We introduce an object-oriented approach to transform a star-schema of a legacy data warehouse system into a Dimensional Object Model (DOM) (Firestone, 1998), in order to take advantage of the flexibility of the object paradigm. We have applied the Object-Oriented Software Engineering (OOSE) process, proposed by (Jacobson et al., 1992), to describe the life cycle of a data warehouse and to clarify the context of our intervention. By means of OOSE we also define the target architecture and the components that will ensure the development of reuse-supporting data warehouse systems. In a sense, a change tolerant architecture is proposed, as referred to by (Jacobson, 1998). The solution proposed applies the object paradigm for the star-schema decomposition in a three-layer architecture, separating the components in logical, interface and data management layers. This decomposition minimizes the dependence among the components and increases their reusability. The main contribution of this work is that, by transforming the star-schema into a DOM, we are preparing the system to evolve through any object-oriented data warehouse development methodology. In a context of many already existing data warehouse systems based on relational models, this transformation sounds especially interesting.


Hospitals and other NHS providers in England are set to post a record deficit of more than £800m (€1.1bn; $1.2bn) in 2014-15, says an analysis by the King's Fund, a healthcare think tank.

In its latest quarterly monitoring report the fund warned that mounting deficits, worsening performance, and declining staff morale had left the NHS facing its biggest challenges "for many years."1 It highlighted that the deficit is still being projected despite nearly £900m provided by the Treasury or switched from capital budgets to plug "the growing black hole in NHS finances."

In the regular survey of trust …


In the era of free market trade, competition is getting tougher. It is necessary to find a special market to boost the selling price of melons. High quality fruit offered will deserve a high selling price. The purpose of marketing margin analysis is to see the marketing efficiency indicated by the amount of profit received by each marketing actor. Based on the calculation of marketing margins and farmershare of the two marketing channels, channel I has the same amount of margin for grades A, B, and C have the same marketing margin of Rp 6000/kg. The farmer share value of channel I pattern for grade A is 70%, grade B is 62.5%, and grade C is 57.1%. Channel pattern II has a total margin for grade A of Rp 26,000/kg, grade B of Rp 20,000, and grade C of Rp 17,000/kg. The farmer share value of channel pattern II for grade A is 35%, grade B is 33.3%, and grade C is 32%. It can be concluded that the most efficient channel pattern in melon fruit sales at the Green House of Balitar Islamic University in Blitar City is channel pattern I, because it has the shortest marketing chain, namely producers directly to consumers.


Flagellates of Phaeocystis globosa were observed inside colonies in North Sea samples in 1992. Field data suggest that low phosphate concentrations (≤0.5 µM) and, as a consequence of sedi- mentation, a 20- to >100-fold reduction of daily irradiance (to <10 W h m-2 day-1), triggered the tran- sition of non-flagellate colonial cells to flagellate cells. The colonial flagellates appeared to be similar to cultured solitary Phaeocystis microflagellates; these flagellates do not produce pentagonal stars. Nevertheless, pentagonal stars were observed inside the colonies. This implies that two types of flagel- lates, 'microflagellates' and the larger pentagonal star-producing 'mesoflagellates', are formed simul- taneously in Phaeocystis colonies. Therefore, this observation fills a missing link in the life cycle of Phaeocystis. It is proposed that micro- and mesoflagellates are the 'Mikrozoosporen' described by Kornmann (Helgolander Wiss. Meeresunteruchungen 1955, 5, 218-233) and that these flagellates are comparable to the small and large 'zoids' described by Parke et al. (J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. UK 1971, 51, 927-941). Thus, four different cell types can be distinguished in the life cycle of P.globosa: (i) the haploid microflagellate (3.1 ± 0.1 µm), (ii) the haploid mesoflagellate (4.2 ± 0.1 µm), (iii) the diploid macroflagellate (6-7 µm) which is Kornmann's (Kornmann, 1955) 'Makrozoospore', and (iv) the diploid non-flagellate colonial cell (6.1 ± 0.2 µm). A life cycle for Phaeocystis is presented, and the life-cycle transitions still to be tested are identified.


The present paper depicts an application of response surface methodology (RSM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique for optimizing the machining factors in turning of titanium (Grade-II) alloy using cubic boron nitride insert tool under minimum quantity lubricant (MQL) environment. The three machining factors, i.e., cutting speed (Vc), feed rate (f) and side cutting edge angle (approach angle π), are designed as three factors by using RSM design, which is withal subject to several constraints including tangential force (Fc), tool wear (VBmax), surface roughness (Ra) and tool-chip contact length (L). The multiple regression technique was used to establish the interaction between input parameters and given responses. Moreover, the results have been presented and optimized process parameters are acquired through multi-response optimization via desirability function as well as the PSO technique. The lower values of Vc (200 m/min), f (0.10 mm/rev) and higher values of ϕ (90°) are the optimum machining factors for minimizing the aforementioned responses. It was also observed that the selected responses predicated on PSO are much closer as that of the values acquired in view of the desirability function approach. Henceforth, PSO has the potential to cull appropriate machining factors while turning titanium (Grade-II) alloys under MQL conditions.


The use of online learning in education has increased rapidly during the pandemic. Both teachers and students are more familiarized with technologies in online teaching and learning. With the readiness of technology, some educational institutes started adopting more blended learning after the resumption of face-to-face learning. However, some institutes consider the online mode as a direct replacement of face-to-face mode. Without thoughtful redesign of pedagogy, the effectiveness of teaching and learning was affected. Educators believe teaching and learning would be impacted by thoughtful redesign of blended learning. This research took place in a school that provided online English learning with pedagogical redesign for the purpose of complementing the formal school's face-to-face learning. Individual interviews were conducted to collect learning experiences and thematic analysis was adopted for analysing the results. The results show learning experiences were enhanced via appropriate redesign of interaction, learning activities, and assessments. The students were highly motivated in the online learning environment and they enjoyed the learning content and learning activities. Learning experiences and effectiveness were both enhanced. This study result affirms positive impacts from the redesign of pedagogy in online English learning for complementing formal face-to-face learning.


1.Introduction The model, based on Brownian dynamics, is a first attempt [1] to simulate longrange ion transport in a 2D-channel geometry in which the ion velocity and displacement are determined by simple rules and random fluctuations which account for the ion-ion repulsion and the thermal bath, respectively. The simulation reports the influences of the ion density, of the amplitude of the stochastic force and of the geometry of the 2Dchannel on the diffusion regime. A system constituted of two different types of ions is also investigated and the effect of the ion mixture is clearly outlined. In spite of its simplicity, the model yields interesting results which can be qualitatively compared to some experimental behaviors often observed in ionic glasses or melts such as conductive channels, mixed alkali effects, phase separation, or more commonly diffusion processes related to complex relaxation mechanisms.


This article first deals with general aspects of optimizing mirror supports. A wide variety of support topologies have been optimized by Nelson et al for unobscured entrance pupils. Optical forces and locations of point supports have been calculated here for annular pupils. Efficient topologies introducing a small amount of defocusing are also proposed for unobscured and annular pupils. Support efficiencies are given for each topology. Wavefront errors are estimated in the case of a defective cell, in order to specify tolerances on forces and geometries. The OVLA active optics is then discussed. The very thin, meniscus-shaped primary will be actively supported by 29 actuators and 3 fixed points. Actuator locations and forces have been calculated to minimize the mirror deflection under its own weight but also to allow a good control of astigmatism. We finally present a study of a concave adaptive secondary for the OVLA telescopes. As an initial result, we propose a defocus adaptive corrector with a variable thickness distribution. Conditions of use are defined, and performances are evaluated.


Coffee fermentation is a step of wet processing. In fact, some microorganisms naturally exist on the surface of coffee cherry. Using a starter culture of microorganisms may change equilibrium of microorganism population. Among some safe fermentation agents are present in "ragi tape" (yeast), "ragi tempe", and fermented milk. A fermentor machine equipped with eating-control and stirrer had been designed, and tested before. Some treatments investigated were fermentation containers (fermentor machine and plastic sacks); fermentation agents (fresh cage-luwakcoffee, "ragi tape", "ragi tempe", and fermented milk); temperature of fermentation (room, 30 C, 35 C, and 40 C); and duration of fermentation (6, 12, and 18 hours). The experiment were replicated three times. Wet-coffee parchments were washed and sundried until moisture content reached 12%. The dried parchment was hulled and examined for the bean quality and flavors. The experiment indicated that 40 C fermentation in fermentor machine resulted in higher content of "full sour defect". Fermentation agents significanly influenced bean size. Temperature treatment significanly influenced bulk density and bean size. The best flavor profile was obtained from fermentation in plastic sack at ambient temperature. Bacteria of fermented milk and "fresh luwak coffee" as fermentation agents resulted up to excellent flavor. Twelve hours fermentation produced best flavor of Arabica coffee compared to 6 and 18 hours.


An important natural phenomenon surfaces that satisfactory synchronization of self-driven particles can be achieved via sharply reduced communication cost, especially for high density particle groups with low external noise. Statistical numerical evidence illustrates that a highly efficient manner is to distribute the communication messages as evenly as possible along the whole dynamic process, since it minimizes the communication redundancy. More surprisingly, it is discovered that there exist some abnormal regions where moderately decreasing the communication cost can even improve the synchronization performance. A phase diagram on the noise-density parameter space is given, where the dynamical behaviors can be divided into three qualitatively different phases: normal phase where better synchronization corresponds to higher communication cost, abnormal phase where moderately decreasing communication cost could even improve the synchronization, and the disordered phase where no coherence among individuals is observed.


