This paper examines the long-standing problem of linear quadratic regulation and stabilization for Itô stochastic systems with input delay. This problem remains a primary challenge because the separation principle does not hold for Itô stochastic systems. This paper presents a complete solution to the problem: 1) The (sufficient and necessary) solvability condition of the optimal control and the analytical controller are given based on the modified Riccati differential equation defined herein. 2) The sufficient and necessary stabilization condition in mean square sense is explored. We show that the Itô stochastic system with input delay is stabilized if and only if the modified algebraic Riccati equation developed in this paper has a unique positive-definite solution. The essential obstacle encountered in this paper concerns a Delayed Forward-Backward Stochastic Differential Equation (D-FBSDE), which is mathematical challenging.


The aim of this work is to study the new optical network architectures, in special, the type SLICE (Spectrum-Sliced Elastic Optical Path) and its components. Moreover, to build and to run simulations of this type of architecture in MATLAB and OptiSystem 7.0 tools evaluating their results.


This experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the resistance of fifteen native onion cultivars against Thrips tabaci. These cultivars consisted of Ghermez Azarshahr, Kazbar, Tarom, Shenat Abhar, Gholi Gheseh Zanjan, Sefid Qom, Sefid Khomein, Dorche Isfahan, Sefid Kashan, Meshkan Fars, Eghlid Fars, Sefid and Ghermez Neishabour, Sefid and Sooraty Kordestan. The cultivars were grown in a randomized complete block (RCB) design with three replications over two consecutive years. The number of Thrips, leaf temperature and color, leaf thickness, damage rate and leaf angle were all measured in this experiment. The results indicated that cultivars were significantly different in terms of the number of Thrips and the damage rate at the 1% level. Meshkan Fars, Sefid Kordestan and Sefid Qom cultivars were resistant and Sooraty Kordestan, Gholi Gheseh Zanjan cultivars were sensitive against Thrips tabaci. Also, the angle between the two central leaves of resistant cultivars (Sefid Kordestan and Sefid Qom) was considerably greater than the others. In the case of leaf temperature, color and thickness, the results showed no significant differences between cultivars. To control Thrips tabaci (especially in Iran) growers mainly use dangerous pesticides in large quantities. The usage of resistant cultivars is one of the major components in integrated pest management (IPM) for decreasing pesticides use.


This research is a feminism analysis which aims to reveal the kinds of gender discrimination faced by women, and the attitudes of women towards gender discrimination in Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns . This study is a qualitative research employing content analysis method. Data analysis was conducted through six steps: organizing and preparing the data, reading and re-reading the data, coding the data, sorting the data, interrelating the description, and interpreting the meaning of description. The findings related to the first objective show that women in the novel experience four kinds of gender discrimination. They are (1) violence: sexual, psychological, and physical violence; (2) subordination: women are alienated in a remote place, sons are preferred from girls, women are forced to get married, women's ways of dressing are restricted, women's mobility is limited, and women are treated unfairly in polygamy; (3) stereotype: women are foolish and submissive; and (4) marginalization: from health facility and education. The second result is related to women's attitudes towards discrimination. Being influenced by many factors, three female  characters  show  different  attitudes.  Nana  shows  her  acceptance  by  having  no resistance toward Jalil the oppressor, wreaking her anger on Jalil's children, and becoming self-destructive. Meanwhile, Mariam and Laila show their struggles by working in sisterhood to escape from Kabul, fighting Rasheed the oppressor, and using education to end discrimination


This paper addresses the problem of speech quality enhancement and acoustic noise reduction by adaptive blind source separation algorithms. Recently, several two-channel forward-and-backward structures have been proposed for acoustic noise reduction based on normalized least-mean-square (NLMS) algorithm. The backward structure presents the good performance compared with its direct version (forward). But the main drawback of the backward algorithm is its poor performance in steady state regime when the fixed step-size is selected large. In this paper, we propose two new versions of this algorithm by introducing simple variable step-sizes approaches, which allow improving both the steady state values. The proposed modifications are based on efficient estimation of the optimal step-sizes of the cross-coupling filters. To confirm the good performance of the proposed variable step-size algorithms, we have carried out several simulations in very noisy situation.


Electrodeposition of actinides on metal foil from the organic solutions has been used for making a sourcewith a good resolution[1]. The layers were very adherent when its thickness was not more than 100μg/cm2 ofthe elements. To obtain the thicker layers the backing with the layer has to be baked in


Research has been conducted laboratory Biotechnology Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic University of Riau, Jalan Kaharuddin Nasution Km. 11 Pekanbaru. The purpose of this study was to obtain a combination of BAP and IAA concentrations on multiflikasi anthurium. The design used in this study was completely randomized design (CRD) in factorial which consist of two factors and three replications. The first factor is the provision of BAP, consists of four standards are: B0 (without treatment), B1 (providing 0.1 ppm BAP), B2 (provision of 1 ppm BAP, B3 (gift BAP 10 ppm). While the second factor is the provision of the IAA, consisting of 4 standard also is A0 (without giving IAA), A1 (0.1 ppm of IAA), A2 (IAA giving 10 ppm) and A3 (IAA giving 10 ppm). the parameters observed is the percentage of live eksplant, age appears shoots, roots emerge age, number of shoots, number of roots and shoots high. Observational data were statistically analyzed using BNJ-up and test at the level of 5%. From the results of research in the interaction of BAP and IAA effect on the age emerged shoots, roots emerge age, number of shoots, number of roots and shoots high. BAP singly administration significantly influenced the age emerged shoots, roots appear age, number of shoots, roots and the high number of shoots with no provision of BAP. While a single provision of the IAA significantly affect age emerged shoots, roots emerge age, number of shoots, number of roots and shoots high. To multiflikasi interaction treatment is best in the B1A0 9.33 shoots.


The present invention relates to an airbag deactivation means (2) for a passenger seat of a road vehicle, preferably a passenger car, with a to a retaining bracket (3) which serves for fixing a child seat (11) at a passenger's seat, fastened housing (5), in is disposed which a between a first switching state and a second switching state adjustable, electrical and / or electronic switching device (6), and with a slide (4) which is attachable to the support bracket (3) that it relative to the housing (5) at the mounting bracket (3) between a first slide position (S1) and a second slide position (S2) is adjustably mounted, said carriage (4) engages in the housing (5) and cooperating with the switching means (6), such that an adjustment of the carriage (4) from the first carriage position (S1) in the second carriage position (S2) an adjustment of the switching means (6) from the first switching state i n the second switching state causes.


Let $G=(V,E)$ be a graph with unit-length edges and nonnegative costs assigned to its vertices. Being given a list of pairwise different vertices $S=(s_1,s_2,\ldots,s_p)$, the {\em prioritized Voronoi diagram} of $G$ with respect to $S$ is the partition of $G$ in $p$ subsets $V_1,V_2,\ldots,V_p$ so that, for every $i$ with $1 \leq i \leq p$, a vertex $v$ is in $V_i$ if and only if $s_i$ is a closest vertex to $v$ in $S$ and there is no closest vertex to $v$ in $S$ within the subset $\{s_1,s_2,\ldots,s_{i-1}\}$. For every $i$ with $1 \leq i \leq p$, the {\em load} of vertex $s_i$ equals the sum of the costs of all vertices in $V_i$. The load of $S$ equals the maximum load of a vertex in $S$. We study the problem of adding one more vertex $v$ at the end of $S$ in order to minimize the load. This problem occurs in the context of optimally locating a new service facility ({\it e.g.}, a school or a hospital) while taking into account already existing facilities, and with the goal of minimizing the maximum congestion at a site. There is a brute-force algorithm for solving this problem in ${\cal O}(nm)$ time on $n$-vertex $m$-edge graphs. We prove a matching time lower bound for the special case where $m=n^{1+o(1)}$ and $p=1$, assuming the so called Hitting Set Conjecture of Abboud et al. On the positive side, we present simple linear-time algorithms for this problem on cliques, paths and cycles, and almost linear-time algorithms for trees, proper interval graphs and (assuming $p$ to be a constant) bounded-treewidth graphs.


Abstract Many previous studies point to a connection between the annual cycle and interannual variability in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. To investigate the importance of the annual cycle in the generation of tropical Atlantic variability (TAV) as well as its associated coupled feedback mechanisms, a set of controlled experiments is conducted using a global coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model (GCM) in which the climatological annual cycle is modified. An anomaly coupling strategy was developed to improve the model-simulated annual cycle and mean sea surface temperature (SST), which is critical to the experiments. Experiments include a control simulation in which the annual cycle is present and a fixed annual cycle simulation in which the coupled model is forced to remain in a perpetual annual mean state. Results reveal that the patterns of TAV, defined as the leading three rotated EOFs, and their relationship to coupled feedback mechanisms are present even in the absence of the annual cycle...


In this work, numerical calculation of Green's functions is employed to design arbitrarily-shaped sparse meta-surfaces composed of few elements for wavefronts tailoring. Several metasurfaces are designed in the microwave domain for beamforming and scattering reduction functionalities.


Lactobacillus bulgaricus is part of the traditional Bulgarian food. It was known to the Thracians – the ancient population that lived on the territory of present Bulgaria. At the beginning of 20th century, the Russian scientist and Nobel prize winner Ilya Metchnikov, in his work "The Prolongation of Life: Optimistic Studies" relates the long and healthy life of Bulgarians to the yoghurt consumption and in particular to the local bacterium in yogurt. In the 90s of the 20th century Lactobacillus bulgaricus was used in the production of probiotic functional food for astronauts. Using modern biotechnologies, certain Bulgarian companies sheathe strains of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and other probiotic microorganisms with a natural coating, consisting of components of the growing medium during fermentation. The isolation of new probiotic strains from spring water, which normally survive under the changing climatic conditions in nature, helps the production of probiotic products in which the strains of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and other probiotic microorganisms retain their stability and vitality when passing through the gastrointestinal tract. Bulgaria becomes famous in the world for Lactobacillus bulgaricus and the Bulgarian territory is still an important reservoir for the isolation of natural strains of lactic acid bacteria which after an additional selection are used as starter cultures for the production of various fermented foods and probiotic products. Lactobacillus bulgaricus is the ancient contribution of mankind to the modern agricultural science and the creation of the first healthy foods in the world.


