This paper studies the joint design of optimal convolutional codes (CCs) and CRC codes when serial list Viterbi algorithm (S-LVA) is employed in order to achieve the target frame error rate (FER). We first analyze the S-LVA performance with respect to SNR and list size, repsectively, and prove the convergence of the expected number of decoding attempts when SNR goes to the extreme. We then propose the coded channel capacity as the criterion to jointly design optimal CC-CRC pair and optimal list size and show that the optimal list size of S-LVA is always the cardinality of all possible CCs. With the maximum list size, we choose the design metric of optimal CC-CRC pair as the SNR gap to random coding union (RCU) bound and the optimal CC-CRC pair is the one that achieves a target SNR gap with the least complexity. Finally, we show that a weaker CC with a strong optimal CRC code could be as powerful as a strong CC with no CRC code.


A new throttling flow calorimeter has been incorporated into the recycle facility of the Thermal Properties Laboratory. Energy is added to the expanding gas while it flows through a stainless steel capillary tubing from an insulated resistance wire located inside the entire length of the capillary. The calorimeter is designed to operate at pressures up to 2,000 lb./sq.in.abs. in the temperature range from −240 to +250°F.

Data on the isothermal effect of pressure on enthalpy for a mixture containing 5 mole % propane in methane are presented and compared with data from the literature.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent neoplasia worldwide. Environmental risk factors as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) play a critical role in liver carcinogenesis. Liver carcinogenesis is probably a multistep process involving several genes, but morphological and molecular features of premalignant and malignant hepatic lesions are yet far from being fully elucidated. This study summarizes chromosomal imbalances of a wide variety of precancerous and cancerous lesions of the liver as detected by Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH). Preneoplastic nodules, classified as macroregenerative nodules (MRN), low-grade dysplastic nodules (LG-DN) and high-grade dysplastic nodules (HG-DN), showed only few aberrations (mean 1.1/case), without any significant pattern. This finding is comparable to what happens in non-neoplastic tissue. On the contrary, in three of six HG-DN we found deletions of 8p and gains of 1q. LG-DN and MRN never showed these chromosomal imbalances. Furthermore some chromosomal changes appeared to be quite characteristic for some of the investigated tumor entities: HCC. 8p- might be relatively specific for HCC (44% with 8p) since it was hardly found in fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) or hepatoblastoma (HB). The same applies for 17q+ which was much more frequent in HCC (41%) than in FLC (0 of 5) or HB (9%). FLC. There were 4 alterations that were more frequent in FLC than in other tumor types. These changes included 4q+, 9p-, 16p- and Xq-. HB. Alterations that were typical for hepatoblastoma included Xp+ and Xq+, which were found both in the mesenchymal and in the epithelial parts of HBs. Other frequent changes in these tumor types included 1p-, 9p- and 2q+.


The purpose of this paper is to show how collaborative information technology (IT) tools and a crowdsourcing model can be leveraged for the purpose of strategic planning. To achieve this objective, a formal method of open strategic planning (OSP) is proposed.,Based on a review of the literature a set of activities, stakeholders, and governing rules are identified in the form of an OSP method. The proposed planning method is implemented in a case study of strategic planning in an Australian university. Observations by the research team, and archival records were used to ascertain the relevance of the used method.,A method for OSP is presented and assessed. The method contains four phases: pre-planning, idea submission, idea refinement, and plan development. These phases cover the activities required from conceptualization to preparing and publishing the strategic plan. The findings clarify how the principles of OSP helped the organization to include more stakeholders and provided the opportunity to make the planning process transparent through use of a collaborative IT tool.,The study provides managers and planning consultants with detailed guidelines to implement the concept of open strategy.,This study is among the few to propose a method for OSP based on empirical research. The study also shows how collaborative IT tools can be used for high-level organizational tasks such as strategic planning.


The Internet email system as a popular online communication tool has been increasingly misused by ill-willed users to carry out malicious activities including spamming and phishing. Alarmingly, in recent years the nature of the email-based malicious activities has evolved from being purely annoying (with the notorious example of spamming) to being criminal (with the notorious example of phishing). Despite more than a decade of anti-spam and anti-phishing research and development efforts, both the sophistication and volume of spam and phishing messages on the Internet have continuously been on the rise over the years.
A key difficulty in the control of email-based malicious activities is that malicious actors have great operational flexibility in performing email-based malicious activities, in terms of both the email delivery infrastructure and email content; moreover, existing anti-spam and anti-phishing measures allow for arms race between malicious actors and the anti-spam and anti-phishing community. In order to effectively control email-based malicious activities such as spamming and phishing, we argue that we must limit (and ideally, eliminate) the operational flexibility that malicious actors have enjoyed over the years.
In this dissertation we develop and evaluate a sender-centric approach (SCA) to addressing the problem of email-based malicious activities so as to control spam and phishing emails on the Internet. SCA consists of three complementary components, which together greatly limit the operational flexibility of malicious actors in sending spam and phishing emails. The first two components of SCA focus on limiting the infrastructural flexibility of malicious actors in delivering emails, and the last component focuses on on limiting the flexibility of malicious actors in manipulating the content of emails.
In the first component of SCA, we develop a machine-learning based system to prevent malicious actors from utilizing compromised machines to send spam and phishing emails. Given that the vast majority of spam and phishing emails are delivered via compromised machines on the Internet today, this system can greatly limit the infrastructural flexibility of malicious actors. Ideally, malicious actors should be forced to send spam and phishing messages from their own machines so that blacklists and reputation-based systems can be effectively used to block spam and phishing emails. The machine-learning based system we develop in this dissertation is a critical step towards this goal.
In recent years, malicious actors also started to employ advanced techniques to hijack network prefixes in conducting email-based malicious activities, which makes the control and attribution of spam and phishing emails even harder. In the second component of SCA, we develop a practical approach to improve the security of the Internet inter-domain routing protocol BGP. Given that the key difficulties in adopting any mechanism to secure the Internet inter-domain routing are the overhead and incremental deployment property of the mechanism, our scheme is designed to have minimum overhead and it can be incrementally deployed by individual networks on the Internet to protect themselves (and their customer networks), so that individual networks have incentives to deploy the scheme.
In addition to the infrastructural flexibility in delivering spam and phishing emails, malicious actors have enormous flexibility in manipulating the format and content of email messages. In particular, malicious actors can forge phishing messages as close to legitimate messages in terms of both format and content. Although malicious actors have immense power in manipulating the format and content of phishing emails, they cannot completely hide how a message is delivered to the recipients. Based on this observation, in the last component of SCA, we develop a system to identify phishing emails based on the sender-related information instead of theformat or content of email messages.
Together, the three complementary components of SCA will greatly limit the operational flexibility and capability that malicious actors have enjoyed over the years in delivering spam and phishing emails, and we believe that SCA will make a significant contribution towards addressing the spam and phishing problem on the Internet.


This brief analyzes the jitter as well as the power dissipation of phase-locked loops (PLLs). It aims at defining a benchmark figure-of-merit (FOM) that is compatible with the well-known FOM for oscillators but now extended to an entire PLL. The phase noise that is generated by the thermal noise in the oscillator and loop components is calculated. The power dissipation is estimated, focusing on the required dynamic power. The absolute PLL output jitter is calculated, and the optimum PLL bandwidth that gives minimum jitter is derived. It is shown that, with a steep enough input reference clock, this minimum jitter is independent of the reference frequency and output frequency for a given PLL power budget. Based on these insights, a benchmark FOM for PLL designs is proposed.


This paper presents a comparison of a Reinforcement-Learning (RL) based wave energy conversion controller against standard reactive damping and model predictive control (MPC) approaches, in the presence of modeling errors. Wave energy converters (WECs) are under the influence of many non-linear hydrodynamic forces, yet for ease and expediency, it is common to formulate linear WEC models and control laws. Therefore it is expected that significant modeling errors may be present, which may degrade model-based control performance. Model-free RL approaches to control may offer a significant advantage in robustness to modeling errors, in that the model is learned by the controller by experience. It is shown that, for an annual average sea state, RL-based controllers can outperform model-based control – reactive control and MPC – by 19% and 16%, respectively, when significant modeling error is present. Furthermore, compared to similar studies of RL-based control, the proposed model can reduce the training time from 8.4 hr to 1.5 hr.


After reviewing the literature, the authors report a case and the ultrasonographic findings of hidrohematometrocolpos. They also report the differential diagnoses and the diagnostic criteria.


SUMMARY Examples of semi-horizontal mineral layering in adamellites from the Galway Granite Batholith of Co. Galway, Eire, are described and illustrated. The layering results from variation in the amounts of the constituent minerals in successive horizons of the granite. It is suggested that the layering originated by settling of the early crystallizing minerals during quiescent periods in the emplacement of the granite, and that it may have been much more extensively developed than it is at present. Volatile constituents are thought to have reduced the viscosity of the magma periodically.


The alkali halides sodium fluoride, sodium bromide, and sodium iodide exist in the gas phase as both monomer and dimer species. A reanalysis of gas electron diffraction (GED) data collected earlier has been undertaken for each of these molecules using the EXPRESS method to yield experimental equilibrium structures. EXPRESS allows amplitudes of vibration to be estimated and correction terms to be applied to each pair of atoms in the refinement model. These quantities are calculated from the ab initio potential-energy surfaces corresponding to the vibrational modes of the monomer and dimer. Because they include many of the effects associated with large-amplitude modes of vibration and anharmonicity, we have been able to determine highly accurate experimental structures. These results are found to be in good agreement with those from high-level core-valence ab initio calculations and are substantially more precise than those obtained in previous structural studies.