The effectiveness of the functioning of cyberphysical systems is based primarily on the use of powerful methods of obtaining and processing information. The complexity of the structures and properties of cybernetic systems, as well as the conditions of their functioning, determine special requirements for measurement methods and computing, performed in such systems. As a rule, the uncertainty of CPS models, as well as the uncertainty of the influence of environmental factors and their interrelations with the properties of systems, primarily define the requirements for the intellectualization of measurements and computational processing of information. In this article, methods and tools of Bayesian intelligent measurements (BII) are proposed to ensure the effectiveness of management of cyberphysical systems under conditions of uncertainty. The concept and methodology of creating an intelligent industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is proposed, the distinctive feature of which is the intellectualization of measurement methods and data preprocessing. For this purpose, IIoT includes an intelligent DATALAKE, which is built on the basis of a Bayesian intelligent measurement systems that implements not only measurement and data integration functions, but also management decision support. Examples of real cyberphysical systems with control based on Bayesian intelligent measuring instruments are given. The prospects of using the proposed solutions based on BII in various modern technologies based on the principles of BIG DATA, DATA SCIENCE, neural networks, IIoT, DATA MINING and others are considered.


The Science Fair allows students to develop research and community participation in the school environment. Aiming to involve the school community, awakening students to research, enabling future teachers to get in touch with teachers, students, parents, course design of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Santa Maria, Palmeira campus of Missions, Rio Grande South, linked to the Institutional program Initiation to Teaching Scholarship, along with its members, hosted a Science Fair in a school of this township. The event made it possible for everyone involved in the event socialize their knowledge, that is Pibidianos inserissem effectively in school, and that students develop, among other skills, criticality, autonomy and orality.


This article argues that the online environment is optimal for teaching prospective instructors how to develop and implement online courses. To support this claim, the author draws on hypertext theories to define the online course archive as a constructive hypertext and to describe the work the course archive is able to do when used to instruct prospective online instructors. The claim is further supported through a quantitative and qualitative analysis of a course archive.


For children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), early intervention is incredibly important. In order for a behavioral intervention to be fully effective, it needs to be followed at all times of the day, not just during school hours. Because of this, a key factor during intervention is the involvement of parents of the child with the disorder. Parents/caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders participating in behavioral interventions at the Faison School for Autism were surveyed in order to find out more about strategies used when implementing a child's behavioral plan at home, and also their overall understanding of the plan itself. Other information of key parenting constructs was collected using the Parenting Stress Index (PSI), Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI), and Early Intervention Parenting Self-Efficacy Scale (EIPSES). These measures were collected before and after a one-session intervention in order to evaluate the impact of that training on the parents/caregivers that have a child with ASDs. Three parents participated in this study with varying profiles and responses to the intervention. Two of the parents who reported implementing the child's behavior plan at home had low levels of stress and did not have many overall changes after intervention. The other profile of parent reported not implementing the behavior plan at home and was clinically stressed in addition to having some relationship issues with her child. These results support the idea that stress levels of the parent may be associated with their relationship with their child.


Statement of the Problem: The exponential rise in next-generation sequencing data is presenting considerable challenges in terms of variant interpretation. Though deep sequencing is unearthing large numbers of rare single nucleotide variants (SNVs), the rarity of these variants makes it difficult to evaluate their potential deleteriousness with conventional phenotypegenotype associations. Furthermore, many disease-associated SNVs act through mechanisms that remain poorly understood. 3D protein structures may provide valuable substrates for addressing these challenges. We present two general frameworks for doing so. In our first approach, we use localized frustration, which quantifies unfavorable residue interactions, as a metric to investigate the local effects of SNVs. In contrast to this metric, previous efforts have quantified the global impacts of SNVs on protein stability, despite the fact that local effects may impact functionality without disrupting global stability (e.g. in relation to catalysis or allostery). In our second approach, we employ models of conformational change to identify key allosteric residues by predicting essential surface pockets and information-flow bottlenecks (a new software tool that enables this analysis is also described). Importantly, although these two frameworks are fundamentally structural in nature, they are computationally efficient, thereby making analyses on large datasets accessible. We detail how these database-scale analyses shed light on signatures of conservation, as well as known disease-associated variants, including those involved in cancer.


Mental health problems are common, but often not identified correctly or quickly. This research tries to contribute to this by discovering relations between the text in the referral letter for a child and the diagnosis that the child eventually gets. This research will attempt to do this by using topic modeling, classification and chi-squared tests on a dataset of patient records of children. Afterwards, the results are presented to an expert who will analyze them and decide which of them is the most informative.


The invention discloses a method and a system for unlocking a human face expression. The unlocking method comprises the following steps of acquiring a human face image of a mobile phone user through a camera arranged in a mobile phone; extracting a human face expression characteristic from the human face image; comparing the extracted human face expression characteristic with the human face expression characteristic which is pre-stored in an image characteristic database and is used for judging whether to unlock or not; and according to the comparing result, responding to the unlocking operation of the mobile phone. By the method and the system, a user does not need to remember a complex password, the operation that the user enters the password is eliminated through human face expression identifying technology, the trouble that authentication cannot pass when the authorized user mistakenly operates or forgets the password is avoided, the safety of data on the mobile phone is improved through human face expression identification, the password is prevented from being cracked by others to steal mobile phone information, unlocking forms of the mobile phone are also increased, the individual requirements of people are met, and the using experience index of the user is improved.


Different classes of communication network topologies and their representation in the form of adjacency matrix and its eigenvalues are presented. A self-organizing feature map neural network is used to map different classes of communication network topological patterns. The neural network simulation results are reported.


The maximum turbulence energy dissipation rate per unit mass, emax, is an important variable in dispersion systems, particularly for drop breakup and coalescence, and for gas dispersion. The effect of tank geometry (number of baffles, impeller diameter, and off-bottom clearance) on emax for four impellers (the Rushton turbine, RT; the pitched blade turbine, PBT; the fluidfoil turbine, A310; and the high-efficiency turbine, HE3) is examined. Mean and fluctuating velocity profiles close to the impellers were measured in a cylindrical baffled tank using laser doppler velocimetry. Local and maximum turbulence energy dissipation rates in the impeller region were estimated using e = Av3/L with A = 1 and L = D/10 for all four impellers. Factorial designs were used to test for the effects of single geometric variables under widely varying conditions and interactions between variables. Several factorial designs were used to ensure that real effects were separated from effects that appeared as an artifact of the experimental design. Results show that the tank geometry has a significant effect on emax, primarily with respect to variations in impeller diameter and interactions between the off-bottom clearance and impeller diameter. For the same power input and tank geometry, the RT consistently produces the largest emax and/or emax scaled with N3D2.


1. 1. Japan, China and the Growth of the Asian International Economy, 1850-1949: An Introduction PART 1 CHINESE MERCHANTS AND THE JAPANESE COTTON INDUSTRY 2. Kobe Seen as part of the Shanghai Trading Network: The Role of Chinese Merchants in the Re-export of Cotton Manufactures to Japan 3. The Role of Chinese Merchants in the Development of the Japanese Cotton Industry, 1890-1941 4. The Chinese Market for Japanese Cotton Goods, 1914-1930 PART 2 THE RISE OF ECONOMIC NATIONALISM IN CHINA 5. The Collapse of the Chinese Imperial Monetary System 6. Japanese and British Perceptions of Chinese Boycotts in Shanghai: With Special Reference to the Anti-Japanese Boycotts, 1928-1931 7. The Tariff Policy of the Nationalist Government, 1929-1936: A Historical Assessment PART 3 CHINA'S INTERNAL INTEGRATION IN AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 8. China's Inter-regional Relations in the International Economy, 1850-1949 9. Foreign Trade, Internal Trade and Industrialisation: A Statistical Analysis of Regional Commodity Flows in China, 1914-1931 PART 4 THE GROWTH OF CHINA'S CONTACTS WITH TAIWAN AND SOUTHEAST ASIA 10. The Taiwanese Merchants and Taiwan-China Trade, 1895-1937 11. Patterns of Chinese Emigration to Southeast Asia, 1869-1939


A method for producing particles, comprising: contacting an emulsion with a supercritical fluid, the emulsion having a continuous aqueous phase and a discontinuous phase, the phase being discontinuous organic solvent having a solute dissolved therein, wherein the solute insoluble in the continuous phase and the solvent in the discontinuous phase being soluble in the supercritical fluid; and extracting solvent from the discontinuous phase of the emulsion and the supercritical fluid to precipitate the solute and thereby form particles of solute suspended in the continuous phase.


In this paper, the experimental data on elastic scattering of the 16O+16O reaction for the energy range 5-10 MeV/nucleon have been analyzed within the optical model (OM) formalism by using the phenomenological potential forms in Fresco code. When developing the shape of the nuclear potential for the calculations, we have used the Woods-Saxon (WS) or Woods-Saxon squared (WS2) potentials for the imaginary part together with a WS2 type real part. Although most of the previous OM analyses using phenomenological potentials have provided reasonably good fits with the experimental measurements, none of them could completely relate the behavior of the imaginary potential to the energy of the projectile yet. However, we have managed to introduce two analyses that can keep the real potential parameters almost constant and suggest a linear expression for the depth of the imaginary part of the nuclear potential depending on the incidence energy. Thus, 16O+16O system within this wide energy range has been described globally by the optical potentials having a deep, attractive real potential part and a weaker, energy dependent absorptive imaginary potential part. It has been also shown that, our calculations with these potential forms can reproduce the experimental elastic scattering angular distributions successfully and the maxima and minima are predicted correctly for most of the energies


During this experimental study, samples of double-barrier structures were irradiated with various doses from a 60Co source. The current-voltage characteristics of two-barrier structures from a silicon-based nanostructured base and the change in their spectral photocurrent before and after gamma irradiation were recorded and studied.
Experimental results show that voltage values such as open-circuit voltage (VOC) as well as short-circuit current (ISC) and efficiency (η) change with the magnitude of the collection-dissipation voltage.


