On precision and quality M. Kutilek. Part 1: Soil and Allocation Agriculture. Image analysis and microscopic techniques to characterize soil pore system M. Pagliai, N. Vignozzi. The horizontal hydraulic conductivity of vertical interaggregate capillary cracks in clay soils V.Y. Chertkov. Estimation error in statistical distribution: soil hydraulic parameters M. Kutilek, et al. The influence of tillage methods on the infiltration in soil S. Matula. Bifacial PV modules in solar trackers and concentrators: A new approach to supplying power in agriculture M. Libra, V. Poulek. Precision farming - A multidisciplinary approach for cereal production R.J. Godwin. Monitoring frost injury to winter crops V. Yakushev, et al. Part 2: Properties and Quality. Stress relaxation in potato: Before and after cooking J. Blahovec. Determination of hen's eggshell elastic properties under quasistatic compression J. Buchar, et al. The cracking mechanisms of grain legume B. Dobrzanski Jr. Properties of grain for silo strength calculation J. Horabik, M. Molenda. Digital image analysis - Essence and application in cereal science T. Jelinski, et al. Thermal conductivity of macaroni products S. Tavman, P. Yolci. Transgenosis for changes of physical properties of plants and plant products M. Ondrej. Novel agricultural materials for food and feed. The transgenic crops: From cereals to potato J. Fornal, et al. Part 3: Fruits. Physical properties of fruit firmness and chemical structure of cell walls during fruit softening N. Sakurai. Firmness and softening of fruits and vegetables J. De Baerdemaeker, et al. Determination of a drop damage index to estimate bruising susceptibilityof apple Royal Gala by logistic model P. Menesatti, et al. Color as a quality factor of fruits and vegetables B. Dobrzanski, R. Rybczynski. Uncertainty of measurements of the fruit impacts by artificial fruit (PMS-60) in tomato handling chains V. van Linden, et al. Thermal imaging. A promising high-tec method in agriculture and horticulture H.J. Hellebrand, et al. Sensing taste attributes of plums using near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy N. Abu-Khalaf, B.S. Bennedsen. Index.


Exploring the status of respectful maternity care (RMC) during labor and childbirth helps in determining the quality of maternity care. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the perception of pregnant women about RMC that they received during labor and childbirth and to evaluate the determinants of RMC perception.

 A cross-sectional descriptive design was used in this study. A convenience sample of 310 participants from two major hospitals in northern Jordan completed the RMC questionnaire. Thereafter, multiple regression was performed to identify the determinants of RMC perception.

 The mean score of all the items of the questionnaire was 2.83 out of 4 (SD = 0.33), which indicated that the women experienced a moderate level of RMC. The lowest mean scores were obtained for the quality of healthcare (mean= 2.63, SD= .38), 48.7% and 56.8% of the participants indicated that they were not allowed to move or eat and drink during the first stage of labor, respectively. In addition to the right to information and informed consent (mean= 2.67 ± 0.54), 56.8% of the participants revealed that staff did not introduce themselves. Women with high family income or assistance from a midwife reported significantly higher RMC scores compared to those with low family income or those tended by doctors (p ≤ 0.05).

 Immediate action is needed to improve and support RMC as a critical component of maternal care by adopting standardized measures, and training healthcare providers to practice the code of ethics as a core component of RMC.


In this article, we contribute to the knowledge on police detectives' work practices, and report how police detectives make sense of casework in a social manner. As our research question, we address the ways in which detective work can be understood as a social process. To target this question, we conducted an ethnographic study that examines how detectives who work with domestic violence and high-volume crimes strive to frame and understand events in everyday investigative practice. The data consist of approximately 200 hours of ethnographic data and interviews from two departments in a Swedish police station. The results indicate that detectives' sensemaking of casework took place through two principal practices: a concluding practice and a supporting practice. Furthermore, the findings show that detectives' work is highly social and procedural. This suggests that detectives' work practice is of a social nature and that contacts between investigators are important to take into account in the organization of an investigative department.


Citrus trees infected with Huanglongbing (HLB) bacteria become weak and develop dieback, resulting in lost production. These trees eventually decline to a production level that is not economical to maintain in a citrus operation. Sixteen-year-old 'Valencia' ( Citrus sinensis Macf.) orange trees on Swingle citrumelo rootstock [ C. paradisi × Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.], 100% infected with HLB, in decline and losing production, were severely pruned (buckhorned) to stimulate regrowth and the new flush treated with foliar nutritional sprays. Nutritional sprays included the "Boyd cocktail" and two other nutrient treatments that contained phosphites plus nickel and cobalt. Heavily pruned trees and unpruned standard control trees were compared for shoot growth and canopy development. Pruning was done in Feb. 2010 before the spring flush. Spring shoot growth on the pruned trees was twice the length of unpruned trees and had larger leaves. Summer shoot flush on the pruned trees was three times the length of the unpruned trees. Both pruned and unpruned trees bloomed and set fruit in the spring of 2011. The 2011–12 fruit crop on pruned trees was not significantly different from the unpruned trees. The 2012–13 crop on pruned trees was greater than on the unpruned trees and had reached economic production. There was no difference in fruit size between pruned and unpruned trees. Rejuvenation of HLB trees by severe pruning and foliar nutritional sprays may be an alternative to tree removal and replanting with new trees when existing citrus trees begin to lose production due to HLB infection.


Continuous leaf phenology, with sequential production of metamers, is usually found in pioneer species, but is rare in shade‐tolerant species. Because of the nature of 'continuous' growth, continuous phenology has seldom been related to meteorological factors. We studied the leaf demography of seedlings and tall trees of a shade‐tolerant emergent species, Dipterocarpus sublamellatus (Dipterocarpaceae), in Malaysia. Although leaf phenology of D. sublamellatus was classified as continuous, the rates of leaf production and leaf fall were not constant and greatly fluctuated during the census period. Seasonal patterns of leaf production and fall were not synchronized across tall trees in most combinations or between seedlings and tall trees. Mean number of leaves produced per month and its seasonal fluctuation were greater in tall trees than in seedlings. Moreover, relationships between leaf phenology and meteorological factors (monthly rainfall, net radiation, maximum and minimum temperature, and minimum relative humidity) differed among trees. This suggests that endogenous rhythms, i.e., differences in allocation of resources to growth and storage among trees, are important to fluctuations in leaf phenology. These patterns are in contrast to patterns found in various pioneer species with continuous phenology, in which rates of leaf production and fall are generally constant. Different patterns might be caused by differences in allocation to growth and storage between pioneer and shade‐tolerant species, and might be related to their regeneration strategies.


Bright blue polymer light-emitting diodes have been fabricated by using the poly(p-phenylenevinylene)-based copolymers with 10 C long aliphatic chains as the electroluminescent layers, PBD in PMMA and Alq(3) as the electron-transporting layers, and aluminum as the cathode. The multilayer structure devices show 190 cd/m(2) light-emitting brightness at 460 nm, 15 V turn-on vol- tage. It is found that the intensities of photoluminescence and electroluminescence (EL) increase with increasing aliphatic chain length, the EL intensity and operation stability of these polymer light-emitting diodes can be improved by reasonable design of the structure.


It is a tough road for undocumented immigrants with kidney disease. There are many barriers that these patients must overcome, which prevents them from receiving proper treatments to prevent or slow the progression of their kidney disease. Those who are dialysis dependent also face an uphill battle, as some states limit access to regular dialysis. This article describes specific struggles faced by undocumented immigrants with kidney disease and how some physicians have tried to guide their treatments. It also considers how these patients might be helped through health policy changes at the national level.


Todays international business environment is becoming more competitive each day. The property and construction industry, with its highly fragmented project activities, and increasingly demanding clients is no exception. Clients Driving Construction Innovation: Moving Ideas into Practice provides a forum for world-leading industry practitioners and researchers creating the edge in this highly competitive environment to share the results of their research and innovation.

Edited by Kerry Brown, Keith Hampson and Peter Brandon, this is the second book in a series focusing on the role of clients in the innovation process throughout the construction industry. This series of books is an important outcome of the CIB Task Group 58 Clients and Construction Innovation. The book builds upon key frameworks, concepts and case studies presented in the earlier volume Clients Driving Construction Innovation: Mapping the Terrain.

Moving Ideas into Practice brings together research on clients, designers, constructors and facility managers to focus on cutting-edge research in constructed facilities. It showcases technologies and practices developed by leading practitioners and researchers globally and presents advanced applications of applied research for improving industry practice.


The social identity category of "young mothers" refers to a diverse and marginalized group, which has been socially constructed by dominant political and faith-based regimes in Western society. For youth who identify as queer young mothers, multiple vectors of oppression result in the erasure of their identity and material needs, contributing to reduced access to appropriate healthcare which impacts the quality of their health and wellness and the health and wellness of their children. In this article, I argue that although the visibility of queer pregnant and parenting youth is an important step in order to collectively establish particular material needs, that recognition alone is not enough. Collaborative advocacy efforts must take an intersectional approach. I place two texts into conversation with one another: Gayle Rubin's essay titled Thinking Sex and Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr's retrospective memoirstyle essay, titled The Revolutionary Artist Mom and Baby League: Putting Young Queer Parents on the Map, which centres the voices of youth who identify as queer young mothers. By placing these two texts together, political factors relating to both sexuality and gender, as well as age and economic status, are made apparent, allowing one to trace how and why this group is rendered invisible by communities that serve young mothers and by communities that support queer parents. I then discuss how the combination of these two texts establishes a clear need to collaboratively advocate with queer pregnant and parenting youth to ensure that their particular material needs are met. I explore an intersectional approach to advocacy, and I suggest a sense of direction with respect to advocacy efforts for the needs of youth who identify as queer young mothers. In support of my argument, I draw from feminist theory, contemporary motherhood studies, and queer studies.


