The expansion of pollinator-dependent crops, especially in the developing world, together with reports of worldwide pollinator declines, raises concern of possible yield gaps. Farmers directly reliant on pollination services for food supply often live in regions where our knowledge of pollination services is poor. In a manipulative experiment replicated at 23 sites across an Ethiopian agricultural landscape, we found poor pollination services and severe pollen limitation in a common oil crop. With supplementary pollination, the yield increased on average by 91%. Despite the heterogeneous agricultural matrix, we found a low bee abundance, which may explain poor pollination services. The variation in pollen limitation was unrelated to surrounding forest cover, local bee richness and bee abundance. While practices that commonly increase pollinators (restricted pesticide use, flower strips) are an integral part of the landscape, these elements are apparently insufficient. Management to increase pollination services is therefore in need of urgent investigation.


Interoperability is hard to tackle in both business and IT domains since semantic transaction loss exists in terms of concepts transformation from one design stage to another in information systems development. It results from different interpretations and representations of various requirements in design domains. Without an explicit structural specification of semantic linkages among design domains, the transformation cannot be efficiently identified in an appropriate way. These call for effective architectural solutions that coordinate powerful technologies with business applications to enable seamless integration. The main objective of this paper is to investigate ontology types and build ontology meta-model for IAIS (Isomorphic Architecture of Information Systems) which was built in our previous work to reach seamless and unified semantic linkages. The ontology meta-model is proposed to bridge the gap among different processes in information systems development with the same structure unit. The secondary objective of this paper is to study how to prevent semantic loss in analysis and design processes with the meta-model.


This thesis focuses on regional strategic networks (RSNs). RSNs are used as a tool for regional development with a view to strengthening regional relationship-development and networking by forming regional groups of actors. The thesis aims to clarify the nature of RSNs and the value of geographical proximity in both theoretical and practical terms. Theories regarding effects of geographical proximity, regional agglomerations and networks are presented, and their possible application to RSNs is analyzed. Furthermore, findings from two case studies are reported. In the RSN study, the generally most highly valued outcome was the development of new relationships among the participants. Such relationships allowed for mutual learning and information exchange and also meant that for several participants the firms' horizons were extended and their positions changed. Furthermore, internal marketing of training opportunities, in combination with financial subsidies, attracted several participants who attended training programmes on subjects that they would not otherwise have spent so much time on. However, few firms could state concrete results in terms of new business exchange or cooperative projects. The impact of structural factors on RSN outcomes is therefore discussed, in particular the impact of the membership composition of an RSN. Furthermore, important RSN-evaluation challenges are highlighted. The second study demonstrated that most R&D done by firms is characterized either by incremental, gradual technology development and low importance of geographical proximity to customers, suppliers and academic research organizations or by fast, step-wise technology development and high importance of geographical proximity to customers, suppliers and academic research organizations.


A 320,000-square-foot class A high-rise office building in Nashville, TN, achieved LEED-EB Gold Certification. LEED-EB version 2.0 was utilized, which requires retro-commissioning (RCx) as a prerequisite for certification. SSRCx performed the RCx services during the LEED-EB performance period and was contracted after building certification to utilize the Continuous Commissioning® (CC®)* process to seek additional energy savings. The building was constructed in 1999 as a core and shell project, and build-outs were done through 2001. By January 2008, a single company managed and occupied the facility. This article describes the RCx process for LEED-EB v2.0 and the CC process after LEED certification. Findings and implementation strategies for energy savings are presented for both processes.


The purpose of this research is to analyze the influence of Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Non-Performing Loan (NPL), Inflation Rate, Growth of Third Party Fund and Exchange Rate towards Loan To Deposit Ratio (LDR) of Public Bank stands in Indonesia. Sample of this research consists of thirty six Commercial Bank, which are : five state owned banks and thirty one foreign exchange commercial banks. Purposive sampling method were used as samples determining method. Using monthly review of Indonesian Banking Statistc which is released by Bank Indonesia for 2004-2008 period. The analysis methods are multiple regression with dummy variable and also classical assumption tests such as normality test, multicolinierity test, heteroscedasticity test, and autocorrelation test. The result of the research simultantly using F test, shows that all of the five independent variables influence significantly towards Loan to Deposit Ratio. Partially variables like Capital Adequacy Ratio, Non-Performing Loan, Inflation Rate, and Exchange Rate influence towards Loan to Deposit Ratio with negative and significant result with significant level of 0,000; 0,049; 0,005; and 0,030, while Growth of Third Party Fund influences towards Loan to Deposit Ratio with positive and unsignificant result. The coefficient determinant (R2) is 0,533 which means 53,3 % LDR variation explained by five independent variables abovw, whereas 46,7 % explained by another variables which is not followed.


In Zambia, mining of minerals is concentrated in the Copperbelt province. This and other industries of the area has brought about environmental degradation through release of possible unwanted toxic substances. The purpose of this study was to obtain the concentration of heavy metal pollutants, and determine the extent of pollution in the city of Kitwe, Zambia.
Cadmium, Cobalt, Copper, Lead and Zinc were investigated up to 20km away from the Nkana smelter in three directions; North-west, West and South¬east. High concentrations of metals were detected in soils and plants near the smelter and show inverse relationship with distance from the smelter.The resuhs ranged between 0.7 to 43mg Co/kg, 6.6 to 5300mg Cu/kg, 1.4 to 30.5mg Pb/kg, 0.5 to 76.5mg Zn/kg in soils and 4.3 to 94.5mg Co/kg, 7.6 to 2330mg Cu/kg and 22.2 to 175mg Zn/kg dry matter in plants. The results were trace for lead in plant samples and trace for cadmium in both soil and plant samples.


In this paper, we argue that President Bush's recent Military Order, which directs his Defense Department to detain any of an ill-defined class of individuals, potentially indefinitely, and to try them in military tribunals, jeopardizes the separation of powers today and charts a dangerous course for the future. Our Constitution's structure mandates that fundamental choices, in times of peace as well as war, are to be made not by one person or one branch, but by the three branches of government working together. Approval by Congress is a necessary, but by no means sufficient, precondition before the tribunals can be entertained as constitutional. We also explain why the present circumstances differ decisively from those at issue in the Supreme Court's body of decisions regarding military tribunals during the Civil War and World War II. We further explain why the specter of civilian habeas review will necessitate legislative involvement, and detail the significant equal protection problem with the Military Order.


The racial-ethnic academic achievement gap is a long-standing phenomenon in the U.S. that has held the attention of scholars for decades. Research has found that accounting for factors such as SES reduces the initial gap but does not eliminate differences by race and ethnicity (Han & Palloni, 2009). Given the persistent achievement gap, researchers have placed greater emphasis on the importance of parent involvement in children's education for promoting academic achievement. Emerging literature suggests that lower levels of parent involvement found among racial-ethnic minority parents when compared to White parents (Lee & Bowen, 2006) may explain disparities in achievement, however, this hypothesis has rarely been tested directly. Moreover, less is known about these links among children in immigrant families, a growing segment of the U.S. population. Thus, the present study tested whether lower fifth grade achievement among children of Caribbean and Mexican immigrants as compared to children of European immigrants can be explained by their parents' lower levels of involvement in education in the third grade, net of demographic variables. Further, this study tests whether lower levels of parental resources among Caribbean and Mexican immigrant parents can account for their expected lower levels of parent involvement. The present study was conducted using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten cohort dataset (ECLS-K). The analysis sample included White European (n= 207), Black Caribbean (n= 45), Mexican (n= 562), and East Asian (n= 95) immigrant children (first and second generation) who began kindergarten in the U.S. in 1998-99. Results indicated that children of European immigrants scored significantly higher in reading and math than children of Caribbean and Hispanic immigrants. Children of European immigrants scored lower in math than children of East Asian immigrants, but did not differ from this group in reading. Consistent with hypotheses, varying levels of parent involvement among racial-ethnic immigrant parents partially accounted for racial-ethnic gaps in achievement. Further, racial-ethnic differences in parent involvement were partially accounted for by differences in parental resources to be involved. Implications for research and practice are discussed.


The last twenty years have witnessed profound changes in art history, the greatest of which stem from the social and cultural perspectives now attached to art scholarship. Written by scholars at the forefront of new thinking, many of whom are rising stars in their fields, the Oxford History of Art series offers substantial and innovative texts that clarify, illuminate, and debate the critical issues at the heart of art history today. Providing a fresh new look at art that moves away from traditional elitist approaches, the series makes use of new research and methodologies, as well as newly accessible and non-canonical works to offer comprehensive coverage of the art world from archaic and classical Greek art to twentieth-century design and photography, from the artistry of African-American and Native North Americans to the masterpieces of Europe, Polynesia, and Micronesia. Lavishly illustrated and superbly designed, the Oxford History of Art brings new substance and verve to the exciting and ubiquitous world of art.

China boasts a history of art spanning 5,000 years and embracing a wide diversity of images and objects--from jade tablets, painted silk handscrolls and fans to ink and lacquer painting, porcelain-ware, sculpture, and calligraphy. But this rich tradition has not, until now, been fully appreciated in the West where scholars have focused their attention on sculpture, while largely ignoring those art forms most highly prized by the Chinese themselves, such as calligraphy. Now, in Art in China, Craig Clunas marks a breakthrough in the study of the subject. Taking into account all the arts practiced in China, and drawing on recent innovative scholarship, this rich text examines the production and consumption of art in its appropriate contexts. From art found in tombs to the state-controlled art of the Mao Zedong era, Art in China offers a novel look and comprehensive examination of all aspects of Chinese art.


