The fluid induced vibration (FIV) phenomena of an equivalent airfoil system of MAV have been investigated in low Reynolds number flow region. Unsteady flows with viscosity are computed using two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The present fluid/structure interaction analysis is based on one of the most accurate computational approach with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural dynamics (CSD) techniques. The highly nonlinear fluid/structure interaction phenomena due to severe flow separations have been analyzed for the low Reynolds region that has a dominancy of flow viscosity. The effects of Reynolds number and initial angle of attack on the fluid/structure coupled vibration instability are shown and the qualitative trend of FIV phenomenon is investigated.


The NHS Long Term Plan, launched in January 2019, outlined several targets and schemes to improve patient care. However, practice nurses need to be aware of what these changes might mean for their ...


Objective To study the inclusion process for essential oil of Rhizoma Zingiberis and Radix Aucklandiae in Qingging Granules.Methods The orthogonal test was employed to test effects of four factors.Results In orthogonal test of oil-β-CD inclusion experiment,factor A had significant effects on the recovery of inclusion complex and utilization ratio of oil,however,factors B,C,D had no such significant effects.Conclusion The optimum inclusion technology was A_2B_1C_2D_2,6 g β-Cyclodextrin is mixed with 1 ml volatile oil.It is kept mixing round under 40℃ for 1.5hour with stir speed of 500r·min~(-1).


 Establish rules for early response to early warning information, based on determined triggers, contingency plans and finance mechanisms.  Broaden the range of users of early warning information and integrate into development activities.  Incorporate systematic feedback from users of early warning information, and adapt to the needs of stakeholders and new technology.  Invest in the quality, accessibility and integration of data, which determine confidence in early warning information.  Take greater advantage of seasonal prediction to increase the lead-time for action.  Factor uncertainty into risk analysis, communication and decision processes.


This paper describes an integrated framework for SOC test automation. This framework is based on a new approach for Wrapper/TAM co-optimization based on rectangle packing considering the diagonal length of the rectangles to emphasize on both TAM widths required by a core and its corresponding testing time .In this paper, an efficient algorithm has been proposed to construct wrappers that reduce testing time for cores. Rectangle packing has been used to develop an integrated scheduling algorithm that incorporates power constraints in the test schedule. The test power consumption is important to consider since exceeding the system's power limit might damage the system.


A gas-chromatographic method for volatile organic chemicals in which an aqueous sample is purged directly to a cryogenically cooled, fused-silica column uses a Nafion tube drier between the purge vessel and GC column. The Nafion strips water from the gas stream during the purge step while allowing volatile halocarbons and aromatics to continue to the GC column. Examples of the technique are presented on 0.53-m and 0.25-mm fused-silica columns coated with a variety of stationary phases.


Canang Sari as a means of ritual for the Balinese Hindu community who are outside the island of Bali is still maintained even though the materials used are different. The purpose of this study is to reveal Canang Sari as a place for offerings to complete religious rituals in the Balinese community of Sedahan Jaya Sukadana Kayong Utara village. To obtain information, descriptive methods were used with observation techniques, interviews and documentation studies, then analyzed qualitatively simultaneously, namely field notes, gathering information, presenting information and drawing conclusions. The results of the study revealed that they still maintain the tradition of offering canangsari in religious ceremonies both in front of the house and in the rice fields. It is believed to bring blessings and abundant crops


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the effects of the fit between two types of opinion leaders (influencer vs celebrity) and the products promoted in a fashion marketing campaign on user engagement (willingness to like and share the fit posts). Instagram involvement is examined as an applied moderator in the proposed theoretical model of this research.

Methodology
To test the hypotheses of the research, an experimental study was conducted. The sample was formed by female participants who were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (fit of influencer–product vs fit of celebrity–product).

Findings
The results showed the superiority of the fit of influencer–product over the fit of celebrity–product on users' engagement. It also indicates that highly involved Instagram users (vs lowly involved Instagram users) moderate the more prominent effect of the fit of influencer–product post on users' engagement.

Practical implications
The research helps brands to increase their knowledge of marketing campaigns formed through the fit of the opinion leaders with the products promoted.

Value
This research in addition to highlighting the role of users involved with Instagram contributes to a better understanding of the importance of promotional post fitting.


Trajectory planning with high accuracy is one of the key technologies of autonomous vehicles to travel safely on public roads. In this paper, we investigate the dependence of the path and velocity interactive planning based on cubic polynomial with vehicle dynamic as well as kinematic constraints including lateral acceleration and road curvature. The effect due to the vehicle dynamics of the host car by ignoring dependence states is studied through the comparison of longitudinal acceleration data in a simulation study and on-road test. Results show that our proposed methodology is more safety and comfort than the one without considering the dependency.


Currently, the increasing interest of researchers is attracted by the theoretical and practical problems of mastering the sub-terahertz and terahertz frequency range. Electronic devices operating in these ranges find effective applications in various fields of science and technology: aerospace equipment, security systems, spectroscopy, medicine, biology and many others. The purpose of this work is to focus on a frequency multiplication device that allows using basic sources of relatively low frequency generation to enter the terahertz frequency range. The results of recent years obtained both on the basis of solid-state effects and with the help of vacuum electronics, in particular, magnetron-type devices, which are characterized by compactness, high resistance to radiation loads, mechanical influences, which is important for on-board equipment, are considered. It is known that at high frequencies, vacuum devices require super-precision manufacturing of decelerating systems. This is essentially the main difficulty. The article proposes a new approach based on the hypothesis of P.L. Kapitsa, which allows to significantly simplify the anode structure of a magnetron multiplier with an acceptable level of output parameters. The achievements of recent years in the field of creating sub-terahertz and terahertz frequency multipliers, mainly for on-board equipment of mobile platforms, taking into account the requirements of aerospace systems, first of all, are noted.


The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Abstract: In recent years, biologists have increasingly recognized that evolutionary change can 15 occur rapidly when natural selection is strong; thus, real time studies of evolution can be used to 16 test classic evolutionary hypotheses directly. One such hypothesis, that negative interactions 17 between closely related species can drive phenotypic divergence, is thought to be ubiquitous 18 though well-documented cases are surprisingly rare. On small islands in Florida, we found that 19 the lizard Anolis carolinensis moved to higher perches following invasion by Anolis sagrei and, 20 in response, adaptively evolved larger toepads after only 20 generations. These results illustrate 21 that interspecific interactions can drive evolutionary change on observable time scales. 22 23 One Sentence Summary: Island populations of the lizard Anolis carolinensis have rapidly 24 undergone morphological change in response to shifts in habitat use driven by competitive 25 interactions with an invading, closely related lizard. 26 27 Main Text: 28 In their classic paper, Brown and Wilson (1) proposed that mutually negative interactions 29 between closely-related species could lead to evolutionary divergence when those species co-30 occurred. In the six decades since, this idea has been debated vigorously, with support that has 31 vascillates based on the latest set of theoretical treatments and comparative studies (reviewed in 32 [(2-5)]). However, tests of interaction-driven evolutionary divergence have been slow to 33 capitalize on the growing recognition that evolutionary change can occur rapidly in response to 34 strong divergent natural selection (but see [(6-9)]); thus, evolutionary hypotheses about 35 phenomena once thought to transpire on time scales too long for direct observation can be tested 36 in real time while using replicated statistical designs. 37 An opportunity to study real-time divergence between negatively interacting species has 38 been provided by the recent invasion of the Cuban brown anole lizard, Anolis sagrei, into the 39 southeastern United States, where Anolis carolinensis was the sole native anole. These species 40 have potential to interact strongly (e.g., [(10)]), being very similar in habitat use and ecology 41 (11). We investigated the eco-evolutionary consequences of this interaction on islands in Florida 42 (12) using an A. sagrei introduction experiment, well-documented natural invasions by A. sagrei, 43 genomic analyses of population structure, and a common garden experiment. This multifaceted 44 approach can rule against several …


The classification of the background and cell areas is very important research area because of the ambiguous boundary. In this paper, the region of cell is extracted from an image of uterine cervical cytodiagnosis using the region growing method that increases the region of interest based on similarity between pixels. Segmented image from background and cell areas is binarized using a threshold value. And then 8-directional tracking algorithm for contour lines is applied to extract the cell area. First, the extracted nucleus is transformed to RGB color that is the original image. Second, the K-means clustering algorithm is employed to classify RGB pixels to the R, G, and B channels, respectively. Third, the Hue information of nucleus is extracted from the HSI models that is the transformation of the clustering values in R, G, and B channels. The backpropagation algorithm is employed to classify and identify the normal or abnormal nucleus.


