The most promising concept for low frequency (millihertz to hertz) gravitational wave observatories are laser interferometric detectors in space. It is usually assumed that the noise floor for such a detector is dominated by optical shot noise in the signal readout. For this to be true, a careful balance of mission parameters is crucial to keep all other parasitic disturbances below shot noise. We developed a web application that uses over 30 input parameters and considers many important technical noise sources and noise suppression techniques to derive a realistic position noise budget. It optimizes free parameters automatically and generates a detailed report on all individual noise contributions. Thus one can easily explore the entire parameter space and design a realistic gravitational wave observatory. In this document we describe the different parameters, present all underlying calculations, and compare the final observatory's sensitivity with astrophysical sources of gravitational waves. We use as an example parameters currently assumed to be likely applied to a space mission proposed to be launched in 2034 by the European Space Agency. The web application itself is publicly available on the Internet at http://spacegravity.org/designer. Future versions of the web application will incorporate the frequency dependence of different noise sources and include a more detailed model of the observatory's residual acceleration noise.


Many autonomous systems such as mobile robots, UAVs or spacecraft, have limited resource capacities and move in dynamic environments. Performing on-board mission planning and execution in such a context requires deliberative capabilities to generate plans achieving mission goals while respecting deadlines and resource constraints, as well as run-time plan adaption mechanisms during execution. In this paper we propose a framework to integrate deliberative planning, plan repair and execution control in a dynamic environment with stringent temporal constraints. It is based on lifted partial order temporal planning techniques which produce flexible plans and allow, under certain conditions discussed in the paper, plan repair interleaved with plan execution. This framework has been implemented using the IXTET planner and used to control a robotic platform.


One of the most important properties of deep auto-encoders (DAEs) is their capability to extract high level features from row data. Hence, especially recently, the autoencoders are preferred to be used in various classification problems such as image and voice recognition, computer security, medical data analysis, etc. Despite, its popularity and high performance, the training phase of autoencoders is still a challenging task, involving to select best parameters that let the model to approach optimal results. Different training approaches are applied to train sparse autoencoders. Previous studies and preliminary experiments reveal that those approaches may present remarkable results in same problems but also disappointing results can be obtained in other complex problems. Metaheuristic algorithms have emerged over the last two decades and are becoming an essential part of contemporary optimization techniques. Gray wolf optimization (GWO) is one of the current of those algorithms and is applied to train sparse auto-encoders for this study. This model is validated by employing several popular Gene expression databases. Results are compared with previous state-of-the art methods studied with the same data sets and also are compared with other popular metaheuristic algorithms, namely, Genetic Algorithms (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). Results reveal that the performance of the trained model using GWO outperforms on both conventional models and models trained with most popular metaheuristic algorithms. Keyword: Sparse Auto-encoders, Gray Wolf Optimizer Algorithm, Optimization, Data Classification, Metaheuristic algorithms


Abstract Objective The aim of the study is to describe the rates of neonatal death and severe neonatal morbidity in a contemporary cohort, as well as to evaluate the predictive value of birth gestational age (GA) and birth weight, independently and combined, for neonatal mortality and morbidity in the same contemporary cohort. Study Design We performed a secondary analysis of an international, multicenter randomized controlled trial of delayed umbilical cord clamping versus umbilical cord milking in preterm infants born at 230/7 to 316/7 weeks of gestation. The current analysis was restricted to infants delivered <28 weeks. The primary outcomes of this analysis were neonatal death and a composite of severe neonatal morbidity. Incidence of outcomes was compared by weeks of GA, with planned subanalysis comparing small for gestational age (SGA) versus non-SGA neonates. Multivariable logistic regression was then used to model these outcomes based on birth GA, birth weight, or a combination of both as primary independent predictors to determine which had superior ability to predict outcomes. Results Of 474 neonates in the original trial, 180 (38%) were included in this analysis. Overall, death occurred in 27 (15%) and severe morbidity in 139 (77%) neonates. Rates of mortality and morbidity declined with increasing GA (mortality 54% at 23 vs. 9% at 27 weeks). SGA infants (n = 25) had significantly higher mortality compared with non-SGA infants across all GAs (p < 0.01). There was no difference in the predictive value for neonatal death or severe morbidity between the three prediction options (GA, birth weight, or GA and birth weight). Conclusion Death and severe neonatal morbidity declined with advancing GA, with higher rates of death in SGA infants. Birth GA and birth weight were both good predictors of outcomes; however, combining the two was not more predictive, even in SGA infants. Key Points We performed a secondary analysis of multicenter randomized clinical trials. The study included only extremely preterm neonates <28 weeks. We provide rates of neonatal morbidity in a contemporary cohort.


The study aims to propose a novel model to define the role of spiritual leadership on the ethical climate for the banking industry. There are mainly three different stages in this model. Firstly, the criteria of each factor are selected with correlation coefficients by considering the balanced scorecard (BSC)-based linguistic evaluations. After that, these criteria are weighted by using interval type-2 (IT2) fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). The third and the final stage aims to rank 5 biggest banks of Turkey which are quoted in İstanbul Stock Exchange. Within this framework, IT2 fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach is considered. The findings demonstrate that the spiritual leadership has a significant influence on the ethical climate. Altruistic love is the most important spiritual leadership dimension to improve ethical climate in the organization. On the other side, it is also concluded that private banks in Turkey are the most successful with respect to the ethical climate. The results give an idea that spiritual leader contributes to the improvement of the ties of love and respect among employees. The main reason is that altruistic love improves the judgement and sensitivity competencies of the ethical so that employees tend to be working in a more ethical way.


Lactic acid fermentation of black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) juice was carried out by using the Lactobacillus plantarum GBL17 strain. The sterilized black raspberry juice was fermented using the L. plantarum GBL17 strain at 30°C for 72 hours after which the total acidity increased and the pH value decreased. In addition, the highest total acidity content (2.38%) was reached, the lowest pH value (3.22) was observed, and the sugar content decreased by 9.8 °Brix after the 72 hour fermentation. The number of viable cells rapidly increased up until 24 hours, after which it gradually decreased. HPLC analysis of the organic acids showed 14.51 mg/g of lactic acid content in the fermented black raspberry juice, which was not detected in the non-fermented black raspberry juice (control). The content of fructose and glucose slightly decreased after fermentation. The total polyphenol and flavonoid contents of the fermented black raspberry juice increased significantly after fermentation. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of fermented black raspberry juice (70.92%) was higher than that of the control (62.96%). After lactic acid fermentation, there was no significant increase in ABTS radical scavenging activity. These results confirm that lactic acid bacteria, such as L. plantarum GBL17, showed generally higher activities with a potential as a functional beverage.


The aim of this work is to implement on real-time a speech recognition module in order to control the movements of a five degree of freedom manipulator arm using a Kalman filter as a selector in noisy environment and HHM model to recognise 12 Arabic spotted words. The methodology adopted is based on detecting and spotting vocabulary words within a phrase generated by user, the system recognises the spotted words using Kalman filter to select these spotted words then a robust HMM (Hidden Markove Model) technique with cepstral coefficients to improve the recognition rate. To implement the approach on a real-time application, a Personal Computer parallel port interface was designed to control the movement of a set of stepper motors. The user can control the movements of five degree of freedom (DOF) for a robot arm using a vocal phrase containing spotted words.


Rationale: Kummell disease is described as avascular necrosis of a vertebral body that occurred in a delayed fashion after a minor trauma. Anterior, posterior, and anterior–posterior approaches have been reported. Nevertheless, there is no standard treatment for patients with Kummell disease. Patient concerns: We reported a successful cement-augmented pedicle screw placement in a patient with Kummell disease. A 63-year-old woman with serious osteoporosis complained persistent back pain with progressive lower extremities weakness for almost 2 years. Diagnoses: The diagnosis of Kummell disease was mainly depended on clinical symptoms and imaging examinations. Interventions: The application of a cement-augmented pedicle screw was designed to treat this illness. Outcomes: The operation was successful without any complications. The patient stated that symptoms were obviously improved in 1 week after operation. Lessons: The application of a cement-augmented pedicle screw is an effective treatment option for Kummell disease.


Cai (才) has been used as an adverb since the Han Dynasty. The original meaning of it has by extension come to mean few or short which equals Jinjin (仅仅) or Ganggang (刚刚), Cai (才) couldnt express the emphasis of increase until the Yuan Dynasty. This new usage was more common during the Ming and Qing Dynasties concerning the syntax place of Cai (才) moving backwards. The special usage equals to Gangcai (刚才) in modem Chinese language arose in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties and disappeared by the end of the Qing Dynasty.


We propose a novel image inpainting model that can effectively estimate missing pixels in an observed image. The latent image is characterized by a group-based low-rank prior, which assumes that a group of vectorized similar image patches can be well approximated by a low-rank matrix. We enforce the low-rankness of each group by penalizing a truncated difference of the l1 and the l2 norms of its singular values, which achieves a close approximation to the matrix rank. We apply a difference of convex algorithm (DCA) to solve the proposed model efficiently. Our method is validated on filling missing blocks and randomly missing pixels, with superior performance over the state-of-the-art.


A total of 156 patients with chronic enteritis have been examined for the bile lipid and bile acid composition, the small and large intestine proximal portions microflora, membranous digestion and absorption of the lipids, blood serum lipid composition; morphometry of the small intestine proximal portion mucosa has been carried out. The findings have been processed in correlation and regression analysis, that has revealed a number of relationships between these parameters. This helped specify some aspects in the pathogenesis of lipid metabolism disorders associated with the small intestine abnormalities and select the tests most valuable for the diagnosis and prognosis of the condition. The authors recommend a wider application of such analysis to clinical studies.


