addition seawater seems to have a special relation with the sexual sphere, sometimes when taboos have been violated.


An infusion of the roots of Cryptolepis obtusa N.E.Br (Asclepiadaceae) is used in Mozambique as an antiabortive agent and for gastrointestinal cramps (Jansen & Mendes, 1984). Examination of the leaves of C. obtusa revealed the presence of common flavonoid glycosides related to quercetin (Paulo et al., 1997). The aqueous extracts of the roots and leaves were examined by TLC (silica gel/ethyl acetate:forrnic acid: acetic acid: water 100: 11: 11 :27) ;visualisation W light 365nm after spraying with the flavonoid-detecting reagent diphenylboric acid 2-aminoethyl ester. Chlorogenic acid was identified and the profile of flavonoids was similar in leaves and roots but the roots showed the presence of additional compounds not gtving standard reactions for flavonoids. Preparative TLC resulted in the isolation of two compounds 1, 2 which gave reactions characteristic of alkaloids. Detailed NMR studes on these compounds showed that they were novel steroidal alkaloids. The ethnopharmacologcal uses of the extracts implied that they might possess spasmolytic activity. The extracts and isolated compounds were tested for their ihbition of the electrically-induced contraction of guinea-pig (g.p.) ileum. A range of doses between 10 and 250pg mL-' in the gut bath was used and the ICSO (concentration that gave 50% inhibition of contraction) calculated for each extract and compound. Experiments were repeated in triplicate apart for 1 where insufficient material precluded this. Insufficient 2 was available for any antispasmolwc test. Results are shown in the table. Table I C ~ O values pg mL-'(104M) for extracts and compounds fiom on root aqueous extract electricallyinduced contractions of g.p. ileum. n = 3


Human societies are held together by relationships, conventions, traditions, institutions, and tacit understandings. These things are intangible, and while humans themselves are reproduced as corporeal beings, their societies are sustained by practical activities that continually recreate knowledge, customs, and interpersonal bonds. Just as a language would ultimately disappear if it ceased to be used as a means of communication, so the rules and routines of social life are maintained only if they are practised. The corollary of this is that societies are not fixed and bounded entities as much as arrangements that are continually coming into existence, works (if you like) that are never completed. But material things are also in flux, constantly ripening, maturing, being made, being used consecutively in different ways through their 'lifespans', eroding and decaying: so that the social and substantial worlds are as one in being in an unending state of becoming. Nonetheless, objects often have the capacity to endure longer than habits, rules, or affiliations. They continue to exist independently of human beings and their actions. As a result, old artefacts and places occupied in the past can serve to give structure to current practices and transactions, providing cues and prompts, or reminding us of past events and appropriate modes of conduct. Hunter-gatherers have generally lived a way of life that involves making continual reference to natural features and landmarks. Certain distinctive cliffs, hills, islands, trees, and lakes have represented places to return to, or at which to arrange meetings or encounter game. As such they will have been places of periodic resort, and were incorporated into collective history and mythology. Meanwhile, other places acquired a meaning simply because specific people camped there, or met there, or died there. During the Mesolithic in Britain, some locations seem to have been persistently returned to over very long periods of time. One example is the site at North Park Farm, Bletchingley in Surrey, which appears to have been visited sporadically over hundreds of years, although the structural evidence for this at the site was sparse, being limited to a group of fireplaces.


Objective Research on the anti-complement activity for Swordlike Atractylodes Rhizome and Pepperweed Seed of polysaccharides in different solvent extraction Method Use the Cell hemolysis method.Result The concentration of Swordlike Atractylodes Rhizome and Pepperweed Seed of polysaccharides in different solvent extraction approach 0.08mg/mL,the biggest hemolysis inhibition of tests are more than the corresponding concentration of heparin.Conclusion Swordlike Atractylodes Rhizome's anti-complement activity of n-butyl alcoho extractant is better.Pepperweed Seed's anticomplement activity of ethanol or n-butyl alcoho extractant is better.


There are two goals in this study. One is to investigate how frequently white-light flares (WLFs) occur in a flare-productive active region (NOAA active region 11515). The other is to investigate the relationship between WLFs and magnetic transients (MTs). We use the full-disk continuum filtergrams and line-of-sight magnetograms taken by SDO/HMI to identify WLFs and MTs, respectively. Images taken by SDO/AIA are also used to show the morphology of the flares in the upper atmosphere. We found at least 20 WLFs out of a total of 70 flares above C class (28.6%) in NOAA active region 11515 during its passage across the solar disk. Each of these WLFs occurred in a small region, with a short duration of about 5 minutes. The enhancement of white-light continuum intensity is usually small, with an average enhancement of 8.1%. The 20 WLFs observed were found along an unusual configuration of the magnetic field characterized by a narrow ribbon of negative field. Furthermore, the WLFs were found to be accompanied by MTs, with radical changes in magnetic field strength (or even a sign reversal) observed during the flare. In contrast, there is no obvious signature of MTs in those 50 flares without white-light enhancements. Our results suggest that WLFs occur much more frequently than what was previously thought, with most WLFs being fairly weak enhancements. This may explain why WLFs are not frequently reported. Our observations also suggest that MTs and WLFs are closely related and appear co-spatial and co-temporal, when considering HMI data. A larger enhancement of WL emission is often accompanied by a larger change of the line-of-sight component of the unsigned magnetic field. Considering the close relationship between MTs and WLFs, many previously reported flares with MTs may be WLFs.


A set of 7 Benson group additive values (GAV) together with 15 correction terms for non-nearest neighbor interactions (NNI) is developed to calculate the gas phase standard enthalpies of formation, entropies and heat capacities of monocyclic aromatic compounds containing methyl, ethyl, vinyl, formyl, hydroxyl, and methoxy substituents. These GAVs are obtained through least squares regression of a database of thermodynamic properties of 143 molecules, calculated at the post-Hartree–Fock G4 composite method. Out of the 15 NNIs, which account for several well-known substituent effects in aromatic molecules, 13 have been determined for the first time. All but two group additively calculated standard enthalpies of formation agree within 4 kJ mol−1. The entropies and the heat capacities generally deviate less than 4 J mol−1 K−1 from the ab initio results. Natural bond orbital analysis is utilized to identify the underlying causes of the observed NNIs. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 3858–3870, 2015


FIELD: medicine. SUBSTANCE: group of inventions refers to medicine. Presented are diagnostic technique for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and differentiating stages I/II and III/IV COPD in a human involving measuring heat-shock protein 27 (HSP27), 70 (HSP70) and 90 alpha (HSP90 alpha) and measuring interleukin-1 (ST2) receptor 4 or histon-related DNA fragments in a sample. The COBD is diagnosed, when the measured amount of HSP27, HSP70, HSP90 alpha, ST2 and histon-related DNA fragments appears to increase as compared to that in the healthy people. The stage I/II COBD is diagnosed, when the measured amount of HSP27 in the sample of the above individual falls within 2,600 and 3,300 pg/ml, the amount of ST2 is more than 160 pg/ml, while the amount of HSP70 and HSP90 alpha is at least 40% increased as compared to that in the healthy people. The stage III/IV COBD is diagnosed, when the amount of HSP27 in the sample falls within 3,400 and 5,500 pg/ml, while the amount of HSP70, HSP90 alpha and histon-related DNA fragments is at least 40% increased as compared to that in the healthy people. EFFECT: group of inventions provides the effective diagnostic techniques for the COPD and differentiating between the stages I/II and III/IV COPD in the individual. 11 cl, 20 dwg, 2 tbl, 2 ex


Introduction.  Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is associated with a number of reproductive health disorders, therefore timely and accurate diagnosis of this condition is exceedingly important.  Objective. Comparison of effectiveness of clinical and laboratory diagnostics of BV in women with vaginal discharge.  Material and methods.  In total, 318 patients addressing gynecological clinics with complaints about vaginal discharge participated in the study. Clinical diagnostics of BV was performed in the clinics participating in patient enrollment in accordance with their clinical practice. For laboratory diagnostics, microscopy of Gram stained smears according to the Nugent method and quantitative real-time PCR were used. Sensitivity and specificity of clinical diagnostics of BV and the molecular method were evaluated using the Nugent method as reference standard.  Results. With the Nugent method, BV was diagnosed in 27% of women, with real-time PCR — in 37% of women. Using clinical signs of BV, the condition was diagnosed in 91% women. Sensitivity and specificity of the real-time PCR were 97% and 87%, respectively. Sensitivity of clinical diagnostics was 100%, but specificity was only 17%.  Conclusions.  Diagnostics of BV based only on the presence of vaginal discharge leads to false positive results and requires laboratory confirmation. The molecular method has a high sensitivity and satisfactory specificity for BV diagnosis and can be used as an alternative to the Nugent method.


The luminescence of BaFCl:Eu2+ after ultraviolet under different temperature is studied in this paper. According to the spectra, the temperature effects of two kinds of electron traps is compared and the electron transfer process in read process is discussed.