The low frequency (10 Hz 20 kHz) noise characteristics of GaN-based bow-tie diodes designed for room temperature terahertz detection have been studied in temperature range from 77 K to 320 K. The low frequency noise characteristics are comprised from 1/f and Lorentzian type spectra caused by charge carrier capture and release processes in centers with (0.19-0.55) eV activation energy. Keywords— detector; GaN; noise; THz Nowadays terahertz (THz) imaging and spectroscopy showed great prospects in a broad variety of application and stimulated the development of THz technology. FETs, micro-bolometers, Schottky diodes were proposed as THz detectors [1]. Devices employed in the THz imaging and spectroscopy systems must have high sensitivity, low noise and fast response. Bow-tie (BT) diodes have been suggested as compact, room temperature operating THz detectors [2]. The BT diode is asymmetrical structure in a bow-tie form with one of its two semiconductor leaves being metalized. Its operation is based on the rectification due to the non-uniform carriers heating in a trapeze-shape semiconductor layer [3]. Low frequency noise spectroscopy is well known method for investigation of charge carrier transport and trapping in defects' formed centers, what is especially important in GaNbased structures. Here we present comprehensive investigation of low frequency (10 Hz – 20 kHz) noise in GaN-based bow-tie diodes. These BT diodes were designed as THz detectors. The investigation was carried out with the aim to clear up the charge carriers trapping processes, their influence to the performance of detectors and to their quality. The BT diodes were fabricated of Al0.25Ga0.75N/AlN/GaN/SiC HEMT structures possessing the 2DEG density of 9 × 10 cm and the electron mobility of 1.7 × 10 cm/Vs and 15 × 10 cm/Vs at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures, respectively [4]. Noise spectra of the investigated BT diodes comprise from 1/f and Lorentzian type components. Noise spectral density is proportional to voltage square at negative bias over all investigated range ((0-2) V) and approximately up to 0.2 V at positive bias. The lowest noise spectral density is at zero bias. As BT diodes are able to detect THz radiation without bias they are low noise detectors [3]. Noise spectral density rises with temperature increase at the temperatures below 250 K, where resistance of the diode almost does not change with temperature (Fig. 1). Lorentzian type "bumps" in the noise spectra are typical for the investigated devices. Characteristic time of the active trapping centers and activation energies vary in the range (0.05-1) ms and (0.19-0.55) eV, respectively. Charge carrier trapping processes in these centers causes variation with time of detector's parameters. Above 250 K the noise spectral density decreases when the resistance of the device starts to increase due to the decrease of carrier mobility. 100 150 200 250 300 10 -14 10 -13 10 -12


The kinetics of the ligand substitution reaction of the title complexes in the solid state have been studied using thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) techniques. For these complex salts, an exothermic peak appears in the DSC curve which correlates with a ligand substitution in which anionatobis(1,10-phenanthroline)metal(II) complexes are formed. The heats of the exothermic reaction for ligand substitution of the sulfates decrease in the order Co(II)>Ni(II)>Fe(II). Isothermal and nonisothermal kinetic analyses were carried out using the exothermic peak. Activation energies of the ligand substitution for the same counterion generally increase with the metal in the order Co(II)<Ni(II)<Fe(II) and for the same metal, Ni(II) or Fe(II), increase with the counterion in the order Cl−<Br−<I−<SO42−. However, for the cobalt complex, the activation energies are almost identical for this series of counterions. From the trends in activation parameters for the ligand substitution, we propos...


Evaluate the effectiveness of an educational curriculum on general tracheostomy care principles and determine the effect of this educational curriculum on the level of provider comfort with tracheostomy care.


On the 2nd October 2016, the United Kingdom's Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, that Article 50 – the formal process for leaving the European Union, would be triggered by the end of March 2017. This in effect, should facilitate negotiation procedures involved during the two-year period following the triggering of the Article – resulting in the UK leaving the EU by the end of Summer 2019. The Prime Minister also announced that the EU Repeal Bill – which would facilitate the process of making the UK independent again, was to be introduced during the Queen's Speech. The Repeal of the 1972 Act, it was added, should however, take place after the UK leaves the EU. This article explores the impact increased protectionist measures could have on US-China relations – as well as resulting consequences and dynamics for relations with the United Kingdom. This particularly being the case, in view of recent Brexit results, and the emphasis re-iterated by the UK that it would adopt a less protectionist stance in its bid to forge new relations and strategic partnerships with global partners. (The central theme of this paper – as with other papers published by the author in relation to Free Trade Agreements is namely: That Free Trade Agreements, on their own, are intended to be beneficial to any economy. It ceases to be beneficial for a number of reasons, most notably, when they have been badly negotiated and lacking of essential provisions. Therefore, there should be every opportunity to renegotiate badly negotiated Free Trade Agreements which may have been attributed to previous or present administrations – as well as ensuring that future agreements are not lacking when it comes to essential provisions).


We investigate the existence and the global causal structure of plane symmetric spacetimes with weak regularity when the matter consists of an irrotational perfect fluid with pressure equal to its mass-energy density. Our theory encompasses the class of W1, 2 regular spacetimes whose metric coefficients have square-integrable first-order derivatives and whose curvature must be understood in the sense of distributions. We formulate the characteristic initial value problem with data posed on two null hypersurfaces intersecting along a two-plane. Relying on Newman–Penrose's formalism and expressing our weak regularity conditions in terms of the Newman–Penrose scalars, we arrive at a fully geometrical formulation in which, along each initial hypersurface, two scalar fields describing the incoming radiation must be prescribed in L1 and W−1, 2, respectively. To analyze the future boundary of such a spacetime and identify its global causal structure, we introduce a gauge that reduces the Einstein equations to a coupled system of wave equations and ordinary differential equations for well-chosen unknowns. We prove that, within the weak regularity class under consideration and for generic initial data, a true spacetime singularity forms in finite proper time. Our formulation is robust enough so that propagating discontinuities in the curvature or in the matter variables do not prevent us from constructing a spacetime whose curvature generically blows up on the future boundary. Earlier work on the problem studied here was restricted to sufficiently regular and vacuum spacetimes.


Hydrogen is currently regarded as an energy carrier for the future, and power generation using fuel cells is a promising technology for next generation vehicles due to their efficiency and zero emission . Inside the project "H2 Filiera Idrogeno" funded by "Regione Toscana", a h ydrogen power propulsion system will be installed on a light commercial vehi cle based on the Piaggio Porter van. A risk analysis is a primary element in assessing t he safety of a new technology, and one of the essential stages is the evaluation of event consequ ences. A key component of a risk analysis of a hydrogen system is developing an understanding of t he behaviour of fuel releases in realistic scenarios. Such knowledge allows the development of measure to minimize the probability of an accident, and of methods to mitigate the consequenc es if an accident should occur. In this work the study of different paths for hydro gen released from the system to reach the interior of the vehicle had been carried out and experimental t ests had been made to investigate realistic release scenarios. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Filiera Idrogeno is a project sponsored by MIUR ( Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca) and Regione Toscana, currently under progress. The Proj ct promotes the development and testing of mobility systems based on the use of hyd rogen, which is the energy carrier on which many automotive companies have poured their interests re cently. It represents a potential choice to produce ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicles) characterised vehicles , which, unlike battery electric vehicles, have ranges not too distant from those of the convention al es, as well as reduced refuelling time. The mobility based on hydrogen will require, howeve r, strong changes in vehicles, in the production facilities and in the fuel distribution. In this sc enario, Regione Toscana has emphasized the opportunity to test the production, storage and the use on-board vehicles of hydrogen. The major assets of Tuscany are: • A good availability of renewable sources, with whic h it becomes possible to produce hydrogen emission-free: in addition to geothermal, there are wind and solar high energy density areas. • Presence of chemical companies, for hydrogen produc tion. • Presence of an extended technical knowledge in this field: Research laboratories (University of Pisa, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna) and automotive in dustries (Piaggio).


Organic thin-film transistor (OTFT)-driven 5×5 polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) display cells on a flexible plastic substrate have been developed. It is necessary to increase the maximum usable gate voltage of OTFT to obtain a high contrast ratio. We propose a stacked gate insulator that consists of polyvinylphenol and anodized Ta2O5 for decreasing the gate leakage current and increase the maximum voltage. The OTFT with the insulator showed a field-effect mobility of 0.4 cm2/(V s), a current on/off ratio of 105, a low threshold voltage of 1.1 V, and a subthreshold slope of 0.2 V/decade. Leakage current was successively decreased up to a gate voltage of 15 V, maintaining a low-voltage operation of OTFT. Double passivation layers using polyvinylalcohol and photosensitive acrylic material are also proposed to prevent the degradation of OTFT by liquid crystal. The bending characteristics of OTFT on plastic substrates were also measured for various radiuses of curvature. The OTFT can operate at a radius of curvature exceeding 20 mm. On the fabricated display cells, we confirmed a good display operation with a contrast ratio of 10:1 with a low driving voltage of 12–13 V.


