Algorithmic decision-making driven by neural networks has become very prominent in applications that directly affect people's quality of life. This paper focuses on the problem of ensuring individual fairness in neural network models during verification, training, and prediction. A popular approach for enforcing fairness is to translate a fairness notion into constraints over the parameters of the model. However, such a translation does not always guarantee fair predictions of the trained neural network model. To address this challenge, we develop a counterexample-guided post-processing technique to provably enforce fairness constraints at prediction time. Contrary to prior work that enforces fairness only on points around test or train data, we are able to enforce and guarantee fairness on all points in the domain. Additionally, we propose a counterexample-guided loss as an in-processing technique to use fairness as an inductive bias by iteratively incorporating fairness counterexamples in the learning process. We have implemented these techniques in a tool called FETA. Empirical evaluation on real-world datasets indicates that FETA is not only able to guarantee fairness on-the-fly at prediction time but also is able to train accurate models exhibiting a much higher degree of individual fairness.


Intellectual fashions among historians and political scientists change rapidly. Nor very long ago, the literature on U.S.-Latin American relations typically was cast in such terms as the "Western Hemisphere idea," "special relationships," "our good neighbors to the South," "the interAmerican system," and the like, all beginning from the premise that the United States and Latin America were a unit of sorts, a "system" or even a "community," sharing traditions, institutions, and values and, what's more, enjoying each other's company. To be sure, some Latin Americans had their doubts, but for the most part they were silent, or at least their voices were not heard here in the United States, admittedly not quite the same thing. Times have changed. Today's paradigm is U.S. "imperialism" and/or Latin American "dependence," usually treated as synonymous or opposite sides of the same coin. It is this paradigm that provides the central focus of the book under review, an otherwise diverse series of essays on U.S.Latin American relations. The book may be taken as reasonably representative of the general literature in the past decade or so on hemispheric relations, although two specific factors in the editors' selection of their contributors clearly have something to do with the outcome. First, for each North American, two Latin Americans were chosen, apparently as a form of reparation for "blatant imbalances between the United States and Latin America in opportunities and facilities for the study of hemispheric political relations" (p. 5); it seems reasonable to assume that on the average Latin American social scientists are more likely-although perhaps only slightly more so these days-to perceive U.S. "imperialism" than their * Julie Cotler and Richard R. Fagen, eds. Latin America and the United States: The Changing Political Realities. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1974. All references in text refer to pages in Cotler and Fagen. (Some portions of this article have appeared in somewhat different form in Jerome Slater, "Is United States Foreign Policy 'Imperialist' or 'Imperial'?" Political Science Quarterly 91 [Spring 1976]: 6387.)


This research deals with lifestyle factors as one of the triggers of housing migration and preferences (Feijten et al., 2008) and is related to the current societal debates on individuallization, gentrification and polarization. The central hypothesis is that people have different lifestyles according to their residential environment. The aim is to introduce (data about) societal themes as segregation, safety and socio-spatial inequalities in the housing policy discourses.


An emblem is a symbolic representational image that stands for a certain organization, concept, team, or society. This study investigated the emblems of the sleep societies in South Korea and the international sleep societies in which they were registered as members. Three South Korean sleep societies were found by searching for the keyword 'sleep' in the Korea Citation Index. Subsequently, we identified three international societies in which the three South Korean conferences participate. The emblems can be classified according to their composition. Taegeuk patterns represent yin and yang, electroencephalography that stands for the objective indicator of sleep, and the acronym or abbreviation indicating the name of the society. All emblems in this study were combinations of pictorial images and letters. The pictorial image of the Korean Sleep Research Society is the only emblem representing an inset with Hangeul. The emblem is a medium that conveys diverse meanings beyond representation. The societies have attempted to embody the identity as well as their directions.


Optically-induced dielectrophoresis (ODEP) provides an effective method for the manipulation of microparticles using a direct projection of light pattern onto the surface of a photoconductive material. In this work, an a-Si:H-based ODEP chip was developed with a 0.5μm photoconductive thin film. A new scheme for the establishment of an electrical connection with a mold in the thin film deposition process was presented. In the experiment, living cells were manipulated and collected using the developed ODEP chip. The results have shown that the cells can be collected successfully with the dielectrophoresis force. In the cell manipulation process, only 0.2 mW optical power was used to turn on the ODEP chip, corresponding to the density of 0.5 mW/cm2. The optical intensity was much lower than that by using typical ODEP chip and it reduced the focusing requirements.


Times have changed. Historically, physicians have been viewed as allies in improving health. Doctors have functioned with substantial autonomy, and have received significant societal prestige and reimbursement for providing a complex, socially useful job. Societal changes, including the growth of managed care,1 increased accountability and requirements for documentation, burgeoning malpractice claims,2 growing consumerism,3,4 and an erosion of trust,5 have changed the practice of medicine, and the relationships between patients and physicians.

At the beginning of the 21stcentury, many American physicians are discontented with their professional lives.6–10 While professional dissatisfaction is clearly not new to physicians,11 the causes and solutions have changed.8 In this issue of JGIM, Murray et. al. demonstrate a significant decline in the professional satisfaction of primary care physicians in Massachusetts between 1986 and 1997.12 To examine this trend, the authors compare two cross-sectional studies that incorporated identical questions about professional satisfaction. The most significant declines in satisfaction were related to the time spent with patients, autonomy in decision-making, and the availability of leisure time.

Studies have identified several facets of physician satisfaction: satisfaction with the quality of care; autonomy; compensation; relationships with patients; relationships with colleagues; and with the practice environment.13–16 Work environment may differentially affect different domains of satisfaction. For example, physicians in closed-model HMOs may have lower satisfaction with resources than physicians in other settings, but they may be more satisfied with regard to autonomy in decision-making and administrative issues.14

Why is physician satisfaction important? Physicians may be more effective in their work if they are professionally satisfied.17 There is an association between physician satisfaction, the quality of care that they provide, and patient satisfaction.18–20 Dissatisfaction may contribute to poorer patient adherence.18 Dissatisfaction also leads to job turnover and early retirement.21 Both of these generate unnecessary costs associated with decreased continuity of care for patients, and the costs of training new physicians. Low professional satisfaction and high job stress are associated with more health complaints among physicians, and with the filing of disability claims by physicians.22,23 Finally, the professional satisfaction of current physicians may influence the future supply of physicians.24

An understanding of the characteristics of physicians who are more likely to be dissatisfied may help to design interventions to improve physician satisfaction. Physicians who are younger,13,16 female,25 receive a lower income,13 practice in an urban setting,26 work a greater number of hours,27 and perceive that the quality of care that they can provide is compromised27 are less satisfied than their counterparts. Market and practice characteristics may also influence physician satisfaction. Physicians have had a strong negative reaction to capitation,8,28 perhaps related to concerns of restricted autonomy and declining reimbursement.27

Interventions to improve physician satisfaction can be either local or more far-reaching. Since time constraints are one domain that is a current concern to physicians, one type of local intervention could be directed toward alleviating time pressures. In this issue of JGIM, Waterman et al. present an evaluation of a telephone-based anticoagulation service on the referring physicians' satisfaction with this service.29 They report significant time savings associated with using this program, both for the physicians and their staff. This type of service offers many of the advantages and disadvantages of disease management programs.30 While they may offer significant time saving, they can also cause a disruption of the patient-doctor relationship. Safeguards, like specific communication protocols, should be incorporated into these types of interventions. While utilization management techniques that curtail physician autonomy are negatively associated with physician satisfaction, the implementation of clinical guidelines is positively associated with satisfaction.31 Other local activities could perhaps include programs to promote physician's self-awareness and expectations, since this may improve both professional satisfaction and the quality of clinical care.32 While a variety of local programs are necessary to address the specific concerns of physicians in a particular system of care, broader attention to physician satisfaction is also necessary.

Times have changed and health care will continue to evolve. Physician discontent results from a mismatch of expectation and reality. While interventions are certainly necessary to improve the "realities" of practice in turbulent times, medical education should provide physicians with the skills needed to define and re-define their expectations.33 Clearer expectations might enable better delineation of the causes of discontent, and allow for better definition of interventions to improve professional satisfaction and the quality of care.

Physician discontent is an important barometer in our evolving health care environment. While discontent may, in part, reflect discomfort with change and unmet expectations, it also indicates areas for improvement and intervention.


Relapsing Polychonditis is an uncommon and sometimes fatal disease, with widespread manifestations, which may present initially to an Otolaryngologist. Since the disease was first described in 1923 by Jaksch-Wartenhorst, around 300 cases have been reported, enabling the empirical establishment of diagnostic criteria. Unfortunately there is no absolute diagnostic laboratory test. The condition is characterized by recurrent episodes of painful inflammation and destruction of cartilage throughout the body, together with inflammation of the eyes, often accompanied by a systemic vasculitis with inner ear, cardiovascular, neurological, cutaneous and even renal involvement. The cause remains unknown, but increasing evidence points to an autoimmune origin. The two cases described both presented initially as subacute rhinitis. Many months elapsed before they developed other features of the disease enabling the correct diagnosis to be made and treatment commenced.


A full-scale crash test of a large troop/cargo carrying CH-47C helicopter was conducted at the Langley impact dynamics research facility. The crash test of this large helicopter was performed as part of a joint U.S. Army-NASA helicopter test program to provide dynamic structural and seat response data. The test, the procedures employed, the instrumentation, a general assessment of the resulting damage, and typical levels of accelerations experienced during the crash are reported. Various energy-absorbing seating systems for crew and troops were installed and instrumented to provide data for use in the development of design criteria for future aircraft. The crash conditions were selected to simulate known crash conditions and are representative of the 95th percentile accident environment for an autorotating helicopter. Visual examination of the crashed test specimen indicated irreparable damage to many of the structural components. The highest accelerations were recorded by the accelerometers located on the cabin floor in the aft section of the helicopter, directly above the primary impact location and on the floor of the cockpit above the secondary impact location(s).


