Two optical fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometers were constructed in an environment with a temperature stabilization of better than 1 mK per day. One interferometer with a length of 2 m optical fiber in each arm with the main direction of the arms parallel to each other. A path (length 175 mm) filled with atmospheric air is inserted in one arm. Another interferometer with a length of 2 m optical fiber in each parallel arm acts as a control. In one of the arms in each interferometer, 1 m of fiber was wound around a ring made of piezo material enabling the control of the length of the arms by means of a voltage. The influence of rotation of the interferometers at the Earth's surface on the observed phase differences was determined. For one interferometer (with the air path) it was found that the phase difference depends on the azimuth of the interferometer. For the other one no relevant dependence on the azimuth has been measured.


China has launched her second ocean color satellite HY-1B on 11 Apr., 2007, which carried two remote sensors. The Chinese Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (COCTS) is the main sensor on HY-1B, and it has not only eight visible and near-infrared wavelength bands similar to the SeaWiFS, but also two more thermal infrared bands to measure the sea surface temperature. Therefore, COCTS has broad application potentiality, such as fishery resource protection and development, coastal monitoring and management and marine pollution monitoring. Atmospheric correction is the key of the quantitative ocean color remote sensing. In this paper, the operational atmospheric correction algorithm of HY-1B/COCTS has been developed. Firstly, based on the vector radiative transfer numerical model of coupled oceanatmosphere system- PCOART, the exact Rayleigh scattering look-up table (LUT), aerosol scattering LUT and atmosphere diffuse transmission LUT for HY-1B/COCTS have been generated. Secondly, using the generated LUTs, the exactly operational atmospheric correction algorithm for HY-1B/COCTS has been developed. The algorithm has been validated using the simulated spectral data generated by PCOART, and the result shows the error of the water-leaving reflectance retrieved by this algorithm is less than 0.0005, which meets the requirement of the exactly atmospheric correction of ocean color remote sensing. Finally, the algorithm has been applied to the HY-1B/COCTS remote sensing data, and the retrieved water-leaving radiances are consist with the Aqua/MODIS results, and the corresponding ocean color remote sensing products have been generated including the chlorophyll concentration and total suspended particle matter concentration.


The rotational spectrum of a highly excited molecule is qualitatively different from its pure rotational spectrum and contains information about the intramolecular dynamics. We have developed a broadband Fourier transform microwave spectrometer that uses chirped-pulse excitation to measure a rotational spectrum in the 7.5- to 18.5-gigahertz range in a single shot and thereby reduces acquisition time sufficiently to couple molecular rotational spectroscopy with tunable laser excitation. After vibrationally exciting a single molecular conformation of cyclopropane carboxaldehyde above the barrier to C–C single-bond isomerization, we applied line-shape analysis of the dynamic rotational spectrum to reveal a product yield and picosecond reaction rate that were significantly different from statistical predictions. The technique should be widely applicable to dynamical studies of radical intermediates, molecular complexes, and conformationally flexible molecules with biological interest.


Advanced Telecom services typically go beyond traditional two parties telephone calls. In particular, SIP-based service creation in the Telephone-IP convergence scenario has become an important research issue. Telecom services are typically asynchronous, require low latency, high throughput and high availability: those peculiarities ask for a specific event-oriented framework. Developers can today benefit from a platform that could grant high-level APIs and standard interfaces, in order to ease the process of service development and deployment, as well as extend the service portability over multiple networks and devices. The JAIN SLEE activity tackles those issues, defining a Java-based technology for the development of telecom services and their deployment into a SLEE server. This paper focuses on some key issues relevant to the Mobicents SLEE platform, an open source implementation of the JAIN SLEE specifications. We present the results of an experimental campaign in which several SIP-based VoIP services were tested, in order to evaluate the performance and scalability of the system. Each of the tested services is characterized by a different complexity, in terms of processing and signaling flow. Moreover, we investigate some of the performance limitations that have been observed experimentally, which may relate to any Java-based telecom service.


Lactate was recently found to mediate histone lysine lactylation and facilitate polarization of M1 macrophages, indicating its role in metabolic regulation of gene expression. During somatic cell reprogramming, lactate promotes histone lactylation of pluripotency genes and improves reprogramming efficiency. However, the function of lactate in cell fate control in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) remains elusive. In this study, we revealed that lactate supplementation activated germline genes in mouse ESCs. Lactate also induced global upregulation of cleavage embryo genes, such as members of the Zscan4 gene family. Further exploration demonstrated that lactate stimulated H3K18 lactylation accumulation on germline and cleavage embryo genes, which in turn promoted transcriptional elongation. Our findings indicated that lactate supplementation expanded the transcriptional network in mouse ESCs.


In times of economic constraints, cost effectiveness studies on health interventions become more important for health authorities and payers. For this reason EULAR included in 2014 the collection of data on cost effectiveness in the new standardized operational procedures when developing disease management recommendations. Since then recommendation task forces are expected to make cost effectiveness an integral part of the SLR. This new requirement put patients and their organizations for an ethical dilemma: Till recently treatments and interventions were assessed by patients for safety and effectiveness reasons. They raise the question to what extent cost effectiveness arguments belong to the decision making process in the consultation room. Do individual patients and individual physicians have a responsibility to include these arguments in the discussion of pro9s and cons when considering a treatment change? In addition, patient organizations do accept the importance of cost effectiveness data in the process of health technology assessment but argue whether they are appropriate in the process of developing management recommendations. Here, the common goal should be to determine, based on the best available efficacy evidence, the most optimal pathway to manage the disease. In this presentation the challenges of incorporating the patient voice in health economics as well as the use of economic arguments in the consultation between patients and health care professionals will be discussed from a patient perspective. Disclosure of Interest None declared


ELABELA (ELA) is considered to be implicated in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia (PE), since ELA-deficient mice exhibited PE-like symptoms and infusion of exogenous ELA normalized the gestational hypertension (GH) and proteinuria. However, no evidence show that circulating ELA is deficient in early placental development among women who destined to develop GH/PE. This nested case-control study was conducted to investigate the association between serum ELA concentration in early pregnancy and the risk of later GH/PE. Participants were recruited and sampled in 10-14+6 weeks of gestation. Definite GH/PE cases were matched 1 : 3 to controls with respect to age and gestational age. Serum concentration of ELA was measured using enzyme immunoassay. Women with later GH (N = 28) had a slightly lower median concentration of ELA (46.72 ng/mL versus 53.54 ng/mL), while those with later PE (N = 16) had a slightly higher median concentration of ELA (74.8 ng/mL versus 66.30 ng/mL) compared to the controls. Yet, both the increments did not reach statistically significant difference (GH: P = 0.380, PE: P = 0.799). ELA serum concentrations were unchanged in first trimester in women with GH/PE. Further studies are still needed to identify the dynamic changes in serum ELA concentrations during the whole pregnancy, especially in those with pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders.


There is no consensus on the impact of population aging on education investment. To explore this question, we first build an overlapping generations (OLG) model to theoretically analyze the effect of population aging on human capital investment in China, and then test our theory by conducting an empirical study based on micro household data. We find the following. (1) Theoretically, the OLG model shows that population aging has a crowding-out effect on education investment. (2) Empirically, the results show that the share of education and training expenditures decreases by 5.27 percentage points as the ratio of old people in the household increases by 100 percentage points, which confirms the crowding-out effect of population aging on human capital investment. (3) The crowding-out effect is far more intense on urban households than on rural households since health care expenditures will be greater in urban areas as population aging increases. (4) A quantile regression indicates that the negative effect of population aging on the share of educational expenditure is concentrated in households with higher shares of education expenditures. We confirm the robustness of our results using regional fixed effect and instrumental variable (IV) regressions.


Analysis of seismic reflection amplitudes versus offset (AVO) is one of common techniques widely exploited in the industry for reservoir characterization. For the last two decades a lot of approaches to analysis, inversion and interpretation of AVO data have been developed. Existing modifications valid for weak-contrast interfaces were successfully employed for conventional reservoirs. The growing interest of the industry to unconventional reservoirs, such as stiff-carbonate reservoirs, heavy oil traps and reservoirs close to salts domes - associated with strong-contrast interfaces and critical angles - implies the development of AVO techniques valid prior and beyond the critical angle. It has been reported in literature that near- and post-critical reflections have a potential to be employed as an additional source of information about the media. However, the use of these reflections is limited by the inability of well-known Zoeppritz equations to explain phenomena observed around and beyond the critical angle. The aim of the thesis is to investigate phenomena observed at the reflected data around and beyond the critical angle, understand their potential from the AVO analysis and inversion point of view and develop a long-offset AVO inversion approach valid for strong-contrast interfaces. The theory of effective reflection coefficients is exploited as a mathematical apparatus providing an adequate description of phenomena observed at near- and post-critical reflections. The thesis consists of five papers, where four major issues are addressed. The sensitivity of the reflection coefficient to isotropic and HTI media parameter changes prior to and beyond the critical angle is studied. The long-offset AVO inversion approach valid prior to and beyond the critical angle, strong-contrast and curved interfaces is developed and tested on synthetic data obtained for models with a single interface of various curvatures. Frequency effects in pre- near- and post-critical domains observed on the data of physical modeling are studied from the point of view of potential exploiting. Finally, the sensitivity of long-offset AVO inversion to errors related to overburden velocity misinterpretation is analyzed.