The effect of various chemical reducing agents on the anaerobic microbial reductive biotransformation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was investigated using Aroclor® 1242 at a concentration of 600 μg/g soil and microorganisms eluted from Hudson River sediments. The investigation sought to determine how various reducing agents influenced PCB dechlorination rates, patterns, and acclimation periods. Three reducing agents were incorporated into culture media : amorphous ferrous sulfide, sodium sulfide with sodium thioglycollate, and sodium sulfide with amorphous ferrous sulfide. All cultures were incubated statically under methanogenic conditions and ambient incubation temperatures of about 20°C. Cultures utilizing both sodium sulfide and ferrous sulfide together demonstrated the most extensive removal of meta- and para-chlorines, the highest average dechlorination rate, the greatest dechlorination of tri- and tetrachlorinated biphenyls, and the greatest accumulation of dichlorobiphenyl homologues. Overall, treatments incorporating ferrous sulfide, alone or in combination with sodium sulfide, demonstrated the ability to more effectively dechlorinate tri-ortho-substituted tetrachlorobiphenyls and pentachlorobiphenyls which had commonly positioned chlorines. Under these same conditions, dichlorobiphenyls, which are more amenable to aerobic dechlorination conditions, increased from 25% (molar basis) initially to levels greater than 60%.


Abstract An organoiridium–albumin bioconjugate (Ir1‐HSA) was synthesized by reaction of a pendant maleimide ligand with human serum albumin. The phosphorescence of Ir1‐HSA was enhanced significantly compared to parent complex Ir1. The long phosphorescence lifetime and high 1O2 quantum yield of Ir1‐HSA are highly favorable properties for photodynamic therapy. Ir1‐HSA mainly accumulated in the nucleus of living cancer cells and showed remarkable photocytotoxicity against a range of cancer cell lines and tumor spheroids (light IC50; 0.8–5 μm, photo‐cytotoxicity index PI=40–60), while remaining non‐toxic to normal cells and normal cell spheroids, even after photo‐irradiation. This nucleus‐targeting organoiridium‐albumin is a strong candidate photosensitizer for anticancer photodynamic therapy.


In this work, an article has prepared which can be a guide to researchers who want to start developing Android-based  applications. Android is known as an operating system that comes face to face with more than one million applications. While  Android sets the ground for different applications, people are aiming for unlimited entertainment for their lives and learning while  they are having fun. Mobile application development steps are described for those who want to develop a mobile app for their own  business, blog, service or product, but have limited resources for it. The installation steps of the necessary software are mentioned.  Adroid SDK and Eclipse ADT installation, Android SDK directory settings, Android SDK and AVD manager settings, It provides  detailed information on setting up a virtual device for Android, the hierarchical view and functions of Android project files, creating  an Android project from scratch and developing the application. Designs for building NEU-CEIT Android application are written  in detail along with the structures in xml and java files. This work will guide the researchers who want to develop applications in  the Android Eclipce system environment, without developing the application and running in the emulator.


Abstract : Vesicant challenges have been delivered to NHEK (normal human epidermal keratinocyes) and to artificial human epidermal tissues. Confluent NHEK, grown on plastic surfaces or gel-coated microporous membranes of Millicell CMR inserts, were challenged with vesicants diluted in cell culture medium. Testskin was provided on agarose nutrient gel as a cornified wafer of sufficient diameter to receive vesicant vapor from cups normally used to challenge animal skin. Stratum corneum of preproduction EpiDerm (PreEpiD) specimens were challenged with vesicant vapor from cups suspended inside of Millicells. Inverted phase contrast microscopy of NHEK on plastic revealed dose-related vesicant effects that could facilitate screening of antivesicants. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed vesicant effects in two distinctly different populations of NHEK on gel-coated inserts. SEM and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of Testskin and PreEpiD disclosed structural differences between these models that became amplified in vesicant-challenged specimens. PreEpiD shows more promise than Testskin for screening of antivesicant topical skin protectants. However, both epidermal models lack the basal lamina that is needed for advanced antivesicant testing.


The embedded multi-resolution coding in JPEG2000 make the ROI(Region Of Interesting) coding very successful. But it is processed in the wavelet domain, resulting in having to decompose some mature JPEG2000 baseline system coder and decoder to implement the ROI function. So a low computational complexity upscaling method in space domain, deduced from the relation of the original image and the image after wavelet transform, is proposed in this paper without modifying the baseline system. By the method, we should right shift the data outside the region of interesting, then use the normal JPEG2000 system to encode and decode the image, and subsequently we can get the image by left shift that data in the space domain after decoding. The method can get high performance quality in ROI in very low bit rate. And it has low computational complexity, needn't deduce the ROI mask in the wavelet domain. As Maxshift method in the wavelet domain, the Maxshift in space domain can be deduced and it decodes the compressed image without ROI mask. That is the ROI mask transmission is not need. The cost of the simpleness is that it will produce distinct tiring edge around the ROI. The method can implement the ROI function through simple extends with the JPEG2000 baseline hardware without the ROI function and it is significative in practice.


Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 107 (codified in ASC 825-10), Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments, mandates the disclosure of fair values for financial instruments with the objective of providing investors with more relevant information about firms' future cash flows. However, the results show that fair value measurements of loans explained variation in future loan losses, which capture cash flows from loans, less than traditional cost-based measurements of loans. In addition, I find evidence suggesting that financially distressed banks overstated the fair values of their loan portfolios and that fair values of loans in the aggregate lagged considerably behind the market values of loans during the recent credit crisis. Overall, my results suggest that fair value disclosures in bank loan portfolios contain relatively less information about future cash flows because they are measured unreliably and they suffer from a similar lack of timeliness as reported carrying values.


This invention relates to an integrated processor means of digital signals. The device is characterized in that it comprises a general purpose processor (210) and a vector processor (220) operable in parallel with the processor to use all (210). This device finds application in the field of multimedia.


Purpose: This study examined the effect of marital communication on cancer coping, health promoting behavior, and subjective happiness in elderly cancer patients.Methods: The participants were 88 older patients with cancer living with a spouse for at least one year. Data collected through a questionnaire covering general characteristics, marital communications, cancer coping, health promoting behavior, and subjective happiness were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and a simple linear regression test using the SPSS 26.0.Results: Marital communications showed a positive correlation with cancer coping (r=.54, p<.001), health promoting behavior (r=.47, p<.001), and subjective happiness (r=.46, p<.001). Positive marital communications had the greatest influence on cancer coping (β=.54, p<.001).Conclusion: The findings suggest that developing nursing interventions that can enhance marital communications between older patients with cancer and their spouses could improve their quality of living.


Objectives Lack of assessment of 90-d perioperative morbidity in elderly patients after radical cystectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection (PLND) using a standard reporting methodology, and the Clavien–Dindo classification (CDC) does not accurately reflect the burden of complications. We aim to report the 90-d complications of elderly patients after radical cystectomy, and to compare the validity of the Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI) and CDC. Methods Retrospective review of 280 patients aged ≥75 years who received radical cystectomy between 2006 and 2021. The 90-d complications of elderly patients after radical cystectomy were reported by implementing the EAU criteria. The CDC and CCI were both used for grading complications. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to estimate the correlation between postoperative stay and CDC/CCI. Logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors for major complications. The sample size for a fictive superiority trial was calculated for different endpoints. Results A total of 225 (80.36%) patients suffered from 528 complications. The cumulative CCI had a more accurate prediction of postoperative stay than the CDC (r = 0.378, p < 0.001 vs. r = 0.349, p < 0.001). The need for sample size could decrease when CCI was used for the primary endpoint. More risk factors for major complications were identified when CCI ≥33.7 was defined as the endpoint of major complications. Conclusion CCI is better than CDC for grading the severity of complications in elderly patients after radical cystectomy and PLND.


This study examined the expression of the inhibitory receptor, leucocyte‐associated immunoglobulin (Ig)‐like receptor‐1 (LAIR‐1) in fibroblast‐like synoviocytes (FLS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to investigate its potential role in the modulation of inflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and invasiveness of synoviocytes. LAIR‐1 expression in synovial tissues from RA patients, osteoarthritis patients and healthy donors was analysed by immunohistochemistry. The membrane‐bound form (mLAIR‐1) was detected by flow cytometry. Factors involved in inflammation and MMP activity in FLS were analysed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). LAIR‐1 expression was higher in the synovia of the RA patients than those of the osteoarthritis patients. Co‐immunostaining of vimentin/LAIR‐1 demonstrated that LAIR‐1 was localized mainly in FLS in the RA patients. Surprisingly, primary FLS isolated from the RA patients had low levels of mLAIR‐1 expression, with cytoplasmic distribution. The extracellular domain of LAIR‐1 was shed from the cell surface in response to tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, and this process could be blocked by serine protease inhibitors. Additional experiments indicated that LAIR‐1 over‐expression reduced FLS invasion considerably, which reduced simultaneously the mRNA levels of interleukin (IL)‐6, IL‐8 and MMP‐13 in the presence of TNF‐α. Our study demonstrated that LAIR‐1 is an anti‐inflammatory molecule, and was up‐regulated in FLS in the RA patients; however, cell‐surface LAIR‐1 could be shed from cells in the inflammatory microenvironment in RA. This may weaken the interaction of LAIR‐1 with its ligand, thus reducing the anti‐inflammatory effects of LAIR‐1. These findings suggested that LAIR‐1 may be an important factor involved in the mediation of the progressive joint destruction in RA.


