In this era of digital age a lot of secret and non-secret data is transmitted over the internet. Cryptography is one of the many techniques to secure data on network. It is one of the techniques that can be used to ensure information security and data privacy. It is used to secure data in rest as well as data in transit. RSA in the most commonly used cryptographic algorithm and it is also used for the creation on Digital Certificates. RSA algorithm is now not considered to be as secure due to advancement in technology and newer attack vectors. This paper proposed an algorithm for security enhancement of RSA algorithm by increasing prime numbers count. Proposed algorithm has been implemented to encrypt and decrypt the data and execution results for encryption and decryption time have been compared for increased prime numbers count. This proposed algorithm of RSA can be used to replace the existing RSA algorithm in digital signature certificates as well as in all other places where the base RSA algorithm is currently being used. In the proposed technique, as the number of prime number count increases, prime factor calculation becomes difficult. If the attacker has encryption key (e) and Product of prime numbers (N) then it is not easy to find out the prime number combinations and hence decryption key (d) will be more secure by using proposed algorithm. This will be more difficult because given a number n, it is easy to find two numbers whose product is equal to n using Shor's algorithm and Grover's Search Algorithm but it is not very difficult and time taking to exactly determine m numbers whose product is equal to n.


This paper presents a new approach to derive discrete-time decoupling control algorithms for robotic manipulators. By using discrete-time models, previously introduced, linearizing and decoupling control laws are obtained directly in the discrete-time domain. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of this approach specially with respect to the alternative one consisting in discretizing the continuous decoupling laws.


Change is an inevitable reality of life. Countries, cultures, ways of thinking and producing, relations, and nature are constantly changing. The human being is constantly changing. This change and transformation takes place even faster with the advanced technology today. Surely this change and transformation has influenced many aspects of life and brought innovations into education. As a result of this change and transformation, the education process in many countries has turned into a student-centered structure supported by technology, embracing alternative approaches instead of traditional learning-teaching approaches.


To evaluate the usefulness of time‐resolved three‐dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) using diluted contrast agent (CA) in patients who had undergone a Fontan operation or bidirectional cavopulmonary connection (BCPC).


Postpartum is a condition in which the reproductive organs return to normal which takes 6 weeks. The feeling of discomfort in postpartum mothers occurs because of the sensation of pain that is often complained of. One way to increase comfort for postpartum mothers is by providing non-pharmacological therapies, namely massage and listening to music. Music can provide impulses or stimuli that can override the pain signals. The literature review aims to describe the type of music that can increase the comfort of postpartum mothers. The method used is a literature review study. The database used from several journals and articles with a search process through Pubmed, Proquest, Springlink, Scopus, Google Scholar. The criteria for inclusion in this search were the year the articles were published, starting from 2010 to 2020. The type of classical music that has a medical connection is Mozart's music. Mozart music with a frequency of 40-60 Hz, tempo 60-80 bpm. Music therapy is given for approximately 20-30 minutes to produce a therapeutic effect with a period of twice a day for 2 days using headphones. Music used to increase comfort and reduce the anxiety that has a slow tempo, notes that are not too high or too low, has a low volume and is rhythmic with a simple arrangement, and a stable melody. The provision of music therapy, especially Mozart adagio classical music, affects reducing anxiety levels and reducing pain intensity so that it can provide a sense of comfort to postpartum mothers.


This paper focuses on how teachers guide construction of knowledge in classrooms. We suggest that guidance hinges on the kind of dialogue teachers choose to engage students in. We propose several classroom dialogue types relevant for the construction of knowledge and suggest that critical dialogue is particularly effective for knowledge construction. We describe a lesson on probability conducted in a Grade 8 classroom in order to illustrate how a teacher chooses dialogue types, and to what extent she attends during dialogue to epistemic actions, which are constitutive of knowledge construction.


: MANET is a self-configured network of nodes with little central traffic management infrastructure. These networks have difficulties with congestion control, reliability, and energy consumption. Thanks to recent advancements in ensembles vehicular communication of smart devices with embedded sensors, MANET and WSN and WMN may now play an important role in smart cities. These smart devices, however, are still restricted in terms of power, CPU, and memory. Furthermore, effective routing for dependable network access at any time, any location, and for any reason remains a challenge in multi-hop wireless networks. MANET is a self-configuring, infrastructure-free wireless mobile device network. One of the most efficient communication technologies is multicast. The development of multicast routing methods for wireless MANETs is the subject of several research. Multicasting is a technique for simultaneously delivering the very same message to numerous recipients. However, its dynamic nature, lack of bandwidth, and the limited battery life of portable apps face several challenges when used in an ad-hoc network. Because of its ease of use, efficiency, and mobility, the ODMRP is one of the most commonly used multicast routing protocols in MANETs. On the other hand, ODMRP's sturdiness comes at the expense of a substantial amount of network control overhead. To do so, we've suggested a novel ORPM that is both useful and superior to existing protocols. When the proposed method's findings are compared to the state-of-the-art of current approaches, better results are produced.


Background: The rate of blood transfusion is high in Nigeria due to high prevalence of sickle cell anaemia. Hepatitis C virus infection is a blood borne infectious disease primarily transmitted parenterally. This study was conducted to see the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus among patients with sickle cell anemia. Methods: This study was conducted at University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Edo state, Nigeria, from January 2009 to April 2009. Candidates for this study were adults >15 years, from Haematology Out-Patient Department. Haemoglobin phenotype of patients was confirmed by haemoglobin electrophoresis. Blood transfusion history and demographic information were collected. Blood sample was taken from each participant for HCV antibody by enzyme-linked immune-sorbent assay. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 15. Results: A total of 252 sickle cell anaemia patients were recruited; 200 with history of regular blood transfusions and 52 who never had blood transfusion. They comprised of 56(22.2%) males and 196(77.8%) females, with male to female ratio of 1: 3.5. Age range was 15-48 years, mean 26.6±6.0 years. The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies in sickle cell anaemia with regular blood transfusions was 4.5% (9 out of 200), and it was 1.9% (1 out of 52) in those who never had blood transfusion (p=0.0001). Conclusion: The seroprevalence of Hepatitis C virus antibodies among regularly transfused sickle cell anemia patients is significantly higher than those not requiring transfusions.


How can you make your reception area more client friendly? A practice consultant suggests a practical approach to practices considering a revamp


The author discusses a system of 3 simple, time and material saving tests that may be used to give an indication of the explosion potential of chemicals.


Long term planning is vital for creating the Business Plans and forming the strategies of a company. Roadmapping is an indispensable part of long term planning process in terms of responding to threats and keeping the competitive advantage. Arcelik is a household appliances manufacturer which develops its products and technologies. At Arcelik, roadmapping process covers planning for market, product and technology.


Introduction: LVADs are now used as a bridge to heart transplantation, or destination therapy in patients with advanced heart failure. LVAD therapy reverses left ventricular (LV) remodeling and improves survival in 50% of patients. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that patients with poor prognosis after LVAD therapy will have a different genomic profile as compared to patients with higher survival rate. We propose to use genome-wide expression analysis to determine the mRNA and microRNA profiling of LV tissue and peripheral blood and identify probes that predicts outcome in patients receiving LVAD therapy. Methods: Genome-wide RNA expression profiling of the LV apex core tissue, and blood samples of patients receiving LVAD were performed using Illumina HumanHT-12 v4 Expression BeadChip, to study the expression of 47000 mRNA and micro-RNA transcripts. Follow up echocardiographic parameters were used to determine the patients' clinical response to LVAD therapy. We proposed that ≥10% reduction in LV end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) at 3 months is considered a responder to LVAD therapy. The results of the gene expression analysis were integrated with clinical outcomes to identify RNA expression patterns that differentiate LVAD responders from non-responders. Results: The percent change in LVEDD at 3 months ranged from +12 to -44 (mean -12±0.21), and 45% of the patients were responders to LVAD therapy (n=35). We used GeneSpring GX12 to identify the differentially expressed transcripts, and filtered the probes by their correlation to % change in LVEDD as a continuous numerical measurement with correlation stringency of 0.85 Conclusions: The myocardial transcriptome can predict the outcome in patients receiving LVAD therapy. The genetic markers, predictive of LV recovery after mechanical unloading, can help build new hypotheses for candidate pathways of LV remodeling.


Based on the High-resolution Transmission(HITRAN)molecular spectroscopic database,the absorptions of the THz wave by the main atmospheric molecules were contrasted.According to the Mie theory and with the fog particle size distribution considered,the average scattering characteristics of fog droplet particles were analyzed with different incident wavelengths.The transmissivity and the reflectivity and the forward and backward scattering intensities of the THz signal in fog,as well as the infrared light,were investigated with Monte Carlo method.The result shows that in THz region,the lower the frequency,the higher the transmissivity,the lower the reflectivity,the weaker the backward scattering intensity;additionally,with a same distance the THz wave has a better transmission capacity than the infrared light;meanwhile,the forward scattering intensity of the infrared light is stronger than the THz wave with a same scattering angle.The research in the paper is of great significance to the application of the terahertz technology on the atmospheric space.