Background Facilities for Holter electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring in many Nigerian hospitals are limited. There are few published works in Nigeria on the use of 24-hour Holter ECG in cardiac arrhythmic evaluation of patients with cardiovascular diseases. Objective To study the clinical indications, arrhythmic pattern, and heart rate variability (HRV) among subjects referred for 24-hour Holter ECG at our Cardiac Care Unit. Methods Three-hundred and ten patients (134 males and 176 females) were studied consecutively over a 48-month period using Schiller type (MT-101) Holter ECG machine. Results Out of the 310 patients reviewed, 134 were males (43.2%) and 176 were females (56.8%). The commonest indication for Holter ECG was palpitation followed by syncope in 71 (23%) and 49 (15.8%) of subjects, respectively. Premature ventricular complex and premature atrial complex were the commonest types of arrhythmia in 51.5% and 15% subjects, respectively. Ventricular arrhythmia was more prevalent in dilated cardiomyopathy patients (85.7%). The HRV of subjects with palpitation, stroke, and diabetes mellitus with autonomic neuropathy, using standard deviation of normal to normal intervals average (milliseconds), were 107.32±49.61, 79.15±49.15, and 66.50±15.54, respectively. The HRV, using standard deviation of averages of normal to normal intervals average (milliseconds), of patients with palpitation, stroke, and diabetes mellitus with autonomic neuropathy were 77.39±62.34, 57.82±37.05, and 55.50±12.71, respectively. Conclusion Palpitation and syncope were the commonest indications for Holter ECG among our subjects. The commonest arrhythmic patterns were premature ventricular complex and premature atrial complex, with ventricular arrhythmia being more prevalent in dilated cardiomyopathy. There was a reduction in HRV in patients with stroke and diabetic autonomic neuropathy.


This paper presents a model of a simulation to teach introductory project management in undergraduate courses. This is an early stage of an ongoing project. The intention in this paper is to present the model to be criticized. The participants will work in teams; initially taking over a company with financial difficulty. The simulation will be split into three phases: a) in the first phase, participants should write a bid, take part in the bidding procedures and plan the project execution; b) in the second phase, participants will execute the project, planning and re-planning the project, as necessary; and c) in the last phase, participants will compare results with assessment criteria. The assessment criteria will be: a) the project should be concluded in time; b) the project should generate net profit; and c) the teams should revert the financial situation of the company. They will be expected to achieve this result regardless some ethical and time pressure. Furthermore, the teams will have to deal with complicate and unpredictable situations that will be presented to them through cases.


The oscillation characteristics and dynamics of Nd:YAG long lasers are described. Nd:YAG laser cavities ranging in length from 1 m to over 6.3 km were constructed and operated. The development of laser oscillation, power output, active angular fields, and resonances of the circulating optical flux were monitored. Although Nd:YAG is a homogeneously broadened laser amplifier, the Nd:YAG long laser exhibited characteristics of inhomogeneously broadened lasers of conventional lengths. A dynamical resonance was observed and identified as a resonance between the laser amplifier pumping rate and the stimulated emission rate.


A new on-line evolving clustering approach for streaming data is proposed in this paper. The approach is based on the concept that local mean of samples within a region has the highest density and the gradient of the density points towards the local mean. The algorithm merely requires recursive calculation of local mean and variance, due to which it easily meets the memory and time constraints for data stream processing. The experimental results using synthetic and benchmark datasets show that the proposed approach attains results at par with offline approach and is comparable to popular density-based mean-shift clustering yet it is significantly more efficient being one-pass and non-iterative.


The Hudson Valley Quadricentennial in 2009 spurred all kinds of special celebrations in cities along the Hudson River, from flotilla parades and festivals to art fairs, music performances, and exhibitions. The central focus of the Quadricentennial was Henry Hudson's voyage four hundred years ago up the river that now bears his name. Hudson, an English explorer under contract with the Dutch East India Company to find a quicker trading route to the Near East, set sail with a crew of Dutch and English sailors in hopes of finding that path. He may not have realized it then, but Hudson's explorations on the Dutch boat the Haff Moon would significantly alter the social, cultural, and economic fabric of the northeastern United States. An important part of the story is his party's contact with indigenous peoples. Among the Native American tribes in the Northeast at the time were a loose confederation of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois is the more common non-native term) tribes of New York State and Canada, as well as the Wabanaki tribes of New England and the Canadian maritime provinces. Cultural traditions like basket making and beadwork served not only functional purposes, but also strengthened familial and tribal connections and demonstrated the integral connection between the environment and the artists' heritage. For its part in the Quadricentennial celebrations, the New York Folklore Society commemorated these still-thriving cultural traditions with "North by Northeast: Baskets and Beadwork from the Akwesasne Mohawk and Tuscarora." At the core of North by Northeast was an exhibition held from September 25 to October 24, 2009, on the first floor of the historic, sixteen-sided Nott Memorial at Union College in Schenectady, New York. The exhibition displayed the work of Haudenosaunee artists from New York featured in the larger traveling exhibition, "North by Northeast: Wabanaki, Akwesasne Mohawk, and Tuscarora Traditional Arts," curated by folklorist Kathleen Mundell, director of Cultural Resources in Rockport, Maine. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Helping us open the reception on Friday evening, October 2, was Kathleen Mundell, the curator of the larger traveling exhibition. After speaking briefly about the traveling exhibition, Mundell gave an overview of basket making and beadwork practices among Native American tribes in the Northeastern U.S. and explained how those traditions have changed over the years. Another highlight of the eve ning was the blessing given by Mohawk spokesperson Tom Porter, who works as a Native American spiritual counselor in the New York prison system. Although we had to close the evening in darkness due to electrical problems affecting the entire university, the opening reception was nonetheless a warm, enthusiastic commencement to our month of events. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Among the Schenectady Greenmarket vendors on Sunday, October 11, were four Haudenosaunee who made the long drive to Schenectady to participate in the market. Artists included Mary Clause (Tuscarora beadworker), Judy Cole (Mohawk basket maker), and Carrie Hill (Mohawk basket maker). Curator Sue Ellen Herne brought a few items from the Akwesasne Museum to sell. Despite the cold, breezy weather, Greenmarket visitors welcomed the opportunity to see the beautiful items at their tables and speak with the artists. Later that day, as a part of the New York Folklore Society's annual Field Trip, Herne gave a thought-provoking talk on "Culture and Commerce" at the Old Chapel building on the Union College campus. …


The purpose of the case study was to evaluate the potentialities of using the data found by hematology analyzers in the diagnosis of beta-thalassemia. Eighty (80) persons with homozygous beta-thalassemia, 180 carriers of the beta-thalassemia gene and 50 healthy subjects were examined. Counts of erythrocytes, content of hemoglobin, hematocrit and erythrocytes indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC) were determined in all of them. Besides, also in all cases, the osmotic erythrocyte resistance was investigated; the content of fetal hemoglobin was determined; electrophoresis of hemoglobin in the cellulose-acetate films was made as well as a lack or presence of the interplay between the studied parameters was established through estimating the correlation factor. The results showed significant changes in many parameters both in homo- and hetero-thalassemia versus such parameters in healthy subjects. Blood tests by hematology analyzers in cases of carrier-state of the thalassemia gene were acknowledged to be extra valuable since no clinical signs are available in such disease variation. MCV and MCH are most useful parameters in the diagnosis of heterozygous thalassemia for a reliably direct correlation was found between them.


The goal of this paper is to describe the development of an instrument to measure team situation awareness (TSA). Individual team member SA may or may not be shared through communication processes with other team members. Most existing instruments do not measure these processes but measure TSA as a product. Because team members have access to the quality of their communication processes, we developed a self-rating instrument. Advantages, compared to existing TSA instruments, are that it is non-obtrusive with the task and easy to use. Based on a literature review, we selected conditions, processes and outcomes that had to meet three criteria. They had to be relevant for achieving and maintaining TSA, easy to measure, and offer opportunities for team leaders to improve TSA. We administered the instrument in two military and one civilian crisis management exercise. On the basis of these results, we determined psychometric properties such as validity and reliability of the items constituting the instrument. The results of these case studies show that the instrument provides valuable insight to the team leader. The questionnaire will be further improved by developing an automatic tool that identifies and visualizes the feedback on TSA to the team.


For many patients, anal incontinence (AI) is a devastating condition that can lead to social isolation and loss of independence, contributing to a substantial economic health burden, not only for the individual but also for the allocation of healthcare resources. Its prevalence is underestimated because of poor patient reporting, with many unrecorded but symptomatic cases residing in nursing homes. Endosonography has improved our understanding of the incidence of post-obstetric sphincter tears that are potentially suitable for repair and those cases resulting from anorectal surgery, most notably after fistula and hemorrhoid operations. The clinical scoring systems assessing the severity of AI are discussed in this review, along with their limitations. Improvements in the standardization of these scales will advance our understanding of treatment response in an era where the therapeutic options have multiplied and will permit a better comparison between specific therapies.


Investigating the spread of the urban feature the glottal stop [ ʔ ] in place of the rural voiceless  uvular stop [q] in the speech of rural children and adolescents in the Syrian village, Oyoun Al - Wadi, a  bidirectional linguistic change is observed. Girls retain their mothers' urban feature in preadolescence and  adolescence; boys who initially acquire the urban feature start switching to the rural feature around age  eight and increase their use of this feature with age. Thus, the observed variation a nd changes are gender - and age - related and result from different meanings associated with urban and rural sounds.  Preadolescence emerges as the period in which kids are emotionally involved in building a social identity,  indicating early development of soc iolinguistic competence.