A modified procedure for the two‐dimensional electrophoretic analysis of basic polypeptides is described. This method uses isoelectric focusing with carrier ampholytes in the first dimension, and sodium dodecyl sulfate‐electrophoresis in the second dimension. Counteraction of the cathodic drift is achieved by glass tube treatment (silanization), electrolyte modification (use of weak bases and acids), protection of the catholyte from carbon dioxide, and the addition of glycerol to the gel mix. Better resolution and reproducibility are obtained than with nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis, since quasi equilibrium focusing can be obtained.


It is well known that both British and American Pekin ducks originated from China. However, the populations differ substantially in production performance, but the genetic changes involved are still poorly understood. Herein, we sequenced 24 individual Pekin ducks (eight from each population) with an average sequencing depth of more than 45× for each population (mean coverage of 6.29 per individual). Among these populations from three different countries, we identified a large number of SNPs and indels as well as many unique population variants, which can be used as population-specific molecular markers. Genomic comparisons among the three duck populations revealed many candidate genes as well as pathways and Gene Ontology categories that are putatively associated with meat yield in the British population, growth in the American population and brain development in all three populations. These findings will enable a better understanding of the artificial selection history of Pekin ducks and provide a valuable resource for future research on the breeding of this species.


SnO2 and ZnO and metal oxide nanowires were synthesized by vapor transport process in a horizontal tube furnace. The peculiar characteristic of these materials is the emission of visible photoluminescence (PL) when they are excited with UV light. The visible photoluminescence of tin and zinc oxide nanowires is quenched by nitrogen dioxide at ppm level in a fast (time scale order of seconds) and reversible way. Besides, the response seems highly selective toward humidity and other polluting species, such as CO and NH3. We believe that adsorbed gaseous species that create surface states can quench PL by creating competitive nonradiative paths.


The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of carbapenem resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) sequence types (STs) in Iran. Samples were collected from three university hospitals in Sanandaj, Iran, from December 2016 to March 2018. Antibiotic susceptibility testing, phenotypic and genotypic detection of carbapenemases were performed. Common K. pneumoniae capsular types were sought for all isolates. The genetic relatedness of isolates was investigated by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Plasmids were detected by PCR-based Replicon Typing (PBRT). During the study, 67 K. pneumoniae isolates were identified. Of which, 18 (26.9%) isolates were detected as carbapenem-resistant. The most effective antibacterial agent was tigecycline (97%, 65 isolates) followed by imipenem and ertapenem (73.13%, 49 isolates). PCR showed that 13 isolates (19.4%) had blaNDM-1 gene and 5 (7.5%) harbored blaOXA-48. Examination of common capsular types showed that 2 isolates had K2 and 2 others had K54. REP-PCR revealed 10 clones and 11 singleton strains. MLST analysis of CRKP found ST15 as the most common type (13 isolates, 72.2%), but other STs were also detected namely, ST19, ST117, ST1390, and ST1594. ColE1 and IncL/M plasmids were the carriers of blaNDM-1 and blaOXA-48, respectively. The results showed that CRKP spread in our health centers. Our results, therefore, indicate a worrying trend of resistance to carbapenems in K. pneumoniae.


In this study, we investigate the effect of local adaptation to developmental density on male mating success in laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Mating success is known to be influenced by body condition which can in turn be influenced by local adaptation. We test the hypothesis that males adapted to a given environment have higher mating success when assayed in that environment. We used males selected for adaptation to high larval density and their controls which are reared at low larval density. We grew assay males in low and high densities whereas the focal females (raised at low larval density) used for the experiment belonged to the common ancestor of selected and control populations. We considered selected males grown at high density and control males grown at low density as 'adapted'. Similarly, we considered selected males grown at low density and control males grown at high density as 'nonadapted'. Selected male belonging to a given treatment (larval density) was made to compete with control male of the same treatment for mating with ancestral female. We quantified components of reproductive fitness: mating latency, copulation duration, mating success and number of progeny sired by the 'adapted' and 'nonadapted' males. The results show that local adaptation does not lead to higher mating success in populations adapted to their own larval rearing environment.


The long-acting corinfar formulation, corinfar-retard tablets, 20 mg (AWD, Germany), was studied for pharmacokinetics in single and course use in 40 patients with arterial hypertension, as well as for its effects of cordanum and triampur. Patients' plasma corinfar was measured by high performance liquid chromatography. There were no changes in the pharmacokinetics of the agent when it was used in its course use. Cordanum and triampur was demonstrated to have no effects on the pharmacokinetics of corinfar during their application.


For preliminary design including the proportioning of the structure, the variation of wind force on a structure with variation of site parameters and structural parameters should be known. The present study is an effort to achieve the same, primarily based on Indian wind code. The proposed draft of the Indian wind code is also included in the scope of the study. Comparisons of the wind forces obtained by Indian Standard and that by American Standard are also presented for some representative cases to gaze the relative level of protection attributed by Indian wind codes. The study also includes an exhaustive comparison of the wind forces obtained by Force coefficient based static analysis and Gust factor based dynamic analysis interpreting where which method should be used for better protection. The general observations and simple guidelines emerged from the study may prove useful for choosing the appropriate method by design engineers, depending on the requirement of safety, economy and availability of time. The large number of case studies presented in the paper in the form of the variations curves may be used for preliminary design and cross cheeking the results and hence, may prove useful in the design offices.


This review outlines the basic concepts and pathophysiological aspects of the chemistry of free radicals in all forms of brain injury and brain edema. Brain edema, defined as an abnormal accumulation of fluid associated with volumetric enlargement of the brain, is complicated and multifactorial, and it is still a serious complication of strokes, brain tumors, brain abscesses and hypoxic injury. Recent experimental studies have demonstrated that free radicals play an important role as chemical mediators in causing brain edema and brain damage. Pharmacological antagonism of free radicals with free radical scavengers shows beneficial therapeutic results. Future research into brain edema and optimal combinations of therapeutic regimens is expected to improve the management of patients with brain edema. (日本医科大学医学会雑誌 2017; 13: 120―129)


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Philanthropy in plastic surgery supports research, clinical care, academic infrastructure, and education in the United States and internationally. Plastic surgeons have opportunities to innovatively address unmet needs in their local and global communities by forming philanthropic nonprofit organizations. Methods: The authors queried three national philanthropic databases (Charity Navigator, Guidestar, and ProPublica) for Internal Revenue Service 990 form tax return information related to philanthropic plastic surgery organizations. The authors analyzed the financial information publicly available about current plastic surgery philanthropic organizations and their funding sources. Results: Seventy-three federally tax-exempt groups identified plastic surgery as their primary area of work to the Internal Revenue Service in 2019, and 52 of those organizations said they engaged in clinical and/or educational philanthropy.3 In 2017, a total of $158.5 million was donated to these groups in cash and noncash donations including equipment and time. Analyses of 6 years (2013 to 2018) of tax records from groups that provide plastic surgery clinical, research, or educational philanthropy reveal that government grants provide very little funding for this work. Eighty-six percent of money raised for these groups in 2017 was collected by means of direct donations. Money obtained from fundraising events contributed 2 percent to their total monies raised in 2017 on average and 8 percent came from noncash gifts. Conclusions: A broad body of academic research is reviewed here that guides best practices and measuring a group's impact and outcomes. The details of a philanthropic group's organization and finances directly influence the impact of their work and, as such, are worthy of our sustained attention.


Citizen participation initiatives enable public decision-makers to integrate the knowledge and preferences of citizens into municipal planning processes at an early stage. To this end, workshops are frequently and recurrently utilized instruments, which foster the collaboration of citizens with public authorities and with one another. With the rise of ICT, e-participation has evolved as a strategic pillar in digital governance, but has not fully reached participation workshops yet. Establishing an integrated e-participation approach that combines traditional and e-participation instruments poses a challenge in practice. Therefore, we apply Collaboration Engineering to design and evaluate an e-participation workshop process, which incorporates theoretical and practical requirements, allows the seamless transfer of digitally generated input across instruments and process steps, and sustains a workshop execution by domain-specific practitioners. Evaluation results suggest promising potentials of the developed process design for increased idea elaboration and more effective documentation of workshopbased participation.


This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License JTSFT.MS.ID.000593. Abstract Geotextiles are technical textiles which will lead the future textile market. Geotextiles have great impact on protecting natural disaster. Now a day's countries are very much vulnerable to the influence of climate change. Due to climate change and other causes there are significant number of disasters is happening day by day. Geotextiles can protect our bridges, roads and soil from natural disaster by making embankments and retaining walls. Erosion control can be occurred by this. By using geotextiles, it is made temporary roads or permanent roads . So, at the time of natural disaster it cannot be damaged. The application of geotextiles is huge. Not only disaster time but also the solution of drainage system and reinforcement of road is done by geotextiles. Actually, geotextiles are mixing branch of textile engineering and civil engineering. Civil engineers look after the civil part and textile engineers look after the textile materials of it . Geotextiles are made by various way. But in industrial approach geotextiles are made some different way. In this article it is discussed about all of it. Besides protecting from natural disaster geotextiles can separate the soil. That's why geotextiles are used to identify the soil and soils quality. In this article , it is taken image of the application of geotextiles, how geotextiles can make , how can it protect the natural disaster. This is also discussed about geotextiles history and types. So, it can be said that from this article an overview of geotextiles can be found.


