Visible Vowels allows to convert and normalize vowel data and calculate some specific metrics. This document explains how these values are calculated. It is not written as a manual for Visible Vowels. Please contact us at email@example.com if you detect any errors, or if you want to implement other metrics. Refer to this document as: Heeringa, W. & Van de Velde, H. (2018), "The implementation of methods in Visible Vowels," vignette of the R package 'visvow'. In this document we focus on averaging and long-term formants (Section 2), scale conversion methods (Section 3), speaker normalization of formants (Section 4), speaker normalization of duration (Section 5), methods for the evaluation of speaker formant normalization methods (Section 6), methods for measuring vowel dynamics (Section 7) and exploratory methods (Section 8).


A 2-year field experiment was conducted during the rainy season of 1997 and 1998 to study the effect of 3 summer ploughing (no summer ploughing, summer ploughing and summer ploughing + FYM + insecticide + herbicide) and 6 moisture-conservation practices (uniform row sowing, paired row planting, ridge-furrow, straw mulch, kaolin and straw mulch + kaolin) on the productivity and water-use efficiency of rainfed pearlmillet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. emend. Stuntz]. Summer ploughing + FYM + insecticide + herbicide gave highest grain yield (22.70 and 25.09 q/ha in 1997 and 1998 respectively), which was at par with summer ploughing alone but significantly superior to no summer ploughing. Marked variation in water-use efficiency, consumptive use and moisture-extraction pattern by pearlmillet was observed due to summer ploughing during both the years. Straw mulch + kaolin recorded highest grain yield (21.78 and 26.97 q/ha), consumptive use (266.33 and 298.72 mm) and water-use efficiency (9.46 and 9.03 kg grain/ha/mm) in 1997 and 1998, respectively, and the lowest being by uniform row sowing. Straw mulch + kaolin and straw mulch alone were at par with each other but were superior to all other treatments in terms of yield, consumptive use and water-use efficiency.


Many researchers have suggested that premise interpretation errors can account, at least in part, for errors on categorical syllogisms. However, although it is possible to show that people make such errors in simple inference tasks, the evidence for them is far less clear when actual syllogisms are administered. Part of the problem is due to the lack of clear predictions for the solutions that would be expected when using modified quantifiers, assuming that correct inferences are made from them. This paper presents the expected solutions for Gricean, reversible, and reversible Gricean interpretations, and evaluates these using three datasets (two currently available, and one new). The evidence supported the adoption of reversible and reversible Gricean interpretations, but not Gricean interpretations on their own. These results suggest that the categorical syllogism task tends to induce different quantifier interpretations from those identified in simple inference tasks.


The goal of this work is the control of a series of carts, dragged by the first one (the only actuated cart) along parallel tracks. A very simple control law is proposed to let all the carts, which are subject to nonsmooth, unilateral impacts, move asymptotically at an assigned, common velocity. The properties of the controlled system are analytically proven and confirmed by simulation results. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper (including three studies) is to investigate the idea that individuals in an emergency situation experience significantly a higher level of emotional activation, lower performance of task, and change in decision making, escaping behavior and conformity as compared to being in a non-emergency situation. It is also suggested that the level of emotional activation mediates the association between situation and the performance of task.Design/methodology/approachStudy 1 was an experimental study with 43 university students and revealed that different situations induced different levels of emotional activation and they are positively and significantly related. Study 2 was a further exploration of study 1, in which 49 participants were asked to watch a recomposed video telling a reasonable story about escaping from the emergency and complete several tasks associated with two kinds of situations (non-emergency vs emergency). In study 3, 168 participants, randomly assigned to three groups, were asked to work on judgment tasks with different numbers of options.FindingsResults revealed that individuals in an emergency situation experience significantly lower performance of task and higher conformity tendency than in a non-emergency situation. Also, the causal effect of the situation on the performance of task is mediated by the level of emotional activation. Moreover, results found that the performance of task is also a mediator between the level of emotional activation and conformity. Result showed that the number of choices is negatively related to conformity, and performance is a mediator between the number of choices and conformity.Originality/valueThis paper suggested that the level of emotional activation mediates the association between situation and the performance of task.


Willow is an automatic and adaptive free-text scoring system. Its main purpose is to provide formative assessment to the students so that they can get more practise and feedback before their exams. It also keeps track of the terms that students use in their answers to automatically generate each particular student conceptual model and the group conceptual model. In both cases, the conceptual model can be defined as a set of concepts and their relationships that each student keeps in his or her mind about an area of knowledge. The conceptual model can be represented by COMOV as a concept map so that instructors can track students' concepts acquisition. In this paper, we present the new possibility and its consequences of showing the concept maps (from their individual and group conceptual models) not only to instructors but also to students. Moreover, to allow students to see their evolution, as they study and get more training, through their concept maps. The preliminary results of an experiment carried out with a group of students show how they like to be able to inspect their generated learning models.


This article presents a comparison of several methods for local estimation of normal direction, principal curvatures and principal directions, given a range image as input. Here we take a range image to be a set of points in 3D space; we also need a definition for neighbourhoods. All methods we compare are based on local approximation of the range image by an analytic surface or curves. Other approaches to computing curvatures also exist, and some of these are briefly described at the start of this paper. Results of using each algorithm to estimate normal direction and principle curvature on four simulated surfaces (plane, sphere, cylinder and a trigonometric surface) are presented. In particular, we discuss stability of the estimates when the data is noisy.


Abstract Records are given for 10 species of Pseudocaeciliidae from East Malaysia, representing the genera Pseudoscottiella Badonnel (1 species), Ophiodopelma Enderlein (3), Heterocaecilius Lee & Thornton (4, of which 2, H. leei and H. anareolatus are described as new and illustrated), Pseudocaecilius Hagen (1) and Lobocaecilius Lee & Thornton (1).


The hallmark of the recent latest advances in diagnostic fundus imaging technology is combination of complex hierarchical levels and depths, as well as wide-angle imaging, ultra-wide imaging. The clinical application of wide-angle and ultra-wide imaging, not only can reevaluate the role of the peripheral retina, the classification types and treatment modalities of central retinal vein occlusion, and enhance the reliability of diabetic retinopathy screening, improve the classification and therapeutic decision of diabetic retinopathy, and but also can help guide and improve laser photocoagulation. However we must clearly recognize that the dominant role of ophthalmologists in the diagnosis of ocular fundus diseases cannot be replaced by any advanced fundus imaging technology including wide-angle imaging. We emphasize to use the three factors of cognitive performance (technology, knowledge and thinking) to improve the diagnosis of ocular fundus diseases in China.

Key words:
Diagnostic techniques and procedures/trends; Diagnostic techniques, ophthalmological/trends; Editorial


Thank you for reading from news to newsprint producing a student newspaper. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have search hundreds times for their favorite novels like this from news to newsprint producing a student newspaper, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some harmful bugs inside their desktop computer.


The conservation of thermal energy applied to the upper layer of the oceans is used to predict mean monthly sea surface temperature anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere. As input data we use the sea surface temperature, the 700 mb temperature and the surface air pressure in the previous month, as prepared by NOAA.A study is carried out on the relative importance, for the predictions, of the anomalies of the horizontal transport by wind drift ocean currents, and by horizontal turbulent mixing, as well as the heating by evaporation, sensible heat given off to the atmosphere, and short and long wave radiation. To compute the wind drift ocean currents we use an Ekman model forced with a geostrophic surface wind. Numerical experiments varying the angle between the geostrophic surface wind and the resultant surface current shows that the best predictions are obtained for an angle equal to zero degrees. A verification in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans for the 36-month period from June  1980 to May 1983 shows some degree of skill in the predictions due to the heating and the turbulent mixing terms.However,the best skill is obtained when, besides these terms, the anomalies of the transport by wind drift ocean currents are included in the predictions. The skill is still substantially increased when, for computing the wind drift ocean currents and the heating, we use the prescribed geostrophic wind and the 700 –mb temperature for the current month, instead of the ones for previous month. These semipredietion experiments show that a more complete model in which the surface geostrophic wind and the air temperature are predicted, will lead to a considerable improvement in the predictions.


The four varied side chains of charged iridium(III) complexes were synthesized and characterized for organic light emitting diodes. The core materials were designed with 9,9-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-4,5-diazafluorene as the bulky N^N ligand which prevent the π-π stacking interaction in the solid state. Their photophysical and electrochemical properties were investigated. OLEDs were fabricated with the structure ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ PVK:complex (10:7 by weight)/ TPBi/LiF/Al. The similar colors were obtained with varied OLEDs performances. We concluded that the long alkyl chains affected to the excellent film-forming property of emitting layer. Therefore, the device based on the n-octyl chain namely [(9,9-bis(4-octyloxyphenyl)-9H-cyclopentadipyridine-N-N′)-bis-(2-phenylpyridine-C2′,N)-iridium(III)] haxafluorophosphate (C8) showed the maximum current efficiency and brightness of 11.37 cd/A and 3,926 cd/m2, respectively.


In this paper, we consider the multicriteria scheduling problem with release dates on single machine to minimize three criteria: maximum cost function, noted } i ∑ . The third one is constructive algorithm based on branch and bound method (BAB) to find some of the efficient so lutions when all the three criteria max max ,T


Pectinate and calcium pectinate as the carriers of delayed and controlled release drug delivery system have many advantages such as site-specific delivery, elimination of the effects of physiological condition, easily-controlled release, et al. In this paper, pectinate and calcium pectinate for colonic drug delivery and for sustained release formulation were reviewed, and the latest development and prospect in the related research were also introduced.