An ovipesitien study of Aedes aegypti (L.) was conducted in a sixteen-storey building (flats) in an urban area of Kuala Lumpur. Ae. aegypti breeding occurred in all floors of the building including the roof-top. However, the dengue vector was dominant at the second fioor level. 1993) the of vertical distribution a d the abundance Ae. aegptPti in high-rise flats in the heart of Kuala Lumpur where dengueldengue haernorrhagic fever is endemic. This knowledge is vital for future control operation on the vector. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in a sixteenstorey building (flats) at Sentul situated in Kuala Lumpur. The eggs were collected using ovitraps (Suiaiman and Jeffery, 1986) which were condensed milk tins (105 mm in length and 72 mm in diameter) painted black inside and out to attract Aedes mosquitoes, Each tin was fi11ed with 200 ml of water, and a paddle made of cardboard with a rough surface on one side was placed inside as an oviposition substrate. Each ovitrap was placed in a corner of the ]ounge hall of each flat unit. A total of three fiat units were chosen at random from each floor (even numbers) including the roof-top. Once a week the paddles were removed from the ovitraps and brought to the laboratory for egg counting; fresh paddles were placed in the ovitraps. Larvae found in the ovitraps were also removed, counted and identified. In the laboratory the eggs were allowed to hatch and the larvae were recorded and identified. REsuLTs AND DIscussloN In Southeast Asia, Aedes aegyPti (L.) is the principal vector of the often fatal disease dengue haemorrhagic fever that is characterized by fever, shock, acute haemorrhage and high mortality usually among children (Harinasuta, 1984). Macdonald (1956) conducted intensive studies on the distribution and dispersal of this species in Malaya (now peninsular Malaysia). The rapid urbanization and development that has occurred in Malaysia has helped Ae. aegyPti spread at a very fast pace. In some larger cities in Southeast Asia, Ae. aegypti has become a dominant domestic mosquito (Hawley, 1988). The objective of this research is to study397 Results from the 11-weeks ovitrap study in the flats indicated that Ae. aeg7Pti eggs were found in ovitraps from all floor levels studied, including the roof-top (Table 1). The largest number of Ae. aegyPti eggs oviposited was at the second fleor with 97.5 eggs per ovitrap per week, and less number of eggs oviposited at the ground floor with 3,4 eggs per ovitrap per week. The number of eggs oviposited at the 2nd floor was significantly larger than those at the ground floor (P<O,OOI), the 10th (p<O.Ol), the 12th (p<O.02) and the 14th (p<O.02). The presence of Ae. aegypti breeding en rooftop indicated that the dengue vector could The Japan Society of Medical Entomology and Zoology NII-Electronic Library Service he apanSociety f 398 edicalEntomology nd Table 1 Aedes . slxteen-storey ' o logy aegypti eggs oviposited and larvae (in parenth building (fiats) at Sentul, Kuala Lumpur.esis Jpn. J. ) in ovitraps in Sanlt. Zool,


ABSTRACT In many sub-Saharan African countries, a large number of people migrate internally due to economic, demographic and political factors. We ask whether household mobility affects child educational outcomes and in what direction. Because girls and boys face different challenges in achieving education, and families often underinvest in girls' human capital, we focus on gender differentials. We study the case of Uganda, a country where universal basic education and gender equality are still complicated goals. We use the National Panel Survey of 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2011 to develop fixed effects models of the relationship between mobility and children's educational outcomes: school delay and attendance. We find that moving with the family during primary or lower secondary school decreases delay in schooling and increases school attendance for boys, while we do not find any significant effect for girls. We argue that our results confirm pro-male preferences of families, where girls do not benefit equally from the opportunities offered by internal migration. Expanding girls' opportunities, as well as providing adequate services, are crucial steps in achieving gender equality in education.


Automatic speech recognition(ASR) is an important application that enables interaction of human beings with machines. Neural network based frameworks have been making some breakthroughs in low-source data processing so that the minority languages meet the great chance, in some cases. Thereupon, low-source languages, such as Uyghur, also get promising results in both speech recognition and natural language processing, as a result, a lot of papers have reported, one after another. In this paper, to begin with, several primary Uyghur speech recognition approaches are listed, then, their pros and cons are discussed respectively. we also attempt to discuss acoustic unit selecting for Uyghur speech recognition system, simultaneously n-gram and RNN language models are compared, in the end.


Article discuss the feasibility of the Third-party practice in teaching platform of Hospitality Management,For example the cooperation between ZhongShan Institute and TalentBand Asia,Analyzes the application of the third-party practical training pattern,Summarize the Advantages and recommendations of the Third-party practice in teaching platform.


In the January issue Mr Wellens presented an interpretation of the Government Proposals on industrial training. This month he takes a closer critical look at what many people regard as the missing link — the over‐all guiding body or training commission — about which the Government made no proposals in the White Paper. This study involves a survey of the many bodies already involved in industrial training — bodies whose efforts will surely need some co‐ordination. Next month: the Levy, the Training Boards and the relation between these Boards and the Ministry … or Training Commission


The invention discloses a soldering flux composition containing cyclohexane citrate, and also discloses a method for preparing the cyclohexane citrate and an application of the cyclohexane citrate as an additive of the soldering flux. The cyclohexane citrate has the purity of above 99 percent and is prepared by the method comprising the following steps of: 1, taking citric acid, adding pure water, heating and dissolving completely, and then filtering and clarifying; 2, slowly adding the filtered citric acid solution in the corresponding quantity of cyclohexane under the condition of stirring,reacting at a temperature of 60-90 DEG C, and finally adding the cyclohexane or citric acid to regulate pH to be 7.5-9; 3, heating and concentrating until a crystal coating occurs, pouring a heat solution in a tray while heating for cooling to be in a block shape; and 4, cutting the blocky cyclohexane citrate in the tray into small blocks, and drying at a temperature of 80-95 DEG C to obtain the soldering flux composition. The soldering flux composition containing the cyclohexane citrate has low cost, less environment pollution and enhanced soldering capacity.


State Estimation and Tracking Control of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems.- A Well-posedness Result for a Shear Wave Propagation Model.- Mesh Adaptation for Parameter Identification Problems.- A SQP-Augmented Lagrangian Method for Optimal Control of Semilinear Elliptic Variational Inequalities.- On the Long Time Behavior of Approximating Dynamical Systems.- Error Estimates in Space and Time for Tracking-type Control of the Instationary Stokes System.- Modeling and Control of Asymptotic Shells.- Unbounded Observers and Riccati Operators in Nonreflexive Spaces.- Centroidal Voronoi Tessellation Based Proper Orthogonal Decomposition Analysis.- Time and Norm Optimal Controls for Linear Parabolic Equations: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions.- Feedback Stabilization for the 2D Oseen Equations: Additional Remarks.- Pontryagin's Maximum Principle via Singular Perturbations.- Level Set Methods for Variational Problems and Applications.- Boundary Observability of Compactly Perturbed Systems.- Some Shape Optimal Control Computations for Navier-Stokes Flows.- Model Development for the Positioning Mechanisms in an Atomic Force Microscope.


The objective of this study is to observe the behavior of the living cells after introducing impact, caused by an aluminum bullet shot out from an air gun, onto them via tungsten/polymer plate and culture liquid. An air gun type of apparatus shoots an aluminum bullet, wherein the shape of the bullet is substantially a sphere (diameter: 5 mm), and wherein the velocity of the bullet is controlled by the amount of air used for shooting. The aluminum bullet shot out from the air gun impacts onto the polymer/tungsten plate, located above the living cells grown on the bottom of the container (i.e., thin semi-transparent polymer membrane), which is located on the surface of a 200 kHz Panametrics transducer. The container is supported by a polymer member to prevent movement from shock caused by the bullet impact. The plate generates an acoustic wave (i.e., shock wave) by the mechanical impact (i.e., bullet impact) which is then converted into an electrical signal by the transducer. The amplitude of the electrical signal is measured and monitored by the digital oscilloscope. The transducer is calibrated by hydrophone with its peripheral equipment including computer software. The output voltage from transducer was monitored by the digital oscilloscope. The injury and recovery of the specimen are evaluated by scanned image microscopes. Furthermore, quantitative data showing the injury and recovery of the specimen can be obtained with the electromagnetic measurement.


Presents results obtained applying a nonlinear noise reduction method to time series measured from heart rate variability (HRV) signals. Signals generated by nonlinear systems show broad-band spectra which makes it not useful to employ linear filters to obtain noise reduction without introducing signal distortion. The noise reduction method the authors used works directly in the reconstructed system space state. The method is applied to the HRV signals of 9 normal and 6 heart transplanted subjects providing more reliable estimation of D2, Hurst coefficients and /spl alpha/ slope of 1/f spectrum. Moreover the noise reduction leads to a better identification of HRV signal complex trajectories that can be clearly represented by delay maps.


The present paper deals with a novel hydrogen sulphide abatement process applying a combined chemical-biological process. The authors already dealt with this subject in the paper "Biotechnological H2S gas treatment with Thiobacillus ferrooxidans" [1], previously published in Chemical Engineering and Technology. This study, in particular, deals with over all process test runs in a laboratory scale plant with a single-stage immobilised biomass reactor.


Standardized.control and interface circuits were applied to the three most commonly used dc to dc converters: the buck-boost converter, the seriesswitching buck regulator, and the pulse-modulated paral1el inverter. The two-loop ASDTIC regulation control concept was implemented by using a common Analog Control Signal Processor (ACSP) and a novel Digital Control Signal Processor (DCSP). This resulted in control circuit standardization and superior static and dynamic performance of the three dc to dc converters. Power components stress control, through active peak current limiting and recovery of switching losses, was applied to enhance reliability and converter efficiency.


A London health authority has decided to stop paying for homoeopathic treatment because there is not enough evidence to support its use.

Lambeth, Southwark, and Lewisham Health Authority has been referring more than 500 patients a year to the Royal Homoeopathic Hospital in London. The authority says that the money it spent last year on complementary treatments would have allowed 100 patients to have hip replacements.

Public health doctors at the health authority carried out a review of the published scientific literature on homoeopathy as part of a …


With recent political developments sparking sharp divisions within democracies, an understanding of the dynamics of polarization is ever more necessary. Yet we still lack the tools necessary for its comparative study at the mass level. Finding that conventional measures of polarization as ideological distance between parties or among voters do not fully capture political polarization, we develop a new index of mass partisan polarization based on support and rejection of political parties by the public. We argue that measuring polarization over political parties allows us to capture divisions over a broader range of identities or issues which parties can represent or take positions on. Using Comparative Study of Electoral Systems data, our empirical validity tests support this argument. It is our hope that this index may facilitate the further comparative study of mass political polarization on a global scale.