Engineering managers are constantly seeking ways to share new knowledge, techniques, and tools to aid in the efficient and effective management of complex systems and processes. This issue contains six articles, several of which explore the impact of organization and risk in project management as well as others that explore applications in system engineering, data visualization, knowledge management, and service quality assessment. We would like to thank our peer reviewers for their invested time and expertise as well as managing editors Jennifer Cross and Brian Smith and associate editors Bastian, Gouvea da Costa, Letens, Mallak, Sols, and Van Landegham for their contributions to this issue. Our issue begins with an article entitled "Personal and Contextual Antecedents of Knowledge Sharing and Innovative Pperformance Among Engineers" by Abbas, Sajid, and Mumtaz. Their article benefits engineering managers by providing insights, based on a social–psychological perspective, on hiring and placing engineers for projects where knowledge sharing and innovation are necessary for success. The authors collected data from more than 180 engineers from public and private firms. Their findings highlight the essential link of personality traits with knowledge sharing and innovation for engineers. The second article in this issue "Role of Organizational Project Management Maturity Factors on Project Success" by Anantatmula and Rad addresses the role that organizational project maturity plays in project performance and success. The authors suggest that organizations with a project portfolio management function increase the likelihood of meeting project objectives and quality expectations and provide a comprehensive literature review identifying project success, project management performance, and project management maturity factors. The authors utilize two independent research studies based on their literature review findings. First, they conducted a survey that targets project managers and project management professionals. Second, they use a case-study for an in-depth objective analysis and understanding of project management processes, procedures, and practices implemented by successful project management organizations. Their results suggest that the presence of portfolio management helps organizations prioritize projects enabling them to better meet project objectives, quality expectations, and customer satisfaction. In "A Hybrid GDM-SERVQUAL-QFD Approach for Service Quality Assessments in Hospitals" by Raziei, Torabi, Tabrizian, and Zahari, the authors explore the use of a hybrid approach for improving service quality in hospitals. Specifically, the authors' approach incorporates group decision-making (GDM), service quality measurement (SERVQUAL), and quality function deployment (QFD). The proposed hybrid approach is successfully applied to a public hospital to enhance quality characteristics. Their approach provides insight into patient viewpoints and can be used to help allocate resources to improve processes that drive the critical quality characteristics for the hospital. The GDM_SERVEQUAL_QFD model enables engineering managers in health care to assess and meet patient needs in an efficient and effective manner. The fourth article in this issue is an Applied Engineering Management article titled "Early Prediction of Project Duration: A Longitudinal Study" by Chen, which seeks to help engineering managers understand and model the relationship between project completion time and project variables' performance prior to the construction phase of a project. Chen employs a longitudinal study to extend existing work that utilizes earned value management to identify key determinants in project initiation and planning phases that influence the duration of completed projects. He develops a mathematical model derived from a combined confirmatory factor analysis and time-series robust regression analysis to help identify how well variables from the project initiation and planning phases predict project completion time. One of the key benefits of this work is that it enables engineering managers to identify – before the execution phase – projects that might not complete on schedule. The study confirmed that scope, team, communication, risk, and innovation variables possess a predictive power for project duration at completion. Forcael, Morales, Agdas, Rodríguez, and Leon, in their article "Risk Identification in The Chilean Tunneling Industry," provide engineering managers with a procedure for identifying and evaluating risks in tunnel construction projects. While general construction projects tend to be risky due to the inherent variability of processes and environmental uncertainties, tunnel projects add additional levels of complexity and difficulties due to their dependence on soil conditions and groundwater, access, and a strong interdependence of incremental project tasks. The authors collected survey data from companies that are members of the International Tunneling and Underground Space Association and identified 36 unique risk factors. The main contribution of this work is the synthesis of state-of-the-art international knowledge into a practical tool to identify tunnel risks, which can be applied by engineering managers in the construction sector. Our sixth and final article in this issue is "Integrating Visualization Tools Into the Requirements Engineering Process: An Empirical Study" coauthored by Logan, Dever, and Stuban. In this article, the authors conduct an empirical study of the potential impact that requirements visualization tools can have on project success. Using visualization tools and traditional requirements format, the authors compare the ability of 145 participants to recognize relationships. The study's results indicate statistically significant improvement over traditional requirement approaches when graphical visualization formats are used. The Engineering Management Journal publishes rigorous and relevant research and applications that add value not only to the academic community but also to the engineering management practitioner community. We invite articles from both academics and practitioners and welcome all types of research methodologies that address the engineering management domain areas. For questions or inquiries, please contact us at: email@example.com and firstname.lastname@example.com.


We present and analyse a family of fully discrete spline Galerkin methods for the solution of boundary integral equations with logarithmic kernels. Following the analysis of Galerkin methods of a previous paper, we show the existence of asymptotic expansions of the error. In this work we deal with the numerical solution of the integral equation Z 1 0 log jx( ) x(s)j2g(s)ds = u0(s); 8s; where u0 is a given 1 periodic function and x is a smooth 1 periodic parametrization of the boundary of a simply connected bounded open set in the plane. We will suppose that the logarithmic capacity of that curve is not equal to one, in order to avoid problems of existence and uniqueness of solution. In Crouzeix and Sayas (1995) the existence of asymptotic expansions of the error of Galerkin methods with smoothest splines was shown. However, the practical impossibility of evaluating exactly in most cases the coe cients and the right-hand of the linear system obtained by the Galerkin method demands the use of approximate numerical integration in the process. We will prove that the formulae transforming the Galerkin method into the so-called Galerkin collocation method (see Hsiao, Kopp and Wendland (1980 and 1985)) lead to a formulation of the problem where there exists still an asymptotic expansion of the error in powers of the discretization parameter h. In fact, as in Crouzeix and Sayas (1995), we will be able to prove expansions like kg h Qhg M X k=f(m)hkQhfkk ChM+1; (1) where Qh denotes an interpolation operator onto the discrete space, f(m) is an integer depending on the degree of the splines used as test-trial functions for the numerical method, and g h is the numerical approximation of g. Throughout what follows, C will denote a certain constant, independent of the parameter h, possibly di erent in each occurrence. The symbol O(hk) denotes a function of the parameter h such that divided by hk remains bounded as h goes to zero. 1 The Galerkin method Let us consider a simply connected bounded open set inR2, whose boundary is given by an in nitely often di erentiable 1 periodic non-singular parametrization x. We suppose that the logarithmic capacity of (see Sloan (1992) for example) is not equal to 1. We consider the periodic Sobolev spaces H t equipped with the norm kukt := 0@jû(0)j2 +X k 6=0 jkj2tjû(k)j21A 1 2 ; where û(k) := Z 1 0 u(s)e 2k {sds: We denote by ( : ; : )0 both the inner product in H0, that is, in L2(0; 1), and its extension as the duality bracket between H t and H t for any t. Let V : H t ! H t+1 be the single layer operator, de ned as the continuous extension of V g(s) := Z 1 0 log jx(s) x( )j2g( )d 1 and let b denote the bounded symmetric bilinear form on H 12 b(g; r) := (V g; r)0: To solve approximately the variational problem (P )8><>: nd g 2 H 12 such that b(g; r) = (u0; r)0; 8r 2 H 1 2 ; we consider the space Vh of the periodic smoothest splines of degree m with nodes on the points si+ 12 := i+ 12 h; i 2 Z; where h := 1=N and N is a positive integer. Denoting Ii := (si 12 ; si+ 1 2 ), if m = 0, Vh := fqh 2 H0 : qhjIi 2 P0;8ig; and if m 1 Vh := fqh 2 Cm 1 : qhjIi 2 Pm;8ig; being Ck the space of real 1 periodic k times di erentiable functions and Pk the set of the polynomials of degree lesser than or equal to k. The Galerkin method is the sequence of nite-dimensional variational problems (Ph)8><>: nd gh 2 Vh such that b(gh; rh) = (u0; rh)0; 8rh 2 Vh; uniquely solvable for h small enough. With the application of numerical integration in coe cients and right-hand side of a linear system equivalent to (Ph), this will be transformed into a new problem (P h )8><>: nd g h 2 Vh such that bh(g h; rh) = (u0; rh)h; 8rh 2 Vh; where bh( : ; : ) and ( : ; : )h are respective approximations of the bilinear form b and of the inner product in L2(0; 1), which will be speci ed in the next sections. Let si := hi for all i 2 Z. The interpolation operator Qh maps u 2 C0 to the unique Qhu 2 Vh such that Qhu(zi) = u(zi); 8i; where zi := ( si; if m is even, si 1 2 ; if m is odd. Consequently Qh interpolates on the midpoints of the grid for m even and on the nodes for m odd. 2 Once we have an expansion of bh(Qhg g h; rh) similar to that of Proposition 1 in Crouzeix and Sayas (1995), the uniform inf-sup condition will be used to prove expansions like (1). Since for all rh 2 Vh bh(Qhg g h; rh) = = b(Qhg gh; rh) + (u0; rh)0 (u0; rh)h + bh(Qhg; rh) b(Qhg; rh) (2) the study of such an expansion can be divided into three parts, the rst of which is that of the Galerkin method. The second part includes the in uence of the approximations of the right-hand side of the linear system, and the third one that of the approximations of the coe cients of the matrix (which require the evaluation of double integrals). Some additional notations about the spline space are called for. Let 0 be the characteristic function of the interval ( 1 2; 1 2) and m := 0 m 1 for all m 1. Then for m 1, m is a non-negative function with bounded support [ m+1 2 ; m+1 2 ], unit integral, of class Cm 1, piecewise polynomial of degree m, and so on. These and other properties can be reviewed in Aubin (1972) or Hsiao, Kopp and Wendland (1980). For i 2 Z, and h small enough, we de ne i to be the 1 periodic extension of the function m s zi h ; de ned in a unit length interval around zi. Obviously f igNi=1 is a basis of Vh. Let us nally consider a quadrature formula ZR m(t)f(t)dt ' Lm(f) := l X i= l cif(xi); where for all i xi = x i; ci = c i; and l is a certain positive or null integer. We will demand that the formula Lm be of degree m+ 1 at least, that means, that it be exact for polynomials of degree lesser than or equal to m + 1. However, the above demanded symmetry of nodes and coe cients implies that Lm will always have odd degree. For instance, for m = 0, we can take a single point formula (l = 0) L0(f) := f(0); which is exact in P1. For m = 1, the following three-point formula L1(f) := 1 12f( 1) + 5 6f(0) + 1 12f(1) is exact not only in P2, but also in P3. A three-point formula will also be su cient for m = 2, L2(f) := 1 8f( 1) + 3 4f(0) + 18f(1): 3 2 Approximation of the right-hand side The problem arising in the computation of the right-hand side is the evaluation of the integrals Z 1 0 u0(s) j(s)ds = h ZR u0(zj + th) m(t)dt; which, applying the quadrature formula, can be substituted by hLm(u0(zj + h : )) = h l X i= l ciu0(zj + hxi): This is equivalent to de ning an approximate linear form in Vh, (u0; rh)h := h N X j=1 rh;jLm(u0(zj + h : )); (3) where rh(s) = N X j=1 rh;j j(s): Because of their periodicity, the functions i are equal modulo N , so we can associate to rh 2 Vh the sequence frh;jgj2Z, with rh;j = rh;k for j k, modulo N . Consequently the summation in (3) can be done on any set of N consecutive indices. We denote [x] the largest integer which is lesser than or equal to a real number x. Proposition 1 For all u 2 C1, there exists a sequence of functions fungn 1 C1 such that for all rh 2 Vh, (u; rh)0 (u; rh)h = M X n=[m+1 2 ]+1 h2n(un; rh)0 +O(h2M+2)krhk 1 2 : Proof: For simplicity of notations we only prove the case m even. Since ZR m(t)dt = 1; we can write (u; rh)0 (u; rh)h = h N Xj=1 rh;j (zj; h) (4) where (s; h) := ZR m(t)0@u(s+ ht) l X i= l ciu(s+ hxi)1A dt: Let us remark that is in nitely often di erentiable in both variables, is 1 periodic in s, and satis es that for all s (s; h) = (s; h) (5) 4 because of the symmetry of nodes and coe cients. Moreover, since Lm is exact in Pm+1, we have that for k m+ 1 ZR m(t)0@tk l X j= l cixki1A dt = 0; from where @k @hk (x; 0) = 0; (6) for all k m+ 1. Denoting fk(s) := 1 (2k)! @2k @h2k (s; 0); by Taylor expansions in (4) and applying (5) and (6), it follows that (u; rh)0 (u; rh)h = M X k=m2 +1 h2k[fk; rh]h +O(h2M+2)krhk 1 2 ; (7) where [ ; rh]h := h N X j=1 rh;j (zj): (8) In Crouzeix and Sayas (1995) (see formula (29)) the existence of a sequence of real numbers fDjg, depending only on m (even or odd), such that for all 2 C1 and for all M [ ; rh]h = ( ; rh)0 + M Xl=1 h2lDl( (2l); rh)0 +O(h2M+2)krhk 1 2 (9) is proven. With uk(s) := k m2 1 X n=0 Dnf (2n) k n (s); the statement of the proposition is simply a consequence of (7) and (9). 3 Approximation of the bilinear form. Let us denote Jj := zj m+ 1 2 h; zj + m+ 1 2 h : Then the restriction to Vh of the bilinear form b can be written b(gh; rh) = N X i;j=1 bi;jgh;irh;j where bi;j := ZJi ZJj log jx( ) x(s)j2 i( ) j(s)d ds 5 and fgh;ig; frh;ig are the respective coe cients of gh and rh in the basis f ig of Vh. Our aim is to calculate approximately the coe cients bi;j. For simplicity of notations we will consider the usual sequence of coe cients frh;jgj2Z for each rh 2 Vh. From the periodicity of the functions i, bi;j can be de ned for all i; j 2 Z, modulo N . Let us de ne the index set I(N; j) := 8><>: fj p; j p + 1; : : : ; j + pg; if N = 2p + 1, fj p; j p + 1; : : : ; j + p 1g; if N = 2p: Thus, the bilinear form can also be written b(gh; rh) = N Xj=10@ X i2I(N;j)bi;jgh;i1A rh;j : With this choice of indices, ji jj N=2. Denoting F ( ; s) := log jx( ) x(s)j2 ( s)2 ; we can write, for all j and for all i 2 I(N; j), bi;j = ZJi ZJj F ( ; s) i( ) j(s)d ds+ h2(log h2 +Bi j;m); where Bk;m := ZR ZR log (k + (t u))2 m(t) m(u)dtdu; (10) or also, bi;j = h2 ZR ZR F (zi + ht; zj + hu) m(t) m(u)dtdu+ h2(log h2 +Bi j;m): (11) Let us notice that for all k, B k;m = Bk;m. Since F ( ; s) 2 C1(D), where D := f( ; s) : j sj 2 3g; we can easily apply the bidimensional quadrature formula proceeding from Lm and de ne an approximation of bi;j, for all j and for all i 2 I(N; j) i;j = h2 l X k;k0= l ckck0F (zi + hxk; zj + hxk0) + h2(log h2 +Bi j;m) (12) where the Bk;m are calculated exactly as shown in Hsiao, Kopp and Wendland (1980). That leads us to de ne an approximate bilinear form in Vh by bh(gh; rh) = N Xj=10@ X i2I(N;j) i;jgh;i1A rh;j: (13) 6 It is important to see that bh( : ; : ) is symmetric. If N is odd, then j 2 I(N; i) if and only if i 2 I(N; j), so the symmetry is obvious. If


