Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of Equine Assisted Therapy in children with Cerebral Palsy, in terms of gross motor function, performance, and spasticity as well as whether this improvement can be maintained for 2 months after the end of the intervention. Methods Children with Cerebral Palsy participated in this prospective cohort study. The study lasted for 28 weeks, of which the equine assisted therapy lasted 12 weeks taking place once a week for 30 min. Repeated measures within the subject design were used for the evaluation of each child's physical performance and mental capacity consisting of six measurements: Gross Motor Function Measure-88 (GMFM-88), Gross Motor Performance Measure (GMPM), Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC III). Results Statistically significant improvements were achieved for 31 children in Gross Motor Function Measure and all its subcategories (p < 0.005), also in total Gross Motor Performance Measure and all subcategories (p < 0.005). These Gross Motor Function Measure results remained consistent for 2 months after the last session of the intervention. Regarding spasticity, although an improving trend was seen, this was not found to be statistically significant. Conclusion and implications Equine Assisted Therapy improves motor ability (qualitatively and quantitatively) in children with Cerebral Palsy, with clinical significance in gross motor function.


Introduction - Spleen injuries are among the most frequent trauma-related injuries. At present, they are classified according to the anatomy of the injury. The optimal treatment strategy, however, should keep into consideration the hemodynamic status, the anatomic derangement, and the associated injuries. The management of splenic trauma patients aims to restore the homeostasis and the normal physiopathology with a multidisciplinary team. Thus, the study to determine the presentation of a patient and further its investigation management and outcome is necessary. Objective: To study all the cases (investigation and outcome) of blunt abdominal trauma with splenic laceration with its incidence , mode of presentation, grade, management and factors responsible for morbidity and mortality. Material and methods: A study was conducted in our tertiary care hospital on 22 patients presented with blunt abdominal trauma with splenic injury in emergency department during July 2019 to June 2021. In our retrospective stu Results: dy , all the patients underwent primary radiological and pathological investigation with 36% having associated limb injuries (fractures);4.5% with ckd , 9% with thoracic injury, 40% amongst 20-40 age group , 86% being male, 59.5% resulted from RTA, 31.5 % resulted from fall from height,0% with assault, 4.5% along with head injury, 9% with associated rib fracture,0% patient with free gas under diaphragm ; 9% with grade 1, 22% with grade 2, 31.5% grade 3 , 13.5% grade 4, 22%grade 5 splenic injuries. 91% patients underwent splenectomy and were given vaccination 15 days post operatively against capsulated organisms.9% patients were managed conservatively. Patients were followed up for 6 months postoperatively with 4.5% mortality rate. Conclusion: Splenic injury is most common solid organ injury in blunt abdominal trauma in 20- 40 years age group majority male and results maximally by RTA; associated with limb fractures commonly with liver as associated solid organ injured. Aggressive resuscitation and emergency laparotomy (splenectomy) yields excellent outcome.


This study aims to give empirical prove on the factors that affecting early warning bankruptcyof Islamic banking in Indonesia using RGEC method. The factors that are tested in this study are Non Performing Financing (NPF), Financing to Deposit Ratio (FDR), Good Corporate Governance (GCG), Return on Assets (ROA), Net Operating Margin (NOM), and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR). The sample of this study consists of 7 Islamic banking in Indonesia. The data used is the quartile report of financial statements and the GCG report while the statistical method used is panel regression.The result shows that Non Performing Financing (NPF), Financing to Deposit Ratio (FDR), Return On Assets (ROA), and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) gives impact to the early warning bankruptcy of the Islamic banking, while Good Corporate Governance (GCG) and Net Operating Margin (NOM) does not have any effect on the early warning bankruptcy. This implies that GCG and NOM are not inline with the policy, theory and previous studies.


An accurate and specific description of the size L and extent of nonnarcotic addiction is a most difficult matter since the drugs are obtained through illicit traffic which cannot be controlled under the present law. Complete data are simply not available for documentation and analysis. Indeed, adequate reports on this topic are not available from other countries either. A complete evaluation of the problem would require data such as the following: (1) The quantity of each sedative and stimulant produced. (2) The channels of distribution for each product with quantitative data that accounts for all of the product produced. (3) The incidence of habituation and addiction to these drugs in the general population. (4) The number of persons annually admitted to hospitals because of acute or chronic intoxication from these drugs. (5) The annual number of arrests for the offering of these drugs for sale under circumstances that do not


Nongeneric bifurcation analysis near rough heterodimensional cycles
associated to two saddles in $\mathbb{R}^4$ is presented under
inclination flip. By setting up local moving frame systems in some
tubular neighborhood of unperturbed heterodimensional cycles, we
construct a Poincare return map under the
nongeneric conditions and further obtain the bifurcation equations.
Coexistence of a heterodimensional cycle and a unique periodic orbit
is proved after perturbations. New features produced by the
inclination flip that heterodimensional cycles and homoclinic orbits
coexist on the same bifurcation surface are shown. It is also
conjectured that homoclinic orbits associated to different
equilibria coexist.


Because evidence from several sources suggests the existence of a major genetic factor contributing to the risk for breast cancer, there is current interest in searching for genetic linkage between the putative cancer susceptibility gene(s) and polymorphic DNA markers. However, because of high population rates of the nongenetic form of the condition, and because of the possibility of underlying genetic heterogeneity, it is expected that the number of informative families required for detection of linkage will be greater for breast cancer than for other conditions with major genetic components. Computer simulation approaches may be useful in estimating the power of proposed linkage studies. Here we have simulated multiple genotypes for a medium-sized breast-cancer family and have analyzed the generated pedigrees with a linkage program. The effects of possible phenocopies and of genetic heterogeneity were measured by comparing the results obtained when the parameters were varied in the models. When population-based rates for sporadic cases of breast cancer were incorporated, the number of families required to detect linkage was approximately twice that expected in the absence of phenocopies. Incorrect specification of the probability of phenocopies in the analytic model did not materially alter the power of the proposed study, although significant effects on the estimated recombination fractions were noted.


Energy conservation techniques for wireless sensor networks generally assume that data acquisition and processing have energy consumption that is significantly lower than that of communication. Unfortunately, this assumption does not hold in a number of practical applications, where sensors may consume even more energy than the radio. In this context, effective energy management should include policies for an efficient utilization of the sensors, which become one of the main components that affect the network lifetime. In this paper, we propose an adaptive sampling algorithm that estimates online the optimal sampling frequencies for sensors. This approach, which requires the design of adaptive measurement systems, minimizes the energy consumption of the sensors and, incidentally, that of the radio while maintaining a very high accuracy of collected data. As a case study, we considered a sensor for snow-monitoring applications. Simulation experiments have shown that the suggested adaptive algorithm can reduce the number of acquired samples up to 79% with respect to a traditional fixed-rate approach. We have also found that it can perform similar to a fixed-rate scheme where the sampling frequency is known in advance.


This paper presents the results of tests made to study the effects of accumulative damage, column height, and longitudinal steel ratio on the vibrating properties of R/C columns. The random waves acceleration recorded by actual earthquakes in Japan-Nihonkaichubu-were induced on the specimens. Two kinds of dynamic tests were carried out. The column specimens which have three kinds of height and two kinds of longitudinal steel ratio were tested. From the test results2), the changes in vibrating properties were examined and compared with the last test results. It was found that the effect of accumulative damage on the damping factor was larger than that on the natural frequency and the dynamic damage in the natural frequency was mainly affected by steel yielding. Furthermore, the effects of column height on the natural frequency and damping factor agreed well with the expectation, and the effect of longitudinal steel ratio was not so significant.


Abstract Context. Central Australia has been a graveyard for native mammals, with many small and medium-sized species becoming extinct or persisting in reduced geographical ranges in this region since the advent of European settlement. Species in the critical weight range (35–5500 g) have been affected most dramatically. Aims. We compared the dynamics of two geographically distant populations of a medium-sized surviving desert mammal, the brush-tailed mulgara (Dasycercus blythi, ∼100 g), and tested the hypothesis that this species' persistence can be explained by its demographic plasticity. Methods. Paired sampling grids, each 31.5 ha, were set up in the Tanami Desert on the northern edge of the species' geographical range and near Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park (UKTNP) on the southern boundary. Animals were live-trapped every 3 months between 1992 and 1995, and estimates made of population size, residency, reproduction, bodyweight and tail width; the latter was used as an index of condition. Key results. The UKTNP site supported a larger population of D. blythi than did the Tanami Desert site. In both areas, the population fluctuated annually, declining during the breeding season (June to October) and increasing again following the influx of juveniles in spring. Females had one litter per year, with a median and maximum litter size of six; births in the Tanami occurred in July, at least a month earlier than they did at UKTNP. Bodyweights and tail widths peaked before breeding and then declined until spring, with animals retaining better body condition in the Tanami than at UKTNP. In both regions, individuals were resident for 1–2 years; daughters remained near their mother's home range but males moved to other areas. Conclusions. The results provided little support for our initial expectation that populations of D. blythi would behave differently in disparate parts of the species' geographical range, and suggested instead that this mulgara exhibits a predictable life history, with limited demographic flexibility. Implications. The persistence of D. blythi in central Australia is most likely a result of its striking flexibility in use of food resources, its ability to enter torpor and to tolerate large declines in bodyweight and condition, and its propensity to dig deep burrows. We suggest that these attributes buffer mulgaras from the impacts of introduced predators that have contributed to extinctions of other medium-sized marsupials, and from climatic and resource uncertainties that shape the dynamics of many smaller desert mammals.


