Background: In the last two decades the using of artificial intelligence models for correct operation of the water treatment plant and maintain the stability of systems in favorable conditions, much researches has been done in this area. These models to simulate the behavior of water treatment systems can be used as an effective tool and to be used in the prediction of plant performance. The aim of this study was to evaluate of Khorramabad wastewater treatment plant performance (WWTP) using artificial intelligence network (AIN).
Materials and Methods: In this study, by using the AIN-LM and underlying the quality parameters measured at the entrance of plant (T, PH, DO, BOD, COD, TSS, TDS, NO3, PO4), the corresponding three parameters BOD, COD and TSS in the output of wastewater treatment plant was predicted. Statistical indicators used in this study were R, MSE and the software Matlab and SPSS (test T-test), respectively.
Results: Based on the results, BOD, COD and TSS, respectively, with a maximum R, 0/98, 0/91 and 0/92 for the train data and 0/5, 0/66 and 0/5 for the test data and minimum MSE, 3/5, 33/15 and 2/17 for the train data 11, 115 and 20/99 were predicted for the test data, and the results were acceptable. Also, by calculating the percent removal of pollutants in the output of plant was revealed that TSS had the maximum efficiency of pollutant removal in wastewater treatment plant and was equal to 87/68 %. Also, other amounts of pollutant were closed to TSS.
Conclusion: In this study, AIN-LM created a reliable tool for predicting the performance of Khorramabad wastewater treatment plant and could predict the quality of effluent on the basis of measured parameters. So, remove of pollutants through the results were obtained by using the AIN-LM network, showed that, it was a good model, so the observed data indicates that confirm of the performance this model, as well. Also, the reduction of qualitative values as standard values recommended by the DOE indicates that the relatively good performance of the WWTP.
Keywords: Khorramabad wastewater treatment plant, Removal efficacy, Artificial intelligence network, LM Algorithm.


A new method is presented for obtaining intrinsic absorption spectra (i.e., index of refraction and extinction coefficient versus wavelength) from reflection spectra of stratified media, which usually are complicated by substrate absorption, thin-layer interference patterns, etc. A typical application is to obtain intrinsic absorption spectra of an organic monolayer chemisorbed on the surface of a very thin metal film, which is in turn supported by a bulk substrate. The basis of the method is the proven causality of a special reflection function that we introduce, and the application of the transformation of Peterson and Knight to this function. The method is general, and has been found to give accurate results for various multiphase systems without restriction as to number of phases, angle of incidence, or polarization. While the method is valid for general stratified media, its accuracy depends upon the information content of the particular reflection spectrum taken. The sensitivity available can be calculated and the adjustable optical parameters chosen accordingly.


With more than a hundred phylogenetic lineages, indigenous South America is often highlighted as a region with one of the highest degrees of linguistic diversity in the world. A systematic investigation of the possible phylogenetic relations that may exist between its numerous language families and isolates is overdue. It is argued that the possibilities of discovering such relations are far from exhausted. Previously undetected phylogenetic relations were uncovered by comparing selected sets of basic vocabulary in combination with shared morphosyntactic elements. The selection of vocabulary to be used in this procedure implies the elimination of residual morphology and the recognition of semantic fluctuations proper to the cultural environment of the languages involved. Such techniques can be expected to further reduce the number of phylogenetic units recognized for South America.


Dynamic humanism in the defense and promotion of human rights. Activism is driven by positive sentiment; deprivations are driven by negative sentiment. The book explores these issues in the context of theory as well as specific chapters which focus on the multiple dimensions of the human rights problem.


The Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) is the complex program that involve in oncogenic pathways regulating in migratory and invasion of cancer cells, angiogenesis, and metastasis. As such, targeting the critical EMT inducers or EMT pathways represents an important therapeutic strategy for preventing or treating cancer cells metastasis. Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid traditional herbal medicine with no organ toxicity. The increasing reports indicated that berberine played anti-angiogenesis, anti-invasion, and anti-metastasis roles in different human cancer cells. However, there is still unknown about the inhibitory effect of berberine on invasive behavior and EMT of prostate cancer cells. Our study shows for the first time to indicate important role played by berberine, in repressing the metastatic process and the invasive ability of prostate cancer cells. We showed that the migratory and invasive abilities of prostate cancer cells were inhibited by berberine through inhibition of TGF-β signaling. Among the TGF-β signaling molecules were inhibited by berberine, high BMP7 and NODAL gene expressions of metastatic prostate cancer tissues were associated with shorter survival of prostate cancer patients and provide potential therapeutic interventions.


The pipelined subranging ADC architecture dominates today's applications where sampling rates of greater than 5 MSPS to 10 MSPS are required. Although the flash (all-parallel) architecture (see Tutorial MT-020) dominated the 8-bit video IC ADC market in the 1980s and early 1990s, the pipelined architecture has largely replaced the flash ADC in modern applications. There are a small number of high power Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) flash converters with sampling rates greater than 1 GHz, but resolution is limited to 6 or 8 bits. However, the flash converter still remains a popular building block for higher resolution pipelined ADCs.


Sphingosine-1 phosphate (S1P) is a component of several signal transduction cascades in animal cells; however, a role for S1P in plants has been defined. Ng et al. first confirm that S1P is found in plant leaves and that drought conditions increase S1P levels. Treatment of leaves with S1P produces a dose-dependent decrease in stomatal pore aperture that is dependent on calcium. S1P treatment produced calcium oscillations in isolated guard cells, suggesting that S1P initiates a calcium signaling event that regulates stomatal pore closure. Abscisic acid is another signaling molecule that is regulated by calcium and that is involved in stomatal pore control. Treatment of leaves with an inhibitor of sphingosine kinase attenuated the decrease in stomatal pore aperture produced by abscisic acid, suggesting that the S1P signal and the abscisic acid signal converge to regulate water conservation pathways in plants. C. K.-Y. Ng, K. Carr, M. R. McAinsh, B. Powell, A. M. Hetherington, Drought-induced guard cell signal transduction involves sphingosine-1-phosphate. Nature 410, 596-599 (2001). [Online Journal]


This article analyzes the grounds, procedures and conditions required by International Human Rights Law for preventive detention of suspected terrorists as threats to security. Such detention is generally permitted, provided it is based on grounds and procedures previously established by law; is not arbitrary, discriminatory or disproportionate; is publicly registered and subject to fair and effective judicial review; and the detainee is not mistreated and is compensated for any unlawful detention. In Europe, however, preventive detention for security purposes is generally not permitted. If allowed at all, it is permitted only when a State in time of national emergency formally derogates from the right to liberty under the European Convention on Human Rights. The Article concludes that if preventive detention for security purposes is to be allowed at all, its use must be kept to an absolute minimum, and the European model should be followed, allowing detention only by formal derogation during national emergency, and then only to the extent and for the time strictly required.


A method for detecting significant and regionally specific correlations between sensory input and the brain's physiological response, as measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is presented in this paper. The method involves testing for correlations between sensory input and the hemodynamic response after convolving the sensory input with an estimate of the hemodynamic response function. This estimate is obtained without reference to any assumed input. To lend the approach statistical validity, it is brought into the framework of statistical parametric mapping by using a measure of cross‐correlations between sensory input and hemodynamic response that is valid in the presence of intrinsic autocorrelations. These autocorrelations are necessarily present, due to the hemodynamic response function or temporal point spread function. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In an international research climate of increasingly demanding ethical review, based on a biomedical model, reflection on best practices in social, behavioural and economic science research is necessary. It is widely believed that these sciences cannot be held to the same practical requirements as those for biomedical research, although the principles of ethical research are surely universal. This article considers the ethical requirements, principles and guidelines directing research in the social, behavioural and economic sciences, recognised in the national and international arena. By means of a systematic review of available best practices, it is anticipated that general guidelines for social, behavioural and economic science research could be developed and offered to researchers in these fields. Specific consideration is given to the unique characteristics of social, behavioural and economic science research.


OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the impact of introducing complementary foods to exclusively breast-fed infants at 4 vs 6 months on growth from 6 to 12 months, and to compare growth patterns of Honduran infants with those of breast-fed infants in the United States.

DESIGN
Randomized intervention trial from 4 to 6 months and longitudinal study of infants from birth to 12 months.

SETTING
Low-income communities in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

SUBJECTS
Primiparous, breast-feeding mothers and their infants (n = 141) recruited from public maternity hospitals.

INTERVENTION
Infants were randomly assigned to exclusive breast-feeding to 6 months, or exclusive breast-feeding with addition of hygienically prepared, nutritionally adequate complementary foods at 4 months, with or without maintenance of baseline breast-feeding frequency. After 6 months, mothers continued to breast-feed and also fed their infants home-prepared foods after receiving instruction in appropriate feeding practices.

OUTCOME MEASURES
Infant weight was measured monthly during the first year of life and infant length monthly from 4 to 12 months.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Growth parameters were compared between the Honduran and US cohorts using multiple-regression and repeated-measures analysis of variance. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify determinants of infant growth.

