To solve wave propagation problems over large domains composed by different media, many authors use the generalized finite element method (GFEM) with a geometrically conforming partition and plane wave enrichment.Such analysis is often accomplished by decomposing the entire domain into several subdomains and performing the analysis individually on each one. Then, the global analysis can be realized by using Lagrange multipliers to ensure the interface constraints. In this article, the GFEM with plane wave enrichment is extended to nonconforming discrete cases where the interface between the media can be handled as piecewise linear segments. Results for problems for which the analytical solution is known are presented to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed technique. The convergence of the method is also presented as a function of the number of plane wave directions. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 54:2709–2716, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27166


This project is using a recognition method to determine the plate number of the rear part of the car, whenever the car approaches the gate entrance. A camera is used to capture the image of the rear part of the car. For the gate to allow access to the vehicle, the plate number must be registered and kept within the database. Once verified, the admin or security guard will open the gate by pressing a button on an app to let the car pass the gate with ease without needing a special card to open the gate. The project objectives are to develop a car license plate system that detects the car plate number using a recognition detection method, to develop a parking app for parking payment fees, and lastly, to control the gate access using Bluetooth technology. The system methodology used by the developer is a rapid application development (RAD) model. In conclusion, the implementation of this project will make it a lot easier for the user to enter parking lots at the condominium. This system will decrease the hassle of the current system.


An orally disintegrable tablet which comprises (i) fine granules having an average particle diameter of 400 microns or less, which fine granules comprise a composition coated by an enteric coating layer, said composition having 10 weight% or more of a compound benzimidazole or a salt thereof and (ii) an additive comprising a water soluble sugar alcohol, wherein the enteric coating layer comprises an aqueous enteric polymer agent and delayed release.


The rise in the number of vehicles has led to a rapid increasing need for vehicle communication today, so the emerging Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) is becoming more and more important. Routing in VANET is a key issue which decides network performance. Ad Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) is one of the widely used reactive routing algorithms that suffer from high delay. In this paper, a modified AODV (M-AODV) routing protocol is proposed to reduce the end-to-end delay. OMNeT++ simulator has been used to compare performances of AODV and M-AODV using IEEE 802.11p and IEEE 802.11g as MAC protocols with varying number of vehicles and vehicle speed in city and highway scenarios. The results show that the M-AODV has better performance than AODV in terms of end-to-end delay and average throughput.


Different machine learning models for an electrostatic flow meter were introduced in this paper to establish non-linear relationship among multiple variables based on experimental results. These models are evaluated and the results are discussed.


The dam safety management in Australia is at an advanced level in the world.This paper mainly introduces the dam safety management system and the regulation and guideline system in Australia.Two cases on New South Wales and Western Australia are given to show the dam safety management work in states with dam safety acts and states without dam safety acts,respectively.In addition,the development of dam risk evaluation and management and its applications in Australia is presented.The practice in Australian proves that the technology of dam risk evaluation and management has enhanced the traditional standards-based dam safety evaluation system and played an important role in dam safety management.


The article analyzes the anthropogenic load on landscapes on the land use types of the Amur region from the mining industry, agriculture, communication structures, residential, and other factors. Decrease in landscape diversity, including the depletion and degradation of modern landscapes, reducing their productivity, deterioration of quality of land resources leads to a deformation of the ecological-economic balance of the territory, reducing the stability of landscape structures. Given the assessment of the stability of landscapes, depending on the environmental situation detection of anthropogenic factors and the nature of the influence of anthropogenic impact on the performance of their environmental objectives landscapes conducted ecological and territorial analysis of the Amur Region. The importance of assessing the extent and direction of transformation of anthropogenic load is necessary for the future prospects of socio-economic development in the Amur region.


Summary The excavation of ten Trajanic kilns, all of the up-draught type, was carried out in the spring of 1968 on a site now part of the Derby Racecourse Playing Fields (SK 36133775) which are situated some 700 yards east of Little Chester along the Roman road running to the Trent at Sawley. The kilns ranged in size from 18 to 51 inches in diameter (0.46 m. to 1.30 m.) and were disposed as follows: a group of six kilns, a group of three kilns, and a single kiln. A great variety of pottery was recovered with jars, flanged bowls, and carinated vessels predominating. Two unusual products from this site were lead glazed ware and an early form of Derbyshire ware.


The warrantless entry power proposed for Article 23 offences lacks legitimacy in Hong Kong's civil society. The proposed new power is assessed against three constitutional principles of legitimacy applicable in the context of police entry, search and seizure. The new warrantless power is presumptively objectionable, and as such, the government carries a heavy burden to show that the power is necessary and has sufficient safeguards to avoid a disproportionable impact on the fundamental right to privacy.


Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis has been produced in rhesus monkeys by injection of their own brain tissue, removed surgically and incorporated with adjuvants.


1 The effects of diprafenone and propafenone on transmembrane action potential were examined and compared in papillary muscles and single ventricular myocytes isolated from guinea‐pig hearts. 2 In papillary muscles, both diprafenone and propafenone ≥ 10−6 m caused a significant and dose‐dependent decrease in the maximum upstroke velocity () of the action potential. 3 In the presence of either drug, trains of stimuli at rates ≥ 0.1 Hz led to an exponential decline in . A time constant (τR) for recovery from the use‐dependent block was 15.5 s for diprafenone and 8.8 s for propafenone. 4 The use‐dependent block of with diprafenone was enhanced when the resting potential was depolarized by high (8, 10 mm) [K+]o, whereas that with propafenone was virtually unchanged. τR with diprafenone was shortened by the depolarization, while that with propafenone was rather prolonged. 5 In single myocytes perfused with diprafenone or propafenone, 10 ms conditioning clamp to 0 mV caused a significant decrease in of subsequent action potential. A prolongation of the clamp pulse duration resulted in a modest enhancement of the inhibition with diprafenone, while a large enhancement of the inhibition occurred with propafenone. 6 These findings suggest that diprafenone, like propafenone, may block the sodium channel during both the activated and inactivated states. The relative contribution of inactivation block is less important for diprafenone than for propafenone. The different voltage‐dependence of use‐dependent block with diprafenone from propafenone would contribute to its high antiarrhythmic potency.


In the last decades the Eurocodes have been developed in order to harmonize the technical rules for the structural design in Europe. Since the beginning in 1975 the aim was the elimination of technical obstacles in trades throughout Europe. Today most of the Eurocodes are published. The ECs are no rigid technical rules; they keep room for national differences. The National Annex which is valid in conjunction with the relevant Eurocode contains information on those parameters which are left open for national choice. Due to the fact that the Eurocodes are still not mandatory in Europe and not even used by some of the European Countries, it is necessary to make the engineers sensitive to the Eurocodes and to train the use. The European Union launched in 1995 the Leonardo Da Vinci Programme with the objective of improving the provision of vocational education and training across Europe. The paper will describe the current Leonardo Project named "Eur-Ing" and show some results.


A biased randomized algorithm has been developed to enable the rapid computational solution of a propositional- satisfiability (SAT) problem equivalent to a diagnosis problem. The closest competing methods of automated diagnosis are described in the preceding article "Fast Algorithms for Model-Based Diagnosis" and "Two Methods of Efficient Solution of the Hitting-Set Problem" (NPO-30584), which appears elsewhere in this issue. It is necessary to recapitulate some of the information from the cited articles as a prerequisite to a description of the present method. As used here, "diagnosis" signifies, more precisely, a type of model-based diagnosis in which one explores any logical inconsistencies between the observed and expected behaviors of an engineering system. The function of each component and the interconnections among all the components of the engineering system are represented as a logical system. Hence, the expected behavior of the engineering system is represented as a set of logical consequences. Faulty components lead to inconsistency between the observed and expected behaviors of the system, represented by logical inconsistencies. Diagnosis - the task of finding the faulty components - reduces to finding the components, the abnormalities of which could explain all the logical inconsistencies. One seeks a minimal set of faulty components (denoted a minimal diagnosis), because the trivial solution, in which all components are deemed to be faulty, always explains all inconsistencies. In the methods of the cited articles, the minimal-diagnosis problem is treated as equivalent to a minimal-hitting-set problem, which is translated from a combinatorial to a computational problem by mapping it onto the Boolean-satisfiability and integer-programming problems. The integer-programming approach taken in one of the prior methods is complete (in the sense that it is guaranteed to find a solution if one exists) and slow and yields a lower bound on the size of the minimal diagnosis. In contrast, the present approach is incomplete and fast and yields an upper bound on the size of the minimal diagnosis.


The toxicities of single and binary mixtures made of 1∶1,1∶4,4∶1 toxic unit of parathion and dipterex to Vibrio fischeri were determined,respectively.And the joint toxicity was evaluated.The results indicated that the joint action of binary mixture obtained by the method of toxicity unit (TU),additive index(AI),similarity parameter(λ) was antagonistic action,whereas that evaluated by mixture toxicity index(MTI) was slightly different.


In the altitude region between 350 and 550 km, variations in the ion temperature principally reflect similar variations in the local frictional heating produced by a velocity difference between the ions and the neutrals. Here we show the distribution of the ion temperature in this altitude region and discuss its attributes in relation to previous work on local Joule heating rates. In addition to the ion temperature, instrumentation on the DE 2 satellite also provides a measure of the ion velocity vector representative of the total electric field. From this information we derive the local Joule heating rate. From an estimate of the height-integrated Pedersen conductivity it is also possible to estimate the global (height-integrated) Joule heating rate. Here we describe the differences and relationships between these various parameters.


