This is a preliminary report on the interplanetary magnetic field intensity B measured by the Rome/GSFC experiment carried on Helios 1 over the period 10 December 1974 to 3 April 1975 when the spacecraft moved from 1 AU to 0.3 AU (on 15 March 1975) and back to 0.47 AU. The large-scale radial variations between 1 and 0.3 AU are consistent with Parker's model for a spiral field. The distribution of B between 0.30 AU and 0.32 AU is comparable to that generally observed near 1 AU. Large changes are observed from day to day. Surprisingly large and abrupt changes in B (about 30 gammas in a few hours) are observed near perihelion.


In this thesis a system that carries out the collection of meteorological data from the environment was developed, it uses WiFi network to send data to the website. The system consists of: sensor unit connected to the microcontroller (data collection), WiFi module (sending data), and the website (data display). Data measurement from the environment is preformed every 5 minutes, and then the measured data are stored in the database. The website lists the latest data from the database. Through thesis all the used sensors and modules are displayed, and realization of the system is explained. The last chapter ends with explanations of making website and database.


This chapter examines a set of verse argumenta, or plot summaries, of Virgil's Aeneid, as well as a pseudepigraphic verse preface to the argumenta in which the author adopts the role of Ovid. These texts are documents of reception: the preface shows how its author is responding to Ovid's and Virgil's poetry and how he is constructing his version of literary history, while the argumenta recast Virgil's poem by miniaturizing it and reuse his language often in a manner akin to imitation. The texts also demonstrate how Virgil's major poetry begets minor poetry and is remade as it and by it.


By using values of respiratory metabolism from studies on energy flow through ant populations and supplementary data it is shown that the metabolism of single worker ants at 20'C is similar to those reported for other invertebrates. The current opinion up to now that ant populations, having exceptionally high maintenance costs, act as an energy drainage in ecosystems is questioned. On the contrary, it is made probable that values of annual production and respiration of ant populations fit the McNeill and Lawton equation relating these variables for poikilothermic animal populations. Finally, a strategy for estimating annual production by means of total population metabolism is proposed.


We show that the recently proposed (enhanced) PUMA estimator for array processing minimizes the same crit erion function as the well-established MODE estimator. (PUMA = principal-singular-vector utilization for modal analysi s, MODE = method of direction estimation.) I. PROBLEM FORMULATION The standard signal model in array processing is y(t) = A(φ)s(t) + n(t) ∈ C (1) whereφ = [φ1 · · · φr]⊤ parameterizes the unknown directions of arrival from r < m far-field sources,s(t) is a vector of unknown source signals, n(t) is a noise term, andA(·) is a known function describing the array response [1], [2]. The covariance matrix of the received signals is R = APA + σIm, (2) where P and σIm are the signal and noise covariances, respectively. The data is assumed to be circular Gaussian. Given T independent snapshots {y(t)}t=1, the maximum likelihood (ML) estimate ofφ is given by φ̂ = argmin φ tr { Π A R̂ } , (3)


The particle discovered in the Higgs boson searches at the LHC with a mass of about 125 GeV can be identified with one neutral Higgs boson in a variety of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) theories with an extended Higgs sector. Limits on the couplings between additional Higgs fields to the electroweak gauge-bosons in such theories can be obtained by model-independent Higgs searches at lepton colliders. We present an extrapolation of the limits obtained at LEP for a future lepton collider and can show that the ILC with polarized beams and a total luminosity of ${\cal L}=2000$~fb$^{-1}$ is very sensitive to such reduced Higgs-gauge-boson couplings up to about 4%. We apply the extrapolated limits on BSM models with an extended Higgs-sector.


This invention involves the inner lining of a molten-steel handling furnace and its maintenance and repair. This invention is aimed to putting forward an inner lining that can satisfy the working conditions of ladle casting materials. In this invention the inner lining of the molten-steel handling furnace is cast from fire-resisting casting materials such as the high-purity corundum-magnesium oxide-spinel system. The raw material system comprises fused spinel, fused magnesite, fused white corundum, fused brown corundum, plate corundum, extra-grade alumina, alumina sponel or a combination of them. The repair of the inner lining comprises the steps of: a. cleaning the damaged inner lining to remove the molten slag layer; b. using a casting material whose purity is the same with that of the previous material to repair the damaged positions, so that the previously designed structure of the inner lining is recovered; c. natural drying of the repaired inner lining for 24-72h; d. baking. The surface activity of the microscale or finer additives can strengthen the agglomeration of the casting materials, thus making the agglomerated inner lining more compact and the repaired layer thinner.


In order to investigate the mechanism of the radiation-induced postpolymerization of tetraoxane in the solid state, the polymer was fractionated, and the fractions were characterized by reduced viscosity. The molecular weight of polymer formed in vacuo decreased drastically after the introduction of oxygen under conditions such that the polymer yield increased. The decrease in the molecular weight in the postpolymerization of tetraoxane is attributed to degradation of the polymer in the presence of oxygen. It is suggested that at least peroxides formed by preirradiation contribute to both the increase in polymer yield and the decrease in molecular weight of the polymer.


Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is one of the most important fruit crops worldwide. Mango has a long history of cultivation in Indo-Pak region which resulted in the development of novel regional germplasm as well as many famous mango cultivars. For sustaining the mango production especially in the present scenario of changing climate, it is important to characterize and estimate the genetic divergence among the mango genotypes-cultivars germplasm. To the extent of our knowledge, little efforts have been made to explore the magnitude of genetic divergence among the mango genotypescultivars. In this study, the genetic diversity assessments among 32 including 25 local and 7 exotic genotype-cultivars have been calculated using thirty-five simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The most informative primer was found Micir-6 while the polymorphism information content (PIC) value of all SSRs was found low, i.e., 0.168 0.5. Genetic diversity ranged from 15% to 47% among cultivars with a mean value 30%. The dissimilarity coefficients based unweighted pair group of arithmetic means (UPGMA) was used to make clusters. Mostly East Indian, North Indian and Pakistani cultivars were grouped in one cluster while South Indian and Florida cultivars in other according to the dendogram. The present study would help in taking proactive decision to buffer the spread of any epidemics and will also be helpful in initiating marker-assisted breeding program for developing cultivars with excellent genetics.


The basic essential attribute of college is culture,i.e.college is not only a educational organization but also a cultural organization;the nature of college education is to teach students culture;college is the center of social culture and the birthplace of social rational culture;besides,college is a literacy community or cultural elite organization.In addition to the essential attribute of culture,college also has economic and political attributes.


A procedure based on the method of moments of NMR line is applied to determine the order parameter tensor for cholesteryl esters. The order parameter dependence on the length of alkyl chain is obtained. The proposed method can be used to estimate the concentration of two independent conformations.


Two essential ranges of energy within and out of bandgap determine the global optical property of a general semiconductor. Here, exciton‐like inter‐sub‐band resonance absorption and optical bleaching of platinum sulfide (PtS) in the resonant region are found and investigated through the linear optical spectra and ultrafast transient absorption spectra. Besides, free‐carrier absorption and defect‐assisted Auger recombination in the transparent region are identified via the intensity‐ and temperature‐dependent pump–probe experiments. Good experimental and theorical agreements are obtained using the mid‐gap carrier‐capture model considering the complex optical conductivity based on the rate equations. This work facilitates further understanding of the ultrafast photoinduced carrier behavior in PtS, which provides the possibility for future applications in photoelectric devices.


: This paper introduces the trial on the development of the Android-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) on small-scale traditional fishing boats. Information and communication system between the small vessel and land-based center is developed using Android system. The AIS data including the position, course over ground, speed over ground and heading of vessels is transmitted by the shipboard package and received by the data center. The system is designed to be able to send a message to the vessels. In this case, command of stopping maneuver is transmitted to the shipboard package. The data obtained from the system is used as the validation of the vessels maneuverability simulated by using Mathematical Maneuvering Group (MMG) model. The deviation is analyzed and parameters of MMG model are evaluated. The safety indices of the vessel in the research area in terms of Environment Stress and Emergency Level are calculated based on the distances to obstacles.


Dynamics of the evapotranspirational demands in the Czech Republic within three decades from 1961 to 1990 has been studied. The determination of the levels of influence of the respective natural components depends on the regionalized modelling techniques. The project of regionalized modelling is theoretically based on the potential evapotranspiration values (ET0) calculated by FAO methodology (eqs. 1, 2) and the series of temperature and rainfall observations obtained by climatologic stations during a 30-year period from 1961 to 1990 and its relation to the absolute altimetric. The DMR-2 military digital elevation model of the Czech Republic relief consisting of a regular network of points with their altitudes specified in meters was used for the purpose of regionalized modelling. One step of the network in the S-42 coordinate system with the Gauss conforms cylindrical projection is equal to 100 meters; this implies that the smallest area for which the data can be processed is 1 hectare. The digital relief model can be linked to both direct (temperature, precipitation) and derived (evapotranspiration) quantities, which is one of the many novelties of regionalized modelling. The climatic data used in regionalized modelling records daily measurements were obtained by 85 climatologic and rainfall-monitoring stations from 1961 to 1990. Our results showed an appreciable decrease of the most drying area (ratio P/ET0 up to 0.755) in the last decade 1981–90; half as less amounts compared with the previous decade 1971–80 (about 500,000 hectares). On the other hand, an apparent increase (more than 500,000 hectares in comparison with the previous decade 1971–80) of the wettest area (ratio P/ET0 over 1.508) through the last decade was observed. Both first decades 1961–70 and 1971–80 look similar. The project mentioned in this article has made it possible to create models for the different time intervals which have showed higher reliability for heterogeneous application.