The practices of performance-based budgeting(PBB) in the U.S.,shows that PBB reform is in an intricate background and faces severe challenges associated with politics,culture,information,traditional government administration and the complexities of performance measurement itself.It enlightens us as to the PBB reform in China in many aspects: to recognize the complexities and difficulties correctly;to harmonize the reform with the political,administrative,cultural and social environments;to foster the budgeting culture and,to promote relevant reform so as to bring about a good internal and external environment to China's PBB reform.


We looked at the addition of a small chipper (Conehead 565) to a mechanized, tree-length system to also harvest tops, limbs, and understory (dbh 1-4 inch) biomass. Three replicates of three treatments were evaluated in a 33-year-old slash pine plantation on a flatwoods site in the lower coastal plain of Echols County, GA. Treatments included A – roundwood harvest only, B – roundwood harvest and chipping of limbs and tops, and C – roundwood harvest with chipping of limbs, tops, and understory. The site contained an estimated 7.7 tons per acre of understory biomass with an average dbh of 2 inches. Water oak, swamp bay, and red maple accounted for 73% of the stems. Roundwood production averaged 65.8 tons per acre and did not differ significantly across the three treatments. A load of chips was produced for every 18 and 5 loads of roundwood in Treatments B and C, respectively. There were significant differences in the chips produced between treatment B (3.8 tons per acre) and treatment C (10.8 tons per acre) at the 10% level but not at the 5% level. Harvest of understory stems did not significantly increase fuel consumption per ton in treatment C. Chips took twice as much fuel per ton to produce due entirely to the addition of the chipper. Chips averaged 50% moisture content (wet basis) when produced and lab results showed heat content values of 19.1 MJ/kg, comparable to other woody biomass. All chips were used in an electricity co-generation unit at a local OSB mill with satisfactory results. Nutrient removals from the site were relatively low with losses associated with Treatment B comparable to annual atmospheric deposition. Cost projections suggest that this method of producing chips can be competitive if no more than 10 loads of roundwood are harvested to produce a load of chips or at least one load of chips is produced daily. The southern USA currently has an abundance of pine pulpwood in many areas, reflected by stumpage prices that have not increased in real terms for years. In this market, landowners and forest managers often find it difficult to have thinnings of pine plantations performed at a time that maximizes the biological response to thinning. This soft market for small trees can also lead to more selective product specifications for pulpwood, leaving smaller trees in the woods after clearcuts and requiring site preparation steps to deal with these residual standing stems. With more limited use of fire and mechanical treatments as site preparation tools, dealing with residual material prior to regeneration is becoming more expensive and problematic. Additional markets for small stems that are currently unmerchantable and for residues such as limbs and tops could turn what is currently a cost item into a potential revenue stream for the forest


The interplay between big data and cloud computing is at the same time undoubtedly promising, challenging and puzzling. The current technological landscape is not without paradoxes and risks, which under certain circumstances may raise liability issues for market operators. In this article we illustrate the several challenges in terms of security and resilience that market operators face as their overcoming is of strategic importance for businesses wishing to be deemed privacy-respectful and reliable market actors. After a brief overview of the potentialities and drawbacks deriving from the combination of big data and cloud computing, this article illustrates the challenges and the obligations imposed by the European institutions on providers processing personal data – pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation – and on providers of digital services and essential services – according to the NIS Directive. We also survey the European institutions' push towards the development and adoption of codes of conduct, standards and certificates, as well as their last proposal for a new Cybersecurity Act. We conclude by showing that, despite this articulate framework, big data and cloud service providers still leverage on their strong market power to use "contractual shields" and escape liability.


Based on the theory developed in the first paper of this series, we have discussed the influences of the fluctuation waves on the critical behavior of a non-linear chemical reaction system. For this purpose, the usual bifurcation theory has been further developed and some divergence problems has been eliminated by renormalization.Taking the trimolecular model as the concrete object, the stability of the homogeneous steady state has been analysed in detail, and, in addition, we also discussed the possibility that the space structure of the density and fluctuation for a simpler case could appear.


Synthesis of aplanatic singlet for optical pickups is described. Numerical solution of proposed differentiation equations allows to recieve required surfaces at once providing attainment of axial stigmatism and sine condition for required numerical aperture.


Background and aimResearchers find that monitoring the differentiation of implanted cells in vivo is difficult. This study was designed to show that it is possible to track the efficacy of transplanted human retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE cells) in a rat model of Parkinson's disease by using positron emission tomography (PET). MethodsRPE cells or normal saline were injected into striatum of the injured side of the rat model in treated and control groups, respectively. PET imaging of both groups was undertaken before transplantation and at intervals afterwards, using 11C-raclopride and 11C-&bgr;-CFT as the markers. Observation of the rats' behaviour and immunofluorescence confocal microscopy were also used to prove the PET results. ResultsPET studies showed increased accumulation of 11C-raclopride and decreased 11C-&bgr;-CFT in the injured side of striatum in both groups. 11C-raclopride decreased along with a concomitant increase of 11C-&bgr;-CFT after transplantation in the treated group. The changes shown by the PET studies paralleled the behavioural states and confocal microscopy observations in the treated animals. ConclusionThese results suggest that even a clinical PET scanner could, to a certain extent, provide some information on the existence and in-vivo differentiation of RPE cells in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.


Powder feed injector for conveying coating powder, wherein the beam-catching channel (8) of the Forderstrahlduse (4) is made of glass.


Those who teach in prisons as employees of educational institutions or other nonprofit organizations are uniquely positioned to contribute to the public conversation about mass incarceration. Entering the prison as neither Department of Corrections' employees nor family members or friends of the incarcerated, they interact with prisoners in a distinctive way. Their positive experiences have been documented by others, but their motivations and potential as change agents have not been explored. In this study [the authors] interviewed 12 mostly long-term prison teachers in New York state and found that although they have overwhelmingly positive teaching experiences and a commitment to social justice, and although they report gaining as much from their students as they give, the teachers are disinclined to discuss their experiences and beliefs with people on the outside. This finding has important implications for those who are eager to deploy the energy and expertise of prison teachers in a public dialogue about prison rehabilitation.


We report the fabrication, luminescence characterization and effect of Ag concentration on the thermoluminescent (TL) response in the phosphate glasses doped with Dy and containing silver nanoparticles. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show the formation of silver nanoparticles (SNP), Absorption spectra of the samples show the presence of bands in 420nm and 450nm associated with the SNP (plasmón effect), and 750nm, 800nm, 875nm, 1098nm and 1278nm belonging to the Dy . Emission spectra show two prominent bands in 480nm, 574nm and one faint band in 665nm, all bands under 364nm pumping, and the fluorescence in the 550nm and 590nm spectral range enhanced 2 times. The TL response to UV irradiation was studied, the glow curve show significant dependence of the Tl intensity with the increment the SNP in the samples. Keywords— Phosphate glasses, thermoluminescence, silver nanoparticles, rare earths.


This paper examines the determinants of the boundaries of a firm. In contrast to much of the existing literature, we shy away from hold-up problems and instead focus on the firm's decision to redraw its boundaries in light of informational uncertainty. The firms faces uncertainty surrounding four key elements: (i) the profitability of a new market, (ii) whether the firm has the skills necessary for this new market, (iii) the compatibility of the new business with the firm's existing portfolio, and finally (iv) the competitive environment. We find that a firm's boundaries are determined dynamically as it tries to learn about these factors. The firm's optimal learning strategy will either be to redraw its boundaries right away, or to invest a smaller amount to learn and put itself into a position to redraw its boundaries later, or to postpone any investment until uncertainty is resolved. We also apply our model to business portfolio decisions and the incentives for firms with varying market power to pursue technological innovations. The interactions between the elements of uncertainty generate a number of empirically testable predictions, including a positive relationship between the level of competition and both the frequency of firm restructuring activity and the incentives to develop technological innovations.


The model reference adaptive method (MRAM) has been widely used in the inertia estimation of the permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) drive system. In this method, the deviation between the reference model and the estimation model is inevitable, which is the fundamental inducement for the estimation error. To this end, this work proposes an improved MRAM, which adopts a changing gain factor (GF) to reduce this deviation so as to enhance the inertia estimation accuracy. To provide the changing GF, this paper develops a single-neuron-based artificial neural network (ANN). It utilizes the deviation to adjust the GF dynamically. Furthermore, based on the instantaneous error-energy function, the proportional factor of the neuron is updated adaptively to force the estimated inertia to achieve a better tradeoff between stability and convergence rate. By simulations and real-time experiments implemented on the PMSM drive system under different working conditions, the effectiveness of the proposed methods is verified.


The experiment in the effect of the liquid from seaweed on the seed of Cucumis saticus L.and Ipomoca aquatica was conducted,and then the young plant was grown in low temperature(0 ℃ and 5 ℃).The result indicated that,compared with the CK,for Cucumis saticus L.,200 times liquid of kelp can enhance the length of major root and stem up to 59.26% and 25% and laver,the weight of root,42.35% under 0 ℃ treatment.Under 5 ℃ treatment,600 times liquid of Porphyra haitanensis can enhance the length of major root up to 12.73%;the weight of root,92.61%;the length of shoot,11.9% and the weight of shoot,42.96%.For Ipomoca aquatica,800 times liquid of Porphyra haitanensis can enhance the length of major root and the wight of shoot up to 38.1% and 53.0%;800 times liquid of kelp can enhance the wight of shoot,11.43%.And under 5 ℃ treatment,600 times liquid of Porphyra haitanensis can enhance the length of major root up to 23.53%;the weight of root,21.61% and by 10 times in the weight of shoot.


pay without subjecting themselves to subsequent financial hardships and debt. It is possible, also, that one of the reasons why so many persons have today swung away from the medical profession is due in part not only to the larger amount of specialism that has become the vogue in modern medical care, and its increased expense, but also because, with these newer procedures, there has been lost, and many times, the human understanding, sympathy, and mutual esteem between physician and patient that were so prominent a feature in medical practice up to the last decade or so. Perhaps war conditions will aid in the reestablishment of the much to be desired former physician-patient relationship. * * *


Non-destructive and contactless observations of the domain structures in a single crystal of solid solution Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–9%PbTiO3 (PZN–9PT) was performed using the scanning second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy with the spatial resolution of optical wavelength scale. A novel method of the 2D mapping of SHG polarization dependence (Pol-D) is proposed. The result indicates that the Pol-Ds correspond well to the observed SHG images of domain structures. The directions of ferroelectric spontaneous polarizations are quantitatively analysed by comparing SHG images and the Pol-Ds. It is confirmed that PZN-9PT has the monoclinic symmetry at room temperature.