—This paper presents an idea-phase introduction of a tactical level communication system (battalion and below), which enables utilizing different waveforms and frequencies when communicating by using Software Defined Radio. The discussed idea-stage solution relies on using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as hub-stations in order to ensure secure communication and reliable data transmission as regards wide bandwidth transmission to base-stations. The need for timely and accurate analyzing of the increasing amount of Situational Awareness and Common Operational Picture –related data collected keeps looming large in the battlespace. Similarly, the type and amount of different waveforms and frequencies also keep increasing. Software Defined Radio with its Graphic User Interface application, as discussed in the Results section, may offer one way of freeing the hands of a warrior to handle his or her firearm instead of a myriad of communication devices while in combat. This paper briefly looks at communication enabled by using swarms of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Self Organizing Networks in a military context and provisionally examines what testing and creating such a system would require and does so only at an early idea phase of a concept development process.


The volatile compounds of the essential oils of Carum roxburghianum Benth. (Radhuni) seeds of three different ecotypes of Bangladesh were obtained by hydrodistillation method and maximum yield was 2.57 % (w/w). The oils were analyzed by GC and GC-MS and thirty volatile compounds were identified and quantified. Predominantly monoterpene hydrocarbon accounted for 59.27-91.11 % of the total oil. The major constituents of the oils were limonene (29.33-59.37 %), 5,7,8-trimethyl-dihydrocoumarin (11.5326.69 %), sabinene (2.49-17.43 %), γ-terpinene (4.10-10.13 %), p-cymene (3.20-7.67 %), apoil (0.5-7.11 %), terpenolene (1.09-7.03 %), β-cis-caryophyllene (2.07-5.42 %), terpinene-4-ol (0.07-5.11 %), cis-sabinene hydrate (3.78-4.89 %), α-phellandrene (0.05-3.54%) and myristicine (0.28-2.33 %). The highest concentration of the elements (in ppm) were Ca 18900, Mg 6900, P 5500, K 5000, S 2900, Na 2000, Zn 115.0, Fe 105.0, B 43.0, Cr 0.561, Ni 0.464, Pb 0.042 and Co 0.033 in the three studied ecotypes. The Physico-chemical properties were evaluated. In the biological activities of the essential oils, the IC 50 value of the oils were 1147.12±6.99 μg/mL-1305.60±10.87 μg/mL at the highest concentration of 4000 μg/mL with 74.59±0.36 % inhibition by DPPH method. The LC 50 value was 2.17 μg/mL-2.53 μg/mL in the brine shrimp lethality cytotoxicity bioassay. The significant zone of inhibition was produced against some bacteria and fungi. These studies may find interest of several applications in pharmaceutical and food industries.


The view of post-modern curriculum advocates dialogue and understanding,attention to difference and diversity,emphasizing on training people to explore the spirit of innovation.The teacher-student relations of post-modernist concept are "equal".How teachers become a qualified "the chief of those equal" is a new domain topic in the reform of vocational college curriculum.


Today, biofilm infection is considered a challenge in the field of medicine and biomedical physics and engineering, as it includes 80% of infections worldwide. The complex architecture of the matrix of the extracellular polymeric substance of the biofilm, which houses the microbial cells, is resistant to antimicrobials and detergents. Cold Plasma anti-bio film application is a novel solution to address this challenge. This review study focuses on different parameters and factors affecting the mechanism of plasma-biofilm interaction in two types: direct and indirect processing. The first phase, the direct application of plasma, focuses on the direct processing of biofilms by cold plasma generators. The second phase, the indirect application of plasma is dealt with plasma surface engineering for biomaterial and medical devices which are in contact with the human body. As is known reduction in microbial load and biofilm removal by direct plasma processing is achievable and efficient. This microbial reduction also can happen by plasma surface engineering as an indirect solution, in which the plasma-treated biomaterial surface will gain an antimicrobial property and consequently mitigate biofilm growth. Moreover, the penetration depth of plasma in biofilms and the application of plasma surface pretreatment with 3D printing as a next-generation manufacturing approach have been reviewed. This review study sheds light on the efficient factors in this mechanism. This clarification helps how to optimize the control of biofilms by cold plasma technology.


A stochastic system based on a Bayesian approach is applied to quantify the uncertainties in the rate constants of both the dioxygen (O2) dissociation reaction O2+O2→oxygen (O)+O+O2 and the O recom...


Benzoporohyrin derivative monoacid ring A (BPD) is a lipophilic photosensitizer with a maximum absorption peak at 690 nm. When liposomally formulated, it distributes in human plasma almost exclusively to the lipoprotein fraction. In experimental animals and humans, it demonstrates good selectivity for tumors as well as other hyperproliferative tissues or cells. In experimental animal tumour models we have found maximum selectivity between tumour and normal surrounding tissue to occur within the first hour following intravenous administration, providing an opportunity for very early PDT following injection. Early clinical trial results from treatment of patients with cutaneous cancerous lesions have shown encouraging efficacy at levels of drug between 0.35 and 0.5 mg/kg. In addition, studies on patients with psoriasis indicate that BPD and light may be used to clear psoriatic plaques.


Constructing a harmonious society gives direction in improving the ideological and political education among the college students.This paper analyses the factors that affect the ideological and political education and put forward some proposals from such aspects as teaching objects,content,mechanism and method.


This paper presents the design and the design philosophy of a rotor for a 10 MW wind turbine intended for offshore use or other high wind speed locations. The turbine is a variable speed, variable pitch machine with direct-drive permanent magnet synchronous generator coupled to the grid through a fully rated converter. The main focus is on the aerodynamic and structural design of the blades, and detailed information is provided about the design choices and the final result. The characteristics of the control strategy, the generator and the tower are also given for the sake of completeness, and the integrity of the complete model is demonstrated by aero-elastic simulations.


In the era of digital communication, the use of Twitter as a customer service has been widely encountered. Companies have started to develop strategies around effective use of Twitter, one of which was to identify problems that customers frequently complain about. Twitter, with its straightforward tweet characteristics, will certainly contain sentences with very specific and easily recognizable keywords. These characteristics can be used as a basis for classifying tweets into certain topics. With a help of ontology, classification with keywords can be done automatically. The purpose of this paper is to design an ontology used as a basis for classifying tweets into certain topics related to the 4G telecommunications network in Indonesia and to evaluate performance of proposed classifier model.