A series of mono-functional M/SBA-15(M=Cu,Co,Cr and Mn) catalysts was prepared via an incipient wetness impregnation,and characterized by XRD,N2 adsorption,TEM,H2-TPR and XPS as well as activity test for CH3CN + O2 reaction.Apart from the target product of N2,harmful by-products of NO,NO2,N2O,NH3 and CO were also observed during the combustion process.Among the prepared M/SBA-15 samples,Cu/SBA-15 exhibited a nearly complete conversion of CH3CN associated with a N2 selectivity around 80%,which was regarded as a promising material for the catalytic removal of cyanide-containing gas.


A bounded domain $K \subset \mathbb R^n$ is called polynomially integrable if the $(n-1)$-dimensional volume of the intersection $K$ with a hyperplane $\Pi$ polynomially depends on the distance from $\Pi$ to the origin. It was proved in [7] that there are no such domains with smooth boundary if $n$ is even, and if $n$ is odd then the only polynomially integrable domains with smooth boundary are ellipsoids. In this article, we modify the notion of polynomial integrability for even $n$ and consider bodies for which the sectional volume function is a polynomial up to a factor which is the square root of a quadratic polynomial, or, equivalently, the Hilbert transform of this function is a polynomial. We prove that ellipsoids in even dimensions are the only convex infinitely smooth bodies satisfying this property.


Abstract This paper contributes to the growing stream of research on knowledge gathering in the internationalization process of international new ventures (INVs), as well as their networking activities. It identifies two dimensions describing the network knowledge-gathering approaches: 1) relationship approach (well-wishing or opportunistic) and 2) intentionality (intentional or unintentional search for knowledge), which enable the classification of the INV activities. The findings are based on a qualitative study conducted on four Polish INVs from the manufacturing industry. They show that internationalizing companies may behave opportunistically in their knowledge-gathering behavior, while, at the same time, some of their knowledge is also gathered unintentionally. The preconditions of knowledge-gathering behaviors suggested in the study include, among others, the managers' experience, power division in the networks, and the duration of a relationship with a partner.


Microbial transformation studies of propranolol by Cunninghamella blakesleana AS 3.153 were conducted. Metabolites were identified by LC/MS n. The major metabolite was separated and its structure was elucidated by NMR as 5 hydroxypropranolol. Influences to formation of 5 hydroxypropranolol were investigated,and the optimized conditions were pH 6.5, 0.25 % of substrate concentration and 48 h of transformation with a yield of 76%. It was proved to be a new approach for the synthesis of active metabolites of drugs.


The aims of present work are quality comparison and standardization of the rhizomes of Rheum australe (synonym R. emodi) of Nepal. The rhizomes of two wild and one cultivated varieties were collected from the Himalayan region. Macroscopic and microscopic analyses, phytochemical screening, fluorescence analysis, physicochemical analysis and determination of nutritive values in the rhizome samples were carried out. Calcium oxalate crystals and starch grains were found to be deposited in the samples. Terpenoids, fatty acids, flavonoids, anthraquinones, polyphenols, glycosides, carbohydrates and saponins were the major phytochemical constituents. Elemental analysis revealed the presence of K, Na, Fe and Mn, and absence of Cd, Cr and Cu. Values of total fat (1.78-4.22%), carbohydrate (24.95-30.40%) and flavonoid (2.77-2.97 g QE/100 g DM) contents in both wild and cultivated samples were nearly close, while a low phenolic content (102.82 mg GAE/100 g DM) was estimated in the rhizomes of cultivated variety compared to that of wild varieties (738.00-766.52 mg GAE/100 g DM).


The supply of electrical energy to home, commercial, and industrial users has become ubiquitous, and it is hard to imagine a world without the facilities provided by electrical energy. Despite the ever increasing efficiency of nearly every electrical application, the worldwide demand for electrical power continues to increase, since the number of users and applications more than compensates for these technological improvements. In order to maintain the affordability and feasibility of the total production, it is essential for the distribution of the produced electrical energy to be as efficient as possible. In other words the loss in the power distribution is to be minimized. By transporting electrical energy at the maximum safe voltage, the current in the conductors, and the associated conduction loss can remain as low as possible. In order to optimize the total efficiency, the high transportation voltage needs to be converted to the appropriate lower voltage as close as possible to the end user. Obviously, this conversion also needs to be as efficient, affordable, and compact as possible. Because of the ever increasing integration of electronic systems, where more and more functionality is combined in monolithically integrated circuits, the cost, the power consumption, and the size of these electronic systems can be greatly reduced. This thorough integration is not limited to the electronic systems that are the end users of the electrical energy, but can also be applied to the power conversion itself. In most modern applications, the voltage conversion is implemented as a switching DC-DC converter, in which electrical energy is temporarily stored in reactive elements, i.e. inductors or capacitors. High switching speeds are used to allow for a compact and efficient implementation.
For low power levels, typically below 1 Watt, it is possible to monolithically implement the voltage conversion on an integrated circuit. In some cases, this is even done on the same integrated circuit that is the end user of the electrical energy to minimize the system dimensions. For higher power levels, it is no longer feasible to achieve the desired efficiency with monolithically integrated components, and some external components prove indispensable. Usually, the reactive components are the main limiting factor, and are the first components to be moved away from the integrated circuit for increasing power levels. The semiconductor components, including the power transistors, remain part of the integrated circuit. Using this hybrid approach, it is possible in modern converterapplications to process around 60 Watt, albeit limited to voltages of a few Volt. For hybrid integrated converters with an output voltage of tens of Volt, the power is limited to approximately 10 Watt. For even higher power levels, the integrated power transistors also become a limiting factor, and are replaced with discrete power devices. In these discrete converters, greatly increased power levels become possible, although the system size rapidly increases. In this work, the limits of the hybrid approach are explored when using so-called smart-power technologies. Smart-power technologies are standard lowcost submicron CMOS technologies that are complemented with a number of integrated high-voltage devices. By using an appropriate combination of smart-power technologies and circuit topologies, it is possible to improve on the current state-of-the-art converters, by optimizing the size, the cost, and the efficiency.
To determine the limits of smart-power DC-DC converters, we first discuss the major contributing factors for an efficient energy distribution, and take a look at the role of voltage conversion in the energy distribution. Considering the limitations of the technologies and the potential application areas, we define two test-cases in the telecommunications sector for which we want to optimize the hybrid monolithic integration in a smart-power technology. Subsequently, we explore the specifications of an ideal converter, and the relevant properties of the affordable smart-power technologies for the implementation of DC-DC converters. Taking into account the limitations of these technologies, we define a cost function that allows to systematically evaluate the different potential converter topologies, without having to perform a full design cycle for each topology. From this cost function, we notice that the de facto default topology selection in discrete converters, which is typically based on output power, is not optimal for converters with integrated power transistors. Based on the cost function and the boundary conditions of our test-cases, we determine the optimal topology for a smart-power implementation of these applications. Then, we take another step towards the real world and evaluate the influence of parasitic elements in a smart-power implementation of switching converters. It is noticed that the voltage overshoot caused by the transformer secondary side leakage inductance is a major roadblock for an efficient implementation. Since the usual approach to this voltage overshoot in discrete converters is not applicable in smart-power converters due to technological limitations, an alternative approach is shown and implemented. The energy from the voltage overshoot is absorbed and transferred to the output of the converter. This allows for a significant reduction in the voltage overshoot, while maintaining a high efficiency, leading to an efficient, compact, and low-cost implementation. The effectiveness of this approach was tested and demonstrated in both a version using a commercially available integrated circuit, and our own implementation in a smart-power integrated circuit. Finally, we also take a look at the optimization of switching converters over the load range by exploiting the capabilities of highly integrated converters. Although the maximum output power remains one of the defining characteristics of converters, it has been shown that most converters spend a majority of their lifetime delivering significantly lower output power. Therefore, it is also desirable to optimize the efficiency of the converter at reduced output current and output power. By splitting the power transistors in multiple independent segments, which are turned on or off in function of the current, the efficiency at low currents can be significantly improved, without introducing undesirable frequency components in the output voltage, and without harming the efficiency at higher currents.
These properties allow a near universal application of the optimization technique in hybrid monolithic DC-DC converter applications, without significant impact on the complexity and the cost of the system. This approach for the optimization of switching converters over the load range was demonstrated using a boost converter with discrete power transistors. The demonstration of our smart-power implementation was limited to simulations due to an issue with a digital control block. On a finishing note, we formulate the general conclusions and provide an outlook on potential future work based on this research.


PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to outline the antecedents of patient satisfaction in the field of medical tourism (MT) applying extant literature and to develop a conceptual model based on the review.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a thorough review of prior studies related to the antecedents of patient satisfaction in the MT sector. Moreover, it provides the theoretical base that helped the researcher to identify significant relationship between the patient satisfaction and its antecedents.FindingsThe researchers identified the prominent antecedents of patient satisfaction and present the potential interrelationships between different antecedents of patient satisfaction such as treatment quality, cost attractiveness, destination image and service quality with patient satisfaction based on the review.Practical implicationsThe results have momentous practical implications as they will help researchers to better understand the antecedents of patient satisfaction and their potential inter linkages with patient satisfaction in MT sector. The conceptual model derived from the review may guide the actions of researchers as well as practitioners in the MT industry as a whole. The present study provides insights for further research in the MT sector and thereby helps to further enrich the existing theoretical base of the MT.Originality/valueThe study brings together the scattered knowledge from the broad and extensive range of medical or health tourism and cognate literature which indicate ideological differences among various aspects of MT as well as potential factors determining patient satisfaction in MT sector (antecedents of satisfaction). The newly developed model incorporates a new construct called "treatment quality" as different from "service quality," which is a widely used construct to explain customer satisfaction. The antecedents of patient satisfaction and their inter-linkages with patient satisfaction provide a sound theoretical foundation for the future studies.