River diversion and closure and technology of cofferdam safety control with thick overburden is studied in a research project supported by the National Key Technology RD program.In special topic 3 of the project,field test,laboratory test,physical modeling and numerical calculation are employed to investigate the engineering properties of thick overburden and cofferdam materials in the purpose of tackling the scale effect in engineering property tests on coarse-grained materials and determining the underwater dumping-filling density for the cofferdam with thick overburden.Wudongde,Baihetan and Shuangjiangkou Hydroelectric Station cofferdam projects are taken as background and case study for the special topic.The main content,technical route and important achievements of the topic are briefly presented.Detailed research approaches and achievements will be reported later.


ACIAR currently funds a small research activity (SRA) entitled 'Smallholder goat value chains in Pakistan; challenges and research opportunities'. The aim of this SRA was to describe goat (and sheep) production systems, and identify constraints and opportunities throughout the value chain in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh. The SRA falls within the mandate of the DFAT-funded Agriculture value chain Collaborative Research (AVCCR) program. The overarching goal of the AVCCR program is 'that rural poor, particularly women, living in the Punjab and Sindh significantly and equitably benefit from improvements in strategic value chains'.


The creation of a play entitled "Tanah Ode Kampung Kami" have several stages, starting from determining the issue and the ideas, conducting research, implementing the method of collective writing text, and finally becomes a show. The research process is a way of organizing and understanding the main problem of a play, i.e. the land, so it would be able to be implemented as a drama script collectively in theatrical performances. Collective text aims to make actors and directors have the same perception of a predetermined theme. This study uses a qualitative research design with data collection methods in the form of observations and interviews. The conclusion of this study is that the collective text method used in the "Tanah Ode Kampung Kami" script is used to harmonize the ideas that were built together so that it becomes a complete text which is the result of collaborative thinking between the elements involved in the process of making the script.


The study of music in Buddhism, in my opinion, should be considered scarce in comparison to studies done in other areas of the Buddhism, and that is why this research is vital and covers several aspects i.e. its usages, forms, instruments, and other characteristics. Although it may be minimal, this research is intended to contribute to the field of study in Buddhist Music. I hope to attract more attention to the studies of this subject.


The paper analyses accident type of urban railway transportation, including fire, trains accident, platform train interface, station area accidents, explosion, power failure, structural failures, according to the statistic data, the risk assessment model based on accident theory is established. Our understanding of safety risk should not be based just on perception, but on past evidence and data, and the best information on potential future risk that can be derived from them. The Total Risk Assessment Model is a vital tool in providing this risk insight. It provides a structured representation of the causes and consequences of potential accidents arising from operations and maintenance on the mainline railway. The models could lead directly to injury or fatality to passengers, workers or members of the public. These events include hazardous event train accidents, movement accidents and non-movement accidents. The risk results are presented as a measure of the absolute risk and should only be used as an input to, and not as a substitute for, decision-making. The emerging thinking on safety decision-making within the railway industry has recognised the need to consider the distribution of risk in terms of fatalities, major and minor injuries, as well as equivalent fatalities.


In this issue of the European Journal of Immunology (EJI), the News and EFIS forum serves as a platform for the discussion of a hot topic in clinical immunology; a topic for which a scientific immunological viewpoint makes the difference, and which matters for the care and benefit of patients. What would be better suited for such a theme than a discussion regarding immunoglobulin (Ig)-based therapies? About a year ago, a group of clinical experts met in Wildbad Kreuth for a workshop on the optimal use of clotting factors and Igs. In spite of its seemingly dry title, the meeting covered a range of aspects associated with one of the oldest and most successful immunological therapies to date, starting from passive immunization with Igs as introduced by Emil von Behring in the 19th century, to the use of Igs to provide general humoral protection and regulate inflammation, and including the use of Igs and clotting factors for longterm substitution in patients suffering from hypogammaglobulinaemia. Given that the resources for such therapies are limited and sometimes difficult to standardize, treatments are expensive and patients may have to be prioritized according to the relevant national guidelines, if established; however, for some of the Ig-based therapies, the mechanisms of action are only now slowly beginning to emerge and thus reveal the potentially novel approaches for the optimization of Ig-based therapeutic products. Obviously covering the spectrum of issues related to Ig therapy is a lot to discuss when you aim for a consensus among 36 Council of Europe states. A resume of this meeting, as well as the six recommendations for the optimal use of Ig therapy that the working group agreed upon, is published in this issue of EJI, as a News & EFIS article entitled "European consensus proposal for Ig therapies" [1]. The authors have explicitly asked that the readership of EJI – i.e. the international community of immunologists – openly discuss their proposal and communicate the outcome of their discussions to the community by way e.g. of a Letter to the Editor to EJI, although this is just one public route;. I personally find this a very important step in reaching any consensus: a transparent discussion of the initial proposal, opening it for improvement and amendments, and adding new perspectives. I hope that in the end the document matures from a proposal to a consensus that it not just "European" but "International", reflecting the expertise of immunologists from all over the world. I also hope that, after open discussion among the community, this consensus does not follow the statement of Abba Eban (1915–2002): "A consensus means that everyone agrees to say collectively what no one believes individually." For the discussion of consensus protocols in clinical immunology, EJI is a prime choice. At EJI, basic and clinical immunology are of equal importance, what matters is the quality of the science. Interestingly, several papers recently published in EJI shed light on the mechanism of action of therapeutic Igs [2–8], some of which highlightthe role of glycosylation in determining the regulatory potential of Igs [2–4]. It will be interesting to see whether and how the profound basic expertise demonstrated in these articles influences or shapes the consensus discussion. If the aim was to to unite basic and clinical immunology, we should remember Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.), who stated, albeit in a different context: "Not cohabitation but consensus constitutes marriage."


This colorful, elegant book captures the history, spirit and legend of the Hollywood Bowl through a series of essays written by experts in the various fields of dance, opera, recording arts and jazz.


Cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin are all platinum‐containing complexes that have been approved for use as chemotherapy drugs. The success of these complexes as well as their downfalls have sparked interest into alternative transition metal based compounds as potential chemotherapeutic agents. The use of platinum based complexes in cancer treatment has faced complications including cytotoxicity and drug resistance. The use of copper(II) as an alternative metal center is of specific interest because of copper's bioavailability and elevated concentrations within tumor cells. We have synthesized and characterized several copper complexes that utilize a nitrogen based ligand system including some that contain a thiazole moiety. The biological activity and potential cytotoxicity of these complexes was measured on the basis of nuclease activity, DNA binding, and interaction with BSA. These characteristics were determined by quantitative analysis of studies using ethidium bromide, gel electrophoresis, and UV‐Vis spectroscopy. We present comparisons between the activity of these newly synthesized compounds and those previously studied to aid in developing a correlation between ligand structure and complex activity.


If these lectures have served to arouse interest as to these possibilities, and if they in any way lead to their further investigation and application, I feel that the wish of the founder of these lectures, Dr. Beattie-Smith, will to some extent have been fulfilled. I would once more express my thanks to the University of Melbourne for the privilege of being appointed lecturer for this year, and to those who have been listeners to my addresses. •


Pharmacy policy should conceptualize a practice that is both attainable and stable. To attain consistency, predictability, and effectiveness in development and implementation of pharmacy practice innovations, a framework is required. Pharmacist embeddedness (PE) supports the uptake of innovations, the creation of new roles, and guides practice innovation. As paradigm and benchmark of practice, PE is consistent with the concept of 'seven-star pharmacist'.PE is based on a broader definition of practice. PE will help policy makers and practitioners to engage in proactive, objective, and meaningful practice innovation.


In the preceding chapters we have seen how the needs of young people may be recognized, how they themselves can learn to meet these needs, and what the school can do to facilitate the process, largely through group experiences in class and outside of class. We have seen that these needs of youth are complex, interrelated, dynamic. Meeting them is essential to the best development of individuals and society. In addition to providing a "lush" and "benign" environment, it is necessary to guide individuals in the use of this environment and to help them, when possible, to take the initiative in making the environment more favorable to adolescent growth and development. This is the individualized aspect of education which we call guidance.


Internet domain names (i.e., web site addresses) are still written using English characters regardless of the worldwide spread of the Internet. Currently, domain names do not support other languages for one to locate resources on the Internet. Users in non-English speaking countries, such as the Arabs, are disadvantaged. Multilingual domain names have been the goal and activities of many not-for-profit organizations that supervise and pursue their deployments. Several companies have begun to commercialize their technologies. With respect to the Arabic language, however, current implementations are using proprietary technologies. Therefore, it is important to establish standardized Arabic solutions including selecting the Arabic generic and country code top-level domain names (Arabic gTLD and ccTLD). This paper compares a number of proposed suggestions for Arabic gTLDs and ccTLDs.