In a multi-user wireless network under jamming attacks, self-interested users trying to learn their best anti-jamming strategy encounter a major problem, which is interference. An interesting solution is for users to learn anti-jamming techniques cooperatively, which can be achieved using a distributed learning algorithm. In this context, works proposing distributed learning algorithms to overcome jamming in multi-user applications, rely on the availability of a safe communication link to exchange information between users. However, if this communication link wireless, assuming that this link is safe against jamming attacks would not be accurate. Consequently, we propose a novel distributed multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm for anti-jamming, namely Cross-Check Q-learning, where users build estimates of each other's decision-making policies and adapt to them, therefore eliminating their need to communicate. When applied against both sweeping and smart jammers, our algorithm provides users with a better understanding of their environment and helps them learn the attacker's policy and effectively avoid mutual interference. The proposed method's transmission rates and interference levels is compared with the standard Q-learning, the collaborative multi-agent algorithm, and random policy. Simulation results show that our algorithm improves the users' transmission rates, eliminates mutual interference, and has the highest convergence speed under the two considered jamming attacks.


The concept of level of service (LOS) is meant to reflect user perception of the quality of service provided by a transportation facility or service. Although the LOS of bus rapid transit (BRT) has received considerable attention, the number of levels of service of BRT that a user can perceive still remains unclear. Therefore, in this paper, we address this issue using fuzzy clustering of user perception. User perception is defined as a six-dimension vector of the perceived arrival time, perceived waiting time, bus speed perception, passenger load perception, perceived departure time, and overall perception. A smartphone-based transit travel survey system was developed, with which user perception surveys were conducted in three BRT systems in China. Fuzzy C-Means clustering, improved using a simulated annealing genetic algorithm, was adopted to partition user perception into two to ten clusters. Seven cluster validity indices were used to determine the appropriate number of LOS categories. Our results indicate that users can perceive two to four levels of service.


Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) has an important nutritional value comprising a rich variety monounsaturated fats and vitamins, with a good level of dietary fiber and a high content of minerals. In the present work, phenolics in the aqueous systems were extracted from 15 different dry Turkish hazelnut kernels without skin, cultivated in Ordu province of Turkey, with 80% (v/v) MeOH/H2O. The aqueous methanolic extracts of hazelnut kernels and of oil samples were examined for their phenolic contents (Folin-Ciocalteau), total antioxidant capacities (TAC) (CUPRAC and ABTS/persulfate) and antiradical activities (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, DPPH). The individual free phenolic constituents (mainly phenolic and hydroxycinnamic acids) found in hazelnut kernels were also identified and quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Among the dry hazelnut cultivars, Mincane showed the highest TAC (TACCUPRAC: 2.98 ± 0.37 mmol TE/g) (n = 3). This work is the first application of the CUPRAC method to Turkish hazelnut antioxidant characterization and of CUPRAC and DPPH assays to hazelnut oils.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Hazelnut plays a major role in human nutrition and health because of its fat, protein, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and phenolic content. This paper presents the findings of a comprehensive investigation of phenolic contents, total antioxidant capacities (TAC) and free radical scavenging activities of 15 different dry Turkish hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) kernels cultivated in Ordu province (in the Black Sea Region) of Turkey for the first time. The TAC and phenolic contents of Turkish hazelnuts reported in this study are believed to contribute to human nutrition and health in the selection of hazelnut-rich diets for natural antioxidant supplementation.


The antiviral activity of human r-metIFN-con1 was compared with that of IFN-alpha 2b and IFN-beta on a number of human, other primate, rodent, feline, and canine cell lines. Although the specific activities of r-metIFN-con1 and IFN-alpha 2b differed 10-fold, the host range was very similar. The host range of IFN-beta differed from that of r-metIFN-con1 and IFN-alpha 2b in that Vero cells were 100-fold better protected by IFN-beta and MDBK protected at a 100-fold less efficiency. In general, there were only minor differences between the host ranges of the three interferons, human and primate cells being better protected than those of other species. However, the tissue of origin of the cell appears to be more important than the species of origin in defining host range [corrected].


The novel noncoherent coded modulation (NCM) scheme introduced by Raphaeli (see IEEE Trans. Commun., vol.44, no.2, p.172-83, 1996) is extended for non-constant energy symbols. Theoretical performance analysis, based on deriving the pairwise error distribution over an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel applying the independent overlapped observations noncoherent maximum likelihood sequence estimation (IO-NMLSE) metric is presented. Tight Gaussian approximation together with upper and lower bounds and a method for numerically evaluate them are presented. The NCM scheme has a performance that approaches that of a coherent detection for increasing complexity. Sub-optimal decoding algorithms introduced by Raphaeli (see IEEE Trans. Commun., vol.44, no.3, p.312-23, 1996), provide good tradeoff between maximizing performance and minimizing system complexity.


We analyze recent experimental information on the excitation of the Theta+(1540) pentaquark in the hadronic reaction pp -> p Sigma+ K0. Upon describing the conventional production process - which serves as a normalization - in a meson exchange model, we estimate the resonant Theta+ induced cross section and the width of the pentaquark via K - exchange in a meson-baryon and a quark-gluon model. From a comparison with experiment we extract information on the width of the Theta+, the p Theta+ K0 coupling constant in the meson exchange and the relative s or p wave function for a nucleon-kaon cluster in the Theta+.


We have carried out a radial velocity (RV) search for planets and brown dwarf companions to very young (1-10Myr) brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars in the ChaI star forming region. This survey has been carried out with the high-resolution Echelle spectrograph UVES at the VLT. It is sensitive down to Jupiter mass planets.
Out of the twelve monitored very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, ten have constant RVs in the presented RV survey. This hints at a small multiplicity fraction of the studied population of brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars in ChaI at small separations. Upper limits for the mass Msini of possible companions have been estimated to range between 0.1 and 1.5 Jupiter masses. However, two very low-mass stars in ChaI show significant RV variations. The nature of these variations is still unclear. If caused by orbiting objects the recorded variability amplitudes would correspond to planets of the order of a few Jupiter masses.
Furthermore, as a by-product of the RV survey for companions, we have studied the kinematics of the brown dwarfs in ChaI. Precise kinematic studies of young brown dwarfs are interesting in the context of the question if brown dwarfs are formed by the recently proposed ejection scenario. We have found that the RV dispersion of brown dwarfs in ChaI is only 2.2 km\s giving a first empirical upper limit for possible ejection velocities.


Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a universally fatal tumor that comprises approximately 10% of pediatric brain tumors. Eighty percent of DIPG patients have a mutation in the H3F3A gene resulting in a lysine to methionine conversion at position 27 of Histone 3.3 (H3K27M). This mutation inhibits methylation at this site by enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) methyltransferase and leads to global chromatin changes. DIPG is also associated with global DNA hypomethylation. Recent evidence suggests that 5-methylcytosine (5mC) can be converted to cytosine in a multistep enzymatic process with 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) being the initial intermediate. 5hmC itself represents an important epigenetic mark and together with 5mC and histone methylation plays a key role in neural development. Due to the global hypomethylation noted in DIPGs, we hypothesized that 5mC and 5hmC would be low. We expected H3K27 trimethylation (H3K27me3) to be low and associated with the H3F3A mutation common in DIPGs. Tissue microarrays created from post mortem tumor tissue from 24 pediatric DIPG cases were compared to adult and pediatric glioblastoma (GBM) tissue arrays. Immunohistochemical (IHC) assay using antibodies for H3K27me3, 5hmC, and 5mC was used to identify epigenetic differences between the brain tumor groups. H-scores (H) (0-200) were obtained by multiplying intensity of stain (0: no stain, 1: weak stain, 2: strong stain) by percentage (0-100) of cells showing the staining. We found H3K27me3 immunoreactivity was significantly lower for DIPG compared to pediatric GBM (p Citation Format: Sama Ahsan, Eric Raabe, Michael C. Haffner, Javad Nazarian, Katherine Warren, Leo Ballester, Martha Quezado, Charles Eberhart, Fausto J. Rodriguez. Epigenetic derangements in histone and cytosine methylation are unique to diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 384. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-384


The transport sector aims to address climate change by reducing emissions, and a key to achieving this goal is to increase uptake of sustainable modes such as walking, cycling, and public transport. Therefore, it is important to determine ways to achieve this goal and to build a portfolio
 of feasible reduction strategies. This study is based in Norway where the government has a clear policy objective to reduce growth in urban car traffic and assimilate future sustainable transport modes. Cycling has therefore gained importance in both policy discussions and programme implementation
 through providing dedicated infrastructure to increase its modal share. Ways to increase cycling can be plotted at both macro- and microlevels. At the micro-level, road design and improved conditions for cyclists can lead to an increase in cycling. At the macro-level, land-use planning can
 be one of the tools to promote cycling. We analyse the issue at a macro-level based on an Integrated Methodology for Land Use prognosis within Transportation Models (INMAP) which estimates the mutual eff ects of land-use plans and increased accessibility by e-bike. We assess the extent to
 which future growth areas, as earmarked by the strategic master plans of the cities of Oslo and Trondheim, coincide with the areas that have a high job accessibility by bicycle and e-bike. Analyses reveal that on the introduction of e-bikes in Oslo, accessibility to jobs in the city centre
 increases from 20,000–24,000 to over 28,000 jobs. For Trondheim, in terms of spatial expansion of accessibility for jobs, there is an extension of the catchment area from 6 km2 to 18 km2. Based on the findings, this study strongly recommends integrating the impact
 of e-bikes with land-use planning processes and decisions. Through active land-use management, municipalities and regional development authorities can take informed decisions to steer urban mobility in a more sustainable direction.