The article discusses a survey pertaining to the use of personalized systems of instruction (PSI) in management education. The PSI method has been used with some success in the psychology, physics,...


We investigate the design of an interpolation filter of a multi-frequency TDMA (MF-TDMA) demodulator which is applied to DVB-RCS. If sampling is not synchronized to the data symbols, timing adjustm...


A Michelson interferometer can be transformed into an angle-measuring instrument by replacing one of the end mirrors by a right-angled prism. We calibrated such a device and found good agreement with the calculated values. Some sources of error are also discussed.


In this paper, a new hybrid resonant bridgeless ac-dc PFC boost converter operating in continuous-conduction-mode (CCM) is proposed for neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) battery charging. This hybrid-resonant boost converter has two active switches that operate in pulse-width modulation (PWM) and hybrid-resonant modes of operation. This combined modulation technique is called hybrid resonant PWM (HRPWM). The proposed converter with HRPWM features several benefits. The gates of the two active switches are tied together, so, the converter does not need any extra circuitry to sense the positive, or negative line-cycle operation. The semiconductor devices operate with a voltage stress close to the output voltage. The resonant tank components are relatively small in size and the hybrid-resonant mode of operation alleviates the reverse recovery losses for the body diode. The converter architecture exhibits less common mode noise compared with the dual-boost and bridgeless boost converters. Moreover, the converter architecture enables simple implementation of lightning and surge protection systems. And it has inherent inrush current limit capability. Experimental results of a prototype unit converting a universal ac input to a 400 V dc output at 650 W and 70 kHz switching frequency are presented to verify the proof of concept.


Diesel engines are highly efficient and rugged due to their high compression ratios and are widely used in transportation and agricultural sectors. The main disadvantages of diesel engines are that they emit higher particulate matter and NOx emissions. The ever increasing cost of crude petroleum products and strict regulation norms laid down on tailpipe emissions has necessitated search for suitable alternative and renewable fuels for diesel engines to operate in dual fuel mode . In the present work KME20 (20% karanja methyl ester - 80% high speed diesel) and Bio-CNG (enriched biogas) are selected as fuels to operate the diesel engine on dual fuel mode (DFM) at 0.3kg/h,0.6kg/h and 0.9kg/h flow rates of biogas. In this study it is found that the thermal efficiency (BTE), NOx and Smoke emissions are lower, CO and HC emissions are higher for dual fuel mode diesel engine when compared to diesel engine normal operation.


With transition to the market relations auditor activity gains the increasing development. In world practice auditor control isn't an innovation and is widely applied in all fields of activity. In Kazakhstan emergence of the independent control providing needs of users of financial information of economic subjects in the form of confirmation of its reliability is new. Because the confidence in absolute quality of the audit report confirming reliability of the reporting to work of auditor firms and auditors is necessary for users of financial information more and more strict requirements are imposed. Rules (standards) of auditor activity become effective, the system of professional quality control of work of auditors develops, additional requirements are imposed to vocational training from the state. In these conditions auditor firms have to pay more attention to questions of planning of audit, definition of auditor risk, importance of a possible mistake, audit process documenting, development of intra firm standards and techniques of audit.


MOST of us speak of standardization in a vague sort of way, usually having in mind some particular corner of the field, but without sensing the comprehensiveness of the word or the magnitude and importance of the field covered, not realizing that the cooperation without which our modern society would be impossible, would in turn be impossible without a large measure of standardization. It might almost be said that the degree of standardization in any nation is a measure of its civilization, certainly in the material or industrial sense of the word.


We have compared the elemental composition, growth rates, and hardness of silicon dioxide layers grown from hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO), octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS), and tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (TMCTS) in a high-density electron cyclotron resonance oxygen plasma. Hard colorless coatings could be grown from each precursor; coating composition, growth rates, and hardness depended strongly on the ratio of oxygen to precursor flow. At the highest O2/precursor flow ratios (4:1 for HMDSO and 8:1 for OMCTS and TMCTS), the coatings were SiO2-like with oxygen-to-silicon ratios close to 2:1 and carbon percentages as low as 12% for HMDSO, 3.4% for OMCTS, and 1.4% for TMCTS. Growth rates were 0.7–1.1 μm/min, initially increasing with the O2/precursor flow ratio; final coating thicknesses after 5 min were 3.5 μm to 5.5 μm. Coating hardness values generally increased with increasing O2/precursor flow ratio, attaining 6 GPa, 7.4 GPa, and 8.7 GPa for HMDSO, OMCTS, and TMCTS, respectively.


Abstract : A multidisciplinary integration framework (MIDAS- an acronym for Multidisciplinary Integration for Design and Analysis Software ) is developed for a quick and accurate assessment of aircraft performance. The system allows for the continuos integration of the conceptual and preliminary design stages. The MIDAS system is starting from the definition of the configuration layout to provide basic aerodynamic data for performance analysis, sizing, structural layout and early handling qualities. The first aerodynamic dataset is provided by an Excel-based module in a highly automated way. This data base can be updated by computational and experimental fluid dynamics findings. Another MIDAS module integrate the preparation of CFD meshes. The paper deals with the integration of aerodynamic methods within the aircraft design.


ABSTRACT The global financial crisis and the euro area sovereign debt crisis that followed induced a rapid deterioration in the fiscal positions of countries across the globe. In the ensuing fiscal adjustment process, public investments were severely reduced in many countries. How harmful is this for growth perspectives? Our main objective is to find out whether the importance of public capital for long run output growth has changed in recent years. To this end, we expand time series on public capital stocks for 20 OECD countries and estimate country-specific recursive vector autoregressive (VAR) models. Results show that the effect of public capital shocks on economic growth has not increased in general, although results differ widely between countries. This suggests that the current level of public investments generally does not pose an immediate threat to potential output. Of course, this could change if low investment levels are sustained for a long time.


2020 has been a year many of us may prefer not to remember. For a large but sparsely populated region, Australasia has so far been partially spared the levels of direct human devastation from COVID...


We present a game-theoretic approach for power reduction in large-scale distributed storage systems. The key idea is to use distributed hash tables to dynamically migrate virtual nodes, thus skewing the workload towards a subset of physical disks without overloading them. To realize this idea in an autonomous way (i.e., without any kind of central controller), virtual nodes are considered to be selfish agents playing a game in which each node receives a payoff according to the workload of the disk on which it currently resides. We model this setting as a potential game, where an increase in the payoff to a virtual node reduces the power of the system. This game consists of a pair of global and private utility functions, derived by means of the Wonderful Life Utility technique. The former function evaluates the state of the system, and the latter provides criteria for the migration of each node. The performance of our method is measured by simulations and a prototype implementation. From these evaluations, we find that our method reduces the running time of the disks in active mode by 12.7-18.7%, with an overall average response time of 50-190 ms.


Traffic congestion are potential stressful because of the delay impose and hostility they sometime provoke especially during the rush hours (6:00AM-9:30AM and 4:30PM-9:00PM). It is in this line that this study investigates the experience of workers in traffic congestion and their coping strategies in Lagos, Nigeria. To generate data for the research, a total sample of 200 respondents were selected through accidental sampling method from various departments from the two organizations under study. Data was collected through the use of quantitative and qualitative method. It was discovered that the experience of workers in traffic congestion resulted to frustration, stress depression, query, moodiness and high fuel consumption. The finding of this study also shows that despite the daily experience of workers with traffic congestion, majority of the workers still perform moderately and relatively high. According to the finding the mostly used coping strategies employed were: the use of motor cycle and leaving home early.


The purpose of this paper is to assess the coordinated development degree of land use and eco-environment in Wuxi City and choose the appropriate adjustment mode to promote the coordinated development of eco-environment and to realize sustainable use of land resources.Methods employed include documentation analysis,the coordinated development degree model analysis and BP neural network model analysis.The result shows that the coordinated development degree of land use and eco-environment in Wuxi City presents overall ever-increasing trends and that the overall consideration mode can reduce the contradiction between land use and eco-environment,so it is a suitable mode for Wuxi City.It is concluded that the the coordinated development degree model and BP neural network model has high reliability and practicability in evaluating and adjusting the coordinated development degree of land use and eco-environment in Wuxi City.


In the current multilevel legal order, private relationships are governed by rules rooted in different international, European and national regimes. Where these rules lead to conflicts, important questions arise. May they be applied simultaneously, or should one of the regimes be excluded in favor of the other? And if the latter is the case, who should make that choice: the claimant or the court? To solve these questions, a method of interpretation is needed, crafted with private relationships in mind. This contribution seeks to uncover such a method within the area of European insolvency law, where issues of concurrence arise as the result of the division of companies and as a result of private international law.


Microwave spectra of propionaldehyde oxime and its deuterated derivatives (CH3CH2CH=NOD) were observed in the frequency region from 10 to 35 GHz. Several a-type R-branch transitions were identified and the following rotational constants(MHz) in the vibrationally ground state were determined to be: A=19400±400, B=2278.16±0.03, and C=2204.09±0.03 for the normal species, and A=19000±400, B=2194.31±0.02, and C=2128.40±0.02 for the deuterated species. The spectrum analyzed in this work has been concluded from the rotational constants to be due to a ac,E-conformer.