Research on teacher education has shown that self-regulated learning (SRL) is relevant for improving learning skills of future teachers. Evidence also suggests that teacher education programs would benefit from fostering SRL in their students and teaching them to use SRL as a teaching practice. This dual focus could help students become more successful students and teachers, better prepared to foster SRL in their future classrooms. The objective of the present research was to investigate learning and study strategies and self-efficacy for learning beliefs among undergraduate students enrolled in teacher education programs at a public university in Brazil. Another aim was to design an SRL intervention, in two formats, and examine the effectiveness of each format at strengthening participants' self-regulatory skills. To achieve these goals, the study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, 220 participants completed this Learning and Study Strategies Inventory and the Self-efficacy for Learning form. Findings suggested a need for improving future teacher students' self-regulatory skills and provided a basis for the second phase, whose goal was to examine an intervention program using a quasi-experimental research design with three stages: pretest, intervention, and posttest. Three classes were randomly assigned to three different treatment conditions: Experimental Group I (EGI) received theoretical content about SRL and self-reflective questions (format 1), Experimental Group II (EGII) received theoretical content about SRL only (format 2), and the Control Group (CG) only completed the assessments. Data from the first phase were used as pretest measures for the second phase. The sample for phase 2 of this study was composed of 53 students. EGI had 22 students, EGII 12, and CG 19. Results comparing EG I with EG II showed no statistically significant group × time interactions. However, when compared with CG, EGI showed statistically significant gains over the control group on five outcome measures, whereas EG II showed statistically significant gains over the control group on three of the outcome measures. This suggested benefits to receiving the interventions and that EG I may yield additional benefits over EG II. Theoretical and practical implications for pre-service teachers and teacher education programs are discussed.


Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are among the most frequent pathologies of the stomatognathic system. One problem often associated with TMD is the psychoemotional status. The aim of study was to evaluate the psychoemotional status of young adults with pain symptoms associated with TMD.


Humans are currently involved in numerous transportation-related accidents on the roads. Numerous accidents and fatalities caused by human error are the result of the rising number of vehicles on Indian roads and a lack of enforcement of traffic laws. They also suffer loss of life and valuable property as a result of those accidents. As a result, accidents involving driver inattention to traffic laws and driver fatigue follow. The field of computer vision is actively researching real-time eye detection and tracking. Face alignment can benefit from eye localization and tracking. The duration of eye closure and percentage of eye closure (PEC) can be used to measure driver fatigue. It is based on a hardware system that uses a camera to capture images of the driver in real time and software to monitor the driver's eye in order to prevent accidents. In the event of an accident, GSM and GPS are utilised to track the location of the automobile, and the local hospital and police are alerted. Thanks to IoT technology, this position may always be found in the cloud platform service. The 24/7 Governance is notified to call for emergency assistance by using the push and panic button.


There appear to be a number of general things which can be said about forgiveness. If these are left sufficiently vague they seem to be applicable to all the situations in which the term is used. First, there can be no question of forgiveness unless an injury has been inflicted on somebody by a moral agent. There must be something to forgive; and the injury that is to be forgiven must be one for which a moral agent can be held responsible. One cannot forgive a rock for falling on one's foot or a cougar for attacking one's child—even though a child might kick the rock and a father might shoot the cougar.


Age diversity in Western workforces is increasing. In this study, we offer a new conceptual and empirical perspective to this phenomenon by introducing the concept of employees' age distance to und...


In recent years, increasing pollution of ambient fine particles (PM2.5) has drawn worldwide attention. Exposure to fine aerosol particles of bio-logical and non-biological origin in indoor environments has seriously negative effect on human health.Electrostatic precipitators have been used widely in industry and play an important role inenvironmental protection. Electrostatic precipitator (ESP) can be operated with a high collectionefficiency and a low pressure drop. Recently, ESP also has been used forcleaning indoorair.


Background It is estimated there are 1.2 million lonely older adults in the UK (Campaign to End Loneliness). Increasing numbers of patients who were completing their day therapy programme reported they felt isolated and wished to continue linking into the hospice. As part of restructuring of Day Therapy it was recognised that social isolation was impacting patients at the hospice. A café style drop-in group was introduced which runs weekly. Aims To introduce a café style social drop in group To evaluate the group using an outcome measure and patient feedback To reduce social isolation in patients attending the group Use the café as way to introduce people to the hospice. Methods We introduced a therapy assistant and volunteer-led café for patients and their friends/families. Volunteer transport was available. The De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (long version) (DJGLS) outcome measure was selected to evaluate the group and is completed as a weekly questionnaire by attendees. Qualitative feedback was also gained from the attendees. Results An average of 16 people have attended the group on a weekly basis. The majority of people attending come each week, however for some people attending it has been their first contact with the hospice. More than 80% of the attendees are men. As the service is new, we do not yet have sufficient data from the DJGLS to statistically analyse, however, this will be completed by November 2018. Feedback from patients is positive and includes: 'I always love coming here, I go home refreshed with the love' 'Fantastic to look forward to each week' 'Supportive' The cost per session, has been calculated at £71, approximately £4.50 per person attending. Conclusion The group has provided a low cost, 'light touch' social support service. Qualitative feedback has suggested that the group is providing appropriate support.


ABSTRACT Apology has been found to be the most effective strategy in times of crises. However, there is a dearth of research on the kinds of apology used and how primary stakeholders, in particular consumers, received them. This study aims to examine consumer responses to the types of apologies offered post crises against the levels of attribution of responsibility. We also assess the potential mediating role of ethical concerns by developing the Perception-Behavioral Model of Crisis Response. An experiment was conducted to ascertain consumers' impression of the organization post-apology. The results showed that the attribution of crisis responsibility significantly influences complaining, withholding and negative word-of-mouth behaviors. However, a very high degree of apology issued by the organization does not necessarily translate to reduced negative responses from consumers in light of the large attribution of responsibility. Finally, the Perception-Behavioral Model of Crisis Response suggests that ethical concerns can mediate negative behavioral intentions from consumers.


Warm mix asphalt (WMA) technology is an effective way to reduce emissions and save energy during asphalt paving by reducing production temperatures of hot mix asphalt (HMA). As development of WMA additive evolve, many owner-agencies do not know the effect WMA dosage rates have on moisture susceptibility, rutting resistance, and mixture compaction at different temperatures. The overall influence of time and temperature on mixture performance is also important. In this research, two versions of a commonly used WMA additive derived from the forest products industry are evaluated for performance during construction and traffic loading. Laboratory specimens with different additive contents (0%, 0.5%, and 1.0%) were compacted at different temperatures (115°C, 130°C, and 145°C), to evaluate shear capability parameters. Statistical analyses of the compaction force index (CFI) indicated the stability of asphalt mixtures at various compaction temperatures. Evaluation of moisture sensitivity and rutting performance was conducted using the indirect tensile strength test and Hamburg wheel tracking test. Improvements were realized at the 0.5% dosage level; therefore, no economic benefit is achieved by increasing the dosage level. Findings from the laboratory were tested in the field to evaluate the effect of curing time and temperature on WMA compared with HMA. A plant-produced mix included HMA and a WMA mixture produced for the same project. The WMA additive used in the plant project is the same additive used in the laboratory study. Loose mix was collected in order to evaluate the influence of curing time and temperature of a WMA mixture.


We carried out a double-blind rising dose study of a D-l dopamine agonist, CY 208-243, in 6 parkinsonian patients. Deficits monitored by Columbia scores were significantly improved at single doses ranging from 5 to 40 mg, though efficacy was low. Used alone, CY 208-243 was not a satisfactory therapeutic agent, and toxicity data precluded further increases in dosage.


A new design of an all‐optical gain‐clamped erbium‐doped fiber amplifier is demonstrated. The amplifier is based on the conventional ring cavity, where the gain is clamped at 21.84 dB via optical feedback using a single fiber Bragg grating for an input signal power as high as −8 dBm. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 29: 290–293, 2001.


By means of the finite element simulation of forward extrusion,the velocity vector field and flow line of the metal are presented and the effect of extrusion deformation and extrusion ratio on whisker rotation of SiCw/6061 composite was discussed and compared with the SEM photos of SiC whisker morphology.It is shown that according to the characteristic of velocity field,the extrusion billet can be divided into uniform velocity zone,severe velocity variation zone and dead zone.For the non-uniformity of the velocity field,there is an obvious longitudinal velocity gradient and this velocity gradient is the main reason of the whisker rotation,with the increasing of the extrusion ratio,the velocity gradient of metal flow increases and whisker rotation increases simultaneously.


Many batoid elasmobranchs feed on benthic infauna, including buried bivalves. Prey are excavated from the substrate, and, in intertidal areas, these pits leave a record of feeding intensity. Hines et al. (in press) have demonstrated a correlation between ray feeding pits and bivalve densities, implying that rays feed more often in the areas of high prey density. How is prey density assessed by the rays? Dorsoventral flattening and dorsal placement of the eyes of batoids suggest that the detection of benthic prey is by nonvisual senses of the ventral surface. The obvious candidates are olfac-


The inversion of snow properties with optical remote sensing often relies on snow reflectance modelling. In this study, snow reflectance models including Mie-DISORT, Mie-Mishchenko and ART and the model based on bicontinuous microstructure are evaluated and compared with in situ measurements. Results show the bicontinuous microstructure based reflectance model can accurately simulate spectral albedo of clean and sooty snow, and have best performance on directional reflectance of snow surface compared with other three models.


From 1 January 2005 Finland will move to a modified classical system of taxing companies and their shareholders. This article examines the new system.


very well indeed. After six months he came back and was practically normal. Concerning the transmission of the condition from one tuberculous subject to another, he saw an interesting case seven or eight years ago in which a girl had what was clinically a primary chancre of the lip, which was subsequently proved to be tuberculous, and it was then found that her fiance was suffering from open tuberculosis of the lungs.