The research aims to determine the attractiveness of factors of Iranian shopping malls from the shopper's point of view. Researchers used a conceptual framework that proposes significant impact between store tenant mix, internal and external conditions from shopping centers, and different dimensions of attractiveness. Then they test the hypotheses using a survey of 385 consumers of two shopping centers of Iran, to identify shopping mall attractiveness. A structural equation model using a correlation matrix with maximum likelihood was estimated by LISREL 8.8. The results indicate that from the attractiveness factors, retail tenant mix and atmosphere were the most influential factors in shopping centers and retail tenant mix was strongly affected by product range and to some extent by merchandise value. Thus, management teams of shopping malls can increase their mall attractiveness by identifying optimal retail tenant mix and protect their establishments with appropriate atmosphere.


Novel captodative alkenes, namely the methyl and ethyl esters of 2-aroyloxyacrylic acids, 2 and 3, have been prepared. Their reactivity and selectivity have been evaluated in Diels−Alder cycloadditions with unsymmetrical dienes, which generate the corresponding adducts with high regioselectivity. No significant stereoselectivity was observed in the reaction with cyclopentadiene (9), although Lewis acid catalysis improved the exo/endo isomeric ratio. Structural and electron spectroscopic studies of these alkenes are supported by MO calculations. FMO theory accounts for the regioselectivity observed with isoprene (7), and the reactivity seen in Diels−Alder additions correlates with the stabilization of the relevant vacant π* MO in these alkenes, which is mainly due to the electron-withdrawing group.


In a prior Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) Phase II trial of patients with advanced, previously untreated mesothelioma, dihydro‐5‐azacytidine (DHAC) demonstrated a 17% response rate, including 1 complete response, with only mild myelosuppression. This Phase II study (CALGB 9031) was conducted to determine the effectiveness of and toxicities that would result from adding cisplatin to DHAC administered to the same patient population.


H₂ controller is proposed for networked control systems with time-varying delay. The time-varying network delay is assumed to be unknown, but its lower and upper bounds are assumed to be known. The time-varying delay is treated like a parameter variation and robust control technique is used to deal with the time-varying delay. The proposed controller can be computed by solving linear matrix inequalities. Through numerical simulations, the proposed controller is verified.


1.
A revised classification scheme is described for standing waters in Britain, based on the TWINSPAN analysis of a dataset of aquatic plant records from 3447 lakes in England, Wales and Scotland, which is held by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

2.
Separate ecological descriptions of 11 distinct lake groups (A–J) are presented with summary environmental data, macrophyte constancy tables and maps showing their distribution. These lake groups include small dystrophic waters dominated by Sphagnum spp.; large, acid, upland lakes supporting a diversity of plant species, including Juncus bulbosus, Littorella uniflora, Lobelia dortmanna and Myriophyllum alterniflorum; low-altitude, above-neutral lakes with a high diversity of plant species, characterized by the presence of Potamogeton spp., Chara spp. or water-lilies and other floating-leaved vegetation; and coastal, brackish lakes, with macroalgae.

3.
The Plant Lake Ecotype Index (PLEX) is presented as an indicator of changing lake environments. PLEX scores reflecting the new classification scheme have been developed for individual plant species and lakes. Applications of the index are demonstrated.

4.
There is discussion of possible applications of the data collected and the resultant classification, in the context of the Habitats Directive, the Water Framework Directive and other conservation requirements.

© Crown copyright 2006. Reproduced with the permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract Background: Over the past year, engagement with older adults has been severely curtailed given the high rates of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in this population. This study examined the correlates of social isolation among African American and LatinX older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Working with community-based organizations and senior living centers, we administered a survey to older adults 55+, in the Houston metroplex, between 11/2020 and 01/2021 (n=575). The survey assessed COVID-19 prevention behaviors and health-related social needs. Responses to "How often do you feel lonely or isolated from those around you?" were used to create a dichotomous social isolation dependent variable. The main independent variable, family/community support, was based on responses to the validated question "If for any reason you need help with day-to-day activities such as bathing, preparing meals, shopping, managing finances, etc., do you get the help you need?" Multivariate logistic regression adjusting for socioeconomic status, medical conditions, positive COVID test (for self or family), COVID-19 prevention behaviors, and emergency preparedness levels was used. Results: Limited family/community support was strongly associated with social isolation (OR=6.2; p<0.01), as was having any chronic condition (OR=2.9, p=0.02). Females and seniors who reported daily social distancing were more likely to report being socially isolated (OR=2.4, p=0.04; OR=1.09; p=0.09, respectively). Of all chronic conditions examined, diabetes was the single strongest predictor of social isolation (OR=2.49, p=0.02). Conclusion: Being female, having diabetes and limited family/community supports are associated with COVID-19-induced social isolation in African American and Latinx communities.


Accepted: 5 October 2015; published online: 28 October 2015 Citation: Curr Med Res Opin 2015; 31:2165–2166 Since its CE approval in 2007, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has become a common treatment for severe aortic valve stenosis in patients with high surgical risk, or in those without an option for open heart surgery. Technical improvements in TAVR devices and the growing experience of the implanters has led TAVR to become a very safe treatment option with comparable or even better outcomes for this patient group than those seen with other valve replacement procedures. As the name suggests, the main problem with 'open heart surgery' is its invasiveness. Post-operative delirium (POD) is an often observed but neglected complication of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) that is mainly caused by extracorporeal circulation. In addition, periprocedural cerebrovascular events increase the incidence of POD substantially. Bestehorn and co-workers carefully analyzed retrospective data from 2013 in the German Aqua Registry, a compulsory data collection of nearly 22,000 inpatient procedures in hospitals billing aortic valve replacements (AVRs) to the insurance system. Finally, 3407 intermediate risk patients (EuroScore 10–20), 771 patients with SAVR and 2636 patients with transfemoral TAVR were compared concerning the occurrence of POD with the need of therapy (PODT). The analyses could prove for the first time that the risk of POD-T for patients with intermediate surgical risk is approximately three times higher after SAVR compared to transfemoral TAVR (12.8% vs 3.8%). POD-T was accompanied by significantly higher mortality until discharge in the SAVR group (5.1% vs 3.3%) and affected regular discharge negatively (64.8% vs 36.7%). In summary, POD is a serious complication after AVR and can substantially influence the clinical outcome. As it occurs more often after SAVR, POD has to be taken into consideration as part of the therapeutic strategy for patients with intermediate surgical risk. Particularly for patients with predisposing risk factors for POD like advanced age, diabetes, predictable long operation time, history of cerebrovascular disease, atrial fibrillation and arterial disease, TAVR could be an alternative with the potentially lowest risk.


Lying below Vatnajokull ice cap in Iceland, Barðarbunga stratovolcano began experiencing wholesale caldera collapse in 2014 August 16, one of the largest such events recorded in the modern instrumental era. Simultaneous with this collapse is the initiation of a plate boundary rifting episode north of the caldera. Observations using the international constellation of radar satellites indicate rapid 50 cm d^(−1) subsidence of the glacier surface overlying the collapsing caldera and metre-scale crustal deformation in the active rift zone. Anomalous earthquakes around the rim of the caldera with highly nondouble-couple focal mechanisms provide a mechanical link to the dynamics of the collapsing magma chamber. A model of the collapse consistent with available geodetic and seismic observations suggests that the majority of the observed subsidence occurs aseismically via a deflating sill-like magma chamber.


Shape memory alloy composites were manufactured using NiTi wires and woven glass fiber pre-impregnated fabrics. A closed form analytical model was developed to investigate the curvature achievable during actuation. The experimental results of actuation showed reasonable agreement with the model. Actuation temperatures were between ∼55 and 110 °C, curvatures of 0.25–0.5 m−1 were obtained and the stresses in the wires were estimated to have reached 265 MPa during actuation. An actuation curvature map was produced, which shows the actuation limits and approximate temperature–curvature curves for the general case of a composite containing shape memory alloy wires.


Trying to estimate the mortality burden early in a pandemic, when not enough testing is happening, is difficult. One approach is to look at "excess


The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed the Total Worker Health program that encourages health and safety professionals to consider more than just a particular exposure. Workers can suffer hearing loss due to both workplace, but due to a wide range of activities outside of work. Training workers in the proper use and application hearing protection can extend the effectiveness of hearing loss prevention efforts and promote the concept of Total Hearing Health. Awareness of hazardous activities such as the use of power tools, firearms, and chemical exposures, can instill a safety culture beyond the workplace. Hearing protector fit testing gives workers an increased self-efficacy and assurance that they can safely enjoy noisy activities without the need to sacrifice their ability to hear. This presentation will describe the work that NIOSH has undertaken to promote hearing protector fit-testing for the workplace and describe ways in which the Centers for Disease Control and...


Photogrammetry allows a three-dimensional reconstruction of the object based on its multiple photography's. The quality of the reconstruction result depends mostly on the gloss, the diversity of the texture, the lighting conditions, the quality of the camera calibration and the shape of the object. The article presents the results of a simulation of a multi-camera reconstruction system, for the needs of designing indoor and outdoor 3D scanner. The 3D reconstruction system works by simultaneously taking photographs of cameras located around the object. The simulation was created to investigate the optimal distribution of cameras and projectors casting a pattern that increases the number of characteristic points on the surface of the object. The impact of background removal in images on the reconstruction result as well as the texture quality of the object depending on the resolution and distance of the cameras from the object were also investigated. The graphic engine used to create the simulation also allows testing of impact of various conditions. The presented results prove that the parameters of the system structure, such as the placement of cameras, projectors, the selection of patterns projected by the projectors are important and their values can be determined at the stage of system simulation. The acquired results are promising and will be further investigated.


