In this paper, we propose an ordinal optimization (OO) theory-based four-stage approach to deal with the subcarrier assignment and bit allocation problem of a multiuser orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system. The four-stage OO approach ensures the quality of the obtained solution, however, at the cost of solving a continuous version of the considered problem in the first stage. To resolve this computational complexity problem, we propose a hardware-implementable dual projected gradient (DPG) method to exploit deep-submicrometer technology. Compared to some existing methods using numerous simulation cases with randomly generated parameters, our approach is excellent in the aspect of power consumption. In the meantime, the estimated computation time of our approach can meet the real-time application requirement. Furthermore, we use extensive simulations to compare our good-enough solutions with the true optimal solutions, and the results show that the objective value obtained by our approach deviates from the optimal objective value around 1% on average.


OBJECTIVE: To determine if the spectral qualities of medial-lateral (ML) and anterior-posterior (AP) center of pressure during a 1-legged stance are affected by 4 days of ankle-brace application. DESIGN AND SETTING: The study, which consisted of a pretest-posttest randomized group design, took place in the Sports Injury Research Laboratory at Indiana State University. SUBJECTS: Twenty-eight Indiana State University students, who had not suffered from any ankle injuries within the past 2 years and were free of any neurologic or vestibular disorders, participated in the study. MEASUREMENTS: The effects of 3 independent variables on mean frequency amplitude for both ML and AP center of pressure were examined: (1) treatment (brace, control), (2) frequency bin (0%-20%, 20%-40%, 40%-60%, 60%-80%, and 80%-100% of area), and (3) time (pretest, immediately after brace application, and after 1, 2, 3, or 4 days of brace wear). RESULTS: We detected no difference (P >.05) for the ML or AP mean frequency when comparing the brace and control groups. CONCLUSIONS: Application of an ankle brace may not require modifications in the postural-control strategies during a 1-legged stance in subjects with healthy ankles.


Ten cases of ertapenem neurotoxicity, mainly confusional states, are described, some of them with fatal outcomes. The majority of patients (90%) had a creatinine clearance (CrCl) < 50 mL/min/1.73m2 at some point during treatment and hypoalbuminaemia was always present when ertapenem treatment was started. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of this carbapenem could favour a different profile, and approved doses can be excessive in some patients with moderate renal failure (CrCl 31–59 mL/min/1.73 m2). It may be necessary to re‐evaluate renal function during treatment and adjust doses or reconsider the adequacy of treatment based on clinical judgement, especially if relevant changes in the CrCl occur (i.e. a reduction to ≤30 mL/min/1.73 m2) or unexplained behavioural disorders are detected. The onset of the symptoms of ertapenem neurotoxicity can be insidious and go unnoticed, and so a knowledge and early suspicion of confusional states are important to improve the patient prognosis.


More than one third of U.S. adults age ≥65 years have diabetes. According to early studies, 61% of all diabetes-related costs in the United States were for individuals age ≥65 years, and more than half of these costs attributable to treating diabetes-related complications. Numerous studies have shown that use of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has been shown to improve glycemic control and reduce the incidence and severity of hypoglycemia in younger adults with type 1 diabetes and insulin-treated type 2 diabetes (T2D), and there is growing evidence demonstrating the same benefits in older T2D populations. However, because older adults with diabetes are a heterogeneous group with variable clinical, functional, and psychosocial milieu, clinicians must consider whether each patient can use CGM and, if so, the type of CGM device best addresses each patient's needs and capabilities. This article reviews the evidence supporting CGM in the older population, discusses the barriers and benefits of CGM use in older adults with diabetes, and provides recommendations for how different types of CGM systems can be used strategically to improve glycemic control, reduce hypoglycemia, decrease the burden of diabetes, and improve quality of life.


Several techniques have been developed to preserve the quality of horticultural products throughout the supply chain. Edible coatings represent a promising technology as they can improve quality and extend shelf life of fruit and vegetables by changing gases and moisture permeabilties, enhancing fruit appearance, and reducing microbial contamination.The aim of this work was to assess the effectiveness of two kinds of novel coatings on the shelf life extension of Honeydew winter melons during retail. Sixty melons were used: 24 were uncoated as control; 18 were treated with a cellulose polymer coating (F1) and 18 with a synthetic polymer (F2) coating. Upon arrival, and after 6, 9 and 13 days at 13°C, six melons/treatment were individually analyzed for internal O2, ethylene and ethane concentrations, fermentative metabolites, quality parameters, and aroma pattern. Already after six days, internal O2 levels in coated fruit fell to ~1% in F1 and ~3% in F2 melons, triggering fermentative pathways as shown by the increased productions, mainly in F1 fruit, of acetaldehyde, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and ethane. This pattern caused changes in the responses of electronic nose sensors which were able to distinguish the three treatments. Coating did not influence fruit firmness and internal ethylene concentration. F1 coating reduced soluble solids content, strongly enhanced skin glossiness, and delayed yellowing, but it was not able to prevent moisture losses. In contrast, F2 coating significantly reduced weight loss and showed a slight positive effect on fruit appearance.


Abstract Comets account for a small but very significant fraction of impactors on the Earth. Although the total number of Earth-crossing comets is modest as compared with asteroids, the more eccentric and inclined orbits of the comets result in much higher encounter velocities with the planet. Additionally, some Earth-crossing comets are significantly larger than any current near-Earth asteroids (NEAs); comets 1P/Halley and C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp are good examples of this. Thus, the most energetic impacts on the Earth likely result from comets and not NEAs. The mean impact probability for long-period comets is 2.4× 10−9 per comet per perihelion passage, assuming the perihelion distribution of Everhart (1967), with a most probable encounter velocity of 53.5 km sec−1. There are 21 known Earth-crossing Jupiter-family comets with a mean impact probability of 1.6× 10−9 per comet per year and a most probable encounter velocity of 17.0 km sec−1. For the 16 known Earth-crossing Halley-type comets the mean impact probability is 1.2× 10−10 per year with a most probable encounter velocity of 51.3 km sec−1. The poor knowledge of the size distribution of cometary nuclei makes it difficult to estimate actual impact energies at this time, though that situation is slowly improving, in particular for the Jupiter-family comets.


New archaeological and papyrological discoveries in the Egyptian desert are destined to impact the study of religion in late antiquity. This extended review of An Oasis City (2015) will highlight some of most important findings related to the religious diversity of the region. The tremendous wealth of the new discoveries offers insight into the development of religion during the later Roman Empire. Building on this archaeological overview of Amheida (ancient Trimithis in the Dakhleh Oasis), this paper discusses the local situation of Egyptian religion, Christianity, and Manichaeism in late antiquity, with a particular focus on religious diversity and interaction in everyday life.


This paper sets out to examine the implications of the academic use of digital text among learners in higher education. Working from the perspective that the study and production of texts ‐ in whatever form ‐ is a defining academic activity, it seeks theoretical and evaluative insight into the effects of the shift in learning contexts from printed to online, digital text. It begins by demonstrating how the metaphors of stability and mutability can be applied to the two forms, and moves on to examine the accounts given by students of their experiences of working with digital text. The paper ends by offering some alternative perspectives on these accounts, each of which suggests that the cultural shift from the print paradigm to the digital mode is one which is rendered problematic by many of the discourses we engage in when we describe the tasks of learning, teaching and scholarship.


One of the core processes in Supply Network Management is Collaborative Planning (CP). The importance of this process justifies its modelling. Although CP is fundamentally a decisional process, a complete representation of the CP needs five views: physical, organization, decision, information and function views. The main objective of this paper is to guide the users during the modelling of the physical-organization view by providing the relevant aspects to be modelled, their corresponding modelling elements and the definition of the deployment structure of the physicalorganization view that facilitates its understanding and integration. The resulting physicalorganization model can be used as a foundation for developing decision making tools that consider these physical and organization aspects.


We examined the ability of 40 young children (aged five to eight) to understand speech (monosyllables, spondees, trochees, and trisyllables) when listening in a background of real-life classroom noise. All children had some difficulty understanding speech when the noise was at levels found in many classrooms (i.e., 65 dBA). However, at an intermediate (-6 dB SNR) level, kindergarten and grade 1 children had much more difficulty than did older children. All children performed well in quiet, with results being comparable to or slightly better than those reported in previous studies, suggesting that the task was age appropriate and well understood. These results suggest that the youngest children in the school system, whose classrooms also tend to be among the noisiest, are the most susceptible to the effects of noise.


Polysiloxane is a specialty synthetic elastomer that provides a unique balance of chemical
and mechanical properties required by many industrial applications. It is widely used in
many fields due to its high- and low-temperature resistance, long service life, inertness,
and many other excellent characteristics. However, for the poor mechanical properties, it
cannot be practically used without reinforcement. Such deficiency is usually overcome by
adding certain reinforcing filler. In this research, polysiloxane was reinforced with
synthetic silica in order to improve the physical and mechanical properties. Seven
samples with 0 wt??,2 wt??, 4 d?,6 WE?,8 8%1,0 wt?! and 12 wt?? of silica loading
and two method were used for fabricated each sample., Morphology of samples was
observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) while, physical properties were
measured by density test. Molecular vibrations and rotations of samples were examined
by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Thermal stability of the samples
was measured by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), The mechanical properties were
examined via tensile test in this research. The results fiom SEM observation, the silica
particles were distributed uniformly. However, the increment of silica led to
agglomeration of particles. The densities of the developed polysiloxane composites were
showing gradually rise with an increase amount of filler for both of the methods. The
result of FTIR similar for all samples was obtained. The mechanical properties revealed
the best of tensile strength was with samples 2 WE!? silica for both of methods are used
and the best values of tensile strength were obtained fiom samples fabricated by casting
moulding method.


