Electric power system is a backbone of contemporary technical civilization and today's economy. Functioning is not possible without stable, uninterruptable supply of electric energy that is needed both in industry and in most areas of our private lives. According to its importance, electric power system has to be maintained, controlled and protected against possible faults and other abnormal phenomena. The most important parts of every electric power system are electrical rotating machines, especially those involved in the production of electrical energy. Constant increase of the reliability and availability of such machines is of utmost importance. Also, the current practice is to extend periods between planned outages of the machines. Any malfunctions and unnecessary and unplanned outages can cause extensive material damage. The way to alleviate or even prevent such events is implementation of various modes of condition monitoring. One of the problems that can occur in electrical machines are shaft currents and voltages. Due to the asymmetry of the magnetic field in the machine, a voltage in the shaft can be induced, which, depending on the type of machine, its size and load, varies in amplitude and frequency composition. Low impedance of the circuit consisting of shaft, bearing, oil film and other structural components, can cause shaft current flow which leads to bearing destruction. Continuous measurement and analysis of shaft currents and voltages can prevent major faults. Through detailed processing of the measured data the causes of occurrence of shaft currents and voltages can be identified. We have conducted a detailed research on the subject of shaft currents and voltages. Complex FEM (Finite Element Method) models have been developed and used to analyse a number of factors that can affect the occurrence of the shaft currents and voltages. Also, the effect of the harmonic content and signal form of the shaft currents to the occurrence of faults and defects has been researched. Through cooperation with the generator factory, laboratory models of the rotating electrical machines have been used to test the results obtained by FEM calculations and analyses. Based on these researches a system called "Shaft Current and Voltage Protection Relay" (SCVP) was developed, with all the acquired knowledge implemented in it. The main purpose of SCVP is to detect shaft currents and voltages that may damage the generator bearing, and thus prevent greater economic damages. It can be concluded that SCVP system allows improved asset management, by providing insight into machine fault conditions, which can cause major damage and thus major repair costs.


The purpose of this study was the development and testing of a novel method for assessment of white blood cell (WBC) identification skills used in the field of clinical laboratory sciences (CLS). A dual format exam was administered to both novices (students) and experts (laboratory professionals). Format 1 was similar to current assessment formats, simply presenting a series of single WBC images for identification. Format 2 applied principles of visual cognition, grouping WBCs for identification by patient and presenting multiple example images from the patient before requesting identification of individual cells. This novel exam format was intended to: (a) provide a contextualized visual background for single cell identifications, (b) mirror the process of WBC identification used in clinical practice, and (c) promote improved performance on difficult/atypical WBC identifications. Statistical analyses did suggest that expert performance levels were significantly improved by the novel exam presentation format. Novice performance, however, was not significantly altered by exam format. Overall results indicated that the novel exam format invoked experts to implement similarity-based processing, allowing some identifications to be made at the level of the patient case, rather than simply at the feature identification level. Implications of this study include possible alterations to current certification/ proficiency exam formats for questions requiring the visual identification of white blood cells. This study also suggests that using patient image sets as instructional stimuli may encourage the development of advanced cognitive processing skills in students.


Abstract Recently, there has been interest in the problems of disorder in the Ising model in a transverse field, which may apply to DKDP-KDP mixed systems and diluted vanadates. The site and bond diluted transverse Ising models have already been studied using Green's function techniques along with the coherent potential approximation. However, the situation as regards to the existence of a second order phase transition and the divergence of the static susceptibility is not very clear. In the present paper, a spin ½ Ising model in a transverse field and random bond (site) dilution is studied by variational cluster and perturbation expansion method. The critical temperature for the existence of a second order phase transition is calculated as a function of concentration of bonds (spins) and the transverse field. Variation of the critical concentration, for the existence of phase transition, is studied as a function of the transverse field. A phase diagram in the temperature-concentration-transverse field sp...


Objective To investigate the epidemic dynamics of statutory reporting of infectious diseases and to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of general hospital.Methods A total of 11 592 cases with infectious disease first diagnosed were collected from 2008 to 2012 in our hospital,the clinical data were retrospectively analyzed.Results Blood-borne and sexually transmitted diseases,respiratory infectious diseases,intestinal infectious diseases in the different routes of transmission were 2730 cases(23.55%),3129 cases(26.99%),2422 cases(20.89%).The ratio of blood and sexually transmitted diseases was significantly higher than other infectious diseases constitute ratio,the difference was significant(P 0.05).Conclusion Clinical attention should be paid to multiple infectious disease,reduce the incidence of hospital infection,to avoid the occurrence of infectious disease report in the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B,pulmonary tuberculosis and intestinal infectious diseases is the key in the work.


This thesis argues that there exists a social contract between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese people. The contract states that the Communist Party will deliver economic growth and in return the people will not rebel. This relationship is examined through a game theoretical setting. First, I present the basic Acemoglu and Robinson (2000) model and it's main insight; that democratization is a consequence of the elite's inability to commit to future transfers unless they give away de facto power to the people by introducing democracy. This dynamic is fueled by the elite's fear of revolution from the poor. Second, I expand this basic model by using durable investments instead of lump sum transfers. This increases the ability of the elite to commit to redistribution over time, increasing the probability that the elite manage to use investments to prevent democratization, and making it less likely that the elite will choose to repress the populace. The thesis then goes on to present a quick overview of Chinese history, where the main point is to show that China is far behind its potential. It was the worlds leading economy in 1820, and I argue that it was the institutional framework within China, a lack of focus on technology, and Mao's reforms that lead to two 'lost centuries' of growth. This history is important because it affects the perceptions of China's leaders today, and the turmoils of the past have made social stability one of the main goals of Chinese policy, further increasing the likelihood of the existence of a social contract. I then apply the expanded model to the institutional framework of the Chinese state in the period from after the cultural revolution until today, and argue that the expanded model gives a good description of the structure of the social contract between the Communist Party and the citizens. By focusing on investments the CCP increases the productivity of the workers, create economic growth, and promotes social stability. All of this allows the elite to stay in power. The ability of the elite to do this is more prominent within


The invention relates to an inkjet recording material comprising a substrate and an ink receiving layer that is applied on at least one side of said substrate, wherein the ink receiving layer contains an inorganic pigment and an ink fixing agent consisting of at least two substances, wherein the first substance is a polyethylamine epichlorohydrin and the second substance is a polyvalent metal salt. The invention is characterized in that the first substance is a middle molecular weight, branched polyamine-epichlorohydrin condensation product; the ratio of the first substance to the second substance is between 3:1 and 16:1; the pigment accounts for at least 80 percent by weight with a D50 particle size (Malvern) ranging from 4 mu m to 12 mu m and the ratio of the ink fixing agent to the pigment ranges from 1:2 to 1:6. The invention also relates to a method using the novel recording material for recording in accordance with the drop-on-demand inkjet printing method.


We analyze sequential investment decisions in an innovative project that depend on the investor's information about the project failure risk and its potential …nal value. We consider the feedback e¤ects between learning about the project parameters and the continuous adjustment of the investment strategy. Investors decide sequentially about the speed of investment and the optimal degree of involvement. We develop three types of predictions from our theoretical model and test these predictions in a large sample of venture capital investment in the U.S. for the period of 1987-2002. First, the investment ‡ow starts cautiously if the failure risk is high and accelerates as the projects mature. Second, the investment ‡ow reacts positively to information that arrives while the project is developed. We …nd that interim information is more signi…cant for investment decisions than the information prior to the project launch. Third, investors distribute their investments over more funding rounds if the failure risk is larger.


The construction of controlled-potential coulometric equipment is described in which modular electronic units are used. A digital voltmeter is used with the equipment for measuring and integrating the electrolysis current. It is readily adaptable and can be used manually or automatically, with a sample changer and print-out unit.


The invention provides an arrangement structure for a canister of a saddle type vehicle wherein a canister can be arranged closely to a fuel tank to simplify a pipe arrangement structure. A fuel tank disposed forwardly of an engine is structured such that a tank upper half and a tank lower half of a concave shape formed by pressing are joined together at joining flanges. The joining flanges are disposed on a vehicle body such that a front portion thereof is positioned on the upper side. A rear inclined wall which is inclined toward a rear upper direction such that it forms a substantially right angle to the joining flange is provided at a rear portion of the tank lower half. A canister is disposed in a dead space below the rear inclined wall.


list so therc is no misundcrstantling: I do J not bclicvc cconomic policies can makc much of a contribution to psacckccping. Ihring thc ninctcenth century and up to the present there has bcen a tcndcncy to strcss too much the economic factors in international relatiom. Liberal economic theory, from the classical writers on, is in this respect strikingly similar to what wc now idcntify iis the ".liarxist" tradition. It is glibly assumcd in both camps that trade is an important contributor to peaceful rclations on the political level. That trade ant1 economic relations generally worked for peace was an important corollary to the free-track doctrine, and :is a general proposition it now rcccivcs almost universal acclaim. I have IearnecI froin my &rcticaI and political experience as Executive Secretary of thc United Nations Economic Commission for Europe duriiig thc first ten years after its inception in 1947, whcrc thc focus was on trade, particularly East-West trade, and also from my scientific studies before and sincc that time, that therc is an clcmcnt of reason in the forementioncd proposition. h i t that clcment is very small and heavily conditioned. Thc rnuch morc important causal relationships, I belicvc, go in thc 01)posite direction--a low lcvcl of tradc patterns rcflccts political conditions that are not favorable for peace. As I have often had occasion to strcss, politics is sovcreign. For example, political divisions bctwecn states, cven when thcy are most "unnatural" barriers to trade and othcr economic relations, in timc bccomc "natural"; on both sides, thc economics adjust themselves to political fact. &g citics such as Jenisalem or Berlin can be brutal@ divided by political dcmarcations of walls or zones of no-man's land.