We study a class of random transformations built over finitely many intermittent maps sharing a common indifferent fixed point. Using a Young-tower technique, we show that the map with the fastest relaxation rate dominates the asymptotics. In particular, we prove that the rate of correlation decay for the annealed dynamics of the random map is the same as the sharp rate of correlation decay for the map with the fastest relaxation rate.


Liver disease affects one-third of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and it is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in these patients. Historically considered a disease of childhood, its impact is now seen more often in adulthood. The heterogeneous pattern of CF liver disease and its rapid progression to cirrhosis remain a diagnostic challenge and new questions pertaining to the nature of liver involvement have recently been raised. Non-invasive measures to stratify the severity of liver involvement are increasingly used to predict clinical outcomes. A single treatment, ursodeoxycholic acid, has been used to slow progression of liver disease while recent advances in the field of CF treatments are promising. Management of portal hypertension remains challenging but outcomes after liver transplantation are encouraging. While many questions remain unanswered, a growing number of CF patients reach adulthood and will require care for CF liver disease.


14 –Diaries of the Great War is a transmedial project consisting of a documentary TV-series, a website, a radio programme, a photo book and a museum exhibition, produced for the centenary of World War One in 2014. The project was created by a transnational collaboration and aimed for a transnational audience. The TV-series aspired to create a new kind of historical documentary, showing history as it was experienced by ordinary people. This article compares how 14 – Diaries of the Great War was realised and received in Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. We argue that the TV-series, in spite of its transnational origin and ambitions was in effect being localized and re-nationalized, as it was adapted to the presumed preferences of national audiences.


Many recent works have dealt with the influence of fuel composition on regulated and specific pollutant emissions from spark ignition engines. While many qualitative correlations have been already proposed, only a few quantitative ones are known (benzene remains an exception). This paper describes qualitative and quantitative correlations between fuel composition and specific pollutant emissions (individual hydrocarbons, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, and organic acids) of a spark ignition engine. The aim of this work was to find the precursors of the main specific pollutants. Then, for each of them, a multilinear equation has been calculated, illustrating the correlation between its concentration in exhaust gases and its content in the fuel. The results of these calculations point out which initial compound favors the formation of a determined pollutant. As lean conditions are probably going to be used in future commercial engines, the fuel effect has been studied for a broad range of equivalence ratios (from 0.8 to 1.2).


BACKGROUND
Functional imaging provides a valuable adjunct to clinical evaluation for assessing the efficacy of cell-based restorative therapies in Parkinson's disease (PD).

SOURCES OF DATA
In this article, we review the latest advances on the use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in evaluating the surgical outcome of embryonic dopamine (DA) cell transplantation in PD patients.

AREAS OF AGREEMENT
These studies suggest long-term cell survival and clinical benefit following striatal transplantation of fetal nigral tissue in PD patients and in models of experimental parkinsonism.

AREAS OF CONTROVERSY
Adverse events subsequent to transplantation have also been noted and attributed to a variety of causes.

GROWING POINTS
Optimal outcomes of DA cell transplantation therapies are dependent on tissue composition and phenotype of DA neurons in the graft.

AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH
Given continued progress in DA neuron production from stem cells in recent years, transplantation of neural stem cells may be the next to enter clinical trials in patients.

CONCLUSION
The existing data from studies of embryonic DA transplantation for advanced PD have provided valuable insights for the design of new cell-based therapies for the treatment of this and related neurodegenerative disorders.


The pectoral myology and osteology of the cyprinoids Notemigonus crysoleucas, the golden shiner, and Catostomus commersonnii, the common white sucker, resemble those of generalized, lower teleosts in structure and function, except in features related to the manipulation of the massive fifth ceratobranchial of cyprinoids by muscles attaching on the girdle. Catostomus is more specialized in having unique intercostal muscles to the girdle, complex subclavian arteries and lack of a superficial trapezius muscle. The bony pectoral anatomy of the siluriform, Ictalurus nebulosus, the brown bullhead, is highly specialized in relation to the presence and locking of the massive pectoral spine which is formed of fused dorsal and ventral propterygial rays; there is consolidation of the girdle through fusion of bones, presence of unique stabilizing bony structures, firm symphyseal union of bilateral girdles and the presence of friction‐surfaces of girdle and spine for locking. The movements of the spine are specialized in the greater guidance offered by the girdle. Myological specializations are related mainly to ventral appendicular muscles which lock the spine. The nervous and arterial systems are generalized.


The protein A-gold technique has been widely applied for visual localization and quantification of various antigens by electron microscopy. Observation of specimens stained by the protein A-gold technique with conventional light microscopy is difficult because of insufficient sensitivity of the staining. Light microscopic visualization and quantification of the reaction products were attempted employing a confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). Liver tissues of normal and peroxisome proliferator-treated rats were fixed and embedded in Lowicryl K4M resin. Ultrathin and thin sections were stained for catalase and a peroxisome-specific β-oxidation enzyme by the protein A-gold technique. Ultrathin sections were observed by electron microscopy and the labeling density for each enzyme was analyzed with an image analyzer. Thin sections were observed with a CLSM in the reflection mode and the intensity of the light reflection was analyzed under the same conditions for all specimens. A comparison of these two observation procedures was also attempted using liver tissues stained with various concentrations of the antibody for catalase. The intensity of the reflection for each, as observed by CLSM, correlated well with the labeling density observed by electron microscopy. CLSM made it possible to quantify and to directly observe protein A-gold staining at the light microscopic level.


16 Large building stocks should be well managed, in terms of ordinary activities and formulating strategic plans, to achieve 17 energy savings through increased efficiency. It is b coming extremely important to have the capability to quickly and 18 reliably estimate buildings' energy consumption, especially for public authorities and institutions that own and manage 19 large building stocks. This paper analyses the heating energy consumption of eighty school buildings located in the 20 north of Italy. Two estimation models are developed and compared to assess energy consumption: a Multiple Linear 21 Regression (MLR) model and a Classification and Regression Tree (CART). The CART includes interpretable decision 22 rules that enable non-expert users to quickly extract useful information to benefit their decision making. The output of 23 MLR model is an equation that accounts for all of the major variables affecting heating energy consumption. Both 24 models were compared in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square error (RMSE), and Mean Absolute 25 Percentage error (MAPE). The analysis determined that the heating energy consumption of the considered school 26 buildings was mostly influenced by the gross heated volume, heat transfer surfaces, boiler size, and thermal 27 transmittance of windows. 28


This paper provides a rich reconstruction of the notion of dignity and rights of people and individuals in its Assyrian origins in ancient Mesopotamia. It analysis several particular positions. Among them, Bardaisan, Yacoub Aphraates (Aphrahat), Michael the Syriac, as well as, much later, the missionary policy of the Eastern Church in Asia and the influential of the Nestorian church in Asia.


In this paper, we find explicit formulas for higher order derivatives of the inverse tangent function. More precisely, we study polynomials which are induced from the higher-order derivatives of arctan(x). Successively, we give generating functions, recurrence relations and some particular properties for these polynomials. Connections to Chebyshev, Fibonacci, Lucas and Matching polynomials are established.


Kingdom J. C. €?, Kitchener H. C. & MacLean A. B. (1990) Postoperative urinary tract infection in gynecology: implications for an antibiotic prophylaxis policy. Obstet Gynaecol 76, 636-638. MacLean A. B. (1990) Puerperal pyrexia. In Clinical Infection in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p. 199. Smaill F. (1992) Antibiotic prophylaxis and caesarean section (Commentary). Br J Obstet Gynaecol 99,789-790.


This paper addresses capital accumulation and capital productivity change in an economy with endogenous technological change and floors and ceilings in activity. The properties of the resulting two-variable noniinear differential equation system are studied in some detail. The welfare implications are also considered. When discrete lags are introduced, wide-ranging behaviour emerges, which includes convergence to a steady-state, catastrophes, hysteresis, limit cycles and chaos. Simulations illustrate the results. It is found that external shocks, such as the diffusion of innovations from elsewhere, do not just change the level of the steady-state equilibrium but also the dynamical properties of the paths of output and productivity.


Group interventions are an important aspect of the roles of professionals in the schools. The literature on school based group interventions primarily provides a description of specific interventions and their component parts, with instructional steps for implementation. However, for a school based group intervention to be successful, the intervention must become institutionalized in the system within which it is being implemented, and planning for institutionalization must begin at the earliest stages of program or intervention design. This article provides guidelines for the professional working in the schools to follow to facilitate the long-term stabilization or institutionalization of an intervention. Structures that consultants and/or implementers can establish to help operadonalize the guidelines are described and illustrated through case examples with em-phasis on a special education setting serving an urban, multiethnic population. Caveats based on experiences with institutionalizing a social and...


Essential oils have been studied for various applications, including for therapeutic purposes. There is extensive literature regarding their properties; however, their low stability limits their application. Generally, the microencapsulation of essential oils allows enhanced stability and enables the potential incorporation in solid dosage forms. Lavender and peppermint oils were encapsulated in microparticles using a spray-drying technique under optimized conditions: 170 °C temperature, 35 m3/h aspiration volume flow, and 7.5 mL/min feed flow. Arabic gum and maltodextrin were used as coating polymers individually in varying concentrations from 5 to 20% (w/v) and in combination. The microparticles were studied for morphology, particle size, oil content, and flowability. The formulated powder particles showed a high yield of 71 to 84%, mean diameter 2.41 to 5.99 µm, and total oil content of up to 10.80%. The results showed that both the wall material type and concentration, as well as the type of essential oil, significantly affected the encapsulation process and the final particle characteristics. Our study has demonstrated that the encapsulation of lavender and peppermint oils in Arabic gum/maltodextrin microparticles by spray-drying represents a feasible approach for the conversion of liquids into solids regarding their further use in powder technology.