To the Editor.— In 1969, in a letter to the editor of Pediatrics 1 we warned against the increased risk of diphenylhydantoin (Dilantin) intoxication when the suspension form of this anticonvulsant is used. This warning was based on our experience at Children's Memorial Hospital with five children who were receiving this form of the medication and were admitted with signs and symptoms of moderate intoxication. Since then we have seen seven other young children admitted because of a similar problem; all of them were receiving the liquid preparation. Six of these children recovered uneventfully after withdrawal of the drug and its replacement by another anticonvulsant or after a reduction of dosage. The other child was left with what appears to be, after a one-year follow-up, a permanent neurologic deficit. It has been pointed out 1-3 that diphenylhydantoin should be used with great caution in infants and young children; symptoms of


This paper reviews the various devices employed to meter passengers into or out of an automatic fare collection system, and discusses some methods of fare collection, with particular reference to the 'stored fare' system. It is suggested that the stored fare concept might be the most appropriate as it would not only be sufficiently adequate to fulfil the requirements of commuters in small- or large-scale networks but would also minimize fraudulent attempts at fare evasion. To effect a more rigid control over passengers in an automatic fare paying system, the paper also discusses certain modifications that will be necessary in station layouts.


Objective:To study the circadian variability of circulating connective tissue metabolites in patients with very early (VERA) and long-standing rheumatoid arthritis (LRA) and in healthy control individuals. Methods:Eleven patients with newly diagnosed, untreated RA, disease duration < 6 months, and 10 patients with LRA were included, together with 16 healthy control subjects. Seven blood samples were drawn serially from each participant at 3-hourly intervals from 10.00–22.00 h, fasting at 07.00 h the following day and finally at 10.00 h. Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and hyaluronan (HYA) were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the N-terminal propeptide of collagen type III (PIIINP) was determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). Results: The two RA subsets did not differ with respect to age, gender distribution, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), immunoglobulin M rheumatoid factor (IgM-RF) status, global health status and pain. Healthy controls were younger than both VERA and LRA patients. At baseline, PIIINP, HYA, and COMP were increased significantly in both RA cohorts compared with controls. No circadian rhythmicity was recorded with respect to HYA and PIIINP. By contrast, COMP was decreased at 07.00 h in all three study groups; this decline was particularly prominent in LRA. Conclusion:Within-day changes of PIIINP, HYA, and COMP are qualitatively similar in RA at different stages and in healthy individuals, indicating that the connective tissue responses to rhythmic physiological signals are not abolished by disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy. Serum for measurement of HYA and COMP should be collected between 10.00 and 20.00 h.


DURING the 1965-66 school year an evaluation of the Frostig Visual-Perceptual program was conducted. 1 Subjects were in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade. In general, it was found that children taking the Frostig program did better on the Frostig Visual-Perceptual Test than did con trols. Largest gains were registered by first graders. After initial differences in Frostig scores were cancelled out, no significant dif ferences in end-of-year reading readiness scores were found among kindergarten pupils in Frostig and non-Frostig classes. Finally, subtest analyses were made and revealed that practically all the differences in Frostig total test scores noted above were due to one subtest; i.e., Form Constancy. Readers who are not acquainted with the Frostig Visual-Perceptual program or the in strument, are referred to the original study or to the Frostig manual.The purpose of this study is to replicate 3 as much as possible the former study and to follow up the children in the study to deter mine the predictive validity of the Frostig tests as well as to study the cumulative


Background Methotrexate is the reference treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has potentially serious side effects which can be prevented by an improvement in patient's information. Objectives To assess the knowledge of patients suffering from RA about their methotrexate treatment with a questionnaire. Methods A questionnaire containing 21 closed questions and 2 situation studies about the medication (mechanism of action, method of administration, therapeutic interactions, side effects, monitoring and implications on lifestyle) was given to all RA patients treated with methotrexate who consulted between March and September 2013 in the rheumatology department of Clermont-Ferrand Hospital. Results 183 patients were recruited, including 143 women (79%), with a mean age of 60 years ±13.5 and a median RA duration of 12 years (IQR: 7-20). Methotrexate has been initiated for a mean of 8 years (IQR: 5-13). Methotrexate was identified as a DMARD by 78% of participants. The weekly administration method was well known (97%) and 67% said that the folic acid was to reduce the toxicity of treatment. Only 21% knew that trimethoprim was contraindicated. Half of the patients knew about the haematological risks and 36% about the risks of hypersensitivity pneumonia. The frequency of laboratory assessments was known (80%) but 54% thought that the only purpose of these tests was to assess the RA activity. Only 13% of men (n=38) knew that contraception was essential compared to 90% of women of child-bearing age (n=20), 75% reported that alcohol consumption should be reduced. In multivariate analysis, a low knowledge score correlated significantly, with age and low educational status. Scores were independent of sex, duration of treatment or of the RA. Conclusions Patients' knowledge about methotrexate, particularly about the interaction with trimethoprim, risk of hypersensitive pneumonia and need for men to use a couple contraception should be increased by the treatment education programme instruments, especially in the elderly and the lower socio-educational status population. Disclosure of Interest : None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.4930


The purpose of this study was to determine in vitro antibacterial activity of selected teas (Assam: Indian black tea from Camellia sinensis, Pu-erh: darkpu-erh (shu) from Camellia sinensis, Sencha: Japanese green tea from Camellia sinensis) against five species of pathogenic microorganisms. In our study, we determined the total viable count (TVC), yeasts (Y) and Enterobacteriaceae counts (E). MALDI-TOF MS Biotyper was used for identification of colonies after cultivation. Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity was performed by disc diffusion method, well diffusion method and detection of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). For antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli CCM 2024, Yersinia enterocolitica CCM 5671, Klebsiella pneumonie CCM 2318, Staphylococus aureus CCM 2461 and Bacillus thurigiensis CCM19 were detected. The inhibition zones were measured in mm in disc diffusion method and well diffusion method. The MIC of the individual extracts was measured spectrophotometrically. The high number of total viable count was found in Pu-erh tea (2.1 log CFU.g) and lowest number was found in Assam tea (0.7 log CFU.g). The high number of Enterobacteriacea was found in Pu-erh tea (2.03 log CFU.g) and lowest in Assam tea (0 log CFU.g). The higher number of yeasts was found in Pu-erh tea (1.83 log CFU.g) and lowest in Assam tea (0.3 log CFU.g). Mass spectrometry revealed the presence of seven Gram positive bacteria Bacillus cereus, B. mycoides, B. pumilus, Enterococcus durans, Staphylococcus epidermis, S. hominis, S. warneri, four Gram negative bacteria Acinetobacter junii, Hafnia alvei, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Sphingomonas spp. and two yeast Candida glabrata, Cryptococcus albidus. The results show that certain tea extracts are particularly active against various pathogenic bacteria. Tea extracts (Sencha, Rooibos, Mate, Assam) were found to have the strongest antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus


The effects of inhibitors [acetazolamide, an inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase; amiloride, an inhibitor of the Na channel; furosemide, an inhibitor of the Na/K/2Cl transporter; 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS), an inhibitor of the Cl channel] on the water response in the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) were investigated using whole nerve recordings from the SLN of anesthetized and paralyzed rats. Changes in spontaneous activity in the SLN after i.v. injection of a hypo- or hypertonic solution were also investigated. The water response to higher concentration amiloride solutions (0.1, 1, 5 and 10 mM) were significantly smaller in comparison with the control, i.e. the water response to deionized water (88-59% of the control, Fisher's PLSD, P < 0.05). DIDS suppressed the water response significantly at concentrations of 0.5 and 2 mM by 18 and 33%, respectively (P < 0.05). Likewise, acetazolamide (2 mM) and furosemide (5 mM) significantly suppressed the water response by 9 and 40%, respectively (P < 0.05). An i.v. bolus injection of a hypertonic solution (1 ml of 1.5 M NaCl or 1.0 M mannitol) depressed spontaneous activity of the SLN. In contrast, an i.v. injection of a hypotonic solution (0.015 M NaCl) increased spontaneous activity. These results suggest that several ion transporters and ion channels, as well as carbonic anhydrase, that may exist in the dorsal surface in the epiglottis may regulate the water response in the SLN and that osmotic changes in the dorsal surface of the epiglottis and in the interstitial space can affect nerve activity in the SLN.


Summary form only given, as follows. This paper presents a combination of simple adaptive control (SAC) method and neural networks for a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear magnetic levitation system. The control input is given by the sum of the output of the simple adaptive controller and the output of the neural network. The neural network is used to compensate the nonlinearity of the plant dynamic of the magnetic levitation plant that is not taken into consideration in the usual SAC. The role of the neural network is to construct a linearized model by minimizing online the output error caused by nonlinearities in the control systems.


During the past 15 years there has been an excellent opportunity to study the abnormal x-ray shadows that appear in the mediastinum in patients seen at the Indiana University Medical Center. It is difficult to establish the true incidence of mediastinal tumors in a hospital population; however a total of 115 tumors were seen during a period when 123,753 patients were admitted to this Medical Center. The protocol observed for each patient included a careful history, physical examination, and x-rays of the chest. The x-ray studies included the usual P-A chest, lateral film, and cardiac fluoroscopy which included a barium swallow. Planograms were considered when mass lesions were indistinct. When the aorta or aortic arch could not be separated from the shadow, an aortogram orcardioangiogram was performed. A routine electrocardiogram proved valuable on several occasions. A careful search of entire organ systems was used to exclude the possibility of


This paper develops a new approximation formula for pricing basket options in a local-stochastic volatility model with jumps. In particular, the model admits local volatility functions and jump components in not only the underlying asset price processes, but also the volatility processes. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed formula is the first one which achieves an analytical approximation for the basket option prices under this type of the models. Moreover, in numerical experiments, we provide approximate prices for basket options on the WTI futures and Brent futures based on the parameters through calibration to the plain-vanilla option prices, and confirm the validity of our approximation formula.