Deep multimodal clustering is challenging, since it needs to learn appropriate features for different modalities and find correct clusters by using consistency among the modalities. Existing methods treat the two problems separately, nevertheless, the optimization of one does not guarantee the optimization of the other. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end Deep Multimodal Clustering (DMMC) framework, which achieves a joint optimization of feature learning and multimodal clustering. We encourage the learned features of each modality to be cluster-oriented by autoencoder with Frobenius norm loss. Then, DMMC integrates features of different modalities by clustering integration layer and learns consensus feature by a consensus loss. The clustering result can be discovered in the consensus feature. Compared with existing clustering methods, our framework achieves superior performances measured by the standard clustering evaluation metrics.


Sumer's conquest by Semitic-speaking peoples from the west is symbolized by the history of Sargon of Akkad. Assyrian sources report that he was the son of an unknown father, associated with hilly regions, born in the west on the banks of the Euphrates, and defeated Lugalzagesi of Uruk (Liverani, 2013). This narrative has influenced both historical reconstructions and the perception of cultural and linguistic contact between the Semitic and Sumerian worlds. Indeed, while the absorption of syntactic, morphological, and lexical features from Sumerian into Akkadian and West Semitic languages has been studied extensively (Zólyomi, 2012), little has been said about Semitic influences in Sumerian, especially West Semitic. Certainly, until the early second millennium BC, Sumerian remained an evolving linguistic system rather than a frozen substrate, acquiring Semitic features (Streck, 1998). Yet before the Akkadian empire's foundation, West Semitic lexicon seems to have penetrated Sumerian, already in its formative period.


Two different types of polarization-holding directional couplers have been made using fused D fiber. Insertion losses are as low as an estimated 0.1 db with polarization holding between 15 and 22 dB depending on the type of coupler.


this paper brings into matter the virtual techno- logies and its immaterial tangibility towards the production of subjectivity and the production of research. Deleuze and Guattari's concept of the abstract machine comes between the proposed reflection to offer some aid so that we can think about the net of technologies as a provider of sen- sitiveness. Such technologies of the sensitive produce our existing boundaries and worlds in a machine-like manner. Through the technique we produce the production of our world. This perspective changes the status of the methodo- logical discussions: from a simple useful technique beyond the subject to a "epistemicontological" technique construc- tor of existing boundaries. The technology is made there- fore like technoscience sensitive to a specific epistemology. It is about the faking of ways of seeing in which they link themselves to a specific ontological and creating conception of the world. Hence, we propose through the eight small returns that are made understood as announcements that can be convenient to the cartographer researchers.


In England in the 1890s few dramatists directed their own plays. Among them was Shaw, who viewed the director as vital to a theatrical production. Shaw's work as director influenced his playwriting, from blocking and stage business to creating crowd scenes, from cutting and changing dialogue to devising striking, sometimes spectacular visual effects. This article also provides a partial account of rehearsals for the aborted production of You Never Can Tell in 1897, which Shaw directed.


Clutch mechanism (10) clutch members taking an engaging position (position the torque created by the drive source is transmitted to the output unit) and transection position (position not transmitted torque to the output section) is (18,19) equipped with a composed. The clutch member can slide together to suppress damage caused by overload conditions. This clutch mechanism further comprising comprises a actuator (27, 28) which is associated with a said clutch member. When the index associated with the sliding of the clutch member slips and clutch member (e.g. relative rotational speed of the temperature increase or the clutch member sliding surface) exceeds a predetermined value, torque transmission to the output unit is blocked. This clutch mechanism is particularly suitable as inclusions example in the drive mechanism for the agitator of a surface treatment apparatus, such as a vacuum cleaner.


Skates are characterised by conservative body morphology which hampers identification and leads to frequent taxonomic confusion and market mislabelling. Accurate specimen classification is crucial for reliable stock assessments and effective conservation plans, otherwise the risk of extinction could be unnoticed. The misclassification issue is evident for the genus Dipturus, distributed worldwide, from the continental shelf and slope to the deep sea. In this study, barcode cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) sequences were used along with species delimitation and specimen assignment methods to improve taxonomy and zoogeography of species of conservation interest inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. In this study, we provided new evidence of the occurence of D. nidarosiensis in the Central‐Western Mediterranean Sea and the lack of Atlantic‐Mediterranean genetic divergence. The Atlantic endangered species D. laevis and D. batis clustered together under the same molecular operational taxonomic unit (MOTU) with any delimitation methods used, while the assignment approach correctly discriminated specimens into the two species. These results provided evidence that the presence of the barcode gap is not an essential predictor of identification success, but the use of different approaches is crucially needed for specimen classification, especially when threshold‐ or tree‐based methods result less powerful. The analyses also showed how different putative, vulnerable, species dwelling across South‐Western Atlantic and South‐Eastern Pacific are frequently misidentified in public sequence repositories. Our study emphasised the limits associated to public databases, highlighting the urgency to verify and implement the information deposited therein in order to guarantee accurate species identification and thus effective conservation measures for deep‐sea skates.


Recent discoveries by Adobe Oil and Gas Corp. in the Barstow unit skirting the Pecos River near Pecos, Texas have extended the Cherry Canyon play approx. 10 miles west in Ward County. In February, Adobe reported an oil discovery, 10 Barstow, drilled between No. 9 and No. 11 (gas wells) in section 34. The well reestablished Cherry Canyon oil production in the Scott field with a potential of 149 bpd of oil and a gor of 1540:1 or gas flow of 230 mcfd. Perforations were from 5827 to 6092 ft. The explanation of the anomaly of an oil well sandwiched between 2 gas wells all producing from the same formation, is that Cherry Canyon consists of lensitic sands, not necessarily connected, that can yield gas and oil in substantially different proportions.


Appendix 41 Glossary 41 Health Statistics by County 44 Acknowledgements 49 References 50 About the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership The Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership's (ANDP) mission is to promote the concept and implement the development of mixed income communities that result in the equitable distribution of affordable housing throughout the metropolitan Atlanta region. Established in 1991, ANDP was created to address the diminishing supply of affordable housing in the Metropolitan Atlanta region as well as to help reclaim declining neighborhoods in its core. For more information, visit www.andpi.org. About Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development The Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD) is an applied research center of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Center serves communities— particularly those in the Southeast United States—by producing, disseminating, and helping to implement new ideas and technologies that improve the theory and practice of quality growth. For more information about CQGRD, visit and Regional Development (CQGRD). All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full credit, including the © notice, is given to source. Available electronically at


The invention relates to a mashed potatoes and relative production, wherein it comprises that using the potatoes, to be boiled, skin remove, dried, and broken into potato powder; adding chickens' extract, plant oil, iodized salt, dried onion, dried particles, to be mixed; packing into package box; when eating, opening the package, adding boiled water, eating after 3-5mins; the particles are chicken, beef, pork, tomato, bread, and dry bean curd. The invention has high nourishment content.


Values and beliefs pertaining to the best approach to drafting legislation change over time. It is therefore inevitable that, when engaged in the replacement of older legislation, drafters will seek to change the style to better reflect current values and beliefs. But how easy is it for courts to distinguish between a change that simply represents an evolution of drafting style and a change of substance? This article explores that question through the lens of two recent cases and asks whether drafters, in their zeal to modernize and improve, may underestimate the risk that their changes will cause confusion.


Trap densities within the GaN HEMT structure limit the charge transport efficiency, thus impeding the device switching efficiency. This work studies and interprets the turn-on response of a GaN HEMT through transient TCAD simulations, impacted by traps in the AlGaN barrier, GaN buffer and at the AlGaN/GaN hetero-interface. Discussion into biasing factors for a chosen transient pulse that control these trap-induced delays is performed to identify the relative potential of each trap towards worsening of the current response.


Studies to predict the impact of deforestation on climate in Amazonia have stimulated interest in the hydraulic properties of the soils of the region and the surrounding areas. Few directly measured hydraulic conductivity data are available; these were used to derive parameters to allow the unsat


Recent promotion of city centre living within UK policy has led to a commensurate interest in city centre conditions and the opinions and experiences of the people who live there. An apposite, straightforward method to capture city centre residents' experiences and views is described in this article. We successfully combined a novel, under‐utilized visual technique (self‐directed photography) with qualitative methods (log‐sheets and interviews) in the form of a 'photo‐survey'. A background to visual methodologies is presented in this article, alongside a critique of using the photo‐survey with 84 city centre residents to investigate environmental conditions and perceptions within three of the UK's major cities. The method provided a rich, detailed set of data, but also brought a number of noticeable benefits to the data collection process. The photo‐survey not only effectively captured and documented life in the city but also acted as an 'agent for change', evoking thoughts and feelings which ultimately encouraged participants to reflect on their existing perceptions and urban experiences. The study also raises some important considerations for future work undertaken with this method and with using photographs as a set of data, and proposes techniques for minimising potential problems.