The efficiency of smoke extraction for longitudinal and transverse tunnel ventilation systems was studied in this paper by conducting numerical simulations using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The smoke was assumed to result from a fire initiated from a truck inside the tunnel. The most dangerous issue regarding the fire inside tunnels is smoke as it leads to low visibility and choking and may lead to death. The most important result of this paper refers to that the longitudinal ventilation design does not provide efficient smoke extraction compared to the transverse ventilation design as the air jets push the smoke in the downstream direction and then the smoke spreads randomly after the flow loses its momentum gradually. There is a big drop in the visibility for the longitudinal ventilation design that appeared many times and at many locations downstream the fire location. On the other hand, the transverse ventilation design provided more efficient smoke extraction as the jet fan upstream the fire is turned off while the supply fan downstream the fire is reversed to work as an exhaust fan. As a conclusion based on the findings of this paper, it may be said that the transverse ventilation design provided more safe conditions, lower contaminants concentrations, and higher visibility values compared to the longitudinal ventilation design. This work tends to add more information to minimize the research gap related to having a detailed comparison between the two ventilation strategies for a special case where the fire size is relatively large in a long tunnel.


The aim of this thesis is to examine changes in the status of traditional Egyptian religious culture during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, from 331 BCE to 313 CE. Four distinct categories of material culture are examined: monumental construction of temples and civic buildings, traditional hard-stone sculpture, Alexandrian tombs, and Roman coins. These bodies of evidence were chosen because each offers a unique perspective, reflecting respectively the personal inclinations and official attitudes of both the culturally Hellenic and indigenous elites, which have not previously been studied in this context. Examined together for the first time, these categories reveal commonalities that show clearly the progression of the status of indigenous religious culture. From this, it is argued that, despite being economically disadvantaged by the Roman administration, the high status of this culture persisted in Egyptian society under both the Ptolemies and the Romans. Patterns of Egyptian temple and classical civic building show that Egypt's indigenous elite controlled the resources allocated for temple construction under the Ptolemies, but that the Romans gradually transferred this land into the management of the culturally Hellenic elite. This resulted in a decrease in Egyptian temple building after the first century CE and a corresponding increase in classical construction from then on. The production of hard-stone statues is shown for the first time to reveal that the indigenous elite had the resources and cultural confidence to continue and develop their traditions under the Ptolemies, while the sharp decrease at the start of the Roman period reflects their diminution in autonomy and prosperity under Roman rule. New analysis of traditional elements and motifs in the tombs of Alexandrian elites shows that this group respected and adopted indigenous religious customs and beliefs, with a higher incidence of indigenous imagery in the Roman period compared with the Ptolemaic period. In a similar way, well-informed Egyptian religious iconography rendered in a classical style on Alexandrian coins demonstrates the respect of the Roman authorities for Egyptian religious cults and institutions at an official level. In sum, it is argued that indigenous religious culture largely maintained its privileged economic and social status throughout the Ptolemaic period, despite political upheavals. Under Roman rule, the individuals and institutions representing Egyptian religious culture were disadvantaged economically; however, its social importance and standing were preserved and it continued to enjoy respect.


The fusion welding behavior of a medium density polyethylene resin has been studied for a wide range of heating rates using a recently developed test methodology. With this method, the thermal and physical phenomena occurring at the interface of two thin polyethylene pieces assembled by fusion can be studied. It consists of a thermal welding phase and a phase of mechanical separation of the welded assembly. For the mechanical phase, an adaptation of the T-peel test was used. These conditions make it possible to determine the thermal welding parameters (temperature, time) for optimal mechanical quality of the joint, according to a criterion established by optimization of the peel test used. The variations in minimum temperature required for an optimum weld, as a function of heating rate, can be simulated with a numerical model based on the concept of macromolecular interdiffusion. Consistent with the experimental behavior, the numerical model involves two parameters characteristic of the diffusion behavior of the polyethylene resin. Thus, these parameters characterize the weldability of the polyethylene resin under study.


BACKGROUND
Myocardial norepinephrine is altered in left ventricular impairment. In patients with Chagas' cardiomyopathy (CC), this issue has not been addressed.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the level of myocardial norepinephrine in patients with CC and compare it in patients with coronary artery disease, and to relate myocardial norepinephrine to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).

METHODS
We studied 39 patients with CC, divided into group 1: 21 individuals with normal LVEF and group 2: 18 individuals with decreased LVEF. Seventeen patients with coronary artery disease were divided into group 3: 12 individuals with normal LVEF and group 4: 5 individuals with decreased LVEF. Two-dimensional echocardiography was used to measure LVEF. Myocardial norepinephrine was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography.

RESULTS
Myocardial norepinephrine in CC with and without ventricular dysfunction was 1.3±1.3 and 6.1±4.2 pg/μg noncollagen protein, respectively (p<0.0001); in coronary artery disease with and without ventricular dysfunction, it was 3.3±3.0 and 9.8±4.2 pg/μg noncollagen protein, respectively (p<0.0001). A positive correlation was found between LVEF and myocardial norepinephrine concentration in the patients with Chagas' cardiomyopathy (p<0.01, r = 0.57) and also in those with coronary artery disease (p<0.01, r=0.69). A significant difference was demonstrated between norepinephrine concentrations in patients with normal LVEF (groups 1 and 3; p = 0.0182), but no difference was found in patients with decreased LVEF (groups 2 and 4; p = 0.1467).

CONCLUSION
In patients with Chagas' cardiomyopathy and normal global ejection fraction there is an early cardiac denervation, when compared to coronary artery disease patients.


The hexane extract of oleo-gum-resin of Boswellia serrata (BSHE) was evaluated for its effect on liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride, paracetamol or thioacetamide. The BSHE was given in two different doses (87.5 mg/kg p.o. and 175 mg/kg p.o.). Silymarin, a known hepatoprotective agent was used as standard. The lower dose of BSHE (87.5 mg/kg p.o.) significantly reduced the elevated levels of serum marker enzymes and prevented the increase in liver weight in all three models of liver injury, while the higher dose showed mild hepatoprotective activity. The hepatoprotective effect of lower dose of BSHE was supported by changes in histopathology. It was concluded that hexane extract of oleo-gum-resin of Boswellia serrata plant in lower doses possess hepatoprotective activity.


Jakarta is a city with dense population and various activities causing the heavy pressure to the environment. Domestic and non-domestic activities are generating pollution to its rivers. The water body actually has itself a self natural purification capability. The characteristic of the river water quality will affect this pollution degradation process. This research is conducted to examine the biodegradation capacity of Jakarta's rivers. Water quality data of 23 rivers were collected for the time period of 2011 to 2015. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) concentrations are then being used to calculate the BOD/COD ratio. The calculation results show that during the period time of 2011-2013 the ratio ranges between 0.36 and 0.63, which indicates that the rivers have average biodegradation capability. However, the 2014 year's data show that almost all of the rivers have ratio less than 0.2, indicating the nobiodegradation capability. Existence of metals can also inhibit the biodegradation process. The water quality data shows significant increase of metals in the year of 2014, especially Copper and Zinc in several rivers. Surfactant was also observed in extremely high concentration. Thus, most of the Jakarta's rivers have relatively low capability in biodegradation capacity and self purification capability. Although the latest year data shows an improvement, yet the BOD/COD ratio is still in the range of slow of biodegradation capacity.


Third-harmonic susceptibility studies have been employed to probe the order-disorder transition of Vortex Matter of a magnesium-deficient sample of MgB2. Our results reveal that the measured threshold is anisotropic for different orientations of the applied magnetic field, suggesting that the pinning efficiency of the magnesium-deficient regions depend on the orientation of the penetrated vortices.


An energy based planar depth representation is proposed to obtain an efficient depth compression tool for 3DV applications. The proposed segmentation-based depth compression approach is designed by reflecting the rate-distortion tradeoff into the energy terms. A PEARL based algorithm is developed to obtain the planar approximations of depth images. Lastly depth reconstruction and novel view rendering results of the proposal compared with the state-of-the-art methods. The experiments show that the planar approach performs superior rendering results than JPEG 2000 and HEVC standards.


Whether or not there is a God has been a perennial question for philosophy. What may be said about God is a central concern of theology. That anything meaningful can be said about God has been challenged in the course of Western philosophical thought from different sides. Plato has his character, Timaeus, in his book of the same name assert that "to find the maker and father of this universe is hard enough, and . . . to declare him to everyone is impossible" (28c). In a famous passage from his Philosophical Investigations (§610), Ludwig Wittgenstein muses about the impossibility of describing the aroma of coffee. But if this already exceeds human capabilities, how much more the task of speaking about something or someone as unfathomable as God? As an outstanding and influential representative of Christianity in the twentieth century, C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) had something to say about this problem. In this paper, I will explore his particular approach to the issue at hand. In five sections, I shall first briefly examine Lewis's existential context and how it sets the stage for his giving primacy of the poetical over the analytical or abstract. Second, I will look at the central place metaphor takes in his overall understanding of language. In a third and fourth step, I shall look at his dealings with a central point of criticism as raised by the father of modern atheism, Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872). Finally, I will look at Lewis's use of certain Christian tenets and how their appropriation rationally grounded his assuming a basic reliability of Christian God-talk.