Groundwater is source for water supply because of its good natural quality. However, groundwater may be exposed toward to contamination by various anthropogenic activities such as agricultural, domestic and industrial. Groundwater quality problem are typically associated with high hardness, high salinity and elevated concentration of iron, manganese, ammonium, fluoride and occasionally nitrate and arsenic.  Therefore, groundwater should be treated to acceptable level before consumption. This study is carried out with the objectives to optimize the feasibility condition of contact time, biosorbent dosage and pH range in removing heavy metal by using Rosa Centifolia (R. Centifolia) and also to determine the water quality of groundwater sources.  A dried Rosa Centifolia pretreated before being used as biosorbent. Experiment was done by varying contact time, biosorbent dosage and pH range to get the optimum value. The removal characteristic of Iron and Manganese by Rosa Centifolia was analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The optimum condition is achieved at 240minutes, 0.05g/ml and pH 5 respectively. The optimum percentage removal of Iron and Manganese was found to be more than 70%. The finding indicated that Rosa Centifolia is a promising biosorbent in treating groundwater from RECESS UTHM well.


OBJECTIVE
To measure quality of life of type 2 diabetes patients in Oman, and examine which patients' socio-demographic and diabetes-related clinical characteristics are associated with better quality of life.

METHODS
This cross-sectional study of 200 diabetic subjects was conducted in Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Al-Khod, Oman between April and September 2009. A short form of the diabetes quality of life questionnaire (DQoL) was used to elicit indices of quality of life on subjects (n=200) seeking consultation at the diabetic outpatient clinic. Socio-demographic variables, body mass index (kg/m) and clinical parameters relevant for the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, including glycated hemoglobin A1c level, (HbA1c), were also sought.

RESULTS
The results show that patients with less than 5 years of disease duration and HbA1c less than 8% reported significantly better overall DQoL. Patients with HbA1c less than 8% showed significantly higher glycemic control satisfaction score. The same trend was observed in patients with less than 5 years duration of diabetes. Patients with ages less than 40 years have significantly better self care adherence scores and total score of QoL.

CONCLUSION
Patients' reported moderate DQoL, which appears to be related to demographics, medical history, and management regimens. Patients with HbA1c less than 8% showed significantly higher glycemic control satisfaction score. Furthermore, patients who are less than 40 years of age have significantly better quality of life compared to other age groups.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify influencing factors of metabolic index and cardiovascular risk factors, on depressive and non-depressive groups, in vulnerable diabetic elderly women. Methods: Participants were 137 vulnerable diabetic elderly women, using health centers in D city. Data were collected through interviews September though December 2017. The metabolic index was measured using National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP Ⅲ), and cardiovascular risk factors were measured using Framingham Risk Score (FRS). Depressive and non-depressive groups were divided by the score of Geriartric Depress Scale Short Korea Version (GDSSF). Collected data were analyzed using a x2 test, independent t-test, and binary logistic regression, with the SPSS/WIN 25.0 program. Results: Vulnerable diabetic elderly women, did not exercise in the depressive groups, and had higher triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and larger waists, than in the non-depressive group. Results show that lack of exercise (OR=6.30), is the highest risk factor, influencing the depressive symptom in vulnerable diabetic elderly women. Conclusion: These results suggest that to reduce depressive symptom levels among vulnerable diabetic elderly women, nursing interventions are needed to increase exercise and decrease TG, TC, and waist size, particularly in improving exercise of vulnerable diabetic elderly women.


This volume should be of great interest to phoneticians, phonologists, and both historical and cognitive linguists. Using data from the Romance languages for the most part, the book explores the phonetic motivation of several sound changes, e.g., glide insertions and elisions, vowel and consonant insertions, elisions, assimilations and dissimilations. Within the framework of the DAC (degree of articulatory constraint) model of coarticulation, it clearly demonstrates that the typology and direction of these sound changes may very largely be accounted for by the coarticulatory effects occurring between adjacent or neighbouring phonetic segments, and by the degrees of articulatory constraint imposed by speakers on the production of vowels and consonants. The phonetically-based explanations presented here are formulated on the basis of coarticulation data from speech production and perception research carried out during the last fifty years and are complemented with data on the co-occurrence of phonetic segments in lexical forms of the languages being considered. Attention is also paid to the role that positional and prosodic factors play in sound change implementation, as well as to the cognitive and peripheral strategies involved in segmental replacements, elisions and insertions.


Hyaluronic acid (HA), as one of the main components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), plays a significant role in a multitude of biological processes involving cell migration, proliferation, differentiation, wound healing and inflammation. Thanks to its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and hygroscopic properties, HA has been used in its natural form for joint lubrication and ocular treatment. The chemical structure of HA can be easily modified by direct reaction with its carboxyl and hydroxyl groups. Recently, HA derivatives have been synthesised with the aim of developing HA-based materials with increased mechanical strength, improved cell interactions and reduced biodegradation and studied for regenerative medicine purposes, including cell therapy and tissue engineering. In this context, the present manuscript reviews HA applications from a basic point of view - including chemical modifications and cellular biology aspects related to clinical translation - and future perspectives of using biofabrication technologies for regenerative medicine. A detailed description of current clinical trials, testing advanced therapies based on combination of stem cells and HA formulations, is included. The final goal was to offer an integral portrait and a deeper comprehension of the current applications of HA from bench to bedside.


Word-of-mouth (WOM) plays an increasingly important role in shaping consumers' attitudes and buying behaviors. Prior work in marketing has mainly focused on the aggregate impact of WOM on product sales as well as the generation of WOM. Very little attention has been paid to the consumption or usage of WOM. In this paper, utilizing a unique data set that collects information from the automobile category on whether a consumer generates WOM to others and uses WOM for making purchase decisions, we build a discrete-choice model to study consumer WOM generation and WOM consumption decisions simultaneously and empirically answer questions that have not been explored previously. We are particularly interested in studying the key drivers of WOM generation/consumption and the synergy effect between the two WOM-related activities. We apply the proposed model to survey data collected on the automobile category. We find a strong synergy between WOM generation and WOM consumption. Although some consumers view WOM generation and WOM consumption as complementary to each other, others tend to perceive the two activities as competing with each other. We also find that consumer product experience and media exposure are positively correlated with their propensity to generate WOM. However, their effect on WOM consumption is mixed. Our empirical analysis also provides evidence of unobserved heterogeneity in the way consumer WOM activities are related to consumer product experience. Overall, these findings lead to important managerial implications on targeting for effective use of WOM as a marketing tool.


The pressure-induced phase transition in amorphous germanium disulfide $(a{\text{-GeS}}_{2})$ is studied using an ab initio constant-pressure technique. With the application of hydrostatic pressure, $a{\text{-GeS}}_{2}$ undergoes a gradual phase transition from a semiconducting low-density amorphous state to a metallic high-density amorphous state. The transition is associated with a local coordination change in both the Ge atoms and S atoms. Upon pressure release, the high-density phase transforms back to a low-density amorphous state. The physical origin of the gradual phase transformation is discussed. The pressure-induced changes in the electronic and vibrational properties are studied with details. Additionally the pressure-induced phase transition of the monoclinic ${\text{GeS}}_{2}$ is compared with that of amorphous state.


Behavioral aspect in marketing domain has been crucial majorly from consumer's point of view. Since 1957, except the theory of MBEA (Marketing Behavior and Executive Action) by Prof. Wroe Alderson, the behavioral aspect of marketing was researched only in the consumer buying behavior arena. "All marketing activity is an aspect of the interaction among organized behavior systems related to each other in what may be described as an ecological network. Operating systems are a subclass of behavior systems, distinguished by inputs and outputs and the structuring of processes to achieve efficiency" (Wroe Alderson, 1957).As per this statement there is scope of research for the behavioral aspects of marketing function with various elements of market i.e. customers, competitors, marketing partners & regulatory bodies. Further to the above said, the marketing behavior becomes critical in the online marketing field as the human interface is minimum as compared to the traditional marketing , and demands high level of human touch as the online marketing growing with heavy industry competition. This paper adopts case study methodology to do initial exploration of current marketing behavior pattern with these elements since the marketing activity is an aspect of organized behavior system w.r.t. marketing. In this paper the researcher has attempted an exploratory study of marketing behavior practices towards competitors to come out with marketing behavior matrix which can be applied to the online retailing arena (a fast growing B2C part of online marketing industry i.e. ecommerce. The online marketing industry is growing; the competitors are doing everything to win the markets and many more things than just leveraging technology. Hence this study of marketing behavior of companies towards competitors will bring new insights in their focus towards competition.


Disclaimer of liability Statements and opinions expressed in the articles and communications are those of the individual contributors and not the statements and opinion of Scientific Research Publishing, Inc. We assume no responsibility or liability for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained herein. We expressly disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. If expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.