Currently, high-temperature superconductor (HTS) bearings are most commonly designed with bulk REBa2Cu3O7-x (REBCO), but these HTS bulks have several drawbacks, such as brittleness and the complexity of sample preparation. An alternative for levitation systems is to use stacks of REBCO coated conductors (HTS tapes). The main advantages of HTS tapes are the simplicity of manufacturing elements in the required shape and high strength stability. For the development of HTS bearings, it is important to characterize both the levitation force along the axis connecting the magnet and the superconductor, and the stability of the system in response to lateral displacement. In this paper, we present new results of measurements of the levitation force between a permanent magnet and a stack of HTS tapes containing from 10 to 100 tapes of 12 mm × 12 mm. Measurements were conducted in zero-field cooling mode. We observed hysteresis of the levitation force in the case of lateral displacement. In addition, we have investigated the decay in the levitation force due to lateral displacement with each cycle of movement. It is shown that the decay rate tends to be constant on increasing the number of tapes in the stack.


We present a stochastic clustering algorithm which uses pairwise similarity of elements, based on a new graph theoretical algorithm for the sampling of cuts in graphs. The stochastic nature of our method makes it robust against noise, including accidental edges and small spurious clusters. We demonstrate the robustness and superiority of our method for image segmentation on a few synthetic examples where other recently proposed methods (such as normalized-cut) fail. In addition, the complexity of our method is lower. We describe experiments with real images showing good segmentation results.


In this research, several engineering properties of two hazelnut cultivars (Palaz and Cakildak varieties) were determined and compared in terms of linear dimensions, mass, sphericity, surface area, projected area, true and bulk densities, porosity, repose angle, shell ratio, terminal velocity, rupture force, energy, deformation and drag coefficient. These properties are necessary for the design of much equipment for harvesting, processing, and transportation, sorting, separating and packing. Also, rupture force and deformations were determined which are the most discriminant parameters that can be used to describe the behavior under compression. In both cultivars, these values were also determined within the kernels.


Objective: To understand the cognition degree of patients about decoction of cut crude drug in our hospital. Methods: The patients or their families were surveyed and analyzed by random questionnaire survey. Results: The callback rate of questionnaire was 81%. Fine results accounted for 69.13% only,while common quality results accounted for 22.22% and relatively poor results occupied 8.64%. Patients of decocting correctly were 30% only. Most patients knew nothing or knew little about how to decoct cut crud drug correctly. Conclusion: It is necessary to make advertisement of how to decoct cut crude drug and provide the pharmaceutical information service (PIS).


W state is a kind of multiparticle entangled state, which plays an important role in quantum information processing. Compared with the multi particle entangled GHZ state, an important feature of W state is that when one of the particles is lost or projected to the designated quantum state, the remaining particles are still entangled. In this paper, we propose a novel MDI-QKD based on W state.


Heart failure is becoming a major problem of public health and it is expected to represent the dominant cardiac disease of this century. Because the death of cardiomyocytes is often responsible for the development of progressive heart failure, cellular transplantation has emerged over recente past years as an attractive alternative therapy. This approach has been stimulated by the recognition in experimental studies that the normal and injured myocardium could be successfully colonized and functionally improved by a variety of contractile cells, mainly skeletal myoblasts. The promising results obtained in an experimental setting triggered the first clinical trial by a French group of myoblast transplantation in previously infarcted myocardium with encouraging preliminary results. Despite the short follow-up and the few patients subjected to this new therapy, cellular transplantation appears as an interesting option in the therapeutic armamentarium for heart failure.


Abstract. This paper studies degree 3 Boolean functions in n variables which are rotation symmetric, that is, invariant under any cyclic shift of the indices of the variables. These rotation symmetric functions have been extensively studied in the last dozen years or so because of their importance in cryptography. Let denote the (Hamming) weight of the Boolean function f. We extend and simplify results of Bileschi, Cusick and Padgett, who gave an algorithm for finding a recursion for the sequence , where is the cubic rotation symmetric function generated by the monomial We show that the weights for the function (note this is just the sum of the first terms in the definition of ) satisfy the same recursion as the weights for . We prove the recursion for the weights of by a method based on the work by Bileschi–Cusick–Padgett, but we are able to avoid a lot of the complications in their proofs. In particular, we do not need the technical notion of "g terms" or the elaborate proof of similarity of certain matrices.


Introduction In order to be able to perform optimally in endurance competitions in hot and humid climates - such as the 2017 Mountain Bike World Championships in Cairns (AUS) - it is recommended that the athletes acclimatize to heat for about two weeks at the competition venue (PA©riard et al., 2015). With a short, "artificial" pre-acclimatization (acclimation) in the heat laboratory, the necessary acclimatization time at the competition venue could be shortened and the athletes thus offered valuable planning scope. The aim of this study was to quantify the psycho-physiological acclimation effects during a week-long laboratory acclimation in elite mountain bikers.   Methods Six participants of the Mountain Bike World Championships 2017 (4 f, 2 m; 3 U23, 3 Elite) trained for 6.7±1.6 days in the heat laboratory (67±12 min per day at ~31°C and ~78% rel. humidity). During the heat trainings heart rate, thermal stress sensation and sweat rate were recorded and acclimation effects were quantified using mixed linear models.   Results Per acclimation day, a decrease in heart rate of 0.92 bpm (95%-CI: [0.34 bpm, 1.57 bpm]), a decrease in thermal stress sensation of 0.14 points (95%-CI: [0.11 points, 0.18 points]) and an increase in sweat rate of 31.4 ml/h (95%-CI: [-20.9 ml/h, 84.5 ml/h]) were observed with the same performance.   Discussion The observed psycho-physiological effects of the one-week laboratory acclimation correspond to the expected effects of an equally long on-site acclimation (PA©riard, Racinais, & Sawka, 2015). This indicates that previous laboratory acclimatization can effectively shorten the necessary on-site acclimatization time and thus be used to individualize the acclimatization process.


Objective To explore clinical significance of determinating plasma-prealbumin(PA),cholinesteras(CHE) and galactosylhy droxylysyl glucosyltransferase(r-GGT) in liver cirrhosis and their complications patients. Methods To analyse serum content of the changing plasma-prealbumin,cholinesteras and galactosylhy droxylysyl glucosyltran glucosy ltransferase in the patients with liver cirrhosis and with complications in recent years. Results PA,CHE were significantly lower(P0.05)than those of controls.The liver cirrhosis with cancer r-GGT was significantly higher(P0.05)than those of controls. Conclusion Blood serum PA,CHE and r-GGT can reflect the sensitive degree of damaging the liver.Three union examination to understand liver cirrhosis and the judgment prognosis have certain value.


Businesses in New Zealand demands high quality and cost effective products and services to remain locally and internationally competitive. This process includes competent managers and human resource (HR) practitioners who communicate effectively with staff. Empirical research was conducted in 2000 and again in 2010 and forecasted for 2020 to compare HR practitioners' traditional and contemporary communication modes such as Facebook, Twitter and Blogging with staff. Results were obtained via a mailed questionnaire in 2000 and obtaining a response of 10.1%. An electronic questionnaire was used in 2010 and the response was 15.4%. Recommendations are that HR staff could embrace HRIS' modern social media means in particular to enhance organisation communication to promote the competitiveness of organisations and staff satisfaction.


If the field of ancient economy is a battlefield, arguments based on pottery research certainly belong with the best of the weapons. Among the various kinds of pottery serving ancient historians as sources, red-gloss pottery (terra sigillata) manufactured in several parts of the Roman Empire plays an outstanding role. This special kind of pottery bears inscriptions in the form of stamps referring to persons involved in its production. In combination with the archaeological contexts of stamp finds, such as excavated sites of production, transportation, storage, and consumption, these inscriptions enable us to gain an insight into the structures of production and distribution. An additional reason why Roman red-gloss pottery is of very great interest to students of the ancient economy is that it was mass-produced, and exported to all parts of the Empire. Results of research in this field are, therefore, frequently used as weighty arguments in the discussion of the character of the Roman economy as a whole.


In her short tale 'The Story of an Hour', first published in Vogue in 1894, the American writer Kate Chopin allows her heroine to cross a line only to be subsequently encircled and strangled by it. The story concerns Mrs Louise Mallard, a woman 'afflicted with a heart trouble', over whom 'great care was taken' (p. 137) when it came to telling her of her husband's death. Mr Mallard, she is told, by 'her sister Josephine ... in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing' (p.137), has been killed in a railroad disaster. His widow weeps with 'wild abandonment' before leaving to spend time alone in her room. It is while reflecting on the news that she begins to comprehend a new sense of separation and a 'monstrous joy' as she utters 'over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!"' (p.138). The phrase becomes her mantra, '"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.' (p.139) Her sense of emotional elation in the discovery of a renewed identity, a coming into consciousness that is focussed on her individuality rather than her conception of selfhood as one smaller player in a marriage of two, revitalises Mrs Mallard's awareness of life as she crosses from one state of classification (wife) to another (widow). Recovering her composure at her sister's insistence, even though she 'was drinking in a very elixir of life', Louise Mallard descends the staircase only to hear the latchkey in the lock as her husband, far from dead, arrives home to the 'piercing cry' of his sister-in-law and the instantaneous death of his wife before him. The doctors' verdict is that she 'died of heart disease – of joy that kills' (p.139). Chopin's text is three short pages long yet it encapsulates a strange and ethereal sense of the period that was the focus of the 'Crossing the Line: Affinities Before and After 1900' postgraduate conference held at the University of Liverpool in January 2010. A story about a widow who wasn't in 1894 as opposed to Grant Allen's The Woman Who Did in 1895 may seem like an odd place to start a discussion on lines and their crossing. Yet Chopin's fragment of a tale, in form and content, context and fashioning, signals precisely those issues of temporality, the episodic, the notion of freedom, individualism, consciousness and interiority, social convention vs. personal liberty, that lie at the core of our perception of the period's changing, vibrant, conflicted and fluctuation sense of values, beliefs, and aesthetic judgements. This short piece represents the story of a (half) hour feedback and roundtable


Abstract In the early 1980′s Bloom and Hsu extended the notation of graceful labelings to directed graphs, and gave a relationship between graceful digraphs and a variety of algebraic structures. In this paper using a cyclic (v, k, λ) difference set with λ copies of elements of Zv\ {0}, we construct graceful digraphs of k vertices and v – 1 arcs. It is known that if gracefully labelled graph has e edges then its symmetric digraph is graceful with the same vertex labels. Although, the cycle Cm is not graceful for m≡1, 2 (mod 4) we show that the symmetric digraph based on cycle Cm i.e the double cycle, DCm which is constructed from a m-cycle by replacing each edge by a pair of arcs, edge xy gives rise to arcs (x, y) and (y, x), is graceful for any m vertices specifically for m≡1, 2 (mod 4).