Despite advancing technology, right heart failure after left ventricular assist device implantation remains a significant source of morbidity and mortality. With the UNOS allocation policy change, a larger proportion of patients proceeding to LVAD are destination therapy and consist of an overall sicker population. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of right heart failure is critical for ensuring the ongoing success of durable LVADs. The purpose of this review is to describe the effect of LVAD implantation on right heart function, review the diagnostic and predictive criteria related to right heart failure, and discuss the current evidence for management and treatment of post-LVAD right heart failure.


This paper investigates the problems encountered in the translation of English journalistic texts into Standard Arabic (henceforth SA). The analysis presented in this study clearly shows that the most common problems in journalistic translation are attributed to: (a) the inappropriate selection of the equivalent TL word or expression, (b) the inability to observe the syntactic and stylistic differences between the SL and the TL and (c) the translated text may contain violations of some TL rules.

By drawing the attention of translators to the translational problems that await them, we can immensely enhance the quality of the output text. There is another reason for our interest in the translation of journalistic texts: translation is regarded by purists " as a bigger menace to the purity of Arabic language than that of the Colloquial dialects." (Abdelfattah 1996:134); for instance, journalistic translation may pave the way for foreign-language influence on SA in "the domain of syntax, style, and lexicon" (Abdelfattah 1996:134). Thus most of the changes that occur in the style and structure of Arabic occur through the Arab journalists who are familiar with European languages, especially English and through the Arab translators who render English journalistic texts into Arabic. As Holes (1995:255) puts it,
Today, more than ever, it is in the language of the press, Television and radio that external influences on Arabic are most obvious, and constant exposure to this 'media MSA' seems to be having reaching effects on the vocabulary, grammar and phraseology of the Arabic used by educated Arabs in many other contexts written or spoken .


Climate changes, including chronic changes in precipitation amounts, will influence plant physiology and growth. However, such precipitation effects on switchgrass, a major bioenergy crop, have not been well investigated. We conducted a two-year precipitation simulation experiment using large pots (95 L) in an environmentally controlled greenhouse in Nashville, TN. Five precipitation treatments (ambient precipitation, and -50%, -33%, +33%, and +50% of ambient) were applied in a randomized complete block design with lowland "Alamo" switchgrass plants one year after they were established from tillers. The growing season progression of leaf physiology, tiller number, height, and aboveground biomass were determined each growing season. Precipitation treatments significantly affected leaf physiology, growth, and aboveground biomass. The photosynthetic rates in the wet (+50% and +33%) treatments were significantly enhanced by 15.9% and 8.1%, respectively, than the ambient treatment. Both leaf biomass and plant height were largely increased, resulting in dramatically increases in aboveground biomass by 56.5% and 49.6% in the +50% and +33% treatments, respectively. Compared to the ambient treatment, the drought (-33% and -50%) treatments did not influence leaf physiology, but the -50% treatment significantly reduced leaf biomass by 37.8%, plant height by 16.3%, and aboveground biomass by 38.9%. This study demonstrated that while switchgrass in general is a drought tolerant grass, severe drought significantly reduces Alamo's growth and biomass, and that high precipitation stimulates its photosynthesis and growth.


This paper presents the importance of design and computation of ultrasonic horns. Furthermore, the finite element analysis and modelling method is used for different types of horns. The oscillation amplitude along the generator of the horn is determined in an ultraacoustic system used in the cutting process.


The proceedings shall be open to the public unless the Court decides to make them confidential, to the extent necessary, in the interest of one of the parties or other affected persons, or in the general interest of justice or public order.


The economic impact of medical procedures in the treatment of some diseases is often conducted in USA and some EU countries. Recommendations of experts are different of diagnosis and treatment non ulcer disease (NUD) and peptic ulcer disease (PUD) with or without Helicobacter pylori (HP) infections. This study was to establish various methods of pharmakoekonomics analysis by NUD and PUD.


Objectives We assessed the renal and peripheral effects of chronic exercise in a rat model of diabetic nephropathy and the benefits of combined exercise and losartan. Methods Heminephrectomized Goto–Kakizaki rats were divided into four groups: (i) no exercise (control); (ii) exercise with treadmill running; (iii) losartan; (iv) exercise plus losartan, and the rats were treated for 12 weeks. Results Losartan and exercise plus losartan significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP). Exercise, exercise and losartan, and losartan blunted the increases in proteinuria. The index of glomerular sclerosis (IGS) and the relative interstitial volume of the renal cortex were significantly improved in the exercise, exercise and losartan, and losartan groups. The IGS, expressions of ED-1 and α-smooth muscle actin in the glomerulus were the lowest, and the number of Wilms' tumour was the highest in the exercise plus losartan group. The endurance, the proportion of type I fibre and capillarization in the extensor digitorum longus muscle were greater in the trained groups. Conclusion These results suggest that both exercise and losartan have renoprotective effects, and the combination of exercise and losartan provided greater renoprotective effects than losartan alone, and may affect macrophage infiltration, mesangial activation, and podocyte loss in this model of diabetic nephropathy. It is also suggested that exercise has a specific renoprotective effect that is not related to SBP reduction, and can enhance endurance without renal complications.


Searchable text databases abound on the web. Applications that require access to such databases often resort to querying to extract relevant documents because of two main reasons. First, some text databases on the web are not "crawlable," and hence the only way to retrieve their documents is via querying. Second, applications often require only a small fraction of a database's contents, so retrieving relevant documents via querying is an attractive choice from an efficiency viewpoint, even for crawlable databases. Often an application's query-based strategy starts with a small number of user-provided queries. Then, new queries are extracted ‐in an application-dependent way‐ from the documents in the initial query results, and the process iterates. The success of this common type of strategy relies on retrieved documents "contributing" new queries. If new documents fail to produce new queries, then the process might stall before all relevant documents are retrieved. In this paper, we develop a graph-based "reachability" metric that allows to characterize when an application's query-based strategy will successfully "reach" all documents that the application needs. We complement our metric with an efficient sampling-based technique that accurately estimates the reachability associated with a text database and an application's query-based strategy. We report preliminary experiments backing the usefulness of our metric and the accuracy of the associated estimation technique over real text databases and for two applications.


Experimental data on general characteristics of projectile fragments in inelastic interactions of relativistic 56Fe nuclei in emulsion (multiplicities, transverse momentum distributions, azimuthal correlations) are presented and discussed. A strong dependence on the mass number of the projectile nucleus is observed for the transverse momenta of the emitted projectile fragments. These fragments exhibit an azimuthal asymmetry caused by the transverse motion of the fragmenting residue, but it is shown that this motion can be responsible only for a part of the increase in the average transverse momentum of the fragments with increasing mass of the projectile. NUCLEAR REACTIONS H, C, N, 0, Ag, Br(56Fe, X), E = 1700 MeV/nucleon; measured E cr(projectile fragment, 0), projectile fragment multiplicities, transverse distributions. Nuclear emulsions.


A new method for the determination of the antilactoferrin activity (ALfA) of microorganisms, based on the detection of lactoferrin by the enzyme immunoassay, is proposed. The new method widens the spectrum of microorganisms to be tested, makes it possible to detect lactoferrin inactivation by bacteria producing antagonistically active substances (muramidases, organic acids, hydrogen peroxide, etc.), increases the reliability of the determination of the ALfA antilactoferrin activity of microorganisms due to the increased accuracy of its quantitative characterization. Testing of the culture fluid for lactoferrin following the growth of microorganisms in a medium with this protein revealed the capacity to inactivate lactoferrin in bacteria (Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp.) and yeast-like fungi (Candida sp.), isolated from feces and clinical material, of persons with carrier states, dysbiotic disturbances and pyoinflammatory diseases.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effects and side effects of the law amendments for hanok conservation for the past twelve years. Legislation amendments had positive effects on preventing deformation of hanok, preserving hanok allies, easing hanok owners" financial burden and improving their living environment. However, two purposes of law amendments, conserving hanoks and hanok allies and mitigating hanok owner"s inconvenience, lost their balance and caused side effects such as increasing possibilities of destructing hanoks. We should seek a balance between regulation and mitigation, devise proper measures and reform the law from now on.


In recent years, there is rapid growth of wireless multimedia applications which demands more radio spectral resources and requirement of data transmission like video using the same medium which is used for voice transmission. The fixed spectrum assignment policy is not giving efficient spectrum utilization due to which a great portion of the licensed spectrum is under-utilized . This problem of spectrum efficiency can be resolved using the concept of cognitive radio (CR). CR involves activity like sensing and adapting the operating parameters according to the interactions with the surrounding radio environment. So, detecting spectrum white space, selecting the best frequency band and adjusting its radio operating parameters accordingly are identified as the key aspects of a CR which also needs adaptive frequency variations of transmitter frequency as per band availability. So to support the multimedia application along with adaptive frequency variations generates a need for deployment of new devices which supports transmission of increased traffic and changes in hardware. To carry out the video transmissions desires to do several changes in the hardware. Thus to address this problem Software Define Radio (SDR) is used. SDR is a platform which employs a


I will present an analysis of the intonation of the Banyumas dialect of Javanese (an Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia), based on the autosegmental-metrical framework. As Javanese is a language without lexical stress, there are no pitch accents. Boundary tones are associated with the Accentual Phrase (AP). A non-final AP ends in a H% tone, while a nuclear AP ends in either a HL% or a LH% tone that marks the end of the focus. Any post-focal material appears in an encliticized AP. Contrastive focus at the word level is impossible, except in a few special constructions.