Objective Obstruction release from urolithiasis can be delayed with a lack of suggested time for preventing the deterioration of renal function. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of obstruction duration, concomitant acute kidney injury (AKI) or acute pyelonephritis (APN) during the obstruction on the prognosis of renal function. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting and participants 1607 patients from a urolithiasis-related obstructive uropathy cohort, between January 2005 and December 2015. Outcome measures Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decrease ≥30% and/or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and eGFR decrease ≥50% and/or ESRD, according to obstruction duration, AKI and APN accompanied by obstructive uropathy. Results When the prognosis was divided by obstruction duration quartile, the longer the obstruction duration the higher the probability of eGFR reduction >50% (p=0.02). In patients with concomitant APN or severe AKI during hospitalisation with obstructive uropathy, an eGFR decrease of >30% and >50% occurred more frequently, compared with others (p<0.001). When we adjusted for sex, age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, APN, AKI grades and obstruction release >7 days for multivariate analysis, we found that concomitant APN (HR 3.495, 95% CI 1.942 to 6.289, p<0.001), concomitant AKI (HR 3.284, 95% CI 1.354 to 7.965, p=0.009 for AKI stage II; HR 6.425, 95% CI 2.599 to 15.881, p<0.001 for AKI stage III) and an obstruction duration >7 days (HR 1.854, 95% CI 1.095 to 3.140, p=0.001) were independently associated with an eGFR decrease >50%. Tree analysis also showed that AKI grade 3, APN and an obstruction duration >7 days were the most important factors affecting renal outcome. Conclusions In patients with urolithiasis-related obstructive uropathy, concomitant APN was strongly associated with deterioration of renal function after obstruction release. The elapsed time to release the obstruction also affected renal function.


Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the biggest killer of people in western civilisation. Age
is a significant risk factor for the development for CVD, and treatments and therapies to
address this increased risk are crucial to quality of life and longevity. Exercise is one such
intervention which has been shown to reduce CVD risk. Age is also associated with
endothelial dysfunction, reduced angiogenic capabilities, and reduced ability to repair the
vessel wall. Circulating angiogenic cells (CACs) are a subset of circulating cells which
assist in the repair and growth of the vasculature and in the maintenance of endothelial
function. Reductions in these cells are observed in those with vascular disease compared
to age-matched healthy controls. Exercise may reduce CVD risk by improvements in
number and/or function of these CACs.
Data was collected from human volunteers of various ages, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF)
levels and latent viral infection history status to investigate the effects of chronological
age, CRF, viral serology and other lifestyle factors, such as sedentary behaviours and
exercise on CACs. The levels of CACs in these volunteers were measured using four colour
flow cytometry using various monoclonal antibodies specific to cell surface
markers that are used to identify specific subsets of these CACs. In addition, the response
to acute exercise of a specific subset of these CACs, termed 'angiogenic T-cells' (TANG)
were investigated, in a group of well-trained males aged 20-40 years, using a strenuous
submaximal exercise bout.
Advancing age was associated with a decline in various subsets of CACs, including bone
marrow-derived CD34+ progenitors, putative endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and also
TANG cells. Individuals with a higher CRF were more likely to have higher circulating
numbers of TANG cells, particularly in the CD4+ subset. CRF did not appear to modulate
CD34+ progenitors or EPC subsets. Increasing sitting time was associated with reduction
in TANG cells, but after correcting for the effects of fitness, sitting time no longer
negatively affected the circulating number of these cells. Acute exercise was a powerful
stimulus for increasing the number of TANG cells (140% increase), potentially through an
SDF-1:CXCR4-dependent mechanism, but more studies are required to investigate this.
Latent CMV infection was associated with higher number of TANG cells (CD8+), but only
in 18-40 year old individuals, and not in an older age group (41-65 year old). The
significance of this has yet to be understood.
In conclusion, advancing age may contribute to increased CVD risk partly due to the
observed reductions in angiogenic cells circulating in the peripheral compartment.
Maintaining a high CRF may attenuate this CVD reduction by modulating TANG cell
number, but potentially not CD34+ progenitor or EPC subsets. Acute exercise may offer
a short window for vascular adaptation through the mobilisation of TANG cells into the
circulation.


OBJECTIVES
To elicit the perception of pain in patients undergoing dental extraction under local anaesthesia and also to identify factors that might contribute to this experience despite the administration of local anaesthesia.

SETTING
Ile-Ife, Southwestern Nigeria.

PARTICIPANTS
122 randomly selected single-tooth extraction patients.

METHODS
Informed consent was obtained from patients who subsequently completed a questionnaire on the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale prior to treatment. Details documented for each patient included the demographics, history of previous tooth extraction and the status of the operator. The extraction was timed from the application of instrument until tooth delivery. Immediately after extractions, patients were asked to indicate on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores graded 0-10, the level of pain perceived during extraction. The data were subjected to simple descriptive and statistical analysis using SPSS for Windows 11.0.

RESULTS
Positive correlations were found between the VAS and the anxiety scores, the attending surgeons' status, patients' anxiety score and the duration of surgery. A significant difference was found between the anxiety and the VAS scores in the different occupational groups.

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the status of the attending surgeon may affect the level of anxiety in patients undergoing tooth extractions prior to surgery. While patient's occupational group and duration of surgery could contribute to patient's intraoperative pain perception despite the administration of local anaesthesia.


We demonstrate a micropower low-noise CMOS amplifier array that reuses bias current to improve the fundamental noise-power tradeoffs of fully-differential amplifier designs. The presented circuit implements current-reuse by stacking the differential input pairs of four amplifiers. The output drain currents of each channel's differential pair are used as the tail currents for the differential pairs of the succeeding channel. Orthogonal current-reuse improves the noise and power tradeoff by sharing bias devices to conserve headroom. With four channels (n = 4), there are 16 unique output currents (2n) from the stack, each of which is a linear combination of the four inputs. Amplified versions of the original input signals are reconstructed by appropriately combining the small-signal output currents in output stages that operate at much lower bias currents. With an input-referred noise of 3.7 μVrms and a bandwidth of 19.9 kHz, a single channel achieves a noise efficiency factor (NEF) of 3.0. Amortizing the bias current across the amplifier's four channels yields an effective NEF of 1.64. The total power consumption is 15.6 μW, or 3.9 μW per path from a 1.5 V supply. Orthogonal biasing suppresses crosstalk between the channels, providing an isolation of 40 dB under 3-σ mismatch. The implemented circuit was fabricated in a standard 130 nm CMOS process and occupies an area of 0.125 mm2. The proposed technique is useful for a variety of applications ranging from low-power neural recording arrays to multiphase radio baseband amplifiers.


Cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to assess the health status of nursing staff retrained due to illness of a public university hospital in northern Paraná, Brazil. Data of 34 workers were collected through the application of the Medical Outcomes Studies 36 items - Short Form (MOS SF-36). The results showed that physical problems were the reason for retraining in 91.2 % of cases. Of the eight domains assessed by the MOS SF -36, the worst scores referred to bodily pain, vitality and general health and the best scores were attributed to aspects of the mental health component. Workers retrained due to physical reason had lower scores in all domains except emotional performance in relation to those with mental problem. The evaluation of the perceived health of these workers showed that retraining due to illness is a strategy developed to enhance the functional capacity of workers, despite their limitations.


This report summarizes the results of Phase 2 of this contract. The authors completed four tasks under this phase of the subcontract. (1) They developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of a 3500 direct injected natural gas (DING) engine gas injection/combustion system and used it to identify DING ignition/combustion system improvements. The results were a 20% improvement in efficiency compared to Phase 1 testing. (2) The authors designed and procured the components for a 3126 DING engine (300 hp) and finished assembling it. During preliminary testing, the engine ran successfully at low loads for approximately 2 hours before injector tip and check failures terminated the test. The problems are solvable; however, this phase of the program was terminated. (3) They developed a Decision & Risk Analysis model to compare DING engine technology with various other engine technologies in a number of commercial applications. The model shows the most likely commercial applications for DING technology and can also be used to identify the sensitivity of variables that impact commercial viability. (4) MVE, Inc., completed a preliminary design concept study that examines the major design issues involved in making a reliable and durable 3,000 psi LNG pump. A primary concern is the life of pump seals and piston rings. Plans for the next phase of this program (Phase 3) have been put on indefinite hold. Caterpillar has decided not to fund further DING work at this time due to limited current market potential for the DING engine. However, based on results from this program, the authors believe that DI natural gas technology is viable for allowing a natural gas-fueled engine to achieve diesel power density and thermal efficiency for both the near and long terms.


The rationalizability concept was introduced in Bernheim [Ber84] and Pearce [Pea84] to assess what can be inferred by rational players in a non-cooperative game in the presence of common knowledge. However, this notion can be defined in a number of ways that differ in seemingly unimportant minor details. We shed light on these differences, explain their impact, and clarify for which games these definitions coincide.Then we apply the same analysis to explain the differences and similarities between various ways the iterated elimination of strictly dominated strategies was defined in the literature. This allows us to clarify the results of Dufwenberg and Stegeman [DS02] and Chen, Long and Luo [CLL05] and improve upon them. We also consider the extension of these results to strict dominance by a mixed strategy.Our approach is based on a general study of the operators on complete lattices. We allow transfinite iterations of the considered operators and clarify the need for them. The advantage of such a general approach is that a number of results, including order independence for some of the notions of rationalizability and strict dominance, come for free.