Among physical methods for the presowing treatment of seeds electromagnetic irradiation deserves special attention. The frequencies of the cell membrane vibrations of biological objects lie in the mm-wave range. Mm-waves are known to be immanent to any living organism. The mm-wave irradiation of bioobjects initiates resonant phenomena in living cells and has an overall positive impact on biological organisms. The effect of electromagnetic fields on the germination of dill seeds is discussed. An optimal dose for the seed irradiation has been derived.


-Classroom management aims to create an atmosphere of learning that is effective and fun and can motivate students to learn well according to ability. The purpose of this study was to analyze and describe: planning of learning, organizing the physical environment of the class, implementing the social environment, and evaluating problems in classroom management in early childhood education in inclusion in one selected school in Lampung Province, Indonesia. The method used in this research was qualitative with a case study design. Data collection techniques used were in-depth interviews, participant observation and study of documents. The results showed that (1) learning planning was arranged every of new school year, referring to the national education curriculum with modification. (2) organizing the physical environment of the classroom was through the arrangement learning support objects in the classroom, such as seating, air circulation, lighting, learning media, blackboards, cabinets, wall hangings, etc. (3) actuating social environment was focused on activities that provide direction for students to actively learn and focus on the application of the learning process. (4) controlling problems in classroom management took steps to determine what should be done, how to control it, and if necessary make improvements.


The aim of this paper is to analyze the key areas of Positive Organizational Potential in Frauenthal Automotive Torun (FTO) Company (former Pol-Necks). Positive Organizational Potential is the construct combining the assumptions of Positive Organizational Scholarship and Resource Based View. Positive Organizational Potential is the combination of tangible and intangible resources creating Positive Organizational Culture and Positive Organizational Climate, fostering positive employee behaviors and thus contributing to organizational development. The study is an element of the research project on strategic management of the Positive Organizational Potential key areas in companies operating in Poland. The following key areas of Positive Organizational Potential are explored and analyzed: corporate governance, leadership, the competencies and attitudes of middle managers, talent management, internal communication, interpersonal relationships, trust, organizational citizenship behaviors and corporate social responsibility.


The increasing global prevalence of overweight all over the world is not an optimistic fact, for the first time in the history of mankind the overweight's outnumber the underweight's (1000 million vs800 million)according to the studies carried out by BM Popk in the last decade [1]. This difference is probably greater today due to the presence of the dual forms of malnutrition in the same household in countries with lower incomes [2]. Besides the predicted obesity prevalence is not encouraging because it will continue to rise up to the decade of 2020 and so will the important and common co morbidities [3].


A phenylalanine (F) to cysteine (C) substitution at position 1534 within the third domain of the NaV is associated with resistance to type I pyrethroid, permethrin, among populations of Aedes aegypti. Mosquito eggs were collected from three dengue high risk MOH areas in the Colombo district. Samples were reared to adulthood and resistance status against permethrin was determined by standard WHO susceptibility bioassays. Permethrin-resistant insects were genotyped for the F1534C mutation. All the PCR products were separated on 3.5% agarose gel and visualized by UV trans-illumination. Overall susceptibility was 58.3%, with mortality rates varying widely from 12.0% to 61.0%. Samples obtained from all three sampling sites showed high degrees of incipient resistance (<80% mortality). There was no mortality among control mosquitoes. Amplicons of approximately 90 and 110 bp correspond to alleles 1534 Phe and 1534 Cys, were obtained from all the resistant genotypes. The mutant C allele frequency varied between 0.847 and 0.543. The 1534C mutation was significantly and positively associated with permethrin resistance.


The rearrangement reaction of 2-benzothiazolylthioacetyl hydrazide 1 with potassium hydroxide and carbon disulfide in ethanol to produce s-triazolo[3,4-b]benzothiazole-3-thiol 3 was described.3 also can be obtained from 2-benzothiazolylhydazine 2 and the two methods for getting 3 were compared.Mannich reaction of compounds 3 was reported too.


The invention discloses a polypropylene composite material capable of being welded at a high frequency and a preparation method thereof. The polypropylene composite material capable of being welded at the high frequency comprises the following components in part by mass: 100 parts of polypropylene, 25 to 100 parts of main modifier, 3 to 10 parts of compatilizer, 0 to 50 parts of filling agent, 0.5 to 1.0 part of lubricant and 0.2 to 0.6 part of antioxidant. PA or EVA with excellent thermal stability and high-frequency welding performance serves as a high-frequency welding modifier of polypropylene to perform blending modification on polypropylene, so that the composite material has good high-frequency welding performance.


In this study, cherry tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum var. Cerasiforme) were dried with two differentmethods (tray dryer (TD) and microwave (MW)) using different temperatures (60, 70 and 80 °C)-MWpowers (140, 210 and 280 W). The effects of drying parameters on some drying characteristics of cherrytomatoes were investigated. Thirteen mathematical models available in the literature were fitted to theexperimental moisture ratio data and the coefficients of the models were determined by non-linearregression analysis. It was observed that drying in microwave oven has reduced the drying time by38%. The effective moisture diffusivities increased with increasing temperature and MW power. Thebest fit models were found as Logarithmic, Wang&Sing and Midilli. The activation energy values werefound as 25.00 ve 15.3 W/g for samples dried with TD and MW, respectively. The closest color valuesto wet sample were detected at 60 °C for TD, but there were no differences between MW powers. Colorvalues of MW samples were found be better than TD samples. Maximum rehydration rate was detectedat 60 °C for TD and 210 W for MW


SOR-C13, a 13-mer peptide derived from soricidin, the paralytic protein component of saliva of the Northern Short-tailed shrew, just completed an open-label, all comers phase I clinical trial for the treatment of epithelial-derived cancers. SOR-C13 is a first-in-class drug candidate that specifically targets and inhibits the TRPV6 calcium channel - a recognized oncochannel over-expressed in a number of epithelial cancers (e.g. breast, ovarian, prostate). TRPV6 over-expression is associated with a poor prognosis particularly with breast and prostate cancers. SOR-C13 is the first TRPV6-targeting drug to enter clinical development. Pancreatic patients were enrolled in the phase I clinical trial for SOR-C13 and for this reason the TRPV6 gene expression in pancreatic tumour biopsies was assessed. Association of TRPV6 oncochannel expression with aggressive pancreatic adenocarcinoma compared to neuroendocrine tumours has never been investigated. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma represents 90% of the pancreatic tumours and is associated with a poor prognosis compared to neuroendocrine tumours. TRPV6 gene expression was assessed in 19 pancreatic tumor biopsies including five adenocarcinoma (Grade I to III), one acinar cell (exocrine), and 13 neuroendocrine (Islet cell) tumors by two-step RT-qPCR. TRPV6 and β-actin (reference gene) mRNA expression was evaluated in duplicate in a reproducible TRPV6 plus β-actin duplex two-step RT-qPCR assay. The acinar cell, and 69% (9/13) of the neuroendocrine tumors had no detectable TRPV6 mRNA expression with >90% of neuroendocrine tumors (12/13) having very little TRPV6 mRNA expression ( Citation Format: Tyler Lutes, Dominique Dugourd, Michelle Davey, Christopher Rice, Stephanie St-Pierre, Jack M. Stewart. High prevalence of elevated TRPV6 mRNA in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-128.


In this paper, it is shown, using a geometrical approach, the isotropy of the velocity of light measured in a rotating frame in the Minkowski space-time, and it is verified that this result is compatible with the Sagnac effect. Furthermore, we find that this problem can be reduced to the solution of geodesic triangles in a Minkowskian cylinder. A relationship between the problems established on the cylinder and on the Minkowskian plane is obtained through a local isometry.


: A study on intestinal parasitism was conducted among 401 children admitted in the Pediatric Teaching Hospital of Cerro, from May to June, 1999. To this end, a representative, randomized and stratified sample by service was taken. 3 samples of feces per child were collected, preserved in formaldehyde, and processed by 3 parasitological methods. There was an intestinal parasitism prevalence of 15% at the hospital and there were no differences between the stratum of children admitted in Gastroenterology and the rest of the services as regards commensals and parasites in general (p > 0.05); however, commensals predominated in the second group (p 1). A higher frequency of infection due to intestinal parasites was found among those living in rural areas, drinking well or river water, and defecating in latrines or in the open air (RR > 1). These results suggested that in spite of the existing knowledge of the epidemiological and risk factors, the intestinal parasites continue affecting the child population


PURPOSE: To provide a combined pharmaceutical prepn. from flupiritine and morphine having the characteristics to strongly act on analgesia and obviates the occurrence of morphine-like dependence and resistance. CONSTITUTION: This combined pharmaceutical prepn. consisting of the flupiritine and morphine for treating the pain and avoiding the dependence on the morphine consists of the flupiritine at a ratio of 10 to 1000 mg with respect to the base of the flupiritine, its pharmaceutically permissible salts and the morphine at a ratio of 5 to 500 mg with respect to the salt of the morphine or its pharmaceutically permissible salts. COPYRIGHT: (C)1994,JPO


The present study had the objective of reducing excessive anxiety in college students during oral presentations in the classroom. It is known that excessive anxiety causes great discomfort and has negative consequences on academic performance and that it might lead to school evasion. Five female university students, 20 to 40 years old, from various courses, participated in the research. The level of anxiety of each participant was evaluated through three measures: (a) Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE); State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI); and (c) Measure of Hearth Beat Frequency in structured settings. Experimental control was achieved using a Multiple Baseline Between Subjects Design. The intervention included various procedures: Lectures and readings of academic texts, relaxation training, breathing exercises, cognitive restructuring, training in social skills with emphasis in skills for public presentations and social approval of adherence to the therapist's recommendations. The procedures helped to reduce all scores in the measures of anxiety used, except the physiological measure of Hearth Beat Frequency that showed little change. The participant's verbal reports were taken regularly throughout the study and indicated that the therapy helped them to achieve important improvement in the quality of academic and social life.