In a paper published in 2000, George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton introduce[d] identity - a person's sense of self - into economic analysis. Identity fits into the utility function: people seek identity benefits; they seek to avoid identity costs. Identity payoffs thus affect what people will do, interacting with other motivations for action. In this paper, I argue that law and economics' policy prescriptions can be enriched by taking identity into account. What counts as an identity? The category is potentially broad and amorphous: being African-American is an identity, as is being civic minded, as is being a jock or nerd. The common feature is the possibility of identity payoffs that strongly influence action. For instance, a person with a strong gourmand identity may incur significant identity payoffs if he receives a diagnosis of diabetes and has to restrict his diet accordingly. What generalizations can be made about identities so disparate? I consider at this juncture two stylized types of cases: one where the law is importantly involved in identity creation, and the other, where law is dealing more with identities that can be regarded as pre-existing. I discuss various examples in disparate contexts, including corporate law and criminal law. The paper also argues that taking identity into account doesn't just mean considering identity-as-payoff. As psychologists and sociologists have amply documented, identity is also a perceptual lens through which people perceive the world. Taking identity-as-perceptual-lens into account will be far more difficult than taking identity-as-payoff into account; it is necessary, though, to further the broader goal of making law and economics more realistic.


Type appraisal data supplied by United States breed organizations for Ayrshires, Guernseys, Jerseys, and Milking Shorthorns were examined for genetic and environmental sources of variation. Repeatabilities were highest for pelvic angle, udder depth, stature, suspensory ligament, and final score (.51 to .74) and lowest for foot shape (.15 to .29). Variances and covariances were estimated from appraisals from 230 Ayrshire, 352 Guernsey, 699 Jersey, and 51 Milking Shorthorn herds and represented 117, 157, 333, and 32 sires. Herd variances by trait and breed ranged from 2 to 23%. Herd effects were large for stature and rear udder width of Ayrshires, for most traits of Jerseys, and for udder depth of Milking Shorthorns. Herd X sire variance was small but averaged 3% across all breeds and traits. Heritabilities ranged from .06 to .75. Stature had the highest heritability (.34 to .75) for all four breeds. Heritabilities also were high for chest and body (.42), rump width (.36), and pelvic angle (.34) for Guernseys; pelvic angle (.29) and udder depth (.27) for Jerseys; and chest and body (.70), rump width (.50), and final score (.44) for Milking Shorthorns. Foot shape had the lowest heritability for Ayrshires, Guernseys, and Jerseys (.06 to .07). Most of the phenotypic correlations between appraisal traits were low to moderately high. Genetic correlations were calculated.


The protein profiles in neem ( A. indica ) were studied during the annual reproductive flush from bud formation to seed set. Four different zones of activity observed were designated as PRO-I, PRO-II, PRO-III and PRO-IV in the zymogram. It was proposed that decreased protein expression during early pre-anthesis as well as post-pollination fruit-set was due to general inhibition of quantified protein. Besides, specific banding patterns for the various growth stages also point to a definite affect in modulating active metabolism. Hence, decreased protein activity also delayed morphological expression with faint low intensity bands. High frequency bands following flowering and ovary development were point indicators for active protein metabolism and morphogenesis. This resulted in rapid growth as well as healthy fruit-set. The zymogram pattern during such periods traced high mobility, intense zones of activity. The short regeneration phase in neem leads to pharmaceutically significant product of floral inflorescence to fruit set, therefore, it is suggested that protein profiles may be the key in regulating the reproductive phase resulting in improved morpho-physiological characteristics.


Microarray analysis able to monitor thousands of gene expression data, however, to elucidate the hidden patterns in the data is a complex process. These gene expression data show its imprecision, noise and vagueness due to its high dimensional properties. There are a handful of clustering algorithms have been proposed to extract the important information from the gene expression data. However, identifying the underlying biological knowledge of the data is still hard. To acknowledge these issues, clustering algorithms are used to reduce the data complexity. In this article, hybrid of agglomerative hierarchical clustering and modified k-medoids (partitional clustering) are proposed. Application of the proposed of clustering algorithms to group the genes that have similar functionality which might assist pre-processing procedures. In order to emphasize the quality of the clustering results, cluster quality index (CQI) is determined. Lung and ovary data sets used and the method retrieved a fair clustering with CQI, 0.37 and 0.48 respectively. This research contributes by avoiding biasness toward genes and provide true sense of clustering output using the advantage of hierarchical and partitional clustering methods.


where the coefficients Pts are elements of the character group B of A (the group of all representations of A on the unit circle in the complex plane). If we designate the points of the unit circle by a real parameter X, modulo 1, we can construct a bilinear form (j3,at) = 4Xt, (mod 1), (3) such that X' is the point on which the character fls maps the group element at. We can then form the expression (L(i), K()) = z (fst, as), (mod 1), (4) s


The paper focuses on the composition of a battery charging station. The proposed charging station can be used for charging batteries of electric bicycles, using solar radiation as the main source of energy. The station contains 10 photovoltaic panels with total maximal power up to 2000 Watts. The harvested energy is accumulated in local batteries (24 V 300 Ah). During a regular summer day it is possible to charge up to 19 (12 Ah 36 V) electrical bicycle batteries. The key features of the proposed battery charging station are an adjustable photovoltaic panel angle for efficient use of solar energy and protection of parked bicycles against precipitation. The paper contains detailed information about the already built prototype of the proposed charging station. The constructed alternative energy battery charging station is completely autonomous. Key word: photovoltaic modules, alternative energy, power station, battery charging station.


OBJECTIVES
Superior vena cava obstruction (SVCO) due to mitotic diseases is a serious condition with significant morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the follow-up data and demographics of patients with SVCO admitted to the Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, over a 14-year period.

METHODS
The prospectively entered clinical data of patients with SVCO in Queen Mary Hospital from October 1997 to September 2011 were retrospectively analysed. All patient records were electronically and manually searched. Survival was calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival curves analysis. The Mantel-Cox log-rank test was used to test for statistically significant differences. Demographic data, associated aetiology, intervention and outcome were studied. Only patients with malignant aetiologies were included.

RESULTS
A total of 104 patients (81 males and 23 females) were recruited in our study period. Median age at presentation was 65 (range 3-91 years). The median follow-up period was 2 months. The commonest cause of SVCO was bronchogenic carcinoma (71%), followed by extrathoracic malignancies (16%), lymphoma (8%) and thymic malignancy (3%). The mean time from the onset of symptoms to presentation was 34 days. Steroids were prescribed for most (93.9%) of the patients. About half (54.4%) of the patients were given radiotherapy. Only 7 patients had angioplasty and all of them had stents inserted. The overall survival was poor. The mean and median survivals were 8.4 and 1.6 months, respectively. Seventeen percent of patients died in the same hospitalization as for their initial presentations. Younger age (50 years or below; P = 0.000), never smoker (P = 0.012), not using steroids (P = 0.007) and certain primary aetiologies (e.g. lymphoma; P = 0.008) were associated with longer overall survival on univariate analysis. However, on multivariate analysis, none of these factors reached statistical significance. The mean survival for cases with lymphoma, extrathoracic malignancies, bronchogenic tumours and thymic tumours was 80.1, 3.4, 3.1 and 1.8 months, respectively. Angioplasty did not show a statistically significant association with the overall survival.

CONCLUSIONS
This study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to study the prognostic factors that may affect survival outcome in malignant SVCO. We showed that in patients with malignant aetiology for SVCO, advanced age (more than 50), history of smoking and use of steroids were statistically significantly associated with a poor outcome. The underlying primary malignant aetiology also has an important prognostic significance. Despite advances in medicine, the prognosis of patients with SVCO is still grave.


Background: Serum Alanine amino transferase (ALT) and estimation of the quantity of hepatitis B e Antigen (HBeAg) are thesimple and cost-effective diagnostic methods used for the assessment of state of HBV infection in hepatitis patients. However, inmost cases quantitative PCR is recommended for the confirmation of infection, prognosis and to precisely assess the real sate ofinfection.Objective: To study the frequencies fo HBV and to assess the correlation amongALT, HBe Ag and HBV DNA in the diagnosis ofhepatitis B carrier patients.Materials & Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in Amreek Clinical laboratories, Saidu Sharif Swat. The duration ofstudy was three years from Jan 2016 to Jan 2019. A total of 198 cases were collected and evaluated for various parameters such astypes, age, gender and tissue involved. The study was done after the permission granted by the ethical committee. Informed writtenconsent was taken from each patient.Results: The results obtained were statistically analysed. We noticed HBeAg level increased with the raise in HBV DNA. Theoccurrence of HBV was higher in males (63.4%) in comparison to females (36.6%), young persons in the age group 20 - 50 yearswere the most affected (80.5%). Similarly, the occurrence of HBV was higher in married persons (63.41%) when compared tounmarried persons (36.65%), however majority of the patients were asymptomatic (92.7%).Conclusion: It has been concluded from the current study that HBV carrier patients with the raised HB e Ag, are more likely to bepositive for HBV DNA. This suggests that the combination of biochemical tests (ALT) and serological markers i.e. HB e Ag may beused as cost effective, easiest and an alternative option to HBV DNA quantification by PCR. However, more information's aboutthe status of infection could be achieved if serological/ biochemical assays are coupled with HBV DNA estimation by quantitativePCR.Key words: hepatitis B carrier. HB e Ag Serum Alanine amino transferase Polymerase Chain Reaction


BACKGROUND
Alcohol dependence (AD) is a complex psychiatric disorder and a significant public health problem. Twin and family-based studies have consistently estimated its heritability to be approximately 50%, and many studies have sought to identify specific genetic variants associated with susceptibility to AD. These studies have been primarily linkage or candidate gene based and have been mostly unsuccessful in identifying replicable risk loci. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have improved the detection of specific loci associated with complex traits, including AD. However, findings from GWAS explain only a small proportion of phenotypic variance, and alternative methods have been proposed to investigate the associations that do not meet strict genome-wide significance criteria.