Background: Administration of local airway anesthesia is the principal determinant of procedural comfort during flexible bronchoscopy. However, the ideal method of administration is still unknown. In this study, we compared lignocaine administration using a spray catheter (SC) with "spray-as-you-go" technique. Methods: Patients undergoing bronchoscopy were randomized to receive airway anesthesia with 2% lignocaine through the SC (SC group) or "spray-as-you-go" technique through the working channel (WC group). The primary outcome parameter was cough count, and the secondary outcome parameters compared were need for sedation, operator-rated procedural satisfaction and cough, and patient-rated comfort on a Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Results: One hundred and thirty patients were randomized with comparable baseline parameters. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) cough count was 28 (19, 37) in the WC group and 15 (9, 23) in the SC group (P < 0.001). Requirement for sedation was lower in the SC group (5 vs. 18; P = 0.003). The mean (standard deviation [SD]) VAS score for operator-rated satisfaction was 66.5 (16.8) in the WC group and 80.6 (14.2) in the SC group; P < 0.001. The median (IQR) VAS score for operator-rated cough was 35 (23, 44) in the WC group and 18 (11, 28) in the SC group; P < 0.001. However, there was no difference in the patient-rated comfort VAS (mean [SD] of 66.4 [14.5] in the WC group and 69.9 [13.0] in the SC group; P = 0.07). Conclusion: Lignocaine instillation using the SC during bronchoscopy reduced cough, need for sedation, and improved operator satisfaction.


This chapter argues that management should be understood as a concrete set of institutionally embedded practices, rather than an abstract verb for 'getting things done'. Management, as a discourse, a social group, and a practice cannot become responsible because it is constitutively irresponsible and actively de-responsibilises others. It is irresponsible because management is an agent of external interests and limited to the effective realisation of those interests without regard to substantive values. In practice this means externalising costs where possible. We further argue that management actively de-responsibilises employees by determining the purpose of their activities for them. This renders management inherently anti-democratic, as it removes the possibility of autonomous action that would enable effective responsibility for all. We argued that real responsibility is only possible if we abandon management to focus on organization instead. Because it is not institutionalised in the same way as management, organization is more open to developing democratic and collective, rather than individualised and limited, forms of shared responsibility. We outline this approach by considering workers' cooperatives as spaces of democratic selfdetermination and common ownership, fostering an expansive conception of responsibility. Without such changes, we suggest, promises of a more responsible management will be mere window-dressing.


We investigated the inhibitory effects of Platycodon grandiflorum root-derived saponins (Changkil saponins: CKS) on ovalbumin-induced airway inflammation in mice. CKS suppressed leukocytes number, IgE, Th1/Th2 cytokines, and MCP-1 chemokine secretion in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Also, ovalbumin-increased MUC5AC, MMP-2/9, and TIMP-1/-2 mRNA expression, NF-κB activation, leukocytes recruitment, and mucus secretion were inhibited by CKS treatment. Moreover, the active component of CKS, platyconic acid A (PA), suppressed PMA-induced MUC5AC mRNA expression (from 2.1 ± 0.2 to 1.1 ± 0.1) by inhibiting NF-κB activation (from 2.3 ± 0.2 to 1.2 ± 0.1) via Akt (from 3.7 ± 0.3 to 2.1 ± 0.2) (p < 0.01) in A549 cells. Therefore, we demonstrate that CKS or PA suppressed the development of respiratory inflammation, hyperresponsiveness, and remodeling by reducing allergic responses, and they may be potential herbal drugs for allergen-induced respiratory disease prevention.


We have investigated the energy and angular distributions of the low energy electron emission in a pure three-body ion-atom collision involving atomic hydrogen as target. The double differential ionization cross sections have been measured for C6+ + H (v = 6–10 a.u.). The CDW-EIS calculations provide an excellent agreement with the data except some discrepancies in the backward angles. These observations clearly show that the two center mechanism plays a major role in emission of low energy electrons.


In 2010 the EU adopted an own-initiative opinion on "New trends in self-employed work: the case of financially dependent self-employed work". This Opinion recognises for the first time the existence in the European sphere of the "Financially Dependent Self-Employed Worker" (FDSEW or, in Spain, TRADE) and offers the possibility of establishing a set of common rights for all workers at European level, whether they are employed or self-employed. To date, the countries of the EU have maintained different positions with regard to this phenomenon and, only a minority of States have legislated or recognised the FDSEW in one way or another. These countries are Italy, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain. This paper analyzes the hypothetical improvements introduced into the individual TRADE-customer relationships. The evaluation must be made based on some of the service provision conditions for TRADEs regulated by the law which would be imposed on the conditions agreed in any individual contract that contradicted them. These conditions relate to working time and breaks from professional activity, extinction of contracts, justified interruptions in professional activity and jurisdictional competence.


Tolbutamide is a first generation sulfonylurea drug used for the treatment of type II diabetes. In the present study, the effect of tolbutamide on albumin conformation was investigated using BSA as a model protein. The binding of tolbutamide induced a conformational change in albumin, which was confirmed by thioflavin T assay, ANS assay, and CD spectroscopy. Computer simulations suggested that the binding of tolbutamide increases the solvent accessibility of lysine residues, the hotspots of glycation. Furthermore, the change in conformation of albumin facilitates increased glycation, which was observed by AGE specific fluorescence and the results were corroborated by mass spectrometric analysis. This study suggested that tolbutamide enhances albumin glycation by inducing conformational change in BSA and hence could be a potential risk factor if used for a prolonged period.


Bacterial meningitis continues to be a cause of substantial morbidity in infants and children. Hearing impairment is the most common sequela of this disease. Corticosteroids have been used in an attempt to reduce the incidence of meningitis-induced hearing loss. Some studies have demonstrated a decrease in the incidence of hearing impairment in patients treated with cefuroxime plus dexamethasone compared with cefuroxime alone. Similar data are lacking for other frequently used antibiotics. Based on these studies, the use of dexamethasone should be considered in infants and children greater than two months of age with suspected bacterial meningitis. Critical issues including the timing of steroid initiation in relation to antibiotic therapy and the appropriate antibiotic-corticosteroid regimen must be addressed. Studies should be performed to define the exact role of corticosteroids in the treatment of bacterial meningitis. Until additional data are available, we recommend the use of dexamethasone in pediatric patients older than two months of age with bacterial meningitis.


The sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor agonist FTY720 is well known for its immunomodulatory activity, sequestering lymphocytes from blood and spleen into secondary lymphoid organs and thereby preventing their migration to sites of inflammation. Because inflammation is critically dependent on a balance between Ag-specific Th/effector cells and T-regulatory cells, we investigated the effect of FTY720 on T-regulatory cell trafficking and functional activity. An increased number of CD4+/CD25+ T cells was found in blood and spleens of FTY720-treated mice, and transfer of these cells resulted in a significantly more pronounced accumulation in spleens but not lymph nodes after treatment, suggesting that this compound differentially affects the homing properties of T-regulatory cells compared with other T cell subsets. Indeed, CD4+/CD25+ T cells express lower levels of S1P1 and S1P4 receptors and demonstrate a reduced chemotactic response to S1P. Moreover, analysis of the functional response of FTY720-treated CD4+/CD25+ T cells revealed an increased suppressive activity in an in vitro Ag-specific proliferation assay. This correlated with enhanced function in vivo, with T-regulatory cells obtained from FTY720-treated mice being able to suppress OVA-induced airway inflammation. Thus, FTY720 differentially affects the sequestration of T-regulatory cells and importantly, increases the functional activity of T-regulatory cells, suggesting that it may have disease-modifying potential in inflammatory disorders.


Orofacial neuropathic chronic pain (NCP) is frequently attributed to lesions caused by orofacial surgeries and dental treatments. There are many experimental models available to study orofacial NCP, however, many are extremely painful for the animal due to the amplitude of the innervated region. A previously proposed mental nerve constriction model, mNC, was used in this project. Forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: one group included rats with mNC (n=20), and another rats with sham lesions (n=20). Through the use of the fixed ratio program and the progressive program, a decrease of motivation for a sweet substance, caused by the lesion, was evaluated. The possibility of lterations in cognitive learning and adaptation abilities was also assessed using the go/no-go behavioral task. The mNC group showed low induced and spontaneously evoked pain responses, as well as a decrease in the motivation for sucrose, a sign of anhedonia. This decrease does not depend on taste processing. Finally, although no alterations in the learning-memory process were observed, the mNC group did show alterations when adapting to a new rule.


The dynamics of multiple Raman scattering in a long path liquid nitrogen (LN2) cell is analysed by using a long pulse unfocused Nd-YAG laser. This medium in this configuration is the most suitable to evaluate the window and mixing effects in the dynamics of the Raman process. In this experiment the window reflections have been evidenced in the time behaviour and they have a calculable effect to lower the Raman threshold. Moreover, some four wave mixing effects have also been calculated and observed both reducing the threshold for the second Stokes scattering and producing a pump regeneration.


The analog of the Kepler system defined on the Heisenberg group introduced by Montgomery and Shanbrom (2015) is integrable on the zero level of the Hamiltonian. We show that in all other cases the system is not Liouville integrable due to the lack of additional meromorphic first integrals. We prove that the analog of the two body problem on the Heisenberg group is not integrable in the Liouville sense.


