As the most abundant RNA methylation modification, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) could regulate asymmetric and symmetric division of hematopoietic stem cells and play an important role in various diseases. Therefore, the precise identification of m6A sites around the genomes of different species is a critical step to further revealing their biological functions and influence on these diseases. However, the traditional wet-lab experimental methods for identifying m6A sites are often laborious and expensive. In this study, we proposed an ensemble deep learning model called m6A-BERT-Stacking, a powerful predictor for the detection of m6A sites in various tissues of three species. First, we utilized two encoding methods, i.e., di ribonucleotide index of RNA (DiNUCindex_RNA) and k-mer word segmentation, to extract RNA sequence features. Second, two encoding matrices together with the original sequences were respectively input into three different deep learning models in parallel to train three sub-models, namely residual networks with convolutional block attention module (Resnet-CBAM), bidirectional long short-term memory with attention (BiLSTM-Attention), and pre-trained bidirectional encoder representations from transformers model for DNA-language (DNABERT). Finally, the outputs of all sub-models were ensembled based on the stacking strategy to obtain the final prediction of m6A sites through the fully connected layer. The experimental results demonstrated that m6A-BERT-Stacking outperformed most of the existing methods based on the same independent datasets.


A lightweight TCP/IP stack named CW-TCP/IP(compact wireless-TCP/IP) is presented,which is based on a small wireless embedded systems.CW-TCP/IP processes TCP/IP using a simple data structure called CCB(connection control block).It does not refe-rence other data structure to create TCP/IP headers and adopts TCP veno as a congestion control algorithm to improve wireless perfor-mance.It is developed to be processor and OS-independent,so it has high portability,and now it can be ported to embedded systems that use Linux.Comparing the performance of CW-TCP/IP Linux TCP/IP and C/TCP/IP,which is widely used as an OS for small em-bedded systems by experiments,and results show that CW-TCP/IP has excellent wireless performance.


This paper presents a network analysis approach to assess efficiency and resilience of public transport systems under cascading failures. Results of the two case studies of the RESOLUTE project (i.e., Florence, Italy and the Attika region, Greece) are presented. Failures can be of different types (accidents, infrastructure collapses, attacks, etc.) and can lead to impacts with different severities. The key element of cascading failures is time: as time passes by, more locations or connections of the network can be affected consecutively, as well as change their own condition. The proposed network analysis approach simulates failure propagation and evaluates the associated impacts on the transport system. Analogously to the analysis of road networks proposed in the literature, the network average efficiency and the relative size of the largest connected component have been considered for the analysis of the two RESOLUTE case studies. The cascade is simulated as follows. The node betweenness – the number of shortest paths through that node (i.e. stop/station) – is the "capacity" of that node. The worst-case of the cascading failure is considered. The node with the highest betweenness is the one triggering the cascade: it is removed and the new betweenness for every remaining node is computed, since it changes with the new shortest paths arrangement. All the nodes with betweenness higher than capacity are removed and the process continues until no more nodes can be deleted, that is the end of the cascade. Finally, efficiency and relative size of the largest connected component are computed along the cascade, to compare network at the begin and the end of the cascade. Analysis is repeated by considering the chance to increase node capacity by a given percentage, allowing to assess which is the implied improvement on resilience and on efficiency supporting a more sustainable allocation of financial resources.


New war fighting doctrines emphasizing rapid mobility of forces have created vital needs for communications on the move. While this applies to all services, emphasis in this paper will be on providing communications to land forces in motion, implying communications to vehicles. The need is urgent because the doctrine is already in place. SHF satellite communications is inherently attractive because the satellites are in orbit, SHF is embedded into the force structure, and small terminal equipment is expected to be relatively low in cost. A man portable terminal has been developed as part of the Air Force Portable Terminal System. Rapid development and deployment of an SHF capability for communications on the move are feasible in a short time, based on using the electronics of the man por-. table terminal with a special vehicle mounted antenna for tracking the satellite while the vehicle is in rapid motion. In this way, continuous communication on the move is possible with a very small and lightweight SHF terminal. To illustrate this approach, receipt of imagery on the move will be discussed, since this represents a demanding high data rate application. The PTS design is reviewed in context of this application; candidate antennas are presented; and overall cost estimated. Comparisons made with alternatives suggest advantages for this approach.


Education is a determining factor in the formation of the intellectual potential of the individual, the stimulus of economic growth of the country, the welfare of the population and the prestige of the country on the world scene, which undoubtedly affects the national security of the country. Education should be seen as a weapon to strengthen national security, because the build-up of military capabilities can no longer guarantee the security of the country. At a time when countries capture as a result of hybrid wars or economic methods, only a conscious, economically active, competitive population can create credible protection for the country, and qualitative education is needed for its formation. Issues of the essence and relevance of educational security to strengthen national security are in sight of both domestic and foreign scientists. However, the essence of educational security, its threats and the degree of influence on national security is not fully understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to study the availability and nature of the relationship of education of the population and the level of national security of the country and its components. The study analyzed the importance of education for strengthening the national security of the country as a whole and its functional components: political, economic, social, ecological, demographic, informational, spiritual, military. Evaluated threats that exist in the educational sphere and suggested ways to overcome them. The level and dynamics of educational security of Ukraine are analyzed, and with the help of statistical methods the link between educational and national security of the country has been established. It is confirmed that raising the level and quality of education increases the production of GDP per capita, decreases crime rate, etc. Thus, the next step should be to develop a state policy and develop measures to improve the quality of education.


Globalization may have various effects in both positive and negative contexts in an economy. By letting a country to reach more advanced technologies and production methods, globalization can augment an economy's productivity level. Therefore, this study examines the role of globalization on labor productivity in both short-run and long-run. In order to analyze this association, we empirically investigate if there is a long-run relationship between globalization and labor productivity by using a balanced panel data of 34 OECD countries for the years from 2002 to 2012. Panel cointegration test results disclose that globalization and labor productivity are positively related to each other and this relationship is statistically significant in both short-run and long-run. According to the estimation results, if globalization index value goes up by 1% then labor productivity increases by 0.83% in the long-run while this figure is by 0.44% in the short-run.  Also, we could not find any causality association between globalization and labor productivity as a result of panel causality test.


1 It has previously been shown that the extent of hepatic phospholipidosis induced by chronic amiodarone treatment correlates with the degree of drug accumulation in liver tissue. 2 To investigate a possible influence of pharmacogenetic factors, biochemical and morphological investigations were carried out in two rat strains differing in debrisoquine hydroxylation. 3 Plasma and liver tissue concentrations of amiodarone and its main metabolite, desethyl‐amiodarone, were significantly higher in rats with deficient hydroxylation. Microsomal enzyme induction, drug cytochrome P‐450 complex formation and typical ultrastructural features of phospholipidosis were only seen in rats with deficient hydroxylation and in a more sensitive species, the guinea‐pig. 4 It remains to be seen whether deficient debrisoquine hydroxylation in man is associated with an increased susceptibility to amioadarone side effects.


Recently in an attempt to improve the quality and appearance of airport food and merchandise, both concessionaires and airport officials have made a concentrated effort to change the way they do business (Weinstein and Madrigal, 1991; Finney, 1991) They are shying away from selling hackneyed tourist items and stale hotdogs. They are changing the type of merchandise they carry and are offering brand name products. Wellknown merchandise is replacing standard airport selections. It is not unusual to find familiar dining and snacking opportunities (Pizza Hut, Nathan's, and Mrs. Field's cookies) and popular fashion and merchandising selections (Walt Disney, Bloomingdales, and Benjamin Books). With merchandise that resembles the selection available at many shopping malls, the belief is that more passengers will be more willing to spend their time in airports spending money on familiar products. Despite these changes, the price of the merchandise is usually more than one would pay for the same product in a shopping mall or in the area surrounding the airport. For example, a hotdog at Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) airport ranges between $1.50 and $1.69, but at Hardees outside the airport it is $99. A hamburger; at BWI costs $1.89; outside the airport, at Wendy's, it is $.89. Coffee is $1.09 at National Airport, $1.09 at Dulles, $.89 at BWI, and $.72 at a neighborhood 7-11. At the BWI Pizza Hut, all single pan pizzas are $2.99; at a neighborhood Pizza Hut, the same thing is $1.99 for plain, or $2.29 for pepperoni or sausage. Table 1 shows the results from a survey of the prices of several food and nonfood items sold by three airports in the Washington, DC area, and compared with the prices of he same items sold by a local drugstore and convenience store. Although some individual items sold at airports cost less than the same item sold elsewhere, in every case, the total marketbasket of items sold at an airport costs more than the same marketbasket purchased at a nearby convenience store or drug store. Table 1 Comparable Marketbaskets of Items Sold at Washington, DC Area Airports and Local Drug/Convenience Stores Pair 1 (12 items) Average Price($) National Airport 17.67 Peoples Drugstore 14.52 Pair 2 (13 items) National Airport 16.72 7-11 15.65 Pair 3 (11 items) Dulles Airport 16.51 Peoples Drugstore 13.79 Pair 4 (12 items) Dulles Airport 15.57 7-11 14.86 Pair 5 (9 items) BWI Airport 13.39 Peoples Drugstore 9.89 Pair 6 (10 items) BWI Airport 12.80 7-11 10.38 Source: Washingtonian Magazine, March 1992, p. 16. These price disparities between airport goods and the same items sold in nearby neighborhoods are puzzling for two reasons. First, airport concessionaires are contractually required to sell their goods and services for prices competitive with the area surrounding the airport. The airport administration (AA) is supposed to keep track of prices by comparison shopping; if the prices are too high, the concessionaire required to lower them. Second, there is competition within airports. Many airports have more than one newsstand, more than one place selling clothes or toys or gifts, and numerous places to eat. Assuming that the real costs of doing business in an airport are no higher than the costs of doing the business in, say, a shopping mall, the presence of numerous sellers should prevent any one seller from collecting monopoly rents by exploiting the consumers' somewhat captive location at an airport. Yet, despite administrative rules and competitive forces that should the price of airport food and merchandise at competitive levels, keep often remain higher than outside the airport. In this article, we explain how the institutional design of airport administration leaves neither the airport administrator nor the concessionaires with the incentive set rices competitively. …