For more than two decades, I have been fascinated by the startling inclusion of an entire article in untranslated French that runs across two pages in Claude McKay's great 1929 novel Banjo, which W. E. B. Du Bois famously described as at once "the description of a series of episodes on the docks of Marseilles" and "a sort of international philosophy of the Negro race."As Stephen Casmier has pointed out, McKay's novel can be read as an extended meditation on the politics of journalism, and characters buy and read and quote and argue about a striking number of newspapers: the Chicago Tribune (McKay, Banjo 264), theNew York Herald Tribune (264), the London DailyMail (136, 264), Le journal (264, 273), L'humanité (264, 273), L'action française (273–74), La race nègre (74), The Negro World (77, 102), and a host of unspecified "American Negro newspapers" (253, 322). But unlike these other examples, the French article grafted into the novel is not a diegetic element of the plot; it goes unmentioned in the incessant dialogue among the characters. Nor is there a description of how it came to be read or clipped or shown or shared. Instead it enters the narrative only in an extended internal reflection by Ray, the Haitian intellectual and self-described "vagabond poet" at the center of Banjo who—like McKay himself in the late 1920s—lives among the footloose gang of drifters and "beach boys" (319) who hang out and play music together, "trying to scrape a temporary existence" (68) from the underbelly of commerce in the thriving Mediterranean port, even if Ray "could not scrap his intellectual life and be entirely like them" (322). For Ray, the article is a piece of evidence: proof of what he considers to be "a fundamental contempt for black people" that is just as pervasive in France as in "the Anglo-Saxon lands," despite the penchant among the French to insist on the unparalleled "benefits of French civilization—especially for colored people" (275). But what is startling about the article as a piece of evidence is the aggressive confrontation it poses for the anglophone reader who is abruptly faced with a long passage in a foreign language that is neither translated nor even summarized:


Thirty-five specimens of pasteurized milk were tested for bacterial contamination by rapid autocalibration photometry for liquid, semiliquid, and homogenized hard foodstuffs, developed by the Ecotest Firm, Russia. Photometric (turbidimetric) analysis was carried out using the Labsystems (Finland) iEMS Reader plate photometer and Russian Analitika BACT software. The results of traditional analysis and the new rapid method developed by Ecotest were in good correlation, the differences did not surpass the magnitude of errors of measurements. The new method takes just 10-15 h instead of the routine 72 h and requires 300 times less nutrient media.


galistic and linguistic violence, around which the thesis is structured, is not contextualised by changes over time. Banivanua-Mar notes she is not denying the conclusions reached by the founding scholars of the labour trade Scarr, Corris, Moore, Saunders or the regional and personal histories of Gistitin, Mercer, Fatnowna, Bandler and Edmond. (p.45) But she calls these speculations and seeks to decolonise histories of the labour trade by reading "against the layers of racialized discursive filters" (p.180). This worthy objective becomes hard to follow when the author lapses into sentences like "Race displaced the violence it authorised onto the discourses that authorised it." (p.183) The final sentence in Violence and Colonial Dialogue continues with similar obscure phrasing by suggesting that a labourer's silence in court, or distress at being shipped to an unknown port were "subtle but expressive and with an ambiguity that eludes authoritative designation despite the clarity of their physical resignation". (p185). More worrying is the simple error at the opening (p.19) of denying duality, or rejecting a colonizer versus colonized confrontation and relationship but then positing a similar duality in the final stage – in which slavery, oppression, exploitation and kidnapping on one side are opposed on the other side by survival, resistance, agency and pride. (p.185) The six chapters start with incidents of violence in the western Pacific, including once again a retelling of the notorious Carl massacre of 1871 (and it is mentioned a further ten times), but the crew's behaviour on board a Fiji recruiting vessel bound for Levuka is not shown to be relevant to language, regulation, demeanour, court decisions, workplace conditions or acts of physical violence in Queensland during the same period or over the next thirty years. Other already well known tales, anecdotes and facts are presented as evidence of linguistic and legal violence, and as the author admits there is not a lot of new material to be uncovered. Despite this there are 72 pages of endnotes and references. Primarily this is a book desperate to spin a now familiar story around a contemporary and trendy platform. However, my copy of the book is marked by numerous ticks and notes of agreement, and I found overall that it is was a pleasure to read (most of the time) and that it offered a fresh approach, and significantly points to the fact that there may still be much to learn about the 19th century indentured labour trade in northern New South Wales and Queensland.


Since the seminal work of Yarbus, multiple studies have demonstrated the influence of task-set on oculomotor behavior and the current cognitive state. In more recent years, this field of research has expanded by evaluating the costs of abruptly switching between such different tasks. At the same time, the field of classifying oculomotor behavior has been moving toward more advanced, data-driven methods of decoding data. For the current study, we used a large dataset compiled over multiple experiments and implemented separate state-of-the-art machine learning methods for decoding both cognitive state and task-switching. We found that, by extracting a wide range of oculomotor features, we were able to implement robust classifier models for decoding both cognitive state and task-switching. Our decoding performance highlights the feasibility of this approach, even invariant of image statistics. Additionally, we present a feature ranking for both models, indicating the relative magnitude of different oculomotor features for both classifiers. These rankings indicate a separate set of important predictors for decoding each task, respectively. Finally, we discuss the implications of the current approach related to interpreting the decoding results. with oculomotor data alone, this has drawbacks regarding the interpretability of such models. Because we used a high-throughput feature extraction method, we had to design a separate model which was able to determine the relative importance of each base feature, on a group level.The current study brought forward possible confounds when analyzing pupil size measurements in the data. Pupil sizes as measured by professional eye-trackers are sensitive to possible confounds, such as pupil foreshortening error (PFE) (Hayes & Petrov, 2016). Specifically, for the current study, biases in the spatial locations of fixations were analyzed. We found very minor deviations in spatial locations in both the horizontal and vertical plane as a function of cognitive task or task-switching conditions. Additionally, we found very minor correlations between spatial location and pupil size when analyzing the full data. These results indicate that PFE confounds were not present in experimental data. Furthermore, they validate our discovery of pupil size as an important measurement for distinguishing mental states provoked by cognitive processes in a data-driven modeling approach. The current study highlights the suitability for analyzing experimental eye-tracking data using machine learning algorithms. Compared to more classical methods of analyzing such data, our approach has certain advantages. First, earlier work has mostly focused on isolated aspects of viewing data in relation to cognitive state. Here, we were able to evaluate classification performance using most event-related eye-tracking measurements which produced a more robust and inclusive classification models for both cognitive-state and task-switching related behavior. Consecutively, this method allowed for more detailed comparisons between feature groups that are most relevant for classifying eye-tracking data. Our approach shows that when using such data, extracting a large number of features, as well as extensive model search may prove fruitful. We found that this approach is perfectly feasible, even invariant of image statistics.


 ABSTRACT The crime rate in Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) theft is rising highly. IoT-Internet of Things which is a technology paradigm helps to internetwork the physical devices to global internet world. IoT helps the objects (things) to collect / transmit / exchange data and actuate action according to the data threshold. The objective of designing ATM Theft detection / Location Identification is to detect the ATM from robbery and share the location of robbery to the nearby registered cop station. The Embedded development board Arduino helps us to monitor the status of the cash box. The cash box movement is detected using vibration sensor. If the vibration range is greater than the 15000 Hz, then a buzzer alert is created and the prototype actuates the DC motor, which then automatically closes the ATM door and communicates the location information -longitude and latitude to the nearby cop station using GSM & GPS module. The system performs four different security actions according to the threshold value of the vibration sensor, i.e., alert using buzzer, closing the ATM door, SMS alert to the registered mobile number and sharing the location of the


Abstract Sulfentrazone was recently granted food-use tolerance approval for use on Brassica head and stem, as well as Brassica leafy vegetables. To date, one sulfentrazone registrant has listed those crops on its use label. In coastal California multiple crops per year including Brassica vegetables are grown in rapid succession; therefore, to avoid injury to rotational crops, herbicides used in those fields must be carefully selected. Given concerns about the relatively long soil persistence of sulfentrazone, studies were conducted to measure the response of direct-seeded carrot, lettuce, onion, spinach, and seeded tomato planted 3, 6, 9, and 12 mo after sulfentrazone application at 0, 112, 224, and 336 g ai ha–1. Eight plant-back studies were conducted during 2010–11 and 2012–13. Data collected were injury estimates, and stand and dry weights. Results indicate that it is safe to plant carrot and tomato 3 mo after sulfentrazone application at rates up to 336 g ai ha–1. Lettuce and green onion should not be planted within 9 mo of sulfentrazone application. Spinach should not be planted within 12 mo of sulfentrazone application. Nomenclature: Sulfentrazone; carrot; Daucus carota subsp. Sativus (Hoffm.) Schübl. & G. Martens; lettuce; Lactuca sativa L.; onion; Allium cepa L.; spinach; Spinacia oleracea L.; tomato; Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L.) Karsten L. esculentum (L.) Mill.


Abstract Six years (1989–94) of cloud-to-ground lightning data are used to examine the distribution of lightning across the Florida panhandle and adjacent coastal waters and its relationship to the prevailing low-level flow. Only warm season data between 1 May and 31 October are used. The prevailing flow is determined by subdividing the low-level (1000–700 mb) vector mean wind into categories that are either parallel or perpendicular to various parts of the coastline. Moderate wind speeds (2–5 m s−1) generally are found to be more conducive to producing lightning than stronger speeds. Wind speeds stronger than 5 m s−1 likely inhibit the formation of the sea breeze, the main focus for summertime thunderstorms in the region. Onshore, offshore, and parallel flows are found to play important roles in determining the patterns of flash locations in each flow regime. The complexity of the coastline also is found to have a major impact on the flash distributions. The prevailing wind direction is shown to be relat...