Background: Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) are a heterogeneous group of diseases with aggressive behavior and inferior outcomes as compared to B-cell lymphomas. We report the outcomes from a single center over a period of 18 years. Methods: The baseline clinical features, pathological subtypes, and prognostic factors of all patients with PTCL treated at our center between January 2000 and December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method and prognostic factors were compared using the log-rank test. Results: During the study period, 144 patients (2–74 years) were diagnosed with PTCL. Male patients were 101 (70%) and females were 43 (30%). Mean age at diagnosis was 43.5 years (20–74 years) for adults (≥ ≥18 years). Of the 144 patients, 42 (29%) had limited stage (Stage I/II) and 102 (71%) had advanced-stage disease (III/IV). The most common histological diagnosis was PTCL-not otherwise specified observed in 61 patients (42.4%) followed by anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) in 65 patients (45.2%). The median duration of follow-up was 70.5 months (range, 1–218 months). Five-year OS and EFS for the entire population were 55% and 33%, respectively. Patients with limited stage had better survival when compared to those with advanced disease. Five-year EFS was 52% versus 25% (P = 0.006) and 5-year OS was 70% versus 47% (P = 0.02) in limited and advanced stage, respectively. Patients with PTCL, anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive ALCL and ALK-negative ALCL had 5-year EFS and OS of 20% and 38%, 46% and 76%, 43% and 76%, respectively (P value for EFS = 0.009 and OS < 0.001). Conclusion: Majority of patients with PTCL at our center presented with advanced-stage disease. Outcomes of patients with ALCL are better than those diagnosed with other subtypes of PTCL.


Many Japanese chemical material based companies supply various kinds of digital materials for high technology based industries, like semiconductor. Their market shares are over 50% in global. That is one of the hidden strongest industries in Japan. There are big expectations for high-tech start-up companies for play innovative roles at the cutting edge of high technology based industries; semiconductor, display, solar cell, etc. On the contrary, there is not enough study of digital material based start-up companies from new material development point of view. In this paper, I could report a case study of chemical material based Start-up Company and propose revised business model based on the cube model which was presented in 2007 PICMET.


Currently, smartphones and tablets offer a wide range of functionalities, such as Web browsing, social networking, as well as using banking applications. This has resulted in s constant increase in popularity of mobile devices connected to the Internet 24/7. In the 2nd quarter of 2015, the Android operating system has dominated the market with an 82.8% share, which makes it the most widespread mobile operating system in the world. However, this popularity is double-edged, including both users and botnet creators. The research papers "Android Botnets on the Rise: Trends and Characteristics and How Can Botnets Cause Storms?" as well as "Understanding the Evolution and Impact of Mobile Botnets" imply urgent need for additional research into this field. Therefore, the research described by this article includes not only a theoretical study into the ways of delivering the botnet command and essential botnet knowledge based on published research, but also provides a practical investigation into the ways of infecting smartphones and tablets with botnet clients (bots). Special tools have been developed for performing certain malicious actions enabling real testing of safety mechanisms of the Google Play. These tools have also been used in combination with other useful techniques such as social engineering and deceitful actions trying to get users to unintentional cooperation. Finally, some challenging results and security vulnerabilities have been raised by the research. KeywordsAndroid permission analysis; bot (client of botnet); bot dissemination, C&C server; Google Play; mobile


Purpose

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to introduce the concept of customer experience management (CEM) as a supportive construct in customer loyalty building. In support of Smith and Wheeler (2002) stance, Cronin (2003) argued that organizations should deviate from outdated quality → value → satisfaction → loyalty paradigm to a modern and more flexible paradigm for loyalty building.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses an archival survey of the extant literature to confirm or debunk the position of CEM protagonists within the context of the health-care sector of developing countries, especially Nigeria.

Findings

This paper presents a new conceptualization on CEM that includes three dimensions of CEM (functional clues, mechanic clues and humanic clues) on customer loyalty in the health-care sector of Nigeria. Therefore, when a health-care organization consciously and effectively makes CEM a strategic priority, it largely leaves a long-lasting impression in the mind of the customers, which invariably retain and build customer loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

The authors emphasized the importance of how CEM can be used to build loyalty and the need to properly adapt CEM approach in an extremely sensitive service sector, i.e. the health-care sector in developing countries, especially Nigeria. The recommended framework initiates fresh streams of researches for the concept to be carried out empirically in developing countries.

Practical implications

To retain and build customer loyalty, particularly in the health-care sector of Nigeria, health-care organizations need to understand and adopt CEM clues so as to keep customers loyal in an extremely sensitive service sector.

Originality/value

Although there are studies on CEM and customer loyalty in the health-care sector of developed countries, research on CEM is very limited in developing countries such as Nigeria. By contributing to the body of knowledge in this area, this research adds significant value. Moreover, the research gives important information on the Nigerian health-care sector, which probably new to several readers.


Dysmenorrhoea, or painful menstruation, comes from the Greek meaning difficult monthly flow. It is one of the commonest gynaecological complaints, experienced to some degree by 60–75% of women (Llewellyn-Jones, 1990), and more than half of adolescent girls report analgesic use (Nafstad et al, 1993).


Meat ranks among one of the most significant, nutritious and favored food item available to masses, which aids in fulfilling most of their body requirements. It has played a vital role in human evolution and is an imperative constituent of a well-balanced diet. It is a good source of proteins, zinc, iron, selenium, and phosphorus followed by vitamin A and B-complex vitamins. Average value of meat protein is about 23% that varies from higher to lower value according to the type of meat source. Meat fat and its fatty acid profile is point to worry, with respect to its consumption, but its moderate usage is always advised by doctors and nutritionists, in order to lead a healthy life. Fat content of animal carcasses ranges between 8 and 20%. Quality traits of meat along with its nutritional composition become dependent upon animal breed type, feeding source (grains, pasture and grass), genetics of animal and post mortem techniques. This chapter will mainly focus on the variant aspects of nutritional constituents of meat including proteins and essential amino acids, fats and fatty acid profile, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals along with their health benefits to human health.


Manufacturing processes in the nanoscale era are less and less reliable thus leading to lower and lower yield. In this paper we investigate the usage of TMR architectures for logic cores to increase SoC yield.


Numerical simulation of shipborne HF antennas involves some difficulties due to: 1. The ill-conditioned nature of the Electric Field Integral Equation (EFIE) discretized by the Method of Moments (MoM) [1] at low frequencies("low-frequency breakdown"). 2. The different scaling between the antenna fine mesh and the ship surface coarse mesh produce two separated and highly unbalanced groups of eigenvalues, that further increase the linear system condition number.


Comprising a plurality of motor-driven pump to be operated in parallel as Omoyu pump, even if at least one of the main oil pump is stopped, the main oil pump in other normal operation never reaches the stop by overload of the motor It proposes a lubricating oil system. Lubricant system 7 includes a hydraulic pipe 9, a plurality of lubricating oil pump 10 disposed in parallel, a plurality of AC electric motor 11 which drives the lubricating oil pump 10, respectively, the presence or absence of abnormal operating conditions of the AC motor 11 an abnormality detection unit 24 for detecting the, if the pressure loss adding unit 25 that is configured to be able to increase the pressure loss in the hydraulic pipe 9, an abnormality in at least one of the AC motor 11 by the abnormality detection unit 24 is detected includes a control unit 26 for increasing the pressure loss of the pressure loss adding section 25, the. Lubricant system 7, when at least one abnormality of the AC motor 11 is generated, is changed to the low flow rate side than the normal operation of the operating point of the lubricating oil pump 10 driven by the other of the AC motor 11.


The paper deals with four taxa of the family Araceae as new records for Bangladesh, namely, Aglaonema commutatum Schott, A. marantifolium Blume, Colocasia mannii Hook. f. and Remusatia vivipara (Roxb.) Schott. An up-dated nomenclature, important synonyms, illustrated description, flowering and fruiting times, specimen citation, ecology and geographical distribution for each species have also been given. Key words Four new records, Araceae, Bangladesh DOI: 10.3329/bjpt.v12i2.601 Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 12(2): 39-48, 2005 (December)


The invention a terminal service providing method and device, a terminal service acquiring method and device, as well as a terminal, and aims to solve the problem that a conventional service providing end cannot directly and automatically provide service for an idle cellphone, so that resources of the idle cellphone are wasted. The terminal service acquiring method comprises the following steps of sending a service request for requesting automatically providing reservation service to the service providing end; acquiring authorizing request information returned by the service providing end according to the service request; according to the authorizing request information, generating service providing end authorization codes, and sending the service providing end authorization codes to the service providing end; receiving an operation command provided by the service providing end according to the service providing end authorization codes; and operating service specified by the operation command. Through the adoption of the obtaining method of terminal service disclosed by the invention, the problem that a conventional service providing end cannot directly and automatically provide service for the idle cellphone, so that the resources of the idle cellphone are wasted is effectively solved.