Background Organisations in England's National Health Service (NHS) are required to have 'did not attend' (DNA) guidelines to help deal with the 'unseen child'. Aims To map DNA and associated guidelines in paediatric services, examine differences in safeguarding response and advice in the guidelines and explore the experience of guideline users. Methods A mapping approach was used to locate current DNA guidelines on English NHS organisations' websites. Analysis of the guidelines was supplemented with qualitative data from those who produce, monitor or use them. Results Fewer than 8% of English NHS organisations had up-to-date guidelines in the public domain, though a further 41% stated that they had a DNA/similar policy in place or had an out-of-date guideline on their website. Advice to healthcare providers about the steps to take when a child DNAs fell into five categories: reflection and review; direct interaction with the family; indirect interaction with the family; liaison with internal colleagues; and external referral. Interviews with eight individuals led to the identification of four themes. The management of information flows was central to the effective management of DNA. Respondents also reported seeking support and advice from others. While all respondents spoke about the importance of supporting the family, the child's needs were central to dealing with non-attendance, and respondents demonstrated awareness of wider risk discourses. Conclusions We consider the implications of the work and suggest that evidence-informed guidelines developed nationally but tailored to specific services might be helpful for providers and users alike.


The European Vegetation Archive (EVA) is a centralized database of European vegetation plots developed by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey. It has been in development since 2012 and first made available for use in research projects in 2014. It stores copies of national and regional vegetation- plot databases on a single software platform. Data storage in EVA does not affect on-going independent development of the contributing databases, which remain the property of the data contributors. EVA uses a prototype of the database management software TURBOVEG 3 developed for joint management of multiple databases that use different species lists. This is facilitated by the SynBioSys Taxon Database, a system of taxon names and concepts used in the individual European databases and their corresponding names on a unified list of European flora. TURBOVEG 3 also includes procedures for handling data requests, selections and provisions according to the approved EVA Data Property and Governance Rules. By 30 June 2015, 61 databases from all European regions have joined EVA, contributing in total 1 027 376 vegetation plots, 82% of them with geographic coordinates, from 57 countries. EVA provides a unique data source for large-scale analyses of European vegetation diversity both for fundamental research and nature conservation applications. Updated information on EVA is available online at http://euroveg.org/eva-database.


Objective:

There is a high prevalence of complex psychological distress after a traumatic brain injury but limited evidence of effective interventions. We examined the feasibility of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy after a severe traumatic brain injury using the criteria, investigating a therapeutic effect, and reviewing the acceptability of measures, treatment protocol, and delivery method (in a dyad of two clients and a therapist).
Method:

Two male outpatients with severe traumatic brain injury and associated psychological distress jointly engaged in a seven session treatment program based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles. Pre- and post-treatment measures of mood, psychological flexibility, and participation were taken in addition to weekly measures.
Results:

The intervention showed a therapeutic effect with one participant, and appeared to be acceptable for both participants with regard to program content, measures, and delivery mode by in a dyad. One participant showed both significant clinical and reliable change across several outcome measures including measures of mood and psychological flexibility. The second participant did not show a reduction in psychological inflexibility, but did show a significant drop in negative affect. Significant changes pre- to post-treatment for measures of participation were not indicated. Qualitatively, both participants engaged in committed action set in accordance with their values.
Conclusions:

This study suggests that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy may be feasible to be delivered in a dyad with individuals who have a severe traumatic brain injury. A further test of its potential efficacy in a phase II clinical trial is recommended.


We perform numerical experiments to investigate the influence of inelastic neutrino reactions with light nuclei on the standing accretion shock instability (SASI). The time evolution of shock waves is calculated with a simple light-bulb approximation for the neutrino transport and a multi-nuclei equation of state. The neutrino absorptions and inelastic interactions with deuterons, tritons, helions, and alpha particles are taken into account in the hydrodynamical simulations. In addition, the effects of ordinary charged-current interactions with nucleons is addressed in the simulations. Axial symmetry is assumed but no equatorial symmetry is imposed. We show that the heating rates of deuterons reach as high as ∼10% of those of nucleons around the bottom of the gain region. On the other hand, alpha particles are heated near the shock wave, which is important when the shock wave expands and the density and temperature of matter become low. It is also found that the models with heating by light nuclei evolve differently in the non-linear phase of SASI than do models that lack heating by light nuclei. This result is because matter in the gain region has a varying density and temperature and therefore sub-regions appear that are locally rich in deuterons and alpha particles. Although the light nuclei are never dominant heating sources and they work favorably for shock revival in some cases and unfavorably in other cases, they are non-negligible and warrant further investigation.


My students struggle in my regular chemistry class, even with rudimentary concepts that are conceptual and mathematical. Over the past several years I have seen a steady decline in student performance and I have contributed this to their unwillingness to complete homework assignments. This practice is not only detrimental to learning conceptual information in my class; it hinders overall performance in chemistry. I needed to think of a creative way to convince my students that homework is beneficial and is an important part of the learning process. Quizzes have been used in the past at my school to motivate students to complete and understand their homework assignments. This action research project investigates the impact that frequent assessments have on increasing student performance levels in a high school chemistry classroom. Homework quizzes, tests, surveys, interviews and tracking procedures were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment. The level of conceptual understanding was assessed and students' progress was evaluated. The attitudes towards homework were also assessed pre and post treatment to see if the use of frequent assessments increased the quantity of homework that was completed by students in my three regular chemistry classes. In addition, each student's progress on summative assessments was evaluated to see if the treatment could have caused a positive improvement in their performance. Overall, students that adequately completed their homework assignments showed a measurable improvement in their frequent assessment scores. Student's performance on summative assessments did show a measurable improvement for those same students following the treatment. Students also expressed a positive attitude to changes the treatment brought about. The results had a positive impact on my teaching and although there were outliers, the implementation of frequent assessments increased homework completion and improved student performance on summative assessments.


In this paper, we aim to solve a two compartmental mathematical model of ordinary differential equations for cardiovascular-respiratory system using a new recent method: Perturbation Iteration method. The description of this method for different order derivatives in the Taylor Series expansion is discussed. This method provides the solution in the form of an infinite series for ordinary differential equation. The efficiency of the method used is investigated by a comparison of Euler method and Runge Kutta. Numerical simulations of all these three methods are implemented in Matlab. The validation has been carried out by taking the values of determinant parameters of cardiovascular-respiratory system for a 30 years old woman who is supposed to make practice of three regular physical activities: Walking, Jogging and Running fast. The results are in good agreement with experimental data.


By using destination stripping and shortest-path routing, the new standard IEEE 802.17 resilient packet ring (RPR) allows for spatial reuse, resulting in a significantly increased capacity compared to source-stripping legacy ring networks. We show that for multicast traffic the performance of RPR reduces to that of legacy ring networks that do not support spatial reuse. We propose a bandwidth-efficient and cost-sensitive multicast approach for RPR networks that exploits RPR's built-in topology discovery and supplementary time-to-live field to enable spatial reuse for multicast traffic. By means of analysis and simulation we investigate the proposed multicast approach in terms of transmission, multicast, and reception capacities as well as throughput efficiency for different numbers of nodes and multicast fanout under various traffic scenarios. Our findings show that for multicast traffic, the transmission capacity and multicast capacity of RPR are increased significantly, in particular for small to medium multicast group sizes, and a multicast throughput efficiency of 100% is achieved. Besides the performance gain, the proposed multicast approach is able to maintain RPR's simplicity.


About this book:
Combating Tax Avoidance in the EU is the first and only book to provide a complete detailed analysis of the Anti-Tax Avoidance Package jointly with other recent and ongoing European actions taken in direct taxation. Following each Member State's need to rebuild a strong and stable economy after the 2007 financial crisis, the European Union (EU) has developed a robust new transparency framework with binding anti-abuse measures and stronger instruments to challenge external threats of base erosion. This book makes clear that taxation has come to the centre of the EU political debate, and that the importance given to tax harmonization and the speed at which it is taking place will put EU Tax rules at the very core of all tax systems.

What's in this book:
With contributions from both prominent tax academics and Spanish delegates to the European meetings where the EU tax rules are debated and promulgated, the book covers such issues and topics as the following:

• The development of the EU Strategy towards Aggressive Tax Planning;
• The recent tax-related jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice;
• The Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive;
• Tax treaties and non-tax treaties with tax consequences both between the Member States and between the Member States and third countries;
• Code of conduct for business taxation;
• Automatic exchange of information;
• Country-by-country reporting;
• Arbitration in tax matters;
• External strategy for effective taxation regarding non-EU countries;
• Competition and state aid developments in direct taxation;
• The Common Consolidated Tax Base; and
• Digital significant presence and permanent establishment.

How this will help you:
As the EU pursues its ambitious tax agenda, taxation's contribution to EU growth and competitiveness and its part in relations with the rest of the world will come into ever-clearer focus. In addition to its insights into these trends, the book's unparalleled practical information and analysis will be of great value to tax practitioners dealing with investment analysis, tax planning schemes and other features of the current international tax landscape. The internal and purposive view of the rules will help readers interpret and match the resulting rules and the directives' preliminary approaches.


