The max-min fair allocation problem seeks an allocation of resources to players that maximizes the minimum total value obtained by any player. Each player $p$ has a non-negative value $v_{pr}$ on resource $r$. In the restricted case, we have $v_{pr}\in \{v_r, 0\}$. That is, a resource $r$ is worth value $v_r$ for the players who desire it and value 0 for the other players. In this paper, we consider the configuration LP, a linear programming relaxation for the restricted problem. The integrality gap of the configuration LP is at least $2$. Asadpour, Feige, and Saberi proved an upper bound of $4$. We improve the upper bound to $23/6$ using the dual of the configuration LP. Since the configuration LP can be solved to any desired accuracy $\delta$ in polynomial time, our result leads to a polynomial-time algorithm which estimates the optimal value within a factor of $23/6+\delta$.


These items are an integral part of the issue. They are not intended as an examination but rather as a means of stimulating thought and helping you assess your general understanding of the course material. Some are designed to stimulate independent study; the comments and references provided with the preferred responses should assist in this process. For each item, select the single best response, marking it on the answer form provided inside the back cover of this issue and return your completed form to the AAN. No formal grade is assigned, as the goal is to encourage critical thinking and selfassessment. Your responses will be kept completely confidential. By returning the completed answer form to the AAN, you earn up to 10 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. A transcript of credits earned in will be sent to you within 2 months of receipt of your answer form.


In order to explore the ways to obtain excellent mechanical properties in steels with simple compositions, a plain low carbon steel was subjected to ultra-fast cooling precisely combined with laminar cooling (UFC + LC model) and only laminar cooling (LC model) respectively after the same controlled rolling, and the microstructural characteristics as well as corresponding mechanical properties were investigated. The results show that under LC model, the microstructure is composed of coarse proeutectoid ferrite and pearlite, whereas UFC + LC model leads to the appearances of a certain amount of fine sheaf-like bainitic ferrite and acicular ferrite besides plenty of fine proeutectoid ferrite and scarce degenerate pearlite. Bainitic ferrite and acicular ferrite contain plenty of grain boundaries with misorientations of 2–7◦, which further refines the microstructure associated with strength under UFC + LC model. Compared with LC model, UFC + LC model increases yield strength from 271 to 365 MPa because of grain refinement and dislocation strengthening effects. In the meantime, the steel treated by UFC + LC model exhibits lower ductile-brittle transition temperature of –59.3◦C compared with that of –44.5◦C of the steel subjected to only LC model as a consequence of microstructural refinement. K e y w o r d s: ultra-fast cooling, laminar cooling, plain low carbon steel, microstructural characteristics, mechanical properties


The research presented in this paper studied interrelationships within the perceptions of pedestrian and cyclist environments, travel behaviors, and a particular subset of social networks characterized by their being usual trip or activity companions. For this purpose, 404 individuals participated in a web-based survey and provided data related to perceptions of particular elements of pedestrian- and cyclist-specific environments (sidewalks, cycle lanes, and pedestrian crossing), sociodemographics, and characteristics of their usual activity and trip companions. Participants also completed a two-day activity-travel diary. The validity of measurements and reliability of constructs were assessed by mean of Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (EFA and CFA) and five models were determined using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify relations among the variables of the study. Results highlight the importance of how travel behavior influences the formation of perceptions of elements related to pedestrians and cyclist-specific environments.


The article reviews current privacy laws in the context of "Revenge Porn". Given the speed at which images are published online, the article highlights the futility of breach of confidence and other civil actions in preventing publication at the outset. Furthermore, private law is expensive offering little protection against the victim's humiliation. The article proposes that non-consensual pornography should be criminalised under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 by way of a Statutory Instrument: Misuse of Private Information 2014.


We aimed to evaluate whether the air temperature, soil temperature, and luminosity in a low tunnel covered with agricultural mesh screening affected the characteristics of kale production. The study was conducted on the cultivation of kale in six different growing environments. The experimental setup consisted of randomized block design (RBD) with factorial analysis (2 × 6) with four repetitions. The kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) hybrids Hi Crop and Kobe F1 were used as plant material. The growing environments were open field and protected environments consisting of low tunnels, each covered with a different mesh screen: red, thermo-reflective silver, black, tissue-non-tissue (TNT), and organza fabric. Sensors were installed within each environment to monitor air temperature and soil temperature. The TNT screen resulted in the highest air and soil temperatures and lower yield. The black mesh resulted in lower temperatures than other coverings. Organza fabric provided the best yield (22.8%) compared to open field and it was 9.89to42.19 % more productive compared to the other meshes. Organza fabric was the best environment for the cultivation of kale in tropical climates. These data confirm that kale biomass production was greatly affected by stress high temperature.


In this article, the prediction quality of meadium range numerical p rediction model which was used to forecast the heavy rain happed on the 22th to 23th auguest 2003 was analyzed, and got the conclusion that the model was someth ing reference in the prediction of the precepitation beginning and ending time a nd also effection to the prediction of the area in which the heavy rain happed a nd the prediction of the strongth of the heavy rain.


Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are becoming increasingly popular and user demand for high-quality rich media services is continuously growing. Despite the fact that WMNs offer significant flexibility, they suffer in respect to Quality of Service (QoS) provisioning. This paper proposes a novel mechanism for providing enhanced QoS support to video services in multi-hop WMNs. The mechanism makes use of an innovative hybrid hierarchical architecture which combines centralized and distributed approaches. The proposed solution relies on performance monitoring at WMN nodes and performs load balancing by off-loading traffic from the highest loaded nodes to less loaded neighbours. Simulation-based results presented outline the performance of our proposed mechanism in terms of QoS metrics (delay, throughput, packet losses and PSNR) in different network load scenarios. The results clearly demonstrate how our proposed mechanism outperforms the traditional OLSR protocol in terms of QoS performance.


SUMMARY Theflock-leveleconomicimpactassociatedwithnecroticenteritis(NE)inbroilerproduction was estimated in flocks that were administered 55 ppm bacitracin compared to flocks that were not given prophylactic medication. Current production parameters and economic values available for the United States were used in a cost-benefit evaluation to determine the return on investment (ROI) in prophylactic use of BMD. Estimates were expressed in US dollars from the perspective of poultry producers. Costs to the producer, including feed and medication, were compared with benefits accrued from reduced mortality rates in treated flocks and improved weight gain. A sensitivity analysis evaluated the ROI from BMD use under varying mortality rates (one to 20%) and target weights (4.63 to 7.94 lb). The average flock-level ROI in BMD was $4.51, and sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the ROI ranged from $2.28 to 7.24 depending on NE morbidity rate and target weight. The average return in BMD per lb produced was c /1.5, and sensitivity analyses demonstrated that return ranged from c /0.8 to 2.1 depending on NE morbidity rate and target weight. These analyses demonstrated that a positive ROI can be realized in flocks at risk for NE through the prophylactic use of BMD in broiler production.


Unlike other migratory salamanders, Hynobius kimurae moves to aquatic hibernacula during fall. Does submergence into water during fall induce changes in physiological and morphological traits? We investigated whether such changes occur in both sexes from the entrance into the water (November) to the exit from the water (May) in the laboratory. Mean duration of stay in the water was 21.7 weeks in males and 19.0 weeks in females. Spermiation began 13.8 weeks after the males entered the water. Sperm storage lasted for 6.3 weeks. Spawning occurred 18.3 weeks after the females entered the water. Cloacae swelled greatly soon after the sexes entered the water. In males after entering the water, tail shape changed from sticklike to finlike. Although physiological and morphological traits in other species change simultaneously in both the submergence into water and the onset of breeding activity only during spring, such changes occurred in individual H. kimurae firstly during fall (shortly after entering the water) and secondly during spring (shortly after awaking from hibernation). This difference suggests that these two-step changes during a prolonged period (fall–spring) are concentrated in a short period of aquatic-breeding activity during spring in other species with terrestrial hibernation and associated reproductive cycles.


In this paper we consider a generalization of discrete Mittag-Leffler distributions. We introduce and study the properties of a new distribution called geometric generalized discrete Mittag-Leffler distribution. Autoregressive processes with geometric generalized discrete Mittag-Leffler distributions are developed and studied. The distributions are further extended to develop a more general class of geometric generalized discrete semi-Mittag-Leffler distributions. The processes are extended to higher orders also. An application with respect to an empirical data on customer arrivals in a bank counter is also given. Various areas of potential applications like human resource development, insect growth, epidemic modeling, industrial risk modeling, insurance and actuaries, town planning etc are also discussed.


The thermal activation of the η2-diphenylacetylene complex (PN)Pt(η2-PhC⋮CPh) (1) (PN = (diisopropylphosphinodimethylamino)ethane leads to the formation of the platinacyclopenta-2,4-diene compound ...


The Perspective-n-Point(PNP) problem originates from camera calibration,and is also known as the determination of the position and orientation of the camera in the space according to the relationships of n corresponding points.From our previous research,we know that the equation system has at most four solutions with respect to three points. In this paper,we obtain some sufficient conditions with Wu-Ritt's decomposition method to decide the number of the solutions of nocoplanar P4P problems. With these conditions,we can easily avoid those perspective points that may produce multiple solutions.