Environmental concern has greatly increased in magnitude within the companies of Swedish industry. Product development has become a strategic area: the environmental adaptation of products is fundamental for a decrease in environmental impact from human activities, and product development is an area of the greatest importance to the competitiveness of companies. Integrating environmental aspects into product development at operations level is needed to achieve product improvements. The theme of this thesis is how to integrate environmental aspects into product development. An overarching purpose has been to identify adequate activities and changes required for integration. Great importance has been attached to conducting changes, especially by investigating how successfully to implement support tools in product development. Qualitative research interviews have been used to collect empirical data. Conclusions on measures industrially applicable to enabling the integration of environmental aspects have been drawn, as empirical data and experiences have been accumulated. Environmental aspects give rise to new considerations in product development: causal relationships between products and environmental impact; the life-cycle approach; and, new priorities and trade-offs between function, cost and quality of products. A need for activities supporting these considerations is identified; and, preferably, several activities, concerning knowledge development, work procedures and support tools, should be applied. It is also important to identify environmental actors for providing expertise and enthusiasm in the organisation. The implementation of support tools has to be carefully considered. To guide such implementation a framework with key factors has been developed. The framework suggests a cyclical implementation process, identification of the organisational change field, and consistent management behaviour. Keys to successful implementation are goal setting, knowledge development, adequate resources, anchoring at all levels, and a focus on individuals. To stay competitive, companies need to be proactive and respond to the driving forces underlying environmental adaptation. To make possible the environmental adaptation of products, several measures are needed. The following proactive measures have been identified: Management ought to set direction with a comprehensive view on business development and physical flows in the business. Commitment to desired change must be created to make sure changes are accepted and durable. Knowledge and skills need to be developed with an action learning approach. Work procedures need to be adjusted to include environmental criteria and secure interaction between product developers and environmental experts. Support tools can support a structured approach and enable rapid progress to be attained.


The effects of heat-treatment (before and after anodization) on the microstructure and electrochemical characteristics of anodized aluminum oxide films formed in 85°C aqueous ammonium adipate electrolyte were investigated. The morphology and crystal structure of the anodized oxide were examined by transmission electron microscopy. The capacitance, relative dielectric constant, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and I-V behavior of the oxide film were also determined. Both pre- and post-heat-treatment at 500°C could induce the formation of crystalline γ'-Al 2 O 3 in the outer layer of anodized oxide and consequently increase the relative dielectric constant of the film. The differences in the morphology and crystalline characteristics between the anodized oxide subjected to pre- and/or post-heat-treatments led to variations in the electrochemical properties. The pre-heattreatment could economize the required charge to anodize the oxide and retard the growth of film thickness during anodizing. Thermal-induced phase transformation from amorphous to crystalline oxide of the anodized film due to post-heat-treatment, could leave some defects and substantially decrease the electrical resistance of the oxide layer. The reanodization further developed and extended the crystalline oxide formation, which subsequently increased the relative dielectric constant of the oxide film.


Located at the intersection of philosophy and STS, the field of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) offers an explicitly normative framework for "futuring" (imagining, exploring and shaping the future), in particular related to technological innovation. One of the central assumptions of RRI is that futuring practices can and should be democratized: engaging stakeholders in anticipatory deliberation about emerging technologies is supposed to contribute to shaping futures that are ethically and societally desirable (von Schomberg 2013; Owen et al 2012; Blok 2014). In this paper, we reflect on this assumption, starting from the practical challenges we encountered when working as RRI-inspired ethicists in a research project on biomarkers for diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease (AD), engaging patients in an exploration of desirable futures of AD diagnostics. While never an easy feat, futuring has proven particularly complex in this case. First of all, we (and the participants) have grappled with an elusive technology – immaterial and highly hypothetical in its utility. Secondly, anticipating and deliberating futures seems particularly "slippery" as horizons of people with dementia quickly fade or are deliberately moved as close as possible to the present. This has a number of intertwined implications that we boil down to one question: How can stakeholders even begin to anticipate, let alone shape, desirable (technological) futures when elusiveness of research/technology and different personal horizons may make 'the future' so distant that it becomes unimaginable or even irrelevant? We argue that "responsible futuring" requires further attention to this question – methodologically, empirically and philosophically.


There have been a lot of auto wind instrument playing systems, but almost all of them consist of several functions which are independent each other and they are not anthropomorphic. Therefore, since 1990 we have been developing an Anthropomorphic Flutist Robot, which is the mechanical and control model being designed similar to human organs on flute playing, in order to clarify the mechanism on one's flute playing from engineering view point. In 1990 we developed the expiration-inspiration system which models human lung in flute playing, and realized that the robot blew the flute through the first octave keeping the temperament interval by controlling air beam velocity only. In 1991 we added the playing attitude control system to this robot which can position its lips on the mouthpiece of the flute, and the robot realized to blow the flute through the first and second octave keeping the temperament interval by controlling air beam velocity and playing attitude.


Six patients who had neonatal renal vein thrombosis underwent re-evaluation of renal function 21 months to 12 years after initial diagnosis. Plasma creatinine clearances were normal in all patients as was urinary concentrating ability and urinalysis. Five patients had elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressures. However plasma renin activities were normal. Intravenous pyelography and renal scintigraphy revealed morphologic abnormalities in four patients. This study emphasizes that after apparent full recovery from neonatal renal vein thrombosis, arterial hypertension may persist and warrants careful long-term follow-up.


Saturated loose sand and non-plastic silty sand deposits are often vulnerable to liquefaction during earthquakes. Sand deposits densified by vibro-stone column (SC) are more resistant to liquefaction, and have performed well during earthquakes. Silty sand deposits appear to perform well when improved by SC supplemented with wick drains. Wick drains aid dissipation of excess pore pressure induced during SC installation in low-permeable silty soils enhancing densification. This paper presents a numerical model to simulate, and to analyze soil densification during SC installation with and without wick drains. Design charts for SC are developed based on this work. These numerical results are compared with field test data. Design guidelines are presented based on these design charts.


Abstract It has been known for some time that there are many inequivalent quantizations possible when the configuration space of a system is a coset space G/H. Viewing this classical system as a constrained system on the group G, we show that these inequivalent quantizations can be recovered from a generalization of Dirac′s approach to the quantization of such a constrained system within which the classical first class constraints (generating the H-action on G) are allowed to become anomalous (second class) when quantizing. The resulting quantum theories are characterized by the emergence of a Yang-Mills connection, with quantized couplings, and new "spin" degrees of freedom. Various applications of this procedure are presented in detail: including a new account of how spin can be described within a path-integral formalism, and how on S4 chiral spin degrees of freedom emerge, coupled to a BPST instanton.


A numerical solution is given to study the unsteady natural convection in enclosures with stratified medium. Three designs of the enclosure wall are investigated that encompass a wall without insulation on it, insulation placed over the exterior of the wall, and insulation placed over the interior. The enclosed medium is initially stratified in the middle region and the wall temperature is uniform at the high temperature level of the medium. Computation results indicate the superiority of placing the insulation inside to maintain the thermal stratification in the medium. Flow and temperature fields are given for a quantitative substantiation of this observation.


Exploration of voter opinions is important for policy making. While opinion polls have long played an important role in this process, big data analysis of social media, i.e. "social listening", is becoming important. This is because social listening involves the collection of a huge amount of data on opinions that are transmitted spontaneously by people in real time. The amount is so huge that the data needs to be aggregated and summarized. Graph theory is an effective way of aggregating into groups network structured data collected from social media such as Twitter. However, there are two challenges. One is to combine the groups, i.e. "communities", into clusters because the granularity of the community is too fine for understanding the big picture. The other is to distinguish insignificant clusters from those that contain relevant information. In this paper, we describe a method for community clustering that is based on kurtosis and duration in time series of each community.


Drawing reliable inferences from data involves many, sometimes arbitrary, decisions across phases of data collection, wrangling, and modeling. As different choices can lead to diverging conclusions, understanding how researchers make analytic decisions is important for supporting robust and replicable analysis. In this study, we pore over nine published research studies and conduct semi-structured interviews with their authors. We observe that researchers often base their decisions on methodological or theoretical concerns, but subject to constraints arising from the data, expertise, or perceived interpretability. We confirm that researchers may experiment with choices in search of desirable results, but also identify other reasons why researchers explore alternatives yet omit findings. In concert with our interviews, we also contribute visualizations for communicating decision processes throughout an analysis. Based on our results, we identify design opportunities for strengthening end-to-end analysis, for instance via tracking and meta-analysis of multiple decision paths.


It is argued in this paper that a greater understanding of dualism is needed to secure the future of humanism and of humanity. Its study consists in understanding the extremes of opinion and attitude to which we are all prone and which pervade every aspect of our society. These extremes are even today impeding our future and threatening to plunge the world into internecine struggles between factions competing for power and pre-eminence. The fruitless conflicts, wars and divisions caused by extremism will only be avoided when a dualist view is adopted that makes the 'either-for-us-or-against-us' mentality universally unacceptable. The dualist view also helps us to deal with situations that demand insight more than logic. A distinction is made here between naive and systematic dualism in which the former refers to confused and muddled thinking whereas the latter involves organized and purposeful thinking to deal systematically with confusing and conflicting situations. There is a spectrum between naive dualism at one extreme and absolute monism at the other extreme. Most of us, most of the time, are systematic dualists subsisting somewhere in the middle. Our future is constantly threatened by those few people who have one answer to everything and are intolerant of other views. If the dualist view becomes prevalent they may learn to think differently. Humanism is distinct from religion in being essentially dualist in its outlook and in being prepared to countenance alternative views. The further development of the dualist view therefore strengthens humanism against its monist enemies who are looking for certainty and easy solutions.


