Trace data is critical for fault localization (FL) to analyze suspicious statements potentially responsible for a failure. However, existing trace representation meets its bottleneck mainly in two aspects: (1) the trace information of a statement is restricted to a local context (i.e., a test case) without the consideration of a global context (i.e., all test cases of a test suite); (2) it just uses the 'occurrence' for representation without strong FL semantics. Thus, we propose UNITE: an inflUential coNtext-GuIded Trace rEpresentation, representing the trace from both global and local contexts with influential semantics for FL. UNITE embodies and implements two key ideas: (1) UNITE leverages the widely used weighting capability from local and global contexts of information retrieval to reflect how important a statement (a word) is to a test case (a document) in all test cases of a test suite (a collection), where a test case (a document) and all test cases of a test suite (a collection) represent local and global contexts respectively; (2) UNITE further elaborates the trace representation from 'occurrence' (weak semantics) to 'influence' (strong semantics) by combing program dependencies. The large-scale experiments on 12 FL techniques and 20 programs show that UNITE significantly improves FL effectiveness.


The final output from e-learning classes is relatively lower than in face-to-face learning. Only highly motivated and well oriented e-learners are successful ones. The instructor's role in this case is obvious, mainly with the features of its personal presence. Based on the author's own experience and literature review, this paper discusses the teacher's presence and immediacy as activities aiming to avoid the risks of learnеr's disorientation and demotivation.


Abstract The native fish fauna of the lower Colorado River, in the western United States, includes four "big-river" fishes that are federally listed as endangered. Existing recovery implementation plans are inadequate for these critically imperiled species. We describe a realistic, proactive management program founded on demographic and genetic principles and crafted to avoid potential conflicts with nonnative sport fisheries. In this program, native species would breed and their progeny grow in isolated, protected, off-channel habitats in the absence of nonnative fishes. Panmictic adult populations would reside in the main channel and connected waters, exchanging reproductive adults and repatriated subadults with populations occupying isolated habitats. Implementation of the plan would greatly enhance recovery potential of the four listed fishes.


This paper investigates the use of model-free reinforcement learning to compute the optimal value in two-player stochastic games with parity objectives. In this setting, two decision makers, player Min and player Max, compete on a finite game arena – a stochastic game graph with unknown but fixed probability distributions – to minimize and maximize, respectively, the probability of satisfying a parity objective. We give a reduction from stochastic parity games to a family of stochastic reachability games with a parameter ε, such that the value of a stochastic parity game equals the limit of the values of the corresponding simple stochastic games as the parameter ε tends to 0. Since this reduction does not require the knowledge of the probabilistic transition structure of the underlying game arena, model-free reinforcement learning algorithms, such as minimax Q-learning, can be used to approximate the value and mutual best-response strategies for both players in the underlying stochastic parity game. We also present a streamlined reduction from 1 2 -player parity games to reachability games that avoids recourse to nondeterminism. Finally, we report on the experimental evaluations of both reductions. 2012 ACM Subject Classification Theory of computation → Automata over infinite objects; Computing methodologies → Machine learning algorithms; Mathematics of computing → Markov processes; Theory of computation → Convergence and learning in games


The aim of this article is to present the primary types of autothematic media information and its non-informative functions as well as the objects and methods of linguisyic valuation in the messages. Information about the reception of a media offering, information about rewards and successes of a medium, information about non-media undertakings of media broadcasters, and information about an offering were distinguished based on content analysis. By means of a semantic and pragmatic analysis of the expressions used, it was ascertained that the media broadcaster itself is rarely the object of valuation, whereas the events organised by the medium, messages included in its offering, the invited guests and recipients are eagerly granted positive
valuations. The overarching value is the positive relationship between the medium and others, the valuation is normally overt and intensive, and the examined messages perform various kinds of promotional tasks.
Keywords: information – media – autothematicism – function – self-promotion – self-
-presentation


Field observations were made at Loch Sween in an attempt to
describe the behaviour and ecology of L.depurator.
Abundance varied over time with peak abundance occurring
during periods of warm water. Peak densities of 1 crab/7m [sq] were observed but average density was much lower at 1 crab 25m [sq].
Some evidence was obtained for migration from the
study site similar to that reported for other species.
Tagging studies revealed no long term site attachment.
Populations were found to be sex biased in favour of male
during summer months and individuals were most
commonly observed within 1m of the nearest conspecific.
Ovigerous crabs were observed in two distinct phases between
April and September and recruitment of juvenile crabs;
occured in early spring. Observations on food and feeding
behaviour showed L depurator to be a predator of sessile or slow
moving benthic macroinvertebrates. The main types of
escape response were observed and discussed. The incidence
of physical damage and naturally occurring aggression in the
field were low.
Investigation into the locomotor activity of individual
swimming crabs in the laboratory showed that shallow water
( 30m) crabs displayed arhythmic activity.


The face fly, Musca autumnalis DeGeer, completes its life cycle in 16-21 days under field conditions. After mating, females actively and selectively seek protein from the mucous membranes and secretions of the eye and nose of cattle. Females are facultatively haematophagous. Face flies are among the first insects to arrive at freshly dropped dung, on which they feed and oviposit. Dung that has been dropped in open sunny areas is the preferred oviposition site. Generally 20-26 eggs are laid per ovarian cycle, with most females completing 2-3 cycles in a lifetime. Males occasionally are found feeding on cattle; however, much of their time is spent resting on objects in the surrounding pasture. After its introduction to North America from Europe, the face fly spread rapidly across the continent, often appearing ip explosive numbers. Initial reports on the adverse effects of the face fly on livestock productivity were exaggerated; research now indicates that face flies are more of an aesthetic problem to producers than a problem to cattle. Nevertheless, the face fly can transmit eyeworms and the causal organism of pinkeye. Recently, in Sweden, the face fly has been identified as the intermediate host of a filarial nematode which could have a significant impact on livestock. Despite a lack of scientific data on the economic importance of the face fly, considerable time and effort has been devoted toward finding suitable control


Object extraction has a crucial role in various visual semantic scenarios. In this paper, we propose a system for object extraction which can deal with an object partly occluded by other objects. In order to estimate the hidden part of the occluded object, the system combines different types of contour completion methods such as curve completion and symmetry completion. The system is composed of two modules: contour discrimination and contour completion. The contour discrimination module separates the contour of the occluded object from the contours of the occluding objects. To the contour of the occluded object, the contour completion module applies different types of contour completion algorithms to generate various completion patterns. Based on the perceptual model of figural goodness, the system computes the figural goodness scores of the generated patterns, where the simplicity and symmetricity are evaluated. Finally, the system outputs the pattern having the highest score as a result of the object extraction. From the experimental results, we have confirmed that the figural goodness model works effectively for extracting partly occluded objects.


We compared the color pattern and external morphology of specimens of Kalophrynus interlineatus BLYTH, 1855 described in the literature and deposited in museums, in particular of name-bearing types, and describe the geographic variation of the taxon. According to the data available, Kalophrynus orangensis DUTTA, AHMED & DAS, 2000 should be considered a junior subjective synonym of K. interlineatus. The advertisement call of specimens from northern Vietnam is described and compared to that from a population of northern Thailand. Significant differences were not found and despite color pattern variation, similarity in the advertisement call does not allow to separate them on species level. The range area of Kalophrynus menglienicus (YANG & Su, 1980) was found to extend into northern Vietnam.


Abstract We consider the three-dimensional sloshing problem on a triangular prism whose angles with the sloshing surface are of the form
${\pi}/{2q}$
 , where q is an integer. We are interested in finding a two-term asymptotic expansion of the eigenvalue counting function. When both angles are
${\pi}/{4}$
 , we compute the exact value of the second term. As for the general case, we conjecture an asymptotic expansion by constructing quasimodes for the problem and computing the counting function of the related quasi-eigenvalues. These quasimodes come from solutions of the sloping beach problem and correspond to two kinds of waves, edge waves and surface waves. We show that the quasi-eigenvalues are exponentially close to real eigenvalues of the sloshing problem. The asymptotic expansion of their counting function is closely related to a lattice counting problem inside a perturbed ellipse where the perturbation is in a sense random. The contribution of the angles can then be detected through that perturbation.


Due to ethical and practical limitations, simulations are the de facto approach to measure and predict the propagation of malicious code on the Internet. A crucial part of every simulation is the network graph that is used to perform the experiments. Though recent evidence brought to light the nature of many technological and socio-technical networks such as the web links, the physical connectivity of the Internet and the e-mail correspondents, we argue that the interpretation of these findings has to be strongly correlated with specific malware properties. Furthermore, we question whether these graphs are accurate enough to model the fastest spreading type of malicious activity, bandwidth-limited worms. Finally, we propose some workarounds, by introducing a new Bandwidth-Aware Graphs Generation Algorithm, in order to generate specially crafted network graphs for the simulation of this type of malicious activity.


Abstract This study used the transtheoretical model of behavior change to categorize participants into stages of change groups regarding eleven conservation behaviors. Three main stages of change were identified: precontemplation, contemplation, and action. Participants from different stage placements were interviewed to explore barriers and motivations towards doing different conservation behaviors. Individuals in different stages identified different motivations and barriers that were important to doing (or not doing) an action. Lack of time was the most common barrier for precontemplators, while the most common barrier for contemplators and actors was being unaware of a behavior. Precontemplators and contemplators were most commonly motivated by a behavior being easy, while actors were most commonly motivated by getting reminders about the behavior. This suggests that educational programs designed to promote conservation behaviors should include multiple motivators and reduce as many types of barriers as possible to reach the greatest number of people.