Objective: To estimate frequency and determinants of masked hypertension (MHT) in a large community-based sample of elderly individuals. Design and Method: The sample consisted of 1814 participants aged on average 79 years old who had an office blood pressure (BP) measurements with an electronic device (OMRON M6) and who were asked to measure their BP at home with the same device. Home Blood Pressure Measurements (HBPM) was considered valid when at least 12 measures of the 18 were correctly performed. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP >= 140 mmHg and/or a diastolic BP>= 90 mmHg for office BP and 135/85 mmHg for HBPM. When subjects had a normal office BP and a high BP at home, they were defined as masked hypertensive. Results: MHT was found in 41% of the participants with a normal office BP. Multivariable analyses showed that male sex, age >80 years, diabetes, antihypertensive medication and office systolic BP >120 mm Hg were independently associated with a higher risk of MHT. Conclusion: These results suggest that masked hypertension is highly prevalent in the elderly. A more widespread use of HBPM in the elderly should be encouraged, in particular among individuals at risk of MHT.


By analyzing BP training model, a solution named division and assembly by deducing the size of BP neural network to overcome entering the local best points is introduced. The dividing process is realized by dividing a big BP neural network into several small ones, each of which can carry out study alone. Thereafter, they can be assembled to become the quondam big BP neural work. This approach is analyzed in detail with an example.


The science education literature demonstrates that scientific literacy is generally valued and acknowledged among educators as a desirable student learning outcome. However, what scientific literacy really means in terms of classroom practice and student learning is debatable due to the inherent complexity of the term and varying expectations of what it means for learning outcomes. To date the teacher voice has been noticeably absent from this debate even though the very nature of teacher expertise lies at the heart of the processes which shape students' scientific literacy. The research reported in this paper taps into the expertise of (participating) primary teachers by analyzing the insights and thinking that emerged as they attempted to unravel some of the pedagogical complexities associated with constructing an understanding of scientific literacy in their own classrooms. The research examines the processes and structures within one primary school that were created to provide conditions to allow teachers to explore and build on the range of ideas that presently inform the scientific literacy debate. The research reports these teachers' views and practices that shaped their actions in teaching for scientific literacy.


The use of tomography methods for data observation, processing, and fiber-optic methods for distribution measurement network design will have great influence on the development of real- time MSP methods. It makes it possible to decrease the information channel number and to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the information channel due to light carrier use and a combination of sensing and transmitting function in a common fiber-optic tract. The object of this paper is development and investigation of a fiber-optic distribution measuring network using tomography methods of data observation and processing. This network could solve the problem of measurement and reconstruction of the parameter distribution function of non- stationary physical fields.


The purpose of this research is to study the prediction of stroke risk in adults using machine learning. This research investigates the performance of three machine learning models that include Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), and the Support Vector Machine (SVM). This research uses healthcare datasets that are available in the Kaggle dataset [9], which contains data on 5,110 cases, and this research selected only 4,254 cases that are adults 18 years of age or older [10]. A confusion matrix is used for summarizing the performance of a classification model and the AUC (Area Under The Curve) represents the degree of separability. The higher the AUC, the better the model is at distinguishing between patients with a stroke and those without. From the experiment, RF achieves the best performance with an accuracy of 0.94, precision of 0.93, recall of 0.95, f1-score of 0.94, and an AUC of 0.94. The three top-rankings of Random Forest Feature Importance by importance are the age of 0.38, the average_glucose_level of 0.20, and bmi of 0.05, respectively.


Between 1985 and 2006, the number of osteopathic physicians training in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) allopathic residency programs increased 419%,1 and by 2016, that number is expected to increase an additional 62%.1 In contrast, the growth in allopathic medical school output is projected to increase by only 21%.1,2 Unfortunately, allopathic residency directors face difficulties when directly comparing osteopathic and allopathic applicants. These difficulties are exacerbated by differences in curricular emphasis, licensing concerns, and lack of experience with specific osteopathic medical schools because 82% of schools have been founded since 1970 and 32% since 2000.3,4

Given the anticipated increases in medical school graduates without a significant increase in residency positions, the competition for residencies likely will increase substantially. It is highly probable that graduates of US medical schools will be "dead-ended," having obtained doctoral degrees but being prevented from practice because they have not completed a residency. In this new competitive environment, the role of objective metrics used in resident selection will assume far greater importance.

The Step 1 score on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is rated as the second most important factor in resident selection.5 In a head-to-head comparison of osteopathic and allopathic applicants to an allopathic surgery residency, Schlitzkus et al6 found essentially no differences in applicant characteristics, with the exception of higher reported USMLE Step 1 scores in the osteopathic group. A significant criticism of the Schlitzkus study, however, was the possibility of self-selection bias, with students reporting only favorable USMLE scores. An additional bias may also have been that better osteopathic students elected to take that more difficult examination, which was not required of them for graduation. The Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States Level 1 (COMLEX–USA) is similar to USMLE Step 1 and is required of all osteopathic graduates. By developing a method to correlate COMLEX Level 1 to USMLE Step 1, program directors of both osteopathic and allopathic residencies would have the ability to evaluate the full applicant pool on at least 1 metric.

In an article in this issue of the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, Lee et al7 have attempted to determine the reliability and validity of 2 conversion formulas using COMLEX Level 1 scores to predict USMLE Step 1 scores. The authors have correctly identified that investigations by Slocum and Louder,8 of 155 subjects, and Sarko et al,9 with only 90 subjects, were underpowered to draw any firm conclusions. By comparing the 2 formulas using 1016 students who took both COMLEX Level 1 and USMLE Step 1, the current study is appropriately powered. The actual impact on resident selection, however, may be less significant than the statistical analysis implies. Although the actual scores on USMLE were significantly higher from a statistical standpoint, the 7.8-point difference for the Sarko formula is likely of little practical concern. In contrast, the 14.2-point difference using the Slocum formula may have some effect on resident selection.

Although residency directors and faculty may have the desire to "compare apples to apples" by translating the unfamiliar COMLEX score into a more familiar USMLE score, the actual utility and appropriateness of doing so is open to discussion. There may be an evolving trend that more osteopathic students will take the USMLE. Whereas Schlitzkus et al6 found that 54% of osteopathic applicants reported USMLE scores, Lee and his associates7 found that during the study period, 70% of osteopathic students and 100% of the students in the class of 2015 took the USMLE. In contrast to USMLE scores, which are difficult to interpret10 and for which there is no published mean, COMLEX scores are easy to interpret. For Levels 1 and 2 of the COMLEX, a minimum score of 400 has been set for passing, with a mean score of 550.11 Additionally, the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examination website provides a formula to convert COMLEX scores into a percentile at the time the examination results are released.12 Finally, although both examinations have similar formats, the COMLEX contains questions on manipulative treatments and core osteopathic principles. In light of those findings, significant caution should be exercised when interpreting the results of the article by Lee et al.7

In February 2014, the American Osteopathic Association announced that the ACGME and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine would pursue a single, united accreditation system for graduate medical education programs in the United States. That agreement may result in uniformity of testing for osteopathic students, which may render conversions between USMLE and COMLEX obsolete.13,14

In closing, Lee and colleagues7 should be congratulated for a clean study design using the largest number of subjects in the literature. Between 2002 and 2012, the number of osteopathic graduates applying to allopathic residencies has nearly doubled.15 That trend is expected to continue, along with the rapid expansion of osteopathic medical schools, and the work by Lee et al7 is important and timely.


While climatic conditions are believed to have some influence on triggering conflicts, the existing empirical results on the nature and statistical significance of their explanatory role are not conclusive. We construct a dataset for a sample of 139 countries which records the occurrence of an armed conflict, the annual average temperature and precipitation levels as well as the relevant socio-economic, demographic and geographic measures over the 19612011 period. Using this dataset and controlling for the effect of relevant non-climate variables, our regression analyses support the significant explanatory role of climatic factors. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that climate warming is instrumental in raising the probability of onset of internal armed conflicts and suggest that, along with regulating population size and promoting political stability, controlling climate change is one of the most effective factors for inducing peace by way of curtailing the onset of armed conflicts.


OB: AN INTRODUCTION. The Nature and Study of Organization. BASIC HUMAN PROCESSES. Perceiving and Learning. Personality and Individual Differences. THE INDIVIDUAL IN THE ORGANIZATION. Motivation. Work-Related Attitudes. Becoming an Organizational Member: Solicitation and Careers. Stress. GROUP PROCESSES. Group Dynamics. Communication. Decision-Making. Co-operation and Conflict. INFLUENCING OTHERS. Power and Politics. Leadership. ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES. The Work Environment: Culture and Technology. Organizational Structure and Design. Organizational Change and Development.