Thin polymer films are widely used as dielectric film, and the thermal diffusivity is one of critical parameters. The existing methods have great difficulties for measuring thermal diffusivity of thin films with thickness of several micrometers. The electric field distribution in a two-layer thin film with apparent difference in conductivity was measured by thermal pulse method. There should exist an interface between the two uniform electric field regions in the two-layer film under a low dc applied voltage. By Scale Transformation method, the frequency f corresponding to the position of the interface, which can be found in the (real-imag) distribution of original data. When we know frequency f and the layers thickness, the thermal diffusivity D can be calculated according to the relationship $z=(D/ \pi f)^{0.5}$. Thermal diffusivity D of polyethylene film with thickness 10 μm was measured. The measured thermal diffusivity D is very close to the literature. The proposal based on thermal pulse method can be an alternative way to measure thermal diffusivity of thin film, particularly for films less than 10 μm.


Dynamic threshold MOS (DTMOS) circuits provide low leakage and high current drive , compared to CMOS circuits, operated at lower voltages. This paper proposes a modified DTMOS approach called Variable threshold MOSFET (VTMOS) approach. The VTMOS is based on operating the MOS devices with an appropriate substrate bias, which varies with gate voltage by connecting a positive bias voltage between gate and substrate for NMOS and negative bias voltage between gate and substrate for PMOS. With VTMOS, there is considerable reduction in operating current and power dissipation, while the remaining characteristics are almost the same as those of DTMOS. Results of our investigations show that VTMOS circuits improves the power up to 50% when compared to CMOS and DTMOS circuits, in sub thresholdregion. The performance characteristics of VTMOS shift registerThe Power dissipation, Propagation delay and Power delay product have been evaluated through simulation using H spice. The dependency of these parameters on frequency of operation has also been investigated.


ATTENTION AND WORKING MEMORY: DISRUPTING FEATURE BINDING IN VISUAL WORKING MEMORY By Jonathan G. Hakun In the current study we investigated disruption of working memory for multi-feature visual objects through a visual change detection paradigm modified with a distraction manipulation (termed the "Binding Distraction Task"). The paradigm included three processing stages (study, maintenance, and test) with a distraction event presented during maintenance. The judgment performed on each trial involved deciding whether a single two-feature test object (a colored shape) contained the same or changed combination of shape and color as one of the study objects (i.e. contained the same feature binding). The distraction event involved presenting an array of visual objects arranged spatially in a manner similar to the study array. We compared performance on trials where distraction arrays contained objects sharing feature-overlap with the current trial's study objects (matched arrays) with trials where distracter objects contained study-related features but no overlap with the current trial's study set (related arrays). As compared with trials involving empty distraction arrays and baseline performance (no distraction), the presentation of matched arrays was consistently disruptive of binding change detection performance across all of the experiments presented here. The performance cost associated with related arrays however was more variable across experiments. Through an individual differences approach, we investigated an executive gating account of the distraction effect. That is, disruption is caused by a failure to keep distracter objects from reaching visual working memory (VWM) thereby displacing study objects. Based on this account we predicted that individuals with high working memory capacity (WMC), as measured through complex span and single feature change detection task performance, should be more resistant to distraction than low WMC individuals. However, the results of our individual differences analysis failed to provide support for the executive gating hypothesis (costs were unrelated to WMC). Alternatively, we proposed that distraction costs may reflect a special case of contingent attention capture. That is, attention may be biased toward distracter objects that overlap with the features active in VWM. To explore this hypothesis further we additionally conducted an fMRI study. The results of our fMRI analysis indicated that regions of the brain that are commonly involved in the voluntary and stimulus-driven control of attention responded in a manner consistent with our contingent capture hypothesis. Regions involved in the voluntary control of attention (superior parietal and prefrontal) parametrically scaled in activation in accordance with the proposed demands associated with each distraction condition. However, as further evidence against the executive gating hypothesis, activation in all of the regions involved in voluntary control did not relate to performance costs. On the other hand, regions associated with the contingent capture of attention (specifically, the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, VLPFC, and temporo-parietal junction) only reliably responded to the filled distracter arrays (related and matched arrays). Further, activation within the right VLPFC was positively related to the performance cost observed in both conditions. Altogether the results of the current study support a stimulus-driven account of disruption of VWM for bound features. Specifically, we conclude that maintaining multiple bound representations in VWM creates a context in which distracter objects containing feature-overlap capture attention and result in the downstream impoverishment of stored representations.


Covid-19 is the most widely used pandemic in the sector, a leading product in digital and digital media, including advertising, marketing and marketing. But Covid-1. The effect is mostly positive, not Covid-1. What other areas are about nations, human resources and tigers and so on. While the virus generates a lot of health insurance, social life, economic stability, jobs, etc. Intrastate, M., & Fuad, K. 2020, July stated that the list of customers and marketers. Covid-19 also leads to behavioral changes such as working remotely, spending a lot of time indoors, napping, learning recipes online, paying more attention to health and hygiene, prevention in Behavioral changes are particularly prevalent on digital platforms and digital content and create opportunities for marketers and brands to communicate digitally with customers more than ever. There has been an increase in social media engagement and the desire for digital content digital tools to sell many earning opportunities added Covid-1 at the same time. The strategy is based on the corporate strategy, and the strategy is based on the strategic aims of the company. The aim of this article is to highlight, analyze and understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital marketing and advertising in general.


This paper sets out to determine if there exists any relationship between dominant partisan ideologies and foreign aid policy preferences within the United States' political sphere. The research herein has been designed to test the working hypothesis that liberal party ideology leads to increased multilateral foreign aid practices, and conservative party ideology leads to increased bilateral foreign aid practices. Party ideology is quantified by recording the political party of the president and the party ratio in Congress over time, and is then analyzed in conjunction with foreign aid budget data over the same time period. The data indicate that this paper's hypothesis is valid in some respects, but fails to fully describe American foreign aid practices, as evidenced by some unexpected and intriguing results


Autosomic polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) can be defined as the most common of the genetic kidney diseases. The international research institute GfK conducted a survey to investigate the patient journey, meaning the impact of the disease on the patient population and their experiences and expectations regarding therapies and disease management. The study was conducted on 272 Italian ADPKD patients, using computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI). Results show that ADPKD heavily impacts affected patients, who are worried and distressed about the prospects of the disease. ADPKD also significantly influences work and family settings, with a high impact on psychological, social and economic behaviours. More than one third of the patients do not expect a comfortable quality of life.


(S)-Ketone cyanohydrins (S)-2 are accessible by enantioselective HCN addition to ketones 1 by using hydroxynitrile lyase from Manihot esculenta ((S)-MeHNL) as a biocatalyst. Acylation of (S)-2 gave the corresponding (S)-acyloxynitriles (S)-3, which can be cyclized by LHMDS to give 5,5-disubstituted (S)-4-amino-2(5H)-furanones (S)-4 and (S)-5. Different substituents (H. Me, OBn, OH) in the 3-position of the furanones were introduced by selecting the appropriate acylating agent, which in the case of benzyloxyacetyl chloride led to the novel structure type of 4-amino-3-hydroxyfuranones (S)-5. For the synthesis of 5,5-disubstituted (S)-tetronic acids (S)-8, ketone cyanohydrins (S)-2 were first transformed into the corresponding 2-hydroxy esters (S)-6. Acylation of (S)-6 gave 2-acyloxy esters (S)-7, which, by treatment with LHMDS or LDA, afforded tetronic acids (S)-8 in high yields and enantiomeric excesses. By debenzylation of benzyloxy acetoxy derivatives (S)-8e,f, the new vitamin C analogues (S)-9a,b were generated. All the described tetronic acid and aminofuranone derivatives were obtained in good chemical yields and without racemization with respect to the starting cyanohydrins (S)-2. In many cases the enantiomeric purity could be enriched by simple recrystallization (e.g. (S)-4a from 69% ee to > 99% ee).


The response of human endometrial stem cells (hESCs) to oxidative stress has been investigated by flow cytometry. Two terminally differentiated cell lines were used for the comparison: human embryonic lung fibroblasts and human dermal fibroblasts. The oxidative stress was designed by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) action in the wide range of concentrations (50-1500 microM) during 24 h. It has been shown that the H2O2 amount per one cell (pM/cell), but not H2O2 concentration in the growth medium, should be taken into account for the accurate evaluation of H2O2 effect on different cell lines. Therefore, in our experiments LD50 reflects the amount of H2O2 per cell, at which 50% cells survived after 24 h. We have demonstrated that hESCs are more resistant to H2O2 than embryonic lung fibroblasts, but less resistant than dermal fibroblasts.


Despite increasing awareness of the theoretical importance of habitat dynamics on metapopulations, only a few empirical studies have been conducted. We aimed to increase our understanding of how patch size, dynamics and connectivity affect colonization–extinction dynamics and the occurrence patterns of a beetle (Stephanopachys linearis), which breeds only in burned trees, existing as dynamic habitat patches that have become rare in managed forest landscapes. We assessed species' presence/absence twice in all known habitat patches (i.e. > 1 ha sites where forest fires had occurred during the previous 2–15 yr) in a 200 × 150 km region of central Sweden, dominated by managed boreal forest.