Love in Marriage Whatever the reasons may be, 'love' is what now defines marriage, at least in the Western world. Although there is much to be argued against this, not in the least based on the fact that online dating, where people get in touch with each other through selection criteria and preferences that have little to do with love (level of education, income, appearance, to name a few), is becoming more and more popular every day, the vast majority of people still hold that love is what should matter the most. Yet the idea that marriage should be about love has it counterparts: where love is not supposed to matter, at least not when it comes to agreeing to a marriage. India, in this sense, is often associated with a system of 'arranged' marriages. In such marriages personal choice, or love (alone) are seen as much less solid bases for marriage. What seems to define an arranged marriage is an arrangement between different parties (usually two families). At first glance, love and arranged marriages appear to be at opposing ends of the spectrum in India.


highly developed capitalist society created rich corporeal civilization,it brings convenience to the people and meet at the same time,also digestion of the people against reality instinct,make people into substance dependency——single of them.According to Marcuse,only art can make people get rid of this repression,the realization of human instinct liberation.Therefore,art on the reality at the same time,must also be practical guidelines,in reality to open another dimension——possible liberation dimension,thus realizing free,return of human nature.


Based on the investigation in and research on the engineering environmental condition and the characteristics of self-structure and material component, and combined with age dating experiment using ESR method, this paper analyzed synthetically the deformation mechanism and formation time of some supergiant and multiple landslide, and evaluated its stability using the way of qualitative analysis.


Producing area is the source of agricultural products quality construction.In order to safeguard agricultural products quality safety,the source control should be implemented.In this article,the present situation and the shortcomings of the surveillance and law enforcement system of agricultural products in Chinese production area were analyzed.And several countermeasures were put forward.


We report on the discovery of HAT-P-10b, one of the lowest mass (0.487 ± 0.018 MJ) transiting extrasolar planets (TEPs) discovered to date by transit searches. HAT-P-10b orbits the moderately bright V = 11.89 K dwarf GSC 02340-01714, with a period P = 3.7224747 ± 0.0000065 days, transit epoch Tc = 2454759.68683 ± 0.00016 (BJD), and duration 0.1090 ± 0.0008 days. HAT-P-10b has a radius of 1.005+0.032−0.027 RJ yielding a mean density of 0.594 ± 0.052 g cm−3. Comparing these observations with recent theoretical models we find that HAT-P-10b is consistent with a ∼4.5 Gyr, almost pure hydrogen and helium gas giant planet with a 10 M⊕ core. With an equilibrium temperature of Teq = 1020 ± 17 K, HAT-P-10b is one of the coldest TEPs. Curiously, its Safronov number θ = 0.053 ± 0.002 falls close to the dividing line between the two suggested TEP populations.


In The Cosmic Perils of Qadi Ḥusayn Maybudī in Fifteenth-Century Iran Alexandra Dunietz explores the life and works of a provincial judge whose life exemplifies the intellectual, spiritual and political tensions of the Timurid, Ak Koyunlu and Safavid spheres.


Suspensions of self-propelled microscopic particles, such as swimming bacteria, exhibit collective motion leading to remarkable experimentally observable macroscopic properties. Rigorous mathematical analysis of this emergent behavior can provide significant insight into the mechanisms behind these experimental observations; however, there are many theoretical questions remaining unanswered. In this paper, we study a coupled PDE/ODE system first introduced in the physics literature and used to investigate numerically the effective viscosity of a bacterial suspension. We then examine the kinetic theory associated with the coupled system, which is designed to capture the long-time behavior of a Stokesian suspension of point force dipoles (infinitesimal spheroids representing self-propelled particles) with Lennard-Jones--type repulsion. A planar shear background flow is imposed on the suspension through the novel use of Lees--Edwards quasi-periodic boundary conditions applied to a representative volume. We s...


Valence tautomeric (VT) complexes have attracted considerable attention due to their potential application in molecular electronic devices. This class of complexes exhibits thermally and/or photoinduced rearrangements associated with an intermolecular electron transfer between the redox active ligand and the metal ion forming two isomers of similar energy. The nature of the electroactive ligand and the type of external stimulus (light, temperature, or pressure) are critical to the generation of the two electronic isomers. Although several VT complexes have been described in the literature, the search continues for species with required properties for practical applications. The aim of this article is to present some of the most relevant complexes thus far published, while discussing the main properties that a compound should present in order to become a candidate for the development of


The hydrodynamic theory of macromolecular models composed by spherical elements fails to predict the components of ihe rotational friction tensor for a given axis when the, centers of the elements lye on that axis. Generally, for models with few elements whose sizes are not much smaller than the average of the distances between them, the theory leads to erroneous results. We have found a way of correcting the results of the original theory by just adding 6Vη 0 , V being the the macromolecule's hydrated volume and η 0 the viscosity of the solvent, fo the diagonal componentes of the friction tensor. To check he performance of his correction, calcuiations have been made for two kirids of models for which exact results are available.


The use of moral clause in the U.S. first dates back as early as the 1920s. During the years, the clause has been substantially used in different context, as a political censor mechanism and to control immoral conducts of employees. Moral clauses are used in various types of contracts such as talent agreements, endorsement contracts, and general employment contracts as well. Now the prevalent norm in many talent agreements, moral clause in context of talent agreements, is a powerful mechanism that grants the contracting company a unilateral right to terminate the talent agreement. In some cases, the contracting company is permitted to take punitive action against the individual as well. This unilateral right granted to the contracting company is triggered when the individual engages in conduct or behavior that may negatively impact the public image of the company. Furthermore, the determination of whether the individual has engaged in a negative manner is primarily dependant on the company"s discretion. One of the main legal issues that arise in talent agreements is the powerful mechanism of moral clauses. In talent agreements, the contracting party and the individual, which in most cases are talents, have unequal powers in general. Though the parties may appear as equals, the moral clause is a powerful mechanism for the contracting company to terminate the contract. Thus, it makes the enforcement of the contract is far easier for the contracting party, and nearly impossible for the individual. Primarily focusing on moral clauses used in context of talent agreements, the aim of this paper is to address the legal issues of moral clauses. The paper first discusses various types of contracts, along with distinctive features of talent agreements. Next, in Chapter Ⅱ, a background of the general use of moral clauses are discussed. In Chapter Ⅳ, a more detailed look at the moral clause in terms of the risks and legal issues that permeate most talent agreements are set out in the discussion.