The error correcting method using RS code and Trellis Code Modulation(TCM)is applied to the optical PPM communication system.A new error correcting strategy combining both RS and TCM is proposed.In this method,RS code is as an external code and TCM as an inner code,thus a new cascade code is formed.This new technique can improve the traditional RS+PPM optical communication system performance in time-varied band-limited optical channel without decreasing the effective communication speed rate.Correlative numerical simulation was implemented,and the results show that the combination of RS and TCM codes can enhance optical PPM communication performance assuringly.


Background information. ROS (reactive oxygen species) as well as components of the antioxidant redox systems may act as signals. To link acute environmental change with gene expression, changes in ROS and GSH/GSSG (reduced/oxidized glutathione) level were measured upon acute changes in temperature or oxygen availability in the aquatic key species Daphnia magna together with HIF‐1 (hypoxia‐inducible factor 1)‐mediated Hb (haemoglobin) expression.


We write ω for the set of all complex sequences x = (xk) ∞ k=0, φ, l∞, c and c0 for the sets of all finite, bounded, convergent sequences and sequences convergent to naught, respectively, further cs, bs and l1 for the sets of all convergent, bounded and absolutely convergent series. By e and e (n ∈ IN0), we denote the sequences such that ek = 1 for k = 0, 1, . . ., and e (n) n = 1 and e (n) k = 0 for k 6= n. For any sequence x = (xk) ∞ k=0, let x [n] = ∑n k=0 xke (k) be its n–section. Let X, Y ⊂ ω and z ∈ ω. Then we write


Background: Obesity, which has recently created many problems in humans and animals, is stated as being above 15-20% of normal body weight. This condition is commonly classified using body condition scoring in dogs. This study compared oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, catalase, superoxide dismutase), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), routine hemograms and biochemicals in obese dogs and dogs with normal body conditions. Methods: Blood samples were taken from 20 normal body condition and 20 obese dogs. ADMA, oxidative stress and routine hematologic and biochemical parameters were evaluated. Result: Platelet count (p = 0.009), blood urea nitrogen (p less than 0.001), cholesterol (p = 0.006), ADMA (p less than 0.05) and malondialdehyde (p less than 0.001) were statistically high, while superoxide dismutase and catalase (p less than 0.001 and p less than 0.001, respectively) were statistically low in the obese group than the normal body condition group. As a result, we think the interpretation of the indicated biomarkers may help evaluate obesity and related pathologies in dogs, monitor treatment, or help prevent potential problems associated with obesity.


Abstract Using as a starting point the finding that in linguistics Verfügbarkeit and Unverfügbarkeit have not yet been recognised as categories, the authors point out that strategies have, nevertheless, been investigated in a highly intensive way: these are aimed at the activiation of a certain knowledge in the recepient – thereby making this knowledge verfügbar (or not, as the case may be). In this process an important role is played by agents, which in linguistics are called 'discourse referents': the authors follow up the communicative potential of these discourse referents from a language historical-systematic perspective.


Number of assembly algorithms have emerged out but due to constraints of genome sequencing techniques no one is perfect. Various methods for assembler's comparison have been developed, but none is yet a recognized standard. The problem of evaluating assemblies of formerly unsequenced species has not been considered, because mostly existing methods for comparing assemblies are only applicable to new assemblies of finished genomes. For comparing and evaluating genome assemblies we have used QUAST (Quality Assessment Tool). This tool is used to assess the quality of leading assembly software by evaluating quality metrics. Assemblies with a reference genome, as well as without a reference can be evaluated by QUAST tool. For genome assembly evaluation based on alignment of contigs to a reference, it is a modern tool. In this study we demonstrate QUAST performance by comparing several leading genome assemblers on three metagenomic datasets.


The trend to smaller and lighter electronics has accentuated efforts towards high density, increased performance and miniaturization in packaging technology. Fine pitch micro bump interconnection can greatly improve the interconnect density, thereby becoming a mainstream technology of high-density packaging. A new method to fabricate binary and ternary solder bump based on electroplating and micro-alloying are introduced in present paper. The formation of SnAg and SnAgCu alloys on copper pillar bump is demonstrated. The new manufacturing process is explained as follows. Firstly, alloying metals such as Ag and Cu are deposited at the surface of the electroplated Sn layer over copper pillar by physics vapor deposition (PVD). Then, the multi-component solder bump is formed through a reflow process. By scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectrum (EDS) analysis, it was confirmed that Ag and Cu layers over Sn have dissolved into the solder and formed intermetallic compound (IMC) in the solder after first reflow. After 1000 temperature cycles up to −50∼85°C, Ag3Sn phase precipitation was observed having stick or island shapes. But we did not observe tin whisker on the surface of the solder bump.


In this paper we prove that there exists a unique function dim X which assigns to every finite-dimensional metric space X an integer dX such that the following axioms are satisfied. Axiom 1. dTn = n (Tn is an n-dimensional simplex). Axiom 2. if all Xi are closed in . Axiom 3. For every X there exists a finite open cover ? such that dY?dX for every ?-mapping ?: X?Y. Axiom 4. For every X there exists a closed subset A such that dA<dX and X\A is not connected. Bibliography: 2 items.


We read the Journal article by Tooth et al. (1) with great interest. The authors propose a checklist to assist authors reporting observational longitudinal studies. Clearly, there is a need to improve the reporting of observational research (2), but neither for longitudinal studies nor for other study designs do widely endorsed recommendations on the reporting of observational epidemiologic studies exist. In contrast, in the realm of randomized controlled trials research, the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) (3) have been supported by a large number of health-care journals and editorial groups, including the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, Vancouver Group), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). We believe that several elements were crucial to the success of CONSORT. Firstly, the recommendations were developed by an international group of clinical trialists, statisticians, and epidemiologists, which also included prominent members of the constituency that ultimately needs to be convinced about the usefulness of such checklists: the editors of journals that regularly publish trials. Secondly, the working group published not only the recommendations but also an explanatory document (4), which reviewed the empirical


Five 6-phenyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-4H-1,3,6-dioxazocines were synthesized by the reaction of the corresponding N,N-bis(2-hydroxypropyl)- and N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)chloroanilines with paraformaldehyde in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid.


Positional anchoring of the smectic-A (Sn) liquid crystal 4O.8 at a glass plate interface is measured with a micromechanical technique: stress oscillations at layer thickness scale are observed under shear normal to the layers. Similar oscillations are observed on its smectic-B phase, and previously in plastic crystals. These oscillations are explained by shear-induced surface melting and recrystallization. The corresponding S A positional anchoring energy is ∼10 -8 -10 -9 J/m 2 . This unidimensional periodic melting is a model for solid friction in soft matter


Historical geography is regarded with scepticism or disdain by many historians. They often relegate it to a kind of hand-maiden role, in which it is called upon to ladle out a series of maps of doubtful relevance to the wider problems which the profession traditionally addresses. Alternatively it is looked on as mewling infant which has never managed to grow up to grapple with the fearsome spots of intellectual puberty and beyond as N.B. Harte writes, economic history fwith the difficult bits left out. These attitudes are based on the false premise that the historical geographer enjoys a relationship with his map as productive as that between Linus and his blanket: that the one is unwilling to leave the other and, indeed, should not really do so. It is therefore encouraging that just as many economists have moved from their perch on a pinhead to explore the feedback relationships between economic processes and their contextual spatial structures, so similar moves are apparent in much contemporary work in social and econometric history. This proper concern for the spatial dimensions of historical experience as one valid perspective from which to view certain actions or strategies on the part of particular groups and understand something of their ramified workings-out was in part (and in a particular sense) anticipated in the seminal work edited by H. C. Darby in 1936, An Historical Geography of England before A.D. 1800, which was received with widespread critical acclaim. This entirely new work, aiming to take into account the substantive advances made since its predecessor, is therefore welcome for its part in emboldening such a tradition, and as a tacit demonstration of the need to see something of the entire wood before we set about clearing individual trees.


Abstract : The results of a study conducted within a confined disposal area concerning the effects of progressive trenching on dredged material dewatering and drying are documented. The study consisted of an initial field and laboratory testing program, construction of a surface drainage system within the disposal area using a progressive trenching approach, evaluation of trenching equipment, and a field instrumentation and monitoring program. Effects of the progressive trenching efforts were evaluated by monitoring dredged material surface elevations and dredged material groundwater elevations within the study area. Field data indicated that the surface drainage system was effective in lowering the dredged material groundwater table. An average surface settlement of approximately 0.75 ft was achieved throughout the study area. Economic evaluations indicated that progressive trenching operations were economically feasible with both comparatively low unit cost and favorable benefit/cost ratio.


Abstract A large proportion of patients undergoing surgery do not receive adequate postoperative analgesia. 1 Postoperative pain is the leading cause of unplanned hospital admissions after ambulatory surgery and a major source of dissatisfaction with perioperative outcome. 2 The establishment of acute pain services in major institutions both in the United States and overseas has had a major effect on postoperative comfort and patient satisfaction. 3,4 Most acute pain services primarily use intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) or patient-controlled epidural infusion; however, advances in neuronal blockade offer an unprecedented range of effective and surgery site–specific analgesic options. Using long-acting local anesthetics, peripheral nerve blocks can be used to provide an excellent anesthesia and postoperative analgesia. Additionally, a catheter for continuous infusion of local anesthetics can be inserted perineurally to extend the analgesia beyond the duration of the single-shot blocks. This review will discuss the advantages and limitations of various nerve block techniques when used for postoperative pain management for several common surgical indications. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.