The economic-cultural theory should be one of guiding ideologies for school-based curriculum development in minority regions.The contents of school-based curriculum development in minority regions should include career education,environment education and creative education.School-based curriculum development in minority regions should follow the local,integrated,open and autonomous principles.


In this chapter the use of ionic liquids (ILs) in a biorefinery has been evaluated from a green chemistry perspective. The environmental impact of ILs is assessed through presentation of research into IL toxicity and biodegradation. An analysis of IL toxicity is given and includes an evaluation of the toxicity of ILs towards acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Research into IL biodegradation is presented and contains a section detailing the design of an IL for increased biodegradation. Enzyme catalysis in ILs is discussed and includes guidelines for selecting a preferred 'greener' IL for enzyme catalysis. Enzyme compatibility, stability, activity and selectivity are all individually reviewed. Finally, a section on polymer synthesis from renewable materials, relating to use in a biorefinery, is discussed. This focuses on polymer synthesis in ILs, in particular enzyme-catalysed polymerizations and polyester synthesis.


Purpose Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains are a common cause of transplant rejection, morbidity, and mortality among kidney transplant recipients. The virulence of UPEC strains differs based on their pathogenicity islands (PAIs) and susceptibility to antibiotics. The present study evaluates the clonal relationship and antibiotic susceptibility of UPEC PAI-genotypes among Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates from kidney transplant patients. Patients and methods A total of 115 Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates were collected from kidney transplant recipients with acute urinary tract infections (UTIs). Isolates were typed based on the presence of PAI-markers, and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). The disk diffusion method was performed for the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of isolates. Results According to the PAI-specific virulence markers, 69 (60%), 21 (18.3%), and 25 (21.7%) isolates were identified as genotypes related to UPEC 536, UPEC J96, and UPEC CFT073 strains, respectively. PAI III536 genotypes were the most prevalent genotype in this study. The findings showed a high-sensitivity to imipenem (93.9%) and nitrofurantoin (91.3%) and a low-sensitivity to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (36.5%). Clonal association and similar antibiotic susceptibility pattern were seen in the PAI-related genotypes. Conclusion Due to a similar pattern of antibiotic susceptibility of these clonal groups and increased resistance to some important antibiotics such as trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole in the treatment of urinary tract infections, especially in kidney transplant patients, the spread of these clones should be considered as a serious concern.


This paper is the 2nd of a 2-part study of the effects of forward interpolation error and model discretization error on atmospheric data assimilation. Utilizing the generalized Kalman filter developed in part (I), that investigation is here extended to the case where not all scales in the signal are resolvable by the analysis mesh (although they may all be sampled by the observation network). The error in the unresolved scales is thus able to affect the forward interpolation and model discretization errors and the signal/error correlations considered in part (I). In some circumstances, the results are found to be qualitatively similar to those observed when all scales were resolved, but at a much higher error level. This strengthens the corresponding results of part (I) by extending them to the situation where there are unresolved scales. The most important findings of this type are the following. (a) Models, however imperfect, reduce analysis error. (b) The neglect of signal/error correlation can result in a serious underestimate of analysis error. (c) While model truncation error has a blue spectrum, proper inclusion of signal/error correlation has the effect of reddening the spectrum. Other important findings of this paper are the following. (i) The error in the unresolved scales cannot be eliminated by data assimilation. Moreover, the existence of unresolved scales not only increases the magnitude of the forward interpolation and model discretization errors due to errors in these scales, but also produces error in the resolved scales. (ii) While simple models can provide useful information about the mechanisms of analysis error growth and decay, the coupling of these models with very special observation networks (e.g., coincident with the analysis mesh) may yield results which are misleading with respect to more realistic models and networks. (iii) For imperfect models, both the magnitude of the analysis error and the forecast-error correlation structure are much more sensitive to model resolution than to observation network density. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0870.1997.t01-4-00004.x


Preliminary diagnosis of closely resembling skin conditions can be highly subjective for dermatologists. In ambiguous cases, it often leads to performing invasive procedures like biopsies. Different skin conditions, however, have varying concentrations of fluorophores (like collagen, NADH) and chromophores (like melanin, hemoglobin) which can alter their fluorescence spectra. We demonstrate a handheld, portable, smartphone-based spectrometer that leverages these alterations in skin autofluorescence spectra for rapid screening of skin conditions. This methodology involves excitation of affected skin areas with ultraviolet (UV-A) 385 nm light, capturing the generated fluorescence spectra and sending the data wirelessly to a companion mobile application for data storage, analysis and visualization. By collecting the fluorescence spectral signals from healthy and unhealthy skin conditions, we establish that the signals collected using this portable device can be used to develop a classification method to help in differentially diagnosing these conditions. It shows promise as a useful skin screening tool for both dermatologists and primary health care workers. This device can enable quick, non-invasive and a more objective preliminary examination. We envision the device to be especially useful in primary healthcare centers of developing countries where availability of dermatologists is limited.


Persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) are new luminescent materials that can store the excitation energy quickly and persistently emit it after ceasing excitation sources. Due to the advantages of long-lasting luminescence without constant excitation, PLNPs have been widely used in biomedical applications. Visible light excitable PLNPs (VPLNPs) and near-infrared excitable PLNPs (NPLNPs) are two kinds of novel and promising PLNPs. Compared to conventional PLNPs, VPLNPs and NPLNPs have the characteristics of low tissue damage, deep tissue penetration, and high signal-to-noise ratio. With these special features, they have great potential in applications such as long-term tracing, deep-tissue bioimaging, and precise treatment. In this review, we introduce the common strategy of constructing VPLNPs and NPLNPs based on electronic structure engineering and the applications of VPLNPs and NPLNPs in biomedicine. This review article aims to offer valuable information about the progress and development direction of VPLNPs and NPLNPs, promoting more applications in biomedicine, materials science, energy engineering, and environmental technologies in the future.


100_03486 Middle level educators understand that vocabulary is at the heart of general language development and conceptual learning and is, therefore, a critical aspect of curricular programs in all disciplines at the middle school level. The extensive research base on vocabulary learning and teaching provides us with important guidelines that inform instruction (Harmon, Wood, & Hedrick, in press). In this research summary, we highlight relevant studies that support several key understandings of vocabulary learning and teaching. The following are six key understandings for all teachers across age levels and content areas.


Cover area, number of spikes, length of the longest spike, plant length were examined in Lavandin (Lavandula hybrida) and Lavender (Lavandula officinalis) genotypes based on collected data from 100 individual plants belong to ten clones of each species at middle of growth period of 2010. Variation, including broad sense heritability, and correlations among characters were estimated. Lavandula officinalis showed higher performances than L.hybrida for the characters. For instance averages of cover area and number of spikes were 67.1 cm2/plant and 6.5 cm2 in Lavandula officinalis, respectively, respectively. They were 56.8 and 5.7 in L.hybrida. Differences were found for studied characters among and within clones in the species, and also between species. The differences were higher in Lavandula hybrida than L.officinalis based on results of analysis variance. Variation among plants within clone was higher than among clones in both species except of number of spikes in Lavandula officinalis. The heritability was generally below 0.5 except of number of spikes in Lavandula officinalis (0.522). It showed non-genetic factors seem often more important for the variation in performance of plants than their genetic constitution. There were significant correlations with studied characters in Lavandula officinalis and with most of the studied characters in L.hybrida. ! 2013 Trade Science Inc. INDIA


We analyzed the SU(2) × SU(2) chiral model with mixed fundamental-adjoint action on the 2-dimensional(2-D) random lattice by using Monte-Carlo (M-C) simulation. The results show that the model behaves like the mixed SU(2) × SU(2) chiral model on the 2-D regular lattice, but the character of the phase transition seems to be different.


In the actual random phenomena, the objective signal usually shows a complex fluctuation pattern apart from a standard Gaussian distribution due to the diversified causes of fluctuation. Furthermore, the observation data are very often contaminated by the external noise of arbitrary distribution type. In this paper, a new state estimation algorithm for the stochastic system with a random excitation of non-Gaussian distribution type is proposed by introducing a form of expansion expression with parameter differential type for the conditional probability density function. It is noticeable that the proposed wide sense digital filter is constructed in a hierarchical form based on the direct use of the well-known Kalman's filtering algorithm. Therefore, non-Gaussian properties of the fluctuation and various nonlinear correlation information are reflected hierarchically in this estimation algorithm. Finally, the effectiveness of the theory is experimentally confirmed too by applying it to the actual data in the room acoustical field.


Abstract We conducted the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Psephenidae, based on 143 morphological characters of adults, larvae and pupae and coded for 34 taxa, representing three outgroups and 31 psephenid genera, including four undescribed ones. A strict consensus tree calculated (439 steps, consistency index = 0.45, retention index = 0.75) from the two most‐parsimonious cladograms indicated that the monophyly of the family and subfamilies is supported, with the exception of Eubriinae, which is paraphyletic when including Afroeubria. Here a new subfamily, Afroeubriinae (subfam.n.), is formally established for Afroeubria. The analysis also indicated that the 'streamlined' larva is a derived adaptive radiation. Here, suprageneric taxonomy and the evolution of some significant characters are discussed. Keys are provided to the subfamilies and genera of Psephenidae considering larvae, adults and pupae.