METHODS
This review summarizes all published AD GWAS and post-GWAS analyses that have sought to exploit GWAS data to identify AD-associated loci.

RESULTS
Findings from AD GWAS have been largely inconsistent, with the exception of variants encoding the alcohol-metabolizing enzymes. Analyses of GWAS data that go beyond standard association testing have demonstrated the polygenic nature of AD and the large contribution of common variants to risk, nominating novel genes and pathways for AD susceptibility.

CONCLUSIONS
Findings from AD GWAS and post-GWAS analyses have greatly increased our understanding of the genetic etiology of AD. However, it is clear that larger samples will be necessary to detect loci in addition to those that encode alcohol-metabolizing enzymes, which may only be possible through consortium-based efforts. Post-GWAS approaches to studying the genetic influences on AD are increasingly common and could greatly increase our knowledge of both the genetic architecture of AD and the specific genes and pathways that influence risk.


OBJECTIVE
Chronic caloric deprivation and obesity are complicated by hypercortisolemia. The effects of acute overfeeding and fasting on circulating free cortisol levels and conversion of cortisone to free cortisol are unknown. We hypothesized that serum free cortisol and free cortisol-to-cortisone ratio would increase after both overfeeding and fasting.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Prospective study of 22 healthy volunteers who completed a 10-day high-calorie protocol followed by a 10-day fast, separated by a 2-week wash-out. Morning free and total cortisol and free cortisone levels (LC/MS) were performed at baseline and after 10 days of each intervention.

RESULTS
Both high-calorie feeding and fasting increased total and free cortisol and the free cortisol-to-free cortisone ratio (p=0.001 to p=0.046). There were sex interactions, with significant effects in men (p<0.001), but not women (p=0.898 and 1.000, respectively) in subset analyses examining the effects of fasting on free cortisol and the free-to-total cortisol ratio.

CONCLUSION
Overfeeding and fasting both increase circulating free cortisol levels and appear to alter the balance between cortisol and its inactive metabolite, cortisone. Further study is warranted to determine whether elevated cortisol levels contribute to complications of starvation and obesity, such as bone fragility.


Rounding confidence score is considered trivial but a simple and effective countermeasure to stop gradient descent based image reconstruction attacks. However, its capability in the face of more sophisticated reconstruction attacks is an uninvestigated research area. In this paper, we prove that, the face reconstruction attacks based on composite faces can reveal the inefficiency of rounding policy as countermeasure. We assume that, the attacker takes advantage of face composite parts which helps the attacker to get access to the most important features of the face or decompose it to the independent segments. Afterwards, decomposed segments are exploited as search parameters to create a search path to reconstruct optimal face. Face composition parts enable the attacker to violate the privacy of face recognition models even with a blind search. However, we assume that, the attacker may take advantage of random search to reconstruct the target face faster. The algorithm is started with random composition of face parts as initial face and confidence score is considered as fitness value. Our experiments show that, since the rounding policy as countermeasure can't stop the random search process, current face recognition systems are extremely vulnerable against such sophisticated attacks. To address this problem, we successfully test Face Detection Score Filtering (FDSF) as a countermeasure to protect the privacy of training data against proposed attack.


Background Cardiotoxicity is a serious adverse event associated with some of the most effective breast cancer therapies. Currently, it is difficult to predict which patients will develop cardiotoxicity due to the multiplicity of clinical, behavioral, and biological factors involved. MethodsHere we describe an effort to apply biomedical informatics approaches to patient data from MedStar Health's EHR systems to discover and characterize factors that contribute to cardiotoxicity in a real world breast cancer population.ResultsData wrangling techniques including merging data from disparate clinical systems, data transformation, and de-identification of personal health information (PHI)were appliedto the raw clinical data to produce a structured integrated dataset for predictive analysis and hypothesis generation. Using this dataset as input, weshowed howpredictive models can be developed to identify patients at high risk for cardiotoxicity. ConclusionsWe demonstrate how suchmodels can be used for hypothesis generation and data exploration with the ultimate goal of developing applications for precision medicine.


Regional distribution of lithology, fossils, and porosity within the Upper Devonian Wabamun Formation is summarized on ten maps covering Alberta and northeast British Columbia. The 2,600 data points on each map were derived from the Constrat digital lithology file and were contoured using Union Oil's Calgary 370/138 computer. The maps were made to outline regional lithofacies and biofacies environments and to pinpoint porosity pinch-out plays. Maps displayed include: Wabamun isopach, net-feet dolomite, ratio of net dolomite to limestone, net anhydrite, porosity isopach, good oil shows, bioclast isopach, pellet isopach, crinoid isopach, and average particle size. Interpretation of these maps defines four distinct depositional environments within the Wabamun: (1) a shallow shelf in southern Alberta that has interbedded dolomite and anhydrite with negligible porosity development; (2) a north-trending porous dolomite funnel or channel running up the 5th meridian; (3) a shallow-water basinal environment in central Alberta, characterized by abundant porous dolomite pods Table End_Page 936------------------------------ (pinnacle reefs?) in a pelletal and bioclastic limestone; and (4) a deep-water basin in northern Alberta and British Columbia, with tight crinoidal limestone. These maps are a first step in basin analysis, and also outline possible traps for further evaluation. Preparation of such regional percentage maps is virtually impossible without computer assistance. End_of_Article - Last_Page 937------------


Advancements in technology used to monitor water usage has opened the door to studying some of the management practices used by growers. Drinker water pressure has little research with most of the information available coming from the manufacturer. Studies were conducted to monitor the effect that different drinker water pressures had on water usage in a commercial house. It was then followed up with a pen trial to evaluate the influence that drinker water pressure has on broiler performance along with the water usage. The results in both the commercial and pen trial showed that increased drinker pressure increased the daily water usage by 10-18%. The pen trial resulted in a body weight that was 125g heavier at 49 days of age and a 0.34 better feed conversion in the treatment group receiving a higher drinker pressure but they also had a higher litter moisture throughout the trial. INDEX WORDS: Drinker Pressure, Drinker Line Management, Water Usage, Broiler Performance THE INFLUENCE OF DRINKER WATER PRESSURE ON BROILER WATER USAGE AND PERFORMANCE


Abstract This paper proposes a conversation between Charlotte Salomon (1917–43) and Edvard Munch that is premised on a reading of Charlotte Salomon's monumental project of 784 paintings forming a single work Leben? oder Theater? (1941–42) as itself a reading of potentialities for painting, as a staging of subjectivity in the work of Edvard Munch, notably in his assembling paintings to form the Frieze of Life. Drawing on both Mieke Bal's critical concept of "preposterous history" and my own project of "the virtual feminist museum" as a framework for tracing resonances that are never influences or descent in conventional art historical terms, this paper traces creative links between the serial paintings of these two artists across the shared thematic of loneliness and psychological extremity mediated by the legacy of Friedrich Nietzsche.


This study shows the application of scaling analysis in the context of CO2 storage. Scaling analysis has been used in many flooding processes to characterize the displacement in such systems. The study aims to derive the key dimensionless numbers pertinent to CO2 storage in saline aquifers. This set of dimensionless numbers may be used to characterize important storage characteristics such as injectivity, plume migration and mobility, the pressure response and the ultimate storage capacity in potential saline aquifers.
 CO2 storage in a two-dimensional cross-sectional model representing part of a saline aquifer was considered. The model is assumed to be full of brine when CO2 is injected into it. The fundamental equations for the material conservation of each phase, and the transport equations were formulated and derived. All fluids and the formation were considered compressible. These fundamental equations were then converted into the dimensionless domain by applying inspectional analysis to allow the identification of the key dimensionless numbers characterizing the storage process.
 The storage process in such a system can be described by twelve dimensionless numbers, each of which characterize a different aspect of the storage process. Some numbers are similar to those already observed in the context of petroleum processes while a few of them are solely relevant to the storage process. Importantly, the pressure response and the injectivity consideration of the storage process can be described by the injectivity number and the ratio of compressibilities.
 A numerical model was constructed to test the sensitivity of the storage process with respect to these dimensionless numbers. Results show the same set of dimensionless numbers can describe storage performance in different systems as long as the processes in all of them are described by identical dimensionless numbers. The lateral migration of the plume and its onset arrival at the storage boundary can be described by the combination of the magnitudes of gravity numbers, effective aspect ratio number, mobility ratio between CO2 and brine and finally the ratio of CO2 and formation compressibilities relative to brine compressibility.
 For a confined storage system, the storage efficiency was correlated with the magnitudes of the influencing dimensionless numbers. The derived dimensionless numbers may be used as a set of characterization parameters for describing the storage process in potential storage candidates. They can also be used effectively as a preliminary screening criteria for the purpose of site selection amongst potential storage candidates.


In 1950, Maurice Walsh 1 proposed that certain medical terms created a tyranny over individuals who were diagnosed as having the conditions they named. These diagnoses evoked an immediate and a negative response from the public. Among these terms was epilepsy. Throughout history, their often bizarre and misunderstood seizure-related behaviors resulted in people with epilepsy being described as possessed by demons, mystic, insane, degenerate, and defective. Even after epilepsy was determined to be a neurological disorder, its stigma persisted, and numerous attempts were made to segregate people with epilepsy from society. One means society used to segregate or remove any unwanted segment of the population from everyday life was to impose social controls on them.2 Societal-endorsed methods of control of people with epilepsy were particularly oppressive from 1850 to 1950. Among the methods used to segregate them from society were commitment to asylums for the insane, restriction from education and employment, and suppression by social and eugenic laws. Response to this repression came from pioneering physicians who, during this same period, undertook groundbreaking research into the causes and treatment of seizures. Together with a number of enlightened philanthropists, these physicians created and supported innovative care at residential colonies for people with epilepsy. These colonies provided a caring refuge offering expert medical care, education, employment, and support, which allowed many people with epilepsy to return to society as productive members.