The invention concerns a device for sorting containers and packages, such as various bottles or cans, to be set in places accessible to the public, so that the latter can get rid of empty containers without regard either to the material from which they are made or their shape. The device comprises a combined insertion orifice (00), located in the top part, also designed for inserting paper. It comprises means for stabilising the rate of insertion (1) and all or part of the following means: sorting containers by density (2); sorting metal containers (3); magnetic sorting (4); sorting by diameter and length (5). The means (1), (2), (3), and (5) are approximately arranged along a slope represented by the axis XX. The slope is sufficient for the containers to be conveyed by sliding naturally from one means to the others. Conveying paths, operating by gravity (60) to (69) guide the paper and the containers to the storage means (70) to (76) where they can be recuperated by category of material for being recycled. The device operates without consuming energy except for sorting means (3). The magnetic sorting means (4) simply uses a permanent magnet.


Photothermal refraction is a novel thermo-optical technique that measures absorbance from localized regions within larger samples. In this technique, a modulated pump laser beam and a coplanar continuous-wave probe laser beam cross at right angles within the sample. Absorbance of the pump laser beam generates a time-varying localized temperature rise within the sample. This heated region acts as a thermal cylindrical lens that periodically defocuses the probe beam and results in a change in the probe beam center intensity. Since the pump and probe beams interact only in their intersection volume, a localized measure of sample absorbance is produced. A high spatial resolution image of sample absorbance may be made by recording the photothermal refraction signal as the sample is scanned through the intersection of the laser beams.


The goal of this study is to analyze and obtain a new numerical approach to an important mathematical model called polio, which is one of the highly infectious and dangerous diseases challenging many lives in most developing nations, most especially in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. A number of research outputs have proven beyond doubt that modeling with noninteger‐order derivative is much more accurate and reliable when compared with the integer‐order counterparts. In the present case, an extension is given to the polio model by replacing the classical time derivative with the newly defined operator known as the Atangana–Baleanu fractional derivative which has its formulation based on the noble Mittag–Leffler kernel. This derivative has been tested and applied in number of ways to model a range of physical phenomena in science and engineering. The Picard–Lindelöf theorem is applied to determine the condition under which the proposed model has a solution, also to show that the solution exists and unique. Local stability analysis of the disease‐free equilibrium and endemic state is also discussed. A novel approximation based on the Adams–Bashforth method is formulated to numerically approximate the fractional derivative operator. To justify the theoretical findings, some numerical results obtained for different instances of fractional order are presented.


Integrated method carries out the main body of this article on the expert idea in group decision-making studying. It have built one kind of optimization searching for mechanism base on Delphi method; take that the expert gives primitive taking place an idea for one time merely as basis ,structure the integrated optimization searching model expert opinions; make use of the computer information processing ability to find the solution ,gain the conclusion both satisfy compatibility,and have the confidence index.


On the basis of analyzing the state-of-arts of postgraduate management, moreover, puts forward the system analysis and design of postgraduate management system based on system ideology in order to realize the result of local optimization and the security of the system.The system is achieved by using JSP + JavaBean+ Ajax technologies.It embodys certain system intelligence in some functions and provides a new way of method to analyse and design information management system.


JSC «MidVolgaNIINP» developed non-aromatic, low-viscosity special purpose hydraulic oil MG-7-B, MG-10-B to replace previously produced oils RM and RMC (GOST 15819-85), established technologies including hydrotreating processes for commercial production.


Crime scene is any given place where it committed a criminal offense, in which the investigation should be done to find the causes and mechanisms of occurrence and on these to be investigated, for tracking and apprehension of perpetrators. Preservation of the scene is a very important action regarding the investigation and prosecution of the event that has happened, where law enforcement agencies or units that conduct surveillance of the scene make it. To preserve a scene means: to preserve the land in that state who has left the presidency. Preservation of the scene of that condition that has left the perpetrator is of particular importance to the inspection teams for tracks and material evidence found there are untouched and proceeding or their expertise will help prosecute perpetrators respectively capture of that work. Tracks and material evidence found in the scene should be retained together with all the space where the event happened because a possible carelessness during the examination as well as during the process of storage and security will bring us to a situation in which we will have our doubts concerning the tracks and material evidence found in that place. Also, preservation of the crime scene needs to be done because of the all action who have to take the searching unit, they need to be sure and security from everything that comes from outside.


The main contribution of this thesis is to develop an original model of competitive behaviour-based price discrimination (BBPD) through targeted advertising in a product di¤erentiated market. It also provides a review of the economic literature on informative advertising and on oligopoly price discrimination, particularly on BBPD. The competitive and welfare e¤ects of both marketing strategies¡i.e., BBPD and advertising¡is already not well understood as there are few works in the ...eld. One exception is Esteves (2009) who o¤ers a ...rst look at the dynamic e¤ects of BBPD in homogeneous product markets, where ...rms need to invest in advertising to generate awareness. Broadly, this thesis extends her study to a product di¤erentiated duopoly market. Thus, we consider a dynamic two-period model where two ...rms o¤er products that are di¤erentiated à la Hotelling and it is assumed that through informative advertising consumers become imperfectly informed. In the ...rst period price discrimination is not feasible. In the second period, based on consumers' purchase history ...rms can employ BBPD. This dissertation investigates the competitive and welfare e¤ects of ...rms being able to price discriminate between their old and new costumers in a product di¤erentiated market where through informative advertising consumers become imperfectly informed. We show that moving from no discrimination to BBPD decreases second period prices but increases ...rst period prices. An important ...nding of this thesis is that BBPD boosts industry pro...ts at the expense of consumer surplus and welfare. A common ...nding in the existing literature is that when the two ...rms can price discriminate BBPD leads ...rms to a prisoner's dilemma situation. This thesis shows that the existence of imperfect informed consumers through informative advertising can help ...rms to bene...t from BBPD.


Nowadays, there are a lot of people who fell into the dark side of the world, drugs. There are a lot of people who started using drugs. This is such a bad phenomenon that happened in the society, especially in teenagers. This problem has affected all the activities. Using drugs is a big problem as well as fighting among people with no reason, free sex, etc. But using drugs is one of most big topics that people always talk about. In this problem, the drug addicts came from any kind of economic level. Not only wealthy people, but poor people also did this. Fortunately, In Pekanbaru, there is a place for those people who want to start a new life, a place for rehabilitation, which called Mental Hospital Tampan. But, we can still find some minus from this program. Mental Hospital Tampan still needs more psychologist to participate on this program. Psychologist, a person who can talk to the drug addicts in distinctive way, and in a distinctive room. So the drug addicts can talk about their personality without being scared of people would listen to their problems. By doing this program, we found that the number of people doing drugs decreases. This program really helpful for people in Pekanbaru. This research aims to know all the strategies that the psychologist has been using, how the psychologist talk to the drug addicts, when does the psychologist tell all the important things to the drug addicts, and what is the effect of doing this program. This research uses qualitative method, where all the data has been gotten from observation, interview, and documentation. There are 5 informant, which consist of (drug agency managers, head of the rehabilitation unit, administrator, counselor, and resident). Analytical data techniques that has been using in this research is Milles and Huberman techniques. The result of the research showed that persuasive communication in Mental Hospital Tampan has been applied some methods. One of the methods is approaching the drug addicts and giving them some motivation as well as advices that affect to their way of thinking. So they can think clearly and think about positive things. The other methods is very unique. The psychologist hand the information by movies that motivating the drug addicts, not by any electronic devices. The time the psychologist delivers the information is depends on the time that the psychologist and the resident has been determined before. The biggest aim of this program is to change the way drug addicts think and to change their attitude to a better one. Keyword :Persuasive Communication, Rehabilitation, Drug


During the Late Tortonian, platform‐margin‐prograding clinoforms developed at the south‐western margin of the Guadix Basin. Large‐scale wedge‐shaped deposits here comprise 26 rhythms of mixed carbonate–siliciclastic bedset packages and marl beds. These sediments were deposited on a shallow‐water, temperate‐carbonate distally steepened ramp. A downslope‐migrating sandwave field developed in this ramp, with sandwaves moving progressively down the ramp to the ramp‐slope, where they destabilized, folded and occasionally collapsed. Downslope sandwave migration was induced by currents flowing basinwards. During the Late Tortonian, the Guadix Basin was open north to the Atlantic Ocean via the Dehesas de Guadix Strait and connected east to the Mediterranean Sea through the Almanzora Corridor. According to the proposed current circulation model for the Guadix Basin for this time, surface marine currents from the Atlantic entered the basin from the northern seaway. These currents moved counter‐clockwise and shifted the sediment on the ramp, forming sandwaves that migrated downslope. The development of platform‐margin prograding clinoforms by the basinward sediment‐transport mechanisms inferred here is known relatively poorly in the ancient sedimentary record. Moreover, these wedge‐shaped geometries are similar to those found in some shelves in the Western Mediterranean Sea and could represent an outcrop analogue to (sub)‐recent, platform‐margin clinoforms revealed by high‐resolution seismic studies.