A novel target pseudo-color image fusion algorithm for visual and infrared images is proposed in this paper based on image features in wavelet domain. After wavelet decomposed from source images, edge features are extracted from each low frequency component. The fusion rules are defined by the edge information, using local modulus maximum rule for edge pixels and its sub-band neighboring pixels, and weighted mean coefficient rule for non-edge pixels. The interested targets are extracted respectively by threshold segmentation method for infrared image and moving targets detection method for motion image sequences. Fusion result is mapped into local pseudo-color image in HSV color space, in order to highlight infrared hot targets and moving targets. The simulation experiments show that the fusion image has good visual effect, and also has good performance on the objective evaluation and anti-noise ability.


Hospital doctors in Scotland are poised to go it alone and take strike action involving emergency only cover if the Scottish government refuses to back down on changes to the NHS pension scheme.

The BMA's Scottish Council will ballot hospital doctors in November on their willingness to take further, escalated industrial action, after the BMA's UK council sanctioned the move this week.

The ballot will ask hospital doctors in Scotland whether they are willing to provide emergency only cover for an initial 24 hours, followed by further 24 hour periods. Doctors would not go to their normal place of work and …


Abstract . This article argues that accessibility to, and of information in institutions of learning is as much a right as is education to all human beings. The premise for this deductive declarative observation is based on the understanding that information is a facility that enhances learning without which we can hardly talk of education. Many countries in the world, Zimbabwe included, ratified and signed protocols on equal access to education for all their citizens. For that reason, Zimbabwe formulated regulatory policies on inclusive education as a way of discouraging discrimination in education and society at large. In short, the implied value of inclusivity is equal access to education in spite of mental, physical challenges or otherwise. These researchers argue that equal access to education is much more than having the various categories of learners in one class, one group or same institutions or signing protocols but includes all the support services that should act as equalization facilities. This research, therefore, examined to what extent tertiary and university libraries in Masvingo urban fulfill this mandate.


Preparation for the production of grain raw materials includes its pre-treatment at elevated temperatures, which provides improved absorption of grain nutrients. One of the varieties of grain heat treatment is its micronization, the essence of which lies in the rapid intensive heating of the grain by infrared rays (IR). IR heating has a significant effect on the carbohydrate complex: starch dextrinization occurs, denatures the protein, resulting in changes in the fractional composition of the protein complex: the proportion of water-soluble and salt-soluble proteins decreases and the content of alkaline-soluble proteins increases, the lipid and vitamin composition of the grain remain unchanged, and the proportion anti-nutritional substances of the grain. The task of using IR processing for amaranth grain is to obtain high-quality, functional food with desired properties. Heat treatment of amaranth grains using the infrared method was carried out on a UTZ4 installation. When passing through the chamber with amaranth grain, physical changes occur: it increases in volume, the structural frame of the grain is destroyed. With increasing temperature under the influence of infrared radiation, moisture turns into steam, the pressure increases sharply, which leads to a decrease in the strength of grain raw materials and contributes to a reduction in energy consumption during its further grinding. A number of combinations of the infrared flux density and the duration of the presence of various thickness of amaranth grains in the heat treatment zone were tested. Good results were obtained when the speed of the conveyor belt of the installation was 0.042 m/s and the power of the lamps was 69.2 kW/m2. The effect of micronization parameters of amaranth grains on the properties of flour obtained from it was studied. It was established that heat treatment by the infrared method of amaranth grains allows to obtain flour with improved structural and mechanical properties.


Linear force-free fields are often used as approximate models for magnetic fields in the solar corona, calculated on the basis of boundary values measured in the low atmosphere. The problem that is set up and solved does not have a unique solution, however, and various particular solutions—motivated in large part by mathematical convenience—appear in the literature. A method is presented for calculating the linear force-free field that is consistent with the observed component of the magnetic field normal to the solar surface and has a minimum difference between the components tangent to the surface and the observed tangential field. The method is tested by application to a known nonlinear solution.


Bankers have, from their beginning, made their money by taking risks and deciding how much risk they dare take, by expanding gradually, testing the water. Within this framework, the first risk is of illiquidity, but they must also ensure solvency. The steps taken by Northern Rock in developing their present 'business plan' are the same as those taken by most other banks, responding to the same incentives. It is the rapidity of its expansion that resulted in its downfall. The steps that have been taken also by other banks can be traced back to the beginning of banking and are predictable. Northern Rock's difficulties were predictable - and were predicted.


The world is currently witnessing record levels of displacement, increasing through the years in scale and complexity. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that over 100 million people were forcibly displaced at mid-2022, with up to a third of them being refugees. As displacement becomes more protracted, the prospects for return become increasingly less tenable. As such, it is more important than ever for host countries and international partners to support the integration of forcibly displaced populations. This requires developing policies that address the specific needs of displaced people. One major avenue where countries can facilitate the further integration of refugee populations is via the labour market. This response, however, requires international support, national ownership and strong partnerships with hosting governments which develop a foundation of policymaking that foster inclusive environments for forcibly displaced populations and strengthen the resilience of host communities.


This paper proposes a new way to evaluate the time-specific failure/success frequencies of a system; such measures are important when designing telecommunications networks as they affect the telecom customers' satisfaction level. Our approach used a 3 by 3 matrix that enables the algorithm for evaluating the availability of system to be transformed into one for evaluating the corresponding time-specific failure/success frequencies by replacing the parameters and operations of the algorithm with matrix parameters and operations. The computational complexity of the algorithm after transformation is the same as (linear with respect to) that of the original availability algorithm. This implies that our method can be easily used in actual situations.


In dieser Arbeit wurde gezeigt, daß die spezifische Immuntherapie einen Einfluß nicht nur auf die Ig-Produktion der B-Zellen hat, sondern auch auf deren Phänotyp. Dies könnte Hinweise auf bisher nicht bekannte Mechanismen bieten, die an der Wirksamkeit der IT beteiligt sind. Abstract Wasp-venom allergy is a typical IgE-mediated allergic reaction. Specific immunotherapy (IT) is the only currently available causal therapy for IgE-mediated allergies. The mechanisms responsible for the efficacy of IT are still not fully understood. So far, the main focus of research has been on changes of T-helper cell (TH) cytokine production with a shift from TH2 to TH1 cytokines. Reduced mediator secretion from effector cells of allergic reactions, decreased leukocyte proliferation, lowered responsiveness of end organs and changes in immunoglobulin levels have been reported as well. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of IT on phenotype and Ig-production of B-lymphocytes. 15 venom allergic patients with a history of systemic reactions after a wasp sting and venom-specific skin test reactivity as well as serum IgE were investigated before VIT (day 1), one day after reaching maintenance dose of 100 µg (day 6) during inpatient rush VIT, and again on day 26 during continued outpatient maintenance therapy. Changes in the serum levels of total IgE, allergen-specific IgE (sIgE) and sIgG4 were measured by ELISA. On day 6, cell surface expression of CD54, CD5, CD32 and HLA-II-DR was decreased significantly in intensity and numbers of positive cells, compared to day 1, while on day 26, expression of these molecules approached again baseline levels. Furthermore, a trend to decreased CD23 was noted on day 6. No changes were observed for CD40, CD86, CD95 and HLA-I-ABC. Levels of total IgE, sIgE and sIgG4 showed a significant increase after 26 days of VIT. These data show that initiation of rush VIT has profound effects on B-cell phenotype and Ig-production. Reduced expression of surface molecules can be interpreted as a reduction of activation status of B-cells as well as reduced ability to present antigen and to costimulate other leukocytes. B cells may thus be additional direct or indirect targets of high dose antigen therapy and contribute to the efficacy of IT.


Yugoslavia has discovered that Soviet economic assistance involves more promise and peril than performance. Yugoslavia has received more offers of assistance than any other country in the "economic offensive" launched by the Soviet Union after Stalin's death. But now, five years later, all that the Yugoslavs have to show for the Soviet promises of nearly half a billion dollars are numerous agreements, a pile of blueprints, some huge gaps in their five-year plan and the threat of diminished trade with the Soviet bloc countries.


Frequency stabilization of an optically-pumped CH3OH laser oscillating in the 469 µm line to a phase-locked 71 GHz reference was investigated. The CO2 pump laser was offset-locked to the 4.3 µm-fluorescence stabilized CO2 laser. A frequency stability σy(τ) of 2×10-11 in terms of the square root of the Allan variance was obtained at 469 µm, where τ is the averaging time. The stability is discussed in conjunction with the dispersion effect of the oscillation frequency due to variation of the pump frequency and also with the oscillation frequency shift due to variation of the pump power.


ABSTRACT: The first two authors introduced the notion of F‐transcendental and F‐algebraic Ostrowski nets. This generalizes Kaplansky's classification of Ostrowski nets (i.e., pseudo‐convergent sequences) as transcendental or algebraic. Properties of pseudo‐limits of Ostrowski nets related to this generalization and topologies on the rational function field F(x) defined by Ostrowski nets are further investigated here.


In March 1945, Charles de Gaulle, then head of the French government, told the national assembly that France needed to "introduce, with care … , desirable immigrants into its midst," in order to rebuild the country and rejuvenate an aging population. These words encapsulate some of the original traits of the French experience.

Keywords:

ethnocentrism;
labor;
labor supply;
political economy;
protests


THE PERSONALITY DISORDER General Considerations Paranoid Personality Disorder Schizoid Personality Disorder Antisocial Personality Disorder Borderline Personality Disorder Histrionic Personality Disorder Narcissistic Personality Disorder Avoidant Personality Disorder Dependent Personality Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Personality Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified Schizotypal Personality Disorder Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder Self-Defeating Personality Disorder AXIS I INTERSECTING AXIS II Personality Disorders and Major Depression Personality Disorders and Bipolar Disorder Personality Disorders and Panic Attacks Personality Disorders and Schizophrenia Personality Disorders and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Personality Disorders and ADHD Personality Disorders and Dementia Personality Disorders and Eating Disorders TREATMENT ISSUES Cluster A Clues Cluster B Clues Cluster C Clues Gender Benders It's Just Culture Personality Disorders and Substance Abuse Personality Disorders, PTSD and Somatoform Disorders Personality Disorders and a Medical Condition Dimensional Models Do They Ever Change?