RESULTS
There were no differences in growth patterns by intervention group. Mean birth weight of the Honduran infants was significantly less than that of a cohort of breast-fed infants in an affluent US population (n = 46) (2889 +/- 482 vs 3611 +/- 509 g), but the Honduran infants exhibited rapid catch up in weight in the first few months of life, and the cohorts were similar in weight by 3 months. Mean weight and length gain were similar to those of the US cohort from 4 to 9 months but were lower from 9 to 12 months. Mean length for age was significantly less than that of the US cohort from 4 to 12 months; this was attributable to the difference in maternal height (12 cm shorter in Honduras on average). Within the Honduran cohort, growth velocity of low birth weight infants (< 2500 g; n = 28) was similar to that of their normal birth weight peers; thus, the former subgroup remained smaller than the latter throughout the first year of life.

CONCLUSIONS
In poor populations, when breast-feeding is exclusive for the first 4 to 6 months, continues from 6 to 12 months, and is accompanied by generally adequate complementary foods, faltering in weight does not occur before 9 months among infants born with birth weights of more than 2500 g.


The work of this thesis is an experimental study of flow in a compound or two-stage channel, where the flow in the main channel is skewed slightly to the flood plain flow direction. The purpose of the study is to investigate flow mechanisms and flow behaviour in a situation which is more complex than a straight/parallel compound channel and less complex than meandering compound channel. In other words, an element of `lq cross over flow is introduced, where the flood plain flow crosses over a skewed main channel beneath. This element is absent in study of a straight and parallel channel/flood plain system. The thesis begins by introducing the subject of two-stage channels and river flooding in Chapter 1, followed by a literature survey in Chapter 2. The literature survey attempts to draw together various strands of two-stage channel research including stage-discharge assessment, lateral turbulent shear, bend behaviour for inbank and overbank situations, and flow behaviour in the cross-over region. Chapter 3 describes the experimental rigs used during the experiments including the main flume for the skewed compound channel flow tests, and also a smaller straight flume with a slot of variable length in the main bed, designed to simulate certain aspects of cross-over flow. This chapter emphasises the instrumentation used to measure accurate point velocities and accurate streamline angles throughout the flow field. Both these measurements were crucial in determining transverse velocity components. Chapter 4 describes flow resistance and stage-discharge data for the skewed compound flume with both smooth and rough flood plains, and also the skewed main channel operating in isolation from adjacent flood plains. An analysis of drag coefficients for the vertical roughening rods for the flood plain is also presented. Chapter 5 presents the experimental data of longitudinal velocities throughout the flow field and transverse velocities within the skewed main channel, for the case of both smooth and rough flood plains. Observations are made on the asymmetry of the longitudinal velocity profile, the magnitude of transverse velocity components, as well as variations in the downstream direction. Chapter 6 concentrates on flow measurements in a smaller flume with a slot in the channel bed, representing an idealised version of flow crossing-over the skewed main channel. Measurements are presented of variations in water surface level, energy losses at the expansion and contraction region as well as velocity measurements at various sections throughout the slot region in an attempt to produce a universal velocity profile. Finally Chapter 7, attempts to draw together experimental evidence in Chapter 4, 5, and 6, to draw some conclusions about the behaviour of two-stage channels. This is done by putting forward ten ideas on the behaviour of two-stage channels involving stage-discharge assessment for the smooth boundary case, stage-discharge assessment for the rough boundary case, flow resistance concepts for two-stage channels, deviation of the flood plain streamlines in the cross-over region, entrainment of flood plain flow down into the main channel flow, the magnitude and distribution of secondary circulation within the skewed main channel (and how this is influenced by boundary roughness, aspect ratio and relative flow depth), the magnitude and distribution of the depth-averaged longitudinal velocity (including comparison of left and right flood plain velocities, position of maximum velocity filament, width of lateral shear layers on either flood plain), variations of flow behaviour in the downstream direction, application of the result to two-stage channel design and finally some speculations on the longer term behaviour of two-stage channels from the viewpoint of scouring and deposition of bed load and suspended sediment. The thesis shows very clearly that flow is a skewed compound channel, even at a small skew angle of 5.84o, is in many ways dissimilar to flow in the straight/parallel case. This is highlighted in the magnitude of secondary cells in the skewed main channel, deviation of flood plain streamlines, greater horizontal shear and less lateral shear between main channel and flood plain and asymmetry of the depth-averaged velocity. This thesis also reveals a very limited application of energy losses at a slot in the channel bed to a skewed cross-over flow situation.


The UK relies on survey data (the APS) to produce estimates of its local area immigrant populations at higher frequencies than generated by the decennial Census. All sample surveys come with some level of uncertainty attached to their estimates which can be particularly acute at local area level where sample populations are smaller. We therefore explore whether the local area population counts of immigrants contained in the electoral 'register' (ER) could help improve the accuracy and reliability of published local area migration statistics.


Waste drilling mud is the second largest waste stream produced in the oil and gas industry
after produced water and cannot be discharged or landfilled without proper treatment to
meet regulatory requirements. Various contaminants are present in the waste drilling mud,
including petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene,
and xylenes), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other hazardous materials
typically originating from the base drilling fluids. Strict environmental regulations are in
place regarding the disposal of the waste drilling mud and cuttings to minimize their effect
to the environment. Therefore, the waste drilling mud must be properly treated before being
released into the environment. Different technologies have been proposed for waste drilling
mud remediation; however, most of them are unable to meet the strict environmental
regulation limits.
In this thesis, different technologies to treat the waste drilling mud are reviewed. After a
technical comparison, physical treatment technologies were selected as the most suitable
methods. The main aim of this study is to investigate the abilities of the methods of
surfactant-enhanced washing and supercritical CO₂ extraction, to treat the waste drilling
mud and remove the hazardous petroleum hydrocarbons to meet the strict environmental
regulations. The specific objectives of the study are to: (1) characterize the waste drilling
mud using particle size distribution, X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma
optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and gas
chromatography GC analyses; (2) identify of the most efficient, environmentally-friendly,
and cost-effective technologies to treat the waste drilling mud; (3) screen and select the best surfactants for drilling mud remediation using interfacial tension and sorption analyses; (4)
experimentally determine the impacts of significant factors on the efficiency of the two
physical processes, surfactant-enhanced washing and supercritical CO2 extraction (SCE);
(5) optimize both the surfactant-enhanced washing and supercritical CO₂ extraction
processes; and (6) evaluate both the physical treatment processes considering efficiency,
environmental impacts, and possible separation and/or recovery of hydrocarbons.
A technical review was completed by considering key factors in an efficient process for
waste drilling mud remediation, including efficiency, particle size effect, environmental
impact, cost, energy requirement, and processing time. Surfactant-enhanced washing and
supercritical CO₂ extraction were selected as two viable, efficient, and environmentallyfriendly
physical treatment methods. Three surfactants, one anionic (Alfoterra 145-8S 90),
one non-ionic (Triton 100), and one biosurfactant (Saponin), were experimentally analyzed,
and Triton 100 (TX-100) was selected as the best surfactant based on the interfacial tension
and sorption analyses. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of different
parameters on the surfactant-enhanced washing process' efficiency, using Triton 100 as the
most suitable surfactant, including (i) contact time, (ii) surfactant concentration, and (iii)
temperature, and to obtain the optimized operating conditions. The supercritical CO₂
extraction experiments were also designed and conducted to investigate the effects of three
parameters, including (i) temperature, (ii) pressure, and (iii) contact time on the process'
efficiency.
The result of this study suggested that even though the surfactant-enhanced washing was
able to remove up to 70% of the petroleum hydrocarbons, the process could not be employed to treat the waste drilling mud to meet the landfilling regulations. The
supercritical CO₂ extraction process, however, was capable of removing the petroleum
hydrocarbons up to more than 97% when operated at the optimized conditions and could
effectively remediate the waste drilling mud considering the initial total petroleum
hydrocarbon concentration).
Based on the results of this study, supercritical CO₂ extraction (SCE) process was
recommended as an efficient and environmentally-friendly method to remove the total
petroleum hydrocarbons from the waste drilling mud to meet the provincial, national, and
universal environmental regulations. The SCE process could easily separate the
hydrocarbons from the waste mud effectively and in a short amount of time. The
supercritical CO₂ extraction process could be tested and implemented for other
contaminated substances with petroleum hydrocarbons as well. Although further
investigation may be required, the results of this study can be a guide for future research
on similar remediation processes.


This report summarises and assesses the initial effects of the transport act 1986 on the Strathclyde region of Scotland. The report is based on information gathered in the course of regular monitoring meetings between Strathclyde PTE and TRRL. Much of the statistical material has been compiled from analysis of the national bus registration index at TRRL. The effects are analysed from the point of view of each of the major parties involved, namely the policy-makers (the government and the pta), the PTE, the bus operators and the passengers. The total level of service provided increased, although this was not reflected in an increase in patronage. Competition between bus operators meant that some areas received considerable increases in service but poorly used services were discontinued in some areas. The pattern of service changes was complex and passenger reactions were mixed; the number of people reporting that their bus services were better than before deregulation was almost as high as the number who thought their services were worse. (Author/TRRL)


We investigate the determinants of European banking market integration with a focus on the potentially limiting role of cultural and political factors. Employing a unique data set of European cross-border loans and deposits, the study uses various gravity models that are augmented by societal proxies. While trade-theoretic reasoning can explain part of the surge in cross-border banking, we demonstrate that distance and borders still matter in the geography of European cross-border banking. Moreover, we can identify cultural differences and different legal family origin as important barriers to integration.


