Abstract Foraging plasticity that includes facultative nectarivory is extremely rare in temperate insectivorous bats. We investigated flower-visiting behavior of pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus, Vespertilionidae) to bat-adapted flowers of cardon cacti (Pachycereus pringlei) to determine whether pallid bats consume floral nectar or visit flowers to opportunistically glean insects attracted to flowers. In 2007 and 2008, we recorded flower-visiting behavior of bats using infrared videography on 143 cactus-nights across 14 sites in Baja California, Mexico. Pallid bats were regular visitors to cardon flowers and consumed floral nectar by plunging their faces into the corolla to lap pooled nectar. We recorded 1,198 flower visits by A. pallidus, which accounted for 10% of visits to flowers by all bats. Pallid bats visited flowers on 57% of cactus-night observations (n  =  81/143) and 52% (n  =  28/54) of captured bats had visible pollen loads. Flower-visiting activity by A. pallidus was concentrated early in the evening where nectarivorous Mexican lesser long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae [ =  curasoae], Phyllostomidae) were present, but more evenly distributed throughout the night at sites without L. yerbabuenae, suggesting potential competitive exclusion among these nocturnal chiropteran pollinators.


[ ]our model hypothesizes, if and when forging closer cooperation with an external power—in our case, connectivity cooperation with China—boosts the ruling elites' major pathways of legitimation (and enhances their cooptation and/or coercive capacity), then the state is likely to downplay apprehensions and embrace such big power-backed ventures as the BRI [ ]if a close partnership would undermine the elites' principal pathway(s) of inner justification, then the state is likely to foreground perceived risks, discount potential benefits, and respond indifferently to the BRI [ ]the AA framework bridges structural and domestic variables (Kuik 2013, 2017) 3 It shows that a structural variable like power asymmetry has no inherent logic Asymmetry Effects: Ambivalent, Uneven, and Dynamic Smaller states view China's BRI through the prism of power asymmetry Because of the vast disparities between Southeast Asian states and China, the smaller states have always viewed China with ambivalence, seeing China as a source of both apprehensions and attractions (Ba and Kuik 2018)


In 'a world that has been built to accommodate only some' (Ahmed 2019: 221), how do those engaging in public protest or experiencing housing insecurity make use of the material environment? In this article, we examine adaptation of the built environment in four sites in Melbourne, Australia. Everyday urban places are composed of myriad 'small things' acted upon as affordances for survival within structures of silencing and dispossession for the urban undercommons. We draw from cultural, spatial and atmospheric criminology to inform an ethnographic method focusing on materiality, use, adaptability and sensory composition. In so doing, our research contributes to criminological understanding of the significance of 'minor' events, activities and encounters in everyday life by proposing that 'small things in everyday places' constitute potentialities for defiance and resistance.


methods and classes At the moment we are using overriding to modify the behaviour of an existing parent method. However, it is also possible to use overriding in a slightly different context. I can use it to force a set of behaviours on items in a class hierarchy. If there are some things that an account must do then we can make these abstract and then get the child classes to actually provide the implementation. For example, in the context of the back application we might want to provide a method which creates a warning letter to the customer that their account is overdrawn. This will have to be different for each type of account (we don't want to use the same language to a baby account holder as we do for an older one). This means that at the time we create the bank account system we know that we need this method, but we don't know precisely what it does in every situation. Inheritance Abstract methods and classes C# Programming © Rob Miles 2008 113 We could just provide a "standard" method in the CustomerAccount class and then rely on the programmers overriding this with a more specific message but we then have no way of making sure that they really do provide the method. C# provides a way of flagging a method as abstract. This means that the method body is not provided in this class, but will be provided in a child class: public abstract class Account { public abstract string RudeLetterString(); } The fact that my new Account class contains an abstract method means that the class itself is abstract (and must be marked as such). It is not possible to make an instance of an abstract class. If you think about it this is sensible. An instance of Account would not know what to do it the RudeLetterString method was ever called. An abstract class can be thought of as a kind of template. If you want to make an instance of a class based on an abstract parent you must provide implementations of all the abstract methods given in the parent. Abstract classes and interfacesclasses and interfaces You might decide that an abstract class looks a lot like an interface. This is true, in that an interface also provides a "shopping list" of methods which must be provided by a class. However, abstract classes are different in that they can contain fully implemented methods alongside the abstract ones. This can be useful because it means you don't have to repeatedly implement the same methods in each of the components that implement a particular interface. The problem is that you can only inherit from one parent, so you can only pick up the behaviours of one class. If you want to implement interfaces as well, you may have to repeat methods as well. Perhaps at this point a more fully worked example might help. If we consider our bank account problem we can identify two types of behaviour:  those which every type of bank account must provide (for example PayInFunds and GetBalance)  those which each type of bank account must provide in a way specific to that particular account type (for example WithdrawFunds and RudeLetterString) The trick is to take all the methods in the first category and put them inside the parent class. The methods in the second category must be made abstract. This leads us to a class design a bit like this: Inheritance Abstract methods and classes C# Programming © Rob Miles 2008 114 This code repays careful study. Note how I have moved all the things that all accounts must do into the parent Account class. Then I have added customised methods into the child classes where appropriate. Note also though that I have left the interface in place. That is because; even though I now have this abstract structure I still want to public interface IAccount { void PayInFunds ( decimal amount ); bool WithdrawFunds ( decimal amount ); decimal GetBalance (); string RudeLetterString(); } public abstract class Account : IAccount { private decimal balance = 0; public abstract string RudeLetterString(); public virtual bool WithdrawFunds ( decimal amount ) { if ( balance < amount ) { return false ; } balance = balance amount ; return true; } public virtual decimal GetBalance () { return balance; } public void PayInFunds ( decimal amount ) { balance = balance + amount ; } } public class CustomerAccount : Account { public override string RudeLetterString() { return "You are overdrawn" ; } } public class BabyAccount : Account { public override bool WithdrawFunds ( decimal amount ) { if (amount > 10) { return false ; } return base.WithdrawFunds(amount); } public override string RudeLetterString() { return "Tell daddy you are overdrawn"; } } Inheritance Bank Notes: Designing with interface and abstract C# Programming © Rob Miles 2008 115 think of the account objects in terms of their "accountness" rather than any particular specific type. References to abstract classes References to abstract classes work just like references to interfaces. A reference to an Account class can refer to any class which extends from that parent. This might seem useful, as we can consider something as an "account" rather than a BabyAccount. However, I much prefer it if you mange references to abstract things (like accounts) in terms of their interface instead. Bank Notes: Designing with interface and abstract For the purpose of this part of the course you now have broad knowledge of all the tools that can be used to design large software systems. If you have an understanding of what an interface and abstract classes are intended to achieve this will stand you in very good stead for your programming career. Broadly: Interface: lets you identify a set of behaviours (i.e. methods) which a component can be made to implement. Any component which implements the interface can be thought of in terms of a reference of that interface type. A concrete example of this would be something like IPrintHardCopy. Lots of items in my bank system will need to do this and so we could put the behaviour details into the interface for them to implement in their own way. Then our printer can just regard each of the instances that implement this interface purely in this way. Interfaces let me describe a set of behaviours which a component can implement. Once a component can implement an interface it can be regarded purely in terms of a component with this ability. Objects can implement more than one interface, allowing them to present different faces to the systems that use them. Abstract: lets you create a parent class which holds template information for all the classes which extend it. If you want to create a related set of items, for example bank account, receipt, invoice, person then the best way to do this is to set up a parent class which contains abstract and non-abstract methods. The child classes can make use of the methods from the parent and override the ones that need to be provided differently for that particular class. One important consideration though, is that even if you make use of an abstract parent class I reckon that you should still make use of interfaces to reference the accounts. And the reason why goes like this: If our bank takes over another bank and wants to share account information we might need a way to use their accounts. If their accounts are software components too (and they should be) then all we have to do is implement the required interfaces at each end and then our systems understand each other. In other words the other bank must create the methods in the IAccount interface, get their account objects (whatever they are called) to implement the interface and, hey presto, I can now use their accounts. This would be much more difficult if my entire system thought in terms of a parent Account class – since their classes would not fit into this hierarchy at all.


Introduction and Objective. Children and adolescents are a group particularly exposed to nutritional consequences resulting from the consumption of potentially harmful food products. School-age children should eat 5 meals a day with 3–4 hour breaks between meals. It is also acceptable to eat snacks, however attention should be paid that they

https://www.monz.pl/pdf-171279-94121?filename=Consumption of snacks and.pdf


Breast cancer is a health problem that women all over the world face, and its prognosis and treatment is defined by the stage at which it is diagnosed. As far as the epidemiology of breast cancer is concerned, it contributes significantly to cancer related mortality, especially in developing countries. Moreover, it has been noted that breast cancer kills nearly 40,000 women each year in Pakistan. This makes Pakistan the country with the highest incidence of breast cancer in Asia. However, the exact statistics regarding breast cancer are difficult to describe due to the shortage of tumour registries. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the disease affects not only women among the older age groups but young women as well.


The diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma (MM) in effusion specimens is controversial. At the study institution (Northwestern University), a primary diagnosis of MM is made on fluid cytology specimens. In an effort to estimate the practice at other institutions, a survey was disseminated regarding cytologic diagnosis of MM. The authors also evaluated their own institution's experience with primary cytologic diagnosis of MM.