It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 2015 ACM Workshop Evolutionary Computation in Computational Structural Biology, associated with GECCO 2015, the largest international conference in the field of genetic and evolutionary computation (with proceedings published by ACM Digital Library). In the last two decades, many computer scientists in Artificial Intelligence have made significant contributions to modeling biological systems as a means of understanding the molecular basis of mechanisms in the healthy and diseased cell. In particular, the field of computational structural biology is now highly populated by researchers in evolutionary computation. Great progress is being made by these researchers on novel and powerful algorithms to solve exceptionally challenging computational structural biology problems at the heart of molecular biology, such as structure prediction, analysis, and design of biological macromolecules (proteins, RNA). These problems pose difficult search and optimization tasks on modular systems with vast, high-dimensional, continuous search spaces often underlined by non-linear multimodal energy surfaces. The focus of this workshop is the use of nature-inspired approaches to central problems in computational structural biology, including optimization methods under the umbrella of evolutionary computation. A particular emphasis is on progress in the application of evolutionary computation to problems related to any aspects of protein structure modeling, characterization, and analysis. The workshop allows for a broader focus on all structure-related problems that necessitate the design of novel evolutionary computation approaches. These may include broader structure modeling settings beyond de novo structure prediction, such as mapping of protein and peptide energy landscapes, structure analysis, design, docking, and other emerging problems in computational structural biology. One of the objectives of this workshop is to aid evolutionary computation researchers to disseminate recent findings and progress. The workshop provides a meeting point for authors and attendants of the GECCO conference who have a current or developing interest in computational biology. We believe the workshop additionally can attract computational biology researchers that will further add to the attendance and GECCO community and possibly spur novel collaborations. We hope this workshop stimulates the free exchange and discussion of novel ideas and results related to structure-central problems bridging computational biology and evolutionary computation. Within the aims of the workshop, the call for papers attracted submissions from different countries in Europe (Luxembourg, UK, Spain), United States, Mexico and Brazil. The accepted papers in Evolutionary Computation in Computational Structural Biology 2015 cover important bioinformatics problems such as: use of multi-objective genetic search for finding active sites in proteins, hybrid solutions between differential evolution and fragment-based replacements for protein structure prediction using the Rosetta environment, the definition of NK landscape instances to mimic the properties of the protein inverse folding problem, mapping multiple minima in protein energy landscapes with evolutionary algorithms, an experimental analysis of the performance of side chain packing algorithms and the use of machine learning to explore the relevance of local and global features during decoy generation in Rosetta. We hope that you will find this program interesting and thought-provoking, stimulating your interest in the many issues surrounding Computational Structural Biology and Evolutionary Computation. The topics covered in the papers are timely and important, and the authors have done an excellent job of presenting the material. We express our gratitude to the presenters as well as the participants for making this workshop a success. We sincerely hope that the symposium will provide you with a valuable opportunity to share ideas with other researchers and practitioners from institutions around the world.


Heads and seizures, knees and toes A competitor climbs the monkey bars in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the 2012 Mens' Health Urbanathlon last month. The 10.7 km race through the Sydney CBD includes challenges such as hoisting a 10 kg sandbag and clambering over barricades. It offers a chance for sedentary office workers to get up from their chairs, with recent research in the Archives of Internal Medicine showing that sitting is a risk factor for all-cause mortality.


Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Michal Čierny Name of the doctoral dissertation Contributions to Analysis and Mitigation of Cochannel Interference in Cellular Wireless Networks Publisher School of Electrical Engineering Unit Department of Signal Processing and Acoustics Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 142/2016 Field of research Signal Processing for Communications Manuscript submitted 25 April 2015 Date of the defence 19 August 2016 Permission to publish granted (date) 21 April 2016 Language English Monograph Article dissertation Essay dissertation Abstract Cellular wireless networks have become a commodity. We use our cellular devices every day to connect to others, to conduct business, for entertainment. Strong demand for wireless access has made corresponding parts of radio spectrum very valuable. Consequently, network operators and their suppliers are constantly being pressured for its efficient use. Unlike the first and second generation cellular networks, current generations do not therefore separate geographical sites in frequency. This universal frequency reuse, combined with continuously increasing spatial density of the transmitters, leads to challenging interference levels in the network. This dissertation collects several contributions to analysis and mitigation of interference in cellular wireless networks. The contributions are categorized and set in the context of prior art based on key characteristics, then they are treated one by one. The first contribution encompasses dynamic signaling that measures instantaneous interference situations and allows only for such transmissions that do not harm each other excessively. A novel forward signaling approach is introduced as an alternative to traditional reverse signaling. Forward signaling allows the interference management decisions to be done at the receiver, where there is more relevant information available. The second contribution analyzes cross-link interference in heterogeneous networks. Crosslink interference is interference between downlink and uplink transmissions that can appear in time-division duplex (TDD) networks. It is shown that uplink reception of small cells can be disturbed considerably by macrocell downlink transmissions. We proposes an intuitive solution to the problem based on power control. Users in small cells have generally enough power headroom as the distance to the small base station is often short. The third contribution provides an extensive analysis of a specific interference managment method that the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) applies in cochannel heterogeneous deployments. We analyze this so-called time muting using a modern stochastic geometry approach and show that performance of the method strongly depends on residual interference in the muted sections of time. The fourth and last contribution analyzes the impact of interference rank, i.e., number of spatial streams at the interferer, on a beamformed or spatially block coded transmission. It is shown that when the interferer chooses to transmit multiple spatial streams, spreading the power in spatial domain has potential to decrease probability of outage at neighbor receiver, especially if the neighbor transmission uses beamforming.


Abstract Experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of two phase anaerobic reactor with membrane separation. Starch was used as substrate. The cartridge type filter of microfiltration (MF) membrane with pore size of 0.2 to 10μm was tested in this research. Acid conversion rate and methane production rate were more effective in acidogenic reactor with membrane system compared with the one with conventional settling tank. The conversion efficiency from substrate to organic acid was in the range of 34% to 50% at the loading rate of 5.0 kg COD/m3 . day. Through the all runs, the proportion of acetic acid was 40–45% and that of propionic acid was 30–35 %. The COD reduction in the AUBF was over 90 % at the loading rate of 3.0 kg COD/m3 . day. This research may provide the basis of fundamental knowledge for anaerobic treatment and its application to industrial and livestock farming wastes.


It was investigated in humans whether the incorporation of an extinction cue attenuates renewal of extinguished conditioned performance using a computerized task. All participants received an acquisition phase against a specific background, context A. In this context they learned that two conditioned stimuli, CS1 and CS2, predicted the occurrence of an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US) and that a third stimulus, CS3, predicted the absence of the US. Next, half of the participants received an extinction treatment in a different context (B), whereas the other half did not (context A). Dur- ing extinction both CS1 and CS3 were repeatedly presented in absence of the US. For all participants, a so-called extinc- tion cue was presented partially during this extinction phase. Finally, a renewal test was conducted in which CS1, CS2, and CS3 were presented against the acquisition background (A). Half of the participants received the extinction cue along the renewal test. Participants demonstrated renewal, but only when they had received the extinction treatment in a differ- ent context. Contrary to the hypothesis, the extinction cue at test did not attenuate but appeared to augment this renewal. Different explanations for this result are discussed.


This presentation was focused on sharing an example of a student – led initiative aimed at providing additional and flexible opportunities for engagement to students
Spirit of the initiative is founded on ideas of co-production and active student ownership and engagement with programme and own learning


In many integrated sensor systems applications where signals of high dynamic range have to be sampled with a good precision, large dynamic range nonuniform analog to digital converters (ADC) are often a preferred solution. Using the floating-point compression technique increases the dynamic range of the ADC and reduces the number of output bits, thus helping to reduce the data transmission bandwidth and storage memory. The pipelined structure of the ADC reduces the number of components and therefore, the power consumption to a low 50 mW level, while keeping the high sampling rate equal to the clock speed of up to 10 Msample/sec. The peak signal to noise ratio of the conversion is 48 dB. This project is done in CMOS 0.18 /spl mu/m technology.


Abstract Strigolactones (SLs) are the most recently discovered phytohormones, and their roles in root architecture and metabolism are not fully understood. Here, we investigated four MORE AXILLARY GROWTH (MAX) SL mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana, max3‐9, max4‐1, max1‐1 and max2‐1, as well as the SL receptor mutant d14‐1 and karrikin receptor mutant kai2‐2. By characterising max2‐1 and max4‐1, we found that variation in SL biosynthesis modified multiple metabolic pathways in root tissue, including that of xyloglucan, triterpenoids, fatty acids and flavonoids. The transcription of key flavonoid biosynthetic genes, including TRANSPARENT TESTA4 (TT4) and TRANSPARENT TESTA5 (TT5) was downregulated in max2 roots and seedlings, indicating that the proposed MAX2 regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis has a widespread effect. We found an enrichment of BRI1‐EMS‐SUPPRESSOR 1 (BES1) targets amongst genes specifically altered in the max2 mutant, reflecting that the regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis likely occurs through the MAX2 degradation of BES1, a key brassinosteroid‐related transcription factor. Finally, flavonoid accumulation decreased in max2‐1 roots, supporting a role for MAX2 in regulating both SL and flavonoid biosynthesis.


Flow system measurements are reported of the approximate rate constants for the gas phase reactions Si+ + O2 → SiO+ + O, SiO+ + N → Si+ + NO or NO+ + Si, and SiO+ + O → Si+ + O2. The constants are, respectively, <10−11, ∼1.5 × 10−10, ∼1.5 × 10−10, and 2 × 10−10, all in cm3 s−1.


