This special issue is devoted to the subject of political and related societal issues associated with the use of life-cycle concepts for civil infrastructure systems. It consists of six papers that are expanded and reviewed versions selected from the ten papers at two special sessions of the International Conference on Bridge Maintenance, Safety and Management. The first of these sessions was entitled Political and Other Societal Issues of Life-Cycle Costing, and the second was Politics and Perception in Life-Cycle Decisions. The concepts of life-cycle analysis are based on the optimal consideration of a structure over its intended lifetime, including design, construction, operation, inspection, maintenance and repair. Infrastructure systems are often owned and operated by a government agency, and, as such, are public structures. It is well documented that society responds primarily to current expenditures, conveniences and risks, and that discounting methods do not adequately take this bias into account. There is a clear incompatibility related to the fact that political election cycles are an order of magnitude shorter than design lifetimes of infrastructure. Various aspects related to actual and perceived risk, societal decision-making, and tradeoff strategies of current versus future costs are covered in the papers selected for this special issue. There are clear advantages of utilizing a life-cycle cost analysis for the selection of project and design alternatives for public infrastructure. Adoption of such an approach, however, has been relatively slow and uneven, and this may be largely due to those political and social issues that are generally not considered in an engineering cost-benefit analysis. In addition, there seem to be differing degrees of implementation among countries. Engineering analysts and risk professionals will see increased acceptance of their recommendations if they have a clearer understanding of the array of factors facing agency and publicly elected decision makers. This special issue has the goal of bringing a broad perspective of these considerations to the readership. The first two papers, Implications of the long term bridge performance program for life cycle costing in the United States by Chase and Ghasemi, and Societal and reliability aspects of bridge management in the Netherlands by Klatter, Vrouwenvelder and van Noortwijk, provide views of the contrasting political and social pressures for life-cycle analysis of bridge management in the two countries. The US has had a bridge inspection program for 35 years and is engaged in building upon this for a Long-Term Bridge Performance Program. The Netherlands has implemented a decision-theoretic that incorporates societal perspectives for management of the bridge network. The third paper, Governing issues and alternative resolutions for a highway transportation agency's transition to asset management by Moon, Aktan, Furuta and Dogaki, presents an in-depth analysis of the real-world issues related to transitioning to a full asset management approach to transportation infrastructure. In the fourth paper, A budget management approach for societal infrastructure projects, Nishijima and Faber provide an alternative approach for allocation of limited funding for candidate projects incorporating direct and consequent benefits and costs. Thoft-Christensen explains many of the practical difficulties of life-cycle management for structures, bridges and nuclear installations in the fifth paper Life-Cycle Cost-Benefit (LCCB) analysis of bridges from a user and social point of view. Finally, in the sixth paper, Societal issues in adopting life-cycle concepts within the political system, I describe some of the social theoretic concepts that affect the replacement of least initial cost by life-cycle decision principles.


Water pollution is a serious issue faced not only in India but also in the overall globe. Almost all major Indian rivers are polluted due to the rapid increase in industrialization and poor water quality management. Particularly, the pollution level in the river Ganga has increased significantly. Hence, it is necessary to monitor and manage the pollution levels of the river Ganga using efficient data-driven methods. In this paper, a deep learning-based Convolutional Neural Network - Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory - Support Vector Regression (CNN-BiLSTM-SVR) hybrid model is proposed to forecast the water pollution levels of river Ganga. Four different deep learning models, such as LSTM, BiLSTM, CNN-LSTM, and CNN-BiLSTM, have been developed as a baseline to compare the performance with that of the proposed model. These models are implemented using water quality data of river Ganga collected from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board's official website. Here, only two parameters, i.e., Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), are used in modeling. The proposed CNN-BiLSTM-SVR model provides better forecasting results for two water pollutants, such as DO, BOD, and the associated Water Quality Index (WQI).


In contrast to large companies small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) frequently suffer from 'resource poverty' (Welsh and White, 1981; Bharati and Chaudhury, 2009), which often affects strategy development and creates perceptual and physical barriers to growth (Fillis, Johansson and Wagner, 2004). For example, small companies usually have fewer financial and human resources (Chow, Haddad and Williamson, 1997; Ihlstrom and Nilsson, 2003; Gribbins and King, 2004, Montazemi, 2006). However, according to the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) the value of strategic assets can be increased if they are combined with other strategic assets, which is called complementarity. Complementarity can be defined as "an enhancement of resource value, [which] arises when a resource produces greater returns in the presence of another resource than it does alone" (Powell and Dent-Micallef 1997, p.379). Teece (1986, p.301) suggests that complementary assets are especially important for small companies because, in contrast to their larger competitors, they "are less likely to have the relevant specialized and cospecialized assets within their boundaries and so will either have abStract


Missing from the still unanswered hopes of the humanities, the moral relativism of the social sciences and the disquieting profundity of the natural sciences is the quality described as human feeling taken in its most rational and normative sense.


The Xth Sense is an interactive system for the biophysical generation and control of music. It makes use of muscle sounds produced by a performer as both raw sonic material and control data. Presently the Xth Sense (XS) technology consists of low-cost, wearable biosensors and a Pure Data based application for capture, analysis, real time processing and playback of human muscle sounds. The technical implementation of the XS biosensors has been recently illustrated in [2]. This paper describes the design of the XS software; it is a program that enables a computer to "listen" to the MMG signals transduced by the XS biosensors, to understand the performance main features, and therefore to interact with the performer. After a brief introduction on the nature of the interaction fostered by the XS technology, I focus on the framework main features such as: the XS library, a tabbed dynamic interface (TDI), a MMG features extraction unit, and a graph-on-parent (GOP) routing system for dynamic mapping of gesture to sound.


We calculate the instanton contribution to the Euclidean Green functions of two-dimensional models describing fields which take on values in Grassmann space G(n,p) = U(n)/U(p) x U(n-p).


A new tridentate ligand, PYAN, is employed to investigate solvent influences for dioxygen reactivity with [Cu(PYAN)(MeCN)]B(C6F5)4 (1). Stopped-flow kinetic studies confirm that the adducts [{CuII(PYAN)}2(O2)][B(C6F5)4]2 (2Peroxo) and [{CuIII(PYAN)}2(O)2][B(C6F5)4]2 (2Oxo) are in rapid equilibrium. Thermodynamic parameters for the equilibrium between 2Peroxo and 2Oxo are as follows:  THF, ΔH° ∼ −15.7 kJ/mol, ΔS° ∼ −83 J/K·mol; acetone, ΔH° ∼ −15.8 kJ/mol, ΔS° ∼ −76 J/K·mol. UV−visible absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopic signatures demonstrate that the equilibrium is highly solvent dependent; the mixture is mostly 2Peroxo in CH2Cl2, but there are significantly increasing quantities of 2Oxo along the series methylene chloride → diethyl ether → acetone → tetrahydrofuran (THF). Copper(II)−Neq stretches (239, 243, 244, and 246 cm-1 in CH2Cl2, Et2O, acetone, and THF, respectively) are identified for 2Peroxo, but they are not seen in 2Oxo, revealing for the first time direct evidence for solvent coordin...


Pulmonary  hypertension  and  right  heart dysfunction often  complicate  the course  of chronic  heart failure.  At the same  time,  the addition  of these pathological conditions  significantly increases the frequency  of hospitalizations and worsens survival prognosis. That is why the assessment  of the unfavorable outcome's risk in the group of such patients is extremely important. This problem draws an interest for a more detailed study, considering the fact that the most convenient,  accessible and minimally invasive prognosis marker has still being searched for nowadays. In this review article, which is based on the analysis of literature over the past 20 years dedicated to the problem of pulmonary hypertension  and chronic heart failure, right ventricular-arterial  coupling, has been considered  as a relatively new parameter  and as an example  of one of these prognostic markers.  This parameter  can be assessed  by echocardiography  examination and  our article describes  several  options  of calculating it, including  one of the most  popular  and valuable ratio of tricuspidal anular plane systolic excursion to the systolic pulmonary artery pressure (TAPSE/sPAP).


Through analyzing radiosonde observation data during pre-onset and onset period of monsoon, the authors find that the second tropopause (ST) (also called tropical tropopause) is the main tropopause in western Tibetan Plateau. This kind of characteristic can be seen in the two seasons. Double tropopause frequency is high in winter, while the first tropopause (FT) (also called polar tropopause) is rarely seen in summer, in which there is only the second tropopause. Before the monsoon onset, the height of FT is about 10752 m, with its temperature about 219 K, pressure 245.2 hPa; the height of ST is about 16826 m, with its temperature about 202 K, pressure 93 hPa. During the monsoon onset, the height of FT is 10695 m, with its temperature 229 K, pressure 257 hPa; the height of ST is 17360 m, with temperature 198 K, pressure 89.4 hPa. The difference of average temperature between the two periods demonstrate that the temperature of ST is high in winter and low in summer; the FT's temperature is high in summer, low in winter. At hourly scale, the second tropopause height is in opposite phase separately with its temperature, pressure, and wind speed, which means that higher tropopause height is accompanied with lower pressure, temperature, wind speed. The FT's inversion layer inhibits upward heat transporting and cloud height. The FT plays an important role in atmosphere heating. From uniform mixing of wind speed, the authors can conclude that boundary layer height can be as high as 3500 m in May and July. The westerly jet have obvious seasonal change. It is stronger in winter with hardly any easterlies. During the monsoon onset period, the westerly jet becomes weaker due to its moving away from Gaize to the north. While the easterlies becomes stronger due to moving nearer to Gaize, and is on top of the subtropical westerlies.


