Figure 1 shows the densities which were measured by a density gradient tube (Shibayama Scientific InstruFig. 1: Density of XLPE as a function of pre-heating ment Manufacture Co. Ltd.) against treatment temperatemperature. ture (oil temperature). Since the melting point of XLPE insulation material was about 1000C by DSC, it is found from Fig. 1 that the density increases with preheating temperature up to the melting point. However, the density decreases to the initial value when the The same considerations apply to the results shown pre-heating temperature exceeds the melting point. in Fig. 1. When XLPE is pre-heated at high temperature, but below the melting point, recrystallization Two of the authors reported [1] that a subpeak will cause an increase in density. If the pre-heating corresponding to the pre-heating temperature appears temperature is higher than the melting point, all of on the DSC thermogram of a pre-heated XLPE sample. We the crystals will melt, so the density will be the explained in the report that since PE or XLPE partially same as that of the initial state. melts and crystallizes during the pre-heating, the DSC thermogram shows subpeaks of partial melting at the pre-heating temperature. When the pre-heating temperature is higher than the melting point, all of the crystals will melt, and thus no subpeak remains in the DSC thermogram.


Abstract High summer water temperatures can adversely affect stream salmonids in numerous ways. The direct effects of temperature associated with increased metabolic demand can be exacerbated by other factors, including decreased resistance to disease and increased susceptibility to parasites. We quantified the occurrence of black spot infestation caused by a neascus-type trematode (family Diplostomidae) of juvenile salmonids in Oregon's West Fork Smith River stream network during summer 2002 through fall 2003. The highest 7-d average of the daily maximum (ADM) temperatures was positively correlated with infestation rates in both years. We summarized the frequency and infestation severity of juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch by location within the network and summarized temperatures for 19 study reaches. Summer ADMs ranged from approximately 24°C near the watershed mouth to approximately 17°C in the upper reaches, while tributary ADMs ranged from approximately 16–18°C in the lower reaches to 12–17...


Varying par ticl e sizes of 125, 250, 500 and 1000µm obtained from raw cocoa pods were separately first carbonized at 500 0 C and then activated with varying concentrations of NaC l at 700 0 C. The physico - chemical parameters including moisture content, bulk density, ash co ntent, pH, dry matter and carbon yield of each activated carbon product were determined. The elemental compositions of both carbonized and activated carbon were also determined. The adsorption studies of these carbons onto cypermethrin , at an average conce ntration that is commonly employed for spraying the cocoa fruits by some selected farmers , were carried out using the digital gas - chromatographic techniques . The results showed that among the different carbon matrices 125µm part icle size activated with 5M NaCl having 6.50% moisture content, bulk density of 0.33gcm - 3


The impact of inclusion of Thai silver barb, Puntius gonionotus (Bleeker) in the polyculture with two major Indian carps viz., Labeo rohita, Catla catla and common carp Cyprinus carpio has been studied in seasonal ponds for 115 days. The presence of silver barb decreased the growth of Indian carps while increased that of common carp. A significantly higher (P<0.05) fish yield (1793.65 Kg/ha/yr) was observed in the four species polyculture system containing silver barb when the combined yield of all species was compared.


In this paper we give the main uses of wavelets in statistics, with emphasis in time series analysis. We include the fundamental work on non parametric regression, which motivated the development of techniques used in the estimation of the spectral density of stationary processes and of the evolutionary spectrum of locally stationary processes.


An ethnomedicinal survey was carried out to identify the wild plants used by the Bhilla, Thakar, Warli and Kokna tribes of Northwestern region of Maharashtra for the treatment of various ailments. During field visits to tribal settlements, medicine men, Mukhia or Mhorkya, Vaidus, etc. were contacted, interviewed and information on 33 plant species used by these tribes for the treatment of common gastrointestinal disorders was collected. The survey revealed that the plant parts of Aloe barbadensis, Ceropegia hirsuta, Cicer arietinum and Anisochilus carnosus are used for stomachache; Citrus aurantiifolia is used for diarrhoea and dysentery and Zingiber officinale rhizome is used for acidity and ulcer.


This paper cites advantages of the rehabilitation/upgrading of under-rated or deteriorating culverts or bridges using corrugated steel pipe, tunnel liner plate or structural plate. Among the advantages cited are elimination of construction detours, maintenance of normal traffic flow during construction, reduced risk, cost savings, and an estimated design life that at least equals the life of the original structure. Examples of the application of this type of rehabilitation are described.


A distinguishing characteristic of contemporary society is the explosive growth of new knowledge. There are now more than 50,000 scientific and technical journals publishing annually approximately 1,200,000 articles for some branch of research and engineering in the physical and life sciences. Every year there are about 60,000 new scientific books and 100,000 research reports. Furthermore, the amount of scientific work being performed is increasing at a rapid rate, doubling nearly every twenty years.1 The growth of new knowledge appears to be a fundamental fact of life in the twentieth century.


The home is getting more and more connected. Smart sensors are monitoring systems and activities and, in many cases, working together to enhance the efficiency and capability of your home. It's the dream of the Internet of Things (IoT), and it's becoming a reality in our homes. But the smart home can become a security nightmare because every connected device is a new potential entry point for cyberattacks. Criminals are looking for vulnerabilities to gain access to connected devices in the home to steal personal data and even break into the premises. Once inside, they can quickly pivot to target service provider networks and content and mount larger-scale attacks This paper looks at the common attack scenarios and presents an approach to mitigate this challenge, which, if unchecked, will result in a lower adoption rate by consumers.


Abstract This paper develops an optimization model for pricing a monopolistic application software in the presence of piracy. The purpose is raising revenue produced by product's sale with determining prices in a price skimming strategy and minimizing amount of piracy. The model is a multifunctional price skimming optimization with simplex method which accompanied by a deterministic method for calculating time intervals of each segment. A linear function is used to describe demand of each segment. In addition, a linear piracy function is proposed to make piracy a dynamic parameter. The model has the ability to apply penetration pricing and controlling market share. Rough estimates of Windows 7 sale's parameters are used to apply in the model. Optimizing case of Windows 7 is resulted in 7.3 percent increase in revenue while value of net market share is virtually constant. Therefore, the developed model demonstrates its competence in optimizing revenue by determining prices with presence of piracy. Results of the research show that to tackle piracy, range of price skimming must be decreased in a way that highest price need to be intensely reduced while lowest one must be slightly reduced. The benefit of using this strategy, is incurring lowest revenue loss due to piracy. The Effects of an escalation in piracy on proposed optimization model include increase in number of sale, demand, selling portion, market share, and decrease in price, price difference between segments, and revenue.


D/deaf individuals face discrimination in their daily lives, impacting their access to language, education, and life satisfaction. While there has been research about some of the stereotypes held about those who are D/deaf, the relationship between those stereotypes and prejudice and discrimination has not been explored, to my knowledge. Additionally, how D/deaf individuals are categorized has not been examined, to my knowledge. Understanding whether the hearing majority holds a distinct cognitive schema for those who are D/deaf or consider D/deaf people within a larger group of disabled people will help in creating anti-bias interventions. For example, if hearing people have a distinct cognitive schema for D/deaf individuals, then anti-bias interventions can focus on changing that schema. However, if hearing people view D/deaf individuals as part of the group of disabled people, then anti-bias interventions targeting the D/deaf cognitive schema will not be sufficient. I recruited a sample of 480 participants via MTurk. They were instructed to list and evaluate stereotypes about the D/deaf and disabled, evaluate the D/deaf and disabled, and answer questions regarding behavioral intentions toward the D/deaf and disabled. To examine the cognitive schema held towards those who are Deaf, a linear regression was conducted with evaluations D/deaf individuals as the dependent variable and stereotypes about the D/deaf and disabled as predictors. Neither predictor was significant. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for developing interventions to reduce the bias against the D/deaf.


This legislative solution to the increasingly prevalent problem of obesity focuses on preventive intervention at the public school level. Obesity is a preventable multi-million/billion dollar problem in both the State of Illinois and the United States as a whole. This proposal advocates a minor tax on items sold in businesses which have thirty or more corporate or franchise locations in the state and receive fifty percent or more of their gross revenues from the sale of immediately consumable foodstuffs to subsidize programs which aim to reduce the incidence of child obesity. The aim of this tax is not to punish businesses which may or may not sell fattening foods, but rather to fund educational initiatives to reduce the prevalence of child obesity from businesses which are established and sustainable as a source of revenue.


Early investigators of brain stimulation-evoked complex behaviours (attack, escape, feeding, self-grooming, sexual behaviour) reported that experience may affect the behavioural outcome of brain stimulation. This intriguing example of functional neuronal plasticity was later totally neglected. The present experiment investigated the behavioural outcome of in vivo microdialysis perfusion of the glutamate agonist kainate and/or the GABAA antagonist bicuculline into the hypothalamic attack area (HAA) of (1) animals naive to dyadic encounters; (2) animals with a recent aggressive experience (the probe being implanted 6-24 h after the last of a series of dyadic encounters); and (3) animals with an earlier aggressive experience (probe being implanted 2 weeks after the last aggressive experience). On the experimental day, rats received two 5-min infusions during a dyadic encounter lasting 35 min with an unknown opponent. Flow rate was 1.5-2 µl/min, drug concentrations were 1.8 x 10 - 5and 1.5 x 10 - 5 for kainate and bicuculline, respectively. Behaviour was analysed before, during and after perfusions. Only the combined kainate + bicuculline treatment had significant effects on behaviour at the doses studied. A significant increase in aggressive behaviour was elicited only in animals with a recent aggressive experience, while naive animals and animals with an earlier experience responded to the treatments by grooming. These results appear to support early observations indicating that one important aspect of brain stimulation effects is previous experience.