From 2013 among 7 districts with different vulnerability to disaster, we conducted a questionnaire survey concerning how people maintain their traditional wooden houses and compared the result with the disaster measures of the areas. Following results are obtained. 1) taken because of and inheritance


This article explores how bias crimes differ from parallel crimes and why this distinction makes a crucial difference in our criminal law. Bias crimes differ from parallel crimes as a matter of both the resulting harm and the mental state of the offender. The nature of the injury sustained by the immediate victim of a bias crime exceeds the harm caused by a parallel crime. Moreover, bias crimes inflict a palpable harm on the broader target community of the crime as well as on society at large. The distinction between bias crimes and parallel crimes also concerns the perpetrator's state of mind and, specifically, his bias motivation toward his victim. Bias motivation is an essential element of criminal liability and the greater level of harm caused warrants their enhanced punishment. The punishment of an individual offender for the commission of a bias crime, however, is warranted by the state of mind with which he acts. Part I of this article discusses the differences between bias crimes and parallel crimes and explores the distinctiveness of perpetrators and victims of bias crimes along with the impact of bias crimes beyond that on the immediate victim. After establishing a typology of positive bias crime law, the author discusses the outward manifestations of these crimes. Part II demonstrates that bias crimes ought to be punished more severely than parallel crimes. Part III considers the aspects of bias crimes that are relevant in the punishment of an individual offender. Whereas the harm caused by bias crimes generally justifies the enhanced punishment of these crimes, the resulting harm to a particular victim does not, in and of itself, warrant the enhanced punishment of the perpetrator. Bias motivation of the perpetrator, and not necessarily the resulting harm to the victim, is the critical factor in determining an individual's guilt for a bias crime. The author concludes that the discriminatory selection model of bias crimes is an insufficient theory of bias crime, whereas the racial animus model offers a far richer theory. Discriminatory selection of a victim may often provide important evidence of racial animus, and in some instances even fully persuasive evidence. But selection ought to play the role of proof for animus and not the greater role of element for guilt.


In order to ensure that the Wireless Sensor Network( WSN) delay requirements while minimizing power consumption, a sensor network queue management algorithm based on duty cycle control and delay guarantees( DQC) was proposed. According to changing network conditions, in order to better control node duty cycle and queue thresholds, a twoway controller was used. The controller provided a delay notification mechanism to determine an appropriate sleep time and queue length for each node based on application requirement and time-varying delay requirement. And the stability of the state of two-way controller was derived based on control theory to obtain a condition of the control parameters for guaranteeing asymptotically stable steady state. Simulation results show that compared with the algorithm based on adaptive duty cycle control and performance improvement queue-based congestion management mechanism, the proposed algorithm shortened endto-end delay of time period by 38. 8% and 36. 0%, reduces the average power consumption by 46. 5 m W and 27. 5 m W. It show better performances on the control of delay time and energy efficiency.


The discovery of new eutectic phase change materials (PCMs) will overcome the current PCM challenges such as nonbiodegradability, super‐cooling, and limited thermal stability. This paper reports on the development of new bio‐based PCMs composed of binary mixtures of fatty acid esters and fatty alcohols at their eutectic compositions, which provide potential solid‐liquid PCMs for building applications. Six binary systems, namely 1‐dodecanol (DD) + methyl stearate (MES), DD + methyl palmitate (MEP), DD + methyl laurate (MEL), 1‐tetradecanol (TD) + MES, TD + MEP, and TD + MEL were prepared and their thermal behaviours were deliberated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), long‐term thermal stability test, and mass loss analysis. Amongst the studied systems, phase change transition temperature and latent heat of fusion of the eutectic mixtures of DD‐MES, DD‐MEP, TD‐MES, and TD‐MEP were found to be suitable for the building application with values of 22.46°C/201.91 J/g, 20.34°C/224.45 J/g, 32.05°C/209.38 J/g, and 26.72°C/210.15 J/g, respectively. The average degree of super‐cooling for all PCMs was below 2°C, and no significant changes in thermophysical properties of the developed PCMs were observed after 1000 thermal cycles.


This paper presents research on riverbank deformations of the Glubokiy Sabun River in 2003-2011. The research findings show deformations in 5 out of 6 areas, with maximum in the 5th area of the second river station 0,5 meters per year, which resulted in an average for the area of 0,25 meters per year. Compared to the total average in 2010 0,3 meters per year, the rate for 2011 equals 0,07 meters per year. That outcome proves that in 2011 the streamflow caused a lower level of riverbank erosion.


Background: Nigella Sativa (NS) has been used to treat a number of medical conditions, including those affecting the cardiovascular disease. Objective: This study aims to find out the effects of NS on patients with stage 1 hypertension and the other effects on lipid profile, blood sugar and some anthropometric indicators. Method: In a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. Twenty patients were divided into two groups; the NS group consisting of 10 patients receiving 1000 mg of powdered NS twice a day and the control group receiving the same doses of placebo. Result: After a 50-day-treatment systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in NS group significantly decreased (p < 0.005 and p < 0,04) compared to the baseline. Meanwhile, in the control group, the decrease of SBP and DBP was not significant (p = 0.20 and p = 0.4). The decrease of SBP in NS group was significant (p = 0,03) while the DBP was not significant (p = 0,06) compare to placebo group. In the NS group the HDL-C increased significantly (p < 0,00), so that there was a tendency to reduce LDL/HDL-C ratio and cholesterol/LDL-C ratio compared with the baseline. No difference in the body mass index, and waist circumferance in both groups. Conclusion: NS effectively lowering blood pressure in stage 1 hypertension.


Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product. It provides shared resources, software, and information to computers and other devices over a network. The increasing network bandwidth and reliable yet flexible network connections make it even possible that users can now subscribe high quality services from data and software that reside solely on remote data centres. We can store and retrieve the data as we like using cloud computing. The cloud computing paradigm changes the way in which information is managed, especially where personal data processing is concerned. End-users can access cloud services without the need for any expert knowledge of the underlying technology. This is a key characteristic of cloud computing, which offers the advantage of reducing cost through the sharing of computing and storage resources, combined with an on-demand provisioning mechanism based on a pay-per-use business model. These new features have a direct impact on the IT budget and cost of ownership, but also bring up issues of traditional security, trust and privacy mechanisms.Privacy, in this Article, refers to the right to self-determination, that is, the right of individuals to 'know what is known about them', be aware of stored information about them, control how that information is communicated and prevent its abuse. In other words, it refers to more than just confidentiality of information. Protection of personal information (or data protection) derives from the right to privacy via the associated right to self-determination. Every individual has the right to control his or her own data, whether private, public or professional. Privacy issues are increasingly important in the online world. It is generally accepted that due consideration of privacy issues promotes user confidence and economic development. However, the secure release, management and control of personal information into the cloud represent a huge challenge for all stakeholders, involving pressures both legal and commercial. This study analyses the challenges posed by cloud computing and the standardization work being done by various standards development organizations (SDOs) to mitigate privacy risks in the cloud, including the role of privacy- enhancing technologies (PETs).


We quantify the influence of teacher assignment on student test scores at the high-stakes grade twelve examination in state-run schools in Delhi, India. We find that being assigned to a one standard deviation better than average teacher moves a student at the middle of the achievement distribution to the 72 percentile. The impact size is much higher than documented in existing literature, indicating that teachers play a much bigger role in the context we study. Consistent with earlier studies, standard observable characteristics such educational qualifications are unable to predict an effective teacher. For the first time we examine whether personality traits matter, and find that 'Openness', as opposed to being closed to experiences, positively correlates with a high quality teacher. * Deepti Goel (email@example.com) is an Assistant Professor at the Delhi School of Economics, and Bidisha Barooah (email@example.com) is an Evaluation specialist at 3ie: International Initiative for Impact Evaluation. The authors are grateful to IGC for financial support for this study.


We give explicit forms of the crystal bases B(λ) for the integrable highest weight modules of the quantum affine algebras for A2n(2), A2n−1(2), Bn(1), Cn(1), and Dn+1(2).We give explicit forms of the crystal bases B(λ) for the integrable highest weight modules of the quantum affine algebras for A2n(2), A2n−1(2), Bn(1), Cn(1), and Dn+1(2).


The total optical absorption in mammalian tissues is measured at 633 nm by using heterodyne detection which permits us to detect coherent photons after attenuation by more than 10 optical densities. In order to understand what kind of photons are coherently detected after passing through mammalian tissues of significant thickness (from 2 to 4 mm), we measured attenuation under linearly and circularly polarized illumination. Both polarizations are similarly transmitted through homogeneous tissues such as liver and muscle. Results are identical to those obtained in previous experiments without polarizer.


Handling a communitys waste streams can be one of the greatest challenges faced by urban planners and engineers. Many urban areas are finding geographic information systems (GIS) to be an important tool to reduce costs of installation, expansion, and maintenance of stormwater and waste management systems. This chapter is divided into two section. The first section focuses on methods of GIS utilization in stormwater and wastewater system administration and includes applications for maintenance, hydrologic modeling, flood control, and stormwater quality. The second section considers GIS applications in solid and hazardous waste management. GIS uses for managing a landfill from sitting through closure is the primary focus, since a portion of solid and hazardous wastes from almost all communities ends up in a landfill. For hazardous waste, meeting RCRA, CERCLA, and NEPA regulations is also addressed, along with a new emphasis on environmental legislation.


In reality, it is desired to reliably detect unauthorized entries for prohibited areas such as teleoperated high voltage power substations. To this end, this paper presents a vision based people detection method in power substations. More than 42,000 images were collected from the COCO dataset, Youtube and a real 220kV power substation for training models. Deep learning models EfficientDet-D1 and YOLOv5-m were employed for transfer learning. Experimental results show that the EfficientDet-D1 and YOLOv5-m can recognize people in 220kV power substations with mAP of 63.2% and 88.6%, respectively.