Fulvic acid( FA) and humilic acid( HA) were used as the adsorption substrate in water,and the adsorption of two humic aicds to pyrite chosen from severals iron minerals were studied. Xray diffraction( XRD),scanning electron microscope( SEM),infrard spectrum( IR),nanoparticle size and zeta potential ananlyer,X-ray photo electron spectroscopy( XPS) and surface area analyzer( BET) were employed to characterize the pyrite. The effects of adsorption conditions including p H,ionic strength and temperature were investigated. It was found that the pyrite had a layered structure. After the adsorption of humic acids,molecular clusters were formed on its surface,and the size of pyrite crystal was reduced by 10 nm. The maximum adsorption of HA and FA is13. 1 mg·g- 1and 11. 8 mg·g- 1,respectively. The amount of adsorbed humic acids to pyrite first increased and then decreased with increase p H. Ionic strength( NaCl) had little effect on the adsorption. The adsorption capacity of pyrite increased with the increase of temperature. The adsorption processes of the two humic acids are well described by the Langmuir isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. Thermodynamic results showed that the adsorption was a spontaneous process.


ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the presence of plasmid‐mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes in &bgr;‐lactamase‐producing Escherichia coli isolates from layer hens and to characterize their molecular background. Among 142 E. coli isolates, 86 (60.6%) showed multidrug resistance and 15 (10.6%) were found to be &bgr;‐lactamase‐producing E. coli. Extended‐spectrum &bgr;‐lactamase (ESBL) and plasmid‐mediated AmpC (pAmpC) &bgr;‐lactamase genes, blaCTX‐M‐14 and blaCMY‐2, were identified in three and six E. coli isolates, respectively. The non‐ESBL or pAmpC gene, blaTEM‐1, was found in eight of the isolates. Two isolates had both genes, blaCTX‐M‐14 and blaTEM‐1. Among the 15 &bgr;‐lactamase‐producing E. coli, six PMQR genes, qnrS1 (n = 3) and qnrB4 (n = 3), were identified. Among the six PMQR‐positive E. coli isolates, four exhibited double amino acid exchanges at both gyrA and parC with ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin minimum inhibitory concentrations of ≥32 and ≥16 &mgr;g/mL, respectively. Additionally, five transconjugants (33.3%) showed a transferability of &bgr;‐lactamase and PMQR genes. Pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis was conducted to investigate the 15 &bgr;‐lactamase‐producing E. coli isolates. In PFGE, E. coli included three PFGE patterns showing the same farms and in accordance with both &bgr;‐lactamase and PMQR genes and the antimicrobial resistance pattern. Layer hens may act as a reservoir of antibiotic‐resistant bacteria, and the PMQR gene in &bgr;‐lactamase‐producing E. coli isolates from layer hens has the potential to enter the food chain. Therefore, our findings suggest that comprehensive surveillance of antimicrobial use in laying operation systems is necessary.


Electric current is the basic variable of measurement in instrumentation system. One of the current measurements had been developed was based on magnetic sensor. Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR) produces an output voltage when it detects the magnetic field from electric current flow. The purpose of this study was to characterize the response of GMR when variation number of coil was given. The characterization was the GMR voltage response to the AC current values from 0.01 A to 5.00 A. The linearity of the relation was reaching saturation point when the magnetic field measured higher than 10.5 Oe at room temperature. As the number of coil increased, the earlier saturation occurred. To see the sensitivity of the sensor response, the data graph was cut off at 1.56 A AC. From this research, we got single coil was ideal to measure electric current higher than 1.56 A AC, as the relation of GMR voltage to the current tended to maintain its linearity. For measurement of 1.56 A AC and less, coil number addition would increase the sensitivity of sensor response. This research hopefully will be benefit for further development using an electric current measurement based on GMR magnetic sensor for power meter design.


Background : Polycythemia vera (PV) is a myeloproliferative neoplasm driven by JAK/STAT activation and is associated with erythrocytosis and a broad symptom burden that may negatively impact patient quality of life (QoL). Hydroxyurea (HU) is often used as first-line therapy for high-risk patients but may not effectively control or reduce symptom burden. RESPONSE is a phase III trial comparing ruxolitinib (RUX) with best available therapy (BAT) in patients with PV who were intolerant of or resistant to HU according to modified European LeukemiaNet (ELN) criteria. The primary study endpoint (a composite of hematocrit control and ≥35% spleen volume reduction at Week 32) was achieved by 21% of patients in the RUX arm vs 1% in the BAT arm ( P <0.0001); 77% of patients in the RUX arm achieved at least one component of the primary endpoint. The current analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of RUX on PV-related symptoms and QoL measures in the RESPONSE trial.

Methods : Patients with PV aged ≥18 years, resistant to or intolerant of HU (modified ELN criteria) with splenomegaly, and who required phlebotomy for hematocrit control were randomized 1:1 to receive open-label RUX 10 mg twice daily (BID) or BAT (administered based on investigator judgment). Dose adjustments were permitted (RUX, 5-mg BID increments [25 mg BID max]; BAT was adjusted per investigator judgment). Objectives of this analysis included assessment of improvement in symptom burden as assessed by patient-reported outcomes using the 14-item modified Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Symptom Assessment Form (MPN-SAF), the Pruritus Symptom Impact Scale (PSIS), the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), and the Patient Global Impression of Change. The 14-item MPN-SAF (graded from 0 [absent] to 10 [worst imaginable]) comprised symptoms related to cytokines (tiredness, itching, muscle ache, night sweats, and sweats while awake), hyperviscosity (vision problems, dizziness, concentration problems, headache, numbness/tingling, ringing in ears, and skin redness), and splenomegaly (abdominal discomfort and early satiety). Changes in total symptom score (TSS; maximum score = 140) and individual symptom scores from baseline to Week 32 were summarized by treatment group. For the EORTC QLQ-C30 Global Health Status/QOL score, the percentage of patients with a minimally important difference (MID) from baseline (10-point change) at Week 32 was summarized.

Results : Overall, 222 patients were randomized (RUX, 110; BAT, 112). Median age (range) was similar between arms (RUX, 62.0 [34.0–90.0]; BAT, 60.0 [33.0–84.0]); the RUX and BAT arms were 60% and 71% male, respectively. At Week 32, a higher proportion of patients in the RUX vs the BAT arms had a ≥50% improvement in MPN-SAF TSS (49% vs 5%, respectively) and MPN-SAF symptom cluster scores (cytokine, 64% vs 11%; hyperviscosity, 37% vs 13%; splenomegaly, 62% vs 17%). Median percentage changes in individual symptom scores are presented in the Table . Mean changes from baseline at Week 32 on the 5 items of the PSIS indicated that the severity of pruritus and its interference on daily life improved with RUX (range, −1.5 to −2.2) and was unchanged/worsened with BAT (range, −0.1 to 0.3). Treatment with RUX vs BAT was associated with improved mean changes from baseline at Week 32 on EORTC QLQ-C30 symptom subscales, functional subscales, and Global Health Status/QOL (Table) ; 46% of RUX patients versus 10% of BAT patients achieved an MID in Global Health Status/QOL (Figure) . At Week 32, RUX patients were more likely to rate their global impression of symptom changes as "very much improved" or "much improved" (67%) vs BAT patients (13%).

Conclusion : In patients with PV who were resistant to or intolerant of HU, treatment with RUX was associated with greater and clinically meaningful improvements in PV-related symptom burden and QoL measures compared with BAT.

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Figure 1

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Figure 2

Disclosures Mesa: Incyte Corporation: Research Funding; CTI: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding; Genentech: Research Funding; Eli Lilly: Research Funding; Promedior: Research Funding; NS Pharma: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding. Off Label Use: Ruxolitinib is a JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor approved for the treatment of patients with intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis, including primary myelofibrosis, post polycythemia vera myelofibrosis, and post-essential thrombocythemia myelofibrosis. Verstovsek: Incyte Corporation: Research Funding. Kiladjian: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Masszi: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Durrant: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Harrison: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. He: Incyte Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Jones: Incyte Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Parasuraman: Incyte Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Li: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership. Cote: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership. Habr: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership. Vannucchi: Novartis Pharmaceuticals: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding.

 [1]: pending:yes


The effect of sample size on goodness of fit indices that are widely used in structural equation models is discussed and empirically illustrated. Many of the indices discussed in the. article are reported in such applications as LISREL and EQS. GR, AGR, Normed fit index (NFI), Non-normed fit index (NNFI), Incremental fit index (LFI) and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) are examined for iwo types of sample size effects. The means of the sampling distributions of GR, IR and CR were relatively stable across different sample sizes and these three indices were not as downward biased as NFI and NNFI.


This article examines in detail certain aspects of the mise-en-page of Glasgow, University Library MS Hunter 409, the most complete surviving manuscript copy of the Middle English Romaunt of the Rose, a translation of the Roman de la rose. It explores the way in which, since the nineteenth-century work of Skeat and his contemporaries, critical focus has been directed overwhelmingly towards splitting the text into discrete 'fragments', with the principal purpose of discerning which was by Chaucer. It then argues that the Glasgow manuscript's presentation of the Romaunt does not support these readings of the text, and suggests that this manuscript in fact provides evidence of engagement with much broader scribal and decorative traditions of transmitting the Roman de la rose through its layout and decoration. The article concludes by arguing for a more integrated and less divisive approach to the Romaunt, and a move away from a scholarly model which focuses on its supposed 'fragmentary' state and its relationship to Chaucer, in favour of an exploration of its relationship to the Rose itself.