Abstract Composition of milk and butter was evaluated from cows fed either control or experimental diets containing added fat of partially unsaturated fatty acid composition. The control diet concentrate mix consisted mainly of corn and soybean meal. The two experimental diets substituted either 20% high oleic sunflower seeds (>79% of fatty acids as oleic acid) or 20% regular sunflower seeds (>67% of fatty acids as linoleic acid) for part of the corn and soybean meal in the concentrate mix. Feeding lactating dairy cattle sunflower seeds resulted in lower concentrations of short and medium chain and higher concentrations of long-chain fatty acids in milk fat and butter. Milk unsaturated fatty acid concentrations were (28.9, 38.8, 45.6%), and butter unsaturated fatty acid concentrations were (29.6, 38.1, 44.3%) for control, high oleic sunflower seed, and regular sunflower seed treatment milk, respectively. Organoleptic evaluation indicated the high oleic sunflower seed and regular sunflower seed treatment butters were equal or superior in flavor to the control butter. The high oleic sunflower seed and regular sunflower seed treatment butters were softer, more unsaturated, and exhibited acceptable flavor, manufacturing, and storage characteristics.


A simple, general mathematical model for modern war is presented. The form of the model is Lanchester but its derivation owes approximately equal amounts to classical operational research and to later ideas associated with theoretical ecology - especially the concept of `carrying capacity'. Solutions to the equations corresponding to stalemated, steady-state outcomes in theatre are concentrated on, with empirical justification derived from the unduly neglected databased work of Voevodsky. Prolongation and stalemate are seen as the default state of modern war. War termination is discussed as a consequence of `mutually (but not equally) hurting stalemate'. Examples are given of how, in certain circumstances, stalemate may be pre-empted in theatre by striking at non-battlefield targets and light is cast on the late 20th-century strategic trend towards conducting war preponderantly from the air.


In this paper, we consider the range of environmental effects of roads and ways of valuing them in money terms. We conclude that environmental effects should be divided into strategic and local. The former, which are largely ignored by current appraisal practice, should be considered as part of an appraisal of the entire programme of road schemes in the course of the consideration of transport strategy. Local effects are dealt with in the Manual of Environmental Appraisal, but the list of effects there and advice on their treatment needs amplification.

We consider that techniques for the monetary valuation of environmental effects have improved greatly in recent years, and there remains considerable unexploited potential for the use of stated preference techniques. Nevertheless, we do not think it sensible to suppose that all environmental effects could or should be incorporated in a single Net Present Value calculation; rather we see a potential for the further application of decision support systems able to deal with more disaggregate information.


Tens of thousands of kilograms of rhizomes and roots of Actaea racemosa L., a native Appalachian forest perennial, are harvested every year and used for the treatment of menopausal conditions. Sustainable management of this and other wild-harvested non-timber forest products requires the ability to effectively and reliably inventory marketable plant components.


The effects of Cyperus esculentus (tiger nut) oil on lipoprotein composition, cholesterol and triglyceride levels and their histological changes were investigated in the brain, liver, kidney and heart of rats. Cyperus esculentus tuber oil was extracted from the tuber using a soxhlet extractor. Twenty, 3 weeks-old albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) with an initial average weight of 51.67±5.29g were grouped into two groups of ten (10) animals each. The first group was fed with soybean oil-based (control) diet; the second group on esculentus tuber oil meal-based diet for six (6) weeks. Histological examination of the selected tissues ((brain, liver, heart and kidney) showed no significant alteration in animals fed both the soybean oil and Tiger nut tuber oil fed animals. Generally, there was also no significant difference (p>0.05) in the serum lipid profile like concentration of Triglycerides, High Density Lipoprotein and Low Density Lipoprotein - cholesterol in rats fed on soybean based oil as compared to that of Tiger nut oil. However there was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the Total cholesterol of serum of rats fed with Tiger nut tuber oil-based meal. It was concluded that feeding cyperus esculentus tuber oil meal to rats might be safe on the lipid profile of rats.


Reflection involves the evaluation of feelings, ideas and opinions of past and current experiences for future references. Reflection redefines our understanding of knowledge and makes us aware of our actions and enables us to evaluate our actions. Reflection, either reflected-on-action or reflected-in-action can be documented through the use of reflective writing. Four types of reflective writing are "Descriptive writing", "Descriptive Reflection", "Dialogic Reflection" and "Critical Reflection". This study examined students' reflective writing via the usage of free Internet BlogSpot blog by exploring students' experiences in English for Academic Writing purpose (BEL 311) classes. A purposive sampling method was used to select 30 part three students of Faculty of Business Management at UiTM Johor. Three research questions were examined: (1) What are the most common types of reflective writing do the students tend to employ indirectly in their reflections?; (2) How far do the students use reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action in their reflections?; (3) How do students view their reflections in learning writing skills? For this study, data from 395 reflections were analyzed using a constant comparative analysis. The findings reported that the students' reflections were mostly Reflection-On-Action (88%) as compared to Reflection-In-Action (12%). The findings also recorded the occurrences of different types of reflective writing which were "Descriptive Reflection" (48%), "Descriptive writing" (43%), "Dialogic Reflection" (7%) and "Critical Reflection" (2%). Some reflections indicated a combination of two or more types of reflective writing. Students reflected more on-action because they did not have sufficient knowledge and skills that enabled them to solve any encountered problems immediately. In their blog writing, the students applied various types of reflective writing that included their feelings, opinions, perceptions and learning experiences. All these new experiences of web-based reflective writing using blogs can lead to important implications for effective instruction and learning strategies.


First Nations youth are a growing population at risk for multiple outcomes that affect their well-being. The effects of colonization and the residential school legacy continue to impact First Nations communities today, creating a cycle of intergenerational trauma to affect the next seven generations. As First Nations youth are at a social and economic disadvantage for maintaining balance in well-being, the purpose of this study was to identify through the Medicine Wheel teachings 1) what youth saw as contributors to well-being, 2) their vision for well-being, and 3) ways to achieve their vision. Using a qualitative approach, the results described the reality of wellness amongst First Nations youth in a holistic, cultural view. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with five First Nations youth in a rural First Nations community in Northern Ontario. Five themes emerged that were related to their experiences with wellness, including Balance Strategies and Challenges, Coping Strategies, Emotional Balance, Worldview, and Motivation, using a qualitative content analysis procedure. It was determined that the voices of First Nations youth are powerful, significant, and must be listened to. If an imbalance continues to affect the lives of First Nations youth, the imbalance will also be reflected in Canadian society. Further initiatives are needed to support and empower our First Nations youth on their journey to becoming tomorrow's leaders.