The Editorial Board is pleased to present the second issue of the fifteenth volume of the Penn History Review, the Ivy League's oldest undergraduate history journal. The Review continues to publish outstanding undergraduate papers based on original primary research. The Board is proud to feature scholarship that maintains our tradition of insightful and diverse historiography. These papers span not only centuries and geographic regions, but also across disciplines in the study of history. The authors published in this issue approach their historical inquiries with a particular respect to the larger theme of exploration. In addition to providing four exemplary student essays, this issue of the Review also offers a special section entitled 'The Study of History.' This journal article is available in Penn History Review: http://repository.upenn.edu/phr/vol15/iss2/1


There are several pressures to use web-based learning to augment traditional undergraduate teaching, not least of which are to fulfil students' expectations, to increase student retention and improve progression rates. This paper describes the use of this technology to supplement the face-to-face teaching of a Pharmaceutical Microbiology module delivered to second year MPharm undergraduates, studying full-time on-campus. In particular, it focuses on the use of web-based material to better prepare, and to optimise the productivity of, students undertaking laboratory sessions, material to improve their numeracy and material to tutor them for their end-of-module written examination. Data are presented showing student reaction to the use of this WBL and its impact on their attainment and their attendance at classes. Other issues discussed are lecturers' resistance to adopting this technology and the problems of student accessibility in the context of future hardware trends and, in particular, the migration of software to work on the new generation of Personal Digital Assistants.


It is a standard assumption that subordinate clauses like relative, embedded declarative, and interrogative clauses in natural language vary according to their morphosyntactic and semantic characteristics. Their morphosyntactic variation is expressed in the presence/absence of a wh-word, a relative pronoun, or an overt complementizer; syntactic transparency (embedded declaratives) or opacity (embedded interrogatives and relative clauses); differences in the nature of the complementizer (Rizzi 1990: 45) and differences in the relationship between the embedded clause and the matrix clause (complementation vs. adjunction). These embedded clauses are also assigned very different interpretations. A headed relative like which Adam likes is standardly assumed to denote the set of inanimate individuals that Adam likes (Quine 1960; Montague 1973); a free/headless relative like what Adam likes denotes the (plural) inanimate individual that Adam likes (Jacobson 1995, Caponigro 2004); an embedded declarative like that Adam likes vegetables denotes the proposition 'that Adam likes vegetables'; an embedded polar interrogative like whether Adam likes vegetables denotes a set containing the proposition 'that Adam likes vegetables' and/or its negation 'that Adam does not like vegetables'; finally, an embedded constituent interrogative like which food Adam likes denotes the set of propositions that are appropriate (true) answers to the question 'which food does Adam like?' (see Hamblin 1973 and Karttunen 1977 for the semantics of both types of interrogatives). We present and analyze new empirical evidence suggesting that such morphosyntax/semantics mapping may not be universal. The evidence comes from Adyghe, a Northwest Caucasian language, in which what looks and behaves like the very same morphosyntactic construction (henceforth "mystery clause", MC) is used to convey the five different meanings above. This raises at least two main questions: (i) Is the MC truly one and the same construction and what construction is it? This is the issue this paper focuses on. (ii) How is the same construction mapped into very different meanings? For reasons of space, we cannot address this issue here but the interested reader is referred to Caponigro and Polinsky (to appear). The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 gives a brief background on Adyghe. Section 3 introduces the main morphological and syntactic properties of the MC. Section 4 develops our proposal concerning the syntax of the MC. Section 5 concludes.


Acetyl-CoA synthase (EC 22.214.171.124), Propionyl-CoA synthase (EC 6.2.1.-) and butyryl-CoA synthase (EC 220.127.116.11) were measured in subcellular fractions prepared by primary and density-gradient fractionation from adult rat brain by a method resulting in recoveries close to 100%. Most of the activity of the three enzymes was recovered in the crude mitochondrial fraction. On subfractionation of this crude mitochondrial fraction with continuous sucrose density gradients, most of the activity of the three enzymes was found at a higher density than NAD+-isocitrate dehydrogenase and at about the same density as glutamate dehydrogenase, confirming earlier reported data for acetyl-CoA synthase. The finding that propionyl-CoA synthase and butyryl-CoA synthase had about the same distribution in the gradients as acetyl-CoA synthase adds support to the hypothesis that mitochondria involved in the metabolism of these short-chain fatty acids (all three of which have been shown to result in a rapid and high labelling of glutamine in vivo) form a distinct subpopulation of the total mitochondrial population. The three synthase activities were found to differ from each other in their rate of change and their subcellular localization during rat brain development. This, in combination with the observation that in gradients of adult brain preparations the three activities did not completely overlap, suggests that the three synthase activities are not present in the same proportion to each other in the same subpopulation (s) of mitochondria in the brain.


Internal hernias are a rare cause of intestinal obstructions and responsible for 1% of all obstructions. Paraduodenal hernia is the most common form of congenital internal hernia and constitutes a protrusion of bowel into the retroperitoneal space through peritoneal defects near the third and fourth portion of the duodenum. The clinical symptoms are non-specific and it depends on the degree of obstruction. Preoperative diagnosis is very difficult. If diagnosis is delayed, the course of this disease may lead to high mortality and morbidity ratio. J Med Cases. 2016;7(6):223-225 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc2491w


This paper describes a simple method to estimate hourly cooling demand from historical utility load data. It compares total hourly demand to demand on cool days and compares these estimates of total cooling demand to previous regional and national estimates. Load profiles generated from this method may be used to estimate the potential for aggregated demand response or load shifting via cold storage.


This thesis presents the results of a series of experiential investigations into the
formation, dissociation and reactivity of gaseous ions. Firstly, using a time-of-flight
mass spectrometer coupled with a 2D ion coincidence technique, studies of the electron
ionization of a number of small gas-phase molecules are presented. Relative partial
ionization cross-sections (PICS) are derived for the formation of positively charged
fragment ions, following electron ionization of H2S, CH3OH and CF3I. The 2D ion
coincidence technique enables fragment ions formed by dissociative single, double,
triple and quadruple ionization to be distinguished and quantified. This information
also allows precursor specific relative PICS to be determined. While the relative PICS
quantify the overall yield of each fragment ion, the precursor specific relative PICS
quantify the contribution from single, double, triple and quadruple ionization to the
relative yields of each fragment ion. Such information is essential for the accurate
modelling, and the understanding, of the chemical processes occurring in energetic
environments, such as industrial plasmas and planetary atmospheres. Comparison of the
relative PICS data to existing measurements of the PICS for these molecules generally
shows good agreement for experiments in which the efficient collection of
translationally energetic ions is demonstrated. In addition, information on the
energetics and dissociation dynamics involved in the fragmentation of H2S2+, CH3OH2+,
CF3I2+ and CF3I3+ are provided by interpretation of ion pair peaks recorded in the 2D
ion coincidence spectra.
Secondly, this thesis also presents the results of an investigation into the
photoionization of CF3I, using the threshold photoelectron-photoion-photoion
coincidence (iPEPICO) endstation on the vacuum-ultraviolet beamline at the Swiss
Light Source. These experiments were part of a scoping study to see if this existing
apparatus could be used to study multiple ionization. The photoionization spectra are
interpreted and discussed, and issues with the current experimental arrangement, which
may be improved for future visits, are addressed.
Finally, studies of I2+ collisions with OCS, carried out using a crossed ion beam
experiment with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer, are presented. Two bond-forming
reactions producing IO+ and IS+ are observed, together with the more ubiquitous
electron transfer reactions. These electron transfer reactions are rationalised using the
Reaction Window model.


: The northern root-knot nematode ( Meloidogyne hapla ) is a major pathogen of processing carrot in New York, significantly reducing marketable yield and profitability. Severely infected carrots are stubby, galled and forked and therefore unmarketable. In field microplot trials in 1996 and 1998, the incidence and severity of root-galling increased and the marketable yield of carrot decreased as the initial inoculum density of M. hapla was increased from 0 to 8 eggs/cm 3 soil, in mineral or organic soils. The application of oxamyl at planting was effective against M. hapla and its damage to carrots grown in mineral and organic soils. Oxamyl application reduced root-galling severity and increased marketable yield. In commercial fields, the cost-effectiveness of oxamyl application was related to the level of soil infestation with M. hapla .


In January 1544, Michelangelo's closest friend, Luigi del Riccio, lost his young nephew, Cecchino Bracci, who died at the tender age of fifteen. Devastated, Del Riccio begged Michelangelo to design a tomb which was carved and installed in Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome. Considering the depth of the well documented friendship between Michelangelo and Del Riccio, the Bracci tomb deserves closer attention. Generally, it is considered little more than a marginal work in Michelangelo's oeuvre. Although he designed the monument, Michelangelo's authorship is barely acknowledged, and the actual execution of the tomb is assigned (on slim evidence) to his assistant, Francesco di Bernardino Amadori, known as Urbino. However, Michelangelo's special relationship with Luigi del Riccio prompts two questions: How could the artist not have been deeply invested in the project? And, are preconceptions about Michelangelo standing in the way of more fully appreciating this work?
The tomb features a Medici Chapel-style sarcophagus above which is a square niche with Bracci's life-size portrait bust, flanked by inscriptions and the family coat of arms. The tomb is decorous, not ostentatious. It is an appropriately modest memorial befitting a person barely on the verge of manhood and whose main accomplishment in life was his youth. Modest creations, however, are not what we expect from Michelangelo, and partly for that reason, the Bracci tomb is easily overlooked. On the other hand, it was no small matter to be honored with a tomb by Michelangelo and buried in Santa Maria in Aracoeli, one of the most venerable churches in all of Rome.
Michelangelo was an artist who always observed decorum; he was not always an artist of terribilita. If one considers the Bracci memorial within its genre and humble purpose, then we can better appreciate Michelangelo's achievement. Within limited parameters and with a refined sense of decorum, Michelangelo has created an affecting memorial.