Abstract Limited information exists regarding the impact of fire on annual plant composition in creosote bush scrub vegetation. The impact of recurrent fires on annual plants is even less understood. To investigate this matter, annual vegetation was sampled in a stand of creosote bush scrub in western Coachella Valley, California that had recently experienced two wildfires. The wildfires fragmented the once contiguous shrubland into three sections: unburned, once-burned, and twice-burned stands, all of which were separated by fuel breaks that contained each fire. For all three stands, annual plant cover and species richness were determined in the field, soil seed bank samples were collected and assayed in a glasshouse, and soil chemistry and physical properties were measured. We found that invasive annual grass cover was highest in the twice-burned stand and native annual plant cover was greatest in the unburned stand. Native annual species richness significantly decreased each time a stand burned resulting in low native annual plant diversity. Seed bank assays revealed that invasive annual grass germinants were orders of magnitude greater in the twice-burned stand compared with the other two stands. Lastly, soil total N, C, and soil pH were elevated in both burned stands. Overall, we found that recurrent fire can result in strong impacts to annual vegetation; however, the twice-burned stand was sampled only three years after burning while the once-burned stand was sampled 20 years after burning. Thus, longer-term fire effect studies plus replication with additional study sites are still needed to improve our understanding of how recurrent fire impacts annual plants.


Imaging methods such as the beamforming technique are widely used to localize and identify aeroacoustic sources. However, so far, existing applications in aeroacoustics have mostly been performed in the frequency domain. To tackle the characterization of nonstationary sources (for example, intermittent sources), time-domain imaging methods are more appropriate. Indeed, the spatio-temporal reconstruction of the acoustic fields allows studying the source structure in "real-time". In this paper, two aeroacoustic problems are investigated with the help of time-domain inverse methods. First, numerical acoustic data obtained from the simulation of the radiation of a 2D mixing layer are studied through a numerical time-reversal method based on the Linearized Euler Equations. The spatio-temporal maxima of the acoustic energy are then detected by observing successive snapshots of the reconstructed acoustic field. These are assumed to correspond to wave focusing and, hence, to be related to the presence of a source. Finally, vorticity field snapshots are observed at the times at which spatio-temporal maxima are found. A conditional average of the flow fields, assuming large acoustic emission, is thus possible in principle. The global structure of the source is found to be quadripolar and each kind of detected maxima corresponds to a fixed vortical structure. Second, experimental data of the noise produced by a forward-facing step in a wind-tunnel flow are analysed by using the timedomain beamforming technique. The detection of spatio-temporal maxima highlights that the broadband noise source produced by the step can be seen as a succession of short duration events scattered around the step edge.


Foreword Preface 1. The Public Professional and Public Service Values 2. Public Service Values Today 3. Neutrality: The Public Professional in a Democratic Society 4. Efficiency: The Economic Environment of Public Service 5. Accountability: Whom Do I Serve, and for What Purposes? 6. Public Service: The Personal Commitment 7. The Public Interest: Commitment to Society 8. Conclusion: Value Choices and the Public Professional References Index About the Author


Transportation infrastructure poses significant challenges to sustainable development because its construction and maintenance require large amounts of material consumption, energy input, and capital investment. A refined systematic approach to the design, construction, and management of pavement systems is necessary to meet the objectives of sustainable development. The major components of sustainable development in pavement systems include economic and social considerations in addition to environmental preservation. Asphalt mixture design and construction practices are essential to the environmental component of sustainable development. These practices include, but are not limited to, asphaltic mixture reusing and recycling as well as innovative technologies considering energy efficiency and stormwater management. Performance and durability become a critical issue with the changes introduced to the mixtures. This paper briefly summarizes the evaluation of mixture design practices and the performance of asphalt mixtures prepared with various types of recycled materials and warm mix technologies.


A useful noninvasive method for the measurement of fluid flow rates in large pipes is the pulsed neutron activation (PNA) method. In PNA, a suitable radioisotope is generated at a definite location within the fluid by neutron activation using a pulsed source, and the radioisotope is subsequently detected downstream. The transit time from the activation point to the detection point is directly related to the mean flow velocity of the fluid. For the design and use of PNA systems, it is desirable to have an accurate predictive model describing the neutron activation, the transport and dispersion of the radioisotope within the fluid, and the detection of the emitted radiation. Perez-Griffo et al. reported on a calculational scheme for describing a PNA measurement system at the loss-of-flow test (LOFT) facility that combines Monte Carlo simulation (for the activation and detection parts) with the solution of partial differential equations that describe the transport and a dispersion of the activated radioisotope. Their scheme, while valid, is cumbersome to use since it involves three distinctly separate calculations. Here a Monte Carlo model is presented that treats the entire process in one continuous step. It is easy to use and very efficient computationally.


In this paper, we describe the pattern density effect on the characteristics of a spiral inductor with a patterned ground shield (PGS) fabricated using complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The inductance of the inductor is nearly constant for various pattern densities owing to the constant magnetic energy of the electromagnetic wave stored in the inductor. The quality factor of the inductor at a substrate resistivity ≥ 10 Ω·cm is maximum at a pattern density where the energy loss in the inductor is minimum because the energy loss in the silicon substrate decreases and the energy loss in the PGS increases as pattern density increases. In contrast, the quality factor of the inductor at a substrate resistivity of 10 mΩ·cm slightly decreases as pattern density increases owing to a slight increase in the energy loss in the inductor.


Following pilot CD‐ROM projects in 1988 carried out by the British Library and the Bibliothque Nationale, Paris (jointly) and the Deutsche Bibliothek, Frankfurt (in parallel), 1989 has seen the publication of the national bibliographies of those three countries on CD‐ROM in compatible forms and with a commitment to keep the products in step wherever possible. This is, however, by no means the end of the story. Encouraged by the success of this cooperative venture and confident in the suitability of CD‐ROM as a distribution medium for bibliographic data, discussions have been taking place over the last twelve months on ways of ensuring a common development path and of sharing the expertise gained by these three national libraries with other national libraries. A project has now been set up and this article will give a brief description of its main aims and some of the expected results.


INTRODUCTION: Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is an emerging tool for the assessment of myocardial perfusion and perfusion reserve in humans. This technique requires registration of multiple images and suffers from low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) [1-4]. In this work, we present a novel approach for mapping perfusion and perfusion reserve based on ASL data. Unregistered spatial data is transformed into a polar coordinate frame and then simultaneously filtered and re-sampled onto a polar grid to boost SNR while generating useful visualizations [5]. This approach is tailored to the formation of quantitative maps from unregistered low-SNR data, and is not specific to ASL.


Waves of large amplitude may form spilling breakers over a very gentle slope. A theoretical and experimental analysis of such waves is presented. In particular, the rate of energy dissipation as a function of bottom slope and convergence of wave orthogonals is determined theoretically and experimentally and related to the relative height of foam "white water" appearing in front of the breaker. Also the velocity field in gentle spilling breakers is measured. It was found that, except near the crest, the major features are essentially those of a limit height nonbreaking wave.


Abstract 1. Forest entomofauna retain high diversity, and examining beta diversity, or species turnover, among assemblages in a forest community is vital to elucidate the source of this diversity.


The YAMIK sinus catheter method is a novel modification of the Proetz displacement method. The efficacy, safety, and usefulness of the YAMIK sinus catheter were evaluated in an open clinical study without the use of any medications. Sixty patients with paranasal sinusitis were treated with a YAMIK catheter once weekly for 3 consecutive weeks and the following results were obtained: 1. The clinical effectiveness rate was judged by the committee to be 53%. The YAMIK method was much more effective in cases with acute sinusitis than in cases with chronic sinusitis. 2. The effectiveness rates for treatment of rhinorrhea, post nasal drip, nasal blockage and sinus pressure were 64%, 65%, 61% and 95%, respectively. 3. The improvement based on X-ray findings, and covering the improved and the markedly improved cases, was 42%. 4. Side effects observed included 5 cases with transient nasal itching, sneezing and/or nasal discharge during the first few days after treatment, and 3 cases where the balloon slipped into the mesopharynx occurred. The latter blocks up the airway and the balloon occupying the mesopharynx was ruptured through the mouth.


Two simple and sensitive spectrophotometric methods are described for the simultaneous estimation of Glimepiride (GLM) and Metformin (MTF) in their combined dosage forms. In simple UV method (method I), the drugs were determined simultaneously by keeping the sample solution containing both the drugs in the sample cell and the standard solution of the other drug of equivalent strength in reference cell and taking absorbancies at 231nm and 229nm for MTF and GLM, respectively. This method allowed the simultaneous determination of drugs in the range of 5-30μg/ml and 1-25μg/ml for MTF and GLM, respectively. In Method 2, five mixed standards of the two drugs were scanned in UV region in multi-component mode using two sampling points at 231nm and 229nm for MTF and GLM, respectively and the spectral data from these scans was used to determine the concentration of each drug in their combined dosage forms. All the proposed methods were validated in terms of limit of detection, limit of quantitation, linearity range, accuracy and precision. All proposed methods were found to be simple, sensitive, reproducible, precise and could be utilized as a quality control tool for the simultaneous estimation of both drugs in their combined dosage forms in quality control laboratory.


Background: Diabetes mellitus causes a range of nerve damage referring to diabetic neuropathy. Diabetic neuropathy affects over 132 million individuals worldwide (about 1.9% of the population). Diabetes is the largest recognized cause of neuropathy in affluent countries, and the most prevalent consequence and reason for morbidity and mortality. The deficient vitamin D value is one of the newest considerations of the development of diabetes and peripheral neuropathy.