Frogs are harvested in Indonesia for both domestic consumption and export.
Concerns have been expressed about the extent of this harvest, but there have been no
detailed studies on the edible frog trade in Indonesia, or on the status or population
dynamics of the harvested species. To investigate the possible impact of this practise, I
collected data on harvesting and trading of frog legs in Java, Indonesia. I also
investigated the ecology and population dynamics of the three species that are most
heavily harvested: Fejervarya limnocharis-iskandari complex, F. cancrivora and
Limnonectes macrodon.
The first step of the study quantified the extent of the Indonesian edible frog leg
trade for export and domestic purposes. Harvesting is an unskilled job and serves as
livelihood for many people. There is no regulation of this harvest, and species taken and
size limits are governed by market demand. The most harvested species in Java are F.
cancrivora and L. macrodon. Harvests occur all year long. The number of frogs
harvested fluctuates and is controlled by natural forces such as dry/wet seasons, moon
phase, and planting seasons. Records of the international trade in Indonesian frog legs
are available from 1969 to 2002; the mass of frozen frog legs exported has increased
over the years. I used data on the relative weights of frogs and their legs to estimate how
many frogs were represented by the export records. In 1999-2002 an average of
3,830,601 kg of frozen frog legs were exported annually; this represents an export
harvest of approximately 28 to 142 million frogs, all with masses greater than 80 g, the
minimum size of animals that have legs considered suitable for export. I used data
collected by following frog hunters in the field to assess their capture rates and the
numbers and sizes of frogs captured. I found that only about one-eighth of frogs captured are of sizes acceptable for export, and therefore estimate that the domestic
market is approximately 7 times as large as the export market.
In the second step of the study, I used field data on F. limnocharis-iskandari
complex, F. cancrivora and L. macrodon to gain greater understanding of the
population biology and dynamics of the harvested species. Populations of F.
limnocharis-iskandari complex and F. cancrivora were studied in six rice fields in West
Java during the planting seasons of 2002 and 2003. Both F. limnocharis-iskandari
complex and F. cancrivora were abundant in the rice fields, with estimated overall
mean densities of 193.71 and 39.76 per hectare. The mean density of F. cancrivora was
very similar to that of unharvested populations in Malaysia (8.6 – 91.2 per hectare)
(Jaafar, 1994) and was much higher than the mean density (0.7 frogs/ha) found for Rana
tigerina, the larger species of edible Indian paddy field frog investigated by Dash and
Mahanta (1993). These comparisons suggest that densities of F. cancrivora in Javan
rice fields are relatively high, despite ongoing harvesting pressure. F. limnocharisiskandari
complex and F. cancrivora were able to breed continuously all year without
an apparent season. Both species showed sexual size dimorphism, with females larger
than males. Both appear to be short lived.
The population dynamics of L. macrocodon were observed at two stream sites
West Java: Cilember and Ciapus Leutik. The habitat at Ciapus Leutik is relatively
heavily modified bu human activity, while Cilember is in a nature reserve and ls less
disturbed. A mark recapture study was conducted once a month between June 2002 and
May 2003 (a continuous 12 month sampling period), and in January, April and July
2004. Skeletochronological analysis of phalanges removed during toe clipping suggests
that this species lives longer than F. cancrivora or F. limnocharis-iskandari complex.
Recapture rates of L. macrodon in both locations were low and more frogs were observed during periods of higher rainfall. In this study, more L. macrodon were found
at Cilember than at Ciapus Leutik stream. It is unclear whether the low number of frogs
at Ciapus Leutik was caused by over-harvesting or by other factors. There is a need for
further monitoring to obtain a greater understanding of the population dynamics of this
species.
In conjunction with my field work, I measured a number of parameters to
determine the type and extent of pesticide residues present in rice fields, and to attempt
to determine whether those and another potential stressor, drought, might be affecting
the morphology, body condition, or developmental stability of frogs. I also surveyed
populations of the rice field frogs and L. macrodon for the emerging disease
chytridiomycosis, which could strongly affect the population dynamics of the frogs.
Two types of pesticide residues were detected in water and soil: organochlorine
(lindane, aldrin, heptachlor, dieldrin and endosulfan) and organophospate (chlorpyrifos
and diazinon). Six organochlorines type (BHC, lindane, aldrin, heptachlor, dieldrin and
endosulfan) and three organophosphates (propenofos, chlorpyrifos and diazinon) were
detected in the livers and leg muscles of both frog species. Almost all pesticide residues
were low compared to the Maximum Residue Limit set by WHO and the Government
of Indonesia although a few individuals showed higher pesticide residues contents.
Pesticide residue levels did not appear to be related to any measure of frog condition or
stress. Both species of rice field frogs exhibited relatively low percentages of
abnormalities, probably within the normal range. Only F. limnocharis-iskandari
complex consistently exhibited levels of fluctuating asymmetry in excess of
measurement error. Levels of asymmetry differed between characters. Higher limb
asymmetries were elevated in 2002 compared to 2003, whilst body condition was lower
in 2003. It is possible that the lower body condition in 2003 was caused by stress from an environmental factor, in this case the drought in that year. It is clear that for both F.
limnocharis-iskandari complex and F. cancrivora, fluctuating asymmetry is not a
powerful indicator of stress. There was no sign of chytrid infection in any samples of
the three species.
To assess the impact of harvesting, I used two approaches. I developed a model
of the population dynamics of F. cancrivora and ran simulations for ranges of
parameters including harvesting rate. The simulation indicated that current levels of
harvest may be near the maximum level sustainable by the population. My second
approach was to compare data on the population biology and distribution of both
Fejervarya species to criteria for assessing the conservation status of the species, i.e.
IUCN Red Categories and the CITES Res. Conf. 9.24 on the Criteria for Amendment of
Appendices I and II.
My assessment using listing criteria showed that neither F. limnocharisiskandari
complex or F. cancrivora are qualified for inclusion into any IUCN Red List
and CITES Appendices. On the other hand, more consideration needs to be given to L.
macrodon. This frog is not qualified for inclusion in CITES Appendix I. At present, it
is not possible to determine whether this species could be listed as vulnerable or in
CITES Appendix II due to a lack of data, such as survivorship among stages, and
habitat size, on the population biology of this species.
Recommendations for management of the harvest include: 1) regular monitoring
of this trade especially in other islands such as Sumatra by the scientific authority of
CITES (The Indonesian Institute of Science or Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia,
LIPI), 2) regular monitoring of the numbers of export companies and their middleman,
3) developing a simple identification key and distributing it to the middlemen to ensure
correct identifications, 4) assessing the possibility of breeding local frogs for this trade to replace the farming of the exotic frog Rana catesbeiana, and 5) ensuring that harvest
is limited to species that are not adversely impacted.


The literature on lending to small firms has primarily focused on the mechanisms and methods used to evaluate entrepreneurs and businesses and on the types of firms that are more likely to experience unfavourable application outcomes. That is, the focus of most empirical research is on supply-side decisions. The current research attempts to shed some light on demand-side considerations. Drawing upon data collected as the UK SME Finance Monitor (2011–2014), we identify links between entrepreneurs' diligence, business risk and finance-related advice-seeking prior to initiating loan and overdraft applications. The results show evidence of the usefulness of advice in ameliorating, both structural and strategic, business risk and improving the prospects of successful debt applications to banks.


Energy management provides the framework for optimised system operation. Energy storage system smoothens the stochastic nature of renewable energy, allows for increased access to renewable energy in remote areas, increase the reliability of micro-grids, plays a major role in the development of hybrid vehicles and serves as energy conservation system in green buildings. The need for increased access to reliable and sustainable energy in developing countries requires more deployment of energy storage technologies, particular, battery technologies. This study provides a review of the technical characteristics and costs comparison of various battery technologies. A single battery technology may not meet all the specification of a system and a wrong application will reduce the potentially derivable value. Hence, a knowledge of technical characteristic of each battery technology is important toward technology adoption.


BACKGROUND
Commercial gene expression assays are guiding clinical decision making in patients with prostate cancer, particularly when considering active surveillance. Given heterogeneity and multifocality of primary prostate cancer, such assays should ideally be robust to the coexistence of unsampled higher grade disease elsewhere in the prostate in order to have clinical utility. Herein, we comprehensively evaluated transcriptomic profiles of primary multifocal prostate cancer to assess robustness to clinically relevant multifocality.

METHODS
We designed a comprehensive, multiplexed targeted RNA-sequencing assay capable of assessing multiple transcriptional classes and deriving commercially available prognostic signatures, including the Myriad Prolaris Cell Cycle Progression score, the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score, and the GenomeDX Decipher Genomic Classifier. We applied this assay to a retrospective, multi-institutional cohort of 156 prostate cancer samples. Derived commercial biomarker scores for 120 informative primary prostate cancer samples from 44 cases were determined and compared.

RESULTS
Derived expression scores were positively correlated with tumor grade (rS = 0.53-0.73; all P < 0.001), both within the same case and across the entire cohort. In cases of extreme grade-discordant multifocality (co-occurrence of grade group 1 [GG1] and ≥GG4 foci], gene expression scores were significantly lower in low- (GG1) versus high-grade (≥GG4) foci (all P < 0.001). No significant differences in expression scores, however, were observed between GG1 foci from prostates with and without coexisting higher grade cancer (all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
Multifocal, low-grade and high-grade prostate cancer foci exhibit distinct prognostic expression signatures. These findings demonstrate that prognostic RNA expression assays performed on low-grade prostate cancer biopsy tissue may not provide meaningful information on the presence of coexisting unsampled aggressive disease.

FUNDING
Prostate Cancer Foundation, National Institutes of Health (U01 CA214170, R01 CA183857, University of Michigan Prostate Specialized Program of Research Excellence [S.P.O.R.E.] P50 CA186786-05, Weill Cornell Medicine S.P.O.R.E. P50 CA211024-01A1), Men of Michigan Prostate Cancer Research Fund, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center core grant (2-P30-CA-046592-24), A. Alfred Taubman Biomedical Research Institute, and Department of Defense.


Abstract:  Many basic rock properties—such as lithology, bedding, grain size, sorting, and porosity—are expressed in geologic cores by changes in color, brightness, and texture. Quantitative descriptive rock properties can thus be derived from digital core images. Despite the widespread availability of high-resolution core images and image analysis software, these data are underutilized by geoscientists tasked with describing core. This paper demonstrates the application of image analysis for quantitative core description using examples from three different carbonate reservoirs: (1) evaporite-rich dolostone from the First Eocene, Kuwait–Saudi Arabia Partitioned Zone, (2) vuggy dolostone from the Cretaceous Toca Formation, offshore Angola, (3) thin-bedded limestone and mudrock from the Ordovician Utica Formation, Ohio, USA. In each example, quantitative data are extracted from core images using ImageJ or WellCAD software. The image-derived descriptive parameters are consistent with petrophysical log and core data, supporting the validity of this approach to core description. Image-analysis-guided core description offers many advantages over traditional hand-drawn core description: 1) hand-drawn core descriptions tend to be qualitative and core-log integration is difficult and imprecise, whereas image analysis generates quantitative descriptive data that are directly comparable with petrophysical datasets; 2) image analysis can characterize fine-scale geologic heterogeneity that is difficult or impossible to resolve using log and core plug data and hand-drawn core descriptions; 3) image analysis allows geologists to generate preliminary descriptions prior to actual core viewing, a more efficient workflow that minimizes time expended in offsite core viewing, perhaps in remote locations with limited time available; 4) integration of image-derived core data with petrophysical log and core data allows rigorous evaluation of core data quality—before, during, and after the process of core description. Image analysis thus provides a valuable tool for geoscientists to efficiently generate quantitative, petrophysically significant core descriptions.