Ordinary multi-component silicate glasses belong to a class of amorphous insulators normally displaying no special form of magnetism, save for the Larmor dominant diamagnetism from the constituent atoms' core electrons and the extrinsic Langevin paramagnetism due to the ubiquitous Fe-group dilute paramagnetic impurities. Here we show that the macroscopic magnetisation of three case-study glass types measured in a SQUID-magnetometer cannot be explained solely by means of the Larmor-Langevin contributions. In particular, we reveal a novel intrinsic contribution to the bulk magnetisation due to the amorphous structure itself, a contribution that is peculiar both in its temperature and magnetic-field dependence and represents the first true magnetic effect in nominally non-magnetic glasses. The only theoretical interpretation we know of for such an effect and which can consistently explain the experimental data demands the re-thinking of the atomic organisation of glasses at the nanometric scale. 1 ar X iv :2 11 1. 00 61 4v 1 [ co nd -m at .m es -h al l] 3 1 O ct 2 02 1 A. Introduction. Glasses are ubiquitus substances known to mankind since pre-history and yet still presenting many unsolved mysteries to the inquisitive scientific mind. What is the precise nature of the atomic structure of glasses, especially at medium-range (MR) scales and determining the physical properties of these non-crystalline solids? Are glasses just dynamically arrested liquids or rather a peculiar new type of solids? What degrees of freedom truly control the onset of vetrification, i.e. the glass "transition", and convesely: how best to describe the melting of a glass? How can we describe theoretically their physical properties on the basis of a universal, composition-independent modeling framework that would allow for the theoretical control and engineering of the desired glass properties? All of these questions and the quest for new technically exploitable or interesting physical effects make glasses a very much active and attractive field of research in condensed matter physics. Where the first of the above questions is concerned – MR structure – several scenarious have been proposed over the last hundred years [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. A much acclaimed approach considers (so-called) network glasses as continuouslyand homogeneously-disordered media at the local (atomic), MR and longrange lenght scale: it is the so-called continuous-random-network (CRN) model of Zachariasen and Warren [3, 4]. However, other scientists have suggested to further elaborate upon the CRN approach in favour of heterogeneous mesoscopic scenarios [1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10]. Moreover, scenarios have been proposed where the dynamical heterogeneities (DH) known to characterise the supercooled liquid state [13] continue to exist (albeit somewhat more statically) also below Tg, the nominal temperature of glass formation [8, 9, 11, 12]. One of these non-CRN scenarios views glasses as made up of solid-like particle regions jammed together somewhat below Tg and presenting liquid-like regions in-between [11]. Remarkably, the liquid-like regions between the solid ones may become the sources of collective orbital magnetic moments that appear to generate an intrinsic contribution to the glass sample's magnetisation mimicking the known Langevin paramagnetism from isolated impurities. In the ordinary silicate glasses the latter are typically from Fe and the Fe-group trace elements [14]. The extra intrinsic magnetic moments issue from specialized, magnetic-field sensitive tunneling systems (TS) believed to be responsible for a plethora of magnetic effects at low temperatures in glasses [11, 15, 16]. These and the more standard TS (the so-called two-level systems (TLS) [17, 18, 16]) might be part of the degrees of freedom sought for in order to investigate the physical properties of glasses at higher temperatures too [19]. In current strategic terms, as it turns out, a better characterisation of the standard TLS (which are parasitic yet ubiquitous defects in glasses) is paramount for high-technology developments and crucial to awaited breakthroughs. For example in fields like the improved detection of gravitational waves [20, 21], the fabrication of coherent qubits for superconductor-based quantum computers [22], and noise-reduction within quantum-information repeaters (quantum memories) in fiber-glass optical transmission [23, 24, 25]. A better understanding of the atomic nature of the TS is therefore also long awaited for [16]. In this Letter we present what we believe to be an important contribution to furthering knowledge in all of the above-mentioned basic and advanced research areas by providing the first report of the exotic and genuinelymagnetic effect in glasses consistent with the theory briefly outlined above [11, 14, 15]. A completely new physical effect in glasses, which is weak but laden with important consequences. We have investigated experimentally and theoretically three case-study systems within the class of multicomponent silicate glasses: Edmund Optics' BK7 (boro-silicate best optical glass, with main composition K2O-B2O3-Na2O-SiO2); Schott's Duran (boro-silicate best chemistry glass, main composition Al2O3-Na2OB2O3-SiO2) and Heraeus' IP-211-clear (bario-allumino-silicate coating glass, main composition CaO-Al2O3BaO-SiO2, hereafter termed BAS in short). However, we have good reasons to believe that our findings and their possible explanation (with appropriate revealing conditions and different main microscopic players) should be pertinent to all amorphous solids (bulk glasses and amorphous films, though not necessarily to the non-atomistic colloidal glasses). We have systematically investigated the dependence of M (the macroscopic magnetisation of point-like samples) on T (temperature) and H (magnetic field), in the range 2 ≤ T ≤ 315 K and 0.5 ≤ H ≤ 65 kOe by means of a SQUID-magnetometer and for the above-mentioned glassy solids. In such insulating glasses, the SQUID-characterisation is normally employed to asses the trace-like (ppm) content of paramagnetic impurities (iron, typically) from a single M vs. 1/T chart at fixed H. The idea, never challenged thus far (however, see [14]), has been that only Fe is present in such systems. Then, the best-fit to the data with the textbook form [26] (hereafter already extended for more than one paramagnetic species):


Abstract A combined transverse-Hadamard-spectroscopic-imaging (HSI) and polarization-transfer (PT) technique is described. Using average-Hamiltonian theory, composite pulses, which perform plane rotations in the presence of chemical shift, and J coupling are described. These pulses are used as building blocks in the HSI-PT experiment. The technique is demonstrated, using INEPT as the polarization-transfer sequence in a 2 × 2 and a 4 × 2 HSI, by obtaining multivolume-localized 13 C spectra from two different phantoms.


Forward hadron calorimeter (FHCAL) at MPD/NICA experimental setup is described. The main purpose of the FHCAL is to provide an experimental measurement of a heavy-ion collision centrality (impact parameter) and orientation of its reaction plane. Precise event-by-event estimate of these basic observables is crucial for many physics phenomena studies to be performed by the MPD experiment. The simulation results of FHCAL performance are presented.


⎯ This paper presents a novel chaos-based cryptosystem for secure transmitted images. In the proposed block encryption/decryption algorithm, two chaotic permutation methods (key-dependant shift approach and Socek method) are used to shuffle the image pixel bits. These methods are controlled using a perturbed chaotic PWLCM map. The perturbing orbit technique improves the dynamical statistical properties of generated chaotic sequences. Our algorithm is based on tree encryption cryptosystems (Socek, Yang and Xiang algorithms). In this paper, we prove that the proposed cryptosystem overcomes the drawbacks of these algorithms. Finally, many standard tools are performed to quantify the security level of the proposed cryptosystem, and experimental results show that the suggested cryptosystem has a high security level.


This repository of value instruments includes the numerous authorized language versions of each of the four instruments developed by Schwartz to measure the basic values in his theory: The Schwartz Value Survey (SVS), the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ40), the PVQ21 (aka the Human Values Scale of the European Social Survey [ESS21]), and the revised PVQ-RR. For each instrument, the repository includes instructions for coding and analysis and the most important references relevant to it. A short introductory essay briefly outlines the key assumptions underlying the theory and instruments, the principles that organize the values into a circle, and the translation protocol. The essay includes a table that compares the four instruments on 12 characteristics relevant for choosing the one most appropriate for use in a particular study.


i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES iv INTRODUCTION 1 Objective and Expected Outcomes 2 STUDY AREAS 2 METHODS 4 Herd, sample unit, and winter range designations 4 Survey Techniques 4 Snow Surveys 7 Analysis 7 RESULTS 8 Calf Recruitment Surveys 8 Late-winter Survey 8 Field Survey 8 Population Estimate 10 DISCUSSION AND MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS 10 LITERATURE CITED 13 MCNAY AND AL WILDLIFE INFOMETRICS INC. Caribou populat ion est imates iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Selected population parameters from previous surveys of caribou in the Wolverine and Chase herds of north-central British Columbia. 2 Table 2. Composition of woodland caribou groups observed during population surveys (PN – post neonatal mortality, PS – post summer mortality, and LW – late winter) and stratified by range type (At = alpine, SAt = area between Alpine and low-elevation, and Low = low-elevation) conducted within the Wolverine and Chase caribou herd areas in north-central British Columbia. Table values represent the number of caribou followed by the standard error in parentheses. 9 Table 3. Sampling effort used to estimate populations for selected woodland caribou herds during a survey conducted February-March 2009 in north-central British Columbia. 10


Based on the time-domain analysis on three-phase three-wire active power filter current control loop,the common sliding-mode control strategy of current control-loop is deduced.The control performance is analyzed,the proposed control strategy can provide a good dynamic response of the current tracking control,and reduce chattering,and has the characteristics of simple computation and easy application.Simulation results show its validity and feasibility.


Human disease is often associated with complex dynamical features. This observation suggests various directions for research including collecting data over long times, developing mathematical models for diseases and studying the effects of parameter changes in the models, developing biological models that display complex rhythms mimicking the disease, and developing therapies.


1. Congregations as Community Organizations 2. Congregations as Urban Organizations 3. Types of Congregations 4. How Well Do Congregations Know Their Neighbors? 5. Is Smaller Better? 6. Can Congregations Impart Values? 7. What Happens to Congregations? 8. Crossing Boundaries Cautiously 9. Realistic Expectations


The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of differential speed limits (DSL) on vehicle speed and crash characteristics on rural Interstate highways. To achieve these objectives, speed and crash data during the 1990's from states employing either DSL or uniform speed limits were analyzed. Speed data were collected from 5 states, and crash data were collected from 6 states. Both speed and crash data were categorized by state into four groups according to the speed limits implementation status during the 1990's, and analyses were conducted for each group, then compared to draw conclusions. For the speed data, five measures of effectiveness (MOE's ) were examined, including mean speed, speed variance, 85th percentile speed, median speed and noncompliance. For the crash data, crash rates were examined by collision type (e.g. rear-end), vehicle type involved (any vehicle or truck involved) and crash severity. In crash analysis, this study did not find any obvious relationship between the crash rates and speed limits, and thus no evidence was found to support that either DSL or uniform speed limits are more beneficial to vehicle safety on rural Interstate highways. In speed analysis, the mean speed of all vehicles on the rural Interstate highways kept a natural increasing trend regardless of speed limit changes.


Aim: To evaluate the influence of organ culture media on corneal endothelial cell survival. Methods: The human corneal endothelial cell line HCEC-12 was cultured in five different media: HCEC growth medium F99HCEC, standard corneal organ culture medium MEM+2% FCS, MEM+5% FCS, and humanised, serum-free medium Endothelial-SFM (with and without antibiotics). Part of the cells were treated with 0.5μmol/l staurosporine and examined for signs of apoptosis by assessing mitochondrial membrane polarisation state (intravital JC1 staining), YO-PRO-1 and propidium iodide staining, determining fragmentation of nuclei by sub-G1 DNA content, immunocytochemistry for cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-8, Bax, Bcl-2, and western blotting for cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved PARP. Results: The number of apoptotic cells in untreated control cultures was significantly higher in MEM compared to F99HCEC and SFM. Staurosporine treatment induced apoptosis in all tested cultures to varying degrees. Cells cultured in MEM showed stronger staining for cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-8, Bax, Bcl-2, and cleaved PARP, increased sub-G1 DNA content, more propidium iodide and YO-PRO-1 positive cells, and more mitochondria with depolarised membranes. All parameters were significantly higher in MEM compared to F99HCEC and SFM. SFM cultures were significantly less susceptible to cell stress. Conclusion: SFM is superior to MEM in promoting HCEC survival.


The temporary loss of a large quantity of radioactive material at Toronto General Hospital instigated a careful review of the hospital's method of handling radiopharmaceuticals. As a result of this review, a new unit designated the radiopharmacy was developed jointly by the department of pharmaceutical services and the division of nuclear medicine. Three model radiopharmacies (based on the type of hospital) are discussed. (LK)


1. From 1928 to 1935, inclusive, 301 patients were operated on for scoliosis at the New York Orthopaedic Dispensary and Hospital. Of these, 265 had had previous correction of the deformity in the wedging jacket.