Dérive en Mille Sons (Drifting in a Thousand Sounds) is a musical work that uses mobile media technology to artistically examine the relationship between music and the listener. Contemporary media technologies, be they at work, home or in your pocket, emphasize playback. These devices are designed to facilitate the storage and retrieval of pre-made media assets. This work leverages the processing capabilities that rest dormant within these technologies. Drawing from the writings of Guy Debord and the situationist/surrealist practice of the dérive, 'drifting' becomes a metaphor for instrumental performance in which the openness and emergence of interactivity is articulated through sound, as music.


This paper mainly introduced a virtual image phased array (VIPA)-based Brillouin spectroscopy technology, analysed VIPA in principle, deduced the Brillouin shift calculation equations, analysed the output spectral characteristics of VIPA through simulation, and proposed the most effective way to avoid interference cancellation in the spectrum. We built a single-stage VIPA spontaneous Brillouin backscattering system, and made multiple measurements on water, ethanol and glycerol, and the measurement results are consistent with the theoretical values reported in other literature. Finally, it is compared with another method mentioned in the literature, and the results show that the method in this paper has higher accuracy.


Dr. L. R. Sullivan of the American Museum of Natural History, and Dr. H. G. Chappel, examined historic and prehistoric Hawaiian skulls and found nearly all of them above forty years of age to show gingival caries of the teeth, even those buried before 1778 and hence before contact with the whites. The principal food of the Hawaiians is poi made of taro root. The calorific value of dried poi is 4.17 kilogram calories per gram and hence about the same as starch. Dried poi contained 0.12 per cent phosphorus and 0.1 per cent calcium, and dried peeled taro root 0.12 per cent phosphorus and 0.06 per cent calcium. The difference in the calcium content may have been due to a different variety or sample of the root, or the fact that calcium of the water used in making the poi increased its value. The calcium and phosphorus values are low and comparable to the values for white flour and, like white flour, should be typical rachitic diets, unless containing a fair amount of antirachitic vitamine. White rats were fed a white flour diet containing 10 per cent casein and 1 per cent yeast, but two of these were fed one gram each of raw taro root per day. The taro root showed no antirachitic effect. On some days, however, not all of the taro root was eaten. In another experiment, one rat was fed one gram of boiled taro root per day which showed no antirachitic or anti-osteoporotic effect. Two controls were used. If any very large amounts of vitamine were present it should have been detected. It is therefore probable that the diet of the Hawaiians was no more antirachitic than that of ours in that poi is comparable to white bread.


To the problem of decision making for the planning and construction of warehouse area, based on Auto CAD a digitized decision-making system is developed. The modular design method is utilized to build the system function model. With the interface program between the system management module and the SQL database, the functional models are connected with the database dynamically, then the user is guide to accomplish the analysis and estimates and the calculation of construction costs for various types of facilities planning and layout in warehouse area. The system interface established with DCL is easy to use and accords with industry habits. The system can be extended to form a complete and standard digitized decision-making CAD system and improve the scientific rationality of the planning decisions for warehouse area.


Rhodium (Rh) is present at the Earth's surface at ultra-trace concentrations (0.06 ng g); however, its use in catalytic converters has increased its deposition nearby traffic pressure and therefore the interest in analytical techniques for Rh determination has increased in the recent years. In this study we propose an improvement of Rh measurement by adsorptive voltammetry applying second-derivative signal transformation. The optimization of experimental parameters affecting the voltammetric analysis were carried out using sediment samples; these include the amount of sample digest used, the hydrochloric and formaldehyde concentrations, equilibration time and deposition potential. The use of the second derivative transformation provides well-defined peaks due to the minimization of background interferences, and leads to a significant decrease in the detection limits. Accordingly, a detection limit of 23 fM Rh in the cell was obtained, which corresponds to 1.6 pg g of Rh for 200 mg of sediments. The optimized methodology was applied to the analysis of Rh in a sediment core collected close to a motorway bridge from Tagus Estuary (Lisbon, Portugal). Here, Rh concentrations ranged from 0.06 to 0.47 ng g, showing a surface Rh-enrichment linked to traffic, which is consistent Improvement of ultra-trace voltammetric determination of Rh in environmental samples by signal transform. 66 with a Pt superficial peak. Reference materials have been also analyzed, including road dust (BCR-723) and river sediment (JSd-2), and values obtained are in agreement with certified concentrations and previously values reported in the literature.


This paper describes program OSA, intended for the modelling and process control of automatic shaping and aspherization of axisymmetric optical surfaces by means of a polishing method. The program makes it possible to calculate the regions where the tool contacts the workpiece and to determine the speeds and pressures, the removal functions of the tool, and the optimum surface-processing sequence for removing a given layer of the allowance. Results are given for the modelling of the processing of a convex spherical workpiece with a full-size solid tool, a small tool, an annular tool, and a mask tool, and it is shown to be efficient to control the shaping processes by means of the OSA program that has been developed.


Considering that the existing interpolation parameters estimator for linear frequency modulation(LFM) signals based on fractional Fourier transform(ErFT) declines in performance,and it is not solid for LFM signals with different parameters, a modified interpolation parameters estimator is investigated.Firstly,the causes of performance reduction in the existing algorithm are analyzed,then we define the discrete frequency in fractional Fourier domain.We find that the existing interpolation parameters estimator will make up a reversed compensation when the initial frequency of LFM signal is near to the discrete frequencies under the condition of low signal to noise ration(SNR).The estimator performance will reduce quickly because of reversed compensation.The modified interpolation estimator employs a new method to determine the sign of compensation to improve the immunity to noise,then in an effort to make performance better,we shift the initial frequency of LFM signal to avoid nearing to discrete frequencies.At last,the simulation results indicate that the modified interpolation estimator do well in parameters estimation and is steady for different LFM signals.


Characterization of chickpea cultivars (Cicer arietinum L.) in Cuba. The chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) constitute a legume widely appreciated by the Cuban population. In the last ten years efforts have been made to introduce it in agricultural production by adapted cultivars according to the condition of Cuban soil and climate; obtaining good results. Nevertheless, the actual genetic bases its not very bread and it is necessary to continue evaluating new varieties as to answer to biotic and abiotic limitation of the crop. A trial has been conducted to evaluate the behavior of 19 varieties and lines under the Cuban conditions. Nine variables have been described which allow, from the agronomic point of view, to characterize the varieties. The variables studied were: plant height, number of primary


Since renewable energy is well known as a clean source of power, the incentive for providers and customers to join the renewable energy boom is coming in different ways. Under the forcing policy, the wind generation will be guaranteed to be purchased in the wholesale market if wind generators bid at their marginal price. However, a forcing policy may lead to infeasibility if wind spillage is not allowed. The numerical results in this paper show that integrating more wind generation may lead to market inefficiency or more greenhouse gas emissions, e.g. CO2. To test this hypothesis a deterministic unit commitment was solved by AMPL by modeling power markets and calculating operating costs. With the consideration of the start-up costs and ramping emissions, the cost of emissions is compensated by the generators.


This paper enlightens the control and modeling of modular multilevel converter (MMC) with LCL filter. The P-Resonant (P-Res) controller with current control approach is analyzed. The main objective in this approach is to improve the effect of the resonance peak of LCL filter. The P- Res controller is intended with an analytical methodology for better frequency response and reduced harmonic content. The unregulated supply from renewable energy source is also controlled by DC link controller for the proper functioning of the system. The system is simulated using MatLab and the results are presented. The effectiveness of the controller is verified experimentally.


Recently, uncertain data objects is used in various applications such as VANET environment, sensors applications, image processing based system etc. Clustering of uncertain data is a major concept in data mining since more and more applications, such as sensor database, location database, biometric information systems, and produce vague and imprecise data. Clustering of uncertain data objects is a challenge in spatial data bases. Clustering is a process of organizing objects into groups whose members are similar in some way. There are lots of approaches used to classify the uncertain data by hard classifiers; few of them address the classification of the uncertain data by soft classifier. This paper describes the clustering of uncertain dataset .clustering of object is done by using indexing technique. Probability Density Functions (PDF) is used to represent uncertain data objects. K-Means algorithm is used to generate the clusters. Voronoi diagram is an important technique for answering nearest-neighbor queries for spatial databases. To improve the performance of k-Means, this algorithm is combined with Voronoi diagram.In this paper, we study how the Voronoi diagram can be used on uncertain data, which are inherent in scientific and business applications. Then we conclude our clustering approach.


