In this paper, a new online methodology for short circuits fault Diagnosis of an induction motor is presented. The proposed approach depends on extracting the stator current envelope using the Hilbert transform, after multiplying this current with a Tukey window, to reduce the effect of transient distortion. Then a discrete wavelet analysis (DWA) and a statistical analysis are performed on Detail coefficients of envelopes to determine the failure thresholds. The results showed that by observing the mean value estimate, it is possible to diagnose inter-turn short circuit fault of the induction motor.


The S atom of the sulfonyl group in the title compound, C20H24Cl2N2O3S, has a distorted tetrahedral geometry. Two intermolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the amino groups and the carbonyl groups link the molecules into a centrosymmetric dimer.


The transition of a metal to an atomic gas is considered during expansion in the critical point region. It is shown that where the electrons are degenerate the electric conductivity is reduced to the minimal metallic value. Further decrease in the electric conductivity is due to the transition of the excited quasiatoms to Boltzmann statistics. The boundary of the strong degeneracy region is determined.


The study on the total flavonoids content of twenty two kind of the medicinal pteridophytes was carried out,and the result is that the common ptenidophytes contain flavonoids in the whole plant.There is marked difference in the total flavonods of different pteridophyees. And the total flavonoids content of eight kind of peeridophytes is beyond percent 3 in all studied pteridophytes.The total flaonoids content of Stenoloma chusana (L.) is the greatest in all plants to percent 34 42 and it is necessary to study its chemical composition and pharma cology.


This study seeks to describe the development of teaching materials in the Elementary Indonesian Language and Literature Learning Development Course in the Elementary School Teacher Education Study Program, Yogyakarta State University. This research is included in qualitative research. The setting of this research is in the Elementary School Teacher Education Study Program, Yogyakarta State University on 27 September 2021 to 27 September 2021. The data of this research are in the form of issues that arise in the Elementary School Teacher Education Study Program, Faculty of Education, Yogyakarta State University. Sources of data in this study were students, lecturers, and stakeholders of the Faculty of Education, State University of Yogyakarta. Data collection techniques using interviews and documentation. Data analysis techniques in this study used qualitative data analysis techniques. The result of this research is the idea to solve this problem is to develop syllabi and teaching materials for the Indonesian Language and Literature Learning Development Course, which is oriented towards the OBE curriculum. In the implementation of this stuttering, there is a change in the arrangement of stages, namely prioritizing stage IV, namely compiling teaching materials for the SD Indonesian Language and Literature Learning Development Course concerning the OBE Curriculum.


To realize single‐frequency of the fiber laser, a ring configuration is devised. The single‐frequency operation is realized at 1549.63 nm by using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) as wavelength‐selective element and a unpumped 1.5 m‐long erbium‐doped fiber, which can produce standing‐wave saturation effects in the cavity. A measurement method based on fiber‐coupling scanning Fabry–Perot (F‐P) interferometer at 1.55 μm is designed. The laser longitudinal‐mode spacing is 11.1 MHz. The single‐frequency is observed by the interferometer with free spectrum range (FSR) of 7.5 GHz. The longitudinal‐mode fabric is analyzed by the interferometer with FSR of 1.5 GHz. As the cavity length increases, the longitudinal‐mode spacing changes to 3.7 MHz. The structures of longitudinal‐modes under different cavity lengths are compared. The longitudinal‐mode linewidth of 20 MHz is measured. Experimental results show that single‐frequency of the fiber laser can be approved accurately, and the effectiveness of the method, which can analyze longitudinal‐mode of the fiber laser with scanning Fabry–Perot (F‐P) interferometer, is improved. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 1494–1497, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI.10.1002/mop.22467


In the tropics, Nitrogen is considered an indispensible source of nutritional element
for the productivity of most crops, especially paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.). In flooded
rice, applied N fertilizer may be susceptible to losses when the time of application
does not match with period of crop demand. Knowledge about accurate timing of N
during the reproductive growth stage of flooded rice may be useful in optimizing
nitrogen recovery efficiency. A glasshouse experiment was conducted to determine
the critical time of nitrogen fertilizer application during panicle initiation (PI) stage
to optimize nitrogen recovery efficiency, grain filling and yield of two Malaysian
rice cultivars (MR219 and MR232). The treatments comprised a control without N
applied (N1) and different timings of urea N-fertilizer applied at the rate of 60 kg N
ha-1 during panicle initiation stage at 45 (N2), 50 (N3), 55 (N4), 60 (N5) and 65 (N6)
days after seeding (DAS) with five replications. The results indicated that plant
physiological parameters showed statistical difference among some treatments.Chlorophyll meter reading (Minolta SPAD-502 leaf chlorophyll meter) for cultivar
MR219 in treatment receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 55 days after seeding, gave the highest
reading and was significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) compared with treatments receiving
60 kg N ha-1 at 60, 65 days after seeding and control, where as for MR232,
chlorophyll content for treatment receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 55 days after seeding was
significantly higher in contrast to treatment receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 45, 60, 65 days
after seeding and the control. In cultivar MR219, treatment receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at
55 days after seeding produced the highest plant height (92.2 cm) compared to
control (77.4 cm) and treatments receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 45 (85.6 cm) and 65 (84.2
cm) days after seeding, while for cultivar MR232, treatments receiving 60 kg N ha-1
at 50 days after seeding recorded the highest height (96.0 cm). Higher leaf area index
(LAI) was observed in treatments receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 50 and 55 days after
seeding for both cultivars. Application of N also resulted in an increased in plant
biomass, and was found to be higher in treatment receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 55 days
after seeding (400.2 g pot-1) for cultivar MR219, while for MR232, significant
increased was observed in treatment receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 50 (367.2 g pot-1).
Plant yield and yield component parameters were significantly influenced by timing
of N applied during the reproductive stage. Percentage of productive tillers for both
cultivars did not significantly vary among treatments except with control. The
spikelet number panicle-1 was higher in treatments receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 50 and
55 days after seeding for both cultivars. The highest 1000-grain weight (30.3 g) and
filled grain percentage (94 %) were recorded in treatments fertilized with N at 55
DAS (N4) for cultivar MR219, while for MR232, similar trend was also obtained
with the same treatment (N4), recording the highest 1000-grain weight (28.6 g) and filled grain percentage (89%). Rice grain yield in cultivar MR219 was significantly
higher with treatment receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 55 days after seeding (225.75 g pot-1)
and treatments receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 50 and 55 days after seeding for MR232
(210.57 and 214.61g pot-1, respectively). The extent of decrease in grain yield due to
late N fertilization during reproductive stage in treatments receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at
65 days after seeding for cultivars MR219 and MR232 were 39% and 17%,
respectively. Based on grain yield, cultivar MR219 tend to be more sensitive to
timing of N fertilizer than MR232 N uptake in rice significantly varies with timing of
N fertilizer. In both MR219 and MR232, higher Nitrogen recovery efficiency was
obtained in treatments receiving 60 kg N ha-1 at 55 days after seeding (77% and
72%, respectively).


X-ray topography can be used to obtain images of microscopic strains in single crystals. inely applied to the characterisation of defects such as dislocations and low angle grain boundaries. Pre- vious studies have shown that the average strain fields associated with travelling surface waves can be imaged on an x-ray topograph, together with the defects in the crystal substrate. This paper des- cribes the use of a new stroboscopic x-ray topograph- ic technique which exploits the unique time structure of the x-rays produced by the electron storage ring of the Daresbury Synchrotron Radiation Source. The x-rays are generated as 200 ps pulses which can be used to stroboscopically illuminate any periodic phenomenon which can be phase locked to the radiation source. In the case of travelling SAWs, this means that both the amplitudes and phases of the different strain components of the wave can be analysed, with different d iffraction vectors imaging different strain components. This has been used to study the propagation of SAWs on lithium niobate devices and to investigate their interaction with crystal defects such as grain boundaries and "rilles". It is rout-


Protein concentrate prepared by extraction of fish, deboned poultry by-products, pork back fat, and beef scraps with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) had good functional properties when the extraction was carried out at 45° C and below. Salt soluble protein extracts from the low temperature extracted protein concentrates had the capacity to emulsify oil and water when tested in a model system. The emulsions gelled when heated. When added to meat batters, the protein concentrate showed the capacity to add to the water- and oil-binding capacity of the system. The solvent requirement of the low temperature extraction process using IPA was determined from the solubility curves of fat in mixtures of water and IPA. The higher the fat content the more solvent was required; for the same fat content, an increase in the moisture content resulted in an increase in the solvent requirement.


The paper introduces the reconstructing project to the miningstone belt line with switched reluctance drive,and pointes that it's scientific,rationality and safely,analysies working principle and improvement text result.


Face Recognition (FR) under varying lighting conditions and pose is very challenging. This paper proposes a novel approach for enhancing the performance of a FR system, employing a unique combination of Active Illumination Equalization (AIE), Image Sharpening (IS), Standard Deviation Filtering (SDF), Mirror Image Superposition (MIS) and Binary Particle Swarm Optimization (BPSO). AIE is used for removal of non-uniform illumination and MIS is used to neutralize pose variance. Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) are used for efficient feature extraction and BPSO-based feature selection algorithm is used to search the feature space for the optimal feature subset. Experimental results, obtained by applying the proposed algorithm on Color FERET, Pointing Head Pose and Extended Yale B face databases, show that the proposed system outperforms other FR systems.


The role of different crystal imperfections and surface inhomogeneities in the processes of electrochemical phase formation and crystal growth is discussed on the basis of experimental results obta...