X-ray observations of the Galactic Centre (GC) can provide invaluable insight into the physical processes within this unique region. In this thesis we investigate the nature of the GC diffuse X-ray emission. We have utilised archival XMM-Newton data to create image mosaics of the central 100 pc region in both continuum bands spanning the 2–10 keV energy range and in a set of narrow bands encompassing various emission lines. We use these mosaics, along with complementary X-ray spectral information, to show that the bulk of the very-hot thermal emission (kT ∼ 7.5 keV) can be explained in terms of a population of unresolved point sources, most likely magnetic CVs. Our analysis argues against the requirement for significant amounts of very-hot diffuse plasma. We also investigate a number of soft thermal features. We propose that the putative outflow from Sgr A* may result from the collimated winds of massive stars in the Central Cluster, or alternatively from outbursts on the central supermassive black hole. We show that the characteristics of the soft thermal emission to the north-east of Sgr A* are consistent with those of a mixedmorphology supernova remnant. The final feature considered is a looped structure to the south of the Galactic Plane. Our analysis supports the hypothesis that this is a superbubble deriving from the interaction of supernova shocks with the surrounding ISM. We also investigate the nature and properties of the intermediate-to-faint Galactic Bulge point source population based on a sample of 3610 X-ray source detections from the 2XMMi-DR3 catalogue. We conclude that the spectrally-soft sources are largely coronally-active systems, whereas the spectrally-hard sources are a more heterogeneous set, albeit the majority of which are accreting binaries.


Erlang is not just another general purpose functional programming language and it is not the best or most appropriate functional language for all uses. There are many worthy programming languages and the best or most appropriate depends on the intended uses. Erlang is currently the best and most appropriate functional language for writing robust, scalable, programs that can effectively use a one core processor, multicore processors, multiple processors, or trusted networks Concurrent programs in Erlang can keep running when more processors or core are added, when some fail or are removed and can be written to allow hot code swapping so updating does not even require stopping the process being updated. This can be done using significantly less code and done faster than in other languages. Erlang was designed for concurrency. The programmer can concentrate on what the processes are supposed to do and let them fail if a problem occurs. Failure of a process is a normal response, not a problem to be avoided. Much less defensive coding is required and fault tolerance is much easier to achieve. This is not magic, it is using a tool designed for the job. The Erlang programming model is to use many very lightweight processes which do not use shared memory, locks, or synchronized methods and which communicate by message passing. The processes are controlled the Erlang runtime and not by the operating system. The programmer's focus is on what the program is supposed to do and not on what can go wrong.


A growing number of organizations across a variety of industries are now pursuing sustainable management business goals to improve business efficiency, manage stakeholder expectations, or for legislative compliance. This is also the case for automotive manufacturing organizations who are under pressure from their stakeholders to manage and improve sustainability performance. This requires the development of credible measurement tools and systems to enable capture and monitoring of sustainability. This paper describes the development process for an innovative model, named the Automotive Sustainability Assessment Model (A-SAM), to drive sustainable decision-making in the automotive sector. The process of developing the model consisted of four major steps, each of which contained series of intermediate steps, individual objectives, and research methods. The model measures, quantifies, and translates a broad range of external effects (both positive and negative) into their monetary equivalents, enabling large car manufacturers to evaluate options, identify win – wins, and optimize trade-off, while making complex and multidisciplinary sustainability decisions. It allows managers and design engineers in the automotive sector to develop a better understanding of the environmental, resource, and social impacts of their activities, products, processes, and materials used, while still ensuring cost-effectiveness when making decisions. The A-SAM shows promise as an effective tool for supporting sustainability decisions in a business environment. Although developed in the context of the automotive industry, it can be adapted by organizations of any type, operating across many different sectors for managing sustainability in a more holistic, comprehensive, and integrated manner.


WSNs are used in environmental monitoring, security, medical applications, etc. The sensor nodes are usually randomly deployed in a specific region. These sensor nodes collect their data and send it to the Base Station (BS) via some routing protocol. These nodes cannot be recharged from time to time to keep them alive. They must follow a protocol which must ensure the efficient use of their power, so that those nodes may serve as long as possible without any external assistance. A routing technique plays a key role in their energy consumption. Many of the routing protocols use clustering as their routing technique. So clustering plays a very important role in prolonging the stability period and network life time. The Cluster Heads (CHs) collect the data from all the nodes in their cluster, aggregate it and then finally send it to the BS. These sensor nodes must follow a certain routing protocol to send their data efficiently to the BS. The main objective of all routing protocols is to minimize the energy consumption so that the network lifetime and particularly the stability period of the network may be enhanced. By network lifetime we mean the time duration from the start of the network till the death of the last node, whereas, stability period means the time duration from the start of the network till the death of the first node. This has object to develop an energy efficient increased lifetime threshold sensitive clustering algorithm by dynamic selection of cluster heads using multi-hops and multi-path, that leads to load balancing on different-different clusters. This results in the enhancement of cluster heads or normal nodes network lifetime and comparison of performance of the proposed protocol with TEEN. In this work we propose an energy efficient multipath routing algorithm in WSN. This protocol is designed to improve the latency, resiliency and efficiency through discovering multiple paths from the source to the destination.


An inevitable collision state for a robotic system can be defined as a state for which, no matter what the future trajectory followed by the system is, a collision with an obstacle eventually occurs. An inevitable collision state takes into account both the dynamics of the system and the obstacles, fixed or moving. The main contribution of this paper is to lay down and explore this novel concept (and the companion concept of inevitable collision obstacle). Formal definitions of the inevitable collision states and obstacles are given. Properties fundamental for their characterisation are established. This concept is very general and can be useful both for navigation and motion planning purposes (for its own safety, a robotic system should never find itself in an inevitable collision state). The interest of this concept is illustrated by a safe motion planning example.


THE author has endeavoured to study the behaviour of the excitability and the reflex activity of the sigmoid centres in the dog in catatonia produced by bulbocapnin. Using various doses of the drug he obtained in the different experiments practically all the catatonic symptoms observed and described by previous authors-narcosis, catalepsy, various hyperkinetic phenomena and epileptic convulsions. In none of these phenomena is the factor of inhibition or of excitation accompanied by appreciable variation in the excitability or reflex activity of the sensory motor cortical centres, or in the spontaneous behaviour of the animals subjected to experimental epilepsy. The author has been able to demonstrate that the epileptic convulsions induced by strong doses of bulbocapnin were always definitely of noncortical origin. The author regards the hypothesis of the cortical origin of experimental catatonia and of the specific action of bulbocapnin on the sensory motor cortex as unfounded. R. G. G.


4The directional differential space is set up, the ridge edge pixels and valley edge pixels are abstracted with the help of logical judgement along the direction of differential function to form directional roof edge map. Then step edge pixels are abstracted between the neighboring directional ridge edge and directional valley edge along the direction of differential function. The ridge edge map, valley edge map and step edge map gained along different directions are combined into corresponding ridge edge map, valley edge map and step edge map. The proposed method is compared with classical algorithm, Marr - Hildreth algorithm and Canny algorithm through experiments. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has higher precision on the location besides simple operation.


Summary of specific reactions of the activeplant. Classes of active substance Specific reagent and reaction Alkaloids Mayer → yellowish precipitate Quinone derivatives Born-Trager → purplish red color Cathetic and gallic tannins -Reagent of Stiasny → pink precipitate -Saturation by acetate of Na+ FeCl 3 → blue-dark green or black Flavonoids Shinoda → orange color, red or purple Cyanogenic derived Guignard (picric acide) → brown coloration Steroids and triterpenoids -Libermann-Burchard → violet-blue or green -Kedde → reddish purple or red wine Saponins Determination of the foam index (MI): positive test if MI >100 Anthocyanins Red coloration of the filtrate increased in acid medium and blue-violet in alkaline medium Leuco-anthocyanins Chloridric alcohol → cherry red color Mucilages Absolute alcohol → flocculent precipitate Reducing compounds Fehling's hot → brick-red precipitate Coumarins Ammonia 25% → intense fluorescence Anthracene derivatives Ammonia 50% → intense red color


Verse 1 C / / C / / Em / / Em / / Dm / / Dm / / G / / G / You talk like Marlene Dietrich and you dance like Zizi Jean-Maire. / C / / C / / Em // Em / / Dm / / Dm / / G //Dm//Em// G7/ Your clothes are all made by Balmain & there's diamonds & pearls in your hair (yes there are) / C / / C / / Em / / Em / / Dm / / Dm / / G / / G You live in a fancy apartment off the Boulevard St. Michel / / C / / C / / Em // Em / /Dm / / Dm / / G //Dm//Em// G7 Where you keep your Rolling Stones records and a friend of Sasha Distel (yes you do)


A network test system for the examinations of basic computer courses is developed.The examination processes and function modules of the system are introduced,parts of its core programs are given,and some issues need to be noticed in its development process are put forward.The system can meet the practical needs of the teaching process for basic computer courses,and it has good usability and provides a new idea for the research and development of similar systems.