The results of a study of the possible application of the basic method of vertical profiling of the oceanic column as a stratified aquatic environment, proposed by the author for using in operational oceanology, are presented. The method provides real-time measurement of the density of sea water in situ as a func-tion of depth. In addition to seawater density profiles, the method allows generating data arrays on the distributions of the total and thermohaline vertical stability of water mass layers and the corresponding Väisälä-Brunt frequency profiles of thermohaline oscillations. Applications of the method for the con-struction of smart profiling algorithms, which significantly reduce the time of oceanographic stations, as well as synchronous profiling algorithms, are considered. The issues of optimization of processes of dy-namic measurements are investigated. The results of computer simulation are presented.


268 Background: Hormonal therapy, including AIs, is the mainstay of ER+ breast cancer (BC) treatment; however, both acquired and intrinsic resistance limits its clinical benefit. Entinostat is a novel, oral, class I selective histone deacetylase inhibitor that has been shown to inhibit growth factor signaling pathways that mediate AI resistance. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of the addition of entinostat to exemestane therapy on progression-free survival (PFS).

METHODS
Postmenopausal women with ER+ advanced BC who had progressed on a non-steroidal AI were randomized to exemestane 25 mg daily + entinostat 5 mg or placebo weekly.

RESULTS
A total of 130 women were enrolled (66 exemestane+placebo; 64 exemestane+entinostat). All but 1 patient had Stage IV disease, and 82% had measurable disease. All patients had received prior hormonal therapy (1 prior line 42%; >1 prior line 58%), and 62% had received prior chemotherapy (33% in the advanced BC setting). Analysis of the intent-to-treat population showed that PFS was significantly (defined prospectively as p <0.10) longer with exemestane+entinostat than with exemestane+placebo (4.28 versus 2.27 months, respectively; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.73; p=0.06). Entinostat combined with exemestane was well-tolerated with the most frequent adverse events (AEs) consisting of fatigue, gastrointestinal disturbances, and hematologic abnormalities. AEs with a ≥20% higher incidence with exemestane+entinostat than with exemestane+placebo were fatigue (46% versus 26%, respectively) and uncomplicated neutropenia (25% versus 0%, respectively). The serious AE rate was similar for exemestane+entinostat (13%) and exemestane+placebo (12%).

CONCLUSIONS
Exemestane+entinostat significantly prolonged the median PFS and reduced the risk of disease progression by 27% versus exemestane+placebo (HR = 0.73). In light of these positive data, a phase III evaluation of this combination is planned.


Abstract: The integration of renewable energy sources such as PV system and diesel energy system is an excellent option for distributed energy production. The integration of different configuration is reliable and also efficient. Conventional PV system bears unstable output characteristics and thus its integration with other conventional sources increases the utilisation and energetic efficiencies of energy conversion system. Optimal Battery Energy storage for grid connected PV System is used in hybrid system to store the energy absorbed and to be used later. The procedure adopted here is the power can be brought from the grid as well as can be fed back to the grid when surplus power is stored in battery. The proposed energy management technique is tested in simulation under different scenarios and the obtained results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Bio-pesticides, when used as a post-planting pesticide, are limited by their potential ability to suppress the pest and their degree of phytotoxicity. Baseline information on the suitability of fermented crude extracts (FCE) of Cucumis africanus fruit as a post-planting bio-nematicide was determined on Meloidogyne incognita and growth of tomato in pot trials. Seedlings were inoculated with 1,130 eggs and juveniles/pot, while FCE  were applied weekly at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60% dilutions. At harvest, nematode and plant data were  subjected to analysis of variance and the curve-fitting allelochemical response data (CARD) computer-based  model, respectively. Relative to inoculation level, final nematode population density (Pf) at the same level of  inoculation was reduced, while increasing dosages had no effect on Pf and reproductive factor values. Since  increasing dosages had no effect on Pf, the material could possibly still reduce this variable when applied below  10% dilutions. Dosages used were phytotoxic to tomato plants, but CARD model demonstrated that the material stimulated plant growth at dosages below 10%. In conclusion, baseline information from CARD  model suggested that FCE from C. africanus fruit have the potential to serve as a bio-nematicide and  bio-fertiliser on tomato provided the material was applied below 10% dilutions. Key words : Cucumis africanus , bionemagation, effective microbe organisms, ground leaching technology, root-knot nematode.


An LPC analysis was used to extract formant frequencies from stop release through vowel in eight Chechen minimal and near‐minimal pairs contrasting plain versus pharyngealized syllables of the structure pa, ta, ba, da (seven tokens of each, each pronounced by two native speakers). Pharyngealization proves to raise F1, lower F2 (with clear sensitivity to point of articulation of the stop), and lower F3. It thus has little observable effect on the consonant, but markedly increases the compactness of the vowel. The effect on the vowel is as predicted by Fant [The Acoustic Theory of Speech Production (Mouton, The Hague, 1960)], although the F1 raising is somewhat less than would be expected. The acoustic effect of pharyngealization is similar to that of uvularization, but not identical (the degree of F2 perturbation and the type of F3 perturbation differ). This explains both the fact that pharyngealization can co‐occur with uvulars, and the cross‐linguistic rarity of this co‐occurrence. It also explains the n...


The article by summarizing the available scientific literature research on the nature and content of the social institutions attempt to systematize them, highlight generic features and functions.


The multicentre prospective open uncontrolled study investigated efficiency and safety of national recombinant factor IX (rFIX, nonacog alfa, Innonafactor®, JSC "Generium" for preventive  treatment of 15 patients at the age of 12 years and older with  severe (n = 10, FIX activity < 1 %) and moderate (n = 5, FIX  activity 1–2 %) hemophilia B. Patients included to the study were 8  adolescents from 12 to 18 years and 7 adults at the age of 18 years  and older. Innonafactor was administered at a dose of 40–50 IU/kg  (in patients at the age of 12–18 years) and at a dose of 40–46 IU/kg (in patients at the age of 18 and older) twice a week with an interval of 72–96 h. The duration of preventive therapy was 26 ± 1 week  (not less than 50 days of administration of drug study). The average value of increasing the FIX activity (K-value) in 30 min after administration of Innonafactor was 1.38 ± 0.34 IU/dl of IU/kg in the  whole group of the patients, 1.26 ± 0.11 IU/dl of IU/kg in  adolescents, 1.53 ± 0.46 IU/dl of IU/kg in patients at the age of 18  years and older (p = 0.165). The average value of the recovery  degree of the FIX activity was 60.38 ± 13.44 % in all 15 patients,  62.91 ± 18.71 % – in adults, 58.17 ± of 7.03 % – in adolescents (p  = 0.563). During preventive treatment with the Innonafactor drug  18 hemorrhagic episodes were registered in 7 (46.7 %) patients.  Hemorrhagic episodes were registered mainly among adolescents, 17 (94.4 %) of the cases. The average number of bleeding episodes in 15 patients for the whole observation period was 1.2 ± 1.7, in  adolescents – 2.1 ± 1.9. 13 (72.2 %) episodes among 18  hemorrhagic episodes were post-traumatic, 5 (27.8 %) –  spontaneous (all have been observed in adolescents). The average  number of spontaneous bleeding episodes that occurred within 72 h  after administration of the Innonafactor, during the entire period of  the study (the main criterion of efficiency) in all 15 patients was 0.3 ± 0.8, and in adolescents – 0.6 ± 1.1. All registered hemorrhagic episodes were mild (8, or 44.4 %) or moderate (10, or 55.6 %). Among spontaneous bleeding 2 (40 %) episodes were mild and 3  (60 %) – moderate (additional criterion of efficiency). 6 (33.3 %)  hemorrhagic episodes (2 mild and 4 moderate) required additional  drug administration for the relief, 10 (55.6 %) of hemorrhagic  episodes (6 mild and 4 moderate) were stopped after 1 injection of the Innonafactor, 2 (11.1 %) episodes of moderate severity took 3 drug administration. 3 (60 %) spontaneous hemorrhagic episodes (1 mild and 2 moderate) did not require additional administration of the drug for relief, the remaining 2 (40 %) episodes (1 mild and 1  moderate) were treated with a single injection of the Innonafactor.  The average amount of drug Innonafactor injected in all patients  during the period of preventive treatment, was 134.3 ± 33.1  thousand IU, in adolescents – 122.4 ± 36.0 thousand IU, in adult  patients – 147.9 ± 25.4 thousand IU. The total amount of drug  Innonafactor injected in all 15 patients (additional criterion of efficiency), was 2014 thousand IU, in adolescents – 979 thousand IU, in adult patients – 1035 thousand IU. During the 2nd and 4th  visits in all 10 (100 %) patients with severe hemophilia B residual  FIX activity in 72–96 h after administration of the Innonafactor was  1 % or more (additional criterion of efficiency), during the 3rd visit  there were 9 (90 %) such patients. Among patients with moderate  hemophilia B the number of patients with residual FIX activity of 2 % or more in 72–96 h after administration of the Innonafactor (additional criterion of efficiency) during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th visits was 80 % (4 of 5). During the study 5 adverse events (AES) were registered, 2 (40 %) events were laboratory and 3 (60  %) events – clinical. All AES were mild severу and, according to  clinical investigator, were not related to the study drug.  Thromboembolic complications and immunogenic reactions were not  registered. Thus, the obtained data demonstrate the efficiency and  safety of the drug Innonafactor both to prevent and stop bleeding in  patients at the age of 12 years and older with severe and moderate hemophilia B.