One of the big challenges for those of us in any form of church leadership is how we equip and support individual Christians to engage positively within their workplaces. What we teach on a Sunday or discuss in our home groups needs to have some relevance to everyday discipleship matters. Fran Beckett and Matthew Wort explore the topic of bullying in the workplace.


Evidence of syntectonic magmatism associated with onset extension and unroofing of the Menderes Massif metamorphic core complex, western Turkey, is well documented. The Salihli and Turgutlu plutons...


Abstract Logspline density estimation is developed for data that may be right censored, left censored, or interval censored. A fully automatic method, which involves the maximum likelihood method and may involve stepwise knot deletion and either the Akaike information criterion (AIC) or Bayesian information criterion (BIC), is used to determine the estimate. In solving the maximum likelihood equations, the Newton–Raphson method is augmented by occasional searches in the direction of steepest ascent. Also, a user interface based on S is described for obtaining estimates of the density function, distribution function, and quantile function and for generating a random sample from the fitted distribution.


Publication of a studbook for Macaca silenus in 1983 provides detailed demographic information on the captive North American population. These data indicate that females reach sexual maturity at about 4 years of age, whereas onset of reproduction for males occurs at age 5. One-third of all sexually mature females and 57% of sexually mature males have not produced offspring. Maximum fertility of males and females is reached at 6 and 7 years, respectively, but in later life males show less effect of age on reproduction than females. The interval between births for lactating females averages just over 17 months. Lion-tails show no evidence of birth seasonality. Physiological studies in the San Diego Zoo colony revealed that the menstrual cycle is 31 days in length, and is characterized by a peak in estrogen excretion at midcycle, just prior to ovulation. Behavioral studies indicate that males require multiple mounts to achieve ejaculation. Copulation is nearly exclusively a phenomenon of the follicular phase of the cycle.


A carotenoprotein from the muscle of Ascidian (Halocynthia roretzi) was purified by ion exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography, and analyzed molecular weight, stability of pH and heat, effect of denaturing agents, amino acids and fatty acids composition. The purified carotenoprotein had absorption maxima of 463 nm and 439 nm. The carotenoprotein had an approxmimate molecular weight of 64.4 kDa in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The amino acid compositions of carotenoprotein were mainly Gly (15.39%), Asn (11.31%), Gln (10.62%) and Ser (13.35%). The major fatty acids composition of carotenoprotein were , and . The monounsaturated fatty acids (45.2%) contained abundant content compared to other saturated (38.1%) and polyunsaturated (11.7%) fatty acids.


The utility model discloses a height adjustable type movable brick moving device, comprising a movable type three freedom degree convey mechanism, a control system, a clamp, and a clamp locking mechanism. A bottom seat is arranged on four brackets, two x direction rolling guide rails are fixedly arranged in parallel on the bottom seat, two sliding blocks are arranged on the rolling guide rail and makes the x direction back and forth movement on the x direction rolling guide rail; a crossbeam is arranged on two sliding blocks and moves synchronously with the sliding blocks; a y direction rolling guide rail is arranged on the crossbeam, a y direction sliding block is positioned on the y direction rolling guide rail and makes the y direction back and forth movement on the crossbeam; a motor seat is connected with the sliding block on the y direction rolling guide rail, and a z direction movement drive stepping motor is arranged on the motor seat; a steel wire rope is threaded through a pulley wheel, an end of the steel wire rope is fixed on the motor seat and the other end is connected on a motor rotor; a hang hook is arranged on the pulley wheel and the clamp is connected on the hang hook. The equipment has simple structure, reliable movement, inexpensive manufacture cost, high efficiency, long service life, quick speed, manpower-saving, and humanization.


The effect of peclet number on blood flow in a tube of varying cross section is analyzed mathematically, treating blood as a homogeneous Newtonian fluid. The nonlinear differential equation are solved by using finite difference scheme and the effect of peclet number on concentration in different axial position are calculated.


The development of macro-econometrics has been persistently fraught with a tension between "deductivist" and "inductivist" approaches to causal inference. The former conceives causes as something that economic theory must provide and that statistical methods must measure. The latter opens the possibility of inferring causes from statistical properties of the data alone. I argue that these conceptions can be interpreted as two opposite responses to the problem of under-determination of theoretical causal relations by statistical properties (the problem of identification). Econometrics offers a clear example as to how the general problem of causal inference can be solved only by delicately mediating between background knowledge and the statistical properties of the data. I show how graphical causal models, appropriately interpreted, can serve this purpose.


Singapore has come a long way since her independence in 1965. From a small fishing village, Singapore is now one of the most live-able, safe and connected cities of the world. This has been made possible through a construction sector that is forward-looking despite the odds stacked against it over the past few decades. This keynote address traces the history, geography, demographics and economic development phases from the perspective of the built environment (i.e. the past). It presents snippets of the Singapore master plan, the world-class public housing program and transport infrastructure, pointing the way to building a Smart Nation, and yet at the same time safeguarding the heritage values through appropriate preservation and conservation programs (i.e. the present). The keynote address ends with future challenges faced by the built environment through the Construction Industry Transformation Map (i.e. the future). 2019 SINGAPORE CONFERENCE 13 Keynote Speaker II Prof. Tan Kiang Hwee National University of Singapore, Singapore Professor TAN KIANG HWEE is a faculty member of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) since July 1981. He obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Tokyo, Japan in 1985. He specialises in the area of structural concrete and composites and has carried out extensive research on external prestressing, fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement, fibre-reinforced concrete, and sustainable concrete and construction. Professor Tan is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES), Japan Concrete Institute (JCI) and Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE). He is a member of editorial boards for more than ten international journals, including ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, ASCE Journal of Composites for Construction, Cement and Concrete Composites, JCI Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology, and others. He is a registered professional engineer and has also been a consultant in structural engineering to several agencies in Singapore. 2019 SINGAPORE CONFERENCE 14 Topic: ―Structural Application of Fibre Reinforced Concrete in Singapore‖


Meadowsweet is a local company producing a wide range of personal care products. Owner Elma Rivera has recently seen an increase in interest in natural and organic products from the male grooming market.


Results of preliminary clinical trials of spectra‐color ultrasonography are presented. The instrumentation is calibrated so that normal ocular tissues produce a near‐white display. Scans of eyes with various diseases differ from the scans of normal eyes, indicating a variation in frequency responses.


Controlling UAV requires high-precision dynamic information input. However, mini UAV needs more demands because of the its small volume. Using MEMS sensor can make the UAV become high-precision, low power consumption and inexpensive machine. Accelerometer and magnetometer can measure the acceleration of gravity and geomagnetic field that the vectors are uncorrelated, which can be considered as a vector in order to correct the gyroscope. Kalman filter based on quaternion has been adopted in this study in order to achieve the attitude measurement and error control of transporter.


Sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas L.) is one of the most important food crops in the world. They are rich in polyphenols, proteins, vitamins, minerals and some functional microcomponents. Polyphenols are bioactive compounds, which can protect the human body from the oxidative stress which may cause many diseases including cancer, aging and cardiovascular problems.The polyphenol content is two to three times higher than in some common vegetables. Total polyphenols (determined spectrophotometrically) and phenolic acids (i.e. caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid and isomers - using high performance liquid chromatography) contents were determined in three varieties of sweet potatoes (O´Henry - white, Beauregard-orange and 414-purple). Phenolic compounds contents were determined in raw peeled roots, jackets of raw roots and water steamed sweet potato roots. For all analysis lyophilised samples were used. Total polyphenol content ranged from 1161 (O´Henry, flesh-raw) to 13998 (414, peel-raw) mg.kg -1 dry matter, caffeic acid content from the non-detected values (414, flesh-raw) to 320.7 (Beauregard, peel-raw) mg.kg -1 dry matter and 3-caffeoylquinic acid content from 57.57 (O´Henry, flesh-raw) to 2392 (414, peel-raw) mg.kg -1 dry matter. Statistically significant differences ( p ≤0.05) existed between varieties, morphological parts of the root, or raw and heat-treated sweet potato in phenolic compounds contents.


Eldely person living alone is easy to stand alone from the society. When a desaster happens, it is difficult to help them instantly. After 3.11, the importance of local community has been recognized. So, we form a community including the elderly person living alone in daily life. We should promote the cooperation not only daily life but also emergency. To form a community, it is necessary to make human relationship. There are the information recommendation systems by using cooperation filtering method. However, there is a burden on users during inputting data and we aren't able to find the relation of co-occurrence to help each other. In previous study, the authors conducted a experiment to acquire personal characteristics by human-robot conversation. And we analyzed results of experiment and matching by manual. Therefore in this research, we conducted a experiment to acquire personal characteristics by human-robot conversation including daily conversation contents. Moreover, we propose the method to value personal characteristics by numerical value and to do matching based on personal characteristics.