Objective: the objective of this study was to compare vitamin D levels among Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with/without diabetic peripheral neuropathy and to find an association of Vitamin D levels with diabetic peripheral neuropathy based on the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) score at a tertiary care hospital, Peshawar.

Method: A case-control study was conducted from August 2021 to October 2021 after taking approval from the ethical committee of Prime foundation Pakistan, Mercy Teaching Hospital Peshawar. Patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited and then divided into two groups using the purposive sampling technique. Type 2 diabetes with neuropathy included group A Patients (Cases), while type 2 diabetes without neuropathy included group B (Controls). Both groups had 49 study subjects each based on convenience. A physical examination was conducted to prove the diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) using the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI). Patients screening positive on the MNSI (>2 points out of a 10-point scale) were considered neuropathic. Serum vitamin D levels were assessed in both patients (cases) and controls using a hospital laboratory and labeled as Vitamin D sufficiency (more than 30ng/ml), Vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/ml), Higher Vitamin D (100 ng/ml) and vitamin D insufficiency (between 20 and 30 ng/ml).

Results: A total of 98 subjects were enrolled in the study with a 1:1 ratio of cases and controls. Median age [57 (IQR 52-65) versus 55 (IQR=48-61), p<0.001] and disease duration [10 (IQR=8-16) versus 7 (IQR=4-10), p<0.001] were significantly different among cases and control. The proportion of patients with normal vitamin D levels was significantly lower in cases than in control (10.2% versus 67.3%, p<0.001). On the multivariable regression model, vitamin D levels were found to be an independent predictor of DPN with a significantly lower risk of DPN among patients with normal vitamin D levels as compared to those who had vitamin d higher than 100 ng/ml (OR=0.19, 95% CI:0.001-0.282, p=0.004).

Conclusion: Our study concluded that patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus DPN have deficient levels of Vitamin D as assessed by Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument. Considerable risk of Diabetic peripheral neuropathy among patients having a deficiency of Vitamin D was proved.


Knowledge reduction in decision table is important in both theory and application, and it outputs a minimal algorithm as a result. Set of the samples fitting the minimal algorithm is a concept over the set of all possible instances. But in unfamiliar environment, decision table is obtained randomly. So the obtained concept is an approximation to a potential target concept. We discuss the model of this concept learning, sample complexity of its hypothesis space and PAC-learnability of its target concept class.


The article aims to identify social impact activities in the context of information operations conducted by Ukraine during the 2022 war. An analysis of the creation and spread of information threats as a result of Russia's ongoing conflict is driven by the increasing impact of communication on global security. The content of the study highlights the impact of trends in the creation of information threats, which are the determinants of social risks. In the article, an analysis of creating information threats, including producing and reporting information in propaganda and the traditional and modern media, is of significant importance. The impact and role of mass media on awareness-raising is presented, revealing mechanisms for influencing public opinion.


Scientific workflow design is usually complex and demands access to and integration of numerous non-conventional resources. Geographical distribution and semantic heterogeneity of these resources add to this complexity. The cost effectiveness of such workflow design, thus, depends upon the lifespan of the application and its anticipated use. Shorter application lifespan usually entails prohibitive development costs. In this paper, we present an alternative platform for declarative workflow design using BioFlow in such environments. BioFlow is being developed as the query language for a scientific data management system called LifeDB that aims to support on-the-fly data integration and workflow support for life sciences applications. We argue that a declarative and ad hoc workflow design using BioFlow is more efficient and cost effective compared to traditional approaches using systems such as Taverna or Kepler. To demonstrate the advantages of BioFlow, we compare a canonical microarray data analysis workflow application design approach using BioFlow with Taverna and a gene regulation application using BioFlow and Kepler. We show that BioFlow supports ad hoc and modular application design at a throw away cost and produces a superior maintainable application that can adapt to changes in the source without significant effort compared to both Taverna and Kepler.


Cancer initiation and progression are usually triggered by protooncogene activation and/or tumor suppressor gene inactivation and promoted by further genomic and epigenetic alterations that reprogram cell gene expression, metabolism, proliferation, differentiation, and behavior. Overexpressed or mutationactivated tyrosine kinase receptors and their signaling components, such as HER2, EGFR, Src, RAS, PI3K, and AKT, steroid hormone receptors, such as estrogen receptor and androgen receptor, and other cell growth and cell cycle regulators induce carcinogenesis or promote cancer cell growth, survival, and progression. Accordingly, many therapeutic drugs have been developed and used to target these molecules for treating different cancers (Supplementary Table S1). Although these drugs have significantly improved cancer treatments, most oncogenic factors are also expressed in normal cells and required for normal physiological functions. Therefore, the drugs of anti-oncogenic factors also result in severe adverse effects on cancer patients. An ideal anti-cancer drug should specifically kill cancer cells without affecting normal cellular function, which requires identifying targets essential for cancer cells but non-essential for normal cells. Importantly, these cancerselective targets required for cancer cell survival may or may not be the classic oncogenes that have attracted extensive attention for drug development. During embryonic development, cell proliferation, fate determination, and differentiation are controlled by temporal and spatial gene expression patterns. Many genes expressed at early embryonic growth, cell fate commitment, tissue-specific precursor cell proliferation, and differentiation stages play essential roles in supporting embryonic development. Knockout (KO) of any of these essential genes may result in embryonic lethality. However, once the embryonic development is completed, certain genes essential for embryonic development are no longer expressed or become non-essential for adult health. It is known that embryogenesis and carcinogenesis share many similarities. For example, the highly proliferative feature and the cell cycle regulatory mechanisms of early embryonic cells and cancer cells are similar. The cell migration and invasion behaviors and the underlying regulatory mechanisms, such as reprogramming the cell plasticity through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), are similar between embryonic cells and cancer cells. The embryonic stem (ES) cells and cancer stem cells also share a number of similarities. The human embryonal carcinoma cells and ES cells express a large set of genes at similar levels (Sperger et al., 2003). Cancers, particularly those poorly differentiated cancers including the high-grade ER-negative breast cancers, glioblastomas, and bladder carcinomas, also express ES cell gene signatures (Ben-Porath et al., 2008). Patients with cancers expressing a gene signature similar to that of stem cells exhibit poor overall survival (Riester et al., 2017). Similarities between embryonic cells and cancer cells are also found in DNA methylation patterns and pioneer transcription factors and architectural proteins that regulate chromatin organization (Larson and Yuan, 2012; Chiang et al., 2014; Dobersch et al., 2019). Because of these similarities, many genes essential for embryonic cell proliferation and survival are also expressed in cancer cells for supporting cancer cell proliferation and survival. Therefore, certain genes that are essential for both embryo and cancer cell growth and survival but non-essential for adult survival and general health may serve as cancerspecific/preferential targets for killing cancer cells with tolerable adverse effects on adult patients.


Degree of internationalization of currency can be reflected by the trade structure at the denominating level. This paper established a three-sector macroeconomic model with representative households, enterprises and governments. We introduce import and export trade settlement structure on representative household's revenue and expenditure, dividing enterprises into trade enterprises and non-tradable enterprises, and finally we analyze the influences of the changes of economic subject's main variables on the structure of trade settlement in an equilibrium market. The conclusions of this study are as follows: if the real exchange rate of foreign currency is greater than 1, the growth of the three variables including attractiveness of foreign goods, the elasticity of capital output and the government expenditure will deepen the internationalization of the currency; if the actual exchange rate is less than 1, the three variables take effects on it in a perverse way. In this research the possible reasons of the internationalization of the currency are discussed from the theoretical level, in the end we take RMB for example to explain the process of currency internationalization. Keywords—Trade settlement structure; Macroeconomic model; currency internationalization


A) METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC ADJUSTMENT OF THE GAIN OF A TELEVISION CAMERA. B) PROCESS CHARACTERIZED BY ONLY FROM VIDEO SIGNAL THE WHOLE PICTURE FIELD, ON EXCERPT VIDEOS RELATED TO THIS FIELD OF SUB PICTURE IN SEVERAL AREAS PARTIAL (A ..... 1 AND ON THE MEASUREMENT SIGNAL AND IN THE CIRCUIT FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROCESS INCLUDES A NUMBER OF SWITCHES ELECTRONIC 16A ... 16I CONTROL, THAT NUMBER IS AS A PARTIAL IMAGES FIELD ... I AND WHO ARE EACH TIME THE INPUT IN VIDEO IMAGE SIGNAL FIELD TOGETHER BEING CONNECTED OUTPUTS RESPECTIVELY DETECTOR FIELD STRENGTH 18A .... 18I, OUTPUTS OF sENSORS FIELD STRENGTH ... 18I 18A BEING CONNECTED TO AN INTERMEDIATE MEMORY 19A 19I ... WHOSE OUT THEMSELVES CONNECTED TO RATE MULTIPLEXER 21.


Symplectic reduction by the unitary group of the ancilla space in the standard purification gives rise to bundles of purifications over the spaces of isospectral density matrices. We analyze the equations of motion in these bundles, and provide an energy dispersion estimate which gives rise to distance measures on the bundles base spaces. We also discuss the relation between the distance measures and the Bures metric.


All of the curves are computed and drawn in real time, randomly selected from a gallery of over 300 possible curves. Each is based on a graphic interpretation of a simple spirolateral curve, then transformed according to one of the following methods: antiMercator, circular, circle inversion, harmonic mean inversion, hypocycloid, epicycloid, epitrochoid, piriform, bicorn, tear drop, lips, lame, or hippopede curve.