Science education research predominantly shows that students improve their scientific understandings when they tinker (or pull apart) tools and simple household machines. In this study, the qualitative data collected took the form of online journal entries by final year, female, primary teacher trainees, who reflected upon their early childhood experiences of 'tinkering'. Data analysis, from a socio-cultural perspective, shows that many of these fledgling teachers of technology face similar issues found for young


In this paper, we propose a few automated processes for a partial automation of the apartment which can be mostly used in residential areas and industries. It is developed using PLC and SCADA. SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system. The main intent of the paper is to treat the waste water which can be in turn used for many other purposes and a fire alarm system. The necessity of standalone autonomous smoke detection systems, which render the work for quick detection, alarm notification and sometimes turning on the extinguishers, is very necessary for a secured living. In order to supervise the entire process manually SCADA system is used. A smoke sensor is used in order to detect any outbreak of fire. The status of each and every process is monitored using SCADA system in the control room.


Breastfeeding may help protect against the development of coeliac disease, especially when it continues while gluten is introduced to the infant's diet.


This paper analyses the chanting of 21 five-syllable modern-style poems, which is Chinese traditional style of poem reciting with cadence and pleasant melody, in order to find out the prosodic hierarchy according to pause duration, and probe the phonetic features and methods of chanting. Results reveal that pause exists after "level-level" tonal combinations, which is a kind of metrical pattern of Chinese poetry. The duration of syllables doubles in sentence final position. An exclamation is added when the sentence ends with a checked syllable. The pitch of syllables with level tone is lower than that of syllables with oblique tones, alternation of level and oblique tones forms the chanting melody. Sentences and poems with same metrical pattern have the same chanting melody.


Letter from Cyrus R. Smith, chairman of the board of directors of American Airlines, to the directors of the company regarding the "Chosen Instrument" bill.


Abstract 4-Aryl-substituted 2(5H)-furanones were prepared by reaction of diethylphosphono acetic acid and phenacyl bromides, followed by an intramolecular Horner–Emmons-type cyclization. Both the reactions were carried out in situ to give the desired 4-aryl substituted 2(5H)-furanone derivatives.


Each pole of ultra-high voltage direct current(UHVDC) transmission system has two valve groups structured in series,both coordination and interrelated factors is required between same-pole two valve groups.The control and protection logic and staggered affect of secondary circuit may bring about great risk for commission and maintenance work in the field.This paper focuses on the analysis of interacting mechanism between same-pole two valve groups and interacting influence of control protection logic and secondary circuit,which have met in Yunnan-Guangdong UHVDC transmission project.The factors of mutual influence and the potential security risk of same-pole two valve groups under particular operation modes for field work are described in detail.Several reasonable suggestions are given for safe work,which may be a reference to prevent the forced outage of operating valve groups due to imperfect technical measures.


Temperature and humidity are two of the rudimentary factors that must be controlled during egg incubation. Improper temperature and humidity levels during the incubation period often result in unwanted conditions. This paper proposes the design of an efficient Mamdani fuzzy inference system instead of the widely used Takagi-Sugeno system in this field for controlling the temperature and humidity levels of an egg incubator. Though the optimum incubation temperature and humidity levels used here are that of chicken egg, the proposed methodology is applicable to other avian species as well. The input functions have been used here as per estimated values for safe hatching using Mamdani whereas defuzzification method, Center of Area (COA), has been applied for output. From the model output, a stabilized heat from temperature level and fan speed to control the humidity level of an egg incubator can be obtained. This maximizes the hatching rate of healthy chicks under any conditions in the field.


On the basis of analyzing the necessity of safety testing and evaluation for safety critical software, the safety evaluation criteria fitted for testing and evaluating safety critical software are proposed and the relations between safety evaluation criteria and reliability evaluation criteria are presented. Followed this, the limitations of the four classical testing and evaluation approaches used to evaluate the software with high safety requirements are summarized. The feasibility of safety testing and evaluation based on the technology of importance sampling and stress testing is researched, and the concrete implement process about this approach is discussed in detail, during the course of doing this, the safety critical control system of the nuclear power plant is used in a practical example in order to exemplify the correctness of the proposed approach. Finally, the related work and future trends of the research in this field are listed.


An underwater welding procedure was used to construct a 26-km (16-mi.) natural gas pipeline from Port Stanley, Ont., to a field gathering point offshore in Lake Erie. The line is the latest in a network of gathering systems built by the Consumers' Gas Co. of Toronto from producing wells in the lake. The decision to weld the line underwater was based on the greater integrity of a fully welded system. Previously, the company had assembled long sections of the line ashore, towed them into position, and joined the sections with mechanical couplings.


This article describes impact of light sources to accuracy the intelligent metering system. The light sources contains the electronics converters and ballasts. These devices generate harmonics to distribution grid and they have impact to accuracy of the measurement. It is describes the verification of the measurement with using a programmable source witch can generate harmonics. There are two approaches how to measure the error: the first one is according to an amplitude law. The second approaches is measurement with using real harmonics witch were measured witch network power analyser.


The theory of interventionism argues that government interventions are inherently destabilizing which helps explain the growth of government. I argue that the theory of interventionism is also useful process of economic growth. At first, an intervention reduces living as a level change. However, because the intervention alters entrepreneurial incentives, there is a second effect that decelerates economic growth (Czeglédi 2014). Any additional intervention to deal with the distortions generated by initial interventions merely accentuates these two effects. Thus, the dynamics of interventionism entail a cumulative process of divergence. To illustrate my argument, I use the example of milling regulations in colonial Quebec. Directly, these regulations reduced the quantity and quality of milling services. However, indirectly, they altered long-run specialization patterns notably in dairy production. As dairy exports later boomed due to exogenous factors, this alteration eventually led to greater divergence.


The crystal and molecular structure of tetracyanoethylenebis(triphenylphosphine)platinum(0) has been determined from three-dimensional X-ray diffraction data collected by film methods. The substance crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with Z= 4 in a unit cell of dimensions a= 17·51 (3), b= 11·23(2), c= 18·52(4)A, and β= 97° 10′(10′). Least-squares refinement of the structure gave R 0·088 for 2242 observed reflections. The structure consists of well separated monomeric units, in which the platinum atom exhibits a distorted square-planar co-ordination geometry with the two phosphorus and two carbon atoms of the tetracyanoethylene moiety in the cis-configuration. The CC bond-distance of 1·49 A is 0·18 A greater than the corresponding distance in the free ligand.


This Spam emails have become a severe challenge that irritates and consumes recipients' time. On the one hand, existing spam detection techniques have low detection rates and cannot tolerate high-dimensional data. Moreover, due to the machine learning algorithm's effectiveness in identifying mail as solicited or unsolicited, their approaches have become common in spam detection systems. This paper proposes a lightweight machine learning-based spam detection model based on Random Forest (RF) algorithm. According to the empirical results, the proposed model achieved a 97% accuracy on the spambase dataset. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed model was evaluated using standard classification metrics such as Fscore, Recall, Precision, and Accuracy. The comparison of Our model with state-of-the-art works investigated in this paper showed the model performs better, with an improvement of 6% for all metrics.


Erving Goffman is an important sociologist whose dramaturgical perspective on social interaction and presentation of the self is a classic within sociology. However, social interaction and presenta ...


This paper presents a decomposition scheme for a large class of greyscale structuring elements from mathematical morphology. In contrast with many existing decomposition schemes, our method is valid in the continuous domain. Conditions are given under which this continuous method can be properly discretized. The class of functions that can be decomposed with our method contains the class of quadratic functions, that are of major importance in, for instance, distance transforms and morphological scale space. In the continuous domain, the size of the structuring elements resulting from the decomposition, can be chosen arbitrarily small. For functions from the mentioned class, that can be separated along the standard image axes, a discrete decomposition in 3 × 3 elements can be guaranteed.


We investigate production of three-photon states in cascaded parametric down-conversion (PDC). The analysis includes preparation of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger polarization-entangled states in cascaded type-II and type-I PDC in the framework of considering the dual-grid structure that involves two periodically poled crystals. Considering cascaded optical parametric oscillator (OPO) driven by a sequence of laser pulses with Gaussian time-dependent envelopes, we investigate quantum statistical properties of high intensity mode generated in intracavity three-photon splitting. Calculating the normalized third-order correlation function below-and at the generation threshold, we demonstrate that in the pulsed regime, depending on the duration of pulses and the time-interval separations between them, the degree of three-photon-number correlation essentially exceed the analogous one for the case of continuous pumping.


Comparative study of acetaldehyde, furfural and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural from celluloses which differed in crystallinity was made by pyrolytic gas chromatography.Pyrolysis of tobacco cellulose at 200~300°C resulted in rapid increase in the yields of furfurals from the amorphous regions in comparison with that from the crystalline regions. At 500°C, however, acetaldehyde was obtained in higher yields from microcrystalline cellulose than that from tobacco cellulose under the same condition.In thermogravimetric analysis, the threshold temperature for the pyrolysis of tobacco cellulose was lower than that of microcrystylline cellulose. These results showed that the yields of the volatile compounds from pyrolysis of cellulose depended on temperature and crystallinity.


There have many methods for multiple object comprehensive evaluation,such as analytic hierarchy process,factor analysis,fuzzy evaluation and so on.But some methods have defects with more subjectivity on weight decision or too complex processes in calculation.The paper introduces the main steps and idea of a method using catastrophe theory-called catastrophe progression method.Its characteristic is combining catastrophe theory with fuzzy mathematics and only considers the relative importance of the index,so the method avoids the subjectivity for weight decision.Catastrophe progression method also has advantages in solving problems of fuzzy multiple object decision because the catastrophe progression is a multidimensional fuzzy membership function.With these characteristics,the method is easier and the results are more precise.We take evaluation of regional ecosystem health in Guangdong province as an example to test the effectiveness of the method.Taking data from reference and constructing the hierarchy based on catastrophe progression method,we calculate the health scores of ecosystem in Guangdong province using normalizing formula.The results are found to be coincident with practical situation,so it proves the catastrophe progression method works well.We also use the weighted average method to calculate the index system and compared the results with catastrophe progression method and original reference.It shows the conclusions are almost consistent,especially those with the health evaluation of better and worse.From the calculation process we found that catastrophe progression method works simply and quickly.So the method was proved feasible in practice and provides us a new way in solving the problems of multiple objects comprehensive evaluation.