The Mommy Plan: Restoring Your Post-Pregnancy Body, Naturally, using Women's Traditional Wisdom by Valerie Lynn, 2012. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Percetakan Lenang Istimewa Sdn Bhd. ISBN: 978-1-4675-2115-4The Mommy Plan is an important, information-filled book, focused on helping Western women and their families adapt traditional postpartum practices into their own postpartum care. It is also an easily-digestible read.Valerie Lynn writes from both her own experience, and her own research. As an American woman married to an Australian, she has spent the majority of the past twenty-plus years living overseas, mostly in Malaysia. Lynn writes that she and her husband decided to spend a year living in Lynn's home state of New Jersey in 2007, where she gave birth to a son. Having previously learned about the postpartum practices of Southeast Asia, Lynn set out to look for postpartum recovery products and services in New Jersey that she had commonly seen in Malaysia, and found nothing comparable. Lynn found this surprising, and disappointing in her own journey into motherhood.The new family soon returned to live in Malaysia, where Lynn also became curious about the reasons for the high rates of postpartum mood disorders found in the United States and some other industrialized countries, in comparison to the very low rates found in Malaysia. Lynn 's research revealed that well over a million women in the United States (15-20%) are diagnosed with a postpartum mood disorder each year, for which antidepressants are commonly prescribed. In contrast, 3-4% of Malaysian women are diagnosed with a postpartum mood disorder each year. Postpartum mood disorders can interrupt the process of attachment and bonding between the newborn and the mother, and prescribed medications may have side effects, and will pass through breastmilk to the infant.In searching for the reasons that might underlie these statistics, Lynn narrowed her research down to two main cultural differences found in Malaysia - better family support, and specific, traditional postpartum recovery guidelines that have been passed down generationally. Additionally, Lynn found that nearly all the Malaysian pregnant women she spoke with had a postpartum plan organized by the end of the second trimester. The collectivist cultural view of an expectant mother planning for copious amounts of help in the first six to eight weeks postpartum is not only accepted, but deeply honored in Malaysia.In contrast, women in the United States often live farther away from family members, and the individualistic cultural view supports independence, not reaching out for help. Often women are expected to be back at work soon after giving birth; the United States is still the only developed nation that doesn't guarantee paid maternity leave. Also, very little information is given to the average woman about ways to help recover from the experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. Often the information provided to American women is conflictual, or focused solely on caring for the baby, leaving new mothers and their families feeling confused and under-resourced in the postpartum period.Lynn's book provides the reader with a plan to help prepare a new mother and her family for optimum postpartum recovery. Although no exact cause has been found as a link to all perinatal mood disorders, factors such as hormone imbalances, lack of sleep, previous mental health issues, and inadequate social support are known to predispose some women. Lynn's book is not meant to make the case that The Mommy Plan will either fully protect against or eradicate a postpartum mood disorder. However, by addressing some of the factors that may play a role in postpartum mood disorders, Lynn offers age-old guidance on how to best set a new mother and her family up for peak postpartum healing, with the hope that this will lessen the likelihood of serious physical or emotional issues occurring. …


There is an error in affiliation 4 for author Mark M. Kushnir. Affiliation 4 should be: ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America.


Fine-spun theories, which ingeniously accounted for every thing, and too often elevated exceptions into rules, have been almost universally abandoned; and, instead of disputing about proximate causes, or the vital principle, the medical philosophers of the present age have directed all their attention to the facts presented to their observation, whether they refer to the causes and symptoms of diseases, or to the action


Finder's fees of 6% of the Units sold may be payable in units (the "Finder's Units") or cash on a portion of the financing to finders who assist in the placement, as applicable under regulatory laws. Each Finder's Unit will consist of one common share and one-half share purchase warrant, with each whole share purchase warrant to entitle the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.30 for one year following the closing of the private placement. The private placement is subject to regulatory acceptance. The proceeds from the financing will be used as to approximately $1.5 million for exploration on the Company's Storm Copper Project in Nunavut and the balance on the Company's Olympic property, Yukon and Sabin property, Ontario.


"Ayurveda" the science of life is time tested science which does not require experimental evidences & its entire field to compare with modern era. It"s all principles are universally applicable to each individual to have a long healthy life first and then treating the disease, for that fight superior branches are explained. Shalya tantra is one among them. Sushruta known as father of surgery has described various surgical procedures along with some parasurgical measures. "agni karma" is one amongst these parasurgical procedures. In agnikarma therapeutic burning with special tools are done on specific sites. Agnikarma has been given special place in surgery by sushruta and it is believed that disease treated by agnikarma never reoccurs. In modern time also it is used and it is termed as therapeutic burns or cauterization. This paper deals with details of various aspects of agnikarma and its use in present context.


Method based on digital signal processing in particle detectors signal processing applications become increasingly widespread.In the study of particle detectors based on digital signal processing,the correct accurate system modeling is the important part.MATLAB Simulink environment particle detection system behavioral models,including the part of the detector noise,analog front end,an analog-to-digital converter and digital filtering.Implemented based on the model of a multi-channel particle detection circuit simulation analysis of the output waveform of the multi-channel particle detection system and the corresponding energy spectrum RAM,verify the correctness and accuracy of the model.


This study investigated the level of adoption and factor affecting the level of adoption of sustainable soil management practices. This research was based on the primary data that was collected in 2012 at Chisapani, Nagdaha and Kathjor VDCs of Ramechhap district of Nepal to analyze the level of adoption and factor affecting the level of adoption of sustainable soil management practices. Pre-tested semi structured interview schedule were used to collect the primary data from 120 farmers, 40 farmers from each VDC by applying simple random sampling technique. The major sustainable soil management practices adopted were found to be improved farm yard manure, improved cattle urine, inclusion of the vegetable and legume in the farming system and use of the bio-pesticide. The level of technology adoption was found to be 79.55% and this shows that the level of adoption was high. The higher level of adoption was due to increase in the production and productivity of the crops and improvement in soil fertility.  While considering about the factor affecting the adoption of sustainable soil management practices, the study showed that the five variables namely training, credit, income, livestock standard unit and experience were significantly affecting for higher level of adoption. A unit increase in training, credit, livestock standard unit and experience would increase the probability of level of adoption by 3.48%, 0.83%, 0.45% and 1.1% respectively and a hundred rupees increase in income would increase the probability of level of adoption by 0.0819%.


The purpose of this research is to explore aspects of discourse analysis through Van Dijk's approach to folklore. This folklore contains many educational values, ethics, norms as well as socio-cultural aspects. For the analysis of discourse on folklore, the Van Dijk model, which emphasizes elements of critical discourse, was used (Critical Discourse Analysis). This research is library research by using the naturalistic approach with Van Dijk model analysis. The result of this research was the aspects analyzed of macrostructure and microstructure. The macro structure is thematic and schematic. The element analyzed the essence of the theme of the discourse. That is morality (admirable nature) or "good morality". In the micro structure analyzed aspects of semantic, syntax, stylictic, and rethoric. In semantic aspect analyzed conceptual meaning, connotative meaning, social meaning, affective meaning, reflective meaning, collocative meaning and thematic meaning.


Tracking vehicles in image sequences of innercity road traffic scenes still constitutes a challenging task. Even if a-priori knowledge about the 3D shape of vehicles, of background structure and vehicle motion is provided, (partial) occlusion and dense vehicle queues easily can cause initialization and tracking failures. Improving the tracking approach requires numerous and time-consuming experiments. Yet, these difficulties can be eased considerably by endowing the system with a part of the qualitative knowledge, that a human observer uses in order to judge the results. In the case reported here, a system for qualitative reasoning has been coupled with a quantitative model-based tracking system in order to explore the feedback from qualitative reasoning into the geometric tracking subsystem.


A preparation for chloride sulfide Mo/sub 6/X/sub 8/ clusters has been devised which employs substitution by sulfide into the Mo/sub 6/Cl/sub 8//sup 4 +/ cluster. The Mo/sub 6/Cl/sub 7/S/sup 3 +/ cluster has been isolated in the two compounds (C/sub 5/H/sub 5/NH)/sub 3/((Mo/sub 6/Cl/sub 7/S)Cl/sub 6/) x 3(C/sub 5/H/sub 5/NH)Cl and (C/sub 5/H/sub 5/NH)/sub 3/((Mo/sub 6/Cl/sub 7/S)Cl/sub 6/). The structures of both compounds were determined by single crystal x-ray techniques. Despite the different site symmetries of the (Mo/sub 6/Cl/sub 7/S)Cl/sub 6//sup 3 -/ units in the two compounds (S/sub 6/ in the former, C/sub i/ in the latter), corresponding average bond distances and angles are equivalent. The infrared spectra (200 to 450 cm/sup -1/) of the two compounds are identical, and exhibit a band at 421 cm/sup -1/ assigned to a (Mo/sub 6/Cl/sub 7/S)Cl/sub 6//sup 3 -/ cluster vibration of predominant Mo-S character. Resolution of the chlorine 2p photoelectron spectra into components reveals not only that sulfide occupies a bridging ligand site of the (Mo/sub 6/Cl/sub 7/S)Cl/sub 6//sup 3 -/ cluster, but also that the difference between the chlorine 2p binding energies of the bridging and terminal chlorides is anomalously small. The Mo/sub 6/S/sub 6/Cl/sub 2/ cluster has been isolatedmore » in the novel compound (Mo/sub 6/S/sub 6/Cl/sub 2/)(NC/sub 5/H/sub 5/)/sub 6/. The structure, determined by single crystal x-ray techniques, consists of an approximately cubic Mo/sub 6/X/sub 8/ cluster with six terminal pyridine ligands. (Mo/sub 6/S/sub 6/Cl/sub 2/)(NC/sub 5/H/sub 5/)/sub 6/ is the first example of a Mo/sub 6/X/sub 8/ cluster with terminal ligands which has fewer that 24 electrons in its metal-metal bonding orbitals. X-ray powder data indicates this compound may be one composition in a molecular solid solution (Mo/sub 6/S/sub 7-x/Cl/sub 1+x/)(NC/sub 5/H/sub 5/)/sub 6/(0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 2).« less


The purpose of the article is to study the linear and nonlinear "stability" of roll-waves that are periodic and discontinuous entropic travelling wave solutions of the Saint Venant equations. More precisely, we prove that the Cauchy problem with initial data close to a roll-wave and satisfying suitable compatibility conditions has a solution on a sufficiently small interval.