Abstract : The primary goal of the study was to establish criteria for designing high power microwave amplifiers capable of adequately functioning in environments associated with space missions. The expected space environment, both natural and artificial, was carefully catalogued and a special treatment for calculating the ionizing radiation of the Van Allen Belts developed, including assumptions and their degree of uncertainty. The effects of the over- all environment on the materials of a space tube package were evaluated and the materials given a preference ranking. The essential properties required of a space tube are also enumerated and means of achieving them discussed, in detail, for linear-beam tubes, especially for traveling-wave amplifiers required to operate in the range between 1 Gc at 10,000 watts CW and 10 Gc at 100 watts CW. Limitations and problem areas are pointed out and some new concepts are advanced. The importance of pre-flight testing is emphasized, and a philosophy of combined-environment testing advanced; sequential testing is also discussed.


Abstract: Rat hippocampal formation slices were prelabelled with [3H]inositol and stimulated with carbachol for times between 7 s and 3 min. The [3H]inositol metabolites in an acid extract of the slices were resolved with anion‐exchange HPLC. Carbachol dramatically increased the concentration of [3H]inositol monophosphate, [3H]inositol bisphosphate (two isomers), [3H]inositol 1,3,4‐trisphosphate, [3H]inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate, and [3H]inositol 1,3,4,5‐tetrakisphos‐phate. The levels of [3H]inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate rose most rapidly; they were maximally elevated after only 7 s and declined toward control levels in 1 min followed by a more sustained elevation in levels for up to 3 min. When [3H]inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate was incubated with hippocampal formation homogenates in an ATP‐containing buffer it was very rapidly metabolised. After 5 min [3H]inositol 1,4‐bisphosphate, [3H]inositol 1,3,4‐trisphosphate, and [3H]inositol 1,3,4,5‐tetrakisphosphate could be detected in the homogenates. Under similar experimental conditions [3H]inositol 1,3,4,5‐tetrakisphosphate is metabolised to [3H]inositol 1,3,4‐trisphosphate and an inositol bisphosphate isomer that is not [3H]inositol 1,4‐bisphosphate. We conclude that like other tissues the primary event in the hippocampus following carbachol stimulation is the activation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5‐bisphosphate selective phospholipase C.


Taking cognisant of the numerous initiatives of the United Nations agencies and others and in order to make higher education relevant to the societal needs in general and sustainable development in particular, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has taken steps to promote sustainable development into its programmes. The approach stems from its inside-out mode (Gratton & Groshal, 2005) in which sustainable development is promoted by manipulating and optimising internal strengths which ensures sustainability of the programmes. At USM, the internal strengths are promoted through (1) Kampus Sejahtera (or Healthy Campus) programme, (2) the University in a Garden, (3) the transdisciplinary approach in promoting teaching and research activities, (iv) community action, and eventually (v) as a global player, e.g. as a Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for sustainable Development, a designation bestowed upon the university by the United Nations University in 2005. The purpose of this paper is to showcase USM's approach in promoting sustainable education in every aspect of its programme including teaching and learning, research and development, services, postgraduate studies, and so forth. In most cases, the university is likened to a big tree of knowledge whose roots are continuously being nurtured by dedicated and committed teaching professionals and whose branches represent the holistic development of young minds without abandoning their interconnectedness with nature in a sustainable way. In so doing, USM focuses on the element of sustainability by integrating sustainable operations, policy and practices for the long term in order to make the university a microcosm of the outside world.


Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a condition characterized by excessive blood sugar levels, which have recently reached the level of a pandemic. There are various side effects of each drug to treat this condition. Molecular docking is a modern concept for computer-aided drug designing. Using this technique several potential antidiabetic phytocompounds are evaluated against three target receptors including GLUT-3, PPARγ and α-amylase related to DM. These compounds' ADMET and drug-likeliness characteristics have also been assessed to determine potential drug candidacy. Most of the compounds exhibited magnificent binding affinity against these targets, especially compounds 30 and 27 have shown great affinity against GLUT-3 with values of -11.2 and -10.2 Kcal/mol respectively. Where compound 37 has the highest binding affinity (-9.1 Kcal/mol) against PPARγ. Also, with values of -11.6 and -10.8 Kcal/mol respectively compounds 38 and 12 notably bind with α-amylase. Moreover, all of these compounds have magnificent results on ADMET and drug-likeliness studies, in particular, compound 29 has shown high affinity against all of these receptors, explored 0.55% bioavailability score, no toxicity and high absorptivity. Although these compounds have undergone a preliminary drug discovery study, more research must be done to determine their precise mechanism of action against DM.
Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 26(2): 167-184, 2023 (July)


Review(s) of: Why stories matter: The political grammar of feminist theory, by Clare Hemmings, Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2011, ISBN: 9780822349167 (pb), RRP: US$23.95; After sex?: on writing since queer theory, by Janet Halley and Andrew Parker (eds), Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2011, ISBN: 9780822349099 (pb), RRP: US$23.95.


Objective: To examine the supply of dentists in the Commonwealth of Kentucky at the county level. Also, to assess the association between the percent of adults missing six or more teeth and the shortage in dentist supply, in each county.


The state - owned enterprises in China seem to be in a dilemma now. To them, technological innovation means asking for trouble while sticking to the old ways means waiting for bankruptcy. This dilemma roots from the inconsistency between their system reform and technological innovation, and the old systems do obstruct technological innovation. The way out lies in that the obstacles should be removed in good time so as to rouse zeal of the enterprises for technological innovation .


Compliance-based camber morphing is a promising alternative to conventional aircraft control surfaces, such as rigid trailing edge plain flaps, which vary aerofoil camber in a sharp, sudden and discontinuous way. Unlike traditional trailing edge flaps, camber morphing based on compliant structural design achieves smooth and continuous changes in camber which have been shown to provide a similar lift control authority with significantly reduced drag penalty. One promising camber morphing concept is the Fish Bone Active Camber (FishBAC) device, which is currently being investigated for application to fixed and rotary wing vehicles. In order to extend the understanding of the aerodynamic behavior of this device and also to improve its structural behaviour, a wind tunnel model of a composite FishBAC equipped NACA 23012 wing section has been built. This paper will describe the manufacture of this morphing wing section, and present experimental characterisation of its actuators, the materials and the structural response under actuation loads. Finally, an initial design study is performed to investigate the useful ability of the FishBAC to create spanwise variations in camber, to control spanwise lift distribution and to modify three-dimensional wing stall.


This paper calls attention to an error in the proofs of various extensions of the "Leibniz rule" for the fractional derivative of the product of two functions published previously by the author. The error occurs at a step where integration and summation must be interchanged, and justified. The justification requires that a new restriction be added to the functions involved. The new restriction, however, is a natural one, and in no way affects applications of the Leibniz rule previously published.


Typical female jojoba [Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider] plants produce three-carpeled fruit that contain one to three seeds. Examination of ≃13,000 plants in a nursery at the Univ. of California, Riverside, revealed one mutant plant whose pistillate flowers had four stigmas and four-carpeled fruit. The mutant plant had 42% one-seeded, 39% two-seeded, and 19% three-seeded fruit. In contrast, wild-type sibling plants averaged 83% one-seeded, 16% two-seeded, and 1% three-seeded fruit [...]


28.07.2017 Calcite is one of the most abundant components of the Earth crust, the outer-most layer of the Earth, constituting as the largest carbon reservoir in the global carbon cycle in nature. Thus, large-scale dissolution of calcite would give an enormous impact on the weather, geography, aquatic environment and so on; more specifically, for example, changes in the carbon dioxide concentration of the air and the acidity of the ocean. Recently, the dissolution mechamism of calcite attracts much attention because of its importance in geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) technology to capture carbon dioxide from the air and to store it underground. In order to precisely predict such a large-scale and long-term phenomenon, the dissolution mechanism of calcite should be understood at an atomic level in a precise manner.


Abstract Excess molar volumes of {xCH3O(CH2CH2O)vCH3+(1 - x)CH3(CH2)5CH3}, (v = 3, 4), were determined from density measurements at the temperatures T = 278.15, 288.15, 298.15, and 308.15 K. These results allowed the following mixing quantities to be reported in all ranges of mole fraction: α, (δVEm/δT)p, and (δHEm/δp)r, at T = 298.15 K. The obtained values were compared with those calculated by using the Flory theory.


In γ-irradiated-doped InP semiconductor superlattices (SLs) in a whole spectral range, we have found negative absorption. Light amplification is attributed to the negative effective mass in the SL mini-band. Stability of the population inversion is attained at the specific relation between the Fermi energy, photon energy and mini-band width.


Introduction Patients with acute cholecystitis who are unsuitable for cholecystectomy undergo conservative treatment or percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage. As these two methods are not always successful, further treatment options are needed. One increasingly popular method is endoscopic ultrasound-guided gallbladder drainage (EUSGBD), whereby stents are placed so as to create a permanent fistula connecting the gallbladder to the stomach or the duodenal bulb, thus enabling drainage of its contents to the gastrointestinal tract. Aim To present our early experience with EUSGBD for the treatment of cholecystitis in patients who are not suitable for cholecystectomy. Material and methods The procedure was performed in 5 patients with acute cholecystitis. Two patients also had symptoms of biliary obstruction due to pancreatic head cancer. An ultrasound endoscope was used to create a fistula between the gallbladder and the stomach or between the gallbladder and the duodenal bulb, in which a self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS) was placed. Results All procedures were performed with no perioperative complications. In all patients, the clinical symptoms of cholecystitis subsided within 3–15 days. In those patients who also showed symptoms of biliary obstruction, these symptoms subsided within 3–6 days following the procedure. Conclusions The EUSGBD seems to be an effective and safe treatment for acute cholecystitis in patients unsuitable for cholecystectomy. It can also be used to treat jaundice caused by obstruction of the common bile duct, when no other methods can be used. The method is particularly promising in cases of concurrent acute cholecystitis and common bile duct obstruction.