Changes to directors' liability law in Queensland have been hailed as making the state a national leader in this reform. Bruce Cowley and Steven Grant explain why.


Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with increased mortality, with longitudinal studies averaging a standardised mortality ratio of 1.5 (95%CI 1.2 to 1.8) for RA patients compared to the general population [1]. In contrast, information on mortality in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is scarce, whereas there are conflicting reports of the mortality risk among patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but it is accepted that patients with PsA do not have a significantly elevated risk of mortality [2]. Objectives: To estimate the Mortality Rate in RA, SA and PsA for patients (pts) treated with biologics in Romania. Methods: Data were gathered from the Romanian Registry of Rheumatic Diseases (RRBR), which comprises all patients treated with biologics in Romania for RA, AS and PsA. We have studied demographic data, disease duration, exposure to biologics in person-years (PY), and all-cause mortality until 01.01.2018. Results: The cohort included 9577 pts (35596.83 PY) as following: 5224 RA pts (18676.75PY), 3469 AS pts (12680.63PY) and 884 PsA pts (4212.45PY). The mean age of the cohort was 54.86 yrs (62.87 yrs for RA, 45.54 yrs for AS, 56.18 yrs for PsA); 3196 pts (33.37%) were men: 79 (1.5%) RA pts, 2681 (77.28%) AS pts and 436 (49.3%) PsA pts. Mean disease duration for the cohort was 16.46 yrs for RA, 11.46 yrs for AS and 10.99 yrs for PsA. The number of all-cause deaths was 89 (74 deaths in RA, 11 in AS and 4 in PsA group). The mortality rate for the entire cohort was 0.25/100PY, and the rate varied across the diseases: 0.39/100PY in RA pts, 0.08/100PY in AS pts and 0.09/100PY in PsA. Infections were the major mortality cause in RA (0.09/100PY) and AS (0.04/100PY). Cardiovascular fatal events occurred in 0.06/100PY in RA population, significantly higher than 0.007/100PY in AS pts. Rate of solid neoplasm death in RA cohort was 0.04/100PY, compared to 0.007/100PY in AS; non-Hodgkin lymphoma was recorded only in RA pts (0.005/100PY). All deaths reported in PsA cohort (4 deaths) were of unknown cause. Conclusion: This is the first report on mortality rate in biological treated patients in Romania. These data support data from the literature, showing that RA patients have a higher mortality risk compared to AS and PsA. References [1] Dadoun S, Zeboulon Ktorza N, et al. Mortality in rheumatoid arthritis over the last fifty years: systematic review and meta-analysis. Joint Bone Spine. 2013:80(1):29-33 [2] Ogdie A, Haynes K, Troxel AB, et al. Risk of mortality in patients with psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis: a longitudinal cohort study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2012;73(1):149-53. Disclosure of Interests: None declared


Chronic renal failure has been known to be associated with impotence and loss of libido in men and for many women, infertility and menstrual irregularities. There have been ongoing improvements in survival and quality of life after renal transplantation. These have been accompanied by an improvement in reproductive function and reversal of the relative infertility that occurs despite maintenance hemodialysis. One of the most impressive aspects of successful renal transplantation in the young person is the ability of the male patient to father a child and the female patient to give birth to a healthy baby. Pregnancy does not appear to have any adverse effect on the long-term survival of renal allografts. Because the outcome of pregnancy in transplantation are so different than those in chronic dialysis, it is advisable to treat end-stage renal disease patients with transplantation and wait until renal function has been stable before undertaking a planned pregnancy. Women are usually advised to wait at least 1 year after living-related kidney Transplantation, and 2 years after cadaveric kidney transplantation; however, waits of 5 years or more have been associated with impaired renal function post-partum. All women of child-bearing age should be counseled about the possibility and risks of pregnancy after kidney transplantation. Types of immunosuppressive regimens and assessment of graft function should be considered during preconception counseling. Contraceptive counseling should be provided before transplantation surgery, because ovulatory cycles may begin within 1 to 2 months after transplantation in women with grafts that are functioning well. It is strongly advised that every sexually active transplant recipient attend a family-planning counseling session, ideally before transplantation is performed. Breastfeeding is discouraged for patients taking any immunosuppressive drugs. In this chapter we will first have a short review on reproductive physiology in male and female and irregularities caused by end stage renal disease and then we will review the experience of women undergoing child birth after transplantation, with a focus on outcomes and suggested management strategies including contraception counseling.


The present invention relates to a method for the K-space lines (Z1-Z24) with the echo train (EZ1-EZ3) corresponding method for by means of a magnetic resonance apparatus (5) using the K-space sampling line echo trains. K-space lines extending in parallel with the K space and the plane intersecting the plane perpendicular to each row arranged in the K space, K-space row such that each form respective intersection with the plane. Each echo train having a track length. Thus the minimum K-space lines with echo trains, all echo trains such that the sum of the track length. In this echo train track length TL is defined by the following equation: wherein L corresponds to the echo train length echo train, Pi corresponding to the i-th echo train intersection lines with the K-space plane, and corresponds to from the intersection of the i-th length (i + 1) th section of the intersection. According to a first K-space echo train line (Z4), a second K-space line (Z5), ..., K L-th order space lines (Z20) sampled K-space lines corresponding thereto.


The study was conducted to evaluate 23 genotypes of marigold (Tagetes spp.) collected from different and diverse sources and correlation studies were performed for various growth and yield characters. The results shows that the maximum plant height (92.60 cm) is recorded in the genotype AMS-15, whereas maximum plant spread (52.80 cm), flower weight (8.93 g) and largest flower size (7.63 cm) was recorded in the genotype 'AMS-16'. The highest number of branches (11.13), flowers per plant (509.93), flower yield per plant (622.27 gm), flower yield per m2 (4635.83 gm) and duration of flowering (88.47 days) was recorded in genotype 'AMS-3'. The genotype 'AMS-4' showed earliest bud initiation (38.20 days) and flower opening (47.53 days). Plant spread is positively correlated with number of branches, flower stalk length, flower diameter, days to bud initiation, first flower opening, flower yield per plant and per m2, whereas, plant height has positive correlation with plant spread, number of branches per plant, flower stalk length and flower diameter. The study concludes that the genotype AMS-3 is the best amongst all the genotype with respect to flower yield and flowering duration. The various growth parameters viz. plant spread, number of branches, flower diameter, days to bud initiation, days to first flower opening and number of flowers per plant has positive correlation with flower yield, hence, these characters may be considered as selection indices in improving yield attributes in marigold.


Based on fully tuned RBF neural networks and backstepping control techniques, a novel nonlinear adaptive control scheme is proposed for missile control systems with a general set of uncertainties. The effect of the uncertainties is synthesized one term in the design procedure. Then RBF neural networks are used to eliminate its effect. The nonlinear adaptive controller is designed using backstepping control techniques. The control problem is resolved while the control coefficient matrix is unknown. The adaptive tuning rules for updating all of the parameters of the fully tuned RBF neural networks are firstly derived by the Lyapunov stability theorem. Finally, nonlinear 6-DOF numerical simulation results for a BTT missile model are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


The papers in this volume, originally given at a conference at Machester University in 2009, have a number of aims: to address perceptions of Ancient Egypt in the West, in scholarly writing and public understanding; to present a scholarly approach to the subject of Egypt in Africa in order to counterbalance the extreme Afrocentric views within which such a debate is often contextualised; to investigate how community groups and professional Egyptologists can transfer their knowledge and points of view; and to present the work of scholars working on African-centred Egyptology to a wider audience including the traditional academic Egyptological community. It is organised in two sections, the first exploring Egypt's influence on Africa, and vice versa, the second looking at interpretations of Egypt as an African culture.


The researcher narrates in this paper knowledge and experience attained about China and Chinese people, and the influence of Chinese culture and traditions in Sierra Leone. In a clearer picture, the paper starts with a preview on the background of the knowledge of Chinese people in the rural setting of Sierra Leone. The researcher went on exhibiting Chinese films and actors/actresses as key element of the community. In a more connecting format, the researcher highlighted some sources and background of styles of martial arts applicable in Chinese films. Besides, the researcher views the practical demonstration of Chinese culture and tradition as public display of affection, eye contact and handshaking, colour and their symbols, and Chinese festivals. Article visualizations:


We describe a new implementation of HYTECH, a symbolic model checker for hybrid systems. Given a parametric description of an embedded system as a collection of communicating automata, HYTECH automatically computes the conditions on the parameters under which the system satisfies its safety and timing requirements. While the original HYTECH prototype was based on the symbolic algebra tool Mathematica, the new implementation is written in C++ and builds on geometric algorithms instead of formula manipulation. The new HYTECH offers a cleaner and more expressive input language, greater portability, superior performance (typically two to three orders of magnitude), and new features such as diagnostic error-trace generation. We illustrate the effectiveness of the new implementation by applying HYTECH to the automatic parametric analysis of the generic railroad crossing benchmark problem and to an active structure control algorithm.