Metrics obtained from a set of channel measurement data are used to predict performance of different MIMO techniques, such as spatial multiplexing and space-time block coding. For a given channel-realisation, metrics such as mutual information, eigenvalues, etc. can be extracted and the BER performance simulated for different MIMO techniques. By correlating the simulated BER performances to the metrics, it can be determined which metrics are useful BER performance predictors for a given MIMO technique. It is shown that mutual information and the eigenvalues of the spatial correlation matrix are useful BER predictors for V-BLAST and STBC techniques


ABSTRACT Velocity of flow for incipient motion condition of sediment particles is the fundamental parameter required for use in studies on Fluvial Hydraulics. Using the data for average critical velocity for different sediment sizes collected by different investigators, a single functional relationship has been obtained between dimensionless critical velocity . The proposed relation applies to channel boundaries behaving as smooth, transition and rough.


Background The treatment of port-wine stains (PWS) with the pulsed dye laser (PDL) is well established in patients with lighter skin phototypes with few complications. Evidence is emerging that PDL also produces favourable outcome in patients with darker skin types. This review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of flashlamp-pumped PDL for PWS in our centre and to assess the complications of treatment. Patients and Methods A retrospective review of 36 patients with PWS treated with PDL (585-nm, 450 microseconds pulse width, Candela Sptl-1b) at the Department of Dermatology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur over a five-year period from 2003 to 2007 was undertaken. All patients (28 females, 8 males; 25 Chinese, 10 Malays and 1 Indian) were of Fitzpatrick skin types IV (30/36) and V (6/36) with ages ranged from 1 to 59 years (mean 18.9 years). The site of lesion was mainly facial (34/36) with colour varying from red (24/36) to pink (4/36), dark purple (1/36) and mixed (7/36). Response was graded as 0-25% = nil to minimal lightening; 26-50% = moderate lightening; 51-75% = marked lightening; 76-100% = excellent based on the last treatment visit. Results The number of sessions ranged from 2 to 16 over 4 to 52 months (mean 5.9 months). The average treatment interval was 4.6 months (range, 1 to 13 months). In a total of 213 sessions, minimal lightening was observed in 19(53%) patients after a mean of 4.2 sessions, moderate lightening in 8(22%) patients after a mean of 8.1 sessions, marked lightening in 3(8%) patients after a mean of 6 sessions and excellent in 6(17%) patients after a mean of 6.8 sessions. No patient showed complete clearance. 1 patient developed both textural change and scarring. Conclusion The flashlamp-pumped PDL is a useful and safe treatment modality for PWS in Asian patients of darker skin phototypes.


Reporters of out-of-body experiences (n = 21) and nonreporters (n = 159) showed no significant differences on the Spheres of Control Scale, Self-efficacy Scale, and Purpose in Life Scale. However, reporters of out-of-body experiences showed significantly greater belief in Psi, Spiritualism, and Extraordinary Life Forms than nonreporters.


Brain disease represents a general term that represents a broad range of brain disorders. It can occur in all age groups, but becomes more common in old age. Medical diagnosis is an important but complicated task that should be performed accurately and efficiently and its automation would be very useful in this domain (medical domain).In this paper we will designed an expert system model to detect and diagnose degenerative brain disease. The disease is determined by using artificial neural network and Bayesian theory. It is the most commonly used techniques for developing expert systems, where the system receive the information of patient and given these the information to ANN which doing the compression between these information with constant values of humans body that stored in network, in the case the similarity values because of symptoms among the more than disease, the disease is specifically by law of Bayesian. Moreover, the system can recommend treatments for the diseases in its specialism. These treatments are suggested based on many conditions and constraints related to the patient and the diagnosed disease as well as it can be used to assist the doctors and less cost. Keywords— Brain Diseases, Medical Expert System, Neural Networks, Bayesian Theory, Knowledge based System


Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) implants are implanted into target regions of the brain to treat symptoms of many neurological disorders. Postoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans are used to localize DBS leads, however, there are large, distorted artifacts surrounding the leads in the images. This study uses MRI phantoms to investigate the true location of a DBS lead relative to its artifact. The results will help researchers and clinicians know the actual locations of the lead tip and contacts from postoperative MRI scans to confirm the implant is correctly targeting the desired brain area.


Environmental issues have remained one of the most challenging social-economic impacts on the world and most countries. Tackling these challenges has remained an underlying issue as a concise approach, method, and policy are yet to be globally made available. Machine learning (ML) with support from IoTs, big data, NLP, and cloud computing is radicalizing the development of a modern-day economy via human support systems. With technical devices, systems, and processes intricately oriented to human understanding. Little environmental needs have been developed to give humans a comfortable place. Even though sensors capture and satisfy human needs, global ecosystem barriers have weighed beyond. Following changes in the world today, automated restrictions and barriers have been seen limiting humans from enjoying opportunities offered by IoTs, big data, NLP, and cloud computing due to environmental impact. Machine learning with capabilities to help humans become more informed is insignificantly exploited on the environmental needs. To suggest an integrated system, method, and areas that IoTs, big data, NLP, and cloud computing should focus on to fight negative environmental impact as a major step to fight climate change. In the study, two research questions and a hypothesis were used. Daily data on emission accusations was collected and used to respond to research questions and hypotheses. In 30 minutes per day and within a month, 412 diesel cars emitted 54,384 g CO2/km, 636 petrol cars emitted 76,320 g CO2/km, and 157 LPG cars emitted 9,577 g CO2/km. Predictions and forecasts were determined based on the data collected. Data accusations reveal they worsen the future impact as both hypotheses and research questions positively support findings that integration of sensors with machine learning can predict future climate situations. Improved gardens are needed, limit artificial items and diesel cars, and improved afforestation is needed in this city.


M.C. Eschers tessellations have captured the imaginations of both artists and mathematicians. Circle Limit III is the most intricate of his tessellations, featuring patterns that repeat at increasingly fine scales. Although his patterns follow a scaling law determined by hyperbolic geometry, his work is often mistakenly described as following fractal geometry. Here, we perform a 'box counting' scaling analysis on Circle Limit III and an equivalent monofractal pattern based on a Koch Snowflake. Whereas our analysis highlights the expected visual differences between Eschers hyperbolic patterns and the simple monofractal, the analysis also identifies unexpected similarities between Eschers work and the bifractal poured paintings of Jackson Pollock.


The proportion of migrating females has increased, and more often, old females are left in rural regions. Resources are needed to provide suitable hospitalization service to females in underdeveloped rural regions. Using multi-stage hierarchical cluster random sampling method, nine towns from three counties were enrolled in five-time points between 2006 and 2014 in this study. The research subjects of this study were females age 15 and up. Data regarding the utilization of inpatient services were collected and analyzed. Complex sampling logistic regression was conducted to analyze influencing factors. This study reveals that for both permanent females and migrant females, the older their age, the higher their hospitalization rate. The utilization of hospitalization service for permanent females was associated with the occurrence of chronic diseases (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 5.402). In addition, permanent females suffering from chronic diseases were more likely to avoid hospitalization despite their doctor's advice (aOR = 34.657) or leave the hospital early against medical advice (AMA) (aOR = 10.009). Interventions to combat chronic diseases and adjust compensation schemes for permanent females need to be provided.


In this paper, we propose and evaluate performance of multihop multipath underlay cognitive radio networks. In a primary network, an uplink nonorthogonal multiple access method is employed to allow primary transmitters to simultaneously transmit their data to a primary receiver. Using an underlay spectrum-sharing method, secondary source and secondary relays must adjust their transmit power to guarantee quality of service of the primary network. Under the limited transmit power, cochannel interference from the primary transmitters, and hardware noises caused by impairments, we propose best-path selection methods to improve the end-to-end performance for the secondary network. Moreover, both multihop decode-and-forward and amplify-and-forward relaying protocols are considered in this paper. We derive expressions of outage probability for the primary and secondary networks and propose an efficient method to calculate the transmit power of the secondary transmitters. Then, computer simulations employing the Monte-Carlo approach are realized to validate the derivations.


Diabetes mellitus is serious health concern in India. Over three fourth of the population is affected by diabetes. This commonly occurs due to raise in blood glucose level termed as hyper glycaemia. Several factors are involved in the etiology of this disease like heredity, age, obesity, diet, sex, sedentary life style, socio economic status, hypertension. Oral hypoglycemic drugs are beneficial in treatment of diabetes to control blood glucose level .but the recent trend has changed to use of herbal drugs, edible fruits, essential oils and spices. Various literature revealed the use of natural products for management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hence an effort was taken to compile the household herbal drugs in form of spices which exhibits anti diabetic activity. This review includes the research aspects of diabetes mellitus both in animal and human model.


Recent years witnessed the emergence of visible light communication (VLC) over screen-to-camera channel, such as barcode and unobtrusive optical pattern, due to the widely adoption of screen and camera in plenty of electronic devices. The prevalence of wide viewing angle screen and high standard cameras also imposes great threat for visible light communication, and the information leakage over screen-to-camera channel has been rarely explored. In this paper, we propose a secret key distribution system leveraging the unique color shift property over screen-to-camera channel. To facilitate such design, two practical secret key distribution methods, key matching-based and nearest next hop-based, are developed to map the secret key into a unique optical pattern on screen, which can only be correctly decoded by the legitimate user situated at an accessible region. We also provide theoretical analysis on the security of both methods. The performance of the proposed system is implemented with off-the-shelf devices and validated under various experimental scenarios. The results demonstrate that our system can achieve high bit-decoding accuracy for the legitimate users while maintaining low recovery accuracy for the attackers.


Searching is a common process performed by many computer users, Raita algorithm is one algorithm that can be used to match and find information in accordance with the patterns entered. Raita algorithm applied to the file search application using java programming language and the results obtained from the testing process of the file search quickly and with accurate results and support many data types.