INTRODUCTION: To measure and compare the time of onset of symptomatic relief (the relief of vulvovaginal itching, burning, or irritation) in women with vaginal yeast infections who had either used a local vaginal antifungal preparation or systemic oral antifungal. METHODS: This is a randomized, double-parallel group study. Participants presenting with symptoms of vulvovaginal itching, burning, or irritation, who were diagnosed with vulvovaginal candidiasis by positive 10% potassium hydroxide wet preparation, were treated with either local vaginal antifungal preparation (1,200 mg miconazole nitrate ovule insert and 2% miconazole nitrate external vulvar cream) or systemic oral antifungal (150 mg fluconazole). First recorded time of symptom relief was summarized both separately by itching, burning, or irritation and for all symptoms combined based on change in total symptom scores. RESULTS: The median time to initial relief of symptoms of itching, burning, and irritation for the local vaginal antifungal preparation compared with systemic oral antifungal treatment group was 1.0 hours compared with 4.0 hours for individual symptoms and 4.0 hours compared with 16.0 hours for all the symptoms combined, respectively. For overall symptom relief, statistical significance was achieved between treatment groups for the time points 20 minutes, 40 minutes, and 1, 2, and 4 hours with P values <.004, <.017, <.002, <.007, and <.032, respectively. Greater than 72 hours postdose were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: The local vaginal antifungal preparation system provided faster median times for initial relief of the vulvovaginal candidiasis symptoms of itching, burning, and irritation individually and for all symptoms combined than the systemic oral antifungal approach.


Abstract As a result of the attention paid to the concept of ethics over the past decade, responsible leadership has come to be a focus of research interest for management scholars. The concept entails the degree of stakeholder engagement besides the sense of societal obligation organizations have to fulfill. The growing concept also assumes that focusing only on maximizing shareholder profit is no longer acceptable in the global business and economic sphere. That is why the concept has found a place in management literature as mentioned. Over the past four decades, organizational commitment has come to be considered a buzzword in both management and organization studies. The concept was developed in 1960 to assess employee emotional attachment to their workplace, and currently its scope has been extended to include all employee-employer relationships. The importance of the concept stems from its strong correlation with many wanted and unwanted workplace behaviors like absenteeism, turnover, performance levels, citizenship behaviors and justice as proved by many quantitative studies. This study focused on Kasr El Eini hospital (Egypt) and identified the effect of responsible leadership on physicians' affective, continuance and normative commitment through mediating the role of an inclusive diversity climate by conducting a quantitative study. Upon collecting 140 questionnaire forms and using chi-square analysis followed by multiple regressions, it appears that responsible leadership has a positive association with an inclusive diversity climate, an inclusive diversity climate has a positive association with physicians' organizational commitment and finally, responsible leadership affects physicians' organizational commitment through mediating the role of an inclusive diversity climate.


The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia vision for 2030 is to replace foreign laborers with local ones to reduce Workers' Remittances Outflows (WOR), which weaken economic growth in the short term but has no effect in the long term according to previous literature review. The authors investigated the impact of WOR on the economy by employing the Bai-Perron test and OLS regression. The results reveal that the structural breaks are in 1981 and 1987. Furthermore, the results find that the impact of WOR and Government Expenditure (GE) are negatively significant, while Inflation (INF) and Exports (EX) are positively significant on the economy. Moreover, the explanatory power of the model is 87.3%. The authors conclude that rather than replacing foreign laborers with local ones, the foreign laborers should be encouraged to invest locally. In addition, more procedures should be taken to encourage exports. Moreover, government expenditure result's is consistent with neoclassic economists' explanation. Finally, the outcome of exports and expenditure will increase inflation and cause its impact on economy. We recommend that further research be conducted, using quarterly or monthly data, to pave the way for applying ARDL methodology.


An unprecedented copper nitrate‐mediated bond cleavage of alkynes was developed for the modular synthesis of isoxazoles, where either C–S bond or C≡C triple bond was cleaved selectively. Substituents attached to the C≡C triple bonds could differentiate the chemical bonds cleavage and reaction pathways disparately. Various transformations of products illustrate promising applications of the given protocols.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Book Review: Zuczkowski, Andrzej, Ramona Bongelli, Ilaria Riccioni and Carla Canestrari (eds.) (2014). Communicating Certainty and Uncertainty in Medical, Supportive and Scientific Context . John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 413.


The western area is a district that has many nationalities and religions spread wide. To understand the effect and special action to the western people that religion made, adopt vigorous measures, strengthen the management of religion affairs, make religion fit for the socialism society is important to act in the spirit of the sixteenth congress and the thought of "ancient deputy", promote the large-scale development in west China, build a comfortable society in an all-round way, quicken the socialist modernize construction.


Backyards across the Wide Bay are full of birds who are chirping, whistling, squawking and singing to their own tune. There are so many in fact it is almost impossible to count them all.


The characteristics of species in Kr/O2 mixture surface wave excited plasmas have been studied for clarifying the mechanism of plasma oxidation process. The absolute densities of the ground-state oxygen atom (P3j=0,1,2) and the metastable oxygen atom (D12) were measured by using vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy. Under a microwave power of 1 kW and a total pressure of 90 Pa, the absolute density of O(P3j) atom decreased from 2×1014 to 3×1013 cm−3 with increasing Kr dilution ratio from 80 to 99%. However, the absolute density of O(D12) atom increased with the increase of Kr dilution ratio and had a peak at a high Kr dilution condition of 97%. The production mechanisms of O(P3j) and O(D12) atoms have been discussed on the results of the metastable Kr atom density, the electron density, and electron temperature measured by near-infrared absorption spectroscopy and Langmuir singe probe, respectively. Moreover, we have measured the characteristics of positive ions by using quadrupole mass spectroscopy...


Abstract: Based on reference review, this study investigated ecosystem services supported by 10 typical rice paddies in six rice planting regions of China. The services were primary production, gas regulation, nitrogen transformation, soil organic matter accumulation, and water regulation and flood control. The results indicated that grain production of the 10 rice paddies was between 4.71 and 12.18 t ha-1 y-1; straw production was 4.65 to 9.79 t ha-1 y-1; gas regulation was calculated to emit O2 ranging from 8.27 to 19.69 t ha-1 y-1 and to assimilate greenhouse gases ranging from -2.13 to 19.24 t ha-1 y-1 (in CO2 equivalent); nitrogen transformation was estimated as nitrogen input ranging from 209.70 to 513.93 kg N ha-1 y-1 and nitrogen output of 112.87 to 332.69 kg N ha-1 y-1; soil organic matter accumulation was calculated to be between 0.69 and 4.88 t C ha-1 y-1; water regulation was estimated to consume water resources of 19875 m3 ha-1 y-1 and to support water resources of 6430 m3 ha-1 y-1; and flood control of several of the rice paddies was calculated to be 1500 m3 ha-1 y-1. The integrated economic value of ecosystem services of these rice paddies was estimated at USD 8605-21 405 ha-1 y-1, of which 74%–89% of the value can be ascribed to ecosystem services outside primary production. The results also indicated that the integrated economic value of the ecosystem services of the 10 rice paddies was higher when nitrogen fertilizer was applied in the range of 275 to 297 kg N ha-1. Until now, the economic value of the rice paddy ecosystem has been underestimated as only the economic value of grain and straw production was previously calculated. As more and more forest land and grassland is lost to urban and industrial use, cropland and especially rice paddies, will become more ecologically important to society. The economic value of ecosystem services supplied by rice paddies, outside primary production, are worthy of increased research attention.


Reverberation chambers are widely used in electromag- netic compatibility test facilities because they provide a large working volume and are cheaper than other types of test facilities. In addition, they provide a statistically uniform fleld and generate a high maxi- mum electric fleld within a relatively large volume. The volume of the cavity, the structure of the stirrer, and high tested frequency must be used in the reverberation chamber appropriately. Changing a volume of cavity dimensions and test frequency can be di-cult in the rever- beration chamber because they were determined already in the design process. In these cases, the stirrer should be changed. We investigated of the efiects of various stirrer angles and heights on a reverberation chamber. The optimization of the stirrer with respect to various stirrer parameters was investigated; these parameters are related to fleld uni- formity, the quality factor, stirred e-ciency, and electric fleld polarity. Our results suggest that a reverberation chamber can be successfully operated if careful decisions are made regarding the stirrer design.


For years, teachers of EFL have controversial ideas about the role of the native language (NL) in foreign language learning (FLL). Most experts have emphasized the negative transfer, but ignored the positive role of the NL. This paper is an attempt to reveal the transfer of native language in foreign language learning from five perspectives of phonation, grammar, graphs, lexical meaning and thinking mode. The positive role of the NL in FLL is stressed and the orientation of the eclectic teaching methodology is pointed out.


The study aimed to identify the degree of inclusion of multiple types of intelligence in the content of the art education curriculum sample, identify the distribution and balance of the indicators of multiple types of intelligence in the content of the art education curriculum sample, and identify the degree of inclusion of multiple types of intelligence in the content of the study sample, namely: (lesson preparation, lesson objectives, lesson presentation procedures). The researcher followed the descriptive analytical approach through analyzing the content represented in (the teacher/ teacher guide) for the art education curriculum, the first semester and revealing the degree of inclusion of multiple types of intelligence in the content of the study sample, namely: (preparation for the lesson, objectives of the lesson, procedures for presenting the lesson) and designed the researcher The content analysis list includes the seven specific types of intelligence (visual, linguistic, social, motor, environmental, personal, and logical intelligence) and indicators of each intelligence in the three curricular units (line and shape unit, color unit, flat and stereoscopic unit). The study showed the following: 1) There is a variation in the degrees of repetition observed for the seven components of intelligence in (line and shape) unit, and the logical intelligence index appeared high (17.70%), and low in motor intelligence (7.08%). 2) In (color) unit, the social intelligence index appeared high (18.18%), and there is a decrease in kinetic intelligence by (7.07%). 3) In (flat and stereoscopic formation) unit, the logical intelligence index appeared high (17.39%), and there is a decrease in kinetic intelligence (5.22%). The results also showed there is an imbalance between the components of intelligence with the content of the curriculum sample (The three units) with a high percentage of logical intelligence (17.13%) and low in motor intelligence by (6.42%). This contradicts with what the multiple intelligence theory emphasized regarding the necessity of balance and symmetrical distribution of intelligence with each other. In light of results, the study recommended the necessity of adopting the multiple intelligences theory in writing the content of art education curricula for the elementary stage.