The issues of development of the system for the high dynamic range (HDR) image processing are considered. The HDR images are often used in the medical image processing and pattern recognition. The modified Retinex method for the HDR image compression is proposed, in which the bilateral filter is substituted by the adaptive filter. This edge-preserving filter is based on the Harris-Laplace detectors, and on the Gauss filter with the regulated kernel. The detector outputs give the information about the local properties of the image and can help to perform the effective pattern recognition. The experimental HDR video camera is built on the base of the Lattice HDR-60 board.


We develop a two-period model with endogenous investment and credit flows. Credit is subject to quantitative restrictions. With an exogenous restriction, we analyze the welfare effects of temporary tariffs. We then consider three scenarios under which a monopoly lender optimally decides the level of credit and a borrower country chooses an import tariff: one in which the two parties act simultaneously and two scenarios where one of them has a first-mover advantage. The equilibrium under the leadership by the borrower country is Pareto superior to the Nash equilibrium and can also be to that under the leadership by the lender.


Background: Investors require detailed financial and nonfinancial information to evaluate investments. This information is available in various forms (e.g. hard copies, published media, broker and investment consultants and corporate websites). Corporate websites have the potential to be both a one-stop-shop for investor needs and an efficient cost-effective medium for companies to communicate with investors. As previous research (Baard & Nel 2006) showed unacceptable low levels of Internet presence in selected African countries compared to other international companies, including companies in South Africa, a follow-up study was undertaken. An improvement was expected given the rapid increase in Internet users, improvements in infrastructure, the arrival of wireless access technologies and lower tariffs. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to measure the availability of corporate websites and dedicated investor relations (IR) sections; to evaluate the content of IR information communicated and to compare findings with previous research. Method: For ease of comparison this study has evaluated the same 40 companies in each of the countries, namely Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia that were evaluated in the 2006 study. A number of steps were taken to find the websites after which all the working websites were screened and evaluated against a checklist of international best practices. Results: Although improvements were apparent, 19% of the companies in the study still do not have websites, 20% do not supply financial information on websites and a significant number of companies do not optimally utilise websites according to international best practices. Conclusion: Notwithstanding improvements, a significant number of companies do not optimally utilise their corporate websites to communicate to investors. Possible reasons were discussed (e.g. necessary skills, available technology and cost), but it was concluded that companies are probably either negligent, do not regard it as important to communicate information to investors via corporate websites, or do not realise the benefits of communicating company information in this manner.


The TAIGA (Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic rays and Gamma-Astronomy) observatory is designed to study the gamma ray sources and galactic cosmic rays. It is located in the Tunka Valley 50 km from the lake Baikal (Siberia). The first part of TAIGA called the EAS Cherenkov array TAIGA-HiSCORE
currently consists of 28 wide-angle (0.6 sr) stations, distributed over an area of 0.25 km^2. The Crab observation exposure was about 115 hours during the winter seasons of 2016-2017. The expected gamma quanta excess depends on the array energy threshold and a model of the Crab energy spectrum extrapolation to the higher energies. We present preliminary results of experimental data and MC simulations comparison as well as energy threshold and angular resolutions. The experimental data is in a good agreement with the simulations. An excess of events (about 25 events in the region 30-63 TeV) observed from the Crab direction is compatible with the expected one.


To assess the accuracy of exchange-correlation approximations within density functional theory (DFT), diffusion quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) and DFT methods are used to calculate the energies of isomers of three covalently bonded carbon and boron clusters (C20, B18, and B20), and three metallic aluminum and copper clusters (Al13, Al55, and Cu13). We find that local and semilocal DFT methods predict the same energy ordering as DMC for the metallic clusters but not for the covalent clusters, implying that the DFT functionals are inadequate in such systems. In addition, we find that DFT fails to describe energy reductions arising from Jahn-Teller distortions.


Shear-wave splitting (SWS) analysis using SKS, SKKS, and PKS (here- after collectively called XKS) phases is one of the most commonly used techniques in structural seismology. In spite of the apparent simplicity in performing SWS measure- ments, large discrepancies in published SWS parameters (fast direction and splitting time) suggest that a significant portion of splitting parameters has been incorrectly determined. Here, based on the popularly used minimization of transverse energy technique, we present a procedure that combines automatic data processing and care- ful manual screening, which includes adjusting the XKS window used for splitting analysis, modifying band-pass filtering corner frequencies, and verifying and (if nec- essary) changing the quality ranking of the measurements. Using real and synthetic data, we discuss causes and diagnostics of a number of common problems in perform- ing SWS analysis, and suggest possible remedies. Those problems include noise in the XKS window being mistaken as signal, non-XKS seismic arrivals in the XKS window, excessive use of null ranking, measurements from misoriented sensors and from sen- sors with mechanical problems, and inappropriate dismissal of usable measurements.


This paper considers the phenomenon of a mythical figure, chiefly known as the murderess of her own children, becoming an icon of feminism. Euripides' Medea is the origin of Medea's impact through the ages. Thus the seeds of Medea as feminist are sought in the Greek tragedy. Subsequently, later depictions of Medea are examined to see in what respects they may be regarded as feminist. The works considered are those of Albee, Harrison, Cardinal, Kennelly, Crossland, Wolf, Lochhead, Labute, Nick, and Wakoski.


What is the objective or purpose of business Management? According to the dominant theory of contemporary financial management scholarship, agency theory, business managers are obligated to maximise owner or shareholder value. According to most theories of business ethics, however, some owner-value-maximising actions should not be performed, because they would be unethical. Because business management scholars and business ethics scholars have not resolved this contradiction, students of commerce receive a contradictory education. The twenty-five essays in this interdisciplinary, international volume address the question of the objective or purpose of business management from a wide range of theoretical perspectives. Since some of the writers contradict one another, it is not possible that all of them are correct. Nevertheless, the fact that many of them argue persuasively that business managers should aspire to more than maximisation of a financial variable challenges everyone with a theoretical or practical interest in commerce to reconsider acceptance of the owner-value paradigm and to develop a richer conception of the profession of business management.


C omics, poets, and sages have all expounded on what it means to age. But only now can we begin to converse about the biology of aging. Why and how do we age? Researchers have asked these questions, and some answers are finally emerging. To speed up this process, in 2001 Science , with the aid of a major gift from the Ellison Medical Foundation, launched the [Science of Aging Knowledge Environment (SAGE KE)][1]. This Web site provides "one-stop shopping" for researchers in the field of aging and related disciplines. For a start, SAGE KE helps researchers keep up with the literature. We offer scientist-authored commentaries and journalist-written news stories on current research findings. Visitors to our site can find authoritative reviews written by prominent scientists and can access a storehouse of community information: case studies, discussions, a calendar of meetings on aging, a database of genes/interventions and mouse models related to aging, and a directory of people working in the field. In addition, SAGEKE houses a virtual journal whose search engine is trained to find new papers on aging no matter where they are published. Access to SAGE KE is free until 26 March 2003.

In this joint special issue, Science and SAGE KE have teamed up to showcase highlights from what might be called the "end of the beginning" of research on aging. We have focused on physiological mechanisms underlying processes of aging, rather than on the large array of debilitating and costly disorders that so commonly emerge during the latter half of the life-spans of human beings. The reason for this decision is illustrated in the figure on page 1341. The "one disorder at a time" approach has limited power to delay death; rather, it is through deciphering the biological underpinnings of processes of aging that scientists will likely discover ways to extend the human life-span. This problem is being attacked from several angles, and we are seeing some emerging themes.

Feeding fewer calories to rodents—and likely primates too—makes them more stress-resistant and, perhaps because they are more stress-resistant, they live considerably longer. Several other animal model systems have mutation-induced metabolic states that are similar to those produced by calorie restriction and are also designed for withstanding adverse conditions—the dauer phase in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans , for example. These mechanisms are probably related to ancient and adaptive types of diapauses: time-outs from the business of reproduction while awaiting more favorable conditions. In their Review, Longo and Finch (p. [1342][2]) compare these long-lived creatures, ranging from yeast to mice, and point out the commonalties, such as defects in the insulin/insulin-like growth factor 1 signaling pathway. In SAGE KE, Masoro surveys the history of research on calorie restriction, and Hopkin explores the downside of eating less. It turns out to be more than just hunger pangs.

![Figure][3]

SOURCE: R. A. MILLER/UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Genetic approaches in model systems have been a gold mine in divulging which processes can tune life-span up or down. And, when interpreted in the context of more traditional endocrinological approaches, genetic results point to endocrine regulation of critical life-span-controlling functions as a possible common pathway, as summarized in Tatar et al. 's Review (p. [1346][4]). In SAGE KE, Davenport explores new research that probes how well phenomena observed in the lab relate to those that occur in natural environments.

![Figure][3]

What are the critical downstream functions that are important for aging? Several answers are on the table, and they may well all be right. Some lines of evidence point to silencing of the expression of certain genes as a key regulator, argue Hekimi and Guarente in their Review (p. 1351), although the cumulative damage inflicted by reactive oxygen species is also a likely culprit. Indeed, in their Review, Hasty and co-workers (p. 1355) summarize how damage to DNA, perhaps by such oxygen radicals, can be better understood as a cause of aging through the comparison of clinical syndromes and mouse models. In SAGE KE, Shcherbakova and colleagues zero in on the DNA polymerases, which repair DNA damage, at least when they are working optimally; and Walter et al. examine the special case of germline genome stability.