A search for H..cap alpha.. emission in five globular clusters has yielded upper-limit ionized hydrogen masses within the core radii of M/sub H+/ = 0.1-0.7M/sub sun/. This augments the findings of previous searches for ionized hydrogen (both radio and optical) that clusters are gas deficient with respect to the mass loss predictions of evolutionary theory, if the gas remains in the cluster. Time-independent gas flow models have been constructed for globular clusters of 10/sup 5/ M/sub sun/ and 10/sup 6/ M/sub sun/, with physical assumptions chosen to maximize the predicted gas content. Ionization by electron impact was assumed, and the ionization state of both hydrogen and helium was calculated throughout the flow; the radiative cooling of the gas under these conditions was treated with considerable care. For the 10/sup 5/ M/sub sun/ cluster, steady-state flows were obtained for all gas input energies, ..beta.., down to (2..beta..)/sup 1///sup 2/ = 17 km s/sup -1/, and it seems certain that gas outflow will occur for all plausible stellar mass loss mechanisms. For the 10/sup 6/ M/sub sun/ cluster, radiative cooling prevented gas outflows for input energies less than (2..beta..)/sup 1///sup 2/ < 120 km s/sup -1/, and it appears that red-giant-branch massmore » loss will result in the gradual accumulation of gas.Integrated surface brightness and flux values for the flow models showed no clear conflict with the presently observed upper limits for the 21 cm line, the radio free-free, and H..cap alpha... In the 21 cm line case, however, the observations are on the threshold of the predicted emission for 10/sup 5/ M/sub sun/ cluster flow models with no photoionization and with very low gas ejection energy, and further attempts to detect neutral hydrogen seem well worthwhile. (AIP)« less


Causal models are representations of
causal structures and processes in the world. In this thesis two
main questions concerning causal models are explored: "What are the
differences between different causal models" (normative question)
and "Are persons sensitive to these differences" (psychological
question). In chapter 1 qualitative, formal and numerical aspects
of different causal models are introduced and discussed. Chapter 2
investigates the relevance of causal models for learning,
diagnosis, prediction and hypothesis testing and it reviews the
current psychological literature on these topics. In chapter 3 the
authors own experiments are described. They show that persons use
causal models in learning, but that they are not able to test even
simple causal models. Furthermore it is shown that persons show an
implicit sensitivity to structural implications of causal models,
but they lack an explicit understanding of these implications. The
final chapter integrates the findings and argues that they point to
a difference between reasoning by means of causal models vs.
reasoning about causal models. Speculations about possible
evolutionary constraints of this differentiation conclude the
thesis.


Anemia is an expected consequence of intensive chemotherapy regimens administered to patients with acute leukemia. This study was designed to determine whether epoetin alpha would decrease the number of transfusion events and units of packed erythrocytes (PRBCs) transfused, and the secondary objective was to study the effects of epoetin alpha on quality of life (QOL) and complete remission (CR) rates.


Objective To establish a method of dosage regimen design of multiple dosing intravenous administration. Methods Microsoft Excel was used to write a program,with the pharmacokinetic parameters to show the dosage regimen. Results The maximum effective dose (dmax), the minimum effective dose (dmin) and the time of the effective plasma drug concentration (tec■) were obtained by single variable solver in Excel software. After inputting selected dose,the E-table displayed plasma drug concentration at any time after the administration, fractional number of reaching plateau,loading dose, etc. Conclusion ?摇This design method can provide safe and effective dosage for clinical administration and evaluate a dosage regimen.


Objectives This study aimed to explore the service needs and preferences of frequent emergency department users with mental health and addictions concerns who participated in a brief intensive case management intervention. Methods We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 20 frequent emergency department users with mental health and addictions challenges, 13 service providers involved in the delivery of a brief case management intervention, and a focus group with intervention case managers. Thematic analysis was used to explore perceived service user profiles, service needs and preferences of care. Results Service users experienced complex health and social needs and social isolation, while exhibiting resilience and the desire to contribute. They described multiple instances of stigmatization in interactions with healthcare professionals. Components of the brief intensive case management intervention perceived to be helpful included system navigation, advocacy, intermediation, and practical needs assistance. Frequent service users valued relational responsiveness, a non-judgmental stance, and a recovery orientation in case managers. Conclusion Interventions for frequent service users in mental health may be enhanced by focusing on the engagement of formal and informal social supports, practical needs assistance, system navigation, advocacy and intermediation, and attention to the recovery goals of service users.


Empirical studies report that the Geometric Brownian motion does not describe accurately the returns on many securities. Some of the departures are skewness, excess kurtosis and time-varying volatility. The idea of modeling the time-varying volatility component of securities goes back to Merton's work in the 1970s. In the following decades, many authors worked on the applications of the stochastic volatility in the dynamic modeling of many time series. The stochastic volatility literature of the 1990s and of the last years pursued the estimation of a simple stochastic volatility model focusing on the efficiency of the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method rather than on the adaptation of the model to accommodate the real features of the underlying process. In the last years, some attempts have been made to develop new models with more realistic features, but the issue of autoregressive moving average (ARMA) behavior of the returns in the stochastic volatility models has not yet been explored. The ARMA and stochastic volatility behavior of stock returns are well-documented in empirical studies and have separately received a great deal of attention in the financial econometrics literature. This paper develops a new MCMC procedure for inference in a model that combines stochastic volatility with the ARMA process, which will be named ARMA-SVOL. The Markov chain sampling schemes for a linear regression model with an ARMA (p,q) are modified and combined with the MCMC procedures for stochastic volatility sampling. This procedure is specified as a hierarchy of conditional probability distributions which provides an environment for the estimation of the ARMA-SVOL model and departures from standard distributional assumptions. The results of the MCMC estimation procedure for the ARMA-SVOL model are explored in two dimensions. First, a model of simulated time series data is estimated and sensitivity analysis for parameter and volatility inference is performed. Second, optimal portfolios are formed and out-of-sample portfolio returns are generated using a model with ARMA process in returns and stochastic volatility. The economic benefits of return predictability are studied by comparing the impact of market (ARMA process) versus volatility (ARMA-SVOL process) timing on the performance of optimal portfolio rules. The new MCMC procedure that is proposed here offers flexibility in the dynamic modeling of the securities returns dynamics. This method allows the error term not only to be ARMA(p,q) process, but also to have a time-varying variance. The application of this method to simulated data demonstrates how to conduct inference with samples of parameters obtained by the Markov chain sampling. Moreover, the application of this method to portfolio optimization rules is an important tool to compare the economic benefits of market versus vo


Pythagorean fuzzy set (PFS) introduced by Yager (2013) is the extension of intuitionistic fuzzy set (IFS) introduced by Atanassov (1983). PFS is also known as IFS of type-2. Pythagorean fuzzy soft set (PFSS), introduced by Peng et al. (2015) and later studied by Guleria and Bajaj (2019) and Naeem et al. (2019), are very helpful in representing vague information that occurs in real world circumstances. In this article, we introduce the notion of Pythagorean fuzzy soft topology (PFS-topology) defined on Pythagorean fuzzy soft set (PFSS). We define PFS-basis, PFS-subspace, PFS-interior, PFS-closure and boundary of PFSS. We introduce Pythagorean fuzzy soft separation axioms, Pythagorean fuzzy soft regular and normal spaces. Furthermore, we present an application of PFSSs to multiple criteria group decision making (MCGDM) using choice value method in the real world problems which yields the optimum results for investment in the stock exchange. We also render an application of PFS-topology in medical diagnosis using TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution). The applications are accompanied by Algorithms, flow charts and statistical diagrams.


Five microbasin areas (located in Governador Valadares, Mutum, Resplendor, Sao Geraldo do Baixio and Taparuba) in the hydrographic net of the Middle Rio Doce Valley, Minas Gerais State, Brasil, were selected in order to characterize phyto-sociologically herbaceous plants from their re-establishing areas. A total of 62 species were identified and distributed in 20 families, mainly the Poaceae, Asteraceae and Malvaceae. Variation in species distribution was high among areas, with the highest richness recorded in the municipality of Resplendor. The species showing higher performance were Pyrostegia venusta and Baccharis trinervis. The greatest similarity was found between the municipalities of Sao Geraldo do Baixio and Governador Valadares (36.36%). Results showed marked discrepancy among the areas caused mainly by agricultural occupation, suggesting a different recuperation management for each microbasin.