2. The results of this treatment were excellent or good in 79.7 per cent., fair in 15.6 per cent., and poor in 4.7 per cent.


On 10 July 1950, at the celebrations marking the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Wiesbaden Chamber of Artisans (Handwerkskammer), its president Karl Schöppler announced: 'Today industry is in no way the enemy of Handwerk. Handwerk is not the enemy of industry.…' These words, which accurately reflected the predominant point of view of the post-war chamber membership, and certainly of its politically influential leadership, marked a new era in the social, economic and political history of German artisans and, it is not too much to say, in the history of class relations in (West) Germany in general. Schöppler's immediate frame of reference was the long-standing and extremely consequential antipathy on the part of artisans towards industrial capitalism, an antipathy of which his listeners were well aware.


The intermetallic rare-earth compounds of the general formula R Cot (a C 15 Laves-phase cubic structure) are collinear ferrimagnets and have two magnetic subsystems. One is formed by the localized moments of the rare earth, while the other is formed by the moments of the collectivized 3d electrons of cobalt hybridized with 5d electrons of the rare earth. The exchange between the d electrons is insufficient for a spontaneous splitting of the d band, so that compounds with nonmagnetic rare earths 1igor, LuCo2) are exchange-intensified Pauli paramagnets'r and the magnetization of the d-electron subsystem in compounds with magnetic rare earths is due to an R-d exchange interaction, which is strongest in GdCot.


. Diatoms are the most recent major algal lineage added to the geological record, appearing more than 200 million years ago. They are stramenopile protists resulting from a secondary endosymbiotic event that yielded the only photosynthetic protistan lineage express- ing external siliceous cell wall structures called frustules. Many diatoms also have large internal vacuoles, and a common assumption in the literature is that success of the diatoms is largely attributable to these two morphological inventions: the frustule for defense and vacuole for luxury nutrient uptake. Here, we revisit the evolution of these inventions, propose sequential steps in frustule development, replace luxury nutrient uptake with predator defense and buoyancy control as the driver of vacuole expansion, and suggest that perhaps the greatest significance of the frustule for diatom evolution is the secondary consequence of enhancing sexual reproduction. In this synthesis, we emphasize a distinction between the " general " success of diatoms and the success of " bloom-forming " species, as the physiological and morphological drivers of these successes differ. Importantly, the bloom-forming species are responsible for the major role of diatoms in aquatic biogeochemical cycles. The bloom-forming habit we ascribe to specific physiological attributes that, at their core, revolve around influencing the balance between diatom growth and losses to predators. We propose that these physiological adaptations are linked to size-dependent maximum division rates in bloom- forming diatoms, because of size scaling of predator – prey interactions. The existence of these bloom-forming species yields an apparent allometric relationship that has previously been interpreted in terms of nutrient acquisition. Our analysis yields insights into species succes-sions during blooms, considers the fundamental benefit of blooming (and subsequent sinking) from a reproductive standpoint, and provides some reinterpretation of diatoms success over geologic time and in the modern ocean.


Between 1969 and 1978 at the CHR of Nantes we isolated Streptococcus pneumoniae from 815 swabs taken from 591 patients and which provided 595 different strains. Serotyping of all the strains was carried out using the capsular reaction test. The prevalence of the different serovars varied according to the year and the type of swab. No resistant strains to benzylpenicillin or ampicillin were observed. There was significant resistance to sulphonamides and tetracycline : 24,3 and 29,6% respectively. The American vaccine containing the greatest number of serovars was effective for only 69,8% of the strains isolated in Nantes.


Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is the most common endocrinopathy in pediatric age group, due to an autoimmune process characterized by a selective destruction of insulin producing pancreatic β-cells progressing over different stages [1]. T1DM develops in ge‐ netically susceptible subjects by activation of so far uncharacterized environmental fac‐ tors that trigger an inflammatory process with infiltration of pancreatic islets and subsequent loss of β-cells. Despite the growing incidence of T1DM, the causative mecha‐ nisms are not completely defined up to now, and the identification of factors triggering the immune process represents a challenge for clinical immunologists, with practical, di‐ agnostic and therapeutic implications [2,3]. The clinical onset of T1DM is preceded by an asymptomatic period characterized on pathology grounds by insulitis, i.e. an infiltration of the pancreatic islet of Langerhans by CD4+, CD8+ T lymphocytes (both Th1 and Th2 subsets), B lymphocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells. T lymphocytes can differenti‐ ate into 2 major subsets: Th1, producing IL-2 and IFN-γ, and Th2, secreting mainly IL-4. All these cells produce cytokines which can be directly cytotoxic to β-cells or play an in‐ direct role on β-cell destruction influencing some cells of the immune system, then re‐ sulting in either acceleration or arrest of the immune attack [4]. Worldwide T1DM incidence has grown more than two to three fold during the last decades, particularly in Finland, where T1DM incidence has increased from 12 to 63 cases per 100,00 [5]. A rais‐ ing incidence has also been reported in Italy, where Sardinia Region shows an incidence rate similar to Finland, therefore is called "Hot Spot" [6,7]. Interestingly, this rise of inci‐ dence was not followed by a parallel increased frequency of the major risk genes [8]. T1DM can be defined as a polygenic disease, and the genes mainly involved include


Substrate bending by multilayer coating of Ta2O5/SiO2 has been investigated quantitatively. By introducing fitting parameters to modified Stoney's formula, the amount of the bending has been calculated to accuracies of less than 𝜆⁄10 at 633nm.


``Gummy'' metals that are both soft and highly strain-hardening, like aluminum, iron, nickel, and stainless steels, are quite difficult to cut, owing to very large deformation forces and poor surface quality. The authors show how this difficulty, a consequence of unsteady plastic flow, can be overcome using a mechanochemical effect: changes in deformation promoted by a suitable coating. From glues to inks, applying any of a host of household media to the metal's surface induces a change in flow mode via a local ductile-to-brittle transition, which strongly enhances cutting. These results have wide-ranging implications for industrial machining and forming processes.


In the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church on the festivals of saints there is a number of customs and religious rituals related to the agrarian work. In the spring one of this kind of celebration in the folk religion was the Feast of St. Mark's (25.04), when people prayed for abundant harvest and protection from all natural disasters, as well as Rogation Days celebrated before the feast of the Ascension (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday). These customs have their origins in the fifth century in Gaul (France), from the sixth century they were also practiced in Rome. During supplicatory procession the faithful stopped at the roadside chapels and crosses, chanting litanies, and from the ninth century this was "Litany of the Saints", antiphons and psalms in honor of a patron saint or other saints who enjoyed a particular devotion in a given parish or diocese. The procession ended in a church, where Mass was celebrated. Currently in Poland the feast of the Ascension is celebrated on the Sunday before Pentecost. Rogation Days are also called days of prayer for good harvests and in the intention of countries suffering starvation. It is recommended to organize supplicatory processions and celebration of the votive Mass on Monday "in the period of sowing", on Tuesday – "the sanctification of human labor" and on Wednesday – "for the hungry."


The large penetration of renewable energy resources is demanding additional flexibility for the operation of power systems. In this sense, real world applications are proving that wind power units are able to provide part of the required flexibility. Therefore, these new sources of flexibility need to be considered by power system planners in order to make appropriate generation capacity expansion decisions. This paper proposes a generation and storage capacity expansion formulation considering that wind power units are able to participate in the reserve provision service. The proposed model is a stochastic linear program that is solved using a commercial solver. A case study based on the isolated power system of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in Spain is solved to quantify the impact of considering the reserve provision of wind power in capacity investment decisions.


This essay reviews models of strategic mobilization and turnout, focusing on two important questions about the effects of electoral rules. First, how does the disproportionality of the electoral system affect the variance and mean of mobilization and turnout? This question has been investigated at least since Gosnell (1930). In addition to reviewing the literature, I argue that extant models should pay more explicit attention to secondary mobilization (conducted by interest groups, activists, and ordinary voters). Second, how do electoral rules regulating the electoral calendar and vote fusion affect mobilizational spillovers and, hence, incentives to build mobilizational alliances? This question has attracted less attention from modelers but is well represented in the empirical literature.


Tricuspid Annular Plane Systolic Excursion (Tapse) and peak systolic velocity (PSV) are important parameters used as reference in diagnostic procedure during normal and pathological conditions of cardiovascular health. We investigated association between TAPSE, Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and carotid artery peak systolic velocity in a group of 150 healthy young adults between ages (18 and 30 years) with normal vital statistics and no established history of underlying heart conditions. Systolic blood pressure was taken using auscultatory method, while ultrasound scan was used for TAPSE and PSV. Pearson's correlation analysis of data, for Tapse and systolic blood pressure showed no correlation, r = -0.025, but for Tapse and PSV a very weak positive correlation, r = 0.1; Meanwhile a comparison of the mean Tapse between male and female gender showed that Tapse in male (24.17 ± 3.92 mm) was not significantly different from female (23.60 ± 4.43 mm). The results imply that in the study population, right ventricular function which is evaluated by the value of Tapse is not associated with systolic blood pressure, but has very weak correlation with PSV. Also, there does not appear to be significant difference in this function across gender.


Aiming at the target detection of HF surface radar,the time-frequency distributing is selected to research on the nonstationary target detection.The bilinear time frequency distribution is discussed,especially the effect of kernel function in restraining the cross terms.The result of the modeling indicated the pseudo-Wigner-Ville distribution is better in the restraining and the smooth pseudo-WV distribution is the best in the all for restraining the cross-term.