This paper discusses the outlook for increased productivity in Chinese industrial enterprises. Specifically, it seeks to examine three topics relating to performance. These include an assessment of...


Austenitic AISI 304, 316L and ferritic 430 stainless steels were implanted with yttrium to fluences ranging between 1 × 10 15 and 5 × 10 17 ions/cm 2 . The samples were subjected to oxidation in air at a temperature of 1000°C for a period of 100 h and next examined by stereoscopic optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX) and Rutherford back scattering spectrometry (RBS). The results obtained with the use of ion implantation are discussed.


Abstract : Investigations of 3 discrete designs of a bottom longitudinal connection at a bulkhead were made to furnish information on their relative mechanical behavior when loaded in tension. The through longitudinal design was experimental; the interrupted longitudinals were of the T-2 tanker design; and the through-bracket logitudinals were of a navy oiler or commercial tanker design. Room-temperature tests, tests to failure near 0 F or other selected temperatures below room temperature, and tests to failure at temperatures above and below 0 F were conducted. The maximum stress ratios for the section adjacent to the transverse bulkhead were 1.2 on the through longitudinal, 2.1 to 2.8 on the interrupted longitudinals, and 1.6 to 1.9 on the through-bracket longitudinals, except for one specimen on which the stress ratio was 2.3. The data roughly indicate the inability of the longitudinals to absorb energy when tested to failure. All specimens failed with cleavage fractures after varying amounts of plastic deformation. The energy to fracture generally increased with temperature. Results of the tests to failure near 0 F indicate that the modifications to the basic T-2 design were beneficial and increased the capacity of the interrupted longitudinals to absorb the energy of deformation. Comparisons of maximum load, over-all elongation, and energy to fracture for the 3 designs indicate the following qualitative order of merit: (1) through longitudinal of experimental design, (2) through-bracket longitudinal of Navy oiler design, and (3) modified interrupted longitudinals for T-2 tankers. (Author)


A PC-based data acquisition system for the Dubna Gas Filled Recoil Separator is described. Some special electronic modules were designed for the mentioned system. The system was tested in heavy ion induced nuclear reactions at the main FLNR cyclotron U400. A brief description of the detecting module of the separator is presented. This system was successfully applied in experiments on discovery of the shell closure at N=162 and Z=108 within the framework of the Dubna-Livermore collaboration.


Direct Torque Control (DTC), proposed after Vector Control (VC), has been widely used in speed regulation system due to its good dynamic performance. In order to solving the shortage of poor torque stationary properties of traditional DTC, this paper introduces direct torque control using space vector modulations (SVM-DTC) in Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) system, which reduces torque ripple by using SVM and maintains fast dynamic response. Simulation model of SVM-DTC under MATLAB condition has been set up and compared with system controlled by traditional DTC. The results testify that the PMSM system based on SVM-DTC has high rate dynamic response, high stationary precision, and good robustness when load has a disturbance.


Innovation can be divided into two fairly distinct activities in terms of when and where the innovation occurs. One type of innovation occurs during the development of a new product or process, and the second type occurs through follow-on improvements on the shop floor. Long-run competitiveness of a leading-edge company depends on its product line, while short-run competitiveness depends on price and reliability. The challenge for an industry leader is to bring a new product to market as dictated by its longrun product plan and recoup development costs during the short period when competition is limited and prices are relatively high. An industry follower must enter the market with a comparable product at a low cost, since the entry of competitors (followers) into the market causes prices to drop rapidly. This type of price competition drives shop floor innovation, which influences the cost and quality of the product.


For nearly a century, black letter law has dictated that subject matter jurisdiction is non-waivable. Both litigants and judges can raise subject matter jurisdiction defects at any time, even on appeal. Current doctrine indicates that the parties' consent to federal jurisdiction, whether explicit or tacit, is insufficient, because subject matter jurisdiction involves federalism. It is not the prerogative of the parties to derogate from state court jurisdiction. Rather, it is the constitutional obligation of federal judges to self-police the line between federal and state courts. Despite its solid basis in precedent, a parade of commentators has attacked the rigidity of current law as wasteful. Commentators argue that cases dismissed for jurisdictional reasons after trial or on appeal are often followed by costly duplicative litigation in state court. In addition, critics assert that the non-waivability of subject matter jurisdiction encourages inefficient strategic behavior. For example, if a defendant has information unknown to the plaintiff that would defeat subject matter jurisdiction, the defendant can wait to raise the jurisdictional defect until it feels threatened by an adverse judgment. This gives the defendant an option to relitigate the case in state court. Plaintiffs can also engage in the same strategic, yet inefficient, behavior, and wait to raise jurisdictional defects. Therefore, these commentators have called upon the federal courts to give up their jurisdictional "fetish" and treat


This paper presents electrokinetically based microfluidic integration of isolation and amplification of target-binding nucleic acids. A microfluidic device is used that consists of two microchambers for nucleic acid isolation and amplification connected by a microchannel filled with agarose gel. In the device, target-binding DNA strands are isolated and amplified on surfaces while gel-based electrophoresis is used to transfer the strands between chambers, eliminating the need for complicated flow control components. Experimental results show that the device has the potential to rapidly isolate and amplify nucleic acids in random mixtures against a variety of biological targets, such as biomolecules and cells, with increased binding affinity.


I describe a reference system in a spherically symmetric gravitational field that is built around times recorded by radially moving geodesic clocks. The geodesic time coordinate t and the curvature spatial radial coordinate R result in spacetime descriptions of the motion of the geodesic clocks that are exactly identical with equations following from Newton's absolute time and space used with his inverse square law. I show how to use the resulting Newtonian/general-relativistic equations for geodesic clocks to generate exact relativistic metric forms in terms of the coordinates (R,t). Newtonian theory does not describe light. However, the motion of light can be determined from the (R,t) general-relativistic metric forms obtained from Newtonian theory by setting ds2(R,t)=0. In this sense, a theory of light can be related to absolute time and space of Newtonian gravitational theory. I illustrate the (R,t) methodology by first solving the equations that result from a Newtonian picture and then examining the ...


This book attempts to evaluate the importance of psychological factors in the general practice of medicine. The contributors include psychiatrists, general practitioners, psychoanalysts, and statisticians, as well as representatives of other disciplines. The 23 articles in the volume are grouped into five major sections: "Identification and Patterns of Psychosocial Disorders," "Factors Affecting the Risk for Psychosocial Disorder," "Management of Psychosocial Disorder in General Practice," "The Outcome of Psychosocial Disorder in General Practice," and "Future Trends in Research Into Primary Care Psychiatry." Unfortunately, the book does not entirely succeed in the aims implied by the title, but it is unlikely that one can accomplish an integrated presentation by selecting articles written by different authors, for different journals, for presumably different purposes. For example, some articles are technical reports of research, filled with tables of correlations and regression analyses, while others are the opinions of clinicians or biographical sketches. Apparently, 20 of


Objective:To investigate the signal transduction mechanisms of cytokines treated with ethyl pyruvate in septic mice.Methods:60 mice were randomly divided into three groups.Cecal ligation-perforation(CLP) model were made in mice as septic model.Ringer's ethyl pyruvate solution(REPS) and Ringer's lactic solution(RLS) were used to resuscitate septic mice.Mice were divided into three groups:A group:CLP + REPS(n=20);B group:CLP + RLS(n=20).C group:sham operation(n=20).24 hours after operation,mice were sacrificed to gain serum and hepatic tissue.nitric oxide(NO) in liver and serum NO were measured using chromatometry.Serum tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNFα),interleukin 6(IL-6) and interleukin 10(IL-10) were measured with enzyme-linked im-munosorbentassay(ELISA).Hepatocyte TNFα mRNA,IL-6 mRNA and inducible of nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) mRNA expression were measured with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Results:Comparing with sham operation group,CLP mouse have a higher level of serum TNFα,IL-6,IL-10 and NO(P0.01).Analysised by Fisher's protected LSD test,REPS group has a lower level in serum TNFα,IL-6,NO(including liver and serum) and a higher level in serum IL-10,compared with RLS group(P0.01).Comparing with sham operation group,CLP mouse have a higher level of hepatocyte TNFα mRNA,IL-6 mRNA and iNOS mRNA ex-pression(P0.01).Analyzed by Fisher's protected LSD test,REPS group has a lower level of hepatocyte TNFα mRNA,IL-6 mRNA and iNOS mRNA expression compared with RLS group(P0.0).Conclusion:Ethyl pyruvate modulates the concentration of serum cytokines,and decreases the cytokine gene expression in hepatic tissue which helps to achieve cytokine balance and ameliorate systemic inflammation.