Significance The vibration of a molecule adsorbed on a surface contains essential information on the molecule–surface bond, which is important to understand the surface reactions that occur, e.g., in catalytic reactions. Accessing the vibrational energies of a single molecule is possible by combining scanning tunneling microscopy with inelastic electron spectroscopy. However, the tip of a microscope exerts a force on a nearby molecule, and possibly even induces slight structural changes. To study this problem, we have further incorporated atomic force microscopy. The relationship between the exerted forces and vibrational energies is well reproduced by a classical mechanical model. This combined technique opens the possibility to study the atomic-scale interaction of a molecule on a surface with unprecedented precision. The oscillation frequencies of a molecule on a surface are determined by the mass distribution in the molecule and the restoring forces that occur when the molecule bends. The restoring force originates from the atomic-scale interaction within the molecule and with the surface, which plays an essential role in the dynamics and reactivity of the molecule. In 1998, a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy with inelastic tunneling spectroscopy revealed the vibrational frequencies of single molecules adsorbed on a surface. However, the probe tip itself exerts forces on the molecule, changing its oscillation frequencies. Here, we combine atomic force microscopy with inelastic tunneling spectroscopy and measure the influence of the forces exerted by the tip on the lateral vibrational modes of a carbon monoxide molecule on a copper surface. Comparing the experimental data to a mechanical model of the vibrating molecule shows that the bonds within the molecule and with the surface are weakened by the proximity of the tip. This combination of techniques can be applied to analyze complex molecular vibrations and the mechanics of forming and loosening chemical bonds, as well as to study the mechanics of bond breaking in chemical reactions and atomic manipulation.


Violence continues to take its toll on post-apartheid South Africa and the youth remain the most affected group in many communities. Research has either dealt with violence in isolation, or the youth affected by violence. Very little is known about the nurse leaders delivering healthcare to youth victims of violence. This study sought to explore and describe the experiences of nurse leaders in delivering care to youth victims of violence at a community health centre in Khayelitsha. A qualitative, descriptive, and contextual design was used. The accessible population was professional nurses (N = 40) taking the lead in influencing victims of violence in the community to wellness. Nine individual unstructured interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached. The findings of this study showed that nurse leaders experienced challenges in terms of under-preparedness, staff shortages, work load, verbal abuse, as well as victim-related factors. Participants also expressed some rewarding experiences, such as increased personal awareness, personal empowerment, victim empowerment, and job satisfaction. The study recommended that in-service training should be conducted for newly-appointed staff members with the purpose of preparing them for the challenges and expectations in the field of violence amongst youth in the community.


We the undersigned committee hereby approve the attached thesis, " Long-term Effects of Response Cards on Student Engagement and Academic Performance by Students with Disabilities, " by Deidra Nicole Shubert. This study examined the effects of response cards on student engagement and academic performance during math instruction. Students in a middle school classroom for students with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) received two different instructional conditions: (a) hand raising or (b) response cards. An experimental group was compared to a control group on three identical academic tests administered at various times throughout the school semester to evaluate long-term effects of response cards on academic performance. Analysis of the results indicated increases in student engagement when response cards were implemented when compared to sessions during which students used hand raising to indicate a correct answer. Performance on the academic tests indicated academic material was retained over time in both groups.


Self-help approaches can be relevant for individuals with sexual difficulties who cannot visit a therapist yet have sufficient coping skills and motivation to adhere to the advice and prescriptions included in the self-help method. Self-help can facilitate the transfer of treatment gains to the unassisted situation at home and thus reduce generalization difficulties from therapist setting to the home setting. They may prevent the development of client's codependency on therapist support and can help boost the client's sense of self-efficacy. Several self-help approaches were found to be efficacious, both statistically and clinically, in the treatment of several types of sexual dysfunction. The outcome is qualified by problem type, client characteristics, and delivery format of the self-help. The methods that are offered vary from cookbook-like protocols, which need to be followed in a stepwise and strict fashion, to strategies requiring the user to self-adapt a general problem-solving method to his or her personal situation, thereby enabling the individual to become his or her own therapist.


While imperial China was a notably inventive place, formal intellectual property protections analogous to those in the West failed to emerge there of their own accord. The deep influence of Confucianism on imperial Chinese society brought about a culture that subordinated individual desires to group harmony and perceived original creations as products not of individual people but of the society to which they belonged. Moreover, Confucianism's influence on education and literature rendered verbatim copying not merely an accepted practice but a fundamental aspect of scholarship. Buddhism's close connection to the emergence of printing in China also served to delay by centuries the first claims by authors of ownership interests in their works. Accordingly, the impetus for China's modern intellectual property regime came from abroad. After China's defeat in the Opium War, foreign investment in China increased dramatically and Western commercial interests began to press China for the legal recognition of their intellectual property rights. An effective enforcement regime, however, eluded China until the birth of the PRC. Since the late 1970s, the PRC has taken efforts to integrate China's intellectual property regime with international institutions. China acceded to TRIPS in 1999 and joined the WTO in 2001. In tandem with these legal developments, China's economy has rapidly become the world's second largest, a fact attributable largely to foreign direct investment.China's economic rise especially affects foreign holders of intellectual property rights. Commentators, however, differ starkly in their assessments of the ability of China's intellectual property institutions to combat infringement. On the one hand, China's apologists claim that such institutions are -- or imminently will be -- sufficient to provide for the just and efficient resolution of disputes arising out of infringement. On the other hand, China's critics, particularly those in the United States, contend that China's intellectual property regime fails to deter and remedy infringement. Ultimately, the views of China's apologists are misleading. China's specialized intellectual property tribunals have proven to be relatively effective, but insufficient resources, judicial corruption, and the inability of judges to act independent of the Chinese Communist Party hinder the effectiveness of China's judiciary. China's fragmented administrative enforcement bureaucracy, which handles the overwhelming majority of disputes arising out of infringement, suffers from a host of problems that work to the detriment of right holders. Criminal enforcement almost always results in convictions, yet procedural inefficiencies render such convictions frustratingly difficult to achieve. These shortcomings may be attributed to certain historical phenomena. Specifically, the Chinese state, in administering China's intellectual property regime, has adopted an approach that comports with Confucianism's elevation of state prerogatives at the expense of individual interests. Trends in patent law reform, trade secret litigation, and trademark enforcement bolster this conception of the Chinese state's motivations.Foreign right holders, therefore, cannot reasonably expect China's intellectual property regime to serve their interest in combating infringement. Consequently, foreign victims of infringement should seek to reverse the trend of anemic foreign litigation in China and employ China's courts, especially the intellectual property tribunals, to vindicate their rights. Indeed, the Chinese government appears disinclined to take foreign perspectives under consideration in drafting new intellectual property legislation, a trend that may render the courts the only venue where foreign right holders can air their grievances. Finally, foreign right holders might also attempt to initiate private criminal prosecutions against infringers, although this avenue of enforcement is less likely to deliver favorable results.


Recently, the Elementary Process Theory (EPT) has been developed as a set of fundamental principles that might underlie a gravitational repulsion of matter and antimatter. This paper presents set matrix theory (SMT) as the foundation of the mathematicallogical framework in which the EPT has been formalized: it is, namely, objectionable to use Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory (ZF) as such. SMT is a generalization of ZF: whereas ZF uses only sets as primitive objects, in the framework of SMT nite matrices with set-valued entries are objects sui generis, with a 1 1 set matrix [x] being identical to the set x. It is proved that every set that can be constructed in ZF can also be constructed in SMT: as a mathematical foundation, SMT is thus not weaker than ZF. In addition, it is shown that SMT is more suitable than ZF for the intended application to physics. The conclusion is that SMT, contrary to ZF, is acceptable as the mathematical-logical foundation of the framework for physics that is determined by the EPT.


Background SARS-CoV-2 most likely evolved from a bat beta-coronavirus and started infecting humans in December 2019. Since then it has rapidly infected people around the world, with more than 4.5 million confirmed cases by the middle of May 2020. Early genome sequencing of the virus has enabled the development of molecular diagnostics and the commencement of therapy and vaccine development. The analysis of the early sequences showed relatively few evolutionary selection pressures. However, with the rapid worldwide expansion into diverse human populations, significant genetic variations are becoming increasingly likely. The current limitations on social movement between countries also offers the opportunity for these viral variants to become distinct strains with potential implications for diagnostics, therapies and vaccines. Methods We used the current sequencing archives (NCBI and GISAID) to investigate 15,487 whole genomes, looking for evidence of strain diversification and selective pressure. Results We used 6,294 SNPs to build a phylogenetic tree of SARS-CoV-2 diversity and noted strong evidence for the existence of two major clades and six sub-clades, unevenly distributed across the world. We also noted that convergent evolution has potentially occurred across several locations in the genome, showing selection pressures, including on the spike glycoprotein where we noted a potentially critical mutation that could affect its binding to the ACE2 receptor. We also report on mutations that could prevent current molecular diagnostics from detecting some of the sub-clades. Conclusion The worldwide whole genome sequencing effort is revealing the challenge of developing SARS-CoV-2 containment tools suitable for everyone and the need for data to be continually evaluated to ensure accuracy in outbreak estimations.


Recent literature, largely from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, indicates that substantial changes have occurred in the produce industry in recent years. With the rise of retail mass merchandisers and increased concentration in the retail food industry, the procurement power of these large firms reportedly has also increased. With direct buying and contracting, market intermediaries such as brokers and wholesalers allegedly are being bypassed. As a result, these market intermediaries ostensibly are also consolidating, becoming fewer and larger with increased emphasis on servicing the food-service industry. However, the findings of this study indicate that there is no convinc ing evidence that the market structure of the U.S. produce industry has markedly changed since the early 1980s. While supermarket concentration has increased noticeably, the same cannot be said for produce market intermediaries such as brokers and wholesalers.