Evaluated over six years, the colonization rate was 47% and the local extinction risk was 65%. Probability of colonization increased with patch size (number of suitable trees in a site) and connectivity to occupied patches within 30 km, and decreased with increasing time since fire. Local extinction risk decreased with habitat patch size but increased, unexpectedly, with connectivity. Occurrence increased with patch size and decreased with increasing time since fire. At a regional scale, S. linearis tracks the fire dynamics by colonising sites with burned trees and by becoming extinct at rates which make the species rare at sites where burnt trees are more than eight years old. In managed boreal forest landscapes, a large proportion of sites may be created by prescribed burning (in our study area: 82%), and consequently human decisions strongly affect the future amount of habitat for fire-dependent species and its spatial distribution. Stephanopachys linearis uses burned sites more often if more trees are retained and, to some extent, if sites are concentrated in those parts of a region that already support high population densities of the species.


SUMMARY Parkinson's disease psychosis is a major problem complicating the drug treatment of the motor symptoms of the disease. It is one of the leading causes for nursing home placement, exceeding that of motor dysfunction, and is also a greater stressor for caregivers than motor dysfunction. While there is no approved treatment for this problem, it is important to first exclude medical contributions, such as occult infections, then to reduce psychoactive medications, including the medications for motor symptoms, followed by use of low-dose quetiapine or clozapine, giving the bulk of the dose at bedtime.


A technique of simultaneously measuring all three Cartesian components of displacement in holographic interferometry is proposed. A single camera is used to record four interferograms of different sensitivities on a single video frame with the aid of mirrors mounted behind the holographic plate. A transformation algorithm has been developed to transform the two-dimensional fringe centres on the interferograms onto the object surface in spatial coordinates. The transformation takes into account perspective distortion and lateral inversion of the images. The accuracy of the transformation is verified by transferring grid points on a graph paper fixed around a cylinder. The measurement technique has been verified by measuring the surface displacement of a thermally deforming cylinder and the results are compared with the prediction of a finite element model of the cylinder.


Power line inspection is very important for electric company to keep good maintenance of power line infrastructure and ensure reliable electric power distribution. Research efforts focus on automating the inspection process by looking for strategies to satisfy all kinds of requirements. Following this direction, this paper proposes a learning approach for all kinds of detecting problems, where aggregate channel features are used to train the boost classifier. Adopting the sliding window paradigm, the electric tower, insulator and nest can be located very fast. The main advantage of this approach is its efficiency and accuracy for processing huge quantity of image data. Obtaining highly encouraging results shows that it is really a promising technique.


The research presents epsilon hierarchical fuzzy twin support vector regression based on epsilon fuzzy twin support vector regression and epsilon twin support vector regression. Epsilon FTSVR is achieved by incorporating trapezoidal fuzzy numbers to epsilon TSVR which takes care of uncertainty existing in forecasting problems. Epsilon FTSVR determines a pair of epsilon insensitive proximal functions by solving two related quadratic programming problems. The structural risk minimization principle is implemented by introducing regularization term in primal problems of epsilon FTSVR. This yields dual stable positive definite problems which improves regression performance. Epsilon FTSVR is then reformulated as epsilon HFTSVR consisting of a set of hierarchical layers each containing epsilon FTSVR. Experimental results on both synthetic and real datasets reveal that epsilon HFTSVR has remarkable generalization performance with minimum training time.


In this paper we report the contribution of XRCE team to the Domain Adaptation Challenge [10] organized in the framework of ImageCLEF 2014 competition [9]. We describe our approach to build an image classification system when a weak image annotation in the target domain is compensated by massively annotated images in source domains. One method is based using several heterogeneous methods for the domain adaptation aimed at the late fusion of the individual predictions. One big class of domain adaptation methods addresses a selective reuse of instances from source domains for target domain. We adopt from this class the adaptive boosting for weighting source instances which learns a combination of weak classifiers in the target domain. Another class of methods aims to transform both target and source domains in a common space. In this class we focused on metric learning approaches aimed at reducing distances between images from the same class and to increase distances of different classes independently if they are from source or target domain. Combined the above approaches with a "brute-force" SVM-based approach we obtain a set of heterogeneous classifiers for class prediction of target instances. In order to improve the overall accuracy, we combine individual classifiers through different versions of majority voting. We describe different series of experiments including those submitted for the official competition and analyze their results.


On a planetary scale, the carbon cycle describes the movement of carbon between the atmosphere and the deep Earth. Carbon species are involved in diverse Earth processes, ranging from sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous petrology to the long-term viability of life at the Earth's surface. Volcanoes, and their associated magmatic systems, represent the interface through which carbon is transferred from the deep Earth to the surface. Thus, quantifying the CO2 budget of volcanic systems is necessary for understanding the deep carbon cycle and, concomitantly, the CO2 budget of the near surface, including the atmosphere. In this review, Kilauea volcano (Hawaii) is used as a case study to illustrate simple calculations that can account for processes that affect the amount and distribution of CO2 in this relatively well-studied volcanic system. These processes include methods to estimate the concentration of CO2 in a melt derived by partial melting of a source material, enrichment of CO2 in the melt during fractional crystallization, exsolution of CO2 from a fluid-saturated melt, trapping and post-entrapment modification of melt inclusions, and outgassing from the volcanic edifice. Our goal in this review is to provide straightforward example calculations that can be used to derive first-order estimates regarding processes that control the CO2 budgets of magmas and that can be incorporated into global carbon cycle models.


Study Design: Prospective case series. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of anterior-only approach, for treatment of type C F4 (AO classification) traumatic subaxial cervical spine injuries. Methods: Patients with type C F4 traumatic cervical injuries presenting to a tertiary center between June 2017 and July 2018 were included. Outcome measures included self-reported measures (Neck Disability Index, visual analogue scale, and return to work), radiological measures (local segmental angle, Ishihara curvature index, cervical lordosis angle, and step-off distance), fusion state, and neurological state according to American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS). Results: Twenty-one cases were operated by anterior approach with mean age 39.1 ± 13.8 years. The most common injury was at C4-5 (47.6%). Six out of 7 cases (85.7%) with preoperative neurological impairment showed late follow-up improvement by one or more grade in AIS. Complete anatomical reduction and imaging measures did not correlate significantly to the self-reported outcome measures. Median value of local segmental angle improved from −16° (−11° to −20) preoperatively to 0° (−7°) to 8°) at late follow-up. The cervical lordotic angle and Ishihara curvature index improved from 35° (29° to 43°) and 6.92 (−2.7 to 28.9) preoperatively, to 44° (33° to 51°) and 18.7 (−3.5 to 26.9) at the late follow-up, respectively. Step-off distance decreased postoperatively, however; complete reduction could not be achieved. Conclusion: Surgical treatment of lower cervical traumatic instability by anterior decompression and fusion is efficient regarding fusion state and patients' satisfaction. The anterior approach can be recommended in cases with neurological impairment and in patients with medical comorbidities or when a short operative time—compared with combined approach—is preferred.


The non-contact laser handpiece, comprising an optical component is changed to provide a high density uniform laser beam at a predetermined distance from minimizing the effects of back reflection, the handpiece.


Background: The sudden advent of the COVID pandemic resulted in the closure of schools and universities in Trinidad, limiting face to face interactions and removing dental students from the clinical environment in The University of the West Indies. The dental school was challenged to complete the final year teaching with a rapid transition to online teaching. This study examined students' and teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of emergency remote online teaching.Method: An online cross-sectional survey was administered on the perception of the online learning environment and challenges experienced and effectiveness of strategies used. Overall thirty-three dental students and eleven clinical academic teachers participated. The questionnaire was emailed to the participants for data collection and they responded by using a Likert scale. Reliability of the questionnaire was determined. Chi-squared (χ2) tests were applied for determining the perceptions of students and teachers towards online teaching. Frequencies and percentages were also computed.Result: Cronbach's alpha of the students' and teachers' questionnaire was calculated at 0.838 and 0.801 respectively. The majority of students (60.6% - 89.5%) perceived that online teaching strategies, have enhanced their clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills in clinical practice, felt motivated to learn, liked learning in their own space, at their own pace and found it easy to adapt. Nearly two-third students (63.6%) were happy to recommend continued use of online strategies. However, the majority (87.9%) perceived it to be somewhat or not effective at all in acquiring clinical skills. The challenges experienced were problems with connectivity to the internet (87.9%) while (48.5%) had experienced distraction during remote teaching. All χ2 values were found to be statistically significant (either P<0.01 or P<0.05). The majority of teachers (72.7% - 92.9%) perceived that they created an enthusiastic online environment, effectively communicated with the students, engaged students in clinical reasoning and critical thinking and gave formative feedback. Teachers were equally divided on whether or not they prepared students to practice clinical skills.Conclusion: Students' perceptions are similar to teachers' perceptions in both are positive to the online teaching strategies but both groups reflected concerns over the acquisition of clinical skills.


The study concerning dissemination and expansion of spore-forming rods and the possibility of botulinum toxin occurrence was performed on meat cans model contaminated experimentally with Clostridium botulinum type B366 toxigenic strain endospores. Meat cans were contaminated with the spore suspension of 4 x 10(3) spores per can and they were stored at 30 degrees C. Methodically visible toxigenicity (biological assay performed on white mice) took place in 84.3% cases by the time deformation of contaminated cans took place. When the first can bulging occurred almost 50% of contaminated cans were sensorially estimated as useful for consumption but almost 40% of them already contained toxin. In comparison to contaminated cans estimated sensorially as useful for consumption (in each experimental group) the percentage was established where the presence of toxin was determined as "consumer's risk". The mean value of those percentages was 76.4% for all experimental groups. In the studies on the vegetation dynamics and C. botulinum rods and toxin expansion in contaminated cans, we demonstrated the spore-forming rods dissemination, as well as limited range of toxin occurrence. Undertaken studies demonstrate that the process of toxigenicity often precede of accumulation of metabolic gases responsible for cans' deformation, as well as generation of visible sensorial changes which disqualified the contaminated cans for consumption.