We report a study of growth and magnetism of Ru films on the graphite surface for substrate temperatures T of 70 K and 300 K using C 1s photoemission and surface reflectivity in the extreme ultraviolet region. The films consist of islands with a thickness of the order of 10 nm. The islands grow mainly laterally in size or number until a transition point where they fill about 40% (T = 70K) or 30% (T = 300 K) of the film volume. Then this fraction remains nearly constant suggesting a purely vertical growth of the islands. For a film grown at T = 70 K until the transition point, no linear dichroism could be observed, indicating that the Ru film was not ferromagnetic.


Jack London's «Northern Stories» is the conventional name of the early writer's works, with which he entered the world literature. The collection is composed of a system of motifs related to the theme of «gold rush». The theme of «gold rush» raises serious problems for barbaric looting of nature to satisfy greed. Jack London reproduced beautiful pictures of nature and at the same time the terrible consequences of human activity in Alaska.

The testing theme was the central theme in Jack London's «Northern Stories». The writer consistently reproduced situations in which a person, remaining alone with danger, was given the opportunity to test their own forces in a difficult struggle against circumstances threatening its existence. Reproducing the realities of everyday life of goldsmiths, Jack London, of course, could not escape the naturalistic detail. But the writer's proposed interpretation of man strongly opposed the leading concepts of naturalists. In particular, he freed characters from biological dependence: even under the worst circumstances, the heroes of the «Northern Stories» are not helpless – they overcome physical deterioration due to solid positions and moral stability. Characters that Jack London frankly sympathizes with embody the romantic ideal of the author: they are strong personalities who adhere to the laws of brotherhood and justice.

One of the main features that permeates all Jack London's writings about the North is the adventure motif, it unites people of different professions and nationalities, includes the danger, uncertainty and romanticism. Jack London wrote his «Northern Stories» based on his practical experience, in which the cruelty of «white silence», on the one hand, and the romance of the struggle for life, on the other hand, and, moreover, the preservation of the moral person's face and kindness in situations where could stand only a person who has a strong spirit.


A brain tumor can have an impact on the symmetry of a person's face or head, depending on its location and size. If a brain tumor is located in an area that affects the muscles responsible for facial symmetry, it can cause asymmetry. However, not all brain tumors cause asymmetry. Some tumors may be located in areas that do not affect facial symmetry or head shape. Additionally, the asymmetry caused by a brain tumor may be subtle and not easily noticeable, especially in the early stages of the condition. Brain tumor classification using deep learning involves using artificial neural networks to analyze medical images of the brain and classify them as either benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). In the field of medical imaging, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) have been used for tasks such as the classification of brain tumors. These models can then be used to assist in the diagnosis of brain tumors in new cases. Brain tissues can be analyzed using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). By misdiagnosing forms of brain tumors, patients' chances of survival will be significantly lowered. Checking the patient's MRI scans is a common way to detect existing brain tumors. This approach takes a long time and is prone to human mistakes when dealing with large amounts of data and various kinds of brain tumors. In our proposed research, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models were trained to detect the three most prevalent forms of brain tumors, i.e., Glioma, Meningioma, and Pituitary; they were optimized using Aquila Optimizer (AQO), which was used for the initial population generation and modification for the selected dataset, dividing it into 80% for the training set and 20% for the testing set. We used the VGG-16, VGG-19, and Inception-V3 architectures with AQO optimizer for the training and validation of the brain tumor dataset and to obtain the best accuracy of 98.95% for the VGG-19 model.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting the motor system and occurring in the central nervous system. One of the symptoms of PD is accumulation of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites. The alpha-synuclein (SNCA) gene is part of the protein complex called Lewy body. The SNCA gene encoding a presynaptic protein product is thought to play a role in PD-related important pathways. It is suggested that there is a relationship between the risk of PD development and SNCA levels, and it is suggested that SNCA level is an important marker in PD diagnosis. Various polymorphisms have been identified in the 5 ′ and/or 3 ′ UTR regions of the SNCA gene, and as a result of these polymorphisms, changes occur in the binding of transcription factors. The identification of the roles of SNCA gene polymorphisms in PD development may enable the development of new methods for the treatment of PD.


Summary form only given. The idea to use microscopic test particles as electrostatic and thermal probes in complex plasmas has been consequently developed during the last years1–3. Due to the force balance of the particles, however, it is very difficult to change their position in the plasma sheath without changing the external and internal plasma parameters. Recently, experiments have been performed where the confined particles are affected by additional centrifugal force4 or by laser radiation5.


In our country in transition,corruption can not be separated from certain social conditions,social environment and society the role of General operating mechanism.Mr.Fei Xiaotong's "bad sequence pattern" theory to explore the root causes of corruption provides a cultural perspective.Traditional "bad sequence pattern " intrinsic "self-Semitism","Fallon's arithmetic","benevolence of uncertainty" and "the scope of relativity and contractility" the impact of modern still exist,constaints the healthy development of society.


We present the consolidation of ADMFS (aid decision-making fuzzy system), which can be used to carry out decision-making in an urban bus network by using fuzzy sets theory, and takes into account the knowledge given by experts and operators of the urban bus network to solve the problem of connections between buses. We present a system which can be used to carry out decision-making and resolve some problems of connections regulation where there are several buses in the same platform simultaneously. Several problems of decision-making in various transport environments present fuzzy knowledge, and fuzzy reasoning, because a lot of knowledge in the real situation concerning decision-making is uncertain. This uncertain data can be modelled very well by fuzzy sets theory. One of the main problems for public transport users is the connection between buses. These connections sometimes take place in bad conditions, caused by unexpected incidents, which involve delays of the buses.


We present an analysis of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome, to search horizontal gene transfers. DNA statistical composition differs according to species, and therefore, hidden Markov models, which can cut up a sequence into segments, on the basis of their local oligonucleotide composition, provide good statistical tools to identify horizontal transfers in the sequence. Crossing statistical results with a featured DNA physical map, and on the basis of gene sequence homologies, we detected four new resistance bearing potential horizontal gene transfers. A fifth segment shows all characteristics of an integron, issued from the transposon family.


A mixture of CuCN and N-benzylbenzenesulfonamide catalyzes the 1,4-addition of dialkylzincs or diarylzincs (Cu : Zn = 1 : 200 to 1 : 10000) to α,β-unsaturated ketones to give, after aqueous workup, the corresponding β-substituted ketones in nearly quantitative yields. A range of cyclic enones having s-cis or s-trans geometries as well as conformationally flexible acyclic enones are usable as substrates. The ethyl group migrates more readily than the methyl and phenyl groups. CuOTf, CuO-t-C4H9, and mesitylcopper can be used in place of CuCN. The in situ-formed alkylzinc enolate, prior to aqueous workup, further undergoes an aldol reaction with aldehydes or Pd(0)-assisted coupling with allyl acetate, resulting in regio-controlled, vicinal carbacondensation products. A catalytic cycle is proposed on the basis of a kinetic study and a structural analysis of the zinc enolate product by NMR and molecular weight measurements.


We describe an empirical evaluation of a visualization approach based on a 3D city metaphor, implemented in a tool called CodeCity. We designed the controlled experiment based on a set of lessons extracted from the current body of research and perfected it during a preliminary pilot phase. We then conducted the experiment in four locations across three countries over a period of four months, involving participants from both academia and industry. We detail the decisions behind our design as well as the lessons we learned from this experience. Finally, we present the results of the experiment and the complete set of data required to ensure repeatability of the experiment.


Significance The formation of the nuclei of protein crystals has been suggested to occur within protein-rich mesoscopic clusters. The existence of such clusters has been revealed for many proteins; however, their role in crystallization is still unclear. Our live images in a protein crystallization solution using transmission electron microscopy reveal that protein-rich mesoscopic clusters are solid amorphous particles that work as heterogeneous nucleation sites. The nucleation event for the crystal starts via another noncrystalline particle, which appears only a few seconds before crystal nucleation, that is, there are two types of amorphous particles that have different roles in protein crystallization. Nucleation, the primary step in crystallization, dictates the number of crystals, the distribution of their sizes, the polymorph selection, and other crucial properties of the crystal population. We used time-resolved liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to perform an in situ examination of the nucleation of lysozyme crystals. Our TEM images revealed that mesoscopic clusters, which are similar to those previously assumed to consist of a dense liquid and serve as nucleation precursors, are actually amorphous solid particles (ASPs) and act only as heterogeneous nucleation sites. Crystalline phases never form inside them. We demonstrate that a crystal appears within a noncrystalline particle assembling lysozyme on an ASP or a container wall, highlighting the role of heterogeneous nucleation. These findings represent a significant departure from the existing formulation of the two-step nucleation mechanism while reaffirming the role of noncrystalline particles. The insights gained may have significant implications in areas that rely on the production of protein crystals, such as structural biology, pharmacy, and biophysics, and for the fundamental understanding of crystallization mechanisms.


Each time an aircraft system fails, a series of steps are required to repair or restore the aircraft to full operational status. The steps include failure detection, fault isolation, disassembly to gain access to the defective element, repair, and so on. The frequency of the maintenance becomes a significant parameter in determining system support requirements. The maintenance frequency for a particular item depends very much on the reliability of that item. In order to exemplify this idea the present paper contains a series of analyzes whose purpose is to identify the critical parts for a medium courier turboprop aircraft operated by the Romanian Air Force.


The genitalia of the male holotype of P. towadensis (from Honshu) are illustrated. The distinction from P. ermolenkoi Zhiltzova, 1982 (from Sachalin and the South Kurile Islands) is discussed.