Low-speed friction tests with fine diamond styli and spherical sliders of ruby, sapphire, and hardened steel were carried out on the crystallographically prominent planes of synthetic single-crystal rutile at room temperature. The friction against diamond was 0.04–0.10; against sapphire and steel, 0.10–0.15. Ploughing friction was found to be anisotropic. When larger sliders were used so that the contribution by ploughing was minimized, the frictional anisotropy vanished. The anisotropy of ploughing was correlated with plastic deformation by slip in and adjacent to the friction track, as seen and studied with the optical microscope. Surface damage by cleavage and brittle failure was found to be severe during the friction experiments. Presented as an American Society of Lubrication Engineers paper of the ASME/ASLE Lubrication Conference held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, October 8–10, 1968.


A mini LD laser rangefinder is introduced.The constr uc tion, operation principle and key technology of the system are discussed. This s ystem has the characteristics of simple construction and low cost.It can be used in all kinds of intelligent vehicles as an anti-collision radar and other situ ations where high precision is not needed.


The different approaches for separating residual stress and composition gradients introduced in the first part of this series [Klaus & Genzel (2017). J. Appl. Cryst. 50, 252–264] are demonstrated with the experimental example of a graded Ti(C,N) coating layer deposited by a modified high-temperature chemical vapour deposition process on a cemented carbide substrate. The coating layer features a depth gradient in the lattice parameter d_{\psi ^*}^{hkl} in the strain-free direction of the biaxial stress state, ψ*,hkl, and tensile residual stresses σ|| which are nearly uniform over the coating thickness but drop down significantly towards the free surface. On the assumption that the out-of-plane stress component σ33 can be neglected, the d_{\psi ^*}^{hkl} gradient is related to the variation in the chemical composition with depth. Therefore, the example considered here corresponds to case (d) of possible combinations of residual stress and composition gradients discussed in the first part of this series. The comparison of the results achieved by means of the different methods reveals the importance of choosing appropriate experimental conditions that fit best to the sample to be investigated. For the case of thin-film analysis, it is shown that the X-ray information depth is the crucial parameter which should match the film thickness.


This paper describes recent advances in research by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to better measure and analyze trade in services and global production. To provide new information on how services are supplied, BEA has prepared exploratory estimates of U.S. international services categorized by mode of supply and has begun to collect information on modes of supply from BEA survey respondents. BEA has also conducted research on the strategic movement of intellectual property assets by multinational enterprises (MNEs) and how it affects national and international economic accounts. One part of this research explores how large an impact this activity might have on measures such as U.S. domestic production, trade in services, and direct investment income. Another part of this research explores how U.S. MNEs use transfer pricing under cost sharing agreements to shift profits abroad. To better measure the globalization of production by domestic firms, BEA has also explored several approaches to creating supply-use tables extended by firm type that better illustrate heterogeneity in production by different types of firms in the same industry.


Integration of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) technologies can overcome the drawbacks of the individual systems. One of the advantages is that the integrated solution can provide continuous navigation capability even during GPS outages. However, bridging the GPS outages is still a challenge when Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) inertial sensors are used. Methods being currently explored by the research community include applying vehicle motion constraints, optimal smoother, and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. In the research area of AI, the neural network (NN) approach has been extensively utilised up to the present. In an NN-based integrated system, a Kalman filter (KF) estimates position, velocity and attitude errors, as well as the inertial sensor errors, to output navigation solutions while GPS signals are available. At the same time, an NN is trained to map the vehicle dynamics with corresponding KF states, and to correct INS measurements when GPS measurements are unavailable. To achieve good performance it is critical to select suitable quality and an optimal number of samples for the NN. This is sometimes too rigorous a requirement which limits real world application of NN-based methods. The support vector machine (SVM) approach is based on the structural risk minimisation principle, instead of the minimised empirical error principle that is commonly implemented in an NN. The SVM can avoid local minimisation and over-fitting problems in an NN, and therefore potentially can achieve a higher level of global performance. This paper focuses on the least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM), which can solve highly nonlinear and noisy black-box modelling problems. This paper explores the application of the LS-SVM to aid the GPS/INS integrated system, especially during GPS outages. The paper describes the principles of the LS-SVM and of the KF hybrid method, and introduces the LS-SVM regression algorithm. Field test data is processed to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach.


In this paper,Aspergillus niger was used to produce multi-enzyme enriched bio-feed from camellia oleifera seed cake with solid-state fermentation.The suitable medium for mixed fermentation of Aspergillus niger were soya bean meal to oil-tea-cake ratio of 1:1,material-to-water ratio of 1: 0.5,1%(W/W)(NH4)2SO4,0.1%(W/W) K2HPO4,and 50 g dry material in 500 mL tapered bottle.The best fermentation conditions were 1.5%(W/W) inoculum size of Aspergillus niger,at 28℃ for 4 d at pH 5.The activities of proteinase and cellulase could reach to 4 128.1 U?g-1 and 1 481.9 U?g-1,respectively.The crude protein and the pure protein in camellia oleifera seed cake increased by 41.8%,48.2%,respectively,while the crude fibre,tannin and tea saponin reduced by 38.0%,78.7%,and 65.3%,respectively.Nutritional values of the fermented bio-feed improve obviously.


The role of the arts in the development of imagination in early childhood is linked with children's need to explore and learn about their world. Learning to imagine is a crucial step in symbol‐making in early childhood. Decentration skills are hypothesised as the link between fantasy or pretense play activities and development in areas such as communication, co‐operation, perspective‐taking ability, creativity, problem‐solving skills and many areas of cognitive development. Children develop their own theories of the world well before starting school and, by being aware of these theories, teachers can build on children's prior learning rather than negating it. Examples of children's symbol‐making are used to illustrate the process of making meaning. Aspects of children's learning environments are considered in terms of how effectively they facilitate children's exploration and the development of imagination.


When a microgrid operates in the islanded mode, stability becomes an issue if the system is not properly designed. This paper presents case studies of a single-phase community microgrid in the islanded mode to investigate the stability issues. The simulation results indicate that a microgrid can be prone to instability due to the interaction between DER units. It also shows the sensitivity of microgrid stability to the DER design and control. This suggests the need for more robust DER interface design and more robust DER control to maintain the microgrid stability.


To cope with global change, plants shift their distributions. Distribution shifts tend to be more dramatic across rare species. We here questioned how the distribution range of eight rare woody species is changing and how effectively the plants cope with the shift. We further addressed whether plant traits that could predict those parameters. We carried out Maxent Distribution Modelling on species observation records before 1980 under present climatic conditions and four future (CMIP5) scenarios. To assess how effectively plants cope with migration we assessed species observations after 1980. We finally collated plant trait data on three traits. Most distribution ranges expanded northwards. Temperature driven rather than precipitation driven variables described distribution shifts best. Wood density summarized well the susceptibility of those plants to climate change. There are many woody species in tropical and subtropical areas for which we have very little information available. We identified, subject to our small pool of species, a plant trait, wood density, that could summarize responses to global change that could potentially be used as a tool in conservation ecology to prioritize conservation efforts.


Crotalaria nicobarica, a new species from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India is described and illustrated along with conservation status. This new species closely resembles C. lunulata Heyne ex Wight and Arn., C. paniculata Willd. and C. ramosissima Roxb. which occurs in western and eastern peninsular India and occupies forest edges and cut‐slopes of hillocks, but the new species is distinct in morphology of vegetative and reproductive characters from all previously known species. Based on its hairyness, persistent bracts and bracteoles, silky pubescence of vexillum and style, and oblong stalked pods, the species is referred to C. sect. Crotalaria.


Fertilization in citrus is a cultural practice with great importance as it affects significantly the quality of fruit. In this work we evaluated the effects of organic versus conventional farming systems on internal and external characteristics of citrus, with particular emphasis on vitamin C content. The study was carried out in different orchards of the Algarve region, in the south of Portugal. Fruits of different orchards were harvested at physiological maturity and submitted to physical and chemical analyses. The results showed that mineral fertilization led to fruits with greater weight and diameter, a thicker peel and a more intense colour. Compared with conventional production, fruits from organic farming had more soluble solids and a lower maturation index. The highest concentrations of vitamin C were recorded in fruits from organic farming, but the response depended on species and cultivar.


The Chairman of the National Association of Family Planning Doctors has issued the following guidelines regrading confidentiality and the requests of females under 16 years of ago in England, Wales, and Northen Ireland for contraception. 1st, any girl who seeks out a family planning doctor should be listened to attentively and with concern, regardless of her age. The confidentialtiy of the interview should be respected. 2nd, family planning doctors must respect the stability of the girl's family life and avoid any action that might disrupt the parent-child relationship. 3rd, any girls who are not already sexually active at the time of their contact with the physician should be encouraged to remain so. The possibility of physical and emotional sequelae of early sexual activity should be discussed. 4th, young clients should be encouraged to involve their parents. Those who reject this suggestion should be assured that the consultation is confidential, although, in some cases, the doctor may have to seek the consent of the Court for treatment or may have to decide if the situation constitutes on emergency. 5th, if parental consent has been obtained, contraceptive needs can be discussed and the patient should be treated with the normal high standards of professional care.


Hydrodynamic simulations of laser-produced plasmas represent a useful tool allowing them to investigate processes during laser-plasma interaction, which are often impossible to observe directly during the experiments. They allow not only interpretation of experimental results, but are also often used for designing the experimental setup or detailed analysis of particular processes during the experiment. In this paper, we describe the application of the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) numerical methods, benefiting from the computational mesh moving with the fluid in a Lagrangian manner, while enforcing its geometric quality by a regular mesh smoothing mechanism. The basic ALE algorithm is enhanced by additional physical models (realistic EOS, laser absorption mechanism, heat conductivity model, cylindrical geometry, two-temperature model, phase transition model, magnetic field model, . . . ), allowing to perform realistic simulations of laser/target interactions. The performance of the code is demonstrated on selected realistic numerical tests.