To investigate the changes of auditory function and histomorphology of cochlea during the reperfusion of vertebrobasilar artery in guinea pigs.Methods Sixty-eight healthy guinea pigs with normal Preyer's reflex weighed from 200~250 g were used in this study.They were randomly divided into 6 groups:the normal control group、the ischemia 1 hour group and the reperfusion groups(12,24,48 hours,7 days).The models of vertebrobasilar artery ischemia reperfusion were established via the skull base approach.The auditory function was evaluated by evoked auditory brainstem responses(ABR).Each animal was measured before the operation and after ischemia or ischemia-reperfusion,respectively.Some of the animals were observed the changes of ABR during the ischemia.The slice of temporal bone by means of the Hematoxylin and Eeosin(HE)staining were used for cochlea histopathology observation.Results After 10~20 minutes the evoked auditory brainstem responses threshold began to increase steadily during verebrobasilar artery ischemia.The changes of ABR during the vertebrobasilar artery ischemia or ischemia-reperfusion consisted of a prolonged in all wave latencies and interpeak latenciesⅠ~Ⅲ,an increase of the auditory threshold,especially 24 hours after ischemia.A statistically significant difference of the auditory threshold shift,interpeak latenciesⅠ~Ⅲ and wave latencies was seen between the groups of ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion.A statistically significant difference was seen between the normal control group and the ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion groups,too.After 1 hour ischemia,outer hair cells(OHCs)were swollen,the vertebrobasilar artery reperfusion could cause more severe lesions of the Corti,spiral ganglion cells(SGCs)and stria vascularis,especially 24、48 hours after ischemia.These studies showed that the disapperance of outer hair cells and the degeneration of spiral ganglion cells.24、48 hours after reperfusion,the loss of OHCs and the degeneration of SGCs became apparent.Conclusion We had successfully established an animal model of the vertebrobasilar artery ischemia reperfusion in guinea pigs.Vertebrobasilar artery ischemia reperfusion in guinea pigs could cause the lesions of the Corti,spiral ganglion cells(SGCs)and stria vascularis which were more severe in reperfusion injury.Vertebrobasilar artery ischemia reperfusion could delay the latencies of ABR waves,interpeak latenciesⅠ~Ⅲ and increase the threshold.


In recent years, the development and commercialization of fuel cell systems for primary or auxiliary power for stationary, portable, and automotive systems has rapidly accelerated. In this paper, a basic introduction to fuel cell system components, operation, and related transport phenomena is presented. The advantages and limitations, state of development, and technical issues for three types of systems that are the subject of a majority of contemporary fuel cell research is given. Specifically, the hydrogen-fed polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (H 2


Sustainable development has become a key factor in decreasing economic and social inequalities and environmental problems in the world. This problem aligns with the crusade of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs-8 and 10). To this end, the present study seeks to identify factors underlying sustainable development for vital and optimal policymaking. The primary objective of the present study is to investigate the influence of a market-oriented business environment together with information and communication technologies (ICT) on overall sustainable development in new EU members who experienced a transition to a market economy for annual frequency period ranging from 2000–2020 via novel cointegration and causality tests adequate to the dataset size and characteristics. The study aimed to make a contribution to the related empirical literature, as there is a paucity of documentation in the extant literature on the nexus between the business environment and overall sustainable development. Furthermore, the use of cointegration and causality tests considering heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence increased the robustness of the empirical results. The consequences of causality and cointegration analyses uncovered that the market-oriented business environment and ICT were short- and long-run drivers of sustainable development. However, the impact of ICT on sustainable development was relatively stronger than the impact of the market-oriented business environment in the long run. As a result, policies to improve market-oriented business environments, ICT infrastructure, ICT adoption, and digital literacy can be useful to make progress in overall sustainable development.


The World Wide Web Voice Browser Working Group has released specifications for four integrated languages to developing speech applications: VoiceXML 2.0, Speech Synthesis Markup Language, Speech Recognition Grammar Markup Language, and Semantic Interpretation. These languages enable developers to specify quickly conversational speech Web applications that can be accessed by any telephone or cell phone. The speech recognition and natural language communities are welcome to use these specifications and their implementations as they become available, as well as comment on the direction and details of these evolving specifications.


undergraduate Reformation history class. My students' reactions were generally positive, although it clearly was a challenging text for some of them. It will be an excellent text for seminary and graduate students. Although one might disagree with George on a few points of interpretation, the book is well organized and clearly written. It is the best short treatment of Reformation theology available.


Flight tests performed in an A330 simulator have shown that the existing standardized Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) CAT I could be suitable for CAT II operations if anomalous ionospheric errors induced during solar storms could be mitigated either operationally or technically. Tests in an Airbus A330 Level D (fully certified training simulator) flight simulator were performed by EUROCONTROL in cooperation with Technical University of Berlin, to investigate whether the worst case errors of a GBAS CAT I precision approach system (10m vertical deviation) would still be acceptable for CAT II operations. Additionally similar assessment was performed for the new approach classification termed "Other Than Standard" (OTS) CAT II which allows operation of CAT II approved aircraft down to a decision height (DH) of 100 ft on runways not meeting full Cat II requirements. OTS CAT II relaxes the approach lighting requirements which is compensated by a higher required Runway Visual Range (RVR) and higher guidance performance requirements (i.e. autoland). GBAS CAT I suitability to support OTS CAT II and CAT II operation would provide a new potential benefit for airlines that have invested in a GBAS CAT I system. Those benefits could be increased access to runways served by GBAS in low visibility conditions. It could improve as well traffic flow in low visibility operation by replacing the standard Instrument Landing System (ILS), which requires larger separation on final approach during CAT II/III operations due to technical design. The tests have shown that the existing GBAS CAT I standardized system, with a Vertical Alert Limit (VAL) of 10 m as per ICAO Annex 10, would be operationally suitable for CAT II and OTS CAT II operations. The tests demonstrated that failures up to 10m vertical deviation are operationally acceptable for CAT II operations as the landing point was always well within the landing box criteria used for the demonstration of autoland systems. Lateral deviations were easily detected but pilots expressed difficulty in detecting the vertical errors. Some but not all pilots detected errors larger than 10m (i.e. 15m). The visual cues were sufficient at the decision height (DH) to conduct the OTS CAT II operation. The perception was that due to the increased RVR required for OTS CAT II, the visual cues at DH were even better in OTS CAT II conditions than in standard CAT II conditions.


ABSTRACT Daniel Tobin led the Teamsters Union from 1907 to 1952. He guided its transformation from a dwindling set of locals representing horse-drawn wagon drivers to the nation's largest union. However, Tobin is best remembered today for a comment he made during an American Federation of Labor (AFL) Convention in 1934, when he denigrated new members flooding into the labor movement as 'rubbish.' The quote has been used to illustrate depictions of the AFL leadership as racist, nativist, sexist and elitist. This article argues that the quote has been taken out of context and used to misrepresent Tobin's meaning. He did intend to denigrate some of the new members coming into the labor movement, but his criticism had nothing to do with ethnicity, race, level of skill, or opposition to organizing the mass production industries.


The widening use of smartphones, high urbanization rates, and the rapid evolution of technologies are driving the expansion of real time passenger information (RTPI) systems for urban transport services. RTPI provides accurate information on actual departure and arrival times and service disruptions, enabling passengers to plan more-efficient trips. Such public information systems can also create an extra incentive for the transit agency to maintain or improve performance. The market potential for RTPI systems includes installations in existing systems as well as new infrastructure. Traditionally sold as part of a larger vehicle management system that is controlled by a chosen vendor, conventional RTPI systems are a challenging expenditure in the developing world and, given the latest technologies, the conventional systems represent an increasingly outdated model. The new technologies can allow cities to obtain more economical and more adaptable RTPI systems, and government officials should consider these new developments when designing transit projects and procurement processes.


Celosia argentea Linn (Amaranthaceae) grows as a weed during rainy season throughout India and other tropical regions of the world such as Sri Lanka, South Asia, Africa and America. It is used traditionally for the treatment of jaundice, gonorrhea, inflammations, wounds, itching, diarrhea, blood diseases, mouth sores, and fever. It is also having an antipyretic, antidiabetic, antibacterial, diuretic, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial, and antimetastatic properties.


Monte Carlo simulations of liquid HF have been performed with a newly developed effective pair potential model which can reproduce successfully structural and thermodynamic properties of the liquid at 273 K. A detailed investigation of the structural properties of liquid HF is presented here. Partial pair correlation functions, geometrical and energetic properties of the hydrogen bonds and the topology of the hydrogen bonded clusters are analysed in detail. These results show that the hydrogen bonds, present in liquid HF, are exceptionally short and strong. The preferred geometry of these bonds is linear around the bonding H atoms, whereas the average H···F—H angle around the acceptor F atom is found to be tetrahedral. More than 80% of the molecules have exactly two hydrogen bonded neighbours, and the dominant form of the hydrogen bonded clusters is the linear chain-like arrangement which contains a few branching points or a cycle. Liquid HF is found to be rather structureless beyond the distance range of...


We report a fabrication and characterization of ZnO, TiO2 and ZnO:TiO2 composite thin films. The films were prepared on glass substrates by using the dip coating sol-gel method. ZnO was synthesized by using Zinc acetate dehydrated, glacial acetic acid and ethanol. Meanwhile, TiO2 was prepared by using titanium isopropoxide, acetic acid, isopropyl alcohol and methanol. The single sols were mixed with fixed molarity of 0.2 mol to obtain ZnO:TiO2 composite films. The optical properties of metal oxide, such as transmittance, absorbance and band gap were determined using UV-Vis spectrometer. FTIR was used to determine the chemical bonds of the materials. ZnO has the highest transmittance spectra (91%), followed by TiO2 (70%) and ZnO:TiO2 (35%) composite films. The absorbance edge shifted to the longer wavelength for ZnO:TiO2 composite film. The energy band gap of ZnO, TiO2 and ZnO: TiO2 composite were 3.8 eV, 3.6 eV and 3.5 eV, respectively.