Affordability and homeownership are important factors of urban livability. However, given the rapid increase in house prices and the slower growth of individual incomes in Malaysia, the ability to own a house presents a significant challenge. Rising costs of living add to the problem. Current trends show that housing unaffordability is particularly acute among the middle-income earners, the group that constitutes the main bulk of the Malaysian urban populace. Housing affordability impinges upon urban livability. This paper reports a study that was undertaken to analyse specific factors (namely location, demand, construction costs and service costs) regarding their effects on house prices and housing affordability of the middle-income group. The town of Kajang (Selangor, Malaysia) was chosen as the case study area while the focus is centred on the two most popular segments of residential properties, the single- and double-storey terraced houses. The purpose of this study is to analyse how affordability affects home ownership and to determine its effect towards urban livability. Key findings from this study concluded that there is a link between income and affordability, rapid house price increase affect home ownership and the livability of the middle-income group in the cities in Malaysian.


The challenge to the drilling fluids industry has been to find a water-based system or additive that meets both the performance demands for inhibiting reactive shale formations and environmental requirements. Using glycols as drilling fluid additives has been a common practice for several years. The exact mechanisms and benefits have been debated within the industry. Recent work has focused on the use of cloud point glycols as shale inhibitors. Experience around the world, coupled with a better understanding of shale inhibition, has led to the successful development and application of Glycol Enhanced Muds, or GEMs. The paper describes drill-in fluid applications, subsalt applications, toxicity tests, and two case histories.


The article reviews the theory of dissipative spin dynamics close to the adiabatic regime, which encompasses the timescales from several picoseconds to several nanoseconds typical for long-wavelength spin waves, for ultrafast magnetization dynamics of the domain walls, or for field- and current-induced switching processes in nanostructures. The emphasis is on single-phase systems, but links to magnetization dynamics in multilayer systems are also given. After an introduction of the appropriate magnetic dynamical variables for various experiments, the concept of dissipation is discussed. Two situations without damping, that is, the case of infinite electronic scattering time and the case of zero electronic scattering time ('strictly adiabatic limit') are considered, and the various physical mechanisms leading to finite scattering times are surveyed qualitatively. Two quantitative models for dissipative spin dynamics are discussed, the s–d model and the breathing Fermi surface model. The latter model is a very powerful tool to describe dissipative spin dynamics in metallic magnets for the limit of small scattering times, and it can be combined with the modern state-of-the-art electronic density-functional theory. The results of such calculations are reviewed, with special emphasis to the startling properties of damping in systems with reduced dimensionality. The status of the development of parameter-free, ab initio spin dynamics simulation codes is discussed, and finally concluding remarks and perspectives are given.

Keywords:

ultrafast magnetization dynamics;
damping;
near-adiabatic limit;
s–d model;
breathing Fermi surface model;
ab initio spin dynamics simulation;
spin-polarized currents


Stress‐strain curves and transient creep curves for single crystals are obtained from calculations based on the observed behavior of dislocations in LiF, and the strain rate equation, e=bnv. The pronounced yield drops and apparent ``delay times'' predicted by the calculations are observed experimentally. This agreement between calculation and experiment implies that further consideration of the calculations may give some insight into the yield point and transient creep behavior of single crystals. Several parameters are varied in the calculation in order to determine the effect of such things as testing machine speed, machine hardness, rate of dislocation multiplication, work‐hardening rate, number of mobile dislocations initially present, and the dependence of dislocation velocity on stress. The parameter that most strongly influences the yield points and transient creep behavior of a given material is n0, the number of mobile dislocations initially present. The wide range of observed yield point and tr...


As the most widely-used control scheme in industrial control systems,PID suffers from the problem of integrator windup. Conditional integration and tracking back calculation are the two major anti-windup solutions,and both are independent of the plant model. Besides these,there are anti-windup schemes which are based on the system model,such as the anti-windup PID with integral state predictor. The detailed designs of the aforementioned three antiwindup schemes were presented,and then they were applied to a DC servo motor for speed regulation. Experimental tests were conducted using the TMS320F2808 DSP board,and the results were compared and analyzed. The results indicate that all the servo systems with the three anti-windup schemes are capable of tracking a wide range of target speed fast,smooth and accurately,in spite of the difference in their algorithm implementation and parameter tuning.


As an undergraduate text, the book may well find a niche. It does cover the main points that most teachers would want to address, and the presentation is clear and user-friendly. The numerous illustrations have mostly been drawn for the book, and the photographs are clear. The text is dotted with highlighted words to bring out the main points. Boxes are used to describe case studies. I think that others will find it rather uncritical and not well enough argued or referenced for use at higher levels.


We study the policy guidelines of Spain Education Minister Joaquin Ruiz-Gimenez y Cortes, between 1951 and 1956: the reform in the system of examinations for university professorship and the assembly of 1953, where he attended various proposals prepared by universities and served to develop a reform program. The main innovations introduced from that year were the curriculum reform, decentralization of PhD (one of the most important aspects for the development of the university in the following decades) and personnel policy, both referring to professors , assistants, or professors recovery attempts exiles. Includes students, for which approved an academic discipline policy later used to suppress the student movement harshly. It analyzes also the context of these reforms and disputes between families (Catholics and Falange) of the dictatorship. It also traces the biographical profile of the minister.


While typical hybrid neural network architectures for automatic speech recognition (ASR) use a context window of frame-based features, this may not be the best approach to capture the wider temporal context, which contains phonetic and linguistic information that is equally important. In this paper, we introduce a system that integrates both the spectral and geometrical shape information from the acoustic spectrum, inspired by research in the field of machine vision. In particular, we focus on the Generalized Hough Transform (GHT), which is a sophisticated technique that can model the geometrical distribution of speech information over the wider temporal context. To integrate the GHT as part of a hybrid-ASR system, we propose to use a neural network, with features derived from the probabilistic Hough voting step of the GHT, to implement an improved version of the GHT where the output of the network represents the conventional target class posteriors. A major advantage of our approach is that each step of the GHT is highly interpretable, particularly compared to deep neural network (DNN) systems which are commonly treated as powerful black-box classifiers that give little insight into how the output is achieved. Experiments are carried out on two speech pattern classification tasks. The first is the TIMIT phoneme classification, which demonstrates the performance of the approach on a standard ASR task. The second is a spoken word recognition challenge, which highlights the flexibility of the approach to capture phonetic information within a longer temporal context.


Comprehensive studies of radiolarian faunal assemblages recovered from outcrop sections at Centerville Beach, Newport Back Bay, Palos Verdes Hills, and Chalk Hills in California and at Bahia Tortugas and Maria Madre Island, Baja California, provide the data base for regional paleo-oceanographic and stratigraphic analyses of Monterey and associated siliceous sediments of middle Miocene to early pliocene age within Neogene California marginal basins. The sequential succession and development of characteristic radiolarian assemblages and the temporal and spatial variance in environmentally sensitive species in Luisian, lower and lupper Mohnian, and "Delmontian" sediments provide significant insight to regional paleo-oceanographic evolution. Documentation is provided by interpretation of paleoclimatic trends, variation in sediment accumulations rates, changes in water-mass interaction and distribution, and upwelling and productivity events. Stratigraphically important species of radiolarian genera such as Theocorys, Lamprocyrtis, Stichocorys, Diartus, Eucyrtidium, Cyrtocapsella, and Botryocyrtis are used to differentiate potential biohorizons which are useful for inter- and intra-basinal and broad regional correlations. Within key intervals, radiolarians provide accurate identification of the low latitude Dorcadospyris alata and Diartus petterssoni Zones in lower Monterey formation sediments. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1006------------


What does being in a suicidal crisis feel like and how can it be expressed? What drives someone to create artworks about people's experiences of suicide? Why would an individual repeatedly assault their psyche by exploring new ways to express the trauma and pain of suicide? Where does the motivation to express resilience, playfulness and hope for the future within those same artworks come from? This creative thesis explores some of the difficult questions inherent within the phenomena of suicide by helping to unwrap personal narratives in a sensitive way. Visual translations of my lived experience of suicide and that of others are expressed as re-interpreted memories within embodied experience. This studio-based biographical research approach consciously incorporates suicide's lived experience, both of the researcher and collaborators, into the artworks to communicate a deeper awareness of the consequences that suicide has upon individuals, families and the community. Despite the research carried out relating to suicide, there is a serious dearth of study undertaken by suicide attempt survivors themselves. This dissertation aims to address the void that exists within suicidology and to give voice to the lived experience of suicide from a range of cultural and socio-cultural perspectives. The methodologies of dadirri (Deep Listening) and evocative research have been partnered as a platform from which to create a series of installation-based artefacts that respond imaginatively and poetically to original voice narratives of the lived experience of suicide. Each narrative representation utilises specific combinations of media, through which meaning is symbolically conveyed and expressed. This complex process of weaving together embedded layers of memory and experience acts as a device to express and provide meaning to specific narratives. The researcher's role is that of the storyteller, expressing stories that are emotive, reflect on our humanity and provide insight into the human condition. The processes of watching, listening, waiting and then acting, within the studio practice of this research, ensure that individual artworks are unique to the narrative being expressed. In a similar way, the same processes are involved in the creation of this exegesis and require that it also be read as an artwork. The acknowledgement of artworks and exegesis working in partnership with one another ensures that a visual and textural dialogue is created to enhance insight and encourage embodied knowing.


The social networking phenomenon starts generating various investigations, but so far none has raised the relationships among users of a social network from the behavioral and psychological point of view. To this end, we have conducted an empirical study based on simulated profiles in Facebook, relevant social network due to the amount of available users and for its IPO. From imaginary profiles, we analyze the types of other Facebook users that are added, which can inspire ecommerce strategies related to digital newspapers.


A physical derivation of the rigorous theory for chemical equilibria and intramolecular structures of non-rigid molecules in condensed phases is presented. Applications of the theory are reviewed and the importance of steric or packing effects on equilibrium chemical phenomena in liquids is stressed.