Research in social stratifi cation shares the assumption that social origin operates through assets embedded in the family structure, yet scholars' opinions of how resources get transmitted intergenerationally vary signifi cantly. The result of this variation in opinions is a range of measures for family background, and distinct empirical models. A simplifi ed schema yields three main methodological approaches: (a) one parent's characteristics models; (b) models using characteristics of both parents; and (c) models accounting for specifi c effects of social origin depending on gender. In this paper we analyze how models of each type perform when applied to cross-national data from the European Social Survey (Round 3). We focus on the impact of parental education on children's success, while controlling for parents' social class position. Individual success is conceptualized primarily in terms of educational attainment, but also of occupational standing. Although our analyses do not disclose consistent patterns across all studied countries -neither of the models performs uniformly better, or worse, in majority of countries – some regularities are noticeable. In particular, with respect to explaining educational attainment, we fi nd that it is generally preferable to include measures for both parents' education, rather than use one parent's characteristics models. The best fi tting model – in terms of explained variance – is that combining father's and mother's education by including an interaction term of these variables. In the case of occupational standing, we generally consider the model that accounts for father's and for mother's education as the preferred solution – at least when direct effects are statistically signifi cant. In addition, the hypothesis that the intergenerational transmission of parental education affects men and women differently is, in light of these outcomes, supported only in some of the countries.


We refine and generalize several interpolation inequalities bounding the L norm of a probability density with respect to the reference measure μ by its Sobolev norm and the Kantorovich distance to μ on a smooth weighted Riemannian manifold satisfying CD(0,∞) condition.


Our research target is to apply 2G wires to on-board magnets of the Maglev. The 2G wire enables conduction cooling of the magnet and reduction of the total weight of Maglev vehicles. We fabricated a small radiation shieldless magnet using 2G wires capable of generating a magnetic flux density of 5 T at 45 K. The purpose of the magnet is to demonstrate that 2G wires can realize 5 T at high temperature and achieve the same current density as that of the exiting LTS on-board magnet. Also, this high operation temperature enables radiation shieldless cryostat structure. That means further weight reduction and simplification of the on-board magnet. In this demonstration of a 5-T magnet, we also tested the cyanoacrylate impregnation technique. The superconducting coils for the on-board magnets need to have a mechanically strong structure. Therefore, these coils have to be placed in metal cases and impregnated. However, epoxy impregnation may cause damage to 2G wires. We have solved this problem by using cyanoacrylate or wax impregnation. Cyanoacrylate resin has a moderate bonding strength, and does not damage 2G wires.


Abstract Virtual Reality Job Interview Training (VR-JIT) has increased employment rates for returning citizens when added to a successful prison-based employment readiness program. However, implementation preparation cost—expenses prior to offering VR-JIT to intended recipients—is unknown. We estimated the cost of implementation preparation activities (e.g., organizing workflow) for two prisons to deliver VR-JIT. We conducted a budget impact analysis and enumerated the labor costs incurred during this important stage of implementation. Labor costs were approximately $8,847 per prison. Our sensitivity analysis estimated the labor costs to replicate this effort in a new prison to range from $2,877 to $4,306 per prison. Thus, VR-JIT may be an affordable tool for prison-based employment readiness programs to improve gainful employment.


Abstract A series of C2-symmetric, spiro-type chiral quaternary ammonium bromides have been designed as new, purely synthetic chiral phase-transfer catalysts, and readily prepared from commercially available optically pure (R)- or (S)-1,1'-bi-2-naphthol as a basic chiral unit. The structures of the assembled N-spiro chiral quaternary ammonium bromides were unequivocally determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The reactivity and selectivity of these chiral ammonium bromides as chiral phase-transfer catalysts have been evaluated in the asymmetric alkylation of N-(diphenylmethylene)glycine tert-butyl ester under mild liquid–liquid phase-transfer conditions, and the optimization of the reaction variables (solvent, base, and temperature) has also been conducted. Furthermore, the scope and limitations of other asymmetric transformations have been thoroughly investigated with a variety of substrates, in which the advantage of the unique N-spiro structure of our chiral phase-transfer catalysts and dramatic effect of the steric as well as the electronic properties of the aromatic substituents on the 3,3'-position of one binaphthyl moiety have been particularly emphasized.


The article seeks to examine the ambiguities and ambivalence of the concept of African renaissance. It situates the roots of the African renaissance in the cultural component, which challenges the right of Europeans to impose their cultural spiritual values on African communities. This cultural project is traced from the early-fifteenth century when Europe sought to make Christianity a universal religion and in order to contain Islam, African religions and the Asian belief system. It is argued that the concept is a useful tool in the struggle of the African people to redefine a new political and ideological agenda of pan-Africanism in the age of globalization. The key pillars of the African renaissance are socio-cultural, political, economic regeneration and improvement of Africa ' s geo-political standing in world affairs.


Background There are different determinants of health-seeking behaviors. Studying health-seeking behaviors and their factors help governments use the existing health resources properly for a potent healthcare system. This study aimed to evaluate the factors influencing health-seeking behavior in Al-Ahsa. Methods The study is a questionnaire-based observational cross-sectional study of the factors influencing health-seeking behaviors in the general population of the Al-Ahsa governorate. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to acquire the sample. The study followed all ethical considerations and received approval from King Faisal University. Results A total sample of 481 participants completed the study questionnaire. 21.2% of people visited the health centers for medical checkups despite having no symptoms, while 29.1% admitted to avoiding the health centers despite knowing they needed medical attention. Additionally, the majority of patients prefer government-run health facilities (58.6%), while 41.4% prefer the commercial sector. When experiencing any health complaints, precisely 70.7 % of women go to a medical facility, compared to 61.8% of men (P=.038). In addition to that, 68.5% of participants with intermediate economic status visit healthcare centers for any symptoms compared to 50% of others with high financial status (P=.049). Specifically, 73.3% of participants diagnosed with a disease or chronic diseases visited healthcare centers for clinical symptoms compared to 64.3% of others without (P=.049). Conclusion This study identified that most participants with chronic diseases seek medical care for any symptom, and the participants with an intermediate economic status are more likely to go to a governmental primary healthcare center for any symptoms. The findings of this research provide insights for the government and policymakers to create effective strategies and manage the existing resources in Al-Ahsa.


The present work utilizes Algorithm Selection for automatically specifying the parameter tuning method for a given tuning task. The idea of parameter tuning is motivated by the premature algorithm designs and their sub-optimal or poor parameter value choices. The decisions both on the designs and the parameter values are largely given based on the experiences of the developers or the target problem domain experts after a limited number of trials. While the existing tuning approaches tend to offer improvements over the default parameter values for varying algorithms, they can be computationally expensive. Additionally, there is no a single, ultimate parameter tuning strategy. These facts suggest to choose the most effective tuning algorithm for a specific scenario. This study utilizes an existing Algorithm Selection system to address this problem. The idea is to allocate potentially the most effective tuning method for a given task instead of relying on a single tuner. On that note, a group of well-known parameter configuration approaches are accommodated as the candidate methods to tune NSGA-II for solving a suite of multi-objective optimization benchmarks, refer-encing a recent article. The computational analysis revealed that Algorithm Selection outperforms those constituent parameter tuning methods when each is used as a standalone manner. Additionally, the dis/-similarity analysis carried on the problem instances / benchmarks give hints on the diversity level of the benchmarks. Furthermore, a similar inspection reported on the parameter tuning procedures show the behavioural resemblance between them.


This research aims to produce quality domino card learning media products. This type of research is research and development with the ADDIE model. The ADDIE model consists of several stages, namely analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. The test subjects in this study were six fourth-grade Elementary School students, SDN 08 Mataram Lombok Indonesia, with category two students with high ability, two people with medium ability, and two students with low ability. The research data were obtained using a media feasibility test, validation questionnaire for media experts, material experts, student response questionnaires, and teacher responses. Based on the trial results, it was obtained data on the results of student responses percentage of 94.3%, which were included in the "very good" criteria, and the results of teacher responses percentage of 100%, which were included in the "very good" category. The results of the expert validation obtained a percentage of 85%, which was included in the "very good" criteria, and the results of the material expert validation percentage of 100% were included in the "very good" criteria. The domino card learning media for the fourth-grade elementary school students can be said to be valid and suitable for use in learning.


A postmenopausal woman in her 60s was referred due to an elevated haemoglobin value found during her annual check-up. On physical examination, characteristic features of hyperandrogenism were observed which were not earlier mentioned. Laboratory investigations revealed polycythaemia accompanied by a normal erythropoietin and a negative analysis for JAK2-V617F mutation. A disproportionally and markedly elevated testosterone in combination with normal levels of adrenal androgens raised the suspicion of an ovarian source. CT scan showed nodular hyperdense lesions in both ovaries. A bilateral oophorectomy was performed and histological evaluation unfolded a Leydig cell ovarian tumour. Testosterone levels and haematological parameters normalised after surgery. Polycythaemia secondary to hyperandrogenism in postmenopausal women is an extremely rare condition and patients should be carefully analysed for the presence of androgen-secreting neoplasms. Diagnosis of the underlying pathology requires careful history, physical examination and comprehensive investigation. Treatment for this condition is surgery and resolves polycythaemia.


From 2002—2004,investigations on fish communities were carried out in Lake Chaohu.According to historic data,the dynamic variation of fishery resources of Lake Chaohu was analyzed in recent 50 years.There are 54 fish species found,belong to 8 orders,16 families,of which the fishes of Cyprinidae were 35 species and accounted for 64.8% and migration fishes were very scaring.It indicated that the tendency of small-sized fisheries and the lower yield fish were obvious.Due to water engineering were built in 1960s,most potsmodromous fishes decreased greatly by 40% of total fish yield before the built of dams to less than 10% in present study period.Another important factor is overfishing.9 folds of fishing boats and 5 folds of fishermen were found in 2002,which brought much fishing pressure in Lake Chaohu.Furthermore,eutrophication and lack of aquatic macrophytes were affected the communities of dominanted fishes in Lake Chaohu.Based on analyses of composition of fish catchments and relationship between fish yield and eutrophication,eutrophication control and sustainable development of fisheries of Lake Chaohu are put forward.In order to develop sustainable fisheries in Lake Chaohu,both biomanipulation and non-biomanipulation should be suggested in future.