: Automatic defect classification in photovoltaic (PV) modules is gaining significant attention due to the limited application of manual/visual inspection. However, the automatic classification of defects in crystalline silicon solar cells is a challenging task due to the inhomogeneous intensity of cell cracks and complex background. The present study is carried out for automatic defects classification of PV cells in electroluminescence images. Two machine learning approaches, features extraction-based support vector machine (SVM) and convolutional neural network (CNN) are used for the solar cell defect classifications. Suitable hyperparameters, algorithm optimisers, and loss functions are used to achieve the best performance. Solar cell defects are divided into seven classes such as one non-defective and six defective classes. Feature extraction algorithms such as histograms of oriented gradients (HOG), KAZE, Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) and speeded-up- robust features (SURF) are used to train the SVM classifier. Finally, the performance results are compared. It is concluded that CNN's accuracy for solar cell defect classification is 91.58% which outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. With features extraction-based SVM, accuracies of 69.95, 71.04, 68.90, and 72.74% are obtained for HOG, KAZE, SIFT, and SURF, respectively. The present study may contribute to making a PV system more efficient for classifying defects to improve the power system efficiency.


The Gravity Field and Ocean Explorer (GOCE) is one of the satellites intended for implementation in the "Earth Explorer" line of research oriented ESA-Earth observation missions. The objective of the mission is to produce high-accuracy, high resolution, global measurements of the Earth's gravity by satellite, leading to improved gravity field and geoid models for use in a wide range of applications. GOCE will fly on a near-circular, sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbit, with 96.5° inclination and an altitude of around 250 km. During measurement an ion thruster system will be used to provide drag free control of the satellite. Two QinetiQ T5 ion thrusters will be used, one in operation and one in redundancy, each capable of throttling over the thrust range 1 to 20 mN at a resolution of better than 12 µN. The requirements for throttling over a wide thrust range, and high resolution, impose severe constraints on the thruster design. In particular, the accelerating grid design must be optimised to ensure throttling performance can be met while maintaining adequate lifetime. The paper reviews the status of the T5mkV development programme, paying particular attention to the grid design and verification activities needed to ensure the T5mkV will meet the GOCE throttling and lifetime requirements.


Cryptographic devices are vulnerable to fault injection attacks. All previous countermeasures against fault injection attacks based on error detecting codes assume that the attacker cannot simultaneously control the fault-free outputs of a device-under-attack and error patterns. For advanced attackers who are able to control both of the above two aspects, traditional protections can be easily compromised. In this paper, we propose optimal algebraic manipulation detection (AMD) codes based on the nonlinear encoding functions and the random number generators. The proposed codes can provide a guaranteed high error detecting probability even if the attacker can fully control the fault-free outputs of a device-under-attack as well as the error patterns. As a case study, we present the protection architectures based on AMD codes for multipliers in Galois fields used for the elliptic curve cryptography. The results show that the proposed architecture can provide a very low error masking probability at the cost of a reasonable area overhead. The protected multiplier has no latency penalty when the predictor is pipelined.


Abstract : With the focus on new acquisition practices, the opportunity exists for identifying and implementing a comprehensive set of software acquisition best practices designed to reduce risk in the acquisition of software-intensive system. In 2004, the authors published a technical report that described such a comprehensive set of software acquisition best practices for a system development contract. The acquisition of large, complex software-intensive systems has historically been fraught with major problems, including performance deficiencies, extensive software defects, and cost and schedule overruns. Furthermore, these software development problems usually do not manifest themselves until late in the development life cycle. This has led to the question of what can be done early in the acquisition life cycle to reduce the risk of these software problems occurring later in the program. This is an especially important question for the United States Air Force (USAF) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), since there have recently been several large, complex, software-intensive SMC programs in the early acquisition phases. To answer this question, the authors have identified an additional set of software acquisition best practices for the early acquisition life cycle phases that extend those published in 2004. This paper addresses software acquisition best practices for the early National Security Space (NSS) acquisition life cycle phases (Pre-KDP A and Phase A). These best practices are targeted toward reducing downstream software development risk, and thereby improving mission success for software-intensive space systems.


TiO 2 multilayer films were deposited by the sol-gel method on glass and SiO 2 /glass substrates. 10% of Cu was added to the coating solution, to study its effect on the amorphous to anatase phase transition, with a view to improving the photocatalytic activity. Densification of the films was obtained by thermal treatment at 500 °C for 1 hour in oxidative and reductive conditions. In order to check the correlation between the influence of copper, substrate and annealing temperatures on the structural, morphological and optical properties, the samples were characterized by FTIR, XPS, SEM and fractal analysis. Transformation of CuO from as-prepared samples into Cu 2 O and metallic Cu, depending on the treatment conditions, was shown. The composition and stoichiometry of the oxide films in the first atomic layers were quantitatively determined as chemical state relative concentrations.


Solder masks are used universally on high density printed circuit boards to reduce the occurrence of solder bridges between adjacent tracks and pads. The use of solder mask can, however, have a deleterious effect on the solderability, i.e., the solder pull‐through and top‐land wetting, of plated‐through‐hole boards. This work considers, quantitatively, the specific effect on PTH board solderability of solder mask, considering in turn the three classes of photoimageable dry film, photoimageable ink and screen printed ink. Two modes of solderability degradation have been identified: a geometrical effect that depends on the thickness of the mask and its encroachment around the solderable pads, and a contamination effect arising from the development and washing of the photoimageable masks from surfaces to be soldered subsequently.


soil samples from of 3 804 hm 2 farmland on Sanhu Farm in Hubei were tested. The results were as follows:the mean content of organic matter, alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen,available phosphorus and available potassium in tillage layer were 28 8 g/kg,118 42 mg/kg,7 02mg/kg,152 10 mg/kg respectively in 2000.Compared with the mean content in 1981,organic matter and alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen decreased 22 2 g/kg and 33 6 mg/kg with an annual decrease of 1 11 g/kg and 1 68 mg/kg respectively. Some ways improving soil fertility were suggested based on the results.


ABSTRACT The presence of Dispersol A, a polyethylene oxide condensate, in an aqueous 1O mg./l. Benzopurpurine 4B solution has a considerable effect upon the absorption spectrum of the dye. The spectral effect is similar to that of pyridine, and is independent of the Dispersol A concentration over the range 0·5 to 10 per cent. The absorption spectra of the dye (10 mg./l.) in solutions containing less than 0·5 per cent. Dispersol A depend on the Dispersol A concentration, and have an isosbestic point. One per cent. Dispersol A has also a considerable effect on the absorption spectra of other azo dyes, the spectral effect with each dye being similar to that of pyridine. It is suggested that these dyes can combine with the polyethylene oxide condensate to form complexes. The presence of i per cent, of a polyethylene glycol in an aqueous Benzopurpurine 4B solution has an effect similar to that of Dispersol A on the absorption spectrum of the dye. The effect, however, is greater the greater the mean molecular w...


Giweta, M., Dyck, M. F., Malhi, S. S., Puurveen, D. and Robertson, J. A. 2014. Long-term S-fertilization increases carbon sequestration in a sulfur-deficient soil. Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 295–301. We analyzed the change in total soil organic carbon (SOC) in a long-term fertilization experiment (1980–2008) in a wheat–oat–barley–hay–hay rotation system at the University of Alberta Breton Classical plots. Soil samples were taken in 1980, 1990, 1998, 2003 and 2008 from plots that were fertilized with NPKS and NPK. The objective was to compare the relative effect of S fertilization on the SOC stocks in a S-deficient soil. Long-term S fertilization resulted in an increasing trend in soil organic carbon concentrations over 28 yr when N, P and K supply were adequate. The change in SOC with time was significantly different (P<0.05) between the two treatments. Annual application of NPK in combination with S resulted in an increased accumulation of SOC at a rate of 0.11 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 in the 0- to 15-cm depth over NPK...


Original Phanerozoic sediment flux rates can be approximated
by fitting an exponential decay curve to the observed
massjage distribution of sediments, then multiplying the ratio of the
observed mass to the exponential decay curve mass by the zero-age
flux rate predicted by the exponential decay curve. Applied to the
massjage distribution of existing Phanerozoic sediments, the reconstruction
method indicates that original global sediment flux rates
varied cyclically by a factor of up to three. This implies significant
changes in the rates of uplift and mountain building and global plate
tectonic activity.