M OST of the major and many of the smaller universities of the country have developed a system of library service based upon college or departmental libraries, and these gradually have come to provide an ever larger proportion of the total services of the university library. In spite of certain disadvantages of the system, it seems unlikely that this pattern of service will soon be changed. However, the typical departmental library system has not been developed or operated altogether satisfactorily. Departmental libraries have frequently come about through pressures and chance rather than through policy and long-term planning, with the result that the development of the various subject fields often is unequal and that proper co-ordination of the different units is lacking. Similarly, little attention has been given to the government and administration of departmental libraries as a special phase of administration of the large university library. Perhaps the greatest weakness of the departmental system has been lack of co-ordination amnong the different units. Some systems have been called "centralized," but, actually, co-ordination and control have been so inadequate that there has not been much difference between the socalled "centralized" departmental library system and the decentralized system in which each library is more or less independent. The idea of organizing centralized university library service along divisional subject lines, proposed in the 1930's, has been the greatest advance in university library service in the last twenty years and may offer some ideas for the improvement of departmental library systems.' The plan represented a major departure from the former practice of organizing by function or type of material; and yet it had such obvious merits that the idea led during the I940's to a rather general review of university library organization, particularly in the small and mediumsized institutions. Admirably suited to the smaller university library, the plan was considered not practicable for the large university library. The campus of the large university is usually so extensive that scattered service points are necessary; students and faculty members are too numerous to be served by a small number of units without making those units too large; subject specialization is intense and widespread, requiring specialized library service; and financial resources permit the giving of convenient service without seriously impairing the bibliographical wealth of the library as a whole. The subject-divisional proposal represented a belated recognition of certain trends in education and research which had been developing more or less unnoticed by the university librarian. Study and research gradually had been breaking out of the confines of narrow


Routine engineering support is required during normal operation of the core sampler trucks and associated ancillary equipment. This engineering support consists of, but is not limited to, troubleshooting operation problems, correcting minor design problems, assistance with work package preparation, assistance with procurement, fabrication shop support, planning of engineering tasks and preparation of associated Engineering Task Plans (ETP) and Engineering Service Requests (ESR). This ETP is the management plan document for implementing routine engineering support. Any additional changes to the scope of this ETP shall require a Letter of Instruction from Lockheed Martin Hanford Corp (LMHC). This document will also be the Work Planning Document for Development Control (HNF 1999a). The scope of this task will be to provide routine engineering support for Characterization equipment as required to support Characterization Operations. A task by task decision will be made by management to determine which tasks will be done per this ETP and if additional ETPs and/or ESRs are required. Due to the unique nature of this task, the only identifiable deliverable is to provide support as requested. Deliverables will be recorded in a task logbook as activities are identified. ESRs will be generated for tasks that require more than 40 person hours to complete, per Characterization Engineering Desk Instructions (DI 1999a).


Background: Children in special education are typically characterized by developmental delays and/or deficits in social- and cognitive functioning. These children are coping with problems that are often associated with less developed social cognitive skills. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether children's intelligence moderated the effect of an educational teacher training on social cognitive functioning in children.
Methods: Eighty-six children between 10 and 13 years (54% boys) were recruited from a primary school for special education in The Netherlands. Four classes were randomized to either the teacher training (n = 43) or a passive control group (n = 42). The teacher training program consisted of four two-hour trainings in school given by an experienced clinical neuropsychologist. All children were tested prior to and after the training program with a parallel version of the Sociaal Cognitieve Vaardigheden Test (SCVT) to measure their social cognitive skills. In addition, intelligence data (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) was obtained regarding their Full Scale IQ (FIQ) scores.
Results: The results showed that a lower FIQ significantly predicted a lower score on social cognition. After controlling for gender and age, the teacher training did not significantly contribute to the increase in social cognition over time and there was no interaction with FIQ.
Conclusion: The results emphasize the need to pay special attention to and foster the social cognitive development in children with lower intelligence. To monitor and hence improve the effects of the teacher training, future research should also monitor changes in teachers knowledge, skills and behavior in addition to the child measures.


Natural selection and allocation to reproduction in flowering plants by M. L. Stanton and L. F. Galloway The adaptive significance of sexual reproduction in plants by P. Bierzychudek Male allocation and the cost of biparental sex in a parasitic worm by C. M. Lively Population genetics of sex allocation by S. Lessard Dynamics of sex change in a capitellid polychaete by P. S. Petraitis Sex change in terrestrial slugs: social and ecological factors by D. M. Fernandes Sex allocation in simultaneous hermaphrodites: testing local mate competition theory by C. W. Petersen.


Optimization is becoming a crucial element in industrial applications involving sustainable alternative energy systems. During the design of such systems, the engineer/decision maker would often encounter noise factors (e.g. solar insolation and ambient temperature fluctuations) when their system interacts with the environment. In this chapter, the sizing and design optimization of the solar powered irrigation system was considered. This problem is multivariate, noisy, nonlinear and multiobjective. This design problem was tackled by first using the Fuzzy Type II approach to model the noise factors. Consequently, the Bacterial Foraging Algorithm (BFA) (in the context of a weighted sum framework) was employed to solve this multiobjective fuzzy design problem. This method was then used to construct the approximate Pareto frontier as well as to identify the best solution option in a fuzzy setting. Comprehensive analyses and discussions were performed on the generated numerical results with respect to the implemented solution methods.


The article is devoted to the problem of existence and analysis of the current state of legends and toponymic legends of Central Kazakhstan. The material was the texts recorded by the authors on expeditions to the Karaganda region in 2012 and 2017. The current state of the folklore of Central Kazakhstan is marked by the functioning of certain genres: legends, wedding poetry, proverbs, toponymic legends. The main layer of the functioning of folklore samples falls on legends and toponymic legends. It is concluded that the Kazakh legends are characterized by a specific informative function. The main plot-forming component is the character, around which all the material is united, the plots themselves, as a rule, are single-motive, do not contain fantastic elements and are designed as a narration about the recent past. The paper notes that toponymic legends explain the names of localities and are associated, as a rule, with the names of famous people. The specificity of the names is the use of speaking names or similarity with natural phenomena. The authors argue that the active functioning of folklore samples indicates a favorable folklore situation and the prospects for further research on the sociocultural aspect of Kazakh non-fairytale prose.


The activating properties of IL-2 and the structure of the IL-2R on human monocytes are well characterized. However, relatively little is known about the biochemical mechanisms involved in IL-2 signal transduction in these cells. We investigated the role of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) in the activation of monocytes by IL-2. Incubation of monocytes with the PTK inhibitor herbimycin A (HA) resulted in the dose-dependent suppression of IL-2-induced monocyte tumoricidal activity. This inhibition was rather potent, as a concentration of HA as low as 0.5 m M caused a complete abrogation of cytolytic activity. Furthermore, HA markedly suppressed the ability of IL-2 to induce IL-1 b , TNF- a , IL-6, and IL-8 mRNA expression and protein secretion by monocytes. Anti-phosphotyrosine immunoblotting demonstrated that IL-2 induced a rapid and time-dependent increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of several cellular proteins of molecular masses ranging from 35 to 180 kDa. Interestingly, IL-2 caused a significant up-regulation of the constitutive levels of hck PTK mRNA and protein relative to medium-treated cells as well as an increase in p59 hck tyrosine phosphorylation. Finally, we demonstrated by in vitro kinase assay that the specific activity of p59 hck PTK was also induced by IL-2 in monocytes. Thus, these data show that the activation of PTKs is required for the triggering of monocyte effector and secretory functions by IL-2 and strongly suggest that p59 hck is a key participant in IL-2 signaling in human monocytes. The Journal of Immunology, 2000, 164: 4575–4585.


This study aims to examine the effect of Good Corporate Governance (GCG) on maqasid sharia performance. Good Corporate Governance (GCG) is proxied by the board of commissioners, sharia supervisory board, audit committee, institutional ownership. The population and sample contained in this study are Islamic banks in Indonesia which are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2014-2016. The sampling used was purposive sampling. Based on predetermined criteria, 13 islamic banks were obtained as the research sample. The type of data used is secondary data in the form of annual reports and financial reports. The data analysis technique uses multiple linear regression analysis. The results of this study indicate that the board of commissioners, audit committee, and institutional ownership did not significantly influence the performance of maqasid sharia.


In this article, Elizabeth Sheehy argues that Jane Doe v. Metropolitan Toronto Police , wherein the police were held accountable in law for sex discrimination in violation of women's section 15 equality rights under the Charter and for negligence in their investigation of a serial rapist, represents a high point in feminist litigation. She details the feminist knowledge, language, and strategy as well as the individual contributions by Jane Doe herself, her lawyers, her experts, her judges, and even a police officer that together made this groundbreaking legal victory possible. She compares this case to Mooney v. Canada , a case also involving sexism in the policing of male violence against women, where Bonnie Mooney's negligence case was lost on the legal stumbling block of proof of causation. Elizabeth Sheehy suggests that although feminists became involved in this case on appeal and argued that Bonnie Mooney's section 15 rights were infringed, proof of the element of causation could have been facilitated had women's equality been at issue at the trial level. She shows how a feminist analysis of wife battering and femicide could have been used to challenge the assumptions of both police and judges that in turn shaped the ruling on causation and argues that even when lawyers fail to raise section 15 arguments, judges bear a responsibility to interpret the law consistent with the equality guarantee. Dans le pre´sent article, Elizabeth Sheehy soutient que l'arreˆt Jane Doe c. Metropolitan Toronto point tournant dans la pre´sentation re´ussie d'arguments fe´ministes les tribunaux. a la police responsable pour son comportement discriminatoire, en ne´gligence connaissances, langue