The objective of this work was to find an alternative wastewater treatment technology to that of waste stabilization ponds which was capable of producing an effluent safe for reuse in irrigation, but which did not require the large land areas of such a system. Single-stage lime treatment of raw domestic wastewater in a continuous-flow pilot-plant produced an effluent suitable for reuse in unrestricted irrigation by attaining the Engelberg/WHO guidelines of ≤ 1 intestinal nematode egg per litre and ≤ 1000 faecal coliforms per 100 ml. Such treatment was achieved for a mean hydraulic retention time in the sedimentation tank of less than nine hours. The principal mechanism of bacterial removal was physical entrapment and sedimentation to the sludge layer: high pH was only a secondary mechanism for faecal coliform destruction. Faecal coliforms acted as good indicators of the removal of salmonellae in the lime flocculation-sedimentation system, but intestinal nematode eggs were not reliable indicators of the removal of protozoan cysts.


A jetting device for a low-temperature plasma generated by the atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge relates to the technical field of the application of gas discharge plasma. Inert gas and air are used as working gas; the plasma generated in a discharge area is blown out in the form of jet; the problem of limited application range caused by the narrow parallel-plate dielectric barrier discharge area and a high plasma macroscopic temperature can be solved. The device has the structural characteristics that a hollow pipe-shaped connector is connected with a hollow dielectric pipe; an electrode coated with insulation dielectric is fixed at the center of the dielectric pipe; an annular electrode is closely attached to the outer wall of the dielectric pipe; the working gas enters the dielectric pipe from a flow meter and a retaining valve through the connector; the plasma is blown out to form the plasma jetting. The jetting device has the advantages of low plasma macroscopic temperature, large electron energy, wide expanded range, low cost, low energy consumption and high reliability; furthermore, the jetting device can used in the fields of sterilization and disinfection, the surface modification of complex-shaped material, waste gas treatment, ozone synthesis, as well as the physical and chemical fields of the discharge light source plasma.


A multiple-reference complex-based controller is proposed for three-phase power converters feeding nonlinear and unbalanced loads. The control scheme incorporates a stable multiple-complex coefficient filter with bandwidths that are set arbitrarily and independently for every harmonic under consideration. The multiple-reference complex-based control scheme is applied to an uninterruptible power supply system with a voltage source converter. Each harmonic is controlled using a standard complex proportional-resonant controller that is designed for stability and robustness using the Nyquist criterion. Similar stability and robustness properties follow for the overall system due to the frequency-domain properties of the filter and of the controllers. The proposed methodology is validated in simulation and experimental tests.


Although his name is now virtually unknown beyond academia, George Buchanan (b. 1506–d. 1582) was one of the foremost humanists and Neo-Latinists of the 16th century. His work as a writer, polemicist, and educator had a Europe-wide impact in his own lifetime, and a cultural afterlife so great that it resulted in a large obelisk being erected in his memory in his hometown of Killearn, Scotland, and year-long public celebrations of the four-hundredth anniversary of his birth at the Universities of Glasgow and St. Andrews in 1906. Buchanan is best known to early modern historians as the polemicist for the revolutionary party that forced Mary Stuart to abdicate from the throne of Scotland in 1567 in favor of her infant son, James. It was in this context that he produced a scurrilous account of her reign (the De Maria Regina Scotorum, published in English as the Detectioun), an explosive treatise on the nature of Scottish kingship and the right to resist and kill tyrants (the De Iure Regni apud Scotos Dialogus), and a history of Scotland (Rerum Scoticarum Historia) that acted as a "proof text" of sorts for his theories on monarchy. Buchanan was also tutor to Mary's son, who as James VI and I would become arguably the most literary British monarch ever to sit on the throne. To scholars of the French Renaissance, Buchanan is more famous—and has been studied in comparatively much greater depth—as the author of Neo-Latin works across an impressive range of genres, many of which strongly influenced early French vernacular literature. These included religious tragedies and translations of ancient Greek plays (Jephthes, Baptistes, Alcestis, Medea), and secular and anti-clerical poetry (the Franciscanus, written in Scotland for James V around 1537, being the most famous example). His crowning poetic achievement, the Latin versification and paraphrasing of the complete Hebrew Psalter, was begun while he was imprisoned by the Inquisition in Portugal, where he had been one of the first teachers at the newly established University of Coimbra. Once safely back in France and then Scotland, the complete collection was published in stages, and it enjoyed exceptional critical acclaim and international dissemination. The psalm paraphrases would see Buchanan receive the epithet (at least according to his publisher) of "easily the prince of poets of our age" (poetarum nostri saeculi facile princeps). He died in 1582, but his works and ideas circulated among poets, intellectuals, and revolutionary parties alike for centuries after.


The anchor bolt is a key point of tunnel design in bedded rock mass. The previous theory of anchorage support falls does not fulfil engineering requirements, and the stability of bedded rock must be addressed by empirical methods. To investigate the bolt anchoring performance for bedded rock mass under different anchoring methods, the rock failure mode under shear and tensile stresses in bedded rock was examined in this paper. The results showed that bolt anchoring for rock is achieved mainly through the bonded restoration of surrounding rock near the drill holes by means of an anchoring agent and the supporting resistance provided by the bolt body. It was observed that the strength parameters of bedded rock were increased under the anchoring effect. Full anchoring bolts were especially effective. In addition, it was observed that, in the absence of bolts, the failure form changed from shear to split. In the case of bolting, the failure plane occurred parallel to the bolt's axis. The shearing began along the interface between the hard and soft rock bedding. Compared to end bolt anchoring, full-length bolt anchoring was more capable of offering an anchoring effect. The latter offered a greater increase in the strength and greater shear-bearing capacity of the rock, which ultimately enabled the rock to bear more load.


An analysis that illuminates recent poll findings about American perceptions of the UN, provides a message for candidates seeking to become the next secretary general, and concludes that the United States never had a choice between a strong national defense and a commitment to international law and organization. America needs both.


Bolometric measurements are performed in the RFX reversed field pinch experiment by means of a low noise miniaturized multichannel metal resistor bolometer module. The first tests on RFX, an experiment with geometrical dimensions comparable with those of large tokamaks but characterized by a much faster plasma dynamics, show that this thin film bolometer can be operated with high bandwidth and high time resolution in very different fusion experiments. A new data analysis technique, which allows the derivation of the power absorbed by the bolometer at a high time resolution (Δt=3×10−5 s) for the study of fast phenomena is presented.


Results of experimental researches rotational ground melter, that works via rotation of working body and not requiring an external power source. Recommendations at the choice of its design data are given.


Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, 10 dieses responsible for more than 50% of of all deaths globally because of 10 dieses. The stroke is the second killers during the past decade.
Thus, according to the statistics, mortality rate of stroke in 2011, 6.2 million (11.4%) have been compared with the number in 2000, has increased significantly (5.6 million - 9.4%)
Also the World Health Organization has reported that 50.9% mortality of top 10 causes would have come from low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Measuring how many people die each year and why they died is one of the most important means for assessing the effectiveness of a country's health system. Cause-of-death statistics help health authorities determine their focus for public health actions.
Methods: This study analyzed data reported by the World Health Organization in 2013 (figures for the years 2011 ¬) is associated with level of Income countries with the mortality rate due to stroke in the countries members of the World Health Organization.
Findings: From 194 countries, the rate of stroke deaths are, 7.3%, from low-income countries, 30.1% from lower-middle-income countries, 50.6% from upper-middle-income countries and 12% from high-income countries.
Discussion: According to the results, 37.4% of deaths of stroke would have come from low-income and lower-middle-income countries; and 62.6% from other countries, and this suggests that the high-income countries.
So despite the high income, mortality rate of strok is increasing dramatically ,then common risk factors of no communicable diseases are preventable , proper planning is required.


Preferential policy of income tax for nonprofit organization is taking shape in our country.The demonstration of its legal base in the academic circle does not begin.The absence of theoretical base leads to the lack of identification towards the policy in reality.The introduction of foreign relative basic theory into China is expected;the arrangement of its development at home is becoming clear.All this effort will contribute to the correct interpretation,rational examination and application of this preferential policy.


Massacres are everywhere. At least that is the impression one could get from recent newspaper headlines like : « Massacre at Columbine High School ». « Jaguars massacre Dolphins ». « Massacre in Yugoslavia ». From a shooting by some disgruntled teenagers to sports, like the devastating defeat meted out to the Miami Dolphins by the Jacksonville Jaguars, to the annihilation of a village in the Balkans, massacres seem to be all around us. A search of the word « massacre » on the Internet produce...


The present invention relates to an information distribution method based on the incremental fountain, and belongs to the technical field of wireless data transmission. The information distribution method has the following characteristics: a data splitter is used at the transmitting end for arranging the data of the same layer number in the layered and encoded data sequence, so as to form a branch; the sum of the branches is the sum of the layers; a weighting sequence is designed according to the principle of smaller layer number and higher degree of importance; a scheduling parameter calculator is used for calculating the scheduling parameters of each layer in each original data block; the scheduling parameters are transmitted to a scheduling device, which is used for controlling the work of the fountain encoder of different layers according to different probabilities, so as to complete different types of redundancy protection of different layers, thus the system has the capacity of adapting to complex and changeable states of the channel. The method can be used for effective data distribution of no feedback and low redundancy in the poor channel.


Battery management systems (BMSs) play a critical and crucial role in ensuring the safety and the efficiency of the batteries. The increasing BMS complexity, the expanding interconnections between batteries and applications, and the introduction of cloud-based energy storage system structures have led to growing concerns about battery cybersecurity. For instance, the data exchange between the local and remote BMS parts can be exposed to cybersecurity attacks. Classic BMSs are not equipped with security mechanisms that are instead essential to protect their integrity and reliability and prevent serious consequences such as loss of data, equipment damage, and counterfeiting of battery components. This work highlights the importance of securing BMSs against cyber threats and discusses the current state of the art of cybersecurity in BMSs. The main outcome is the proposal of a novel and robust security approach to design a BMS able to prevent misuse and undesired manipulation of battery equipment and data. The proposed design approach can be used as enabling technology to support the application to the BMSs of the most diffused security mechanisms adopted by the state of the art as cybersecurity protections.