We report a vanadium-MH rechargeable semi-flow battery with an experimental OCV of 1.93 V and operating voltage of 1.70 V, very high values among rechargeable flow batteries with aqueous electrolytes. This hybrid battery consists of a graphite felt positive electrode operating in a mixed solution of 0.128 mol dm VOSO4 and 2 mol dm H2SO4, and a metal hydride negative electrode in 2 mol dm KOH aqueous solution. The two electrolytes of different pH are separated by a bipolar membrane. The system demonstrated good reversibility and high efficiencies in coulomb (95%), energy (83.7%), and voltage (88.1%).


In his 1958 book, Mexican Journal, Selden Rodman told how architect Juan O'Gorman had recently taken him aside and said, l̀et's take a trip together through the Pedregal Gardens 1⁄4 and I'll show you 1⁄4 what Mexican architecture shouldn't be!' (Rodman, 1958, p. 21). Forty years later O'Gorman's words sound odd, since for the past two decades El Pedregal's designer-developer, Luis Barraga n, has been widely regarded as the most Mexican of Mexican architects. Recipient in 1980 of architecture's highest honor, the Pritzker Prize, and subject of numerous publications and exhibitions in Europe, Japan, Mexico and the USA, he is certainly the most lauded. His 865 acre residential subdivision El Pedregal, object of O'Gorman's criticism, has been described by critics and historians as his most important workÐ one of the key examples of modern architecture in Mexico, a groundbreaking regional response to the International StyleÐ where, beginning in the late 1940s, paradisiacal gardens and austere cubic-form houses, many of them made of local materials and subtle references to Mexico's past, were nestled among the ancient lava ® elds south of the capital city (Figure 1) (Lobo, 1992, p. 59; Palomar, 1994, p. 94). Yet for all of this, at the time they were made, O'Gorman's remarks were neither isolated nor offhand. Rather, they represented one thread in a wide-ranging debate on the nature of Mexican national being and its `appropriate' material expression. Barraga n, less vocally than O'Gorman and many of the others involved, was also a participant in this debate; by the late 1970s, his position had come to be widely seen as among the most vital and original of the period. In the 1950s, however, O'Gorman's criticism of his work echoed the concerns of some of Mexico's most prominent architectural thinkersÐ Jose Villagra n Garcõ  a, Enrique YanÄ ez, and Mauricio Go mez Mayorga among them. This article examines some of their concerns. National beings are polymorphous creatures. As Benedict Anderson and many others have demonstrated, the very idea of national identity is a construct, a mutable, ® ctional unity masking real internal variance and con ̄ ict. Each generation recon® gures this construct according to its own multifaceted needs and aspirations, and at various times the process becomes more or less impassioned, convoluted, and pervasive (Anderson, 1991). In Mexico, in the decade and a half following World War II, as its northern neighbor, the USA,


In this project, a new concept towards modelling the pumping system of the Ocean Grazer is considered. The Ocean Grazer will be an enormous platform in the sea which is able to harvest energy from incoming sea waves and store it in a reservoir at a higher altitude. The Ocean Grazer is currently in the research and development phase. The validity of the project is under investigation by employees and students of the University of Groningen. This Bachelor Integration Project will extend the knowledge of the pumping system within the Ocean Grazer under realistic wave motion, with as purpose making the Ocean Grazer a viable option to manufacture.
The novel system will have a different representation of the Power Take Off System (referred to as PTO) than previous researches up till this moment in time. The Power Take Off is described by the dynamics of the hydraulic subsystem of the Ocean Grazer. In addition, this project considers accurate representations of the excitation and radiation forces which is not yet combined with the above mentioned novelty in previous researches of the Ocean Grazer Group.


A temperature sensor and a temperature measuring method are provided to offer a measurement value correctly at a high speed in the temperature sensor. A temperature sensor includes a light source(12), a fluorescent substance, an optical detecting unit(13), and a processing unit. The light source emits excitation light. The fluorescent substance generates fluorescence with the excitation light. The optical detecting unit detects the fluorescence and outputs a fluorescence signal according to fluorescence intensity. The processing unit outputs temperature based on the fluorescence signal from the optical detecting unit. The processing unit outputs a difference value based on an integrated value of the fluorescence signal, and changes the value into temperature.


This paper describes the synthesis and physical study of several new photorefractive (PR) polymers, which are composed of a new type of nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophore attached onto conjugated poly(p-phenylene-thiophene)s. Since the NLO chromophore is labile in many reaction conditions, the Stille coupling reaction was used to prepare these polymers. The resulting polymers exhibit high PR performances. An optical gain coefficient of 158 cm -1 at a field of 50 V/μm and a diffraction efficiency of 68% at a field of 46 V/μm for polymer P1 were obtained, which are among the best values for fully functionalized PR polymers to date.


When UAV works on the end of the task path, or affected by waves transmission environment and the influence of the electromagnetic interference, the signal of receiver will be made low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) signal and the phase lock loop (PLL) using for carrier extraction will performance serious decline or loss locks. Therefore, in order to ensure UAV completed a predefined task successfully, low SNR carrier recovery has become one of the key technologies in the UAV data chain. In this paper, based on the basic concept of cyclic spectral analysis, we research and give the cyclic autocorrelation function and the cyclic spectral density function of the BPSK modulation signal. We emphasis a computer simulation method based on the time-smoothing FFT accumulation method and use this method to verify cyclic spectral analysis is still effective to estimate the carrier frequency when the SNR is -10 dB.


Fatty acid sorbitan esters by direct reaction of Sorbitol with fatty acid using a phosphorus oxyacid, including reducing phosphorus oxyacid particulary phosphouous acid, catalyst System and an alkali or alkali earth metal base, particulaly oxide, hydroxide or carbonate, in an axid: base molar ratio of 0.9:1 to 1.7:1, at a calalust concentration of 1.5 to 30%, particularly 3 to 12%, by weight of Sorbitol can have lower color than products of prior commercial bulk processes even without the use of activated carbon and product bleaching typically used previously. The esters can be further reacted with alkylene oxide to make desivatives, particularly polySorbates. The esters and polyalkyleneoxy detivatives are useful Surfactants in various application. Products of low color made without using activated carbon or bleaching are attractive for personal care applications.


As a rehabilitation support system is a digital device, it has an ability to automatically record and store data. In this study, we utilized this feature to develop an operation interface. Operation interfaces can be compared on the basis of the recorded data. In the case of the stick-type operation interface, the operator can freely control the device by recognizing the direction and magnitude of the applied force. During the stick operation, an appropriate degree of rigidity for the stick is necessary to enable operations involving both fine and large movements.


Imitation has fascinated psychologists because of two main qualities, both of which appear near to magic at first sight: the ability to deal with opaque correspondences between actions of self and other, and the ability to acquire novel, complex skills by observation alone. Comparative psychologists have converged on the 'two-action method' for detecting animal imitation, but what the results mean varies widely from experiment to experiment. Some test opaque correspondence, none test complex skill learning. Other experiments are aimed directly at the ability to learn complex novel actions, but they too have problems. The 'do as I do' method produces results vulnerable to other explanations, and few kinds of animal copy the repertoire of other species, limiting what can be learnt from this. Observational evidence of several kinds also suggests imitative ability; and, like that from experiments, none is perfect. Site-to-site variation in repertoires is always hard to link directly to imitation, because environmental variation is usually great; rapid learning of improbably complex behavior is a matter of relative plausibility; and the natural experiment of manual disablement may also be explained in more than one way. One reason for the extreme skepticism applied to animal imitation is a lack of a plausible, mechanistic model of the process. One such is outlined, and whether it best matches 'imitation', or some other category of behavior, is discussed. Regardless, the ability to pick up complex, new behaviors from observation may have been important in ape and human evolution, and a possible evolutionary scenario is set out. 9.


Nitric acid has been widely applied in agriculture and industries. The present manufacturing process via a combination of the Haber-Bosch process and the Ostwald oxidation process is accompanied by massive energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. A direct electrocatalytic nitrogen oxidation reaction (NOR) to nitric acid is a promising alternative, especially when it is driven by renewable energy sources. The standardization of performance evaluation is the premise for the design and synthesis of efficient electrocatalysts for NOR. In this regard, this review first discusses the history of the development of HNO 3 manufacturing and the possible reaction mechanisms for electrocatalytic NOR. Then, a strict protocol for electrochemical NOR experiments is recommended. Finally, general research targets associated with techno-economic analysis, challenges, and prospects for NOR are summarized for future studies.


Abstract One of the most important parameters that is currently used in public and private procurement in building process is the lowest price. The legislation of Latvia permits that an estimate forming process does not include criterions of quality, durability, and the potential high cost of maintaining the building during the exploitation time. That allows the constructor to reduce the cost estimate by using cheaper construction product or technology and does not let to provide the highest possible quality and the basic principle of sustainable construction. One of possible construction cost reduction solutions is the replacement of building material with equal building material, at the same time assessing the quality and replacement impact on the direct costs of estimate. The tasks of the research are: (1) to do literature review on what is an estimate, what an estimate includes and the basis of estimate; (2) to analyse the existing construction estimate, to evaluate the used construction materials and to study technical characteristics of materials, to explore a specific construction junction; (3) to replace the selected construction materials with analogous, thus reducing the direct costs of estimate; (4) to evaluate the affect of the price of the construction material on quality; (5) to compare the obtained cost estimate with the current cost estimate; (6) to implement laboratory research and to compare technical characteristics of the construction materials and analogue materials in order to check if they are the performing parameters that are defined in the declaration of performance. After comparing of the obtained direct costs of construction and analysing the quality of construction materials it is possible to provide the most appropriate offer of the direct costs of estimate to satisfy the customer's interests.