The stock market is seen as the most exciting and promising indicator of the economic growth of a country. However, there have been the growing concerns and controversies about the role of the stock markets on economic growth and development. Also, studies on this topic show that there are many potential effects of the stock market on economic growth. This study specifically examines the relationship between the stock market performance and the economic growth of the Philippines. The study used secondary data which will be collected from the Annual Report of the Philippines Stock Exchange Index (PSEi); Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Granger Causality has been carried out following the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test for it is relevant to time series variables and in order to assess whether there is any potential predictability power of one indicator for the other. This study employed gross domestic (GDP) as the dependent variable; the independent variables include Market Capitalization (MC) and total Value of Shares traded (VST). The study shows that the Market Capitalization has no relationship with GDP and likewise, it also revealed that the Value of Shares traded has no relationship with GDP. INTRODUCTION The capital market was recognized as an institution that contributes to the socioeconomic growth and development of emerging and developed economies. The existing stock market was seen as the most exciting and promising indicator of the economic growth of a country. According to Ogboi and Oladipo (2012), studies on this topic show that there are many potential effects of the stock market on economic growth, but the effects have no clear direction. It was found that a fast growing concerns and controversies about the role of the stock markets on economic growth and development (Sule, Momoh, Ewah, Esang & Bassey, 2009). That is why research on this topic is found to be an area of continuing interest. There are different empirical studies that show that the stock market development is strongly correlated with growth rates of real per capita (Rousseau &Wachtel, 2000; Beck & Levine, 2003). Ekundayo (2002) and Osaze (2000) also examined the effect of the stock market on economic growth SINGAPOREAN JOuRNAl Of buSINESS EcONOmIcS, ANd mANAGEmENt StudIES , 2015 9 Vol.4, No. 52 and produced with mixed result. For example, Donwa and Odia (2010) found out that the capital market indices have no impact on the Gross Domestic Product. In the Philippines, the capital market provides the necessary lubricant that keeps turning the wheel of the economy. Its capital market comprises both bond market and stock market, which indicate its overall performance. Also, the stock market gives a signal to investors about their future moves. Bernardo (2005) claimed that the Philippine stock market remains low and not liquid. Actions to improve stock market liquidity yielded only mixed results, one concern is the lack of depth in the Philippine stock market. On the other hand, there is no larger extent of practical studies that investigate the underlying relationship between the stock market performance and economic growth in the Philippines. Most of the studies mentioned above are performed outside the Philippines. Besides, related studies in the Philippines focus only on the efficiency of the stock market and do not consider its direct relationship to Philippine economic growth within a given period. Consequently, this encouraged the researcher to study the relationship of the stock market performance to the economic growth of the Philippines.


About three years ago, a totally new ARS research project (CRIS) on size-free weaving of cotton yarns was approved and initiated at SRRC. The initial program, based on experimentation with a conventional fly-shuttle loom, has been surprisingly successful in the sense that 50 meters of a 100% cotton fabric of a relatively less-dense construction was efficiently woven without the warp sizing and without a single warp yarn failure during weaving, for the first time ever. Since the American textile industry now does almost all of its weaving on modern high speed weaving machines, which are significantly different from the conventional weaving machines and, hence, can affect size-free weaving performance considerably, the size-free weaving research at SRRC is now being expanded to include a modern Pignone (Sulzer-Ruti) high speed flexible-rapier weaving machine that the Center has recently acquired. This report is a brief description of the past research and of the new research plan that involves size-free weaving investigations of different types of fibers, yarns and fabrics, using the new weaving machine.


and real-time RT-PCR for virus detection. Results : Between 30 March and 05 July 2015, 638 diarrhoeal caseswereidentified.Children<5yearsaccountedfor50%(n=318) and adults ≥ 45 years for 16% (n=103) of the cases. We found that about half of the affected people were females (326/638, 51%) and there were (278/638, 44%) males affected. Two peaks were iden-tified at epidemiological week 16 (16 cases) and epidemiological week 24 (18 cases). Of the nine children admitted in the paediatric ward, one did not receive any dose of rotavirus vaccine. Eight had received one dose of rotavirus vaccine and five of the age-eligible childrenhadreceivedtwodosesofrotavirusvaccine.Rotaviruswas detected in six of the nine stools collected with G9P[8] detected in all cases. Other enteric pathogens detected include sapovirus (n=1), norovirus (n=1) and adenovirus (n=1). Conclusion : A seasonal increase in rotavirus is a possible expla-nation for the observed increase in cases. A seasonal increase in rotavirus is typically seen during the winter months (April – June). We recommend that rotavirus vaccination coverage be strength-ened and diarrhoeal surveillance improved through routine data collection, analysis and monitoring. The family members of deceased children (n=14) were inter-viewed. A case was defined as illness presenting with vomiting, alteredsensoriumandconvulsionsamongchildren<10yearsofage in Malkangiri during November 2014. Serum/CSF (Cases=4) and serum (Contacts=44) samples were processed for JE IgM ELISA and RTPCR at RMRC laboratory. Entomological survey was conducted by VCRC field station, Koraput. Results : The median age was 3 years (Range: 1.5 – 4.6 years) with female preponderance (60%). Overall attack rate was 4% with highest among 1-3 years age group (7%) and case fatality rate (CFR) was 93%. All cases had vomiting, altered sensorium without fever and 60% had convulsions. Blood and CSF specimens were negative to JEV, Chandipura virus (IgM & RTPCR) and also negative for WNV and Nipah antibody. Among 116 mosquitoes from six Culex species subjected to RTPCR for detection of JE virus, all were negative. In 2012,Malkangirihadreported38childdeathsduetoAES(CFR40%) and 10/78 serum samples were positive for JE by IgM ELISA. Conclusion : This is an outbreak of unexplained neurological illness as we could not establish the etiology. Further entomological survey and assessment of other risk factors including test for addi-tional pathogen should be carried out to confirm the diagnosis. outbreak. Background : The colonization of different parts of body by Staphylococcus aureus has been incriminated in many disease conditions and has become a major problem in the control of both communityandhospitalassociatedinfections.Ahealthycarriercan therefore serve as a pool for regular and consistent release of the organism to the community. This study was therefore carried out to assess the carrier status of MRSA among healthy undergraduate students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria. Methods & Materials : A well structured questionnaire which captured participant's biodata and determined their suitability for the investigation was administered on each volunteer. Nasal swab samples for the culture and isolation of S. aureus were obtained from 350 apparently healthy students spread across the five facul-ties of the University. Samples were cultured on Manitol Salt Agar and MacConkey agar. Confirmed S. aureus isolates were screened for methicillin resistance using oxacillin disc. Susceptibility of all isolates was done on Meuller-Hinton agar using disc diffusion method. Results : The volunteers were made up of 142 males and 198 females with mean age of 19.5 ± 2.1. Ninety-eight samples (28%) were positive for S. aureus out of which 9(2.6%) were screened positive for MRSA. Other organisms isolated were Klebsiella sp, PsuedomonasspandCoagulase–veStaphylococci.Thefrequencyof isolation of MRSA was higher (1.7%) among the female volunteers. Conclusion : A prevalence rate of 2.6% MRSA observed in this study was high enough to generate concern, since they were all healthy carriers. Personal hygiene is therefore advocated among this studied group to curb its spread.


In order to ensure the safety mining of the fully mechanized top coal caving mining face in deep inclined seam,to enhance each point management of the mining technique,to well monitor and control the roof and to prevent the roof broken and high falling to make the coal wall spalling and the hydraulic powered supports tilted with safety disasters,the chock shield supports,transitional support and face end supports were sellected and applied.And the mine strata pressure observation and measurement were conducted for the scientific analysis and the controlled top coal caving method was applied for the roof control.Meanwhile,the scientific managements were conducted for other production circulation.The mining practices showed that the mining management method could ensure the successful and safety mining in several deep inclined seams in Meihe Mine with excellent benefits.


We study a simplified model of fracture propagation introduced by L. Ambrosio and A. Braides, based on the evolution by minimizing movements of the Mumford-Shah energy. In the two-dimensional case, we show that under a few additional assumptions on the "fracture" the movement solves the heat equation, with (weak) Neumann
boundary conditions, and we are able to give some estimate on the decrease of the Mumford-Shah energy.


After a careful search for the etiology of episcleritis by the most thorough investigators, 1 we have concluded that many cases must be reported as "cause unknown." The fact that a specific hypersensitiveness might often be the etiologic factor in patients suffering from episcleritis of the so-called idiopathic type was suggested by the following case. REPORT OF CASE F. S., a physician, aged 37, said that for ten or twelve years he had suffered every five or six months from eye symptoms characterized by a fairly sudden onset of photophobia, lacrimation and painful eyeballs. The duration of the attacks was from seven to fourteen days. We have never seen him with symptoms. However, he reports that while in school in the East he was studied by a number of ophthalmologists, all of whom made the same diagnosis; namely, episcleritis of unknown origin. His practice of medicine has been seriously interfered


Rate constants have been measured for the reactions of a range of S-nitrosothiols with the following sulfur-centred nucleophiles: sulfite ion, thiourea, thiocyanate ion, thiosulfate ion, thiomethoxide ion and sulfide ion. Many of the reactions were very fast and were followed in a stopped-flow spectrophotometer. For the sulfite reaction the reactive species over the pH range 4–8 was shown to be exclusively SO32−. For two RSNO species the reactivity sequence was established as: SO32− > MeS− > S2O32− ≫ SC(NH2)2 > SCN−. The reaction with sulfide ion was also rapid and generated a fairly stable yellow species (λmax 410 nm), which was probably the nitrosodisulfide ion ONSS−, but the absorbance–time data were too complex for a simple kinetic analysis. This reaction could have some potential as an analytical procedure for the determination of RSNO species. The kinetic results are discussed in terms of the factors affecting nucleophilicity and are compared with the corresponding reactions of other nitrosating species.