In this paper, a computational model for predicting the aerodynamic behavior of wind turbine wakes and blades subjected to unsteady motions and viscous effects is presented. The model is based on a three-dimensional panel method using a surface distribution of quadrilateral sources and doublets, which is coupled to a viscous boundary layer solver. Unlike Navier-Stokes codes that need to solve the entire flow domain, the panel method solves the flow around a complex geometry by distributing singularity elements on the body surface, obtaining a faster solution and making this type of codes suitable for the design of wind turbines. A free-wake model has been employed to simulate the wake behind a wind turbine by using vortex filaments that carry the vorticity shed by the trailing edge of the blades. Viscous and rotational effects inside the boundary layer are taken into account via the transpiration velocity concept, applied using strip theory with the cross sectional angle of attack as coupling parameter. The transpiration velocity is obtained from the solution of the integral boundary layer equations with extension for rotational effects. It is found that viscosity plays a very important role in the predictions of blade aerodynamics and wake dynamics, especially at high angles of attack just before and after boundary layer separation takes place. The present code is validated in detail against the well-known MEXICO experiment and a set of non-rotating cases. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper investigates whether and when affiliation to business groups enables or constrains firms' international search behavior during institutional transitions. We theorize that given the unique structure and complex form of business group organizations, the search behavior of affiliated firms is influenced by the degree of misalignment in outlook at the group and affiliate levels of management. We identify the scope of institutional changes, business group attributes, and affiliate characteristics as sources of such misalignment. The results from panel data on 298 firms from the Indian pharmaceutical industry for the 1992-2007 period show that the constraining effects of business group affiliation are observed only when institutional changes are specific to the affiliates' industry and not when broad institutional changes affect the business group as a whole. Moreover, we observe heterogeneity in the search behavior of group affiliated firms. First, the degree of misalignment is greater in the case of affiliates belonging to older business groups and those that are more distant in terms of age and industry since the group's founding. Second, by contrast and suggesting an alignment in outlook, we find that affiliated firms that occupy a prominent position within a group or industry are able to bargain for and receive attention and support from the business group to undertake international search. Our findings have implications for research on the role of business groups in a changing institutional context and for the strategic adaptation of firms embedded in complex organizational and institutional settings.


In addition to the traditional re-entry warhead and re-entry capsule, more and more hypersonic objects appear in the near space in recent years, such as the X-51, X-37, and so on. Analysis of electromagnetic scattering properties of these objects has important values for identification, recognition, communication and control. Challenging problems to extract their scattering characteristics include at least three aspects: (2) Modeling of plasma sheath due to the hypersonic motion in the thin atmosphere of the near space. (2) Electrically large size of the object itself plus the surrounding non-uniform plasma region. (3) Doppler and micro-Doppler effects caused by the hypersonic translation and possible rations of the object as a whole about an apparent barycenter. In this talk, we will begin with the modeling of the plasma sheath by using computational fluid dynamics software such as the FASTRAN for hypersonic body. With the electron density and atmospheric temperature found by the software, we can calculate the electromagnetic parameters of the plasma region. Then, we will concentrate on analyzing the influences of the plasma sheath on the backscattering cross-sections. A hybrid approach by incorporating the rigorous moment method with the approximate Born iterative method is developed to mitigate the computing cost in solving the matrix equation. The scattering property analyses are performed in the object reference system, and relativity transforms are employed to convert the incident and scattering fields between the lab system and the object system. Finally, extracting methods for the Doppler and micro-Doppler frequencies are introduced, and possible applications of the Doppler and micro-Doppler parameters are discussed.


Currently, little is known about which variables are most critical to the subjective appearance of symmetry of the nipple-areola complex. Clinical photographs were transferred onto a compact disc and then imported into a computer photoshop program. Alterations to the nipple-areola complex were then performed, creating 1 symmetrical image and 19 asymmetrical images. The asymmetries were produced by altering position, diameter, or pigmentation. The images were converted to 35-mm slides and shown to four separate panels of three members each. A "symmetry score" was given for each slide. Results showed that any deviation from symmetrical was reliably detectable by the observers. Changes in areola diameter were detected most easily, and the specific direction of positional change was not found to be a significant factor. Differences were seen between individual panel assessments. This study has shown an application for CD-ROM technology in analyzing well-identified variables and has helped in delineating which factors are most critical to the subjective impression of symmetry of the nipple-areola complex. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 96: 846, 1995.)


This study used a mixed methods approach to capture key findings on COVID-19 impacts on education and challenges that hinder continued education particularly in disadvantaged and rural areas. The respondents were 900 parents, 943 children, 15 teachers and education officials in 594 villages in 9 provinces of Indonesia. The results showed that 1 out of 3 children stopped learning and children learned less. Children had limited access to widely supported online learning. While the offline method was more applicable, still it had some challenges. Children's mental health was affected and they experienced excessive emotions of fear and anxiety. Many parents were not ready to support children in learning school subjects while doing livelihood activities at the same time. Some children experienced domestic violence. Parents did not have a spare budget to provide distance learning facilities and had to sacrifice education over basic needs. The risk of drop out of school was heightened.


An optimized variant of the nested Markov chain Monte Carlo [n(MC)(2)] method [J. Chem. Phys. 130, 164104 (2009)] is applied to fluid N(2). In this implementation of n(MC)(2), isothermal-isobaric (NPT) ensemble sampling on the basis of a pair potential (the "reference" system) is used to enhance the efficiency of sampling based on Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof density functional theory with a 6-31G(*) basis set (PBE6-31G(*), the "full" system). A long sequence of Monte Carlo steps taken in the reference system is converted into a trial step taken in the full system; for a good choice of reference potential, these trial steps have a high probability of acceptance. Using decorrelated samples drawn from the reference distribution, the pressure and temperature of the full system are varied such that its distribution overlaps maximally with that of the reference system. Optimized pressures and temperatures then serve as input parameters for n(MC)(2) sampling of dense fluid N(2) over a wide range of thermodynamic conditions. The simulation results are combined to construct the Hugoniot of nitrogen fluid, yielding predictions in excellent agreement with experiment.


The naturalness of the synthesized speech depends on many factors. The more complete the synthesizer considers all factors, the higher the naturalness of result. In this work are considered such components of language and speech as alphabet, grammar, system of phonemes, articulator basis, acoustic characteristics and statistical characteristics of texts. These components are presented as the parts of one whole, as there is in reality. The formal structure of the experimental synthesizer is described. It "knows" how to consider all components and how to change other participants with change in one of them. At the second part is described the method of the introduction of the measure, metric and order relation on the set of objects of arbitrary nature through their properties. For the statistical text analysis it is used contextual matrices. On the basis of these concepts is determined the allophonic base for the synthesizer. Are introduced many other useful concepts. The content of the book will interest all, who deal with synthesis or recognition of speech. It will interest students of the specialty of language and speech processing. Both the theorists and the practitioners.


High resolution deep imaging from space and adaptive optics techniques with large ground-based facilities have enabled studies examining faint host galaxies of high redshift quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). However, the related image processing techniques, especially for a precise point-spread function (PSF) reconstruction and characterization of the host galaxy light profiles, have yet to be optimized. We present here the scientific performance of a principal component analysis (PCA) based PSF subtraction of the central bright point source of high redshift QSO images, as well as further characterization of the host galaxy profile by directly fitting a Sèrsic model to the residual image using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm. With a set of reference PSF star images which represent interleaving exposures between the QSO imaging, we can create an orthogonal basis of eigen-images and restore the PSF of QSO images by projecting the QSO images onto the basis. In this way, we can quantify the modes in which the PSF varies with time by a basis function that characterizes the temporal variations of the reference star as well as the QSO images. To verify the algorithm, we performed a simulation and applied this method to one of the high-z QSO targets from Mechtley et al. We demonstrate that the PCA-based PSF subtraction and further modeling of the galaxy's light profile using MCMC fitting would sufficiently remove the effects from central dominating point sources, and improve characterization ability for the host galaxies of high-z QSOs to the background noise level which is much better than previous two-component fitting procedures.


Anna Christina Alegiani 1 Sindy Albrecht Anne Christin Rahn Sascha Köpke Götz Thomalla Christoph Heesen 1Department of Neurology, Universitätsklinikum HamburgEppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; 2Institute of Social Medicine & Epidemiology, Nursing Research Unit, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; 3Unit of Health Sciences and Education, MIN Faculty, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; 4Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis, Universitätsklinikum HamburgEppendorf, Hamburg, Germany Background: Acute stroke treatment shows time-dependent benefit to prevent disability. Public information campaigns and streamlining of emergency management have been performed, but still, only one-third of acute stroke patients are admitted >4.5 hrs after symptom onset. Patients and methods: We interviewed 15 patients, presenting >4.5 hrs after symptom onset, regarding symptom recognition, emotions and their first action after symptom onset. Recorded interviews were analyzed by standardized descriptive analysis. Based on the results, a quantitative survey was developed. One hundred consecutive stroke unit patients surveyed to compare patients presenting within 4.5 hrs and more than 4.5 hrs of symptom onset. Results: Patients predominantly noticed symptoms by themselves. The most commonly expressed feelings were uncertainty and shame. The most frequent action was waiting. Patients described moderate knowledge about stroke in general, but felt less informed regarding their stroke risk. Magazines (51%) were the most frequently indicated source of information, while general practitioners only accounted for 26%. Significantly better knowledge was shown in the answers on closed questions compared to open questions, although the same items were named. Conclusion: Shame, uncertainty and insufficient individual risk knowledge about stroke were the most important factors delaying admission after stroke. Individual risk counseling could be investigated to close the gap between general stroke knowledge and recognition of own stroke risk.