The contribution of the central forces to the elastic constants of metals has been calculated by a new method from which Fuchs's results for c11 — c12, and c44 can be obtained directly along with the individual constants c11 and c12. The numerical values have been calculated for the four metals Cu, Li, Na and K . It is found that the Cauchy relation is not satisfied by the central interaction taken separately. The method of separating out the elastic constants due to central forces, which has been adopted by Fine, Leighton, Bauer and other workers on specific heat is shown to be unjustified. The contribution of free electrons to the elastic constants has been calculated by subtracting the central force elastic constants from the experimental values. As expected, the electron gas contributes only a single elastic constant which is not equal to the experimental Cauchy discrepancy. A method of setting up a secular determinant for the lattice frequencies of metals has been suggested.


The literature already established has shown the importance of information systems and technologies for becoming increasingly a factor that currently differentiates successful organizations, augmenting, increasingly, the dependence of the organizations on assistance provided by these resources. Its impact is very significant in organizations where the final product is information, such as the National Statistical Institutes, whose mission is to produce and disseminate official statistical information of general interest of a country. It is believed that using the systems and information technology most problems would be minimally resolved and that would also considerable productivity gains. Found, however, dissatisfaction for results, in most cases, due to poor standardization of technology, poor alignment between existing information systems within the enterprise and business processes, leading organizations to lose their productive capacity, was found an opportunity to demonstrate that it is possible to achieve the best results through the design of a new architecture of its information systems with a high level of technological standardization and alignment with the business, and as a case study of Mozambique's National Institute of Statistics.


Abstract An aspirated psychrometer system using thermopiled copper-constantan sensors is described. Field data are presented showing temperature and humidity profiles obtained over a turf crop by nine self-contained units mounted on a 6 m mast. Temperature and humidity can be determined with accuracies of 0.025C and 0.15 mm Hg vapor pressure. The units are relatively inexpensive and easy to fabricate. The wet-bulb element, a porous ceramic cup supplied with a continuous column of water from a reservoir, provides more reliable and less critical operation than the conventional cotton-wick elements.


The use of a silastic implant in resection arthroplasty of the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb allows the joint space to be preserved. With the Swanson type arthroplasty relief of pain, good function, as well as stability and improved pinch force can be obtained, avoiding the consequence of carpal instability by narrowing of the joint space associated with resection of the trapezium alone or in combination with tendon interposition arthroplasty. The two main problems associated with Swanson arthroplasty are prosthetic dislocation and longterm stability of the prosthesis itself. The joint surface of the prosthesis wears out asymmetrically, and mild to severe foreign body reactions can be seen in the carpal bones, mainly the scaphoid. Clinical and radiological results of a series of 77 operations in 65 patients from 1975-1981 are presented and discussed.


In small-sized tokamaks, finite Larmor radius effects could lead to a significant discrepancy between gyrokinetic local flux-tube results and global ones. This has been highlighted by previous turbulent transport studies as in McMillan et al (2010 Phys. Rev. Lett.). The impact of such effects on the zero particle flux condition is investigated here. The zero particle flux condition is useful to estimate the density peaking, reducing the uncertainty on physical input parameters derived from experimental measurements, for cases where the particle source is negligible. This constraint has been applied to the analysis of a particular TCV discharge, where a detailed reconstruction of the zero particle flux hyper-surface in the multidimensional physical parameter space at fixed radius had been presented in Mariani et al (2018 Phys. Plasmas). Here, we extend these results, investigating their radial dependence, together with the impact of global effects. These so-called ρ* effects are analyzed by simulating a plasma annulus corresponding to the stiff region 0.4 < ρ tor < 0.8 . Because of the computational cost of the nonlinear global gyrokinetic simulations, we restrict to a two species plasma in the collisionless regime, with heavy electrons and simplified density and temperature radial profiles. With these simplifications, the results seem to point towards global effects on the zero particle flux condition being relatively weak.


We compared electrophoretic evaluation of acid phosphatase isoenzymes with spectrophotometric determination of prostatic acid phosphatase in terms of clinical utility. In all of 33 cases of prostatic carcinoma, an increased prostatic fraction was detected; in nine prostatectomized patients, this fraction returned to normal as measured by either technique. Abnormal spectrophotometric results were also seen in 10 cases of benign prostatic hypertrophy and seven cases of non-prostatic disorders, but only two benign prostatic hypertrophy and one non-prostatic case showed a prostatic band (band 2) in an electrophoretogram. Band 2 was not demonstrated in 463 patients affected by a great variety of diseases but without prostatic disorders. A weak band 5 was seen in patterns for most patients, except for cases with metastatic bone tumor and Gaucher's disease, whose serum showed a strong band 5. The specificity of bands 2 and 5 seems to be confirmed by this large series of patients. Measurement of acid phosphatase isoenzymes is recommended as a routine screening test for patients whose serum acid phosphatase is abnormally high, because the isoenzyme study not only indicates the presence or absence of prostatic cancer but also whether or not there is bony metastasis. Other disorders such as Gaucher's disease, different kinds of leukemias, and thrombocythemia may also be detected and distinguished by this screening technique.


owing to the development of civil engineering in China and cooperation with the oversea construction companies, the demand for the knowledge of civil engineering English (CEE) and translators in this field has been increasing in recent years. This paper aims to analyze the language features of CEE from two aspects-vocabulary and sentence structure, and, based on the analysis, propose to set up a translation workshop and a process appraisal system in a student-centered environment for the cultivation of translation talents of CEE.


LaFe alloys of 1-25 at.% Fe were rapidly quenched from the melt and investigated magnetically. alpha -Fe was not detected in the alloys with less than 12% Fe. It was concluded that the alloys are composed of small ferromagnetic clusters dispersed in a non-magnetic matrix of beta -La and coupled with each other to form a ferromagnet as a whole below about 250 K. Ferromagnetism in a cluster disappeared at around 400 K, suggesting the formation of a metastable intermetallic compound unknown so far. The existence of non-magnetic Fe atoms dissolved in beta -La was detected in the 1% Fe alloy. Annealing at 400 degrees C for 30 min changed the cluster to antiferromagnetic at room temperature, indicating the existence of another intermetallic compound. Except for the absolute magnitude of the magnetization, the magnetic properties of the alloys did not depend on the Fe concentration. The quenching process of the alloys is discussed based on this fact.


Structural rearrangements of Anemone species' chloroplast genome has been reported based on genetic mapping of restriction sites but has never been confirmed by genomic studies. We used a next-generation sequencing method to characterize the complete chloroplast genomes of five species in the tribe Anemoneae. Plastid genomes were assembled using de novo assembling methods combined with conventional Sanger sequencing to fill the gaps. The gene order of the chloroplast genomes of tribe Anemoneae was compared with that of other Ranunculaceae species. Multiple inversions and transpositions were detected in tribe Anemoneae. Anemoclema, Anemone, Hepatica, and Pulsatilla shared the same gene order, which contained three inversions in the large single copy region (LSC) compared to other Ranunculaceae genera. Archiclematis, Clematis, and Naravelia shared the same gene order containing two inversions and one transposition in LSC. A roughly 4.4 kb expansion region in inverted repeat (IR) regions was detected in tribe Anemoneae, suggesting that this expansion event may be a synapomorphy for this group. Plastome phylogenomic analyses using parsimony and a Bayesian method with implementation of partitioned models generated a well resolved phylogeny of Ranunculaceae. These results suggest that evaluation of chloroplast genomes may result in improved resolution of family phylogenies. Samples of Anemone, Hepatica, and Pulsatilla were tested to form paraphyletic grades within tribe Anemoneae. Anemoclema was a sister clade to Clematis. Structual variation of the plastid genome within tribe Anemoneae provided strong phylogenetic information for Ranunculaceae.


It is a great challenge to obtain the uniform films of bromide-rich perovskites such as CsPbBr3 in the two-step sequential solution process (two-step method), which was mainly due to the decomposition of the precursor films in solution. Herein, we demonstrated a novel and elegant face-down liquid-space-restricted deposition to inhibit the decomposition and fabricate high-quality CsPbBr3 perovskite films. This method is highly reproducible, and the surface of the films was smooth and uniform with an average grain size of 860 nm. As a consequence, the planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs) without the hole-transport layer based on CsPbBr3 and carbon electrodes exhibit enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) along with high open circuit voltage ( VOC). The champion device has achieved a PCE of 5.86% with a VOC of 1.34 V, which to our knowledge is the highest performing CsPbBr3 PSC in planar structure. Our results suggest an efficient and low-cost route to fabricate the high-quality planar all-inorganic PSCs.


This paper introduces a scalable compact model of lateral double-diffused MOS (LDMOS) transistors. The new model, i.e., the Surface-Potential-based High-Voltage MOS (SP-HV), is constructed from a surface-potential-based bulk MOS field-effect transistor model, i.e., PSP, and a nonlinear resistor model, i.e., R3. Extensions are made to both PSP and R3 for improved modeling of LDMOS devices, and one internal node is introduced to connect the two component models. The new model is validated by comparison to technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations and experimental data. Quasi-saturation, self-heating, impact ionization current in the drift region, and complex behavior of transcapacitances are accurately modeled by SP-HV.