An overview of experimental observations of turbulent dispersion and turbulence modulation has been presented in this paper. The parameters affecting turbulent dispersion of the dispersed phase elements are described. The importance of Stokes number on the instantaneous concentration is delineated; in particular, preferential concentration is observed for certain Stokes numbers. The presence of the dispersed phase can augment or attenuate the turbulence of the continuous phase. The Kolmogorov Stokes number plays a significant role in the attenuation of turbulence. More controlled experiments are needed to isolate the effects of the dispersed phase on the turbulence energy spectrum of the continuous phase.


Employing teams of robots to offer services to human operators enables the latter to reduce their physical workload. In this paper, we focus on the problem of optimally allocating and scheduling the robot tasks in order to serve human operators. We formulate a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming problem that aims to minimize the human waiting time and the energy spent by the robots, while ensuring that any velocity constraints of the robots are fulfilled and the task ordering is correct. In addition, we propose an online re-allocation strategy that takes into account the possibility of changing human parameters over time. This strategy determines whether a new optimal solution must be computed. We validate the proposed framework in a simulated precision agriculture setting composed of two robots and four human operators for a harvesting application.


Objectives : A morphological classification among Achyranthes japonica Nakai (produced in Korea), A. bidentata Blume (imported from China), and Cyathula officinalis Kuan (used in China exclusively) was made through microscopic observation. Method : The slice of the tested material made by paraffin section technique was colored with Safranine Malachite Green contrast methods, and then observed and photographed by olymphus-BHT. Result : 1. Korean A. japonica Nakai has slim roots, whose diameter is . 1) Most of its intersection is stele, which includes a lot of vascular bundles. The inside of vascular bundles shows the arrangement of cycles, the innermost wheel of which is divided into two parts. 2) Parts of parenchymatous cell include Crystal sand of calcium oxalate. 2. The diameter of the roots of Chinese A. bidentata Blume is . 1) The xylem in the vascular bundle in the middle of its intersection is rather big, around which the inner parts of the vascular bundles are arranged in the shape of cycles around. The most outside part of it is small, and the middle part is gathered into groups. 2) Parts of parenchymatous cells include Crystal sand of calcium oxalate. 3. The roots of Chinese C. officinalis Kuan is thick, whose diameter is . 1) Vascular bundle of its intersection is spotted, arranged in the shape of concentric circles, whose center is divided into groups. 2) Parenchymatous cells include crystal sand and square crystal of calcium oxalate. Conclusion : It is concluded that Achyranthes japonica Nakai, A. bidentata Blume, and C. officinalis Kuan have different shapes in both external forms and internal intersections, so that they can be easily distinguished from one another through microscopic observation.


The development of modern information technology brings impetus to education by providing great information resource and educating means.The integration of modern information technology into non-academic further education greatly enriches teaching resources,and provides various communication platforms between teachers and students,students and students,school and society.


Possible to provide a sampling filter apparatus and a wireless communication apparatus, said apparatus capable of changing a filter characteristic without using a complex waveform as a control signal, and can be performed using a wide frequency process without performing spatial filter sampling. Sampling filter means (100) comprises: a control unit (140), a plurality of integrators (150-154), a plurality of switches (130,160-164,170-174,180-184), and a plurality of voltage / current converting means (120-123). During a clock, accumulate the input circuit in the integrator (150-154) is four, and the clock in the preceding (i.e., until the first four clocks before a clock) accumulated in the other remaining integrator the summed charge is outputted. When the clock each charge accumulated in the integrator (150-154) in, the input current is switched so as to be output to the charge weighted to change the filter characteristic.


Current views on plant cell reactions to lead are reviewed. Lead uptake, translocation, early and secondary disturbing effects, as well as resistance mechanisms (avoidance and tolerance), with general characteristics of some metal binding compounds are focused on.


The Federal Court has dismissed the ACCC's unconscionable conduct case against Woolworths. Yates J was not satisfied that Woolworths had acted unconscionably in designing and implementing its 'Mind the Gap' scheme, through which Woolworths sought to ask, negotiate and obtain additional financial support from suppliers who it assessed to be under-performing by reference to a number of metrics or 'lenses'.


The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of psychological (adherence to treatment) and accompanying drug therapy depending on the form of pulmonary tuberculosis. The results of complex therapy of 326 patients with various forms of pulmonary tuberculosis are considered. All patients received etiotropic treatment, taking into account the sensitivity of the pathogen to anti-tuberculosis drugs, as well as support therapy, including psychological support and, if indicated, hepatoprotective therapy with Remaxol. When analyzing the dependence of the psychoemotional state of patients on the form of the tuberculous process in the lungs, it was noted that high adherence to therapy was observed in one third of patients in all groups (DTL — 26.1%, ITL — 28.6%, FCTL — 32.8% and ATL — 31.8%, respectively, P>0.05). The results obtained may be associated with a high level of resistance of mycobacterium tuberculosis excreted from pa tients: out of 232 patients with low adherence to treatment (NUP and UUP), 97 (36.2%) showed drug resistance of the pathogen to two or more etiotropic drugs, which, in turn, caused prescription of reserve drugs. Thus, the determination of the level of adherence to treatment is justified and is aimed at correcting the psychological support of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, which makes it possible to increase the effectiveness of therapy in these patients. The appointment of the latter in a number of patients led to the development of hepatotoxic reactions, which served as the basis for the inclusion in the therapy regimens of the accompaniment of Remaxol (intravenous drip of 400 ml, course No. 5–7). Pronounced hepatoprotective (improved transaminase parameters) and insignificant immunoprotective (positive dynamics of the cytokine profile) effects were noted during treatment. The noted changes in the immunogram can be associated with the proven antioxidant and membrane stabilizing effect of succinic acid, which is part of Remaxol. These changes require further research.


Transient photoconductivity measurements have been performed on polyaniline (PAN), poly(2-methoxyaniline) (PMA) and poly(2-fluoroaniline) (PFA) films by means of the time-of-flight technique. The effect of processing solvents such as N-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP) and dichloromethane on the nature of transient photocurrent signals is discussed. In the NMP-cast PAN, PFA and PMA films, the photocurrent was composed of only short-lived components, which did not show the sign of transit time. On the other hand, the PMA film cast from dichloromethane showed a long-lived component of photocurrent with the presence of a field-dependent kink due to the transit time. PAN and PFA are least soluble in dichloromethane. The room-temperature hole mobility of PMA cast from dichloromethane solution has been found to be 1.2 ×10-5 cm2/V·s at an applied field of 1.0×106 V/cm.


Many of you reading this have probably (at some point in your lives) employed your fingertips when writing on a dirty surface. Think of writing "wash me" on a dirty car and you know what I mean. What many of you might not know, however, is that this is called reverse graffiti and it is…


The research and implementation of trusted network platform was introduced,which was based on the security of network calculating termination by reliability measuring system.Telnet was used to confirm the reliability that the system has to the network input termination.With the confirmed outcomes,access control for the whole calculating environment would be decided.The traditional network security technology and trusted computing technology were used to realize a brand-new network security system.


Two radiocarbon dated paleoenvironmental records from southern Nevada are being examined with the possibility of correlating high-frequency pollen samples with nearby long-term tree-ring sequences. Although visual correspondence seems close, variable deposition rates introduced problems with the number of years between and the number of years included within pollen samples. Better radiocarbon dating control of the pollen cores, as well as closer interval sampling would alleviate some of these problems. The method holds the promise of using pollen sequences to extend the record of temperature and precipitation beyond the present range of tree-rings.


Saba Bebawi sets out to evaluate whether Al Jazeera English covers important international events differently than two other global news agencies—CNN International and the BBC. Can it, in other words, be described as a legitimate alternative to these two Western news agencies? Although Bebawi does offer an answer, it is not enough to save this book from its shortcomings. Bebawi is Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Technology Sydney. My first criticism: The chapters that make up the equivalent of a literature review contain studies that are several years old. Recognizing that this book was published in 2016, the plethora of publications from 8 or more years ago is surprising. At multiple points in my reading, I began to wonder if these studies were part of a previous work and simply added to this book. More current research, especially pertaining to international news and Al Jazeera, needed to be inserted into these chapters. My second criticism: Not enough material is covered. One chapter, titled "Before the Arab Spring," does not offer a rich analysis of this period. Instead, seemingly arbitrary events are selected in the effort to spotlight how the three news organizations did their jobs. As an example, the kidnapping of British journalist Alan Johnston, who was held captive from March through July of 2007, is not reviewed in total. Instead, the 100th and then the final day of his captivity are compared. What the reader does not get is a deeper sense of how Al Jazeera English made journalistic decisions in the years immediately preceding the Arab Spring. The subsequent chapter, titled "After the Arab Spring," examines an event from 2014 and then a separate one from 2012. If that order of presentation seems like a curious decision, so too did the choice to discuss these events in only a few pages. There is insufficient information and insufficient analysis in this insufficient chapter. Bebawi soon concludes that Al Jazeera English's coverage differed from CNN International and the BBC. Summarizing briefly, there were some differences, most notably in one case where an AJE journalist appeared to allow his bias to dictate his reporting; however, for the most part the three networks reported the events in similar ways.