The vehicles on the traffic are increasing in number everyday in our country and that's why the traffic accidents are also increasing. There are two types of safety systems in cars. The Active Safety Systems on automobiles aim to prevent the accident before it happens (ABS, active suspension etc.) and the Passive Safety Systems aim to prevent the occupants during the accident (safety belts, airbags etc.) In 1967 air bags had been began to be put in cars by a German automobile company first as the passive safety system and in 1980's they had become commonly used by drivers and after 1988 both by drivers and front seat passengers. Together with these developments it was seen that the airbags were saving lives together with the injuries they cause so in 1980's new second generation depowered airbags were developed to prevent airbag caused injuries. And today new studies are in progress to develop the new generation airbags working with sensors that sense the position and weight of the passenger and also the severity and force of the crash to deploy at the most suitable pressure and at the most suitable time during the accident. Together with these new developments in motorcycle airbags and wearable airbags are done.Key words: Traffic accidents, passive safety systems, airbags, airbag injuries


The practice of the clean production in Jinduicheng Molybdenum Mining Corporation is introduced, and the program research direction is pointed out


Apparatus to simulate microgravity combustion in normal gravity is important for the fire safety of manned spaceflight.The narrow channel is such an apparatus in which the buoyant flow is restricted effectively.However,the comparability of flame spread in different gravity is still an open question.In present paper,opposed-flow flame spread over a thin solid material in narrow channels in different gravity was compared experimentally and numerically.The comparison of flame appearances and flame spread rates in normal and microgravity suggested that the 1 cm high horizontal channel can suppress natural convection effectively.Such apparatus can be used to simulate the microgravity flame spread in channels with the same geometrical size.Therefore,the simulation of microgravity flame spread on the ground may be realized by first using the horizontal narrow channel on the ground to simulate microgravity flame spread in the channel with the same size,and then considering the effect of the channel size on the flame spread.


In this paper, we try to outline a comprehensive model of analysis of poetical texts applied
lyrics of Spanish pop-rock songs. This alternative model of literary education is specially
addressed to youngsters between 14 and 18 years old so that they could become conscious that
lyrics of everyday pop songs contain a certain degree of poetical elaboration. Poetical aspects
studied in this article, always applied to lyrics of Spanish pop-rock songs, include a wide range of
matters such as poetical genres, intertextuality, literary commonplaces, metrics and analysis of
verse, rhetorical features (both figures of speech and figures of thought) and imitation of previous
literary models (courtly love poetry typical of Late Middle Ages and Renaissance and
"Generacion del 27" surrealistic poetry).


The population growth causes the demand for land to increase. The availability of land is limited thus that there is competition for land use between agricultural and non-agricultural land. This happened in Cugenang District, where the area of paddy fields continued to decrease thus it is necessary to study the economic evaluation produced by paddy fields. This study aims to analyse the variation of the economic value of paddy fields and to analyse the relationship between the economic values of paddy fields and the characteristics of the location in Cugenang District. The method used is a quantitative method with statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson correlation. The analysis used is spatial and descriptive analysis. The results showed that the economic value of paddy fields is different at different elevation areas. The economic value of paddy fields at an elevation of < 600 m has a higher value, which is Rp 2,982/m2. Location characteristics that have a relationship with the economic value of paddy fields are the distance from the city centre and the distance from the market. The distance from the market has a linear relationship, while the distance from the city centre has an inverse relationship. Overall, the physical location of paddy fields has a more significant relationship than economic location because the level of productivity in paddy fields is more influenced by physical location than economic location.


AbstractDuring mudflows, geomaterials evolve in a very specific manner, because initially they behave as solids, and then they turn to flow as viscous fluids. This paper proposes an original approach to simulate, within a single numerical framework, such a transition between a solid-like and a fluid-like behavior. The model used is based on the association of an elastoplastic and a viscous constitutive relation to describe both phases of the behavior. The transition between the two is assumed to correspond to a failure state, and the transition criterion considered is thus based on the general second-order work stability criterion. The Plasol elastoplastic model and the Bingham viscous model are used because they are suitable to describe soils and granular suspensions, respectively. In this preliminary study, the global model is tested for two homogeneous loading paths with drained and undrained conditions. For these cases, the radical transformation of the material behavior at failure is captured, and bo...


Rhynchophorol (6-Methyl-2-hepten-4-ol) is the major constituent of the aggregation pheromone of Rhynchophorus palmarum L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), which is released by males of this species. The racemic mixture has been produced in one step-simplified preparation. The pheromone is placed into ampoules and furnished to coconut farmers. In the field, traps baited with Rhynchophorol and pieces of sugarcane attract both males and females, reducing the population of R. palmarum. The best conditions for field application are showed.


Since the 1970s core level spectroscopy has played a key role in elucidating the energetics, structure and kinetics of solid surfaces. This paper reviews recent experimental results which illustrate the breakthroughs achieved by using this technique with x-rays produced by third generation synchrotron radiation light sources. Examples regarding the interaction of atomic adsorbates, the role of surface defects, the thermal stability of solid surfaces and simple surface chemical reactions outline the potential of high energy resolution core level photoelectron spectroscopy as a tool for determining electronic, geometrical and chemical properties of clean and adsorbate covered Rh and Pt solid surfaces.


Objective: Rotavirus has an important role in viral childhood gastroenteritis all over the world. Acute gastroenteritis constitutes an important part of pediatric emergency department admissions. We aimed to evaluate the burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis in the pediatric emergency department. Material and Methods: Patients who were admitted to Ankara University Faculty of Medicine Pediatric Emergency Department between August 1, 2011 and July 31, 2012 with a diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis were included in this study. Clinical characteristics and the data of patients with a positive rotavirus antigen test in stool were analyzed retrospectively. Stool samples were examined by using an immunochromatographic test (CerTest Rota Kart BIOTEC, Zaragoza, Spain). Results: In the study period, 3046 stool samples for rotavirus antigen were evaluated, and 552 patients (284 boys, 268 girls) were found to have positive test results. The ages of the patients ranged from 36 days to 14.59 years, with a median of 1.70 years; 58.1% of the patients were under 2 years. The patient admissions were more frequent in winter and less frequent summer months. It was determined that 46% of the patients were followed up in the pediatric emergency department or pediatric infection disease services; 66.8% of these patients were under 2 years, and no patients were hospitalized over the age of 5. Conclusion: As a result, rotavirus gastroenteritis had a higher frequency under 2 years of age and in winter; also, hospitalizations were more frequent in this age group. Most of the patients were followed up in the pediatric emergency department and discharged after the treatment; thus, the burden of hospital inpatient services was reduced. Pediatric emergency departments have an important role in the treatment of rotavirus gastroenteritis. (J Pediatr Inf 2014; 8: 99-104)


One of the main changes brought by the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards is composed of fair value, which concerns in particular IAS39 by presenting criteria for evaluating not only for financial derivatives, and also for the assets available for sale or held assets and liabilities that can be marketed.[3] So fair value meeting the existence and autonomous operators which have sufficient information about the exchange of goods and spontaneously decide to put in the fact. IAS 32 - excludes from the definition of that fair value "the value that an entity would pay for it or would receive it in a forced, in an involuntary liquidation or a sale really cheap.[5] According to data definition, IAS excludes the possibility to consider that the fair value price of the financial exchange between the entities belonging to the same group being considered as independent parties.[7] An important consideration that should be taken into account is the need not to confuse the concept of fair value to market price, very run error in practice.[1] This could actually be determined using techniques that simulate the market value. These techniques we describe below. [2]Therefore, according to the standard IAS32, only in the presence of an active and liquid market value coincides with the fair value or at least is a fundamental parameter for determining the reference to.[4]


One reason for the separation between learning resources and learning activities is to facilitate reusability of learning resources. In this research, we built software agents to help instructors to search for learning objects in metadata, based user learning style and desires, hence to enable authoring adaptive course(s). The research also helps the authors of learning courses in reusing the learning objects and integrating them by using the mobile agents. We built mobile agents to travel to all nodes in a distributed system to gather learning objects created based on different e-learning standards and different formats, and return back to a server to unify the different formats of learning objects into one preferred learner format. Finally, the proposed model delivered the collected and unified learning objects to the learner based on his desires. To prove the research goal, a prototype was implemented using Java programming language and using the Aglet environment.


Objective: Gonadotropin hyperstimulation for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) has been considered to be harmful to the uterine receptivity. The role of HB-EGF has been implicated in the mouse embryonic implantation. In the present study, we assessed the effect of gonadotropin hyperstimulation on the expression of HB-EGF mRNA in murine endometrium. Methods: Competitive, reverse transcription-PCR was performed to evaluate the expression of HB-EGF mRNA in the hyperstimulated murine endometrum from pregnant uteri of gestation day (g.d.) 5.5 after the injection of saline (placebo), pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) 5 IU and 10 IU. Results: HB-EGF expression was observed at dilution concentrations of internal standard, and dual bands (423/360 bp) were observed at 10-5 dilution concentration. The expression of HB-EGF mRNA showed no significant change in the endometrial expression in PMSG groups, compared to the control group, on g.d. 5.5. There was no dose-response relationship between the two PMSG groups. Conclusion: Our data reveals that ovarian hyperstimulation using gonadotropin does not influence the expression of HB-EGF in the murine endometrium. Further studies are necessary to elucidate which stage of embryonic implantation and the expression of other substance is affected by the ovarian hyperstimulation.