Satellite cells (SCs) in normal adult muscle are quiescent. They can enter the mitotic program when stimulated with growth factors such as basic FGF. Short-term denervation stimulates SC to enter the mitotic cycle in vivo, whereas long-term denervation depletes the SC pool. The molecular basis for the neural influence on SCs has not been established. We studied the phenotype and the proliferative capacity of SCs from muscle that had been denervated before being cultured in vitro. The expression of PCNA, myogenin, and muscle (M)-cadherin in SCs of normal and denervated muscle fibers was examined at the single-cell level by immunolabeling in a culture system of isolated rat muscle fibers with attached SCs. Immediately after plating (Day 0), neither PCNA nor myogenin was present on normal muscle fibers, but we detected an average of 0.5 M-cadherin+ SCs per muscle fiber. The number of these M-cadherin+ cells (which are negative for PCNA and myogenin) increased over the time course examined. A larger fraction of cells negative for M-cadherin underwent mitosis and expressed PCNA, followed by myogenin. The kinetics of SCs from muscle fibers denervated for 4 days before culturing were similar to those of normal controls. Denervation from 1 to 32 weeks before plating, however, suppressed PCNA and myogenin expression almost completely. The fraction of M-cadherin+ (PCNA−/myogenin−) SCs was decreased after 1 week of denervation, increased above normal after denervation for 4 or 8 weeks, and decreased again after denervation for 16 or 32 weeks. We suggest that the M-cadherin+ cells are nondividing SCs because they co-express neither PCNA or myogenin, whereas the cells positive for PCNA or myogenin (and negative for M-cadherin) have entered the mitotic cycle. SCs from denervated muscle were different from normal controls when denervated for 1 week or longer. The effect of denervation on the phenotypic modulation of SCs includes resistance to recruitment into the mitotic cycle under the conditions studied here and a robust extension of the nonproliferative compartment. These characteristics of SCs deprived of neural influence may account for the failure of denervated muscle to fully regenerate.


Cataract surgery is known to induce refractive and corneal astigmatism, but little is known regarding the specific corneal topographic alterations produced by this surgery. We evaluated the corneal topographic effects of extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) performed with an 8- to 11-mm posterior limbal incision closed with interrupted sutures and subsequent selective suture removal. Corneal topography was analyzed in 15 eyes with the TMS-1 videokeratoscope preoperatively, before selective suture removal 4-6 weeks after surgery, 2-5 weeks after selective removal of sutures, and at 5'/2-8 months after surgery. The Surface Regularity Index was significantly increased before suture removal and after suture removal but returned to normal at the final examination. The Irregular Astigmatism Index remained significantly increased at all examinations after surgery. Corneal asymmetry (Surface Asymmetry Index) continued to be significantly increased compared with the preoperative examination after suture removal and at 6 months after surgery. The standard deviation of powers (SDP) was significantly elevated before and immediately after suture removal, but was not significantly different at 6 months. Mean corneal astigmatism remained significantly increased (0.80 ± 0.11 preoperatively, 1.39 ± 0.24 at maximum follow-up, p=0.04). Significant changes in corneal topography occurred in each patient between suture removal and final examinations. A few patients developed against-the-rule astigmatism ranging from 0.6 to 2.2 diopters. ECCE significantly altered corneal topography compared with the preoperative contour in all patients. In those patients in whom surgically induced nonspherical and noncylindrical distortions occur (radially asymmetrical power distribution, lack of central corneal smoothness), corneal topog- raphy may provide information that is useful for management.


As the rapid development of Internet of things, a large number of devices, instruments and sensors will connect and collaborate to achieve Smart Planet. One of the key challenges is to integrate devices into business process. SOA is an ideal infrastructure for business process management as applications are invoked using standard interfaces and protocols. It's convenient to use device-oriented web services (doWS) to encapsulate devices functions. A doWS may conflict with other doWS because devices can't be controlled by more than one client at the same time. This brings additional complexity to web service composition. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive device collaboration model to doWS choreography. This model includes device layer, doWS layer, compatible resource layer and process layer, where device layer represent devices, doWS layer encapsulates devices functions, compatible resource layer abstracts compatible device operations as resource and avoid of conflict, process layer describes the collaboration process. Analysis shows that, this model can integrate devices with Web Services, and can achieve the conflict detection of doWS. This model is effective in the Internet of things.


Radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna efficiency is an important component of link budget design. A method of moments technique based on the summation of segment currents compares favorably with two different results obtained using the finite element method (radiation pattern integration and Wheeler cap). The efficiency of a resonant dipole was found to be proportional to the inverse square root of the conductivity. For a typical RFID meander line antenna in free space the relationship is more severe


The Historical Atlas of New York City, second edition, takes us, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, through four hundred years of Gotham's rich past, describing such crucial events as the city's initial settlement of 270 people in thirty log houses; John Jacob Astor's meteoric rise from humble fur trader to the richest most powerful man in the city; and the fascinating ethnic mixture that is modern Queens. The full-colour maps, charts, photographs, drawings, and mini-essays of this encyclopaedic volume also trace the historical development and cultural relevance of such iconic New York thoroughfares as Fifth Avenue, Wall Street, Park Avenue, and Broadway. This thoroughly updated edition brings the Atlas up to the present, including three all-new two-page spreads on Rudolph Giuliani's New York, the revival of Forty-second Street, and the rebuilding of Ground Zero. A fascinating chronicle of the life of a metropolis, the handsome second edition of The Historical Atlas of New York City provides a vivid and unique perspective on the nation's cultural capital.


The search for maximum efficiency which was formed as a result of the digital transformation, which was founded in the 1970s, brought Industry 4.0, which means the change of production strategies and business models, in 2011. In this new age which predicts the use of smart factories using unmanned cutting-edge smart robots; it is claimed that resource efficiency will increase, costs will decrease, the speed of product launching will improve and energy savings will be achieved thanks to dark production. It is a fact that the competition in the market will increase with this new age in the world. Turkey's success in holding on to this global market seems to depend on adaptation to newly created technologies, hosting and support processes. Especially the adaptation of SMEs, which constitute a large share of entrepreneurship activities, to this process is important. For this reason, in this study, by examining the production flow of "Kan Metal", which makes small scale production; it has been adapted to Industry 4.0 setup. Thus, by comparing the current system with the predicted one; advantages and disadvantages are identified and changes in the transformation process are revealed. During the examination of the production system, firstly, an information questionnaire was sent to the company, a visit was made to the company, information was exchanged with the company official with the semi-structured interview technique in the light of the information obtained from the questionnaires, and the production line was examined and photographed with the observation method. The current system was analyzed in the light of these data and adapted to the industry 4.0 system with the literature review method and a fictional model was designed. As a result, industry 4.0 means many advantages for the market, such as increased productivity, reduced costs, ease of use of resources and space, tracking the production flow from order to supply, and creating sensitive products. However, the high costs and unqualified personnel of the establishment of new technologies constitute the biggest disadvantages for SMEs. Transition to the new system seems possible only if these companies are supported in terms of infrastructure, education and capital.


Wire electrical discharge machining process is a highly complex, time varying & stochastic process. The process output is affected by large no of input variables. Therefore a suitable selection of input variables for the wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) process relies heavily on the operator"s technology & experience because of their numerous & diverse range. WEDM is extensively used in machining of conductive materials when precision is of prime importance. Rough cutting operation in wire EDM is treated as challenging one because improvement of more than one performance measures viz. Metal removal rate(MRR), surface finish & cutting width (kerf), Dimensional derivation, Cutting Speed, Machining Time are sought to obtain precision work. In this work an approach to determine parameters setting is proposed. Using taguchi"s parameter design, significant machining parameters affecting using Copper, Brass, Tungsten carbide and aluminium wire electrode, the performance measures are identified as pulse peak current , pulse on time, pulse off time, Flushing Pressure, Wire Speed, Wire tension and duty factor . The effect of each control factor on the performance measure is studied individually using the plots of signal to noise ratio, Grey relation Analysis and ANN and ANOVA Technique, The study demonstrates that the WEDM process parameters can be adjusted so as to achieve better surface finish. KEYWORD: Wire EDM, Surface roughness, Taguchi, ANOVA.


Circularly dichroic metasurfaces are highly sought for a plethora of applications; while many alternative options are present in the literature, it is hard to select an approach that combines high circular dichroism (CD) with stable performances and easy reproducibility. In this work, we have designed and experimentally investigated a planar plasmonic metamaterial based on a comma-shaped geometry, which features such characteristics. We have focused the complexity of realization in the design process, which combines intrinsic chirality and high field localization, while fabrication was executed by using a standard single-step lift-off procedure. We have produced two classes of samples, closely related in shape but differing slightly in designing method and results, both reaching high levels of CD. Experiments on the first reveal the sensibility of the metasurface to geometrical variations due to fabrication non-idealities, as often happens in metamaterials based on surface plasmons and resonances; on the other hand, with the second, we demonstrate that it is possible to guarantee stable peak values on specific wavelength ranges, even when dealing with relevant fabrication tolerances. Moreover, numerical analyses suggest the possibility to reach values converging toward unity. The ease of implementation by using standard fabrication procedures and the robustness of the performance even with fabrication imprecisions make our proposed metamaterial eligible for adoption for further research in high-precision spectroscopy and implementation at industrial scale.


Although the European reports highlight an increase in community-acquired Legionnaires' disease cases, the risk of Legionella spp. in private houses is underestimated. In Pisa (Italy) we performed a three-year survey on Legionella presence in 121 buildings with an independent hot water production (IB); 64 buildings with a central hot water production (CB); and 35 buildings with a solar thermal system for hot water production (TB). From all the 220 buildings Legionella spp. was researched in two hot water samples collected either at the recirculation point or on the first floor and on the last floor, while the potable water quality was analysed in three cold water samples collected at the inlet from the aqueduct network, at the exit from the autoclave, and at the most remote tap. Legionella pneumophila sg1, Legionella pneumophila sg2–16, and non-pneumophila Legionella species were detected in 26% of the hot water networks, mostly in CB and TB. In these buildings we detected correlations between the presence of Legionella and the total chlorine concentration decrease and/or the increase of the temperature. Cold water resulted free from microbiological hazards, with the exception of Serratia liquefaciens and Enterobacter cloacae isolated at the exit from two different autoclaves. We observed an increase in total microbial counts at 22 °C and 37 °C between the samples collected at the most remote taps compared to the ones collected at the inlet from the aqueduct. The study highlights a condition of potential risk for susceptible categories of population and supports the need for measures of risk assessment and control.