Hongtushan Basin is almost covered by basalt, with geophysical features of moderate and strong magnetism, high density. Normal gravity, magnetic, electric and other geophysical methods are difficult to gain good results, therefore using new method and technique can remedy the exploration deficiency of basaltic coverage in Changbai Mountain and its surround area. Trough the electromagnetic exploration, we can get stratum electrical structure within this basin, can estimate the thickness variation trend, occurrence features of Junjianshan Formation basalt in Cainozoic, sedimentary strata of the Upper Shiren Formation and the Lower Yihe Formation in Mesozoic, and basement rolling and structural distribution. In addition, new geophysical prospecting data is provided for coal exploration in target areas.


This paper discusses both challenges and opportunities for using inquiry-based learning in public administration postgraduate education in a context of internationalisation. In particular, we discuss the appropriateness of inquiry-based learning for teaching diverse groups of students from varied international backgrounds. Inquiry-based learning has been widely promoted in the United Kingdom higher education sector and seems intuitively appealing as a pedagogical approach for an applied subject such as public administration. However, there are challenges associated with using inquiry-based learning with postgraduate international students who have a short time to assimilate complex theories and concepts in a second language, and have often been educated previously in contexts with a more didactic tradition of education. With the increasing internationalisation of the United Kingdom higher education sector, we suggest there is tension between some of the teaching and learning methods that are being promoted nationally and the needs of an increasingly diverse international student body. Reflecting on our own experiences as teachers of international students on public administration programmes, we outline both the benefits and limitations of teaching with inquiry-based learning but also suggest ways in which this type of approach could be assimilated within the broader set of pedagogical practices used with international postgraduate students.


Biofilm is an aggregation of microbial cells interconnected by extracellular polymeric substances which accelerate growth on different material surfaces adversely affect the dairy industry. This polymicrobial community contains altered phenotype which differs them from planktonic microbes physiologically. It affects the quality and safety of raw materials and their products. Thus, producing serious problems directly affecting human health. Colonisation at the surfaces of open and closed piping systems, floors, waste, walls, ceilings of the production halls play a major role as barrier in the selection of effective sanitation agents for their control. As a result, the sector is forced to face a havoc economical loss. In fact, the condition is aggravating day-by-day. As microbes growing in a biofilm are highly resistant to antimicrobial agents and host's immune system, it is obligatory to employ effective methods to retard the biofilm formation. Therefore, immediate appropriate precautionary measures should be adopted to combat the condition and prevent further complications.


Investigating on oil spill spreading and its fate has increased in recent two decades, which causes different numerical models' development. Most of the oil spreading and oil distribution models focus on the oil spill horizontal motion on the surface. The pollution discharges from a point source to the environment, and begins to spread in vertical and horizontal directions according to its properties, temperature, other material density, wind flow, and other environmental factors (Mehr Motlagh, 2012). Chao et al. (2001) developed two and three dimensional models of oil spill fate in coastal water. Moreover, they designed a three dimensional model Abstract


The garment industry is one of the most dominating industries in this era of industrial globalization. It is a highly labor-intensive industry that requires a large number of human resources to produce its goods and fill up the global demand for garment products. Because of the dependency on human labor, the production of a garment company comprehensively relies on the productivity of the employees who are working in different departments of the company. A common problem in this industry is that the actual productivity of the garment employees sometimes does not meet the targeted productivity that was set for them by the authorities to meet the production goals in due time. When the productivity gap occurs, the company faces a huge loss in production. This study aims to solve this problem by predicting the actual productivity of the employees. To achieve this aim, a Deep Neural Network (DNN) model has been proposed to predict the actual productivity of the employees. The experimental results of this study have shown that the proposed model yields a promising prediction performance with a minimal Mean Absolute Error (=0.086) which is less than the baseline performance error (=0.15). Such prediction performance can indisputably help the manufacturers to set an accurate target, minimize the production loss and maximize the profit.


Objective: to identify the scientific production, published from January 2008 to July 2019, about patient safety in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Method: integrative review, where 24 articles were selected that met the objective and inclusion and exclusion criteria with the help of the EndNote® software. In these articles, we analyzed data regarding authorship, objectives, year of publication, method, results and level of evidence. Results:we drew up five categories to show the results: The professional and the patient safety; Communication and patient safety; Quality management and patient safety; Safety culture; and The family and the patient safety. Conclusion: the process of building and encouraging patient safety is similar in the national and international scenarios. The studies point out emerging efforts for the construction of safety culture, architected under quality and safety management strategies, improvement of working conditions and professional factors, as well as the insertion of the family as a qualifying factor for health care.


Prior studies on tax avoidance have been emphasising on the individuals behaviour rather than corporations. In addition to this, the available studies on corporate tax avoidance, to date, have been focusing on the developed market while very little attention has been given to the developing countries. Thus, this study attempts to investigate the corporate tax avoidance behaviour in Malaysia, focusing on industry affiliations. Specifically, the objective of this study is to examine the importance of industry affiliations as possible contributions of corporate tax avoidance mechanism. This study documented the link between industry affiliations and corporate tax avoidance in an emerging market. This study tested the relationship by using a crosssectional-time series valuation using panel data analyses, which is Tobit estimations. The results confirmed the importance of industry differences in explaining corporate tax avoidance activity. As more data become available in the future, one could include tax avoidance study in non-listed companies.


The smoothed norm algorithm is a reconstruction algorithm in compressive sensing based on approximate smoothed norm. It introduces a sequence of smoothed functions to approximate the norm and approaches the solution using the specific iteration process with the steepest method. In order to choose an appropriate sequence of smoothed function and solve the optimization problem effectively, we employ approximate hyperbolic tangent multiparameter function as the approximation to the big "steep nature" in norm. Simultaneously, we propose an algorithm based on minimizing a reweighted approximate norm in the null space of the measurement matrix. The unconstrained optimization involved is performed by using a modified quasi-Newton algorithm. The numerical simulation results show that the proposed algorithms yield improved signal reconstruction quality and performance.


Curriculum construction and reform is the core to improve the talent training quality. It is also the key point and difficulty for teaching reform. Starting with investigating the needs of architecture industry talent to confirm the main job, this thesis structures and implements the curriculum system which is centered on the cultivation of professional ability training, cooperates with enterprises and develops the core curriculum based on the process of working.


Modern electronic systems and equipment used in aerospace and nuclear technology, as well as many scientific and medical devices, are used under the influence of a wide range of ionizing radiation (electrons, protons, heavy charged particles etc.). Protons or heavy charged particles exposure can lead to failures in the operation of spacecrafts electronic devices, which is associated with the radiation effects occurrence in an integrated circuits. One of the most effective ways to solve this problem is protection by radiation shields. Linear and mass paths of protons and Ar+ ions in Al, Al2O3, Bi, and W77, 7Cu22, 3 composite shields were calculated using a SRIM software package. It is shown that the protection efficiency against high-energy ions by materials with large atomic charge values (Z) is higher from the position of linear ranges of particles, and lower from the position of mass ranges than materials with low Z values. The dependence of the threshold energy on the serial number of particles for Al, Bi and W77, 7Cu22, 3 composite shields is determined. The effect of the sequence in the arrangement and layer thicknesses in the Bi/Al/Al2O3 multilayered structures on the protection efficiency against high-energy ions was studied.


Though as the world's first economic power,the United States has always had a large number of trade deficit since the 1970s.This paper first analyses the current situation and the structure of the deficit of the U.S.trade,then investigates the reasons of the huge deficit caused by the domestic demand,the industrial gradient transfer,the trade statistics methods,the domestic economic policies and other international factors,explores the interactive relations with the US macro-economy,the international status of US dollar and the US hegemony in the global economy,and reveals the nature of its using the trade deficit to stimulate domestic economic development and to seek to maintain hegemony in the world.Based on the above analyses,the paper further clarifies that the U.S.trade deficit is the product which is in line with the world economic development law,and the decision of the international competitiveness of the fundamentals have taken place in favor of the United States.


A new 1-D chain coordination polymer [Pb(η2OOCCH2Fc)2(4,4′-bpy)]n(Fc=ferrocene) is synthesized by treating ferrocenylacetate with Pb ions with the help of 4,4′-bpy bridging ligands,and structurally characterized by x-ray single crystal diffraction.In addition,fluorescent properties of the polymer and ferrocenylacetate are analyzed.The results show that the fluorescent properties of the polymer are decided by ferrocenylacetate ligand.


Studies on electronic and structural properties of solid state oxides continued. This quarter, studies have concentrated on silica. Progress is discussed in the following sections: interatomic potentials and the structural properties of silica; chemical reactivity and covalent/metallic bonding on Si clusters; and surface and thermodynamic interatomic forces fields for silicon. 64 refs., 20 figs., 5 tabs. (CBS)


Graph database engines stand out in the era of big data for their efficiency of modeling and processing linked data. There is a strong need of testing graph database engines. However, random testing, the most practical way of automated test generation, faces the challenges of semantic validity, non-empty result, and behavior diversity to detect bugs in graph database engines. To address these challenges, in this paper, we propose GDsmith, the first black-box approach for testing graph database engines. It ensures that each randomly generated Cypher query satisfies the semantic requirements via skeleton generation and completion. GDsmith includes our technique to increase the probability of producing Cypher queries that return non-empty results by leveraging three types of structural mutation strategies. GDsmith also includes our technique to improve the behavior diversity of the generated Cypher queries by selecting property keys according to their previous frequencies when generating new queries. Our evaluation results demonstrate that GDsmith is effective and efficient for automated query generation and substantially outperforms the baseline. GDsmith successfully detects 27 previously unknown bugs on the released versions of three popular open-source graph database engines and receive positive feedback from their developers.