ITSGrid is an undergoing joint engineering project designed and developed by advanced computing and system (CCNT) lab in Zhejiang University and Hangzhou Enjoyor Electronics Co. Ltd (Enjoyor). The new features of ITSGrid are originated from two important research projects - DartGrid and DartFlow, and one key engineering project - JTang application server, in CCNT lab. Its goal is to build an integrated intelligent transportation information and service platform (ITISP), to integrate traffic data resources collected by Enjoyor and cooperate existing ITS subsystems and services deployed by Enjoyor, finally serve for transportation construction in China. During building this project, we utilize systematically the grid technology, the semantic Web technology, the Web service technology, the messaging oriented middleware technology


Introduction: Breast cancer is known as the most prevalent cancer among women. The cancer and its treatments including chemotherapy impose many symptoms and side effects and impress the patients' life quality and family members. Therefore, they need the knowledge, understanding and abilities rather than factors influencing the quality of their lives. This study has been accomplished to explore the effect of family-centered empowerment model on the functional scales quality of life in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: The present study is a clinical trial, a quasi-experimental study. The selection of 70 women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy in both intervention and control groups was done through purposive sampling. The research tools included demographic questionnaire, questionnaire information about the disease and treatment and quality of life are two standard questionnaires (QLQ-C30, QLQ-Br23). Family-centered empowerment model in the intervention group and post-test one month after the intervention examined. Results: The results showed that the implementation of model improving the general functional scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional and social) for patients in the intervention group (P<0.05). The specific function of scales in the two groups after the intervention in terms of body image, sexual performance and sexual pleasure, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) but after coming back attitude was improved in the intervention group. Conclusion: The results showed that the implementation of the empowerment familycentered on the promotion of general and specific functional scale (with the exception of the aspects of body image, sexual function and sexual pleasure) quality of life for women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy was effective.


Proposes a novel formulation where 3D global and local motion estimation and the adaptation of a generic wireframe model to a particular speaker are considered simultaneously within an optical flow based framework including the photometric effects of the motion. We use a flexible wireframe model whose local structure is characterized by the normal vectors of the patches which are related to the coordinates of the nodes. Geometrical constraints that describe the propagation of the movement of the nodes are introduced, which are then efficiently utilized to reduce the number of independent structure parameters. A stochastic relaxation algorithm has been used to determine optimum global motion estimates and the parameters describing the structure of the wireframe model. Results with both simulated and real facial image sequences are provided. >


Mixed ligand complexes of β-diketones of the form [Cu(tfa)(bzac)], [Cu(tfa)(acac)] and their 2,2′-bipyridine (bipy) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) adducts have been synthesized and characterized by metal analysis, electronic, infrared spectra and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Infrared spectra showed the shifting of bands at 1698 and 1588 cm-1 to lower frequency in the adducts. The d-d spectral band positions suggest square planar and octahedral geometries for the copper(II) complexes and their various adducts respectively. The magnetic moments of the copper(II) complexes and their various adducts suggest that they are magnetically dilute compounds. The copper(II) complexes exhibited broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against the Gram-negative, Gram-positive and fungi tested generally at 100-25 mg/mL concentrations in-vitro. [Cu(tfa)(bzac)] was most outstanding in this regard.


Foundrymen have long recognized the value of adding special additives to gray and ductile cast irons to modify structure and control properties. While graphite growth mechanisms are better understood today than just a fewyears ago, comprehensive theories have yet to be established and accepted. Nevertheless, efforts to comprehend and control the inoculation and nodularizing processes have resulted in a variety of products and treatment techniques. This paper endeavors to summarize the present status of the alloys used to modify cast iron. A very diverse product line of inoculants exists in today's market. While most inoculants are based on ferrosilicon and contain some aluminum and calcium, they may also contain barium, titanium, strontium, rare earths, or other elements. The method of addition, as well as the location and time of addition of special alloys to cast iron, plays a prominent role in determining the addition levels and the effectiveness of a particular treatment. For example, inoculants may be added to the ladle, or later in the process as the metal stream enters the mold, or in the mold itself. Inoculants used in the ladle are normally added in the stream entering the ladle and are usually granular in nature. In late inoculation, on the other hand, the inoculant may be added as a powder, an encapsulated powder, or a bonded or cast insert. Today, the bulk of inoculants are added in the ladle. However, due to metallurgical and economical considerations plus production restrictions, the practice of late inoculation has grown in recent years. The nodularizing treatment for ductile iron is commonly accomplished by ladle treatment with magnesium-ferrosilicon alloys. A variety of other additives, including pure magnesium, is finding use. Recently, particularly in the automotive industry, many foundries have begun to convert to the Inmold Process. Efforts are currently being made within the foundry industry to produce an intermediate iron to gray and ductile iron, known as compacted graphite iron. At least one additive is available commercially for this purpose.


It was early recognized in the history of speech technology, that prosody plays an essential role in the communication process and that it is therefore necessary to include prosodic components into the speech-based systems for man-computer interaction. Recent text-to-speech (TTS) systems show prosodic components at an elementary level (intonation and duration) for good comprehensibility, but it is also obvious that these components are not powerful enough to produce speech with high naturalness and personality. On the other hand, systems for automatic speech recognition (ASR) consider the prosody more or less implicitly, and we have only few examples where prosodic features are explicitly used for improving the recognition results. This talk is an attempt to give a more general view on the inclusion of prosody in speech technology. During the last decade, reconsidering the paradigm of analysis-by-synthesis (AbS) in speech technology has produced some algorithmic progress in TTS and in ASR as well. The system UASR (Unified Approach for Speech Synthesis and Recognition) of the TU Dresden was designed to demonstrate the AbS approach in a hierarchical way. It is now time to discuss how prosodic components could be included in such systems. The inclusion of rhythmic phenomena seems to be the most difficult but also very promising subtask. Possibly speech processing can benefit from musical signal processing where the identification of rhythm is a very natural task.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of different production and conservation factors on some properties of blueberries. Among the production factors considered were cultivar (Duke, Bluecrop and Ozarkblue) and production mode (organic or conventional). Regarding the conservation factors were evaluated temperature (ambient or refrigeration) and storage time (0, 7 and 14 days). The properties under study belong to three categories: physical properties (color and texture); chemical properties (moisture content, sugars and acidity) and phenolic and antioxidant properties (total phenols, anthocyanins, tannins, ABTS antioxidant activity, DPPH antioxidant activity). The results revealed that moisture content was only influenced by cultivar and that both acidity and sugar contents varied according to the production mode used. Also it was evidenced that the antioxidant activity was not statistically different between cultivars, production modes or conservation conditions. Regarding the phenolic compounds, the tannins were significantly higher for the blueberries produced in organic agriculture. Regarding color significant differences were also encountered and the most intense blue was found in blueberries from cv. Duke, produced in organic farming and stored under refrigeration. Textural attributes were also very significantly influenced by all factors at study: cultivar, production mode and conservation, and the berries from cv. Duke stored under refrigeration showed the highest firmness.


US research shows that the partisan divide among elites on climate change has been mirrored by division at the citizen level, with this division being especially prominent among more politically engaged citizens. Using British Election Study data from 2016, this article examines whether a similar phenomenon is occurring in Britain, a country that experienced an increase in climate sceptic media coverage in the aftermath of the passing of the 2008 Climate Change Act. The results show that UK Independence Party and Conservative Party partisans as well as Leavers who pay more attention to politics are less likely to believe in the existence of anthropogenic climate change in contrast to Labour Party partisans and Remainers where increased political attention is associated with greater belief. These findings point to the inherent difficulties of bringing public beliefs on climate change in line with the scientific consensus in the presence of divided elite cues.


Substorm activity is heavily influenced by the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) Bz component and magnetospheric substorms occur most frequently when Bz is strongly negative. The substorm occurrence rate is also affected by the magnitude of the By component, but it is usually presumed that this contribution is independent of the sign of By. Using five independent substorm onset lists, we show that substorm activity does depend on the sign of By near the solstices. Specifically, we show that substorms occur more frequently when By and the dipole tilt angle Ψ have different signs as opposed to when they have the same sign. These results confirm that the magnetosphere exhibits an explicit dependence on the polarity of By for nonzero Ψ, as other recent studies have suggested, and imply variation in the dayside reconnection rate and/or the magnetotail response. On the other hand, we find no clear relationship between substorm intensity and By regardless of Ψ. Last, for the onset list based on identifying negative bays at auroral latitudes, we observe an overall trend of more frequent onsets for positive By, regardless of season. However, substorm frequency in the other four substorm lists does not exhibit an overall preference for positive By. We show that this phenomenon is very likely a consequence of the particular substorm identification method (i.e., identification of negative bays), which is affected by local ionospheric conditions that depend on By and Ψ.