Fault analysis in communication networks and distributed systems is a difficult process that heavily depends on system administrator's experience and supporting tools. This process usually requires analytic techniques and several types of event data including log events, debug messages, trace obtained from these systems to investigate the root cause of faults. This paper introduces an approach of exploiting context-aware data and classification technique for improving this process. This approach uses both event data and context-aware data including CPU load, memory, processes, temperature, status to train a decision tree, and then applies the tree to assess suspected events. We have implemented and experimented the approach on the OpenStack cloud computing system with the Hadoop computing service and MELA event collection system. The experimental results reveal that the accuracy score of the approach reaches 85% on average. The paper also includes detailed analysis for the results.


This paper addresses ontology and ethics of an AI agent called digital me. We define digital me as an autonomous, decision-making, and learning agent, representing an individual and having practically immortal life. It is assumed that digital me is equipped with the big-five personality model, ensuring that it provides a model of some aspects of a strong AI: consciousness, free will, and intentionality. As computer-based personality judgments are more accurate than those made by humans, digital me can judge the personality of the individual represented by the digital me, other individuals' personalities, and other digital me-s. We describe seven ontological qualities of digital me: a) double-layer status of Digital Being versus digital me, b) digital me versus real me, c) mind-digital me and body-digital me, d) digital me versus doppelganger (shadow digital me), e) non-human time concept, f) social quality, g) practical immortality. We argue that with the advancement of AI's sciences and technologies, there exist two digital me thresholds. The first threshold defines digital me having some (rudimentary) form of consciousness, free will, and intentionality. The second threshold assumes that digital me is equipped with moral learning capabilities, implying that, in principle, digital me-s could develop their own ethics which significantly differs from human's understanding of ethics. Finally, we discuss the implications of digital me metaethics, normative and applied ethics, the implementation of the Golden Rule in digital me-s, and we suggest two sets of normative principles for digital me: consequentialist and duty based digital me principles.


We present a simple but yet effective method for learning distinctive 3D local deep descriptors (DIPs) that can be used to register point clouds without requiring an initial alignment. Point cloud patches are extracted, canonicalised with respect to their estimated local reference frame and encoded into rotation-invariant compact descriptors by a PointNet-based deep neural network. DIPs can effectively generalise across different sensor modalities because they are learnt end-to-end from locally and randomly sampled points. Because DIPs encode only local geometric information, they are robust to clutter, occlusions and missing regions. We evaluate and compare DIPs against alternative hand-crafted and deep descriptors on several indoor and outdoor datasets consiting of point clouds reconstructed using different sensors. Results show that DIPs (i) achieve comparable results to the state-of-the-art on RGB-D indoor scenes (3DMatch dataset), (ii) outperform state-of-the-art by a large margin on laser-scanner outdoor scenes (ETH dataset), and (iii) generalise to indoor scenes reconstructed with the Visual-SLAM system of Android ARCore. Source code: https://github.com/fabiopoiesi/dip.


Bismuth sodium titanate (BNT)-based, lead-free piezoelectric materials have been extensively studied due to their excellent strain characteristics and environmental friendliness. In BNTs, the large strain (S) usually requires a relatively large electric field (E) excitation, resulting in a low inverse piezoelectric coefficient d33* (S/E). Moreover, the hysteresis and fatigue of strain in these materials have also been bottlenecks impeding the applications. The current common regulation method is chemical modification, which mainly focuses on forming a solid solution near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) by adjusting the phase transition temperature of the materials, such as BNT-BaTiO3, BNT-Bi0.5K0.5TiO3, etc., to obtain a large strain. Additionally, the strain regulation based on the defects introduced by the acceptor, donor, or equivalent dopant or the nonstoichiometry has proven effective, but its underlying mechanism is still ambiguous. In this paper, we review the generation of strain and then discuss it from the domain, volume, and boundary effect perspectives to understand the defect dipole behavior. The asymmetric effect caused by the coupling between defect dipole polarization and ferroelectric spontaneous polarization is expounded. Moreover, the defect effect on the conductive and fatigue properties of BNT-based solid solutions is described, which will affect the strain characteristics. The optimization approach is appropriately evaluated while there are still challenges in the full understanding of the defect dipoles and their strain output, in which further efforts are needed to achieve new breakthroughs in atomic-level insight.


Volume 6 of System of Ophthalmology: Ocular Motility and Strabismus gives us another one of these remarkable volumes which in eminently readable form provides a wealth of information on the history, physiology, and methods of evaluation and treatment of strabismus. The biographical notes and historical outlines so characteristic of the Duke-Elder series provide an appreciation of names and associations that many younger ophthalmologists otherwise might never obtain. The references include a large proportion of European papers, but the contributions of the New World are well appreciated and well documented. The initial portion of the text places much emphasis on physiology. As an example of the extent of the coverage provided, in describing the "kinematics of ocular movements" some solid geometry is outlined with appropriate trigonometric formulas. While this may be academic even today for the more clinically oriented ophthalmologist, it is a measure of the scope of this volume that


Compared with the single clustering algorithm, Clustering Ensembles are deemed to be more robust and accurate, with combining multiple partitions of the given data into a single clustering solution of better quality. In this paper, we proposed a new Clustering Ensemble algorithm based on Fuzzy K Nearest Neighbor (FKNNCE) to generate the similarity matrix of data to summarize the ensemble and then use hierarchical clustering algorithm to get the final partition, without specified number of clusters in advance. After discussing some related topics, the paper adopts real data and conducts an Intrusion Detection Model to evaluate the performance of the Clustering Ensemble algorithm, furthermore compare it with other algorithms. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


A laser-Doppler anemometer was used to measure the velocity of both the gas and particles in a turbulent two-phase flow for conditions when the distribution of the velocities of the two phases overlaps. The veloci ties from the two phases are separated by comparing the Doppler amplitude to the pedestal amplitude. Results of the measure of the gas-particle flow downstream of a nozzle mounted in a circular pipe are presented.


This study provides surgeons with information on the outcomes after a new complementary multifocal IOL combination up to 12 months postoperatively. Purpose: To assess the 3-month and 12-month postoperative visual performance and subjective quality of vision (QoV) after combined implantation of complementary continuous phase multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs). Setting: Private practice, United Kingdom. Design: Case series. Methods: The study enrolled 44 patients undergoing phacoemulsification with implantation of an Artis Symbiose Mid in the dominant eye and an Artis Symbiose Plus in the nondominant eye. Refraction, uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), corrected distance visual acuity, uncorrected intermediate visual acuity (UIVA), uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA), electronic reading desk, and a QoV questionnaire were evaluated at 3 months and 12 months postoperatively. Results: The mean binocular UDVA was −0.06 ± 0.08 logMAR and −0.07 ± 0.06 logMAR at 3 months and 12 months (P = .097), respectively. The mean binocular UIVA was 0.03 ± 0.13 logMAR and 0.03 ± 0.10 logMAR (P = 1.0), respectively. The mean binocular UNVA was 0.07 ± 0.10 logMAR and 0.07 ± 0.08 logMAR (P = .875), respectively. There was a significant improvement in QoV for both day and night between 3 and 12 months, with a significant reduction in halos at 12 months. Spectacle independence was reported in 93.2% of cases at 12 months. Conclusions: The Artis Symbiose Mid and Plus IOL combined implantation provided an excellent range of uncorrected vision at 3 and 12 months. There was a significant improvement in QoV and less halos at 12 months. This IOL combination provided very high rates of complete spectacle independence.


Model gel food samples of yanggaeng (Y) were prepared for the elderly with various gelling agents, including agar (AG), low acyl gellan (GL), κ-carrageenan (CA), locust bean gum (LB), glucomannan (GM), and xanthan gum (XA) in different combinations as follows (in 1:1 ratio): LB+CA, GM+XA, and GM+CA. The quality characteristics of the different combinations were compared. The results revealed that water loss was highest for Y-GL, whereas there was no significant difference among the other samples. Y-GL showed the highest values for lightness in color, whereas Y-AG showed the lowest. Regarding textural properties, Y-LB+CA had the highest hardness value, whereas Y-GL had the lowest; the hardness of Y was related to the cross-section of the added gel. Finally, Y-GM+XA exhibited the highest score in overall acceptability in the sensory test by elderly, indicating that the preferable texture by elderly is slightly chewy, but not adhesive.


Striae distensae (SD) are associated with negative psychosocial effects. Improvements have been shown with non-ablative fractional lasers (NAFL). Topical peptides have also been effective in cutaneous rejuvenation; however, no studies have examined combination therapy for striae. Our study evaluated the efficacy and safety of a peri-procedural tripeptide/hexapeptide serum as an adjunct to 1540 nm NAFL for the treatment of SD in 10 patients. All patients reported subjective improvement. The addition of tripeptide/hexapep-tide serum increased the objective improvement, reduced the incidence of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and increased patient satisfaction.


Maintaining a healthy water distribution network (WDN) is key to providing good quality services to the consumers in a sustainable manner. WDN in the City of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), has more than 3,000 km of pipeline and receives water from different sources. Understanding the variation of water quality over time is critical to appropriate management. The objective of this paper was to assess the variability of the water quality in Sharjah WDN. Monitoring data for residual chlorine, iron, and fluoride were collected from 46 different locations throughout the distribution system. Graphical and GIS-based analyses were conducted to understand the temporal (for three source waters and three locations in the WDN) and spatial variability (all locations) of water quality throughout the distribution network. Temporal variations indicated seasonal water quality variations throughout the three-year period (2012-2014). The spatial variability indicated that the old part of the city was susceptible to water quality degradation.