Among other waste issues, the disposal of human waste has historically been one of the most serious challenges for major cities. The historical literature suggests that Japan's urban society took a unique approach to management of human waste. Throughout Japan's early modern period, human waste in the city was purchased by farmers living on the urban fringe and was used as an agricultural fertilizer. Using this "night soil," villages supplied fresh agricultural produce to the urban market. This article focuses on the use of urban human waste in the Edo/ The Marketing of Urban Human Waste in the Early Modern Edo/Tokyo Metropolitan... Environnement Urbain / Urban Environment, Volume 1 | 2007 25


The Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) pathway is a set of activities defined under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program. The overarching objective of RISMC is to support plant life-extension decision-making by providing a state-of-knowledge characterization of safety margins in key systems, structures, and components (SSCs). A technical challenge at the core of this effort is to establish the conceptual and technical feasibility of analyzing safety margin in a risk-informed way, which, unlike conventionally defined deterministic margin analysis, is founded on probabilistic characterizations of SSC performance. The anticipation is that probabilistic safety margins will in general entail the uncertainty characterization both of the prospective challenge to the performance of an SSC ("load") and of its "capacity" to withstand that challenge. In the context of long-term asset management and reactor life extension, those characterizations might be expected to depend on the age of the SSC, accounting for degrading SSC capacity, and potentially on increasing loads due to, say, power uprates. Therefore, in the establishment of safety margins intended to protect public safety in the long term, account of the effects of system aging will be essential. Adverse effects of aging would be particularly significant in those SSCs for which management options are limited; that is, components for which replacement, refurbishment, or other means of rejuvenation are least practical. These include various passive SSCs, such as piping components. In probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) models, passive SSCs appear as significant risk-contributors in the form of initiating events such as loss of coolant accidents and internal floods, and they are also the focus of plant fragility evaluation for seismic events. Furthermore, because of limited options for rejuvenation, passives may be expected to play an increasing role in long-term risk. Therefore, in the establishment of safety margins intended to ensure long-term safety, the effects and implications of SSC aging and degradation must be addressed. This is an interim report describing progress made in FY10 under one task defined within the RISMC pathway. This task had the objective of establishing technical models, and their mathematical means of implementation, to predict the reliability behavior of passive components, including the ability to account for aging. Furthermore, these models are to be developed in a way that allows them to integrate with tools being created under a parallel set of RISMC activities; particularly, development of the RELAP 7 (R7) software. Specifically, the goal is to establish reliability models of passive SSCs that are sensitive to the thermal hydraulic loading conditions predicted in an R7 environment. If this can be achieved then, in principle, the impact of a reactor system's thermal hydraulic history on SSC performance could be accommodated in the formulation of safety margins. The mechanism for this integration of thermal hydraulic analyses with reliability models to infer accident conditions and sequences is yet to be established, but it is clear that the reliability models will need to incorporate sufficient "physics" to accommodate the boundary conditions established in the R7 environment. Therefore, the use of physics models of the specific mechanisms of component aging degradation will be essential in establishing this reliability/R7


(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)Table of ContentsI. Introduction 276II. The Disappearing State Corporate Income Tax 278III. The Basic Mechanics of State Corporate Income Taxation ......... 280A. Formulary Apportionment 280B. Jurisdictional Limitations on State Income Taxation 2851. The Due Process Clause 2862. The Commerce Clause 2873. The "Safe Harbor" of Public Law 86-272 2914. Quill Corp. v. North Dakota 293C. "Throwback" 296D. Combined Reporting 299IV. Post-Quill Jurisprudence and the Problematic Physical Presence Standard for Income Tax Nexus 301A. Geoffrey I: The Out-of-State Holding Company 303B. J.C. Penney National Bank: The Out-of-State Financial Services Institution 305C. Discussion 307V. State Corporate Income Tax Reform: A Two-Pronged Approach 307A. A Proposed Economic Presence Standard for Income Tax Nexus 307B. Imposing Uniformity: An Updated UDITPA 311VI. Evaluative Criteria: Equity, Efficiency, and Simplicity 315A. Equity 315B. Efficiency 317C. Simplicity 319VII. The Undesirable Alternative: BATSA's Physical Presence Standard for Income Tax Nexus 320A. Proposed Legislation 320B. Critique 323VIII. Conclusion 326I. IntroductionThe state corporate income tax system is broken, and only Congress can fix it. The current state of affairs is problematic for states,1 burdensome for multistate corporations,2 and unfair to smaller, local businesses.3 States are unable to resolve these problems themselves; federal intervention is the only solution.Two major defects plague the current system. The first is the lack of a clear national standard for state income tax jurisdiction.4 The second is the lack of a uniform method for apportioning the income of multistate businesses for tax purposes.5 These defects combine to create a number of serious problems. Multistate businesses are subjected to onerous compliance burdens and significant tax uncertainty,6 as well as the risk of taxation on more than 100% of their income.7 States suffer as substantial amounts of income fall through jurisdictional cracks, resulting in "nowhere income" that is untaxed by any state.8 Moreover, the tax revenue that is collected is not distributed equitably among the states in which the income is generated.9 Tax planning opportunities abound,10 diverting resources away from efficient economic activity and into elaborate tax avoidance schemes.11 Such tax shelters are often not available to smaller local businesses, which places them at a competitive disadvantage with their larger national competitors. …


Objective To assess the clinical characteristics of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients and patients's attitude towards BPH and BPH therapy. Methods The question-naires were distributed to 3560 BPH patients throughout the country during the period of Prostate Health Educational Programmer (PHELP). The survey was mainly focused on the questions of patient understanding toward BPH, the preference of treatment and international prostate score scale.Results The evaluations based on 2878 completed patient's questionnaires showed that 86. 0% of patients were diagnosed with moderate or severe low urinary tract syndrome. The main reasons for seek treatment was irritative symptoms (64. 1%), obstructive symptoms ( 41. 7%), physical checkup (41.0%), worry about prostate cancer(14. 5%). Most of patients sought treatment from big hospitals. Most of patients (69.1%) had right understanding towards BPH. Nocturia was the most bothersome of lower urinary tract symptoms(LUTS) suggestive of BPH. Rapid LUTS improvement was the patient's main objective (87.4%). Conclusions Chinese patients did not recognize the complications of BPH progression. Irritative symptoms are the main reasons for seek treatment. Nocturia is most bothersome syndrome, which deteriorates quality of life mostly.

Key words:
Prostatic hyperplasia; Lower urinary tract symptoms; Questionnaires


The superior orbital fissure is an important cleft that connects the orbit with the middle cranial fossa. The upper border of this fissure is formed by the lesser wing of the sphenoid bone, anterior clinoid process, and optic strut. The lower border is formed by the greater wing of the sphenoid bone. The oculomotor, trochlear, ophthalmic, abducens nerves and orbital veins pass through this small slit. The aim of this study was to review anatomical structures of the superior orbital fissure, through a 3D-PDF model that simplifies the understanding of complex anatomy of this region. According to the literature, any major artery does not pass through it, but it is closely related to the internal carotid artery. There are numerous intracranial-extracranial anastomoses around it. While extracranial branches originate from the maxillary artery, intracranial branches arise from the inferolateral trunk or the ophthalmic artery. Nerves and vascular structures related with this fissure can be damaged due to post-traumatic sphenoid fractures, infectious diseases, aneurysms, carotid-cavernous fistulas, and neoplasms. Surgeries involving the superior orbital fissure are quite complex as there are many important anatomical structures in this region. The radiological anatomy of this fissure in normal and pathological conditions is still an under-studied subject in the literature. There is a need for more detailed studies related to the superior orbital fissure enriching with anatomic models and including pathological conditions. The 3D-PDF model of the superior orbital fissure is an innovative tool to enhance the knowledge of the anatomical structures related with this region. Better understanding of this critical region is necessary to perform safe and successful surgical procedures.


Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order Kathryn E. Stoner. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. £22.99/$29.95. 344 pp. Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin's Russia Timothy Frye. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021. £20.00/$24.95. 269 pp. The Red Mirror: Putin's Leadership and Russia's Insecure Identity Gulnaz Sharafutdinova. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2020. £19.99/$29.95. 248 pp. Replacing the Dead: The Politics of Reproduction in the Postwar Soviet Union Mie Nakachi. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. £25.99/$39.95. 328 pp. Is Russia Fascist? Unraveling Propaganda East and West Marlene Laruelle. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2021. $39.95. 264 pp.


The most recent patient in a 13‐year experience with 14 patients suffering massive pulmonary thromboembolism requiring pulmonary thromboembolectomy is the focus of this report. This 40‐year‐old woman not only survived life‐threatening acute hypoxemia and right heart failure, but was also found to have developed a unique transudative 700 cc pericardial effusion. Pulmonary artery pressure was 90/30 (mean 50 mmHg), accompanied by 17 mm right ventricular alternans. Systemic alternans and tamponade physiology were absent. This unusual natural model for acute right heart failure illustrates a novel mechanism for pericardial effusion physiology.


This paper contains a preliminary financial analysis of the performance of a group of portfolios based on Sharpe's ratio and a variant thereof, which provides a more appropriate ranking while remaining true to the traditional measure. The main thrust of the financial analysis contained in the paper focuses on performance persistence in the subject portfolios over a period of eight years. A total of 207 Spanish short-term fixed interest investment funds are considered, and we show that over the reference period persistence does in fact exist and, furthermore, the phenomenon is statistically robust. The assessment of performance persistence is focused on the contingency table methodology of repeated winners and losers. Moreover, financial tests, such as Malkiel's (1995) Z-statistic, Brown's and Goetzmann's (1995) odds ratio and Kahn's and Rudd's (1995) c2-statistic, are applied to analyse the robustness of this phenomenon.