By using the color-detection task,this study investigated the effects of achievement goal and positive affect on the unconscious goal pursuit.Thirty-two undergraduates participated in the experiment,and every participant was assigned to all the four experimental conditions:achievement goal(priming and non-priming) crossed with color word type(positive and neutral).During the priming task,the participants were given a color-detection task that required them to focus on the computer screen while positive and neutral words appeared on the screen unbeknownst to them,and during this task they were presented with words related or unrelated to the achievement goal.During the performance task,the participants solved a mathematical problem,which was an equation of two double-digits adding up to a sum,or two double-digits subtraction.The result showed that during the goal priming,positive words caused a longer speed in the color-detection task,which indicated that"people can make a judgment on the value of the goal",and that during the goal pursuit,achievement-goal priming could enhance the accuracy,meanwhile achievement goal and positive affect had an interaction on the speed.These results confirmed that the goal and positive affect had different effects on the unconscious goal pursuit.


In this study, the effect of design parameters and operational conditions on motion accuracy of the closed configuration hydrostatic thrust bearing was researched. Key design parameters include land width, nominal oil film thickness, and perpendicularity error between mandrel and thrust plates. Oil supply pressure, external load, and rotation load are the considered operational conditions. Predictions of the induced effect are made by introducing oil film clearance function, governing equations, flow rate continuity equations, and dynamic equations of mandrel to model axial rotation error and angular motion error. The results show that the axial rotation accuracy increased, as land width (larger than 8 mm), nominal oil film thickness, and oil supply pressure increased, but there was little impact on angular motion error. The axial rotation error and angular motion error increased with the increase in the external load and rotation speed. Confirmation of the perpendicularity error has been achieved, in this study, by conducting experiments, using ultra-precision measuring machine. In addition, axial rotation error was tested on a hydrostatic rotary table and compared with the simulation results to check the validity of the proposed method. The results provide useful design guidelines and operation advice for hydrostatic thrust bearing in high-precision machine tools.


The purpose o f this study is twofold. The first objective is to conduct an empirical inquiry into the diversification benefits o f exchange-traded funds. The second objective is to examine whether exchange-traded funds exhibit superior performance compared to their rival closed-end country fund and traditional index mutual fund. I document that American investors manifest their preference for WEBS as a substitute for closed-end country funds. While I find that WEBS satisfy their objective of following their home indexes better than their rival closed-end country fund, the two-factor model I employ indicates that, despite some diversification benefits, WEBS also maintain certain risk exposure to the U.S. market. However, the U.S. market exposure o f WEBS is marginal relative to closed-end country funds. Thus, WEBS provide American investors with a higher expected rate o f return minimizing their risk exposure compared to closed-end country funds. I find that over one, two, three, and four year periods, WEBS' performance is less dependent on the performance of the U.S. market than their rival closed-end country fund. Thus, I conclude, despite the growing interdependence o f world equity markets, American investors are still able to achieve international diversification portfolio benefits by including WEBS in their asset allocation decision. Also, I examine the performance, diversification and hedging abilities of SPDRs, MidCap SPDRs, sector specific SPDRs, DIAMONDS, and their


Abstract The concept of the `employment threshold' plays an important role in the public discussion of unemployment. The employment threshold is defined as that growth rate of output necessary to keep employment constant despite the continuous rise in productivity. It is related to the Okun coefficient which describes the relationship between the changes in output and unemployment. Many contributions to this debate give the impression that the employment threshold is more or less a structural characteristic independent of economic variables. In this paper we derive short- and long-run employment thresholds from an input demand system and show empirically that they depend on factor prices and capital accumulation. Higher wage rates raise the employment threshold and reduce the probability that a positive output shock will increase employment.


Today, I will briefly outline some of the most important challenges we are facing. We can perhaps call the sum effect of these challenges a change programme. For this programme to succeed, cooperation is necessary, both within the financial industry itself and between the business community and the authorities. The authorities and the financial industry largely have coinciding interests. We all share the same aim: that Norway will continue to have an efficient, robust and modern payment system.


Though there is scant research to guide treatment, tea tree oil shampoo might successfully improve some cases of blepharitis, according to two physicians at the Eye Unit, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, United Kingdom.


This paper investigates the problem of sliding mode controller design for a class of T–S fuzzy singular systems (TSFSSs) with partly immeasurable premise variables. By analyzing the different cases of immeasurable premise variables, novel state-feedback, and static output-feedback-based sliding mode controllers design methods are first developed. The information of measurable premise variables in TSFSS is utilized to design the controllers. Attention is focused on solving the problem of sliding mode controllers design for TSFSS with immeasurable premise variables related to time and system states. Further, based on the new sliding mode control (SMC) methods, some new convex conditions for designing sliding mode controllers are proposed. It is shown that the proposed sliding mode controllers design approaches have the advantage over existing SMC methods to stabilize the TSFSS with immeasurable premise variables. Finally, two simulation results are given to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods.


Support Vector Machine(SVM) is used to recognize the characters of vehicle license plates.According to the arrayed feature of the plates,four types of classifying systems,including Chinese characters classifying system,letter classifying system,figure letter classifying system,figure classifying system,are configured.Every character in a vehicle license plate would be recognized by the corresponding classifying system according to its sequence number in the plate.The experimental result of 120 vehicle license plate images shows high recognition rate of 98.33% and fast speed of 15 milliseconds for all characters of a vehicle license plate.


Relevance. An upper lip tie causes different pathological conditions. The popular aberrant frenulum classifications are ambiguous.The study aimed to assess different classifications of the maxillary labial frenulum in the context of a gummy smile, diastema, gingival recession and tissue ischemia relationship.Materials and methods. Photographs documented the type of smile and the pathological conditions of 41 patients aged 9 – 39 y.o. The study measured the maxillary central incisor height on the plaster model and compared the frontal view of the smile and the teeth to the size of the central incisor and with each other. Measurements were carried out.Results. A gummy smile is more common in individuals with a V-shaped frenulum independent of its width (61%, 14 patients, X2 = 13.06; p = 0.01) or in individuals with a wide frenulum independently of its shape (83%, 19 patients). 50% of all toothy smile cases are in the narrow frenulum group (69% in the group, nine patients). All cases with a lip tie (3 patients) showed a toothy smile (X2 = 10.29; p = 0.01). The group of the I-shaped frenulum attached at the gingival level demonstrated a diastema. Tissue ischemia is more prevalent in the group with the V-form frenulum, the frenulum ischemia and the attached gingiva or insertion point ischemia. It occurs separately from gingival recession only in V-shaped frenulum cases. The gingival recession prevails in X-shaped frenulum cases in the alveolar insertion point area (87.5%, four subjects) (p ≤ 0.05).Conclusion. The received data are paramount for decision-making about the necessary treatment technique.


In the United States, service. (such as education, health care, housing, and transportation) are provided for citizens by a bewildering array of agencies at many government levels. Service organizations must learn to communicate across functional lines, and educators must become familiar with other service providers at various levels. This means perceiving the client as the most important part of the organizations providing services to that person, family, or group. The rationale is that these agencies are all serving the same children and families as clients. This approach is the most efficient, effective, and humane way to deliver services in an era of diminishing financial resources. Drawing on numerous maps, tables, and statistics, this report explores the complex interrelationships among family demography, housing, transportation, health, crime, and education. Interagency cooperation and taxpayer investment in families' basic needs are essential to prevent future probler,ts (like crime, illiteracy, mental retardation) and reduce the need for costly programs to deal with them. For example, it would be more cost-effective to help low-income families secure affordable housing and to supply small grants to cover broken dcwn cars and medical emergencies than to maintain these same families on welfare. Prisons are another costly service that might be reduced by investing more heavily in early education and college access programs. Recent occupational and Oc:dographic trends (including metropolitan areas moving across state lines) are provided to support an interactive, client-centered agenda and recommendations for achieving it. (18


To define factors affecting the stone‐free rate of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy in the treatment of pediatric renal calculi, and to establish a regression model for pretreatment prediction of stone‐free probability.


S ince the murder of fourteen women engineering students at l'École polytechnique in Montreal on December 6, 1989, a number of memorial sites have been constructed, and memorial events have been organized, across Canada to keep alive the memory of what has become known as the Montreal massacre and to keep the issue of violence against women alive in the public consciousness. Often established in the midst of considerable controversy, sometimes with considerable risk to the women who have worked on them, many of these and other memorial sites and events focusing on gendered violence have been referred to as feminist memorials, domains of what we are calling cultural countermemory. As such, these sites have been seen to resist the suppression of public consciousness about the scope and extent of violence against women as an


The discoveries on new resources of natural antioxidant from plants have attracted increasing interest due to high potential of antioxidant capacity. In this paper, antioxidant activity of Cosmos caudatus extracts was investigated by using different types of extraction methods which were maceration extraction, Soxhlet extraction and ultrasonic-assisted extraction using 70% acetone (v/v) as solvent. The antioxidant activity and ascorbic acid content from each method was determined by 2,2-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) respectively. The results show that the three extraction methods exhibit significant value of ascorbic acid content. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction was the efficient method as it exhibits the highest amount of ascorbic acid content with 26.590 mg ascorbic acid equivalent per 1 g sample (mg AAE/g) with the corresponding value of 42.208% of its antioxidant activity after 60 minutes extraction. This is followed by Soxhlet extraction (13.527 mg AAE/g) and maceration extraction (5.190 mg AAE/g) within 8 hour and 24 hour extraction time
respectively. Analysis by HPLC also shows that C. caudatus extract using ultrasonicassisted extraction has the highest vitamin C content (2.440 mg AAE/g) followed by Soxhlet
extraction (0.968 mg AAE/g) and maceration extraction (0.739 mg AAE/g). For further study, optimization of the ultrasonic extraction method is proposed to achieve the optimum condition in extracting bioactive compounds from C. caudatus.