Memetic Algorithms (MAs) are a class of stochastic global search heuristics in which Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) - based approaches are combined usually with heuristic local searches. This hybridization is meant to reach solutions that would otherwise be unreachable by evolution or a local method alone. In this work, we propose three Local Search (LS) algorithms for hybridization with an existing Evolutionary Algorithm with Pareto ranking in order to define biological intelligence using the concepts of useful and utility and therefore to zoom on the basin of attraction of promising realistic solutions. Our experimental results with these memetic algorithms in the game of Checkers show how we can learn the organization of behaviors into paths of behaviors of different lengths and frequencies and then reveal the true nature of these behaviors.


Envelope from J. C. Moore of Colonel Palmer's Regiment of Captain Willis' Co. Tennessee Volunteers to Miss E. J. Moore on Unionville, Tennessee. Postmarked in Bowling Green, Kentucky.


Although high school and college de baters are voracious users of school, aca demic, and public libraries, little informa tion has been published that equips librarians to assist this important category of patrons. In this brief paper we present a rationale for giving attention to this group and some guidelines for effective service. There are several reasons that librarians at all levels should be interested in debaters


Abstract While there are many moments in life that call for somberness and even prompt us to pause and reflect, there are also moments in which we simply celebrate the joy of being alive and savor the funny side of our days. Writer Mark Twain, an authority on what makes us laugh, once stated, "humor is mankind's greatest blessing." Humor and laughter certainly add to life's pleasures, and sometimes it is a good idea not to take life or ourselves so seriously. Certainly, when it comes to humorous books, young readers cannot get enough of them. Teachers looking for a way to hook reluctant readers on a book may find that humorous texts provide one way to do so.


Agricultural stress index (ASI) is analyzed over Pakistan with phase change of Oceanic Nino Index in 2015–16 El Niño Episode in this study. FAO's established Agricultural Stress Index System (ASIS) is employed to analyse its sensitivity to water stress conditions attributed to a strong 2015–16 El Niño episode. In addition to the ASIS, states of auxiliary drought monitoring indices e.g. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), Vegetation Health Index (VHI) and precipitation anomaly are examined to establish attributions to the episode. This article explains the effect that the 2015–16 El Niño episode has had on key crop production provinces converging on wheat cereal in Pakistan. Results reveal that positive El Niño picked up by warm phase of Oceanic Nino Index (ONI) reached its highest value of 2.6 above normal during the episode. Signal of the NDVI anomaly was exceptionally high in Jan–2016 with a decrease of up to 60% over the water stress regions. Severity of the VCI and the VHI was also evident by its weak value of less than 0.15 especially in Jan–2016. In essence, the warm ONI phase attributed to more than 80% decrease in precipitation over parts of the region forced the drought monitoring indices to reach severity and hence, affected more than 8% of crop areas over parts of the region.


The wave power apparatus comprises a long first floating body (1) length to float in a substantially vertical position in the water. Wave power apparatus further first floating body (1) surrounding the one hand, comprises a second floating body in response to the wave so as to move relative to the first floating body (1). Further, the wave power apparatus includes a first floating body and the second floating body is coupled between the energy transfer to transfer kinetic energy from the second floating body with at least one generator (8) on the first floating body means (5, 6; It includes 52, 53). A first floating body (1) takes a sufficient tension to prevent the movement in the vertical direction due to the waves and fixed on the sea floor, the tension leg, the first floating body (1) by means of a tension leg (16). A first floating body includes a ballast chamber (29, 30) positioned below the minimum water level.


This work describes the formulation of a stable platinum nanoparticle-based ink for drop-on-demand inkjet printing and fabrication of metallic platinum thin films. A highly conductive functional nanoink was formulated based on dodecanethiol platinum nanoparticles (3–5 nm) dispersed in a toluene–terpineol mixture with a loading of 15 wt %, compatible with inkjet printing. The reduced sintering temperatures (200 °C) make them interesting for integration in devices using flexible substrates and substrates that cannot tolerate high-temperature exposures. A resistive platinum heater was successfully printed as a demonstrator for integration of the platinum ink. The platinum nanoink developed herein will be, therefore, attractive for a range of applications in biology, chemistry, and printed electronics.


Purpose Timely and reliable communication between nurses and physicians is imperative for patient safety. At our hospital, communication was widely variable, with nurses paging personal devices, searching workstations, and/or looking through hallways to reach physicians. We assembled a multidisciplinary team of nurses, residents, and attending physicians to implement a consistent, dependable communication method. We identified an underutilized tool within the Cerner electronic medical record, CORES, which allows a …


Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated that sugar drinks (carbonated or not) are a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Sugar drinks are the single largest source of calories in many Americans' diets and are the only food or beverage that has been directly linked to obesity. One study found that each extra soft drink consumed per day was associated with a 60 percent increased risk of overweight in children.


Echocardiographic severity of tricuspid regurgitation is known to be highly variable and strongly related to the volume status of the individual patient. Interventional therapies for tricuspid valve repair or replacement are dependent on reliable measurements in order to select the appropriate device size.

 In patients scheduled for transcatheter tricuspid valve annuloplasty, we sought to evaluate the effects of a diuretic regimen started at the screening visit on body weight and tricuspid valve dimensions at the time point of transcatheter intervention.

 After successful screening for transcatheter tricuspid annuloplasty, an individualized intensified diuretic regimen was initiated in 15 patients. At baseline and at the timepoint of the intervention, body weight and 3D echocardiographic dimensions of the tricuspid valve were documented and compared.

 The cohort comprised 6 males and 9 females (mean age 77±7 years) with severe or higher degree functional tricuspid regurgitation. In all patients not more than mild pulmonary artery hypertension was present (PaP mean 29±5 mmHg). The interval between the screening visit and the timepoint of the procedure was 64±50 days. At baseline mean body weight was 72±12 kg. In 11 patients a reduction of the body weight could be achieved, with a median weight reduction of 2.2 kg (min/max 1.2/6.4 kg). Overall, the average relative reduction of the tricuspid annulur perimeter was 13% (p<0,001), of the tricuspid valve area 2.7% (n.s.), the anterseptal diameter 3.3% (n.s.), while the bicommissural diameter remained almost unchanged (0.4%; n.s.). The average predicted required band length changed by only 1.5% (n.s.). The strongest correlations were found between the absolute change in body weight and the change of the tricuspid valve area (r=0.48), relative change in body weight and relative change of tricuspid valve area (r=0.52), absolute change in body weight and absolute change in predicted band length (r=0.48), and relative changes of the respective variables (r=0.52). More importantly, in 13 out of 15 patients the band size which would have been selected was identical between the screening and the annuloplasty procedure. Only in two patients a smaller device was implanted than predicted at the screening visit.

 Instituting a diuretic therapy in candidates for transcatheter tricuspid annuloplasty prior to the procedure helps to keep tricuspid valve dimensions in a stable range. Changes in body weight in patients with functional tricuspid regurgitation are correlated to changes of tricuspid valve dimensions.

 Type of funding sources: None.


The authors propose a simple and fast iterative improvement algorithm for solving the constrained floorplan design problem. The algorithm allows users to specify an aspect ratio for the bounding rectangle and constraints on the relative positions and separation requirements of blocks. In the first phase of the algorithm, two scaling factors for each flexible block are computed for adjusting the block dimensions iteratively. In the second phase, blocks are placed according to the constraint graphs. If no overlaps are detected, the algorithm stops; otherwise an edge is inserted into one of the constraint graphs to resolve the overlap between one pair of blocks. The algorithm then goes back to the first phase. Experimental results show that this algorithm tends to achieve the prespecified overall aspect ratio and produces floorplans with small overall area.<<ETX>>


The issues of development of the direction of satellite microwave radiometry in Russia in the interests of operational meteorology and oceanography are considered. The analysis of the current state of Russian and foreign radiometric ERS equipment in the microwave range is carried out. The technical characteristics of onboard multichannel microwave radiometers, combining the functions of a scanner and a sounder, are analyzed. The issues of metrological support of microwave measurements of equipment installed on Russian satellites of the Meteor-M series are considered. The original method of internal calibration of the MTVZA-GYA microwave scanner/sounding device is analyzed in detail in order to form the antenna temperature scale. The MTVZA-GYA calibration unit measures the radiation intensity of two matched loads with known brightness temperatures ("hot" and "cold"). An on-board calibrator is used as a "hot" load, it serves as an imitator of an absolutely black body, its brightness temperature of which is in the range of 240–300 K. Absolute (external) calibration is a transition from antenna to brightness temperatures and is performed using high-precision radiation calculations for specially selected natural testing sites. The issues of preliminary processing of MTVZA-GYA data are considered and examples of microwave images of the Earth in the scale of brightness temperatures are given.