Kennedy/Jenks consultants assisted Port of Tacoma with design of a stormwater treatment system for runoff from its 25-acre West Hylebos Pier log yard. Stormwater runoff at the site is covered under the under ecology's Industrial stormwater general permit (ISGP). Kennedy/Jenks performed an all known, available, and reasonable methods of prevention, control, and treatment (AKART) evaluation to identify appropriate stormwater treatment while considering site constraints. Based on the AKART evaluation, pretreatment filtration followed by biofiltration was selected for piloting and eventually design. The biofiltration system was constructed and brought online December 2013 and was immediately successful in meeting ISGP benchmark levels for five out of six of the applicable parameters. Kennedy/Jenks continued to assist the port and by the third quarter 2014, the system was effectively treating all six ISGP parameters to well below benchmarks. Since then, the system has consistently met treatment goals with minimal operational and maintenance costs.


OGY. We have before us several recent papers relating to the avian faune of a number of quite widely separated localities. To Messrs. Holden and Aiken we are indebted for " Notes on the Rirds of Wyoming and Colorado Territories."* These notes were sent to Dr. T. M. Brewer for his private use, and by him communicated to the Boston Society of Natural History. From his introductory note we learn that Mr. Holden's observations were madle " in summer, and Mr. Aikeii's " between November 1, 1871, and May, 1872. The exact locality, however, is left iii doubt, but we are led to infer fiom Mr. Holden's remarks which follow, that this gentleman's observations were made chiefly about Sherman " in the immediate vicinity of the Black Hills," near the boundary of Wyomino and Col vrado Territories. Mr. Aiken's notes, as partially appeals from his meinorailda (and as I have learned from private sources), were made in El Paso County, Colorado (most of them near Fountaih), some two hundred miles south of Sherman ancd about two thousand feet less in elevation. The two localities thus differ greatly in climatological and other general features affectiiig the distribution of species. The whole number of species given in the list is one hundred and forty, of which but twentv-seven are common to the two localities. Only fifteen are mentioned by Mr. Holden that are not noted by Mr. Aikeu, while the latter reports ninety-eight that are not given by the former. The whole number mentioned as occurring in the vicinity of Sherman is hence fowf y-two, while one hundred and fouiteeu were obsetvecl iieax Fountaii. The primary value of faunal lists consists, of course, in the indications they give as to the avian peculiarities oC limited dist.ets. It would hence have been far better, doubtless, not to have combined in a single list the notes made at such distant localities, and under such diverse topographical and climatic conditions. These observations, however, as thus given, are extremely ititerestiug and very valuable, having evidently been carefully made. They are, moreover, fiom localities hitherto scarcely explored; the very imperfect recently published, list of the birds of Cheyenne (some forty miles east of Sherman, on the Plains, and nearly two thousand feet lower) and the partial


The tropical world is experiencing an unprecedented climate crisis. This is most often approached from the angle of excess or scarcity of rain. Temperatures are relegated to the background. However, they play a major role in the balance of environments.This article is a contribution on the phenomenon of climate change by focusing on thermal data. It puts in opposition a station close to the coast (Ziguinchor) and another more continental (Kolda). With simple tools (annual normal, seasonal and annual average, Pettitt and Mann-Kendal test), the recent thermal evolution of the study area was analyzed. This study shows an increase in temperatures since the 1970s, the existence of breaks and an increasing trend in the thermal series around the 1990s, but also a higher sensitivity of Ziguinchor to global warming.


In the presented work, new opportunities were sought to address conflicts of interest in the media industry. It was considered, according to Dennis Thompson's definition, that a conflict of interest is a series of circumstances and a legitimate concern that a secondary objective will affect the primary one. The primary interest refers to the primary, even statutory goals of the media business, namely the fulfilment of the social mission, while the secondary interest includes personal benefit. It seems that in the media, profit should not be the primacy – rather, it should be a certain prism. The purpose of the article is to formulate a certain proposal, based on the renegotiation of the current state. A so-called third way (relative to non-profit and for-profit activities) is proposed, which is worth further discussion. To this end, an analysis of the financial situation and an analysis of the declared mission of selected media entities was conducted: radio stations such as BBC Radio, WWOZ, WRBH. Careful tracing of these two dimensions (mission and finances) makes it possible to deepen the discourse related to the conflict of interest. It also provides a proposal for renegotiating beliefs about the media business in general. For the purpose of the article and research objective, the research question was formulated: Does the media have to choose between profit and social mission? The obtained research results and the discussion of the results do not allow to answer the research question in the affirmative. With this, it can be assumed that media organizations do not have to choose between profit and social mission. The changing situation of the BBC in the coming years, including BBC Radio, requires further observation and verification of whether the British broadcaster will become a recognized and recognized case of combining profit with mission, perhaps even in a sustainable and inclusive way.


Evapotranspiration is a key parameter foragrometeorological studies and water resources management. This complex process is dependent on climatic factors. There are different methods to predict Reference crop evapotranspiration. In recent years, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)have been applied as a powerful instrumentto increase pre- dictability capacity of linear and nonlinear relationships in complex engineeringproblems. Use of this tool box in different fields of civil engineering, agriculture, environment, andin particular hydrologic matters for a range of significant parameters with complex mathematicalequations and variables have been addressed.In this studyneural network fitting tool is used for estimating Reference crop evapotranspiration. Meteorological data of Gandhinagarstationis collectedto estimate reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo). Maximum and minimum temperature is used to develop the model. The estimated ETo by Neural Network is compared with ETo determined by Pan Evaporation Method. Coefficient of determination, Mean Square Error and Coefficient of correlations are used to evaluate the model. The study reveals that using ANN, ETo can be accurately predicted with limited climatological data for all months.


.. Objectives: To determine the association of hyperuricemia with hypertension. Study Design: Case-control study. Place and Duration of Study: Out-patient department of Fuji foundation hospital, Rawalpindi. The study conducted over a period of six months from 1st February 2012 till 31st July 2012. Methodology: 268 patient were selected for study and divided into two groups on the basis of presence or absence of hypertension (group 1 comprised of newly diagnosed hypertensive patients and group 2 comprised normotensive individuals). Each group comprised 134 patients fulfilling inclusion/ exclusion criteria. Serum uric acid levels were checked and compared in both groups. Results: In hypertensive group, the minimum age was 20 years and the maximum age was 100 years with a mean age of 50.76. Minimum uric acid level was 193/literμmol and maximum uric acid level was 608 μmol/L with a mean of 316.87. In non-hypertensive group, minimum age was 20 years and the maximum age was 80 years with a mean age of 47.84. The minimum uric acid level was 125μmol /L and the maximum was 404μmol/L with a mean of 273.24. The P-value was 0.000 which means that the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. Conclusion: There is statistically significant association of hyperuricemia with hypertension. More studies are recommended to establish this fact.


Abstract— In a multi-standard radio transmitter it is common
practice to use multiple narrowband PA's and filters: one for
each standard and a switch before them. With the ever
increasing number of different standards to be supported, this
architecture becomes increasingly unpractical, as support for
every new frequency band requires adding a dedicated external
filter. Use of these discrete filters reduces the level of integration,
thus making it difficult to realize low cost multi-radios on a single
RF chip. This paper presents a polyphase multipath technique to
relax or eliminate filters by canceling harmonics and sidebands.
Using this technique, a wideband and flexible power upconverter
with a clean output spectrum is designed in a 0.13μm CMOS for
a software defined radio application. Additionally, a 33% duty
cycle is used to cancel the problematic 3rd harmonic of the LO.
The demonstrator prototype of the proposed power upconverter
operates from DC to 2.4GHz with spurs <-40dBc over more than
a decade in frequency. It can deliver 8dBm of power to a 100Ω
load and consumes 228mW from a 1.2V supply. It uses no filters
but only digital circuits and mixers, and no tuning of components
is required.


ABSTRACT This paper systematically maps the field of scholarly works on the theme of youth and violent conflict in Africa. It reviews the evidentiary base of the nexus between youth and violent conflicts in Africa by interrogating the conceptual, methodological, and empirical foundations of the different explanations adduced for why and how youth participate in armed conflicts. It observes that the evidence base linking youth vulnerability and exclusion with violence is generally mixed across the board; each extant perspective offers some useful insights within its narrow conceptual and methodological contours. In addition, the social agency of youth and the power context of society are crucial to understanding the link between youth and violence, and the risk of violence in Africa. Social agency speaks to why and how youth encounter, process, interpret and act on social phenomena, including violence. It highlights the need for further research into the dynamic nature of how youth identities interact with new trends in violence and insecurity such as violent riots and protests and post-election violence, among others.


Experiments to test the effect of directional stress on the remanent magnetization of magnetite bearing rocks and nickel polycrystallites are described. The TRM of volcanic rocks under repeated compression of less than 1kb was found to reveal a nearly reversible change in intensity. The intensity increases when the direction of compression is perpendicular to that of TRM and decreases when the compression is parallel, in accordance with the theory of magnetoelasticity. Stability of IRM and PRM induced in previously workhardened nickel rods under compression is compared with that of TRM. TRM of a nickel polycrystallite under compression changes in a manner similar to that of volcanic rocks. However, no reversible change was found for IRM, even the compressional stress did not exceed a few hundred bars. The results, combined with the magnetic susceptibility of rocks under compression, can be used for estimation of seismo-magnetic effects.