Abstract The European Union interest group population is often characterised as being biased towards business and detached from its constituency base. Many scholars attribute this to institutional factors unique to the EU. Yet, assessing whether or not the EU is indeed unique in this regard requires a comparative research design. We compare the EU interest group population with those in four member states: France, Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. We differentiate system, policy domain and organisational factors and examine their effects on interest group diversity. Our results show that the EU interest system is not more biased towards the representation of business interests than the other systems. Moreover, EU interest organisations are not more detached from their constituents than those in the studied countries. Everywhere, business interest associations seem to be better capable of representing their members' interests than civil society groups. These findings suggest that the EU is less of a sui generis system than commonly assumed and imply the need for more fine-grained analyses of interest group diversity.


We empirically examine which components of modern markets' message traffic are effective advanced indicators of impending illiquidity shortfalls. Using detailed message-level data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India that flags the messages of HFTs, agency ATs, and non-ATs, we show that, after controlling for volume, volatility, and other traders' activity, only the HFTs' net buying pressure, computed from the inflow of both aggressive and non-aggressive orders, signals toxicity, and precedes increases in both immediacy costs and price impact in the short run. Consistent with theories of active risk management, cancellations and revision of outstanding limit orders add to the overall signaling capacity of the HFTs' net buying pressure. Market-wide indicators of the HFTs' net buying pressure add extra power in anticipating single-stock liquidity falls.


New information on the fauna of the soil ciliates of south-eastern Azerbaijan is presented in this article. As a result of surveys conducted in 2017–2019, 65 species of soil ciliates assigned to 33 families were recorded. The highest diversity of pedobiont ciliates was observed in Masalli and Lankaran forest soils. On the other hand, the lowest species diversity was recorded in the Astara region. The highest species diversity was found for the family Colpodidae, of which 7 species were found. Four of them belong to the pedobiont genus Colpoda. Almost all representatives of this genus are typically soil species and euribionts with wide ecological plasticity. In addition, two species that are the representatives of the genus Tillina were found in soil, but they can be occasionally found in freshwater bodies. It should be noted that the special climatic conditions of south-eastern Azerbaijan impact on the distribution regularity of ciliates in the mountain-forest soils. The accumulation of ciliates in forest soils in spring was observed in the upper horizon of the 5 cm soil litter layer in summer. Due to the decrease in humidity in upper layers, pedobiont ciliate migrates to deeper layers (10–15 cm), and in autumn with the increase in precipitation and humidity in the upper soil horizons, the mass of soil ciliates is again localized in the forest litter and in the upper soil layer. It is also worth noting another specific complex of ciliates in the forest soils of south-eastern Azerbaijan. In early spring and autumn, with the maximum moisture content in the forest soil, we often observed ciliates, which usually dwell in fresh waters. Among them are representatives of such genera as Zosterodasys, Nassula, Aspidisca, Blepharisma, Frontonia, Urotricha etc. The species diversity and community similarity index of soil ciliates in Talish forests of Lankaran natural area were also calculated. The study attempts to compare the difference in ciliates community among five different regions of south-eastern Azerbaijan. The analysis showed that there are 3 clusters of the similarity of species diversity of ciliate communities. The similarity between the ciliate fauna of the high mountainous regions and fauna of the plain regions was 52.15–69.00 %.


Critical infrastructures such as power grids, water treatment and distribution facilities, and Building Automation Systems (BAS) have come to employ Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) in which physical devices or components are coordinated and controlled through communication networks. Due to the criticalness of the infrastructures in which CPSs are deployed, they have become a ripe target for cyber-attacks. This work focuses on developing solutions to protect CPSs from cyber-attacks. To understand the network traffic behavior in a CPS, a collection of BACnet traffic was collected from a real-world BAS network. We conducted in-depth traffic analysis and observed that BACnet traffic can be classified into three categories: Time-driven, Human-driven, and Event-driven. Based on the observed traffic behavior, we developed "THE-driven" anomaly detector which adopts different mechanisms for each category of traffic. In addition, Commensurate Response (CR) was introduced to improve the system resilience and attack survivability of the CPS. CR forces the footprint of the attack to be commensurate with its impact on the system. Next, Path Redundancy was proposed to counter compromised embedded controllers which could be leveraged by attackers to launch data integrity attacks and false command attacks. As an extension of Path Redundancy, a new CPS architecture is introduced to provide data replica and enable control switching when a controller is attacked. The new architecture leverages virtualization to overcome Single-Point-of-Failures (SPOFs) without requiring additional hardware devices.


This paper presents a scheme for the generation of terahertz (THz) radiation by self-focusing of a cosh-Gaussian laser beam in the magnetized and rippled density plasma, when relativistic nonlinearity is operative. The strong coupling between self-focused laser beam and pre-existing density ripple produces nonlinear current that originates THz radiation. THz radiation is produced by the interaction of the cosh-Gaussian laser beam with electron plasma wave under the appropriate phase matching conditions. Expressions for the beamwidth parameter of cosh-Gaussian laser beam and the electric vector of the THz radiation have been obtained using higher-order paraxial theory and solved numerically. The self-focusing of the cosh-Gaussian laser beam and its effect on the generated THz amplitude have been studied for specific laser and plasma parameters. Numerical study has been performed on various values of the decentered parameter, incident laser intensity, magnetic field, and relative density. The results have also been compared with the paraxial region as well as the Gaussian profile of laser beam. Numerical results suggest that the self-focusing of the cosh-Gaussian laser beam and the amplitude of THz radiation increase in the extended paraxial region compared to the paraxial region. It is also observed that the focusing of the cosh-Gaussian laser beam in the magnetized plasma and the amplitude of the THz radiation increases at higher values of the decentered parameter.


A discussion of torsion of Riemannian G-structures leads to a survey of contributions of Alfred Gray and others on almost Hermitian manifolds, G2-manifolds, curvature identities, volume expansions, plotting geodesics, and the geometry of nilmanifolds. The paper concludes with a new example of a compact 8-manifold with a quaternionic 4-form that is closed but not parallel.


Winner-take-all (WTA) networks frequently appear in neural network models. They are primarily used for decision making and selection. As an alternative to the conventional activation-based winner-take-all mechanisms (AWTA), we present a time-based temporal-winner-take-all mechanism with O(n) space complexity and roughly O(log n) time complexity. The mechanism exploits systematic and stochastic differences between time delays within different units and connections. The TWTA and the AWTA networks are shown to be logically equivalent, but the TWTA mechanism may be more suitable than the latter for various selection tasks, especially the selection of an arbitrary unit from a set (e.g., as in unit recruitment). TWTA avoids various problems with conventional WTA, notably the difficulty of making it converge rapidly over a large range of conditions. Here we report a probabilistic analysis of the TWTA mechanism along with experimental data obtained from numerous massively parallel simulations of the TWTA mechanism on the connection machine.


The survey tires to review the sensor dispatch in wireless sensor network. The wireless sensor networks contain static nodes and mobile nodes. In this paper we discuss movement of multi attribute mobile path and the issues of travelling path of mobile sensor. Mobility in wireless sensor networks is controllable and cooperative. The mobile sensor dispatch to the event location without any obstacles to reach the location and travelling in a shortest path. The wireless sensor network scheduled to the travelling path of mobile sensor as to extend a life time using multi round multi attribute sensor. MAM sensors are equipped with multiple sensing devices and can visit event locations to perform more in depth analysis.


This study examined the effect of a change in body position on a selection of biomechanical and physiological variables affecting triathlon performance. Ten local triathletes, participated in this investigation. This study also introduces a novel, inexpensive method of calculating frontal projection area (FPA). FPA decreased a total of 31.6% as the athletes moved from the hoods position to the superman position. No changes in physiological performance variables were reported across the cycling positions. The superman position was found to elicit detrimental effects on peak sprint power output and body comfort. This data lends to the conclusion that the superman position does not offer a greater advantage to the triathlete.


Where do individuals identifying as Hispanic fit in the racial landscape of the United States? The answer offered by past work is complex: The empirical results do not lend themselves to simple interpretation as no single hypothesis fits the Hispanic case very well. Instead, Hispanic integration is described as mixtures of different archetypical hypotheses, like panethnic formation, white assimilation, and racialized assimilation. My goal is to develop a formal framework to help make sense of this complex picture. I extend past work by showing which combination of integration processes (panethnic formation, white assimilation, etc.) best characterizes Hispanic marriage patterns. I make two analytical contributions. First, I organize past Hispanic hypotheses, both archetypical and blended, into a single theoretical framework defined by the salience of race and Hispanic ethnicity. Second, I parametize this theoretical framework using latent social space models. In this way, I am able to specify a set of interconnected, complex hypotheses in a tractable manner. I follow past work and use marriage/cohabitation data to test the hypotheses. Using American Community Survey data (2010–2012), I find that Hispanic marriage/cohabitation patterns suggest high salience on both race and Hispanic ethnicity. Thus, categories like black-Mexican or white-Cuban represent relationally distinct social categories—distinct from both non-Hispanic racial categories (e.g., black or white) and Hispanic categories of a different racial identity.