The classical PAC sample complexity bounds are stated for any Empirical Risk Minimizer (ERM) and contain an extra logarithmic factor $\log(1/{\epsilon})$ which is known to be necessary for ERM in general. It has been recently shown by Hanneke (2016) that the optimal sample complexity of PAC learning for any VC class C is achieved by a particular improper learning algorithm, which outputs a specific majority-vote of hypotheses in C. This leaves the question of when this bound can be achieved by proper learning algorithms, which are restricted to always output a hypothesis from C.
In this paper we aim to characterize the classes for which the optimal sample complexity can be achieved by a proper learning algorithm. We identify that these classes can be characterized by the dual Helly number, which is a combinatorial parameter that arises in discrete geometry and abstract convexity. In particular, under general conditions on C, we show that the dual Helly number is bounded if and only if there is a proper learner that obtains the optimal joint dependence on $\epsilon$ and $\delta$.
As further implications of our techniques we resolve a long-standing open problem posed by Vapnik and Chervonenkis (1974) on the performance of the Support Vector Machine by proving that the sample complexity of SVM in the realizable case is $\Theta((n/{\epsilon})+(1/{\epsilon})\log(1/{\delta}))$, where $n$ is the dimension. This gives the first optimal PAC bound for Halfspaces achieved by a proper learning algorithm, and moreover is computationally efficient.


This paper presents a simulation study of a video-on-demand system. The focus of the study is the effectiveness of different caching strategies on a video-on-demand system with two levels of cache, RAM and disks, in front of a tape library. Using an event-driven simulator, I show that the service capacity of the system benefited only marginally from caching if no other information was available. I find that ondemand caching was only useful if movies to be shown clustered around a few popular titles (in other words, there was temporal locality).


ABSTRACT The type of the research is Classroom Action Research. This research is aimed to improve grade V students' fast reading ability by using Speed Reading Method at State Primary School 101800 Deli Tua, Deli Tua Subdistrict, Deli Serdang Regency, Academic Year 2012. Data collecting is done as follow : (1) reading speed test, (2) reading comprehension test, (3) then data improvement is done by through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with grade V primary school teachers to know the students' reading obstacles. In pre-cycle test, the students' achievement result is very low. Class Va is in good category with the average of students' fast reading is 155 wpm and the reading comprehension ability is 85%. In class Vb, the average of students' fast reading is 167 wpm and the reading comprehension ability is 86% which is in good category. In cycle II, the improvement of students' fast reading ability is 76,6%. And the improvement of students' reading comprehension ability is 76%. It means that the speed reading method can be applied to improve students' fast reading and reading comprehension ability. Keywords: Fast reading, speed reading method, primary school students


John begins his online discussion board post on the differences between speech and writing with: "Writing is uh, well, more fluid than speech, you know, you don't have the same, uh, disfluencies, that um–you do while talking. Writing also gives you the chance to pontificate by showcasing archaic nomenclatures and constructions that would get you slapped in everyday conversational use." John's opening sentence both describes and performs the differences between speech and writing and, by so doing, persuades more effectively. In creative writing parlance, he shows rather than tells, deriving pleasure from both his performance and his expectation of interaction on an online stage. John's opener above demonstrates how some students transform online academic spaces by resisting the traditional expository mode of academic discourse shaped within a print medium and by deploying rhetorical strategies that take advantage of the interactive, reciprocal medium of an online environment. Many students, like John, derive enjoyment not only from their own literacy performances but also from the expectation that their performances will be read, acknowledged, answered, and sometimes resisted by others. John's playful opener employs an approach many students consider a more effective invitation to dialogue than the simple thesis-driven, referential statement that is characteristic of expository writing. John's humorous performance might yield authorial pleasure not only in the act of composing a clever post but especially in attracting classmates' responses, including praise. Jane compliments John: "I admire your be-


Friction between two solid surfaces often exhibits strong rate and slip-history dependence, which critically determines the dynamic stability of frictional sliding. Empirically, such an evolutional effect has been captured by the rate-and-state friction (RSF) law based on laboratory-scale experiments; but its applicability for generic sliding interfaces under different length scales remains unclear. In this Letter, frictional aging, the key manifestation of the evolutional behavior, of silica-silica contacts is studied via slide-hold-slide tests with apparent contact size spanning across 3 orders of magnitude. The experimental results demonstrate a clear and strong length scale dependency in frictional aging characteristics. Assisted by a multiasperity RSF model, we attribute the length scale effect to roughness-dependent true contact area evolution as well as scale-dependent friction stress due to nonconcurrent slip.


The research aims to: The researchers used the descriptive approach in the survey method for its relevance and the nature of the research. The research community consisted of (490) Paralympic players, divided into (14) Iraqi Paralympic Committee sub-accredited by the Iraqi National Paralympic Committee in the central region, the middle Euphrates region, and the southern region. Determine the research community according to the comprehensive inventory method, and the sample numbers were (282) players While the application sample amounted to (141) players, and (10) players were used for the exploratory experiment, and in analyzing the data, the percentage, standard deviation, simple correlation coefficient, Spearman-Brown equation, Gittmann's equation and Cronbach's alpha coefficient were used, and the researchers concluded that there is a very high level for all dimensions of the questionnaire.


INTRODUCTION
Multi-dose drug dispensing (MDDD) signifies that the patient's medicine is packed in disposable bags corresponding to the dose that should be taken. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how a hospital MDDD instruction was followed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
All patients receiving MDDD on admission to the acute medical admission ward at Bispebjerg Hospital in the period from 1 January to 30 June 2010 were prospectively included in the study. An audit of the medication lists and hospital case records covering the period from admission to discharge was performed. A proportion of patients received a post-discharge home visit. An interview in both sectors was carried out to determine whether the instructions had been followed.

RESULTS
Almost 9% of the patients were receiving MDDD on admission. Information on MDDD was recorded in the physician case record for 3.4% of the patients and in the nurse case record for 12.9% of the patients. Changes in MDDD during hospitalization were made for 58.3% of the patients. General practitioners and/or the community pharmacy were notified of changes in MDDD at discharge for 13.6% of the patients. The post-discharge visits and the interview revealed potential issues of concern regarding patient safety.

CONCLUSION
MDDD is frequent. Identification and registration of MDDD is only performed sporadically. Changes in MDDD are frequent, but they are rarely accompanied by information to the general practitioner or the community pharmacy.

FUNDING
The project was partly funded by the Ministry of Health and Prevention 2009.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
The study was approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency.


We propose a novel transformer-based framework that reconstructs two high fidelity hands from multi-view RGB images. Unlike existing hand pose estimation methods, where one typically trains a deep network to regress hand model parameters from single RGB image, we consider a more challenging problem setting where we directly regress the absolute root poses of two-hands with extended forearm at high resolution from egocentric view. As existing datasets are either infeasible for egocentric viewpoints or lack background variations, we create a large-scale synthetic dataset with diverse scenarios and collect a real dataset from multi-calibrated camera setup to verify our proposed multi-view image feature fusion strategy. To make the reconstruction physically plausible, we propose two strategies: (i) a coarse-to-fine spectral graph convolution decoder to smoothen the meshes during upsampling and (ii) an optimisation-based refinement stage at inference to prevent self-penetrations. Through extensive quantitative and qualitative evaluations, we show that our framework is able to produce realistic two-hand reconstructions and demonstrate the generalisation of synthetic-trained models to real data, as well as real-time AR/VR applications.


Post-natal maturation of the myocardium starts shortly after birth and could affect how clinicians should provide hemodynamic support during this transition. Our aim was to assess the impact of post-natal maturation on tolerance to tachycardia with altered loading condition in a piglet model. Methods: We report three series of experimentations. Six groups of landrace cross neonatal piglets (NP) (1–3 days) and young piglets (YP) (14–17 days) were assigned to tachycardia (NP, YP), tachycardia and hypervolemia (NPV, YPV) or tachycardia and increased afterload (NPA, YPA) groups (n = 7/group). Under anesthesia, a pressure catheter was placed in the left ventricle and pacing wire in the right atrium. NPV and YPV groups had 60 ml/kg of normal saline infused over 20 min. NPA and YPA had balloon sub-occlusion of the descending aorta. Heart rate was increased by 10 bpm increments to 300 bpm. Left ventricular output was measured by echocardiography. Results: NP maintained left ventricular output throughout the pacing protocol but it decreased in the YP (p < 0.001). With volume loading both NPV and YPV maintained their output with tachycardia. Although increased afterload resulted in reduced output during tachycardia in NPA (p = 0.005), there was no added impact on output in YPA. Interestingly, 4 of 7 NPV had significant desaturation at 300 bpm (baseline 99.7% vs. 300 bpm 87.9%, p = 0.04), associated with a right to left shunt through the patent foramen ovale which resolved immediately on cessation of pacing. Conclusions: Early post-natal maturation is associated with improved myocardial tolerance to increased afterload and poor tolerance of tachycardia, the latter of which may be alleviated by increasing intravascular volume. These data could translate into the development of better strategies to optimize cardiac output at these early development ages.


Two hundred nine macular holes of both pathologic myopia and idiopathic senile type were statistically analyzed to find out which factors cause retinal detachment in eyes with macular holes. The incidences of retinal detachment were as follows: 97.6% in myopia over -8.25 D, 67.7% in myopia between -8.0 and -3.25 D, and 1.1% in eyes under -3.0 D; 100% in widespread chorioretinal atrophy, 90.6% in spotty or lineal chorioretinal atrophy, 64.3% in myopic tigroid fundus, and 0% in eyes without myopic tigroid or atrophy; 96.0% in eyes with posterior staphyloma and 8.2% in eyes without it; 56.4% in posterior vitreous detachment [PVD](+) eyes, 53.3% in PVD(±) eyes, and 51.9% in PVD(-) eyes. The statistically significant (P<0.05) factors that caused retinal detachment were refractive error, myopic chorioretinal change, and posterior staphyloma. There was no statistically significant difference regarding PVD.