Numerous tests for cardiac efficiency have been proposed in the past, but relatively little attention has been focused upon breathlessness in patients with respiratory disorders. Fundamental studies of the importance of ventilation in heart disease have been made by Peabody and his fellow workers (1). They demonstrated that the degree of dyspnea was proportional to the reduction in the vital capacity and in the "pulmonary reserve." Harrison and his coworkers (2) recently have studied very thoroughly the pathogenesis of cardiac dyspnea on exertion. They substantiated the work of Peabody in that " a person becomes short of breath when his actual volume of breathing becomes more than a certain fraction of his maximum possible volume and the closer the actual ventilation approaches the maximum possible ventilation the severer dyspnea becomes." In addition, they found that the degree of dyspnea was fairly closely proportional to the expression total ventilation vital elapaity and still more closely related to vital capacity the ventilation index. In regard to the pathogenesis of dyspnea in heart disease these investigators believed that it is of nervous origin, due to reflex stimulation of respiration from the muscles, heart and lungs. Christie and Meakins (3) by measuring the pulmonary elasticity and distensibility came to a similar conclusion that breathlessness in patients with heart disease can be explained on the basis of increased sensitivity of the Hering-Breuer reflex due to a decrease in the distensibility of the lungs. Observations on the respiratory response during exercise on cases other than heart disease have been few in number. Campbell and Poulton (4) investigated this question in cases of chronic bronchitis and found that at rest the minute volume and respiratory rate were increased and during exertion were higher and more prolonged in the group of patients than in the controls. Attempts have been made to utilize the existing pulmonary reserve by means of the maximum ventilation in order to determine pulmonary function. Sturgis, Peabody, Hall and Fremont-Smith (5) were among the first to obtain the maximum ventilation in response to exercise in normal individuals. Their results showed that the average value for the maximum ventilation was 60.5 liters or approximately 12 times the average breathing volume of such a group at rest. These values were obtained by increasing the respiratory rate to 35 per minute and their tidal volume to 33 per cent of the vital capacity. Hermannsen (6), Jan-sen, Knipping and …


The fetal electrocardiogram (f-ECG) beats analysis as well as the heart rate interpretation using the raw ECG signals captured by machine helps in providing the state of the fetus in pregnancy. For timely detection of the fetal arrhythmias, monitoring fetal ECGs constantly is important. In this paper, we are presenting the framework for detection of fetal from maternal ECG based on sparse binary matrix using Compressive Sensing. Additionally, we are presenting the preprocessing algorithm on raw fetus ECG data to remove the noises like impulsive artifacts along with notch filtering for baseline removal. The proposed method is on the basis of sparse representation of the components that are acquired using Independent Component Analysis (ICA) method, which is designed for direct application in the compressed domain. Detection of fetal ECG is performed on the basis of activated atoms in a specially designed Gaussian dictionary. The verification of the proposed framework has been carried out on ten samples of Challenge dataset A by determining QRS detection parameters such as sensitivity, $\mathbf{S}= 90.62\%$ and positive predictivity, given by P+= 99.15%.


Until now, various processes to produce fructose from different starch like inulin have been developed. Inulin can be found in many plants, such as Dahlia plnnata Cav. that call be cultivated also il/ Indonesia. An alternative process for a fructose production from inulin is by acid hydrolysis. In the present study, the hydrolysis process with acid solution was investigated. Inulin was diluted in acid solution (hidrogen chloride acid, oxalic acid, tricltloroacetic acid or TeA, and trifluoroacetic acid or TFA) with different concentrations (0.05 N. 0.1 N, and 0.2 N) and varied hydrolysis time at 121°C (I, 2, J, alld" hours). The principal parameters analysed were reducing sugar content, yield of reducing sugar cOlltellt, and the colour of fructose syrup. The best result obtained using the three acids (HCl, oxalic acid, alld TF A) ;s at the cofl«lltration of 0.05 N with hydrolysis time of I hour. Meanwhile for TCA the best results for reducing sugar and yield were obtained tlIthe concentration of 0.2 N with hydrolysis time of I hour 09.94 giL, al/d 99.84%. respectively). The best result for colour (4.75 unit colour) was obtained using TCA 0.05 N. II/ulil/ used ill lhis study was obtained by tnOdified precipitation.purijication process which produced the illulin wilh moisture content of 3.0%, inulin content of 71.2% and starch inulin purity of99.8%.


Endometrial and ovarian carcinomas are malignant neoplasms in the female reproductive system. Estrogen has been proved as an epidemic factor throughout gynecological carcinoma. Recently,it has been found that G-protein-coupled receptor 30(GPR30) mediates cell proliferation and survival through nongenomic effects in hypo-exposure of estrogen.Moreover,the role of tumor associated fibroblasts in carcinoma has frequently been taken into account. We review and reveal the role of GPR30 in the regulation of endometrial and ovarian carcinomas in order to provide new molecular target therapy.


In this paper, we present the building of a CCGbank for Turkish by using standardised dependency corpora. We automatically induce Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG) categories for each word token in the Turkish dependency corpora. The CCG induction algorithm we present here is based on the dependency relations that are defined in the latest release of the Universal Dependencies (UD) framework. We aim for an algorithm that can easily be used in all the Turkish treebanks that are annotated in this framework. Therefore, we employ a lexicalist approach in order to make full use of the dependency relations while creating a semantically transparent corpus. We present the treebanks we employed in this study as well as their annotation framework. We introduce the structure of the algorithm we used along with the specific issues that are different from previous studies. Lastly, we show how the results change with this lexical approach in CCGbank for Turkish compared to the previous CCGbank studies in Turkish.


Abstract That transparency is a powerful check on corruption is an article of faith among many reformers, but in fact such benefits are elusive. Transparency can underwrite general accountability a...


Methods for inland water quality monitoring by remote sensing data is reviewed, and it turns out that remote sensing data in visible wavelength were mostly used, while few data in short-wave infrared wavelength were used, because the reflectance of water in short-wave infrared wavelength was thought to be zero. But based on the in situ measured spectra over the water of Taihu Lake in East China, some of the reflectance of waters in short-wave infrared wavelength is found to be bigger than zero, for the water of Taihu Lake is eutrophic, and the back scattering coefficients of chlorophyll-a and suspended matter are not too small. An experiment is carried out with a scene of Thematic Mapper data and concurrent in situ measured chlorophyll-a data over Taihu Lake. The experiment shows that the fifth band of Landsat Thematic Mapper, which is in short-wave infrared wavelength, has a good correlation with the in situ measured chlorophyll-a data, which means remote sensing data in short-wave infrared wavelength has much potential in monitoring inland water quality of those turbid and eutrophic waters. Keywords-remote sensing; water quality; chlorophyll-a; short-wave infrared


Introduction. Firesathigh-rackstorageswithadiscretefireloaddevelopdramaticallyfast,whilefiredetectionand suppressionsystemsmightactivatetoolate,whichleadstosignificantpropertydamage.Theobjectiveofthisworkistodemonstrateapplicabilityofthethermalpyrolysismodelinpredictionsoffiredevelopmentinhigh-rackstoragefacilities. Methods. The simulations are performed using FDS 6.6. In the thermal pyrolysis model, the solid material is ex-posed to inert heating until its surface temperature reaches the ignition temperature; combustible material then ignites and burns at a prescribed burning rate. The advantage of this approach is its simplicity and a limited number of input parameters, which include ignition temperature, mass loss rate per unit area, burn-out time and heat of gasification.Themodelparametersselectionprocedureisbasedonliteratureandexperimentaldata.Inthiswork,FDSsimulationsareperformedfor3-and5-tierhighrackswith2rowsofcardboardboxes(2 (cid:14) 4 (cid:14) 3 = 24 and 2 (cid:14) 4 (cid:14) 5 = 40 boxes in total). Fire suppression systems are not activated. Results and discussions. Simulations results show that high-rack storage fire dynamics can be replicated using thermal pyrolysis model provided that model parameters are properly selected. Fire growth mechanisms include upward and horizontal flame spread over the combustible surfaces. Net heat flux and surface temperature distri-butions, in-rack gas velocity and temperature are also reported. When number of tiers is increased to 5 the heat release rate grows faster compared to the 3-tier case. Conclusions. Thermal pyrolysis model enables reasonable replication of high-rack storage fire dynamics, which is proven by comparison with the full-scale experimental data. The model could be used to simulate fire dynamics in rack storages of different configurations at different ceiling heights, with the purpose of predicting fire detection and the performance of fire suppression systems.


T" 0 GENERAL points of view concerning electrolyte metabolism are represented in this seminar. The first is concerned with electrolyte metabolism at the cellular level; in hypertensive vascular disease disturbances may be particularly related to special cells such as the vascular smooth muscle. The other point of view considers electrolyte balance of the whole organism, with particular reference to control systems brought into play or altered by diet, renal disease or other conditions. This presentation deals with the latter point of view. It stems likely that the mechanisms controlling electrolyte balance within the whole organism may directly affect cellular electrolyte balance; at the very least the concentration of the extracellular milieu with which all cells must deal will depend on these mecha.nisms. Because these control mechanisms very likely depend on tissue concentrations or their changes, metabolism of water in relation to metabolism of electrolytes becomes of importance. Evidence suggesting an intimate dependence of water metabolism on electrolyte turnover will be one of the main topics of this paper.


in addition to a lack of an appreciation for the consequences of their requests. Moreover, the challenges of conveying that to a family and patient as well as building trust with them. Finally, it attests to the sequela when a potential error in the literature is open to misinterpretation and then used as dogma. We write to share our experience as well as see if others have faced similar challenges.