In this work, we established some exact solutions for the (1 + 1)-dimensional and (2 + 1)-dimensional fifth-order integrable equations ((1+1)D and (2+1)D FOIEs) which is considered based on the improved tanh(ϕ(ξ)/2)-expansion method (IThEM), by utilizing Maple software. We obtained new periodic solitary wave solutions. The obtained solutions include soliton, periodic, kink, kink-singular wave solutions. Comparing our new results with Wazwaz results, namely, Hereman-Nuseri method [2, 3] show that our results give the further solutions. Many other such types of nonlinear equations arising in uid dynamics, plasma physics and nonlinear physics.


Thin TiN layers have been successfully produced on Si and SiO2 by reactive evaporation combined with rapid thermal annealing. Results of composition, resistivity, and stress measurements on these layers are reported. The TiN layers have a resistivity around 40 μΩ cm and a high stress of between 1 and 6 GPa. The composition ratio of nitrogen to titanium, measured by elastic recoil detection (ERD), combined with time‐of‐flight, was found to vary between 0.8 and 1.0 depending on the deposition conditions. In addition to the stoichiometry determination, ERD also clearly shows the presence of a TiSi2 layer between the TiN and the Si substrate. It is also shown that good TiN layers can be produced by reactive evaporation for nitrogen partial pressures between 1.0 and 2.0×10−5 mbar and for titanium evaporation rates between 0.3 and 0.5 nm/s.


In order to promote high-quality research from mainland China among medical professionals in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Medical Journal (HKMJ) Editorial Board launched a Special Section titled "Healthcare in Mainland China" in June 2021.1 We hope that studies from mainland China in this special section can speak to and shed light on healthcare in other developing countries and regions, and provide insight into Chinese healthcare practice for HKMJ's international readers. The authors investigated epidemiological, demographic, clinical, radiological, and laboratory features involving these cases;and found that, during the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, half of the patients were part of familial clusters. [...]they suggested that strict prevention and control measures during self-isolation should be implemented. [...]China accounted for 24% of newly diagnosed cases and 30% of cancer-related deaths worldwide in 2020.3 There were also an estimated 93.8 million prevalent cases of cardiovascular diseases overall during 2016 in China, accounting for about 17.8% of the global burden.4 5Moreover, nearly half of all vision problems among children globally occur in China.6 To address such a volume of challenges, China's total healthcare expenditure was [greater than]7.2 trillion yuan in 2020, with [greater than]1.0 million clinics and hospitals, and [greater than]13.5 million medical personnel.7 In addition, there is a significant income disparity between urban and rural areas and between coastal and inland regions in mainland China.


In this paper, an economic model is proposed for joint time resource allocation and energy trading between two service providers, i.e., IoT service provider (ISP) and energy service provider (ESP), in a heterogeneous IoT wireless-powered communication network. In particular, IoT devices (with various communication types and energy constraints) are assumed to belong the ISP who collects sensing data from IoT devices for its services. Meanwhile, the ESP utilizes a power beacon to provide energy services for the ISP. A Stackelberg game model is formulated to jointly maximize the revenue of both the ISP and ESP (i.e., network throughput and energy efficiency) through investigating the energy interaction between them. Specially, the ISP leads the game by requesting an optimal energy price and service time that maximize its revenue to the ESP. Following the requested deal from the ISP, the ESP supplies an optimized transmission power which satisfies the energy demand of the ISP while maximizes its utility. To obtain the Stackelberg Equilibrium, we first derive a closed-form solution for the ESP. Then two relaxed schemes (i.e., partial or joint energy price and service time adjustments) based on block coordinate descent (BCD) and convex-concave procedure (CCCP) techniques are proposed to solve the non-convex optimization problem for the ISP. Due to the selfish behavior of both players, we investigate the inefficiency of the proposed approach by proposing two baseline scenarios, i.e., non-negotiated energy trading and social welfare scenarios, and the Price of Anarchy (PoA). Finally, numerical results reveal that our approach can achieve significant improvements in revenues of both providers compared with conventional transmission methods, e.g., bistatic backscatter, and harvest-then-transmit communication methods.


This paper studies the natural resource curse under a framework of neo classical economics.Our analysis shows that the natural resources have negative effect on the division of labor,and the steal cost coefficient decided by the social institution has a vital effect on the transaction efficiency,the lower the steal cost coefficient is,the harder the structure of labor division can be formed.The policy implication of this paper is that efficient institutions will make the division of labor easier and the resource curse will be hold back.


This study discusses the optical characteristics of Ultra-High-Brightness LEDs (UHB-LEDs) at high current density. The wafer bonding technique was applied in this research to enhance the light extraction efficiency of AlGaInP UHB-LEDs. This technique can replace the GaAs substrate with transparent substrates for achieving the high quantum efficiency. However, the structure that designed for light extraction performed excellent quantum efficiency at low current density but performed badly at high current density. The quantum efficiency droop dramatically as current density increase. Factors of efficiency droop included epitaxy design, process design, package and system thermal design, and the relations among them. In particular, heat in chip level deeply affected the quantum efficiency and highly related to all factors. Therefore, how to separate thermal effect from all factors is important for designer to optimize the structure. In this research, a transient thermal management system to minimum the heat in the chip was demonstrated. The optical and electrical characteristics was measured with a extremely short pulse time and different duty cycle at first, and then curve fitting the result to find out the optical performance without heat under certain current density. A wavelength shift method is performed to validate the thermal management system and the concept of optical performance with no heat accumulation. The experimental data shows a good agreement with the wavelength shift method. After that, the performance ratio of different current density without heat effect also showed. Comparing it to the performance ratio with TO-18 package, one can clearly define how much loss generated from thermal effect. It reveals that LED with TO-18 package has 10% loss from heat accumulation under 1A/mm2, furthermore, when it is driven on higher density, the extremely heat accumulates and lead the intensity ratio to saturate, and the difference are more than 70%. Eventually, the quantum efficiency influenced by heat under high current density may be a substantial issue in further study for lighting applications.


Diffusive aggregation on-ion implanted thin films is studied. It is revealed that aggregation is realized mainly by atoms or clusters in the film matrix. The implanting ions play the role of triggering them into motion and supplying the kinetic energy for their diffusion. The aggregation process is characterized by finite density of aggregating particles, random triggering, and limited diffusion distance. The aggregate observed shows scaling or fractal property.


phenomena are not so self-explanatory, and by erring on the side of breadth, Deutsch risks shortchanging the medium specificity of music, flattening out the texts themselves (a risk Deutsch acknowledges), and thereby reifying the supple categories at stake. For example, Leonard Bast in Howards End is made analogous to Huxley's Frank Illidge, two figures for whom music figures the futile ambitions of class mobility. Yet if these novels accede to "social hierarchy," surely their formal textures render that concept less transparent. Deutsch insightfully speculates that modernist efforts to "translat[e] musical forms into literature" (132), aspiring both to social mobility and to a higher aesthetic condition, might ultimately exclude novice readers by virtue of the texts' "formal complexity" (132). Such an intricate claim signals a need for more elaborate analysis of the relationship between language and music in "contrapuntal" texts. The question is raised anew in Deutsch's analysis of Thomas Burke's Night in London (an inclusion certain to appear on my future syllabi), noting that a working-class girl's "aesthetic epiphany" is short-circuited by her inability to articulate what this music accomplishes (68). So, too, are Bast's failures figured as linguistic shortcomings (how to pronounce Tannhäuser or explain the pleasures of walking). Such contrasts might interrogate what happens when ineffable music is transmuted into language, a problem that Deutsch often raises but too quickly abandons. Deutsch's occasionally reductive categories often reemerge in new contexts—and to a resonant effect. At his best, Deutsch produces a true "contrapuntal reading" of culture. If in early chapters he seems to slight questions of cultural labor, in later chapters he develops knotty ties between musical literacy and education, in Board of Education handbooks and in philanthropic organizations such as Wincham Hall, a boardinghouse that supplemented vocational training with music appreciation courses. Deutsch fugally reads these discourses back into Lawrence and Eliot, and Pater's homoerotic discourses into Forster, Auden, Isherwood, and Carpenter, in a chapter that might have benefited from closer engagement with queer musicology (and queer music) but profitably connects queer musicality to anxieties of education and class. Such anxieties moved beyond national borders as British institutions engaged with the classical favorites and the modernist experiments of their continental interlocutors, a cosmopolitan sensibility traced through Auden, Isherwood, Huxley, and Storm Jameson; Osbert Sitwell's Those Were the Days and Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End (which Deutsch, in a nice lagniappe, reads as a Gesamtkunstwerk); the BBC's "For the Schools" broadcasts; Woolf 's Between the Acts, and Myra Hess's Blitz-era piano performances (brilliantly rendered in Humphrey Jennings's documentary Listen to Britain). In a fitting bookend to his Pater chapter, Deutsch sees British writers sponsoring music as, if not a universal language, a liberally international one. Deutsch lays important tracks—archivally, if not methodologically—for the study of British Literature and Classical Music, revealing that the borders of the latter category attenuate those of the former.