The purpose of this study was to identify the influences of ego states and life positions on empathy in nursing students. A descriptive survey study conducted visit-surveys with questionnaires and sampled 204 female nursing students in Daejeon, and Chungnam. Korean version of Ego-OKgram, Empathy scale was used. Data was analyzed by ANOVA, Pearson ' s correlation coefficient, Stepwise multiple regression analysis using SPSS/WIN 18.0. The results of this study are following. Nursing Students ' Ego-OKgram showed M-type pattern with peaked NP ego state and (I + U + )pattern with positive attitude toward self and others. The degree of empathy according to leading pattern of ego states were significantly different in NP and CP, FC, AC ego state. And the degree of empathy according to compounding life positions were significantly different in positive attitude toward others (I + U + , I − U + ) and negative attitude toward others (I + U − , I − U − ). In addition, the empathy level positively correlated with NP ego state, positive attitude toward self and others, and negatively correlated with negative attitude toward self and others. Multiple regression analysis showed NP ego state, positive attitude toward others (U + ), negative attitude toward others (U − ) significantly influenced empathy level. The findings suggest that nursing educators and health professionals, while understanding the students, developing and providing the empathy training program need to be aware of the ego states and life positions in nursing students. (Korean J Str Res 2012;20:113 ∼ 122)


Molecular-dynamics simulations are used to study the effective interactions in charged stabilized colloidal suspensions. We focus on highly charged macroions in the limit of low salt concentrations. Within this regime, nonlinear corrections to Debye-Hückel (DH) theory have to be considered. For non-bulk-like systems, such as isolated pairs or triples of macroions, we show that nonlinear effects can become relevant, which cannot be described by the charge renormalization concept [S. Alexander, J. Chem. Phys. 80, 5776 (1984)]. For an isolated pair of macroions, we find an almost perfect qualitative agreement between our simulation data and DH theory. However, on a quantitative level, neither DH theory nor the charge renormalization concept can be confirmed in detail. This seems mainly to be related to the fact that for small ion concentrations, microionic layers can strongly overlap, whereas, simultaneously, excluded volume effects are less important. In the case of isolated triples, where we compare between coaxial and triangular geometries, we find attractive corrections to pairwise additivity in the limit of small macroion separations and salt concentrations. These triplet interactions arise if all three microionic layers around the macroions exhibit a significant overlap. In contrast to the case of two isolated colloids, the charge distribution around a macroion in a triple is found to be anisotropic.


An estimated 300 million people worldwide suffer from asthma, and this number is expected to increase to 400 million by 2025. Approximately 250,000 people die prematurely each year from asthma out of which, almost all deaths are avoidable. Most of these deaths occur because the patients are unaware of their asthmatic morbidity. If detected early, asthmatic mortality rate can be reduced by 78%, provided that the patients carry appropriate medication for the same and/or are in lose vicinity to medical equipment like nebulizers. This study focuses on the development and valuation of algorithms to diagnose asthma through symptom intensive questionary, clinical data and medical reports. Machine Learning Algorithms like Back-propagation model, Context Sensitive Auto-Associative Memory Neural Network Model, C4.5 Algorithm, Bayesian Network and Particle Swarm Optimization have been employed for the diagnosis of asthma and later a comparison is made between their respective prospects. All algorithms received an accuracy of over 80%. However, the use of Auto Associative Memory Model (on a layered Artificial Neural Network) displayed much better results. It reached to an accuracy of over 90% and an inconclusive diagnosis rate of less than 1% when trained with adequate data. In the end, naive mobile based applications were developed on Android and iOS that made use of the self-training auto associative memory model to achieve an accuracy of nearly 94.2%.


Controversial recent research suggests Americans with more authoritarian tendencies showed less concern about COVID-19 and self-report less mask wearing. The present study set out to replicate this result with a larger sample. The study also sought to extend the original research by investigating how the Dark Triad traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism are related 1 COVID-19 attitudes and behaviors. Nine-hundred ninety-six United States high school graduates were asked 8 questions about their level of concern about the effects of the virus on health and finances, how frequently they wore masks, which authority figures they trusted, and whether China was responsible for the virus. Correlational and regression analyzes showed that authoritarianism, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy were all negatively related to self-reported mask wearing. An explanation is offered for an apparent contradiction between the presented results and studies that showed authoritarian support for lockdowns early during the outbreak.


Intuitively, increasing
the available land, which is an economic resource, should improve social
welfare. However, traditional economic models of urban economy show that an
urban growth boundary (UGB) policy, which restricts land availability, actually
improves social welfare by reducing the negative externalities imposed by
congestion. Nevertheless, recent studies have found that a UGB policy is not
always welfare improving. This paper examines both expansive and restrictive
UGB regimes using the Chicago metropolitan statistical area as an example. The
simulation results presented herein show that an expansive UGB positively
affects social welfare, while a restrictive UGB improves social welfare if open
spaces are considered and vacant land outside the UGB registers a moderate fall
in value. Further, the proportion of absentee landlords is an important
determinant of welfare gains, since their gain (or loss) from a UGB policy in
the real estate market is a drain from the urban economy. Moreover, a
restrictive UGB leads to centralized land use, while an expansive UGB results
in moderate suburbanization. Finally, gasoline consumption decreases under a
restrictive UGB but increases under an expansive UGB because vehicle miles
travelled increase as the city expands outward.


A switching mode power supply circuit which operates according to the master-slave concept and is located in the primary side of a TV set or monitor offline flyback power supply is described. The circuit ensures the starting function, the standby function according to the primary regulation principle, and the normal operating mode in association with a switching regulator located in the secondary side of the power supply. The circuit provides the base drive of the power switch without external boosters. It ensures various safety functions, such as power transistor current limitation and under- or overvoltage detection. Although mainly designed for the master-slave concept, the circuit can also be used alone, according to the primary regulation concept, or in association with an optocoupler. The circuit layout is presented. >


In 1996 and 1997 three groups of reindeer from different nutritional origin and condition, (poor condition groups n=15 in 1996, n=7 in 1997, good condition group n=10 in 1997), were used to investigate effects of high protein pastures on body condition for 3.5 weeks in spring. Mean body mass (BM) of reindeer in the poor condition groups increased by 10% both in 1996 (P<0.05) and in 1997 (P<0.05), while there were no significant (NS) changes in BM of reindeer in the good condition group in 1997. The mean carcass weight as % of BM increased from 48 to 51% in both the poor condition group in 1996 (NS), and in the good condition group in 1997 (P<0.05). The reticulo-rumen wet weight in the poor condition group in 1996, tended to decrease from 15.1 to 11.9% of BM, while the reticulo-rumen wet weight decreased from 14.2 to 13.0% of BM (P<0.05) in the good condition group in 1997. Mean kidney fat decreased by 51% in the poor condition group in 1996 and by 40% in the good condition group in 1997 (P<0.05). Likewise, marrow fat decreased by 50% (P<0.05) in the good condition group in 1997. In both animal groups muscle mass and carcass mass increased in the reindeer, while fat deposits decreased when eating as much as 131 g dry matter/kg0.75 on a high protein spring pasture containing as much as 30% crude protein of dry matter (DM). Much of the energy available from forage plants eaten and the body fat deposits therefore seem to support body protein growth in spring.


The verb subcategorization frame information plays a major role of disambiguations in many NLP applications. Japanese, however, imposes difficulties of subcategorizing in part because it allows arbitrary ellipses of case elements. We propose a new type of verb subcategorization frame code set that combines the verb's surface case set and the deep case set, as a solution to the difficulties of empirical researches on Japanese. The lexicon developed by this design has comprehensive information on the correspondences between the surface case frame and the deep case frame, and yet restrains the potential combinatorial explosion of the number of verb subcategorization frames by carefully identifying superficially different frames with an idea of alternative case markers and semantic roles, and by introducing the notion of surface case frame permutations. The number of different surface/ deep case mapping types is 250, after we completed the new subcategorization frame code development for 30,000 verbs and adjectives.


ABSTRACT This introduction to 'Orthodox Kaleidoscope: Heterogeneity, Complexity, and Dynamics in the Russian Orthodox Church' sheds light on its contributions from a methodological-theoretical angle. Six of the seven contributions to this issue spring from an interdisciplinary academic network established in 2015 by scholars of 15 institutions in search of approaches and theories that would do justice to the multifaceted and fluid return of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) to society and (geo-)politics after perestroika. One of the challenges this Orthodox revival presents to scholarship is an extreme heterogeneity of groups, worldviews, and teachings, each claiming to represent 'true' Orthodoxy by virtue of their belonging to Orthodox Tradition. Such belonging grants the right to exist and exercise sacral authority on micro-, meso- and macro-levels, but also involves a non-belonging, a simultaneous insider and outsider perspective of Orthodoxy/Orthodox Tradition. Since this problem arises in each situation when such an overreaching position (sub specie aeternitatis) is claimed, it is common to each religious tradition and is therefore pertinent to religious studies more broadly. In the Introduction I discuss this variation of Russell's paradox and the ways to overcome this conceptual problem.


The type I keratin 17 (K17) shows a peculiar localization in human epithelial appendages including hair follicles, which undergo a growth cycle throughout adult life. Additionally K17 is induced, along with K6 and K16, early after acute injury to human skin. To gain further insights into its potential function(s), we cloned the mouse K17 gene and investigated its expression during skin development. Synthesis of K17 protein first occurs in a subset of epithelial cells within the single-layered, undifferentiated ectoderm of embryonic day 10.5 mouse fetuses. In the ensuing 48 h, K17-expressing cells give rise to placodes, the precursors of ectoderm-derived appendages (hair, glands, and tooth), and to periderm. During early development, there is a spatial correspondence in the distribution of K17 and that of lymphoid-enhancer factor (lef-1), a DNA-bending protein involved in inductive epithelial–mesenchymal interactions. We demonstrate that ectopic lef-1 expression induces K17 protein in the skin of adult transgenic mice. The pattern of K17 gene expression during development has direct implications for the morphogenesis of skin epithelia, and points to the existence of a molecular relationship between development and wound repair.


Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka (CRISL) has designed and established twenty-six coconut-based agroforestry models in different agroecological regions of smallholder coconut farmers' fields commencing 1987. This study evaluates the conformity of four selected models with the existing resource base of smallholder coconut farmers and elicits their perceptions on these models. The selected models include: mixed farming for Wet Zone (model 1), mixed cropping for Wet Zone (model 2), mixed farming for Wet Intermediate Zone (model 3) and intercropping for Wet Intermediate Zone (model 4), established respectively at Gaspe, Hanchapola, Katuneriya and Thulawala. Conformity of these models with the existing resource base of the farmers was analyzed by comparing labor and cash requirement of the models with the availability of these two resources at farmers' disposal while the farmers' perceptions were elicited through a survey using a structured questionnaire supplemented with informal discussions. Results revealed that all the selected agroforestry models conform with the existing cash resource base of the farmer at current scale of operation, but not so with the family labor supply. However, both these resources may turn out to be limiting constraints once the current scale of operation is expanded. The farmers' expressed mix perceptions on agroforestry models in terms of model layout, crop composition, suitability to socioeconomic circumstances etc, with an overall positive assessment implying that the models developed by the CRISL are acceptable for them.


This study was conducted to examine women and HIV/AIDS epidemic: the issue of school age girls' awareness in Nigeria information was elicited from 1,222 randomly selected regular under-graduate female students from the 11 faculties of the university of Lagos, Nigeria, with the use of a standardized structured questionnaire. Results of the major objective of the study, that is the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among female undergraduate students showed a moderate level of awareness, including other specific objectives of age, level of study and marital status. It contrast, 600 level of study showed a high degree of awareness, it was only divorce as a sub-variable of marital status that showed a low level of awareness. The paper then made some recommendations, that what is needed in Nigeria and indeed Africa, is to address the cultural, biological and socioeconomic conditions contributing to women greater vulnerability to HIV/AIDS epidemic. ********** Globally, HIV/AIDS was perceived as a public health problem and declared and epidemic. The initial response was that of denial. Eventually the first case of AIDS was reported in Nigeria, 1986, Federal Ministry of Health (FMH, 2003). The Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) caused by the Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) is spread mainly through sexual intercourse, blood transfusion with an infected person, breast milk, mother to child transmission etc, has attracted much concern from government, non-govern mental organizations, as well as international communities. Despite these, not less than 200,000 people lived with HIV/AIDS in 1980, that number soared to 3 million by mid-1980s and further rose to 8 million by the end of the decade. But in the 1990s the increase was enormous, bringing it to 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 2001, (UN AIDS 2001). Sub-Saharan Africa with less than 11 percent of the world population is said to contain more than 70% of all HIV infected people. More than 28 million in the Sub-Saharan Africa, 7 million in Asia, 2 million in Latin America and the Caribbean and 3 million in other regions. The prevalence trends in Nigeria showed that between 1993 and 1999 growth rates were 3.8% to 5.4% respectively (Achime 2000). Also the spread of HIV is gender biased; young people are particularly susceptible to HIV infection, an estimated 11.8 million people age 15 to 24 were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2001 (WHO 2002). Young people are vulnerable because they are likely to engage in high-risk behaviour, by having multiple sex partners, unprotected sexual intercourse among others. Gupta (2002) asserts, that it was discovered in every 23 infected people, 13 infected must be women and this gender gap is specially pronounced among those who are younger than 25 years. South Africa Health Review (2000) stated that 97% of women have heard of AIDS, with 10% of women stating that staying with one partner and using condom during intercourse would not protect them against AIDS, while 21% still believe that transmission could take place by sharing public toilets, 38% are of the opinion that HIV could be spread through mosquito bite. In Nigeria it was discovered by the National Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS, 2003) in a study carried out in the country that males have a higher HIV/AIDS awareness than their female counterparts. On routes of HIV infection and prevention, it was discovered that the males have a higher level of awareness than the females. In Nigeria, studies on university population are few despite the vulnerability of students to unsafe sexual practices. Arowojolu (2002) in a study on sexuality, contraceptive choice and AIDS awareness, discovered that women were more likely than men to have relationship with older partners, for monetary gains, maturity and understanding by older partners, and security. It was equally discovered that 60% had two or more current sexual partners. Kelly, (2000) in a study in Zambia discovered a marked decline in HIV prevalence rates in 15 to 19 years-old boys and girls with higher level of education, but an increase among those with lower level of education. …


The upper limb disability experience includes both the loss of functional skills as well as a hand's sensation. Sensation ability, it's very important to human experience and helps him to reach a good interaction with surrounding. Also, Feedback from robot arm is very important for understanding the protection for the robot arm and providing contact between human and arm. Research studies to regain sensation through many technics This paper proposed a heat sensation system, this system transfers the heat at the end of each robot arm finger to a specific position. The heating pad is used to generate similar temperature at fingers. System sensation was tested and evaluated to reach the desirable response. The results show the ability of the system to transfer temperature on a healthy position at handicapped.


This review article describes a historical perspective of elucidation of the nature of the chemical bonds of the high-valent transition metal oxo (M=O) and peroxo (M-O-O) compounds in chemistry and biology. The basic concepts and theoretical backgrounds of the broken-symmetry (BS) method are revisited to explain orbital symmetry conservation and orbital symmetry breaking for the theoretical characterization of four different mechanisms of chemical reactions. Beyond BS methods using the natural orbitals (UNO) of the BS solutions, such as UNO CI (CC), are also revisited for the elucidation of the scope and applicability of the BS methods. Several chemical indices have been derived as the conceptual bridges between the BS and beyond BS methods. The BS molecular orbital models have been employed to explain the metal oxyl-radical character of the M=O and M-O-O bonds, which respond to their radical reactivity. The isolobal and isospin analogy between carbonyl oxide R2C-O-O and metal peroxide LFe-O-O has been applied to understand and explain the chameleonic chemical reactivity of these compounds. The isolobal and isospin analogy among Fe=O, O=O, and O have also provided the triplet atomic oxygen (3O) model for non-heme Fe(IV)=O species with strong radical reactivity. The chameleonic reactivity of the compounds I (Cpd I) and II (Cpd II) is also explained by this analogy. The early proposals obtained by these theoretical models have been examined based on recent computational results by hybrid DFT (UHDFT), DLPNO CCSD(T0), CASPT2, and UNO CI (CC) methods and quantum computing (QC).


Chemoattractants bind to seven transmembrane-spanning, G-protein-coupled receptors on monocytes and neutrophils and induce a variety of functional responses, including activation of the transcription factor NF-κB. The signaling mechanisms utilized by chemoattractants to activate NF-κB in human peripheral blood monocytes are poorly defined. We previously demonstrated that fMet-Leu-Phe (fMLP) stimulates NF-κB activation, and this function of fMLP requires phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). Here we present evidence that fMLP activates RhoA and that fMLP-induced NF-κB activation requires this small GTPase. Stimulation of monocytes with fMLP rapidly activated RhoA as well as NF-κB, and their activation was markedly reduced by pertussis toxin treatment. Pretreatment of monocyte with a RhoA inhibitor, C3 transferase fromClostridium botulinum, effectively blocked fMLP-induced NF-κB activation as well as interleukin-1β gene expression. A dominant negative form of RhoA (T19N) also inhibited fMLP-stimulated reporter gene expression in a κB-dependent manner. Cotransfection of the monocytic THP1 cells with a constitutively active form of RhoA (Q63L) with the promoter reporter plasmid results in a marked increase in NF-κB-mediated reporter gene expression. Furthermore, the PI3K inhibitors wortmannin and LY294002 block RhoA activation induced by fMLP. These results demonstrate that low molecular weight GTPase RhoA is a novel signal transducer for fMLP-induced NF-κB activation and Gαi or Gαo class of heterotrimeric G proteins likely mediate RhoA activation via PI3K in human peripheral blood monocytes.


Purpose : To evaluate the anti-neuroinflammatory effects of Houttuynia cordata extract ( H. cordata ) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells, and its anti-oxidant properties. Methods : Anti-oxidant properties were evaluated by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. Cell viability was assessed by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. LPS was used to stimulate BV-2 cells. Nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured using Griess assay. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression, interleukin (IL)-6 expressional level were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot analysis. Results : Ethyl actetae (HC-EA) extract of H. cordata significantly scavenged DPPH free radicals in a concentration-dependent fashion. The increased levels of NO, iNOS and IL-6 in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells were also suppressed by HC-EA extract in a concentration-dependent manner. Conclusion: The result indicate that the HC-EA extract exhibited strong anti-oxidant properties and inhibited the excessive production of pro-inflammatory mediators, including NO, iNOS and IL-6, in LPSstimulated BV-2 cells. The anti-oxidant phenolic compounds present in HC-EA extract might play an important role in ameliorating neuroinflammatory processes in LPS-stimulated BV-2 microglial cells. Keywords: Houttuynia cordata , DPPH radicals, antioxidant, neuroinflammation, BV-2 cells, iNOS, COX-2, IL-6.