Abstract : The behavior of foundations for protective structures is studies through a combination of theoretical and experimental research. Particular emphasis is placed on formulating a mathematical model which accurately predicts the gross motion of a dynamically loaded footing. A single-degree-of-freedom model incorporating a linear damping factor is developed and the results obtained from this model are correlated with the results from experiments performed under previous contracts. Other studies reported included three-dimensional static experiments of small model footings on cohesive soils; static experiments on a cohesionless soil where the footing and surrounding soil are subjected to overpressure; development of the logarithmic spiral failure surface for bearing capacity of continuous foundations; and a solution of a dissipation mechanism for dynamic soil behavior. (Author)


Bovine Pericardium for Scleral Closure in Transscleral Local Resection of Choroidal Melanoma The current treatment of uveal melanoma aims to conserve the eye as well as useful vision. Conservative therapy includes brachytherapy, charged particle teletherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, transpupillary thermotherapy, and transscleral local resection. Despite technical advances, local resection of posterior uveal melanoma (choroidectomy and cyclochoroidectomy) remains a challenging procedure, and therefore, it is indicated only in selected cases. Transscleral local resection should be performed for tumors whose larger basal diameter is less than 16 mm and whose thickness exceeds 8 to 9 mm; because in these cases, the incidence of complications related to radiotherapy increases and consequently the chances of conserving vision are reduced.1 Local resection, if performed in selected cases and by an experienced team, has been shown to obtain excellent results in terms of local tumor control and in preserving a good visual function.2,3 Retinal detachment is one of the main complications of this surgical procedure. Its main cause are retinal tears, which are most likely to occur if the tumor is adherent to the retina.4 When a retinal tear occurs, immediate vitreoretinal surgery, performed soon after the removal of the tumor, usually prevents postoperative retinal detachment.4 In addition, the ripping of the scleral flap constitutes a further complication of transscleral local resection. It mainly occurs when the site of a rectus muscle insertion is involved in the dissection because of thinner scleral tissue. In this study, we present our experience of using bovine pericardium patches allografts to strengthen globe stability, repairing possible iatrogenic defects in the scleral flap, and to assist immediate vitrectomy, thus avoiding fluid leakage at the margins of the sutured scleral flap.


Boron carbide (BC) possesses a number of unique characteristics that render it suitable for specialized device applications, including neutron detectors and low-k dielectrics. Since 10B is one of few isotopes with a high neutron capture cross section, boron carbide is one of a handful of boron-rich semiconductors under consideration for direct-conversion solid-state neutron detection. Further, with such a low average atomic number, BC has the potential to exhibit extremely low polarizability and therefore, a low dielectric constant, while also retaining chemical, thermal, and mechanical robustness, which positions well for low-k dielectric uses. For both of these applications, low leakage currents are required, and traditional semiconducting polycrystalline BxC (x ~ 4-11) is therefore unsuitable. A unique BC variant, amorphous hydrogenated boron carbide (a-BxC:Hy), fabricated by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition from carborane precursors, has been found to possess the necessary semi-insulating properties for these applications. Known since the early 90's, carborane-based a-BxC:Hy has been the subject of some physical and electronic structure studies, but a lot remains to be done to thoroughly characterize its materials properties, as well as their tunability. Due to the amorphous nature of the solid, much of this characterization is nontrivial. Although it possesses a relatively similar stoichiometry to traditional BxC, a-BxC:Hy is a very different material, both in terms of atomic structure and material properties. Further, due to its complex bonding, it does not fall into a conventional framework for analysis, such as that developed for the classes of amorphous inorganic tetrahedral semiconductors or organic semiconductors. This contribution will describe recent efforts toward understanding a-BxC:Hy, including its local physical structure and the role of carbon and hydrogen, the nature of its electronic structure and disorder parameters such as Urbach energy, and their relationship to optical and electrical transport properties.


A technique for deriving the distortion equation of a lens system using moiré fringes is introduced, from which a correction factor equation is derived, making it unnecessary to use high quality lenses to make absolute measurements, as applicable to strain measuring instrumentation.


In this chapter, we identify and critically evaluate the kind of things that can go wrong in the criminal justice process and describe the institutional architecture used to regulate the actions and effects of criminal justice practitioners and to hold them to account. The focus of the chapter is on the organisational, legal and democratic regulatory and accountability mechanisms associated with the police, courts and CPS. Specifically the chapter covers: Police and Crime Commissioners; citizen- and volunteer-led forms of accountability/regulation; royal commissions, public inquiries and independent inquiries; police complaints processes and inspectorates; trial remedies and appeals; the Criminal Cases Review Commission; civil proceedings; inquests and Coronial Courts.


Generalised statements about the state of fire science are often used to provide a simplified context for new work. This paper explores the validity of five frequently repeated statements regarding empirical and physical models for predicting wildland fire behaviour. For empirical models, these include statements that they: (1) work well over the range of their original data; and (2) are not appropriate for and should not be applied to conditions outside the range of the original data. For physical models, common statements include that they: (3) provide insight into the mechanisms that drive wildland fire spread and other aspects of fire behaviour; (4) give a better understanding of how fuel treatments modify fire behaviour; and (5) can be used to derive simplified models to predict fire behaviour operationally. The first statement was judged to be true only under certain conditions, whereas the second was shown not to be necessarily correct if valid data and appropriate modelling forms are used. Statements three through five, although theoretically valid, were considered not to be true given the current state of knowledge regarding fundamental wildland fire processes.


Bacterial symbioses are widespread among insects, probably being one of the key factors of their evolutionary success. We present the complete genome sequence of Blochmannia floridanus, the primary endosymbiont of carpenter ants. Although these ants feed on a complex diet, this symbiosis very likely has a nutritional basis: Blochmannia is able to supply nitrogen and sulfur compounds to the host while it takes advantage of the host metabolic machinery. Remarkably, these bacteria lack all known genes involved in replication initiation (dnaA, priA, and recA). The phylogenetic analysis of a set of conserved protein-coding genes shows that Bl. floridanus is phylogenetically related to Buchnera aphidicola and Wigglesworthia glossinidia, the other endosymbiotic bacteria whose complete genomes have been sequenced so far. Comparative analysis of the five known genomes from insect endosymbiotic bacteria reveals they share only 313 genes, a number that may be close to the minimum gene set necessary to sustain endosymbiotic life.


Kosti Taxis as one of the transportation companies still have consumers who have a low repurchase interest. This is due to the increasing number of online taxis that have sprung up at lower prices and the quality of services is not much different This study aims to find out how the influence provided by price and quality of service on the repurchase interest of Kosti Taxis. The type of sampling uses purposive sampling. The type of research used is the type of explanation (explanatory research) while the data collection technique uses a questionnaire with the Likert measurement scale. The number of samples used in this study were 100 respondents. The results of this study indicate that the variable price and service quality each have a significant, strong and positive influence on repurchasing interest. Two variables have been tested in stages or together show the results that the price variable (0.508) and service quality (0.102) simultaneously have a positive influence on the repurchase intention variable. The amount of contribution owned by the price variable is greater than the amount of contribution owned by the quality of service, the coefficient of determination (R²) for the price variable of 45.4% and service quality of 16%.


Intravenous (IV) iron is often given to treat iron deficiency anemia in adults undergoing hemodialysis. Evidence supports an association between IV iron and infection exits, which often create a clinical dilemma: whether to give or to hold in the presence of infection. This article presents the best available evidence regarding the risk of IV iron and infection along with nephrology nursing practice implications.


In this paper, a narrowband and compact antenna resonating at 6.1 GHz with a peak realized gain of 3.3 dBi is proposed to monitor the glucose concentration in the blood without taking invasive blood samples. The proposed antenna is fabricated using a low-cost FR-4 substrate with compact dimensions of 30 mm × 30 mm × 1.6 mm. The impedance bandwidth of this antenna ranges from 5.2 to 7.1 GHz. For measuring blood glucose levels, a human finger phantom model with dimensions of 15 mm × 12 mm × 10 mm is constructed using the EM simulation (HFSS) environment. The finger phantom consists of different layers such as skin, fat, muscle, blood, and bone modeled at 6.1 GHz using various dielectric materials for various glucose concentrations. The finger phantom model is placed at different locations around the antenna to measure the frequency shift for monitoring glucose concentration in blood samples. The proposed finger phantom model is validated by conducting an experimental study by placing a real human finger around the fabricated antenna and measuring the frequency shift. This study shows a very good agreement with the results obtained by the simulated phantom model. The advantages and outperformance of the proposed sensor are highlighted in terms of the sensitivity obtained and compared with other techniques given in the literature.