Noise is one of the most serious challenges in modern community. In some specific industries, according to the nature of process, this challenge is more threatening. This paper describes a means of noise control for spinning machine based on experimental measurements. Also advantages and disadvantages of the control procedure are added. Different factors which may affect the performance of the barrier in this situation are also mentioned. To provide a good estimation of the control measure, a theoretical formula is also described and it is compared with the field data. Good agreement between the results of filed measurements and theoretical presented model was achieved. No obvious noise reduction was seen by partial indoor barriers in low absorbent enclosed spaces, since the reflection from multiple hard surfaces is the main dominated factor in the tested environment. At the end, the situation of the environment and standards, which are necessary in attaining the ideal results, are explained.


When local wall thinning damage (including through-wall) caused by erosion, corrosion and other local deterioration mechanisms is detected in pressure vessels, repair method called "Fillet Welded Patches" is often applied to them for recovering their reliability. However, it does not appear that the acceptance criteria, such as "dimension of fillet weld throat", "wall thickness of patch plate" and "overlap length between patch and base metal", on this weld repair method are clearly confirmed. So, this sort of repair method has not been authorized in Japan. Therefore, finite element method (FEM) analysis was used to calculate and evaluate stress and stress distribution around fillet welded patch to confirm the acceptance criteria for these important factors. In addition, accuracy of the FEM was also verified by comparing stresses and its distribution calculated by means of the FEM analysis and those obtained from pressure test.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


THIS SPRINGTIME section of Medical News & Perspectives is devoted to Americans in the winter of their lives. It focuses on the living situation of the approximately 1.5 million people aged 65 years and older—the age group unofficially designated "the elderly" by the US Bureau of the Census—who reside in the nation's approximately 19000 long-term care facilities, commonly called nursing homes. It also considers governmental and other efforts that will affect these facilities in the future. National Nursing Home Week. Held from May 9-15, it is an annual occasion designed for recognition of nursing home residents and staff by the American Health Care Association, Washington, DC. The association, established in 1949, is a federation of 11000 US for-profit and nonprofit nursing homes, with affiliates in every state and the District of Columbia. The theme of this year's event, according to an association spokesperson, is "Commitment to Caring." It supports a


Is the gap between First and Third World conceptions of international law widening? Western jurists will scrutinize this volume, said to be one of the first student texts prepared in the Third World, to find an answer to this question. The conclusion that there is no radical difference in conceptions is impelling, although in their concluding chapter the authors express disappointment, if not anger, at the reluctance of rich countries to perceive the needs of poor countries for a new international economic law. The presentation is balanced, for the authors have read widely and present not only the practice of states, including, of course, India, and the judgments and awards of international tribunals, but also a profusion of views of traditionalists and modernists of the West. If there is a favored position adopted by the authors, it is closer to that of Wolfgang Friedmann, on whom there is heavy reliance, than to that of the radical revisionists. As Westerners might expect, the authors urge recognition in international law of the equality of states and, especially, of measures that will enhance economic equality. They perceive numerous contributions to the corpus of international law by the Third World: in developing a law of self-determination, sovereignty over natural resources, racial equality, nondiscrimination among peoples, and more equitable rules on rights and obligations of successor states after liberation from colonial status. This is not a text supporting Soviet positions. Indeed, many Soviet positions are criticized: the continuing espousal of traditionalist attitudes toward state sovereignty (including the immunity of states for acts jure gestionis) and exclusion of individuals from subject status in international law, and the adherence to a restrictive interpretation of the functions of the United Nations and of its organs. By implication, in their chapter on recognition of states, the authors disapprove of the Soviet practice of recognizing left-wing aspirants to power over their established governments. Also, the authors give no support to the arguments of Soviet professors that General Assembly resolutions, when adopted by large majorities including representatives from each group perceived by the Soviet side to be contending camps, may be taken as evidence of "crystallized custom." The authors are orthodox; they indicate that resolutions cannot be accepted as a source of law, not only because the Charter denies them that status, but also because "the international political situation indicates that member nations are not prepared to provide such sweeping power to the Assembly" (p. 63). Like many Western jurists, the authors limit themselves to arguing that "there is no denying the fact that opinions and demands of a vast majority of humanity should not be brushed aside" (p. 50).


5. Fueled by prodigious accumulation of photochemical smog and carbon dioxide (tropical rain forests are essential to the recycling of CO2), the greenhouse warming will accelerate, flooding many areas and displacing substantial population within the next few decades, t These risks threaten life as we know it -life as we know it! Yet, absorbed in the mundane commerce of everyday life, we ignore them. It is not unlike ignoring high blood pressure, obesity, elevated serum cholesterol, excessive stress, and cigarette smoking prior to a heart attack ̄ Often you ask me, partly in jest, "Why didn't you tell me all this twenty years ago?" and say "I wish I had made all these changes before my heart attack!" What is it in human nature that ignores, even denies, imminent crises? We do it severally ignoring the consequences of unhealthful behaviors and collectively, as nations, disregarding clear signals of economic depression, famine, plague, and war until they are upon us. Why?


Broodstock nutrition is one of the most important research areas in aquaculture. In this study, sebae clownfish was used to find out the influence of diet on reproductive performance parameters like egg production, fertilization rate, hatchability, and larval quality. The feeds used were of marine origin such as squid, cuttlefish, deep sea prawn, immature and mature mussel. The diets were analyzed for their proximate composition, amino acids profile, fatty acids profile and astaxanthin. The sub-adult fishes were collected from wild and conditioned prior to experiment. Data were collected after initial three spawning to achieve stability in egg production and quality. The egg production was found to be significantly influenced by diet and those fed cuttlefish meat gave the highest number of eggs per clutch (1520±260 eggs). The fertilization rate and hatchability were found to be unaffected by the tested diets. The highest larval survival (62.3±7%) after 12 days post hatching was obtained for fish groups fed deep sea prawn. The dietary carotenoid content was also found to influence the egg and larval pigmentation. The result also indicates the importance of dispensable amino acids in egg production. The role of protein, lipids, and essential fatty acids in the broodstock diets for sebae clownfish are also discussed.


various mathematical and statistical properties and showed that in many ways (1.1) provides a better model for modeling lifetime data from medical science and engineering than Lindley [2] and exponential distributions. Shanker et al. [3,4] have detailed comparative and critical study on Akash, Lindley and exponential distributions for modeling lifetime data from biomedical science and engineering and observed that Akash distribution provides better fit than both Lindley and exponential distributions in almost all lifetime datasets.


The stability of vehicle is affected by its kinematic parameters(velocity,acceleration,and turning radius),the vertical displacement(height parameter),and slope angle.It is difficult to monitor these parameters by using traditional sensors.In this paper,it was described that the realtime measurement of vehicle track,longitudinal and latiludinal coordinates,height,and road slope angle by using the Differential Global Positioning System(DGPS) Trimble AG114 System.The relationship between the height parameter and the stability of vehicle was analyzed and the turning radius was obtained by three-point method based on the longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates.The use of GPS technology provides an effective tool for monitoring the vehicle stability.


By using IR detector to capture and track the target's infrared radiation energy,IR guidance technology features high precision,anti-wireless jam and operation in both day and night.In this paper,the development history of IR imaging guidance is introduced,and its pivotal technologies are analyzed.It can be seen that the IR detector trends to miniature,high resolution and sensitivity.With the development of matching and fusing techniques for IR and visible images,current issues focus on selection of work-band,pneumatic-optical effects and evaluation of fusing results.


This article examines Aristotle's theory of 'factional conflict' ( stasis ) in Book 5 of the Politics and claims that it is mainly directed against the a-historical account of constitutional change Plato develops in the Republic . Aristotle's investigation of the causes of stasis is oriented towards the normative political goal of stabilizing political orders and preventing their 'change' ( metabolê ) into different ones. This article argues that the constitution Aristotle calls 'polity' ( politeia ) constitutes his solution to the challenge of stabilizing democracies and oligarchies. The paper also aims at elucidating Aristotle's conception of an empirical political science, his political realism


Digital watermarking is a helpful technology for providing copyright protection for valuable mul timedia data In particular video watermarking deals with several issues that are unique to various types of media watermarking In this paper these issues including compressed domain watermarking real time detection bit rate control and resistance to watermark estimation attacks will be addressed Since video sequences are usually compressed before they are transmitted over networks we rst de scribe how watermark signals can be embedded into compressed video while keeping the desired bit rate nearly unchanged In the embedding process our algorithm is designed to operate directly in the vari able length codeword VLC domain to satisfy the requirement of real time detection We describe how suitable positions in the VLC domain can be selected for embedding transparent watermarks Second in addition to typical attacks the peculiar attacks that video sequences encounter are investigated In particular in order to deal with both collusion and copy attacks that are fatal to video watermarking the video frame dependent watermark VFDW is presented Extensive experimental results verify the excellent performance of the proposed compressed video watermarking system in addressing the aforementioned issues


The article considers the end of the cold war and the role of the USSR in it. Attempts are being made to consider the final event of the process. It is analyzed political events such as the convening of the Conference on Security and coopoperation in Europe (CSCE), the meeting of the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union in Malta in December 1989, negotiations on the reunification of Germany (1990), signed in 1990, the "Charter of Paris for a New Europe" in Paris. It notes the role of M.S. Gorbachev, its new policy on termination of confrontation of East and West. It is considered the political consequences of the Cold War for Russia and the West. It says about the losses suffered by Russia, trying to recreate the world, the obvious activation of the West in all regions of the world in order to promote and often impose their values there.