This paper proposes a novel anonymous coordination authentication scenario for grid computing security based on trusted computing technology, which can provide efficient and reliable anonymous identity authentication and remote platform attestation for grid computing systems. The scenario gives a method of tagging the rogue grid entities. Architecture of virtual organization in distributed grid system is introduced and a reference trusted agent (RTA) with time self-authentication feature using platform configuration register is built into the architecture. The hierarchy of RTA in the software and hardware system, which consists of three main modules, is pointed out in detail. Furthermore, the exchanging protocol of building trust in the mutual system platform is explained. A detailed description for enforcing the security of platform access control and applications is given. The scenario is interpreted in detail through five steps, then an example of the scenario is given and the security mechanisms are compared to GT2, GT3, GT4 and trust management.


Russian President Vladimir Putin's evolving policies toward Ukraine have continued to surprise almost everyone. It was clear from the start that he considered the February 2014 ouster of Ukrainian ...


In the wireless mobile communications the knowledge of the mobile speed and/or the mobile velocity is of great importance because it is very helpful in the development of the system management algorithms (i.e. the handoff algorithms). Furthermore, the angle of mobile motion is more helpful for developing these algorithms and also in the mobile unit (MU) tracking systems. The proposed scheme showed that in distributed antenna system (DAS), the speed of MU at any point can be estimated using Doppler frequency estimation. The angle at which MU is traveling with respect to angle zero is derived in terms of Doppler frequency at two nearby locations. A numerical examples and comparison with test angles results were shown the accuracy of the estimation scheme within the real systems range of values.


This paper presents a new μController-based embedded system devoted to vibration analysis for fault diagnosis in rotating machine. The developed system is based on advanced spectra methods, such as Wavelet and Fourier Transform, to emphasize the harmonic content of the considered signal thus facilitating early fault diagnosis. Suitable algorithms have been developed for such complex methods to run on a μC featuring limited computing resources. The cost and performance of our system are compatible with integration into industrial machines for continuous monitoring of their status. Moreover, the developed system is easily customizable and adaptable to a variety of automatic industrial machines.


This article discusses entrepreneurship from the perspective of sharia. This research is the result of a literature review, by collecting data through literature books, journals, and the internet. The collected data were analyzed descriptively. The results of the study concluded that Islam advocates entrepreneurship as a person's endeavor to meet their needs independently. In entrepreneurship, a person is required to pay attention to business ethics in Islam, namely being honest, trustworthy, tabligh and fathanah. By doing entrepreneurship according to the rules and principles of Islamic economics, it is hoped that someone will get blessings in the world and the hereafter. Because of that, several taboos should be avoided by a Muslim entrepreneur, namely maysir, immorality, gharar, haram, ihtikar, and danger. In entrepreneurship, a Muslim must be based on a moral foundation, Islamic management, a high work ethic and have an attitude of leadership, responsibility, and have a strong entrepreneurial spirit.


The emergence of markerless kinematics opens up new possibilities. Indeed, the interest in deep-learning pose estimation neural networks has been growing fast since 2015 (Zheng et al., 2022), which makes it now possible to collect accurate and reliable kinematic data without the use of physical markers. OpenPose, for example, is a widespread open-source software which provides 2D joint coordinate estimates from videos. These coordinates can then be triangulated in order to produce 3D positions. Aside from Pose2Sim, a number a tools are available for such triangulation: the experimental OpenPose 3D reconstruction module (Hidalgo, 2021), the FreeMoCap Python and Blender toolbox (Matthis & Cherian, 2022), and the pose3d Matlab toolbox (Sheshadri et al., 2020). Yet, when it comes to the biomechanical analysis of human motion, it is often more useful to obtain joint angles than joint center positions in space. Joint angles allow for better comparison among trials and individuals, and they represent the first step for other analyses such as inverse dynamics.


for an Invited Paper for the MAR06 Meeting of The American Physical Society Structure and Interactions of Isolated Biomolecular Building Blocks. MATTANJAH DE VRIES, UCSB We investigate biomolecular building blocks and their clusters with each other and with water on a single molecular level. The motivation is the need to distinguish between intrinsic molecular properties and those that result from the biological environment. This is achieved by a combination of laser desorption and jet cooling, applied to aromatic amino acids, small peptides containing those, nucleobases and nucleosides. This approach is coupled with a number of laser spectroscopic techniques, including resonant multi-photon ionization, spectral hole burning and infra-red ion-dip spectroscopy. We will discuss examples illustrating how information can be obtained on spatial structure of individual biomolecules, including peptide conformations and details of DNA base-pairing.


A detailed study of the kinetics of phase transformations of the diblock copolymer, styrene-butadiene, is reported. The technique of [ital in] [ital situ] time-resolved small-angle x-ray scattering with the use of synchrotron radiation has been used to study the first-order phase transitions of microphase separation and microdomain ordering. These transitions occur following a rapid, thermal quench from the homogeneous, disordered state to temperatures below the transition point. The isothermal ordering process is discussed in the context of classical theories of nucleation and growth. Anomalous temporal oscillations in the ordered-volume fraction are observed following quenches to temperatures just below the ordering transition. These results are reported and qualitatively discussed.


The injection molding machine design process model is basic for developing the cooperative injection molding machine design system.The method is decomposed the injection molding machine developing process into three layers:project,design task and design activity and a formal definition of injection molding machine design process model(IMMDPM) is given.The model makes clear relations of parallel,sequence and cooperation in design task and constructs the activing network diagram directly based on the design task to proceed plan,analysis and management,thus makes the developing process with better changeable and controlled.


It has been generally accepted that there is no relation between serum reactions in so far as the numeric values of the titers are concerned; that, in other words, the serologic qualities of an animal are so irregular in their correlationships that no conclusion concerning one serum reaction can be arrived at by knowledge of another. However, in the course of routine work with complement-fixation I often have had the impression that rabbit sera which give high hemolytic titers show also high precipitins (the latter being due to small quantities of serum adhering to the sheep corpuscles), and as the question involved is not only of interest but of great importance, I have found it advisable to make systematic tests. Furthermore, one of our chief problems here is to find an easier method of testing the potency of hog-cholera immune serum, a question intimately connected with the relationship of serum reactions.


The pioneering work of D. T. Lee in developing an approach with major emphasis on database development has had a profound influence on the recent development of decision support systems, as well as on office information systems, database systems, and database machines. This database development approach is a new and powerful approach to decision support systems design methodologies.
 In this paper the concepts of fuzzy languages and pictorial databases are applied to decision support systems design methodologies. First, fuzzy languages, fuzzy grammars, the classification of fuzzy grammars, derivation chain, degree of acceptance, and equivalence are defined. Operations like intersection, concatenation, Kleene closure, complement, and cardinality are also defined. Second, algebraic representation of the production system is presented and illustrated by examples. The difference between null string and the empty set of string is illustrated. Third, decision support systems involving geometric figures, chromosome images or leukocyte images are presented as illustrative examples.
 In similarity retrieval from a pictorial database, very often it is desired to find pictures (or feature vectors, histograms, etc.) that are most similar to or most dissimilar to a test picture (or feature vector). Using similarity measures, one can not only store similar pictures logically or physically close to each other to improve retrieval or updating efficiency, one can also use such similarity measures to answer fuzzy queries involving nonexact retrieval conditions.
 The applications of fuzzy languages and pictorial databases to decision support systems design methodologies offer what appears to be a fertile field for further study. The underlying ideas are interesting and easy for practical application. The results have useful applications in decision support systems, pattern recognition, pictorial information systems, and artificial intelligence.


Abstract The problems associated with carcass quality of broilers after processing and chilling was analyzed by Pareto analysis. Pareto analysis is a tool which can help identify problems by visually arranging defect in order of importance. Data obtained from a commercial poultry processing plant described 19 defects in carcass quality. The original data were divided into 15 lots, over 18 h of processing, with an average of 6,200 chickens per lot (range 5,600 to 8,200). The number of defects noted for a sample of 50 birds from each lot was averaged to use in Pareto analysis. A Pareto diagram was then plotted using a computer spreadsheet (Quatro Pro®). Three defect categories accounted for fifty percent of the total defects: breast trims (due to tears, blisters, etc.), wing and drum bruises. A Pareto analysis based on monetary loss attributed to the selected defects altered the order of priority. The highest value defects on a monetary basis were breast trims, breast bruises, and wing bruises. After corrective measures are made, an update Pareto diagram can be used to document improvements.


The first-order Raman spectrum of the ordered-vacancy semiconducting compound CdGa2Se4 is described for the first time. The symmetries of the k=0 vibrational modes are assigned through a polarisation angular analysis of the spectra. The longitudinal and transverse frequencies of the polar B type modes have been determined. The results fit the hypothesis of a single formula unit, i.e. seven atoms per unit cell.


Key words in the text clustering / classification,automatic summaries,information retrieval and other fields occupy an important position,however,artificial to the existing article generated enormous cost of key words,and most existed automatic keywords extraction algorithms need to set up in artificial lable on the training set.This paper presents a key words extraction algorithm based on clustering(method) using the terms of the semantic similarity.After the words segmentation for clustering,key words are extracted based on the analysis of words semantic links.