One case of 30-year-old female patient was hospitalized due to diagnosing with malignant lymphom for 3 days,and she was detected rumor for 3 months.Then she received CHOP chemotherapy(cyclophosphamide,epirubicin hydrochloride,vincristine,prednisone),21 days as a cycle.Before the chemotherapy,she had taken entecavir as prophylactic antivirus therapy.During the chemotherapy she also received liver protection therapy such as reduced glutathione,magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate.According to disease situation of the patient,clinical pharmacists estimated the rationality of the chemotherapy and advised doctors to use entecavir as prophylactic antivirus therapy and took measures in case of adverse reaction.Pharmaceutical care and drug introduction to the patient was implemented to support the therapy perfectly and reduced adverse drug reaction as far as possible.At last,the patient recovered in the cycle therapy.


We study the impact of atomic interactions on an in-situ collimation method for matter-waves. Building upon an earlier study with $^{87}$Rb, we apply a lensing protocol to $^{39}$K where the atomic scattering length can be tailored by means of magnetic Feshbach resonances. Minimizing interactions, we show an enhancement of the collimation compared to the strong interaction regime, realizing ballistic 2D expansion energies of 438(77) pK in our experiment. Our results are supported by an accurate simulation, describing the ensemble dynamics, which we further use to study the behavior of various trap configurations for different interaction strengths. Based on our findings we propose an advanced scenario which allows for 3D expansion energies below 16 pK by implementing an additional pulsed delta-kick collimation directly after release from the trapping potential. Our results pave the way to achieve state-of-the-art quantum state in typical dipole trap setups required to perform ultra-precise measurements without the need of complex micro-gravity or long baselines environments.


Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are playing a major role in any country's economy, but many of SMEs are failing every day. SMEs have about 80% risk of failure! Our innovation is a tool, especially designed for SME characteristics. This innovation helps entrepreneurs, SMEs, SME advisors and auditors to predict, measure, and manage the SME performance based on strategic elements. Our innovation, E4SE formula, has ability to use both financial and non-financial factors. The E4SE is among very few available models in the SME context. It is granted by Malaysia ministry of higher education, and copyrighted by University Malaysia Pahang. It has been tested for validity, reliability, and application feasibility in two different countries. The product proved to be considerably useful to control and minimize the failure rate in SMEs and strengthen the country economy. E4SE's potential market group includes business owners and SME supporting Institutes/organizations.


1. Acid secretion by the rat cauda epididymidis was studied by microperfusion of the epididymal duct and by measuring the pH of the perfusate at a constant pCO2 using a micro pH sensitive electrode. The rate of acidification was expressed as the rate of fall of intraluminal bicarbonate per cm duct per min.


A Google acquisition of AdMob would eliminate Google's only substantial rival platform in mobile in-application advertising and catapult Google from an estimated 25% share to over 75% share of this strategic gatekeeper market for monetizing mobile Internet applications. Combined with Google's search advertising monopoly and dominance of mobile search advertising, Google's acquisition of AdMob, "the world's largest mobile advertising marketplace," would likely tip the broader mobile advertising marketplace from a competitive to a monopoly trajectory. In short, the AdMob acquisition threatens to foreclose competition and facilitate monopoly in a strategic gatekeeper market essential to the Internet economy, which would harm: consumers, developers, advertisers, publishers, smart-phone manufacturers, and broadband providers. The Top Ten Reasons Why Google-AdMob Would "Substantially Lessen Competition:" 1. Google-AdMob would combine the #1 & #2 mobile in-application display advertisers in a highlyconcentrated and exceptionally-strategic gatekeeper market, effectively eliminating Google's only substantial rival competitive platform in this market. 2. Acquiring AdMob's ~50% share would catapult Google to >75% share of the mobile in-application display advertising market. 3. Preserving competition in this market is key to preserving a competitive mobile ecosystem. 4. Google-AdMob would tip mobile advertising toward a monopoly trajectory. 5. The extraordinary price paid for AdMob is evidence of acquisition of market power. 6. Google proactively thwarted Apple from becoming a stronger competitor to Google. 7. Déjà vu: DOJ's Google-YouTube approval proved that antitrust enforcers need to be much more aware of the extraordinary network effects of adding fast-growing, first-mover strategic platforms to firms with existing market power. 8. Google misled the FTC in the FTC's Google-DoubleClick investigation by representing Yahoo as a viable long-term competitor when the two firms were exceptionally close and cooperative as evidenced by the proposed and rejected Google-Yahoo ad agreement. 9. Google-AdMob could snuff out potential mobile application monetization competition in the crib. 10. AdMob would enable Google to further dominate the collection of data and sensitive competitive information that is central to competing in the monetization of Internet content in the mobile or PC stationary markets. * Googleopoly IV: How Google Extends Search Monopoly to Monopsony over Digital Info 9-15-09 Googleopoly III: Dependency: The Crux of Google-Yahoo Ad Agreement 10-3-08 Googleopoly II: Google's Predatory Playbook to Thwart Competition; 9-23-08 Googleopoly: The Google-DoubleClick Anti-Competitive Case; 9-17-07 See www.Googleopoly.net ** The views expressed in this white paper are solely the author's and not the views of any Precursor clients. See Scott Cleland's Full Biography at: http://www.precursor.com/bio_long.htm


The paper considers different aspects of aerostructural optimization of civil middle-range aircraft wing. The shape optimization aimed at determining the reasonable sweep angle of the wing tip part is performed. Observations from parametric studies of the influence of the orientation of an unbalanced layer and its percentage fraction in the composite laminate on the aeroelastic and strength characteristics of the wing are discussed. Several aspects and preliminary results of multidisciplinary optimization of the wing with tailored composite wing tip part are presented.


In this paper, the thermodynamic property of charged AdS black holes is studied in rainbow gravity. By the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and the modified dispersion relation, we obtain deformed temperature. Moreover, in rainbow gravity we calculate the heat capacity in a fixed charge and discuss the thermal stability. We also obtain a similar behaviour with the liquid-gas system in extending phase space (including P and r) and study its critical behavior with the pressure given by the cosmological constant and with a fixed black hole charge Q. Furthermore, we study the Gibbs function and find its characteristic swallow tail behavior, which indicates the phase transition. We also find that there is a special value about the mass of test particle which would lead the black hole to zero temperature and a diverging heat capacity with a fixed charge.


For the past twenty years, the issue of indian kingship has attracted the attention of many historians leading to a lively debate on it. At the centre of the debate is the theory which placed the king at the pinnalce of society in terms of the gift giving and receiving system supported by A.M. Hocart and revived by Nicholas Dirks and others which criticizes Louis Dumont who subordinated the king to brahmins in terms of pure/impure opposition. These essays by japanese scholars would contribute to the debate based as they are on empirical explorations and enquire into recent polemics relating to indian kingship.


The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the global financial markets, including energy commodities The aim of the paper is to examine the reaction of the energy commodity market to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the epidemic status, the stringency of the government antiCOVID-19 policy, and the stock market volatility We use daily data on the S&P GSCI Energy index, the number of new confirmed COVID-19 global cases, the self-developed Global Stringency Index, and the VIX index The research covers the period from January 2 to September 30, 2020, i e the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic Based on a structural vector autoregressive model we observe a significant and negative energy commodity market's reaction to the changes in the stock market volatility Moreover, the results imply that the increase in the Global Stringency Index leads to the decline in the S&P GSCI Energy index but the reaction is significant only on the third day after the shock We reveal no significant impact of global epidemic status on energy commodity prices © 2021, Econjournals All rights reserved


The results of deep learning in the art world have changed people's traditional perceptions, more and more people believe that it's not a long way to go when AI finally replace artists. This paper reviews the application of deep learning in painting, music, literature, and introduces the classical models and algorithms in those art fields.


The complex [Os(NH3)5(η2-selenophene)](OTf)2 (1) has been prepared and treated with several electrophilic reagents to afford Se-alkyl and 2H-selenophenium complexes in high yield. In many aspects, the reactivity observed for 1 directly parallels that seen for the thiophene analogue. Protonation (HOTf/MeCN) and alkylation (acetal/TBSOTf) occur at C2, affording (1,5-η2)-2H-selenophenium complexes (2 and 3, respectively). Methylation (MeOTf/MeCN) occurs at the heteroatom, affording the 1-methylselenophenium complex 4, which, when treated with a nucleophile, undergoes C−Se cleavage to form an η2-4-(alkylseleno)-1,3-butadiene complex (5).


This is an epidemiological study of cancer morbidity and mortality primarily in Belgium but with some reference to the situation in other European countries. Cancer mortality in Belgium is first analyzed since 1900 by age sex and cancer site. Consideration is given to the reasons for changes in cancer mortality over time and attempts are made to separate the effects of age and cohort. In the second chapter Belgian cancer mortality is examined in the European context over the period 1955 to 1975. A final chapter focuses on morbidity. Suggestions are made for the improvement of cancer data in Belgium.