We consider Dirichlet exterior value problems related to a class of non-local Schr\"odinger operators, whose kinetic terms are given in terms of Bernstein functions of the Laplacian. We prove elliptic and parabolic Aleksandrov-Bakelman-Pucci type estimates, and as an application obtain existence and uniqueness of weak solutions. Next we prove a refined maximum principle in the sense of Berestycki-Nirenberg-Varadhan, and a converse. Also, we prove a weak anti-maximum principle in the sense of Cl\'ement-Peletier, valid on compact subsets of the domain, and a full anti-maximum principle by restricting to fractional Schr\"odinger operators. Furthermore, we show a maximum principle for narrow domains, and a refined elliptic ABP-type estimate. Finally, we obtain Liouville-type theorems for harmonic solutions and for a class of semi-linear equations. Our approach is probabilistic, making use of the properties of subordinate Brownian motion.


We present an analysis of previously published measurements of the London penetration depth of layered organic superconductors. The predictions of the BCS theory of superconductivity are shown to disagree with the measured zero temperature, in plane, London penetration depth by up to two orders of magnitude. We find that fluctuations in the phase of the superconducting order parameter do not determine the superconducting critical temperature as the critical temperature predicted for a Kosterlitz–Thouless transition is more than an order of magnitude greater than is found experimentally for some materials. This places constraints on theories of superconductivity in these materials.


We present a novel, to the best of our knowledge, approach for scaling the peak power of mid-infrared laser pulses with few-cycle duration and carrier-to-envelope phase stabilization. Using frequency domain optical parametric amplification (FOPA), selective amplification is performed on two spectral slices of broadband pulses centered at 1.8 µm wavelength. In addition to amplification, the Fourier plane is used for specific pulse shaping to control both the relative polarization and the phase/delay between the two spectral slices of the input pulses. At the output of the FOPA, intrapulse difference frequency generation provides carrier-envelope phase stabilized two-cycle pulses centered at 9.5 µm wavelength with 25.5 µJ pulse energy. The control of the carrier-envelope phase is demonstrated through the dependence of high-harmonic generation in solids. This architecture is perfectly adapted to be scaled in the future to high average and high peak powers using picosecond ytterbium laser technologies.


Nowadays consumers are increasingly demanding food with fewer synthetic preservatives, which makes antimicrobial essential oils (EOs) from plants promising alternatives. In this work, surfactant-free emulsions were successfully fabricated from Cinnamon cassia oil (C. cassia oil) with partially deacetylated chitin nanofiber (ChNF) adopted as a Pickering stabilizer. The storage stability and microstructures of the emulsions with different concentrations of ChNF were studied in detail. As ChNF concentration increased, the emulsion droplet size decreased while the emulsion stability increased with stable periods as long as 90 days. This could be attributed to the Pickering stabilization realized by irreversible adsorption of the ChNF at the oil-water interface (revealed by fluorescent microscopy) and subsequent formation of an interdroplet ChNF network in the continuous phase, which was further strengthened in the presence of the aldehyde moiety in the C. cassia oil (verified by FTIR spectra). The rheological data and SEM images provided further evidence for network formation in the emulsions with increased ChNF concentration. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of the emulsion against Escherichia coli and the release patterns of EOs from emulsions were also investigated. The emulsions showed prolonged antibacterial activities but enhanced diffusion efficiency with the introduction of ChNF, which turned out to be a good encapsulation system for the controlled release of EOs. This work evidences the promising advantages of ChNF-stabilized Pickering emulsions as a facile EOs delivery system for application in food preservation and related fields.


The syndrome of lithium toxicity has been well described. Hemodialysis is the recommended treatment for severe toxicity. We report a case in which continuous venovenous hemodialysis was used in the treatment of lithium toxicity. The calculated average lithium clearance was 23 mL per minute, comparing favorably with that of normal renal clearance (20–30 mL/min) and of intermittent hemodialysis (50–100 mL/min). This report discusses the potential benefits of this therapy in a hemodynamically unstable patient who may not tolerate hemodialysis.


The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the first epidemic in human history in which digital contact-tracing has been deployed at a global scale. Tracking and quarantining all the contacts of individuals who test positive to a virus can help slowing-down an epidemic, but the impact of contact-tracing is severely limited by the generally low adoption of contact-tracing apps in the population. We derive here an analytical expression for the effectiveness of contact-tracing app installation strategies in a SIR model on a given contact graph. We propose a decentralised heuristic to improve the effectiveness of contact tracing under fixed adoption rates, which targets a set of individuals to install contact-tracing apps, and can be easily implemented. Simulations on a large number of real-world contact networks confirm that this heuristic represents a feasible alternative to the current state of the art.


The ever-growing smart applications will expand the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem to connect over 75 billion devices by 2025. IoT ecosystems comprise sensors that act as data suppliers and applications where monetary transactions are required to compensate the data producers. This signifies the importance of IoT payments and marketplaces to facilitate micro-transactions of billions of connected devices in the IoT ecosystem, which is heterogeneous, decentralized, and diverse. However, realizing such an ecosystem raises multiple challenges such as overcoming poor inter-operability, resource constraints, and security and privacy vulnerabilities of IoT devices and platforms. Blockchain is a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) that can be identified as a potential solution to overcome the challenges in realizing IoT payments and marketplaces. This is due to the characteristics of blockchain such as decentralization, traceability, immutability, and non-repudiation. This paper presents a comprehensive survey on blockchain-based IoT payments and marketplaces. This paper provides a brief introduction to the concepts of IoT payments and IoT marketplaces. Then the technical challenges involved in realizing IoT payment and marketplaces are discussed by highlighting the blockchain-based solutions. Furthermore, blockchain-based smart applications which use IoT marketplace and IoT payment concepts are presented marking the role of blockchain in each of the application. Subsequently, the paper discuss the integration challenges while also highlighting possible solutions. It is envisaged that this paper would shed light on the development of blockchain-based solutions to realize IoT payments and marketplaces.


In response to a growing and worldwide recognition of elder abuse, the WorldView Environmental Scan on Elder Abuse was undertaken. It represented an attempt to collect both information on the nature of the problem of elder abuse and responses to it from a global perspective. The first of its kind, the Scan gathered information about elder abuse as well as on related legislation and policy, services and programs, educational resources and needs, training, and past and ongoing research. A total of 53 countries responded to the survey questionnaire, with 362 respondents representing the six world regions designated by the World Health Organization. Findings revealed that factors contributing to elder abuse include changing social and economic structures, isolation of victims, inadequate knowledge of laws and services, intergenerational conflict, and poverty. Barriers to seeking resources to intervene and protect older adults include the culture of the country, language issues, literacy, stigma, lack of mobility, lack of funding, and insufficient familiarity with and access to the internet. The data serve as a catalyst to take action, both globally and nationally, while emphasizing the changes necessary to protect the rights and dignity of older adults.


There are (at least) two ways to think of the differences in basic concepts and typologies that one can find in the different scientific practices that constitute a research tradition. One is the fundamentalist view: the fewer the better. The other is a non-fundamentalist view of science whereby the integration of different concepts into the right abstraction grounds an explanation that is not grounded as the sum of the explanations supported by the parts. Integrative concepts are often associated with idealizations that can successfully set the stage for different phenomena to be compared or for explanations of different phenomena to be considered as jointly increasing our understanding of reality beyond that which each explanation provides separately. In this paper, our aim is to argue for the importance of the notions of an "affordance" and "scaffolding" as integrative concepts in the cognitive sciences. The integrational role of the concept of affordance is closely related with the capacity of affordances to generate the scaffoldings leading to the integration. The capacities of affordances that turn them into (stable) scaffoldings explain why such notions are often used interchangeably (as we shall see). On this basis, we aim to show that the concepts of affordance and scaffolding provide the sort of epistemic perspective that can overcome common complaints about the limits and unity of the cognitive sciences once claims about extended cognition are taken seriously.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Elevated intrarenal pressure during ureteroscopy (URS) may result in pyelovenous backflow, which is hypothesized to increase the risk of sepsis. When treating renal stones, the ureteral access sheath (UAS) is considered a pressure mitigation strategy, yet evidence on whether a UAS reduces infectious complications is unclear. Prior studies are limited by small cohorts, heterogenous inclusion criteria, ambiguous endpoints, or lack adequate risk adjustment. We examined UAS use when treating renal stones and its association with infection-related hospitalization in a statewide registry. METHODS: Using the Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC) registry, we identified all patients undergoing single-stage unilateral URS for renal stones, with or without the use of a UAS. We assessed variation in UAS in practices with>10 cases. We evaluated demographic differences between cases with or without UAS. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed to examine the impact of UAS use and other patient, stone, and surgical factors on 30-day infection-related hospitalization. RESULTS: Among 6,142 patients undergoing URS by 233 urologists across 34 practices, 152 (2.5%) had an infection-related hospitalization within 30 days. Patients with UAS had significantly larger stones, more positive preoperative urine culture, and higher comorbidity. Overall 59% of cases utilized UAS, with significant variation between practices (4.1% to 99.5%, p<0.0001; Figure). Infection-related hospitalization rates were no different for cases with (2.6%) vs. without (2.3%) UAS use (p[0.5). On multivariable analysis, infection-related hospitalizations did not differ by UAS (OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.6 1.2; p[0.4), but were associated with higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI 1 vs. 0, OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.2 2.9; CCI 2þ vs. 0, OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.4 3.6; p<0.001), history of recurrent UTI (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.4 4.0; p<0.01), larger stones (OR per 5mm 1.1; 95% CI 1.0 1.3; p[0.04), and positive preoperative urine culture (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.2 2.7; p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Utilization of UAS when treating renal stones varies widely across practices within Michigan. UAS did not reduce infection-related hospitalization following URS for renal stones. Source of Funding: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan


On 55 healthy test persons with normal weight and 76 healthy middle-aged obese test persons the measurement of systolic time intervals was performed standing and lying. In 39 obese patients and 55 test persons with normal weight a load ergometry was carried out. No significant difference between persons with normal weight and extreme overweight was recognized with regard to the index of tension. However, there were clear differences between persons with normal and overweight as to the time of tension and left-ventricular ejection time lying and standing, independent of the behaviour of blood pressure. In persons with overweight a significantly lower cardiac output was found. The index of tension of obese persons with a degree of efficacy below 75 Watt was on an average 1.04. Only half of the persons with overweight reached a degree of efficacy of 100 Watt. In 32 obese persons with a degree of efficacy of more than 75 Watt the regulation of frequency and blood pressure did not differ from that of persons with normal weight.