But the topic of aging is far broader than genes and hormones and ultimately affects all of our daily lives in one way or another. For researchers in the field, their pursuits in the lab can also have a personal component, as seen firsthand in Guarente's book Ageless Quest , reviewed by Promislow in this issue (p. [1319][5]). And for many, aging can be painful, as is poignantly clear in Bush's review of DeBaggio's recent book recounting his own experiences with Alzheimer's disease (p. [1318][6]). But there is some good news. Two News stories by Helmuth, one in Science (p. [1300][7]) and one on SAGE KE, give us some reasons for looking forward to the latter half of our lives. Scores on vocabulary tests appear to improve with age, and older people often outperform younger ones in interpersonal tasks.

Research on aging is increasingly important in the public policy arena as well. The Policy Forum by Juengst (p. 1323) argues that we need to start thinking about the practical and ethical ramifications of research on aging now, before the decisions are made for us by circumstance. We at Science also believe that public debate on issues surrounding aging is essential. Consequently we will be launching, in March 2003, a new portal of SAGE KE to catalyze public discourse about issues surrounding aging. Built in partnership with the Alliance for Aging Research, this new site—called SAGE Crossroads—will feature a series of Webcast debates and interviews in which prominent figures discuss controversies in research and policies on aging. The first Webcast—a discussion between Francis Fukuyama and Ronald Bailey entitled "The Future of Aging: Pitfalls and Possibilities"—occurred on 12 February and focused on the ethics of prolonging life. This debate, plus related news stories, discussions, and other resources, can be seen at SAGECrossroads. net. Scientific research on biological mechanisms of aging may be at the end of the beginning, but the larger discussions of why we study aging and the proper use for this knowledge are yet in their infancy.

Actor Charlie Chaplin once remarked that "we are all amateurs; we don't live long enough to become anything else." If aging processes could be attenuated, humans would have additional healthy years to bring their personal goals to fruition. The challenge to society will be to ensure that those goals are compatible with the needs of humanity.

 [1]: http://sageke.sciencemag.org/
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1077991
 [3]: pending:yes
 [4]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1081447
 [5]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1081622
 [6]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1079480
 [7]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.299.5611.1300


Private function evaluation (PFE) allows to obliviously evaluate a private function on private inputs. PFE has several applications such as privacy-preserving credit checking and user-specific insurance tariffs. Recently, PFE protocols based on universal circuits (UCs), that have an inevitable superlinear overhead, have been investigated thoroughly. Specialized public key-based protocols with linear complexity were believed to be less efficient than UC-based approaches. In this paper, we take another look at the linear-complexity PFE protocol by Katz and Malka (ASIACRYPT'11): We propose several optimizations and split the protocol in different phases that depend on the function and inputs respectively. We show that HE-based PFE is practical when instantiated with state-of-the-art ECC and RLWE-based homomorphic encryption. Our most efficient implementation outperforms the most recent UC-based PFE implementation of Alhassan et al. (JoC'20) in communication for all circuit sizes and in computation starting from circuits of a few thousand gates already.


Optical data are compared with EISCAT radar observations of multiple Naturally Enhanced Ion-Acoustic Line (NEIAL) events in the dayside cusp. This study uses narrow field of view cameras to observe small-scale, short-lived auroral features. Using multiple-wavelength optical observations, a direct link between NEIAL occurrences and low energy (about 100 eV) optical emissions is shown. This is consistent with the Langmuir wave decay interpretation of NEIALs being driven by streams of low-energy electrons. Modelling work connected with this study shows that, for the measured ionospheric conditions and precipitation characteristics, growth of unstable Langmuir (electron plasma) waves can occur, which decay into ion-acoustic wave modes. The link with low energy optical emissions shown here, will enable future studies of the shape, extent, lifetime, grouping and motions of NEIALs.


Background: Typhoid fever is a potentially fatal multisystemic illness caused primarily by Salmonella enterica (S enterica) subspecies enterica serovar typhi and, to a lesser extent, related serovars paratyphi A, B, and C and others. Objectives: Is to assess different methods in diagnosing typhoid fever in the patients attending Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital and to know which one of them is the best in the diagnosis. Type of the study: A retrospective cross-sectional study. Patients and methods: Total 100 patients consulted Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital, laboratory department in Baghdad, Iraq for diagnosis of typhoid fever from December 2017 to March 2018. About 50 of them were tested for Widal test and the rest were blood culture done for them. Results: Widal test showed positive results in 14% of the patients and the rest were negative. There was a significant difference between two groups (p=0.002), while results of blood culture showed a negative result in 86% of cases and the rest 14% were positive with other bacteria like E. coli, Pseudomonas spp. and Staphylococcus spp. There were no significant differences between the two groups (p=1). Conclusion: Widal test is not useful in diagnosing the disease and blood culture was negative due to the inappropriate time of blood collections.


Background: Intrahepatic stones (IS) are very common in far eastern patients but relatively rare elsewhere in the world. The aim of this study is to report the short-term and mid-term outcomes of liver resection indicated for primary intrahepatic stones in a low incidence country.  Results: From January 2010 to December 2014, 5(2,7%) among 182 consecutive liver resections were performed for intrahepatic stones (IS) in the Surgical Department A at IbnSina Hospital (Rabat, Morocco). Three patients had IS secondary to Caroli's disease and 2 patients had IS secondary to benign postoperative biliary stricture. Liver resections consisted of 2 right hepatectomies and 3 left hepatectomies. Hepaticojejunostomy was associated in 2 patients. Postoperative mortality was not reported. Two patients experienced postoperative morbidity (1 biloma and1 severe cholangitis). No recurrence of symptoms occurred after a median follow-up of 36 months.  Conclusion: Liver resection can provide definitive resolution of symptoms in selected patients with localized intrahepatic stones.


Most research on developing sentencing decision support systems has focused upon providing ranges of possible sentences for judges. In this paper we investigate developing decision support systems for criminal law defenders. We use Toulmin's theory of argumentation to build an argument based system which focuses upon explaining its reasoning. A criminal defense lawyer can spend considerable time on negotiating a plea. Thus our sentencing decision support system is being extended to support plea bargaining between Victoria Legal Aid and the Office of Public Prosecutions.


'We pretended we had each a large island inhabited by people 6 miles high.' In their collaborative early writings the Brontes created and peopled the most extraordinary fantasy worlds, whose geography and history they elaborated in numerous stories, poems, and plays. Together they invented characters based on heroes and writers such as Wellington, Napoleon, Scott, and Byron, whose feuds, alliances, and love affairs weave an intricate web of social and political intrigue in imaginary colonial lands in Africa and the Pacific Ocean. The writings of Glass Town, Angria, and Gondal are youthful experiments in imitation and parody, wild romance and realistic recording; they demonstrate the playful literary world that provided a 'myth kitty' for their early - and later - work. In this generous selection the writings of Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and Branwell are presented together for the first time. The Introduction explores the rich imaginative lives of the Brontes, and the tension between their maturing authorship and creative freedom. The edition also includes Charlotte Bronte's Roe Head Journal, and Emily and Anne's Diary Papers, important autobiographical sources. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.


A chlamydial plasmid, 6.2 kb in size, was isolated from an avian strain of Chlamydia psittaci and cloned into the EcoRI site of pUC13. A restriction enzyme cleavage map of the resultant clone, pAP1p, was very similar to the published map of the plasmid cloned from the C. psittaci meningopneumonitis strain Cal-10. Southern hybridisation analyses using pAP1p as a probe, revealed the presence of plasmids with homologous DNA sequences in avian psittacosis, avian ornithosis, ovine polyarthritis and sporadic bovine encephalomyelitis strains of C. psittaci, as well as the LGV strain of Chlamydia trachomatis. Plasmid was not detected in koala conjunctivitis, ovine abortion or feline conjunctivitis isolates. The plasmid-containing isolates could be grouped according to size (6.2 or 7.2–7.3 kb) and restriction endonuclease pattern. These three plasmid categories correlate with previously reported C. psittaci biotypes, immunotypes and serotypes. The absence of plasmid from three infectious, pathogenic strains of C. psittaci suggests that, in this species at least, plasmid-encoded genes are not essential for survival, infectivity or virulence of the parasite.


Meeting US ethanol blending mandates proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency will require a substantial number of motorists with flex-fuel vehicles to switch from low ethanol-gasoline blends to high ethanol-gasoline blends. The lower the willingness to pay for high-ethanol blends, the greater the cost of complying with the proposed mandates. Existing estimates of the willingness to pay for high-ethanol blends use data from Brazil (where consumers have knowledge of and experience with high-ethanol blends), data generated when retail prices greatly favored low-ethanol blends, or stated data collected from mail and online surveys. To obtain more accurate estimates of US willingness to pay, we conducted an intercept survey in five US states of motorists with flex-fuel vehicles as they were refueling. We address a sample-selection problem caused by the lack of stations that sell high-ethanol blends; consumers who have a high willingness to pay are more likely to seek out the stations and hence to show up in our sample. We attempt to overcome the problem caused by prices favoring low-ethanol blends by augmenting revealed preference data with stated preference data generated by hypothetical prices that tended to favor high-ethanol blends. Our estimates of mean willingness to pay shows that the price at which the average US consumer will switch fuels is substantially below the price that equates the cost per mile of driving. The large discount that the average US consumer requires to switch suggests that the cost of proposed ethanol mandates will be higher than previously estimated.