This paper presents the results of fatigue tests carried out for specimens made of S355 steel under bending block loading with the mean value of loading. The tests consisted of increasing and decreasing the mean value of loading in subsequent blocks. The fatigue damage degree was examined in the range of maximum stress 364-480 MPa. Experimental tests show a difference in the fatigue life of the material depending on whether the mean value of loading is increased or decreased in the next sequences of the loading block, where for higher maximum stress this effect was not so important in relation to other cases. Analysis of the influence of the load sequence on the total degree of fatigue failure showed greater impact in situations where higher stress amplitude values were present; the average value is not the dominating factor. Using a recurrent Manson-Halford model for three load sequences very good results were obtained for estimating the fatigue damage degree.


Aiming at the problem that quantitative error analysis of strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) caused by key error cannot be achieved, this paper accomplished the design of simulation and verification system for the single-axis continuous and the to-and-fro rotation SINS. By simulating inertial measurement unit (IMU) outputting information in different single-axis rotation methods, the principle error of SINS is simulated and validated. By designing algorithm to compensate IMU errors online, the actual rotation SINS error caused by IMU random drift error, scale factor error and installation error can be optimized. In this paper, design of individual algorithmic process and functional module are illustrated. The test results show the simulation and verification system can carry out the simulation for the rotation SINS scheme well, and can provide effective support for improvement of rotation scheme technically.


This paper reports the design trade off study of the design of an innovative CMOS active pixel sensor (CAPS) based on Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology. The CAPS designs approach provides the flexibility and high-density features of hybrid pixel sensors with photon counting architecture. This sensor is the key component for optimized X-ray Tomosynthesis. A proof-ofprinciple test chip, paying particular attention to the noise performance of the pixel, front-end electronics (FEE) and readout speed, is available for testing in 2008. We present the design of the test chip in this paper.


Characteristic features in photocurrent (PC) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra are discussed and attributed to main defects in the gap of optical-quality chemical vapor deposited diamond. A shoulder in the PC spectra with an onset at about 2.2 eV is attributed to the single-substitutional nitrogen defect (EPR P1 resonance at g=2.0024). A second feature in the PC spectra with an onset of about 1.3 eV is observed on "as-grown" samples with a hydrogen terminated surface. The defect level associated with this feature is hydrogen related, and this defect disappears after oxidation of the diamond sample surface. The EPR g=2.0028, which was also suggested to be H-related, is discussed.


The forestry complex is economically significant for the development of the Komi Republic. It is noticeably inferior to the fuel and energy complex, but it plays an important social role in the forest regions of the republic, where it not only creates employment for the population, but also contributes to the development of municipalities through the creation of a tax base for local budgets. This provision updates the assessment of the current situation and possible development prospects. The purpose of the article is to analyze the state and development prospects of the forestry complex of the Komi Republic. The object of the research is the forest complex of the Komi Republic, which plays an important social role in the forest regions of the republic, where it not only creates employment for the population, but also contributes to the development of municipalities through the creation of a tax base for local budgets. Research hypothesis - an increase in the output of timber products is ensured by the implementation of priority investment projects in the field of forest development in the Komi Republic and the modernization of existing enterprises. Methods used in the study. The study of the state of the forest complex in the region was carried out on the basis of a retrospective analysis of data and expert assessments. Its methodological features are: structuring the efficiency of the forestry complex into production, socio-economic, and financial; using a set of indicators characterizing the specified aspects of efficiency. As a result, on a structured set of indicators, a characteristic of the forest complex of the Komi Republic was obtained, the effectiveness of activities and promising directions of development were determined. Presentation of the main material. It is shown that in the forest complex of the Komi Republic, projects are being implemented that are included in the federal list of priority investment projects in the field of forest development in Russia. Originality and practical significance of the research. The disappearance of small forest enterprises, first of all, negatively affects the social and economic situation of rural settlements of the republic, in which they are sometimes the only objects that provide an economic basis. But despite the modernization of existing enterprises and the creation of new ones, the commodity and industry structure of the complex continues to remain conservative with a predominance of timber and paper products of low and medium levels of redistribution. Conclusions. The technological level of production development remains insufficient, the share of innovative products with high added value is significantly inferior to countries with a developed forest industry. The prospects for the development of the forestry complex of the Komi Republic are determined by domestic and international factors of growth in the consumption of traditional products (lumber, plywood, paper) and new niches (wrapping paper, tall oil, turpentine, bioethanol, composite materials).


Over 2 decades have already passed since non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) was first applied to patients with various neurological disorders [1]. Building on advances in engineering and our understanding of clinical neurophysiology, we now have effective tools that can non-invasively strengthen or weaken the activities of specific areas or networks of the human brain. These tools include repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), and more recently, transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS). These tools are often collectively referred to as NIBS.


Objective:To understand the prevalence and influencing factors of adult female stress urinary incontinence(SUI) among the floating population in Guangzhou city,provide reference for prevention and treatment of the disease. Methods:Stratified sampling method was used to select 1 500 floating women who were more than 20 years old and engaging in different occupations for questionnaire survey. Results:A total 1 472 valid questionnaires were retrieved,their average age was(38.69±6.95) years(range: 20-65 years).The prevalence of SUI among the floating women in Guangzhou city was 34.0%(501/1 472).The results of univariate analysis showed that the occurrence of SUI was correlated with 21 factors among demographic characteristics,medical history,and gynecological related factors,increasing with age,body mass index,and the times of pregnancy.The results of multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that nine factors entered into regression equation,including cesarean section,postpartum rest time,hypertension,urinary tract infection,coughing,operation history of pelvic cavity,vaginal prolapse,age,and the times of pregnancy. Conclusion:The prevalence of SUI among the floating population in Guangzhou city was high,the influencing factors were complicated.Further related studies are needed.


In 1994, apartheid rule collapsed in South Africa, and went away with most of the rigid structures that had circumscribed the movement, and arguably the entire lives of black people. In a haste to ...


The replication of studies in mining software repositories (MSR) is essential to compare different mining techniques or assess their findings across many projects. However, it has been shown that very few of these studies can be easily replicated. Their replication is just as fundamental as the studies themselves and is one of the main threats to validity that they suffer from. In this paper, we show how we can alleviate this problem with our SOFAS framework. SOFAS is a platform that enables a systematic and repeatable analysis of software projects by providing extensible and composable analysis workflows. These workflows can be applied on a multitude of software projects, facilitating the replication and scaling of mining studies. In this paper, we show how and to which degree replication can be achieved. We investigated the mining studies of MSR from 2004 to 2011 and found that from 88 studies published in the MSR proceedings so far, we can fully replicate 25 empirical studies. Additionally, we can replicate 27 additional studies to a large extent. These studies account for 30% and 32%, respectively, of the mining studies published. To support our claim we describe in detail one large study that we replicated and discuss how replication with SOFAS works for the other studies investigated. To discuss the potential of our platform we also characterise how studies can be easily enriched to deliver even more comprehensive answers by extending the analysis workflows provided by the platform.


The regular meeting of the Planning Advisory Committee was held in the Council Chamber, Lobby Level. PRESENT Eric Falkjar, Chair Andrew Miller, First Vice-Chair Councillor Gerry Lowe Keith Brideau Rick Stephen Anne McShane Derrick Mitchell Mark Reade, Senior Planner Jody Kliffer, Planner Kristen Flood, Planner Patrick Foran, Planning Officer Lynda Lockhart, Recording Secretary REGRETS Patrick Beamish


This project sets out to examine how schools identify their assignment to make school to a place of equality. The research questions address how efforts to counteract discrimination regarding sexu ...


The palygorskite and sepiolite occur widely in marine and non-marine sediments and in the oceans.Geological situation of these minerals insedimentary basins are reviewed.They are considered to be generated in logoon,shallow lacustrine playa which are formed during the last part of drying process of Mgrich and pH lakes or seas.Hence,these minerals are believed to be good palaeoclimatic indicators. Since it is currently believed that fibrous minerals are potentially active to induce mesothelioma,several clay minerals were tested for their cytotoxicity in vitro using an established cytotoxicity assay.However,it is difficult to evaluate the cytotoxicity and hemolytic action of clay minerals for a number of reasons,because of the presence of variable amounts of impurity in clays,e.g. quartz or cristobalite.The crytotoxicity of the clay minerals in vitro may not accurately reflect their pathogencity in vivo.Our studies of biological effects of pure palygorskite and sepiolite are reviewed to show severe of biological effects of pure palygorskite and sepiolite are reviewed to show severe biological effects of these minerals to rats.With increasing temperature,their toxicity and hemolytic action were reduced.This may be attributed either to structural changes or to the diminution of their surface area.