BACKGROUND : Diabetes mellitus is a progressive disease, diabetic foot is the major complication of it, and eventually leads to development of gangrene and lower extremity amputation. This study has been carried out to detect the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of the isolates in relation to HbA1C levels. OBJECTIVES : To study the prevalence of diabetic foot ulcers in various age groups and gender. To isolate and identify the bacterial isolates causing diabetic foot infections. To analyze HbA1C levels in relation with Diabetic Foot Infections, bacteriological profile and antibiotic susceptibility pattern. MATERIALS AND METHOD : Pus and wound swabs were collected from around 100 diabetic patients with foot ulcer attending the Surgery Out-Patient Department of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. The samples received in the Department of Microbiology were processed for aerobic culture and antibiotic sensitivity testing during the study period. Blood samples were collected to analyze the HbA1C levels. RESULTS : Of The 100 cases studied, most of the patients belonged to the 5th and 6th decades of life (37%) and (28%) respectively. Males were more affected compared to females with a ratio of 2.3:1. Maximum number of patients with Diabetic Foot Ulcers were seen in Wagner's Grade II (40 nos), followed by 38 DFI patients in Wagner's Grade III. Among Gram positive aerobes, Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant Isolate (18.4%). Among Gram negative aerobes, Proteus spp was the most common isolate (23.2%) followed by E.Coli 16.8% and Pseudomonas 16%. Acinetobacter species was the least common isolate (2.4%). While staphylococcus aureus was the most common among gram positive cocci, Proteus species was the most common isolate among the gram negative pathogens. CONCLUSION : Staphylococci and Proteus were the two most common isolates detected in diabetic foot infections. There was significant association between DFI and higher HbA1C Levels. But no correlation found between HbA1C levels and the polymicrobial nature of infection in DFI.


On October 15, 2016, the Republican candidate for president, Donald Trump, spoke in New Jersey at an event touted as a Bollywood fundraiser for victims of terror in the United States, organized by the Republican Hindu Council. On stage, two young opposite-sex Indian couples danced together, as if at a nightclub, until they were abruptly attacked by masked and robed actors laughing manically, shouting "Jihad" and brandishing outsized weapons to the sound of gunfire. The hapless foursome was then rescued by a group of six Navy Seals. Once the Jihadists were vanquished, the victors stood, hands on heart as the US national anthem played, and the vignette concluded with all of them dancing to the tune of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA."


The article dwells upon the methodical reforms of the leading maestros, singers and vocal teachers in academic singing from the end of the 16th century to the first quarter of the 20th century, which formed major elements of academic singing teaching. Present-day vocal pedagogy problems and academic singing methods are designated.


The Idikki project, now half completed is a complex of three gigantic dams, impounding a single reservoir, a head tunnel almost 2 km long, and an underground power house. The project is 120 km inland from the old sea port of Cochin and is located in South Western Ghats in Kerala State in South India. The project comprises three dams which combine to impound a reservoir of 2.28 billion m/sup 3/ capacity. The dam across the Periyar River at the Idikki gorge is a thin-walled double curvature parabolic arch 167 m high with a crest length of 360 m, a thickness of 7.5 m at top and 24 m at the base, covering a total volume of 466,000 m/sup 3/ of concrete. It is the first arch dam of its type in India and is the country's secondest highest dam. The second dam is built on the Cheruthoni River and is a conventional gravity structure 136 m high. The third dam at Kulamavu is located at the headwaters of the reservoir. Work has begun on the erection of 220-kV single-circuit inter-state transmission lines from Idikki to Mysora, a distance of 366 km, to be completed in June 1977. (MCW)


Any imaging system's images have dynamic intensity value variations, rapid light shifts, and poor contrast. Such visuals are empty of useful information and difficult to comprehend visually. Filtering methods to eliminate noise, improve contrast, and detect edges are used to retrieve secondary information from such photographs. Median filtering is one of the nonlinear ways that remove the range of isolated noise like salt and pepper noise while preserving the edge information of the image. However, median filtering fails to remove the noise when the image is affected by too strong impulsive noise. The switching median filtering technique can be used to eliminate high-intensity impulse noise. This research presents a VLSI design for a novel switching-based median filter to reduce high-density salt and pepper noise in digital images. The absolute difference between the center pixel and the array median obtained from a 3 x 3 sliding window is compared to a predefined threshold value to determine whether a pixel is noisy or not. During the filtering stage, the noisy pixels in the 3 x 3 filtering window are replaced by the median of noise-free pixels. If a pixel value is damaged, it is replaced with the median of the following window. The true pixel intensity value is kept if the pixel is not destroyed. We can tell if a pixel is corrupted or not by using a threshold detector. We may either add salt and pepper noise to an image directly or create it ourselves. This is a step in the image preparation process. The normal image is uploaded and converted it to a salt and pepper noise image using MATLAB's built-in capabilities. We used three tools in our project. We used MATLAB to preprocess the picture and plot data to reconstruct the original image, then ModelSim to produce the median filter, and XILINX to compare the existing bubble sort to the recommended three-cell sorter. The proposed technique outperforms standard median-based filters in simulations and is particularly effective in circumstances where pictures are badly damaged.


To the Editor:— I was interested in the editorial "Chlorophyll and Deodorization" inThe Journal, Oct. 24, 1953, and the correspondence in the same issue. It is understandable that the wide claims for the deodorizing properties of the agent are being questioned. I think it would be a good idea to question some of the other claims that have been made for chlorophyll preparations, especially those relating to an alleged effect on wound healing. I am not familiar with a single clinical or experimental study that has proved conclusively that chlorophyll is beneficial. It is true that many wounds have healed under a chlorophyll ointment, but no untreated control wounds were provided. During World War II, a burn study unit at the Henry Ford Hospital undertook to evaluate chlorophyll, with wound healing experiments on guinea pigs and in clinical wounds of many types (Lam, C. R., and Brush, B. E.:


The paper examined the presence of somatic symptomatology in relation to the perception of parental education, emotions and sense of security in the family environment. Those surveyed consisted of 4,847 adolescents The defined family factors consisted of inconsistency of education, parental interest, supervision, affection and a sense of security within the family environment and these were examined in relation to selected somatic issues through the SAHA methodology. The results of the correlation analysis indicated that the quality of these family factors is related to the symptoms of somatic problems of adolescents. A positive correlation between somatic symptoms and inconsistency of education and a negative correlation between somatic symptoms and a sense of security at home were observed.


Cow pea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] belongs to the family leguminosae, is one of the important summer vegetable valued for its proteins, minerals and energy. The crop is gaining popularity among vegetable growers due to higher remuneration and steady market demand. However, poor productivity level with traditional practices impairs wider acceptability of the crop. There is a tremendous scope to increase the current productivity level by adopting innovative practices. Different treatments of plant growth regulants were found effective in increasing the growth and yield parameters through enhanced biomass production and translocation of assimilates toward developing sink. In addition to GA3 and IAA other orgamic promoters like biozyme (Jangle et al., 2005), humic acid (Liu et al., 1998) and liquid vermicompost (Karuna et al., 1999) are also emerging as plant booster for improving the physiological efficiency of the crop. In light of the fact, the present experiment was undertaken to study the influences of certain plant growth promoters on growth and yield attributes of cow pea and to identify the most suitable growth promoter for better conversion of increased biomass into pod yield. The study was conducted during pre-kharif season of 2009 and 2010 at Instructional farm of UBKV, Pundibari, CoochBehar, West Bengal (26°19'86" N latitude, 89°23'53" E longitude and 43 m MSL above mean sea level). The soil was sandy loam (60, 19, 19% sand, silt and clay respectively) in texture and slight acidic in reaction (pH 5.74). The initial soil organic carbon was 0.86% and available N P K contents were 159.19, 21.26 and 123.12 kg/ha respectively. The cow pea (cv. CP 4) seeds were sown during mid February for both the years in 2.7 x 2.7 m plots with a both way spacing of 45 cm. Seven different growth regulants namely gibberelic acid (GA3-150 ppm), indole acetic acid (IAA-100 ppm), ethrel (100 ppm), tricontanol (100 ppm), biozyme (100 ppm), humic acid (300 ppm), vermicompost (1:5 dilution) along with control (distilled water) thus eight treatments were laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications. The experiment field was supplied with well rotten farmyard manure (20 t ha-)


Makiyavery and HAN Fei were two famous politicians who belonged to two different times and two different countries, but they had a lot in common in their view of power. HAN Fei stressed that "power" should be combined with "law" and "art" whereas Makiyavery had his own points of view. This paper attempts to compare their views of power.


Magnetically Induced Motion Imaging (MIMI) uses an oscillating magnetic field and ultrasonic motion-tracking techniques to vibrate and identify brachytherapy seeds in situ. The efficacy of the technique relies on the ability to generate and detect seed vibration, and distinguish this vibration signal from other motion sources. The vibration of the seed depends on the torque generated by a ferromagnetic core in the seed. A design goal is to maximize the torque for the limited amount of core material that can be placed within a seed. We have developed 3D finite-element models for two seed core geometries, an ellipsoid and a rod capped by two semi-hemispheres. Both seed cores have identical volumes (7.4times10-10m3 ), length (4mm), and permeability (mur=4000). Calculation by the Maxwell Stress Tensor method yields a torque for the rod 1.4 times that of the ellipsoidal core, demonstrating the substantial sensitivity of torque on core geometry. The oscillating seeds act as dipole shear wave sources, with maximum vibration amplitude at the ends of the seed and a vibration minimum at the center of length. This gives rise to a characteristic vibration amplitude distribution in the surrounding tissue, with two lobes per seed. By taking advantage of the opposing phase of the seed ends, we demonstrate a method that links these lobes. A compounding technique for suppressing ring-down artifact is demonstrated. These methods are demonstrated on RF data acquired from seeds in beef muscle tissue. 3D vibration isosurface maps of seed vibration amplitude are presented and found to be in good agreement with previously reported simulations


Lichen Sclerosus (LS), also known as Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus, or, in other literature as, Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans, is a chronic inflammatory skin disease which manifests in both males and females, affecting primarily the genitourinary area. The exact pathogenesis of LS is unknown and several hypotheses have been proposed, including autoimmune pathology, infective triggers, trauma (such as surgical interventions and sexual abuse) and genetic predisposition (rather than a direct genetic [...]