The study of air velocity inside the cooling tower gives an overview of the process of heat or mass transfer. This study developed mathematical modelling based on the principle of continuity and statistical thermodynamics to track changes in radius, velocity, density, and temperature of droplets and air along with the droplet trajectory or tower height. Before that, the droplet radius range is predicted in advance to get the accuracy of the calculation. Also, water capacity and fan rotation are varied to determine their effect on cooling tower performance. The calculation results showed that 18 Lpm capacity gives efficiencies above 50%, while for 0.5 Lpm capacity, it produces efficiencies in between 25% to 40%. The highest efficiency indicates that the evaporation process occurs most efficiently. Mathematical modelling in calculations can also describe the increase in air temperature, which usually uses numerical simulations.


A technique based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the specific detection of Phytophthora medicaginis was developed using nucleotide sequence information of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) regions. The complete IGS 2 region between the 5 S gene of one rDNA repeat and the small subunit of the adjacent repeat was sequenced for P. medicaginis and related species. The entire nucleotide sequence length of the IGS 2 of P. medicaginis was 3566 bp. A pair of oligonucleotide primers (PPED04 and PPED05), which allowed amplification of a specific fragment (364 bp) within the IGS 2 of P. medicaginis using the PCR, was designed. Specific amplification of this fragment from P. medicaginis was highly sensitive, detecting template DNA as low as 4 ng and in a host-pathogen DNA ratio of 1000000:1. Specific PCR amplification using PPED04 and PPED05 was successful in detecting P. medicaginis in lucerne stems infected under glasshouse conditions and field infected lucerne roots. The procedures developed in this work have application to improved identification and detection of a wide range of Phytophthora spp. in plants and soil.


This paper presents new control strategies of a small size wind generation system for battery charging. The output voltage of the direct drive PMSG is connected to the battery through a switch mode rectifier. A DC-DC boost converter is used to regulate the battery bank current in order to achieve maximum power from the wind. A maximum power-tracking algorithm calculates the current command that corresponds to maximum power output of the turbine. The DC-DC converter uses this current command to calculate the duty cycle witch is necessary to control the pulse width modulated (PWM) active switching device (IGPT). The system overview and modeling are presented including characteristics of wind turbine, generator, batteries, power converter, control system, and supervisory system. A simulation of the system is performed using MATLAB/SIMULINK.


This article explores the role of NGOs (Non Government Organizations) in poverty eradication especially in the rural area of Bangladesh and how they are performing. Hence theoretical background of NGOs, a detail understanding of the term rural poverty, poverty scenario of Bangladesh was discussed. It was found with supportive references how the NGOs of this country are playing a positive and essential role for the betterment of the poor and the needy. The mission and activities of NGOs revealed the fact that the NGOs are omnipresent with their multifaceted and multidimensional projects aimed at providing informal and non-formal education, health, nutrition, and empowerment of women etc. NGOs have organized the rural poor and taught them the benefits of forming groups/cooperatives, supplied them with inexpensive agricultural technology, leadership development, social forestation through usage of government owned khas land etc all of which helps in poverty eradication. Hence NGOs in Bangladesh can continue playing the role of catalyst in the attainment of sustainable economic growth and development provided, an endurable, warm and dependable relationship is there between the Government and NGOs where both are working for the benefit of the people.


In this paper we present a tree structure for storing points from a normed space whose norm is effectively computable. We then give an algorithm for finding the nearest point from the tree to a given query point. Our algorithm searches the tree and uses the triangle inequality to eliminate searching of the entirety of some branches of the tree whenever a certain predicate is satisfied. Our data structure uses 0(n) for storage. Empirical data which we have gathered suggest that the expected complexity for preprocessing and the search time are, respectively, 0(nlogn) and 0(logn).


In 2010, dabigatran etexilate, a direct thrombin inhibitor, was the first new oral anticoagulant to be approved for thromboembolic prophylaxis in atrial fibrillation in over 50 years. Dabigatran, unlike warfarin, has a short half-life with a rapid onset of anticoagulant effect, does not require dose adjustment or monitoring, and does not interact with food. The RE-LY trial compared two doses of dabigatran (110 and 150 mg twice daily) with adjusted dose warfarin in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation and at least 1 stroke risk factor. Compared with warfarin, dabigatran 150 mg twice daily was superior in reducing the risk of stroke or systemic embolism and was associated with a similar rate of major bleeding, while dabigatran 110 mg twice daily was equally effective in reducing stroke or systemic embolism and was associated with less major bleeding. Despite these favorable results, there remains disagreement regarding the optimal dose and overall safety of dabigatran in certain patient populations including the elderly and those with renal dysfunction.


The world economy heavily relies on fossil fuels. Their use leads to carbon dioxide emissions responsible of global warming and fuels international tensions. Renewable energy sources and energy efficiency are alternatives. An Organic Rankine Cycle is similar to a steam cycle but uses an organic fluid instead of water. It is suitable for conversion of solar radiation, geothermal energy, biomass energy, ocean thermal gradient, and waste heat into power. Although investigated in the 1970s, it was soon abandoned after the oil crisis. With the growing concern on the environment, the interest for this technology for electricity generation was renewed. The technology for medium and large scale systems is already mature but solutions are still sought for small systems. This book presents results of investigation on micro organic Rankine cycles of less than 2 kW power output. Overview of different organic Rankine cycle applications, working fluid selection, cycle performance analysis, and economic evaluation constitute the content of the book and will be useful to energy professionals, researchers working on thermodynamics and those interested in next generation power systems.


This paper presents the adaptive algorithm to resolve the problem in the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of solar cell battery charger and applies it in the design for MPPT system. Results of the research show that the adaptive algorithm has not only accelerated the calculating speed and strengthen the searching performances, but also has the high tracking precision.


Phage satellites commonly remodel capsids they hijack from the phages they parasitize, but only a few mechanisms regulating the change in capsid size have been reported. Here, we investigated how a satellite from Vibrio cholerae, PLE, remodels the capsid it has been predicted to steal from the phage ICP1 (1). We identified that a PLE-encoded protein, TcaP, is both necessary and sufficient to form small capsids during ICP1 infection. Interestingly, we found that PLE is dependent on small capsids for efficient transduction of its genome, making it the first satellite to have this requirement. ICP1 isolates that escaped TcaP-mediated remodeling acquired substitutions in the coat protein, suggesting an interaction between these two proteins. With a procapsid-like-particle (PLP) assembly platform in Escherichia coli, we demonstrated that TcaP is a bona fide scaffold that regulates the assembly of small capsids. Further, we studied the structure of PLE PLPs using cryogenic electron microscopy and found that TcaP is an external scaffold, that is functionally and somewhat structurally similar to the external scaffold, Sid, encoded by the unrelated satellite P4 (2). Finally, we showed that TcaP is largely conserved across PLEs. Together, these data support a model in which TcaP directs the assembly of small capsids comprised of ICP1 coat proteins, which inhibits the complete packaging of the ICP1 genome and permits more efficient packaging of replicated PLE genomes.


Nonrelativistic shock surfing acceleration at quasiperpendicular shocks is usually considered to be a preacceleration mechanism for slow pickup ions to initiate diffusive shock acceleration. In shock surfing, the particle accelerates along the shock front under the action of the convective electric field of the plasma flow. However, the particle also gains kinetic energy normal to the shock and eventually escapes downstream. We consider the case when ions are accelerated to relativistic velocities. In this case, the ions are likely to be trapped for infinitely long times, because the energy of bounce oscillations tends to decrease during acceleration. This suggests the possibility of unlimited acceleration by shock surfing.


The ingress of water from various solutions into dense starch and sucrose:starch plaques has been observed over a range of temperatures using stray field nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Profiles of water content as a function of depth from the surface and sorption time have been analysed to obtain mutual diffusion coefficients. This has been done using the Boltzmann transform and by measuring the front position as a function of time which produces an average mutual diffusion coefficient. This average diffusion coefficient can be fit with an Arrenhius expression with an activation energy of 56̂4 kJ mol. It was found that the average diffusion coefficients for 30:70 and 50:50 sucrose:starch mixtures could be calculated using a weighted mean of the average diffusion coefficients for pure sucrose and pure starch. Although the diffusion coefficients for amorphous and crystalline sucrose are quite different, this has a minor effect on the calculated diffusion coefficients for the range of crystallinities observed in the sucrose:starch mixtures. q 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


Advances in VLSI technologies are enabling the construction of entire systems on a chip. A major challenge in the design of such systems is design verification. This paper presents the design and verification process used to develop Euphony. Euphony is an inexpensive low power system on a chip which contains: a RISC processor with DSP functions, a complex memory and device controller, two ATM network interfaces, architectural support for AAL5 SAR processing, a five channel DMA controller, and a serial port that can interface to wide variety of audio devices. Euphony was developed jointly by AT&T and LSI Logic. AT&T developed the architecture while LSI Logic performed the implementation using LSI Logic's LCB500K 0.5 micron drawn cell-based ASIC processes. Both companies were heavily involved in design verification.