According to the statistics, China had a total of 108 million ha of undeveloped land or wasteland in 1995. Of this figure, 35.4 million ha is suitable for agriculture and 63.0 million ha is suited for forestry purposes (Zhang and Li, 1997: 1413). Wasteland includes a wide variety of land resources scattered over the whole nation. It varies from forested hills and mountains in the subtropical region of Yunnan province to the dry steppe and pockets of desert in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. According to the definitions of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, this undeveloped land can be divided into wasteland, waste mountains, sandy waste and waste gullies (huangdi, huangshan, huangtan and huanggou). The term 'wasteland', however, is misleading as a great portion of this land is in use by peasants for animal grazing, small-scale forestry and the exploitation of forest by-products, such as Matsutake mushrooms, medicinal herbs and animals. The direct use of wasteland generally yields low economic returns, while its ecology is often fragile. For this reason, the Chinese state has for long sought means to develop wasteland either for purposes of rural poverty alleviation, soil and water conservation, and even defence.


High performance UPS inverters have stringent control requirements both under steady-state and under transient conditions. Many different control techniques have been applied to UPS inverters. However, there are few publications reviewing the literature on these control techniques and classifying the same, particularly with regard to the more recent developments in this area. In this paper, the control problem of a single-phase UPS inverter is presented and discussed. Both the transfer function and the state-space models of the inverter are presented. Then a review of the most popular solutions for control of UPS inverters is carried out. These control techniques are classified as model-based instantaneous feedback control, feedforward learning control and nonlinear control. The major advantages and disadvantages of these methods are highlighted and compared.


This article examines Forsyth and Leary's seven interfaces of social and counseling psychology from the perspective of social cognitive theory. In each interface domain, the authors consider ways in which social cognitive inquiry (and self-efficacy research in particular) can be brought to bear on topics of mutual concern to social and counseling psychology. They also examine social cognitive theory as a unifying framework for bridging counseling and social psychology and other subdisciplines that share an interest in issues of health promotion, optimal adjustment, and psychological change mechanisms. Social cognitive theory's explicit concern with the interplay of social and cognitive factors may provide a fulcrum for rapprochement among psychological branches that have historically favored either intrapersonal or interpersonal accounts of human functioning. The theory's emphasis on personal agency and its application to many counseling-relevant problems may also help to bridge the gap between psychological researchers and practitioners.


George Higby Throop's second novel, Bertie: or, Life in the Old Field. A Humorous Novel was published in 1851 and heavily informed by his experiences working as a tutor on a Bertie County plantation. This work, although not especially popular with critics or the public at the time, depicts the plantation society in antebellum North Carolina from the perspective of both an outsider and an observer;Throop was born in New York but spent time working for and a summer vacationing with the wealthy Capehart family at Nag's Head. It was on a fictionalized version of the the Capehart plantation -Scotch Hall in reality but Cypress Hill in the work of fiction -that Bertie was set.


Lead isotope analyses were applied to the major Pb-Zn ore-deposits hosted in Lower Cambrian carbonates of SW Sardinia. The isotopic composition of lead in barren Cambrian carbonates is shown to be less radiogenic than in ores and in adjacent wall-rocks. A minimum 60 Ma time gap between sediment deposition and ore emplacement can be deduced. Moreover, Pb isotope ratios in Cambrian-hosted deposits are identical with those in Ordovician-hosted ores and in Ordovician conglomerates. These results are interpreted to indicate an epigenetic origin for these deposits during a Middle-Upper Ordovician event probably connected to the "Sardic distensive phase s./.". Key-words: SW Sardinia, lower Pa1eozoic, Sardic phase, Pb isotopes, Pb-Zn ore deposit.


We investigate the effects of mothers' welfare use on children's longer-term performance. To address issues of improper comparison groups and the endogenous nature of welfare participation, we focus on less-educated single mothers and adopt a correction function approach. Data are drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 – Children and Young Adult from 1994 to 2010. Estimation results confirm the positive longer-term effects of mothers' welfare use. On average, a child whose mother used welfare in all 20 quarters after childbirth experiences a 0.56-point increase in their yearly high school grade point average, is 12% more likely to graduate from high school and earns $1112.76 more in the first-observed income than a child whose mother does not.


Poor people's bodies have always told stories about poverty's origins and remedies. In their own accounts, poor people say their bodies often fail them. But in the stories that are told about them, their bodies more often signal defects of character and effort and even betray them as frauds.


Summary This paper presents an efficient three-dimensional nonlinear electromagnetic inversion method in a multilayered medium for geophysical exploration. The stabilized biconjugate-gradient fast Fourier transform algorithm is used for forward modeling, whereas the distorted Born iterative method is used in the inversion. The conjugate-gradient method is applied at each inversion iteration to minimize the cost function. The usage of an iterative solver based on the FFT algorithm and the developed recursive matrix method combined with an interpolation technique to evaluate the layered medium Green's functions rapidly, make this method highly efficient, with the requirement of very low time and memory,


The complications in diabetes mellitus develop over many years. They involve the eye, kidney, and cardiovascular system and may lead to blindness, renal failure, and early development of arteriosclerosis. Apparently these compli cations are secondary to the diabetic state and are due to the inability of our present forms of therapy to maintain the blood sugar within normal limits at all times. The insulin-producing cells (beta cells) in the islets of Langerhans of insulin-dependent diabetics have either been destroyed or altered by mech anisms unknown at present. Thus, a possible therapeutic approach would be to transplant normal islets into diabetic patients with the hope that the trans plants would maintain normoglycemia and prevent or arrest the development of diabetic complications. This approach requires that rejection of the islet transplants be prevented by procedures other than continuous immunosup pressive therapy. During the past few years, several procedures have been developed that prevent rejection of islet allografts and xenografts in rats and mice without requiring continuous immunosuppression of the recipient animals. In this review we describe the islet transplant model as developed with isografts, the concepts and procedures used for prevention of islet rejection, and the present status of islet transplantation as a possible therapeutic approach to human diabetes.


The behavior of a non-spherical particle in a viscous, plane channel flow is studied by means of a combination of analytical technique and geometrical reasoning. An efficient implementation of Lamb's general solution is adopted, allowing rapid calculation, in the perturbative quasi-spherical regime, of forces and torques coming from the particle interaction with the flow gradients and from the presence of the walls. Particular attention is given to the role of symmetries in the problem. A classification of the effects of departures from spherical shape on the motion of a particle in various kinds of shear flow is provided. Additional applications to problems involving particles with streaming boundaries are presented. PACS numbers: 47.15.Pn, 47.55.Kf, 83.10.Lk,


The purpose of this study was to determine if individuals in a state of burnout can become more satisfied with their performance through reflecting in a self-protective way on their qualities in comparison with self-generated others. A group of 156 teachers were asked to list dimensions on which they were doing well (i.e., self-enhancement) or not poorly (i.e., self-protection) compared with other teachers. As expected, individuals high in burnout derived more satisfaction and positive affect from focusing on the dimensions on which they were doing not poorly, rather than well, possibly because they are particularly concerned to avoid a sense of inferiority. It is suggested that in the long term, reflecting in a self-protective way on one's qualities might even help to combat burnout. The implications concerning the theorizing on approach and avoidance orientations are discussed. Burnout and related issues are currently receiving more and more attention. Although estimates vary considerably, depending on the occupational field and the criteria applied for burnout, it is clear that the prevalence of burnout in our society is high and that levels of occupational stress are steadily increasing (Schaufeli & Enzmann, 1998). Moreover, the negative consequences of burnout, such as job dissatisfaction, reduced commitment, absenteeism, and turnover, are manifold (see Burke & Richardsen, 2001; Schaufeli & Enzmann, 1998). As a consequence, burnout not only poses a problem for individuals afflicted by it, but also for the recipients of their services (e.g., clients, patients, and pupils). In addition, the costs of disability pensions and replacement of burnt-out individuals place a burden on society. In the present study, the research population consisted of teachers in secondary education, a profession that has the reputation of being plagued by burnout (e.g., Rudow, 1999). Burnout is commonly regarded as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment, resulting from prolonged stress at work (Maslach & Jackson, 1981; see Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2000). Emotional exhaustion, the core component of 11 This chapter is based on: Brenninkmeijer, V., Buunk, B.P., & VanYperen, N.W (2001). How to raise your satisfaction when you are burnt-out: focus on the dimensions on which you are doing not poorly, rather than well, compared to others . Manuscript submitted for publication. burnout, refers to a depletion in emotional resources: One feels emotionally drained at the end of a working day. Depersonalization, the second component of burnout, denotes a cynical, negative attitude toward one's work or toward the recipients of one's service: Harsh jokes and stereotypical comments on clients are expressions of depersonalization. The third component of burnout, reduced personal accomplishment, refers to a perceived decline in one's performance: One feels ineffective and has doubts about one's ability to deal with problems at work. As apparent from the definition of burnout, individuals suffering from this syndrome have lowered levels of satisfaction with their professional performance, an issue that is of primary concern in the present study. The central question addressed in this study is whether individuals in a state of burnout can become more satisfied with their performance at work through reflecting in a self-protective way on their own qualities in comparison with others. It is also examined to which extent positive affect is fostered by these kinds of comparisons. The assumption is that reflecting on one's qualities in comparison with others may serve as an emotion-focused coping strategy with immediate benefits, such as a sense of satisfaction with one's performance at work and positive affect, and possibly with long term consequences as well. That is, raising these individuals' satisfaction and mood may not only be a pleasant experience for them -it is, of course, more enjoyable to feel contented rather than frustrated about one's performance -in the long term, a sense of satisfaction may contribute to a decrease in feelings of burnout. When individuals in a state of burnout become more satisfied with their performance at work, they might ease the pressure and might hence reduce further exhaustion. In addition, positive affect seems to stimulate broad-minded coping and creative problem solving (Fredrickson, 2000), and may in this way help to combat burnout. Reflecting on one's own qualities in comparison with others may be particularly beneficial when individuals generate the comparison targets themselves. Comparing oneself with self-chosen or self-construed others, rather than with imposed comparison targets, leaves more room for distortion and, hence, for a self-serving interpretation: One is less bounded by reality. It may be relatively easy to selectively focus on specific individuals, or to construe individuals in such a way that one can feel good about oneself. Moreover, one can more easily concentrate on dimensions, or construe vague or ambiguous comparison dimensions in order to let a comparison turn out favorably. Especially comparison on vague, 92 Chapter 6