Objective To analyze the outcomes of lobectomy in a cohort of 56 patients with thoracoscopic and Muscle-Sparing thoracotomy(MST). Methods The 56 nonrandomized cases were divided into two groups, 20 of them undergoing video-assisted minithoracotomy( VAMT) lobectomy and 36 undergoing MST lobectomy; and the clinical results were compared. Results No perioperative mortality no significant difference in severe postoperative complications and average length of hospitalization were revealed between the two groups. But the duration of operation in VAMT(150 minutes) was longer than that of MST(90 minutes, P 0.01). Conclusion VAMT and MST are both safe and feasible for lobectomy with VAMT more appropriately for early lung cancer and MST suitable for almost all cases of lung cancer with surgical indication.


The methodology for forecasting the sustainable development of the economy in the context of integrating economies into the world economy is presented in the paper. An essential element of forecasting is strategic modeling of innovative development, diversification of activities within municipalities and regions, and also within vertically integrated structures. Strategies and scenario modeling should meet the principles of increasing standards of economic sustainability for the population. Forecasting, transdisciplinary approach and scenario modeling require the ranking of business development factors; allow identifying industries with greater added value, thereby directing the efforts of small, medium or large businesses to develop certain innovative technologies for results orientation and economic security of the regions and territories.


OBJECTIVE
To determine prevalence and type of obesity; and, secondarily, to determine the prevalence of factors of cardiovascular risk in obese patients.

DESIGN
Descriptive observational study.

SETTING
Catchment area of an urban Health Centre.

PARTICIPANTS
People over 14 and of both sexes registered at the Health Centre.

INTERVENTIONS
270 people were contacted, of whom 191 (70.7%) were finally studied for weight, size and Quetelet index. When this index was 25 or over, the waist/hip index was studied.

RESULTS
The prevalence of obesity for the whole population registered at the Health Centre was 13.5% (15.4% in men, 12.1% in women). Prevalence increased with age, and was highest for both sexes in the 65-74 age-group (28%). The type of obesity prevalence has resulted 84.6% for android type and 15.3% for gynecoid.

CONCLUSIONS
Obesity is a first-order problem, not only because of its high prevalence and the greater frequency of the male type, but because of the high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in obese people.


OBJECTIVE:To establish an HPLC method for determination of major component and related peptide in eptifibatide injection.METHODS:The determination was performed on AichromBond-AQ C18 column with column temperature at 25 ℃ and flow rate of 1.0 mL·min-1.The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-water(0.13% trifluoroacetic acid).The detection wavelength was set at 220 nm and injection volume was 20 μL.RESULTS:The linear range was 75.2~1 203.6 μg·mL-1(r=0.9999) with mean recovery of 99.73%~99.95% (RSD=0.26%).CONCLUSION:The method is simple and rapid and it is applicable for determination of major component and related peptide in eptifibatide injection.


Drone-based remote sensing has a great potential for spatial diagnostics of crops and soils in the information-based agricultural management (smart farming). This paper reports an advanced drone-based remote sensing system, integrated data processing, algorithms, and applications to smart farming. The system is equipped with higher-performance drone and three imaging modules, i.e., multispectral, thermal, and visible video imagers. The algorithms for diagnostic information derived from hyperspectral and thermal data were validated with drone-based sensing data. 3D models were also derived semi-automatically from the spectral, thermal, and video imagery. Drone-based remote sensing would be useful for timely and efficient acquisition of diagnostic information for smart faming.


This article refers to two moments in the history of La Toma, an afro- descendant community located in the mountains of the Colombian southwest, each of which expresses a civilizational project and particular form of government. The first is the moment of evangelization that took place with the Jesuit missionary presence in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The second is associated with economic development initiatives in the second half of the twentieth century, which establish a forced connection between the inhabitants of this region and the agro industrial economy of the geographical valley of the Cauca River. Both projects have been based on extractivist economies (gold mining and intensive


We examine whether Chinese only child and child with siblings, having similar ability as well as similar risk and social preferences, differ in their selection into a competitive environment. Participants in a laboratory experiment solve a real task, first under a non-competitive piece rate and then a competitive tournament incentive scheme. We find a significant differential sorting behavior into tournament between only child and child with siblings, even after controlling for gender, ability, risk attitude, social preference and other individual characteristics. Only child tends to underestimate her winning chances and is shy away from competition. But as only child get more confident, she will more embrace competition than her comparatively equivalent counterpart.


We present a room temperature single photon source based on a color center in hexagonal boron nitride for satellite-based quantum networks. The resonator-coupled emitter is characterized by a narrowband tuneable spectrum, high photon purity, and high quantum efficiency. The photon source is currently integrated on a 3U CubeSat to qualify it for use in a future satellite-based global quantum-encrypted network. The satellite also performs a fundamental test of quantum gravity.


Some days you wish you had stayed in bed with a book rather than face the world. I arrived at work this morning feeling quite emotional and could not decide whether I wanted to shout at the radio (again) or weep at another example of bad press for nurses. Radio 4 is running a campaign looking at care provision for elderly people. Give them their due, there was a couple of positive points but there was an horrific narration of a daughter watching her elderly mother being hoisted and a soiled, disintegrating pad on which she had been sitting for 12 hours, falling from her bottom. Hoists are very necessary to ensure safety of staff and patients but I am sure we can all picture the scene and appreciate that not everyone takes account of patient position, understanding and comfort. The indignity and misery was hard to bear as a listener and a million times worse for the woman and her family. What must the public think?


This paper considers the problem of designing the edge weights of directed graphs such that their Laplacian matrix has a prescribed spectrum. We provide a parametrization of the Laplacian matrix which is suitable for solving the problem numerically. We show how the edge weights can be further optimized to achieve secondary design goals and give an application example by designing the communication topology of a multi-agent system. Besides the general case of graphs with arbitrarily many vertices, we consider some special cases for small graphs and provide deeper insight into the solution to the problem in these cases.


To provide a intravaginal device having at least one fluid transport element in fluid storage element and the fluid storage element in fluid communication with. A least one fluid transport element has a second plate coupled to the first plate and the first plate. The second plate has a first surface that is held together are arranged in relation opposite the inwardly directed was the surface of the first plate, and in the opposite side of the surface. The second plate sufficient to provide a capillary action between the plates, can be away from the first plate. At least one fluid transport element is bendable substantially parallel axes about the longitudinal axis of the fluid storage element. The present invention also includes a method and apparatus useful in the preparation of the intravaginal device. .The 11


The phenomenal mathematical efficiency of quantum field theories in modern high-speed information and communication systems has a very simple explanation from the point of view of common sense and higher mathematical logic: all of them – quantum cosmology, quantum physics, quantum metrics and quantum calculus – are the self-informational mathematical systems based on symbolic and numerical functional analysis and elementary recursive calculations of interrelated space and time parameters of matter motion in various states of the material environment. For the first time in scientific and engineering practice, it was clearly shown that the information entropy of both standard symbolic and non-standard numerical functional analysis has absolute exact limits of computational accuracy – 1/10^16 and 1/10^64, respectively. Moreover, the second limit determines the maximum level of accuracy of practical quantum metrics and calculations and fully coordinates four branches of classical physics – thermodynamics, electrodynamics, gravidynamics, chromodynamics with special and general relativity. INTRODUCTION To estimate the absolute parameters of the motion of various material particles at various states of the material medium, it is necessary both symbolically and numerically to describe all possible trajectories of motion of a ball of radius [e/2] inside a ball of radius [pi/2] or, which is the same, to imagine physically and to describe mathematically a spider web matrix by direct analogy with the Heisenberg uncertainty relation [P] = 2*pi*[R], where the dispersion matrix of partial perimeters [P] is direct analog of Planck's units [h] dispersion, and the dispersion matrix of partial radius-vectors [R] is direct analog of Dirac's units [h-bar] dispersion [R] = 1+2/100*(e+[A]*(1+Sqrt(2*pi*e)/10))) is spider web matrix of relative radius-vectors, [A] = (100*([R]-1)/2-e)/(1+Sqrt(2*pi*e)/10) is spider web matrix of relative eccentricity. As it turned out, [1] [14], only two of the above-mentioned interrelated equations, both of which contain the Gaussian argument of the informational entropy of the normal distribution Sqrt (2*pi*e), are sufficient to fully describe the functional relationship of the transcendental numbers "pi" and "e" with one, two, three or four decimal digits "a", "b", "c", "d" randomly selected from the full decimal alphabet [0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9], and the following formula in symbolic notation with a numerical decimal result [73*137] is always absolutely correct for the calculation of cosmological time, with the exception of only one combination [0000] as arithmetically meaningless: abcdabcd / abcd = 73*137. In fact, this simple formula was deeply hidden in the anthropic logic of measuring and counting periods of time – in the ancient sundial and lunar clocks, in medieval mechanical and modern atomic clocks, in Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 27 November 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0699.v1 © 2020 by the author(s). Distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY license. the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and still remains hidden in the Wien's equation of blackbody irradiation L*T = [h]/2/ pi*C/[k]/Root{X*e^X/(e^X-1) = 5}, where L, T, C – instantaneous wavelength, temperature, rotational speed and [h], [k] are the dispersion matrices of Planck and Boltzmann, respectively. The intrinsic dependence of wavelength of blackbody irradiation from transcendental number "e" was missed by S. Hawking and R. Penrose in their investigation of "black holes" of Universe. The anthropic year according to the Julian calendar is 365.25 days, but according to the Gregorian calendar it is 365.2425 days, the usual solar year is 365 days, the usual lunar year is 364 = 13*28 days, our usual calendar year has 365 days, but periodically it has 366 days. The most accurate unit of absolute cosmological time is the Gregorian one, because it gives an error of 1 day in 20 thousand years. The same calculation error (read – informational entropy) is inherent in the above formula for counting absolute time in the decimal positional system of calculation. INFORMATIONAL ENTROPY OF SPACETIME CALCULUS Any real process of measuring and calculating spatial gradients and time intervals can be carried out exclusively in numerical form, when the basis of the metric and computational systems is a finite set of rational numbers, since irrational numbers can never be completely written into the computer memory. On the other hand, the symbolic functional analysis of Euler that currently prevails in contemporary mathematical physics is based on virtual numeric symbols, such as infinite transcendental numbers "pi", "e", and the imaginary square root "j" of the number "Minus One": e^(j*pi) = j^2 or equivalently e^(j*pi)+1 = Zero – the final result of symbolic functional analysis by Euler. Any modern computer with engineering data processing can show that any finite records of irrational numbers can never give the final result "Absolute Zero", because any finite series of recursive arithmetic operations of root extraction from any natural number N or from its inverse 1/N can never give the final result "Exactly One", the results will always be [1.00000000 ... x] or [0.99999999 ... x] with inevitable informational entropy "x", which, nevertheless, can be exactly calculated for any N. It was detected that the weighted average center of computational entropy of numeric functional analysis is distributed within the web matrix field [A] very near, above and under, the unique point A1 = 1/137 of the multimirror and circle center symmetry of inverse natural set: e^(j*pi) = 1/[A]/10^57 – the final result of numeric functional analysis by Gauss. A = 137 = Lim{1/Sum[729927/10*(8*N)]}, from N = 1 to N = Infinity. Ln(pi}+59*Ln(10) = 136.9972503724980956 Ln(e^137) = 137*Ln(e) = 137.0000000000000000... Ln(Sqrt(10))+59*Ln(10) = 137.0038130331457184. The "magic" properties of number 137 were first demonstrated by A. Sommerfeld. Later A. Eddington, M. Born, P. Dirac, R. Feynman and many others deeply discussed this as the so-called "mystery of 137", but in fact the only the secret here is that the relation A1 = 10^0/137 is the first hyperbolic point of the infinitely periodic and of multiple mirror symmetry of decimal fractions 10^N/137. For example: 10^64/137/10^64 = [0.0072992700729927007299270072992700729927007299270072992700729927]. Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 27 November 2020 doi:10.20944/preprints202011.0699.v1