Accurate estimation of skew on I/O clocks is extremely critical when the part is expected to operate at a fixed frequency and any failure results in yield loss. Also, factors such as slow silicon, power saving modes, thermal throttling modes makes the data-path running on I/O clocks more critical as no timing relaxation is possible. The circuits on core clocks, on the other hand, can be binned to a lower frequency using bus ratios for slower silicon and benefit from frequency reduction during power saving modes. Further, since the I/O clock distribution typically utilizes a balanced tree structure due to its sparse usage, it suffers from higher skew compared to global clock with a tiled topology. This makes it imperative that the I/O clock performance methodology take into account all the various factors that can impact clock skew as well as slowdown in the associated datapath circuits. This paper presents a systematic skew estimation and a scientific method for performance analysis of I/O clock network. A case study on how this was adopted for Pentium-D (65 nm process) I/O clocks is presented. Key components considered are clock topology, device & interconnect in-die variation, temperature and voltage supply variation


The differentiation of megakaryocytes (Mk) from hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) is crucial to homeostasis and requires tight regulation. Cell-intrinsic factors skew HSPCs towards the Mk lineage and promote terminal differentiation, but this regulatory network is not yet well understood. The Inhibitor of MyoD Family A (I-mfa) is a protein which interacts with multiple pathways, including β-catenin/TCF/LEF and JNK which have known roles in HSPC differentiation. This led us to examine the role of I-mfa in hematopoiesis, hypothesizing that it promotes Mk differentiation by regulating cellular signaling events.
 Mice which completely lack I-mfa expression (I-mfa KO) had reduced percentages of Mk/Erythroid Progenitors (MEPs) in the bone marrow compared to WT animals by flow cytometry, as well as reduced platelet counts in peripheral blood. To examine the potential role for I-mfa in thrombopoiesis, K562 cells (which show PMA-induced Mk differentiation) were transfected with a vector for doxycycline-induced overexpression of I-mfa, and differentiation was assessed by flow cytometry for Mk surface markers. Cells overexpressing I-mfa showed increased differentiation with a higher proportion of CD61+, CD71− cells compared to parent. The mechanism underlying this effect is being examined by analyzing cellular signaling after PMA stimulation and identifying I-mfa binding partners over time.
 This work demonstrates a role for I-mfa in the regulatory control of hematopoiesis and lineage commitment through its regulation of thrombopoiesis. These results may also suggest that I-mfa could be an important cellular regulator in hematopoietic disorders including anemia, bone marrow failure, or hematological malignancies.
 Supported by NIH T32 Immunology Training Grant AI00763316A1


An approximate formula is developed for the current of a parallel-plane diode including the effects of initial velocities of emission. For an oxide-coated cathode (<tex>T = 1000</tex>°K) the approximate result is:<tex>J = 2.33 \times 10^{-6} \frac{V^{3/2}}{x^{2}} \cdot[1 + \frac{11.4(J_{s}x^{2})^{1/4}}{V^{3/4}} + \frac{3.22(J_{s}x^{2})^{1/8}}{V^{3/2}}]</tex>where,<tex>J</tex>, J<inf>s</inf>, and<tex>x</tex>are in suitable units such that Jx2and<tex>J_{s}x^{2}</tex>are in amperes and V in volts. A comparison is made between this result, Child's 3/2 power solution, and the Epstein-Fry-Langmuir solution. The result given above being an explicit solution of the current is particularly advantageous over prior approximate solutions.


This article discusses the approaches to first-party insurance bad-faith law that have been taken by the states, using legal and economic reasoning to illuminate the potential benefits and costs of different approaches. Theory suggests that allowing policyholders to recover damages over and above the value of the insurance benefit owed will provide insurers with added incentives to engage in fair claims settlement. However, excessive or uncertain liability for insurance bad faith might create incentives for policyholders to file questionable claims and disincentives for insurers to investigate claims for fraud. The article analyzes a large dataset of first-party automobile insurance claims to investigate whether * This research was funded by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). The Insurance Research Council (IRC) provided data for the empirical analysis. The authors remain solely responsible for the content of the work and any opinions expressed therein. 1. Associate Professor, Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, 252 MVR Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850; 607-255-2619; firstname.lastname@example.com. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University with a specialization in industrial organization and regulation. Her professional interest centers on economic and policy analysis of insurance markets, and she has published widely on these topics. She is a noted expert on insurance rate regulation and insurance fraud, and is a frequent speaker on these issues. 2. Professor of Insurance and Risk Management, Indiana State University. He earned his doctorate from Indiana University in 1990. His research focuses largely on the interface of law and insurance; he has published extensively in the CPCU eJournal, The John Liner Review, Risk Management Magazine and various legal publications. Also, to date, he has been retained as a testifying and consulting expert witness in about 45 cases; his specialty includes breach of contract, bad faith and agent/broker liability issues. © 2009 National Association of Insurance Commissioners Journal of Insurance Regulation these adverse effects appear to have empirical relevance. The data show that claim characteristics in states that permit tort-based bad faith differ from those in other states. The findings are consistent with the idea that permitting tort-based firstparty insurance bad-faith settlements might reduce insurer incentives to challenge disputable claims.


The MSME policy in Aceh is underwritten by the Nanggre Aceh Darusalam (NAD) qanun number 19 of 2004 concerning the empowerment of small business centers which in article 5 states that the development and development of small business centers is carried out by the government, the business community and the community, both independently and jointly. directed, integrated and sustainable. The number of MSMEs currently in Aceh is 74,810 MSMEs spread throughout Aceh. 73. 580 of them still need the government's role in assistance services, (Diskopukm, Aceh 2020). Development activities have been carried out on 612 MSME center units but this activityexperiencing several obstacles including lack of institutional capacity, lack of human resources, market access and use of appropriate technology, opening access and opportunities for MSME players to be able to compete and side by side with the national market. One of the urgent activities that must be carried out by the Aceh government is carrying out MSME promotion activities both to the national market and the global market.This study uses a qualitative method withdata collection techniques used observation, interviews and documentation. Data analysis was carried out using an interactive analysis model with four stages (a) data collection (2) data reduction, (3) data presentation (4) conclusion drawing. The results of the study illustrate that MSME development is carried out in several segments, namely institutional development, human resource development, financing, marketing, and production. In the development of MSME in Aceh there are two excellent programs carried out, namely business mentors and business meetings. Promotional activities were carried out through the Aceh Expo UMKM exhibition, Aceh fashion week. Constraints in the development of MSMEs are internal and external constraints from both the government, MSME actors and the community..


Acute endovascular therapy for ischemic stroke is at a pivotal juncture. Until recently, on the basis of randomized trials comparing devices, we knew that endovascular treatment options were effective in quickly restoring blood flow and that successful early recanalization was associated with better functional outcome when compared with sustained occlusion.1,2 We did not have randomized evidence that available acute endovascular therapy improved patient outcomes; the 3 initial randomized controlled trials of endovascular recanalization treatment published in February of 2013—the Phase II Mechanical Retrieval and Recanalization of Stroke Clots Using Embolectomy (MR RESCUE), Phase III Interventional Management of Stroke (IMS) III, and Local Versus Systemic Thrombolysis for Acute Ischemic Stroke (SYNTHESIS) trials—failed to demonstrate improved clinical outcomes.3–5

Many factors may have contributed to the failure of these 3 initial trials to show endovascular benefits. These trials were performed during a period of rapid evolution of imaging and treatment options, and used intra-arterial thrombolysis, or first-generation device therapies at best, with little use of newer generation devices, such as stent retrievers, demonstrated to achieve significantly higher rates of recanalization.1,2 Patients with mild or moderate stroke severity may have been less likely to benefit from endovascular reperfusion based on IMS III and Prolyse in Acute Cerebral Thromboembolism (PROACT) II post hoc analyses and others.3,6,7 The power of these trials was diluted by including subjects without intracranial vessel occlusions, and post hoc analyses of IMS III suggested a potential treatment effect among stroke patients with baseline computed tomographic (CT) angiographic occlusions.8 Larger vessel occlusions, which are more resistant to recanalization by intravenous recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (r-tPA), such as intracranial internal carotid artery (ICA) location or occlusions >8 mm, may have been more likely to show a treatment effect …


By Michael Pickard International channel operator Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) has said it remains committed to Turkey, despite closing its TNT channel there. TBS has confirmed it will cease business operations of TNT Turkey "with immediate effect," though the channel will continue broadcasting until further notice. A message posted on the channel's website informs viewers it will air a temporary schedule until it is taken off air. "TNT Turkey has not performed and grown according to the...


We use a unique, hand-collected data set to examine learning and forgetting in hip replacement surgery as a function of a surgeon's experience with specific surgical device versions and the time between their repeat uses. We also develop a generalizable method to correct for the left censoring of device-version-specific experience variables that is a common problem in highly granular experience data, using maximum simulated likelihood estimation with simulation over unobservables conditional on observables. Even for experienced surgeons, the first use of certain device versions can result in at least a 32.4% increase in surgery duration, hurting quality and productivity. Furthermore, with the passage of time, surgeons can forget knowledge gained about the use of particular devices. For certain devices, when the time gap between repeat uses increases from its median to its 75th percentile, surgery duration increases by about 3.4%. The high productivity and quality costs associated with device variety sugge...


Skeletal deformities of the thorax are known to produce functional disturbances of the cardiovascular system. Most of these deformities are usually benign, the only manifestation being a functional prmcordial murmur. As many of these murmurs are loud, they are often detected during a routine clinical examination for symptoms not of cardiac origin, and an erroneous diagnosis of heart disease may be made. One of these skeletal deformities, the straight back syndrome, may also masquerade as heart disease. The incidence of this deformity in the general population is not known. However, it is not a rare condition, as within a period of nine months we have seen 6 patients with this condition at the K.E.M. Hospital, Bombay. In the straight back syndrome, the anterior concavity of the vertebral column in the upper dorsal region is absent. This reduces the antero-posterior diameter of the thorax and thereby the heart and great vessels are compressed between the spine posteriorly and the sternum anteriorly (Rawlings, 1960).


The main information about the scientific activities of the Water and Fuel Technologies Department is presented. It is shown that scientific research at this Department is oriented towards improving the reliability and increasing the lifetime of power equipment.


The European Mesoscale Frontal Dynamic Project/Fronts 87 lasted from 18 October 1987 to 13 January 1988. Its aim was to study the dynamics of activ cold fronts observed over the area centred on the English Channel between England and France.


The performance of dual-diversity predetection switch-and-stay combining (SSC) in correlated Rician fading is considered in conjunction with several modulation formats. Analytical expressions are derived for the average symbol error rate (SER) of predetection SSC in correlated Rician fading. Switching thresholds that minimize the average SER are obtained. The impacts of fading parameter and the fading correlation on the performance of predetection SSC are studied. Analytical expressions for the output average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the outage probability are derived. The validity of our analytical expressions are verified using Monte Carlo simulations.