Nucleotide sequences of seven chloroplast (atpB and rbcL, SSU and LSU rDNAs), mitochondrial (atp1, LSU rDNA), and nuclear (18S rDNA) genes from 192 land plants and their algal relatives were analyzed using maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony methods. Liverworts, mosses, hornworts, lycophytes, monilophytes (ferns), seed plants, and angiosperms all represent strongly supported monophyletic groups. Three bryophyte lineages form a paraphyletic group to vascular plants, with liverworts representing the sister to all other land plants and hornworts being sister to vascular plants. Lycophytes are sister to all other vascular plants, which are divided into two clades, one being monilophytes, which include Equisetum, Psilotaceae‐Ophioglossaceae, Marattiaceae, and leptosporangiate ferns, and the other being seed plants. Relationships among the monilophyte lineages remain unresolved. Within seed plants, extant gymnosperms form a moderately supported clade in which Gnetales are related to conifers. This clade is sister to angiosperms. Most of the relationships among all major lineages of nonflowering land plants are supported by bootstrap values of 75% or higher, except those among basal monilophyte lineages and among some gymnosperm lineages, probably because of extinctions. The closest algal relative of land plants is Characeae, and this relationship is well supported. Several methodological issues on reconstructing large, deep phylogenies are also discussed.


A highly effective bicycloannulation methodology for the synthesis of berban and yohimban alkaloid systems is described. Three-component coupling reactions of 2,4-pentadienyltin reagents with C=N bonds and α,β-unsaturated acyl chlorides furnish bicycloannulated products in a one-pot operation. For example, the reactions of 2,4-pentadienyltributyltin (1) with isoquinoline derivatives activated by acryloyl chloride afford the tetracyclic (±)-allo-berban systems stereoselectively


Background . Methodical training plays a leading role in future biology specialists' professional education; it is assumed to be a backbone component of future educators' professional readiness in modern scientific research. The methodical training of future biology teachers is interpreted as a determined acquisition of methodological knowledge and skills in the context of methodical tasks related to school course of biology and their solving. New tendencies of school biology education development, implementation of innovative pedagogical technologies into teaching process, development of modern training resources provided the necessity to modernize methodical training of future biology educators in pedagogical universities. The objective of this research is giving a scientific ground to the methodical training system of future biology teachers and checking the effectiveness of its implementation at pedagogical universities. Methods. During the implementation of this research the complex of general scientific methods has been used: theoretical ones (scientific literature analysis, terminological analysis, comparison, systematization and generalization of scientific results), empirical ones (observation, discussions, questionnaire, testing for the determination of future biology educators' method competence level, pedagogical experiment with qualitative and quantitative analysis of results), mathematical statistics method. The total number of 482 students of Ukrainian pedagogical universities were involved in the experiment. Results. After the implementation of pedagogical experiment the number of students with high level of methodical readiness has significantly increased (according to motivation component – by 9,7% cognitive one – by 5,8%, active one – by 6,2%, reflexive one – by 10,5%), with satisfactory level (according to motivation component – by 12,9%, cognitive one – by 25,2%, active one – by 19,3%, reflexive one – by 8,8%); the number of students with low level has decreased respectively (according to motivation component – by 15,9%, cognitive one – by 24,3%, active one – by 20,5%, reflexive – by 11,3%). Conclusion. According to the results of experiment it can be claimed that implementation of future biology teachers' experimental methodical training system provides the enhancement of students' methodical proficiency level and higher quality of their professional readiness at pedagogical universities of Ukraine.


In this thesis, we present two aspects of higher-spin gauge field theories: dualities and interactions. We first consider dualities of the free theories at the level of the action. Then, external "electric" and "magnetic" sources are introduced a la Dirac, which leads to a quantization condition on the product of conserved "electric" and "magnetic" higher-spin charges. In the second part, higher-spin interactions are studied in the field-antifield (or BRST) formalism. Theorems are proved about local interactions of sets of exotic spin-two fields, as well as of sets of symmetric spin-three fields. Some consistent first-order vertices are obtained.
The table of contents is as follows. 1.Free higher-spin gauge fields. 2.Spin-s duality. 3.Spin-s electric-magnetic duality. 4.Field-Antifield Formalism. 5.Interactions for exotic spin-2 fields. 6.Interactions for spin-3 fields.


Analog circuits fault diagnosis using multifractal analysis is presented in this paper. The faulty response of circuit under test is analyzed by multifratal formalism, and the fault feature consists of multifractal spectrum parameters. Support vector machine is used to identify the faults. Experimental results prove the proposed method is effective and the diagnosis accuracy reaches 98%.


The full velocity-angular momentum distribution function for gas-phase N2+ drifting in helium is calculated using a molecular dynamics method, and utilized to examine collision-induced rotational alignment in detail. These results are also compared with experimental measurements, most especially those of Anthony et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 112, 10269 (2000)] and those appearing in the preceding article [Anthony et al., J. Chem. Phys. 114, 6654 (2001)]. Both the calculations and experiments show a number of interesting features including, drift velocities which depend upon rotational state, and quadrupolar alignment parameters which change from negative at high velocities to positive at low velocities.


Nitrogen [N]-incorporated ZnO films with columnar grains of a preferred c-axis orientation were deposited on p-Si (100) wafers, using an RF magnetron sputter deposition technique. For the N incorporation into the ZnO films, an N2O gas was used as a doping source and also various process conditions such as N2O gas fraction and RF power were applied. Besides, some of the ZnO films were treated with the post annealing process. And then, the micro-structural characteristics of the N-incorporated ZnO films were investigated by a scanning electron microscope, an X-ray diffractometer, and an atomic force microscope techniques. Finally, employing the N-incorporated ZnO films, the solidly mounted resonator-type film bulk acoustic wave resonator devices were fabricated and their resonance characteristics were extracted. As a result, an excellent return loss (S11) of− 63 dB was observed at∼ 0.6 GHz, better than ever reported.


ABSTRACT

Two macro-roughness patterns namely spiral grooving and diamond knurling were performed on an AISI/SAE 1045 cylindrical steel bar. Al2O3 + 13 wt.-% TiO2 powder was deposited by utilizing a multi-pass torch. Microstructure, microhardness and wear resistance were analyzed. The presence of both γ-Al2O3 and α-Al2O3 throughout the coating was promoted by partially melted and un-melted particles; however, the formation of interlayers of hard α-Al2O3 was influenced by the re-heating during the multi-pass torch causing transformation from γ-Al2O3→α-Al2O3. Knurling pattern specimens contained less defects owe to a suitable splat accommodation thus strengthening the inter-splat anchorage. The improved sliding wear resistance was influenced by both the combination of γ-Al2O3 (toughness) and α-Al2O3 (hardness) phases and, predominantly by the reduced porosity and micro-cracks in specimens with the knurling pattern.


Globally health care delivery is under increasing pressure. Achieving the United Nation's 2030 sustainable development goals remains challenging. The emergence of new and often devastating infections, the increasing complexity of non-communicable disease and co-morbidity in an ageing population and the harsh reality of globalisation appear to exacerbate, rather than reduce, inequities in health care delivery worldwide. The Lancet report Health professionals for a new century highlights that '20th century educational strategies are unfit for 21st century challenges'. The report emphasises that, to meet population demands, education is intrinsically linked with workforce development. Yet we have been, arguably, slow to address this. It is truly time for medical educators to take a reality check.


With the chiral monomer mono-(6-acryl ethylenediamino-6-deoxy)-β-cyclodextrin twenty acetate(M1) and liquid crystal monomer 4-[(p-undecylen-1-yloxy) benzoyloxy]-4'-(p-ethoxy)benzoyloxy biphenyl ester(M2) both grafted onto the backbone of polymethylhydrosiloxane,a new kind of liquid crystalline polymers P1~P7 containing β-cyclodextrin was prepared. Their structures and properties were characterized with FT-IR,1HNMR,DSC,POM,TG,X-ray and SROT. The results showed that M1 is a chiral non-mesogenic monomer whose optical rotation is +95.30 and M2 presents a threaded texture of the nematic phase,while P1~P7 are thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers with high thermal stability and 5% heat loss about 300℃. With increasing M1 content in the polymers,the liquid crystal phase is shortened and specific opticity is increased.


Data on the management of Micra transcatheter pacing system (TPS) at the time of an upgrade or during battery depletion is limited.


The overall economics of a geothermal project are basically governed by the formation temperature gradient and the productivity of the reservoir. At the Chair of Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Recovery, a simulator has been developed considering different well geometries and casing strings or liner completions as well as total or partial cementation. In order to optimize heat transfer or to minimize losses, various tubing types like gas‐ or vacuum isolated pipes as well as relined or outside coated pipes can be simulated. The program also allows the simulation of transient states as well as the circulation of various media with various rates in closed systems. This enables the optimisation of energy recovery by simulating various materials and circulation rates over a long term, which is essential for the evaluation of the economical limits and energy efficiency of a geothermal project. The program can also be used for the simulation of oil and gas production since the conservation of energy results in less friction losses and higher flow velocities in gas wells which finally results in better deliquification behaviour.