Acceleration factors (AF) are key to designing an effective accelerated life test (ALT). They represent the ratio of the time in field to the time in test for a particular event to occur (typically a failure event related to a specific failure mechanism). Time to failure for a device generally correlates with the amount of stress applied (the higher the stress, the quicker the device will fail), and failure models exist to mathematically define that correlation for various failure mechanisms. This allows for use of a higher stress in test than in the field, thereby providing an acceleration factor that shortens the time in test to demonstrate a failure-free time period.
 ALT can take the form of qualitative or quantitative testing. The latter is used to determine the life characteristics of the device with some reliability and confidence level. Usage rate acceleration and higher stress acceleration can be used. It is important to consider the design limits of the device based on its specification and material properties, and limit the stress levels in test so as not to induce failure mechanisms that the device would not otherwise have experienced in the field.
 ALT results are used to make life predictions for the device tested. With no failures, the test results demonstrate the required reliability and confidence level metrics for the failure mechanism of interest. With several failures, a reliability software tool can be used with the appropriate analysis method, rank method, and confidence bounds method chosen in order to extrapolate to an expected life in test. The equivalent field life is based on multiplying the expected life in test by the AF. If the field stress and/or test stress are not constant, there are multiple acceleration factors to utilize. As a result, an equivalent acceleration factor needs to be calculated and used as the AF when predicting equivalent field life.


Aiming at strong magnetic resonance coupling system(SMRCS), this paper has built the system of wireless power transmission under the control of the classic PID, and then an ADRC(Active Disturbance Rejection Control) is designed to replace the traditional PI controller in the system to enhance the anti-jamming performance and the accuracy of identification.The controller is composed of three parts: tracking differentiator, extended state observer and nonlinear combination. The simulations of two control system have been carried out in this paper. The two groups of control methods are analyzed and compared, and the results of simulation show that the ADRC has the advantages of strong anti-interference ability, high accuracy of identification, good robustness and simple algorithm.It is suitable for the control of the wireless power transmission under the strong magnetic resonance coupling system.


A sound source separation algorithm based on the spectral amplitudes of 2-channel signals has been developed for the up-mixing playback of 2-channel stereo. Short-term Fourier transforms (STFT) of the signals on the left and right channels are first calculated. The coefficients of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) are used to calculate the ratio of the spectral amplitudes of the left and right channels, which is termed the channel level difference (CLD). The DFT coefficients are then divided into multiple groups on the basis of the CLD, with each group representing a separated sound source. The signal-to-distortion ratio (SDR)is used to evaluate the signal separation performance. It was found that a rough estimate of the CLD threshold yielding the best SDR could be obtained by cross-correlating the separated sounds. For playback on a headset, each separated signal is convoluted with head-related transfer functions (HRTF) that represent the direction of that particular sound source. Subjective listening...


That Valerius Flaccus' Flavian epic Argonautica is a highly intertextual poem, not only referring to Greek and Roman predecessors in the same genre (often by means of multiple or combinatorial imitation), but also by making use of other types of poetry (and prose) and even challenging the generic boundaries of epic,1 is now widely acknowledged by scholars, in the wake of a re-evaluation of the epic poetry of the late first century CE in view of insights of modern literary theory.2 In relation to other poetic genres it has long been recognized that the structure of individual episodes can be seen as resembling a 'tragedy'3 (similar to the Dido story in Vergil's Aeneid).4 That there are individual verbal reminiscences of Senecan tragedy in Valerius Flaccus is also well known.5 Tragic structures and


Objective: To introduce the symptom or possible physiological mechanism of urinary system damage induced by ketamin abuse.Methods:Observation was conducted on the clinical symptoms of 60 patients who abused ketamine.The patients' routine blood urine,blood biochemistry and type-B ultrasonic were tested.Results:Patients with katamine abuse were mainly teenagers.The maijor administration route of absue was snorting.Among the 60 patients,52 had severe urinary system damage.The main clinical manifestations were dysuria,urinary frequency and urgency,hematuria,and urinary incontinence and other lower urinary tract irritation.The clinical symptoms were associated with the duration and dosage of katamine use.Stopping katamine abuses as well as taking positive approaches to medical treatment might have urinary irritation and urinary incontinence symptoms gradually eased or disappeared,but it might take a long time to go.Conclusion:Ketamine abuse may cause serious urinary system damage,and lower urinary irritation is the main clinical symptom.Ketamine withdrawal and symptomatic treatment can relieve symptoms.B ultrasound,CT and other imaging studies are useful to clinical diagnosis.


The present invention relates to a fresh air supply means (26) for an internal combustion engine (1), in particular a motor vehicle, with a filter element (37) which is arranged in a filter space (35), and with a charge air cooler (12) (in a cooler space 36) is arranged. An inexpensive manufacture can be achieved by a one-piece housing (34) having integrally the filter chamber (35) and the condenser space (36), wherein the intercooler (12) has a coolant inlet (61), a coolant outlet (62) and a the having coolant inlet (61) with the refrigerant outlet connecting (62) the internal coolant path extending with a housing (34) charge air path is heat-transmitting manner, which shall pass through through the condenser space (36).


In our usual perspective, we think of the individual who seeks psychotherapy for himself as one who desires to change his own life experience. In this paper I want to take a somewhat different perspective and to suggest that many who have had a growthful therapeutic course emerge from that experience as societal change agents themselves. The person who has discovered he can change what he doesn't like in himself may well seek to change that which he doesn't like in his environment as well.


In the studies we used bentonites hydrophobically transformed through surface modification with organic polymers. They were compared with commercially available bentonites modified with polymers of the Teq gel HD, Swell gel as well as with the pure Fluka bentonite and local bentonites, originating from Zaklady Metalowo-Gornicze Zebiec. Alterations in physicochemical properties were demonstrated using scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, elemental analysis and X-ray techniques. Elemental analysis confirmed bentonite processing with polymers in cases of Teq gel and Swell gel samples. Morphological and particle size studies demonstrated a destructive effect of polymer modification on bentonite structure including evidently decreased diameter of particles and agglomerates.


The motion of a droplet placed in a gas phase near an evaporating, planar liquid-gas interface is considered. Due to latent heat of evaporation, the gradients of temperature and vapor concentration are sustained in the system. The temperature gradient results in the thermocapillary force acting on the droplet and on the planar liquid-gas interface causing thermocapillary flows in the three phases. The corresponding hydrodynamic and diffusion problems are solved using bispherical coordinates, and the velocity of the droplet as a function of the drop separation distance from the interface is found. It is shown that, in the absence of gravity, there exists a critical separation distance above which the drop escapes from the interface and below which the drop is captured by the interface. In the presence of gravity, it is shown that there exists a steady-state separation distance at which the drop can levitate above the interface.


We estimate the UV continuum slope (β) of 465 galaxies (with luminosities of 0.028–3.3 Lz=0.5* ) in the Great Observatories Origins Survey Northern field in the redshift range z = 0.40–0.75. We use two AstroSat/UVIT (N242W, N245M) bands, two Hubble Space Telescope (F275W, F336W) bands, and a KPNO (U) band to sample the UV continuum slope of selected galaxies between 1215 and 2600 Å. The mean (median) and 1σ scatter in the observed β are found to be −1.33 ± 0.07 ( − 1.32) and 0.60 within the considered redshift range. We do not find any significant evolution in the mean β within our redshift window. Our measurements add new data points to the global β–z relation in the least-explored redshift regime, further reinforcing the gradual reddening of galaxy UV continuum with cosmic time. We notice no strong consistent trend between β and M 1500 for the entire luminosity range −21 <M 1500 < − 15 mag. However, the majority of the most-luminous galaxies (M 1500 < − 19 mag) are found to have relatively redder slopes. Using UVIT, we detect galaxies as faint as M 1500 = − 15.6 mag (i.e., 0.028 Lz=0.5* ). The faintest galaxies (M 1500 > − 16 mag) tend to be redder, which indicates they were less actively forming stars during this cosmic time interval. Our study highlights the unique capability of UVIT near-UV imaging to characterize the rest-frame far-UV properties of galaxies at redshift z ∼ 0.5.


One of the main causes for faults of electronic systems and their components are thermal overloads and stress. Thermal stress has a considerable influence on the service life of the system and its dependability and should thus be taken into account already at the development stage of the system. What matters for the designer is to know the ways and means available on the measurement sector to ensure an optimized heat dissipation in an iterative process


We show that a new type of dielectric cavity featuring deep sub-wavelength light confinement allows a significant speedup of all-optical signal processing functionalities, without compromising the energy efficiency. The effect is due to enhanced diffusion dynamics in an unconventional geometry.


The effects of different nitrogen application rate on eggplant yield and economic benefit were studied through field experiment.The result showed that nitrogen fertilizer application significantly affected the yield of eggplant,the yield and the economic benefit are supreme when 12kg/667m2nitrogen fertilzier application rate was applied,then the yield decreased with the increase of nitrogen fertilizer application,and the input-output ratio decreased gradually with the increase of nitrogen fertilizer application.Regression statistical analysis showed that,the yield of eggplant is accord with the theory with the 12kg/667m2nitrogen fertilizer application rate,which has the largest economic recovery under the condition of nitrogen fertilizer application rate.


Rubber factory effluent exhibited high magnitude of pollution. pH (4.2-9.4) showed fluctuation. Other parameters (mg/litre), viz., D.O (1.7-5.6), B.O.D. (31.34-1291.67), C.O.D. (61.0-1610.50), Chloride (295-6060), Free CO 2 (70-250), Oil and Grease (17.0-67.6) violated tolerance limits. Brownish-black colour, foul odour and poor transparency (2-3.5 cm) indicated poor water quality. T.S.S., T.D.S. and heavy metals like cr, Pb, Zn, Fe and minerals like Na, K, Ca, Mg, SO 4 , PO 4 and Total Nitrogen indicated organic and inorganic load. Percentage of Ca, K, PO 4 and Total Nitrogen, Crude Protein and Ether Extract was significantly lower in the seeds of effluent treated cultivar Hordeum vulgate var. BG-39. On the contrary, contentration of Na, Fe, SO 4 , Total Carbohydrates, Total Ash and Chloride increased significantly.