Happiness is the right of all human beings, children, adults and parents, they have the right to be happy with different sizes of happiness. This difference in the size of happiness is because each individual has different experiences and life patterns so that the assessment of the expected happiness is also different. The research "Elderly Miss Happy (Case Study: Javanese Family in the SUCI Elderly Group RW 06 and RW 07 Banyumanik District Semarang)" uses symbolic interaction theory. The problem of this research is what and how to measure the happiness of the Javanese ethnic elderly and in what way they endeavor it and what is gained from this happiness, starting from seeing experiences and life patterns, hopes for happiness to the reality of realized happiness. This research uses a phenomenological method. Phenomenology is a method to finding the meaning behind the phenomenon being revealed. Besides that, it also uses qualitative data, primary data sources and secondary data. Primary data sources are from observations and interviews while secondary data sources are from previous research and books. The results of this study are: (1) the measure of elderly happiness is measured by the elderly's meaning of their life experiences. Being a part of the SUCI's group is positioned as a substitute with children and being happy with other elderly people, (2) when they are aware of their old age, life choices are more oriented towards the happiness of the end of their life and after their death. The method taken is to deepen religious knowledge. They find happiness in the SUCI group because in this group they can more intensively carry out religious activities. This means that the needs of elderly are gathering each others because of the warm interactions between the elderly. The argument given is the awareness that their children have high mobility, causing the family to be busier and less concerned about the elderly so that the elderly who live with the family feel less family support. The relentless nature of Javanese elderly prefers to reduce conflict causes they not to ask their family first, for attention and try to find happiness outside the home. Happiness is present when the elderly join the SUCI elderly group.


European comic authors produced a steady stream of comic material throughout the twentieth century, but gained the world's notice in 1975 when the French magazine Metal Hurlant was founded and a new generation of artists and writers began producing translations of the new comics into other languages, including English, and were inspired to innovation. This is a reference work, arranged by artist or writer, to European comics from the last quarter of the twentieth century that have been translated from any European language into English. It contains a variety of material, from the innocent imperialism of Herge's Tintin to the sadistic murder for hire in Bernet's Torpedo. Albums by a single creator or artist-and-writer team of European origin are the focus; comics in periodicals and anthologies with multiple contributors are excluded. Each entry provides a brief biography, an annotated bibliography of his or her translated works, a plot abstract and various notes about the original comic, other appearances, and reviews.


'Global governance' is a concept, which, like 'globalization' caused a great commotion in intellectual and scholarly circles in the last decade of the 20th century. The extreme attitudes accompanying its emergence are best characterized by the discussion held in the journal bearing the same title2. There was a dispute not only over what it is but also whether it exists at all. From the standpoint of this study the dilemma of 'it exists/it does not exist' seems to be definitively resolved. The aim of this paper is to analyze global governance as an intenational decision-making model. New arguments will be presented which show that this international practice in statu nas-cendi is neither an institution, nor a global system, nor a world order but rather a way of specific decision-making.


Several factors affecting the protoplasts formation of Sinorhizobium.Fredii with antagonistic to SCN and root rot of soybean were studied.The growth curve was determined and the optimum cell-age for protoplasts formation was in the logarithmic growth mid-phase,the maximum yield of protoplast was accelerated when pretreated by 0.5% penicillium in the culture medium,the optimum enzyme condition was digesting at 35℃ with 1.5 mg·mL-1lysozyme,the process of protoplasts release was observed using microscope.The foundation for genetic breeding of S.Fredii has been laid by using the protoplasts.


Objective:To study the expression and significances of the P27 and CyclinD1.Method:SP immunohistochemical method was used so to study the expression of P27 and CyclinD1 in laryngeal tissue esp,in laryngeal squamous carcinoma.Result:Immunoreaction of P27 and Cyclin D1 were located in the nuclei of cell.Positive expression of P27 was associated with histological grade(P0.01).The expression of CyclinD1 were more and more stronger following with tissues being from benign to malignance.Conclusion:The P27 and CyclinD1 can be considered as the referential indicators for defining genesis of laryngeal cancer.P27 can be regarded as the indicator of considering tumor cell differentiation.CyclinD1 can be an early molecular event in the carcinogenesis of larynx and play an important role in the laryngeal carcingensis.


Digital Signal Processing is used in many applications including cellular phones, CDs, DVDs, speech recognition, pattern recognition, and control systems. Traditionally, digital signal processing (DSP) has been taught as an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in an engineering curriculum. Over the last decade, in response to the increase in industrial applications, DSP has been introduced earlier in engineering schools. However, courses in digital signal processing are noticeably absent in engineering technology programs. A recent look at ABET accredited electrical/electronics engineering technology programs [1] showed that only 6 of the 66 programs accessed offered DSP as a required course in the curriculum. Another nine programs offered DSP as a technical elective and the remaining 51 did not offer DSP to their students at all. As DSP becomes more pervasive in industrial applications, it is imperative that engineering technology graduates have some exposure to digital signal processing theory and practice. The main difficulty in teaching DSP to technology students is the level of mathematics. Students opening a textbook on digital signal processing [2] – [4] are faced with pages and pages of equations. In developing an introductory course in DSP for our electrical and computer engineering technology students, I have found MATLAB and SIMULINK [5] to be invaluable illustrative tools for teaching the mathematically intense concepts of DSP. This paper gives a brief overview of the required DSP course taught in the ECET department at the University of Cincinnati then details the specific MATLAB exercises used to illustrate one of the more difficult concepts in the course: discrete Fourier transforms (DFT).


The transformer-based input integrated matching allows the realization of the simultaneous optimum noise and maximum power transfer input impedance matching in cascode amplifiers by exploiting the mutual coupling between the two spirals of an integrated transformer. This technique has been adopted to design LNAs operating in the microwave and millimeter-wave frequency ranges; however, the analytical proofs are still missing. This paper addresses for the first time a complete and in-depth study of the circuit topology and design technique in order to provide the analytical proofs. In-depth analyses are also used to get useful circuit insights, derive effective design equations, and carry out a direct comparison with the most widespread cascode low-noise amplifier with inductive degeneration through circuit design under the same conditions.


Intracavity laser spectroscopy (ILS) was studied with lithium as the absorber within a dye laser. Also studied was lithium within a chromium-perovskite solid-state laser. The dye laser was turned on quickly for one mode of operation as well as scanned in wavelength for the other two modes of operation. The wavelength scanning was accomplished with a birefringent electro-optic tuner, which was varied in scanning frequency and wavelength amplitude. For broadband ILS with the laser turned on quickly, the absorption was observed to grow exponentially until it saturated. Two different modes of operation were observed when the laser was scanned. At low frequencies (less than 30kHz) the results were similar to the broadband ILS in that the depth of the growth was dependent on the spectral dwell time (the time the laser lases at one wavelength). For fast scanning at the cavity resonance period, the absorption feature broadened in wavelength as the resonance frequency was approached although the total absorption remained about the same. The chromium-perovskite solid-state laser was also used with broadband ILS. The absorption feature was observed. 21 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.


In this study, pyrolysis of sawdust was investigated using a fixed bed reactor. The objectives of this project were to study the effect of pyrolysis parameters on production of bio-oil and bio-char and to analyze the characteristics of pyrolysis product. The variations of pyrolysis temperature are 450, 500, 550, 600 and 650 °C. The particle size was varied in the range of >1.18mm and <1.18 mm. The heating rate was at 40, 50 and 60 °C/min. The maximum product yield of bio-char was 49.28% obtained at 550 °C, with heating rate of 50 °C/min and particle size of <1.18mm. The maximum bio- oil yield was 28.86% and the maximum gas yield was 68.83%. The optimum gas was at the pyrolysis temperature of 450°C, heating rates of 60°C/min and particle size of <1.18mm. Sawdust can be utilized as biomass feedstock to increase bio-char product. It has high lignin content which can increase yield of bio-char. The bio-char is potential source of renewable fuel and chemical feedstock.


A new preparation method of high efficient flocculant polysilicate ferrite(PSF) with waste iron residue and water glass was studied,and the reasonable production process and operation conditions were determined.The flocculation property that PSF flocculant was used to treat industrial wastewater was studied.The reaction mechanism that PSF flocculant was used to treat industrial wastewater was discussed at the same time.The results show that PSF flocculant has very well flocculation property,the removal ratio of CODCr of PSF is higher about 20% than that of polyferric sulfate(PFS),the removal ratio of colority of PSF is higher about 25% than that of PFS,the removal ratio of SS of PSF is higher about 15% than that of PFS,the range of pH of PSF is larger than that of PFS,the usage of PSF is lower than that of PFS and PSF is a more better flocculant than PFS.10 tabs.,7 refs.


Those of us who live with hope in our hearts will surely die fasting; how much better to make things happen and live a prosperous life as we work toward making sand‐castles that endure. We have seen in this history how an industry as old as civilisation has brought to man both good fortune and happiness. Commercial ladies and gentlemen, worthy of the name, don't hope for the best, they create a tangible opportunity of wide parameter and invite all aboard; the UK paint industry has created such a band‐waggon from which every human being in this wide world draws benefit. This it will continue to do until the gods divine otherwise. Look sharp; step up and be seated and we shall take you forward in spirit to the year 2000 AD.


Motor stator faults mainly divides into three categories,namely, grounding, imbalanced three phase dc resistance, and friction. According to motor wiring diagram, megohmmeter, DC resistance tester along with the check process of the stator, lead riser insulating method, metallographic test,was applied to find out the fault point accurately and determine the cause of thefaults, so as to timely repair motor and improve existing processes.


Active network is a new network architecture of the last few years, in which active nodes provide programmable network services on passing packets. Users can configure, extend and download these services through active packets. However, the flexibility of network brings serious security problems. Because there are always malicious attackers in network, we must limit users' access to the resources and statuses of active routers to guarantee their safe running. Because traditional routers are mainly responsible for packets forwarding, and lack enough security support to router software, it's necessary to design consummate active network security architecture. This paper defines the integrated security architecture of active network, and provides safe protection to each phase of active codes during their running. And we also define the security architecture of active nodes, and bring forward the resource managing mechanism based on access control. The security architecture and mechanism introduced by this paper have been implemented in Extensible Service Router prototype system.