There have been several developments recently, both in the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), which will have consequences in Australia. The two major developments in the US are the decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to drop the reconciliation requirement for foreign registrants that adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the serious consideration that the SEC is currently giving to allow US publicly traded companies to adopt IFRS. The developments in the EU involve its ever-lengthening endorsement process and the increasing pressure being brought on the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and its oversight body, the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASCF) trustees, to alter their composition and the character of their operations. At the same time, there has been the FASB's appeal to the EU to accept IFRS without any endorsement process.

The developments in the US have been lauded by the IASB and in Europe. They represent an impressive vote of confidence in the IASB and in the efforts being made by national standard setters and securities market regulators around the world. The US has already taken a long stride towards joining the more than 110 countries and other jurisdictions that have committed themselves to allow or require the use of IFRS for some or all reporting entities.


The production of Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) from an immunized chicken egg yolk serves numerous applications in various fields of immunology. The present work, for the first time, demonstrates the feasibility of aqueous two-phase extraction and three phase partitioning for the separation of IgY from the chicken egg yolk. The protocol deals with partitioning of IgY using polyethylene glycol 1500/potassium phosphate aqueous two-phase system and its comparison with three phase partitioning, both followed by the precipitation. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was carried out to confirm the presence of IgY at the different steps of purification process. The IgY was preferentially partitioned to the PEG-rich top phase, especially at lower phase-volume ratio. The effect of process parameters such as tie line length and volume ratio was studied. The tie line length of 5.55% and volume ratio of 0.49 gave the best results. The yield of IgY obtained from aqueous two-phase system was 9.0 mg/mL of egg yolk while that of three phase partitioning it was 6.0 mg/mL.


This essay argues that ideology is a type of rhetoric that escapes rather than challeges contradiction through the joint use of false consciousness and rational discourse. The specific contradiction of the part and the whole, such as an advocacy of private interests in the name of public concern, becomes a problem for the critic since positions taken for or against an ideology are necessarily partisan themselves. Therefore, critics become trapped by the system within which they operate. By drawing from Kenneth Burke and Michael McGee, an attempt will be made to demonstrate this dilemma of criticism while offering a perspective for overcoming the perpetual tendency to advance self‐interest as "truth."


Individual tree crown condition is the result of a combination of many factors including genetic traits, growing site characteristics, and past and present external stresses (e.g., drought, insect outbreaks, fire, etc.). Shade tolerance and the extent to which terminal buds control the length and orientation of lateral branches (epinastic control) are the two primary physiological characteristics affecting crown condition, while light availability is likely the most influential environmental factor. The general literature suggests that shade tolerant species maintain denser, wider, and longer crowns than shade intolerant trees, and that regardless of shade tolerance an increase in light availability allows all species to maintain larger, denser crowns.


In order to explore on the rollover movement rule of the submunition during the process of the interior and external ballistic trajectory, this paper takes a certain cluster muniiton as the research object to analyze the process of the interior and external ballistic trajectory, and established the interior ballistic rollover movement mathematical model of the submunition with center tube dispersing. Perform the simulation to obtain the rollover angular velocity and angular displacement at end of the process of the interior ballistic trajectory. The external ballistic rollover movement models of the submunition before and after the stability ribbon spreading out are established, and the simulation analysis of the rollover movement process is made. Then the rollover movement law of the submunition external ballistic can be got.


Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) is known as a plant rich in antioxidants and has various pharmacological activities. This study aims to determine the activity of the ethanolic extract of G. mangostana L. to decrease mercury levels in the kidneys. Mangosteen rind was extracted using 96% ethanol using the maceration method to form a thick extract. The experimental animals used in this study were Swiss Webster strain mice which were grouped into normal group (CMC suspension 0.5%), negative control (induction of HgCl2 solution), positive control (induction of HgCl2 solution followed by administration of curcumin at a dose of 100mg/KgBW). , and the test group was given mangosteen peel extract at a dose of 200mg/kgBW, 400mg/kgBW, 600mg/kgBW. In the test group, mice were induced using HgCl2 for 14 days, followed by administration of ethanol extract of mangosteen rind for 24 days. Observations were made with kidney organ surgery and observations were made using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) and analyzed using ANOVA. The test results showed mercury accumulation in the negative, positive control group, and the test doses of 200, 400 and 600mg/kgBW, respectively, were 44.3mg/kg, 7.3mg/kg, 36.46mg/kg, 35.7mg/kg. kg and 31.34mg/kgBW with an effective dose of 600mg/KgBW.


This paper explores social reform as hegemonic practice, as part of a general attempt to gain moral, cultural and political leadership (Gramsci). It also claims any hegemonic practice to be gendered. Examining magazine writings by Bengali middle class women at the turn of the 19th Century on Women's education, the article displays an internal struggle on the ground of gender and patriarch, as the women seek to gain agency in a substantive way. while co-operating within the whole class's agenda. It particularly examines the concept of motherhood, in the context of moral education, and locates this concern in the changing forms in social reproduction, especially in the situation of a new home or private life in the middle classes of Bengal.


Abstract The present study characterizes opioid receptors in an immortalized myocyte cell line, HL-1. Displacement of [ 3 H]bremazocine by selective ligands for the mu ( μ ), delta ( δ ), and kappa ( κ ) receptors revealed that only the δ -selective ligands could fully displace specific [ 3 H]bremazocine binding, indicating the presence of only the δ -receptor in these cells. Saturation binding studies with the δ -antagonist naltrindole afforded a B max of 32 fmols/mg protein and a K D value for [ 3 H]naltrindole of 0.46 n M . The binding affinities of various δ ligands for the receptor in HL-1 cell membranes obtained from competition binding assays were similar to those obtained using membranes from a neuroblastoma×glioma cell line, NG108-15. Finally, various δ -agonists were found to stimulate the binding of [ 35 S]GTP γ S, confirming coupling of the cardiac δ -receptor to G-protein. DADLE (D-Ala-D-Leu-enkephalin) was found to be the most efficacious in this assay, stimulating the binding of [ 35 S]GTP γ S to 27% above basal level. The above results indicate that the HL-1 cell line contains a functionally coupled δ -opioid receptor and therefore provides an in vitro model by which to study the direct effects of opioids on cardiac opioid receptors.


The objetive of this work is to elaborate a procedures manual for the loading and transport of heavy machinery of the road maintenance unit, structured under the standard of PMI "Project management Institut" to deliver to the company, production managers, intervention managers, and the operators, a procedure that allows them to take into account all technical, safety and documentary factors, when is necesary transporting heavy machinery in the city of Bogota.
Also identify processes and restrictions reach time and cost inside the manual, it describe the activities to be developed are defined and broken down these processes in the management plant of the company.


Inspired by the heterogeneous architectures of biological composites, mimicking the hierarchical structure of nacre is a powerful strategy to construct high-performance materials. This paper presents a lightweight and nacre-like hierarchical paper which was fabricated via lanthanide ion coordination. Sodium alginate (SA) biopolymers and lanthanide ions (Nd3+, Gd3+, Ce3+ and Yb3+) were used as ideal building blocks and connection points, respectively. SA biopolymers and lanthanide ions rapidly self-assembled into an aligned hydrogel. The synthesized hydrogel was subsequently dried to form layered alginate-based papers. The formation mechanism of the layered paper was investigated and demonstrated that lanthanide ion coordination can produce the hierarchical structure. The as-prepared layered SA–Nd(III) nanopaper exhibited a high strength of 124.2 ± 5.2 MPa, toughness of 8.2 ± 0.4 MJ m−3, and Young's modulus of 5.2 ± 0.2 GPa, as well as excellent resistance to solvents. Owing to their outstanding mechanical properties and easy and fast fabrication, the layered SA–Nd(III) papers demonstrated a potential application in the fields of biomaterials. This new strategy based on lanthanide ion coordination, can also be used to construct integrated, high-performance, and biopolymer materials.


The battering of women by their partners is a common occurrence around the world, and historical records show that the abuse of women has been legitimized through the ages. In the United States battering is to be found in all social classes and across all racial and ethnic groups. However, the experience of being battered is structured by the social contexts in which it occurs. How victims perceive and react to that experience is influenced by their social world, the construction of gender and family roles and interpersonal relationships in their community, and the response of local people to male violence. These social context variables must be considered as well in programs designed to assist battered women and to prevent further battering.


Homogeneity of mixing plays an important role in liquid-phase sintering. In order to describe quantitatively the dependence of shrinkage on the degree of mixing, six different tungsten-copper powder mixtures were prepared. These powder blends were either presintered or sintered in the presence of liquid phase. The degree of mixing in both the presintered and liquid-phase sintered samples was determined by quantitative microstructural analysis. The developed method is well able to characterize the different state of mixing in the six powder blends on a microscopic scale. It is shown that a close relation exists between the microscopically characterized degree of mixing and densification during liquid-phase sintering.


This paper examines environmental governance in climate change adaptation efforts in Indonesia. Climate Change has been a common concern, especially since the signing of 194 countries in the Paris Agreement. Climate change adaptation is one of the points in the Paris Agreement as an effort to implement commitments to tackle global climate change. Climate change adaptation is one of the responses made by humans in facing climate change in addition to mitigation. Adaptation is carried out to reduce vulnerability to the effects of climate change. The Indonesian government has made various climate change adaptation efforts, including preparing national policy documents such as INDC, RAN-API, and related regulations to address the impacts of climate change. However, the research results show that strengthening climate change adaptation efforts needs to be balanced with commitment from sharing parties, strengthening the role of the private sector, and proper budget planning. Committees here are associated with the alignment of central and regional policies and the compliance of local governments in implementing climate change adaptation policies. The private sector's role emphasized the contribution of activities and finance to climate change adaptation efforts through corporate social responsibility programs.