Aim. To investigate on the relation of lipoproteide(a) (Lpa), subfractions of atherogenic lipoproteides and titers of specific autoantibodies (autoAb) with the presence and severity of carotid arteries (CA) lesion in statin-naïve patients with severe hypercholesterolemia.Material and methods. To the study, 133 statin-naïve patients included, age 18 to 75 y.o., with absent clinical signs of coronary heart disease, and with first time diagnosed severe hypercholesterolemia (total cholesterol >7,5 mM/L and/or low density lipoproteides cholesterol >4,9 mM/L) with ultrasound duplex scan data of CA. All patients underwent measurement of Lpa concentration, lipid profile, subfractional content of apoB-100-containing lipoproteides and autoAb titer against them.Results. According to the data from duplex CA scan, patients were selected to 2 groups: control group (n=76) with no CA atherosclerosis; main group — patients with CA stenosis >20% (n=57). The participants of main group were older than controls, with no other clinical or lipid profile differences. Titre of autoAb IgM specific for Lpa and its oxidized modifications was significantly lower in CA atherosclerosis comparing to controls. The grade of CA stenosis in severe hypercholesterolemia patients positively correlated with age (r=0,24, p=0,005) and negatively — with autoAb IgM to apoB100-containing lipoproteides (r=-0,28 and r=-0,26, p<0,005). Also, a correlation found for CA stenosis grade with subfractions of intermediate density lipoproteides of moderate size (r=0,21, p=0,032). AutoAb titre against Lpa was an independent predictor of CA lesion severity regardless the age and traditional risk factors by the data from multifactorial regression. By ROCanalysis with the highest diagnostic value (square under AUC =0,68) the level of autoAb IgM to Lpa lower than 0,083 lab. units, with sensitivity 40% and specificity 88% is related to the lesion of common CA.Conclusion. In patients with severe hypercholesterolemia Lpa is an autoantigen, and IgM autoantibodies to Lpa play antiatherogenic role.


A series of novel sulfonyl semicarbazides 5-13 was designed, synthesized, and evaluated for human carbonic anhydrase (hCA) inhibition. The new sulfonyl semicarbazides were tested against a panel of hCA isoforms I, II, IX, and XII, using acetazolamide (AZA, 1) as standard. All the sulfonyl semicarbazides showed subnanomolar affinity for hCA XII (pK i range 0.59-0.79 nM) and high selectivity over hCA I (58-114-fold) and hCA IX (26-114-fold) compared to hCA II (5-20-fold except 11, 121-fold). The importance of the nature of para-substitution on the sulfonyl substituted aromatic ring for potency and selectivity against one hCA isoform versus others is discussed. Overall, the research work led to the development of highly potent and selective hCA inhibitors.


In this work landscape has been considered as the space that is around the viewer. A scene is built by natural and artificial elements. Among them detach buildings. For this reason, the whole scene and the relations among its members is studied. The individualization of its elements can not be considered as landscape; a tree or a mountain would not be a landscape, only the global vision. Usually, the constructions always suppose the suppression of natural surfaces and, sometimes, the introduction of rare elements in the place. This incorporation of «singular elements» obliges to a planning in the execution and a study of design guides to the constructions for achieving its integration in the landscape. A correct analysis, that foresees the environmental problems and avoids the conflict between conservation and development, is necessary. The space, as a visual element of a scene, is defined as the tridimensional disposition of the objects and zones of the landscape that form the scenic composition and that is configured with the relation among its components. So three characteristics of the space: scenic composition, scenic background and localization of the are going to be studied. When the space is examined, rules that guide in the selection of the spatial localization should be analysed. The situation of the building has a great influence in its perception; so the construction will act as a point of greater or minor attention in the scene. Usually, the visualization of a building surges with a movement toward it. The tridimensional disposition of the objects in the landscape is basic to define this gradual perception of the construction. A slow opening of the vision always is gladder to the perception that a long and monotonous approach. It's due to while the interest for discovering something remains, the attention is active. The background and the localization of the units refers to the relative situation of the formal elements with own identity. It's defined in relation to the altitude and the characteristics of the composition. A specific study of the localization of the buildings is defined basically by its topographical position. The objects in visible or strategic localizations (focal centres) dominate to the others. The study of these concepts confers important arguments to the theories of intervention and is an important base to the guides that try to guarantee the maintenance of the quality of the landscapes.


We study the e(cid:11)ects of a laser beam from the laser diode operating at 980nm on the violet-excited ZnS:Cu and SrAl2O4:Eu phosphor powders. Two contrary phenomena, i.e., infrared-induced permanent quenching and short-lived enhancement of phosphorescence, are observed. The defect levels play a signi(cid:12)cant role in both the processes. It is demonstrated that the phosphorescence induced by the violet beam can be controlled by another infrared beam. The turn-o(cid:11) and turn-on behaviour means that doping luminescent centres into host materials is a considerable way to design a new all-optical switch and may control the output of laser beams in the (cid:12)bre lasers and optical communications.


ABSTRACT In this paper, we first reviewed the economic development of China and Taiwan, then the economic interrelationship among China, U.S. and Taiwan were discussed in some detail. Then economic outlook of U.S., China, and Taiwan has been explored. JEL: A1, F4 Keywords: Economic development; Reconstruction; Export expansion; Economic outlook; Foreign investment; Political risk; Economic risk I. INTRODUCTION I am one of the Chinese-American professors participating in Economic Reform in the People's Republic of China since 1982. For the last nineteen years I have represented the U.S. Department of Commerce, the World Bank, United Nations, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Rutgers University to teach managers, government officers, professors, and students in China. In addition, I research the financial markets and economic development of the U.S., Taiwan, China and other Asian countries. I have actively participated in financial market and policy reform in Taiwan, and in 1994, proposed a strategy to develop Taipei as a regional financial center with Governor Fai-Nan Perng and other government officers. I am also actively consulting with companies and universities in Taiwan and other Asian countries. In Section II, Economic Development of China and Taiwan is discussed in some detail. In Section III, the economic relationships among China, U.S., and Taiwan will be explored. Section IV discusses the economic outlook of the U.S., China, and Taiwan. In Section V, Foreign Investment Analysis for Taiwan will be analyzed and Section VI will predict Taiwan's economic prospective. Section VII summarizes the paper. II. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA AND TAIWAN In this section, we will first briefly review the economic development of China in the last twenty years. Then, the economic development of Taiwan in the last 50 years will be discussed. 1. Economic Development of China After the 1949 Communist Revolution, China's economic performance was very poor because the Socialist economic planning system did not give individual and company incentive to perform economic activities. In China, almost everything is nationalized until the early 1980s. The Chinese leader XiaoPing Deng proposed reforming the Chinese economy in 1979, since then, it is worthwhile to note that the economic growth of China has improved substantially. Chinese economic development has gotten the help of World Bank, IMF, Hong Kong, United States, Japan, Taiwan, and other foreign countries during the last 20 years. The Chinese economic development can be classified into three periods for the last 20 years as follows (1): a. Period 1 (1979-1985) is the learning by doing period. During this period, reform group and conservative group had struggled to determine whether the new socialist market type of economy or old planning type of economy should be undertaken in China. Finally, the new socialist type of market system economy has been accepted as the principle of the Chinese Economic Reform. By 1985, the growth of GDP had reached 13.5%; however, the inflation rate increased to 8.8%. b. Period 2 (1986-1992) is a fluctuation period. During these 7 years, government had relaxed the price control and the private enterprise of rural area had played an important role in economic growth. In 1988, the inflation rate had reached 18.5% and the daily life of poor people became miserable. In addition, the corruption of government and business sectors had reached a very severe situation; therefore, the Tianamin Square revolt occurred on June 4, 1989. Since then, the government started to control economic activity again. In 1990, the GDP growth rate had decreased from 11.3% in 1988 to 3.8% in 1990. Simultaneously, the inflation rate also decreased from 18.5% in 1988 to 2.1% in 1990. Then, the economic reform was kicked off again in 1991 and the growth rate of GDP was recovered up to 14. …


Drawing upon data from a year-long ethnographic study involving 15 rural female U.S. teens, this paper uses critical theory and queer theory to explore how Facebook and Twitter use influences and is influenced by young women's experiences within family. Findings suggest interlocutors use social media to "get around" ideological and physical constraints to involvement they face as minors and females in families. Living in social media, interlocutors reported they strategically perform social identities to enhance the visibility of traits encouraging parental trust and connection. At the same time, they used these platforms together to perform invisibility, allowing them to quietly subvert certain parental controls that police and restrict their involvements offline.


Surgery is the primary mode of therapy for colonic and rectal cancer. The principles of surgery are: laparotomy for staging, wide en bloc resection of the primary tumor and lymphadenectomy for staging as well as possible therapeutic benefit. Reasonable efforts should be made intraoperatively to prevent intraluminal and intraperitoneal spread. Resection of metastases can prolong survival in stage D patients confined to the liver. Dukes C colon cancer patients should receive multiagent chemotherapy. There is no well defined role for radiation therapy as adjuvant treatment in colon cancer. Local failure pattern and treatment strategies are different for cancer of the rectum. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment for all lesions; other modalities are adjunctive. Lesions within 5 cm of the anal verge usually require abdominoperineal resection, while the other are treated with a low anterior resection. New techniques are emerging to preserve the anal sphincter and gastrointestinal continuity, and these are being tested to determine if adequate tumor control is obtained.


This paper empirically analyzes the changes in the price of apartments which are adjacent to an abandoned building before and after the selection of the building as a target of a maintenance project by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Korea. The analytic model to capture a public value from the project is a difference-in-differences framework, and the data used for the analysis correspond to the actual transaction prices. According to the empirical results, after the selection of the abandoned building by the maintenance project, the prices of the neighboring apartments increased by approximately 82.6 dollars per one square meter of the apartments compared to those of apartments which are across a river. The existence of such positive external effects would support the public intervention in managing the abandoned buildings.