One of the most serious problems concerning the law is the fact that not everybody is
guaranteed access to it. This is a particulary burning issue in the area of consumer
law. In 1982, there took place in Ghent, under the leadership of Professor Marcel
STORME, a symposium on access to the law by the European consumer. This
sympsosium was not the first to be organised on this topic, and will certainly not
be the last. However, it did constitute a turning point in the trend away from merely
studying this subject towards the taking of actual initiatives. This trend ultimately
culminated in the publication, at the end of 1993, of a Green Paper of the European
Commission on access to the law by the consumer. One of the solutions which is
proposed in this Green Paper is the establishment of, and support given to, specific
disputes committees which should make the law — including consumer law — more
accessible. These disputes committees already exist in the Netherlands. In this
contribution, an examination is made of these Committees.
In the Netherlands, increasing use is being made of the settling of disputes by means
of disputes committees established for each sector. This type of dispute settlement
has various advantages as well as presenting certain defects. In some cases there is
actually no alternative to it: where there is no disputes committee, the consumer will
normally refrain from taking this dispute to the ordinary courts.
The form assumed by the decision made by the dispute settlement assessors is
specific to the Netherlands, i.e. that of the "binding opinion". Apart from this aspect,
this pratical system appears to be capable of adoption abroad. Particular attention
must be given in this context to the recognition and subsiding of the disputes
committees by the authorities, and to the opportunity which this provides for laying
down quality standards. On a more general level, this extra-judicial method of
dispute settlement appears to be an attractive option in a European context.


The results of located consecutive nitrogen application and nitrogen application at one year after soil nitrogen exhaustion were compared in the Taihu Lake Region, China where nitrogen fertilizer was excessly applied in rice-wheat cropping system. The effects of different nitrogen application rates on rice yield, dry matter accumulation, nitrogen uptake, nitrogen use efficiency and soil nitrogen content were studied. The rice yield decreased significantly after three cropping seasons without nitrogen application, with the rice yield of the third season being only 6673.42 kg/hm2. When nitrogen application rate rose, the rice yield increased significantly both in the treatments of located nitrogen application and nitrogen application after exhaustion, but the extent of increase of production reduced with increasing nitrogen application rate. At the nitrogen application rate of 300 kg/hm2, the treatments of located nitrogen application and nitrogen application after exhaustion produced the highest rice yields, 10 514.95 kg/hm2 and 10 472.36 kg/hm2 , respectively. Rice plants lodged and yield decreased when the nitrogen application rate went even higher than that point. In both treatments of nitrogen application, the dry matter accumulation and nitrogen uptake of rice plants, as well as the soil total nitrogen content all increased, whereas the nitrogen use efficiency decreased with the increase of nitrogen application rate. There were no significant differences between the production indexes from the treatments of located nitrogen application and nitrogen application after exhaustion, indicating that these indexes were related to the seasonal nitrogen application rather than the background nitrogen level in the soil after one year of exhaustion.


Permanent Magnet Syschronous Machine (PMSM) has low torque, so good control is needed to be stable quickly. PMSM uses the principle of faraday experiments which is rotating a magnet in a coil or vice versa. When a magnet moves in a coil, there is a change in magnetic flux in the coil and penetrates perpendicular to the coil so that there is a potential difference between the ends of the coil, regarding this due to changes in magnetic flux. Magnetic flux can be changed by moving a magnet in a coil or vice versa by utilizing other energy sources. To get a good optimization result, the right control constants are needed. So that the best output is obtained. To get the right constants, a suitable and good method is needed, including using artificial intelligence. In this study using the Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (ICA) method. From the simulation results it was found that the best controller design in this study was ANFIS-ICA with the best profile, torque profile, voltage profile, and rotation profile. The largest current is 2.45 A, the smallest overshot torque is 0.48 pu, the largest voltage frequency is 9.84 khz, and the best rotation (close to the reference) is 700.02 rpm. The results of this study will be continued with the use of other artificial intelligence.


The health emergency caused by COVID‐19 revealed the shortcomings of health services (HS), but little is known about how this has impacted the mental health of health professionals (HP) when perceiving these difficulties.


The paper discussed the influence, the use and the point for attention on cutting-oil(liquid) in machining,and it studied and analyzed the use of water-solubility cutting-liquid particularly.


Capacitor comprising a ceramic dielectric and at least two electrodes, wherein the dielectric consists essentially of a dielectric ceramic composition having a doped barium calcium zirconium titanate, characterized in that the doped barium calcium zirconium titanate has the composition (Ba


This article presents the findings of a study concerning organisational software-selection in the context of proprietary and "Free Software". Proprietary software with its inherent benefits and drawbacks remains dominant over Free Software in many business contexts. In contrast, the arrival of disruptive approaches to applying technology, such as cloud-computing, almost certainly mandates a heterogeneous software environment. However, this paper abstracts to the organisational context, as opposed to solely concentrating on the technical aspects, so that broader issues surrounding both proprietary software and Free Software adoption are brought into focus and may provide academics and practitioners with insight into what many would consider an information technology-centric matter. Contemporary multi-disciplinary literature addressing the areas of software-selection methodology, architectures for service delivery, and software types, are combined with recent findings from primary research in order to draw initial conclusions on the current state of software-selection in organisations.


Objectives: Surgery for tumors of the parapharyngeal space (PPS) requires adequate exposure to identify and protect vital structures. Transcervical and transcervical‐transparotid approaches to the PPS may be enhanced by mandibulotomy. However, midline mandibulotomy traditionally requires lip‐splitting and extensive intraoral incisions, often necessitating tracheostomy and nasogastric feeding. We describe a new technique to gain exposure to the PPS while avoiding these consequences. Study Design: Case series. Methods: Five patients with PPS tumors underwent surgery using a new technique, the subcutaneous mandibulotomy approach (SMA). Each case was retrospectively assessed for tumor size, intraoperative access to the PPS, perioperative complications, and length of hospitalization. Results: In this series, the additional exposure achieved by SMA was adequate to safely remove large PPS tumors that could not be delivered through the transcervical‐transparotid approach. All patients started oral diets on postoperative day 1 and were discharged within 3 days. There were no intraoperative complications, and postoperative complications were self‐limited. The pathologic entities were a venous malformation, a paraganglioma, and three large, deep‐lobe pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid. Conclusions: We introduce a new technique, the SMA, which affords excellent access to the PPS without the lip‐split, chin‐split, and floor of mouth incisions. The SMA avoids both nasogastric feeding and a tracheostomy and offers improved cosmesis compared with a traditional midline mandibulotomy. Our current stepwise approach to achieve exposure to the PPS includes use of the SMA as an intermediate step for extensive PPS lesions, which are inaccessible through the transcervical approach yet do not require full labiomandibulotomy for safe and complete removal.


Pervaporative desalination is an efficacious method to obtain fresh water from saline water sources. High salt rejection and capacity to cope with high-salt concentration water solutions are important advantages of pervaporation process. To improve pervaporative desalination performance, researches concentrate on novel membrane types. Water stable metal organic frameworks loaded membranes attract substantial attention among novelty membrane applications. This study focuses on pervaporative desalination with MOF loaded polymeric membrane. First of all, the features of MOFs, synthesis methods, usage areas are explained. Then, MOFs loaded mixed matrix membranes, production methods, used MOF types in membranes and applications in pervaporative desalination are examined. At the end of the study, future expectation on the desalination applications of MOF loaded membranes are presented as concluding remarks. Metal organic framework loaded polymeric membranes are seen as promising candidates to obtain drinking water with high separation yield in pervaporative desalination process.


The agreement between serum Kt/V values and on‐line Kt/V values was examined at rest and during intra‐dialytic exercise (IDE). On the middle dialysis session of the week, participants (n=10) underwent dialysis as usual for 2 weeks and cycled for 45–60 min during dialysis for another 2 weeks. Serum urea concentrations were measured pre‐ and post‐dialysis for calculation of Kt/V using the Jindal (JKt/V) and the Daugirdas (DKt/V) second generation equations. The On‐line Kt/V (OKt/V) value was recorded at the end of dialysis (Fresenius 2008K). All dialysate effluent was collected and the total urea (mmol) eliminated during each session was determined. No significant differences in Kt/V and total urea clearance values were found between rest and IDE. Excellent correlations were found between the JKt/V and DKt/V values at rest and during IDE (r=0.97). Very good associations occurred between OKt/V and the JKt/V and DKt/V values at rest and during IDE (r=0.83–0.86). Bland Altman analysis indicated a significant negative bias between the JKt/V value with respect to both the DKt/V (−0.128) and OKt/V (−0.163) values at rest and during IDE (−0.097, −0.203); as well as between the DKt/V and OKt/V values (−0.106) during IDE. The On‐line Kt/V provides the most conservative estimation of dialysis efficacy and potentially may be the best referral value from which to ensure achievement of minimally acceptable urea clearance.


With constructing a "hierarchy and domain" model, the optical network is divided into static and dynamic resources. Its resources are designed qualitatively and quantitatively description by using the XML language to design service contracts. It is realized that the optical network's ability of supporting grid services can be reflected comprehensively and dynamically which ensures the accuracy and instantaneity of the optical network resources management and provides references to schedule the resources reasonably.