We present an optical realization of an adjustable discriminator of non-orthogonal quantum states and a programmable phase-covariant quantum multimeter. Both devices utilize polarization states of photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The experimental realization is based on the fact that two Bell states can be distinguished solely by means of linear optics. The first device discriminates unambiguously between two non-orthogonal polarization states of the data qubit. The selection of the states that should be discriminated is controlled by the quantum state of the program qubit. The second device can perform any von Neumann measurement on a single qubit represented by a polarization state from the equator of the Bloch sphere. Also in this case the measurement basis is selected by the state of the program qubit.


Objectives To evaluate the feasibility and safety of distal protection device (PercuSurge)during percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)in high risk patients with acute coronary syndrome. Methods From October 2004 to August 2007, 40 patients with high risk acute coronary syndrome who received primary coronary intervention were included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether PercuSurge was attempted during PCI. The basic clinical characteristics, angiographic results, and follow-up data before discharge were compared. Coronary arteries blood flow (TIMI grade), myocardial TMP grade and the rate of no-reflow were performed in all cases after PCI. Results There was no significant difference between the two groups in basic clinical characteristics,angiography before PCI (P 0.05). All patients underwent PCI successfully in both groups. In the PercuSurge group, PCI with PercuSurge guardwire protection were performed successfully in 18 patients. There was significant difference between the two groups in TIMI 3 flows gained in target vessels after PCI. Better percentage of TMP grade 3 of target vessels was achieved in PercuSurge group. Less no-reflow were found in PercuSurge group. There were lower peak TnI and serum CKMB levels, higher LVEF and smaller LVEDD in the PercuSurge group after PCI at the date before discharge (P 0.05). There was no MACE in PercuSurge group, only one patient died in the control group. Conclusions This study demonstrates that the feasibility and safety of using the PercuSurge Guard Wire system during PCI in high risk ACS patients to prevent no-reflow.


When The Hague Tribunal brought down its Award on 7 September 1910, almost all contemporary observers agreed that the age-old controversy had been laid to rest. Only the eulogies differed, varying with the nationality of the authors. Allen B. Aylesworth, Agent for the combined team of Canada, Great Britain and Newfoundland immediately cabled his Prime Minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, that they had won all the points of any consequence and that only one small feature of the Award was unsatisfactory. Two days later, the American Agent, Chandler P. Anderson, sent much the same cheerful sort of message to President William Howard Taft: the Americans had gained a substantial victory and only one point at issue, itself of slight importance, had gone against them. The confusion of those early days has been perpetuated. The "truth" of the matter still depends largely upon a man's nationality. Most Canadian historians who have lately glanced at the Award regard it as one which "favoured Canada", "broadly upheld the Canadian case" or "generally upheld the case of Canada and Newfoundland." When American historians scrutinize the Award — and not too many do — they come to very different conclusions. S. F. Bemis, after patriotically approaching the subject, reached a remarkable half-truth: the "award . . . put into effect the provisions of the unratified Bayard-Chamberlain treaty of 1888 for the definition of territorial bays . . . ." Julius W. Pratt, following the same nationalist course, concluded that the Tribunal "decided all the principal questions in favor of the United States." Thomas A. Bailey, whose historical understanding was more precise, likened the decision to a "compromise" in which Gloucestermen were protected against unreasonable local regulations while Newfoundlanders were "generally sustained in their claims to local jurisdiction."


The authors outline a model, based on interacting cells which simulate conditions at high and low latitudes, to describe and predict energy and other flows occurring between the atmosphere, oceans, and continents. They propose that this model is more accurate and efficient (in terms of the use of computer time) than conventional hydrodynamic models based on the Navier-Stokes and other equations. Tests of the model for conditions in the Southern Hemisphere provided results, in terms of annual swings in air temperature (and in another case, also for water vapor pressure and precipitation regimes), which corresponded generally with actual observations (translated by Andrew R. Bond).


This work presents an efficient hardware realization of diamond search motion estimation algorithm using adder compressor units. The main advantage of this kind of hardware is its large quantity of processing modules (PM) which are employed to determine the sum of absolute difference distortion metric. Processing units are composed of large quantity of adders to calculate the summation of absolute difference (SAD). Incorporated 3:2 and 5:2 adder compressor units (ACU) are used in the processing units to achieve high computational speed and make the architecture compatible for high definition television videos. The adder compressor units are capable of parallel addition of eight addend data. The complete hardware is realized in Verilog HDL, functionally verified, and implemented on FPGA. Also, the design is synthesized using Synopsys RC design compiler of 90nm technology standard cell library as an application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) implementation. Simulation and synthesis results show that the implemented architecture for diamond search algorithm achieve best results when performance evaluation is done.


The tribological performance of Organic Mo (oxymolybdenum dithiophosphate and molybdenum dithiophosphate) as oil additives was studied on a MRS-1J model four-ball machine. The wear surface and element distribution was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that the organic Mo additives exhibit excellent anti-wear, friction-reduction properties and good extreme pressure property than liquid paraffin. Molybdenum dithiophosphate could improve wear-resistance by 45%, friction coefficient by 40% and could double the extreme pressure than liquid paraffin. Analytical results showed that the organic Mo could form a surface film containing MoS2 and FeS on the worn surface through tribochemical reaction.


Abstract Objective: We report a rare case of avascular necrosis of the maxilla secondary to oral bisphosphonates. Methods: Case report and review of the world literature concerning avascular necrosis as a result of bisphosphonate therapy. Case report: A 62-year-old woman presented with unilateral nasal obstruction, swelling of the cheek and an ulcerating lesion of the upper alveolus. She had a past medical history of osteoporosis, for which she took oral bisphosphonates. Investigation revealed necrosis of the maxilla, and avascular necrosis secondary to oral bisphosphonates was diagnosed. Conclusion: There have been several documented cases of avascular necrosis of the mandible and maxilla following intravenous bisphosphonates or dental procedures. In our case, bisphosphonates were only taken orally and no dental work had been undertaken. This patient's clinical presentation was highly suggestive of malignancy, and we would like to communicate this unusual case to other otolaryngologists.


The two‐pump Four‐Wave‐Mixing (FWM) in the ring resonator promises more agile compact frequency comb generation than the traditional singe‐pump scheme regarding the convenient tuning of comb line space by modifying the two pumps' space. The silicon‐nitride‐ring‐resonator‐based optical frequency comb generation system input with two pumps for the parametric process is simulated by an iterative process relying on the split‐step Fourier method. The influences of the coupling coefficient and pumps' frequencies on the comb spanning are explained in terms of Q factor and resonance condition of the ring. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:919–921, 2016


: In cognitive science, "Consciousness" remains an interesting topic. Many scientists attempt to solve this mystery and try to understand the human mind mechanism. The fact is "consciousness is not a process; it is a result of process". Integrated sensory-motor loop (ISML) is responsible for consciousness. All other processes also driven by ISML such as self organizing, self learning and self govern executions. Why did I call integrated? Because there must be involvement of two or more different type of sensors such as microphone & camera or eye & ear with human brain. So that output is result of integration between two or more types of sensory inputs. Here it comes real artificial intelligence because of actual integration of sensory information and create new form of results. This theory is not only about logic behind consciousness but also giving artificial neural network model for other processes such as associate plastic memory, adaptive bridging, labeling, learning, data structure and self govern executions. Algorithms mentions in this research paper are practically tested and at the same time I built applications on this theory. This research paper is not just a theory I believe it"s a beginning of self aware, self learning and self govern machines.


Context: Absenteeism is a routine pattern of nonattendance from duty of responsibilities, nonattending to given appointment may have deleterious effect on treatment outcome and revenue generation. Very few studies have been done to know the effect of absenteeism on revenue generation and treatment outcome with the help of postcard, telephone, and text messages as reminder; however, these studies have concluded that there was statistically significant difference found in treatment outcome and revenue generation. Furthermore, our study is the almost first to present with the use of current available reminder tool (software reminder system). Aims: The aim of this study to implicate and evaluate effects of auto-generated message reminder (easy dental software application) and previous visit reminder system. Materials and Methods: The sum of 180 patients was selected and divided 90 patients in each group. (1) Study group (Auto-generated message reminder system), (2) control group (previous visit remainder). Auto-generated messages were sent to the study group. No formal information given to control group. Statistical Analysis Used: Student's t-tests were used to compare two groups, and logistic regression was obtained 0.044. Results: In control group, 20% of total sample found to be absent whereas only 10% found to be absent in study group. Student's t-test and logistic regression were seen (P = 0.044). Conclusion: The use of auto-generated message reminder system (easy dental software), reduces the rate of absenteeism and increases clinic economy, proper results with stipulated period, and protect both clinician and patients from unwanted complications.