Schopenhauer has been described as the 'musician's philosopher' for the detailed attention he pays to music, assigning the medium a 'pride of place in the arts' (Budd 1985: 76). Whilst his theory has received ample criticism (Han 1997) on the grounds of conceptual inconsistencies, what is of significance for music therapy is the way in which Schopenhauer cites music as the inner essence of man. Unlike the other arts which form representations of the world, music is not a representation; music therefore has the capacity to say the unsayable, revealing aspects of the world that verbal language is unable to reveal (Bowie 2003). It is of further significance that Schopenhauer has frequently been cited as a precursor to Freud, in particular upon comparing Schopenhauer's theory of man's inner essence or Will with Freud's theory of the unconscious. This article explores the relevance of these theoretical links to the work of some pioneering theories of the modern western improvisational music therapy practices developed in the 1970s by Paul Nordoff, Clive Robbins and Mary Priestley. Schopenhauer's theory of music is shown not only to have had broad influence as a philosophy of music (Goehr 1996), but also to have contributed inadvertently to conceptual thinking in music therapy.


In 1989 the young Dutch architect Willem Jan Neutelings developed a project for the area in between Rotterdam and the Hague that was going to face, in the following years, a huge increment of population and activities. In this context Neutelings proposed his personal reinterpretation of the urban form called "De Tapijtmetropool" or "Patchwork Metropolis" .
The analyses of his work has been the methodological pretext to further investigate the different declinations of the figure of the patchwork in the urban discipline from its origins, mainly related with the work of "The Regional Planning Association of America" and ecologists such as Richard T.T. Forman, until today.
Interpreted as a general manifesto or as the explanation of a specific territorial configuration, the patchwork discourse crosses many of the preeminent topics of the modernity – the figure of the fragment, the issue of the peripheral condition and the territorial layout of the contemporary city – but also many other metaphors and researches – cities in between , the territory as a palimpsests , the city territory , the citta diffusa , the archipelago city – preserving and enriching each time its precious ambiguity.
The thesis is articulated in four parts that assemble a circular story that opens and closes in the same sector of the Dutch territory. Starting with a new reading of the Neutelings' manifesto (I) and finishing with the analyses of the political, social and territorial configuration of the Netherlands (IV), the research demonstrates retrospectively the presence of an implicit project, recognizing the elements and the typical working mechanisms of the patchwork model. The central part of this thesis (II-III) questions the operational validity of the patchwork metaphor for the urban discipline, aiming to transform the six-pages long article of Neutelings into a more coherent and grounded paradigm to interpret and design the contemporary territories.
As a project of coexistence, the patchwork deserves a preeminent role in the contemporary urban discourse, for the willingness to seek an order, even if a weak one, in a territory which is apparently missing it and to address one of the most important themes of the entire Western culture: the relationship between the one and the multiple .


The attentional bias to aggressive scene of hostility was investigated.Methods;Low-hostile group(re =16) and high-hostile(re = 16) on the SCL-90 scale participate in the study.Tobii eye tracking was used to explore two groups of the attention bias on aggression scene.Results;There was a significant difference on the attentional bias between aggressive scene and peaceful scene of FD and FC.There was a significant difference on the attentional bias between two groups of FFD.Conclusion;FFD was an effective indicator of distinguishing hostility.


The Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) is facing an existential crisis. It is ideologically exhausted, economically and morally bankrupt, increasingly unpopular with its own people, isolated, and friendless abroad. It is engaged in a struggle for survival. Nevertheless, as of the mid-1990s, Iran's weaknesses and turmoil have elicited little commentary from the outside world. Ahmed Hashim examines the acute threats and severe problems fading the rulers of Iran in the 1990s. He argues that the IRI entered the latter half of the 1990s faced with a conjunction of acute pressures threatening its political legitimacy, domestic stability, and national security.


Instability of deepwater riser with fairings is investigated in this study. Despite the advantages over other devices for suppressing vortex-induced-vibration (VIV), fairings may be susceptible to flutter type instability. A two-body mathematical model is established for the coupled transverse-torsion motion of a top tensioned riser with fairings. The inner part (riser) can only move transversely while the outer part (fairing) has transverse-torsion motion. The effect of the transverse velocity on the angle of attack is taken into account and damping is considered for both degrees of freedom. An eigenvalue analysis is employed to examine the issue of stability. The emphasis is on identifying the critical current speed for a given riser and fairing configuration. The effects of key parameters are investigated and the results indicate that the section hydrodynamic characteristics of the fairings have a significant impact on the instability.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Objective To establish a specific and sensitive PCR method in identification of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Methods The PCR method was used to amplify product based upon primers derived from E.coli O157:H7 highly specific gene of rfbO157 and fliCH7. Results PCR method was used to detect 4 strains of E.coli O157:H7 and 12 strains of non E.coli O157:H7, the specificity of rfbO157 and fliCH7 was both 100%. The sensitivity of rfbO157 was 6×104cfu/ml, and the sensitivity of fliCH7 was 6 cfu/ml. Conclusions The established PCR method is specific, which is simple, easy, and available to identify E.coli O157:H7.


Abstract : The marine bacterium Oceanospirillum produces copious amounts of exopolymer when grown on copper surfaces and has been shown to be involved in the corrosion of 99% copper. A study was undertaken to determine the nature of the exopolymer and its possible role in corrosion processes. Oceanospirillum was grown in small laminar flow cells with copper and 316 stainless steel as substrata. Exopolymer was harvested, purified, quantified and chemically characterized. Copper promoted greater polymer production than stainless steel. Exopolymers from both substrata contained glucose with no other sugar monomers or uronic acids.


There are three purposes in this research are to know stock beta belong to JII, to know beta as risk premi (Rm-Rf) intended by third market, to know the result CAPM model count as basic investment decision making Securitas on JII stock. The method used from this research is descriptive of kualitative it means the purpose of this research to describe situation from count result. From the result above show that CAPM model can prove beta as risk level positive improve and significance although less more 1 value, it means fluctuation stock more weak and lower concerning index market fluctuation. The result grouping criteria was got decision suggestion inclining aim to buy stock because on the prediction to buy that stock in cheap so chance to investor increase their stock


THE statistical energies of educational and vocational psychologists are currently centered in the field of factor analysis. The procedure is to administer a set of twenty or more tests to at least a hundred individuals, compute the intercorrelations, and eventually arrive at a factor pattern. A factor pattern consists of a set of regression equations, each expressing one of the original tests in terms of usually five or six factors. In case a method has been employed which yields independent (uncorrelated) factors, the regression weights are equivalent to the correlations between the corresponding tests and factors.


THIS ARTICLE DEFINES THE AIMS OF THE SIX GENERAL INSPECTION OPERATIONS CARRIED OUT ON THE ROAD NETWORK BY THE FRENCH ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES. THE INSPECTION ZONES ARE SHOWN ON A MAP. THE AIMS WERE TO SET UP OPERATIONS, FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIVES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES, WITH A VIEW TO FACILITATING THE ADAPTATION OF THE ROAD USER TO AN EVER INCREASING TRAFFIC FLOW (TRAFFIC SIGNS, SIGNALS, CARRIAGEWAY MARKINGS, RELIEF ROADS, DRIVING IN FOG AND ON BLACK ICE, ETC).


Dichocarpum hypoglaucum , D. lobatipetalum , and D. malipoense (Ranunculaceae) were all described from south-east Yunnan, China. Our critical examination of herbarium specimens (including type materials) indicates that the three names encompass only one species. As D. hypoglaucum is the earliest published name, we place both D. lobatipetalum and D. malipoense in synonymy with it.


Photoinduced generation of excitons and their nonradiative relaxation dynamics are simulated at the interface of (10, 0) carbon nanotubes (CNT) and a PbSe nanowire (NW). Possible pathways of photoinduced excitations are explored by combining a reduced density matrix approach in the basis of Kohn–Sham orbitals and on-the-fly nonadiabatic couplings. A range of neutral photoexcitations localized on the CNT is followed by formation of charge transfer (CT) states involving PbSe NW. Depending on the wavelength of the incident light, the initial photoexcitation can be followed by two directions of charge transfer: either (PbSe)+(CNT)− or (PbSe)−(CNT)+. Excitation of a hot electron results in the CT state with an electron located at the NW and the hole at the CNT with shorter lifetime, while excitation of a hot hole leads to the CT state with an electron at the CNT and the hole at the PbSe having much longer lifetime. Observed ability to control the direction and the lifetime of the CT state makes the CNT/PbSe NW...


Background. Aging is a physiological process that progresses at a rate characteristic for each person. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the so-called early old age begins at 60. This process is determined by demographic, social, economic, biological and psychological factors. Nutrition is important in the aging process of the body; therefore, the elderly diet has to be balanced. Improper supply of vitamins and minerals in the diet (excess and deficiency) and uncontrolled suplementation can result in side effects. Objectives. The aim of the study was to assess the intake of vitamins and minerals in the diet of people over 60 years of age. The survey was conducted among students of Polkowice University of the Third Age, Jerzy Kozarzewski Daily Home Stay in Nysa, and among random people. The study involved 90 people over the age of 60. Materials and Methods. The method of the study was a survey that in the second part included questions about how often a particular portion of product was consumed. The survey calculated the amount of vitamins or minerals in those portions. Results and Conclusions. It has been shown that the diet of people over the age of 60 is marked by a low content of vitamin D, E, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Excessive consumption was found for vitamins A, C, and sodium, phosphorus and iron. It has been also shown that people aged 60–75 have met the demand for vitamins and minerals in a greater rate than people over 75 years old (Piel. Zdr. Publ. 2014, 4, 3, 209–217).