Evaluation of tree frog tracking methods using Phyllomedusa trinitatis (Anura: Phyllomedusidae). Investigating the behaviors of small, inconspicuous and cryptic animals can be helped by tracking their movements. The effectiveness of different tracking methods can be very dependent on behavior and ecology; radio-telemetry and thread bobbins have been widely used over a range of environments and taxa, but each presents problems. Phyllomedusa trinitatis is a tree frog found in Trinidad and Venezuela and has mostly been studied for its nest building and breeding behavior, but little is known about its behavior away from breeding ponds. This study aimed to identify the strengths and weaknesses, including impacts on the welfare of these frogs, of different tracking methods, thread bobbins and radio-telemetry, when used to track them in a dense rainforest environment. A pilot study found that fuorescent dyes were unsuitable for this species. Individuals were tested in laboratory conditions to determine the application time for each tracker and to test on this species the tracker 10% weight rule. The rule was found to be too restrictive for this frog; trackers up to 15% of body weight were used with no signifcant impacts on distances travelled. Frogs became lethargic when bearing trackers longer than two days, so we limited tracking in the feld to one overnight period. Of the 26 frogs tracked in the feld (nine radio-tags, 17 bobbins), 16 were successful (six radio-tags, 10 bobbins) and six untracked frogs were found in the feld during the day as controls. Bobbins were cheaper and allowed visualization of the detailed path taken, including substrates used, but caused more bruising due to entanglement, and individuals tracked with this method were less likely to return on following nights to the breeding ponds. Radio-tags had no threat of entanglement but were much more expensive and the signal was interrupted by the dense vegetation preventing some individuals from being found. There were no signifcant differences in the distances travelled by tracked or control frogs, from which we infer that these tracking methods did not impact signifcantly on movement. It appears that neither of these tracking methods work perfectly for Phyllomedusa in a densely vegetated environment, and that both incur welfare problems. Our study emphasizes the need to test out tracking methods on each species in each habitat.


'To achieve the high quality requirement for the injected water in exploiting low-permeability oil field, the integrated and high efficiency oily water treatment equipment had been designed. Based on the analysis of the existing oilfield oil-containing wastewater treatment process, using T-S fuzzy neural system to iterate and optimize operating parameters, the design idea of an integrated high-efficiency oil removal device was expounded, and field experiment research was carried out. The results show that the effluent quality of the integrated high-efficiency oil removal device could meet the A1 standard in the National "Recommended Water Quality Index for Reservoir Injection" SY/T5329-94.It is at the leading level of technology in China and has the advantages of simple process, high pollution removal efficiency, good regeneration effect and high degree of automation.


This paper studies quantitative implications of model economies that exhibit multiple equilibria. The goal is to assess two interrelated issues. First, do economies with multiple equilibria have falsifiable predictions? Second, is identification possible in economies that exhibit multiple equilibria? Put differently, are these economies observationally equivalent to economies with unique equilibria? We raise these questions within a general framework and then study a series of examples to determine how the existing literature has addressed them. Russell W. Cooper Department of Economics Boston University 270 Bay State Road Boston, MA 02215 and NBER firstname.lastname@example.com Estimation and Identification of Structural Parameters in the Presence of Multiple Equilibria Russell W. Cooper∗ Department of Economics, Boston University, Boston, MA. 02215, USA firstname.lastname@example.com


In this paper, we propose a modified DVB-T system architecture with a multi-carrier multi-code transmission format. The main techniques we use in the system include the orthogonal Walsh code spreading and soft multipath interference cancellation (soft MPIC). Both techniques are used to combat the system degradation caused by the multipath effect. With the spreading gain and the path diversity gain achievable from the used techniques, the proposed system architecture shows much better performance compared with the original DVB-T system.


Careful measurements of the specific heat of AlPO4 near alpha - beta phase transition are presented. They show that the intermediate phase is also realised in AlPO4, in a temperature range of about 1 degrees . The results are briefly discussed in comparison with those of quartz, in which an incommensurate intermediate phase has recently been discovered.


The process of designing a lunar base involves architecture in a pure sense, with detailed programming, design and arrangement of peoples' living spaces and working interactions rigidly defined by programmatic function and site location, and coordinated closely with multiform complex feats of engineering. L-bAS (Lunar-based Astronomy Station) is a hypothetical test-case facility that must comfortably accommodate 30 people on the moon for a period of 24 months. Its crew is the critical human element in a masterplan for the operation or various types of astronomical observatories, remote sensing stations and other robotic scientific installations which will eventually be deployed on the lunar surface. As an exercise in creative thinking, the purpose of the design has been to explore, define and demonstrate the importance of humanist architectural design philosophy in the development of facilities engineered for long-duration missions in harsh extraterrestrial environments.


The reaction between ground-state atomic yttrium (a DJ) and ethane (C 2H6) has been studied in crossed molecular beams with 157 nm photoionization detection of products. Studies have been carried out at several collision energies, ranging from〈Ecoll〉 ) 16.1 kcal/mol to〈Ecoll〉 ) 29.8 kcal/mol. At〈Ecoll〉 g 18.1 kcal/mol, reactive scattering is observed, with both YH 2 + C2H4 and YC2H4 + H2 products being formed. Detected products of the YH2 + C2H4 channel are found to exhibit very little translational energy, suggesting that there is little or no potential energy barrier above the final product energy to ethylene elimination from an (H)2Y(C2H4) intermediate. Translational energy distributions for the YC 2H4 + H2 channel, resulting from elimination of H2 from a common intermediate, demonstrate that a slightly larger fraction of energy available to these products is channeled into translation. The YH 2 + C2H4 channel is found to dominate the H 2 elimination channel by greater than an order of magnitude, which suggests that a small potential energy barrier to the less endoergic H2 elimination channel exists. In lower collision energy studies, only nonreactive scattering of Y atoms from ethane is found to occur. This observed collision energy threshold behavior for the onset of YH 2 and YC2H4 product formation allows determination of the barrier to C -H bond insertion of Y atoms into ethane to be 19.9( 3.0 kcal/mol.


Synopsis Let N(u, g, h) denote the number of subgroups of index u, genus g and parabolic class number h in the classical modular group. In 1974, Petersson proved that, for g = 0 and h = 1, 2, N(u, g, h) grows exponentially with u. We obtain a formula valid for all g and h. From this we derive an asymptotic estimate, showing that Petersson's result gives the correct type of growth. The proofs use coset diagrams.


In the Agent-based warfare simulation,the behavior of Agents representing the fighters is very complicated.The event routine-oriented simulation strategy makes the description and execution of Agent's simulation models lack of flexibility and expandability,which isn't helpful to reduce the complication of the modeling and simulation.The Process Interaction was proposed as the simulation strategy for the Agent-based warfare simulation.The different kinds of Agent's behavior in physical,information and cognitive domains were described in different processes,which reduced the coupling among the behavior in the three domains and improved the expansibility of the Agent's behavior models.The scheduling operations of the behavior process including startup,holding,continuing to run and terminating were controlled with the methods of Process Interaction so that the model developers didn't need to manage the scheduling of the Agent's behavior processes.This method makes the description of the Agent's behavior more understandable and clearer and effectively reduces the complication of the Agent's behavior description and simulation scheduling.Through an application example,the proposed method is validated.


The gene encoding recombinant human consensus interferon α protein(cIFN) was inserted into the temperature controlled plasmid pBV220.The recombinant cIFN was expressed as inclusion body and purified using DEAE Sephadex A-25,Sephadex G-50 and ultrafiltration device.The purity of cIFN is about 92%.The result of VSV-WISH showed that the bioactivity of cIFN was about 9×108IU/mg.


Gas chromatographic(GC) measurements were performed to exploring the compositions and sources of the long-chain ketene,n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) in the sediment of Core H30 obtained from the Sanmen Bay,Zhejiang.Furthermore,the relationship between some organic geochemical indexes and the ENSO dynamics were explored.According to the GC map of N-alkanes,the carbon numbers distributed as a bimodal type,ranging between C14 and C35.The main peak of the group of smaller carbon numbers is C17~C19;and that of the group of larger carbon numbers is C27~C31.Such carbon numbers distribution of n-alkanes suggested that the alkanes of both terrestrial higher plants and the marine phycomycetes coexisted in the sediment of Sanmen Bay.According to the phenanthrene/anthracene ratio,the fluoranthene/pyrene ratio,the total PAHs with 2~3 rings and the total PAHs with ≥ 4 rings,the PAH in the Sanmen Bay sediment mainly originated from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and oil spill in shipping accidents.On the basis of accurate 210Pb determination,between 1822 and 2005 A.D.,the total PAHs,the contents of long-chain n-alkanes and pyrylo,the alkanes C15~C19 and the carbon preference index increased during the El Nio years,especially in end years of the El Nino events,which indicated the increase in both terrestrial organism input and marine phycomycetes.While during the La Nia years,the total PAHs,the content of long-chain n-alkanes,the alkanes C15~C19 and ∑C21-/∑C22+were reduced,suggesting the decrease in marine phycomycetes.


Abstract Laser butt welding was carried out for the joining of 5A06 aluminum alloy sheet by using 6 KW fiber laser. The effect of welding speed on the surface morphology, microstructure, micro-hardness, tensile strength and porosity were studied by means of optical microscopy (OM), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), a Vickers hardness tester and a universal mechanical tensile test. The results show that the weld macro morphology tends to be smooth and the surface defects are reduced with an increase in welding speed. The heat-affected zone was very small due to the large cooling rate. The columnar dendrites grow from the fusion line along the direction of the temperature gradient. The microstructure of the weld zone was in the form of equiaxed grains. The micro-hardness of the weld was lower than that of the base material. The micro-hardness and the tensile strength were gradually increased with an increase in welding speed. When the welding speed is 12 mm × s−1, the micro-hardness and the tensile strength were increased to 96.5 % and 56.2 % of the base mental, respectively. The porosity ratio decreased at first, and then increased with the increase in welding speed. The lowest porosity ratio was 1.99 % when the welding speed was 12 mm × s−1. In summary, the quality of the weld was better when the welding speed was 12 mm × s−1.