ABSTRACT Context is a useful concept somehow unconsciously used by humans in daily life problem-solving. Recently, several subareas of computer science have been increasingly trying to rely on this concept to design systems with practical use in certain predefined circumstances. The perception is that imbuing in the system certain context-awareness qualities can support intelligent decision-making in specific practical situations. Despite a significant number of implemented systems that aim at providing context-awareness, there is a lack of commonly accepted and used methodologies and tools. At the root of this, is the lack of agreement on a set of good principles or standards, which can act as a guide to the scientific community and the developers interested in this class of systems. There have been some extensive surveys on the use of context, still there is no theoretical corpus emerging that we can use to discuss the essential concepts making up the fabric of contexts and its use by system developers. Here we attempted such enterprise at a level, which is more formal than popular surveys, in a way that is not implementation dependent and in a way that highlights key concepts of relevance to developers. We reassessed first the basic concepts identifying the need to more prominently consider system beneficiaries' satisfaction. We then transfer explicitly these values to a more formal outline of the basic componentgs and the operations which emerge as relevant. We identify and highlight the tasks of context activation, comparison, influence, construction, and interaction. We hint at how these may work in practice and explained these through examples. We show how the theory is flexible enough by generalizing it to multiusers so that optimization of global preferences and expectations is used to drive system development and system behavior.


INTRODUCTON To international marketers, China is undoubtedly a large important market with 1.3 billion consumers. The economic reform and opening up of the country since 1979 has set off an unprecedented consumer revolution, which has significantly changed the living standards and lifestyle of million people. Consumption is a relatively new experience for Chinese consumers, who began, just in recent years, to enjoy shorter working hours and more official holidays. With more spare time and raising disposable income consumers have now demanded a wider choice of products and services, particularly in sports, leisure and entertainment sectors. This is in line with the experience of other Southeast Asian countries: as economic development progresses and personal wealth raises, leisure activities will grow enormously.


The germination test for 7 Maize varieties was conducted under PEG 6000 stress.The experimental results showed that plant height,leaf area,root length,root number,germination rate,seedling drought survivability,fresh seeding weight,fresh root weight,root-top ratio,water loss rate of excised leaf of all varieties decreased compared with those in normal water.There are significant differences among 7 varieties.The drought stress resistance of 7 Maize varieties were evaluated comprehensively by water stress index analysis.Yuyu 28,Zhongke 4 and Xiuqing 73-1 were high drought resistance in germination and seedling stage.


Introduction : Suspension of the surgical intervention is a situation that causes inconveniences, goes against optimizing activities, reducing costs, avoiding loss of materials and developing the work with the highest quality. Objective : To describe the main causes for the suspension of elective surgery for eligible patients. Methods : A cross-sectional and descriptive study was carried out at Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso General Teaching Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, in the period from September 2017 to September 2018. From a population of 4511 announced surgeries, a sample of 1289 patients was taken, who were interrupted for surgery during the anesthesia consultation and in the immediate preoperative period. Results : The specialty of general surgery presents the highest indicator (26.9%) of the total number of suspensions during consultation; thus, of the 798 suspensions during consultation, 476 (59.6%) were due to patients, and 341 were due to medical causes (42.7%), that is, more than half of the suspensions owed to clinical alterations. The hospital was attributed 386 suspensions, accounting for 29.9% of the total. Conclusions : The incidence of anesthetic-surgical suspensions is high both during anesthesiology consultation and in the immediate preoperative period. These, together with the causes related to the patient, constitute the most relevant medical-assistance practical experience and must be taken into consideration by the acting anesthesiologist, mainly in the presence of patients suffering from cardiovascular comorbidities.


Glycogen phosphorylase catalyses the reversible phosphorylation of glycogen to give glucose-1-phosphate in a reaction mechanism promoted by the 5'-phosphate of the cofactor pyridoxal phosphate. The reaction with the small substrate heptenitol has been probed using Laue diffraction at the Synchrotron Radiation Source, Daresbury. The reaction was initiated following photolysis from a caged phosphate compound 3,5-dinitrophenylphosphate (DNPP). In measurements on photolysis in the crystal using a diode array spectrophotometer approximately 7 mM cage (and hence phosphate) was released from a 21 mM solution with five flashes from a xenon flash lamp. In an experiment with the home source it was shown that DNPP is stable in the crystal under conditions of X-ray measurements and that on flashing sufficient phosphate is released to promote catalysis within 24 h. In a similar experiment with the synchrotron and Laue diffraction, data were recorded before and then 3 min, 15 min and 1 h after initiation of the reaction. Theoretical analysis of the point spread function arising from partial data-sets, numerical calculations with ideal data and the experimental results have shown the importance of low-resolution terms for the interpretation of Laue difference maps. Inclusion of terms obtained from unscrambling the wavelength harmonic overlaps led to significant improvement. The maps showed heptenitol bound at the catalytic site but no evidence for catalysis under these conditions. A rational for the lack of reaction and suggestions for future experiments with improved data are outlined.


According to the citation analysis method,satistical analysis references of 1 232 essays of journal of science of teachers′college and university from 1997 to 2006.The citation amount,average citation amount,citation languages,citation time,ratio of citation quoted by itself and Price index were calculated.The results showed that the citation amount and average citation amount were 4 381and 3.56,the citation rate of periodicals and books were 56.22%,42.16%,the citation rate of Chinese document and foreing document were 80.99% and 9.01%,the citation rate of the documents in 1990s was 45.08%,the Price index were 34.15%.Thesse quantitative figures were useful for the development of journal of science of teachers′college and university.The study attempts to find out its some problems that can draw attention of authors and editors in reference data.


Abstract Intravenous N-acetylcysteine (IV NAC) is currently the approved treatment for acetaminophen (APAP) overdose with a three-step regimen totaling 300 mg/kg over 21 hours. Due to the complexity of this regimen, some institutions have used simplified, off-label regimens to mitigate dosing errors, adverse effects and shorten treatment durations. This article describes a modified two-step IV NAC regimen 510 mg/kg over 25 hours. We performed a retrospective analysis of outcomes in APAP overdose treated with a modified two-step IV NAC regimen between January 1, 2009 and April 30, 2014. We identified patients using medication charges. We included 79 patients in the analysis whom received IV NAC for APAP overdose. We found no documentation of adverse events during infusions. The median time from ingestion to initiation of treatment was 7.5 hours (interquartile range 5, 12 hours) and the median duration of therapy was 32 hours (interquartile range 25, 49 hours). A modified two-step regimen (510 mg/kg over 25 hours), which provides almost twice the dose of the recommended FDA approved dose of 300 mg/kg over 21 hours, may be a less complex and safer alternative to the traditional regimen.


In this paper, we present a co-design method for parallel image processing accelerator based on DSP and FPGA. DSP is used as application and operation subsystem to execute the complex operations, and in which the algorithms are resolving into commands. FPGA is used as co-processing subsystem for regular data-parallel processing, and operation commands and image data are transmitted to FPGA for processing acceleration. A series of experiments have been carried out, and up to a half or three quarter time is saved which supports that the proposed accelerator will consume less time and get better performance than the traditional systems.


Abstract : This thesis presents the results of several experiments performed on side scan sonar equipments and imagery with the aim of characterizing the acoustic variability of side scan sonar equipment and imagery with the aim of characterizing the acoustic variability of side scan sonar imagery and applying this information to image rectification and registration. A static test tank experiment is presented which analyzes the waveform, power spectral density, and temporal variability of the transmitted waveform. The results of a second static experiment conducted from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Pier in Woods Hole, Massachusetts permit determination of the distribution and moments of intensity fluctuations of echoes from objects image in side scan sonograms. This experiment also characterizes temporal and spatial coherence of intensity fluctuations. A third experiment is presented in which a side scan sonar towfish images the bottom adjacent to the pier while running along an underwater track which reduces towfish instability. Imagery from this experiment is used to develop a rectification and registration algorithm for side scan sonar images. Preliminary image processing is described and examples presented, followed by favorable results for automated image rectification and registration. (rh)


The second-order generalized integrator (SOGI) has been receiving a great deal of attention recently for the grid voltage estimation owing to its excellent harmonic rejection capability. In practice, such an algorithm is usually implemented by digital devices, thus the accurate discretization of the SOGI is essential to achieve the desired system performance. A comprehensive study about the discretization of the SOGI for grid voltage estimation is presented in this paper, in which the performance comparisons of SOGI discretized by various methods, i.e., backward Euler method, Tustin method, ZOH method, impulse invariant method, are conducted. Through the thorough analysis and simulation results, the proper discretization method for the SOGI for grid voltage estimation has been recommended.


Military parents with young children may benefit from interventions that aim to improve their parenting practice. This study examined the effectiveness of the Strong Military Families intervention by assessing 78 caregivers' parenting reflectivity (i.e., a parent's ability to reflect on the child's thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and motivations) and parenting representations (i.e., a parent's perception of his/her child and their relationship) before and after the intervention. Results indicated that compared to the waiting-list comparison group, participants in the intervention group showed improved parenting practice.


Half-Heusler phases have gained recently much interest as thermoelectric materials. Screening of possible systems was performed by drawing their stability region in a three-dimensional Pettifor map. The fabrication of Half-Heusler phases requires three steps, surface activation of the raw material by ball milling, arc-melting of pressed pellets and finally long-term annealing treatment in a vacuum furnace. On doped TiCoSb specimens, Seebeck coefficients of 0.1 mV/K, on NiNbSn 0.16 mV/K were measured, although the microstructure was not yet optimized.