ABSTRACT The intergenic transcribed spacers (ITS) between the 16S and 23S rRNA genetic loci are frequently used in PCR fingerprinting to discriminate bacterial strains at the species and intraspecies levels. We investigated the molecular nature of polymorphisms in ITS-PCR fingerprinting of low-G+C-content spore-forming bacteria belonging to the genera Bacillus, Brevibacillus, Geobacillus, and Paenibacillus. We found that besides the polymorphisms in the homoduplex fragments amplified by PCR, heteroduplex products formed during PCR between amplicons from different ribosomal operons, with or without tRNA genes in the ITS, contribute to the interstrain variability in ITS-PCR fingerprinting patterns obtained in polyacrylamide-based gel matrices. The heteroduplex nature of the discriminating bands was demonstrated by fragment separation in denaturing polyacrylamide gels, by capillary electrophoresis, and by cloning, sequencing, and recombination of purified short and tRNA gene-containing long ITS. We also found that heteroduplex product formation is enhanced by increasing the number of PCR cycles. Homoduplex-heteroduplex polymorphisms (HHP) in a conserved region, such as the 16S and 23S rRNA gene ITS, allowed discrimination of closely related strains and species undistinguishable by other methods, indicating that ITS-HHP analysis is an easy and reproducible additional tool for strain typing.


Philosophers interested in the fitting attitude analysis of final value have devoted a great deal of attention to the wrong kind of reasons problem. This paper offers an example of the reverse difficulty, the wrong kind of value problem. This problem creates deeper challenges for the fitting attitude analysis and provides independent grounds for rejecting it, or at least for doubting seriously its correctness.


BACKGROUND
Whole-body vibration (WBV) may be a complementary training to standard physical rehabilitation programmes and appears to have potential benefits in the sensorimotor system performance of patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this review was to examine the efficacy of WBV to improve functional performance according to basic activities of daily living (ADL) in neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, we wanted to assess the possible effect on signs and symptoms of the disease, body balance, gait, muscle performance, quality of life and adverse events.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the following electronic databases: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, 2011 Issue 4), MEDLINE (1964 to 6 May 2011; via PubMed), EMBASE (1980 to 6 May 2011; via Ovid), PeDro (1929 to May 2011; via website), CINAHL (to September 2011; via Ovid) and PsycINFO (1806 to 6 May 2011; via Ovid).

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included randomised controlled trials comparing single or multiple sessions of WBV to a passive intervention, any other active physical therapy or WBV with different vibration parameters.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently selected trials for inclusion, assessed trial quality and extracted data. Disagreement was resolved by discussion or, if necessary, referred to a third review author.

MAIN RESULTS
We included 10 trials, of which six focused on Parkinson's disease and four on multiple sclerosis. None of the studies reported data on the primary outcome (functional performance). In Parkinson's disease, after pooling two studies, a single session of WBV caused a significant improvement of gait measured using the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) in comparison to standing exercises (mean difference -3.09, 95% confidence interval -5.60 to -0.59; P = 0.02; I(2) = 0%). Nevertheless, longer duration of WBV did not show significant results in comparison with physical therapy in body balance or signs and symptoms measured with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). In multiple sclerosis there was no evidence of a short-term or long-term effect of WBV on body balance, gait, muscle performance or quality of life.Adverse events were reported in few trials. In those trials that reported them, the intervention appeared to be safe.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
There is insufficient evidence of the effect of WBV training on functional performance of neurodegenerative disease patients. Also, there is insufficient evidence regarding its beneficial effects on signs and symptoms of the disease, body balance, gait, muscle strength and quality of life compared to other active physical therapy or passive interventions in Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis. More studies assessing other functional tests and accurately assessing safety are needed before a definitive recommendation is established.


Interacting with people across large distances is important for remote work, interpersonal relationships, and entertainment. While such face-to-face interactions can be achieved using 2D video conferencing or, more recently, virtual reality (VR), telepresence systems currently distort the communication of eye contact and social gaze signals. Although methods have been proposed to redirect gaze in 2D teleconferencing situations to enable eye contact, 2D video conferencing lacks the 3D immersion of real life. To address these problems, we develop a system for face-to-face interaction in VR that focuses on reproducing photorealistic gaze and eye contact. To do this, we create a 3D virtual avatar model that can be animated by cameras mounted on a VR headset to accurately track and reproduce human gaze in VR. Our primary contributions in this work are a jointly-learnable 3D face and eyeball model that better represents gaze direction and upper facial expressions, a method for disentangling the gaze of the left and right eyes from each other and the rest of the face allowing the model to represent entirely unseen combinations of gaze and expression, and a gaze-aware model for precise animation from headset-mounted cameras. Our quantitative experiments show that our method results in higher reconstruction quality, and qualitative results show our method gives a greatly improved sense of presence for VR avatars.


We propose a new scheme for achieving giant enhancement of the self-Kerr nonlinearity in a four-level Y-type atom with two highest nearly degenerate lying levels. We have found that, owing to the quantum interference effect that originates from spontaneous emission from two closely lying levels, large Kerr nonlinearity can be achieved under appropriate conditions. In particular, in addition to the amplitudes, the phases of the applied fields also affect the Kerr nonlinearity. We attribute the enhancement of Kerr nonlinearity mainly to the presence of some extra atomic coherence terms induced by the spontaneously generated coherence. We present a physical understanding of our numerical results using analytical explanation.


Objective
 Describe prevalence and risk factors for concussion among USA Service Academy cadets.
Design
 Prospective.
Setting
 Three USA Service Academies.
Participants
 NCAA and non-NCAA athlete cadets (n=7636, 22% female) enrolled in the CARE Consortium (2014–2015).
Assessment of risk factors
 NCAA status, contact-sport, gender, and brief sensation seeking scale (BSSS) were examined as risk factors for previous concussion.
Outcome measures
 Number of previous concussions.
Main results
 21% of cadets reported a previous concussion with median time from injury being 2.5 years (IQR 0.99–4.57). At least one previous concussion occurred in 18% of freshman prior to Service Academy enrollment and 12% of sophomore through senior cadets sustained a concussion during their time at the academy. Cadets who are NCAA athletes had a 1.57 (95% CI: 1.12–2.19) greater odds of sustaining a concussion at the academy than non-NCAA cadets. Poisson regression modelling the number of previous concussions revealed significant main effects for contact-sport and BSSS. Controlling for BSSS, contact-sport cadets had 1.82 (95% CI: 1.69–1.95) times the prevalence rate of previous concussion compared to non-contact sport athletes. Additionally, controlling for contact-sport, higher BSSS scores increased prevalence of previous concussions by 1.17 (95% CI: 1.10–1.24) times. Conclusions Overall concussion prevalence among all service academy cadets is similar to prevalence of concussion previously reported for NCAA athletes. Within the academies, cadets who are also NCAA athletes have greater odds of concussion, likely due to increased risk exposure. Contact-sport status and increased sensation seeking is associated with increased number of previous concussions. Competing Interests/ Acknowledgements This project was supported, in part, with support from the Grand Alliance Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium, funded, in part by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Department of Defense (DOD). The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 820 Chandler Street, Ford Detrick MD 21702–5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Program under Award NO W81XWH-14-2-0151. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense (DHP funds.)


This paper describes individuals' perceptions and normative valuations of executive compensation using comparable survey data for fifteen OECD member countries. An overwhelming majority of individuals (more than 90%) believes that top executives earn more than they actually deserve. However, there is also substantial variation in the actual and ethical levels of executive compensation, both within and across countries. The empirical analysis further shows that subjective estimates of executive pay are associated with objective measures of inequality and redistribution, and that individuals' perceptions and normative valuations of executive compensation are associated with their more general political preferences.


This introduction to the special section on mediated geologies contextualizes the articles that follow within recent discussions concerning cultural politics of the environment, ecological contexts of contemporary media, and debates concerning the Anthropocene. The special section approaches the topics from the angle of media studies and argues for new ways to understand media culture as read through a materials focus: from waste to building materials and from temperature control to more conceptual developments concerning new materialism. The introduction discusses these ideas as extensions of material media theory and addresses how they can complement already existing ideas in the field.


This is Part II of a three-part article. The article is predicated on the principle that creativity is a universal activity, essential in an evolutionary perspective, to adaptation and sustainability. This manuscript on the sociology of creativity has three purposes: (1) to develop the argument that key factors in creative activity are socially based and developed; hence, sociology can contribute significantly to understanding and explaining human creativity; (2) to present a systems approach which enables us to link in a systematic and coherent way the disparate social factors and mechanisms that are involved in creative activity and to describe and explain creativity; (3) to illustrate sociological systems theory's (Actor-Systems-Dynamics) conceptualization of multiple interrelated institutional, cultural, and interaction factors and mechanisms and their role in creativity and innovative developments in diverse empirical instances. The preceding segment of this article, Part I, introduced a general model of innovation and creative development stressing the socio-cultural and political embeddedness of agents, either as individuals or groups, in their creative activities and innovative productions. This second part, Part II, investigates the "context of innovation and discovery" considering applications and illustrations ranging from, for instance: (i) "the independent innovator or entrepreneur" who exercises creativity based on absorbing a field of knowledge, concepts, challenges, problems, solution strategies, creativity production functions or programs (and who is likely to be in contact with libraries, relevant journals and may be directly or indirectly in contact with a network of others); (ii) groups in their particular fields operating greenhouse types of organization driving problem-solving and creative activities - both self-organizing groups as well as groups established by external powers (whether a private company, a government, or a non-government organization or movement); (iii) entire societies undergoing transformations and radical development as in the industrial and later revolutions. Part III of this article investigates and analyzes "the context of receptivity, selection, and institutionalization" of novelty.