In the national economic development in Indonesia, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) become a priority to be developed, because SMEs can be the backbone of the populist economic system to reduce the problem of poverty. In addition, the development of SMEs is able to expand the economic base and can contribute to the increase of added value, in addition it would also serve to open employment opportunities in rural areas. Indramayu is one of the three mango production centers in West Java that face the problem that there are about 20% of the mangoes that is not worth selling. This opportunity is utilized by women who are members of KUB (Joint Business Group) to be processed into mango dodol at household scale. But this effort has not been widespread, only pioneered by a small portion of women. This study aims toobserve the driving force of women to participate in the processing of mango dodol, and whether the mango processing business to become mango dodol is profitable, also how much added value obtained. This study uses case study method with interview for data collection, participant observation and documentation study. While the data analysis technique using Hayami Value-added Method and descriptive analysis. The results revealed that the factors that affect the women's participation in the processing of dodol is to increase family income, take advantage of spare time and take advantage of rejected mangoes. The added value obtained in mango dodol processing is Rp.50.600,00 per kilogram of input, with a value-added ratio of 52.8%. For the development of SMEs mangoes Training and socialization are needed for the good dodol processing and hygienic according to SOP (Standard Operational Procedure) from the relevant institutions, innovation in packaging, pioneering business partnerships with stores in the city of Indramayu and surrounding areas, and support financing from banks with an affordable interest rate.


In the development of individual businesses today there are many companies in the service sector in various middle to upper classes. With these conditions, businesses must compete with their competitors in order to survive and remain the first choice for consumers so that they do not experience bankruptcy or heavy losses. Warung Joss Special abbreviated as WJS is a restaurant that was established in April 2015, located on Jl. Ki Mangun Sarkoro Tulungagung Regency. WJS provides several menus that are in demand by consumers including Original Fried Rice, Mawut Fried Rice, Fried Egg Fried Rice, Sausage Fried Rice, Boiled Noodles and various beverages such as Ice Tea / Warm, Ice Degan. One of the fundamental aspects to keep a company going is to pay attention to the external aspects of the company, especially in terms of how the company markets its products. The theory that is still relevant to be used as a tool for analyzing external situations and comparing them to internal situations is the SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) method. A method that will measure the extent of external conditions and internal conditions of the company. From this SWOT analysis an alternative marketing strategy is obtained which is then processed using the AHP method, which is a decision-making method by compiling a hierarchy, determining priorities and testing the data used with consistency test to find out whether the data used is consistent or not.


As part of the cultural heritage, the ancient admonitory writings for officials deserve to be inherited critically. Firstly, this paper elucidates that impartiality and integrity are not only the core of the admonitory writings, but the important yardstick to measure the quality of officials. "Nothing is more significant than impartiality in conducting public duties." "Integrity is the essential code according to which officials maintain the government." Secondly, this paper surveys the relations between "public interest" and "private interest", "thrift" and "venality", which are closely connected with impartiality and integrity. The author holds that the present society will surely absorb the quitessence of the ancient administrative theory and the ancient admonitory writings for officials will act as a useful mirror for us.


The present invention relates to a planetary hybrid vehicle powertrain system and the use of the power system. Wherein the planetary hybrid powertrain system includes an engine, motor no, II motors, front planetary row after row of the planetary system and the output shaft, the first sun gear connected to the motor by the front One lock or release the lockup clutch, the former a carrier drivingly connected to the engine; rear sun gear connected to the motor and II, after the carrier and the planetary line system connected to the output shaft, the front ring gear and the rear planetary sun gear connected to the rear row; for the ring gear is connected to the a ring gear lock or release the lockup clutch; provided for at least the rear planetary respectively engaged and disengaged during the discharge as a whole and that the rotation between two teeth of the rear ring gear, the carrier and the sun wheel ring, the carrier and the sun gear rotatably relative to the clutch mode. The planetary type hybrid power system can be easily achieved and high-low speed switching mode power cycle to avoid problems.


The development of Kampung Inggris has impact on Pare's citizen social and
economic changes. It is because there are more students coming from all over
Indonesia even from foreign countries. This rapid development is not because of the
promotion of Kampung Inggris itself but only based on word of mouth.
This research was aimed to describe WOM techniques that used by Kampung
Inggris for promotion and the factors that influence the WOM communication by
individual experience. The theory that used is Marketing Mix from McCharty that
consisted of Product, Price, Place, and Promotion and supported by former research
about word of mouth.This Individual experience was explained by phenomenology
methods that focus on individual experience in understanding a thing. Researcher
used depth interview technique towards seven respondents who come from
management of course institutions, Kampung Inggris alumni, and management of
Eureka Tour. Beside that, researcher also did passive observation for adding
information that can support the statement from respondents.
The results of this research indicated that word of mouth communication that
occurs on Kampung Inggris promotional process is not a thing that being planned or
scripted. Word of mouth communications that appear is caused by consumer
satisfaction from their unforgettable and impressive experience during their study in
Kampung Inggris, environment, live atmosphere, and the routine that different from
their habits. So, this kind of word of mouth that happened is personal experiences.
The techniques that emerged is alumni telling their personal experience to people
around them, than discussing about product information, and the last is to giving
recommendation from alumni for course institutions and dormitories choices. Beside
that, giving T-Shirt as souvenir also made discussion about Kampung Inggris that
ended up giving recommendation for the others to come to Kampung Inggris. Thus,
business in educational services focus on product packaging that makes personal
experience for their consumer that will boost word of mouth so will make those brand
grow fast.
Key words: word of mouth, WOM, Kampung Inggris, Promotion


Baltic Freight Index is highly regarded by maritime trade and international trade realm. The fluctuation rule of BFI is regarded increasingly. At present, the method in forecasting BFI is mostly time series model. But the complex calculation and low adaptability is its limitation. Utilizing the non-linear mapping function of BP neural networks, this paper creates a model to forecast BFI. The model forecasts BFI from short-term and medium-long-term angle. At last, the model is validated by practical data. The result indicates the high precision of this model.


The phenomenon of sound symbolism or phonetic symbolism in language has been noticed by previous writers; sounds that have deducible meanings have been referred to as phonaesthemes. Sound symbolism is interesting because it violates the principle of the separation of sound and meaning in language: in Saussure's terms l'arbitraire du signe. This paper reports the results of a method of analyzing sound symbolism in English, in which the rimes of one-syllable words are analyzed for common semantic themes. It is found that some rimes are of arbitrary semanticity, whereas others show one or a limited number of semantic themes. It is proposed that the theoretical framework known as construction grammar can be useful in understanding this sound symbolism. A concept of phonosemantic feature is put forward, which refers to dimensions of meaning which help to structure the lexicon. Phonosemantic features are analogous to the distinctive features of phonology in that, although not units of meaning in themselves, they constitute a set of dimensions which can underlie the more specific meanings of lexemes. Phonosemantic features also function in constructions rather similarly to derivational morphology in that they help structure the lexicon for purposes of production, storage and comprehension.


Valve control for generating an expected output response for controlling a fluid flow in a fluid flow line (20) device includes one or more inputs responsive to a characteristic of the fluid flow upstream from the valve (12) provided in the fluid flow line, said valve receiving the one or more input signals for in response to one or more sensors, and the at least one input signal for providing a signal to selectively open and close the valve to change the flow in the fluid line and providing a tunable output signal and a letdown back-pressure controller 10. A method of controlling the flow of fluid through the valve in the fluid stream to the expected output response in accordance with the present invention, the step, letdown back-pressure controller for measuring fluid flow properties in said fluid flow line in front of the valve of the fluid flow providing at least one input signal responsive to the characteristic, the letdown back-pressure processing the one or more input signals by the controller, the valve, in response to the at least one input signal to change the flow in the fluid line in order to selectively open and close and a step of tuning said output signal from the step of generating the letdown back-pressure tunable output signal from the controller, and the letdown back-pressure controller.


In this document we present the latest result on rare/forbidden decays for D mesons at the BESIII experiment. Based on 2.92/fb data taken at the center-of-mass energy 3.773 GeV with the BESIII detector, the flavor-changing neutral current process of neutral D decays into two gammas is searched using a double tag technique, while the decays of charged D decays into a charged kaon/pion plus two electrons/positrons are studied based on a single tag method. The resulting upper limits are still above the Standard Model predictions.


The Power Battery Pack (PBP) is a semi-sealed high-energy storage device with the internal cold and heat source, and the components inside the PBP face moisture and condensation problems during their long-term service under alternating external environment, thus the safety and reliability of the battery pack is threatened. In this paper, a Physical Simulated Battery System (PSBS) is designed and built, which is composed of an environment simulation system, a power battery pack and a data acquisition system. This PSBS can analyze the attributes which affect the temperature and humidity characteristics of the PBP, including external environment, the working condition of module and cooling system, and the PBP's structure. A multiphysics finite element model is established considering the coupling relationship between heat transfer, air flow and mass transfer, and the model is verified by comparing the results of the temperature and humidity alternating experiment. The temperature and humidity distribution feature of the PBP and the interaction mechanism between heat transfer, air flow and water vapor transport in the PBP are revealed by the numerical analysis.


Pulling the Plug - A Brief History of Alternative Motion * A Dizzying Ride - Internal Combustion's Rapid Rise and Coming Decline * Engines of Ingenuity - New Technologies for the Clean Car * Road Warriors and Early Adopters - Living With a Battery-powered EV * U-turn - Getting Serious About Green Cars * The Global Green Car - Europe on the Fast Track * New Sun Rises in Japan * Thinking About Tomorrow - Visionaries, Pessimists and Investors at the Crossroads * Clearing the Air - Clean Cars and Sustainable Transportation in the 21st Century.* List of Interviewees * Notes * Select Bibliography * Index


Automated reasoning has become the research hotspot among researchers, and family relations are common logic knowledge, which can be reasoned. This paper presents four basic relations on family relations, which can deduce others new complex relations. The relation knowledge was stored in knowledge database as forms of basic relations. Some common questions could be deduced successfully and receive correct answers. The study gives an intelligent inference procedure on family relations and two algorithms, one algorithm is Positive Retrieving Information Algorithm (PRIA), and the other is Negative Recombination Information Algorithm (NRIA), which could be well programmed.