This paper is concerned with the design of robust state feedback controllers for a class of uncertain linear time-delay systems with norm-bounded uncertainty. The state feedback results extend previous results on quadratic guaranteed cost control to the case of uncertain time-delay systems. This is done by the authors' definition of quadratic stability for uncertain time-delay systems with norm bounded uncertainty. It is shown that the state feedback controller can be constructed via solution of a parameter dependent Riccati equation.


Cardiomyopathies may be hereditary and associated with a familial predilection. Morbidity and mortality can be caused by heart failure, sudden death, or arrhythmias. Sometimes these events are the first manifestations of cardiovascular disease. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy are perhaps most thoroughly studied in that context. Dilated cardiomyopathy, although most frequently of secondary etiology, has a significant familial cluster. Noncompaction of the left ventricle can sometimes be seen in healthy individuals and, in other instances, is associated with severe LV dysfunction. Genetic testing is of utmost importance, since it might allow for the identification of individuals carrying mutations predisposing them to these diseases. In addition, certain variants may benefit from tailored therapeutic regimens, and thus searching for a causal mutation can impact clinical practice and is recommended for all patients with HCM or ACM. Patients with DCM and positive family history should be included as well. Regular follow-ups are advised, even in those with negative phenotypes, because these disorders are often age dependent. During pregnancy and in the case of athletes, special consideration should be made as well. We intend to summarize the most current evidence regarding their management.


In this paper, we report on a relatively new cerium doped scintillator LaCl3 for gamma ray spectroscopy. Crystals of this scintillator have been grown using Bridgman method. This material when doped with 10% cerium has high light output (~50,000 photons/MeV) and fast principal decay time constant (~20 ns). Furthermore, it shows excellent energy resolution for gamma ray detection. For example, energy resolution as low as 3.2% (FWHM) has been achieved with 662 keV photons (Cs source) at room temperature. Also high timing resolution (264 ps FWHM) has been recorded with LaCl3-PMT and BaF2-PMT detectors operating in coincidence using 511 keV positron annihilation gamma ray pairs. Details of crystal growth, scintillation properties, and variation of these properties with cerium concentration are also reported.


This study analyzed the effect of resource use on productivity and technical efficiency of rice farmers in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using well-structured questionnaire from 40 rice farmers randomly selected. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means and percentages and econometric models such as regression, stochastic frontier and instrumental variable estimator were adopted for data analyses using STATA 13.0. Rice production in this study area is commercialized with about 50% of farmers cultivating 2.2hectares of land. The ordinary least squares regression (OLS) estimates found household size to be significant and negatively related to yield of rice at 1% and training and mandays used for planting at 5% level each. Conversely, number of times trained in rice production and use of fertilizer in production were all significant and positively related to the yield of rice in the study area at I%, level each and land ownership at 5% level. MLE result further revealed that while farmers are 65% technically efficient in use of input resources, the estimated value of γ is 0.796934 which clearly indicates that 79.69% of total variation rice yield is due to technical inefficiency. Government need to discover the synergies between credit/fertilizer supply and farmers and develop an efficient and on-time distribution channels for farm inputs to allow farmers attain their productive potential in rice farming and in addition, identify the potentials of farmer clusters for market development for their produce to generate increased income for their production. Training is a critical factor influencing output and thus calls for increased capacity building among farmers in rice production to help them cope with exogenous elements such as changing weather conditions. Keywords: Technical efficiency, Stochastic frontier, Output and Rice farmers


Abstract : The most precise relative positioning obtained using differential GPS depends on accurately determining carrier-phase integer ambiguities. To achieve high precision, many current static and kinematic algorithms use a floating-point solution until enough information becomes available to fix the carrier-phase ambiguities accurately. A mew method is presented that uses a multiple model Kalman filter to resolve the carrier-phase integer ambiguities. This method starts with the floating-point results, yet smoothly and rapidly attains the precision of the correct fixed-integer solution, eliminating the need to decide when to switch from the floating to the fixed-integer solution. This method is based on a theoretically correct blending of solutions from multiple filters. This new technique is computationally efficient, providing a robust navigation solution useful in demanding applications such as precision landing and autonomous navigation. The new method was evaluated during static ground and flight tests. Initial results indicate that the new method is capable of quickly resolving the carrier-phase ambiguities and provides a highly accurate (centimeter-level) navigation solution. However, the performance of the new method depends on the correct carrier-phase ambiguity set being hypothesized by one of the multiple filters. Recommendations for further research are included.


Summary Objectives : Disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes across race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and geography are well-documented, but their etiologies are often poorly understood and multifactorial. Clinical informatics can provide tools to better understand and address these disparities by enabling high-throughput analysis of multiple types of data. Here, we review recent efforts in clinical informatics to study and measure disparities in cancer. Methods : We carried out a narrative review of clinical informatics studies related to cancer disparities and bias published from 2018-2021, with a focus on domains such as real-world data (RWD) analysis, natural language processing (NLP), radiomics, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and metagenomics. Results : Clinical informatics studies that investigated cancer disparities across race, ethnicity, gender, and age were identified. Most cancer disparities work within clinical informatics used RWD analysis, NLP, radiomics, and genomics. Emerging applications of clinical informatics to understand cancer disparities, including proteomics, metabolomics, and metagenomics, were less well represented in the literature but are promising future research avenues. Algorithmic bias was identified as an important consideration when developing and implementing cancer clinical informatics techniques, and efforts to address this bias were reviewed. Conclusions : In recent years, clinical informatics has been used to probe a range of data sources to understand cancer disparities across different populations. As informatics tools become integrated into clinical decision-making, attention will need to be paid to ensure that algorithmic bias does not amplify existing disparities. In our increasingly interconnected medical systems, clinical informatics is poised to untap the full potential of multi-platform health data to address cancer disparities.


Scheduling problems arise whenever there is a choice of order in which a number of tasks should be performed; they arise commonly, daily and everywhere. A job shop is a common manufacturing environment in which a schedule for processing a set of jobs through a set of machines needs to be constructed. Job shop scheduling (JSS) has been called a fascinating challenge as it is computationally hard and prevalent in the real-world. Developing more effective ways of scheduling jobs could increase profitability through increasing throughput and decreasing costs. Dispatching rules (DRs) are one of the most popular scheduling heuristics. DRs are easy to implement, have low computational cost, and cope well with the dynamic nature of real-world manufacturing environments. However, the manual development of DRs is time consuming and requires expert knowledge of the scheduling environment. Genetic programming (GP) is an evolutionary computation method which is ideal for automatically discovering DRs. This is a hyper-heuristic approach, as GP is searching the search space of heuristic (DR) solutions rather than constructing a schedule directly.  The overall goal of this thesis is to develop GP based hyper-heuristics for the efficient evolution (automatic generation) of robust, reusable and effective scheduling heuristics for JSS environments, with greater interpretability.  Firstly, this thesis investigates using GP to evolve optimal DRs for the static two-machine JSS problem with makespan objective function. The results show that some evolved DRs were equivalent to an optimal scheduling algorithm. This validates both the GP based hyper-heuristic approach for generating DRs for JSS and the representation used.  Secondly, this thesis investigates developing ``less-myopic'' DRs through the use of wider-looking terminals and local search to provide additional fitness information. The results show that incorporating features of the state of the wider shop improves the mean performance of the best evolved DRs, and that the inclusion of local search in evaluation evolves DRs which make better decisions over the local time horizon, and attain lower total weighted tardiness.   Thirdly, this thesis proposes using strongly typed GP (STGP) to address the challenging issue of interpretability of DRs evolved by GP. Several grammars are investigated and the results show that the DRs evolved in the semantically constrained search space of STGP do not have (on average) performance that is as good as unconstrained. However, the interpretability of evolved rules is substantially improved.  Fourthly, this thesis investigates using multiobjective GP to encourage evolution of DRs which are more readily interpretable by human operators. This approach evolves DRs with similar performance but smaller size. Fragment analysis identifies popular combinations of terminals which are then used as high level terminals; the inclusion of these terminals improved the mean performance of the best evolved DRs.  Through this thesis the following major contributions have been made: (1) the first use of GP to evolve optimal DRs for the static two-machine job shop with makespan objective function; (2) an approach to developing less-myopic DRs through the inclusion of wider looking terminals and the use of local search to provide additional fitness information over an extended decision horizon; (3) the first use of STGP for the automatic discovery of DRs with better interpretability and semantic validity for increased trust; and (4) the first multiobjective GP approach that considers multiple objectives investigating the trade-off between scheduling behaviour and interpretability. This is also the first work that uses analysis of evolved GP individuals to perform feature selection and construction for JSS.