The purpose was to describe the beliefs and practices of general physical education (GPE) teachers at the high school level on inclusion and teaching students with severe disabilities. Participants were two experienced GPE teachers at separate suburban high schools. The research paradigm was descriptive using a combination of naturalistic observation and interviewing (Fontana & Frey, 2000; Gay, 1996). Data were collected from eighteen lessons using field notes, wireless microphones, a video camera, an observation instrument, and interviews. Descriptive statistics and thematic narratives were used to present findings. The teachers mostly verbally interacted with those students who had severe disabilities. They varied in their teaching efficacy. Three recurring themes emerged from the data: (a) wavering beliefs, complexities of inclusion, and troubled confidence. Teachers must believe they are adequately prepared, well equipped, and supported to confidently exhibit effective inclusive GPE pedagogies.


AbstractAir-entrained high performance concrete (HPC) crossties or ties (alternatively called sleepers outside of North America) have been observed to suffer structural and material degradation at ...


With the advancement of wireless communication technologies and rich embedded sensors in smart mobile devices, mobile crowdsensing has become an attractive paradigm for collecting sensing data from surrounding environments. Effective incentive mechanisms often play an important role in guaranteeing high quality of services and wide involvement of workers. Much work has been carried out in this aspect to encourage workers to strenuously and truthfully provide high quality data. However, task quality does not only depend on workers' subjective effort or truthfulness, but also workers' distribution and task quality growth law. In this paper, we consider a scenario where worker arrivals are unevenly distributed and the growth of task quality conforms to the law of diminishing margin of workers' efforts. We propose a Quality-driven Online Task-Bundling-based incentive mechanism (QOTB). The design objective is to maximize the social welfare while maximally satisfying the task quality requirements. In QOTB, we introduce Mental accounting Theory to build accounts for task execution profit and bonus, respectively, which are then used to derive the participation willingness of workers. We adopt task bundling to stimulate workers to change their original travel schedules for balancing the task participations according to the popularities of task locations and also the traveling cost. We present the detailed mechanism design of QOTB. We prove that the QOTB mechanism has desired properties of willingness truthfulness, individual rationality, and computation efficiency. We conduct extensive simulations and the results show that QOTB can effectively improve the social welfare while satisfying the task quality requirements.


The viewpoints are discussed, according to which the scavenging of two-stroke-cycle engines can be evaluated, and the relations between scavenging pressure and the quantity of the scavenging medium required, as also between the scavenging pressure and the revolution speed, are developed. It is further shown that the power increase is limited by the scavenging process, so that further researches are desirable for qualitative improvement. These results lead to several conclusions regarding the propulsion of motor vehicles by the two-stroke-cycle engines.


Objective To investigate effect of knee ankle foot orthosis (KAFO) in the rehabilitation of patients with complete spinal cord injury. Methods Seventeen patients (11 males and 6 females) with spinal cord injury of L 1 or under L 1 were enrolled in the study, aged from 19 to 42 years old (34.7 in average), of which 9 cases were L 1 level, 5 cases were L 2 level, 3 cases were L 3 level. Several rehabilitation therapies were needed before assembly of KAFO, including muscle strength, cardiopulmonary function, wheelchair transfer, the activities daily living (ADL), bladder training. After assembly of KAFO, intensive gait training was performed, with walking function tests (including 6 min walking test and 10 m walking time evaluation) before orthosis assembly and before discharge. The gait analysis and the modified Barthel index (MBI) were evaluated. Results All patients could not walk independently without orthosis conditions. After the orthosis assembly and training, the 10 m walking time was (76.35±32.45) s, the average 6 min walking distance was (67.48 ± 24.35) m, and the average step size was 37.9 cm. Conclusion The KAFO combined with systematic rehabilitation treatment can improve the walking ability and the activities of daily living in patients with complete spinal cord injury.


This study addresses the pre-acquisition financial characteristics of privately held acquiring and acquired companies involved in 143 Belgian takeovers between 1992 and 1994. Specifically, the research examines the profitability, liquidity, financial structure, added value and failure risk using statistical analysis of industry-adjusted variables. Our findings show that acquisition is not an alternative to bankruptcy since acquired companies do not report high failure risk, but exhibit higher than industry liquidity and solvency. The acquirers achieve a higher growth rate in total assets and sales than the acquired firms but experience a negative industry-adjusted liquidity and are highly levered, suggesting evidence for a growth-resource mismatch or a financial fit between acquirers and their targets.


Across the globe, comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination programs have been rolled out. Naturally, it remains paramount for efficiency to ensure uptake. Hypothetical vaccine acceptability in South Africa was high prior to the availability of inoculation in August 2020—three-quarters stated intent to immunize nationally. However, 24 months on, less than one-third have finished their vaccination on a national average, and in the sprawling South Western Townships (Soweto), this figure remains troublingly low with as many as four in every five still hesitant. Medical anthropologists have recently portrayed how COVID-19's jumbled mediatization produces a 'field of suspicion' casting serious doubt on authorities and vaccines through misinformation and counterfactual claims, which fuels 'othering' and fosters hesitancy. It follows that intent to immunize cannot be used to predict uptake. Here, we take this conceptual framework one step further and illustrate how South African context-specific factors imbricate to amplify uncertainty and fear due the productive nature of communicability, which transforms othering into racialization and exacerbates existing societal polarizations. We also encounter Africanized forms of conspiracy theories and find their narrational roots in colonization and racism. Finally, we discuss semblances with HIV and how the COVID-19 pandemic's biomedicalization may inadvertently have led to vaccine resistance due to medical pluralism and cultural/spiritual practices endemic to the townships.


This article attempts to reappraise over 100 years of theorizing about organizations. It starts by looking again at the chronology of the development of the field and examines problems of categorization and periodization. It reviews the Classical Approaches, including Scientific Management, then Human Relations and the arrival of Organizational Behavior as an interdisciplinary field of study. It then goes on to discuss the challenges to the mainstream paradigm and radical criticisms of its values and methodologies. In the Discussion following, the limitations of mainstream work is further examined vis-A-vis its generalizabilily, its cultural biases, and the gap between theorists and practicing managers. It concludes that O.B. had probably benefitted from these criticisms and from adopting a wider frame of reference, if at the cost of theoretical integration and cohesion.


The problem of maximizing a concave functional / over a convex set S, subset of a linear space M, is studied. It is related to the problem of .minimizing f(x) over M subject to sup [ILM0001] & where F is a directional derivative of . Consequences are discussed pro¬ves viding characterizations of the optimizing point p. Applications to statistics are demon¬strated including an (additional) derivation of the theorem of WHITTLE


A 32-year-old man recovered completely from hypokalemic hypertension that had been caused by primary reninism after the ablation of an ectopic left testis, epididymis and ductus deferens. For several years, severe hypertension has been resistant to treatment, even the concurrent administration of up to seven antihypertensive agents. In this case, cryptorchidism was associated with an indirect inguinal hernia and an open peritoneo-vaginal process on both sides, aplasia of the posterior wall of the inguinal canal on the right side, an umbilical hernia, and a retroperitoneal tendrillar hemangioma.


Much effort has been expended over the last several years to construct various tools which predict the development schedules and costs of software projects. The organizations which contract out system development work are starting to request that the contractor use a specific costing tool during the bid.This paper reports the results and recommendations of a software costing tool evaluation project which was recently carried out at MacDonald Dettwiler. The primary project goal was to model a suite of the company's completed projects and determine if currently available commercial tools could predict effort and elapsed project time.


Objective information about the state of air pollution is the basis for implementing measures to ensure conditions for the safe living of the population and improve the environmental pollution monitoring network. The purpose of the work is to study the impact of energy facilities (enterprises consuming different types of fuels) on atmospheric air pollution and its spatial and temporal distribution in cities and regions of Ukraine. The relevance of the work is confirmed by the fact that Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization, has the highest mortality rate from diseases caused by polluted air. The article considers general approaches to the functioning of the air pollution monitoring system in Ukraine and the features of the formation of the local air pollution index. The article discusses the most common pollutants generated at energy-intensive enterprises in Ukraine, in particular benzo(a)pyrene (C20H12), sulfur dioxide (SO2), dust, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NxOy), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon disulfide (CS2), hydrogen fluoride (HF), ammonia (NH3), phenol (C6H6O) and others. Statistical information about emissions of pollutants (CO2, SO2, NO2, CO, PM10, PM2,5, PAHs, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, Ni, As) into the air from stationary sources of pollution for the period 1990-2018 was analyzed and visualized. The dynamics of chemical air pollution in different cities and regions of Ukraine are analyzed in detail. For some cities (Kyiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv), energy-intensive enterprises and types of pollutants emitted into the air have been identified. It is shown that among the most polluted cities are Mariupol, Dnipro, Odesa, Kamianske, Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Lutsk, Lysychansk, Mykolaiv, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Rubizhne, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Lysychansk, Kherson, Kremenchuk, and among the most polluting regions are Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhya, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Poltava. These regions need priority implementation of modern air pollution monitoring systems. Keywords: air pollution, chemical pollution, stationary sources, energy objects, pollution dynamics, maximum permissible concentration


Plasma steroid levels of female bluefin tuna (BFT) Thunnus thynnus rose from c. 1.5 ng ml -1 during the quiescent -period (March) to c. 7 ng ml -1 during the ripening period (May). Testosterone (T) increased further to c. 8 ng ml -1 during the pre-spawning period (June) while 17β-oestradiol (E 2 ) began to decrease. In the post-spawning period (August) steroid levels decreased to <I ng ml -1 . Vitellogenin (Vtg) plasma levels seemed to follow changes in E 2 , showing an increase from the quiescent period to the ripening period of c. 18 mg ml 1 , decreasing slightly before spawning, and then decreasing after spawning, The Vtg content in plasma showed a good correlation both with the plasma levels of E 2 and T and with the percentage of vitellogenic oocytes at different periods of the reproductive cycle. Thus the ELISA could be taken as validated. Immunohistochemical staining of ovaries with anti BFT-Vtg serum demonstrated a high cross-reactivity with yolk proteins allowing the identification of vitellogenic oocytes.