The temporal evolution of consolidation and associated rheological properties of mud deposits has been studied by means of laboratory experiments for more than 40 sites throughout the world. Standard procedures have been used for all these experiments. The present paper describes the experimental procedures and gives a summary of the results obtained.


Objective To know the characteristics of symptoms in autism,and to understand the diagnostic criteria of autism spectrum disorder(ASD)in DSM-Ⅴ. Methods Children with autism were diagnosed using DSM-Ⅳ criteria and assessed by Autism Behavior Checklist(ABC)in Shanghai Mental Health Center.Then the positive rates of each item in DSM-Ⅳ and ABC,and the difference of every item in DSM-Ⅳ between gender/age were analysed. Results 1)Among 466 autistic children,the highest positive rates of qualitative impairment in social interaction,communication,restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior,interest and activities,delays or abnormal functioning were 95.3%,84.8%,79.8%,92.9% respectively.There were differences among ages on marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors;marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others;stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language;apparently inflexible adherence to specific,nonfunctional routines or rituals;delays or abnormal functioning in social interaction.There was difference between boys and girls in language as used in social communication,persistent preoccupation with parts of objects.2)263of 466 children diagnosed by DSM-Ⅳchildren met DSM-Ⅴ part A.3)The positive rates ranged from 34.2% ~94% in ABC,there was difference between genders on item 27. ConclusionsWith DSM-Ⅴ,the diagnosis of ASD may decrease,social communication and language may get better with age,but the behavior may get worse.Gender may be not the primary factor that affect the symptoms.


The invention discloses a system for pre-testing and diagnosing the electro magnetic interference of electronic equipment, which is characterized by comprising a data collecting module, an interference source diagnosing and locating module, an environmental noise eliminating module and a visual time-frequency analyzer, wherein the data collecting module, the interference source diagnosing and locating module and the environmental noise eliminating module are respectively connected with the visual time-frequency analyzer, and the visual time-frequency analyzer achieves the drive of the data collecting module, the call of the interference source diagnosing and locating module and the environmental noise eliminating module and the monitoring and displaying of time-domain waveforms and frequency spectrums. The invention also discloses a method for pre-testing and diagnosing the electro magnetic interference of electronic equipment, which utilizes a LabView visual instrument platform and Matlab programming environmental developing software to pre-test and diagnose signals. The invention can pre-test and diagnose the electro magnetic interference of electronic equipment at common test fields, and has high automation and carrying degree and simple usage and reduces cost.


Objective:To investigate the relationship of the semen separate methods and the clinical outcome of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer(IVF-ET).Methods:Seventy three cycles of IVF-ET with second infertility were analyzed retrospectively.These cycles were divided into two groups on the basis of semen separate methods:group A(Isolate)42 cycles,group B(Isolate and up swim)31 cycles.Results:There was no significant difference in the the dosage of gonadotrophins(Gn),the days of Gn,the number of oocytes retrieved,the fertilization rate,the cleavage rate and high-quality embryo rate(P0.05),the embryo implantation rate and pregnancy rate of group A was lower than group B(P0.05),group A 18.2%(16/88),26.2%(11/42),group B 2.3(20/62),51.6%(16/31).Conclusions:The clinical outcome of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer with semen separate methods of Isolate and up swim is better than separate methods of Isolate.


India has been a hub for conducting various multi center trials. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), headed by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), lays down the regulations for the conduct of clinical trials in India. The conduct of trials, regulations in India and quality of data generated may be the cause for this development. It is essential that now all clinical trials conducted in India should as per the International conference of Harmonization-Good Clinical Practices Guidelines (ICH-GCP) for clinical trials and follow the recently amended Schedule Y of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Updating our knowledge about these is of utmost importance in today's turbulent scenario that prevails in the pharmaceutical industry. Thus, this review provides an insight into the recent changes with respect to the regulations of clinical trials and its impact on the clinical research industry in India.


This research is part of the process of adopting innovations in public organizations. It tries to understand how the quality approach implements a hybridization between mechanistic logic and organic logic. Interviews and a literature review examine this issue through four ISO 9001 certifications in a public hospital of last resort. The theory of the network actor is mobilized to infer interpretations. The results show the presence of a mechanical logic based on the application of the precepts of quality. Organic logic, on the other hand, begins with the ability to bridge incompatibilities and build the branch's trust network. Hybridization is a dynamic device linking the project, sponsor, process, feedback, ecosystem


In this paper, a novel speech enhancement method based on a hybrid machine-learning architecture consisting of U-Net and nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) is proposed. The proposed method attempts to take advantage of both the accurate separation for known noise environments by U-Net and the adaptation to unseen noises by an NMF with an online dictionary learning technique. To merge the two different architectures, a modified U-Net with a temporal activation layer (TAU-Net) is jointly optimized with NMF models that represent universal speech and noise. The proposed method first estimates the temporal activations from the encoder of the proposed TAU-Net. Then, an NMF with online dictionary learning adjusts the initially given temporal activations to suppress their cross-activations due to unseen noises that are unknown in the training phase of TAU-Net. Finally, clean speech is obtained by adjusting temporal activations to the TAU-Net decoder. The effectiveness of the proposed TAU-Net-based speech enhancement method is evaluated in various unseen noise environments. Consequently, the proposed method achieves a substantial improvement with average signal-to-distortion ratios of 2.32 dB and 5.68 dB, which are higher than those of the baseline methods such asspeech enhancement generative adversarial network (SEGAN) and U-Net, respectively.


For a general number $p\geq 2$ of measures, we provide explicit expressions for the Jacobi-Pi\~neiro and Laguerre of the first kind multiple orthogonal polynomials of type I, presented in terms of multiple hypergeometric functions.


Enterprise innovation is inseparable from the support of funds and resources. This paper studies the influence of venture capital's capital, decision-making and management support on enterprise's creativity. Any enterprise is in an interconnected network relationship with its environment. This paper explores the influence of the breadth and depth of social network relationship and network structure on enterprise innovation ability. Finally, taking Bianli Bee Store as a case to study, it is concluded that the financial support has the greatest impact on the technological innovation ability of the enterprise; the decision support has a certain impact on the enterprise system innovation; and the management support has a certain impact on the enterprise management innovation.


The pseudospectra of a matrix polynomial $P(\lambda)$ are sets of complex numbers that are eigenvalues of matrix polynomials which are near to $P(\lambda)$; i.e., their coefficients are within some fixed magnitude of the coefficients of $P(\lambda)$. Pseudospectra provide important insights into the sensitivity of eigenvalues under perturbations and have several applications. First, qualitative properties concerning boundedness and connected components of pseudospectra are obtained. Then an accurate continuation algorithm for the numerical determination of the boundary of pseudospectra of matrix polynomials is devised and illustrated. This algorithm is based on a prediction-correction scheme.


ABSTRACT This article tries to describe the conformation of the chronic deliriums studied by classic psychiatry from two points of view: one from the psychoanalysis that supposes an emptiness of meaning in the primary symbolic structure, which the subject compensates with an excess of interpretation as much in universe of the language, like from the signals of the surrounding world. Therefore a speech is constructed that is not compatible with the one of the rest of the people, and by way of the subject enunciates certainties that are not modified by the logical arguments. The second point of view is the linguistic theory that it studies the cognitive mechanisms with which a subject constructs a delirium, from certain forms of interpretation as much of signs and signals that it receives like from the context where it is. Numerous contributions collected of several authors in the elucidation of the heuristic mechanisms and of another type in the construction of the deliriums.  Keywords: Delusion; subject; interpretation; context; certainty; psychosis.


In this paper, an extensive Finite-Element (FE) numerical study is carried out on a glass framing with point mechanical connectors. The models have been calibrated based on literature studies and field research. The simulations have been performed in order to assess the mechanical behavior of the examined glass-aluminum panels. In frame-support glass structures, such as curtain walls, where glass plates are mounted onto a metal framework, the composite behavior between glass and the supporting aluminum elements is usually a problem. It has been showed that an application of elastomer gaskets decreases the stress concentration at the interface between aluminum and glass while does not significantly change the working scheme of the profile. Based on the proposed models, the failure mechanism for wider set of geometrical configurations can be analyzed.