This paper studies the rural residents' consumption structure of Shaanxi province by adopting a variable coefficient model of the fixed effect.By using data from 2005 to 2009,the paper analyzes rural presidents' per consumption data of Shaanxi province.The results show that housing expenditure ranks first in per capita consumption spending,and followed by food,medical and health care,culture and educational entertainment.As for the coefficient of per capita disposable income,low income people' coefficient is higher than middle and high income people in food,housing and household appliances.In comparison,high income people' coefficient is higher than low and middle income people in medical and health care,culture and educational entertainment.As for the effect of last year's consumption spending,the effects of food and transportation are not significant.


A procedure is presented that allows accurate truncated models of continuous beams to be formulated. Results from classical beam analysis are used. The models are automatically produced in modal coordinates, which makes them immediately useful for analysis and simulation. The value of the methodology is that the natural frequencies of the truncated model will always agree well with theoretical values, and the distributed mass and flexibility of the original system will be expressed when the model is transformed to local coordinates. Comparisons are presented between the proposed approach and other modeling methods. The accuracy of the approach is further demonstrated by comparing a simulated Transfer Function, generated using a model produced by the methodology, and a Transfer Function measured on an actual beam.


In 2002, a selected number of schools in Victoria were invited to participate in a short survey regarding the delivery of instrumental music programs in schools. The school sample included large and medium schools in each of the three sectors (Government, Non Government and Catholic) across the four metropolitan (North, South, East and West) and five country (Barwon South Western, Central Highlands Wimmera, Gippsland, Goulburn Valley North Eastern, London Campaspe Mallee) regions in Victoria. The survey of eight questions was sent and returned by email. In particular, schools were asked to identify factors that assisted and factors that hindered the delivery of the instrumental music program in their school. Fifty-four schools were invited to participate. Analysis of the data was used to identify various issues associated with the delivery of instrumental music programs according to sector, size and region and to gather practical facts to publish a survival kit for beginning instrumental music teachers.


Over the years, increase in population, rural-urban migration and financial incapability of governments have been responsible for huge housing deficits in African cities. As at 2013, the housing deficit in Nigeria was seventeen million units. Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria has a fair share of the deficit going by the number of dwellers which had exceeded twenty million in 2014. Presently many private housing development firms are springing up in Lagos to fill this gap by providing serviced houses and plots in form of estates to the public for sale with various payment plans. The focus of this research is to investigate and propose how the Lagos State Government can institute a synergy with willing private developers to compliment her efforts to alleviate present and future low and medium income housing deficits. Data related to the cost of buildings and serviced plots offered by some private firms including payment plans were collected and literature was reviewed on housing provision. A close ended questionnaire on how the property developers can improve delivery was also administered. The data were subjected to analysis using statistical tools. The data on payment plans did not yield any significance to the number of units achieved by the property developers. The opinion survey gave some trends on the views of the developers towards improving affordable housing delivery. The paper concludes that the government and the private firms can work on the data collected to arrive at a harmonized model through increased funding of existing channels to address the housing deficit in Lagos. The interests of the developers, the public and the government are ultimately protected in the model.


OBJECTIVE:To establish a RP-HPLC method for the determination of the repaglinide and the related substances in repaglinide and its tablets.METHODS:Repaglinide and the related substances were separated on Kromsail C18;the mobile phase was 0.05mol·L-1 acetate buffer(pH4.0)-methanol(20∶80)with flow rate at 1.0mL·min-1.The detection wavelength was 243nm and the sample size was 20μL.RESULTS:The calibration curve of repaglinide was linear in the range of 0.49~9.86μg·mL-1(r=0.999 6),and the average recovery of repaglinide was 99.90%(RSD=0.75%).CONCLUSION:This method is rapid,accurate and reliable,and it is applicable for the quality control of repaglinide.


In the two decades following the Second World War, Japan's economic performance was rema rkable. The two oil shocks of 1973 and 1979, however, highlighted the vulnerability of the Japa nese economy and substantially reduced the economy's growth trajectory. Many commentators have tried to explain the cause of the success of the Japanese economy, and various explanations and interpretations have been offered. The same is true of Japanese emp loyment practices and industrial relations. Less industrial conflict in Japan may have had a subst antial influence on Japan's economic success, a view which has led to a great deal of commenta tors' interest in the Japanese employment relations oversea. 2) Studies of Japanese employment practices abound, not only inside Japan but also outside, man y of which characterise Japanese employment practices in terms of life-time employment, seniorit y-based wages and enterprise unionism. Although it is arguable whether Japanese employment pr actices should be characterised in this way, it is possible that the Japanese-style management has been idealised. Regular workers in large enterprises toil for long hours with partly unpaid overtime, death fro m overwork, a few holidays and very low rate of absenteeism. There is also a remarkable use o f 'cushion workers'whose employment status is unstable as part-time and leased workers. Why do Japanese workers, who are supporsed to be protected by the'three sacred treasures' put up with such a harsh work place? Lifelong job security applies at most to only about onethird of Japanese workers. We should argue the background to these Japanese employment practi ces, and to focus on the specificity of the Japanese economy compared with Fordism.


Mungbean (Vigna radiata) cultivars collected by the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) in Taiwan were recently introduced to Japan to examine their suitability for cultivation in this country. This report deals with the isolation from some of these mungbean cultivars of a seed-borne cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Seeds of ten mungbean cultivars from AVRDC were sown in sterilized soil in 12 cm pots and were grown for 2 months, and the seedlings were examined for symptoms


The aim of the study was to assess the reason of low back pain in women over 55 years. Examined group consists of 103 women referred due to pain in lumbar spine. X-rays in A-P and side projections were performed and were analyzed by 2 independent radiologists. Radiological findings were revealed in 93% of examined women. The most frequent was dyscopathy (in 73.8%), with osteophytes in 37.3%, subchondrial sclerosis in 32% and spondylolisthesis in 14.6%. In 30.1 % was found spondyloarthritis, Baastrup changes in 17.5%. Fractures were found in 18.4%, the most frequently in L4 vertebra. All changes were more frequent in patients over 75, but differences were statistically insignificant. Reumatologia 2006; 44, 1: 41–44 Artyku3 oryginalny/Original paper


There has been a major breakthrough in the last decade in our understanding of the effectiveness of drink driving rehabilitation programs. Three important reviews and evaluations of the effectiveness of such programs have concluded that they have beneficial outcomes and these findings have important implications for those working and researching in this field. These recent outcome findings are in marked contrast to earlier studies in the seventies and eighties. At that time reviews were less than sanguine about benefits and in fact were often pessimistic about the benefits of any intervention other than licence loss and its consequent restriction of driving. It may be argued that the changes in outcome reflect improvements in program sophistication and methods of implementation. However it is probably more likely that they reflect profound changes in the cultural and attitudinal climate of the societies in which drink driving takes place. For example Ross describes the present stage of action in the area of drink driving as the "late stage in the career of a social problem". He warns that whilst the decrease in alcohol related fatalities may be regarded as the outcome of focussed social concern it may also be a possible deterrent to further levels of action.


In this report we demonstrate and characterise a 3D wireframe model matcher, applied to a stereo object location problem typical of many industrial machine vision applications, and relate its design to the methodology we proposed as an earlier component of this project [41]. We begin by outlining the stereo requirements of a 3D model matcher, and in this context discuss the general characteristics of two approaches to solving the stereo correspondence problem: Feature Based Stereo (FBS) and Area Based Stereo (ABS). We show that FBS has significant advantages in terms of the accuracy of the recovered stereo data and of reduced susceptibility to image variations, but that ABS generally has a simpler flow of control and is therefore suitable for parallel processor or hardware implementations. We go on to describe the FBS and ABS algorithms implemented in our TINA vision system: PMF, a classical feature-based solution, and the Stretch Correlator (SC), a re-formulation of the algorithmic constraints of PMF into a feature driven, but fundamentally area-based, solution. We present a theoretical analysis of the errors involved in stereo calculations, and use it to show how the results from both stereo algorithms can be characterised in terms of correspondence mismatch and 3D reconstruction error. This leads to the conclusion that geometric fitting to 3D data should be done in disparity space, to exploit the property of isotropic errors. We also summarise an analysis of the mismatch probability of a stereo correspondence algorithm, and show that mismatches are inevitable and must be accounted for in later algorithm stages. We discuss the consequences of our analysis for the design of practical, modular 3D vision systems and describe the components of TINA relevant to this project. We then provide the results of evaluations of the performance of the TINA stereo algorithms, based on our analyses. In particular, we have found that SC has a mismatch probability of typically 1%-2% of the stereo data and in the worst case up to 8%. Finally, we give a practical demonstration of TINA's 3D Wireframe Model Matcher, using both PMF and SC to reconstruct the 3D structure from stereo views of a brake shoe assembly and then locating a wireframe model of the assembly in the recovered 3D scenes. This is done with the object placed in a variety of orientations in a general scene with no special lighting. For similar object views, the number of features recovered by PMF and SC is shown to be identical, within statistical limits. For a set of 33 views of the object in different orientations, PMF provides matches in 18 cases and SC in 17 (rising to 21 and 20 matches respectively when the Canny double thresholds are reduced). A breakdown into sub-groups with similar object orientations shows that the numbers of matches remain identical within statistical limits in each sub-group. On the basis of these results, we conclude that our methodology can successfully be used to design and incrementally refine a modular vision system capable of stereo matching and 3D object location for "difficult" stereo reconstruction tasks. Moreover, the performance of our PMF and SC algorithms is to all intents and purposes identical, which given the computational simplicity of the latter may have positive implications for developing parallel or hardware implementations suitable for temporal stereo tasks.