Chagas is a zoonotic disease conditioned by the need to eliminate or control the vector in human settlements before targeting infected individuals. Simultaneously it is necessary to raise awareness of health problems generated by chronic Chagas disease (ChD), for people to participate actively in vector control programs that will then enable the implementation of screening, treatment and follow-up strategies. Therefore, it is essential to engage the participation of the community in holistically designed integral programs to address ChD in all its complexity. This Perspective presents the case of Chagas management programs in the Department of General Taboada, Province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, to showcase a possible strategy in vector control, diagnosis and treatment programs that integrate ChD into the local public health system and engage community participation. Through this Perspective we argue for the importance of the contribution of social science methodologies and epistemologies in the process of integrating ChD into the public (and primary) health care system.


Molecular biologists routinely purify and concentrate DNA and RNA molecules by precipitation with ethanol, a method that does not discriminate between the different structural forms of each nucleic acid. In the current project we have assessed the ability of monovalent Group I and divalent Group II metal cations to selectively precipitate DNAs with different shapes and sizes out of aqueous solutions. Particular emphasis was placed on separation of circular plasmid DNAs from contaminating linear chromosomal DNA fragments. This was done by mixing Group 1 or Group 2 metals with DNA at various pH values then spinning the solutions in a microcentrifuge. The absorbance was then measured at 260 nm. Group 1 metal ions proved to be ineffective at sedimenting large chromosomal DNA fragments. Group 2 metal cations (Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+ and Ba2+) sedimented linear DNAs strongly, but only at high pH values (10–12). Ca2+ was chosen for further experiments because it is not a cofactor for nucleases like Mg2+ and it is found naturally within cells, unlike Sr2+ and Ba2+. Preliminary studies involving manipulation of parameters such as metal and buffer concentrations identified conditions that allowed chromosomal DNA to be sedimented approximately 10 times more efficiently than supercoiled plasmid DNA. Current experiments are seeking to maximize this difference in precipitation efficiencies, with a focus on sedimenting linear chromosomal DNA while leaving supercoiled plasmid DNA in solution.


In the field of stratification sociology, one of the most important developments of the past two decades has been an improved understanding of cross-national variations with regard to the role of education in society. The structure of educational systems differs in important respects between countries, affecting patterns of inequality. The central issue that will be addressed in this essay is to what extent educational institutional characteristics are related to the level of inequality of educational opportunity (IEO) in a country. IEO refers to the association between background variables, most notably social class origin and race/ethnicity, and schooling outcomes of children. These outcomes include the highest attained educational level, school continuation decisions during the educational career, and student test scores. Institutional characteristics that are discussed include early tracking, forms of standardization, the vocational orientation, and private schooling.


We report on the thermal regeneration of tilted Bragg gratings (TFBGs) produced in hydrogen loaded SMF-28 optical fiber using two types of UV lasers: 266 nm femtosecond pulses and 193 nm nanosecond pulses. Different isochronal and isothermal annealing profiles are used to improve the regeneration of the cladding modes. Experimental results are in good agreement with simulation results. We show that TFBGs regenerate efficiently in the temperature range 850 °C – 900 °C when isothermal stepwise annealing profile is used. The regeneration efficiency of the cladding modes does not exceed 4.35%. The sensitivity to the surrounding refractive index is comparable to that of non-regenerated tilted Bragg gratings. These regenerated tilted Bragg gratings can be applied in several applications, like for example the follow up of high-temperature fabrication processes.


A kind of vibration signal acquisition device for monitoring on-line was designed,and its structure of vibration measuring system based on C8051F350 type single-chip microprocessor(SCM) was established,and the modules of signal acquisition such as CPU,acquisition,display,communication were analyzed.Fourier transform(FFT) was designed with MATLAB,and some analog signals were measured and analyzed,which realized analog data acquisition with high accuracy.And it is applied in acquisition for vibration signal and all kinds of voltage signals.The system of vibration signal acquisition has many advantages such as strong function,cheap cost,and high accuracy acquisition.


It is shown that the activity of neutral proteinase both in homogenate and in blood serum increases by the 14th day the D-1 sample being implanted. In the subsequent periods after implantation the enzyme activity in homogenate is the same. Three and six months after implantation the neutral proteinase activity in blood serum decreases as compared to the norm. The activity of acid proteinase in rabbit kidney homogenates lowers by the 90th day after implantation both for the D-1 and for A-10 samples. For the D-1 sample the enzyme activation in blood serum is observed by the 30th day after implantation, three months later it falls to reach the normal level in 6-12 months and inhibition activity on the 30th day after implantation on the A-10 sample. Such changes in the activity of enzymes in homogenates and blood serum may reflect certain stages of polyurethane biodestruction participation of various enzymic systems of the organism in these processes.


The study aimed to identify the impact of E-Commerce (regulations and legislations, infrastructure, manpower) on stimulating investment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We applied the descriptive-analytical method for achieving the study objectives. The questionnaire was administered to collect the data that were then analyzed using the SPSS system to provide answers for related questions and hypotheses. A random sample of 250 volunteering investors was taken, and the number of respondents reached 202 respondents, which represents 81% of the study population. We found that there is a significant impact of E-Commerce on motivating the investment and the existence of a statistically significant correlation between the independent variables as a whole were confirmed. The study also finds a substantial impact of the age variable on the investment in the KSA at the level (α=0.05), and the differences emerge of the age group (31-40). A few recommendations are provided, such as intensifying the studies within the subject domain by using different research methods. Further, another recommendation is to conduct different practical scientific studies on the state level to develop a structured and gradual mechanism for converting 85% of the conventional retail sector to E-Commerce in accordance with the KSA vision in 2030.


We study minimization of overall energy consumption of OFDMA systems, which are widely adopted in future wireless communications. Based on the existing resource allocation to minimize transmission energy, the computation energy increases due to the complexity of allocating algorithms. Since high performance algorithms usually have high complexity, there exist trade-offs between transmission energy and computation energy. To systematically minimize overall energy consumption comprised of transmission and computation, we propose to minimize transmission energy by resource allocation while keeping the computation energy low via reduced-complexity algorithm. We further extend this idea to relay since it is well known to reduce transmission energy but only a few of works to minimize total energy consumption. In our numerical results, we demonstrate that in the scenario without relay, our algorithm can achieve near-minimum transmission energy (80% savings) under quite computation energy. In the scenario with relay, our algorithm can do even better by saving more transmission energy (88% savings) under a minor increase of computation energy. Both scenarios suggest that the global energy minimum can be achieved by proper trade-off between communication and computation energy consumption.


The aims of this study is to analysed sukuk rating from financial perspective. Financial perspective used in this research is profitability, likuidity, and firm size. Sample used in this study is sukuk listed in BEI during 2010 – 2015. Used multiple regression to analysis model both partially and simultanly. Used financial performance to analyse sukuk rating. The result of this study show that profitability, likuidity, and firm size have significant effect to sukuk rating