This classroom study evaluates the effectiveness of pre-teaching communication strategies before learners undertake an information-gap speaking task. A convenience sample of 67 first-year students taking mandatory English classes at a private Japanese university was subject to one of two instructional approaches. The experimental group (n=37) undertook a pre-task communication strategy awareness activity coupled with a video modeling the ensuing information-gap task and communication strategies, while the control group (n=30) received no pre-task training. An analysis of speaking times, task worksheets and audio recordings of conversations indicated that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in task accuracy and communicative efficiency. In addition, a review of experimental group conversations indicated that most participants implemented the six targeted communicative strategies multiple times throughout the speaking task. Major implications for foreign language teachers include the value of pre-task modeling and communication strategies awareness-raising to help learners overcome disconnects in communicative tasks. Further, this study demonstrates the utility of information-gap speaking tasks for: (a) practicing communicative strategies; and (b) developing learners' communicative competencies for real-world English as a lingua franca contexts.


This study summarises methods and findings of a treatment study for anomia in a 53-year old French-speaking woman with a single vascular lesion who, at onset, displayed severe aphasic disturbances in all four linguistic modalities. She experienced marked word-finding difficulties with circumlocutory and neologistic responses. The 22 therapy sessions involved metaphonological and expressive language tasks airned at improving access to phonological representations. Lexical pre-and post-therapeutic measures indicated significant improvement in naming and oral reading, and qualitative changes maintained over 6 months: it is argued that these reflect improved access to the phonological output lexicon. Some of the practical difficulties encountered in implementing cognitive neuropsychological treatment designs are suggested.


Four techniques were compared for their ability to estimate forage dry matter intake (DMI) of grazing animals. In the Cage technique, 10 grazing cages were placed within each pasture, and forage inside and outside the cages was clipped from 0.25-m2 quadrats after 12 to 20 d of grazing. The difference between forage inside and outside the grazing cage represented forage consumed by grazing animals. The second technique used n-alkane controlled release capsules to measure DMI of individual grazing animals (N-alkane marker technique). The remaining two techniques were prediction equations; one utilized body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) to estimate DMI (Minson equation) and the other related dietary net energy concentration and BW to DMI (Net Energy equation). The four methodologies were applied to a 3-yr study evaluating liquid hog manure on the productivity of grass pastures. The study utilized steers of a relatively uniform body size on six continuously grazed grass pastures. When individual an...


peritonitis uses vancomycin and gentamicin as initial empirical therapy, which have good synergistic bactericidal activity against most pathogens. In 2007 Naghibi and colleagues reported the first case of PD peritonitis due to A. urinae (3). Despite management of the infection with intraperitoneal and oral antibiotics, their patient needed surgical intervention to remove the PD catheter. We report a case of PD peritonitis due to A. urinae that was successfully managed with intraperitoneal antibiotics without catheter removal. A 34-year-old female who had end-stage kidney disease due to reflux nephropathy was started on automated PD in August 2006. The patient remained well without any dialysis-related problems. In April 2008 she presented with cloudy effluent and mild abdominal discomfort. The peritoneal fluid was sent for microbiological investigations and she was given intraperitoneal vancomycin (2 g) and gentamicin (40 mg). The peritoneal fluid white cell count was 898/μL, with polymorphonuclear cell count of 74%. The preliminary culture report suggested alpha-hemolytic streptococcus as the causative organism. Further microbiological testing finally suggested A. urinae, sensitive to vancomycin, as the pathogen. In view of this, gentamicin was discontinued; the patient had a total 3 doses of gentamicin. As her vancomycin levels on day 9 were subtherapeutic, a second dose (vancomycin 2 g intraperitoneal) was given on day 11. She improved clinically and the effluent became clear within 5 days of treatment. We were able to salvage her PD catheter and she continues on PD as the renal replacement modality of her choice. Aerococcus urinae is present in air and dust so potentially it could enter the peritoneum through the PD catheter. In various case reports, this pathogen has been reported to cause uncomplicated urinary tract infection, infective endocarditis, and spinal disc infections (4,5). In our case, the patient presented early and received two antibiotics at the start of treatment. It has been reported that the bactericidal activity of vancomycin against the microbial agent is accentuated by gentamicin (6). We feel this was the reason our patient had a successful outcome and remained on PD. ISPD guidelines favor the initial use of more than one synergistic antibiotic (7). As far as we know, this is the first reported case of successful medical management of PD peritonitis secondary to Aerococcus urinae. This case highlights the importance of early diagnosis and management of PD peritonitis, culturing the organism, and appropriate medical therapy. All these measures will lead to catheter survival and reduced length of the patient's stay in the hospital. DISCLOSURES


The purposes of this thesis were to investigate the relationships between attributional style, trait anxiety and academic performance with some key demographic and family factors. The thesis consisted of two parts. The purpose of Part One was to investigate the relationships between trait anxiety, attributional style and academic performance of students enrolled in 18 primary public schools in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. In each of these schools one class of students in grade 4, 5, and 6 were included (N= 554 students; 277 boys and 277 girls). The results of Part One showed significant differences between low and high trait anxious children on their composite attributional style for negative events. Children with low trait anxiety scored significantly superior to children with high trait anxiety (p .05). Concerning gender differences, remarkable differences were also found between boys and girls regarding their academic performance, trait anxiety and attributional style (p < .05). Academic performance and trait anxiety were significantly higher for the girls than for the boys (p < .01). Regarding attributional style, girls attributed positive events


This book is an output from the ERASMUS+ project number 2015-1-TR01-KA204-021954 under the name 'Better e-Learning for All' (Project acronym: Better-E)


The development of microgrids is an effective way to solve large-scale distributed renewable energy consumption, smooth the impact of randomness and volatility caused by their output nature on the grid. Most of the existing works evaluate the microgrid system from the perspective of economic benefits, and there is no mature evaluation system for the renewable energy consumption capacity of the microgrid. The establishment of a comprehensive assessment system of renewable energy consumption capacity of microgrids is important for the construction and development of it. This article first explores and analyzes the influencing indexes of the renewable energy consumption capacity in the microgrid, further establishes the evaluation system, and proposes a combined weighting method based on AHP and CRITIC to weight the evaluation indexes. Finally, the improved fuzzy evaluation is used for comprehensive evaluation. In addition, a comprehensive evaluation of microgrids in three different scenarios was carried out. The results obtained are reasonable and can be used for engineering practice and reference.


Low‐temperature photoluminescence in pulled Si irradiated with 3‐MeV electrons exhibits a prominent zero‐phonon line at 0. 97 eV which anneals between 200 and 275°C according to previous isochronal data. Isothermal annealing measurements are reported which reveal an activation energy of about 1. 34 eV for the annealing of this line.


This thesis focuses on the importance of games and toys in personality development of preschool children in Prlekija in past and present.
With this research I wanted to analyse teachers and teacher assistants view on the importance of games and modern toys in personality development of children, what they think about quality and materials of modern toys and which toys do children play with in today's kindergartens in Prlekija. I wanted to know if they have any influence on parents when they are buying suitable toys for their children or do children in Prlekija spend to much time in front of the television and computer. I also wanted to know if spending time watching television and playing computer games has any impact on childs social development and behaviour.
Results showed that modern toys are well made but have low quality.
Teachers and teacher assistants in Prlekija think, that modern toys are didacticly well made and that colors are suitable too. They also think that in the area of personality development today's toys do not offer any additional options.
Teachers and their assistants in kindergartens in Prlekija have positive opinion about organized and thoughtful choice of television shows and their positivie influence on childrens behaviour. Use of a computer limits childrens social development, but at the same time it accelerates other abilities.
Research has shown that professional workers in kindergartens in Prlekija think that parents do not know how to choose the correct toy for their children.
Most commonly used games in today's kindergartens in Prlekija are clovek ne jezi se and lego.


This study investigates the effect of board composition on debt cost of firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). To do so, 90 firms are selected to be studied during the period of 2008 to 2012 using panel data and regression model. Board composition involved in this study are outside board, board size and board independence. Results show that there is a negative and significant relationship between outside board and debt cost. Board size has positive significant relationship and board independence has no significant relationship with debt expense. Control variables of return of assets, return of equity and debt size have a negative relationship and market to book value, financial leverage and firms size have a positive and significant relationship with debt cost.


New complexes of N-allylpyrazole(L) with Pd(II) and Pt(II) have been prepared and characterized; they have the general formulae of MX2L2 and MX2L (X=Cl or Br). IR and 1H NMR studies indicate that the latter complexes are cis-planar-chelate and involve both the pyrazolyl nitrogen and the olefinic group in bonding to the metal, while the former are syn- and anti-trans-planar and contain only uni-dentate pyrazole donor ligands. The treatment of the chelate complex PtCl2L(L=1-(2-methylallyl)-3,4,5-trimethylpyrazole) with donor ligands (L′) such as phosphines, AsPh3, and py displaces the coordinated olefin,forming cis-PtCl2LL′ with a retention of the cis-configuration.