One of the divisions of the Bureau of Child Hygiene is the Division of Children's Clinics. The clinics have an eye, nose and throat and dental service, and in five of the clinics, hospital facilities are offered for operations on children with abnormal growth of lymphoid tissue in the tonsils and nasopharynx. The clinics have been operated since March, 1912. The total capacity of tuberculosis clinics for operative cases is forty-two cases a day. Operations were performed three times a week in each clinic at first, and for the past year they have been carried out daily. Under the earlier plan the children were received in the early afternoon of the day preceding operation, and received general and gastrointestinal care during the afternoon and evening. Temperatures, physical examinations and urine analyses were made before operation. The operations were performed between 9 and 10 a. m. The children, if well, are


Proliferation of data processing and data storage devices in the Internet of Things poses significant privacy risks. At the same time, faster and faster use-cycles and obsolescence of devices with electronic components causes environmental problems. Some of the solutions to the environmental challenges of e-waste include mandatory recycling schemes as well as informal second hand markets. However, the data security and privacy implications of these green policies are as yet badly understood. This paper argues that based on the experience with second hand markets in desktop computers, it is very likely that data that was legitimately collected under the household exception of the Data Protection Directive will "leak" into public spheres. Operators of large recycling schemes may find themselves inadvertently and unknowingly to be data controller for the purpose of Data Protection law, private resale of electronic devices can expose the prior owner to significant privacy risks.


The methodological and empirical foundations underlying the theories on human left-handedness are examined, including the definition and classification of left-handedness, its relation to pathology, and the results on family, adoption, and twin research. It is argued that major research findings on left-handedness are based on inadequate empirical methods, and the concrete definitions and assessment procedures do not meet validity and reliability criteria. This also casts doubt on the relationship between left-handedness and pathology reported in the literature. Furthermore, findings from family, adoption, and twin studies do not allow interpretation of possible direct genetic contributions to explaining left-handedness. It is concluded that the methodological limitations of a causal explanation should encourage an examination of the epistemological and methodological premises of theory formulation. The functional method and a theoretical framework based on early childhood experiences and the neural plasticity of the brain may be more appropriate for the selection of empirical methods in research of human left-handedness.


This study was conducted to answer the question, "What is the description of the mathematical critical thinking ability of middle school students in Tidore city based on gender and background?". This question is essential to answer because it is motivated by the mathematical performance of students in Tidore is low nationally and is reinforced by the results of the 2015 and 2018 PISA and OECD surveys. Gender is used as a distinguishing factor because this factor is still culturally rooted in this area and affects the role of society in life socially. Tidore comprises three significant communities, namely coastal, urban, and mountainous communities, each of which has a unique pattern of social life. Therefore, researchers also use "background" as a distinguishing factor. Data collection was carried out in three schools representing the three communities using a questionnaire, math problems (arithmetic, geometry, algebra), and semi-structured interviews on two subjects (male and female) in each location. The results of the analysis show, based on gender and background the ability of students to think critically mathematically are categorized as sufficient (close to less) with a mathematical critical thinking (MCT) achievement ratio of  0.27. Male subjects had an achievement ratio of 0.3 (sufficient) higher than female subjects of  0.24 (insufficient). Based on the background subjects from urban areas had the highest MCT achievement ratio of 0.49 (sufficient) while the subject achievement ratio of the coast and mountains were 0.17 (insufficient) and 0.15 (insufficient), respectively.


ProQua is a new probabilistic database system which combines information retrieval concepts with database technologies. In contrast to other state-of-the-art probabilistic database systems ProQua supports logic-based and weighted similarity conditions within its query language by a generic similarity operator. In this work we introduce the ProQua query language QSQL2 by presenting its syntax, semantics and query capabilities. Furthermore, we briefly discuss the main components of ProQua.


This thesis focuses on reactive water-soluble polymers suitable for forming liquid-liquid phase transitions from both polyelectrolyte complexation and thermal induction. Novel hydrogel microspheres are formed by liquid-liquid phase transition followed by crosslinking reactions. Besides studying the properties of polymers and hydrogel microspheres formed, the mechanism of liquid-liquid phase transitions as well as potential applications of these systems in protein separation and encapsulation are discussed. Chapter 1 describes the background of liquid-liquid phase transitions of aqueous polymer solutions, including polyelectrolyte complexation, thermally induced phase transition and their application in designing hydrogel microspheres. Chapter 2 describes the thermo-responsive properties of fully MPEG-grafted maleic anhydride copolymers in aqueous solutions. The phase transitions are ascribed to the cooperative effects of intra/intermolecular hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions. Chapter 3 describes the use of analogous partially MPEG-grafted maleic anhydride copolymers as reactive polyanions to form phase-separated liquid polyelectrolyte complexes with polycations, and to prepare hydrogel micro spheres by crosslinking the polyelectrolyte complexes with polyamines. Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 extend this two-stage approach of liquid-liquid phase transition followed by crosslinking reaction to thermally induced phase transitions. Thermally induced liquid-liquid phase transitions of poly(N,N-dimethacrylamide-coglycidyl methacrylate) and poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide-co-allyl methacrylate) aqueous solutions are thus used to prepare hydrogel microspheres. The morphology of the resulting micro spheres is studied by electron microscopy. The mechanism of thermally induced liquid-liquid phase transitions ofpoly(N,Ndimethacrylamide) copolymer solutions is discussed in Chapter 6, together with the preparation of well-defined model copolymers using atom transfer radical polymerization.


"Scientific" psychology, after great apparent successes, didn't seems able to account for qualifying features of the human mind and action like those implied in the concept of identity. On the ground of contributions kept out of psychology's mainstream, like Mead's symbolic interactionism and Vigotsky's action theory, some psychological theories were developed in which, on the contrary, identity stays as the essential feature of human beings embedded in historical contexts, but playing an active role inside them. Thus identity becomes a sort of litmus paper for any psychological theory, and not only opens new research directions, but also suggests ways for coming back critically onto psychology's method and object and for reopening the fruitful exchanges of its beginnings with the other human sciences.


Observer metamerism (OM) is the name given to the variability between the color matches that individual observers consider accurate. The standard color imaging approach, which uses color-matching functions of a single representative observer, does not accurately represent every individual observer's perceptual properties. This paper investigates OM in color displays and proposes a quantitative assessment of the OM distribution across the chromaticity diagram. An OM metric is calculated from a database of individual LMS cone fundamentals and the spectral power distributions of the display's primaries. Additionally, a visualization method is suggested to map the distribution of OM across the display's color gamut. Through numerical assessment of OM using two distinct publicly available sets of individual observers' functions, the influence of the selected dataset on the intensity and distribution of OM has been underscored. The case study of digital cinema has been investigated, specifically the transition from xenon-arc to laser projectors. The resulting heatmaps represent the "topography" of OM for both types of projectors. The paper also presents color difference values, showing that achromatic highlights could be particularly prone to disagreements between observers in laser-based cinema theaters. Overall, this study provides valuable resources for display manufacturers and researchers, offering insights into observer metamerism and facilitating the development of improved display technologies.


Focusing on adult members of German households, this paper investigates the determinants of public transit ridership with the aim of quantifying the effects of fuel prices, fares, person-level attributes, and characteristics of the transit system on transport counts over a five-day week. The reliance on individual data raises several conceptual and empirical issues, the most fundamental of which is the large proportion of zero values in transit counts. To accommodate this feature of the data, we employ modeling procedures referred to as zero-inflated models (ZIMs), which order observations into two latent regimes defined by whether the individual never uses public transport. Our estimates reveal fuel prices to have a positive and substantial influence on transit ridership, though there is no evidence for a statistically signifi cant impact of the fare.


This study investigates the effects of asperity interactions on the mean surface separation and real contact area of rough surfaces containing elliptical asperities with Gaussian and non-Gaussian height distributions. The elastic-plastic contact behavior of surfaces with elliptical asperities with both single-mode and bimodal height distributions are studied. The results indicate that the effects of asperity interactions become more pronounced as the effective radius ratio of the asperities increases. The findings also reveal that the real contact load, the real contact area, and the surface contact mode observed for elliptical asperities are significantly different from those noted for spherical asperities. Furthermore, it is found that the form of the non-Gaussian height distribution has a significant effect on the contact mode of rough surfaces. Specifically, the contact mode of surfaces with a negatively skewed height distribution is found to be more elastic than that of surfaces with a Gaussian height distribution.


There are disagreements about, and contradictory indications of, the state of qualitative inquiry as a global endeavor. The article argues that these disagreements rather miss the point. The issue is not whether or not qualitative approaches to social research are developing across disciplines and continuing to receive funding, but rather to what purposes are qualitative methods being put? What research agendas are being pursued, and who sets them? The article illustrates these issues with respect to the effects of research selectivity and concentration in the United Kingdom and argues that qualitative research should continue to develop as an intellectual resource for the community rather than as a technical service to government.


Opened in 1789, the Bamberg General Hospital has often been described as a mile stone on the road from the traditional hospital into an institution for the exclusive care of curable diseases. As this paper shows, however, the shift was much less clear-cut. Early plans for the hospital also envisaged several rooms for dying patients within the new building, and later its first medical director, Adalbert F. Marcus, explicitly demanded that also some incurable patients be admitted and assisted until their death. His demand was not heeded but eventually plans for a separate institution came up. In 1803, a nearby former seminary was turned into a hospital for incurables. This paper traces these developments and puts them into their context.