The research on system reconstruction after blackout is of great significance for fast and safe system restoration.The hierarchical and partitioned restoration concept is elaborated from a new perspective,and a new system reconstruction algorithm is proposed based on hierarchical and partitioned restoration.The algorithm uses the way of stepwise searching optimization,and takes the balance of power and the importance degree of target nodes in the system restoring process into consideration dynamically.The topology of reconstruction network is integrally optimized in the hierarchical restoring process on the basis of ensuring the flexibility of the reconstruction plan,and the partition distance sensitivity index is introduced to provide quantitative references for effective coordination between different subsystems in the partitioned restoring process.The power flow constraints of the target system in each step are checked to ensure the feasibility of the reconstruction plan.The effectiveness of this algorithm is verified by the calculation results of an IEEE 118-bus system and the East China power system.


Competency Model is a new human resource evaluation and analysis technique,which has been the core and base of the human resource management system.At present competency researches is few in health organization human resource man- agement.This article introduces the concept,points out the necessity and the process of construction.At last the article analyzes the existent problem.


Abstract : The report is divided into four sections. The first section is devoted to the study of (1) the small eye movements during voluntary monocular fixation of a bright point in a completely dark field, and of the determiners of these movements, (2) the autokinetic movements of the point and their possible relationships with the eye movements and (3) the perceived direction of a bright point as a function of retinal locus. Fixation of a point fixed in the visual field is compared with fixation of a point whose image is stabilized on the retina and with attempted fixation in the dark. The second part deals with some aspects of the perception of light signals. The third part deals with the reliability of electroretinographic response, in relation to changes in recording resistance, influence to previous exposure to sunlight, and lack of centrifugal control. In the fourth session the response of the eye to a step pattern of illumination is described in terms of the increment threshold for a small light patch added to the pattern at various distances from the illumination step. (Author)


Multiresistant bacteria are responsible for increasing morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. Multiresistant bacteria such as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Escherichia coli producing Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamases (ESBLs), and Klebsiella pneuomoniae producing ESBLS are resistant to more than three classes of antibiotics so that alternative natural-based treatments are needed to prevent the spread of resistance. This research aims to determine the activity of Agarwood bouya (Aquilaria agallocha) oil nanoemulsion against multiresistance and non-resistance antibiotic. Nanoemulsion is made by magnetic stirrer and sonicator. The variations of Agarwood Bouya oil used are 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. The size of the nanoemulsion formed was analyzed using a Particle Size Analyzer (PSA), while its clarity was measured by a UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Agarwood oil nanoemulsion activity test was carried out by disk diffusion method. The results showed that agarwood oil nanoemulsion with a concentration of 1% had the smallest size is 17.7 nm with a percent transmittance of 99.35%. The agarwood bouya oil nanoemulsion 20% was only able to inhibit ESBLs-producing E. coli by 3.3 mm and was included in the weak category. The non-resistant E. coli bacteria were able to actively inhibit with the inhibition zone at 13.3mm.


The invention relates to a method for transmitting control data between a terminal for telecommunications via a telecommunications network and in communication with the telecommunication network server for controlling an administered by the telecommunication network service, wherein the telecommunications network to a data object providing a special function, wherein the terminal and the server each is a database associated with and wherein the transfer is effected by that first at least one assigned to the data object control parameters is assigned to a parameter value for activation, deactivation or modification of the service and the data object is stored together with the control parameters in one of the two databases, which database is then synchronized with the other database.


The warehousing system consists of several storage space, pallets and overhead crane conveying the products. Due to the complexity of the movements of the products in warehousing system, it is difficult to obtain a reasonable schedule for product allocation. In this paper, we propose a determination method for product allocation schedule in automated warehousing system by using the simulation-based optimization method. The simulation module is composed of product receiving and product picking simulator. Several heuristic rules are investigated by using the developed simulator. It was confirmed that the location of received products highly influences the handling cost for picking the products and total distance traveled by the overhead crane. In order to optimize the storage location of products, the optimization system using simulated annealing method is also developed. The performances of a large scale problem derived by the proposed system are considerably improved compared with those derived by heuristic algorithm.


Robotic bronchoscopy has demonstrated high navigational success in small peripheral lung nodules but the diagnostic yield is discrepantly lower. Needle based confocal laser endomicroscopy (nCLE) enables real‐time microscopic imaging at the needle tip. We aim to assess feasibility, safety and needle repositioning based on real‐time nCLE‐guidance during robotic bronchoscopy in small peripheral lung nodules.


reading this Work by nicholas Wolterstorff feels a bit like arriving at a dinner party just as the dinner plates are being cleared and the chef has come out to talk with us. The dessert, spirits, coffee, and for the roguish among us, the cigar, are yet to be served but the main course is over. All of which is to say that while a significant and important work, Justice in Love cannot be fully appreciated without notice of Wolterstorff's earlier Justice: Rights and Wrong (Princeton University Press, 2010), in which he comes to the conclusion that a theistic grounding for an effective discourse on human rights is needed in our contemporary context. This volume might then be read as taking up this task in earnest. Wolterstorff identifies agape as perhaps the most fecund notion for this work, because it has broad currency in the Christian tradition in particular and Western culture more generally. Its value is connected to his sense that agape is a way to talk about love such that it can become a meaningful lens through which to engage the idea of justice. This is important because justice is the primary category utilized in contemporary discussions of human rights. This volume, then, commences providing a philosophical framework within which the idea of justice can be grounded meaningfully in the ideas of love and forgiveness, as opposed to more juridical models.


NiCr2O4 as a potential protection for thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) against the attack of molten calcium-magnesium-alumino-silicate (CMAS) was studied by a CMAS-contacting experiment. Atmospheric plasma sprayed coatings and sintered bulk materials were fabricated, covered with CMAS deposits, and exposed to 1200 °C for 24 h. Nano-sized CMAS-NiCr2O4 mixed powder was manufactured by ball milling and then conducted heat treatment under the same condition. The results show that no reacting product was found at the border between molten CMAS and NiCr2O4 and no element transportation occurred. It can be inferred that NiCr2O4 has outstanding chemical stability with the molten CMAS.


Through the utilization of an optical digital vector matrix (ODVM) processor, a mid range general purpose/ special purpose processor was designed and fabricated utilizing 8,192 optical interconnects.


In this article Psalm vii 15 is analysed by means of close reading, interaction theories of metaphor and a reader-oriented approach, including Jewish medieval commentaries. The very fabric of Psalm vii 15 is made up of the tension between the constructive image of birth and the destructive aspects of the wicked. The verse does not correspond to the expectations of the reader: e.g. the sequence of stages in the birth process is unusual: labour—pregnancy—birth; the birth process is described with masculine verbs, and it is not clear who the subject is. Ps. vii 15 is an example of the fact that concrete and abstract features often go together in biblical metaphors. The presentation of the enemies' negative features in personified images of birth makes them more drastic. It reduces the possible connotations of birth to its negative aspects. Using birth as a negative image, the text shows something of the ambivalence of birth.


We challenge the conventional assumption that experiences of civil war inevitably destroy social trust. Civil wars are transformative forces whose societal outcomes depend on processes defining these collective experiences. Providing the first cross-national comparative study of civil war and social trust, we examine these processes and their consequences for dimensions of social trust in 30 post-conflict societies. Results reveal that although on average civil wars reduce trust, violence of higher intensity leads to positive transformation and greater trust in out-groups and strangers. We further show that religious civil wars clearly surpass ethnic civil wars in terms of their negative consequences for generalized trust. Our findings also suggest that abrupt changes in institutional infrastructure are less relevant for trust relations than the disruption of social networks that occurs through forced displacement. Last, we present evidence that while societies rebuild social trust over time, the way the conflict ended is less consequential.


Project based learning (PBL) has become more popular due to its student centered nature of learning compared to traditional modes of learning. However, it is not always feasible to implement it due to several reasons. At the University of New South Wales, the PBL mode was trialled on an introductory Digital Signal Processing course for two consecutive years and the evaluation was previously reported. After that, based on the experience of PBL implementation, some elements of PBL have been incorporated with traditional mode of teaching to enhance the traditional mode and that enhanced traditional mode have been continued. The experience of enhancing the traditional mode with components derived from PBL, particularly the inclusion of conceptual design presentation and laboratory tests, are promising. This paper presents the task description of PBL and experience of how some of the components of PBL can be utilized to enhance the traditional mode of teaching.


The distinction between 'medical' and 'surgical'jaundice is often difficult due to the lack of specificity of biochemical liver function tests, and the difficulty in assessing hepatocellular function and biliary tract patency in the jaundiced patient. We present a non‐invasive isotopic technique which gives reliable information on these parameters, resulting in a high degree of accuracy in the classification of jaundice.