Three Holocene palynological records from the Gran Sabana region were studied from an ecological per- spective, in order to examine and to compare the responses of plant communities to external disturbances, i.e. climatic changes and fire. Attraction domains were defined using modern surface samples to build a multidimensional space, in which successional trends (deduced from palaeoecologi- cal data) were plotted. Both dryness and fire produced the substitution of forest by open savanna, but at different time scales. Forests did not recuperate at any time interval of this study, though a humid climate returned. In its place, morichales (swamp communities dominated by Mauritiaflexuosa (Palmae)) de- veloped in a general landscape of open savanna. More de- tailed palaeoecological studies using fine resolution techniques, with emphasis on transitional phases, are recommended.


Exact numerical evaluation of the stationary joint queue-length distribution of a Markovian finite capacity network with arbitrary size and topology can be obtained numerically. Nonetheless, the main challenge to such an approach remains the dimensionality of the joint distribution, which is exponential in the number of queues. This thesis proposes an analytical approximation of the joint distribution with a dimension that is linear in the number of queues. The method decomposes the network into overlapping subnetworks. The state of each subnetwork is described aggregately, i.e. in terms of a reduced state space, while ensuring consistency with the disaggregate, i.e., full state space, distribution. This aggregation-disaggregation technique is proposed for the analysis of Markovian tandem finite capacity queueing networks. The model is validated. We present its use to address an urban traffic control problem, and show the added value of accounting for higher-order spatial between-queue dependency information in the control of congested networks. A second, distinct goal of this thesis is to examine the calibration of route choice parameters in microscopic traffic simulators. Automatically calibrating simulators using traffic counts requires describing the relationship between route choice and traffic flows. This thesis proposes an analytical finite capacity queueing model that accounts for the relationship between route choice and traffic flows. The method is embedded in a simulation-based optimization framework and applied to a calibration problem. Thesis Supervisor: Carolina Osorio Title: Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering


ABSTRACT In this article memoir material from Soviet General V. Schur is presented relating to events at Damanskii Island on the Soviet-Chinese border (1969) with commentary. This article also contains additional new information on important details of the Sino-Soviet border conflict at the time.


Purpose
The purpose of this article is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of evolution of management thought (EMT), a critically acclaimed text in management and organizational studies for its value in historicizing the practice of management.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors asked Daniel Wren and Arthur Bedeian in their own words to their contribution. In addition, the authors offer commentary and critique of 15 leading management historians who share their reflections on the intellectual significance of Wren and Bedeian, and the punctuation of EMT as a canonical text in the field of management history.

Findings
The legacy of Wren and Bedeian can be felt across the academy of historical research on business and organizations. Their work has separately made significant contributions to management studies but together they have forged a fruitful partnership that has given rise to multiple generations of scholars and scholarship that continue to shape the field to this day.

Originality/value
The contribution of the authors in this article is to mark the significant milestone of EMT's five-decade success by hearing from the authors themselves about their longstanding success as well as giving space to critique about the past, present and future of our collective historical scholarship shaped by Wren and Bedeian's legacy.


Destruction and depletion of nature is prevalent widely in the world today mainly owing to the consumer attitude of the populance. This paper aims to focus on Barbara Kingsolver's famous novel Animal Dreams in championing the need for safe guarding the environment and it's ecology. In the novel, Barbara Kingsolver portrays a very important town in history: and speaks about it's fight  against a dominant political bureaucratic corporation, to save the town from polluting it due to the act of mining. And the effect of dead tailings of the mine that are piled up which will bring calamity on the people of Grace and affect the natural resources such as the trees. Imploring this cause the novelist advocates the disastrous unhealthy outcomes of mining and the intensity of the problem. Her message to the readers is to prevent this folly and catastrophe of killing the earth only for the profit of some people. The ill-effects of industrialization which is paralysing the nation by it's roots is spoken by the author. Barbara Kingsolver wants the people to be Eco-conscious and work for the welfare of the people and the earth.


In This paper, we propose a new perceptually significant video quality metric to estimate the effect of block coding for standards H.264 AVC and MPEG2. Our method operates in the spatial domain and doesn't require a high complexity of computation. We compare it with Suthaharan's and MSU's techniques by using "LIVE" database. Results indicate that the proposed method outperforms Suthaharan's technique. They also indicate that our method is more effective than MSU's technique for the H.264 AVC and MPEG2 standard with the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient.


This paper aims to place Le Corbusier's thought and work in a contemporary realm with the aid of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's philosophy, using the poet and essayist Paul Valéry as an intermediary. From the sea to Paul Valéry, to Le Corbusier and to architecture. From the machine as a mechanism – so loved by Le Corbusier – to the desiring-machine of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari as a machinic instrument. From an immemorial past – the sea – to a recent past – Valéry and Le Corbusier; and to a future – an architecture that works the materials of expression of the body, to a duplicate of that very body; a body inhabited by itself in itself. As a desiring-machine. As an apparatus. The apparatus as a reflection of Le Corbusier's longing for the Mediterranean Sea – and for the objet à reaction poétique. We can assume this object (à reaction poétique) to be a conductor of the immanent possibility of a non-preconceived form, as the conductor of an "open" thing that thrives, as an intrastructure, for the machinic. Something that goes beyond the traditional antinomies of modernism. Again, something for a future: a living-in-a-living-body.


To differentiate Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter hafniae, Proteus mirabilis and Alteromonas putrefaciens from Salmonella strains isolated in faeces, the author recommends the use of "Hajna-Kligler" medium, "Nitrate-Motility-Mannitol" medium, "Urease-Indole-Trytophane desaminase" medium and glycerol peptonated water. The lysis of Salmonella and E. hafniae strains by specific phages (Felix and Callow O: 1 Salmonella phage; Guinee and Valkenburg Hafnia phage) is emphasized.


Context-awareness enables systems to be tailored to the needs of users and their real circumstances at certain times. A noteworthy trend in software development is that an increasing number of software systems are being developed by individuals with expert knowledge in other sectors. Because most of the current context-aware development toolkits are intended for software developers, these types of systems cannot be easily developed by non-technical consumers. The development of tools for designing context-aware frameworks by consumers who are not programming experts but are specialists in the area of implementation would result in faster adoption of such services by businesses. This paper provides a cloud-based framework for people without programming experience to create context-aware mobile applications. The platform can provide a lightweight distribution of packaged applications that allows experts to send specified information to mobile users based on their context data without overlapping between the rules of the application. An energy-efficient mobile application was developed to acquire contextual information from the user device and to create quality data accordingly. The framework adopts Platform as a Service (PaaS) and containerization to facilitate development of context-aware mobile applications by experts in various domains rather than developing a tool for each domain in isolation, while considering multitenancy.


Staphylococcus aureus is Gram-positive bacterium commonly associated with food poisoning diseases. This pathogen is responsible for food-borne illnesses outbreaks associated with the consumption of food especially meat products. The aims of this study were to evaluate the ability of Staphylococcus aureus recovered from food contact surfaces in meat processing environment of Egypt for biofilm formation and to test their susceptibility to the commercially used sanitizers including Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs, 200ppm), Sodium hypochlorite (200ppm) and Iodine (2.5%). The ability of isolates for biofilm formation and their sensitivity to sanitizers were investigated in 96-well flat bottom microtiter plates. Twelve strains were obtained from 120 food contact surfaces (FCS) using standard microbiological techniques. All isolated strains 100% (12/12) manifested high ability to form biofilm, which classified as strong type. Further, the application of QACs, Sodium hypochlorite and Iodine generated a reduction of (76.77%), (71.38%) and (15.84%) in the biofilm formation, respectively. Conclusively, all sanitizers were not 100% efficient in removing the biofilm formed by isolated S. aureus on polypropylene. Therefore, vigilant food safety practices need to be implemented in the meat processing environment, at meat processing plant and food services establishments, especially for FCS to prevent foodborne infections and intoxications due to S. aureus contamination from biofilms.


This paper describes a unique robotic assembly system that forms an integral part of a degree course in Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Western Sydney, Nepean. The system represents state-of-the-art technology and consists of three FANUC industrial robots with sensors for feedback, a vision system and conveyors, all under computer control. In both modes of operation, namely as a demonstration system and as a platform for student experimentation, this advanced facility realistically emulates automation systems in industry. By providing opportunities for hands-on experience, the system allows undergraduates in mechatronics to become skilled in such technologies and to be prepared to implement them in industry.


Two sketchbooks by Paul Cezanne recently acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art have undergone conservation analysis and treatment. Approximately forty years ago, the sketchbooks were dismantled and the pages were adhered to mats with pressure-sensitive tape. Treatment has focused on removal of the oxidized tape stains. The carriers and brittle adhesive crust were pared down while being viewed through a stereomicroscope. Local exposure to solvent fumes was used to soften the adhesive prior to mechanical reduction. This was followed by local solvent application on a suction disk to reduce staining. The advanced state of adhesive oxidation, as well as the sensitivity of the paper to solvents, made stain removal extremely problematic. Many polar solvents solubilized the adhesive by caused tidelines or overcleaning of the paper. Methylene chloride most successfully solubilized and removed the adhesive on the suction disk. VM&P naphtha was used as a barrier solvent to diminish lateral spreading of methylene chloride. Local solvent treatment was monitored by ultraviolet light.