We observe Wannier–Stark (W–S) localization in curved photonic lattices, realized using arrays of evanescently coupled optical waveguides. By correctly tuning the strength of inter-site coupling in the lattice, we observe that W–S states become increasingly localized, and eventually fully localized to one site, as the curvature of the lattice is increased. We then demonstrate that tunneling can be successfully restored in the lattice by applying a resonant sinusoidal modulation to the lattice position, an effect that is a direct analogue of photon-assisted tunneling. This precise tuning of the tunneling matrix elements, through resonant modulation-assisted tunneling, opens a novel route for the creation of gauge fields in laser-fabricated photonic lattices.


A coaxial connector for interconnecting a coaxial cable, is combined with the inner conductor interconnect cap. Interconnecting the cap provides a through bore, and to settle the outer diameter and the outer diameter of the inner conductor of the inner contact is brought into contact in the circumferential direction. Interconnection is covered by a cap extending along the inside contact portion contacts the cable end of the inner contact, and encloses the interconnection between the inner conductor and the inner contact. Sealant dimensions and material of the cap to improve the sealing performance and cross-connection can be applied to the interconnect it may be adjusted to improve the return loss characteristic impedance for Optimizing for a particular coaxial cable.


The strength reduction method,which is popular at present in the slope stability analysis,is used to analyze the relative error of calculation results by using software MIDAS/GTS,FLAC,ANSYS with D-P and M-C yield criteria in three cases(soft clay,hard clay,weak expansive soil).In the case of soft clay the relative error of calculation results by using D-P criterion and M-C criterion is relatively small.For hard clay slope,the relative error of calculation results by using D-P criterion and M-C criterion increases significantly.The calculation results by using three kinds of software with two yield criteria all indicate that sliding surface in hard clay is shallower than the sliding surface in weak expansive soil and soft clay.Under the same circumstances,sliding surface determined by MIDAS is shallower than the result by ANSYS.When the slope is small the safety factor of the calculation by MIDAS is smaller than that by FLAC(M-C);when slope is large the result is opposite.When slope is small the calculation convergence is realized after the breakthrough of plastic zone,but for large slope calculation divergence occurs before the breakthrough of plastic zone.In the case of small slope the difference between reduction factors upon appearance of calculation divergence and upon breakthrough of plastic zone is significant.But the difference between reduction factors is relative small in the case of large slope,even breakthrough of plastic zone does not occur upon the calculation divergence,which is more remarkable when using MIDAS software.


We have previously shown that 27% and 45% of chronic stroke survivors have impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), respectively, placing them at high risk for the development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). These glucose abnormalities may contribute to metabolic inflexibility, which is the failure to appropriately adapt substrate oxidation to substrate availability. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that the ability to shift from fat (respiratory exchange ratio (RER)=0.7) to carbohydrate (RER=1.0) oxidation during exercise is reduced in stroke survivors with increasing fasting (G0) and 2-hr oral glucose tolerance test (G120) glucose levels. Chronic hemiparetic stroke patients without T2DM (N=18; 63±2 year old; mean±SEM) underwent a graded exercise stress test, with indirect calorimetry for measurement of peak fitness (VO 2 peak). Additionally, we measured RER at rest and during submaximal exercise (60% of VO 2 peak), and subjects completed an OGTT for measurement of G0 and G120. On average, subjects were obese (BMI: 30±2 kg/m 2 ; 19-45 ml/kg/min) and had poor VO 2 peak levels (20±1 ml/kg/min; 9-33 ml/kg/min). Thirty three percent had neither IFG nor IGT, while 33% had IFG (G0: 5.22±0.19 mmol/L), 56% had IGT (G120: 7.94±0.49 mmol/L), and 22% had both IFG and IGT. At rest, RER was 0.71±0.01 and increased to 0.78±0.01 at 60% of VO 2 peak (P 2 peak, G0 related to RER at 60% of VO 2 peak (r=-0.47) and the change in RER (60%VO 2 peak-rest; r=-0.42) (P's


Learning to solve complex problems — problems whose solutions require the application of more than basic facts and skills — is critical to meaningful participation in the economic, social, and cultural life of the digital age. In this paper, we use a theoretical understanding of how professionals use reflection-in-action to solve complex problems to investigate how students learn this critical 21st-century skill and how we can develop and automate learning analytic techniques to assess that learning. We present a preliminary study examining the automated detection of reflective discourse during collaborative, complex problem solving. We analyze student reflection-on-action in a virtual learning environment, focusing on both reflection in individual discourse and collaborative reflection among students. Our results suggest that it is possible to detect student reflection on complex problems in virtual learning environments, but that different models may be appropriate depending on students' prior domain experience.


Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major global public health problem worldwide. The global prevalence of Mycobacterium (M tuberculosis) infection has been estimated in 32% of the world population with more than 8 million new cases diagnosed each year.
Materials and Methods: A total of 192 M tuberculosis complex isolates were collected from patients with positive sputum smear who had been treated previously with the four main anti- tuberculosis drugs for more than two months. The isolates were identified by their colonial morphology, pigmentation, shapes on Ziehl-Neelsen smears, growth on Löwenstein-Jenson medium and biochemical tests as niacin and nitrate tests. A proportional method was used for the in vitro drug susceptibility testing.Objective: To estimate drug resistance among previously treated tuberculosis patients, focusing on multi-drug resistant strains at two time intervals (2002 and 2009) in Yemen.
Results: Of the 192 M tuberculosis complex tested isolates, 55 (28.7%) were resistant to one or more drug; 20 (10.4%) were resistant to one drug, 13 (6.8%) to two drugs, 13 (6.8%) to three drugs and 9 (4.7%) to four drugs. Regarding the resistance to an individual drug, out of 192 tested isolates, 36 (18.7%) were resistant to rifampicin, 34 (17.7%) to isoniazid, 33 (17.2%) to ethambutol and 18 (9.4%) to streptomycin and these results were without a statistical significance. The incidence of multidrug resistance against rifampicin and isoniazid with or without other drugs was 13.5% among the tested M tuberculosis complex strains and this result was also without a statistical significance.
Conclusion: The results of this study revealed nearly similar drug resistance patterns for the tested isolates in comparison with previous findings of 2002 and the emergence of more multi-drug resistance M tuberculosis complex strains after a time interval in Yemen.


Life tables are traditionally built with linear assumptions for the survival curve. Here, considering that survivors can remain at the end of the observation period, the author shows that non linear modeling is more appropriate. With data on cervix uteri cancer, e0 ≈ 12.5 years with standard error ≈ 2.8 years with infinite time horizon, but e0 ≈ 6.0 years with standard error ≈ 0.1 year in interval with finite time horizon [0, 12 years]. The average hazard function is introduced to estimate the life expectancy, and the actuarial estimate of the hazard function is showed to under‐estimate the true hazard values under the exponential distribution. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of the probabilities of death on the estimation of life expectancy completes the study.


The use of bio-based polymers as packaging materials has gained much attention due to increasing environmental concerns regarding non-biodegradable petroleum-derived plastics. Wheat gluten (WG) is ...


This paper is a study of seven assassinations of priests committed at the outskirts of Roses between August and September 1936. The first aim of the study is identifying the date and the exact place of the murders on the basis of a critical review of different archival records. The second is analysing the facts and finding common denominators of the crimes. And the third one is revealing the panorama of religious persecution inflicted by the republican authorities aimed at exterminating the Catholic Church in a methodical and systematic way. The conclusions present a few guidelines on further research on the topic.


In the islands to the north and east of Australia, an unusual drug is widely used, called kava. Health workers should know something about kava, since it has been introduced to several communities in the north of this country, where several workers are recommending its use in preference to alcohol. We invite the health workers who are familiar with the use of kava by Aboriginal people to write to us and let us know.


The cardiorespiratory and thermal responses of two intensities of treadmill exercise were compared for brief periods (12 min) in fire ensemble (FE) but without self contained breathing apparatus, and sports ensemble (SE), in a temperature environment. A further experiment explored the responses of subjects exercising in FE over a prolonged period (60 min). Eighteen male firefighters wearing either FE or SE walked on a level treadmill for 6 min at 5 km.h-1 increasing to 7 km.h-1 for 6 min. Following a recovery interval of 1 h, the exercise protocol was repeated in the second ensemble; the order of ensemble was balanced. Heart rate (HR), rectal temperature (Tre ), VO 2max and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were monitored continuously under both ensembles. At 7 km.h-1, VO 2 was significantly higher (p<0.05) in FE (36.1 and 39.9 ml.kg-1.min-1) than in SE and represented 74% V O2 max. There were no changes T re. In experiment 2, following a rest interval of at least 36 h, eight subjects in FE walked on the treadmill at 6 km.h -1 (gradient 10%) for 60 min also in temperate conditions, where HR, T re and R PE were recorded at 10-min intervals. During the 60-min exercise in FE, HR reached 161 beats.min -1 and T re increased to 38.38°C. Despite considerable subject discomfort, T re remained below dangerous levels (38.48°C). When R PE were compared with a physiological strain index (PSI) calculated from T re and HR data over 60 min, there was no significant difference (p <0.05) with a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.98. The results suggest that R PE and PSI are closely related when exercise is sufficiently prolonged or intense to elevate T re and HR in fire-fighters wearing FE in temperate conditions. If further investigation confirms this relationship for hot humid conditions in which fire-fighters operate, then with training, it may provide individuals with a valid measure of dangerous levels of perceived heat strain.


The recent literature on economic development in Africa emphasizes that the agricultural transformation still needs to play a key role for poverty reduction and food security. As compared to the situation of the Green Revolution in Asia, there are new opportunities for the agricultural transformation in Africa, but also new challenges. Against this background, the paper shows that is essential that countries develop sufficient political will to achieve an agricultural transformation. The paper presents a concept of political will and applies this concept empirically, using a range of indicators of political will, such as government expenditure on agriculture. The paper proposes various demand-side and supply-side strategies to strengthen the political will to promote the agricultural transformation in Africa.