Trichoderma koningi Oudemans (3.2064), a cellulose-decomposing fungus isolated from rotten corn kernel, has been screened from more than 100 strains of fungi belonging to the genera of Trichoderma, Chaetomium, Stachybotrys and Myrothecium. Attempts have been made to study the physiology of T. koningi with reference to its practical application to the fermentation of industrial and agricultural by-products as well as wild plant materials. The results were obtained as follows. The decomposition ratio of straw cellulose by T. koningi was 32% and 50% for 3 days and 9 days respectively. The saccharifying ability of the fungus on wheat straw is rather high and the reducing sugar was determined to be 29 mg./gr, per hour. Evidences have been obtained to show that T. koningi may produce antibiotics resembling viridin and gliotoxin, both in liquid medium and mycelia. Such Trichodermafeeds are non-poisonous or harmless when fed to animals after boiling. Mycelial growth has been found to occur between 15—40℃, and to cease at 10℃ and 45℃, the temperature for the most rapid mycelial growth being about 36℃. Under the conditions in forage fermentation, the accumulative temperatures for spore germination, mycelial development and sporulation have been found to be 61, 153 and 380 hourdegree (C.) respectively. The relative humidity most favorable for mycelial growth is 98%, and the growth ceases when the relative humidity is below 92%. The pH range favorable for mycelial growth on liquid medium is from 4.0 to 7.5, the optimum being about pH 6.0, and no growth occurs at pH 2.5 and pH 9.0. T. koningi is capable of utilizing d(+)mannose, d(+)glucose, d(+)xylose, cellubiose, dextrin, maltose, fructosan and fructose; glycerin, fumaric acid, puruvic acid and d(+) galactose rank next in utility; soluble starch, d(-)arabinose, d(-)erythrose, lactose, sucrose, raffinose, d(-)ribose, dihydroxyacetone, agar-agar and L-rhamnose are poor carbon sources for this microorganism. Among these compounds, fructosan and sucrose are very effective for sporulation. The fungus is capable of utilizing both organic and inorganic sources of nitrogen, but the former seems to be better for assimilation. Among amino acids, L-glutamic acid and L-tryptophan are the most favorable for mycelial growth, on the contrary, the aromatic acids and the amino acid containing sulphur are least assimilable as nitrogen sources for this fungus. L-Glutamic acid, asparagin and DL-valine are the most favorable for spore production.


In this paper, we shall investigate the hypoellipticity for a class of degenerate equations of the second order with complex coefficients as a direct extension of the results obtained in [8]. As is well known, the satisfactory general results about hypoellipticity of real operators of the second order have been obtained in [3] and [9], where the assumption that the operators are real plays a crucial role and our aim of this paper is to study the operators with complex coefficients. Our method may be considered as a generalization of the usual variational method replacing the Gårding inequality by the estimate (2.15), (cf. [3], [5]).


This study focuses on the quality of water at Bosso Lake during the rainy season months of August to October. Water samples collected each month were examined for their physiochemical and bacteriological attributes. All the samples were obtained during the peak of the rainy season while traits such as nitrate concentration, pH values, total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness, iron concentration, suspended solids, calcium hardness, total coliform count and Escherichia coli were analyzed. The results showed variations in concentration of the parameters with respect to rainfall intensity and frequency. Although, results indicate that most of the physiochemical parameters were within the acceptable range of the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality nevertheless the high concentration of pathogens in the raw water renders it non-potable.

 Key words: Raw water, Bosso Lake, water quality, physico-chemical, coliform.


The classification and inheritance of rice starch RVA profiles were studied by testing RVA profiles of clonally propagated F 2 population and some varieties. The results were listed as follows: (1) All the RVA profiles of accessions could be divided into six types: A, B, C, D, E, F. Feature profiles of waxy variety was Type A. Indica variety′s profiles could be presented as B, C, D, E and F types and japonica variety′s feature profiles included D, E and F types. (2) RVA profiles of rice varied with apparent amylose content(AAC), but the difference for RVA also could be detected in the varieties with similar AAC. As to the varieties with low or middle AAC, their RVA profiles characteristics could be used as indexes to evaluate their eating quality. (3)RVA profiles of four hybrid combinations had the same aspects, except peak viscosity and pasting temperature of F 1 , the components index of RVA profiles characteristics of F 1 were between those of its parents. So the improvement of the quality of hybrid rice need the improvement of the CMS line and the restorer line together. (4)In clonally propagated F 2 population, all the characteristics of the RVA profiles exhibited continuous segregation. Peak viscosity was a typical quantitative character, while hot paste viscosity, cool paste viscosity, breakdown, setback and consistence, each might be controlled by a major gene and several minor genes.


Abstract Chordoma is a rare tumor and while SMARCB1 alterations have been observed in poorly differentiated chordomas, conventional chordomas are not well understood. We interrogated nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of 11 chordoma samples from 7 children. Frozen tumor tissue DNA was extracted and whole exome libraries generated using Agilent SureSelect Human All Exon V6 kit plus mtDNA genome capture kit. Libraries were sequenced using Illumina Nextseq 500. MuTect2, VarDict and LUBA variant callers were used with allele frequency cutoff 2%. Potential germline variants were filtered bioinformatically. In total, 656±74 high-confidence somatic variants, including 368±43 nonsynonymous variants per sample were detected. Of 2,607 combined unique nonsynonymous variants, 95% were missense. Remaining high impact variants were frameshift (37%), stop gain (39%), splice acceptor/donor (22%), start and stop loss (2%). Of the unique nonsynonymous variants, 137 fall within Cosmic Cancer Census Genes, including high impact variants in SETD2, MLLT4. No previously reported TBXT, CDKN2A, PI3K, LYST mutations identified. Tumor Mutation Burden/Megabase was 10±1. The mitochondrial analysis revealed heteroplasmic m.11727C>T MT-ND4 missense variants in three tumors resected at different time points from the same patient, and another heteroplasmic m.1023C>T rRNA mutation from the primary and recurrent tumors of another patient. Intriguingly, two Children's Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium patients with chordoma had identical heteroplasmic m.10971G>A MT-ND4 nonsense mutations. Pediatric chordomas appear to lack somatic nuclear mutations. Observing recurrent mitochondrial mutations across multiple tumors from the same and/or different patients is striking, suggesting they may be implicated in tumorigenesis and be potential diagnostic markers.


Given the reverse distribution of energy supply and electricity demand in China, the Line-Commuted Converter High Voltage Direct Current (LCC-HVDC) delivery system has emerged as the primary solution to transmit renewable energy over long distances. The evaluation on potential damage of the wide-band oscillations to the grid stability requires the creation of a mathematical model of the LCC-HVDC delivery system to comprehensively analyze its interaction with renewable power stations. Traditionally, it has been assumed that the long DC transmission lines would separate the sending-end and receiving-end systems, leading to the simplification of the system into a single local rectifier station connected to a DC voltage source. This oversimplification, however, lacks a theoretical basis and hence, the scope of application of the equivalent model remains undefined. This study utilizes double Fourier transform to establish the impedance model of the LCC-HVDC delivery system, taking into account the receiving-end system which includes a remote inverter station and the AC grid. The internal harmonics distribution and propagation characteristics are then explored. Finally, the influence of the receiving-end AC grid on the complete system impedance is analyzed, providing insights into the dominant factors that determine the applicability of the equivalent model, which is limited to the rectifier station only.