This study correlated an art therapy descriptive technique originally applied to adolescent burn victims with adult combat-related victims in an effort to identify art themes and graphic elements associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. The designed rating instrument, referred to as the Combat Trauma Art Therapy Scale (CTATS), consisted of 62 items aimed to detect common themes associated with war time experiences. Using the CTAS, raters examined 158 pictures, with depictions of women, violence, and combat interwoven, suggesting an ongoing struggle to cope with the emotional aftermath of recent traumatic experiences. Published by Elsevier Inc. The United States is involved in two large military operations, one in Afghanistan referred to as Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which started in October 2001, and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), which followed in March 2003. Soon after the launch of OIF, researchers conducted a comprehensive assessment of the war's emotional impact (Hoge et al., 2004). Using the DSM-IV TR's definition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), these investigators reported 12.9% of Army Service Members deployed in support of OIF and 12.2% of Marine Corps personnel supporting OIF met the criteria for PTSD. Roughly half that number, 6.2%, of Army personnel engaged in combat operations supporting OEF met the criteria for PTSD. A later analysis of the war's impact, published 4 years after OIF started, concluded that clinicians now were identifying 20.3% of Active and 42.4% of Reserve Component soldiers in need of mental health treatment for PTSD, depression, and alcohol use disorders (Milliken, Auchterlonie, & Hoge, 2007). The collective weight of these clinical investigations points to enduring emotional consequences for a sizeable group of combat veterans. Identification and treatment of combat veterans suffering emotional problems from their war experiences requires the sustained vigilance of a multidisciplinary group of clinicians. Based on the authors' clinical observations in the military population, service members, like many individuals coping with a traumatic experience, may fear verbalizing their story. In some cases that is a conscious decision to spare both themselves and the listener the graphic, highly emotional details. This approach may cause friction among friends and ∗ Corresponding author at: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, 6900 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington DC 20307, United States. Tel.: +1 202 782 1553. E-mail address: firstname.lastname@example.com (R.G. Lande). family members who, desperately seeking to help the troubled service member, feel rebuffed in their supportive efforts. In other cases, the highly charged traumatic event cannot, as a consequence of various psychological defenses such as repression, dissociation, and denial, be verbally recreated. Dissociation may play a key role. A traumatic event may create a sudden blast of emotion, surprise, and powerlessness and when coupled with dissociation as a psychological coping mechanism, interferes with a person's ability to integrate memories in a readily retrievable manner (Nemiah, 1998). On the one hand, this defensive process protects the individual from re-experiencing the original trauma and its associated emotion, but it also hinders recovery efforts in PTSD treatments. Art therapy can overcome the obstacles imposed through dissociation by tapping into the person's nonverbal world. This can be a less emotionally threatening way to unite the fragmented trauma memories. The use of various art materials provides a number of advantages such as allowing the trauma victim to tell their story with the emotional distance achieved through a pictorial depiction (Avrahani, 2005). In addition, artwork typically relies on various symbols, many of which are personal, to express thoughts and feelings. Artwork can be viewed from a safe psychological distance offering opportunities to rework images and in the process gaining a sense of reassuring mastery. Clinicians can identify specific therapeutic interventions that appear helpful in reducing the PTSD triad of avoidance, hyperarousal, and intrusiveness (Collie, Backos, Malchiodi, & Spiegel, 2006). Based on clinical experience, art therapists recognize the therapeutic value of consolidating memories, progressive exposure, externalization, arousal reduction, and emotional selfefficacy. The consolidation of memories is a key component art therapists hope to achieve which ideally leads to an integrated trauma story. Avoidance is a core feature of PTSD and art ther0197-4556/$ – see front matter. Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.aip.2009.09.007 R.G. Lande et al. / The Arts in Psychotherapy 37 (2010) 42–45 43 apy helps overcome this dysfunctional stalemate by creating a less threatening symbolic exposure to the original trauma. Artwork creates a physical representation of the trauma story, one that the individual can literally externalize and hold safely at distance while they process the emotional content. Externalization contributes to a safety zone that reduces anxiety and lessens the hyper-arousal associated with the emotionally charged subject. The ultimate consequence of safely expressing a traumatic event is a renewed sense of emotional self-efficacy. In their clinical practice, art therapists may choose among several theoretical approaches, such as cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic, and eclectic. These different clinical approaches differ in many respects including the degree of structure the therapist brings to the interaction. In a military treatment facility, a more structured approach may resonate better with the service member's training thereby promoting therapeutic engagement. A task orientated approach increases the military participant's sense of control by reducing unpredictable expectations, a necessary predicate to engage in the expressive narration and memory integration necessary to achieve symptom relief with PTSD (Rankin & Taucher, 2003). In a similar fashion, a customized rating questionnaire permits similarities among PTSD patients' artwork to emerge. This study used a systematic approach with service members' artwork in an effort to identify common themes and graphic elements. Previously published studies adopted a similar strategy. In one clinical study, the investigators reported use of a descriptive assessment for psychiatric art (Hacking, Foreman, & Belcher, 1999). The authors rated artwork based on color, line quality, and space. In a study examining the artwork created by patients at a forensic hospital, a standardized art assessment tool known as the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) identified a statistical correlation between a past criminal history and the scale's activity score (Lande, Howie, & Chang, 1997). The FEATS is an example of an art therapy rating instrument that attempts to standardize the analysis of a patient's artwork (Gantt & Tabone, 1998). Another instrument, The Person Picking an Apple from a Tree (PPAT) Assessment, requires both a standardized task and standardized rating using the FEATS (Gantt & Tabone, 1997). This study sought to show similarities in themes that were tracked and assessed by Appleton in her work with adolescent burn victims (Appelton, 2001). Adolescent burn victims share certain similarities with combat veterans where changes in physical appearance, a life-threatening event, and a loss of invincibility can seriously impede a return to a normal emotional life. According to this view, trauma resolution includes four stages: (1) impact; (2) retreat; (3) acknowledgment; and (4) reconstruction. Each stage has accompanying themes and graphic elements that can be identified in the person's artwork. Reconstruction, for example, could be identified by themes involving home or work images and graphic elements such as fully completed pictures.


Melatonin, a hormone of the pineal gland, that plays an important role in energy metabolism and regulation of physiological of the human body, effectively quenches luminol chemiluminescence and sonochemiluminescence in an aqueous solution. The Stern-Volmer quencher rate coefficient has been determined. The detection limit of melatonin in the solution for the effective quenching of luminol sonochemiluminescence is 20 ng/ml.


: The process of least-squares analysis has been applied for decades in the fi eld of crystallography. Here, we discuss the application of this process to total scattering data, primarily in the combination of least-squares Rietveld re fi nements and fi tting of the atomic pair distribution function (PDF). While these two approaches use the same framework, the interpretation of results from least-squares fi tting of PDF data should be done with caution through carefully constructed analysis approaches. We provide strategies and considerations for applying least-squares analysis to total scattering data, combining both crystallographic Rietveld and fi tting of PDF data, given in context with recent examples from the literature. This perspective is aimed to be an accessible document for those new to the total scattering approach, as well as a re fl ective framework for the total scattering expert.


This paper presents a spreadsheet add-in for the design of mass flow conical and wedge hoppers. The Jenike's hopper design charts for mass flow were curve fitted. The relationships obtained were used together with other relevant expressions to develop an add-in tool for the determination of the pertinent hopper design parameters (exit size, mass flow rate, semi-included angle, flow factor, and critical applied stress) in the Microsoft Excel environment. The add-in was tested with experimental data, and results obtained were in agreement with those obtained in the literature.


Background: Highly-concentrated phosphate and nitrate anions from sugarcane wastewater are often discharged into public waters without standardized treatments. This study assessed the effects of electrical coagulation, initial pH and reaction time in the removal of phosphate and nitrate pollutants. Methods: We used aluminum electrodes to remove the pollutants at Hakhim Farabi Agricultural and Industrial complex, Khuzestan Province, Iran. A septic tank was used for collecting water samples followed by measuring the pH, and the concentrations of phosphate and nitrate in the samples. The pH was set at 5, 7, 9 or 11. Six aluminum electrodes were placed perpendicular to the water flow and were connected to power in a single-polar method. They were used to assess the effects of pH changes, electrical power at 10 and 30 volts and the water retention time at 15, 30, 45 or 60 min. on the efficiency of the pollutants' removal. Results: The results indicated that under equal retention time and varying pH values, as voltage increased from 10 to 30, the phosphate and nitrate removal increased progressively. It was further demonstrated that the maximum phosphate removal efficiency was achieved at pH7, while it declined at higher pH levels. The highest possible nitrate removal efficiency was achieved under alkaline pH levels. The overall results showed that at every pH and voltage, the percentage of phosphate and nitrate removal increased over time. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that electro-coagulation process is an appropriate and efficient method to remove phosphate and nitrate pollutants from sugarcane wastewaters.


Asahidake is the youngest composite cone in the Taisetsu volcanic group, central Hokkaido, with total eruption products of ca. 2.6 km3. Its activity (stage-1 to stage-3) started about 20 ka, and the latest eruption occurred 250 years ago. Variously mixed andesitic to dacitic magmas were almost erupted during the stage-1 (2.4 km3) and stage-2 (0.2 km3). This study elaborated the mixing conditions and chemical compositions of three end-member magmas of Asahidake through petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical analyses of the eruption products. Disequilibrium petrological features such as coexistence of An-rich (type-A) and An-poor (type-B) plagioclase phenocrysts were observed. Type-A plagioclase phenocrysts are further classified into two subtypes on the basis of MgO contents in the core; type-A1 (MgO > 0.05 wt%) and type-A2 (MgO < 0.05 wt%). Type-A1 and type-A2 plagioclase phenocrysts are probably derived from two high temperature mafic end-member magmas (Asa-A1 magma at 1160 °C and Asa-A2 magma at 1040 °C), whereas type-B plagioclase phenocrysts are derived from a low temperature dacitic end-member magma (Asa-B magma at 820 °C). We estimated the compositions of the end-member magmas using the correlation between modal compositions of the plagioclase phenocrysts and whole-rock compositions. The obtained SiO2 contents of Asa-A1, Asa-A2, and Asa-B end-member magmas are 52 wt%, 59 wt% and 66 wt%, respectively. In the Asahidake, most of the end-member magmas were expended in the stage-1, and relatively high ratio of mafic magma was mixed with a small amount of Asa-B magma in the stage-2.


This paper focuses on the introduction of prospecting methods generalized from mineral exploration,these include:prospecting in deep part of the deposit based on shallow deposit,and periphery prospecting within the ore district;finding other type(kind) of deposit according to this type;lean ore is the base for rich deposit;small rich ore can depends on large lean ore;the dependence of economical mineral resource is uneconomical mineral resource;prospecting mineral deposit on the basis of different minerals;following outcrop mine to find blind ore;and with marks to explore ore.


A metal separator using an inclined ramp containing a periodic array of permanent magnets is described. Measurements of the magnetic flux density near the ramp surface are in good agreement with theoretical expectations. The lateral deflection of circular disks of aluminum, copper, zinc, brass, lead, and stainless steel has been measured as a function of the ramp inclination, disk thickness, disk diameter, distance of the disks to the magnet face, and initial velocity. Good agreement with theoretical predicitons is observed in all cases. The ratio of electrical conductivity to mass density inferred from these experiments agrees well with published data for copper, zinc, and lead but is somewhat smaller (37%) for aluminum. This is attributed to the fact that the disks are made from an aluminum alloy with a smaller conductivity than pure aluminum.


Objective To evaluate the clinical effect of U100 frequency-doubled-double-pulse Nd:YAG laser lithotripsy in the treatment of renal stone. Methods 202 patients with different kinds of renal stones were treated by U100 frequency-doubled-double-pulse Nd:YAG laser lithotripsy. Results Percutaneous renal stone fistulization were successful in all the patients.Renal stones were fragmented and removed completely in 182 patients and the other 22 patients received ESWL to remove the remained stones.The total stone clearance rate was 100%.There was no severe postoperative complication in all the patients. Conclusion U100 frequency-doubled-double-pulse Nd:YAG laser lithotripsy has the advantages of efficiently breaking the stone and less side effect.It is a good choice for the treatment of urolithiasis.