There are million cows West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). considering that it has considerable ruminant potential in this area in West Lombok and Central Lomok. Many beef cattle farms are carried out in West Lombok regency, Central Lombok, many cattle are used by concurrent breeding and combining where beef cattle are fattened from the breeding of farmers. At present forage feed management in several special beef cattle breeders in West Lombok District Suranadi Village, Selebung Village and Central Lombok Pengembur Prabu Village. The results of receiving data obtained from the results of 70% of farmers in feeding are only using estimates that produce the amount of forage and concentrate feed that is not in accordance with the needs of beef cattle. In this study an application for calculating the amount of feed for an Android-based animal was built. The feature in this application uses body length and circumference of data as input then produces the weight of beef cattle, the weight of forage feed, and the weight of the weight of the needs of beef cattle. The application calculation formula refers to beef cattle breeding, which is forage of 10% body weight and 1% weight and cow weight Analysis of problems and needs using the SWOT method, system design using UML (Unified Modeling Language), Extreme Programming as a method of application development. The results of this study indicate that the Android-based feed counter application can help farmers in West Lombok District and Central Lombok Regency in measuring the amount of feed and knowing animal weight. In addition, this application is offline so it is very easy to be used by farmers. Keyword: Android Application, Beef, cattle fattenin


Agent-based models (ABM) are examples of complex adaptive systems, which can be characterized as those systems for which no model less complex than the system itself can accurately predict in detail how the system will behave at future times. Consequently, the standard tools of policy analysis, based as they are on devising policies that perform well on some best estimate model of the system, cannot be reliably used for ABM. This paper argues that policy analysis by using ABM requires an alternative approach to decision theory. The general characteristics of such an approach are described, and examples are provided of its application to policy analysis.


The article presents actual data concerning epidemiology, clinical picture, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of polymyalgia rheumatica (PR). Specific laboratory tests are not applied. Diagnosis is made clinically but thorough differential diagnosis is required. In 2012 there was published the classification criteria of the disease. The article provides the calculation of the activity index of PR, approaches to its treatment. Standard therapy still offers corticosteroids. Revelation of new pathogenetic aspects led to the use of biological therapy. Tocilizumab was effective in the dose of 8 mg kg of weight.


We describe reductions from the problem of determining the satisfiability of Boolean CNF formulas (CNF-SAT) to several natural algorithmic problems. We show that attaining any of the following bounds would improve the state of the art in algorithms for SAT:
 • an O(nk-ε) algorithm for k-Dominating Set, for any k ≥ 3,
 • a (computationally efficient) protocol for 3-party set disjointness with o(m) bits of communication,
 • an n°(d) algorithm for d-SUM,
 • an O(n5-ε) algorithm for 2-SAT formulas with m = n1+0(1) clauses, where two clauses may have unrestricted length, and
 • an O((n + m)k-ε) algorithm for HornSat with k unrestricted length clauses.
 One may interpret our reductions as new attacks on the complexity of SAT, or sharp lower bounds conditional on exponential hardness of SAT.


Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention at Federation University Australia (formerly Centre for Health and Sport Safety


Exercise performance in patients with impaired ventricular function does not correlate well with the severity of dysfunction. Patients with ventricular dysfunction can achieve a fairly high work capacity, and the physiological variables respond in a similar way, regardless of whether or not the patients do or do not have impaired function. Furthermore, patients with pump dysfunction can benefit from a supervised physical training programme by improving their functional capacity and thus, their quality of life. The absolute contraindications for exercise therapy in this group of patients with coronary artery disease should therefore be identical to those who have normal ventricular function. In our opinion, special attention should be exercised in patients who have chronotropic incompetence, lack of an elevation or decrease in blood pressure during exercise performance and in those whose stroke volume is not elevated during even low to moderate work-loads. Recommendations as to the implication of exercise therapy as a therapeutic modality in patients with ventricular impairment must be accepted with caution. The reason for this is that our observations are based on historical, anecdotal trials, most of which included only a modest number of patients. Future research and a prolonged follow-up is needed in order to obtain both a more exact analysis and eventually scientifically based evidence on the benefits and hazards involved.


MEMS/NEMS resonators are widely studied in biological detection, physical sensing, and quantum coupling. This paper reviews the latest research progress of MEMS/NEMS resonators with different structures. The resonance performance, new test method, and manufacturing process of single or double-clamped resonators, and their applications in mass sensing, micromechanical thermal analysis, quantum detection, and oscillators are introduced in detail. The material properties, resonance mode, and application in different fields such as gyroscope of the hemispherical structure, microdisk structure, drum resonator are reviewed. Furthermore, the working principles and sensing methods of the surface acoustic wave and bulk acoustic wave resonators and their new applications such as humidity sensing and fast spin control are discussed. The structure and resonance performance of tuning forks are summarized. This article aims to classify resonators according to different structures and summarize the working principles, resonance performance, and applications.


To describe the indications, endoscopic findings and complications of Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Retrospective analysis of data collected from all patients underwent ERCP in the year 2015. Setting: Gastroenterology department, Military Hospital Rawalpindi. Period: From 1st January 2015 to 31ST December 2015. Materials and Methods: The main outcomes were technical success, safety and complications. Results: Total 469 patients underwent ERCP inmilitary hospital Rawalpindi in year 2015. Common bile duct (CBD) cannulation was achieved in 437 (93.1%) patients. CBD stones were found in 182 (38%) and CBD stricture in 79 (16.8%). Sphincteroplasty was needed for extraction of large stones in 13 (2.7%) cases. CBD stricture with co-existing stones above was seen in 25 cases (5.3%). Large stones not amenable to endoscopic extraction were seen in 24 cases (5.1%). Total 25 cases of ampullary growth (5.3%) and 15 cases (3.1%) of CBD leak post cholecystectomy were noted. 6 cases (1.27%) were identified as choledochal cyst with CBD Stones. PD stones with dilated PD identified in 5 cases (1.06%) and post-cholecystectomy CBD clipped in 3 cases (0.63%). 3 cases of displaced PD stent ended up in successful retrieval. 21 cases developed acute pancreatitis (4.4%) out of which 3 were found to have severe pancreatitis having fluid collections. 3 cases (0.6%)had retroperitoneal perforation (2 were managed conservatively and 1 through surgery). 4 cases (0.8%)had significant post procedure bleed requiring re-scope with adrenal injection at bleeding site, and hemostasis achieved. Conclusions: ERCP in Combined Military Hospital Rawalpindi hospital was associated with a high degree of technical success and a low risk of complications.


The Narcissistic Grandiosity Scale (NGS; Rosenthal et al., 2020) is a 16-item adjective-rating scale with scores that measure narcissistic grandiosity, a central feature of the grandiose form of narcissism. The NGS was developed both to measure the narcissistic grandiosity construct and to do so in a way that maximally distinguishes narcissistic grandiosity from nongrandiose self-esteem, a construct with which narcissistic grandiosity is often conflated. Over the past few years, different shortened versions of the NGS have been recommended in the literature. To evaluate these shortened versions, we used a meta-analysis to assess how well scores on each NGS item measured narcissistic grandiosity and distinguished it from self-esteem. Using zero-order and partial correlations from 40 data sets, which included information from 14,938 individual participants, we found that all NGS items correlated moderately with grandiose narcissism and largely retained those relations when controlling for self-esteem as well as narcissistic entitlement. The results help inform researchers about the degree to which items recommended for shorter versions of the NGS meet the scale's theoretical goals. We conclude that, when possible, it is advantageous for researchers to continue to use the full 16-item version of the scale. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).


The great prospects for low-power magnetoelectronic devices trigger significant research activity aiming at voltage-control of magnetism. In this field, ion migration and reversible electrochemical reactions currently open a pathway to voltage-reprogrammable magnetic materials. Up to now, such electrochemical manipulation of oxide/metal heterostructures is mainly reported for thin films prepared by physical methods. The present study describes an all-electrochemical route by utilizing electrodeposited FeOx/Fe nanoislands as a starting state. Repeatable electrochemical conversion between ferromagnetic Fe and FeOx is achieved in KOH solution and exploited for voltage control of the magnetization of the nanoislands. For the smallest nanoislands, exhibiting dimensions of a few nanometers, almost complete voltage-induced ON/OFF switching of magnetism at room temperature is detected by in situ transport and ferromagnetic resonance measurements. The observed effects are enhanced in comparison to those of continuous films, which points at the morphology as an influencing factor of electrochemical voltage control of magnetism. The all-electrochemical approach is decisive for extending the application possibilities for voltage-programmable magnetic materials, because, by electrochemical deposition, geometry restrictions can be overcome and 3D structures can be functionalized.


Background Negative life events in middle school students have a significant impact on depression. However, the mechanism of this association is not fully understood. This study used rumination and perceived social support as mediating variables to explore the influence of negative life events on depression. Materials and methods Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing, a convenient sampling method was adopted to collect information about middle school students in Shandong Province by means of online questionnaire. Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Check List, Ruminative Responses Scale, Perceived Social Support Scale and Children's Depression Inventory were used. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted for four variables of middle school students, including life events, depression, rumination thinking and perceived social support, and the chain mediated effect was tested by using process plug-in. All statistically analysis was conducted by SPSS 23.0. Results 493 middle school students (16.7000 ± 0.9500 years) including 343 female students (69.6000%) from Shandong Province recruited. Results showed that the total effect between life events and depression was significant (effect = 0.2535, 95%CI: 0.2146, 0.2924). The total indirect effect was significant (effect = 0.1700, 95%CI: 0.1349, 0.2072). The indirect effect was significant (effect = 0.0988, 95%CI: 0.0741, 0.1252) with rumination as the mediating variable. The indirect effect of pathway with perceived social support as the mediating variable was significant (effect = 0.0476, 95%CI: 0.0295, 0.0674). The indirect effect of pathway with rumination and perceived social support as mediating variables was also significant (effect = 0.0236, 95%CI: 0.0147, 0.0339). Conclusion This study indicated that ruminant thinking and perceived social support had a significant chain mediating effect on adolescents' life events and depression. Life events can not only directly affect depressive emotions, but also indirectly affect depressive emotions by affecting ruminant thinking and perceived social support. The results of this study not only provide new directions for the relationship between life events and depression, but also provide possible approaches for future prevention and intervention of depression in middle school students.