Recent studies have demonstrated that a number of E3 ubiquitin ligases, including Cbl, Smurf1, Smurf2, HDM2, BCA2, SCFβ-TRCP and XRNF185, play important roles in cell adhesion and migration. Cbl negatively regulates cell adhesion via α integrin and Rap1, and inhibits actin polymerization by ubiquitinating mDab1 and WAVE2. Smurf1 regulates cell migration through ubiquitination of RhoA, talin head domain and hPEM2, while Smurf2 ubiquitinates Smurf1, TGF-β type I receptor and RaplB to modulate cell migration and adhesion. HDM2 negatively regulates cell migration by targeting NFAT (a transcription factor) for ubiquitination and degradation, while SCFβ-TRCP ubiquitinates Snail (a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin) to inhibit cell migration. TRIM32 promotes cell migration through ubiquitination of Abl interactor 2 (Abi2), a tumor suppressor. RNF5 and XRNF185 modulate cell migration by ubiquitinating paxillin. Thus, theses E3 ubiquitin ligases regulate cell adhesion and (or) migration through ubiquitination of their specific substrates.


During the last years the use of intelligent strategies for tuning of controller has been growing. The evolutionary strategies have won an important place, thanks to their flexibility. The first attempt to automate the tuning of controllers was based on the time response of a process, but this approach had the drawback of requiring a lot of user interaction. A very important advancement was made when it was decided to use the frequency response of a process instead of its time response, in this way a bigger degree of automation was obtained. Optimal tuning plays on important role in operations or tuning in the complex process such as the temperature of an oven used in many industrial applications. Transfer of heat inside an oven requires a delay or transportation lag. So, this delay or transportation lag is overcome with the help of controller tuning using Genetic Algorithm. A comparison approach is also made with the other methods of tuning like Ziegler-Nicholas. Genetic algorithm is powerful software tool for obtaining accurate results. It works same as the combination of genes in biological processes. Any temperature control system like oven take certain time to heat up initially, But with the help of genetic algorithm this time taken to heat up can be reduced. And the oven can be made to start instantly without wasting time. It is very difficult to achieve an optimal gain like this as up to the present time the gain of the controller has to be manually tuned by hit and trial. Thus this paper describes the Genetic algorithm approach that would certainly reduce manual effort and give accurate result.


Hypertension may originate in early life. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated due to the exposure of adverse in utero conditions causes developmental programming of hypertension. These excessive ROS can be antagonized by molecules which are antioxidants. Prenatal use of natural antioxidants may reverse programming processes and prevent hypertension of developmental origin. In the current review, firstly we document data on the impact of oxidative stress in hypertension of developmental origin. This will be followed by effective natural antioxidants uses starting before birth to prevent hypertension of developmental origin in animal models. It will also discuss evidence for the common mechanisms underlying developmental hypertension and beneficial effects of natural antioxidant interventions used as reprogramming strategies. A better understanding of the reprogramming effects of natural antioxidants and their interactions with common mechanisms underlying developmental hypertension is essential. Therefore, pregnant mothers and their children can benefit from natural antioxidant supplementation during pregnancy in order to reduce their risk for hypertension later in life.


Abstract In this paper, we take up two objections Raymond Geuss levels against John Rawls′ ideal theory in Philosophy and Real Politics. We show that, despite their fundamental disagreements, the two theorists share a common starting point: they both (a) reject doing political philosophy by way of applying an independently derived moral theory; and (b) grapple with the danger of unduly privileging the status quo. However, neither Rawls′ characterization of politics nor his ideal theoretical approach as response to the aforementioned danger is adequate – or so we argue. Moreover, contrary to received opinion, Geuss′ political philosophy is the more reflective and the more philosophical of the two. In a final section, we highlight another agreement: both think that political philosophers should develop conceptual innovations as a way of clarifying and overcoming practical problems. We demonstrate that Geuss could offer a number of reasons for finding Rawls′ conceptual innovations wanting.


The liberalization of the natural gas market, its grid infrastructure in the European Union and the supply of energy is essentially built upon mutual trust among Member States. Traditional perceptions of national security and control make way to co-operation and integration among Member States and industries concerned. Under recently adopted legislation, it is readily possible that grid infrastructure will be controlled by companies located in another Member State, and gas will be equally traded in a company by non-national operators. However, since European gas supplies largely depend upon imports from abroad, in particular Russia, the relationship to third countries and grids and gas supplies controlled by these countries is of crucial importance. This paper addresses the status of third country operators in the EU. It describes obligations and conditions imposed by what was readily called the Gazprom Clause of Directive 2009/73/EC adopted July 13, 2009  (the Directive). It asks whether this clause amounts to a requirement of reciprocity and assesses whether the clause is compatible with current obligations of the EU under the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in particular the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Article 11 of the Directive refers to the certification requirements for a transmission system operator from third countries. Article 11(a) requires a foreign operator to comply with all and the same conditions as EU operators under Article 9, in particular unbundling, while the second requirement under Article 11(b) requires that the granting of a certification does not jeopardize the security of energy supply.The question arises to what extent the EU is entitled to impose additional requirements to third State operators under WTO rules. While the issue also bears upon free movement of capital – an issue not examined here - we conclude that the EU is entitled to operate privileged rules under Article Vbis GATS relating to regional integration. The third country clause, entailing additional conditions, neither establishes reciprocity nor is inconsistent per se with WTO law as no obligations to grant national treatment can be currently found in the field. Its operation, however, needs to take into account MFN obligations under Article II GATS. WTO Members are entitled that like and comparable operators are granted most favored nation treatment in the application of ownership rights. It is a question to what extent authorization can take into account diverging levels of supply and thus dependence. We argue that such differences affecting supplies and thus public security can be taken into account, either within MFN or under exceptions relating to public order and national security under Article XIV and XIVbis GATS respectively. The paper sets out with a brief introduction to the EU internal market in natural gas and the concept of unbundling (II). It analyses the third country regime and assesses reciprocity (III) and thus leads to examination of WTO compatibility of the third country regime (IV). It concludes on a note proposing a future framework agreement in energy in the WTO (V).


Heavy Metal Contamination of groundwater is an issue of deep concern worldwide and as such the degree to which these metals have contaminated the most valuable fresh water resource "GROUNDWATER" must be summarily understood. 10 Borehole water samples were taken from various parts of Agbor and analysis were carried out for the major anions and cations with Arsenic been the heavy metal of interest. Upon comparison with NIS and WHO standards for drinking water, the results shows that though they were measurable concentration of Arsenic in three locations but they were high enough to pose threat to human health. Nonetheless, the results were subjected to Statistical Analysis using Principal component Analysis (PCA) to standardized data sets. The results gotten was tied to graphical methods, Stiff plot and Piper diagram to obtain the water type as Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl- -SO42- and revealed the dominant ions. PCA revealed that five components control the hydrochemistry of the study area.Ammonium,Nitrate,Phosphate and TDS dominated component 1 which accounted for 41.1%,Chloride, sulphate and EC are parameters in component 2, component 3 hasCalcium, Magnesium and Bicarbonates, component 4 isdominated bypH and component 5 holds potassium and sodium accountable for hydrochemical variation. United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA 2012) and EU 1998 Standards were compared with parameters to ascertain the quality of the water for domestic use. pH had a value less than 6.5 for most of the sampled locations and these were out of range of US United States Environmentaal Protection Agency (EPA) and European Union Drinking Water Directives(EU DWD) standards


Relativistic electrons produced in ultra-intense laser–solid interaction generate highly collimated γ-ray beams through Bremsstrahlung that can be used to induce photonuclear reactions. Photonuclear transmutation (of (γ,n) type) of 137Cs, one of the hazardous nuclear wastes with half-life of 30.17 years which cannot be transmuted practically with neutron bombardment due to its very low neutron capture cross section, has been considered. Nuclear activity of produced 136Cs with half-life of 13.16 days has been evaluated analytically using available experimental data. With irradiating a 137Cs sample by p-polarized laser light of 1020 Wcm−2 and the repetition rate of 10 Hz for 30 min, the activity of 0.24 Bq is obtained. It is found that intensity has a large effect in yield around 1021 Wcm−2. For similar laser with intensity of 5×1021 Wcm−2, the activity increases with a factor of 105.


OBJECTIVE To expose our institutional experience on biliary tract surgery in patients with situs inversus. BACKGROUND Situs inversus is a rare condition of genetic origin, which leads mandatory the modification of surgical technique in laparoscopic cholecystectomy. METHODS Report of two cases of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients with situs in versus. CONCLUSIONS Laparoscopic cholecystectomy would seem to be the first-line surgical procedure for the treatment of patients with symptomatic gall bladder stones and situs inversus; albeit it imposes special technical demands, it provides the same outcomes of the patients with normal anatomy.


Although FGF5 mRNA was previously found expressed in some melanoma cell lines in contrast to normal human melanocytes, neither its contribution to melanoma growth nor its expression in melanoma tissue has been investigated. Here we demonstrate that ectopic overexpression of FGF5 in human melanoma cells with low endogenous FGF5 expression increased clonogenicity and invasion but not short-term growth in vitro. Silencing of FGF5 in melanoma cells with high endogenous FGF5 expression had the opposite effect on clonogenicity. FGF overexpression led to increased signaling along the MAPK and NFAT axis but had no effect on STAT3 signaling. In an in vivo experiment in immunocompromised mice, human melanoma xenografts overexpressing FGF5 showed enhanced tumor growth, a higher Ki-67 proliferation index, decreased apoptosis and enhanced angiogenesis. Immunohistochemistry performed on a tissue microarray demonstrated FGF5 protein expression in more than 50% of samples of melanoma and benign nevi. These data suggest that FGF5 has oncogenic potential in melanoma cells and contributes to melanoma growth in a subset of patients. This highlights the importance of further evaluating FGF5 as potential biomarker and therapy target in melanoma.