The demand for access to regional airports is measured by the counts of area navigation (RNA V)/required navigation (RNP) procedures filed in the flight plan and collected by the Federal Aviation Administration's host computer system. In the present paper, the concept of access implies how easily and consistently equipped and authorized aircraft can utilize performance-based navigation at regional airports where there is no instrument landing systems (ILS). The demand for access to regional airports is likely to be strongly correlated to on-board surveillance equipment and to business jet type of aircraft whether privately or company-owned. The incidence of surveillance equipment is higher at airport such at Van Nuys (VNY) where the proportion of jets is the highest. Introduction Access is one of the eleven key performance areas (KPA) advocated by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to measure the operation of the National Airspace System (NAS). Access comes from the Latin word accedere which means 'to approach'. Getting access to an airport is often associated with the concepts of equity and capacity: In the present paper, it implies how easily and consistently capable and authorized aircraft can utilize the resources of the NAS given regional airports' available capacity. The sample includes three regional airports where an operator can use Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) to land in the absence of an instrument landing system (ILS) and one that has both capabilities. Based on information provided by the Federal Aviation JAAER, Spring 2013 Administration (F AA)1, LPV is similar to Lateral Navigation I Vertical Navigation (LNAV/VNAV) except: 1. It is much more precise ( 40-nautical-mile lateral limit), 2. It enables descent to 200-250 feet above the runway, and 3. It can only be flown with a Wide Area Augmentation System (W AAS) receiver. LPV approaches are operationally equivalent to the legacy ILS but are more economical because no navigation infrastructure has to be installed at the runway. The use of LPV is important to the evolution of the air traffic system because it allows general aviation users to get access to 1 The information can be retrieved at http://www.faa.gov/about/office_orglheadquarters_offices /ato/service _ units/techops/navservices/gnsslhilVmedia/W AAS-LPV -Q_ A-020607 .pdf


The Longreach Jockey Club has marked its 125th year by welcoming the biggest race crowd in more than two decades to its anniversary meet.


The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that caused the COVID-19 disease pandemic since December 2019 highlights the importance of developing efficient antiviral strategies to prevent and treat viral infection Virus particles are nanosized, therefore design strategies are suitable to develop advanced nano and quantum materials that can interact with and mimic virus particles Quantum science and nanoscience can help in the synthesis and functionalization of nanomaterials for virus prevention, treatment, and detection The first step is identifying the genome sequencing of the virus, then the fabrication of antiviral (virustatic or virucidal) materials Quantum and nanoscience-enabled nanomaterials yield better performance and flexibility for virus detection, vaccine design and delivery, facemasks, respirators, and drugs In this review, we explore the applications of quantum and nanoscience in diagnosis, inhibition, and antiviral therapy Further, we explain how the van der Waals forces, electrostatic interactions, fluctuation of the medium, electrodynamic and thermal fluctuations, local field enhancement effect, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation can prevent the viral life cycle through the virustatic and virucidal effects of quantum and nanoparticles


It is a classical result that dyadic partial sums of the Fourier series of functions $f \in L^p(\mathbb{T})$ converge almost everywhere for $p \in (1, \infty)$. In 1968, E. A. Bredihina established an analogous result for functions belonging to the Stepanov space of almost periodic functions $S^2$ whose Fourier exponents satisfy a natural separation condition. Here, the maximal operator corresponding to dyadic partial summation of almost periodic Fourier series is bounded on the Stepanov spaces $S^{2^k}$, $k \in \mathbb{N}$ for functions satisfying the same condition; Bredihina's result follows as a consequence. In the process of establishing these bounds, some general results are obtained which will facilitate further work on operator bounds and convergence issues in Stepanov spaces. These include a boundedness theorem for the Hilbert transform and a theorem of Littlewood--Paley type. An improvement of "$S^{2^k}$, $k \in \mathbb{N}$" to "$S^p$, $p \in (1, \infty)$" is also seen to follow from a natural conjecture on the boundedness of the Hilbert transform.


In III-V semiconductors incorporation of small amounts of nitrogen cause a relatively large bandgap reduction. The problem of InGaAsN is the decrease in luminescence with nitrogen content above 1 - 2%.We have grown a.o. In0.65Ga0.35As0.985N0.015 quantum wells. The as-grown samples show poor photoluminescence at 4K but after a high temperature anneal clear peaks are observed. In comparision to ternary layers of In0.65Ga0.35As, the bandgap has decreased by approximately 70 meV due to 1.4 % of nitrogen. A further increase in the nitrogen content could result in layers with a bandgap of 800 meV at room temperature (l = 1.55 mm).


The research presented in this dissertation discusses the development of a humanoid biped robot from the planning stage to biped walking focusing on low level control. Concepts in hardware design, posture manipulation, and hybrid joint control, that are novel in humanoid robotics, are presented and entirely verified in hardware experiments. Decisive for the future performance of the robot is a careful selection of an appropriate motor-gear-combination during hardware design, as oversized actuators increase the total weight of the robot, thus deteriorating the walking performance. A systematic procedure for actuator selection based on optimal control is discussed. When replaying precalculated trajectories with a humanoid robot, it is often desirable to modify the posture of the robot thus compensating for control errors or adapting the trajectory for new situations. This task can be accomplished by a method termed Jacobi Compensation. A walking controller based on the inverted pendulum method is implemented on the humanoid UT-Theta. This robot is equipped with an innovative knee joint allowing to switch between actuated motion and free swinging. To ensure smooth and reliable operation with this joint, a hybrid, nonlinear, time optimal knee controller has been implemented.


This Research Work in Progress Paper presents a pilot study focused on understanding how faculty take pedagogical risks in 2nd and 3rd year (mezzanine level) engineering courses. Broadly, we are interested in understanding ways of making widespread changes in the mezzanine level of the curriculum. The purpose of this exploratory research is to develop an understanding of faculty pedagogical risk-taking through observations, interviews, and artifact analysis. The primary data for this project are observations of four mezzanine level engineering courses. During the observation we took detailed field notes and collected course handouts, lesson plans, or other course materials. After the lesson was completed, we conducted a post-observation teacher interview to learn about the broader context of that lesson within the class, how the lesson has evolved over time, and plans for that lesson in future courses. This work in progress serves as a pilot study to better understand how to capture pedagogical risk-taking in the classroom. Analysis of observations, field notes, and course material is being utilized to develop data collection techniques and investigation protocols for the future exploration of pedagogical risk-taking.


Nanoparticles
Nanoparticle interactions in solution affect their binding to biomolecules, their electronic properties, and their packing into larger crystals. However, the theories that describe larger colloidal particles fail for nanoparticles, because the interactions do not add together linearly


ABSTRACT The use of nonionic and anionic surfactants is common in soluble cutting oils to facilitate spontaneous emulsification and to keep the formulation stable. Various additives are also introduced in order to achieve high pressure stability, better resistance to high sheers, minimum corrosion and other related properties. Tailor-made surfactants into which specific functional groups are introduced into the hydrophobic chain are of special interest mainlv if extreme pressure (EP) properties can be improved. Those surfactants will help to replace part of the additives and will reduce the cost of the formulation. Incorporation of halogens (chlorine, bromine) to the hydrophobic tail of ethoxylated nonylphenols; sorbitan esters of fatty acids, ethoxylated oleyl alcohols and polyglycerol esters has been carried out. The new surfactants have high specific gravities and therefore can minimize creaming of the emulsion and will improve the EP properties of the soluble cutting oils. Functionalization of the sur...


Introduction: The Radial forearm free flap (RFF) was considered to be the workhorse flap for facial reconstruction for many years. In this study the authors are going to present their experience in using RFF flaps for facial reconstruction. Patients and Methods: The RFF flaps were used to reconstruct 18 patients with upper, middle, and lower facial defects. Nine patients with traumatic defects, while tumor ablation was the etiology in 8 patients. In only one patient, the facial defect was due to chronic inflammatory condition. The RFF flaps were used to provide coverage, lining or both. It can also provide facial contouring according to the defect requirements. Results: The percentage of flap survival in this study was 88.88%, with accepted aesthetic and functional outcomes. Conclusion: The RFF flap is a versatile flap in reconstruction of different types of facial defects in different facial subunits.


Preface - Warren A Peterson Introduction - Jill Quadagno PART ONE: INTERDEPENDENCE IN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS Responsibility for Household Tasks - Timothy H Brubaker A Look at Golden Anniversary Couples Aged 75 Years and Older Equity, Role Strains, and Depression Among Middle-Aged and Older Men and Women - Pat M Keith and Robert B Schafer Marriage, Gender, and Social Relations in Later Life - Karen Altergott Marital Status and Life Satisfaction - Nancy F Mouser et al A Study of Older Men Family Relations of the Older Widow - Jeanne M Gibbs Their Location and Importance for Her Social Life Elderly Parents and the Caregiving Role - Lucy Rose Fischer An Asymmetrical Transition Dating and Courtship in Late Life - Kris Bulcroft and Richard Bulcroft An Exploratory Study PART TWO: INTERDEPENCENCE IN SOCIAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS Affectivity and the Interweave of Social Circles - James C Creech and Nicholas Babchuk Life Course Transitions Network Analysis of Mid-Life Transitions - John O'Brien A Hypothesis on Phases of Change in Microstructures Interdependence in Informal Support Systems - Gloria D Heinemann The Case of Elderly, Urban Widows The Mediating Role of Social Networks in the Housing Decisions of the Elderly - Adrian Ruth Walter Who Helps the Elderly Person - Neena L Chappell and Betty Havens A Discussion of Informal and Formal Care Service Needs and Support Networks of Elderly Native Americans - Robert John Family, Friends, and Social Service Agencies PART THREE: INTERDEPENDENCE IN HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES The Older Volunteer - Barbara Payne and C Neil Bull The Case for Interdependence The Voluntary Organization as Support System in the Aging Process - Linda M Breytspraak, Burton P Halpert, and Philip G Olson Interpersonal Support and Health of Older People - Marshall J Graney Social Support and Chronic Disease - Sidney M Stahl and Marilyn K Potts A Propositional Inventory Chronic Illness and Care Provision - Rachel Filinson A Study of Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer's Disease as Biographical Work - Jaber F Gubrium and Robert J Lynott Hospice - Harry S Shanis Interdependence of the Dying with Their Community Social Factors in Institutional Living - Eva Kahana, Boaz Kahana, and Rosalie F Young


Yucca Mountain, in southern Nevada, is being studied by the Nevada Nuclear Waste Storage Investigations (NNWSI) Project as a potential site for an underground high-level nuclear waste repository. The site is within Miocene volcanic rocks that are 1.5 to 4 km thick and range in age from 12.5 to 14 MY. Several holes have been drilled in Yucca Mountain for geologic and hydrologic studies. Drill hole USW G-4, the most recently cored hole within the potential repository block, was chosen for detailed study of fracture-filling minerals because it is closest to the planned NNWSI exploratory shaft. Drill hole USW G-4 was drilled to 914.7 m (3001 ft) and continuously cored from 6.7 m (22 ft) to total depth (TD). The drilling history, lithology of the core, and geophysical logs of the well were published earlier. Because manganese oxides in fractures may act as a natural barrier to radionuclide migration, it is important to determine exactly which manganese minerals are present, in what intervals they occur, and how extensive these fracture coatings are.