The performance of five cv. Souri selections designated as ''clones'' were compared in two consecutive plots for '20 years each and three additional ones for 18 years. Fruit morphology, yield, oil production, and tree growth were monitored. The major results are presented as mean values of five sequential ''on'' years as well as the characteristic production of young and mature trees. The DNA identity was determined using both simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The performance of two ''clones,'' SLO and SBU, showed stable diverse production characteristics and could be designated as defined clones, although no clear differences of the DNA between them or the other ''clones'' were apparent. Another ''clone,'' SGS, was also designated as a true clone as a result of both unique fruit morphology and DNA markers. The differences between the other ''clones'' were minute in fruit production morphology and oil production as well as on a DNA basis and their designation as being true clones is doubtful. The Souri cultivar, which is autochthonous to the eastern Mediterranean region, is the major olive variety cultivated traditionally under rain-fed conditions in Israel for hundreds of years. Even today, this cultivar occupies approximately two-thirds of the olive-planted area in the country and is based on rain-fed traditional cultivation. The cv. Souri is characterized by its high adaptability to semiarid conditions and occasional droughts, shallow and stony marginal soils, and varying climatic conditions (Jbara et al., 2010; Omar, 2012). Generally its fruit has a high aromatic oil content reaching up to 30% in commercial extraction (Goor, 1948). The cv. Souri olives are also highly appreciated as green natural fermented table olives, particularly because of their firm grainy aromatic mesocarp. Thus, cv. Souri trees were traditionally planted for generations around the villages in most regions of the country regardless of the local different and occasionally unfavorable environmental conditions in some of the locations. As a result of generations of planting and replanting of this cultivar in the various regions and environments, a high variability between trees of this cultivar developed. A survey of the trees in a wide range of the traditional rain-fed orchards resulted in identifying more than 15 morphological or developmental different types when compared under uniform growing conditions in the Hannania farm experiment at the lower Galilee (Lavee et al., 2008). Eleven of those were tested for their genetic identity using random amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction methodology used for the other major autochthonous cv. Nabali (Lavee et al., 1999), and at least three defined groups were clearly visible. Based on the high variability within the 'Souri' tree population on both morphologic and genetic criteria, it was suggested to refer to that traditional cultivar as the ''cv. Souri family.'' It should be noted that all the different 'Souri' types are relative good producers under rain-fed cultivation conditions through defined alternate bearers (Lavee, 2007). With the introduction of intensive cultivation and irrigation to the newly developing olive oil industry (Grattan et al., 2006; Greven et al., 2009), it became apparent that the 'Souri' trees do not respond enough to the intensive cultivation. This is probably the result of generation of selection for adaptation of the Souri cultivar to limiting growth conditions. Although its yield doubled in most cases under intensive cultivation reaching long-term average yields of 6 to 8 tons fruit per hectare, its response to intensification and irrigation was still lower than that of various other cultivars. Because its oil and processed fruit are highly appreciated by the Israeli population, various selections were made in the country expected to be more responsive to intensification. ''Clonal'' propagated plants of these selections were distributed by the nurseries to many of the new intensive olive orchards planted during the last decades in Israel. In the present study, the cultivation response, morphology, fruit development, production, and genetic identity of these ''clones'' planted and grown under uniform irrigated conditions were analyzed over different periods of time in three independent plots. The plots were located at the experimental farm of the Volcani center in the center of the Israeli coastal plane. This is the first study characterizing these clones from both the morphological and genetics points of view. Materials and Methods Vegetative propagated plants of five selected cv. Souri commercial ''clones'' were planted under intensive irrigated conditions in early 1974 at the Bet Dagan research institute and kept until 1998 (Plot A). Plot A was planted in a density of 4 · 6 m and was irrigated with 500 mm drip irrigation per year on top of a mean of 430 mm annual rain. A second plot with nine ''clones'' including the five ''clones'' planted in the first plot was planted in a density of 6 · 6 m in 1995–96 and kept until 2013 with the same irrigation scheme (Plot B). Six plants of each clone were planted in the first plot and three in the second in which were planted also some selected clones of other local autochthonous cultivars. A third plot (Plot C) consisting of one clone only, Souri Lod (SLO), was planted in 1984 for comparison of fruit growth and oil accumulation under rain-fed and irrigated conditions. The different ''clones'' used were selected in traditional orchards at different regions of Israel and each designated with a special code (Table 1). Fruit and oil yields were recorded in most cases only during ''on'' years unless indicated differently. Fruit growth, percent dry matter, and the oil content were determined for three sample clones at weekly intervals during the growing season from the beginning of June until the second half of November. Mean fruit yield, fresh fruit size, percent pulp dry weight, percent stone, oil content on a dry weight basis, and the commercial oil content were calculated for each ''clone'' separately in both plots. The consistency of the fruit characteristics of the different ''clones'' with aging of the trees was determined for all ''clones'' in Plot B by comparing the results of fruit analyzed in Year 2000 with those performed 12 years later in 2012. Statistical significant differences in the analysis of variance tests were based on 2.5· SE. Verification of morphological, developmental, and production differences between the ''clones'' on a genetic basis was Received for publication 5 Nov. 2013. Accepted for publication 21 Feb. 2014. To whom reprint requests should be addressed; e-mail email@example.com. HORTSCIENCE VOL. 49(4) APRIL 2014 425 performed using both the SSR methodology based on 16 SSR loci used in our last study (Biton et al., 2012) and a SNP analysis based on 138 loci. SNPs genotyping. Genomic DNA libraries were prepared from DNA of the cultivars Barnea and Manzanillo using Illumina's TruSeq DNA kit according to the manufacturer's instructions and sequenced on Illumina HiSEq. 2000 using a V3 flow cell, 100-bp single read, and one index-read run. A total of 145,000 SNPs was identified. We genotyped all clones against 192 SNP loci, chosen from the 145,000 discovered. Large-scale genotyping of SNPs was performed on four Fluidigm 96.96 Dynamic Arrays using the genotyping EP1 System (San Francisco, CA). Fluorescence intensity was measured with the EP1 (Fluidigm Corp., San Francisco, CA) reader and plotted on two axes. Genotypic calls were made using the Fluidigm SNP Genotyping Analysis program. From the 192 genotyped SNPs, only 138 were suitable for analysis, mainly as a result of technical problems. The list of SNPs is available on request from the authors. To assess the genetic relationship between olive accessions, we estimated the genetic distance as D = 1 – proportion of shared alleles (PSA). PSA was calculated as PSA = PL i =1PSi 2 L where PS is the proportion of shared alleles for each locus and L is the total number of loci (Bowcock et al., 1994). A hierarchical clustering was performed on a pairwise D as a distance matrix using an agglomerative method called ''ward'' (Odong et al., 2011). To reinforce our results of tree topology, a resampling of 1000 times was run on loci to create 1000 SNP sets and 1000 trees. To count the number of bipartitions that fit the tree, we used the ''ape'' R-package (Paradis et al., 2004; Popescu et al., 2012). The bootstrap values are presented as percentages.


With a promising application in Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) pipelines, medical image segmentation is the most commonly studied subject in the field of deep learning-based medical imaging. Yet existing methods failed to achieve satisfactory performance in pixel-level segmentation, thanks in part to the class imbalance between foreground and background regions. In addition, the robustness and generalizability of segmentation models lacked due attention in previous research. In this paper, we presented a residual attention convolutional network for polyp segmentation, which took advantage of residual learning, multi-level feature fusion, and channel-wise and spatial attention for adaptive feature calibration. For evaluation of the competitiveness of the proposed algorithm, we performed extensive experiments using five publicly accessible polyp datasets. Experimental results showed that our method enjoyed consistent improvement over state-of-the-art algorithms. For the assessment of segmentation models' robustness and generalizability, we further performed cross-dataset and challenging-scenario evaluations. Experiments verified that our network can well generalize across different datasets and was exceptionally robust against challenging images.


The vertebrate enteric nervous system (ENS) consists of an integrated network of neurons that controls gut motility and function. Enteric neurons are principally derived from neural crest cells that migrate ventrally just posterior to the pharyngeal arches, enter the anterior gut primordium and proceed posteriorly to populate the gut tube (Newgreen and Young, 2002b). As they migrate, ENS precursors proliferate and then differentiate to form a wide variety of neuronal subtypes necessary for intestinal function (Furness, 1987; Gershon, 1994). In avian and mammalian species, a second population of neural crest from sacral regions also contributes to the distal gut (Burns and Douarin, 1998; Le Douarin and Teillet, 1973; Pomeranz et al., 1991; Serbedzija et al., 1991). If migration or proliferation of the vagal neural crest is impaired, varying lengths of the gut become aganglionic (Newgreen and Young, 2002a; Newgreen and Young, 2002b). The intestinal motility disorder Hirschprung's Disease results from this type of impairment. Individuals with this condition have aganglionosis of varying lengths of the distal portion of the colon (Kapur, 1999; Newgreen and Young, 2002a; Newgreen and Young, 2002b; Parisi and Kapur, 2000). The ENS therefore requires proper specification, migration and proliferative expansion of enteric precursors for correct development and function. A key regulatory factor for ENS development is glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a potent trophic factor for many different types of CNS and PNS neurons (Arenas et al., 1995; Ebendal et al., 1995; Henderson et al., 1994; Mount et al., 1995; Trupp et al., 1995). GDNF is the founding member of a subgroup of the TGF β superfamily, of which there are four members: GDNF, neurturin (Kotzbauer et al., 1996), persepehin (Milbrandt et al., 1998) and artemin (Baloh et al., 1998b). The biological activities of the GDNF family ligands are mediated through a multicomponent receptor complex that consists of a GPI-linked ligand binding component, the GDNF family receptor α (GFRα) subunit and a common transmembrane signaling component, the tyrosine kinase Ret (Jing et al., 1996; Treanor et al., 1996). There are four GFRα subunits; each preferentially binds to a different GDNF family member (Baloh et al., 1998a; Baloh et al., 1997; Baloh et al., 1998b; Buj-Bello et al., 1997; Jing et al., 1996; Jing et al., 1997; Klein et al., 1997; Masure et al., 2000; Naveilhan et al., 1998; Thompson et al., 1998; Trupp et al., 1998; Worby et al., 1998). GDNF preferentially binds to GFRα1 (Jing et al., 1996; Treanor et al., 1996) but can also bind to and mediate signaling in vitro through GFR α2, the α subunit that preferentially binds to neurturin (Baloh et al., 1997; Creedon et al., 1997; Sanicola et al., 1997). The role of GDNF in ENS development has been studied extensively in vitro and in vivo. In cell culture, GDNF has been shown to promote survival, proliferation, differentiation and neurite out growth of enteric precursors (Chalazonitis et al., 1998; Hearn et al., 1998; Heuckeroth et al., 1998; Taraviras et Components of the zebrafish GDNF receptor complex are expressed very early in the development of enteric nervous system precursors, and are already present as these cells begin to enter the gut and migrate caudally along its length. Both gfra1a and gfra1b as well as retare expressed at this time, while gfra2 expression, the receptor component that binds the GDNF-related ligand neurturin, is not detected until the precursors have migrated along the gut. Gfra genes are also expressed in regions of the zebrafish brain and peripheral ganglia, expression domains conserved with other species. Enteric neurons are eliminated after injection with antisense morpholino oligonucleotides against ret or against both Gfra1 orthologs, but are not affected by antisense oligonucleotides against gfra2. Blocking GDNF signaling prevents migration of enteric neuron precursors, which remain positioned at the anterior end of the gut. Phenotypes induced by injection of antisense morpholinos against both Gfra orthologs can be rescued by introduction of mRNA for gfra1a or for gfra2, suggesting that GFRα1 and GFRα2 are functionally equivalent.