This paper conclude the work in terms of input and output parameter that has been considered while detecting the moving object in video surveillance. It also provides with a look up of our work area. This paper presents a discussion of various techniques like Background subtraction, Block matching, Frame differencing, Optical Flow used in motion detection and also include the comparative analysis of two algorithms first is Colour method(Space vector difference method) and second is angle change method. Keywords-Motion Detection, Angle Change, Video, Object. Implementation Of Moving Object Detection Using Angle Change Method 023 Segmentation of Moving Objects Segmentation of moving objects is done in order to separate the moving objects from their stationary background. Image segmentation has found wide applications in the field of medical and biomedical imaging. Various methods have been proposed and tested for segmentation of moving objects. Some of these methods [1] can be broadly classified on the basis of the principle as: • Clustering • Edge Detection • Histogram-Based • Level Set • Model Based • Thresholding • Neural Networks and other Artificial Intelligence Based Techniques 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Zhiqiang Hou, Chongzhao Han (2001) purposed a background reconstruction algorithm based on pixel intensity classification is presented. Assumption of this method is background pixel intensity appears in image sequence with the maximum probability is adopted. The pixel intensity values are classified based on the calculated pixel intensity difference between Inter-frames. Finally the intensity value with the maximum frequency is selected as the background pixel intensity value. In proposed algorithm, the pre-training of no-moving object in background and the models of background and target aren't needed, and only one parameter is adjusted. Simulation results to real video surveillance sequences show that background can be reconstructed correctly, so target can be extracted perfectly and tracked successfully [2]. Masayuki Yokoyama, TomasoPoggio (2005) [3] purposed a fast and robust approach to the detection and tracking of moving objects. This method is based on using lines computed by a gradient-based optical flow and an edge detector. While it is known among researchers that gradient based optical flow and edges are well matched for accurate computation of velocity, not much attention is paid to creating systems for detecting and tracking objects using this feature. In this method, extracted edges by using optical flow and the edge detector are restored as lines, and background lines of the previous frame are subtracted. Contours of objects are obtained by using snakes to clustered lines. Detected objects are tracked, and each tracked object has a state for handling occlusion and interference. The experimental results on outdoor-scenes show fast and robust performance of our method. Aurelie Bugeau, Patrick Perez (2007) [4] proposed a new method for direct detection and segmentation of fore-ground moving objects in the absence of such slowly changed background constraints. First, groups of pixels having similar motion and photometric features are extracted. For this step only a sub-grid of image pixels is used to reduce computational cost and improve robustness to noise. We introduce the use of p-value to validate optical flow estimates and of automatic bandwidth selection in the mean shift clustering algorithm. In a second stage, segmentation of the object associated to a given cluster is performed in a MAP/MRF framework. Our method is able to handle moving camera and several different motions in the background. Experiments on challenging sequences show the performance of the proposed method and its utility for video analysis in complex scenes. ShireenY.Elhabian (2008) purposed a method by survey many existing schemes in the literature of background removal, surveying the common pre-processing algorithms used in different situations, presenting different background models, and the most commonly used ways to update such models and how they can be initialized. He also survey how to measure the performance of any moving object detection algorithm, whether the ground truth data is available or not, presenting performance metrics commonly used in both cases [5]. Xiaoshi zheng, Yanling Zhao (2009) [6] purposed frame difference algorithms are suitable for these applications. First of all, an automatic threshold calculation method was proposed according to statistic information to obtain moving pixels of video frames. Then moving regions can be formed by morphological operations. At last, the nearest distance of two regions was proposed and it was satisfying for region combination. The proposed algorithm is automatic and efficient in intelligent surveillance applications and A.A. Shafie purposed [7] a technique moving object detection using optical flow. Optical flow cannot be computed locally, since only one independent measurement is available from the image sequence at a point, while the flow velocity has two components. A second constraint is needed. The method used for finding the optical flow in this project is assuming that the apparent velocity of the brightness pattern varies smoothly almost everywhere in the image. This technique is later used in developing software for motion detection which has the capability to carry out four types of motion detection. Many objects such as vehicles and human from video streams can be recognized by applying optical flow technique. 3. ALGORITHM OF ANGLE CHANGE METHOD (a) Fetch a VGA (Visual Graphic Adapter) camera. (b) Read the original Image of standard size 640×480 taken from video surveillance. (c) Read the value of pixel according to x and y axis. Neha Garg & Preeti 024 (d) When the pixel moves from initial position, take the value of pixel at new position using derivatives X = X +∆X, and Y = Y+∆Y with respect to their time limits. (e) Divide the new value of pixel to old value of pixel according to x axis and y axis. (f) Find the velocity using x and y components. (g) Set the value of threshold from 0.95 to 1.05. (h) Compare the magnitude of velocity with threshold value. (i) If this value lies between threshold limits then moving object is detected and alarm is generated. 4. RESULTS Two algorithms are described in implementation section. Differencedifference is calculated between background and current model. Difference(r, g, b) = Image(r, g, b) – Background(r, g, b) TimeTime is taken when a pixel moves from one position to another position. Colour Based Method Results. (a) Input image Figure 1 Shows original test image of size 640×480 (b) Image when the black colour is taken as background. Figure 2 Rectangular shape Region capturing the black colour (c) Rectangle shows the proper position of that region and black dots shows colour of the background. Figure 3 Shows Pixels of black colour according to x and y axis (d) Image when the object is passed and detection of object is shown by rectangle. Figure 4 Moving object is detected according to colour (e) Rectangle shows proper region of colour detection. Figure 5 shows the movement of object according to x and y axis Dots in this picture show the colour and time varies between 55 and 73 Implementation Of Moving Object Detection Using Angle Change Method 025 Figure 6 pixels which shows the colour of object Time is shown in bar using x axis coordinate and y axis coordinates. Angle change method results • Movement of pixels along only x axis (a) Input image (640×480) when there is no movement and all objects are in static positions. This is shown in Frame 1. • Value of pixel according to x axis= 0 • Value of pixel according to y axis= 0 • Time at initial position = 0, means no movement of pixel is there Figure 7 Frame 1 Figure 8 Frame 2 Figure 9 Frame 3 (b) Outputs when the person moves from one position to another position according to X axis and security alarm is generated. Here a new value of pixel along x axis is calculated which is given by X+∆X in time T +∆T. • Pixel position 0 to 20, New Value of pixel = 20. • Time domain changes from 0 to 10. New value of time =10ns X+∆X= 20, Y=0 Velocity = 20/10 =2m/s Velocity shows movement of pixel. Frame 2 shows the change in pixel position according to x axis at time 10 ns. (c) Now ∆X is old position of pixel according to x axis and shown by x, When pixel moves from this old position(x= 20) position to new position (∆X=60), It takes the time 50 ns. Now time domain changes from 10ns to 50ns. This is shown in Frame 3. X+∆X=60, Y=0 (d) When the person movement becomes slow Graph's position according to time domain comes down. There is decrement in position of pixel according to x axis and Time domain also decreases from 50ns to 20ns.  Now new value of Pixel (∆x) is 20 at time (∆t) 20. This is shown in Frame 4 and Frame 5. X+∆X=20, Y=0 Figure 10 Frame 4 Figure 11 Frame5 Figure 12 Frame 6 (e) Pixel moves from old value to new value and gives a variation in time. This is shown by these pictures. Now new value of pixel is 19 and time taken to reach the pixel at this position is 8ns. • POSITION TIME GRAPH (A) Movement of pixels with in time along only X axis. There is no movement in vertical plane. Figure 13 position-time graph shows the movement of pixels according to x axis Blue line Represents Variation in Time. Yellow line Represents change in pixel position. Here position time graph shows the value of pixel movement according to Time change. Blue line shows value of time change and Yellow line shows the movement of pixel from its position. Sharp Edges of blue line in graph shows suddenly variations in time when, the pixel moves its lower position to higher position. Degradation of lines in Graph shows decrease in time when, the pixel value shift from higher position to lower position. One thing should be in mind when, the new value of pixel is Neha Garg & Preeti 026 updated Posit


This paper is aimed at investigating into possibility of education of understanding characters in novels using a parallel curriculum. For this, the stages and methods of the education of understanding characters in novels which fits for each characteristic of students were examined through parallelism of core curriculum and identity curriculum. The current education of understanding characters in schools only hands down the knowledge of understanding and appreciation which are organized in reference books to most students, not leading to a profound understanding of character. Accordingly, this study aims to identify the correlationship between parallel curriculum model and education of understanding characters through focusing questions of PCM; to connect internal factors of the education of understanding characters with contents of core curriculum; and to design the plans for the education of understanding characters by relating external factors of the education of understanding characters to identity curriculum. The internal factors of the education of understanding characters includes objective information of characters, viewing attitude towards characters, and roles of characters in fictional works, and as external factor, there are learners who interpret the works. This study is intended to contribute in helping learners create character-related knowledge and actively appreciate novels through parallelism of core curriculum and identity curriculum where concept discovery for an understanding of characters progresses along with education fit for learners" characteristics at the same time.