The Julah Village in North Bali is known for its traditional ikat cloth crafts. However, the number of weavers is currently declining, which is due in part to the regeneration problem. This research examines factors contributing to the shortage of ikat weaving, and it comes to the conclusion that the absence of regeneration in the inheritance process is the primary cause. Following closely behind is the need for a variety of processes in weaving production, and finally, a prolonged and expensive process for producing ikat. There are a number of initiatives that can be performed to help encourage younger generations to be interested in weaving, such as socialization, enculturation, and collaboration using tradition-based regulations. The lack of Julah Traditional Ikat weaving signifies that it's impracticable to perform religious rituals, which is the implication of scarcity in the religious system. This article offers Jari Manis strategy (Julah Mandiri, Manjemen, Investasi or Julah Independent, Management, and Investment) to stimulate weaving production, including for the local younger generation.


The concentrations of cadmium, copper, and zinc in the eastern oyster, Cxaassostzaea viPginiaa~ are compared for samples collected before and after Tropical Storm Agnes. The "before" samples consisted of 475 animals from 95 stations collected in January 1971 and the "after" samples of 285 animals from 57 stations collected in January 1973. Shifts in the areal concentrations distributions were observed, apparently due to Agnes. Analyses of hard clams, blue crabs and oysters for chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides showed influx of these compounds to be minimal as reflected by the residue levels observed. Comparison of residue levels in oysters to pre-Agnes conditions revealed a decrease in pesticide body burden. INTRODUCTION The rainfall and subsequent runoff from Agnes modified the chemical environment of organisms capable of concentrating pollutants by altering ambient exposure levels and by changing their "normal" physiological regime. Metals and pesticides contained in bottom sediments were both resuspended and in the case of some metals possibly desorbed. In addition to mobilization of these once "stored" substances, their levels were augmented by massive amounts of erosional products. In order to assess the actual impact of the stonn on these pollutants, residue analyses for the metals Cu, Cd and Zn and for chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides were perfonned on the eastern oyster (CxaassostPea viPginiaa). Comparisons were made with the previously published studies of Huggett, Bender and Slone (1973) for metals and with those of Butler (1973) for pesticides. METHODS Sampling locations were chosen to correspond where possible to those of previous studies (Huggett, Bender & Slone 1973; Butler 1973). Five oysters were sampled from each of the stations shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, during January 1973. In some cases samples were difficult to obtain due to high mortalities at the upstream stations and in the Hampton Roads segment of the James River. The analytical procedures utilized to determine residue levels have been described previously (Huggett, Bender & Slone 1973; Butler 1973) !Contribution No.774, Virginia Institute of Marine Science 2 Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Va. 23062


An anthropometric assessment was conducted on 1238 children (age 6 mo–7 yr) from 18 rural communities in Retalhuleu, Guatemala. The anthropometry scan included collection of weight, height or recumbent length, mid‐arm circumference, age and gender. The data was processed using WHO Anthro, WHO Anthro Plus and Epi Info. 907 children (73.21%) had a height‐for‐age Z score (HAZ) of −1.0 or lower. Of these, 429 children had a HAZ of −1 to −1.99, 335 had a HAZ score of −2.0 to −2.99 and 143 had a HAZ of <−3.0. For weight‐for‐height Z scores (WHZ), 800 children (64.6%) were within the normal range (WHZ −0.99 to 0.99), 27 (2.2%) were overweight (WHZ 2.0 to 3.0) and 14 (1.1%) were obese (WHZ >; 3.0). 231 children (18.7%) had WHZ of −1.0 or lower. Of these, 159 children had WHZ of −1.0 to −1.99, 51 had WHZ of −2.0 to −3.0, and 21 had WHZ <−3. The assessment demonstrates widespread stunting in this population and suggests a potential underlying malnutrition problem. This region in southwestern Guatemala is not generally recognized as an area afflicted with extensive nutritional inadequacies or food insecurity. Further evaluation of nutritional status in this population is warranted. This study was supported by the Mathile Institute for the Advancement of Human Nutrition®.


In the paper, "Assembly-Line Balancing by Linear Programming," that appeared in Operations Research8, 385--389 1960, E. H. Bowman presented two linear program formulations for the assembly-line balancing problem. These two formulations are referred to as the First Linear Program and the Second Linear Program, respectively. The following are comments about, and a reformulation of, the First Linear Program.


The idea, following Michel and O'Raifeartaigh, of assigning meaning to the (gauge) \underline{group} and not only the Lie algebra for a Yang Mills theory is reviewed. Hints from the group and the fermion spectrum of the Standard Model are used to suggest the putting forward of our AGUT-model, which gives a very good fit to the orders of magnitudes of the quark and lepton masses and the mixing angles including the CP-breaking phase. But for neutrino oscillations modifications of the model are needed. Baryogenesis is not in conflict with the model.


Acting as a kind of additional information,interference exists in every link of the whole Process of the information educational transmission, interference mainly manifects itself in the information source quality,educational media,the physiological and psychological feature of the acceptors. Generally speaking,we should reduce the affect of the interference as far as possible during the process of information transmission. We should take appropriate measures according to its form of expression to minimize the interference. On the other hand,in order to attain some particular teaching goals,we can deliberately introduce introduce into our teaching process. In short,only by reasonably avoiding or utilizing interference can we Promote the efficiency of the educational information transmission and achieve good results.


Cellulose (EC 220.127.116.11) is enzyme complex consisting of some enzymes which together decomposing cellulose into glucose by hydrolizes the β-1,4 bond in cellulose. The purpose of this study is to determine cellulose activity which produced by Serratia marcescens in different substrate concentration and at the time of incubation T4, T8, T12. This research uses Randomized Block Design (RBD) factorial pattern with two factors. The first factor was variation of straw substrate which had been delignificated (V0, V1, V2, V3). The second factor is the variation of time incubation (T4, T8, T12). Each factor is repeated 3 times. The data obtained were analyzed using Analysis  of  Variance (ANOVA)  (α  =  0.05). The result  shown that  variation concentration  of straw,  and the interaction (combination) between the straw substrate and the incubation time substrate was not significantly different. The result treatment of incubation time was significantly different of the cellulase activity. The result of anova analyzed is obtained that F count(α = 0.05) value from straw substrate, interaction (combination) between the straw substrate and the incubation time substrate, and incubation time was 0.53; 2.18; 8.00. F table(α = 0.05) value of straw substrate, interaction (combination) between the straw substrate and the incubation time substrate, and incubation time was 2.99; 2.20; 3.39. The result of anova, is continued by BNT 5% test. The result of BNT test shown that the highest incubation time of cellulase activity was in incubation time 12 hours with the average value 0.26 U/mL. K e y Word : ce ll u l o se, S e rratia marcescens,  straw substrate, incubation time


Warfarin is an antithrombotic agent which is used in the prevention of arterial and venous thrombosis. Dietary vitamin K can inhibit hepatic cytochrome P450 isoenzymes, exhibit drug-food interactions and thus affect the metabolism of warfarin. Fifty two year-old female patient was on warfarin treatment due to acute proximal deep vein thrombosis. Desirable INR (International normalized ratio) was maintained by 7.5 mg/day warfarin treatment. The warfarin dose was gradually increased to 20 mg/day after INR controls exhibiting insufficient doses of warfarin. Since INR was not elevated by this dose, the possibility of a food or drug interaction was considered. The patient had consumed substantial amounts of garden rocket (Eruca Sativa L.) in the last two weeks. The patient was asked to cease the consumption of this food, considering its high content of vitamin K might affect the metabolism of warfarin. Subsequently, her INR value was 2.1 with a warfarin dose of 5mg/day. Her INR was maintained within therapeutic levels with a dose of 7.5 mg/day in the repeated evaluations.


Optimization of the three-dimensional unsteady viscous flow near a flapping wing in hover is performed using a time-dependent adjoint-based methodology. The sensitivities of a penalized lift coefficient to wing shape and kinematic parameters are computed using a time-dependent discrete-adjoint formulation. The unsteady discrete-adjoint equations required for the calculation of the sensitivity derivatives are integrated backward in time over the entire interval of interest. The gradient of the objective functional obtained using the adjoint formulation is then used to update the values of shape and kinematic design variables. The efficiency of this adjoint-based methodology is demonstrated by optimizing the shape and kinematics of a hovering wing. The numerical results show that the highest improvement in the wing performance is obtained by using combined optimization of the wing shape and kinematics.