The interferon inducing effect of hyperthermia was studied in normal and tumor-bearing mice. Circulating interferon was temporarily detected one day after subcutaneous transplantation of 1.6 X 10(6) Ehrlich's ascites tumor cells. Hyperthermia of 43.5 degrees C for 5 min did not induce the interferon formation in mice with or without subcutaneous tumor of the cells. These findings showed that the induction of interferon formation was not main cause of the hyperthermia-induced tumor inhibition.


Many organisms, including various species of spiders and caterpillars, change their shape to switch gaits and adapt to different environments. Recent technological advances, ranging from stretchable circuits to highly deformable soft robots, have begun to make shape changing robots a possibility. However, it is currently unclear how and when shape change should occur, and what capabilities could be gained, leading to a wide range of unsolved design and control problems. To begin addressing these questions, here we simulate, design, and build a soft robot that utilizes shape change to achieve locomotion over both a flat and inclined surface. Modeling this robot in simulation, we explore its capabilities in two environments and demonstrate the automated discovery of environment-specific shapes and gaits that successfully transfer to the physical hardware. We found that the shape-changing robot traverses these environments better than an equivalent but non-morphing robot, in simulation and reality.


The object of the work is to develop optimal composition of a gel with woundhealing ability based on Ag(I) complex with 2(4,6ditertbutyl2,3dihydroxyphenylsulphanyl)acetic acid to produce a novel effective remedy. It was found that propylene glycol (PG) favours the formation of more fine suspension of Ag(I) complex, and introduction of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) hinders aggregation of the particles of the complex, thus providing optimal dispersity of the gel suspension. The gels based on methyl cellulose (MC) are characterized by an acceptable degree of release of Ag(I) complex. It is the gels containing PG and PVP that are characterized by the most complete release of the active substance, which is in agreement with the data on the optimal dispersity. It was found that PG and PVP being introduced into the gel composition increase the osmotic activity of the gel considerably. The optimal composition of the ointment base was determined, %: MC – 3.5; PVP – 5.0; 0.1 mol/L citric acid solution – 5.0; PG – 20.0; water for injections – up to 100.0. The gel obtained was shown to surpass «Dermazin» cream and «Levomecol» ointment in woundhealing ability, while the content of the active substance was significantly lower (0.5 %), and to promote wounds to be cleansed of microorganisms fast and completely too. No accumulation of silver in the liver was found when the gel was used medicinally.


Abstract Elevated cholesterol intake can induce the development of cardiovascular diseases in man, especially with long term animal origin foods consumption. Therefore, this work deals with the possibility of cholesterol content decrease in milk applying β-cyclodextrin crosslinked with tartaric acid (βCDcTA) as a removal agent. Evaluation of statistic data on food consumption in the Slovak Republic in 2018 aimed at total cholesterol daily intake and effects of "milky" cholesterol content decrease on total cholesterol balance. During the experiments, various amounts of βCDcTA addition to milk were studied resulting in optimal 5 % addition resulting in the cholesterol content decrease by 85.4 % in comparison to original cholesterol content. For monitoring purposes, an HPLC method analysing cholesterol content in saponified milk was employed. The food consumption data analysis showed that total per capita daily cholesterol intake was 369.8 mg, from which 86 mg was assigned to the cholesterol contained in milk and dairy products while the application of cholesterol removal procedure could decrease the total per capita daily cholesterol intake to 296.3 mg ("milky" cholesterol amount equal to 12.6 mg), which in below the recommended value of 300 mg daily intake still valid in the Slovak Republic. This approach might prove as a meaningful step to weaken health problems associated with high long term intake of cholesterol contained in foods of animal origin.


Background/Aims: Clinical trials should be designed and managed to minimise important errors with potential to compromise patient safety or data integrity, employ monitoring practices that detect and correct important errors quickly, and take robust action to prevent repetition. Regulators highlight the use of risk-based monitoring, making greater use of centralised monitoring and reducing reliance on centre visits. The TEMPER study was a prospective evaluation of triggered monitoring (a risk-based monitoring method), whereby centres are prioritised for visits based on central monitoring results. Conducted in three UK-based randomised cancer treatment trials of investigational medicine products with time-to-event outcomes, it found high levels of serious findings at triggered centre visits but also at visits to matched control centres that, based on central monitoring, were not of concern. Here, we report a detailed review of the serious findings from TEMPER centre visits. We sought to identify feasible, centralised processes which might detect or prevent these findings without a centre visit. Methods: The primary outcome of this study was the proportion of all 'major' and 'critical' TEMPER centre visit findings theoretically detectable or preventable through a feasible, centralised process. To devise processes, we considered a representative example of each finding type through an internal consensus exercise. This involved (a) agreeing the potential, by some described process, for each finding type to be centrally detected or prevented and (b) agreeing a proposed feasibility score for each proposed process. To further assess feasibility, we ran a consultation exercise, whereby the proposed processes were reviewed and rated for feasibility by invited external trialists. Results: In TEMPER, 312 major or critical findings were identified at 94 visits. These findings comprised 120 distinct issues, for which we proposed 56 different centralised processes. Following independent review of the feasibility of the proposed processes by 87 consultation respondents across eight different trial stakeholder groups, we conclude that 306/312 (98%) findings could theoretically be prevented or identified centrally. Of the processes deemed feasible, those relating to informed consent could have the most impact. Of processes not currently deemed feasible, those involving use of electronic health records are among those with the largest potential benefit. Conclusions: This work presents a best-case scenario, where a large majority of monitoring findings were deemed theoretically preventable or detectable by central processes. Caveats include the cost of applying all necessary methods, and the resource implications of enhanced central monitoring for both centre and trials unit staff. Our results will inform future monitoring plans and emphasise the importance of continued critical review of monitoring processes and outcomes to ensure they remain appropriate.


Abstract A systematic review of some Australasian species previously allocated to the chernetid genus Sundochernes Beier 1932 reveals numerous discrepancies from the type species, S. modiglianii (Ellingsen 1911). Three of these species are removed to the genus Troglochernes Beier 1969, previously known from only a single troglobitic species, and a fourth is removed to a new genus. Troglochernes contains six species: the type species T. imitans Beier 1969 from caves on the Nullarbor Plain, Western Australia; three species newly transferred from Sundochernes, T. guanophilus (Beier 1967) new combination, from Fig Tree Cave, New South Wales, T. dewae (Beier 1967) new combination, from bird nests in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, T. novaeguineae (Beier 1965) new combination, from central Papua New Guinea; and two new species, T. cruciatus Volschenk, new species from Rope Ladder Cave, North East Queensland and T. omorgus Harvey & Volschenk, new species from a beetle in Queensland. The Lord Howe Island endemic pseudoscorpion Sundochernes grayi Beier 1975 is transferred to a new genus, Satrapanus Harvey & Volschenk, as it lacks the diagnostic features of Sundochernes. Problems with the generic allocation of species currently placed within Sundochernes are discussed and the female genitalia of Nesochernes gracilis Beier 1932 and Paraustrochernes victorianus Beier 1966 are illustrated for the first time. Troglochernes imitans is one of the most highly modified troglobitic members of the Chernetidae, displaying extremely elongate pedipalps and legs suggesting an extended period of isolation from ancestral epigean populations. The remaining cave-dwelling species, T. cruciatus and T. guanophilus, are less modified and show fewer morphological modifications which may suggest more recent colonization of the cave environments.


Abstract Quality of speech synthesis is a crucial issue in comparison of various text-to-speech (TTS) systems. We proposed a system for automatic evaluation of speech quality by statistical analysis of temporal features (time duration, phrasing, and time structuring of an analysed sentence) together with standard spectral and prosodic features. This system was successfully tested on sentences produced by a unit selection speech synthesizer with a male as well as a female voice using two different approaches to prosody manipulation. Experiments have shown that for correct, sharp, and stable results all three types of speech features (spectral, prosodic, and temporal) are necessary. Furthermore, the number of used statistical parameters has a significant impact on the correctness and precision of the evaluated results. It was also demonstrated that the stability of the whole evaluation process is improved by enlarging the used speech material. Finally, the functionality of the proposed system was verified by comparison of the results with those of the standard listening test.


This mini-review assessed recent studies of spinal cord stimulation and neuromuscular stimulation in spinal cord injury in order to provide an overview of recent advances in neuromodulation for functional restoration. Possible mechanisms of such motor recovery were analyzed, ways to improve neuromodulation for functional restoration were discussed, and future perspectives were outlined in this paper. Recent advancements in neuromodulation such as spinal cord stimulation and neuromuscular stimulation in spinal cord injury have made it possible for patients with incurable complete paralysis to recover motor function. The progress of recent neuromodulation studies in spinal cord injury have demonstrated the value and potential of neuromodulation in functional restoration. The effectiveness and precision of neuromodulation can be further improved by techniques such as closed-loop control, optogenetics, multi-modal stimulation and neuroimmune modulation, while its adverse effects can be reduced (e.g., by optimizing parameters) or minimized (e.g., by using non-invasive techniques). This has opened up new possibilities to use neuromodulation for other incurable neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis. Neuromodulation has great potential for restoring lost functions and reestablishing physiological homeostasis. To reach its full potential, much learning, research and development is needed. As neuromodulation technology advances, it is foreseeable that neuromodulation will achieve significant clinical effectiveness in functional restoration in the near future, which will bring cure to patients with incurable neurological diseases and relieve them from suffering.