Aspects of the breeding ecology of the Little Swift were studied in the city of Bloemfontein, South Africa, several decades after successful colonisation. In the 1990s the Little Swift was one of the most numerous breeding bird species here; a total of c. 2 980 nests in 68 colonies were found within the administrative boundaries of the city (c. 50 km2). Nests were situated on two- or multistorey buildings, mainly under eaves with corrugated metal roofs. Such roofs possible provide heat to the nest, and a good structure onto which the nests can be built. Colonies ranged in size from 2 to 274 nests; average colony size was 44 nests. Colonies were composed of subcolonies (mean subcolony size = 22 nests) and these were usually clustered (mean cluster size = 7 nests). Nest height ranged from 4 to 20 m, with a mean height of 9 m. The breeding season is from August to May in Bloemfontein. Clutch size ranged from 1 to 4 eggs, with an average 2,5 eggs; mean clutch size differed significantly between colonies during the same breeding season and between different seasons. The most common clutches, of two and three eggs, were more successful than marginal clutches. There were on average 2,6 feeding sessions per hour per nest. Nestling growth was also investigated.


The effects of dumpsite on groundwater quality were assessed. Dumpsite leachate and groundwater samples were obtained and analysed for the following physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals: pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Nitrate (NO3), Ammonium (NH4+), Total Hardness (TH), Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd) and Iron (Fe). The results obtained were compared with the World Health Organisation and Federal Ministry of Environment Standards for drinking water. The concentrations of the analysed parameters for the dumpsite leachate were generally well above the Standards, indicating that the leachate could contaminate groundwater. For the groundwater samples, the pH and Cd did not meet the required standards. The pH values ranged 4.19 6.14, implying that the groundwater in the study area is acidic. The Cd values were <0.05 mg/l. The COD values ranged 5.38 8.60 mg/l. Although the concentrations of TDS, NO3, NH4+, TH, Cu and Fe were below the standards, the computed Water Quality Index (>752 for all groundwater samples) indicates that the groundwater around the dumpsite is unsuitable for drinking. The similar WQIs for all the groundwater samples suggest that the dumpsite had negligible impact on the quality of the groundwater. Furthermore, a strong positive correlation (> +0.65) was observed for most of the analysed parameters (TDS, COD, NO3, TH, Cu and Fe), indicating that they probably have common source. Generally, the concentrations of the analysed parameters decreased with increasing distance from the dumpsite, indicating that the groundwater sources closer to the dumpsite are at higher risk of getting contaminated than those farther away from the dumpsite.


Abstract Purpose: Injectable biologics (IB) are important in dermatology and we sought to examine the distribution of US IB-prescribing dermatologists. Materials and methods: We used Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data: Part D for 2013–2015. The density of dermatologists who prescribe IB (etanercept, adalimumab, ustekinumab, secukinumab) in each US county, represented as number of dermatologists per 100,000 Medicare Part D beneficiaries, was calculated. Results: 2,992 dermatologists (26.3% of dermatologists) prescribed IB in this study. The national density of IB-prescribing dermatologists was 7.22. Only 778 counties (24.8%) have at least one IB-prescribing dermatologist. The densities of IB-prescribing dermatologists in metropolitan counties were 8.07–8.12. The densities of IB-prescribing dermatologists were 4.55 and 6.51 for urban populations of greater than 20,000 people adjacent and non-adjacent to metropolitan areas, respectively. Urban counties with populations between 2,500–19,999 and adjacent to a metropolitan area had a density of 2.03 and urban counties with the same population and not adjacent to a metropolitan area had a density of 2.84. Completely rural or urban counties with populations under 2,500 people had densities between 2.31–2.35. Conclusions: There are disparities in the availability of IB-prescribing dermatologists across urban-rural geographic settings in the US.


The packing of poly(di-n-alkylsilylenemethylene) (PDASMs) chains was studied by using X-ray, electron diffraction, and molecular modeling methods. X-ray and electron diffraction measurements revealed unit cells in which the PDASMs were efficiently packed. The PDASM with the longer alkyl side chains, such as poly(di-n-propylsilylenemethylene) (PDPSM), showed packing with the alkyl side chains interlocked with each other like cross-shaped gears in the two-dimensional menoclinic unit cell. The PDASM with the shorter ethyl substituent, polyl(di-n-ethylsilylenemethylene) (PDESM), showed a lack of ability to interlock its side chains due to the short length of the alkyl groups. In these studies, we found that the length of the alkyl side chains could change the packing arrangement of PDASMs from monoclinic to orthorhombic to hexagonal with only short-range order as the alkyl side chain length decreases at room temperature.


We have observed lasing from the rim of dye-doped ethylene glycol pendant drops. Spatial-resolved spectral measurements show that the lasing wavelength varies along a vertical rim of the drop. Time-resolved measurements indicate that lasing precession occurs within the drop. Various lasing patterns due to lasing precession are explained. The measured precession periods for different pumping points are in good agreement with the calculated values based on morphology-dependent resonance theory.


The paper describes a numerical method to predict the long term development of settlement and inclinations for a gravity platform due to subsoil consolidation. The method takes into account heterogeneous subsoil interaction with a rigid foundation in spatial conditions. The method is demonstrated to be able to simulate complicated processes of seepage and consolidation taking place below a gravity platform with a skirt foundation supplied with a drainage system. Calculation results are compared with observations from the Gullfaks C platform.


Via questionnaire investigation,we have performed quantitative analysis on reproductive expectations of Chongqing residents.In this article,we comparatively studies their reproductive expectations in different featured groups from four dimensions,including the ideal quantity of their offspring and the gender preference,the best reproductive age and motivation.Based on the residents' current reproductive expectations and the corresponding influential factors,we propose that we should advocate the correct reproductive values and promote the population development.


Many biological tissues feature a heterogeneous network of fibers whose tensile and bending rigidity contribute substantially to these tissues' elastic properties. Rigidity percolation has emerged as a important paradigm for relating these filamentous tissues' mechanics to the concentrations of their constituents. Past studies have generally considered tuning of networks by spatially homogeneous variation in concentration, while ignoring structural correlation. We here introduce a model in which dilute fiber networks are built in a correlated manner that produces alternating sparse and dense regions. Our simulations indicate that structural correlation consistently allows tissues to attain rigidity with less material. We further find that the percolation threshold varies non-monotonically with the degree of correlation, such that it decreases with moderate correlation and once more increases for high correlation. We explain the eventual reentrance in the dependence of the rigidity percolation threshold on correlation as the consequence of large, stiff clusters that are too poorly coupled to transmit forces across the network. Our study offers deeper understanding of how spatial heterogeneity may enable tissues to robustly adapt to different mechanical contexts.


The three main types of systemic amyloidosis are: primary amyloid light-chain (AL), secondary, and familial amyloidosis. Distinguishing between these subtypes is important because AL amyloidosis is considered, and treated as, a plasma cell dyscrasia. AL amyloidosis, also known as primary systemic amyloidosis, is a rare disease with an estimated incidence of 9.7 to 14.0 cases per million person years. Ninety-five percent of AL amyloidosis patients are >40 years old with a median age of 64 to 70 years old; 65% to 70% of patients are male. AL amyloidosis is characterized by the extracellular deposition of insoluble protein fibrils in tissues and organs. This deposition results in distortion of tissue architecture leading to organomegaly and organ dysfunction. The clinical presentation of AL amyloidosis manifests variably based on the organs that are involved by the depositional process. Patients with AL amyloidosis have improved outcomes with earlier diagnosis and treatment; making early diagnosis a priority. Often, the presenting symptoms may be vague, resulting in a low clinical suspicion and delay in diagnosis. Cutaneous findings are identified in an estimated 40% of cases. As such, dermatologists are frequently asked to evaluate these patients and coordinate a tissue biopsy for diagnosis. In this report, we present a case of AL amyloidosis with cutaneous and cardiac involvement and describe how the biopsy and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) established the diagnosis.


As the Chinese food dairy,its edible history,from Han Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties the major historical period of the historical records,the Chinese dairy products has experienced from the north to the Central Plains,exclusive promotion from single species to species richness,from food to a variety of uses and the development course with medicinal value.It can be found that the emergence,dairy,dissemination and promotion is the natural environment,social environment and individual acceptance of elements the result of joint action.


Linear digital signal processing based around linear, time-invariant systems theory finds substantial application in speech processing. The linear acoustic source-filter theory of speech production provides ready biomechanical justification for using linear techniques. Nonetheless, biomechanical studies surveyed in this thesis display significant nonlinearity and non-Gaussinity, casting doubt on the linear model of speech production. In order therefore to test the appropriateness of linear systems assumptions for speech production, surrogate data techniques can be used. This study uncovers systematic flaws in the design and use of exiting surrogate data techniques, and, by making novel improvements, develops a more reliable technique. Collating the largest set of speech signals to-date compatible with this new technique, this study next demonstrates that the linear assumptions are not appropriate for all speech signals. Detailed analysis shows that while vowel production from healthy subjects cannot be explained within the linear assumptions, consonants can. Linear assumptions also fail for most vowel production by pathological subjects with voice disorders. Combining this new empirical evidence with information from biomechanical studies concludes that the most parsimonious model for speech production, explaining all these findings in one unified set of mathematical assumptions, is a stochastic nonlinear, non-Gaussian model, which subsumes both Gaussian linear and deterministic nonlinear models. As a case study, to demonstrate the engineering value of nonlinear signal processing techniques based upon the proposed biomechanically-informed, unified model, the study investigates the biomedical engineering application of disordered voice measurement. A new state space recurrence measure is devised and combined with an existing measure of the fractal scaling properties of stochastic signals. Using a simple pattern classifier these two measures outperform all combinations of linear methods for the detection of voice disorders on a large database of pathological and healthy vowels, making explicit the effectiveness of such biomechanically-informed, nonlinear signal processing techniques.


Since the early 1980s, the paradigm of resistance (which emerges from a particular reading of Gramsci's theory of hegemony) has enjoyed widespread popularity in the field of media studies. Arguing for understanding media studies as a field in Pierre Bourdieu's sense of the term, this article explores the analytical and political limits of this paradigm, and, by extension, the intellectual vision that proceeds from it.