A study of Venetian artists' variations on Leon Battista Alberti's concept of the picture as an open window, as addressed in his 1435 treatise De pictura. Alberti's window-picture comparison strengthens the accessibility to the picture. It could be seen as an essential challenge to cases where the picture was intended to represent the absolute Other and the window chiefly regarded as an allegorical figure. An essentially different twist to Alberti's comparison was put by Venetian artists Giovanni Bellini, Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano, Marco Basaiti, and Bartolomeo Montagna, who preferred to use it to create confusion and unsolvable ambiguity. By "reframing" Alberti's concept, these artists created images that combine the suggestion of presence, and the experience of withdrawal and absence, in an extremely unique manner. An earlier version of this essay was presented at the Fifty-Third Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America on March 24, 2007.


Aim: To study the expression of P10, Bcl-2,and Fas mRNA in the thymus tissue of patients with myasthenia gravis(MG). Methods: The mRNA expression levels of P10, Bcl-2, and Fas in thymus tissue of 21 MG patients and 20 normal thymuses were analyzed using RT-PCR .Results: The expression of P10, Bcl-2,and Fas mRNA in the thymus tissue of MG was significantly higher than that of normal control (P0.05).Conclusion: The higher expression of P10, Bcl-2, and Fas mRNA in the thymus tissue of MG may associate with the pathogenesis of MG.


The modern railway industry uses mainly two proven train detection systems: track circuits and axle counters. Whereas yet a wide range of comparisons of various aspects of these technologies has been made, this article wants to focus on special details and discuss facets of both approaches. This will then lead to a closer look on specific opportunities which are enabled by modern solutions that include software interfaces, communication possibilities via open networks and the generation of additional information besides the occupancy status of a track section.


Submitted for the MAR11 Meeting of The American Physical Society The spread of opinion on co-evolving networks1 PRAMESH SINGH, S. SREENIVASAN, G. KORNISS, B. K. SZYMANSKI, RPI — We discuss a model of opinion formation in co-evolving networks. In realistic scenarios, the network constantly changes structure favoring connections between similar individuals (homophily). Here we allow the opinions to co-evolve with the reorganization of links in the network. This dynamical nature of the network impedes the spreading of opinions. We study how this resistance to the spread can be overcome and consensus can be achieved by randomly distributing a few committed agents (-nodes that are not influenceable in their opinions). In this model adjacent nodes influence each other if they are similar on at least Q attributes, where Q is the influence threshold. Nodes will rewire their existing links if they are not similar enough. We demonstrate through simulations that in the absence of committed agents, time to reach consensus in opinions diverges exponentially with system size N. However, as committed agents are added, beyond a small value of committed fraction, the consensus time becomes a slowly varying function of N. (RefF. Vazquez et al. Phys. Rev. E76, 046120 -2007) 1supported in part by ARL and ONR


Soft errors caused by Single Event Upset (SEU) has become a significant threat to modern electronic systems. Aiming at reliability evaluation of fault tolerant very large scale integrated circuits implemented on SRAM-based FPGA, an automated fault injection platform via Internal Configuration Access Port (ICAP) for rapid fault injection is presented in this paper. We adopt a fault tolerant FFT processor as the Design Under Test (DUT), and a C++ application is deployed for the external fault injection control environment and automating the fault injection procedure. The proposed method can achieve quantities of repeating fault injection tests and is suitable for any fault tolerant design implemented in SRAM-Based FPGA. In this paper, we through a large number of experiments to find the critical bit which can support fault tolerant of FFT processor.


In the paper, a comparative method of measurement of the capacitors by measuring the voltages across them and phase angle between is presented. In the analysis of errors the systematic loading effects of the connection and their elimination has been described. The reductions of the systematic and the random errors of sampling and quantization have been performed in the frequency domain. Application of the method is possible with support of the modern digital signal processors and with interpolated DFT to improve the accuracy and speed of the measurement. Keywordsmeasurement of capacitors, comparative method, error analysis, loading effect, leakage effect


Based on the theory of unsteady pressure flow and the fundamental tenet of valve stroking, the models of the converse problem for regulating control in specified time and with pressure constraint are given. For the whole uncontrollable system, the mathematical models are given by the new method based on the fundamental tenet of valve stroking. At the same time, the practical example is studied with the satisfied results.


The five step sequence for the synthesis of the title compounds includes the reaction of 4-piperidone derivative (I) with glyoxylic acid and hydrazine as the key step.


We model long-term care insurance in an optimal taxation framework. Every adult decides upon the amount and type of care he purchases for his dependent parent. We consider two alternatives: nursing-home care provided by the government and home-care paid by the child with some lump-sum subsidy by the government. The only source of information asymmetry stems from the governments inability to observe the degree of altruism of the adult child for his/her parent. Further tax collection entails some social costs. In such a second best setting, we show that the quality of institutional care has to be kept relatively low and that compared to altruistic children, non-altruistic ones enjoy a high level of consumption.


An invention which relates to a wire transfer apparatus for a tabbing apparatus is disclosed. The wire transfer apparatus for a tabbing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a first transfer gripper unit for gripping a wire; a second transfer gripper unit arranged in parallel to the first transfer gripper unit, for gripping the wire together in a position in which the second gripper unit is spaced from the first transfer gripper unit; and a gripper transfer unit for transferring the wire while transferring the first transfer gripper unit and the second transfer gripper unit.


The single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) of Bacillus subtilis phage φ29 is absolutely required for viral DNA replication in vivo. About ∼95% of the intrinsic tyrosine fluorescence of φ29 SSB is quenched upon binding to ssDNA, making tyrosine residues strong candidates to be directly involved in complex formation with ssDNA. Thus, we have studied the spectroscopic properties of the φ29 SSB tyrosines (Tyr-50, Tyr-57, and Tyr-76) using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence measurements. φ29 SSB tyrosines do not seem to be highly restricted by strong interactions with neighbor residues, as suggested by (i) the high value of the average quantum yield of the φ29 SSB fluorescence emission (φF = 0.067 ± 0.010), (ii) the fast motions of the tyrosine side chains (φshort = 0.14 ± 0.06 ns), and (iii) the lack of tyrosinate emission at neutral pH. Stern-Volmer analysis of the quenching by acrylamide and I− indicates that φ29 SSB tyrosines are surrounded by a negatively charged environment and located in a relatively exposed protein domain, accessible to the solvent and, likely, to ssDNA. Changes in the intrinsic fluorescence upon ssDNA binding allowed us to determine that temperature has an opposite effect on the thermodynamic parameters K (intrinsic binding constant) and ω (cooperativity) defining φ29 SSB-poly(dT) interaction, the effective DNA binding constant, Keff = Kω, being largely independent of temperature. Altogether, the fluorescent properties of φ29 SSB tyrosines are consistent with a direct participation in complex formation with ssDNA.


This paper presents the experimental characterization of predictable quantum efficient detectors, which have been designed for use at room temperature. The aim of the characterization was to validate modelled properties experimentally and, thus, the feasibility of such room temperature predictable quantum efficient detectors to be used as primary radiometric standards for applications in the fields of photometry and radiometry with an aimed uncertainty level of 0.01. The characterizations were focused on linearity, thermal, angular, spectral and polarization dependencies of the detector that need to be known and considered in the respective applications. The results of the characterization measurements confirm the predictability of the detector, within the aimed 0.01 uncertainty level and, thus, the high potential for using that kind of devices as primary standards for applications in radiometry and photometry.


Soil erosion is one of the causes of declining land quality. Conservation is the solution that can be done to improve the quality of a land. Land conservation is the utilization of a land in accordance with its ability, in order to create a sustainable environment and produce maximally. The purpose of this research is to map the hazards of erosion and provide conservation directives in order to improve the quality of land in Kokap, Yogyakarta. The method to be used to map the erosion hazard is to use the Mathematical formula contained in the model of USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation). Conservation directives are carried out using the limiting factor in land capability classification. The results showed that the research area was dominated by heavy and very heavy erosion with an area of 3240.1 (Ha) or 46%. Land conservation directives are based on the classification of potential degradation (1) high, (2) moderate, and (3) low. The research area shows that most of the study areas are in high degradation potential zone with an area of 3855.5 (Ha) or 54.8% of the total area of the study area. The research area shows that most of the research areas are in high degradation potential zone with an area of 3855.5 (Ha) or 54.8%. The research area of high degradation potential will be mechanically conservated. Information on erosion, land capability, and conservation directives using geospatial information.


Aiming at the influence of the mixing of two gases caused by the substitution of inert gas for part of the cushion on the quality of withdrawn gas in the underground gas storage reservoir in aquifer,models on gas-water flow and gas diffusion were developed. The construction and commercial operation were simulated with the finite element method. The pressure distribution,water saturation and percentage of natural gas and inert gas were analyzed respectively in two conditions:nitrogen injection and natural gas withdrawal from a single well,nitrogen injection from border wells and natural gas injection and withdrawl from the center well. Results show that in the single-well condition,the percent of nitrogen in withdrawn gas reaches 9.665% when the gas withdrawal completes,which demonstrates the occurrence of a certain degree of mixing between the nitrogen and natural gas; in the multi-well condition,the percent of nitrogen in withdrawn gas is 0.094% when gas withdrawal completes,which demonstrates that the multi-well process can restrain the mixing between different gases effectively.


High blood pressure (BP) or hypertension is associated with various cardiovascular and chronic disease such as atherosclerosis, heart attack or failure, stroke and kidney disease. With the increasing statistic of cardiovascular disease patient each year, it is important to be able to detect whether the individual is susceptible to hypertension. The purpose of this study is to measure nocturnal BP without causing any disturbance to the user using Bitalino Plugged Revolution. Non-dippers (nocturnal BP less than ten percent of diurnal blood pressure) usually have the highest risk in developing hypertension. Heartbeat wave signals and blood volume pulse (BVP) signals are measured and stored in cloud in real time. These data will then be processed and through a series of algorithm, blood pressure is calculated.