The specific research work described in this thesis forms part of a much larger research project that was funded by the Technology Programme of the UK Government. This larger project considered improving the design and efficiency of membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant by using modelling, simulation and laboratory methods. This research work uses phenomenological mechanistic models based on MBR filtration and biochemical processes to measure the effectiveness of alternative behavioural models based upon input-output system identification methods. Both model types are calibrated and validated using similar plant layouts and data sets derived for this purpose. Results prove that although both approaches have their advantages, they also have specific disadvantages as well. In conclusion, the MBR plant designer and/or operator who wishes to use good quality, calibrated models to gain a better understanding of their process, should carefully consider which model type is selected based upon on what their initial modelling objectives are (e.g. using either a physically mechanistic model or an input-output behaviourial model). Each situation usually proves unique. In this regard, this research work creates a "Model Conceptualisation Procedure" for a typical MBR which can be used by future researchers as a theoretical framework which underpins any newly created model type. There has been insufficient work completed to date on using a times series input-output approach in the model development of a wastewater treatment plant, so only general conclusions can be made from this research work. However, it can be stated that this novel approach seems to be applicable for a membrane filtration model if care it taken to select appropriate input-output model structures, such as those suggested in the "Model Conceptualisation Procedure". In the case of the development of a MBR biological model, it is thought that a conventional Activated Sludge model produced by the IWA could be coupled to a input-output model structure as suggested by this report to give a hybrid model structure that may have the advantages of both model types. Further research work is needed in this area. Future work that should follow on from this research study should focus on whether these inputoutput models could be used for predictive control purposes, whether an integrated model could be created, and whether a benchmark could be created for the three main MBR configurations. i


Annals of Geophysics is a bimonthly international journal, which publishes scientific papers in the field of geophysics sensu lato. It derives from Annali di Geofisica, which commenced publication in January 1948 as a quarterly periodical devoted to general geophysics, seismology, earth magnetism, and atmospheric studies. The journal was published regularly for a quarter of a century until 1982 when it merged with the French journal Annales de Geophysique to become Annales Geophysicae under the aegis of the European Geophysical Society. In 1981, this journal ceased publication of the section on solid earth geophysics, ending the legacy of Annali di Geofisica. In 1993, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica (ING), founder of the journal, decided to resume publication of its own journal under the same name, Annali di Geofisica. To ensure continuity, the first volume of the new series was assigned the volume number XXXVI (following the last issue published in 1982). In 2002, with volume XLV, the name of the journal was translated into English to become Annals of Geophysics and in consequence the journal impact factor counter was restarted. Starting in 2010, in order to improve its status and better serve the science community, Annals of Geophysics has instituted a number of editorial changes including full electronic open access, freely accessible online, the possibility to comment on and discuss papers online, and a board of editors representing Asia and the Americas as well as Europe. [...]


Adolescents in the care of the state have complex developmental needs that include low academic attainment. The aim of this study was to describe the language and literacy profiles of adolescents (aged 13–19) in out-of-home care ('looked after children'). Mental health status, biopsychosocial history, and education and employment histories were also documented. Twenty-six adolescents were assessed by a speech and language therapist. Ninety-two percent had oral language skills below the average range on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals: 4th edition, with 62% scoring two or more standard deviations below the mean. Ninety-two percent of participants scored below the average range on two or more subtests of the Test of Language Competence: Expanded edition. On the York Assessment of Reading Comprehension, 92% scored in the very low range and 65% were below-average on single-word reading. Fifty percent of participants reported a diagnosis/symptoms of depression and 54% reported a diagnosis/symptoms of anxiety. The correlation between oral language and literacy was modest but significant (r = 0.502; p ⩽ 0.05); no significant correlations were found between oral language, literacy and mental health status, suggesting that mental health problems are a comorbidity rather than a correlate of language and literacy difficulties. Language and literacy difficulties are highly prevalent in this population. Language disorders are likely to be undiagnosed in the context of significant mental health problems, and disrupted schooling and accommodation. Speech-language therapy scope of practice needs to include out-of-home care populations in order to foster developmentally appropriate language and literacy skills that maximize school success, both academically and socially.


In modern democracies, elections are considered the central mechanism for people to control their elected representatives. They allow voters who are dissatisfied with those in power to periodically punish and replace them. However, this requires that political decision-making is transparent and that alternative party options are actually evident in the electoral contest. Accordingly, in line with mobilization theory, we assume that well-balanced and critical media coverage leads to a higher turnout. So far, only few studies exist which test these assumptions in a large comparative setting. To provide more empirical evidence on the relationship between media coverage and political participation, we combine data about press systems and from newspaper content analyses with opinion surveys and perform multi-level analyses. Contrary to our assumptions, we find that an ideological balance within the press system does not motivate citizens to take part in elections. In addition, newspapers reports about official misconduct tend to keep voters away from the ballot boxes. These findings rather lend support to media malaise theory.


This article provides a conceptual basis for 'centering' the relationship between artisanship and mechanization as one would in pottery making. Critical theory dichotomizes handwork from machine-work, emphasizing the division between non-alienated and alienated labor, authenticity and inauthenticity, and experiential resonance and capitalist fetishism. The author demonstrates the theoretical shortcomings and social repercussions of these dualisms through a study of Onta, a Japanese pottery village associated with the mingei folkcraft movement. Tied to ideals of cultural authenticity predicated on the refusal to mechanize, Onta's reputation came into question during the 'Problem of Mechanization' debate, when craftspeople announced a request to introduce modern machinery into their craft making patterns. Reflecting on the ways artisanal and industrial technologies have been imagined, this article poses the question: Do certain mechanical systems exert too much force to enter into centered relationships with humans?


All over the world, the law permits employers to impose reasonable grooming standards on employees. For example, the police officers may be prohibited from donning hippie hair and the schoolteachers may not be permitted to wear short skirts. Azmi will have a weak legal claim if the school can show a factual linkage between veil and teaching inefficacy. But that is not the point the British male elite, though known for their love of legal formalisms, is making. Their argument goes beyond the grooming standards at workplace. They wish to assimilate immigrant women into a prototypical woman who caters for male sensibilities and makes men feel comfortable.


Multi-hazard Fragility, Risk, and Resilience Assessment of Select Coastal Infrastructure by Sabarethinam Kameshwar The performance of coastal infrastructure is threatened by natural hazards such as hurricanes and floods. The intensity and frequency of many of these climate related hazards are expected to be influenced by climate change, which will add uncertainty to the performance of coastal infrastructure. Furthermore, coastal regions are experiencing rapid population growth, which is expected to continue in the future as well. Therefore, in view of multiple hazards, uncertainty due to climate change, and increasing coastal population, comprehensive performance assessment of regional portfolio of coastal infrastructure is essential for managing the existing infrastructure and ensuring adequate performance after extreme events such as hurricanes and earthquakes. Therefore, this study focuses on the development of a methodology and supporting tools that can be used to facilitate comprehensive multihazard performance assessment of regional portfolios of costal infrastructure. Particularly, this study focuses on above ground storage tanks (ASTs) and bridges since they are crucial components of the energy and transportation infrastructure, respectively, and they have been observed to fail in past events with severe economic and environmental impact. First, in order to describe and effectively communicate the effects of multiple hazards on the performance and design decisions of infrastructure systems, taxonomy for multi-hazard combination is developed. For understanding the effects of different hazards on the performance and design of structures and classifying hazards according to the taxonomy this study develops a dual layer metamodel based fragility assessment methodology. The proposed method harnesses statistical learning techniques to enable efficient response and reliability assessment of structures with a broad range of design details when subjected to hazardous conditions. Using the dual layer fragility assessment methodology, fragility functions are developed for most common failure modes of ASTs: due to strong winds and storm surge. For bridges, the fragility assessment framework is used to develop fragility function for most common causes of bridge failure such as: scour, scour and vehicular loads, barge impact, barge impact and scour, hurricanes, earthquakes, and vehicle loads and earthquakes. This study also develops frameworks for ASTs and bridges to facilitate resilience assessment, i.e. their post event functionality and recovery time, which is essential for comprehensive performance assessment of ASTs and bridges. For ASTs subjected to storm surge and strong winds, the estimates of repair costs, repair time, and estimates of potential spill volumes due to tank failures are developed. Similarly, for bridges, a methodology is developed to assess the entire distribution of repair costs considering uncertainties in damage to bridge components, repair costs, and repair actions. Additionally, empirical seismic damage data is used to develop decision trees that can determine the traffic restrictions and their duration for given the damage state of bridge components such as columns, bearings, and abutments. Finally, in order to develop structure specific performance targets from regional level performance targets this study develops a simple heuristic methodology which determines the performance targets for individual structures commensurate to their performance. All the fragility and resilience assessment frameworks are applied to individual structures and regional portfolio of structures which has provided several valuable insights in to the performance of ASTs and bridges. The application of the fragility functions for ASTs for tanks in the Houston Ship Channel shows that tanks are more vulnerable to storm surges than strong winds. Additionally, application of the fragility functions show that mitigation measure such as anchoring tanks can lead to contradictory effects on the performance of ASTs for different failure modes such as flotation and buckling. For bridges, application of the fragility functions highlights that earthquakes and hurricanes can have competing effects on selection of column height. Furthermore, estimation of seismic repair costs highlights the multi-modal nature of the distribution of repair costs. The use of decision trees to determine traffic restrictions and their duration highlights the influence of damage to different bridge components on traffic restrictions. Finally, the application of the heuristic methodology to determine structure specific performance targets for all the ASTs in the Ship Channel shows that anchoring of tanks and simple procedural measures can significantly reduce the spill volumes. Similarly, application of the heuristic methodology for a portfolio of bridges in the Charleston region shows the framework can be used to obtain bridge specific performance targets which can significantly improve the performance of the entire bridge network.