This study aimed at assessing the levels of heavy metal pollution in selected lagoons within the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Water and sediment samples were collected during the dry and wet seasons from selected lagoons, namely; Sakumo II, Chemu and Kpeshie lagoons. The study areas were selected due to the reliance of the people on the lagoons for their livelihood. The lagoons also serve as habitat for diverse fish species. Analysis of the samples were done using the Fast-Sequential Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (VARIAN AA 240FS) fitted with deuterium background corrector. Results from the heavy metals determined (Cu, Pb, Fe, Ni, Zn, and Mn) were compared with the EPA, WHO and USEPA recommended limits, which indicated significant differences in concentrations between the two seasons. The concentration of Copper in the water samples ranged from 2.873.95 mg/L for Sakumo II lagoon, 8.32-9.39 mg/L for Chemu lagoon and 6.10-6.84 mg/L for Kpeshie lagoon during the dry season. Copper concentrations, however, increased significantly during the wet season with Kpeshie recording the highest mean concentration of 11.69 mg/L. Lead concentration for both seasons did not increase significantly within the study area. Chemu lagoon recorded the highest mean lead concentration of 0.68 mg/L. Chemu lagoon also recorded the highest concentrations of zinc and Iron with values ranging from 17.44-17.83 mg/L and 22.26-23.51 mg/L during the dry season and from 23.80-24.34 mg/L and 27.26-27.89 mg/L during the wet season respectively. Heavy metal concentrations of sediment samples varied widely within the study area with Chemu lagoon recording the highest mean concentrations of all six metals determined for both seasons. The results revealed that, concentrations of both water and sediment samples were highest during the dry season compared to the wet season. Correlations between metals in the sediment samples were statistically significant and positive with values within 0.6 and 1.0 indicating that, the metals in each combination originated from a particular source. Introduction The increasing rate at which squatters and industries are settling around water bodies across the globe has been of serious concern to many individuals and environmental protection agencies. This concern comes in the light of the benefits derived from water bodies by both humans and animals. Across the world, water bodies form a central part of the ecosystem. Generally, water bodies are used by humans for agricultural, domestic, transportation, and tourism purposes. Due to the unique nature of lagoons and their contribution to human existence, they were considered in this research. Aside serving as the habitat for most fish species and beneficial algae, lagoons also form the basis for small-scale fishing and farming activities. However, the result of these activities makes the lagoons unsafe due to pollution. According to Helmer et al., (1997), water pollution is the second most significant environmental issue after air pollution. The major pollutants of most water bodies are the heavy metals (Oghenerobor, 2014). Generally, the non-biodegradable and bio-accumulative nature of heavy metals make them detrimental to human and aquatic lives upon exposure to some extent. This notwithstanding, heavy metals indirectly enter the environment through natural processes such as volcanic West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 26(2), 2018: 56 71 action, forest fires, and directly through anthropogenic activities such as release of untreated waste water into water bodies, excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides etc. Lagoons, which form part of water bodies, are vulnerable to various anthropogenic activities (Schaffelke et al., 2012; Hering et al., 2010; Green et al., 2008). Heavy metals include Pb, Hg, Cu, Zn and Cd as examples of inorganic contaminants (Campbell, 1994; Brown et al., 1990). As inorganic contaminants, heavy metals are very toxic and pose a threat to human life especially when present in high quantities. In spite of the relatively high toxic nature of most heavy/trace metals even at low concentrations, some (e.g., selenium, manganese, iron, zinc, and copper) play essential roles in metabolism and nutrient provision when ingested in small quantities. The lagoons studied in this research were previously known as good sources of fish, especially tilapia (Essumang et al., 2009). Interestingly, human activities threaten to overtake the environs of most of these lagoons, which is contributing to their deterioration and a decrease in their biodiversity (Stumpp et al., 2011; Adamus et al., 2001). Rapid urbanization has resulted in the release of heavy metals into water bodies, especially lagoons in recent times (Sin et al., 2001).The anthropogenic activities which have become common around the Sakumo II, Chemu and Kpeshie lagoons include the construction of roads and bridges across channels, discharge of untreated waste water into the lagoons by industries, damming of freshwater channels, over-exploitation of mangroves, over-fishing, over-grazing, over-population, refuse dumping into the lagoons to reclaim lands, and the use of pesticides for cultivation (Ramsar, 2007). Research by Klake et al., (2012) revealed the presence of some heavy metals in the Sakumo 57 West African Journal of Applied Ecology, vol. 26(2), 2018 Lagoon, which was greatly attributed to overpollution caused by human activities around the lagoon. The favorable conditions and qualities lagoons offer to coastal inhabitants , as well as, the appreciable resources for business and livelihood make lagoons indispensable in Ghana (Gordon et al., 1998). The present study aims at providing base-line data for monitoring the level of heavy metal concentrations in the affected lagoons within the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It is hoped that the results will provide vital information that would feed into a region-wide database for relevant national authorities to draw from for appropriate actions to help preserve these lagoons. Materials and methods Study area The Sakumo II, Kpeshie and Chemu lagoons are located in the city of Accra about 80 km west of the Volta River. Accra is a low-lying area, about 200 m above sea level and is subject to two wet seasons in a year—May to middle of June (heavy downpours) and August to middle of November (light downpours). The Sakumo Ramsar wetland (also called Sakumo II lagoon) is located north of the coastal front street between the urban communities of Accra and Tema. It is the third most significant site for shorebirds on the coast of Ghana (Lawson, 2013). Kpeshie lagoon seems to be divided into two as a result of a bridge constructed across it. However, this wetland has been arranged into four areas. Unfortunately, the third and fourth segments have now become extinct due to contamination. Kpeshie lagoon includes sand hills and open lagoons with a catchment area of roughly 110 km2. Previously, this lagoon served as a remarkable fishing ground for the community of Kpeshie and other individuals outside this catchment territory (Ansah, 2006). Chemu lagoon covers a territory of approximately 26 km2 and is located in Tema. It is characterised by various tributaries which join a main stream. The coordinates are latitude 5o37'0" N 5o38'0"N and between longitude 0o2'0"W 0o2'30"W for Sakumo II lagoon (Fig 1), latitude 5o34'0"N 5o34'30"N and between longitude 6o8'0"W 6o8'30"W for Kpeshie lagoon (Fig 2).The Chemu lagoon lies between latitude 5o38'40" W– 5o39'0"W and longitude 0o0'40"E – 0o1'20"E ( Fig 3). Doamekpor et al: Assessment of Heavy Metals in Water and Sediments of Sakumo II, Chemu and Kpeshie 58 Figure 1: Map showing the catchment area of SakumoII Lagoon Figure 2: Map showing the catchment area of Kpeshie Lagoon Figure 3: Map showing the catchment area of Chemu lagoon Research facility, Quality control and Quality assurance The Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS), precisely the VARIAN AA 240FS was used to determine the concentrations of copper (Cu), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) in the water and sediment samples. To minimize random error, prevent contamination of samples and ensure the accuracy of results, sampling protocols were strictly followed. Triplicate analyses were done for every determination to minimise random error and ensure reproducibility. Each reported result was the average value of triplicate measurements. Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) used were treated as the samples themselves to check for efficiency of the equipment used and further validate the procedure. The results obtained were compared with the WHO, USEPA and Ghana EPA standards for natural and effluent water. Sampling Water and sediment samples were taken from six different points each from the Sakumo II, Chemu, and Kpeshie lagoons in order to get a fairly representative specimen. High density polyethylene sampling bottles were thoroughly washed previously and rinsed with deionized water. At each sampling site, sampling bottles were rinsed and filled with the lagoon water at a depth of 20 cm to 30 cm and fixed in the field with 5 ml of concentrated nitric acid. The samples were kept at temperatures below 40 C in a refrigerator. Sampling was done on monthly basis for both dry and wet seasons. Also, a sterile 2 cm diameter polyvinylchloride (PVC) tube was used to collect sediment samples from the various sample sites into pretreated sample bags. Three samples were taken and consolidated to form a composite sample of roughly 150 g. All samples were labeled and described in the field. They were later transported to the chemistry laboratory at Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) for processing and further analysis (APHA, 2005; APHA, 1992). Sample preparation In the laboratory, 40 mL of the water sample was poured into a 100-mL beaker. 5 mL of Aqua Regia in the ratio of 4.5 mL concentrated HCl to 0.5 mL concentrated HNO3 was added to the wate


A philosophical work concerning "being understood as being "and "being(ousia)" is regarded by Aristotle as metaphysics.When Kant destroyed the old rational metaphysics,he made every effort to construct moral metaphysics.In the course of this,he transformed the concepts of cause in thereotical rationality into the ground or causes in practical rationality rather than merely discarded them.If it is held that in Aristotle's metaphysics,the "Four Causes "play a crucial role in metaphysical research,then how to understand Kant's transformation and incorporation of the "Four Causes" into the traditional theoretical rationality into the discussion of the ground and causse in his practical rationality in his new practical metaphysics,proves to be a new perspective to understand the inner structure of his ethics.


Literature reports only a few contradictory findings regarding the capacity of serum EGF concentrations to differentiate between healthy individuals andpatients sufferingnon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Therefore, thepossible diagnostic capacity of serum EGF levels, suggestive of dependency on this growth factor in NSCLC patients/tumors and hence indicative of possible response to therapies directed to EGF/EGFR, is controversial. Inconsistencies likely derive from the lack of harmonization and even standardization in methodologies for blood and sera processing. This manuscript is a mini-review of a recently published study, where the control of the key factors that influence theconcentration of EGF in serum, along with the normalization of EGF concentrations by platelets count,allowed to clarify the diagnostic value of serum EGF levels.Several EGF-related variables were identified as potential biomarkers in NSCLC, particularly those normalized by platelets, which highlighted the differences between patients and controls. Additionally, the study revealed thatNSCLC patients differ from healthy individuals not by the total stock of EGF, but byits higher accessibility to serum. The increase in free/accessible EGF in blood circulation is probably relevant to the biology of NSCLC, most likely because it reflects a higher accessibility to this tumoral growth factor.