In this paper, the authors propose a method for lexical enrichment of Arabic queries in order to improve the performance of the information retrieval systems SRI. This method has two types of enrichment: linguistic and contextual. The first one is based on the linguistic analysis lemmatization, morphological, syntactic and semantic analysis, whose goal is to generate a descriptive list list-desc. This list contains a set of linguistic lexicon assigned to each significant term in the query. The second enrichment consists in integrating contextual information derived from the corpus documents. It is based on statistical analysis using Salton weighting functions: TF-IDF and TF-IEF. The TF-IDF function is applied on the list-desc and documents in the corpus in order to identify relevant documents. TF-IEF function is made between the list-desc and sentences belonging to the relevant documents to identify relevant sentences. Then, terms in these sentences are weighted, and those with highest weights are considered rich in terms of informative and contextual importance are added to the original query. The authors' lexical enrichment method was evaluated on a corpus of documents belonging to a specialized domain and results show its interest in terms of precision and recall.


This chapter explores the outer edges of puritan religiosity during the 1640s, examining different species of "anti-formalism" that emerged in the period. First, it reconstructs a strain of thought maintaining that "forms"—or contestable niceties of doctrine and discipline—should be subordinated to godly solidarity, a position that came to sit near the center of the emerging "independent" coalition. The chapter then analyzes more extreme pietistic variants, which called into question the validity of all "forms" or religious observances—even to the point of denying the existence of any true church on earth. Attempts are made to explain how and where these disruptive modes of piety came into being, and likewise to assess their impact by charting the spread of such ideas into the heart of the parliamentarian coalition. While such formulations were at root religious, they sometimes had deep political and social implications, which are gestured at here.


Nondestructive and destructive testing are vital in the composite material industry to determine the mechanical properties of different designs. This paper presents a novel approach to measuring the mechanical peel strength that may be used for a variety of fiberglass foam core sandwiches. The objective of this study was to develop a testing method that was simple and easily reproduced in other laboratories. The goal was to measure the mechanical peel strength using a device that may be used for a variety of sample sizes and materials. An additional goal was to provide benchmark data on the mechanical peel strength of two particular composite designs. The new testing method may have applications to a wide range of composite structures, and it may eventually lead to a new ASTM standard.


The invention relates to an acoustic transducer for magnetic loose, electrodynamic headphones for sound generation, particularly for use in homogeneous and / or inhomogeneous magnetic field of a magnetic resonance tomograph. DOLLAR A The advantages achieved with the invention consist in the fact that sound can be produced with defined characteristics in high quality and with high efficiency within the strong magnetic field of a magnetic resonance tomograph. next music and language This includes the generation of sound for the active noise control by the sound production by one or more air pockets forming membranes (1), wherein the membranes (1) made of elastic, nonmagnetic or weakly magnetic material and area and are fixedly connected to conductor tracks 2, to the current flow in a Lorentz force conveyed by the magnetic field of the magnetic resonance tomograph acts as a driving force.


This essay analyzes the peasant strategy for goat livestock management at the west of the Provincia de Cordoba, Argentina, and the appropriation of ecosystem...


A new fungus,designated GC2-2,which produced thermostable alkaline cellulase was iso-lated from deadwood soil.GC2-2 was identified as Cladosporium sp.by morphological characteristics as well as by analysis of the gene encoding the 18S rRNA.Cladosporium sp.GC2-2 produced cellulase enzyme.The enzyme activity on filter paper was higher than that on CMC.The optimal conditions for the enzymatic reaction were about 35 °C and at pH 7.5.


This paper reviews the carrier transport mechanisms and stress engineering in advanced nanoscale MOSFETs. First, carrier transport in bulk (100) and (110) MOSFETs is reviewed. Sub-band structure engineering to enhance mobility as well as ballistic current is also examined.


A new face recognition feature extraction and recognition method based on uncorrelated discriminant locality preserving projections was proposed.Based on the characteristics of locality preserving projections and the space information among the samples belonging to the same class,new definitions of a within-class scatter matrix and of a between-class scatter matrix were given and then a new objective function with uncorrelated constraints was defined.Based on the new objective function,the formula to compute the uncorrelated discriminant locality preserving vectors was given by theoretical analysis.Experimental results on a face database showed the proposed method outperforms discriminant locality preserving analysis and other existing improved methods based on discriminant locality preserving projections.


The formulation of generalized transport laws leading to causal hyperbolic hydrodynamical equations gives rise to a critical Mach number ${\mathit{M}}_{\mathit{c}}$ at which a singularity develops in the shock wave layer. This happens in kinetic theory of gases (Grad's 13 moments method) and extended irreversible thermodynamics as well. In this paper, it is shown that if nonlinear and nonlocal effects are taken into account, ${\mathit{M}}_{\mathit{c}}$ significantly increases. Specifically, nonlocal effects raise ${\mathit{M}}_{\mathit{c}}$ from 2.01 up to 3.03. Further consideration of some nonlinear terms raise ${\mathit{M}}_{\mathit{c}}$ from the latter value up to 4.67.


This paper introduces the XOR-OR-AND normal form (XNF) for logical formulas. It is a generalization of the well-known Conjunctive Normal Form (CNF) where literals are replaced by XORs of literals. As a first theoretic result, we show that every formula is equisatisfiable to a formula in 2-XNF, i.e., a formula in XNF where each disjunction involves at most two XORs of literals. Subsequently, we present an algorithm which converts Boolean polynomials efficiently from their Algebraic Normal Form (ANF) to formulas in 2-XNF. Experiments with the cipher ASCON-128 show that cryptographic problems, which by design are based strongly on XOR-operations, can be represented using far fewer variables and clauses in 2-XNF than in CNF. In order to take advantage of this compact representation, new SAT solvers based on input formulas in 2-XNF need to be designed. By taking inspiration from graph-based 2-CNF SAT solving, we devise a new DPLL-based SAT solver for formulas in 2-XNF. Among others, we present advanced pre- and in-processing techniques. Finally, we give timings for random 2-XNF instances and instances related to key recovery attacks on round reduced ASCON-128, where our solver outperforms state-of-the-art alternative solving approaches.


This study was conducted with the aim to find out the effect of immersion and injection methods of hatching eggs in the aquatic extracts of some plant seeds on subsequent production performance, 1050 eggs were used for hatching and were randomly divided into seven treatments with three replicates (50 eggs / replicate) and the immersion process was applied before the eggs were held for 1 minute, while they were injected on the 17th day of the incubation with the amniotic fluid in a quantity of 0.2 ml and carried out for 5/4/2019 Until 27/4/2019, Treatments of experiment were:Treatment 1th, Control group (Cont.), and treatments 2th, (TDF) (Dipping fenugreek) 3 th, (TIF) (Injection fenugreek) Included immersion and injection of hatching eggs with the aquatic extract of the fenugreek seeds, treatments 4th, (TD) (Dipping oat( 5 th,) TI) (Injection oat (Included immersion and injection of hatching eggs with the aquatic extract of the oats seeds, treatments 6th (TDB) (Dipping basil) 7th (TIB) (Injection basil) Included immersion and injection of hatching eggs with the aquatic extract of the basil seeds, the concentration of all extracts was 6% of treatments', respectively. Breeding was hatched chicks in the poultry field in Abu Ghraib Faculty of Engineering Sciences Agricultural University of Baghdad for the period 27l04l2019 until 05l31l2019 with aim to study the effect of immersion and injection of hatching eggs extracts above in the subsequent productive performance. Results revealed that supplementation of immersion by fenugreek and basil seeds have improved significantly from the rates of the body weight, weight gain, FCR and production index. Furthermore, there were no significant interactions between treatments of the rate of weekly feed consumption, dressing percentage with and without edible offal. On the other hand, the treatment of immersion aqueous extract oats showed a significant decrease (P<0.01) of relative weight for breast and a significant increase in the relative weight of the thigh compared to control. In conclusion the use of immersion method of hatching eggs in the aqueous extract of fenugreek and basil seeds could be improved subsequent production performance for chicks hatched.


The article considers nonlinear Volterra-Stieltjes integral equations of the third kind, and its solution by regularizing operator according to M. M. Lavrentev. A uniqueness theorem was proved, and a regularization parameter was chosen. The research uses the concept of a derivative with respect to an increasing function, the method of regularization according to M. M. Lavrentevs methods in functional analysis, methods of transformation of equations, methods of integral and differential equations. Proposed methods can be used to study the integral, integral-differential equations of the Volterra-Stieltjes type of high orders, as well as in the qualitative study of some applied processes in the field of physics, ecology, medicine, and the theory of control complex systems. They can be used in the further development of the theory of integral equations in classes of incorrect problems, in numerical solution of Volterra-Stieltjes integral equations of the third kind, and when solving specific applied problems that lead to equations of the third kind.


Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a new haemostatic agent (Ankaferd Blood Stopper, ABS) on the microtensile bond strength (μTBS) of self-etch and etch and rinse adhesives to dentin. Flat dentin surfaces were divided into four groups per adhesive according to contamination procedures: group 1 (control): no contamination; group 2: blood; group 3: ABS; group 4: blood and ABS. Specimens were tested for μTBS and data were analysed using analysis of variance and Tamhane tests. All groups showed lower μTBS than the control group (p<0·05). The μTBS in groups 3 and 4 was significantly higher than in group 2 (p<0·05). No statistically significant differences were observed in the μTBS of the adhesives (p>0·05). The μTBS of the ABS groups was lower than the μTBS of the control groups but higher than the μTBS of the blood contaminated groups. These results indicate that ABS application may be recommended after blood contamination during restorative procedures.