This research was to develop new estimated regressions aimed at simply measuring and evaluating normal blood scope and body fat in Elementary School students aged 10 to 12 by examining levels of bloodlipids and lipoprotein cholesterol targeted at 199 obese children, athletes and general children. It likewise measured their underwater weight, skinfold thickness, body circumference and Korea young children growth standard measurement, as well as conducted bioelectrical impedance analysis to reach the following conclusion. The normal scope of blood lipids was 101~123㎜Hg for SBP(males), 91~123㎜Hg for SBP(females), 63~80㎜Hg for DBP, 75~92㎎/㎗ for blood glucose, 25~152㎎/㎗ for TG, 50~83㎎/㎗ for HDL-C, 53~106㎎/㎗ for LDC-C and 137~190㎎/dl for TC. Estimated Regression of %Fat for Skinfold Thickness. Male: %Fat = -0.438×(Subscapular)+0.457(Triceps)+9.443 Female: %Fat = 0.436(Subscapular)+0.508(Suprailiac)+9.348


The analytical rumination hypothesis proposes that depression is an evolved response to complicated life stressors or problems. As part of this response, depressive symptoms promote a prolonged and distraction-resistant style of thinking referred to as analytical rumination. Analytical rumination involves thinking about why the problem happened (i.e., causal analysis), and how it can be addressed or alleviated (i.e., problem-solving analysis). Analyses of cross-sectional data suggest that causal analysis is directly related to symptoms and precedes problem-solving analysis, but this finding should be supported with experimental methods. In two studies, we used an expressive writing (EW) paradigm to investigate the temporal order of emotion, causal analysis, and problem-solving analysis. Compared to control writing, EW reliably increased sadness and reports of causal analysis, but it did not affect problem-solving analysis. In linguistic analyses of the writing tasks, we found evidence of both causal analysis and problem-solving. Collectively, our findings suggest that sadness co-occurs with causal thinking about a problem. We discuss the limitations of our studies, as well as EW's potential utility to studying the analytical rumination hypothesis of depression. Ph.D. Thesis M. Maslej; McMaster University Psychology


The religious thought of Journey to the West is a typical model of "the unification of the Three Religions" in the Ming Dynasty. The so-called "Combination of the Three Religions" does not mean the same share of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism but emphasized each of them. Confucianism is the basic principle of judging and cmmenting people. Taoism gives the Monkey King infinite supernatural power, but it is not the ultimate goal of life and it is just the preparation for the next step in life. And being a Buddha is the ultimate goal of one's life. The infinite supernatural power of the Buddha can put everything under control.


Unveiling physical phenomena that generate controllable structural coloration is at the center of significant research efforts due to the platform potential for the next generation of printing, sensing, displays, wearable optoelectronics components, and smart fabrics. Colors based on e‐beam facilities possess high resolutions above 100k dots per inch (DPI), but limit manufacturing scales up to 4.37 cm2, while requiring rigid substrates that are not flexible. State‐of‐art scalable techniques, on the contrary, provide either narrow gamuts or small resolutions. A common issue of current methods is also a heterogeneous resolution, which typically changes with the color printed. Here, a structural coloration platform with broad gamuts exceeding the red, green, and blue (RGB) spectrum in inexpensive, thermally resistant, flexible, and metallic‐free structures at constant 101 600 DPI (at the diffraction limit), obtained via mass‐production manufacturing is demonstrated. This platform exploits a previously unexplored physical mechanism, which leverages the interplay between strong scattering modes and optical resonances excited in fully 3D dielectric nanostructures with suitably engineered longitudinal profiles. The colors obtained with this technology are scalable to any area, demonstrated up to the single wafer (4 in.). These results open real‐world applications of inexpensive, high‐resolution, large‐scale structural colors with broad chromatic spectra.


Home-garden is one of the types of agroforestry which is commonly practiced by rural communities in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The study aimed to determine the diversity levels of the species constituting the home-gardens and their contribution to the farmers' incomes. The variables used in the study were the widths variation of the land owned as the home-gardens and the socioeconomic backgrounds of the community. The study results indicated that in small land, the community cultivated annual crop plants interspersed with agricultural commodities, and the trees as the boundary, while in the wider land they integrated various species plants within the area. The diversity index of the home-gardens was categorized as moderate with a value of 1.25 to 2.18, while species uniformity index was ranging from moderate to high with values of 0.49 to 0.77. The total incomes from home gardens varied greatly from one community to another, and it was largely determined by the composition and density of the constituent species. The contribution of the home-gardens to the income of the farmers amounted to 43.27%–49.06%. The sustainable management of the home-garden agroforestry can give a significant contribution to the farmers' incomes and the preservation of biodiversity and environment.


Background: Treatment of proximal humerus fractures is controversial and various operative modalities have been tried. The aim of the present study was to evaluate functional outcome after open reduction and internal fixation of three part proximal humerus fractures by proximal humerus locking plate compared with k wire fixation. Methods: Fractures were classified according to Neer's classification. We reviewed a total of 40 patients with proximal humerus 3 part fractures in 20 patients (Group 1), who were treated with minimally invasive deltoid splitting Proximal Humeral Locking plate and 20 patients (Group 2) who were treated with percutaneous K-wire fixation. Functional outcome was assessed using Constant-Murley Score. Results : The average follow up period was around 24 months. Mean Constant-Murley score was 88.4points (range: 61100) in Group 1 and 72.4 points (range:56-100) in Group 2 at final follow up. Complications included screw perforation of head, non union, mal union, loss of fixation, and infection. Conclusion: Proximal humerus locking plate gives stable fixation with minimal implant problems and enabled early range-of motion exercises to achieve acceptable functional results for 3-part fractures compared with K-wire fixation.


A study was conducted to assess relationships between food preference ratings and food acceptability ratings. Acceptability ratings for each of two discriminably different samples of nine food items were obtained using the 9-point hedonic scale. Regression analysis indicated that no linear relationship existed between these ratings and either hedonic or frequency preference ratings of the foods. In addition, the range of acceptability ratings was smaller than the range of corresponding'preference ratings. Panelists'expressed preferences had no effect on their assignment of differential acceptance ratings to different samples of the items. Correlations between preference ratings of laboratory panelists and military field panelists were good, in spite of higher absolute preference ratings assigned by the laboratory panel.


FIELD: food industry. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the food industry and relates to a process for producing a foaming agent, the use of a foaming agent in a beverage, and a method for producing a coffee product. Foaming agent is obtained in the form of a surface active fraction in the form of thermal precipitates isolated from a coffee extract extracted from roasted and ground coffee beans at a temperature of 110 to 200°C. Surface-active fraction is used as a foaming agent in a coffee product. Coffee product is prepared by adding a foaming agent to a coffee extract or a concentrated coffee extract, wherein the surface-active fraction is recovered from the coffee extract. EFFECT: invention provides improvement in the volume, stability and appearance of the foam of a coffee product. 13 cl, 2 dwg, 5 ex


With the implementation of the Cluster Rule in the United States, all bleached grade kraft pulpmills required to meet stringent levels of absorbable organic halides in the effluent. The method most used to meet the absorbable organic halide levels was to convert to 100% substitution of chlorine dioxide in the predominately C or CD first stage. As mills substituted chlorine dioxide in the first stage the bleachplant, thereby converting to elemental chlorine free (ECF) bleaching, several key parameters were impacted. Two of these were that delignification in ECF was less than partial substitution of chlorine dioxide in the chlorine stage and secondly the increase in pH in the first stage did not give the level of metals solubility as compared to chlorine or CD bleaching. Metals management has become a significant issue in ECF bleaching as metals that previously had a minor influence in bleaching create issues with inorganic deposition and efficiency reduction of peroxide bleaching. Several operating conditions have been identified that when optimized, reduced the issues associated with scale development in various stages of the bleachplant.


Synthesis and characterization of a series of new emissive flexible copolymers composed of two kinds of special side-chain functional groups is demonstrated. One of the side-chain groups provides emissive properties, while the other serves as the ligand unit. The copolymers are used to prepare a new kind of CdTe nanocrystal-based semiconductor nanocomposite. Their structures and morphologies are characterized and their optoelectronic properties are studied. The results reveal that an energy-transfer process from the emissive random copolymers to the CdTe nanocrystals occurs, while a photoinduced charge transfer is estimated to be thermodynamically forbidden.


This article reviews the contribution of the discipline of Cultural Studies to that of Politics. It suggests that the study of popular culture opens up the realm of politics in a way that challenges the traditional boundaries of the discipline. By treating culture as 'ideology', Cultural Studies directs attention to the sites in which meaning is produced and contested. This in turn undermines any clear distinction between politics and culture and consequently demands a broader approach to 'the political' than has traditionally been taken by political science.


Cardiac arrest can occur in dental clinics. All dental professionals should be trained to deal with emergency situations that is threatening life. Dental professionals should be familiar with the protocol which include basic life support, advanced life support and specific drugs to be administered in emergencies. Emergency can occur in any dental office without any warnings. Further, it has been noted in recent times there is an increase in a number of medico-legal cases due to rise in a number of death in the dental chair. This review article aims at briefing the basic life support required to manage the medical emergency having life-threatening potential.