The integrated livestock, crops, and fish (VAC) model of integrated small scale agriculture has been important to economic and ecological sustainability in Vietnam for many centuries. Recently, emerging waterborne diseases including avian influenza have jeopardized the VAC model. In order to promote mitigation of the risk of waterborne disease in the VAC system, there needs to be recognition of the significant predictors of such behaviour, particularly with respect to water sources including well and rain water. We report on research results generated from 300 farms in each of North and South Vietnam that indicate the small scale farmers who are more likely to engage in mitigation of waterborne disease are those who raise pigs, perceive themselves to be more at risk of HPAI infection from well water, report they are good livestock managers, value the advice of health care workers, and where a female household member is the decision maker for family health. These results bear importance to water and health policy formulators in rural Vietnam.


The paper describes the reliability‐based optimization of a TT‐shaped precast roof girder produced in Austria. An extensive experimental programme was performed using laboratory specimens to gain information on the mechanical fracture parameters of the utilized concrete. Subsequently, destructive shear tests were performed on scaled‐down and full‐scale girders under laboratory conditions. The experiments helped in the development of an accurate numerical model of the girder. The developed model was consequently used for the advanced stochastic analysis of structural response, followed by reliability‐based optimization, which was used to maximize the shear and bending capacities of the girder and minimize production cost under defined reliability constraints. The enormous computational requirements of the double‐loop optimization approach were significantly reduced by the utilization of an artificial neural network‐based surrogate model instead of the original nonlinear finite element model of the optimized structure.


The issue of disability-related misconduct arises frequently in both employment cases and lawyer-discipline cases. Employees who are discharged for misconduct often argue that their misconduct was causally connected to a disability. Similarly, lawyers facing sanctions for violating professional responsibility rules often claim that their misconduct was disability-related. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination because of disability, applies in both scenarios. Title I governs the employment context, and Title II covers public services, which include state disciplinary proceedings against lawyers.


Objective To detect the frequency and specificity of irregular antibodies in patients' serum,and ensure safety of blood transfusion.Methods Using micro-column gel Coombs method,irregular antibodies in 2 000 patients undergoing blood transfusion were detected,for those with a positive report a further assay was conducted for their property.Results Irregular positive antibodies were recorded in 25 cases out of the 2 000 specimens,in which,Rh was 12 cases;MNS,15;Duffy,three;Kidd,two;P,one;Lewis,one;and hybrid system,one.Conclusion The irregular antibodies are mainly of Rh system,a detection of irregular antibodies before transfusion is of considerable clinical significance.


In order to improve the stabili ty reliability safety of power-conditioning system of laser driver, we develop a set of testing and controlling system for experimental bed of the power-conditi oning system. The system use RS-232 serial communication designing program for several threads. To finish the abreast process and with the high capability of a nti-jamming. It can control the platform automatically perform data and process ing analyzing data. The report was seemed on screen, can also print it. The lase r facility may refer to the result of the system.


In the full linear theory of thermoelasticity there is a coupling between the thermal and the purely mechanical effects so that not only does a nonuniform distribution of temperature in the solid produce a state of stress but dynamical body forces or applied surface tractions produce variations in temperature throughout the body. In a recent paper (Eason and Sneddon, (2)) an account was given of the calculation of the dynamic stresses produced in elastic bodies, both infinite and semi-infinite, by uneven heating. In this paper we shall consider the propagation of thermal stresses in an infinite medium when, in addition to heat sources, there are present body forces which vary with the time.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Vitamin-D deficient pregnant women are more likely to have pregnancy complications like pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, diabetes, preterm birth, etc. Associated factors include ethnicity, skin coverall, use of sun protection, overweight, vitamin-D intake, and smoking. The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of Vitamin-D deficiency among pregnant women in a tertiary level hospital. Methods: This study descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital from September 15th 2020 to November 15th 2020 where the pregnant women visiting for an antenatal checkup in the first trimester were enrolled. Ethical clearance was taken from Institutional Review Committee (reference no. 1808202003). A convenience sampling method was used. All the data were entered in the Statistical Package of the Social Sciences version 20.0 and analyzed. Point estimate at 90% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and percentage for binary data. Results: Among a total of 47 cases, the vitamin-D deficiency was seen in 21 (44.6%) (32.67-56.52 at 90% Confidence Interval). Conclusions: The prevalence of vitamin-D deficiency was similar to other studies done in similar settings.


Fibreglass reinforced flexible pipe (FRFP) is regarded as a great alternative to many bonded flexible pipes in the field of oil or gas transportation in shallow water. This paper describes an analysis of the mechanical behavior of FRFP under torsion. The mechanical behavior of FRFP subjected to pure torsion was investigated by experimental, analytical and numerical methods. Firstly, this paper presents experimental studies of three 10-layer FRFP subjected to torsional load. Torque-torsion angle relations were recorded during this test. Then, a theoretical model based on three-dimensional (3D) anisotropic elasticity theory was proposed to study the mechanical behavior of FRFP. In addition, a finite element model (FEM) including reinforced layers and PE layers was used to simulate the torsional load condition in ABAQUS. Torque-torsion angle relations obtained from these three methods agree well with each other, which illustrates the accuracy and reliability of the analytical model and FEM. The impact of fibreglass winding angle, thickness of reinforced layers and radius-thickness ratio were also studied. Conclusions obtained from this research may be of great practicality to manufacturing engineers.


The publisher has advised that the volumes of Annals of Bryozoology are for public distribution and therefore available for deposit in this repository. For more information on the series follow the link above.


Piracy attacks off the Somali coast pose a threat to international maritime trade and to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). In addressing Somali piracy, the European Union (EU) is one of the leading actors. This chapter looks at the interests and initiatives taken by both the European Union and the shipping industry, how these relate to each other, and what can be done for both sides to strengthen their joint approach to deal with the piracy threat. It outlines what is at stake from a European strategic point of view and from a business point of view, thereby providing insights into the following topics: the EU's interests and initiatives; the interests and initiatives of the shipping industry; and the opportunities for cooperation between the EU and the industry. The chapter concludes with practical recommendations to both parties. Keywords: European Union (EU); international maritime trade; shipping industry; Somali piracy; UN World Food Programme (WFP)


This paper presents results from a study of pattern placement errors due to substrate charging in fixed spot direct write electron beam lithography. Experimental results indicate charging‐induced errors of over 0.5 μm can occur on a grounded Si substrate. Several theoretical models of the charge distribution are presented. Beam deflection due to the monopole field of the accumulated charge predominate over dipole fields in our system and electrons deposited in the Si substrate create negligible pattern placement errors. Finally, about half of the electrons initially trapped in the resist remain there many hours after exposure.


The Fruitland Mesa Project was authorized by the Congress in 1964 as a participating unit of the Colorado River Storage Project. A principal feature of the project is the Soap Park Dam to be located on Soap Creek in Gunnison County about thirteen miles north of Sapinero, Colorado.


Substance use disorders (SUDs) in youth are strongly associated with aggression, delinquency, and involvement with the juvenile justice and mental health systems. This article reviews the relationship between aggression and SUDs and discusses evidence-based approaches to assessment and intervention, with a focus on youth in secure settings. While evidence indicates etiological overlap, SUDs also confer risk for aggression and delinquent behavior. SUDs and aggression are each influenced by executive functions that develop as youth transition toward adult roles. Additionally, the effects of substance use on the adolescent brain impair neurocognitive function and increase the risk for aggression and further substance use. In terms of assessment, it is important to identify function and form of aggression in order to understand motives and associations with substance use and to select appropriate interventions. Evidence-based screening and assessment of aggression, substance involvement, and related domains is also critical. In terms of treatment, youth with SUDs tend to be underserved, particularly when they are also involved with the juvenile justice system. Multiple modes of evidence-based treatment for substance use are available. Approaches that address risk factors common to SUDs and aggression across multiple domains (e.g., family therapies) have been found to be most effective but may be difficult to adapt for use in secure settings. Individual therapy approaches also have empirical support and may generally be more practical in secure settings.


This work analyzes the economic feasibility of composting manure. The study looked beyond the field of literature data on a case study. The state of Santa Catarina stands out for volume production of pigs, being the first in the nation in pork production. Aiming to achieve the desired sustainability in the pig industry, it is necessary to develop alternatives that enable the system, both in terms of financial, economic and environmental. The treatment system of pig manure by composting process has the challenge to transform them from environmental liabilities in financial assets, environmental and even leave them in a position to generate income or still in use without environmental burden on the property itself. We present a case study of a composting project for a production unit piglet (UPL) with 950 pigs which rose the necessary investments, maintenance costs and production and also the prediction result which allowed the calculating the economic return on investment. Finally, it is concluded that composting of pig manure proves economically viable addition to the environmental benefits related to water resources, soil and atmosphere.


Text categorization (TC) is a problem of assigning a document into predefined classes. One of the most important issues in TC is feature selection. In this paper, we propose a new approach in feature selection called Strong Class Information Words (SCIW). Different from many existing feature selection methods, our method takes many kinds of information into account. Moreover, the method can easily use some implicit regularities of natural language. Our extensive experiments resulted in a good performance on precision by a linear classifier using SCIW feature selection method. The most attractive aspect of the classifier as a combining part in the categorization system is shown in our experiments and the combining system outperforms performances in comparison with conventional classifiers.