The pancreatic duct-ligated minipig (PL) is an established model of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI) with a significant decrease of nutrient digestibility. This study aimed to quantify and compare endogenous losses of nitrogen (N) (ileal and faecal) in minipigs receiving an almost N-free diet. Altogether, 12 Göttingen minipigs (7 PL and 5 control animals) fitted with an re-entrant ileo-caecal fistula were used. In Study 1, ileal digesta was collected over a period of 12 h on seven consecutive days, including one 24 h collection, when animals were fed a diet containing 0.49 g N/kg dry matter (DM). In Study 2, faeces were collected for 10 consecutive days. In Group PL, the amount and DM content of ileal digesta were higher (p < 0.05), while N concentration was lower than in the Control. The ileo-caecal N flux [g/kg DM intake] was about 2.5 times higher in Group PL (5.47 ± 1.15) than in the Control (1.91 ± 0.59) (p < 0.05). The amount of faeces did not differ, but faecal N losses were higher in Group PL (p < 0.05). Endogenous faecal N losses [g N/kg DM intake] of the Control group (1.17 ± 0.72) were comparable with earlier studies, while those of Group PL were 2.6 times higher (3.09 ± 1.34). In contrast, urinary excretion of N did not differ between the Control and Group PL. In conclusion, PEI caused markedly increased endogenous N losses. Therefore, the impact of reduced digestibility of nutrients on endogenous N losses might be relevant for apparent protein digestibility rates and should be taken into account.


Abstract Computational chemistry plays a key role in the construction of the current understanding of the reaction mechanisms for the reaction of coinage metal complexes with hydrocarbons. Carbene precursors (diazo compounds) or nitrene precursors (hypervalent iodine compounds or azides) react with the catalyst complexes giving rise to highly reactive metallocarbene or metallonitrene intermediates, which are difficult to observe experimentally. DFT calculations allow the characterization of these intermediates and of their reactivity with hydrocarbons, leading to C–H insertion, aziridination or oxazole synthesis. This review summarizes computational work in the last decade in this research field, which has progressed in collaboration with experimental knowledge on these systems.


We introduce several new resilience metrics for quantifying the resilience of critical material supply chains to disruptions and validate these metrics using the 2010 rare earth element (REE) crisis as a case study. Our method is a novel application of Event Sequence Analysis, supplemented with interviews of actors across the entire supply chain. We discuss resilience mechanisms in quantitative terms–time lags, response speeds, and maximum magnitudes–and in light of cultural differences between Japanese and European corporate practice. This quantification is crucial if resilience is ever to be taken into account in criticality assessments and a step toward determining supply and demand elasticities in the REE supply chain. We find that the REE system showed resilience mainly through substitution and increased non-Chinese primary production, with a distinct role for stockpiling. Overall, annual substitution rates reached 10% of total demand. Non-Chinese primary production ramped up at a speed of 4% of total market volume per year. The compound effect of these mechanisms was that recovery from the 2010 disruption took two years. The supply disruption did not nudge a system toward an appreciable degree of recycling. This finding has important implications for the circular economy concept, indicating that quite a long period of sustained material constraints will be necessary for a production-consumption system to naturally evolve toward a circular configuration.


The intracratonic Canning Basin is Western Australia's largest sedimentary basin (>400 000 km2) and has experienced repeated episodes of Phanerozoic extension and subsidence, resulting in deposition of a number of first‐order 'megasequences'. A major phase of basin extension and sedimentation (Grant Group) occurred in the Late Carboniferous/Early Permian when Australia lay at high palaeolatitudes. Facies analysis of 5000 m of drill core from 25 continuously cored wells in Grant Group strata on the fault‐bounded Barbwire Terrace in the northern Canning Basin identified three facies associations (FAs). These record the predominance of fault‐generated, subaqueous mass flow and sediment reworking. The lowest association (FA I; up to 355 m thick) rests unconformably on tilted older strata and consists of coarse‐grained, subaqueously deposited, sediment gravity flow facies. These include fault‐generated breccias, massive and graded sandstones and conglomerates deposited by turbidity currents and diamictites generated by mixing of different textural populations during downslope remobilization. FA I is overlain abruptly by relatively fine‐grained deposits of FA II (up to 140 m thick), which consist of laminated to thin‐bedded mudstone and sandstone turbidites, recording an abrupt increase in relative water depths. In turn, these facies coarsen upwards and are transitional into shallow‐water, swaley cross‐stratified and rippled sandstones of FA III (up to 125 m thick). The overall stratigraphic succession probably records an initial phase of faulting and accommodation of coarse sediment (FA I), a subsequent phase of rapid subsidence, increasing water depths and 'sediment underfilling' (FA II) and, finally, a regressive phase of shoreface progradation. The occurrence of rare striated clasts in FA I suggests reworking of glacial sediment, but no direct glacial influence on sedimentation can be identified.


We present here characterization data for seven new microsatellite markers designed from new microsatellite loci isolated from a microsatellite-enriched DNA library from Vitis vinifera. The observed heterozygosity varied from 0.73 up to 0.93 and the number of alleles per locus ranged from 12 to 26. This high polymorphism makes these new markers interesting for use in genotyping studies and completing the set of microsatellite markers already available for V. vinifera. Additionally these seven new markers appear to be conserved in four other Vitis species and 15 Vitis hybrids used as rootstocks for V. vinifera cultivation.


This paper presents an algorithm for rational decimation system. The proposed algorithm reduces the overall memory elements and load. The proposal utilizes Interpolated Finite Impulse Response (IFIR) filter. The proposed structure is simplified by splitting the factorable decimation factor into two integers, i.e. $M=M_{1}\cdot M_{2}$ such that $M_{1}> M_{2}$. The applied methods are multi rate techniques and number theory for digital signal processing. This proposed algorithm is applicable in communication systems like Software Defined Radio (SDR).


We show that a current-carrying coherent electron conductor can be treated as effective bosonic energy reservoir involving different types of electron-hole pair excitation. For weak electron-boson coupling, hybrid energy transport between nonequilibrium electrons and bosons can be described by a Landauer-like formula. This allows for unified account of a variety of heat transport problems in hybrid electron-boson systems. As applications, we study the non-reciprocal heat transport between electrons and bosons, thermoelectric current from a cold-spot and electronic cooling of the bosons. Our unified framework provides an intuitive way of understanding hybrid energy transport between electrons and bosons. It opens the way of nonequilibrium reservoir engineering for efficient energy control between different quasi-particles in the nanoscale.


A field experiment comprising of fifty chickpea germplasm entries along with two commercial varieties (Punjab-2008 and Bittle-2016) was carried out for characterization of chickpea germplasm and screening of superior chickpea genotypes under agro-climatic conditions of Kallurkot (Thal, Punjab, Pakistan) at research area of Gram Breeding Research Station, Kallurkot (71.153°E and 32.923°N). D2 Statistics, principal component and cluster analysis were employed for screening of chickpea genotypes. Results showed wide range and higher values of variance for the included traits. PCA results demonstrated that the first four principal components extracted more than 1 Eigen values with a cumulative share of 74% of total variation. Cluster analysis distributed the genotypes into five distinguished clusters. Dendrogram constructed on the basis of Euclidean distance showed that the members of cluster IV (GP-17215, GP-16548) and V (GP-16929, GP-01937, GP-01974) possess higher genetic variation. Results confirmed that these genotypes possess the best combination of morpho-agronomic and may be utilized further for chickpea yield improvement program.


The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of ARMCO double-wall, steel noise barriers attached to bridge parapets so as to provide continuity for roadside barriers. Measurements were taken opposite the sites of the discontinuities on two bridges before and after the gaps were filled. The measurements were recorded in both the analog and digital modes using the technique described in reference 2 of this report. It was concluded that the bridge barriers significantly contributed to lessening the impact of traffic noise on the adjacent communities. It was also concluded that the expansion joints used in the bridge decks created an annoying noise when crossed by traffic, and that such noise should be ameliorated where it occurs. (FHWA)


Educational research has demonstrated the importance of embodiment in the design of student learning environments, connecting bodily actions to critical concepts. Gestural recognition algorithms have become important tools in leveraging this connection but are limited in their development, focusing primarily on traditional machine-learning paradigms. We describe our approach to real-time learning analytics, using a gesturerecognition system to interpret movement in an educational context. We train a hybrid parametric, hierarchical hidden-Markov model using a one-shot construct, learning from singular, user-defined gestures. This model gives us access to three different modes of data streams: skeleton positions, kinematics features, and internal model parameters. Such a structure presents many challenges including anticipating the optimal feature sets to analyze and creating effective mapping schemas. Despite these challenges, our method allows users to facilitate productive simulation interactions, fusing of these streams into embodied semiotic structures defined by the individual. This work has important implications for the future of multimodal learning analytics and educational technology.


With the advent of surface mount components, many packaging engineers have been trying to determine the critical performance parameters for the technology. From first principals, the shear strain on a joint will be decreased if the distance between the components is increased. A simple way to do this is to increase the solder volume of the connection then fatigue cycle the parts to failure. The above experiment was performed with four different chip capacitors and six different solder volumes. The tests data confirmed a very consistent and predictable increase in fatigue life with solder joint height. Another item of interest to a package design engineer is how failures are initiated in a surface mount package. The usual assumption is that the only cause for failure is due to fatigue from dissimilar expansion coefficients of the components. Experiments have been performed the show solder cracking will occur in the solder due to the difference in expansion coefficients between the solder and component. No external loading is necessary. The size of the joint may have to be considered to minimize the problem.