Example embodiments provide a photovoltaic inverter to start the auxiliary power supply circuit of the present invention, the start-up circuit comprising: a power absorbing circuit for absorbing the solar panel the power output to the DC bus, and when the solar panel MPP greater than or equal to the auxiliary power supply starts, stops absorbing the solar panel the power output to the DC bus; activation control circuit, for charging the capacitor to a first power absorption circuit is turned off and the DC link start the auxiliary power supply voltage, wherein the output voltage of the solar panel is not, the output power of the solar panel is greater than the starting power for the auxiliary power source when the first voltage. Embodiments of the present invention, the auxiliary power supply before starting off power absorbing circuit chip and start the auxiliary power source when the output power of the solar cell panel is larger than the output power of the auxiliary power supply, thereby avoiding the problem of the auxiliary power supply forced to close.


In this article, we prove a weighted Hardy inequality for $1 d$, then we can deduce from our weighted Hardy inequality a Poincar\'e inequality. The proof of the weighted Hardy inequality is based on the method of vector fields firstly introduced by Mitidieri \cite{MR1769903}. By the same method, we show for $1<p<+\infty$ and $d\ge1$ that weighted Caffarelli-Kohn-Nirenberg inequalities hold true. As an application of our weighted Hardy inequality, we prove a non-existence result for a p-Kolmogorov parabolic equation.


Electrically pumped near 1.3 /spl mu/m GaInNAs/GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers grown by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition are demonstrated for the first time. The threshold current and voltage under continuous wave operation of a 10/spl times/10 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ oxide aperture device were 7.6 mA and 2.8 V, respectively. The output power exceeded 0.1 mW and the slope efficiency was /spl sim/0.1 W/A.


The last 100 pages of the book include interesting applications of the prime number theorem, such as counting primes in intervals and the enumeration of numbers with a given number of prime factors. There is a proof of Dirichlet's theorem that the primes are (asymptotically) equally distributed in residue classes r mod k for any given k and taken over those r with gcd (r, k) = 1. This section uses the elements of group theory (characters of abelian groups) and extends the methods of proof of the prime number theorem. Because the prime number theorem is an asymptotic formula, error estimates are rather crucial, and the author gives a nice treatment of these, relating them to the Riemann hypothesis, which has recently found its way into the general consciousness as the Hardest Unsolved Problem in mathematics. A number of topics are mentioned here, including the famous result of Littlewood that n (x) > li (x) for some (very large) x. For all values actually calculated, the reverse inequality holds, and the best estimate for such as x is that it is < 10. Finally there is an account of the 'elementary' proof of the prime number theorem by Selberg and Erd6s, that is, a proof that avoids complex analysis but is, naturally, allowed the techniques of real analysis since the very statement of the theorem is about limits and integrals.


Perovskite quantum dots (CsPbI3-PQDs), a translucent material, have gained great interest in the PV industries owing to their unified virtues of perovskites and quantum dots. However, researchers have found that perovskite solar cells (PSCs) suffer from issues like low stability at high relative humidity, energy states imbalance, severe hysteresis, and an easy decomposition under ultraviolet (UV) radiation that severely restrict their industrialization. Quantum dots (QDs) are excellent materials with numerous admirable traits that have been extensively employed in PSCs to overcome the aforementioned problems. To achieve high performance of the examined device, the CsPbI3-PQDs has been stacked between two charge transport layers, i.e., Cl@SnO2 (to facilitate electrons towards cathode) and P3HT (to facilitate holes towards anode). In this context, study of variations in different parameters such as thickness and acceptor density of the CsPbI3-PQDs absorber layer has been done. After varying the thickness and acceptor density of the CsPbI3-PQDs layer, the cell's performance is optimized at thickness of 400 nm and acceptor density of 1 × 1017/cm3 delivering higher PV parameters power conversion efficiency (PCE):16.17%, open circuit voltage (VOC):1.02 V, short circuit density (JSC):18.06 mA cm−2 and fill factor (FF): 87.06% respectively. Thereafter, the effects of bulk defects in CsPbI3-PQDs and the interface between CsPbI3-PQDs and Cl@SnO2 have been explored in this work. For the cell to work at its best, the bulk defect density and interface defect density, respectively, should not be more than 1 × 1014 /cm3 and 1 × 1013 /cm2. Afterwards, a comprehensive study has been done by varying the front electrode transparency (from 40% to 95%) to improve the device performance. With 95% of front electrode transparency, the performance of device is improved due to increase in the photon coupling.


The second half of the 1940s and the 1950s was simultaneously the period of impact of the Marshall Plan on the Portuguese economy and the epoch of take-off of modern economic growth in Portugal. This process has been studied from a macroeconomic perspective, but not from a business point of view. This is the purpose of this paper, which examines the formation of new firms, and studies the scale, scope, performance, ownership, structure and strategy of a sample of the largest firms. It shows how the Marshall aid and the government commitment to promoting economic growth and sovereignty over a vast colonial empire led to cooperation with family firms through regulation, subsidies and planning. The related and unrelated diversified-business character of informal business groups escapes Chandler's model and his scale and scope economies, but succeeded in providing safety and mutual assistance among firms to face an increasingly competitive world.


The article introduces productions and characters producing and applications of the fat substitutes in the food field.And also discussed the researching of the fat replacers in the futere and application field in the food processing.


The research community included all (100) farmers of Al-Hamra village. After excluding the sample of the initial test, which was (20) farmers, a random sample of 50% was drawn from the research community. Thus the number of individuals sampled in the research became (50) farmers, The results of the study showed that the level of knowledge of farmers in the areas of using agricultural pesticides is average and tends to decline and that the two categories of those with low and medium knowledge constituted (72%). The study also showed a significant correlation between the level of knowledge and both (Age, educational level, number of years of pesticide use, and number of family members participating in agricultural work).


This is the long-awaited update of the authors' classic America's Housing: Prospects and Problems. The first version has long been the most authoritative effort in the field. Now this brief, efficient, one-volume work contains all the most up-to-date data available to chart housing progress and need. Forecasts on future demo-graphics, production trends, and changes in markets are clearly presented for the use of students and practitioners. More than 100 tables help summarize the current reality in a convenient, simple format. The major chapter topics indicate the comprehensiveness of the coverage: The Demographic Framework; Housing Demand: The Population Baseline; The Household Revolution; The Maturing Society and Market Seg-mentation; Future Households: Scale and Shape; Income: Accelerator and Brake; Housing Supply: The Potent Baseline; Housing Production Cycles; Regional Shifts Revisited; Housing Cost Structures; New Mortgage Realities; Components of Inventory Change; Scale, Condition, and Amenity; Demand-Supply Interrelationships; Housing to Come


The influence of moving dislocations on mass-transfer and the phenomena, accompanying it in pulse-deformed metals is studied in a real-time. Transport of self-interstitial atoms (SIAs) by mobile edge dislocations in crystal with FCC lattice is investigated by molecular dynamics. A strain rate (106 s-1) and dislocation density (1010 – 1012 cm-2) in simulated crystal corresponds to a laser effect in a Q-factor mode. The experimental investigations in a real-time are performed by recording of electrical signal induced by the laser pulse irradiation of metal foils of different crystal structures.


Data Grid is a geographically distributed environment that deals with large-scale data-intensive problems. The main problems in data grid are job scheduling and data management. Generally, job scheduling in Grid has been studied from the perspective of computational Grid. In Data Grid, effective scheduling policy should consider both computational and data storage resources. In this paper a new job scheduling algorithm, called Combine Scheduling Strategy (CSS) is proposed that considers number of jobs waiting in the queue, location of required data and the computing capacity of sites. Scheduling cannot be effective unless to combine it with replication. Therefore, we have discussed various strategies in scheduling and replica optimization. Simulation results demonstrate that CSS gives better performance compared to the other algorithms.


The new industrial revolution is emerging, termed as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Smart Industry approach has been made in the Netherlands to ensure that Dutch companies transit to the new production paradigm, thereby maintaining their global competitiveness.

In this context, the thesis developed the Smart Industry Maturity Model (SIMM) as a tool to aid companies in identifying the status of their processes and technologies
in relation to Industry4.0 and Smart Industry, and help them to develop strategies to achieve the transformation.

SIMM consists of four parts, i.e. 'KPIs and Market Trends', 'SIMM elements and relevant technologies and methods (TMs)', 'SIMM processes and relevant Value-add points (VAPs)' and 'SIMM maturity levels and relevant questionnaire'.

SIMM has been developed based on the exploration of different approaches (i.e. Industry4.0 and Smart Industry), Porter's value chain model and Capability Maturity Model Integration.

It is concluded that Smart Industry Maturity Model could offer new perspectives of understanding for the business and production processes in companies, could help companies to identify the status quo of their processes and technologies, and could supply the guidance of developing a strategy for companies to conduct the process redesign and innovation, thereby achieving the transformation in terms of Smart Industry.


The Sanathanan-Koerner iteration developed in 1963 is classical approach for rational approximation. This approach multiplies both sides of the approximation by the denominator polynomial yielding a linear problem and then introduces a weight at each iteration to correct for this linearization. Unfortunately this weight introduces a numerical instability. We correct this instability by constructing Vandermonde matrices for both the numerator and denominator polynomials using the Arnoldi iteration with an initial vector that enforces this weighting. This Stabilized Sanathanan-Koerner iteration corrects the instability and yields accurate rational approximations of arbitrary degree. Using a multivariate extension of Vandermonde with Arnoldi, we can apply the Stabilized Sanathanan-Koerner iteration to multivariate rational approximation problems. The resulting multivariate approximations are often significantly better than existing techniques and display a more uniform accuracy throughout the domain.