We use a panel data set of UK-listed companies over the period 2005–2009 to analyse the actuarial assumptions used to value pension plan liabilities under IAS 19. The valuation process requires companies to make assumptions about financial and demographic variables, notably discount rate, price inflation, salary inflation and mortality/life expectancy of plan members/beneficiaries. We use regression analysis to analyse the relationships between these key assumptions (except mortality, where disclosures are limited) and company-specific factors such as the pension plan funding position and duration of pension liabilities. We find evidence of selective 'management' of the three assumptions investigated, although the nature of this appears to differ from the findings of US authors. We conclude that IAS 19 does not prevent the use of managerial discretion, particularly by companies whose pension plan funding positions are weak, thereby reducing the representational faithfulness of the reported pension figures. We also highlight that the degree of discretion used reflects the extent to which IAS 19 defines how the assumptions are to be determined. We therefore suggest that companies should be encouraged to justify more explicitly their choice of assumptions.


the physicAL stRuctuRe of the woRLD, ouR pLAce within it, and the stories we create through it indicate residual syntactical treatments of space (space as in the land, and space as in raced and gendered bodies) that colonialism and empire have left on culture; thereby shaping our person-to-person and person-to-nature relationships. In this way, the aesthetics of our psychic and physical environment is moulded to idealise patriarchal subject-object binaries (such as penetration of space, dominance, an ability to extract resources), and to position bodies and souls in hierarchies of value based on these concepts – all being the foundation of capitalism. e ecological paradigms and aesthetic syntax of these inherited understandings is what I attempt to erode and reshape through my practice in painting, sculpture and installation. e materials I bring into the paintings (Aloe Barbadensis, polystyrene and mirrors) embody more complicated understandings of existence and relation to the "other". Aloe possesses the ostensibly phallic trait of penetrating flesh, but also possesses an ability to heal – a conventionally feminine attribute. Mirrors disrupt the plane of the artwork introducing a moment of awareness for the viewer of their contribution to the system within which the artwork and they themselves are understood. Polystyrene, normally environmental waste, serves as a support for living plants. rough these transgressions, I attempt to share the envisioning of new, more equitable paradigms for value and space. ARTIST'S VOICE


Prescription opioid abuse and misuse are a serious problem in the U.S. today. Several studies have shown that the epidemic disproportionately affects rural areas. This paper uses three different rates to gain a more complete picture of opioid abuse in rural areas.


In an ideal of personal information management or PIM, people always have just the right information, in the right form and at the right place, to meet their current information needs. Panelists all participated in a special workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation to consider the challenges of PIM that must be met in order to make significant progress towards this ideal. Panelists will discuss key challenges of and promising approaches to PIM. Approaches discussed involve not only high-technology tools but also practical, teachable everyday techniques of PIM. Panelists will also discuss what it means to foster a research community for the field of PIM inquiry. Although panelists will use their experiences at the workshop as a starting point, discussion will freely range beyond the workshop to a general discussion of PIM. The panel is structured to maximize interaction among the panelists themselves and with the audience.


Low-temperature NH3–SCR activity and high-temperature hydrothermal stability have always been recognized as two great challenges in the current developments of candidate NH3–SCR catalysts for pract...


Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of alexithymia in alcohol dependents compared to the healthy controls and to investigate the relationship of alexithymia with depression, anxiety, and erectile dysfunction in alcohol dependents.

Method: As a study sample 82 male alcohol dependent patients who finished detoxification process according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria and as a control group 48 subjects who do not abuse alcohol or substance matched for gender and age were included in the study. Subjects were interviewed by using a semi-structured socio-demographic form, all the modules of Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-I), 17 item-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), International Index of Erectile Function, Toronto Alexitymia Scale (TAS).

Results: Fifty six percent of the alcohol dependents were estimated as alexithymic according to the cut off point (>11), while this ratio was 25% for control group. Mean score of TAS-26 in alcohol dependents (11.01±4.6) were significantly higher than the control group (7.33±4.39). While there were no significant differences in terms of sociodemographic variables between alexithymic and non-alexithymic groups, education level was found to be lower in alexithymic alcohol dependents. Suicide attempt history and smoking were found to be lower in non-alexithymic group. Having diagnosis of any axis I disorder and erectile dysfunction were found to be higher among alexithymic group. In terms of having a diagnosis of depression according to HDRS, lifetime depression, current depression and any anxiety disorder according to SCID-I there was no significant difference between two groups. Mean total score of HDRS, HAM-A and BHS in alexithymic group were significantly higher than non-alexithymic group. Mean total score of MAST did not show any difference. While there were positive correlations between TAS-26 scores and number of axis I diagnoses, erectile dysfunction total score, level of erectile dysfunction and other scales, there were no correlation between TAS-26 scores and age and MAST scores.

Conclusion: The higher rate of alexithymia found in alcohol dependents than control group, suggests that special attention must be given to identify alexithymia in this group. Researches must be done to find out negative effects of alexithymia on alcohol dependence. Follow up studies related to alexithymia in this population is not only important for finding the effects on outcome, but also important for finding the relationship between alexithymia and depression and anxiety. Findings in this study showed that there is a relationship between alexithymia and erectile dysfunction seen in alcohol dependents.


This paper presents a lightweight transport protocol called TEMPO which is intended to satisfy the requirements of advanced applications and high-speed network properties. The versatile transport service of TEMPO allows transport users to define their appropriate transport service by composing elementary message streams. The arrangement of the streams is defined by interaction patterns which contain the transport addresses of the corresponding transport users and their relations. The pattern-directed addressing scheme allows TEMPO to support different service forms, e.g. a notification form to transmit single messages, a transaction form to exchange request and reply messages or a connection form to transfer uni- or bidirectionally an unlimited number of messages. Independent of the service form, TEMPO offers a multicasting and relaying function which can be used repeatedly and in various combinations. Based on network properties such as low error rate and high bandwidth, TEMPO was designed as a lightweight protocol: The instruction path and the number of network packet exchanges are minimized for an error free communication.<<ETX>>


In this essay, I propose two arguments from Thomas Aquinas's reflection on theism and faith to rebut Schellenberg's claim that divine hiddenness justifies atheism. One of those arguments, however, may be employed so as to re-propose Schellenberg's conviction, which is crucial to his argument, that there are 'non-resistant' or 'inculpable' unbelievers. I then advance what I call the suffering unbeliever argument. In short, the unbelievers mentioned by Schellenberg are expected to suffer because of their non-belief, which—as Schellenberg says—prevents them from achieving the greatest possible well-being. If they suffer, however, they cannot consider themselves unbelievers, since one cannot suffer from not having been given a certain good if one believes that the good in question has never existed. If they do not suffer, on the other hand, there is simply nothing for which they can consider themselves inculpable (and God culpable).


This paper studied the existence of non-oscillatory solutions for the second-order nonlinear dynamic equations with the positive and negative coefficients. By defining continuous operators and using Banach fixed theorem on the time scales,the sufficient condition of the existence of positive oscillatory solutions for the above equations is obtained.


The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a waterproof shoe, comprising the steps of: DOLLAR A a) bonding a sheetlike shoe upper (1) having a surface formed connecting part (2), wherein the connecting part (2) consists of a material which at the action of heat is plastically deformable, and wherein further the connection takes place at the respective edges (3, 4) of the shoe upper (1) and connecting part (2); DOLLAR A b) placing a flat form the area of the shoe upper (1) and the connecting part (2) covering the sheetlike functional layer (5); DOLLAR A c) heating of the connection part (2) to a temperature at which this is plastically deformed so that there is a cohesive connection, in particular by bonding or welding is received with the corresponding part of the functional layer (5).


This study was carried out to investigate the composting of coffee leaves using Rhizobium japonicum, with the main interest to study whether the bacteria could produce hopanoid compound which is known as an indicator of soil fertility. As a control, composting of sample without the usage of bacteria was carried out in a similar way. The results indicated that the mature compost was achieved after 90 days of composting, as indicated by the C/N ratio and E4/E6 ratio of the water soluble compost. Characterization of the samples using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed that hopanoid compound (urs-12-ene) was produced in the compost form the experiment with R. japonicum, while in the control no such compound observed. It is then clear that the hopanoid compound identified was resulted from the activity of the R. japonicum used. Keywords: composting, R. japonicum, C/N ratio, absorbance ratio, hopanoid


OBJECTIVE
This study assessed the relationship between the parameters of glycemic control, and zinc concentrations in blood and superoxide dismutase enzyme activity in type 2 diabetes patients.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Seventy-three individuals, aged between 25 and 59 years, were divided into the experimental group (type 2 diabetes patients, n = 36) and control group (n = 37). Plasma and erythrocyte zinc concentrations, superoxide dismutase activity, and parameters of glycemic control were analyzed.

RESULTS
Mean plasma zinc concentration was 74.1 ± 10.7 µg/dL and 68.8 ± 9.6 µg/dL, erythrocyte zinc concentration was 48.1 ± 9.5 µg/gHb and 41.2 ± 8.0 µg/gHb, and superoxide dismutase activity was 2248.9 ± 300.0 U/gHb and 2059.6 ± 285.4 U/gHb, in the experimental group and the control group, respectively (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
Type 2 diabetes patients showed a positive response to oxidative stress due to adequate zinc concentration in blood and increased activity of superoxide dismutase, and the enzyme was influenced by serum insulin.