The 21st Century communication age has created unprecedented opportunit y for instantaneous information transfer. Globalization translated observation and opinion into the data that forges the foundation of so-called knowledge. With such speed and freedom of expression, un®ltered information abounds. The consequences are great in a new world where terror and disease know no boundaries safety and health remain the ubiquitous ideal. While many of us herald new technologies as liberators providing access to information, we may be professing unfettered opportunitie s for ignorance. New informationÐso-called ``news''Ðreaches people differently in multiple contexts. This is particularly important to consider as scienti®c discovery, medical breakthroughs , and political events all require decisions that affect our lives. How we react to biotechnology and cloning, complications of medical interventions , and violent acts of hatred is shaped with this. This new information often lacks moral guidance. For example, the increase in online news commentary authored by anyone has evolved to what many term a blog. This term, short for weblog, presents personalized news ®lters that often challenges the knowledge and wisdom foundation that supports Western thought . Thomas Friedman summed it up well in a recent editorial in the New York Times: ``At its best, the internet can educated more people faster than any other media tool we ever had. At its worst, it can make people dumber faster than any media tool we ever had.'' Furthermore, Friedman warns `` . . ..the uneducated believe information from it even worse. They don't realize the internet at its ugliest is an open sewer; an electronic conduit for untreated un®ltered information.'' Say, for example, a consumer wanted vaccine information and went to the most popular search engineÐgoogle.comÐand typed in vaccine info. Voila, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) would appear as well as lawyer's litigation services. With one click the user could be in what looks like a credible site. The NVIC is an organization dedicated to limiting the use of vaccines as it was started by Dissatis®ed Parents Together (DPT). There are countless other examples with the scienti®c lexicon and common phrases throughou t the world. This is particularly important for health communication. Clearly, individual observation on medical issues repeated over cyberspace challenges the peer-reviewed, conventional wisdom, and status quo. Nonetheless, the new ``paradigms'' of Shared Decision Making (SDM) and Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) continue to percolate in


2014 Energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) with an imaging filter lens can combine the modes of electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) and electron spectroscopic diffraction (ESD), and different modes can be used to record an electron energy-loss spectrum (EELS). Therefore, an EFTEM can make full use of the elastic and inelastic electron-specimen interactions. This review summarizes the possibilities of EFTEM for applications in materials science. Mic7wc. MicroanaL Microstruct. APRIIJJUNE 1992, PAGE 141 Classification Physics Abstracts 07.80 34.80 81.70


The article investigates the dynamics and prospects of information technologies penetration in Samara oblast. The paper presents the assessment of the main indicators of information technologies penetration and outlines the prospects for the development of the information-communication cluster in the region.


The proper application of multi-media and internet and bringing their advantages into full play in higher vocational English teaching can not only arouse students' enthusiasm and interest in learning English,but also enlarge the scope of students' knowledge and improve their comprehensive qualities,which can foster more technical and useful talents in the new century as well as according with the demands of education reform in the new era.


'Hui Shi Hou Su' comes from cloth and silk decoration in Xia,Shang and Zhou Dynasties,which was used by Confucius to describe Zhuang Jian's beauty,and extended by Zi Lu into the process of learning Li.The sentence 'Hui Shi Hou Su' should be explained as 'painting is lastly completed by plain color' instead of 'painting on the silk of plain color',in order to get close to its original meaning,the syntactic principles and the weaving and embroidering process in Pre-Qin days.


There is a lot of debris in space. There are currently about 15,000 individual pieces of space debris that can be observed from the earth, with a likely even greater number existing with a size less than 10cm, the limiting size of earth-based observations. Fears exist that as space debris continues to increase, the Kessler Syndrome will occur, eventually preventing any form of spaceflight. The purpose of this research is to remove the debris to prevent such a situation from happening. For the first time, it is proposed to bias voltage on net electrodes, as the space debris will be charged by the plasma interaction. The charged debris will then be slowed by the electric field surrounding the net electrodes, causing the debris to re-enter the atmosphere. In this research, a 100μm copper powder is used, followed by 2mm Ellenpall. This presentation addresses how much the debris is charged and how far the debris is shifted by the electric field.


Clarifying the relationship between cooperative management and cultivated land use eco-efficiency (LUEE) is of great significance to promoting the green and low-carbon transition of agriculture. To explore the role of cooperative management in the green and low-carbon transition of agriculture of smallholder farmers in the western Tarim River Basin, in this study, based on the field survey data of 444 farmers in 2021, the carbon emissions of cultivated land were used to measure the LUEE with the slack-based model (SBM) with undesirable outputs. Then, propensity score matching (PSM) was used to test the relationship between cooperative management and LUEE. Additionally, the mediating effect of farmers' green development willingness (FGDW) and the moderating effect of farmers' part-time off-farm employment (POE) on the relationship was explored. The present study hypothesized that joining cooperatives has an improving effect on the LUEE, which can be achieved by increasing FGDW, and this effect can be enhanced by farmers' POE. The results show that: (1) The LUEE was generally low (average LUEE value: 0.2678), and there was a significant difference between farmer households (the difference between the maximum and minimum values was as high as 2.8716). (2) Cooperative management had a significant improving effect on the LUEE. The LUEE of cooperative farmers (ACF) increased by 8.6% compared with that of non-cooperative farmers (NACF). (3) Joining a cooperative could improve the LUEE by improving FGDW. (4) POE could enhance the improving effect of cooperative management on the LUEE. Overall, all three hypotheses were supported: cooperative management could achieve scale effects that small farmers cannot achieve, which had a positive effect on improving the LUEE. This study provides a new ecological perspective for the analysis of the relationship between agricultural cooperatives and LUEE and decision-making reference for the rational utilization of cultivated land in northwest China.


In many ways the proposed new regulations covering Health Education and Welfare (HEW) funded sterilizations are progressive and ahead of existing federal safeguards against sterilzation abuse. The informed consent procedure would be more rigorous tighter curbs would be placed on the use of hysterectomy for the primary purpose of sterilization and the current but provisional ban on the federal funding of sterilizations for those under 21 would be made permanent. However in other areas the new regulations are either too timorous or even less protective than the current guidelines. Thus a 1974 HEW moratorium on the funding of sterilizations for the mentally retarded is now jeopardized by the new HEW proposal to consider "alternatives" that might justify such sterilizations. There are several reasons why these alternatives should not even be considered. 1 is that a sterilization procedure would inflict cruelty upon a helpless class in the community which the state has undertaken to protect. Portions of the proposed new regulations dealing with the realities of informed consent are not as strong as they might be. It is time for HEW to make informed consent a reality rather than an empty phrase by incorporating the requirement for counseling by professionals into the final regulations. Another weakness of the HEW proposals for monitoring and enforcing the new regulations is that they say nothing substantially different than do the 1974 regulations. It was this lack of proper monitoring and enforcement of the 1974 regulations that led to the current widespread and flagrant violations of current regulations against sterilization abuse.


Traditional Chinese ethics has survived in the historical process of social changes in China and has presented itself in our daily life.Its survival and development has its root in the Chinese nation.The subjects carrying culture are not only "class" but also "nationality".Traditional Chinese ethics was created and inherited by different classes and the Chinese nation as a unity with the traits of pluralism.Because traditional Chinese ethics carries with itself the cultural and spiritual traits of the Chinese nation,it has a solid foundation for survival.The overall Westernization and the complete abandonment of traditional Chinese ethics are fallacies proposed by those who are ignorant of this foundation.


Starting from the principle of relativity and the local constancy of the velocity of light, in this paper we establish a space--time model with the classical domain D/sub lambda/(1,4). We discuss the kinematic effect in it and calculate the frequency shift of the spectral line. Moreover, under the assumption of uniform distribution we compare our result with the observational data of the quasar N--Z relation. Our result shows that the large red shift in the extragalactic objects perhaps is not caused mainly by the Doppler effect, but to a large extent is a distance effect in the lambda<0 region of the classical domain. Thus the classical domain D/sub lambda//sub less-than//sub 0/(1, 4) its group of motion being SO(3,2) is possibly a better model for large-scale space- time.


Classical liberal views about the state are often held to be incompatible with a sober appreciation of the role of luck in determining social outcomes. But it is surprisingly rare to see the case made for supposing that considerations of luck alone support redistribution. Instead, most arguments drawing on the role of luck depend on strong background assumptions compared to which luck plays a relatively minor role. And once we do focus on pure considerations of luck, it turns out to be difficult to marshal these toward an argument for redistribution. The chapter further reviews evidence on intergenerational mobility and shows that we can acknowledge that such mobility may sometimes be limited while denying that redistribution is the proper remedy, especially in light of the continued effectiveness of choice suggested by the evidence.


The history of radio from the early pre-broadcasting period shows how transmitted music and talk have been caught up in the evolution of contemporary citizenship. The article discusses Bertolt Brec...


This paper studies the linear and nonlinear stages of the fan instability, considering electromagnetic waves of the whistler frequency range interacting resonantly with energetic electron fluxes in magnetized plasmas. The main attention is paid to determine the wave-particle interaction processes that can lead to the excitation of intense electromagnetic waves by nonequilibrium particle distributions involving suprathermal tails, and to explain under what conditions and through what mechanisms they can occur, develop, and saturate. This paper presents and discusses two main processes: (i) the linear fan instability and (ii) the nonlinear process of dynamical resonance merging, which can significantly amplify the energy carried by linearly destabilized waves after they saturate due to particle trapping. This study consists of (i) determining analytically and numerically, for parameters typical of space and laboratory plasmas, the linear growth rates of whistlers excited by suprathermal particle fluxes thro...


Objective To explore the relationship of the distribution of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase enzyme(MTHFR)C677Tand A1298 Cwith lung cancer in Han population in Henan.Methods The genotype of MTHFR was detected by PCR-RFLP method in 202 cases of lung cancer(cancer group)and 202 health volunteers(control group)to analyze the gene frequency and distribution of MTHFR C677 Tand A1298C.Results The frequencies of CC,CT and TT of MTHFR C677 Twere 26.7%,50.5%and 22.8%in cancer group,and 34.2%,55.4%and 10.4%in control group,showing significant differences in TT subtype(P0.05)and no significant differences in CC and CT subtypes between two groups(P0.05).The odds ratio was 2.542 for lung cancer in those carrying TT genotype,and 95%CI was from1.453 to 4.444.The frequencies of AA,AC and CC of A1298 Cwere 27.2%,52.5%and 20.3%in cancer group,and32.2%,50.5% and 17.3% in control group,showing no significant differences between two groups(P0.05).Conclusion The TT subtype of MTHFR C677 Tgene is obviously correlated with lung cancer and A1298 Cis not correlated with lung cancer.