A three-stage air lift contactor with a capacity suitable for the processing of 100 tons of uranium per year was designed, built, and tested. A methcd of interface control ia a multistage contactor was tested, and measurements of the air required for proper physical operation under various conditions and of aqueous entrainment in the solvent phase were made. Estimates of required settler volumes and solvent overflow Weir widths are included. (J.R.D.)


This paper discusses the consumer and news media perceptions about air bags that had to be taken into account by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in making rulemaking decisions in 1997. Addressing these perceptions was a major concern as the agency made preparations to allow identifiable groups of people at risk from air bag deployments to have on-off switches installed in their vehicles. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 492347.


Sulfation of D-glucose, D-galactose, D-mannose and D-fructose with concentrated sulfuric acid yielded pure trisulfates of these hexoses. The situation of the sulfate groups in these trisulfates was decided on the basis of the behavior to oxidizing agents, methylation analyses and periodate oxidation. 1, 3, 6-Substitution for the aldohexoses and 1, 2, 4-substitution for the ketohexose were established.


Everyone seems to generate some sort of unwanted possession over the years, whether it be clothes they no longer wear, appliances they no longer use, or books they no longer read. While throwing unwanted items like this away in the trash is convenient and simple, it adds to the amount of solid waste found in landfills and the natural environment. Furthermore, it wastes potentially valuable resources that could be used by others.


Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa but the contribution of this resource to the economy is limited and yet the country is in poverty. Dairy development has a big role for the contribution of income generation and employment. Demand for dairy products seems to exceed supply in the country in general and the study area in particular. Hence, the situation of dairy production and marketing issues is needs to be discussed and analyzed. This paper is based on a research study among 168 dairy farms (85 cross breed and 83 local breed) in a town (Mekelle) of northern Ethiopia. A two stage stratified random sampling procedure was used to select the specific farm households . Farms owning 1-3, 4-10 and greater than 10 dairy cows were classified as small, medium and large farms, respectively and only small and medium size farms were considered for further data collection. In this study an attempt has been made to evaluate the efficiency of inputs use, assess profitability and analyze the efficiency differentials of modern (cross breed) and traditional (local breed) dairy farms. Cobb-Douglas production, cost-benefit and break-even ratios are employed to assess resource use efficiency, profitability and financial efficiency of b o t h cross and local breed dairy farms. T he r e s u lt s i n d i c at e t h a t t he regression coefficients with respect to concentrate f o r medium a n d small size cross breed farms a r e positive and significant at 10% level. T h e coefficient of dry fodder f o r medium s i z e cross breed an d local breed are positive and significant at 10% level. The marginal value products (MVPs) and the ratio with price for concentrate were higher for medium size than small size cross breed farms. The MVP for dry fodder, the return i s h i g h e r i n medium size cross breed and local breed farms. There is difference between the present and optimum levels of inputs.


Work discipline is essential for the proper conduct of business within an organization with implications for productivity and efficiency. Disciplinary liability arises as a direct result of breach of service obligations and rules of behaviour. At EU level, disciplinary responsibility of community public servant is governed by the provisions of the Statute of the European Community published in the Official Journal of the European Community no. L 56 March 4, 1968 and amended on numerous occasions. This paper proposes an analysis of concrete conditions which require disciplinary liability of the European public servant, disciplinary sanctions and procedures for implementing them.


James Snape made The Lawyer Hot 100 in 2010 after securing a series of public finance initiative (PFI) waste contracts for Nabarro.
Snape trained in local government with Guildford Borough Council before moving to Nabarro where he focused on planning and environmental work.
He has been with the firm ever since, moving through the ranks from associate to equity partner and head of department. Snape now works partly in Singapore as well as London as co-head of Nabarro's infrastructure, construction and energy practice.
He puts his longstanding stint with the firm down to the recognition it has given him for the projects he has worked on.


E-learning has become everyday and commonplace features of higher education across the world yet in some institutions the opportunities and affordances of technology have yet to be fully exploited. To better enable the initial exploitation of e-learning, this paper describes the development of a theoretical construct, based on original research, describing the characteristics associated with the successful deployment of technology evidenced in Egyptian higher education supported by the concepts of a technology acceptance model. The theoretical construct is designed to both, reflect the research findings and, support developments in e learning. It is presented as a hierarchy critical success factors (CSF) based around the quadrant of curriculum, tutors, learners and technology. Findings illustrate the importance of curriculum content nature (theoretical, pragmatic); tutor characteristics (attitude towards e-learning, proficiency of the technology, and support); learners' characteristics (computer competency, English language proficiency, and learning style); and technology (usability, affordances and infrastructure) for successful e-learning implementations. It is concluded that by systematically considering these factors the implementation of e learning can be made more effective and efficient.


Over a century the United States has established a set of scientific systems and methods of management of the national parks.This paper analyzes the successful experiences of the national parks of the United States,such as the validity,commonweal,integrality and sicence and so on.It could be used for reference to the resolution of the problems in China,for example the limitation of management system,the lack of cultural quality of the staff and the damage of natural resources.


Abstract. The importance of intact ecosystems for human-wellbeing as well as the dependence on functions and services they provide is undoubted. But still neither the costs of ecosystem degradation nor the benefits from ecosystem functions and services appear on socio-economic balance sheets when development takes place. Consequently overuse of natural resources is socio-economically promoted by conventional resource management policies and external effects (externalities), equally positives and negatives, remain unregarded. In this context the potential of payments for hydrological ecosystem services as a political instrument to foster sustainable natural resource use, and rural development shall be investigated. This paper introduces the principle concept of such payments, presents a case study from Nicaragua and highlights preliminary effects of the application of this instrument on natural resource use and development.


This paper considers the recruitment of children and youths in colonial and post colonial South Africa. It explores the early legislation that transformed the nature of childhood in pre-colonial South Africa, and contributes to emerging scholarship on social constructions of childhood. The paper draws attention to historical shifts and continuities in the nature of child labour, and in relation to economic exploitation, racial oppression and childhood agency. Spanning the eras of pre-colonial relations of production, child slavery in the 1600s, and children's work under colonial rule in the mining, domestic service, and agricultural industries, this paper considers the differential configurations of the labour demands of children. Working against the tendency to regard child labour as a sentimental human rights issue, this paper provides a critical perspective against which to focus on contemporary debates about the rights of children in post-apartheid South Africa, and redress the participation of children in processes of total social reproduction.


Objective To discuss the influence of epidural anesthesia and general anesthesia for postoperative cognitive function in elderly patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. Method 132 elderly patients undergoing orthopedic surgery were randomly divided into observation group and control group, 66 cases in each group. Observation group were given epidural anesthesia, control group were given general anesthesia. Compared the MMSE scores and the incidence rate of POCD between two groups. Result There was no significantly difference in MMSE scores between the two groups before surgery(P 0.05), observation group were significantly higher than control group 6 hours, 1 day, and 3 days after surgery(P 0.01). The incidence rate of POCD 6 hours after surgery in observation group was significantly lower than control group(P 0.05), and the total incidence rate of POCD 3 days after surgery was significantly lower than control group(P 0.01). Conclusion Incidence of POCD is higher in elderly patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, general anesthesia has a greater influence on the central nervous system, incidence of POCD is high, while the epidural anesthesia effect is relatively small, the incidence of POCD is low. So for orthopedic surgery in elderly patients should be comprehensive consideration of its own conditions, reasonable choose anesthesia way, to avoid or reduce the incidence of POCD.


Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor‐1/fms‐related tyrosine kinase 1 (VEGFR1/ Flt1) is a membrane bound tyrosine kinase receptor that can bind VEGF and PlGF and is involved in angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. Protein kinase C agonist phorbol myristic acid (PMA) stimulates Flt1 mRNA and protein expression in vascular endothelial cells. We studied the regulation of post translational cleavage of tagged full length Flt1 expressed in HEK 293 cells. Flt1 expression and cleavage of its extracellular (EC) domain is robustly induced by PMA and heparin treatment further enhances release of the EC domain into conditioned media. Co‐expression of the metalloproteases ADAM10 or ADAM17 significantly enhanced EC domain cleavage and reduced the abundance of uncleaved Flt1. In contrast, knock down of ADAM10 or ADAM17 reduced Flt1 EC domain cleavage. Conditioned media from Flt1 adenoviral transduced cells bound PlGF reducing free PlGF measured by ELISA. By sequential deletion analysis we identified a 5 AA region adjacent to the Flt1 transmembrane (TM) domain that is necessary to abolish the Flt1 EC domain cleavage. Thus, we demonstrate that proteolytic cleavage of Flt1 occurs close to the TM domain and is regulated by metalloproteases, with release of an EC fragment that is functionally equivalent to sFlt1.


In the paper we consider self-adjoint partial integral operators of Fredholm type $T$ with a degenerate kernel on the space $L_2([a,b]\times[c,d]).$ Essential and discrete spectra of $T$ are described.


The invention relates to a lithium vanadium oxide/carbon nano tube composite material with a hollow structure and a preparation method of the lithium vanadium oxide/carbon nano tube composite material with the hollow structure. The preparation method comprises the following steps of (1) adding NH4VO3 and LiOH into deionized water and stirring for dissolving; (2) adding a hydroxylated carbon nano tube into the solution obtained in the step (1), and performing ultrasonic stirring; (3) transferring the solution obtained in the step (2) into a reaction kettle, heating the reaction kettle for reaction, taking out and naturally cooling the reaction kettle to room temperature; and (4) performing centrifugal filtration on the product obtained in the step (3), washing the product respectively through the deionized water and absolute ethyl alcohol, and drying to obtain the lithium vanadium oxide/carbon nano tube composite material of a black hollow structure. The preparation method for the lithium vanadium oxide/carbon nano tube composite material has the beneficial effects that the inner space of the material is enlarged, so that lithium ions are relatively easy to diffuse, and the electrochemical performance of the material is effectively improved; a technology is simple; due to the unique advantage of the hollow structure, the lithium vanadium oxide/carbon nano tube composite material with the hollow structure can be realized through simple control by adopting a simple hydrothermal method.