BackgroundControversies remain regarding the position of preoperative weight control. Orlistat, which shares a mechanism of restricting dietary fat absorption with gastrointestinal bypass procedures, has long been widely used for weight management. The aim was to assess the mutual relationship between the results of preoperative weight control with orlistat and surgical outcomes after one-anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB).MethodsThe medical records of all consecutive patients with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 42.5 kg/m2 who underwent primary OAGB from 2014 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Orlistat was routinely suggested for this subgroup and prescribed 10-14 days preceding surgery. Patients were stratified into weight reduction (Group 1) and weight gain (Group 2) groups. The variables assessed included the correlation of pre- and postoperative weight change up to 3 years postoperatively and 30-day surgical outcomes.ResultsAmong 55 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were compliant with treatment, 35 (64%) patients lost a median of 2.0 kg, in contrast to a median weight gain of 2.9 kg in Group 2. Group 1 had a significantly higher BMI (48.9 kg/m2 vs. 44.6 kg/m2; p= 0.003) at the last clinic visit and included more females (54% vs. 25%) than Group 2. There was a trend of reduced surgical duration (107 min vs. 140 min; p= 0.109), with no difference in 30-day complications. Weight loss percentages between groups were not different at 24 months.ConclusionPreoperative weight loss with orlistat reduced the operation time but did not affect weight loss at 2 years.


Neural networks are well suited for pattern recognition and classification. Matlab provides an extensive library and toolbox in neural networks. In the study, I designed a neural network using the Matlab Neural network toolbox. I carried out this process by changing various settings to get better performance and result. Recently, the processing and analysis of large volumes of data has become an urgent task. "Big Data" can be defined as "a large amount of unstructured data". This concept is the object of many scientific studies and developments in the field of information technology. The main characteristics of the concept "Big Data" are their unstructured nature.


RFID/USN means a way of attaching RFID to all required objects to identify them and exchanging the required information through the network. High frequency (13.56㎒) has been commonly used in the field of processing management in Korea, and extremely short wave (433.92㎒) has been used for harbor logistics management by being attached to containers in the US. As for SCM field where we need to have a broader understanding, the research on 860~960㎒, a sort of extremely short wave has been most actively conducted. Therefore, in-this study, in order to understand the features of all frequencies ranging and to design and implementation of RFID Middle System suitable for realizing u-Logistics by using those diverse frequencies.


PART I - THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS 1. Fear-avoidance models of chronic pain: an overview 2. Pain-related fear and avoidance: a conditioning perspective 3. A behavioural analysis of pain-related fear responses 4. The role of hypervigilance in the experience of pain 5. Negative affectivity, catastrophising and anxiety sensitivity 6. Attitudes towards physical activity: the role of implicit versus explicit associations 7. Disuse and physical deconditioning in chronic low back pain PART II - ASSESSMENT 8. The object of fear in pain 9. Assessment of fear and anxiety associated with pain: conceptualisation, methods and measures 10. The role of fear-avoidance in the early identification of patients risking the development of disability 11. Patient-therapist relationships among patients with pain-related fear PART III - TREATMENT 12. The management of pain-related fear in primary care 13. Cognitive behavioural therapy for chronic pain: an overview with specific reference to fear and avoidance 14. Fear reduction in chronic pain: graded exposure in vivo with behavioural experiments PART IV - CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS 15. Future challenges and research directions in fear of pain


Significance Our study makes significant progress understanding asymmetry in icosahedral viruses that would be otherwise masked by forcing homogeneity through icosahedral averaging. Using an asymmetric approach revealed the atomic-resolution structure of a complex between canine parvovirus and a strain-specific neutralizing antibody. Since species jumping is a rare event in DNA viruses, the emergence of an antibody that binds more avidly to the canine-adapted virus (and not ancestral feline equivalent) is of special interest. The Fab-bound and -unbound epitopes were solved on the same virus capsid with an atomic-resolution asymmetric map. Fab 14 stabilizes a capsid loop within the same binding site used by the receptor, suggesting capsid conformational change or steric competition with the receptor contributes to the mechanism of antibody neutralization. Canine parvovirus is an important pathogen causing severe diseases in dogs, including acute hemorrhagic enteritis, myocarditis, and cerebellar disease. Overlap on the surface of parvovirus capsids between the antigenic epitope and the receptor binding site has contributed to cross-species transmission, giving rise to closely related variants. It has been shown that Mab 14 strongly binds and neutralizes canine but not feline parvovirus, suggesting this antigenic site also controls species-specific receptor binding. To visualize the conformational epitope at high resolution, we solved the cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the Fab–virus complex. We also created custom software, Icosahedral Subparticle Extraction and Correlated Classification, to solve a Fab–virus complex with only a few Fab bound per capsid and visualize local structures of the Fab-bound and -unbound antigenic sites extracted from the same complex map. Our results identified the antigenic epitope that had significant overlap with the receptor binding site, and the structures revealed that binding of Fab induced conformational changes to the virus. We were also able to assign the order and position of attached Fabs to allow assessment of complementarity between the Fabs bound to different positions. This approach therefore provides a method for using cryo-EM to investigate complementarity of antibody binding.


The problem of the multifractal spectrum of local entropies for recurrence time is researched.By using the general entropies and entropy capacities,we obtain two upper estimates on the multifractal spectrum of local entropies for recurrence time,and the domain of the multifractal spectrum is also studied.


We study a model of frustration of decoherence in an open quantum system. Contrary to other dissipative Ohmic impurity models, such as the Kondo model or the dissipative two-level system, the impurity model discussed here never presents overdamped dynamics even for strong coupling to the environment. We show that this unusual effect has its origins in the quantum-mechanical nature of the coupling between the quantum impurity and the environment. We study the problem using analytic and numerical renormalization group methods and obtain expressions for the frequency and temperature dependence of the impurity susceptibility in different regimes.


A floating-strike lookback call (or put) option gives the holder the right to buy (or sell) at some percentage of the lowest (or highest) price of the underlying asset. This paper will propose an outside lookback call (or put) option that gives the holder the right to buy (or sell) one underlying asset at its guaranteed floating-strike price that is some percentage times the smaller (or the greater) of a specific guaranteed amount and the lowest (or highest) price of the other underlying asset. In addition, this paper derives explicit pricing formulas for these outside lookback options. Section 3 and Section 4 assume that the underlying assets pay no dividends. In contrast, Section 5 derives explicit pricing formulas for these options when their underlying assets pay dividends continuously at a rate proportional to their prices. Some numerical examples are also discussed.


tension between Indians and blacks in the South African context is not really explored. The authors in this essay give a realistic sense of the lack of politicized consciousness in the Samaj. The cultural distinctiveness adds to the rubric of overlapping subcultures but do not engage in the sensitive debates of race and belongingness. Gender identity and the construction of religion has been a major area of concern in studies of diaspora groups around the world. Ines Lourenco's essay on Hindu diaspora in Portugal shows how gender and power relations are renegotiated. The intersections of gender and generation are quite intriguing as older women study and transmit cultural texts, like women in my study at Pittsburgh, and the younger generation is not accepting rituals the way they are but working with different sets of intercultural realities. Language learning and religious education for cultural reproduction is important for younger women. Similarly, Narayan and Purkayastha's paper draws their research on Indian origin groups in the USA and UK, where gender and religion intersect in the construction of new virtually linked communities. Women become the subjects of patriarchal scrutiny online and there are new forms of surveillance on them as well. A rare study of Indian Christians in Malaysia and Singapore by Pillai and Paramasivam highlights the syncretism of identity politics among them by looking at text as well as context. The practice of Christianity is analysed within a context of colonialism, and the transmission of diasporic influences on language, culture and religion. The complexities of Sikh transnational political and cultural configurations against the backdrop of the history of the origins of Sikhism and its connections to caste and tribe are discussed in Anjali Roy's essay. Her argument is that the move is towards fragmentation of religions rather than homogenization during globalization. Modernism among the Tibetans in exile as expressed by three robed monastics including the Dalai Lama is an interesting theme explored by JohnWhalen-Bridge. The tensions between Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism and modernization are also discussed. Jeffrey Samuels looks at the practice of Sri Lankan Buddhism in Malaysia by doing a historical overview while showing the syncretic relation between Chinese and Sri Lankan forms of Buddhism. The Sinhalese Theravada temples played a great role in making the Chinese feel less marginalized. Rai and Sankaran have indeed put together a volume with essay on religion in the South Asian diaspora and I find that the articles on Southeast Asia are most interesting for the study. Religion is an overwhelmingly complex rubric in the diasporic context and neither preservation nor change can be seen merely as a process of homogenization or fragmentation. We can see that the model of cultural pluralism works in territorial ways and different host and home cultures infuse their influence into one another.


We have presented a new notion of anti-fuzzy subgroup (AFS). For this, we have considered general t-conorm. The main contributions of this paper are fourfold: (1) we have proposed a new notion of anti-fuzzy subgroup (AFS), (2) we have also defined infimum image of a fuzzy set, (3) Furthermore, we have defined subgroup generated anti-fuzzy subgroup (SGAFS), function generated anti-fuzzy subgroup (FGAFS) and (4) we have shown that an AFS proposed earlier belong to a special class of subgroup generated anti-fuzzy subgroup (SGAFS). To justify our proposed notion we have discussed some drawbacks of the existing notion of AFS with numerical examples. Finally, we have concluded that our proposed notion is superior to the existing one.


Flourescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between CdSe quantum dots (QDs) and meso tetraphenylporph yrin (TPP) photosensitizers is studied by two photon excitation fluorescent spectroscopy with 800nm femtosecond laser pulses. Evident transfer results are obtained in both the steady-state and time-resolved experiments. A slight peak shift to the red region in the emission of the CdSe QDs is observed after addition of TPP, which is speculated to be caused by energy transfer from QDs of small size to larger. An efficiency of about 0.3 accounts for the non-radiative energy transfer is estimated with the time-resolved method.