The colorful surrounding can be perceived by individual with the help of Chakshurendriya i.e. eye. This sense organ acquires utmost importance as this is one of the vital sense perceptions for human beings.
A 36 year old male patient was voluntarily selected for this study. He was diagnosed with Ashopha Akshipaka on the basis of symptoms wise burning sensation, sticky discharge, pricking sensation, heaviness, mild congestion, ocular pain and discomfort in both eyes. Viddha karma (bloodletting) is the only treatment modality selected for this study. Total 3 sittings of Viddhakarma (bloodletting) done consequentially for 3 days. Viddhakarma (bloodletting) done at the points described by Acharya Sushruta in Sushruta Nidana Sthana as Apang (Depression at lateral end of the eye brow), Lalate (on the forehead one and half finger above the eyebrow) and Upanasika (lateral aspect of alla). After first sitting Patient got relief, more than expected. Viddha karma (bloodletting) shows significant result in Ashopha Akshipaka and it helps in reducing the intensity of the symptoms in short period of time without any medicine.


Antley-Bixler syndrome (ABS) is an exceptionally rare craniosynostosis syndrome characterized by radiohumeral synostosis present from the perinatal period. There is a wide spectrum of anomalies seen within ABS, and other features include midface hypoplasia; choanal stenosis or atresia; multiple joint contractures; visceral anomalies, particularly of the genitourinary system; and impaired steroidogenesis.The condition of ABS is curious in that mutations of 2 separate genes have been identified and that there seem to be subtle phenotypic differences between the 2 genotypes. Mutations of the P450 oxidoreductase gene have been reported in those patients with genital anomalies and/or impaired steroidogenesis, and the S351C mutation of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 gene has been reported predominantly in those patients with normal genitalia and steroidogenesis. We report a series of 4 patients with ABS and review their main findings and management.


We propose an analytic model of the Brazilian nut effect (BNE) that utilizes void filling as the primary mechanism behind the rise to the surface of one large buried intruder particle in an externally driven confined mixture with many small particles. When the intruder rises upward, it creates a void underneath it that is immediately filled by small particles preventing the intruder from sinking back to its previous position. Even though the external driving is only along the vertical direction, the small particles are able to move transversely into the void due to the Janssen effect, which postulates that the magnitudes of the vertically directed and transversely directed forces in a confined granular system are directly proportional to each other. The Janssen effect allows us to calculate the transverse speed distribution in which the small particles fill up the void and the temporal dynamics of the intruder particle in the vertically shaken container. We determine the time-dependent behavior of the intruder vertical position h, its rise velocity dh/dt, and the phase (dh/dt vs. h) as a function of particle size ratio Φ, container diameter Dc, kinetic friction coefficient μ, and packing fraction c. Finally, we show that the predictions of our BNE model agree well with published experimental and simulation results. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 16: 9–16, 2011 © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


In this essay, I analyse the legal case through an analogy with drawing. In the first place, this analogy is described at the level of the basic characters of both drawing and case; then, the analogy is approached from a dynamic perspective, with a focus on the performative nature both of the act of drawing and of the act of judging on the singular legal case. The first section prepares the argumentative foundations for the following section (§2), dedicated to a brief comparison between two perspectives rooted in social ontology, i.e. Searle's intentionality and Ferraris' documentality. Through their comparison, and with an eye at their integration, the analogy behind the whole essay drives to develop some remarks around the nature of the law (§3). By bringing back the focus on the line both uniting and dividing abstraction and concreteness, facts and norms, the legal case and the allegory of drawing lead to reflect on law as a progression of singular cases and as a continuous process of reciprocal integration between the individual and the universal.
Parole chiave: Drawing; Legal case; Singularity; Intentionality; Documentality
Indice: 1. L'allegoria del disegno applicata al caso giuridico – 2. Il disegno e il giudizio come atti performativi – 2.1 Il caso giuridico come progetto: tra intenzione e traccia – 3. Il diritto come integrazione reciproca dell'individuale nell'universale – Riferimenti bibliografici


Harness® is a commercial herbicide that contains acetochlor at a concentration of 84% as an active ingredient. Ubiquitous, persistent, and substantial uses of Harness® in agricultural processes have resulted in the pollution of nearby water sources, posing a threat to various aquatic biotas, including fish. The effects of Harness® toxicity on fish health are little known. So, this study aimed to describe the impact of herbicide Harness® on the oxidative stress and reproductive and thyroid performance of male and female tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and also investigate the prospective role of the natural antioxidant lycopene supplementation in dismissing the adverse properties of Harness®. Antioxidant enzyme (catalase, superoxide dismutase, and total antioxidant capacity) and hormone measurements (T, E2, T3, and T4) were carried out, and gonadal and thyroid follicle histological sections were examined as a method to investigate the effects of Harness® toxicity on fish. Male and female tilapia were exposed to 10 μmol/L and 100 μmol/L of Harness® and treated with 10 mg lycopene/kg for 15 days of exposure. Our results demonstrated that the antioxidant enzyme activity was altered by Harness exposure and serum T for both males and females dropped; also, female E2 levels decreased, but male E2 increased. Exposure to higher dose of Harness® induced elevation in both T3 and T4 levels, although the low exposure dose stimulated T4 levels. Harness® exposure prompted histological variations and degenerative changes in testicular, ovarian, and thyroid follicle tissues. Lycopene supplement administration diminished oxidative stress induced by Harness®, alleviating its endocrine disparaging effects by neutralizing T3, T4, T, and E2 and ameliorating the histological structure of gonadal and thyroid tissues. In conclusion, lycopene supplementation was preformed to normalize the alterations and oxidative damage caused by Harness® in Nile tilapia, suggesting that lycopene-supplemented diet functioned as potent antioxidants and had the ability to alleviate oxidative stress and thyroid and reproductive toxicity caused by herbicide Harness®. Moreover, it is crucial to take appropriate care when consuming herbicides to defend the aquatic environment.


Abstract Winter snowpack was investigated to determine spatial and temporal climate variability in a five-state region (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming) in the northern Rocky Mountains, covering the period 1951–85. Annual 1 April snowpack (SN) measurements were selected for analyses. Three basic and persistent patterns of annual SN values surfaced: years with a consistent anomaly over the entire region (wet or dry); years with a distinct north-to-south gradient; and average years. Nearly 90% of the nonaverage annual SN patterns were explained by the frequency of seven 500-mb winter synoptic patterns. The wet-north-dry-south gradient SN patterns occurred only before 1974, and the dry-north-wet-south gradient SN patterns did not occur before 1973. The long-term wet and dry periods experienced in the northern and southern areas of the five-state region are due to periods when one of the two north-to-south gradient SN patterns occurred and are explained by the changes in the frequency of synoptic ...


Affected by earthquakes and heavy rainfall, multiple landslide dams often cluster closely together along river reaches or gullies. Compared with a single landslide dam, the burst flood produced by the cascading failure of multiple landslide dams can be enhanced, seriously threatening life and property downstream. Here, we conduct a series of experiments in a 42 m flume to investigate the failure mechanisms of single and paired dams with finegrained, well-graded, and coarse-grained debris; analyze the effects of dam geometry and initial water level of a downstream dam on the cascading breach; and quantitatively evaluate the amplification effect of cascading breach discharge. Single dams fail by overtopping along with seepage instability for a fine-grained dam, headcutting for a well-graded dam, and overtopping for a coarse-grained dam, respectively. The type of failure which occurs for a single dam is influenced by the shear strength of the dam material and seepage. However, the downstream dams in cascading tests fail by overtopping irrespective of dam material due to the large outburst floods from the upstream dams. A general flat slope angle is maintained during breaching for the fine-grained and coarse-grained dams, while a step-pool structure is developed for the well-graded dams because the finer grains are easier to wash away than coarse grains. The peak breach discharge for a downstream dam is 1.4–1.9 times the value for an upstream dam in the experimental runs, indicating the amplification effect of breach discharge. The amplification effect has a negative linear correlation with the time interval between the peak breach discharges of the two dams because the overlap of breach processes of upstream and downstream dams is gradually reduced as the time interval increases.


This paper is based on a study aimed to find out the types of thematic progression patterns the students mostly employ in their recount texts and to examine the coherence of fourth semester students' recount texts viewed from their thematic progression of the English Department, Universitas Negeri Semarang in the Academic Year of 2015/2016 who took Genre-Based Writing (GBW) class in Rombel 1. This study was a written discourse analysis which was used to figure out the realization of meanings. The findings showed that all of the students employed more than one pattern in their recount texts. They tended to use combination between reiteration (constant), zig-zag (linear), and multiple theme patterns. However, reiteration was the most dominant one. The second dominant pattern was zig-zag pattern. The third pattern found in the students' recount texts was multiple theme. The analysis also showed that the number of clauses and the thematic progression patterns produced by the students are not equivalent. It means that there are many clauses which are not related to one another. The students often introduced some new themes at the beginning of the clause without any relation with other clauses and they break the well signposted progression of the text. It can be concluded that most of the recount texts produced by the students are not coherent.


This paper is proposed a method to improve Distribution Automation System (DAS) restoration efficiency by including Multi-Agent System (MAS) and changing from centralized to distributed system. Multi-Agent concept in this paper is defined by a notion from the IEEE Power Engineering Society's (PES) Intelligent System Subcommittee (within the PSACE Committee) Working Group. Intelligent Distributed Restoration is a novel restoration method to use mutual information exchange, automatic fault section separation, and more quick, reliable, exactly restoration. It's suggested some application methods for distributed restoration including MAS in DAS. Proposed system is proved by field test at Gochang field test center in Korea and integrating in DAS for future (IDMS: Intelligent Distribution Management System).