Research was initiated in 1987-1988 in the greenhouse where crosses were made between five parents (Klages, Harrington, Menuet, Piroline, and Morex) which have different malting traits. All the parents that were used as females had 94.0 to 100.0% cytoplasmic male sterility, which was used as a crossing tool for making different hybrids. Reciprocal crosses were also made except in the case of Klages. The objective of this study was to evaluate hybrid barley for its agronomic and malting quality traits in hill plots. Therefore, a hybrid yield trial was planted at Post Research Farm of Montana State University, Bozeman, USA, using randomized complete block design with six replications. The trial was conducted' in 1989. After recording agronomic data, the samples were analyzed for malting quality traits by using NIR (near infra-red reflectance) procedures. Statistical analysis has revealed that hybrids in general have shown significant heterosis compared to their "best" parent for important agronomic traits, and NIR determinations. Gains obtained for individual characteristics were bundle weight (10.2 to 27.6%), grain yield (-29.2 to 36.1%) , harvest index (-25.0 to 11.4%), seeds/spike (-3.3 to 6.6%), 1000 kernel weight (-4.3 to 31.0%), tillers/unit area (-30.4 to 33.4%), plant height (6.73 to 11.16%), heading date (-1.7 to -0.61%), shattering percent (-600.0 to 0.0%), malt extract (-1.94 to 2.12%), hardness (-25.81 to 51.97% ), lysine (-6.00 to -4.00%), moisture (-3.17 to 4.76%), fat (-14.8 to -1.66%), protein (-8.69 to 12.10%), and viscosity (-8.61 to 10.22%). In two-rowed/six-rowed crosses shattering of the Fl hybrid was a problem due to complementary genes coming together from the two types of parents. It was also revealed that general combining ability (GCA) is important for all characteristics except lysine but specific combining ability (SCA) was only important for kernel weight and malt extract. NIR was shown to be a reliable technique for estimating protein content and for malt extract except for the Harrington and Klages comparison. Some hybrids showed a significant decrease in protein content which is a welcome phenomenon for the production of hybrid barley meant for malting quality. EVALUATION OF CYTOPLASMIC MALE STERILE HYBRID BARLEY IN HILL PLOTS by Mohammad Anwar Khan A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Agronomy


Fluorescent composite materials of exfoliated titania nanosheets, Ti(0.91)O(2), and rare earth (RE) complexes, Eu(phen)(2)Cl(3).2H(2)O and Tb(phen)(2)Cl(3).2H(2)O (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline), were synthesized via flocculation between them. X-ray diffraction measurements and transmission electron microscopy observations confirmed a restacked lamellar structure for the composites, and elemental analysis revealed a high RE complex content of 15 wt %. The decomposition temperature of the complexes trapped in the composites was improved to 420 degrees C from 250 degrees C for the free form. The restacked composite composed of Ti(0.91)O(2) nanosheets and Eu(phen)(2) exhibited characteristic red emission from the complex, while the composite with Tb(phen)(2) gave featureless emission originated from the ligand. This phenomenon can be explained by a shift of triplet state level of the ligand after encapsulation in the host titania nanosheets. The quantum yield of europium complex in the composite was enhanced 1.6 times more than that of the pure complex.


For establishing an accurate target for rehabilitation of stress urinary incontinence (SUI), it is necessary to determine whether there is an association between the pelvic floor muscle (PFM) and hip joint muscle strength and quality of life (QoL) of incontinence symptoms. Purpose The purpose of the current study was to confirm the correlation between QoL of incontinence symptoms and PFM strength, hip extensor, abductor, and adductor strength in women with SUI. Methods Forty-two women with SUI were recruited for the present study. PFM performance was measured by perineometry. Hip extensor, abductor and adductor strength were measured by dynamometry. QoL of incontinence symptoms was measured by incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QOL). The significance of the correlations between I-QOL and hip joint muscle and PFM strength was assessed using Pearson correlation coefficients. Alpha value was set at 0.05. Results Avoidance and limiting behaviors factor in I-QOL was correlated with PFM strength ( r =0.524, p <0.05), hip adductor strength ( r =0.356, p <0.05) and hip abductor strength ( r =0.352, p <0.05) in the order. The total score in I-QOL was correlated with PFM strength ( r =0.368, p <0.05). Conclusions When designing which muscles to train for improving QoL of incontinence symptoms, the hip joint muscle as well as the PFM could be considered.


Purpose:  We performed this analysis of possible first night effects (FNEs) on sleep and respiratory parameters in order to evaluate the need for two serial night polysomnograms (PSGs) to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in epilepsy patients.


Rainfall variability over space and time must be regarded as the most significant aspect of the monsoon climate over Sri Lanka. The main objective of this study was to identify the spatial distribution of annual and seasonal rainfall in Kandy District (2005-2014) and long term annual and seasonal rainfall trends in Kandy (1875-2014). The monthly rainfall data have been collected from 19 rainfall stations in Kandy District. The data was obtained from the Department of Meteorology and other relevant institutions. Spatial interpolation was applied to prepare the isohyet maps for Kandy District using Radial Basis Functions Method in ArcGIS 10.4. The rainfall trends over the 140-years period were estimated using the Linear Regression model. The Mann-Kendall statistical method was used to identify the significant or non-significant monotonic tendencies. According to the analysis the highest annual average rainfall (5,660 mm) has been recorded at Galamuduna Estate in Dolosbage, and the lowest is recorded at Kundasale (1,594 mm) during the study period from 2005 to 2014. According to the seasonal rainfall, during the FIM period (March-April) the rainfall varies from 700 mm (Craighead Estate) to 241 mm (Minipe). Rainfall during SWM period (May to September) varied from 3,436 mm at Galamuduna to 174 mm at Minipe. The Southwestern windward side received the highest rainfall while the Eastern leeward side received the lowest rainfall during SWM season. The Galamuduna Estate (1053 m) is situated in highest rainfall region of Wet Zone Up-Country of Sri Lanka. The SIM period (October to November) showed most evenly distributed rainfall over the Kandy District. During the NEM period (December-February), the highest rainfall was recorded in the Eastern side of the Kandy District. The highest rainfall (700 mm–1,000 mm) is recorded in and around Minipe station during this season. Kandy Plateau area received a lower rainfall in the NEM season. The study revealed that the annual and seasonal distribution of rainfall over Kandy District has considerable variations. Based on the annual average rainfall, the wettest place of the Kandy District was the Galamuduna Estate and the driest places were the Kundasale and Minipe. The month of June was recorded as the wettest month (777 mm) in Galamuduna and the same month, Minipe (5 mm) was observed as the driest month during the study period. The complex topographical features and orographic barriers highly affected for the seasonal rainfall variations in the Kandy District. According to long term rainfall data series (1875-2014), the results clearly show that there is a statistically significant decrease in annual rainfall (2.6 mm/year) in Kandy station. The FIM, SIM and NEM seasons do not show a significant rainfall trend, but the SWM season rainfall shows a statistically significant decreasing trend. The drop in the SWM season rainfall is 2.4 mm per year. Index Terms Leeward side, Rainfall, Trend, Variation, Windward side.


The new IEEE "Guide for Electric Power Distribution Reliability Indices" (1366-2001) has been approved and should be released in early 2004. Among the changes from the previous Guide is a new method to calculate Major Event Days (MED). The Working Group on System Design developed a statistically based methodology that classifies reliability data into day-to-day and major event days. This newly developed methodology, the "Beta Method", utilizes daily SAIDI values in a-log-normal distribution. There have been questions of the effect of this calculation on small utilities where days with no outages are not uncommon. This has previously been unknown because of lack of data from small utilities. Recently, data has been obtained from several co-ops ranging in size from 1400 customers to 72,000 customers. This paper discusses the results of the evaluation of small utility data and encourages more utilities to use this methodology to determine MEDs and submit the data to the working group.


SUMMARY In this paper, we propose a synthesizable LDPC decoder IP core for the WiMAX system with high parallelism and enhanced error-correcting performance. By taking the advantages of both layered scheduling and fully-parallel architecture, the decoder can fully support multi-mode decoding specified in WiMAX with the parallelism much higher than commonly used partial-parallel layered LDPC decoder architecture. 6-bit quantized messages are split into bit-serial style and 2 bit-width serial processing lines work concurrently so that only 3 cycles are required to decode one layer. As a result, 12∼24 cycles are enough to process one iteration for all the code-rates specified in WiMAX. Compared to our previous bit-serial decoder, it doubles the parallelism and solves the message saturation problem of the bit-serial arithmetic, with minor gate count increase. Power synthesis result shows that the proposed decoder achieves 5.83 pJ/bit/iteration energy efficiency which is 46.8% improvement compared to state-of-the-art work. Furthermore, an advanced dynamic quantization (ADQ) technique is proposed to enhance the error-correcting performance in layered decoder architecture. With about 2% area overhead, 6-bit ADQ can achieve the error-correcting performance close to 7-bit fixed quantization with improved error floor performance.


The ageing population is the crucial phenomenon that has led to the new market segment in tourism known as 'senior tourists.' A senior tourist is determined as an older traveller or grey tourist. The number of elderly keeps growing throughout time; hence, grey tourists will be relevant preferences, differing from the younger tourists. This paper aims to evaluate the relevant studies regarding travel preferences that involve senior tourists. The objective is to understand the publication trend behind the development of travel preferences for senior tourists. The findings suggest that the overall travel preferences among senior tourists studied include 12 aspects of travel preferences. Researchers tend to focus on the aspect of accommodation among senior tourists compared to the other elements. At the end of the review, this paper is set out to outline the literature review analysis to provide greater insight into the development of travel preferences among grey tourists in tourism research from 2000 to 2020. This paper's output offers future directions to explore the offer trends and future direction in tourism and behaviour literature.