The activity of excitatory neurons is controlled by a highly diverse population of inhibitory interneurons. These cells show a high level of physiological, morphological and neurochemical heterogeneity, and play highly specific roles in neuronal circuits. In the mammalian hippocampus, these are divided into 21 different subtypes of GABAergic interneurons based on their expression of different markers, morphology and their electrophysiological properties. Ideally, all can be marked using an antibody directed against the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA, but parvalbumin, calbindin, somatostatin, and calretinin are also commonly used as markers to narrow down the specific interneuron subtype. Here, we describe a journey to find the necessary immunological reagents for studying GABAergic interneurons of the mouse hippocampus. Based on web searches there are several hundreds of different antibodies on the market directed against these four markers. Searches in the literature databases allowed us to narrow it down to a subset of antibodies most commonly used in publications. However, in our hands the most cited ones did not work for immunofluorescence stainings of formaldehyde fixed tissue sections and cultured hippocampal neurons, and we had to immunostain our way through thirteen different commercial antibodies before finally finding a suitable antibody for each of the four markers. The antibodies were evaluated based on signal-to-noise ratios as well as if positive cells were found in layers of the hippocampus where they have previously been described. Additionally, the antibodies were also tested on sections Open Peer Review


To (a) explore how the diary contributes to patient motivation for monitoring self‐management and (b) explore the nurses' experience of how the diary supports the patients' self‐management after lung transplantation.


Erysiphe necator (Schwein.) is the causal agent of grapevine powdery mildew. It survives the winter in two ways: as ascospores in overwintering fruiting bodies, the chasmothecia, and as mycelium in infected buds. Ascospores that are repeatedly released and cause primary infections in the following grapevine growing season and trigger powdery mildew epidemics. Consequently, the reduction of the overwintering inoculum may reduce powdery mildew epidemics in the next season. In order to verify this statement and develop sanitation as a relevant strategy to be used in integrated management of grape powdery mildew, different studies were performed during this Doctorate.
The first six chapters of this dissertation pertain to new findings about the biology, epidemiology and modeling of the pathogen. A new mechanistic model predicting maturation and dispersal of chasmothecia was developed, dynamics of ascospore maturation and dispersal were studied and another mechanistic model simulating ascosporic infections was developed.
In the last four chapters the control of the pathogen was redrawn according to the Integrated Pest Management concept: the efficacy of fungicides, the hyperparasite Ampelomyces spp., and mineral oil in reducing chasmothecia production in fall, in killing chasmothecia before bud break, and in controlling ascosporic infections in spring was investigated.


Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), which is caused by a novel Bunyavirus, has gradually become a threatening infectious disease in rural areas of Asia. Studies have identified a severe cytokine storm and impaired humoral immune response in SFTS. However, the cellular immune response to SFTS virus (SFTSV) infection remains largely unknown. Here we report that SFTS patients had a cytokine storm accompanied by high levels of chemokines. CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of SFTS patients exhibited a more activated phenotype and enhanced the antiviral responses. They increased the expression of CD69 and CD25, secreted a higher level of IFN‐γ and granzyme, and had a stronger proliferative ability than in healthy controls. In convalescent SFTS patients, the expression of CD69 and CD25 on CD8+ T cells was reduced. In addition, we found the ratio and cellularity of CD14+CD16+ intermediate monocytes were increased in peripheral blood of SFTS patients. Both the expression of C‐X‐C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) on CD14+CD16+ intermediate monocytes and the expression of C‐X‐C motif chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) on CD8+ T cells increased dramatically in SFTS patients. Our studies reveal a potential pathway that CD8+ T cells rapidly activate and are mostly recruited by intermediate monocytes through CXCL10 in SFTSV infection. Our results may be of clinical relevance for further treatment and discharge instructions in SFTSV infections.


Variable-length codes, using source statistical features, improve the encoding. However, using these codes can results in error propagation in bit string transmitted to noisy transmission environments. This paper has used reversible symmetrical codes in the bit string obtained from JPEG compressor in order to overcome this problem. several examples of reversible code design algorithm have been reviewed and a symmetrical code based on Huffman code has been analyzed and deigned for JPEG compressor Jpeg compressor has been simulated by Huffman standard code and by reversible symmetrical code and the amount of their compression has been compared for several pictures Also, optimization of detection trend in noisy condition has been displayed.


(1903). XIV. The preparation and properties of an intensely radioactive gas from metallic mercury. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science: Vol. 6, No. 31, pp. 113-116.


The negative impact of agriculture on the natural environment is not a new issue. One of the ideas to overcome this problem is the eco-efficiency concept, analyzing the agricultural output in relation, not only to traditional inputs, but to the environmental impact, as well. This paper aims at calculating the eco-efficiency of Polish commercial farms, based on a representative sample of 601 farms participating in the Polish Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). To assess the eco-efficiency of the farms, variables illustrating traditional inputs (land, labor, capital), as well as variables reflecting the environmental pressure of the surveyed farms (greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and nitrogen and phosphorus surpluses) were used. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) revealed that, on average, farms could reduce their inputs by almost a quarter without reducing their outputs. Additionally, it was revealed that incorporating externalities of agricultural production into analyses decreases the diversity of the farm population in terms of efficiency measures. According to the analyses, more eco-efficient farms are characterized by larger utilized agricultural area (UAA), higher production value, and higher intensity of chemical inputs per 1 ha, but at the same time by lower amounts of inputs used per production unit. Moreover, more eco-efficient farms achieved higher farm incomes in many terms: total, per 1 ha of UAA, and per 1 EUR of production value.


Purpose
This article aims to set out the best strategies to understand the employee life cycle and how to employ tactics to keep top talent within an organisation.

Design/methodology/approach
This feature explores desktop data and industry research.

Findings
This feature demonstrates how an employee's life cycle can be extended in the workplace and explains the link between the employee value proposition and the employee life cycle to create successful onboarding strategies.

Social implications
This article also looks at how millennials will stay longer in an organisation that has strong environmental policies.

Originality/value
This feature offers fantastic insight into an issue that is currently costing the country millions.


Using the new theoretical method managed by theory concerned with recurrent state and transient state obtains complete composite and switching characteristics of various kinds of sampling schemes, especially ISO 2859.


This is a abridged version of the fi rst chapter of Gérard Duhaime, ed., Sustainable Food Security in the Arctic: State of Knowledge, Edmonton: University of Alberta, CCI Press, 2002, 244 pp. This work was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, as part of the Major joint research program. The authors can be reached at: GÉTIC, Pavillon Charles-de-Koninck, Université Laval, Québec, Canada, and Département de sociologie.


Objective—The authors examined the incidence and predictors of peritraumatic distress and dissociation after one of the most common forms of civilian trauma exposure: motor vehicle collision (MVC). Methods—In this study, patients presenting to the emergency department after MVC who were without serious injury and discharged to home after evaluation (n = 935) completed an emergency department interview evaluating sociodemographic, collision-related, and psychological characteristics. present in 355 of 935 patients (38%) and dissociation was present in 260 of 942 patients (28%). These outcomes showed only moderate correlation (r = 0.45), and had both shared and distinct predictors. Female gender, anxiety symptoms prior to MVC, and vehicle damage severity predicted both distress and dissociation. Higher socioeconomic status (higher education, higher income, full time employment) had a protective effect against distress but not dissociative symptoms. Better physical health and worse overall mental health were associated with increased risk of dissociation, but not distress. Distress but not dissociation was associated with lower patient confidence in recovery and a longer expected duration of recovery. Conclusion—There are unique predictors of peritraumatic distress and dissociation. Further work is needed to better understand the neurobiology of peritraumatic distress and dissociation, and the influence of these peritraumatic outcomes on persistent psychological sequelae. Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are among the most common life-threatening experiences, resulting in 50 million injuries worldwide and almost four million US emergency department (ED) visits each year (Peden, 2004; Niska, Bhuiya, & Xu, 2010). More than 90% of patients presenting to US EDs following MVC do not have injuries requiring hospitalization and are discharged to home following evaluation Understanding which patients are at risk for PTSD is an important priority. Three distinct categories of risk factors have been described: extant patient characteristics, stressor characteristics, and response characteristics The extant patient characteristics include socio-demographics, mental health, and past experiences (McFarlane, 2008). Stressor characteristics include severity of harm or physical threat and other dimensions of the event (Green, 1990). Individual response characteristics include psychological sequelae immediately following the event, in particular distress and dissociation. Importantly, acute psychological response predicts PTSD independent of the severity of the traumatic stressor Although there is no currently known mechanism by which PTSD can be prevented in all individuals (Shalev, 2009), developing evidence suggests that a window exists shortly after the exposure during which therapeutic intervention may decrease the risk of PTSD development in susceptible patients (Bryant, 2003; Litz, 2008). Indeed, early interventions …


In the current industrialized era, diabetes mellitus is spread worldwide, a metabolic disease termed as diabetes. In this condition, human body is not able to maintain an acceptable range 70-180 mg/dl of blood glucose and could lead to prolonged sickness. Diabetes at least doubles a person's risk of death. As the years progress by 2035 the expected death shall rise to 592 million. Several researches especially in the regulation of blood glucose were carried out and still remained an open challenge. With the increase in the modern technology and treatment towards the diabetes mellitus, there are several open opportunities to develop different methods of treatment. The main emphasize is to develop an efficient controller to the device which mimics the human pancreas. The elimination of the risk of occurrence of hypoglycaemia is the main concern. Though many Artificial Pancreas systems are available, they are still subjected to many limitations. The challenges in development of Artificial Pancreas are choosing an appropriate mathematical model while developing an efficient control algorithm. Various mathematical models and methodological approach are reviewed and elaborated in this paper.