This paper contains a thorough investigation of the performance of electrically activated layered soft dielectric composite actuators under plane deformation. Noting that the activation can be induced by controlling either the voltage or the surface charge, the overall behaviour of the system is obtained via homogenization at large strains, taking either the macroscopic electric field or the macroscopic electric displacement field as independent electrical variables. The performance of a two-phase composite actuator compared to that of the homogeneous case is highlighted for few boundary-value problems and for different values of stiffness and permittivity ratios between constituents being significant for applications, where the soft matrix is reinforced by a relatively small volume fraction of a stiff and high-permittivity phase. For charge-controlled devices, it is shown that some composite layouts admit, on one hand, the occurrence of pull-in/snap-through instabilities that can be exploited to design release-actuated systems, and on the other hand, the possibility of thickening at increasing surface charge density.


Software processes are enacted instances of process models. Process models are themselves instances of process meta-models that provide the various abstractions in terms of which process models can be described. This paper introduces a unified framework for software process modeling, enactment and evolution. The approach supports the customization/evolution of a process model and of its underlying meta-model. The process model and its meta-model are both described as specializations of kernel object classes using an object-oriented definition toolkit. Classes at one level become object instances at the upper level. The customization/evolution of models and meta-models is supported in a uniform way by creation/modification of kernel objects and by specialization of their classes. The overall approach is illustrated through a number of simple examples. Our definition toolkit has been written in Standard ML. This choice allows a precise semantics to be assigned to the various constructs using denotational semantics description techniques; at the same time executable prototypes of process-driven environments are produced from such descriptions.<<ETX>>


The goal of the article is to research the information exchange speed's influence on the effectiveness of the organization. It is necessary to model the entire work of the logistic system in order to study the influence of the information flow. This includes raw materials supply, product manufacture, distribution on the market and selling to the end customers. The model should include all three flows that are characteristic of logistic chains: material, cash flow and information. This would allow observing its functioning in its integrity. Besides, basic indicators of effective functioning of such type of systems are the profit realized in the separate chain elements and the number of unsatisfied customers, i.e. the profits foregone. The aim of the model is, setting different values for information exchange and procession speed, to observe the changes in the system's indicators the way they were mentioned above. The relevant conclusions would be made on the base of the received results. All the other system's parameters would have the same values within the planned numeral experiments .


The existence of a dark energy component has usually been invoked as the most plausible way to explain the recent observational results. However, it is also well known that effects arising from new physics (e.g., extra dimensions) can mimic the gravitational effects of a dark energy through a modification of the Friedmann equation. In this paper we investigate some observational consequences of a flat, matter dominated and accelerating/decelerating scenario in which this modification is given by $H^{2} = g(\rho_m, n, q)$ where $g(\rho_m, n, q)$ is a new function of the energy density $\rho_m$, the so-called generalized Cardassian models. We mainly focus our attention on the constraints from statistical properties of gravitationally lensed quasars on the parameters $n$ and $q$ that fully characterize the models. We show that these models are in agreement with the current gravitationally lensed quasar data for a large interval of the $q - n$ parametric space. The dependence of the acceleration redshift (the redshift at which the universe begins to accelerate) on these parameters is also briefly discussed.


Objectives: To document the burden of oral cancer in South East Asia (SEA) and to examine the gaps in acquiring accurate data within these countries. Methods: Epidemiological data on oral cancer from countries in SEA were obtained and reviewed from public population-based databases. Descriptions on the incidence and mortality of oral cancer were based on data obtained from GLOBOCAN 2012, and prediction of the number of cases and deaths due to oral cancer were also taken from the same database. The availability of and accessibility to population-based cancer registry were also documented. Results: Five of the eleven countries in SEA have national cancer registries, but the reporting periods varied from 2002 to 2014 across these countries. Whilst incidence and mortality data were obtainable for all SEA countries from GLOBOCAN 2012, data quality varied substantially across the countries. Estimated incidences of oral cancer ranged from 1.6 to 8.6/100,000 per annum with similar rates in males and females for most countries. The incidence was the highest in Myanmar and Brunei for males and females, respectively. Mortality due to oral cancer was reported to be 0.4 to 5.3/100,000, with the highest mortality in Myanmar and Timor-Leste among males and females, respectively. Based on the predicted number of cases and deaths for 2020, oral cancer incidence and mortality is expected to increase and the trends are similar between males and females, which is not surprising as with population growth, the disease burden will rise further. Conclusion: This study demonstrates a severe lack of accurate epidemiological data on oral cancer and underscores the urgent need to develop expertise within this region that can address this issue. While there is a clear need for improved primary prevention, for increased skilled workforce and for improved diagnostic and treatment facilities, an essential first step is to establish robust cancer registries so that progress or lack thereof can be monitored accurately, and appropriate action planned.


The knowledge of the aerothermodynamic environment of space vehicles crossing the upper layers of planetary atmospheres at hypersonic velocities represents a critical issue for dimensioning purposes. In such high-enthalpy flows, dissociation and ionization effects lead to strong departures from chemical and thermodynamic equilibrium. The formation of a highly emissive plasma also implies taking into account radiation emission and absorption effects in the flow, using quantum mechanics calculations. Different complementary ground test facilities allow the simulation of such entry conditions. At the Laboratoire d'A´ erothermique, investigations on Earth, Mars and Titan like plasmas have been conducted over the last years in the SR5 rarefied arc-jet plasma wind-tunnel. Experimental investigations include optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and other measurement techniques. Numerical investigations include the development and validation of the line-by-line radiative code SESAM as well as the modelling of the SR5 plasma flow in a fluid mechanics approach using the Navier-Stokes ARES code and several other internal codes. The complementary numerical and experimental investi,


Insertion of an intra-aortic counterpulsion balloon was necessary following 283 surgical procedures with the heart pump at Hospital Broussais. One instance of vascular trauma at the site of insertion of the balloon was reported in 36 cases (13 p. cent). This was treated according to the severity of the arterial lesion with the following techniques: closure with Goretex venous patch (n = 25), short ilio-femoral by-pass (n = 9) and extra-anatomical femoro-femoral by-pass (n = 2). The overall mortality of the patients who required an intra-aortic balloon was 19 p. cent, including one case of retrograde aortic dissection at the site of insertion of the balloon. The morbidity related to the insertion of the balloon was as follows: one leg amputation, two disabling intermittent claudication episodes.


Objective To determine risk for incident basal cell carcinoma from cumulative low-dose ionising radiation in the US radiologic technologist cohort. Methods We analysed 65 719 Caucasian technologists who were cancer-free at baseline (1983–1989 or 1994–1998) and answered a follow-up questionnaire (2003–2005). Absorbed radiation dose to the skin in mGy for estimated cumulative occupational radiation exposure was reconstructed for each technologist based on badge dose measurements, questionnaire-derived work history and protection practices, and literature information. Radiation-associated risk was assessed using Poisson regression and included adjustment for several demographic, lifestyle, host and sun exposure factors. Results Cumulative mean absorbed skin dose (to head/neck/arms) was 55.8 mGy (range 0–1735 mGy). For lifetime cumulative dose, we did not observe an excess radiation-related risk (excess relative risk/Gy=−0.01 (95% CI −0.43 to 0.52). However, we observed that basal cell carcinoma risk was increased for radiation dose received before age 30 (excess relative risk/Gy=0.59, 95% CI −0.11 to 1.42) and before 1960 (excess relative risk/Gy=2.92, 95% CI 1.39 to 4.45). Conclusions Basal cell carcinoma risk was unrelated to low-dose radiation exposure among radiologic technologists. Because of uncertainties in dosimetry and sensitivity to model specifications, both our null results and our findings of excess risk for dose received before age 30 and exposure before 1960 should be interpreted with caution.


Marketing Intelligence (MI) is defined as the process of acquiring information required to understand the market. It has been used for instance by rural farmers to obtain the price of agricultural commodities in order to make decisions on where and when to sell their products. Recently, farmers have been able to use mobile phones to get market information in real time. In order to enhance the MI function, there is need to define a model that would characterize the farmers price information needs using previous transaction data. The formulation of an intelligent MI function using the k-modes clustering technique is reported in this thesis. This study therefore designed and built an intelligent model to automate the MI function using qualitative data collected from rural farmers in Nyeri District. The system was tested and evaluated using the cognitive walkthrough technique. A simulation of the proposed solution was also carried out using sample training data to test the clustering process. The results showed that the k-modes algorithm was able to cluster the dataset and reveal patterns of transactions in the market which the model used as profiles to send price alerts. This model was found to significantly improve the quality of services to users: First, the response time of each request is improved since the most frequently accessed item sets in the database are profiled and easily matched with current prices. Secondly, the model uses knowledge from clustered data to send price alerts, hence automating the MI function. The auto-alerts also reduce the cost of transaction since it is a one-way message. Evaluation results showed that users expressed enthusiasm on the prototype's potential to improve MI function though improvement is still needed on input mechanism. Further work is required to enable the relay of market information to mobile usersusing their current location. Also, a suitable way to remove outliers in the clusters is necessary to improve cluster quality.


ICTled developments have created new opportunities and challenges for libraries in creation, promotion, dissemination and storage of information. Engineering College libraries are nowadays using the web environment to provide high-quality information for their users, mostly in digital format. The current study investigates and presents the content analysis of Goa University affiliated engineering college library websites in Goa. The data was collected from the websites of the concerned engineering college libraries through a checklist prepared for this purpose. The websites of the libraries were thoroughly scanned and analyzed, based on the analysis we have ranked them. The main purpose of this paper is to guide the librarians in improving their library websites. There is a need to design and develop a unique type of library websites containing resources and services of their individual libraries and also providing links to other IIT libraries. This article gives a detailed account of the study and offers suggestions for developing and managing better library websites.