Oral health is a contributory factor to general well-being and quality of life. The Canadian Health Measures Survey between March 2007 and February 2009, documented the oral problems that elderly people experience. This age group faces inequity in oral health care (especially in a fee-for-service system) and the aging of the Canadian population will exacerbate the problem of inequity. This article, the first of a 3-part series, discusses the impact of poor oral health on elderly people. The second article will consider inequity in terms of the financial, behavioural and physical barriers within the Canadian health care system, as well as ethical considerations related to this inequity, and the third will provide suggestions to overcome the barriers.


Die springs with rectangular cross section (rectangular die springs) are common in the industry. However, the production of rectangular die springs is difficult, and the cost of production is high. In this study, we examined the use of die springs with circular cross section (circular die springs), which are both easier to produce and less costly, in place of rectangular ones. To this aim, the fatigue life values of both die spring with equivalent specifications were compared experimentally. The results obtained were transferred to the finite element methods software to run the simulation of the fatigue test. From the experimental results obtained, it has been observed that using circular die springs in place of rectangular die springs is always possible, provided that the springs are guided with cast polyamide guides.


A simple decentralized Kalman filter based regulator problem is proposed to achieve sub-system closed-loop eigenvalues at desired locations and subsequently to minimize the local quadratic performance index of each decoupled sub-system. The proposed scheme reduces the information exchange, telemetry and instrumentation costs and computational burden compared to a centralized control scheme. A consideration of the stability of the global decentralized control system is included. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is tested by considering a load-frequency control problem of a two-area power system.


Macdonald has proved the following theorem.f Let f{z) =u(x, y) +iv(x, y) be a function of z analytic throughout the interior of a single closed curve C, defined by the equation \f(z) I = M, where M is a constant. Let C be an ordinary curve in the sense that if \p be the angle which the tangent to C makes with the x-axis, and if the point of contact of the tangent describes the curve C, ^ will increase by 2w. Then the number of zeros of ƒ (z) in this region exceeds the number of zeros of the derivative ƒ (z) by unity. Our purpose is to generalize this result by showing the conclusion holds true even when M is not a constant, but a function M ~M(x, y) analytic and greater than zero within sufficiently large intervals, and C is a curve single, closed, and ordinary (in the sense mentioned above), and satisfying the equation \f(z)\=M(x, y), provided that the point (x = x(6)y y = y(S)) describes C once when 6 changes from 0 to 2ir\ where x(0) and y{6) are periodic functions satisfying the equations


A novel circuit topologies family of the current mode AC/AC converter with high frequency ac link, based on flyback converter, are proposed. These circuit topologies which can transfer one unregulated sinusoidal voltage with high THD into another regulated constant frequency sinusoidal voltage with low THD, are constituted of input cycloconverter, high frequency storage transformer and output cycloconverter. The circuit topologies family include single four-quadrant power switch mode, push-pull mode, half-bridge mode, and full-bridge mode circuit. The single four-quadrant power switch mode and push-pull mode converter are suit for low input voltage fields, but the half-bridge mode and full-bridge mode converter are suit for high input voltage fields. The operational mode, steady principle and transient voltage feedback control strategy of the kind of converter are investigated. The output characteristic curve, its relation to internal resistance, and the design criterions for the key circuit parameters are given. The current mode AC/AC converters with high frequency ac link have the advantages such as simple topology, two-stage power conversions, bi-directional power flow, high frequency electrical isolation, good line current waveform, strong load adapting ability. The correction and advance of the converters are verified by the Pspice simulation and test results


Article provides an overview of round table about the anthology "Uryankhay. Tyva Depter" that was held on March 24, 2010 in Tuvan Institute for Humanitarian Researches.


This article examines the use of presidential veto power in Russia from 1994 to 1998. Russia's 1993 constitution enables the president to veto legislation, but allows the bicameral Federal Assembly to overturn vetoes with a two-thirds majority. President Boris Yeltsin was a controversial figure in Russia's difficult post-communist transition, and although he had considerable executive powers, his power to veto legislation has rarely been examined as an independent variable which shapes Russian politics. This article looks at patterns of presidential vetoing in Russia within their comparative and historical context, and argues that unpredictable vetoing has become a substantial issue that has aggravated executive-legislative relations. Increasingly, the parliamentary opposition challenged presidential vetoes, with profound implications for the future constitutional order in Russia.


The properties of confluent hypergeometric functions as exact electromagnetic wave fnnctions for propagation in a circular waveguide containing azimuthally magnetized remanent ferrite are investigated. Two different forms of solutions of the propagation problem for angular symmetric transverse electric modes are constructed-one in terms of Kummer and Tricomi confluent hypergeometric functions of complex parameter and variable and a second in terms of Whittaker functions. An evaluation of this class of wave functions is performed to sufficient extent, followed by tabulation of their imaginary zeros, providing computation of eigenvalue spectrum and phase characteristics of the gyrotropic guide.


Studies of primate premotor cortex, and, in particular, of the so-called "mirror system" suggest a double hand/mouth motor command system that may have evolved initially in the context of ingestion, and later formed a platform for combined manual and vocal communication. In humans, manual gesture, when it accompanies speech, is tightly integrated with speech production. Speech production itself is influenced by executing or observing transitive actions, and manual actions also play an important role in language development in children, from the babbling stage onwards. Behavioural data reported here even show a reciprocal influence between word and symbolic gestures. Studies employing neuroimaging and repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) techniques suggest that the system governing both speech and gesture is located in Broca's area.


In one-shot NAS, sub-networks need to be searched from the supernet to meet different hardware constraints. However, the search cost is high and N times of searches are needed for N different constraints. In this work, we propose a novel search strategy called architecture generator to search sub-networks by generating them, so that the search process can be much more efficient and flexible. With the trained architecture generator, given target hardware constraints as the input, N good architectures can be generated for N constraints by just one forward pass without re-searching and supernet retraining. Moreover, we propose a novel single-path supernet, called unified supernet, to further improve search efficiency and reduce GPU memory consumption of the architecture generator. With the architecture generator and the unified supernet, we propose a flexible and efficient one-shot NAS framework, called Searching by Generating NAS (SGNAS). With the pre-trained supernt, the search time of SGNAS for N different hardware constraints is only 5 GPU hours, which is 4N times faster than previous SOTA single-path methods. After training from scratch, the top1-accuracy of SGNAS on ImageNet is 77.1%, which is comparable with the SOTAs. The code is available at: https://github.com/eric8607242/SGNAS.


The present work investigates the hygro-mechanical performance of compacted earth as an alternative to conventional energy-intensive building materials. Cement and lime have been widely employed as stabilisers to improve the strength and durability of compacted earth for building applications. Nevertheless, the use of these chemical binders partly compromises the energy efficiency of earthen materials while increasing their carbon footprint. This has recently led to the study of alternative stabilisation methods that are equally effective in improving the properties of earthen materials without however compromising their green credentials.
The present work adopts a recently proposed method for the manufacturing of earth bricks. The method is based on the application of high compaction pressures up to 100 MPa (hypercompaction) to increase the density of the earth and hence to obtain mechanical properties that are similar to those of traditional construction materials such as fired bricks, concrete blocks and stabilised earth. A wide campaign of laboratory tests was performed on samples made of different earth mixes that were hyper-compacted at their respective optimum water contents. Stiffness and strength were measured by unconfined and triaxial compression tests while vapour adsorption/desorption was assessed by measuring moisture buffering value (MBV). Durability to water erosion was also evaluated by performing suction, immersion and drip tests according to the norms DIN 18945 (2013) and NZS 4298 (1998), respectively.
Results showed that hyper-compaction largely improves the mechanical performance of compacted earth but that a marked increase in ambient humidity can produce a considerable reduction of strength. Compacted earth is also characterised by an excellent capacity of adsorbing/releasing ambient moisture, which increases the hygro-thermal inertia of the material. Nevertheless, durability tests highlighted that the unstabilised compacted earth cannot be employed for the construction of structures exposed to natural weathering. The experiments also demonstrated the dependency of strength, stiffness, moisture buffering capacity and water durability on particle grading. In particular, it was shown that a fine and well-graded earth mix exhibits higher levels of strength, stiffness, moisture buffering capacity and durability than a coarse and poorly-graded one. This suggests that careful selection of the soil is necessary to optimise the manufacture of earth bricks.
One important challenge lies in the improvement of the earth durability against water erosion by adopting novel stabilisation techniques which exhibit small environmental impacts while preserving the advantageous properties of compacted earth in terms of mechanical and moisture buffering behaviour. In this work, the exploitation of knowledge at the interface between physics, biology and chemistry has led to the development of an original stabilisation method based on the utilisation of plant extracts. The method is consistent with the principles of Enzymatic Induced Calcite Precipitation (EICP), which utilises the action of the urease enzyme to catalyse the hydrolysis of urea. This reaction produces carbonate ions, which then react with the calcium ions dissolved in the pore water to produce the precipitation of calcium carbonate (i.e. calcite), thus binding the soil together.
The urease enzyme is a widely occurring hexameric protein that is the product of the metabolism of microbes and is also found in the tissues of many plants. The novelty of the present work resides in the utilisation of crude plant-derived urease enzyme instead of pure reagent-grade products available from chemical suppliers, which reduces environmental and financial costs. In particular, the urease enzyme was obtained from a liquid soybeans extract, inside which the urea and calcium chloride were subsequently dissolved to induce the precipitation of calcite. A fundamental study of the relevant microbiological and biochemical processes pointed out that the concentrations of urea and calcium chloride play an important role in the activity of the urease enzyme and on the amount of precipitated calcite. Measurements of pH, electrical conductivity and precipitation ratio indicated that the optimum equimolar concentration of urea and calcium chloride (leading to the largest precipitation of calcite) is 2.5 mol/L.
An experimental campaign was finally undertaken to implement the proposed biostabilisation method into the manufacture of compressed earth bricks. The efficiency of the treatment was initially assessed by means of water immersion tests to quantify the improvement of the material water durability. The most promising versions of the proposed bio-stabilisation method were also the object of further investigation to assess the hygromechanical behaviour of the stabilised earth by means of unconfined compression and moisture buffering value tests. The findings, although preliminary, suggest that a noticeable improvement of strength and water durability can be achieved by the proposed stabilisation protocol, in spite of the difficulty in replicating exactly quantitative results. Further tests are still necessary to make the proposed treatment competitive with conventional stabilisation techniques based on the use of cement and lime.