Intestinal absorption of poorly-absorbable sulfanilic acid was investigated in rats with acute renal failure by an in situ loop method. The acute renal failure was induced by an intramuscular injection of HgCl2 or 50% glycerol, or by 5/6 nephrectomy. The mean blood urea nitrogen in the experimental group at the time of evaluation of intestinal absorption was significantly higher than in the control groups (normal or laparotomized). Absorption of sulfanilic acid by the small intestine was significantly increased in all renal failure groups examined, but it was unchanged in the laparotomy group. Reduction of barrier function in the intestinal mucosa during renal failure is indicated.


The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation between good governance and siri 'napacce in guarding the realization of village funds and to know the application of culture and local wisdom of siri' napacce in carrying out their duties and responsibilities as village officials in Pacellekang Village, Pattallassang District, Gowa Regency.This research is a qualitative research with an ethnographic approach. The data source of this study is primary data in the form of direct interviews to several informants and subjects in the form of data from the research location. Furthermore, the data collection methods used were in-depth interviews, documentation and recording. Then, data processing and analysis techniques are qualitative analysis by building conclusions with the stages of data collection, triangulation data analysis and final conclusions.The results of this study indicate that the supervision of ADD management in Pacellekang Village is already good, in accordance with the principles of good governance. Starting at the planning stage, the implementation stage, and the accountability stage, the administration and financial management processes have been implemented in accordance with the principles of good governance, although there are still a few shortcomings. In addition, accountability and reporting are also direct to interested parties based on the cultural values of siri 'na pacce which can increase supervision of village fund allocation management (ADD) because as it is known that those who can participate in monitoring other than the community, the central government, are ourselves. Keywords : Supervision , Honesty, Village Fund Allocation, Siri 'na Pacc e


A method is suggested for using sulfur as a total neutron dosimeter in connection with nuclear detonations. The technique was studied using the Los Alamos Godiva II assembly as a neutron source. Reliable measurements were obtained out to 367 yards from this relatively weak neutron source. After the technique was developed and the appropriate calibrations established, sulfur was used as a neutron dosimeter in Operation HARDTACK II. Comparison of the results of the sulfur technique with those of the more elaborate foil techniques shows very good agreement. This comparison also points out that the sulfur method makes it possible to monitor dosage to about three times the slant range presently covered by the foil method. (auth)


textabstractNumerical schemes for advection-diffusion problems are oftenused with non-uniform grids. Non-uniform grids are known to greatlycomplicate the convergence analysis and their use thereforeis much less straightforward than for uniform grids. For example,it is possible that a scheme which is inconsistent at the level ofthe local truncation error truly converges with order two.The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the theory ofspatial discretizations on non-uniform grids.We shall present spatial convergence results for a number ofvertex and cell centered schemes for the linear 1D time-dependent advection-diffusion problem. The focus hereby lies on the discrepancy between local and global order.


With the deepening of China's SOEs reform, some deep problems of labor relationship begin to come out: lacking of backing mechanism; long-term abnormal labor relationship due to low benefit of SOEs; difficulties in carrying out the marketization on of labor relationship because of the social and political targets of SOEs. After China's entry into WTO, there are some new tendencies of labor relationship of SOEs such as the upgrade of marketlization. This essay analyzes the problems existed and development tendencies in SOEs, and puts forward some policy suggestions for the reform of SOEs labor relationship.


Abstract Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) currently infects around 2% of the world's population. Among all nations, HCV prevalence ranges from 0.01% in Scandinavia to 3% in North Africa, with one exception: Egypt. Egypt has the highest prevalence of HCV in the world, estimated nationally at 14.7%. Numerous HCV prevalence studies have published various estimates from different Egyptian communities, suggesting that Egypt, relative to the other nations of the world, might be experiencing an intense ongoing HCV transmission. Objectives: To review all the evidence on the epidemiology of HCV transmission among different population groups in Egypt. Methods: This was a systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines of all prevalence data on HCV infection in Egypt. Sources of data included PubMed, international organizations' reports and databases, and country-level reports and databases. Measures were classified into different population categories according to risk of infection. Results: Seventy-four studi...


1. In the decapitated cat the lungs are about twenty times more efficient in absorbing oxygen than is the peritoneal cavity filled (500 c.c.) with pure oxygen; and about fifty times more efficient than the stomach containing 100 c.c. of oxygen. In a previous research the whole subcutaneous region gave results similar to the peritoneal cavity [Singh, 1932].

2. In human subjects living in Rangoon the pulse-rate in the prone position is always higher than in the supine position. This is perhaps a climatic effect (Appendix I).

3. The cat's stomach when filled with 100 c.c. saline apparently slows the flow of fluid through the inferior vena cava when the animal is in the supine position (Appendix II).

I beg to thank Dr Argyll Campbell of the National Institute for Medical Research for help, advice and suggestions in the publication of these results.


Abstract
 This chapter provides information on the taxonomy, evolution, morphological characteristics, ecology, importance and geographical distribution of the hymenopteran family Chalcididae. A checklist of members of the Iranian Chalcididae is also presented.


Much recent work on Byzantine state machine replication focuses on protocols with improved performance under benign conditions (LANs, homogeneous replicas, limited crash faults), with relatively little evaluation under typical, practical conditions (WAN delays, packet loss, transient disconnection, shared resources). This makes it difficult for system designers to choose the appropriate protocol for a real target deployment. Moreover, most protocol implementations differ in their choice of runtime environment, crypto library, and transport, hindering direct protocol comparisons even under similar conditions.

We present a simulation environment for such protocols that combines a declarative networking system with a robust network simulator. Protocols can be rapidly implemented from pseudocode in the high-level declarative language of the former, while network conditions and (measured) costs of communication packages and crypto primitives can be plugged into the latter. We show that the resulting simulator faithfully predicts the performance of native protocol implementations, both as published and as measured in our local network.

We use the simulator to compare representative protocols under identical conditions and rapidly explore the effects of changes in the costs of crypto operations, workloads, network conditions and faults. For example, we show that Zyzzyva outperforms protocols like PBFT and Q/U undermost but not all conditions, indicating that one-size-fits-all protocols may be hard if not impossible to design in practice.


Recently, the frame fusion based video copy detection scheme provides a possibility to detect copies in a continuous query video stream. However, its computational complexity is high since a large amount of returned reference frames need to be handled by some reference clip reconstruction methods. In addition, dense frame sampling strategies generally used for improving copy localization precision not only further aggravates the computational efficiency but also leads to much more false alarms due to content redundancy among frames. To alleviate the above problems, a new scheme is proposed for improving the performance of the frame fusion based video copy detection in both efficiency and effectiveness. In particular, the continuous similarity property among neighbor frames is learned for guiding the design of smart frame filtering method so as to greatly reduce the redundancy among frames. Then, an effective path verification scheme, which utilizes cross-clip verification strategy, is given for removing false alarms. The extensive experimental results show that the proposed schemes remarkably improve the detection accuracy of the baseline frame fusion scheme and give a comparable localization accuracy to it.


In previous lectures, we saw that code concatenation [For65] helps us obtain binary linear codes that achieve Zyablov bound [Zya71], and we even saw an explicit construction for the same through Justesen codes [Jus72]. In this lecture, we focus on how to decode concatenated codes efficiently. In more detail, we want to achieve the following goal: Goal: Given an outer code Cout and an inner code Cin with relative distances δout and δin, respectively, correct e < δout·δin 2 fraction of errors in the concatenated code C = Cout ⋄ Cin efficiently, i.e,. in time polynomial in block length of C. Note that a straightforward corollary of achieving this goal would be an explicit and asymptotically good binary linear code family that can correct up to τ(R) = δZyablov(R) 2 fraction of errors, where R is the rate of the family. Before we get into the solutions, we first setup notation for the next section:


The present invention provides a system and method for reducing errors in weighing items article extends over the weighing plate reader and the data related to the detection by the peripheral edge. In response to the request, for example, weighing, scale indicating whether the protection module obtains the weight data items extending between the base plate and the other surface, obtained by the comparison and reference data, and offset from the weighing plate is determined depending on whether the articles and thus extending the comparison on the other surface. Scale protection module may utilize a non-compressed electromagnetic waves, radio waves, and uses the data reader scans the scan field along a portion of the base plate at least one set of weighing a pattern edge extending, captured using imaging-based scanner weigh plate at least one edge of the image, along with or without the use of at least one beam disposed edge extending weighing plate weighing plate of the light guide member by the at least one light plane along edge extending weighing floor, or by any combination thereof .