MALNIC, GERHARD, AND MARGARIDA DE MELLO-AIRES. Kinetic study of bicarbonate reabsorption in proximal tubule of the rat. Am. J. Physiol. 220(6) : 1759-1767. 197 1 .-Continuous recording of tubular pH was performed during stopped-flow microperfusion of rat proximal tubules with isotonic solutions containing 25 or 100 mEq/liter HCO 3, by means of an antimony microelectrode. After stabilization of pH values, lower pH and HCO,were found than during free flow in control rats. In acetazolamide-infused rats, pH was higher and bicarbonate lower than during free flow, but both values were significantly higher than controls. The velocity of acidification was decomposed into two phases, a first, rapid one, and a second, slower phase. The first phase was shown to depend on CO2 diffusion. It disappeared upon perfusion with a solution preequilibrated with CO2 . The second phase, evaluated by transformation of the pH values into bicarbonate concentrations, had a half-time of 3-4 sec. It was not significantly altered by substitution of choline for sodium, but was considerably retarded in acetazolamide-infused rats. Only one process of bicarbonate reabsorption was apparent, whose rate is about halved by acetazolamide. Its maximal rate may approach that of sodium chloride.


The very abundant brachiopods including Spirifer cf., subgrandis Rotai, Neospirifer sp., Fusella cf., tornacensis (Koninck), Punctospirifer sp., Mucrospirifer sp., Eumetria cf., serpentina (Koninck), palaeochoristites sp., Megachonetes sp., Plichonetes sp., Orthotetes sp., Chonetipustula sp., Marginatia sp., Curithyris sp., and Rhipidomella sp. were found for the first time at the Jinbo area, the northwest part of Hainan Island. That fauna indicates an Early Tournaisian in age. Accordingly, the fossil-bearing rocks, the Member 4 of former Nanhao Formation is now placed into the Aikuanian Stage. That fauna characterized by the flourishing of spiriferoid and the sparseness of productoids quite differs from the coeval brachiopod faunas of South China.


The degradation analysis of NBR and Epichlorohydrin rubber was carried out by infrared micro spectroscopy (μ-IR) and micro sampling mass spectrometry (μ-MS) which gives information on the scission and crosslinking of rubber molecules. Samples were prepared by three different treatments, heat as well as ultra violet (UV) and electron beam (EB) irradiations.It was found for NBR vulcanizates that the heat treatment induced the oxidation, scission and crosslinking of rubber molecules. By the UV treatment, chain scission and crosslinking accompanied by a slight oxidation were induced. The EB treatment enhanced the crosslinking, however, the extent of oxidation was negligible. For Epichlorohydrin rubber vulcanizates, the heat treatment accelerated chain scission rather than crosslinking. On the other hand, the oxidation and crosslinking were induced by the UV and EB treatments.


A latex test for assay of antibodies to endemic and epidemic typhus rickettsiae is simple, group-specific, sensitive, and reproducible. Cross-reactivity within the typhus group was extensive.


Life insurance policyholders usually are granted the option to terminate their policies before they mature. The action is called voluntary termination, or surrender. Since surrender options are exercised at the discretion of the policyholder, these actions usually cannot be fully anticipated by insurance companies in advance. Not able to access correctly may increase the company's insolvency risk. There have been two different hypotheses in the behavior of life insurance policy surrenders: the Emergency Fund Hypothesis and the Interest Rate Hypothesis. During the financial crisis, interest rate dropped dramatically, while there is less change in the voluntary termination rates of life insurance in the U.S. This study extends the data period of previous literature to 2012 and finds out that both the interest rate and unemployment rate have long term impact on policyholders' voluntary termination, implying that both the Emergency Fund Hypothesis and the Interest Rate Hypothesis may provide some explanation for life insurance policy voluntary termination. Furthermore, our TAR model found that the voluntary termination rate responds to a positive discrepancy, such that, when the actual change in the voluntary termination rate is higher than expected, we should observe adjustment toward the opposite direction in the future.


We are required to assess the social, economic and environmental effects of planning documents through a process called Sustainability Appraisal (SA) which incorporates the requirements of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). The production of an SA Scoping Report marks the first stage of the SA process.


In this paper, we introduce the characteristics of a vertical PNP transistor that improves start current by decreasing quiescent current with suppressing the parasitic transistor. In order to suppress the parasitic effect, we designed a vertical PNP transistor which suppresses parasitic PNP transistor by using the "DN+ links" without changing the circuit and made a LDO regulator using a standard IC processor. HFE of the fabricated parasitic PNP transistor decreased from conventional 18 to 0.9. Starting current of the LDO regulator made of the vertical PNP transistor using the improved "DN+ linked" structure is reduced from the conventional starting current of 90㎃ to 32㎃. As the result, we developed a LDO regulator which consumes lower power in the standby state.


Unlike reserves of coal, iron, and copper, which are so large that apprehension of their early exhaustion is not justified, the oil reserves of the country, as the public has frequently been warned, appear adequate to supply the demand for only a limited number of years. For some years oil has been imported, and with the growth in demand, dependence on foreign oil has become steadily greater, in spite of the increase in output. Therefore, it is evident that the people of the U.S. should be informed as fully as possible as to the reserves now left in this country, for without such information the probable dependence upon foreign supplies of oil and the expanding use of which so much of modern civilization depends cannot be appraised.


started this journey: hierarchy, privilege, or white normative society. For, I think, I would have stopped myself at every juncture/challenge and resorted to the binaries of my imposed situation. Perhaps this is what Silva recognizes, that though there is some autonomy in single motherhood, there is "no linearity in this process since the achievement of autonomies occurs in contradictory contexts of gains and losses."4 This is what I hope now that my son saw in me when I was raising him. That it was due to my efforts as an agency within a comprehension of dual cultures that I survived and evolved as his (and his sister's) mother. I did not give my son a lecture on gender roles or expectations; I was simply interested in raising a healthy young man. He would have to draw conclusions about gender on his own. If he transgressed certain rules of the house, he had to face the consequences. If he disrespected his mother, he would hear about it immediately. If he didn't clean his bathroom, he would be reminded. The arena in which I chose to mother weighed heavily on moral choices, ethical behavior, and, yes, even everyday choices. Indeed, as May posits, the "task of mothering—of parenting—is enacted through everyday ethical practices within a concrete social situation" (124). My son knew from my actions that I was a womanist in my heart, but that, also, I was the parent first and foremost. I did this by hard work in my life in a Western culture and by following my values as a mother of South Asian descent. I became the single mother who got ahead.


Low-degree solar p modes observed by the GONG network have been analysed for l 6, yielding accurate mea- surements of their frequencies, splittings and linewidths. The re- sults obtained here show significant improvement on previous determinations, especially for increasing the number of iden- tified modes with l 3 and for minimizing the bias on the splitting determination and the error bars. A more realistic ap- proach was used to fit the helioseismic data assuming that the observed spectra are statistically dependent upon one another. This is in contrast to what is commonly done and the result is a better treatment of the leakage between the modes. Moreover, the effect of an imperfect knowledge of the leakage within the elements of the l =1 multiplets upon their splitting determina- tion is analysed. In addition, the effect of the leakage between the modes of different degrees upon the p-mode parameters de- termination is shown, and a procedure for 'cleaning' the spatial alias is described leading to splitting coefficients with smaller systematic errors than before.


Oil and Gas industry end users have generally approached the topic of centrifugal compressor performance estimation with little consideration to the effect of process gas conditions. This is customary since end users depend mostly on OEM methodologies. This tutorial argues that performance curves are dependent on process gas conditions. The tutorial touches on key gas properties and how they are used in compressor performance calculations. An explanation of the effect of process gas conditions is discussed, and how to develop and make use of invariant performance curves and therefore, estimation results are improved. Finally, dimensionless analysis laws are applied using an end user developed performance calculation tool. The tool has been successfully implemented in plant conditions with proven results. INTRODUCTION Disregarding the effect of changes in process gas and (or) suction conditions can lead end users to misinterpret normal operation as deterioration/improvement in the health of the compressor. Understanding the changes in gas properties and the effect that they have on the compressor performance map is key in predicting the compressor output. Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) performance curves, in general, are provided with sparse mapping. There are many missing operating points that the end user wishes to assess. This has led to the end user to develop its own invariant compressor performance maps, which are derived from the OEM standard maps. Curves are corrected for process gas conditions allowing for a reliable approach to monitoring compressor performance. A further justification for adopting an in-house performance analysis tool is to facilitate a seamless data connection to the plant historical database. In doing so, enough data points for continuous evaluation over time is possible. 3 Middle East Turbomachinery Symposium (METS III) 15-18 February 2015 | Doha, Qatar | mets.tamu.edu Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station COMMON PERFROMANCE CALCULATION METHODS Key parameter that concern end users is whether their process compressors are developing the required head at a given flow rate and expected efficiency. This ensures the power supplied by the driver is sufficient to sustain required production. A common practice is to calculate these parameters using actual changes to the gas condition from suction to discharge, as shown in Equations (1) – (3).