The study aims to know the effect of PBL-based LKPD on the critical thinking skills of VII students on environmental pollution material. This kind of research is quantitative. The quasi-experiment method was used, with a pre-test and post-test non-equivalent control group design. Population in class VII MTs Al Uswah Bergas designed 175 students. The sampling technique used was the purposive sampling technique. The research sample was 55 students. The number of samples in the experimental class was 26 students and 29 students in the control class. The instrument used was an essay question. The data analysis used was an independent t-test. The results of the independent t-test obtained Sig. (0,009) ˂ α (0,05) then Ha is accepted, so it is suggested that there are differences in students' critical thinking skills between the experimental class and the control class on environmental pollution material in class VII. The correlation analysis results obtained Sig. (0,000) ˂ α (0,05), so there is a correlation between two variables.  The regression analysis obtained Sig. (0,000) ˂  α (0,05) then Ha is accepted, with the regression equation is Y= 35,748 + 0,592X positive values, so, if the use of PBL-based LKPD increases, the ability to critical thinking will also increase. The coefficient determination in this research is 60,7 percent. The use of PBL-based LKPD affects the critical thinking skills of VII grade students at MTs Al Uswah Bergas on environmental pollution material.


The risk that a financial institution will experience a loss because it did not accurately determine the fair value of the financial instruments on its balance sheet is known as Valuation Risk (VR). That risk is sometimes heightened because determining fair value is not always a simple or straightforward task. When market data is scarce or unavailable, or markets turn illiquid, banks tend to rely upon internally developed valuation models that use unobservable inputs, which may amplify VR.

VR has attracted growing supervisory attention. Several supervisory agencies internationally have voiced concern over banks holding vast amounts of instruments that are potentially exposed to valuation uncertainty and the potential knock-on effects this VR could have on the stability of the financial system.

Following up to our previous work discussing VR methodology and practice, this whitepaper seeks to expand the analysis by investigating European banks' exposure to VR from a more quantitative perspective. To this end, we collected the evidence available from banks' disclosures, looked for patterns, and drew as many sound conclusions as possible.

However, in doing so, we encountered a frustrating reality: inadequacies in available data make it difficult to build an accurate view of these risks.

We realized that the lack of data itself is an important lesson, as it informs us that crucial information is missing in banks' disclosure. This paper delivers the results of the narrower analysis allowed by the limited data and delves into the implication of these constraints. The lack of data thwarts efforts to build an accurate view of the risks truly resting on financial institutions' balance sheets. This is a serious matter. European banks hold amounts of assets and liabilities potentially exposed to VR that exceed their regulatory capital by many multiples. Even a relatively small unexpected shock or estimation error in instrument valuations could significantly impact banks' capitalization and resilience.

In the debate over VR, we believe a joint action by supervisors and standard setters to deepen banks' disclosure of their holdings of assets and liabilities potentially more exposed to VR would significantly increase transparency and risk-awareness in the financial industry. By increasing clarity and transparency around bank risks through increased disclosure, banks can enhance public trust and allow observers and analysts to better assess bank balance sheets, leading to share prices that more closely reflect bank risks.


Turkish banking sector has realized serious reconstruction after the 2001 crisis. Turkish banks left to finance government debts and has turned to their intermediation activities . However, Turkish banks broke the traditional loans-deposits balance and led to situation that loans have surpassed the deposits in the system. This article tries to indicate that the growth of gap between loans and deposits in Turkish banking system results from cross curreny swap transactions and these transactions change the composition of Turkish banks' liabilities in favour of FX liabilities.


When subjected to drop test, interconnections between components and test board experience high stresses mainly due to differential bending. Using analytical and numerical modal analysis, bending moments have here been calculated and shown to strongly depend on the location on the test board; the highest value not being found at the centre, as usually stated. In parallel, experiments to determine viscoplastic material properties at high strain rates (~1s-1) for lead-free solder (SnAgCu) have been performed and used in drop test simulations. Inelastic strains calculated at different locations confirm results from the modal analyses and give a first insight into the development of a drop test failure criterion


Acoel flatworms can move in a variety of ways such as muscular and ciliary movements via cytoskeletal elements and their neural regulations. However, those locomotive mechanisms have not yet been fully elucidated. In this study, we examined the distribution of cytoskeletal elements including filamentous actin (F-actin) and tubulin, and the neuroanatomical organization in an acoelomorph worm, Praesagittifera naikaiensis (P. naikaiensis). Video microscopy revealed the elongation/contraction and the bending/rotation processes, and the ciliary gliding movement of P. naikaiensis. Histochemical and morphological analysis demonstrated that F-actin networks of inner longitudinal and outer circular muscle fibers were positioned along the entire surface of the body, and that the average distance between the circular muscle fibers in the contracted organism was decreased in the anterior region compared with that in the elongated organism. Electron microscopy showed dense bodies on the muscle cells of P. naikaiensis, which indicates that those muscle cells have the appearance of vertebrate smooth muscle cells. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that -tubulin-positive signals on the ciliary microtubules had close contact with the F-actin network, and that neurite bundles labelled with anti dSap47 antibody as a neuronal marker run along the anterior-posterior body axis. These results indicate that the well-organized cytoskeletal elements and their neural control systems are preserved in P. naikaiensis, and that their mechanisms involved in those regulation systems are similar to those vertebrate systems. Further studies are needed to clarify the physiological mechanisms underlying the muscular and ciliary movements in P. naikaiensis.


A layered titanium(iv)-peroxo-pyridine dicarboxylic cluster K9[Ti3O4(O2)3(C7H3O4N)3(OH2)2]Cl·4H2O 1 has been synthesized by the H2O2-assisted reaction between TiCl4 and dipicolinic acid ligands. The semiconducting properties of this solid state compound were revealed from measurements of the diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectra and photocurrent response. Its photoelectrochemical sensing of dopamine was also investigated.


Half-blanking of thick steel sheets is a metal forming process used to manufacture automotive seat recliner parts. During the forming process and in-use conditions (in case of crash) the material can be submitted to a high level of plastic strain and, in some cases, ductile damage. Recliners play an important role in the safety of passengers. Accurate computation results are thus needed. Forming stages have to be taken in account and damage and failure have to be modelled accurately. Two laboratory tests are developed to study the mechanical behaviour of half-blanked components. First, a cylindrical relief is half-blanked in a steel sheet sample. Then the cylindrical relief is wrenched using a shearing tool. During the tests, load and displacement are recorded. These tests enable the observation of failure mechanisms (SEM fracture observations) and give experimental data to validate numerical computations (geometries and load-displacement curves). During the wrenching test, a competition between ductile and shear failure is observed. Damage is modeled with a continuum mechanics based model (Lemaitre) and a phenomenological model (Xue-Wierzbicki). In the second one, the third invariant of the stress tensor is used to make difference between ductile and shear failure. Mechanical tests are performed to identify parameters model by inverse analysis. Tests are performed on different samples in order to have different stress states (stress triaxiality and Lode angle). In order to take into account material history, wrenching is performed with or without accounting for the half-blanking process. During both stages, large deformations are encountered. Automatic remeshing is needed and the finite element software Forge® is used. References : [1] W.F. Fan, J.H. Li, An investigation on the damage of AISI-1045 and AISI-1025 steels in fineblanking with negative clearance, Material Science and Engineering A 499, Elsevier, 48-251, (2009) [2] S. Fayolle, Etude de la modelisation de la pose et de la tenue mecanique des assemblages par deformation plastique, These doctorale, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris, (2008) [3] J. Lemaitre and J.L. Chaboche, Mecanique des materiaux solides, Dunod, Paris, (2001) [4] L. Xue, T. Wierzbicki, Ductile fracture initiation and propagation modeling using damage plasticity theory, Engineering Fracture Mechanics 75, Elsevier, 3276-3293, (2008) [5] P.F. Zheng, L.C. Chan, T.C. Lee, Finite-element analysis of a combined fine-blanking and extrusion process, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering 66, Wiley, 404- 430, (2006)


Wireless Virtual Reality (VR) is a new-arising technology to enable the untethered connection between VR server and VR client, whose traffic characteristics include both ultra-high data rate in downlink and periodic small-size data packets in uplink. The downlink requires ultra-wide bandwidth and hence leads to the usage of millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum with analog beamforming; however, this causes difficulty for the uplink: the efficient multiple access of small-packet users in the same mmWave carrier by time-division duplex (TDD). Therefore, this paper proposes a multi-beam multi-access scheme for the uplink traffic of multiple VR users with mmWave analog beamforming. Specifically, this scheme contains an analog beamforming weight determination function and a frequency-division user scheduling function, which are executed iteratively with the increasing number of selected users. Therein, the proposed multi-beam analog beamforming pattern generation method is able to generate arbitrary number of beams with flexible beam directions, beam widths and beamforming gain ratios, by the constant-modulus weights with one radio-frequency chain. It is demonstrated by the simulation results that the proposed multi-beam multi-access scheme increases 200% for the maximum number of simultaneously served VR uplink users than the traditional single-beam multi-access scheme in 5G systems with mmWave analog beamforming.