Upcycling is the process of transforming seemingly low value items into something new. Today's upcyclists are creating stunning furniture, lighting and art objects that combine values of superb craftsmanship and design with ideas of how "waste" can be both inspiring and informing. While the environmental and financial benefits of upcycling are readily acknowledged here, these designers and makers show how the practice can result in pieces that are as aesthetically exciting as anything created using only raw materials. Based on the author's popular website, upcyclist.co.uk, this book extends far beyond the site's contents. Featuring hundreds of creations from an international collection of today's most exciting designers, the book is organised by material, with chapters dedicated to wood, metal, glass and ceramics, textiles, plastic, paper and mixed media. Reclaimed tree branches and barn doors are transformed into exquisite pieces of furniture; bicycle chains into chandeliers; t-shirts into rugs; saris into upholstery. Filled with an enormous range of materials and objects, this unique book will inspire any designer or design-conscious consumer to incorporate upcycling into their creative practice or interior design projects.


the present study examined the synchronization error (SE) of drum kit playing by professional drummers with an auditory metronome, focusing on the effects of motor effectors and tempi. Fifteen professional drummers attempted to synchronize a basic drumming pattern with a metronome as precisely as possible at tempi of 60, 120, and 200 beats per minute (bpm). In the 60 and 120 bpm conditions, the right hand (high-hat cymbals) showed small mean SE (∼2 ms), whereas the left hand (snare drum) and right foot (bass drum) preceded the metronome by about 10 ms. In the 200 bpm condition, the right hand was delayed by about 10 ms relative to the metronome, whereas the left hand and right foot showed small SE (∼1 ms). The absolute values of SE were smaller than those reported in previous tapping studies. In addition, the time series of SE were significantly correlated across the motor effectors, suggesting that each limb synchronized in relation to the other limbs rather than independently with the metronome.


The purpose of this article is to provide a perspective from which to observe both the result the Arizona Supreme Court reaches on lawyer advertising as well as the announced basis for its result. After describing the process in Arizona leading to the current proposed rules, I argue that the court should reject the proposed changes and maintain the basic touchstone in this area of simply regulating "false or misleading" advertising by lawyers. This standard, as applied in the context of lawyer advertising, comports with the governing law, and is both fully adequate and workable to achieve the appropriate objectives of such regulation. In so arguing, I emphasize the most regrettable aspect of the State Bar's petition, namely, the Bar's total failure to make any attempt to justify or demonstrate the need for the proposed changes. This alone should be fatal to the Bar's proposal, and reflects poorly on an organization that should be particularly concerned about appropriate legal procedure and substance. I also argue that the operation and effect of the new rules as a broad prior restraint on speech demand the utmost scrutiny by the court, which they cannot withstand. I then consider several of the more egregious of the proposed changes. These include: (1) the requirement that communications and advertising concerning a lawyer's services be "predominantly informational" ;(2) the special restrictions on electronic media advertisements; and (3) the "warning label" requirements on written solicitations." I close with a few comments regarding alternatives to the Bar's proposed heavy handed rulemaking.


We hear much about the crisis in legal education: high tuition costs, steep declines in law school enrollment, and graduates unprepared for practice who cannot find jobs. Proposals to address the crisis appear to enjoy wide support and may be poised to dramatically change the landscape of legal education. Such reforms will harm law students and the legal profession, placing the legal academy "under erasure," by: (1) reorienting it from an academically-grounded education towards vocational training, (2) requiring just two years of study for the J.D. degree, (3) allowing graduates of non-ABA accredited law schools to sit for the bar examination, thereby rendering accreditation a toothless mechanism for ensuring academic quality, and (4) gutting faculty scholarship. Instead, we must make the value of legal education worth its cost by doing a better job of educating and training our students. Legal education is broken because it fails to prepare students for the demands of modern law practice, which is more complex and interdisciplinary than ever before. We need a three-year program that is more robust, one that teaches the core first-year subjects as well as applications of other disciplines (e.g., accounting, economics, psychology) to everyday law practice, exposes students to a reasonable range of specialty areas, and integrates skills training (e.g., client counseling, advocacy, drafting) throughout the curriculum. To accomplish these goals, we should adapt the medical school model to legal education. This would entail a curriculum that provides a comprehensive foundation in basic legal subjects and legally relevant other disciplines, culminating in a series of clinical rotations where the basic doctrinal and interdisciplinary knowledge is applied in practice. I also explain why we should not gut support for faculty scholarship in the hopes that doing so will cut costs and encourage professors to focus on teaching. Contrary to popular claims, engaged scholars are better teachers, and legal scholarship can contribute meaningfully and substantially (though often in ways not readily apparent) to law practice and legal reform efforts. Finally, I suggest that we address the employment problem and improve educational quality by having fewer but better law schools, producing fewer attorneys.


Germany is facing a contemporary mainstreaming of the far right, which has a long tradition of wanting "Turks out!" Turkish immigrants have been the main strangers in Germany following the guest-worker treaty signed in 1961, physically close as friends, yet culturally distant as foes. From September 2015 onwards, German–Turkish politics of belonging, the Turkish issue, underwent a contentious period resulting in secessions between German and Turkish authorities in September 2017. Against this background, this article asks: How did mainstream political actors in Germany emplot the Turkish issue while a far-right challenger party sought to establish a far-right narrative of ethno-national rebirth? The temporal unfolding of the Turkish issue is explored by drawing on media analysis (n = 1120), interpretive process-tracing and narrative genre analysis of claims raised by political actors in German and Turkish newspapers. In order to visualize how the Turkish issue evolved between 2000 and 2017 in media discourse, 546 articles in the mainstream quality newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung were collected. The Great Secession period between 2015 and 2017 was selected for an in-depth case study. To conduct interpretive process-tracing and narrative genre analysis of this case, another 574 articles in the German Suddeutsche Zeitung and Turkish Hurriyet were analysed. In so doing, this article contributes to (1) the study of belonging and identity by adopting a novel approach to boundary studies, combining narrative genre analysis with Habermas' communicative action theory, and (2) the study of political strategies of adapting, ignoring or demarcating far-right contenders by, again, introducing a narrative approach to political communication and mobilization processes. The analysis shows that, in the first stage of the Great Secession period, inclusionary and exclusionary boundaries competed, while in later stages inclusionary boundaries were cast aside by exclusionary boundaries after reputable mainstream party-political actors adopted and thus legitimized far-right story elements.


Since the advent of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the international community has steadily expanded and reinforced the application of the law of armed conflict to these situations to regulate state and opposition conduct during such conflicts for the clear and imperative purpose of protecting the victims of these hostilities. Today, it is simply axiomatic that the law of armed conflict regulates the conduct of hostilities and the protection of persons during all armed conflicts, whether inter- or intra-state. As important as this development has been for limiting the suffering associated with war, it is equally axiomatic that the LOAC plays no role absent a situation that rises to the level of armed conflict. Accordingly, the increasingly robust package of international humanitarian protections the law mandates are not triggered if the facts on the ground do not support an objective determination of armed conflict.The current situation in Syria holds the potential to become a pivotal moment in the development of this law. The ongoing brutality reminds the world of the importance of extending international humanitarian regulation into the realm of non-international armed hostilities; however, the very chaos produced by those hostilities reveals critical fault lines in the current approach to determining the existence of an armed conflict. Most people, if asked to describe what is happening in Syria, would use terms such as civil war or something comparable. Indeed, it is almost incomprehensible that those caught up in the chaos – government soldiers, dissident fighters, innocent civilians, journalists, foreign observers – would seriously question the assertion that they were involved in a "war". And yet the international legal discourse evinces a clear reluctance to acknowledge the existence of armed conflict. Rather, the international community speaks of massive human rights violations, repression, even massacres – but not war or armed conflict. This reluctance highlights a clear disparity between the object and purpose of the law of armed conflict and the increasingly legalized and formalistic interpretation of the law's triggering provisions. This is especially discouraging in light of the motivation for adopting the "armed conflict" trigger: mitigate the impact of technical legal formulas when determining the applicability of humanitarian protections.Focusing on the events in Syria, this article will critique the overly technical approach to the definition of non-international conflict — based on the Tadic framework of intensity and organization — that is currently in vogue and how this approach undermines the original objective of Common Article 3. The impact of this "elements" approach is apparent in a recent report by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry for Syria. In stating that the situation in Syria is not an armed conflict, the Commission of Inquiry explained that the opposition parties in Syria were not sufficiently organized as to satisfy these elements. The effect is that the world is witnessing a retrograde of international humanitarian efficacy: Syria appears to be a lawless conflict like those that inspired the adoption of Common Article 3; one in which the regime employs its full arsenal of combat capability to shell entire cities and neighborhoods at will, block the provision of humanitarian assistance, and target journalists and medical personnel directly. The law of armed conflict is specifically designed to address exactly this type of conduct. Human rights law, which applies in the absence of an armed conflict, simply does not contemplate such massive uses of military power and therefore does not contain, for example, an obligation for states to allow access for humanitarian relief organizations or a prohibition on targeting medical personnel.In the first section, this article will analyze the object and purpose of the law of armed conflict with respect to non-international armed conflicts and will highlight the goals of the drafters of the Geneva Conventions in establishing a pragmatic triggering mechanism for the application of the law. In particular, this section will demonstrate why a broad conception of non-international conflict is essential to contain brutality historically endemic during such conflicts. The second section will utilize the same approach with respect to the specific factors the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia set forth in the Tadic case: intensity and organization. Rather than a technical set of elements and checklists, these factors should serve as a conceptual guidepost for a totality of the circumstances assessment of the existence of non-international conflict and how to distinguish these situations from lower level types of violence that do not trigger the law of armed conflict, such as riots and internal disturbances. The object and purpose of the law forms a key framework for defining intensity and organization, for understanding how they relate to each other and combine to manifest an armed conflict, and for recognizing how other factors, such as the government's response, affect our perception of intensity and organization. Together, these two layers of analysis will demonstrate the need for a conceptual – rather than technical – framework guided by the object and purpose of the law. The current discourse on Syria highlights the dangers of allowing over-legalization to override – and undermine – logic, with the obvious deleterious impact on human life.