The 4-hydroxycinnamamide  is a compound  that has been isolated from the root bark of Kleinhovia hospita Linn. The compound show high toxicity to Artemia salina Leach (IC 180,53 µg) so it can be expected has cytostatic activity against P388 leukemic cells. However, the concentration of the compound in the root bark of K. hospita Linn is very low (about 1.6 ppm), and commercially the compound  is  not  ready  and  has  never  been  synthesized.  Therefore,  it  is  important  to  find  out  a synthesis method to used in prepare the compound for further examination, in particular its cytostatic activity. By this research, the 4-hydroxycinnamamide compound has been prepared from 4- hydroxycinnamic  acid  via  esterification  reaction  with  excess  ethanol  and  sulphate  acid  catalyst followed  ammonolysis  reaction  with concentrated  ammonia.  The esterification  stage  gave  ethyl 4- hidroxycinnamate   as  white  crystall  with  melting  point  133-134oC   and  34.9%  yield,  and  the ammonolysis stage gave 4-hydroxycinnamamide as white crystall with merting point 140oC and 46.1% yield. Identification of the reaction product was carried out by FTIR and NMR spectroscopy methods. Keywords: 4-hydroxycinnamamide, 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, esterification, ammonolysis


Exaggerated sympathoexcitation is associated with multiple disorders, including hypertension, heart failure, diabetes leading to various cardiovascular complications. Within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), nitric oxide (NO•) is synthesized by neuronal nitric oxide synthase (NOS1) and acts as a non‐conventional neurotransmitter that inhibits neuronal firing and consequent sympathetic outflow. NOS1 is tethered to N‐methyl D‐aspartate receptor (NMDAR) channels harboring NMDAR subunit 2B by the scaffolding protein postsynaptic density 95 (PSD95). Activation of the NMDAR at the synaptic membrane initiates a Ca2+ influx that stimulates the production of NO•. NOS1 adaptor protein (Nos1ap) competes with PSD95 for NOS1 binding and thus influences the production of NO•. We investigated the effect of over‐expressing Nos1ap in the PVN on sympathetic outflow using Cre recombinase‐conditional Nos1ap‐transgenic (Tg) mice. The Nos1ap Tg mice were microinjected with lentiviral expressing Cre‐GFP or GFP bilaterally into the PVN following our standardized method, referred to as CAPON‐OE and Control, respectively. Two weeks of post‐viral administration, the sympathetic outflow, was evaluated. CAPON‐OE mice displayed a significantly elevated urinary excretion of norepinephrine, an index of overall sympathetic outflow compared to Control (0.64±0.11* vs. 0.17±0.03 ug/day). Basal renal sympathetic nerve activity, measured as a percent of maximal activity was elevated 1.5‐fold in CAPON‐OE (46.09 ± 3.56* vs.31.04 ± 3.24) mice. Furthermore, FosB (a member of the AP‐1 family of transcription regulatory proteins) immunocytochemistry revealed increased expression in the PVN of CAPON‐OE mice when compared to control mice suggesting a chronic activation of PVN neurons after Nos1ap over‐expression. Interestingly, a robust over‐expression of Nos1ap in the PVN of CAPON‐OE (0.49±0.04* vs. 0.21±0.03) compared to control mice does not lead to any significant change in NOS1 expression. However, DAF‐FM staining of PVN slices showed decreased NO• levels in CAPON‐OE mice when compared to control mice suggesting that the decrease in NMDAR‐mediated NOS1 activity due to sequestering of NOS1 by Nos1ap leads to less NO• production. Taken together, our data indicate that specific over‐expression of Nos1ap within the PVN reduces the levels of NO• generated by NOS1, leading to increased sympathetic outflow.


Loaded with cliche and ambiguity, true root cause analysis is neither being practiced nor even desired in most areas of life. Plenty of organizations are addressing the "physical" causes of failure. Even more seem to enjoy finding out "who did it" so that disciplinary action can occur. But only a few seem willing to dig deeper in an attempt to understand the "root" causes of things that go wrong. Are you one of the few, or are you contributing to the ambiguity?


Addressing the question of the formation of a religious community by way of discussion of religious property regimes, the chapter follows the Sikh case over consecutive stages, concluding with the Gurdwara Reform Act of 1925, which recognized a central representative body of Sikhs, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, as possessing the rightful interest in Sikh religious sites. The author shows that colonial governance drew on pre-existing cultural, economic, and political forms, even as they transformed them. She discusses cases of earlier religious grants, documented especially by the Khalsa Darbar dharmarth records of the kingdom of Lahore. The tensions between individual and corporate control over gurdwaras and the lands associated with them were finally resolved in favour of the community with the Gurdwara Reform. In this new model, not only a community was tied to property, but also the idea of a singular Sikh community, and thus a new political form of community was instituted.


Time-domain data encoding, in the form of the duty cycle of a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal, has recently shown promising ways of building Machine Learning (ML) circuits. As the temporal signals approximately retain their "pseudo-analog" capacitive charging rates under voltage/ frequency variations, the circuits designed are inherently power elastic, offering the crucial leverage of energy autonomy for pervasive applications. This paper focuses on the analysis of dynamic parametric variations and their impact on the temporally encoded Machine Learning circuits. The aim is to investigate and suitably optimize these parameters for robustness, power elasticity and energy efficiency. Our study of dynamics includes how the selection of passive (R and C) components affects the dynamic range of operating frequency, which we term as "PWM carrier frequency". We investigate how RC values define the performance and energy in terms of computation latency and energy per operation. Additionally, we demonstrates how the dynamic range of voltage and frequency variations affect functional and non-functional parameters of the PWM-based neural network solutions.


Abstract : Controls and installation procedures incorporated at Naval Sea Systems Center are discussed for implementing an electrostatic work area conforming to guidelines and specifications of DOD-STD-1086, DOD-HDBK-262, MIL-STD-454, NAVSEA S600-AB-GTP-101 manual and associated industry standards. The ESD work area includes designed types of materials and test equipment needed for a Category 1 through Category 4 control environment when performing, handling, repairing and storing (MOS) metal oxide semiconductor; (CMOS) complementary metal oxide semiconductor; and JFETs(Junction Field Effect Transistors) associated with DSRV optics equipment. Originator supplied Keywodds include Body capacitance, Bandwidth and Surface resistivity measurement.


(1990). Concerning 'The economic evaluation of implementing a GIS'. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 203-210.


Recently, with companies and government agencies saving large repositories of time stream/temporal data, there is a large push for adapting association rule mining algorithms for dynamic, targeted querying. In addition, issues with data processing latency and results depreciating in value with the passage of time, create a need for swifter and more efficient processing. The aim of targeted association mining is to find potentially interesting implications in large repositories of data. Using targeted association mining techniques, specific implications that contain items of user interest can be found faster and before the implications have depreciated in value beyond usefulness. In this paper, the DynTARM algorithm is proposed for the discovery of targeted and rare association rules. DynTARM has the flexibility to discover strong and rare association rules from data streams within the user's sphere of interest. By introducing a measure, called the Volatility Index, to assess the fluctuation in the confidence of rules, rules conforming to different temporal patterns are discovered.


Plants of Banksia ericifolia and Petrophile pulchella are sensitive to fire. Changes in population size under different fire regimes were estimated, based on measurements of post-fire seedling emergence, seedling survival, survival and seed production in established plants of differing ages, survival of seeds held in serotinous cones and seed-release in the periods between fire.

Seeds were first available at 5 years in P. pulchella and 6 years in B. ericifolia. Exact replacement would be possible when burnt at these ages, if seedling establishment were very high. Low establishment would delay replacement to 13 years of age in both species. Late summer/autumn fires of high intensity favour high establishment. Such fires at 8–10 year intervals would be tolerated without any sustained decline in numbers. Fires at 10–15 year intervals could occur regardless of season or intensity with little risk of a population decline. Large increases in numbers and density would follow fires spaced at 15–30 years. Enough seeds would be available for replacement up to about 50 years in both species. Viable seed-release in unburnt conditions was sufficient to compensate for deaths in stands over 20 years old, even with very low levels of establishment.

Two variables accounted for the biggest changes in numbers and density between generations interspersed by fires; namely the age at which a stand is burned and the proportion of seeds which emerge as seedlings. A comparison with other similar species showed similarities in controls on emergence and establishment, lengths of primary juvenile periods and life spans.


Introduction to Hilbert-Huang Transform and Some Recent Developments Norden E. Huang Carrier and Riding Wave Structure of Rogue Waves Torsten Schlurmann and Marcus Datig Applications of Hilbert-Huang Transform to Ocean-Atmosphere Remote Sensing Research Xiao-Hai Yan, Young-Heon Jo, Brian Dzwonkowski, and Lide Jiang A Comparison of the Energy Flux Computation of Shoaling Waves Using Hilbert and Wavelet Spectral Analysis Techniques Paul A. Hwang, David W. Wang, and James M. Kaihatu An Application of HHT Method to Nearshore Sea Waves Albena Dimitrova Veltcheva Transient Signal Detection Using the Empirical Mode Decomposition Michael L. Larsen, Jeffrey Ridgway, Cye H. Waldman, Michael Gabbay, Rodney R. Buntzen, and Brad Battista Coherent Structures Analysis in Turbulent Open Channel Flow Using Hilbert-Huang and Wavelets Transforms Athanasios Zeris and Panayotis Prinos An HHT-Based Approach to Quantify Nonlinear Soil Amplification and Damping Ray Ruichong Zhang Simulation of Nonstationary Random Processes Using Instantaneous Frequency and Amplitude from Hilbert-Huang Transform Ping Gu and Y. Kwei Wen Comparison of Hilbert-Huang, Wavelet, and Fourier Transforms for Selected Applications Ser-Tong Quek, Puat-Siong Tua, and Quan Wang The Analysis of Molecular Dynamics Simulations by the Hilbert Huang Transform Adrian P. Wiley, Robert J. Gledhill, Stephen C. Phillips, Martin T. Swain, Colin M. Edge, and Jonathan W. Essex Decomposition of Wave Groups with EMD Method Wei Wang Perspectives on the Theory and Practices of the Hilbert-Huang Transform Nii O. Attoh-Okine Index