This project is designed to take the advantage of additive manufacturing (AM) process in order to improve the aesthetic value of a laptop casing. The aesthetic value includes the overall form of the product, colour and surface of the product. The advantages of AM are able to produce complex shapes without need to consider the process-material-shape attribute. Literature review confirms that AM application in laptop casing particularly to improve the aesthetic aspects has not been done. Typically, laptop cases are poorly designed and do not integrate the cooler fan in the design. To overcome this, a new design of laptop case was proposed with improvement on the geometrical features and the prototype was fabricated directly via a Fused Deposition Modeling machine. A comparative study of the laptop produced by injection molding, handmade and AM was made. Based from a survey from the user, the design produced by AM are more aesthetically pleasing, more attractive and have complex shape compared with injection molded and handmade laptop case. The paper ends with the suggestion of the suitable AM system and the suitable material for the laptop casing.


Anthocyanin is one of water-soluble natural pigments widely existing in flowers, fruits, stems, leaves and seeds of plants, and it is the major factor conferring pink or red to the petals of Rosa rugose. MYB TFs play an important role in the anthocyanin synthesis in plants. This work aimed to clone the MYB gene related to anthocyanin synthesis in the petals of Rosa rugose, and explore the relationship between them to lay a good foundation for gene engineering improvement of R. rugose. Based on the transcriptional data, a full-length cDNA sequence of MYB Gene, RrMYB113 (GenBank accession Nos MG720012), was cloned at the first time from the petals of Rosa rugose "Zi zhi" with RT-PCR and RACE methods. The full-length cDNA is 885 bp with an open reading frame of 654 bp, encoding 216 amino acids. The derived RrMYB113 protein has a molecular weight of 25,297.64 Da, a calculated pI of 9.61, a R2R3-MYB domain and bHLH binding domain, and it also has the signature motifs ((A/S/G)NDV and KPRPR(T/S)), thus belonging to Sg6 R2R3-MYB subfamily. In the secondary structure of RrMYB113 protein, there is 37.04% α-helix, 39.81% random coil, 14.81% extended peptide chain, and 8.33% β-corner. There is no transmembrane domain and no signal peptide cleavage site, seventeen Ser phosphorylation sites, fifteen Thr phosphorylation sites, four Tyr phosphorylation sites, and no O-glycosylation sites. The expression of RrMYB113 increased with the color deepening in petals, and it expressed at a higher level in petals than in other tissues of R. rugose "Zi zhi". These results are meaningful to reveal that RrMYB113 might be an important regulator in anthocyanin biosynthesis and coloration in the petals of R. rugose.


An occipital condyle fracture (OCF) is a relatively rare trauma that is now increasingly diagnosed because of the wide availability of computed tomography. For nondisplaced OCFs, conservative treatment is generally recommended, and there is no previous report of a nondisplaced OCF requiring surgery. We report a patient who had a nondisplaced OCF with craniocervical misalignment (a condyle-C1 interval > 2.0 mm) and C1-C2 translation treated with a halo vest and occipitocervical fusion surgery. An 87-year-old Asian woman fell from a 4-meter height and hit her head. She was transferred to our emergency room. Computed tomography revealed a nondisplaced impaction OCF with a 2.5 mm occipital condyle-C1 interval and a 5 mm C1-C2 translation. The fracture pattern was considered stable. However, since craniocervical misalignment and C1-C2 translation were present, the patient was placed in a halo device, and we reduced the occipitoatlantoaxial joint, adjusting the halo ring position preoperatively. Confirming reduction of the atlantooccipital facet joint and the atlantoaxial joint by computed tomography, we performed an occipitocervical fusion. This is the first report of a nondisplaced OCF with craniocervical misalignment and C1-C2 translation that required surgical treatment. Clinicians should be aware of craniocervical misalignment and atlantoaxial instability even in Tuli type 1 OCFs.


Infection with SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causes systemic, multi-faceted COVID-19 disease. However, knowledge connecting its intricate clinical manifestations with molecular mechanisms remains fragmented. Deciphering the molecular basis of COVID-19 at the whole-patient level is paramount to the development of effective therapeutic approaches. With this goal in mind, we followed an iterative, expert-driven process to compile data published prior to and during the early stages of the pandemic into a comprehensive COVID-19 knowledge model. Recent updates to this model have also validated multiple earlier predictions, suggesting the importance of such knowledge frameworks in hypothesis generation and testing. Overall, our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 perturbs several specific mechanisms, unleashing a pathogenesis spectrum, ranging from "a perfect storm" triggered by acute hyper-inflammation, to accelerated aging in protracted "long COVID-19" syndromes. In this work, we shortly report on these findings that we share with the community via 1) a synopsis of key evidence associating COVID-19 symptoms and plausible mechanisms, with details presented within 2) the accompanying "COVID-19 Explorer" webserver, developed specifically for this purpose (found at https://covid19.molecularhealth.com). We anticipate that our model will continue to facilitate clinico-molecular insights across organ systems together with hypothesis generation for the testing of potential repurposing drug candidates, new pharmacological targets and clinically relevant biomarkers. Our work suggests that whole patient knowledge models of human disease can potentially expedite the development of new therapeutic strategies and support evidence-driven clinical hypothesis generation and decision making.


We investigated the effect of cultivation system (conventional or organic), cooking method, and flesh color on the contents of ascorbic acid (AA) and total phenolics (TPs), and on total antioxidant activity (Trolox equivalents, TE) in Solanum tuberosum (potato) tubers. The research material, consisting of 4 potato cultivars, was grown in experimental fields, using organic and conventional systems, at the experimental station in 2012 and 2013. The analysis showed that organically grown potatoes with creamy, light yellow, and yellow flesh had significantly higher TPs than did potatoes grown conventionally. Flesh color and cooking method also affected AA. The greatest losses of AA occurred in yellow-fleshed potatoes grown conventionally and cooked in the microwave; such losses were not observed in potatoes grown organically. A dry cooking method (baking in a microwave) increased the TP contents in potatoes by about 30%, regardless of the flesh color and the production system. TE was significantly higher in organically grown potatoes (raw and cooked in a steamer) than in conventionally grown potatoes. TE and AA contents showed a significant positive correlation, but only in potatoes from the organic system [R2 = 0.686]. By contrast, the positive correlation between TE and TPs was observed regardless of the production system. Therefore, we have identified the effects of farming system, cooking method, and flesh color on the contents of bioactive compounds in potato tubers.


. Here we give a short summary of the the theory of minimal massive gravity. This theory, by construction, possesses only two tensor modes, exactly as in General Relativity. This theory is able to reconcile the original background of dRGT – which was proven to possess a ghost – with a stable homogeneous and isotropic cosmological evolution. The theory is constructed by imposing two constraints in a non-linear, background-independent way. The phenomenology of the theory is also briefly discussed.


Abstract We assessed the technical content of sugar, salt and trans-fats policies in six countries in relation to the World Health Organization 'Best Buys' guidelines for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). National research teams identified policies and strategies related to promoting healthy diets and restricting unhealthy consumption, including national legislation, development plans and strategies and health sector-related policies and plans. We identified relevant text in relation to the issuing agency, overarching aims, goals, targets and timeframes, specific policy measures and actions, accountability systems, budgets, responsiveness to inequitable vulnerabilities across population groups (including gender) and human rights. We captured findings in a 'policy cube' incorporating three dimensions: policy comprehensiveness, political salience and effectiveness of means of implementation, and equity/rights. We compared diet-related NCD policies to human immunodeficiency virus policies in relation to rights, gender and health equity. All six countries have made high-level commitments to address NCDs, but dietary NCDs policies vary and tend to be underdeveloped in terms of the specificity of targets and means of achieving them. There is patchwork reference to internationally recognized, evidence-informed technical interventions and a tendency to focus on interventions that will encounter least resistance, e.g. behaviour change communication in contrast to addressing food reformulation, taxation, subsidies and promotion/marketing. Policies are frequently at the lower end of the authoritativeness spectrum and have few identified budgetary commitments or clear accountability mechanisms. Of concern is the limited recognition of equity and rights-based approaches. Healthy diet policies in these countries do not match the severity of the NCDs burden nor are they designed in such a way that government action will focus on the most critical dietary drivers and population groups at risk. We propose a series of recommendations to expand policy cubes in each of the countries by re-orienting diet-related policies so as to ensure healthy diets for all.


BACKGROUND
Leukocytes and platelets typically fulfil their functions through adhesion to the walls of vessels with different size, haematocrit and shear rate.

OBJECTIVE
We aimed to investigate differential effects of these variables on leukocyte and platelet adhesion.

METHODS
Blood with varying haematocrit was perfused at a range of wall shear rates through capillaries of depth 100 or 300 µm coated with P-selectin or collagen.

RESULTS
Adhesion of leukocytes was much more efficient in the smaller capillaries, but was equal on the upper and lower surfaces and showed nearly identical shear rate dependence for either size of vessel. Platelets also adhered more efficiently in the smaller vessels (although the effect of size was not so great), and equally on upper and lower surfaces, but their adhesion was much less sensitive to increasing shear rate. In previous studies using vertically-orientated capillaries, leukocyte adhesion increased with increasing haematocrit (Am. J. Physiol.285 (2003), H229-H240). Here, in horizontal 100 µm capillaries, leukocyte adhesion was highly efficient at haematocrit of 10% but restricted to the lower surface. Adhesion decreased initially as haematocrit was increased to 30% and then increased slightly again at 40% haematocrit. Increasing haematocrit supported a monotonic increase in platelet adhesion in the horizontal capillaries.