Objective To specifically recognized the clinical features of Aeromonas septicaemia in the patients with acute leukemia,and to provide a basis for estimates of clinical conditions and treatment options.Methods From 2002 to 2009,all patients suffered from Aeromonas septicaemia with hematologic diseases in our hospital(in northern of China) were included for the retrospective study.We analysed the demographic,clinical and microbiologic characteristics,treatment and prognosis in these patients.Results During the 8-year period,16 patients with acute leukemia developed Aeromonas septicaemia.The majority of them were males(12∶4).All of the infection was nosocomial,and Aeromonas septicaemia generally occurred in summer or fall(87.5%).No cluster of Aeromonas septicaemia was found during the study period.The isolates speciated comprised Aeromonas sobria and A.hydrophila,and A.sobria was the most common species.six(24.4%) episodes of septicaemia were polymicrobial,and in the patients of A.sobria septicaemia.All of patients recent had received or underwent antineoplastic chemotherapy,and were in severe neutropenia at the onset of septicaemia.The main clinical manifestations were fever and chill(100%),followed by diarrhea(31.3%),septic shock(25%),and so on.The most severa secondary infections were skin soft-tissue infections/cellulitis(37.5%),anorectal infections(31.3%) and pneumonia(25.0%).Most of β lactam agents(excluding penicillins) had high activity against the isolated strains.All patients received timely treatment of sensitive antibiotics.However,five(31.3%) patients died within 3 to 4 days of onset of septicaemia.A.sobria polymicrobial septicaemia complicated by septic shock and accompanied by other severe infections was the high risk factor for mortality.Conclusion Aeromonas septicaemia is uncommon in the northern of China but can occur in summer or fall,and develop particularly in the patients with acute leukemia.Chemotherapy and neutropenia were the preceding host conditions.Most of β lactam agents(excluding penicillins) had high activity against the isolated Aeromonas.A.sobria was suggested to be more pathogenic.In patients with A.sobria polymicrobial septicaemia,septic shock and secondary infections should be prevented and treated early.


The vegetation on abandoned farmland in the Loess Plateau of China evolved in succession from Agriophyllum arenarium community to Lespedez adavurica community,simultaneously,the soil invertebrate community changed from simply to complex.The species of soil invertebrate changed from 14(1 year after restored)to 28(7 years after restored),and the dominant soil invertebrate in abandoned farmland are Nematodes,Acarina,Tenebrionidae,Curculionidae,Cudnidae and Scarabaeoidae.The biodiversity of soil invertebrate is positively correlated to the restoration duration.More soil invertebrate species was recruited at the initial stage of restoration;the succession of soil invertebrate dependes on vegetation and soil water.


Yam belongs to the genus Dioscorea (Family Dioscoreaceae) and is the second most important tropical root crop in West Africa after cassava. Besides their importance as a food source, yams also play a significant role in the socio-cultural lives of some producing regions such as the celebrated New Yam Festival in West Africa. Yams originated in the Far East and spread westwards. Today, yams are grown widely throughout the tropics. West and Central Africa account for about 94% of world production, Nigeria being the major producer.


By JON GLAZIER and KATHLEEN WILLIAMSON About 400 Rice students, almost 20% of the undergraduate population, gathered Friday evening in the quadrangle to demonstrate either for or against 'GOP Presidential candidate Richard Nixon, who was slated to speak in Miller Amphitheater in Hermann Park. The Rice Young Republicans turned out about 200 Rice students who, together with local high school students, local dignitaries, and UH students, assembled at Willy's statue. Beneath Lovett Hall arcade another 200 students with black armbands milled to protest the Vietnamese war and the three Presidential candidates^ Sporting signs such as "Millions for Defense — Not One C e n t for Rat Control," the protestors moved out f irst in an orderly manner across Hermann Park to the Amphitheater. Fruitcakes 32,000 Nixon fans—including many boisterous children and silver-haired suburban matrons, overflowed onto the grassy slopes of the new theatre. The demonstrators, g r e e t e d with derogatory s h o u t s from the crowd, including, "You bunch of fruitcakes, go on home," marched once around the sprawling crowd chanting anti-war slogans and singing as much as the ma-


Devonian sediments in the Qinling orogen predominantly crop out between the Shandan and Mianlue sutures.Abundant Au,Ag and Pb-Zn deposits in the Devonian strata have attracted considerable interest since the late 1960s,but provenance and tectonic setting of these sediments are controversial.Sandstone detrital fragments,detrital heavy mineral assemblage,geochemistry of siltstone and mudstone,composition of conglomerate and paleocurrent data demonstrate that the North Qinling was the major source area of the Devonian sediments,and basement uplift should be another important source area. Detrital fragment and heavy mineral assemblage of sandstone and fragments of conglomerate indicate that arc-related igneous rocks,granitoids,metamorphic rocks and some sedimentary and ultramafic rocks should out crop in the source area. Geochemistry of siltstone/mudstone and detrital model of sandstones suggest that the Devonian sediments in the Qinling orogen mainly deposited in an active continental margin,and they derived from the rocks with different tectonic settings.


. We show that X-ray emission and dynamical properties of superbubbles around OB associations are affected by metal ejection from the enclosed Type II supernovae (SNe). The SN and massive star yields may significantly change the superbubble interior metallicity and enhance its X-ray luminosity.


The present outbreak of Ebola virus disease 2014 in Africa is of public health concern. This disease is a deadly infection and has high fatality (1). The clinical presentation is mainly an acute febrile illness with hemorrhagic complication (1). Of interest, there are also other systemic presentations in the patient. The effect of the infection on cardiac rhythm is very interesting. Indeed, in the earlier outbreak in Sudan in 1976, the problem of cardiac rhythm abnormality was not observed (2). However, in the present situation, Ebola 2014, tachycardia is common (3). Bah et al. (3) reported that the mean heart rate of patients was >93 beats/minute. It appears that the new Ebola virus 2014 has a possible cardiac chronotropic action.


The process of the birth and development of Marxism is the process of socialism from fantasy into science and from theory into practice. The socialism with Chinese characteristics,which is a practical movement form of Marxism and which accepts concept of Marxism as a guide. Whether the concept of Marxism is correct or not directly affects the future and fate of socialist practice with Chinese characteristics,the socialist future and fate,in turn,affects our cognizance and attitude to Marxism.The collapse of Soviet Union and eastern Europe socialist countries is not the failure of Marxism,but the failure of wrong concept of Marxism of communist party members of Soviet Union and eastern Europe socialist countries. The future and fate of socialist practice with Chinese characteristics is closely linked to concept of Marxism.


The qualification for the UEFA European Championship 2020 is strongly connected to the inaugural season 2018-19 of the UEFA Nations League. The latter competition divides the 55 UEFA national teams into four leagues, and the qualifying play-offs guarantee at least one place in the final tournament for the best four teams of each league. Consequently, we found that being a top team in the lowest-ranked League D can substantially increase the probability of qualification compared to being a bottom team in League C because the probability of direct qualification is negligible for the teams competing for these places. It may undermine credibility: the current rules may punish stronger performance in recent matches, and create incentives for strategic manipulation. UEFA is encouraged to reform the format of qualifications in order to minimise the unfair advantage enjoyed by the top teams of UEFA Nations League D.


Various offline handwritten signature verification systems using writer independent approach are proposed by the researchers in last few years using numerous perspectives, like feature extraction techniques, feature selection techniques, classifiers used to develop the system etc. Despite the progressions in this framework, building classifier that can isolate the genuine and skilled forgery signatures is still a tough task. In this work, multiple classifier system is proposed to develop the writer independent offline handwritten signature verification system. To train the classifiers of multiple classifier system, feature vectors of the training set are partitioned into subsets and classifiers are trained using these subsets to preserve the diversity. The pixels lying on the elliptical curve paths are used to extract the features from genuine and forgery signature images. Two scenarios are proposed for the performance analysis. In the first scenario, the classifiers are trained using genuine signature and random forgery signature samples whereas genuine and all types of forgeries specifically random, unskilled and skilled forgery signatures are utilized for the training process of the classifiers in the second scenario. Signature database of 150 writers is used to perform the experiments. False rejection rate 8.33 and false acceptance rate 0.00, 0.00 and 1.67 for random, unskilled and skilled forgeries, respectively are reported as the best result of the experiments.