Diagnosis of acute pericarditis is sometimes difficult but the first challenge to the clinician is to establish an etiologic diagnosis. This study aimed to describe etiologies of this pathology and its clinical pictures, and expose the medical treatment and outcome, at the time of the success of antiretroviral treatment. Through a prospective study, we follow up a sample of patients presenting acute pericarditis from January 2010 to December 2011. There were 43 cases composed of 20 men and 23 women. The average age was 41.4 ± 16.1 years. The leading clinical signs were infectious syndrome (100%), dyspnea (86%), and chest pain (79.1%). Right heart failure was found in 27.9% of cases, hypotension in 23.2% of cases and pulsus paradoxus in 20.9% of cases. Echocardiography found pericardial effusion in 88.4% of cases. This effusion was of great amount in 26.3% of cases of pericardial effusion. Cardiac tamponade was encountered in six cases. We identified an etiology in 88.4% of cases. These etiologies were tuberculosis in 47.4% of cases. As treatment, anti-tuberculous drugs associated to corticosteroids were systematic in tuberculous forms. In other cases, we used aspirin associated to corticosteroids or colchicine as appropriate. Six cases of recurrence were observed in exclusively tuberculous forms. Two cases of deaths were occurred.


Implicitly filtered large-eddy simulation (LES) is by nature numerically under-resolved. With the sole exception of Fourier-spectral methods, discrete numerical derivative operators cannot accurately represent the dynamics of all of the represented scales. Since the resolution scale in an LES usually lies in the inertial range, these poorly represented scales are dynamically significant and errors in their dynamics can affect all resolved scales. This Letter is focused on characterizing the effects of numerical dispersion error by studying the energy cascade in LES of convecting homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Numerical energy and transfer spectra reveal that energy is not transferred at the appropriate rate to wavemodes where significant dispersion error is present. This leads to a deficiency of energy in highly dispersive modes and an accompanying pile up of energy in the well resolved modes, since dissipation by the subgrid model is diminished. An asymptotic analysis indicates that dispersion error causes a phase decoherence between triad interacting wavemodes, leading to a reduction in the mean energy transfer rate for these scales. These findings are relevant to a wide range of LES, since turbulence commonly convects through the grid in practical simulations. Further, these results indicate that the resolved scales should be defined to not include the dispersive modes.


The paper examines the impact of financial openness on macroeconomics volatility,employing system GMM with 52 countries from 1990 to 2009.It provides a comprehensive examination of changes in macroeconomic volatility in a large group of developed and developing countries over the period 1990—2009.It finds that,first,the volatility of consumption growth relative to that of income growth has increased for more financially integrated developing economies over the period.Second,only keep healthy and sound domestic system,the benefits of financial integration of consumption get to occur.


Separation-of-duty (SoD) is widely considered to be a fundamental principle in computer security. A static SoD (SSoD) policy states that in order to have all permissions necessary to complete a sensitive task, the cooperation of at least a certain number of users is required. Role-based access control (RBAC) is today's dominant access-control model. It is widely believed that one of RBAC's main strengths is that it enables the use of constraints to support policies, such as separation-of-duty. In the literature on RBAC, statically mutually exclusive roles (SMER) constraints are used to enforce SSoD policies. In this paper, we formulate and study fundamental computational problems related to the use of SMER constraints to enforce SSoD policies. We show that directly enforcing SSoD policies is intractable (coNP-complete), while checking whether an RBAC state satisfies a set of SMER constraints is efficient; however, verifying whether a given set of SMER constraints enforces an SSoD policy is also intractable (coNP-complete). We discuss the implications of these results. We show also how to generate SMER constraints that are as accurate as possible for enforcing an SSoD policy.


Corrosion is a worldwide problem and costs billions of pounds. The corrosion problem is not something new but awareness of the problem in association with civil engineering structures, particularly reinforced/prestressed concrete highway bridges, multi-storey car parks and buildings, is relatively new. Corrosion is insidious in nature and the corrosion of steel in concrete is only apparent when it is quite advanced and manifests itself progressively in the form of 'rust' stains, cracking, delamination and finally spalling with exposed and corroding steel reinforcement. The proper application of available science and technology can save a large amount of waste due to corrosion. Over the last two decades a number of corrosion mitigation techniques have been developed. Some are more successful than others. Cathodic protection is the only proven technique for stopping the corrosion of steel in chloride-contaminated concrete.


In an earlier communication (Sorsby, Hoffa, and Smellie, 1942) an account was given of the value of the administration of sulphapyridine in 273 cases of ophthalmia neonatorum treated at White Oak Hospital from towards the end of 1939 till Dec. 31, 1941. By comparison with 46 cases treated by the classical local methods, it was concluded that the results Qbtained with sulphapyridine justified the description of the new method of treatment as a revolutionary advance and that the classical methods of local therapy no longer had any place in the treatment of ophthalmia neonatorum. It was also shown that sulphapyridine proved as effective in non-gonococcal ophthalmia as in the gonococcal variety. The present paper deals with a further 258 cases (out of a total of 269) seen between Jan. 1, 1942, and Dec. 31, 1943. Of the 258 cases, 133 were treated with sulphapyridine, 43 with sulphathiazole, 28 with sulphamezathine, 31 with sulphadiazine, and in' the residual group of 23 more than one of these sulphonamides were used as the cases proved resistant or intolerant to the drug employed initialfy. The results of treatment are set out in the following table. to it, is apt to be more selective in effect. Sulphapyridine is probably the least satisfactory owing to its greater tendency towards toxic manifestations; for the present, at any rate, its use as the routine drug has been discontinued. Though the present se; ies shows more favourable results than the previous one with its many early cases treated before a definite routine had been established, it is of some interest to summarize the findings in these two series, comprising together 531 cases (Table II).


Criminal personality profiling is the process of analyzing various aspects of violent crime to derive a set of hypotheses about the characteristics of an unknown assailant. The ultimate goal of profiling is to assist in the successful apprehension and conviction of the perpetrator. Recent advances in the development of profiling as a forensic science are reviewed. While it is generally held that profiling is more art than science, there is evidence suggesting that greater scientific rigor can be attained. New methods of standardizing violent crime classification, the qualification of professional profilers as expert witnesses, and standard computerized data bases all point to the potential for a science of profiling. Future directions that may assist in expanding the empirical foundations of profiling are also discussed. Language: en


In programming exercises for novice learners, the learners often satisfied with that their programs 'work' at a first glance, and they neglect to test the programs work properly. Making test cases and modifying programs are necessary training for the learners to comprehend behavior of the programs. Therefore, we propose a method for learning programming using test-first approach and a system to support it. Test-first approach is an approach for programming that a programmer makes tests before making programs. Therefore, we decided to apply the approach to the exercises in order to get the learners in habit of testing their programs. The system supports the learners to make test cases and evaluate them. When a learner submits her/his test cases for a question, the system points out missing test cases and gives hints based on a correct answer by a teacher. When the learner submits her/his program, the system executes the tests made by the learner and the teacher and displays the results. This paper describes the method, system, and a preliminary experiment to evaluate the system.


Foliar and stem anatomical functional traits occurrence in 35 xero-halophytic species. The varied vegetation of the salt marshes develops specific strategies to address factors that limit growth. To inquire about these adaptive mechanisms, leaf and caulinar anatomy was studied in 35 species inhabiting the Salitral de la Vidriera (Prov. Buenos Aires), using traditional histological techniques. A few species have thick cuticle while much of them have thickened walls of epidermal cells. Most leaves are amphistomatic, presenting some species protected stomata. Only three species have salt glands. There is a scarce development of sclerenchymatic tissue at leaf level, while the stems have a great proportion of sclerenchyma and collenchyma. Overall both organs have aqueous tissue. The most commonly type of leaf anatomy is isolateral mesophyll, the dorsiventral, Kranz and central structure are less frequent. Stems of three species have endodermis. Several species develop an early secondary growth, and in some is observed an atypical secondary growth by the differentiation of master cambium. In this work, which is the first morphoanatomical study in southwest salt marshes of Buenos Aires, it was found that the occurrence of functional anatomical characters is more diverse in leaves than in stems.


On the basis of the open-loop gain characteristic of an operational amplifier,the mathtical relation between the open-loop gain and frequency of the modified active differential circuit is derived theoretically.According to this mathtical relation,the design method of the peak position detection circuit is introduced.A peak position detection circuit for a fast pulse is designed by use of LM118 integrated circuit,and the numerical calculation of the circuit is performed by use of MATLAB software.The calculation result is in good accordance with the theoretical prediction.


The article argues that modern science is not the only or best explanation of reality.
Religion, specifically, can be a protagonist in the construction of a new paradigm of
knowledge in a secularized society. The philosophy of Heschel seeks guidance in Jewish
tradition for the modern man. This tradition states that the world rests on three pillars: to
study in order to participate in the divine wisdom; to worship the creator; and to have
compassion for our neighbor. The philosopher states that our civilization has subverted
these pillars making the study a way to achieve power, charity a public relations tool and
cult a form of worshipping our own ego. This extreme crisis requires a radical
reorientation: study, worship and charity are ends, not means. The insights of Heschel may
be fundamental to understand the human condition in its historicity and the world as a place
of humanity�s fulfillment.


When the B.B.C. were about to broadcast excerpts from Euripides' Electra spoken by a Greek actress, they judged it advisable to warn listeners that 'the modern Greek pronunciation of the ancient language is somewhat different from that prevailing elsewhere' (Radio Times, 19 September 1952). Listening to that broadcast, I wondered how any man could find it in his heart to exchange for the exquisite delicacy of the native pronunciation of that most poetic of languages the clumsy makeshift which we call our 'reformed' pronunciation.