The article deals with some pedagogical aspects of prevention and control of religious extremism among youth. An attempt is made to show the role and significance for civilizational mentality of the data contained in the monotheistic Holy Scriptures (the Torah, the New Testament and the Quran) in preventing and countering religious extremism and terrorism among youth. The features are described of the religious perception of the world (paganism and monotheism) that distinguish them from the scientific perception of the world whose inevitable advent is predicted by monotheistic Scriptures. The author urges the need for modern pedagogy to rethink its attitude to the Holy Scriptures and determine their place in the country's educational space. The scientific worldview recognizes dissenting opinions, discussion and debate as key methods of cognizing the world. Therefore, it espoused by a significant part of humanity today do not offer "faith in the simplicity of the heart" and do not invoke "authorities" in the field of theology or science and scientific schools. The article demonstrates that the Scriptures are best capable of demonstrating to the youth the logical and inevitable change of people's civilizational mentality and adoption of a tolerant attitude not only to religious beliefs, but to others' opinions, position and way of life as long they do not break the national laws. © 2018 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK


The bulb tubular pump system is adopted at the low-head pumping stations of the south-to-north water diversion project of China due to its higher hydraulic efficiency.In this paper,new structures of such a pump are developed for the stations in Jiangsu and Shandong,and variable frequency drives(VFDs) are used to regulate the pump operation.To predict the performances of the pump system,flow field is numerically simulated by using the commercial software CFX that solves the Navier-Stokes equations with a standard turbulence model by the SIMPLEC method.The system hydraulic efficiency is significantly improved through optimal design of the bulb dimensions and diffuser channel shape,with the pump structures optimized for the cases of conventional motor and permanent magnet motor.It is found out that the efficiency can be improved by either increasing the outer diameter of pump casing or decreasing the outer diameter of motor casing.Model tests of the pump systems show that the hydraulic efficiency is increased by 0.5% ~ 3.7% under different operational conditions.


This paper covers some improper mechanic-electrical special equipment earthing terminology,which is outdated,imprecise and improper,and is not in line with effective standards.


This work conducts a systematic research on the collection method of XSS datasets, and use various rules of XSS code to automatically generate new XSS attack codes to enrich the datasets. To distinguish whether a Web user is entering an XSS attack statement according to whether XSS code features are extracted from the URL, this work combines URLs containing XSS attack statements and normal URLs into a URL dataset. Then it studies the preprocessing method for datasets. After that, this work designs a comparative experiment to select the feature representation method. At last, this work conduct experiments to use the three models of LSTM, Transformer and GRU to train and classify the URL datasets. The results show that the Transformer model can improve the accuracy of XSS attack detection more effectively, get a better classification effect and better protect users' personal information.


Motivated by the long established postulation by Adam Smith and Joseph Schumpeter that human capital and institutions enable Schumpeterian entrepreneurship which, in turn, facilitates economic growth, we sought to establish a more robust empirical support for this relationship. Adopting EO (i.e., innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking; Mthanti and Ojah, 2017, Research Policy, 46:4, 724-739) as the measure of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship at the macro-level, and using a sample of 93 countries, over 1980-2008, we employ system-GMM to investigate institutions and human capital as possible determinants of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship (EO). We find that the human capital—EO nexus is robust across economic development levels. However, there is a cross-country variation in the institutions—EO nexus. In line with theoretical predictions, institutions indeed drive EO in middle-to-high income countries. However, in low income countries, building institutions in order to foster EO yields perverse outcomes, which, for us and especially based on deeper analysis, suggest that improving the quality of institutions may not be a necessary precondition for EO/growth policy in low income countries. Furthermore, we find that EO is a highly persistent series, with self-reinforcing network effects; i.e., lofty EO behaviour encourages more lofty EO behaviour. Overall, therefore, we argue that where Schumpeterian entrepreneurship is hampered by low private returns or poor institutional environment, a sensible growth strategy would be to: (1) invest in human capital and (2) subsidize EO directly to exploit its network effects.


ABSTRACT While there have been a number of studies of the political economy of knowledge production in Central Asia, the often exploitative relations between foreign and local researcher, there has been less discussion of what Elizabeth Perry recently described as the 'scholar–state' nexus: how authoritarian rule rests on the suppression of independent academics, the 'educated acquiescence' of academia or their incorporation into the 'factory of answers'. Through the concepts of suppression, acquiescence and incorporation, this article examines how restrictions on academic freedom have an impact on knowledge production in Tajikistan.


The objective of this paper is to introduce the discrete Laplace transform. Basic theorems related to this transformation are mentioned and the discrete Laplace transform of basic functions are given.


Objective: To study the association between neuronal injury following status epilepsy and expression of P-glycoprotein, discuss the association between intractable epilepsy and neuronal injury. Method: To establish a mice status epilepticus model by lithium-pilocarpine injected intraperitoneal, The mice were randomly divided into control group 6h, 12h, 1d, 3d, 5d and 7d after status epilepticus(SE) .To research the neuronal injury by image analysis method, expression of P-gp in blood was studied by flow cyometry .To analyze the association between neuronal injury and expression of P-gp by Pearson statistics. Result: The neuronal injury was observed after status epilepsy. Neuronal injury is most obvious 3-7 days after status epilepsy, expression of P-gp increased simultaneously. The severity of neuronal injury has a positive correlation to expression of P-gp. Conclusion: Association between intractable epilepsy and neuronal injury exists.


Objective:To develop a technical reference for the establishment of quality control standard of Gankangling aerosol.Method:TLC identification was developed for components in a TCM compound Gangkangling:Flos Lonicerae,Radix Scutellariae,Rhizoma Polygoni Cuspidati,Radix Bupleuri,Herba Pogostemonis,and Herba Men- thae.The contents of the main pharmacological constituents in the medicine,ehlorogenic acid and baicalin were de- termined by HPLC,with acetonitrile-0.4 % phosphoric acid (13:87) and methanol-water-phosphoric acid (40: 60:0.2)as mobile phases at a flow rate of 1.0 mL·min~(-1) and room temperature,detected at 327 nm and 280 nm for chlorogenic acid and baicalin,respectively.Results:The TLC spots of the above-mentioned TCM were distinc- tive and coincident with the respective standards.By using our chromatographic conditions,ehlorogenie acid and ba- icalin could be baseline separated with other constituents in the sample,determined with satisfactory accuracy and precision,with average recovery of 100.5% and 99.53% for chlorogenic acid and balcalin,respectively.The RSD (n=5)of chlorogenic acid and baicalin were 0.98% and 1.3%,respectively.The linear ranges of ehlorogenic acid and baicalin were 0.2-1.0μg (r=0.9999) and 0.22-1.1μg (r=0.9999),respectively.Conclusion:The re- search on Gankangling aerosol quality specifications can be the basis for quality control of the medicine.


The paper elaborates on the drivers of voluntary labour turnover in Polish enterprises in the context of segmented labour markets. The data consist of primary CAWI survey results collected from 1000 companies operating in Poland. The ordered choice model is used to analyse the propensity of employees from different labour segments to leave an enterprise voluntarily. The study confirms neither the trap hypothesis nor the concept of compensating differentials. However, it reveals that structural factors are the main drivers of voluntary turnover (with a different impact depending on the labour segment). Additionally, the number of labour segments in the enterprise determines the frequency of voluntary resignations only for employees attached to the primary segment. Since the main drivers of voluntary turnover are related to a person's job satisfaction, this points to the role of HR and managerial practices in reducing the scale of voluntary resignations in companies.


BACKGROUND: There is sparse data about the nature of race-ethnic disparities in the acute stroke setting including differentials in stroke preparedness. The aim of this analysis was to explore race-ethnic differentials in time to arrival for acute stroke in a racial and ethnically diverse urban setting. METHODS: ASPIRE is a multi-dimensional intervention program (community, hospital, and EMS) for acute stroke preparedness targeted to increase IV tPA utilization in underserved black communities in the DC metro area. We prospectively identified stroke admissions and EMS utilization including acute stroke arrival time parameters for the 6 month pre and post intervention periods. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine predictors of arrival time. Proportionality of the hazards was checked. RESULTS: In the 6 month pre-intervention period, data was collected on 943 stroke cases; 53% female; 74% black; mean age 67 yrs. Of the subjects from the pre-intervention period with arrival times less than 48 hrs, the median arrival time to the emergency department (ED) was 9 hours; 20% presented under 3 hours. In multivariable Cox PH models, subjects were 38% more likely to arrive earlier if they had arrived by EMS (HR: 1.38, 95%CI: 1.21-1.58). Black subjects were 25% less likely to arrive earlier (HR: 0.75, 95%CI: 0.60-0.93), but this effect was dampened over time (p=0.03). The model included the interaction between black race and time and adjusted for insurance status, risk factors (hypertension and diabetes), gender, age and prior stroke. Ina gender by race analysis, there was a trend towards black women being less likely to arrive earlier to the ED (HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.6 -1.0). However, overall, there was no race-ethnic interaction with arrival by EMS. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to the perceived perception by the community suggesting there is a disparity in EMS utilization by the black DC community, we found no overall significant racial difference in EMS utilization for acute stroke. While there was a trend towards delayed overall arrival in black females, this was independent of EMS utilization.