Development and innovation in computer technology have led to the generation of large quantities of end-of-life computing equipment with the attendant challenge of environmentally sound management, especially in developing countries. This study evaluated the heavy metal contents of the cathode ray tube (CRT) and the plastic casing of thirty (30) end-of-life computer monitors of different brands, years of manufacture (spanning 1981-2005) and countries of manufacture. The specimens were analysed for Pb, Cu, Cr, Zn, Cd, and Ni using atomic absorption spectrophotometer after acid digestion. The mean concentrations of metals in the CRTs varied widely: 1400-14300 mg/kg for Pb; 291-1750 mg/kg for Zn; <0.1-129 mg/kg for Cu; <0.1-15 mg/kg for Ni; <0.1-16.3 mg/kg for Cr, and <0.1-4.0 mg/kg for Cd. The Pb concentrations of all the CRT samples, with mean 5120±3000 mg/kg (range: 140014300 mg/kg), exceeded the 1000 mg/kg Pb limit in the EU Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and the Total Threshold Limit Concentrations (TTLC) used by the USA Department of Toxic Substances and Control (DTSC), for characterizing waste as hazardous. For the plastic casings, the Cu and Cd concentrations in 10 % and 20 % of the samples respectively, exceeded the TTLC. The results of this study show that the CRTs are hazardous waste requiring environmentally sound management and the crude methods of management in Nigeria which include disposal at open dumpsites and surface water, as well as recycling using crude techniques are highly dangerous, exposing man and the ecosystem to toxins. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v22i3.19 Copyright: Copyright © 2018 Owoso et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CCL), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited Dates: Received: 23 January 2018; Revised: 26 February: 2018; Accepted: 18 March 2018


We estimated the global proportion of folic acid‐preventable spina bifida and anencephaly (FAP SBA) potentially prevented through mandatory double fortification of iodized salt with folic acid.


Results of previous experimental investigations of Compton/Raman millimeter-wavelength FEL amplifiers are analyzed in numerical simulations. Compact quasione-dimensional models under helical-trajectory approach are employed. A tare on the stationary trajectories due to radiation is inserted. Reasonable agreement between simulation and experimental results is got in the regimes with reversed guide magnetic field.


In the arena of international politics, for a government, international prestige is both the strategic object and the key tool to strategic interests. The Setting-up of international prestige depends on the implementation of proper policy of prestige. After Cold War, culture diplomacy, which has replaced external propaganda, is becoming more and more important. The present discussion explores the effect of culture diplomacy on the building of nation's international prestige based on the paradigm transformation from realism to constructivism.


Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of olive cake (CO) on glycaemia and lipemia and lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes activities in erythrocytes and tissues, in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.

Design/methodology/approach
Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (55 mg/kg BW). In total, 12 diabetic D rats, weighing 260 ± 20 g, were divided into two groups fed a casein diet supplemented (D-OC) or not (D) with OC (7.5 per cent), for four weeks.

Findings
In D-OC compared with D, glycaemia, total cholesterol and triglycerides values (−40 per cent; p = 0.007, 27 per cent; p = 0.007 and −27 per cent; p = 0.0019). In erythrocyte, liver, kidney, heart, muscle and brain, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances contents were respectively, (−19 per cent; p = 0.03, −32 per cent; p = 0.002, −20 per cent; p = 0.04, −68 per cent; p = 0.003, −74 per cent; p = 0.0003 and −38 per cent; p = 0.04). In erythrocyte, SOD, GSH-Px and CAT activities were respectively, (+14 per cent; p = 0.01, +74 per cent; p = 0.012 and +34 per cent; p = 0.0009). In the liver, kidney, heart and muscle, SOD activity was respectively, (+31 per cent; p = 0.004, +12 per cent; p = 0.038, +43 per cent; p = 0.001 and +23 per cent; p = 0.18). GSH-Px activity was respectively, (+121 per cent; p = 0.0009, 89 per cent; p = 0.0006, + 95 per cent; p = 0.008, +71 per cent; p = 0.02 and +26 per cent; p = 0.01), in the liver, kidney, heart, muscle and brain. Catalase activity was (+21 per cent; p = 0.008) in the liver, (+88 per cent; p = 0.0002 in the kidney, +53 per cent; p = 0,002 in the heart and 83 per cent; p = 0.00004 in the muscle).

Originality/value
In diabetic rats, OC reduces hyperglycaemia induced by STZ and attenuates triglyceridemia and cholesterolemia. This residue is able to decrease the oxidative stress by increasing the antioxidant enzymes activity in erythrocytes and tissues. The high contents of phytoconstituents present in OC are considered to be responsible for this effect.


Abstract A common question consumer health librarians must handle concerns identifying local providers for a specific health issue as opposed to information about the health issue itself. This column describes a handful of the numerous online directories of professionals available for consumers looking for providers in the fields of mental health, eldercare and cancer genetics. While none of these directories are exhaustive of their respective fields, all provide good starting points for users trying to identify relevant providers in their areas.


Controlling a multi-mass system is a common problem in industrial automation. Varying or unknown parameters, especially friction, make the control problem more difficult. A powerful tool to control systems with uncertain parameters is a robust Hinfin-controller. Furthermore, high static friction often still causes problems like stick slip effects. Therefore, friction compensation is needed in addition to a robust controller. This paper will present a simple yet robust friction compensation used in tandem with a robust Hinfin-controller. Measurements will complete the paper.


Whenever God turns to mankind, it is hard to imagine his grace and mercy as being free from condescension. At least, that is within all too human categories, which would see such a movement as a flamboyantly arrogant gesture to 'reveal' (or 'demonstrate') the Lord's wisdom and grace. The descensus is characterized by this ambivalence. It is not represented in the Holy Bible. Its description can only be found in apocryphal texts, while the canon offers nothing but analogies (e. g. the crashing of a door). However, this paradigmatic voyage, as problematic as it is dramatic, informed a number of literary works. It became the dispositif of early travels and their reports.


Two gamma-radiation distribution field measurement experiments are described in the paper. Because of principally dangerous nature of gamma-radiation, the idea was to extensively use robotic systems and automation to minimize human exposure to radiation. The experiment setup as well as Orpheus robotic system are described. Algorithm to autonomously navigate the robot based on RTK GNSS in predefined area is presented. The algorithm was exclusively developed for Orpheus robot, considering its tank-like drive configuration.


This paper reports on the effect of scanning speed on the laser deposited Cu on titanium alloy substrate. The experiments were conducted by varying the scanning speed from 0.3 m/min to 1.2 m/ min while the laser power, the powder feed rate and the gas flow rate were kept constant. The laser deposited Cu were characterized through the evolving microstructure and surface roughness. Dendrites and acicular were much pronounced in the clad area; found to decrease as the scanning speed increases due to the laser interaction time and the cooling rate. These however, influenced the irregularities in the peaks and valleys of the surface texture. The arithmetic mean deviation, Ra were measured and abridged from 6.70 μm to 1.41 μm as the scanning speed was increased from samples DC1 to DC4. The motivation for this work is to improve the surface performance of Ti6Al4V alloy when exposed and attacked by marine microfouling organisms.


Using mature leaves of one of familiar virescence trees species-Sophora japonica L.as experimental material,the effects of air pollution on plant physiology at different sites in Lanzhou City are studied from multi-facet,such as:cell membrane leakage rates,the contens of tissue water,SOD-amylase activtities,prolinc content and so on.The content of chlorophyll and the soluble sugarand and the pH value in leaves at five experimental sites decreased with the aggravation of pollution,cell membrane leakage rates and the contens of proline and the SOD-amylase activtities increased.The sequence of integrative pollutant index in different experimental sites from heavy to light is Baiying CityXigu DistrictChengguan DistrictAnning DistrictHonggu District.


Introduction: Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis is a rare disease that is related to autosomal recessive inheritance of cholesterol metabolism. Early diagnosis is essential to the treatment and change the course of the disease. Case Report: This study reports a case of a 57-year-old man with painful Achilles tendon mass and no typical gout who was diagnosed in our hospital. He had history of mental retardation since childhood. He also presented with chronic diarrhea for many years. He was performed the aboratory examination revealed dyslipidemia. MRI of lower extremities showed two lobulated masses in the bilateral Achilles tendon regions, isointensity on T1WI, iso-hyperintensity on T2WI and heterogeneous enhancement, suggesting that the disease was xanthoma. Then biopsy of the tumors were performed and pathology confirmed the diagnosis of xanthoma. Brain CT showed cerebral atrophy and bilateral focal cerebellar lesions. Clinical symptoms, hyperlipidemia and imaging examination of this patient suggested diagnosis of cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis and the genetic mutation test (CYP27A1) confirmed the diagnosis of cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis. Conclusion: Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis is a rare disease. The radiologist should pay attention to this disease and recommended neuroimaging to obtain a final diagnosis.Genetic test was suggested to confirm the diagnosis.


Mechanics of Materials has been one of the most important courses in many engineering subjects,including mechanical engineering,civil engineering,aerospace engineering,vehicle engineering,building materials engineering,etc.To improve teaching quality,the author has made innovations on teaching of this course.The purpose is to help students gain the knowledge and abilities to solve real-world problems by taking this course.