International organizations do not live forever. Recent empirical studies show that around 39% of international organizations created since 1815 have formally died. Yet we know, in fact, little about their decline and death. This is surprising as it is well-known that different forms of governance -- city-states, great powers, public agencies, alliances and others -- have a life-cycle. Building on recent empirical studies, this paper provides a conceptual and theoretical perspective on the decline and death of international organizations. It embeds debate on decline and death in the broader academic literature on the life-cycle of different governance arrangements. Building on research about the design and development of international organizations, it outlines an institutional theory on the decline and death. An institutional theory helps us to understand why, subject to similar external pressures, some international organizations decline and die where others survive.


During the distribution of rural collective resources and income, both village cadres and villagers seek to maximize their own interests. When village cadres try to get more benefits by making use of administrative resources, villagers will confront against the seizure of village cadres. With rising confrontation cost, limited channels of appeal and little or no support from superior authorities, the interests of villagers are vulnerable and villagers tend to protect their own interests by convening a villagers' assembly to decide on a distribution plan.


Two large-scale interaction regions between the fast solar wind emanating from coronal holes and the slow solar wind coming from streamer belt are usually distinguished. When the fast stream pushes up against the slow solar wind ahead of it, a compressed interaction region that co-rotates with the Sun (CIR) is created. It was already shown that the relative abundance of alpha particles, which usually serve as one of solar wind source identifiers can change within this region. By symmetry, when the fast stream outruns the slow stream, a corotating rarefaction region (CRR) is formed. CRRs are characterized by a monotonic decrease of the solar wind speed, and they are associated with the regions of small longitudinal extent on the Sun. In our study, we use near-Earth measurements complemented by observations at different heliocentric distances, and focus on the behavior of alpha particles in the CRRs because we found that the large variations of the relative helium abundance (AHe) can also be observed there. Unlike in the CIRs, these variations are usually not connected with the solar wind speed and alpha-proton relative drift changes. We thus apply a superposed-epoch analysis of identified CRRs with a motivation to determine the global profile of alpha particle parameters through these regions. Next, we concentrate on the cases with largest AHe variations and investigate whether they can be associated with the changes of the solar wind source region or whether there is a relation between the AHe variations and the non-thermal features in the proton velocity distribution functions like the temperature anisotropy and/or presence of the proton beam.


Letter from Alfred Hurley to Gibson Lewis, on May 7, 1987, speaking about their trip to North Carolina, and the ways in which the Texas Academy for Mathematics and Science will differ from the North Carolina model.


with sex and cultural setting. I found this study interesting for its theoretical approach and for its metllodology. The results are sometimes fuzzy but they can provide the basis for more focused investigations. Fend's chapter explores the interaction between the development of ego-strength and the pattern of relationships in which adolescents engage. The results presented are based on the Constance Longitudinal study of adolescents aged 12 to 16. The importance of this study is its emphasis on intra-individual change in ego-strength and relationships in adolescence. The results showed that 'objective' life events have only a weak relationship to a decline in egostregth, with subjective interpretations of the events being more important than their actual occurrence. Contrary to the general and widely held assumption that peers are of overriding importance for the personal well-being of adolescents, Fend found that the quality of the parent-child relationship was even more important. The chapter by Silbereisen and Noack presents some of the results emerging from data collected in another longitudinal study, this time in Berlin. Their main concern is on variations in perceptions of the relationship between present state and future state as young people progress through adolescence. Development and patterns of change are seen as resulting from the individual's own initiative and effort. Adolescents were asked to judge their 'present state of development' and 'future time perspectives' with regard to the same development. The areas under scrutiny were peer integration, occupational preparation and intimate relationships. The interaction between the present and future aspirations; and the self-esteem of the subjects were investigated. The results are sometimes as expected but more often baffling. Pernaps the measures used such as the self-esteem need some further thought or it may be that other intervening variables which were not part of the investigation are clouding the picture. The central thesis of Chapter 8 by Youniss and Smollar is that concepts of persons including that of the self are constructed within the context of personal relationships that structure the kind of interactions taking place within them and thus bias experiences of the self and others. The goal of this paper is to illustrate developmental advances pertaining to relationships and how these advances are reflected in the self-concept of children and adolescents. According to the authors and the studes they present, two distinct conceptions of self-development: one during childhood and one during adolescence. The first one is founded on the relationship with parents while the second one is based on the relationships with friends. The relationship with parents provides children with restricted views of themselves because the structure of the relationship is based on the 'unilateral authority' inherent in it. In friendship the child learns that others are fallible and vulnerable, the interactions within this kind of relationship take the form of 'symmetrical reciprocity' in which each friend is able to show the same initiative as the other. Coping is not seen so much as a cognitive process but rather as an interpersonal one. I found this paper interesting because it brings to light the importance of friendship in the development of the selfconcept, however, I also found it too discursive. Chandler and Ball's paper is concerned with the strategies used by young persons to regard themselves as enduring entities in spite of all the changes they are going through during adolescence. Their approach to self-concept development is based upon Piagetian ideas of cognitive development. They propose a typology of five distinct levels at which the indvidual can approach the problem of continuity and change in personal identity. This typology is unidirectional going from level 1, the least developed, to level 5, the most fully developed. It is implied that these levels reflect increasing intellectual maturation, however I found no clear explanation or description of how the child/ adolescent moves from one level to another. The authors argue that the inability to maintain an enduring sense of selfhood can be fatal. To illustrate this point, evidence is introduced of adolescents with serious psychological disorders, some of them suicidal, who experienced difficulties in viewing their identities as continuous. I wonder whether the authors' argument that this inability causes the psychological problems is justified the study per se does not. It could well be that the psychological problems caused the inability rather than the other way around. The chapters by Rodriguez-Tome' and Bariaud and the one by Tyszkowa examine the relationship between feararousing situations in adolescents and their reactions to them. Tyszkowa's study focuses specifically on coping with difficult situations at school. The strength of Tyszkowa's study is that it takes into consideration the importance of individual characteristics such as temperament and IQ in the way adolescents perceive situations as being hfficult and in their styles in coping with them. This book is exciting and thought provoking. It will serve as inspiration and will be a source of ideas for researchers interested in adolescence for many years to come.


was searching for an impact message about diabetes education for the aide who helps set the health care agenda for my Senator. &dquo;I know your organization,&dquo; the aide said. &dquo;Your people were here last week making rounds with a 5-year-old boy with diabetes. You know, he did the neatest thing. In the middle of our meeting, he took his machine out of his backpack ... and right here while we were talking... he tested his sugar. Isn't that incredible? A little 5-year-old using a machine like that to check his blood sugar ... any time, any place.&dquo; Beaming, I knew I had found my impact message. &dquo;We're the people who taught that little gcry lzow to use tlrat machine ... any time ... any place. We're the American Association of Diabetes Educators. By helping people learn to control their diabetes and by keeping them functioning well today ... we may be helping to prevent or slow down the onset of chronic complications of diabetes ... like heart dis-


Medical schools and postgraduate residency programs have largely included intimate partner violence (IPV) in their curricula. There is presently disagreement on the optimal model for implementing such training and the amount of time to be devoted to IPV. There is considerable overlap in the general content and teaching methods that focus on enhancing medical knowledge, professional attitudes, and clinical skills for asking about and responding to patient reports of IPV. Curricular evaluations have generally supported the idea that training increases knowledge, attitudes, and skills. However, a number of methodological issues preclude firm conclusions. There is a need for more randomized, controlled studies, better quasi-experimental designs, posttraining follow-up intervals, and demonstrations of actual clinical behavioral competency. Despite the latter concerns, however, the future shows promise that the next generation of physicians will understand and accept IPV and its health effects on their patients as constituting an important health issue that they will comfortably address.


Abstract:  Offshore structures have a finite design life and many are approaching that limit. The expected life cannot be extended without some justification, such as the inclusion of a structural monitoring system. This project is aimed at using long‐range propagation of acoustic signals through a structure to detect changes induced by damage, cracking or flooding of hollow members. It is based on the idea that, if a change occurs within the structure, this will induce changes in acoustic signals transmitted between two points on it. These changes will only occur after a certain time in the history of the signal, and this time corresponds to the minimum travel time from the transmission point to the reception point via the point of damage. A scale model in polycarbonate has been used to demonstrate that using acoustic waves to interrogate a multi‐connected structure can successfully locate damage. This has been done with sensors all at the top (reflection mode) and with transmitters at the top and receivers at the bottom (tomographic mode). The method is effective when we use very small numbers of source and sensor positions in proportion to the number of structural members being monitored for damage. The reflection geometry is much more practical from the point of view of application to offshore structures because all transducers and wiring can be located above the splash zone.


PURPOSE: A microphone array method, and a speech recognition method and system using the microphone array method are provided to reduce the number of frequency bins to decrease the quantity of calculations of MUSIC algorithm. CONSTITUTION: A microphone array system includes an input unit(101) using a plurality of microphones for receiving sound signals, a frequency divider for dividing each sound signal input to the input unit into narrow-band signals, and an average spatial covariance matrix estimator(104) for obtaining spatial covariance matrices for sub-arrays and obtaining an average of the spatial covariance matrices. The microphone array system further includes a signal position decision unit for deciding an incident angle of each sound signal through the average covariance matrix, a signal distortion corrector for obtaining a weight to be multiplied by the frequency component of each sound signal based on the incident angle and multiplying the frequency component by the weight, and a signal reproducing unit for reproducing sound signals using the corrected frequency components.