CONCLUSIONS
Platelets adhere efficiently over a wider range of sizes and shear rates, and at high haematocrit. Leukocytes adhere better in smaller vessels and at low haematocrit in horizontal vessels. The different behaviours may represent 'rheological adaptation' to functions in inflammation vs. haemostasis.


The shortcomings of traditional performance management practices (PMS) are widely acknowledged. There is growing interest in 'New Performance Management', suggesting a shift from an evaluative to a developmental focus. In Australia, little is known about the current utilisation of both 'old' and 'new' practices. Using survey data from Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) members we examine the incidence, coverage and perceived effectiveness of 'traditional', 'transitional' and 'new' practices in Australian organisations. Further, since data were gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine the reported effects of pandemic-related disruptions on practice intensity. Although descriptive results suggest that both workforce size and sector may be associated with practice incidence, regression results indicate that sectoral effects are non-significant, and size matters only in relation to traditional practice use. However, our regression results indicate that COVID-19's impact is significantly related to all three practice categories. Furthermore, overall PMS effectiveness is not rated highly. © 2023 The Authors. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI).


Objectives: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a rare, fatal lung disease. Pirfenidone is a novel treatment for IPF patients. This analysis sought to predict survival with pirfenidone compared to standard care using clinical trial data and the CPRD-GOLD database.

Methods: Pirfenidone patients (2403 mg/day) from the two phase 3 CAPACITY trials, including up to 7-years follow-up from the extension study RECAP, were included in the analyses [n=345]. Standard care patients in the CPRD-GOLD database were identified using IPF-related READ codes and used as a reference group [n=193]. Survival times were recorded from diagnosis with CPRD, and from randomisation with the CAPACITY trials. Therefore, CPRD survival times were adjusted using random-sampling of diagnosis to randomisation collected in the CAPACITY trials. The CPRD cohort was restricted to only include patients with an FVC>50%, as per the inclusion criteria of the CAPACITY trials, in an effort to ensure similar levels of impairment in lung function between the two cohorts. Median survival was calculated within each group using the Kaplan-Meier estimator. Mean survival was extrapolated using parametric survival modelling techniques.

Results: Median survival was 6.87-years with pirfenidone compared to 3.41-years with standard care. Using stratified Weibull models, mean survival was 9.25-years (95% CI: 7.37-11.73) with pirfenidone compared to 5.25-years (95% CI: 4.05-7.00) with standard care.

Conclusions: This analysis suggests that for IPF patients treated with pirfenidone, survival is increased relative to patients in standard care, acknowledging the limitations of cross data source comparisons.


Anthropologists usually think of domesticity as the activities related to the home and the family. Such activities have complex meanings associated with the sense of space, work, gender, and power. The contributors to this interdisciplinary collection of papers examine how indigenous African notions of domesticity interact with Western notions to transform the meaning of such activities. They explore the interactions of notions of domesticity in a number of settings in the twentieth century and the kinds of personal troubles and public issues these interactions have provoked. They also demonstrate that domesticity, as it emerged in Africa through the colonial encounter, was culturally constructed, and they show how ideologies of work, space, and gender interact with broader political-economic processes.In her introduction, Hansen explains how the meaning of domesticity has changed and been contested in the West, specifies which of these shifting meanings are relevant in the African context, and summarizes the historical processes that have affected African ideologies of domesticity.


The Tunisian political transition has succeeded in building a working, yet fragile governance beyond ideological and political divides. Political debate across media platforms has become open and dynamic, but the media–politics nexus thrives within a complex system of clientelism forged on shifting alliances between politicians and business tycoons, including recapture by agents of the former regime. The media–politics interplay is taking competitive and antagonistic forms, effectively exacerbating polarized conflicts. This paper reflects on the notions of hybrid media systems, agonistic pluralism, and civic culture, based on data collected in a focus group conducted in Tunis in May 2019 that brought together representatives from media, politics, and civil society complemented by interviews with leading journalists and media stakeholders. This paper argues that the relationship between media and politics is interdependent and marked by confrontation and adaption; the uncertainty of the transition is leading to a complex and volatile power struggle in which neither media nor politics have the upper hand in defining the terms of the game. This ambivalent relationship, taking place within a new system of clientelism, has had a mixed outcome on the process of democratic consolidation.


Preventive Maintenance Scheduling of generating units is an important requirement in a power system planning. The maintenance of the various equipments in a power System, especially the maintenance of generators is directly related to the overall reliability of the power system. However, the Maintenance Scheduling(MS)problem is a constrained optimization problem. The objective function of this problem is to reduce the Loss of Load Probability (LOLP) for a power system. This paper presents Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique to solve the constrained optimization problem. The algorithm is tested with a three unit system and well being index is evaluated for the system. The proposed approach aims at providing a feasible maintenance schedule for the generating units.


The in-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) procedure was compared in 175 couples with male infertility and 480 couples with tubal infertility. In cases of male infertility, more oocytes were recovered but fewer oocytes were fertilized. Although the cleavage rate was decreased, no difference in embryo quality was found. In male infertility, fewer transfers were performed and the average number of embryos per transfer was lower. The total pregnancy rate was also lower per cycle (12.8 versus 22.9%), but not per transfer (25.4 versus 25.7%). The further obstetrical outcome was similar in both groups. We conclude that male infertility can be treated by IVF-ET but results are still disappointing when compared to a control group with normal spermatozoa.


This article addresses the issue of retrieval result diversification in the context of social image retrieval and discusses the results achieved during the MediaEval 2013 benchmarking. 38 runs and their results are described and analyzed in this text. A comparison of the use of expert vs. crowdsourcing annotations shows that crowdsourcing results are slightly different and have higher inter observer differences but results are comparable at lower cost. Multimodal approaches have best results in terms of cluster recall. Manual approaches can lead to high precision but often lower diversity. With this detailed results analysis we give future insights on this matter.


A homocoupling reaction mechanism of bromobenzene mediated by the [Ni(cod)(bpy)] (cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) complex was investigated by means of in situ time-resolved X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and factor analysis. A dimer intermediate [Ni(bpy)(Ph)Br](2) proposed in the previous studies by other groups is too dilute to observe with the XAFS technique; however, the structures and concentrations on the time course of a reactant [Ni(cod)(bpy)], an intermediate [Ni(bpy)(Ph)Br(dmf)(2)], and a byproduct [Ni(bpy)Br(2)(dmf)] during reaction are revealed by this combination.


Rendezvous is an essential operation for secondary users communicating in a cognitive radio network (CRN). Because it is infeasible to employ a common control channel in a licensed spectrum, blind rendezvous is an expected solution and generally estimated by the criteria of asynchronous rendezvous support, guaranteed rendezvous, asymmetric model support, heterogeneity of roles, and short time-to-rendezvous (TTR). Most existing blind rendezvous methods fail to fully satisfy these criteria or have considerable TTR significantly increased with the number of channels. This paper presents a new alternate hop-and-wait channel hopping method, called E-AHW, which can support fast blind rendezvous. By assigning each secondary user a unique alternate channel hopping sequence composed of HOP/WAIT-mode subsequences, all blind rendezvous criteria can be satisfied with shorter TTR. According to simulation results, the performance of E-AHW is better than existing methods. Moreover, using E-AHW, the average value and standard deviation of time intervals between two rendezvous are also less than other methods. Thus, E-AHW can provide an efficient and stable communication environment.


Abstract. The paper1 aims at emphasizing the importance of a proper recognition and disclosure of human capital in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the example of Poland. Although NGOs do significantly contribute to social well-being, the economic focus paid to commercial businesses and public institutions causes that a scope of civil initiatives is not recognised to a sufficient extent. It is, therefore, a role of the Third Sector to promote its activities and to inform extensively on the effects generated. The issue which requires particular attention in this respect is the human capital which propels all benevolent activities. The author analyses, firstly, the historic, economic, and legal circumstances that shaped the modern Third Sector in Poland. Subsequently, an analysis of human resources available to Polish NGOs in comparison to the situation of their German and British counterparts is conducted. The results of a study on the attractiveness of the non-governmental sector as an employer are discussed next. The paper is concluded with a presentation of methods which enable to quantify and valuate human capital in a non-commercial environment, including the ratios used to monitor the development of that capital. The results presented in the paper clearly demonstrate that it was possible due to involvement of socially sensitive people to rebuild social activities in Poland after the long period of the state's exclusivity in defining and addressing social issues. Those people made the initial human resources of Polish NGOs as their members, governors or volunteers. Nonetheless, the development of a comprehensive legal framework stimulating co-operation between the state and NGOs, and an extensive use of European funds helped to extend the labour force of the sector by 120 000 employees. A priority for now proves to be sustaining that growth by attracting young people. The results of the author's study on the perception of the Third Sector by students show that most of them still know NGOs from mass media only, and one third of them would not consider working for an NGO in future. On the other hand, opinions of those who already work in a non-commercial environment prove to be positive, what entitles to formulate the conclusion that a better knowledge of the ways NGOs work is vital to build their human capital. If social managers develop proper systems of measuring and reporting human capital, such as the one presented in the paper, they will gain a tool to demonstrate that human capital of their organisations is used to make social initiatives as effective and efficient as possible. Key words: non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Third Sector, human resources, human capital