We can think about ourselves in a variety of ways, but only some of the thoughts that we entertain about ourselves will be thoughts which we know concern ourselves. I call these first-person thoughts, and the component of such thoughts that picks out the object about which one is thinking—oneself—the self-concept. In this thesis I am concerned with providing an account of the content of the selfconcept. The challenge is to provide an account that meets two conditions on first-person thought. The account must show how we are aware of ourselves when we entertain firstperson thoughts, so that we have an account that establishes the cognitive significance of first-person thoughts. But, in addition, this awareness must be as robust as the thinker's ability to entertain first-person thoughts if our account is to respect the guaranteed referential success of the self-concept. I introduce both the subject matter of the thesis, and the constraints on a satisfactory account of that subject matter in the first chapter. In the second chapter I then set up a further problem: much of our self-knowledge is knowledge of our current mental states and it is often argued that we know about and can ascribe those mental states on the basis of introspection alone. The first constraint on an account of first-person thought described in the preceding paragraph requires that we be aware of ourselves in some way if our thoughts are to have the special cognitive significance of first-person thoughts. Yet, I argue, we neither do nor can introspectively observe a subject of thought and experience when we come to know about our mental states and experiences. The failure of introspection to supply us with perceptual information about a subject of thought presents us with the further potential problem. According to Fregean semantics sense determines reference: we count on the content of the elements of thought to determine the reference of terms that are used to express those elements. If we do not introspectively observe a subject of thought then we seem to be at a loss to account for the concept and we are at risk of having to accept that neither the self-concept nor the first-person pronoun are referential. In the remainder of my thesis I consider various responses that we can offer to this problem. First, I examine whether we can avoid the problem with an alternative account of firstperson reference according to which reference is fixed by a reflexive rule, and whether we can also base an account of first-person thought on this account of first-person reference. Secondly, I look at the descriptivist view of first-person thought which could potentially provide both an account of first-person thought and first-person reference. These two suggestions must be rejected on the grounds that they fail to accommodate the special cognitive significance of first-person thought. A third approach to first-person thought argues that we employ an objective self-concept when we think about ourselves, a concept that is informed by bodily experience, rather than by introspective observation of a subject. Yet such an account cannot make sense of first-person thoughts in which we question our own embodiment. Lastly I consider whether it is possible to explain the cognitive significance of first-person thought in terms of non-conceptual first-person contents. There was a young man who said, "Though It seems that I know that I know, What I would like to see Is the I that knows me When I know that I know that I know." Unknown


Maybe you just bought a brand new Dell, Sony or HP computer and are curious about the WordPerfect software that came with it. Or maybe you just took a new job in an office where they use WordPerfect 12 for word processing. Whatever the case may be, if you are new to Word Perfect 12, the Absolute Beginner's Guide to WordPerfect 12 can help you figure it all out. Endorsed by Corel, the makers of WordPerfect, this is the best beginning level guide on the market. Organized in an easy-to-follow, progressive format, you will learn how to navigate the program and build complex documents. By the time you're done, you will know how to use WordPerfect 12 from beginning to end!


The last decade has seen a growing interest in solver portfolios, automated solver configuration, and runtime prediction methods. At their core, these methods rely on a deterministic, consistent behaviour from the underlying algorithms and solvers. However, modern state-of-the-art solvers have elements of stochasticity built in such as ran-domised variable and value selection, tie-breaking, and randomised restarting. Such features can elicit dramatic variations in the overall performance between repeated runs of the solver, often by several orders of magnitude. Despite the success of the aforementioned fields, such performance variations in the underlying solvers have largely been ignored. Supported by a large-scale empirical study employing many years of industrial SAT Competition instances including repeated runs, we present statistical and empirical evidence that such a performance variation phenomenon necessitates a change in the evaluation of portfolio, runtime prediction, and automated configuration methods. In addition, we demonstrate that this phenomenon can have a significant impact on empirical solver competitions. Specifically, we show that the top three solvers from the 2014 SAT Competition could have been ranked in any permutation. These findings demonstrate the need for more statistically well-founded regimes in empirical evaluations.


This article addresses development of the Illinois ethanol industry through the period 2007-2022, responding to the ethanol production mandates of the Renewable Fuel Standard by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The planning for corn-based and cellulosic ethanol production requires integrated decisions on transportation, plant location, and capacity. The objective is to minimize the total system costs for transportation and processing of biomass, transportation of ethanol from refineries to the blending terminals and demand destinations, capital investment in refineries, and by-product credits. A multi-year transshipment and facility location model is presented to determine the optimal size and time to build each plant in the system, the amount of raw material processed by individual plants, and the distribution of bioenergy crops and ethanol.


European Union authorities consider innovations as a powerful tool to increase EU economic equality between members. This study represents few issues related with innovations in EU. At first, the EU documents and European scoreboard are analyzed according to structural analysis means of proposed approach. The innovational gap between EU member-states is identified. Second part of the article copes with methodological issues that arose around the research of innovations. The major issue related to an innovations measuring is that innovations consist of both tangible and intangible elements. The methods of the 4th generation of measuring innovation are implemented in the research, which aims to evaluate EU policy according to population's perception of innovations in Lithuania and Romania. Comparative study between Lithuania and Romania is done. The research shows social attitudes towards innovations and its relation with life quality and financial situation. The study shows, that local consumption of innovative products and services not necessary leads to better innovativeness of country.


This report documents the interim findings of the INSEAD IPR Network in relation to investigating practical solutions enabling implementation of Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) for the WEEE Directive. The INSEAD IPR Network is a partnership of producers, academics and technical specialists from across the world working to identify, explore and develop practical solutions to IPR. The network is a project co-ordinated by the International graduate business school, INSEAD. Members and authors of this report are listed in Appendix 1. Article 8.2 of the European WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Directive establishes individual producer responsibility for the recycling of products put on the market after 13 August 2005. Making each producer responsible for financing the end-of-life costs of their own products is intended to enable end-of-life costs to be fed back to each individual producer. By modifications to the product design, the producer can directly influence the end of life cost. Without Individual Producer Responsibility these incentives for design improvements are lost. This report demonstrates that there are already a range of approaches to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) that have been implemented across the world; many of which attempt to account to a greater or lesser degree for the products and brands of each producer. Oekopol (2007) already noted the development of such approaches, in contrast to the more prevalent collective market-share based implementations (Collective Producer Responsibility – or CPR). In their recent report to the European Commission, Oekopol stated: 'The alternatives are, in light of on-going efforts of producers, highly feasible.'


Introduction: Adherence to the design values and ventilation standards (VS) after installing and also maintaining continuous work of ventilation system with maximum performance throughout its life are amongst the reasons of ventilation systems monitoring. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate performance of local exhaust ventilation system for control of dust by measuring the operating parameters and also to compare it with ventilation standards (VS) and design values. Material and Method: The present research is a descriptive and cross-sectional study, conducted in three sections of measuring, monitoring and evaluating the operating parameters on hoods, channels and fan of ventilation system based on the current status of the system, documentation (design), and recommended standards (VS). Static pressure, velocity pressure, surface area, and flow rate were measured based on the recommendations of various sources and ACGIH industrial ventilation manual, and the data were compared with the design and recommended values, using the SPSS software version 16. Result: The results of paired sample t-test between flow rate and velocities of design and current status, showed significant differences in various parts. Accordingly, the results revealed a reduction of more than 50% in the design duct velocity compared to the current duct velocity, while design duct velocity is 1.3 more than the standard duct velocity of current status, and current duct velocity is about 65% of standard duct velocity. Conclusion: The reduction and nonconformity of the results of measurements of operating parameters (after a minimum of two decades) with design and standard values are corroborant and sufficient reason for obstructions, abrasions, leaks, imbalance of system ducts and their inefficiency in some branches. Since there is no base line measurements for system (supposing that the system worked with maximum amounts of setup time), one of the reasons for these changes can be attributed to lack of schedule for regular and appropriate maintenance.