...................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction....................................................................................................................................... 2 2.0 Literature Review ............................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 General ...................................................................................................................................... 4 2.1.1 Pocket Gopher Ecology ................................................................................................. 4 2.1.2 Effect of Burrowing on Soil Characteristics and Erosion ............................................. 5 2.2 Burrowing Over Waste Trenches.............................................................................................. 6 2.3 Vegetation and Burrowing Animal Interactions ....................................................................... 6 2.4 Movement of Radionuclides ..................................................................................................... 7 2.4.1 Uptake Through Foraging.............................................................................................. 7 2.4.2 Exposure Through Predation......................................................................................... 7 2.5 Effect of Burrowing on the Distribution of Contaminants ....................................................... 8 2.6 Radiation Ecotoxicology........................................................................................................... 9 3.0 Study Site ......................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 General .................................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Climate and Physical Characteristics...................................................................................... 10 3.3 Waste Burial Sites................................................................................................................... 10 4.0 Methods and Materials................................................................................................................... 11 4.1 Preliminary Work.................................................................................................................... 11 4.2 Study Sites............................................................................................................................... 12 4.3 Waste Characteristics of Study Plots ...................................................................................... 12 4.4 Gopher Population Density..................................................................................................... 14 4.5 Soil Sample Collection ........................................................................................................... 14 4.6 Vegetation Sampling............................................................................................................... 15 4.6.1 Radioisotope Analysis ................................................................................................. 15 4.6.2 Vegetation Site Characterization................................................................................. 16 4.7 Pocket Gopher Sampling......................................................................................................... 16 4.8 Chemical Analysis .................................................................................................................. 16 4.9 Statistical Analysis.................................................................................................................. 16 4.10 Assumptions............................................................................................................................ 17 4.11 Uncertainty.............................................................................................................................. 18 5.0 Results and Discussion ................................................................................................................... 18 5.1 Population Estimate ................................................................................................................ 18 5.2 Soil Characteristics ................................................................................................................. 19 5.3 Vegetation Characteristics ...................................................................................................... 19 5.4 Paired T-tests and Upward Transport of Radionuclides by Gophers ..................................... 20 5.5 Potential Risk .......................................................................................................................... 21 5.6 Comparisons with Past Surveillance Data .............................................................................. 23 5.7 Americium............................................................................................................................... 23 5.8 Plutonium-238/239.................................................................................................................. 25 5.9 Uranium .................................................................................................................................. 26 5.10 Tritium .................................................................................................................................... 31 5.11 Media Relationships................................................................................................................ 34 6.0 Conclusions...................................................................................................................................... 35


Sign Language is at the core of a progressive view of deafness as a culture and of deaf people as a cultural and linguistic minority. An in-depth study of Filipino Sign Language (FSL) is crucial in understanding the Deaf communities and the social issues surrounding them. Computer-aided recognition of sign language can help bridge the gap between signers and non-signers. In this paper, we propose Isomap manifold learning for the automatic recognition of FSL signs. Video of isolated signs are converted into manifolds and compiled into a library of known FSL signs. Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) is then used to match the nearest library manifold with the query manifold for an unknown FSL sign.


two societies, and holding communication one with another by the means of electricity. That the brain, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, olivary bodies, pyramids, spinal cord, and ganglia, are each distinct personalities; that each is an independent self or moi. That impressions made upon the brain become latent until required for intellectual operations, sensations being impressed upon the anterior cerebral lobes, the images of impressions to be transformed into ideas upon the middle lobe, affirmations upon the posterior lobe. That the cerebellum is the intelligent executive of the mandates of the brain, while at the same time it regulates muscular action and maintains the bodily equilibrium, and occasionally supplements the functions of the brain, as in the movements of somnambulism. We need not follow the author through similar fanciful explanations of the functions of other parts of the nervous centres, since


Background of the Study: Apart from deterioration due to aging, very often lead aprons are damaged due to poor handling. Without quality control these lead aprons will, with time contribute significantl y to radiation burden of the wearer. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the protective feature of lead aprons used in radi ology department performed at federal public hospital s by analysing quantitative and qualitative variety o f methods including objective quality control. Materials and Methods: Forty seven (47) protective lead aprons used in Radiology departments was analyzed. All aprons were identified and registered according to types, thickness of the lead inside th e aprons or its equivalent, by how long it has been used, its storage conditions and cleanliness. Radio graphs of the aprons were taken using X-ray units and (35cm X 43cm or 35cm X35cm) films or phosphor storage plates. The radiographs were evaluated in terms of holes, cracks and other defects that we re contained in their structures. Measurement of sizes of defects were taken using ruler and compared with standard rejection criteria. Results: regarding their internal structures, 31 (65.96%) aprons were not defected (free of defect) and 16 (34.04%) were defected. Cracks accounted for 9(56.25%) and hole 7(43.75%) of the total 16 defected lead aprons. And regarding quality control , only 9% of the aprons were periodically checked on annual basis and 72% of the lead aprons were not checked at all. It was also observed that 31(66%) o f


Long Span Unrepeated Fiber Communication System is introduced in this paper. The difference between the common optical communication system and this system is that long span unrepeated fiber communication system is made up of not only fiber booster and fiber preamplifier but also remote-pumped fiber booster, remote-pumped fiber preamplifier, Raman amplifier and FEC technique etc. This kind of system is usually used in some special occasions where the span is longer than the span of common fiber communication system but not too long. The system is a technical option for electric power communication in West China with complicated geography and environment conditions. And the technique is realistically feasible.


The synthesis of the title compound (DHBM) is reported in this paper. The MS, IR, UV, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectra of the title compound have been determined and characterized. The compound shows higher stability while benzylidene is bonded to the threemembered ring with napthalene.


The vascular endothelium releases vasodilator substances, endothelium derived relaxing factors (EDRF ; nitric oxide, NO) and endothelium derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) , and endothelial dysfunction plays a key role in the pathogenesis of type 1 and type 2 diabetic vascular complications (macrovascular disease and microangiopathy) . Impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation has been demonstrated in various beds of different animal models of diabetes and in humans with type 1 and type 2 . Several mechanisms of endothelial dysfunction have been reported, including substrate ability, impaired release of NO, increased destruction of NO, decreased sensitivity of the vascular smooth muscle to NO, the decreased action of cyclic-AMP and decreased activity of cytochorome P450. The principal mediators of diabetes-associated endothelial dysfunction is increased in oxidized low density lipoprotein (LDL), endothelin-1 (ET-1), oxidative stress, and decreased action of insulin or growth factors in endothelial cells. Correction of these pathways, as well as administration of insulin sensitizer, antioxidants, cholesterol-lowering agents, ET-1 receptor antagonists have been shown to improve endothelium-dependent vasodilation in diabetes. This article synopsises the mechanisms underlying attenuated relaxation response of blood vessels to various agents in diabetic animals.


Different classification systems for Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) pulpwood were compared. The classification systems were applied on truckloads or single logs in southern Sweden. Truckload classification according to mean annual growth ring width gave better separation of the wood properties basic density, juvenile wood and dry matter content, than classification according to harvest type (first thinning, later thinning or final felling). The assortments did not have significantly different wood brightness. Sorting at log level according to diameter, mean annual growth ring width or number of annual growth rings, which could be done at harvesting, did not drastically improve differentiation of the mean values of the wood properties or reduce variance compared to truckload classification. The variation in wood properties within assortments remained large owing to the large variation in wood properties between and within logs. Substantial reduction in dry matter variation could be achieved by tru...


Bayes theory is provably optimal whenever all the sensor sources are contributing information at a single Bayesian level of abstraction. Often, however, this is not the case. Shafer-Dempster reasoning is a generalization of Bayes reasoning that offers a way to combine uncertain information from disparate sensor sources with different levels of abstraction. Shafer-Dempster logic is discussed and described, and realistic examples are provided of its use drawn from the field of multisensor target identification systems and on simulating its operation.


BACKGROUND
Students often complain about a lack of teaching of practical skills. This may be a cause for the low attractiveness of surgical disciplines. We therefore established a practical course to improve teaching quality to inspire the students for orthopedic and trauma surgery.

METHODS
The platforms of the course included the teaching and acquisition of suture techniques, arthroscopy and osteosynthesis techniques. A total of 119 students participated in 9 courses and performed a detailed evaluation.

RESULTS
The main motivation to participate was (i) to acquire practical skills (93 %), (ii) to learn about orthopaedic and trauma surgery (66 %) and (iii) to facilitate decision-making for the occupational choice (21 %). 94 % judged the quality of the course as "excellent", and all 119 participants indicated that they would recommend the course to other students. 43 of 45 students, who had not yet decided on their occupational choice, indicated that the course stimulated them for a career in orthopaedic and trauma surgery.

CONCLUSION
This course not only can improve the teaching quality but also can increase the attractiveness of muskuloskeletal surgery.


Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to identify improvement possibilities in the data processing and information flow relating to product quality in the processes of automotive component production, which might result in the acceleration of decision making on product quality and reduction of defects and related costs. The expected results of the proposed improvement are presented in the paper. Methodology/Approach: Modelling and simulations of the component production processes with the current and proposed state of information flow were made in the QPR software to test the effect of the changes in the information flows. Subsequently, the results of the simulations of both process models were compared from the perspective of quality. Findings: Results of the simulations showed the positive effect of the proposed changes reflecting in the lower number of defects compared to the current state. Based on the accurate and timely received information on product quality, needed interventions to the process can be realized to reduce the defects. Research Limitation/implication: The limitation of the paper is the exact estimation of benefits after the improvement implementation. The expected benefits were defined on the base of test operation. Originality/Value of paper: The originality of the paper is in the applicability of the proposed solution in organisations operating in the automotive industry or other data-driven manufacturing organisations calling for timely and accurate information access to achieve a high level of quality, effectiveness and efficiency in the production processes.