Fifty three genotypes of Capsicum annuum L. collected from different parts of the West Bengal, India were characterized for 23 characters namely, stem colour, plant growth habit, branching habit, leaf size, leaf shape, leaf margin, leaf colour, leaf pubescence, pigment at node, flower per axil, corolla colour, anther colour, calyx margin, mature fruit colour at intermediate stage, fruit shape, fruit position, fruit adherence to the calyx, fruit shape at pedicel attachment, blossom end fruit shape, ascorbic acid content of the fruit, capsaicin in red fruit and colour value of the ripe fruit. These genotypes upon cataloguing showed distinct variations with respect to vegetative, inflorescence, fruit and quality characters. A wide range of variation was also observed among the genotypes for several morphological, fruit and quality characters. Among the different characters, white corolla colour showed 100 % frequency and higher frequency was also recorded in single flower per axil (86.79 %), number pigmentation at node (83.02 %) and green fruit colour (69.81%) at intermediate stage. Predominance of single descriptor state was found in more than 50 % genotypes for 15 characters. Based on the D2 value 53 genotypes were grouped into 17 clusters and results indicated that Cluster I and Cluster VII comprised with 29 and 9 genotypes respectively. Rest of clusters consisted of one genotype in each case. Variability studies revealed that there was a wide range of variability for all the characters studied. High heritability along with higher genetic advance (as a %age of mean) was found in capsaicin content in fruit, number of fruits per plant, yield per plant and primary branches per plant. These characters may be considered as reliable selection indices as they are possibly governed by additive gene effect. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/sja.v11i1.18387 SAARC J. Agri., 11(1): 91-103 (2013)


THE elevation of the fertilization membrane is the first clear evidence of fertilization in the echinoderm egg. As soon as this membrane has reached its full extension, the hyaline layer appears on the surface of the egg and continues thickening, reaching its full form, 2.4 micra thick, in 15 to 20 minutes at 20? C. These two structures surround the dividing egg, the fertilization membrane serving as a cushion for the early embryo, providing a milieu of coniparative constancy, while the hyaline layer holds the blastoneres together so that, as a result of their divisions, they form a hollow sphere. The following discussion concerns the questions of the origin and nature of the fertilization membrane and of the hyaline layer. In order to throw light on these matters it may be helpful to consider an experiment published some years ago which showed that if the unfertilized eggs are first put into an isosmotic solution of urea or other non-electrolyte and, after a minute or longer, are removed to sean water, they can be fertilized, but no membranes form (Moore 1930). Segmentation occurs in normal fashion, the celldivisions taking place after the same time intervals as in


The effect of 1-MCP on physiological characters of Nanguo pear during storage is investigated.The results show that 1-MCP treatment significantly prevents flesh firmness of Nanguo pear dropping,maintains soluble solids contents,delays ethylene releasing and suppresses peceolase activities.At the same time,1-MCP treatment delays late ripening of Nanguo pear and prlongs storage time of Nanguo pear.


This paper investigates whether firms benefit from expanded voluntary disclosure by examining changes in capital market factors associated with increases in analyst disclosure ratings for 97 firms. The disclosure rating increases are accompanied by increases in sample firms' stock returns, institutional ownership, analyst following, and stock liquidity. These findings persist after controlling for contemporaneous earnings performance and other potentially influential variables, such as risk, growth, and firm size. While it is difficult to draw unambiguous causal conclusions, these results are consistent with disclosure model predictions that expanded disclosure leads investors to revise upward valuations of the sample firms' stocks, increases stock liquidity, and creates additional institutional and analyst interest in the stocks.


In evaluating brands, consumer perceptions are the bottom line. Peter Sackett and Efstathios Kefallonitis note that problems arise from lack of differentiation, too much or confusing information, dysfunctional products and services, uncoordinated brand media, and the failure to temper global approaches with an understanding of local or regional culture. Distinctive, coherent brands depend on attention to detail and a vigilant consumer focus.


In this article, we address the problem of long-term resource allocation for a 5G and beyond dense wireless network. Of particular interest within the considered framework are machine-type communications (MTCs). To establish an optimal operation for an energy-efficient MTC system, the power allocation policy should be designed by taking into consideration both channel and queue states of the devices. This problem formulation belongs to the category of complex stochastic optimization that can be recast as a Markov decision process (MDP) over high-dimensional state space. We circumvent the hurdle inherent to state space of a huge dimension by resorting to mean-field approximation on the MDP. More specifically, we demonstrate that the formulated MDP converges to a deterministic control problem provided that the number of devices approaches infinity. We develop a low-complexity power allocation scheme to efficiently solve the original high-dimensional state space stochastic optimization problem. Our proposed power allocation policy is drawn from the solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation. It can be understood as a threshold-based policy and can be implemented in a decentralized manner that makes it very appealing for high scale networks. Finally, the simulations analyses are provided to establish the effectiveness of our proposed framework.


An image fusion method and apparatus and a terminal device are provided. The method comprises: decomposing a plurality of images to be fused separately to obtain a plurality of layers; calculating the weight values of the pixels in the images in the corresponding layers by using different weight functions according to the degree of exposure of the images and the luminance values of pixels in the images; fusing the pixels of the plurality of images in the same layer by using the calculated weight values to obtain a fused layer corresponding to each layer; generating a corresponding high-dynamic-range picture by using the obtained the fused layer of each layer. The above scheme can improve the image quality obtained by image fusion.


Much of the recent analysis of public goods has arisen from dissatis? faction with Paul Samuelson's distinction between public and private goods, the former being a good "which all enjoy in common in the sense that each individual's consumption of such a good leads to no subtraction from any other individual's consumption of that good." As others soon pointed out,1 many collective consumption goods are subject to crowding and congestion, so that additional users impose costs on current users. It has not been appreciated that, under certain circumstances, population growth may lead to a reduction in supply, or even in the demise, of the public good. This paper discusses this possibility. James Buchanan was among the first to treat congestion in the context of a theory of public goods. In his model, the number of users (n) enters each person's utility function along with the quantity produced. Thus, members of a golf club, in considering the application of a new member, would weigh his congestion cost against his contribution to revenue. Equilibrium would be reached at the point where marginal congestion cost equals marginal revenue. Because the golf club is free to turn down applications, population growth can only benefit current members, assuming that they can raise initiation fees and lower their own dues. When exclusion of would-be users is not possible, however, the possible results are more varied. Another method of interpreting congestion (instead of entering n into each person's utility function) is to picture congestion as a reduc? tion in the amount of the good available for consumption by each person.2 Public goods are usually described by the equations


Abstract Low-fired MgTi0.9Zr0.1O3-xwt%2LiF-B2O3-2Bi2O3 (LBB, 1.0 ≤ x ≤ 9.0) ceramics are fabricated via a conventional solid-state reaction route. The effects of LBB additive on phase composition, sintering behavior and dielectric performance of MgTi0.9Zr0.1O3-based ceramics are researched. Sintered samples displayed a MgTiO3 phase accompanying with Mg2TiO4 and Bi2O3 as the second phase. LBB doping successfully reduced sintering temperature of MgTi0.9Zr0.1O3-based ceramic from 1300 °C to 850 °C. The dielectric property of MgTi0.9Zr0.1O3-LBB systems depended on LBB additive. Typical, MgTi0.90Zr0.10O3-5.5 wt%LBB ceramic exhibited good dielectric property of εr = 18.4, Q × f = 23100 GHz and τf = −52.8 ppm/°C at 900 °C.


Pancreas divisum is a relatively common congenital anomaly of the pancreatic ductal system. During fetal development, the pancreas forms by fusion of the dorsal and ventral pancreatic buds. This is normally accompanied by fusion of the two ductal systems with the creation of a main pancreatic duct (duct of Wirsung), that drains through the major papilla, and a small accessory duct (duct of Santorini) that drains through the minor papilla. In pancreas divisum, the ducts fail to fuse. The result is a short and narrow duct in the head of the pancreas that drains through the major papilla and a much longer (and usually wider) duct that drains most of the pancreatic secretions through the minor papilla. The appearance at retrograde pancreatography when contrast is injected into both the dorsal duct (minor papilla) and ventral duct (major papilla) is shown in Figure 1. In some patients, separation of the ducts is incomplete and, in this setting, contrast may outline the dorsal duct through small channels that communicate with the ventral duct. An example is shown in Figure 2. Pancreas divisum is diagnosed in approximately 4% of patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Although the disorder is usually asymptomatic, a minority of patients (< 5%) can develop relapsing or chronic pancreatitis. This has been attributed to a degree of obstruction to the flow of pancreatic juice through the minor papilla caused by a narrow orifice or sphincter spasm. The hypothesis is supported by histological studies showing features of chronic pancreatitis restricted to the dorsal pancreas and by several clinical reports showing improvement in symptoms after procedures on the minor papilla, such as operative sphincteroplasty, endoscopic sphincterotomy and endoscopic stents. These procedures appear to be more helpful in patients with relapsing pancreatitis than in those with unexplained pain or established chronic pancreatitis.


Experimentally determined reduction of both ohmic and mass transport overpotential due to femtosecond laser-induced surface structuring of titanium-based porous transport layers at the interface to the catalyst layer.


This paper investigates the scheduling problem of independent tasks in market-based grids. The heterogeneity and autonomy of resources in grids  highlight the need for more flexible models and approaches to be exploited in these environments. To address this issue, a two-level market model is presented in this paper to schedule tasks to the grid resources. In the proposed model, users submit their own tasks to a centralized resource manager named meta-scheduler. Meta-scheduler knows general information about each of the administrative domains, dellac sites, existing in the low-level part of the model. Using the information gathered from all of the sites, meta-scheduler selects more suitable sites to execute the tasks with the aim of minimizing the overall cost of tasks execution. In this model, meta-scheduler not only targets the minimization of overall cost of the tasks execution, but also achieves this objective without any presumption about the policies and algorithms implemented in the lower layers of the system which addresses the dynamicity of environment. In addition to the two-level market model, a new task scheduling algorithm called GA-VNS which is an enhanced version of genetic algorithm is presented to be applied in market-based grids. GA-VNS can be used by local schedulers in each site with the policy of cost minimization considering the makespan of the system as a second criterion. The results obtained from performance evaluation of GA-VNS and other well-known algorithms in this context show that GA-VNS outperforms other algorithms in term of the overall cost of tasks execution.  Keywords– Grid environment, scheduling algorithm, local search, execution cost, task deadline. Notations I set of tasks S set of different sites n number of tasks in the environment k number of sites in the environment K maximum number of tasks that may exceed deadline constraints li size of task i Di deadline of task i μ the deadline level of a task Cj processing speed of resource j Pj unit price of resource j pavg average unit price of resources in the system Start(i ,j) start time of task i on resource j α preference of the cost against the time FinishTime finish time Cost execution cost Time execution time TaskMeanComp mean execution time TasksMeanExe mean execution time of all of the tasks on all resources in the system makespan makespan of the entire system Ct overall cost of tasks execution