MOCVD of Bi 2 O 3 has been investigated using Bi(C 6 H 5 ) 3 precursor. The decomposition products obtained at various deposition temperatures were determined using in situ FT-IR analysis. Benzene was the main product formed in the heterogeneous decomposition of Bi(C 6 H 5 ) 3 at temperature lower than 450°C, while above 450°C typical products of the combustion of aromatic ring were observed. The effect of oxygen on the film composition and its role in the decomposition process was evaluated by XPS depth profiles. Moreover, preliminary studies on the initial step of the film deposition suggested that Bi 2 O 3 nucleation rate depends upon precursor partial pressure.


To put it mildly, the 2010s have been a disorienting decade of and for transgender in the United States. Anyone will tell you so. The usual story goes like this: whereas, once, trans people and our concerns were nearly invisible, now the country has found itself on the other side of a "transgender tipping point," as announced by a 2014 Time cover story, which has led to an influx of trans representation in popular media; preoccupation with trans students' bathroom habits; recurrent squabbles in the philosophical blogosphere; better account keeping on the US transgender dead; on and on. In short, the last five years or so have been marked by a profound increase in trans visibility. Importantly, this is not the first time national conversation has fixated on people and practices we might call trans; as Treva Ellison implores us to remember, "Public interest in and discourse around gender and sexuality [is] iterative and connected to conflicts or crises in economic, social, and political capital." Still, given our mass-mediated world, this particular iteration of trans visibility has brought about an unprecedented number of television programs, feature-length films, chattered-about legal proceedings, and magazine covers


This study was designed to investigate the pitch of complex signals contained within one critical bandwidth. Four well‐trained listeners, with normal hearing, were asked to adjust the frequency of a pure tone until it matched the pitch of various multicomponent periodic signals. These complex tones were centered at 1000 Hz with bandwidths from 10–50 Hz. At each bandwidth, the number of components ranged from two to twenty. In a control condition, each subject also adjusted the frequency of the variable tone until it matched the pitch of a single tone set at 1000 Hz. After extensive practice, a total of twenty matches to each test signal was obtained for each subject. Repeated matches were distributed throughout several one‐hour test sessions held on different days. Generally, the average value of the frequency of the adjusted tone did not differ significantly from the center frequency for most of the complex signals investigated. Two‐component complexes appeared to be resolved at bandwidths much narrower ...


1 College of Resource and Environment, Northeast Agricultural University, Wood Sreet 59, Xiangfang District, Harbin 150030, China 2 Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Heilongjiang University, Xuefu Road 74, Nangang District, Harbin 150080, China 3 State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resources and Environment (SKLUWRE), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering Harbin Institute of Technology, Huanghe Road 73, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China


In order to ensure continuous energy supply, Distribution System Operators (DSOs) have to monitor and analyze the condition of the power grid, especially checking for random events, such as breakdowns or other disturbances. Still, relatively little information is available on the operation of the Low Voltage (LV) grid. This can be improved thanks to digital tools, offering online processing of data, which ultimately increases effectiveness of the power grid. Among those tools, the use of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is especially conducive for improving reliability. AMI is one of the elements of the system Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) for the LV grid. Exact knowledge of the reliability conditions of a power grid is also indispensable for optimizing investment. AMI is also key in providing operational capacity for carrying out energy balance in virtual power plants (VPPs). This paper deals with methodology of identification and location of faults in the AMI-supervised LV grid and with calculating the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) on the basis of the recorded events. The results presented in the paper are based on data obtained from seven MV/LV transformer stations that supply over 2000 customers.


Accurate two dimension frequency spectrum (2D FS) with acceleration, two-way range coupling terms, and spatial variant Doppler parameters are main problems to be solved in translational variant bistatic forward-looking SAR (TV BFSAR) with curved trajectory. For these issues, a modified Omega-K imaging algorithm is derived in this paper. The maximum usage of 2D FS based on method of series reversion (MSR) is achieved by linear range cell migration correction and 2D FS is linearized in bistatic range by using high-order polynomial fitting. Then, a method of azimuth resampling is introduced to implement compensation of spatial variant Doppler parameters. And the small-aperture data is focused in the azimuth frequency domain to avoid azimuth aliasing without padding zeros. Finally, the raw bistatic SAR data verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method


A study of cultural effects on the reliability of objective and subjective usability evaluation of software user interfaces is reported in this paper. Subjects comprised actual users involved in a real system development project. The results obtained indicated that cultural effects exist and exerted a strong influence on the outcome of user interface evaluation. Implications of the findings for practitioners are discussed in the paper. In particular, to account for cultural effects the need to modify 'western' usability evaluation methods for application in the Far East, is highlighted. Initial recommendations for effective usability evaluation in the Far East are proposed.


Aims There have been recent difficulties in paediatric speciality recruitment and increased medical student intake numbers could risk putting strain on undergraduate clinical placement. We hope to explore the student experience of clinical placement in paediatrics and the variation based on hospital type and location. Methods A retrospective review of feedback forms, from students completing their paediatric rotation between January and August 2019, was undertaken. Each student was allocated a single hospital site for the duration of their 7-week placement. The feedback form was organised under the following headings: facilities, induction and organisation, delivery of formal tuition on placement, learning environment and support, feedback, observed assessment during placement, and overall. Each heading consisted of several questions (marked on a numeric 1 to 10 scale) and free text comments. Hospitals were grouped into commute types; walking distance (teaching hospital), daily commute (DGH) and weekly commute (DGH requiring overnight stay). Kruskal-Wallis H testing was undertaken on numeric data. Free text comments were coded independently by two researchers. Thematic review was carried out together with an additional researcher. Results 120 students responded – 28 walking distance, 62 daily commute, 30 weekly commute. Statistically significant differences were found in facilities, learning resources available, helpfulness of the staff and feeling part of the clinical team (p The two key themes in the thematic analysis were 'learning' and 'social'. Learning subthemes: teaching, clinical opportunities and education facilities (e.g. library, Wi-Fi). Social subthemes: support from staff and social facilities (e.g. accommodation, social space). The induction and feeling part of the clinical team overlapped the learning and social themes. Conclusion Location of paediatric placement impacts the student experience. We found a disparity between placement rating on student feedback forms, with those requiring weekly commute and therefore overnight stay, fairing the worst. Analysis of free text comments highlighted the fact that access to learning was important but social factors such as feeling valued, clean accommodation, relaxing space were also key.


Recent studies have questioned the antiquity of passover and massot and therefore the basis for most traditio-historical reconstructions. A literary re-examination of the relevant texts shows that there is no passover story in J (the whole of Ex 12 1-28 belongs to P). J only provides an etiology for the ceremonial eating of massot and this reflects a special development of the exilic period when eating massot for seven days was a substitute for the slaughter of the passover animals at the temple (D), which was no longer possible. When the sacrificial cultus was restored a limited form of animal sacrifice the pascal lamb — was permitted in the homes of the diaspora (P).


Summary Oil slicks from natural seeps and man-made spills of hydrocarbons need to be monitored in real-time to prevent environmental hazards. Remote sensing techniques are suitable for the task. Unfortunately, human intervention prevents real-time monitoring due to the limited area that can be processed by remote sensing specialists in GIS applications at a time. In this study, the focus is on how Machine Learning -in particular Deep Learning (DL)- can help automating the above mentioned task. Thus, a DL architecture is trained with a Total's proprietary dataset for segmenting oil slick regions from satellite images. Further, the training stage is scaled and enhanced with high-performance computing techniques. These techniques allowed the original task to be solved up to 2.5× faster than the baseline for single GPU and pseudo-linear scalability for the distributed case. The later takes this application closer to real-time use case level.


Sputter deposition is a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method of thin film deposited by sputtering. The general sputtering method can be used to prepare a variety of materials such as metals, semiconductors, insulators, etc., and has the advantages of simple equipment, easy control, large coating area, and strong adhesion, and the magnetron sputtering method developed in the 1970s achieves high speed, low temperature, and low damage.


Objective To investigate the effect of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on coronary microcirculation function in short-term hibernating myocardium(SHM) animal model.Methods Twelve little domestic Chinese pigs were established as the model of SHM by interventional method (closed-chest) and divided into 2 groups at random: the control group (CON group, n =6) and ischemic preconditioning group (IPC group, n =6).IPC was elicited by 2 cycle of 5 min of ischemia followed by 5 min of reperfusion before the establishment of model.Intracoronary Doppler guidewire was used to measure average peak velocity (APV),diastolic systolic velocity ratio(DSVR) and coronary flow reserve(CFR) of the distal to the stenosis at the baseline and 10 min,30 min,60 min,120 min after the establishment of model.Results APV,DSVR and CFR all decreased significantly in SHM model in both groups( P 0.01 or P 0.05 ),while APV,DSVR did not change obviously at the rest time. At 30 min after the establishment of model CFR tended to decrease( P 0.05 ),at 60 min CFR of the CON group decreased significantly than before( 0.96 ± 0.27 vs 1.74 ± 0.49 , P 0.05 ),while CFR of the IPC group did not change obviously( 1.77 ± 0.41 vs 1.83 ± 0.39 , P 0.05 ).Conclusions The coronary microcirculation dysfunction happened at the time point of 60 min after coronary stenosis in SHM model,IPC can protect the coronary microcirculation function in SHM model.


The notion of event suggests time dependence: something has happened, and it is the pertinent conditions which make such an occurrence possible. The totality of these pertinent conditions is called a situation. The principle of causality having been accepted, all situations are subject to logic. However, the logic of situations is not always immediately apparent. On the other hand, natural language is always applicable to a situation. Thus, using natural language as a modelling technique, can offer great possibilities. The paper discusses these.


Conditions are given under which subsets of the players of a noncooperative game can be combined into "aggregate players" without changing the set of equilibrium-point solutions of the game. These conditions are shown to be the weakest possible ones with a certain specified kind of generality. "Approximate" versions of the results are also formulated and proven.