Women should receive influenza and Tdap vaccines in every pregnancy to protect themselves and their infants. To ascertain the uptake of these vaccines


Focus to domestic demand, this research detected the preference of Purwokerto communities between imported commodities from China and Non-China's commodities. Generally, the communities relatively able to differ the commodities differences, particularly on telecommunication product. For each commodities, communities gave higher preference to Chine's communication and audio/video product than others. The other way, they gave higher preference to several non-China's product as garment, footwear, automotive and vehicles, computers products and other household electronics tools type. On income perspective, some Chine's commodities was classified to normal and inferior commodities. The normal commodities identified were electronics tools for audio/video, telecommunication, computer, other kinds of electronics tools, and foot wear product. The other way, to kitchen electronic tools, automotive and vehicles, garment and toys product were classified to inferior product. To last of the fourth products, if the community income increased, they would shift their demand to non-Chine's product. Keyworlds: China's and non-Chine's product, preference, normal, inferior


To test a possibility that the functional buffering of intracellular Ca2+ plays a primary role in the enhancement of spontaneous transmitter release during hypoxia, the frequency of miniature end‐plate potentials (m.e.p.p.s) was examined under several conditions. At 36 degrees C, hypoxia (bubbling with 95% N2 and 5% CO2) increased the average frequency of m.e.p.p.s from about 3 s‐1 to 100 s‐1 or more, in a standard Krebs‐Ringer solution. This effect declined with a decrease in the temperature and was much reduced at 24 degrees C. Removal of external Ca2+ (addition of 2 mM‐EGTA), increase of Mg2+ levels to 5 mM, and treatment with 20 microM‐ouabain, which gave a slight increase, did not reduce the rise in m.e.p.p. frequency during hypoxia. Pre‐incubation of the tissue in a solution containing 10 mM‐KCl at 24‐32 degrees C and its subsequent exposure to hypoxia caused a very marked increase in m.e.p.p. frequency, while incubation in 10 mM‐KCl alone caused a small rise in the frequency. These data indicate that this combination potentiates the individual effects of each treatment. These experiments suggest that the hypoxia‐induced increase in spontaneous transmitter release is primarily due to an increase in intracellular Ca2+ levels, probably because of inhibition of mechanisms which control buffering and extrusion of intracellular Ca2+. The release and influx mechanisms which elevate intraterminal Ca2+ may also be involved passively in the effect of hypoxia.


Present study reviews methods for calculating dependencies for the purposes of studying the flow of non-Newtonian liquids in pipelines and proposes two ways to evaluate hydraulic resistance of the flow. Furthermore, we suggest a novel sequence for use of the rheodynamic data for engineering design of pipelines. Also, we propose hydrodynamic testing set-up to model water-thermal treatment of milled grain. We present data obtained during the study of hydraulic impendфnce of the water-grain suspensions flow in pipelines. In particular, we show dependence between the friction coefficient and the Reynolds's number measured during flow of water-grains suspension through the studied section of a pipeline at hydro module value of 1:4 and at various temperature values.


During December 2002 – early April 2003, between 2345 and 0215 UTC and between 1230 and 1400 UTC covering the twilight period, radar reflectivities as high as 28-38 dBZ were measured in the atmospheric boundary layer by the Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) installed at Cyclone Detection Radar station, Chennai regularly. On analysis, it was found that these radar returns were not from precipitating clouds but from some other invisible source(s).  The contributory mechanisms for this high order of reflectivity have been analysed from meteorological and non-meteorological angles. Thermodynamical parameters and potential radio refractive index have been computed and analysed. The refractive index structure constant (Cn2) has been computed from the 0000 and 1200 UTC RS/RW data as well as from the radar reflectivity data. The prevalence of convectively unstable atmosphere in the first layer adjacent to the surface (upto 350 m a.g.l) at 1200 UTC and nocturnal surface inversion   at 0000 UTC contribute to the enhanced Cn2 in the range of 3.58 ´ 10-12  to 10-15 m-2/3 in the layers upto 900 m  a.g.l. This sort of Bragg scattering with high Cn2 could have contributed to radar reflectivity factor as high as +0.8 dBZ only. During the last three decades, there is an alarming increase in nocturnal surface inversion frequencies over Chennai presumably due to high concentration of suspended particulate matters and respirable dust particles. The contribution by these pollutants to the radar reflectivity factor is restricted to a maximum of about  – 0.9 dBZ only.  Migratory birds of about eight to twelve thousand in number  with 10 – 50 cm2 radar cross section  and possibly innumerable insects appear as sources of the enhanced reflectivity.


Improved quality and service mechanisms in the field of education is necessary in order to be more efficient and effective. Current Academic Information Systems at XYZ not supported by satisfying services. Students can not obtain academic information, schedule and score accurately and quickly, slow coordination between the services causing the need for the design of academic information system technology with Short Message Service (SMS). The main objective of this research is to help develop a system of academic information technology with SMS (Short Message Service) in the form of system design that is expected to support the coordination of services and the provision of academic information to students. Method of the research are observation, interviews, literature study, analysis and design of Information Systems based SMS gateway. The results of this study are useful to improve the coordination of campus and student services, output, among other academic information, class schedules, exam schedules, test scores, and students GPA.  Keyword: Academic Information System, Design system, Short Message Service, SMS Technology.


A dump truck box lifting and park brake interlocking device belongs to the combined control of vehicle driving devices, in particular to a device whose transmission device and brake system utilizes combined control, which comprises a box lifting hydraulic device and a pneumatic park brake device. The dump truck box lifting and park brake interlocking device is characterized in that the lifting hydraulic device is composed of a hydraulic oil tank, a lifting oil pump, a one-way valve, a lifting cylinder and a limiting valve which are connected via pipeline; the pneumatic park brake device is composed of a gas tube, a manual brake valve, a relay valve and a brake sub pump which are connected via pipeline; the pipeline of the box lifting device is provided with a pressure switch; the park brake device is provided with an electromagnetic valve; the pressure switch is connected with an electromagnetic valve circuit, which are both connected with a vehicle-mounted power supply; the oil pressure change of the hydraulic pipeline is converted into electric signals via the pressure switch to be transmitted to the electromagnetic valve to control the on/off of the park brake switch, thereby interlocking box lifting and truck driving. The dump truck box lifting and park brake interlocking device has the advantages of simple and reasonable structure, small volume, simple installation, flexible and reliable control, high durability and failure resistance, low accident rate and easy maintenance, guarantees driving safety, improves truck attendance rate, and reduces cost on backup elements.


Aim of this subject is the planning and then the implementation of a "clever" e-learning system in the sector of physics of nuclear medicine, which will constitute an initial step to the direction of ideal teaching and learning in this sector. After we determined the reasons for the development of an e-learning system in the physics of nuclear medicine, analyzed the audience that this is addressed, determined specific learning objectives, and keeping in mind the strategies that have been applied up to now in the e-learning, as well as the particularities of the sector of physics of nuclear medicine, we have designed an e-learning system which contains suitable educational tools for the achievement of desirable learning result as well as tools for learner assessment .Then we proceeded to the building of the platform.


Hidden dangers are inevitable in industrial production and there has been a tremendous surge of interest to predict potential accidents with a long and solid history work. Conducting a safe and efficient inspection of hidden dangers becomes the focus of the enterprises and the government. Push technology brings a new thought to network information and individuation information service in safety production. In addition, cloud computing technology provides a scheme with the ability of sharing resources among different applications for better server utilization. After surveying the related works in cloud computing and push technology, the cloud messaging push service is developed in this paper. Through the use of this service technology, a novel system architecture is developed to inspect hidden dangers in industrial production to avoid such limitation existed in information interaction between the enterprises and the government. Specifically, some key technologies of designing the system, such as data processing, data prediction, and cloud push technology, are discussed. Moreover, the safety evaluation of the proposed system is also analyzed.


Thermal conductivity and mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation at break, and modulus of elasticity of aluminum powder-filled high-density polyethylene composites are investigated experimentally in the range of filler content 0–33% by volume for thermal conductivity and 0–50% by volume for mechanical properties. Experimental results from thermal conductivity measurements show a region of low particle content, 0–12% by volume, where the particles are distributed homogeneously in the polymer matrix and are not interacting with each other; in this region most of the thermal conductivity models for two-phase systems are applicable. At higher particle content, the filler tends to form ag-glomerates and conductive chains resulting in a rapid increase in thermal conductivity. The model developed by Agari and Uno estimates the thermal conductivity in this region. Tensile strength and elongation at break decreased with increasing aluminum particles content, which is attributed to the introduction of discontinuities in the structure. Modulus of elasticity increased up to around 12% volume content of aluminum particles. Einstein's equation, which assumes perfect adhesion between the filler particles and the matrix, explains the experimental results in this region quite well. For particle content higher than 30%, a decrease in the modulus of elasticity is observed which may be attributed to the formation of cavities around filler particles during stretching in tensile tests. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


It is considered, that Industrial Revolution 4.0 will dominate the economic sector in all areas of activity. In the literature on the subject technological changes are referred mainly to the manufacturing industry sector [Ślusarczyk, 2018, pp. 232-248]. However, this is a narrowing of the problem because in other sectors, even in the service sector, especially tourism industry, can also be observed a strong impact of new technologies that directly affect the creation of innovative tourist products. The aim of the research is to review innovative tourist products based on technologies 4.0.


The parameters which describe the mean-squared displacement (R2(t)) of a random walker on a random network have a characteristic singular dependence on epsilon =(p-pc)/pc near the percolation threshold. The critical exponents, which characterise the singularities of the diffusion constant, moment of inertia of finite clusters, and time constants for development of the long-time behaviour, are related by a scaling theory. They may also be related to the exponent theories for the percolation and percolation conduction problems. An equivalent resistor network can be described which is equivalent to the time Laplace transform of the diffusion problem. These problems will be given explicit treatment for the Cayley tree.


An integrated fault detection, diagnosis and reconfigurable control design method is studied in this paper with explicit consideration of control input constraints. The actuator fault to be treated is modeled as a control effectiveness loss, which is diagnosed by an adaptive algorithm. For fault detection, an observer is designed to generate the output residual and a minimum threshold is set by an H∞ index. To design the reconfigurable controller, an auxiliary matrix is introduced and a linear parameter varying (LPV) system is constructed by convex combination. Linear matrix inequality (LMI) conditions are presented to compute the design parameters of controllers and related performance index. The system performances are measured by the ellipsoidal sets regarding the domain of attraction and disturbance rejection respectively. For illustration, the proposed design techniques are applied to the flight control of a flying wing aircraft under large effectiveness loss of actuators.