This paper presents an air-conditioning system that regulates
room temperature via the use of multiple-sensor system that is
named as "Intelligent Air-Conditioning System". Airconditioning system has become one of most important
human comfort technologies especially for countries near the
equator. Conventional methods of regulating room
temperature by air-conditioning system using single sensor
have been integrated into most of today's split type and
window type air-conditioner. The demands from customer
now from air condition technology are for more human
comfort, energy saving and smart gadgetry thus the trend in
research is to incorporate artificial intelligent technology in
this field. However, many research in this area concentrate on
maximizing the use of a single located near the air intake area
of the air-conditioning system. In this paper we present a case
for the use of multiple sensors to determine the temperature
distribution more accurately throughout the room and creating
a system that will provide a higher degree of human comfort
with less energy consumed.


The worthiness of literary Visualize is of the authenticity. The authenticity has been mostly for personal authenticity, And that hasn't been mostly for the impersonal authenticity.


With ever growing automation of public transport automated shuttles offer an attractive alternative in areas where traffic regulations limit the deployment of large buses (city centres) or where low degrees of utilization renders the manual vehicles operation non-economical (last mile). The low capacities of shuttles in combination with the human factor (driver or conductor) makes capacity management a greater challenge for the user. Capacity management describes the allocation of available seats in a vehicle, e.g., when buying a ticket. In this paper, we present the results of series of studies where capacity management in automated shuttles has been tested via instruments that are currently available in public transit (audio announcements, in-shuttle displays, booking apps). We found that measures during and after boarding are not sufficient and that capacity management in automated shuttle requires a more detailed planning of pre-boarding stages; when boarding automated shuttles as opposed to non-automated public buses the flexibility is reduced. The paper concludes with discussion and recommendations for an optimal capacity management d.


When a witness is summoned to court to testify, he will first be questioned by the litigant who has either asked for the evidence or compelled that it be given through the subpoena process. The manner in which expert testimony is elicited at the outset of his appearance in court is called the direct examination. This article explains the purposes to be served during direct examination, the scope of the proffered testimony, and the manner in which the typical direct examination proceeds.

Keywords:

opinion evidence;
leading questions;
qualifications;
cross-examination


This research shows the method about the auto extinguishing system construction for the subway train's safety operation. The safety system is the total auto extinguishing system which it is able to overcome the emergency situation, to see fast using the sensing system, to interface using the communication system, finally to extinguish the large-scale fire happened. The system model is the total disaster mitigation system model preventing the arson or terror. and to apply a method of the fire extinguishing system using reinforced fire extinguishing agency in the world first. It is to use the subway train and the railroad train which is prevented and mitigated the large-scale demage the same as the arson and the terror.


The research was conducted to determine yield and yield components of some grasspea genotypes in order to examine some of the traits, during 2012-2014 seasons in GAP International Agricultural Research and Training Center was carried out on the experimental field. In the study, a total of 24 different genotypes were used grasspea, field trials randomized block design with 3 replications was established. In the study, herbage yield, hay yield and seed yield in addition to days to 50% flowering duration, plant height, main stem length, main stem number, pod number per plant, grain number per pod as affecting yield some properties were also investigated. In both years of the study, days to 50% flowering duration, plant height, main stem length, main stem number, grain number per pod, herbage yield, hay yield and number of seeds per pod characteristics examined, except among genotypes for all other parameters are determined significant differences in statistical terms. According to the average of two years result; days to 50% flowering duration, plant height, main stem length, main stem number, pod number per plant, grain number per pod, herbage yield, hay yield, seed yield, 1000 seed weight were changed between 165-175 days, 39.25-59.17 cm, 74.42-98.75 cm, 1.87-2.53 number, 33.83-67.00 number, 2.95-3.72 number, 1379.50-3154.17 kg da -1 , 330.67-767.38 kg da -1 , 181.00-269.83 kg da -1 , 99.88-141.71 g, respectively. According to these results, under the climate and soil conditions of Diyarbakır; for the grass production grasspea genotypes "GAP Mavisi " was suggested and for the seed production grasspea genotypes " SEL 2999" were


This article analyses different standards for harmless error and concludes that the Chapman v. California beyond a reasonable doubt standard should not be replaced in child dependency proceedings with a lower clear and convincing evidence standard as some have argued because it will harm families and children by unreasonably lowering the government's burden to demonstrate that constitutional error was not prejudicial.


Edible mushroom cultivation is a profitable cottage industry, in which oyster mushroom occupies a prominent place in Sri Lanka. A good substrate is a key factor that determines the profitability of the mushroom cultivation. The Department of Agriculture recommends soya flour as a nitrogen supplement for mushroom substrate. Nonetheless production cost could be minimized if cheaper nitrogen sources could replace the traditional ingredients. Therefore the relative efficacy of six compost mixtures, each amended with one of the following nitrogen sources (viz-gliricidia leaf powder, poultry litter and urea) were compared with the standard soya flour amended compost mixture to study their suitability as potential substitute/s. The addition of gliricidia leaf powder and urea were determined by the percentage nitrogen (%N) of each compound. Percentage N of well-decomposed poultry litter was calculated by using kjeldhal method (Available N =%N*6.25). The experiment was laid in Complete Randomized Design with seven treatments and fourteen replicates. The mycelia growth rate after spawning, mush-room yield, and the duration for the first frutification were used as indicators. The results revealed that the most suitable compost mixtures for higher mushroom yields were those containing 6.6% poultry litter. Keywords: oyster mushroom; culture substrate; mycelial growth; frutification DOI: 10.4038/tare.v10i0.1868 Tropical Agricultural Research & Extension Vol.10 2007 29-32


We demonstrate high power continuous-wave room-temperature operation surface-grating distributed feedback quantum cascade lasers at 4.8 μm. High power single mode operation benefits from a combination of high-reflection and antireflection coatings. Maximum single-facet continuous-wave output power of 2.4 W and peak wall plug efficiency of 10% from one facet is obtained at 298 K. Single mode operation with a side mode suppression ratio of 30 dB and single-lobed far field without beam steering is observed.


Droplet microfluidics, which is the manipulation and handling of fluid in microscale channels, has excellent applications in material science, chemical synthesis, genetic analysis, drug discovery and delivery, organ on chips, and tissue engineering. Consequently, this field has attracted significant attention from both academic institutions and industries. However, one of the major constraints is increasing the droplet production rate from a single generator to thousands of generators in order to move from a laboratory scale to industrial standards. Although the scale-up method (in this case, parallelization) of droplet production using theoretical calculations has been extensively investigated, it has been discovered to be occasionally unreliable during experiments. The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, which has recently been applied to droplet microfluidics, has helped to determine the exact factors and conditions required for uniform droplet formation in flow-focusing devices. Thus far, there has been limited study on the simulation of distribution structures that effectively supply fluids to microfluidic devices in parallel orientation. In this study, CFD is used to provide detailed insights into the conditions required to achieve uniform fluid distribution in the delivery and/or distribution channel of microfluidic devices, and experimental analysis is used to further validate the findings.


As a field, control systems engineering has developed quantitative methods to characterize the regulation of systems or processes, whose functioning is ubiquitous within synthetic systems. In this context, a control circuit is objectively "well regulated" when discrepancy between desired and achieved output trajectories is minimized, and "robust" to the degree that it is able to regulate well in response to a wide range of stimuli. Most psychiatric disorders are assumed to reflect dysregulation of brain circuits. Yet, probing circuit regulation requires fundamentally different analytic strategies than the correlations relied upon for analyses of connectivity and their resultant networks. Here, we demonstrate how well-established methods for system identification in control systems engineering may be applied to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to extract generative computational models of human brain circuits. These provide two quantitative measures of direct relevance for psychiatric disorders: a circuit's sensitivity to external perturbation and its dysregulation.


Reservoir pressure and pore pressure coefficient are the key parameters for evaluating the preservation conditions of low permeability reservoirs and selecting different development processed and measures, as well as important input parameters for predicting ground stress. Due to the influence of unique geological characteristics such as ancient structure, current structure and rapid change of burial depth, the pore pressure in reservoir of the Upper Wuerhe Formation in the 53 east block of Junggar Basin has a large lateral change and is influenced by many factors. The conventional pore pressure prediction methods based on longitudinal wave velocity (such as Eaton method) have poor accuracy. Therefore, according to the geological characteristics of the reservoir in this area, based on the simultaneous inversion of P-wave and S-wave data before seismic stack, combined with the changes in formation lithology and the impact of denudation on pore pressure and pore pressure coefficient, this paper takes P-wave, S-wave, lithology, and denudation into account to predict pore pressure and pressure coefficient. The research results show that: ① the introduction of seismic inversion data improves the prediction accuracy and detail richness on the plane; ② the introduction of the lithology change factor improves the stability of the prediction of pressure coefficient in vertical direction; ③ for the area suffering from strong denudation, the introduction of denudation intensity help better predict the pressure coefficient of low pressure wells near the denudated area. The pressure data from more than 10 actual wells proves that the relative error of the prediction results of this method is less than 5%. It is concluded that the established prediction method has small error and high accuracy, and can be used to provide higher quality data support for the subsequent selection of good reservoirs, well location deployment, horizontal stress parameter prediction.


Orthorhombic Lead metaniobate (PbNb2O6) exhibits ferroelectric properties and has a Curie temperature, TC of 570°C. This work reports on investigations made on ferroelectric Lead metaniobate, (PN) and its solid solutions with bismuth and titanium Pb(1-X)BiX(Nb(1-X/2)TiX/2)2O6, (PBTN), bismuth and sodium Pb(1-X)BiX/2NaX/2Nb2O6, (PBNN), bismuth and potassium Pb(1-X)BiX/2KX/2Nb2O6,(PBKN), and calcium and titanium (1-x)PbNb2O6-xCaTiO2, (PCTN). The ferroelectric polymorph was obtained for all the solid solutions without quenching, and the optimized sintering temperature was reduced with increasing substitution level except in the system PCTN. The lattice parameters of the solid solutions were found to systematically vary with composition. Curie temperature was reduced with increasing substitution level in all the series. Piezoelectric charge constant d33 increases with composition of the solid solutions.