This paper is a critical evaluation of the interpretation criteria of drilled shafts under axial compression loading. A wide variety of load test data are used for analysis, and these data are divided into drained and undrained databases. The interpretation criteria are examined from these load test results to establish a consistent compression interpretation criterion. Among these criteria, the range of each interpretation method presents approximately the same trend for both drained and undrained conditions. The statistical results show that the smaller the compression displacement, the higher the coefficient of variation. Moreover, the undrained load test results reveal less variability than the drained results. The load-displacement curve of a drained loading also demonstrates more ductility than that for undrained loading. Based on these analyses, the relative merits and interrelationships of these criteria are established, and specific design recommendations for the interpretation of compression drilled shaft load test, in terms of both capacity and displacement, are given.


Behavioral differences between high (H) and low (L) emotional reactivity lines based on the ambulation in the Runway Test were investigated by using open-field and hoarding tests. Subjects were 22 male albino rats of the 6th generation. Each subject was placed in the open field during 5 min for 3 consecutive days. Then, daily hoarding trials (30 min) were run .under 23 hr food-deprivation and additional five trials were given under satiation. In the open-field test, L-line rats showed higher measures of ambulation, rearing, and scratching than H-line, but defecation, face washing, and grooming scores were not different between the two lines. In the hoarding test L-line rats tended to hoard more pellets under food-deprivation and hoarded significantly more under satiation than H-line rats.


A method and apparatus for allocating and processing sequences in a communication system is disclosed. The method includes: the sequences in each sequence group are divided into multiple sub-groups; the sequences in each sub-group are obtained from a candidate sequence collection corresponding to the sub-group in a specific selection mode; the system allocates the determined sequences to the cells; for a sub-group i, a function fi(.) corresponding to the sub-group is determined, and the domain of the function is the candidate sequence collection corresponding to the sub-group; the sequences in the sub-group i in a sequence group k (k is the serial number of the sequence group) are n (n is a natural number) sequences selected from the candidate sequence collection, where the n sequences make the d (fi(.),Gk) function value smaller, d(a,b) is a two variables function, and Gk is a variable determined by the group number k.


The objective was to assess pain and associated symptoms in elderly cancer patients in home-based palliative care. Quantitative and cross-sectional study involving 33 elderly in Foz do Iguacu, state of Parana, Brazil, between January and May 2015, using theEdmonton Symptom Assessment System and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The prevalent age range of the elderly was between 60 and 69 years old, mostly women, married, suffering from breast cancer, low income and low education, with other diseases associated with cancer. It was verified that 90.1% of the patients mention daily and continuous moderate burning pain in the site affected by the tumor. The associated symptoms were anxiety, fatigue, depression and reduced wellbeing. Pain and symptom control measures need to be readjusted and health managers need to invest further in order to permit better palliative care at home.


In the book, I deconstruct the prevailing treatment of the New Testament as anti-imperial. I do it by contextualizing both New Testament scholarship and the Galatian experience within imperialist discourses that survived the dissolution of conventional 20th c. empires. I critique simplistic/naive treatments of empire as post-imperial (that is, replicating patterns of imperialist ideology, albeit unwittingly) and I propose a new interpretation of Galatians that reworks and complicates the portrait of the Galatians themselves—rather than focusing on Paul. The world that emerges using this approach is a diverse social world peopled by complex individuals with heterogeneous social and cultural identities. Throughout, I show how New Testament scholars who rehabilitate the Bible and Paul as anti-empire perpetuate the same imperialist modes of interpretation they seek to repudiate.


Compressional P-wave ocean-bottom-cable (OBC) seismic data from the Beryl Alpha field in the U. K. North Sea provide a superior image of the subsurface compared to heritage streamer seismic data. To determine the reason for the superiority of OBC data, the results of a detailed comparison of these OBC and streamer data sets are compared. The streamer and OBC data sets are reprocessed using a strategy that attempts to isolate the roles of processing, fold, azimuth, PZ combination, and hydrophone and geophone data have on the improved OBC image. The vertical component of the geophone (OBC Z) provides the major contribution to the improved OBC image. The imaged OBC Z datacontain fewer multiples and have a higher signal-to-noise ratio than the streamer. The OBC data have a lower level of multiple contamination because of the contribution from the OBC Z component, together with an effective suppression of receiver-side water-column reverberations as a result of the combination of the OBC hydrophone and geophon...


Purpose Compartment syndrome is a limb threatening condition. Prior research has been limited by an inability to assess functional and histologic changes in muscle over time. This study was designed to assess and quantify functional deficits and histologic changes following acute compartment syndrome of the lower limb in a novel rat model. Method Twenty-three male Wistar rats were trained to perform an incentive-based standard task on an optical gait tracking system. Animals were then randomized to three groups: Control (n=4), Sham (n=4) and Compartment Syndrome (CS, n=15). Control and sham animals had no elevation of intracompartmental pressure, while CS animals had elevated intracompartmental pressure to 30mmHg for 180 minutes in the anterior compartment of the left hind limb using a saline infusion technique. Following intervention, gait analysis was performed at 2hrs, 24hrs, 48hrs, 72hrs and 7days following injury. Several parameters for the injured hind limb were analyzed including: print area, print intensity, maximum contact timing, duty cycle and stance phase time. A 2-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc analysis was performed. The EDL muscle was harvested (n=17), fixed in formalin and prepared with an H&E stain. Mid-muscle sections were analyzed by a blinded senior pathologist for cell infiltration, necrosis and regeneration. Results Function Changes: Mean print intensity was 96.5518.7 at 48hrs for CS animals, compared to 145.538.2 in control animals and 144.9612.71 in sham animals (p 0.05). Histologic Changes: Cellular infiltration was noted at 24hrs, peaked at 48hrs and was still present at 7 days to a lesser degree. Necrosis began as early as 24hrs post injury and also peaked by 48hrs and returned to baseline levels by 7days. Minor regenerative changes were identified as early as 24hrs however the majority of changes were identified at 7 days post-injury. Conclusion Developing and evaluating animal models for the study of compartment syndrome is essential for better understanding the condition and testing new treatment modalities. Gait analysis was a reproducible means of assessing function after compartment syndrome. Animals demonstrated an antalgic gait pattern demonstrated by decreased stance phase, decreased print intensity, and increased print width, with recovery demonstrated by 72hrs post-injury. Defining the histologic changes such as necrosis, cellular infiltration and regeneration associated with compartment syndrome has allowed us to further understand the evolving pathology of compartment syndrome over time. This study facilitates the evaluation of functional and histologic testing for the evaluation of new therapeutic interventions.


An integrated smart camera is a single chip composed of a sensor tightly coupled with one or more processing elements. The image processing applications that are mapped on such systems can require processing power in the range of supercomputer. To face the increasing application needs we propose in this paper a SIMD based processor optimized for the low and intermediate level of image processing. The architecture is composed of several SIMD cluster. Each cluster includes a configurable number of 2-Way PE (Processing Element) ranging from 32 to 256 running at 200 MHz. These cluster configurations provide between 12 to 102 GOPS.


The fuselages and outer cases of the engines of many fixed wing drones are made of tubes because of their aerodynamic characteristics and strengths. Most of the structural health monitoring (SHM) methods were developed for the large flat plates used to manufacture the fuselages of conventional airplanes. Recently, drones have been used at many military and civilian applications. The current trend shows that, their fuselages will be made of additively manufactured composite tubes in near future. Most of the expensive drones operate out of the sight during their missions. An SHM system at the critical locations such as their cylindrical bodies and outer engine covers would provide very valuable information to their operators in emergencies to return the system before catastrophic failure occurs. Surface response to excitation (SuRE) method is a sensitive SHM method, which can detect defects of small structures. In this study, SuRE method is used for detection of compressive forces applied to the small hollow tubes and estimation of their location. A steel and an additively manufactured (AM) tubes were tested without and with applied compressive force by using the SuRE method. The existence of the compressive force was detected in all cases. The location of the compressive force was estimated accurately in 2 out of 3 cases for both materials.


A discrete version of the two-dimensional inverse scattering problem is considered. On this basis, algebraic transformations for the two-dimensional finite-difference Schr¨odinger equation are elaborated. Generalization of the technique of one-dimensional Darboux transformations for the two-dimensional finite-difference Schr¨odinger equation is presented. Ideas of Bargmann-Darboux transformations for the differential one-dimensional multichannel Schr¨odinger equation are used for the two-dimensional lattice Schr¨odinger equation. Analytic relationships are established between different discrete potentials and the corresponding solutions.


This paper presents the psychosocial characteristics of Greek young offenders attending a probation service. Measures included the Rutter and Graham Semi-Structured Child Psychiatric Interview, the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, and the Family Adaptability Cohesion Evaluation Scale. The age-range of the subjects was 12 to 18.6 years, the majority being between 15.5 and 17 years. The main offences were theft, physical violence and damage of property. Characteristics included recurrent offending (48.3%), coming from broken families (58.3%), family history of mental health problems (26.7%), and a high rate of borderline to mild learning disability (36.3%). Young people described dysfunctional patterns in their immediate families, particularly in the dimension of adaptability, on which almost all families (96.7%) were categor-ized as disengaged. There were high rates of affective disorders, as 22% of the young people fulfilled diagnostic criteria for major depression and 22% for dysthymic disorder. The findings are discussed in a sociocultural context, in comparison with previous research from western societies.