A full-scale experiment was carried out to determine the influence of a cold mill rolls' diameter on the texture and magnetic properties of grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES). The results were arranged into two statistical samplings containing magnetic induction value of GOES rolled on the 70 and 290 mm diameter rolls. It was found out that the influence of the rolls' diameter on the magnetic induction of the GOES is statistically insignificant, but probable.


The longevity of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) remains unresolved. The use of fin spines and sagittal otoliths for age reading has led to unconfirmed longevity estimates near 20–30 years. Age validation has been elusive because large individuals are uncommonly caught, and a technique that can be applied to structures that provide estimates of age was absent. The use of otolith chemical signatures has been limited by sagittal otoliths that are very small — whole otolith mass of adult blue marlin rarely exceeds 10 mg for the largest fish. Recent advances in the detection limits of radiocarbon (14C) with accelerator mass spectrometry — coupled with recently acquired knowledge of marine bomb 14C signals spanning the tropical Pacific Ocean — have led to an opportunity to age blue marlin from small amounts of otolith material. In this study, otoliths from a recently collected 1245 lb (565 kg) female blue marlin at a measured 146-inch (371 cm) lower jaw fork length were analyzed for 14C. Estimated longevity wa...


Hospital charges, clinical features and outcome in 326 nursing home patients admitted for acute care were prospectively studied for 1984 and 1985 at a community teaching hospital in Chicago. The median length of stay was 9.5 days, and the median total hospital charge and charge per day were $7,285 and $813, respectively. The basic room charge accounted for 35% of the total, while antimicrobial therapy accounted for 8% of the charges. Patients with infections (n=194) stayed a median length of 2 days longer and incurred daily charges 22% higher than those for patients in the noninfection group (n=132). For patients with infection, the occurrence of major complications (17.5%) and death (16.5%) were associated with higher per day charges of 26% and 35%, respectively "Do not resuscitate" orders were not significantly associated with lower hospitalization costs. To control the high cost of hospital care, guidelines are needed for the management of patients in situations where the quality of life is very low and the cost-benefit ratio is minimum.


A field experiment was conducted during 2007-08 to 2009-10 at India Glycol Limited, Kashipur (Uttarakhand) to study the effect of spent wash and chemical fertilizer on yield, nutrient uptake, juice quality, nutrient status and irrigation water by sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.). The results of the experiments showed that the sugarcane crop responded significantly in terms of cane yield, sugar yield and nutrient uptake by spent wash and chemical fertilizer. However, juice quality of sugarcane did not influence by spent wash and chemical fertilizer. Highest cane yield (818 q.ha -1 ) and sugar yield (9.75 q.ha -1 ) was recorded by the application of under 25% recommended dose of chemical fertilizer (75:20:15 kg N: P: K ha -1 ) + 75% effluent treatment.


ongenital absence of the major salivary glands, especially the parotid gland, is a rare occasion. The etiopathogenesis of this condition is poorly understood. Aplasia of the parotid glands may be unilateral or bilateral and may occur alone or with other developmental anomalies of the first branchial arch such as hypoplasia or aplasia of the lacrimal glands, hemifacial microsomia, mandibulofacial dysostoses, and multiple congenital anomalies. 1-4 Agenesis may be partial or total; more severely affected patients suffer from a dry mouth, an increased rate of dental decay and difficulty in wearing dentures. 2 A 35 year-old woman presented with intermittant low cervical pain for the last two months. Physical examination of the head and neck was normal except for the absence of the parotid papillae bilaterally. The oral hygiene was good and no xerostomia was noted. Initially an US examination of the neck was performed and both parotid glands were not visualized. T1, T2 weighted transverse magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans confirmed the diagnosis of true parotid gland aplasia (Figures 1, 2). Bilateral submandibular glands were normal. The patient had no symptoms associated with the absence of parotid glands. On clinical reexamination, the oral mucosa was wet and the other major salivary glands were functional. Bilateral hemifacial contour was normal, and there were no depressions in both preauricular regions. Bilateral lacrimal punctuae were present. The available family members of the patient were examined, and they had no abnormality related with parotid


Radio noise intensity caused by a series of electric pulses is evaluated. The pulses are utilized in pulsed power network already proposed as one of upcoming smart grids. In contrast to the power transmission scheme with continuous sinusoidal electric current of very low frequency, pulsed power transmission may affect surrounding field with high frequency radio noises. In this paper, based on the analysis of electric field strength close to the power line, the radio noises generated by electric pulses are roughly evaluated. In contrast to the previous works, where only the peak strength of each component in noise spectrum is considered, actually measured noise strength through a dipole antenna is roughly evaluated.


A super-hydrophobic pyramid - a light structure and method for producing silicon nanowires complex notch, belonging to the field of solar cell. Cleaning the wafer surface by alkaline etching the surface thereof in the manufacture of the pyramid structure, using a chemical reaction in a silicon reduction principles deposited on the surface of the discontinuous noble metal particles by etching the noble metal particles as a catalyst and thus obtained a silicon nanowire prepared Pyramid - Si double nanowire composite structure, the composite structure of the surface chemical modification with a fluorine silane obtaining superhydrophobic properties. In the visible range, the surface reflectance thereof is reduced to 4% or less, and the surface after chemical modification, the surface contact angle greater than 150 °.


An effective method for strengthening existing concrete beams in bending consists in bonding fiber-reinforced composite laminates on the tension faces of the beams. Laboratory tests on beam specimens show, however, that it is often difficult to develop the full composite strength capacity because of premature failure due to delamination and peeling-off of the laminate. Conditions at the interface between the composite and concrete are not yet fully understood, and studies are required to determine the development lengths needed to achieve the composite's strength capacity. This paper reports results of an experimental and theoretical investigation of composite-to-concrete bonded joints. A new and fairly simple experimental apparatus capable of investigating the shear conditions between the composite and concrete is presented to determine the stress and strain distribution profiles in a composite laminate that is bonded to the concrete. A brief description of the apparatus is given and experimental results are presented; a theoretical analysis for the behavior of such composite-to-concrete bonded joints has also been developed, and predictions of the numerical model are compared to the experimental results.


Despite universal agreement that antibiotic overprescribing is a problem, the practice continues to vex us. Antibiotic use—whether appropriate or not—has been linked to rising rates of antimicrobial resistance, disruption of the gut microbiome leading to Clostridium difficile infections, allergic reactions, and increased health care costs (TABLE 1). And yet, physicians continue to overprescribe this class of medication. A 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report estimates that at least 30% of antibiotics prescribed in US outpatient settings are unnecessary. Another report cites a slightly higher figure across a variety of health care settings. Pair these findings with the fact that there are currently few new drugs in development to target resistant bacteria, and you have the potential for a post-antibiotic era in which common infections could become lethal. In 2003, the CDC launched its "Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work" program, focused on decreasing inappropriate antibiotic use in the outpatient setting. In 2014, the White House released the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria with a goal of decreasing inappropriate outpatient antibiotic use by 50% and inappropriate inpatient use by 20% by 2020. And, on an international level, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a 5-year strategic framework in 2015 for implementing its Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. Family practitioners are on the front lines of this battle. Here's what we can do now.


Hybrid vehicles are gaining increasing popularity in recent years, and there are three major types of hybrid systems, hybrid hydraulic, hybrid electric, and hybrid fuel cell. The hydraulic system offers great advantages for vehicles operating in stop-and-go conditions because the reversible hydraulic pump/motor can capture large amounts of energy when the brakes are applied, and this energy is released through the hydraulic pump/motor to propel the vehicle. The key component in this new system is a HLA (Hydraulic Launch Assist) unit, which employs an advanced hydraulic hybrid power train system. Technical challenges with hydraulic hybrids include packaging and noise issues. HLA is an over 600 lbs system, and to fit it into a traditional designed vehicle, as well as to fit possibly multiple candidate platforms, the design of a sub-frame that can mount the HLA to the vehicles is a critical task. Because HLA system development is an on-going work, different structural problems emerge during this process. Therefore, an efficient design system is necessary to address the problems in the up-front design stage. Function-Oriented Material Design (FOMD) with special topology optimization techniques, such as multi-domain multi-step topology optimization, is a tool suitable for this task. The theoretical background is described and sub-frame design process is summarized in this paper. The effectiveness of the design system is demonstrated through design examples. The design method and procedure proposed in this paper is applicable to other vehicle structural design problems, which will reduce the design cycle and achieve the required functionalities in an efficient way.© 2005 ASME


Coordination of care plans between healthcare sectors and efficient management of patients with co-morbidities is of large demand. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients are at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Different stakeholders are potentially involved in the EULAR recommended management processes. Optimised orchestration of accumulated information is of major importance to ensure data quality, meaningful management processes and cost effectiveness. A newly developed information and communications technology platform within the Horizon2020-funded PICASO-project (www.picaso-project.eu) will support a continuum of care from hospitals and outpatient clinics to the home. The PICASO platform will be developed and trialled with patients and clinicians. First experiences will be reported. The platform will become available for RA-patients in routine care but also for wider applicability in Rheumatology and other chronic diseases. Acknowledgement This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 6 89 209 Disclosure of Interest None declared


A Radio Mean D-distance labeling of a connected graph G is an injective map f from the vertex set V(G) to N such that for two distinct vertices u and v of G, dD(u, v) + ⌈(f(u)+f(v))/2⌉ ≥ 1 + diamD(G), where dD(u, v) denotes the D-distance between u and v and diamD(G) denotes the D-diameter of G. The radio mean D-distance number of f, rmnD(f) is the maximum label assigned to any vertex of G. The radio mean D-distance number of G, rmnD(G) is the minimum value of rmnD(f) taken over all radio mean D-distance labeling f of G. In this paper we find the radio mean D-distance number of banana tree, thorn star and cone graph.