Manual generation of test cases and scenario screening processes, during field architecture concept development, may produce a limited number of solutions that do not necessarily lead to an optimal concept selection. For more complex subsea field architectures, which might include processing modules for enhancing pressure and thermal management for the production network, the number of configuration cases and scenarios to evaluate can be extremely large and time and resource-consuming to handle through conventional manual design processes. This paper explores the use of evolutionary algorithms (EA) to automate case generation, scenario screening, and optimization of decentralized subsea processing modules during field development. An evaluation of various genetic operators and evolution strategies was performed to compare their performance and suitability to the application. Based on the evaluation results, an EA using structural uniform crossover and a gradient plus boundary mutation as the main variation operators was developed. The methodology combines EA and an integrated modeling approach to automate and optimize the concept selection and field architecture design when considering decentralized subsea processing modules.


Assistive Technology Act of 1998, Title I: State Grant Program, Annual Report to Congress: Fiscal Years 2001, 2002, and 2003.


Mandarmani is a popular seaside tourist destination in Coastal West Bengal, India. The geomorphologically dynamic and ecologically diverse terrain falls within an active coastal belt with strong erosion but limited accretion. It is important to monitor and predict changes in beach morphology and shoreline over a short and long timescale to identify the specific drivers of such changes and their related impacts. While manual ground surveying techniques are relatively more accurate for this purpose, Remote Sensing and GIS techniques are proven to be more applicable as they are relatively accurate, cost-effective, less time-consuming and can cover a large coastal belt. The present paper analysed the beach morphology and shoreline changes along the Digha-Mandarmani coast of West Bengal using RS & GIS as a tool and fish net model to demarcate the erosion and accretion zones, to project the future shoreline position and understand the risk of climatic hazard on the tourism establishments and their sustainability in this region in future. Such a study would help in taking informed policy choices by the planners on such growing tourism destinations developed over time, often violating the existing coastal zone regulations and thus without required environmental clearances. Should be protected with public investment to safeguard the business hub, or will be allowed to face its natural consequences?


Longitudinal cracks are characteristic and problematic distresses that develop in roadways founded on expansive clay subgrades. Precipitation patterns in arid or semi-arid climates often lead to significant changes in the moisture content of the subgrade soils. In the active zone of moisture fluctuations, the moisture content may vary over time from nearly saturated to very dry conditions. This may cause considerable deformations (swelling or shrinkage) when the subgrade involves expansive clays. The volume changes are expected to result in differential deformations in roads, which ultimately lead to the development of longitudinal cracks. Over the past decade, basal geosynthetic reinforcement has been used by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to mitigate the environmentallyinduced longitudinal cracks. However, to date, little field data has been collected to understand this process. This paper uses field performance data to evaluate the fundamental mechanisms involved in the development of longitudinal cracks in roads constructed on expansive clay subgrades. In addition, the effectiveness of geosynthetic basal reinforcement is evaluated as a mitigation approach. Four sets of test sections were identified on three farm-tomarket roads founded on expansive clay soils in Williamson, Travis, and Atascosa counties, Texas. Vertical deflections of the surface of the test sections have been studied over time by the use of total station instrument. Twenty eight transverse sections were identified and their elevations have been monitored using total station. The changes in elevation within the identified transverse sections are evaluated. These changes are correlated against the environmental changes in the area as well as the expansive properties of the subgrade soil and presence of longitudinal cracks on the roads. The results of this study provide valuable insights into the mechanisms involved in the development of longitudinal cracks and the use of geosynthetic reinforcements to mitigate the environmentallyinduced longitudinal cracks and associated pavement distresses. Page 1970 Roodi, G.H., Phillips, J.R., and Zornberg, J.G. (2016). "Evaluation of Vertical Deflections in Geosynthetic Reinforced Pavements Constructed on Expansive Subgrades." Proceedings of the 3rd Pan-American Conference on Geosynthetics, Miami, Florida, 10-13 April, Vol. 2, pp. 1970-1991.


In order to ensure the stability of double track orchard self-propelled transport system and prevent tensile failure induced by the broken wire rope, we try to measure the state characteristics of the wire rope using the appropriate testing techniques and analysis methods, and monitor the wear condition of the wire rope according to the certain evaluation criteria. Considering the economic and operational convenience, the MTC computer wire rope flaw detector is used to detect the state and performance of the wire rope. After setting up and calibrating the parameters of the flaw detector, analyze the repeatability of the results of wire rope wear test, and then choose the LF and LMA data and curves of specific wire ropes to make comparisons. Results show that the testing method proposed in this paper is reproducible and reliable; the lifetime of a steel wire rope is about 3 - 4 years; the regular and gradual change of the broken wire are observed, and the broken wire position is concentrated; the wear also gradually increase and the largest section loss rate is up to 16.46%.


The study was conducted in Kembata Tembaro zone, kdida Gamela and kachabira woredas, of the southern Regional State with the objectives of: to assess the milk production systems, traditional milk handling and processing practices and determine the compositional and microbiological quality of milk produced at smallholder farmers' level. A single-visit-multiple-subject formal survey was used to collect data. A total of 150 households (75 from each woreda) were individually interviewed. All respondents reported that they wash hands and milk vessels before milking cows. However, the overall milking hygienic practice followed by the farmers in the area is poor. Ensira is the major container used for milking and storing dairy products in the study area. All the respondents (100%) in Kedida and 93.3 percent in kachebirra use Ensira for milking. With regard to churning, the majority of the respondents (98.7%) in Kedida use Ensira churn while 76.32 percent in Kachebirra use clay pot churn. Terminalia brownie and Acacia spp. are the most frequently used plant species for smoking milk vessels in the study area. The major constraints to milk production in the study area lack of milk collection centers/ lack of market, and poor quality milk products to be the major problems of the traditional milk processing practices. Only two dairy cooperatives were identified in kedida woreda; whereas there is no dairy cooperative in Kachebra woreda. lack of cooling facilities coupled with lack of electric power supply are the major constraints encountered at the dairy cooperatives. The overall mean fat, protein, total solids, ash and solids-not-fat (SNF) contents of local cows' milk produced in the study area were 4.71, 3.25, 13.47, 0.73 and 8.78 percent, respectively. Whereas, the overall mean fat, protein, total solids, ash and SNF contents of crossbred cows' milk were 4.14, 3.45, 13.15, 0.70 and 8.96 percent, respectively. The overall mean total bacterial count, coliform count and percent lactic acid of milk produced in the study area were 7.58±0.09 log10 cfu/ml, 4.49±0.11 log10 cfu/ml and 0.23%±0.01, respectively. The overall mean of the predicted probabilities of clot-on-boiling and alcohol tests were 0.23±0.12 and 0.51±0.11, respectively. the microbiological quality of milk produced by individual farmers and by the dairy cooperatives in the study area was poor and this call for scrupulous hygienic measures during production and handling of milk and milk products in the study area.


Consider the minimization problem with a convex separable objective function over a feasible region defined by linear equality constraint(s)/linear inequality constraint of the form "greater than or equal to" and bounds on the variables. A necessary and sufficient condition and a sufficient condition are proved for a feasible solution to be an optimal solution to these two problems, respectively. Iterative algorithms of polynomial complexity for solving such problems are suggested and convergence of these algorithms is proved. Some convex functions, important for problems under consideration, as well as computational results are presented.


Introduction : It is advisable to assess the bonding between the mother and the newborn in order to identify abnormalities in this interaction and plan for early interventions to facilitate attachment. The examiner must make reliable observations for diagnosis and this requires training and experience. Objective : To describe inter-observer agreement among three examiners and one expert in the detection of mother-infant attachment risk between, applying the Kimelman attachment assessment guide. Materials and methods : Cross-sectional study. Mother-infant pairs were assessed during their stay at Hospital Hernan Henriquez Aravena in Temuco, a referral centre for the Araucania region in southern Chile. Mothers of hospitalized infants were excluded. A non-probabilistic sample was used for convenience. Inter-observer agreement was measured in relation to the diagnosis of the risk of poor interaction and the variables of the Kimelman attachment guide. Kappa statistics was used for the analysis and inter-observer observations were considered acceptable when the kappa value was greater than 0.5. Results : Overall, 71 mother-infant (M-I) pairs were assessed during the period between March 1 st  and March 30 th , 2010. Agreement regarding the items that assess the interaction between the mother and the newborn is in the range of 0 to 1. Items that assess the degree of acceptance are between 0.59 and 0.86. The rating for interaction harmony is above 0.57; affective tone is between 0.42 and 0.83; the diagnosis of high as well as low relational risk ranges between 0.43 and 0.91. Conclusion : We emphasize the importance of training based on the theory of attachment, the characteristics of the dyadic interaction, and the development of interviewing and systematic observation competencies in order to be certain about observed behaviours.


The reservoir quality of sandstones is significantly impacted and transformed by sedimentation and diagenesis. It is necessary to clarify the internal relationship among them to precisely predict the sweet reservoir. In this study, five types of sedimentary microfacies are recognized through core observation and logging data: submerged distributary channel (fan delta), submerged interdistributary bay, submerged distributary channel (braided delta), distal bar, and turbidite fan. The major diagenetic processes, including compaction, cementation, and dissolution, have been analyzed based on petrography, scanning electron microscopy, and X-Ray diffraction. The dominant diagenetic cement includes calcite, smectite, kaolinite, illite, and I/S mixed-layer minerals, with small quantities of chlorite, pyrite, siderite, feldspar, and quartz cement. The reservoir quality is best in the submerged distributary channel (fan delta) sandstones, followed by submerged distributary channel (braided delta). Submerged interdistributary bay, distal bar, and turbidite fan are of poor reservoir quality. The grain size is the primary reservoir quality controlling factor, highly affected by sedimentary microfacies. Subsequent controls are diagenetic processes such as mechanical compaction, clay minerals formation, grain replacement, and dissolution that collectively influence the porosity and permeability.