The focus of this paper is on particular and innovative structures for storing, linking and manipulating information: the ZigZag structures. In the last years, we worked at the formalization of these structures, retaining that the description of the formal aspects can provide a better understanding of them, and can also stimulate new ideas, projects and research. This work presents our contribution for a deeper discussion on ZigZag structures.


This report on the project "Molded Interconnect Device (MID) by two shot injection
 molding and laser induced selective activation" has been submitted to fulfil the
 requirements for the master project at department of Manufacturing Engineering and
 Management of Technical University of Denmark (IPL-DTU). MID is defined as an
 injection molded plastic substrate with electrical infrastructures on the surface and
 integrates both mechanical and electrical functionalities on the single device. This
 paper describes many aspects of MID such as the background information,
 manufacturing process chain, comparative process analysis, applications and specially
 two shot injection molding and laser induced selective activation in the MID area.
 There is also an experimental part which contains fabrication of a MID demonstrator,
 selective metallization as well as characterization. The realization of molded
 interconnect device was achieved with two innovative processes such as two shot
 injection molding which combines platetable and none-platetable thermoplastics, and
 laser induced selective activation which uses a laser to draw circuit on the
 thermoplastic surface containing laser sensitive additive. Different material
 combinations such as PEI (GE Ultem 1000) +PPO (GTX 810) and PEEK (Victrex
 150GL30) +PPO (GTX 810) were investgated which can be selected electroless
 plating for metallization. Several plastics such as PC (GE Lexan 500R) and PEEK
 (Victrex 150GL30) were applied to the laser induced activation and reacted
 differently with the diverse structure.


This thesis sets out to investigate the ways in which Caribbean authors have responded to the canonical texts of the coloniser, and how they have rewritten certain genres, modes and the ideological biases that inform them. In Chapter One, the continuing presence of representations of the Caribbean as paradise or Eden – evident, I suggest in my Introduction, in the first works of Caribbean literature, such as James Grainger's The Sugar-Cane (1764), and later in J. E. C. McFarlane's 'My Country' (1929), Tom Redcam's 'My Beautiful Home' (1929), H. S. Bunbury's 'The Spell of the Tropics' (1929) – is revised in the works of Una Marson, Alejo Carpentier, Aime Cesaire, Edouard Glissant, Gisele Pineau, and Shani Mootoo; while the more direct canonical rewritings of Maryse Conde and Derek Walcott are the subject of Chapter Four.

Behind these readings of the contemporary Caribbean canon lies a fundamental question: what makes these engagements with legacy a postcolonial, rather than counter-colonial, response? In turn, through a critical reading of Peter Hallward's Absolutely Postcolonial (2001) in Chapter Two, I argue that the postcolonial may be defined as that which is specific to various colonial legacies and histories, but not specified by them. Chapter Four elaborates this model, drawing on Glissant's The Fourth Century (1997) and David Dabydeen's 'Turner' (1994).

Creolization is a cultural, linguistic, ontological, and literary term that focuses on the emergence of a creolized culture/expression/identity/text from the meeting and synthesis of the informing elements. Through the writings of creolization's foremost theorist, Edouard Glissant, I stress that what results from this form of relation is not a sum of its parts, but a wholly new and original existent. In other words, the process of creolization is distinguished by its ability to affect singular forms that remain specific to the elements which engender it – the social, historical, and geographical contexts elements which engender it – the social, historical, and geographical contexts specific to the site of its articulation – but which, nevertheless, exceeds the limitations of the 'original' components. This fundamental contention is developed through my analysis of Glissant's theoretical expositions, Caribbean Discourse (1981), discussed in Chapter One, and Poetics of Relation (1990) outlined in Chapter Two alongside Glissant's poetry and the contributions of Peter Hallward and Derek Attridge.

Importantly, the distinct model of creolization that emerges at the end of Chapter Two as a process of relation that generates new forms, resonates with the poetics of another celebrated Caribbean author and theorist: Wilson Harris. It is through Harris's essays and novels such as Jonestown (1996), The Mask of the Beggar (2004), and The Ghost of Memory (2006) that the significance of my reading of creolization to the Caribbean canon becomes clear.


In this work, we shall attempt to review the status of PoC IVD as can be seen through commercialized applications alone, with a focus on handheld and small benchtop systems. The specific viewpoint is based on the technological and diagnostic target decisions of 104 PoC manufacturers that were selected on the basis of site visits on international trade fairs [10], PoC conferences, and market reports [11] for the PoC industry. The selection process for trade fair participation was the inclusion of any company offering a PoC solution on settings ranging from clinic to what is referred to as extreme PoC [12]. The scope of the selection is to get a comprehensive image of the commercialized PoC landscape, while minimizing bias in the inclusion process. Subsequently, we proceed to categorize the technologies used by each of these companies. We identify five major groups: (1) lateral-flow assays, (2) centrifugal microfluidics systems, (3) electrochemical systems, (4) nucleic acid testing systems, and (5) blood gas analyzers. Those five technological categories encompass 97 out of 104 companies, whereas 14 systems cannot be grouped into these categories. The technological groups are not strictly related to the sensing approach or the fluidic manipulation approach, rather in key design similarities. However, PoC systems are at the epicenter of a very active research field with new principles being applied constantly [13,14] that may very well render this categorization obsolete in the near future. In this sense, this article can be viewed as a snapshot of the commercial PoC landscape at the time of writing that is sure to evolve in coming years. Using as a starting point the previously mentioned 104 PoC firms, this review outlines the most prevalent technologies in the field and provides some insight on their functions, attributes, and limitations. Furthermore, using the same starting point, we present a thorough list of biomarkers that are currently the diagnostic objective of systems reviewed in this work.


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Several bacterial species are capable to use perchlorate and/or chlorate as an alternative electron acceptor in absence of oxygen. Microbial respiration of oxochlorates is important for biotreatment of effluent from industries where oxochlorates are produced or handled. One of these species, the Gram-negative Ideonella dechloratans, is able to reduce chlorate but not perchlorate. Two soluble enzymes, chlorate reductase and chlorite dismutase, participate in the conversion of chlorate into chloride and molecular oxygen. The present study deals with the electron transport from the membrane-bound components to the periplasmic chlorate reductase. Soluble c cytochromes were investigated for their ability to serve as electron donors to chlorate reductase. The results show that a 6 kDa c cytochrome serves as electron donor for chlorate reductase. This cytochrome also serves as electron donor for a terminal oxidase in the reduction of oxygen that is produced in the course of chlorate respiration. A gene encoding a soluble c cytochrome was found in close proximity to the gene cluster for chlorate reduction. This gene was cloned and expressed heterologously, and the resulting protein was investigated as a candidate electron donor for chlorate reductase. Electron transfer from this protein could not be demonstrated, suggesting that the gene product does not serve as immediate electron donor for chlorate reductase.


Objective: To explore the barriers of primary informal caregivers to caring for persons living with dementia (PLWDs) in Barbados. Methods: A qualitative, phenomenological methodology was adopted. Eight in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted with primary informal caregivers of PLWDs. Transcripts were analysed according to Giorgi's four-step phenomenological framework. Results: Four themes emerged: imbalanced family dynamics, financial and time constraints, dissatisfaction with formal care services, and misunderstanding of complex symptomatology. Conclusion: Understanding the lived experiences of informal caregiving highlighted the specific barriers to providing optimal care for PLWDs in Barbados. The 'Strategy and Plan of Action on Dementias in Older Persons (2015–2019)' by the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization guides the support for caregivers, and this study provides context-based evidence to pursue effective approaches. Results are critical to the appropriate design of contextually appropriate training and services in support of informal caregiving.


We report a new dual band compact oblique photography camera (LC11) that is the first to benefit from the incorporation of telecentricity. LC11 has a common front end F/6.6 telescope with 280 mm in aperture that forms its electro-optical (EO, F/7.5) and MWIR (F/5.6) modules. The design allows a substantial reduction in volume and weight due to i) the EO/MWIR compensator and relay lens groups arranged very close to the primary mirror (M1), and ii) light-weighted M1 and SiC main frame (MF) structure. Telecentricity of up to 2 and 0.2 degrees for the EO and MWIR modules, respectively, is achieved by balancing optical power among all lenses. The initial field test shows 0.32 ± 0.05 (EO)/0.20 ± 0.06 (MWIR) in measured MTF at 28 (EO) and 13 (MWIR) cycles/mm in target frequency, and an improved operability with a greater reduction in operational volume and mass than other existing LOROP cameras.