The 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) LTE (Long Term Evolution) activity towards the evolved UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Terrestrial Radio Access, which is known as E-UTRA, was started in November 2004 and recently culminated in the Release 8 of the 3GPP technical specifications, cf. e.g. the technical specifications 3GPP TS 36.101 and 3GPP TS 36.201. In the case of the physical layer, the performance evaluation of E-UTRA must be based on the 3GPP technical recommendation TR 25.814, published in October 2006. This manuscript illustrates the performance which can be expected in the downlink of UTRA LTE in various conditions.


: Globalization of Inflation hypothesis which is intensively discussed in the past decades mainly suggests that global factors have become dominant over domestic factors for the determination of inflation as economies become more open. This paper investigates whether this hypothesis holds for industrial countries using a panel data for 26 developed countries over 1985-2017 period. Generalized Method of Moments estimates of augmented Phillips equations for different periods reveal that world output gap's effect on industrial countries' inflation rates is not statistically significant. According to the findings, domestic output gap rather than foreign output gap plays a significant role on the dynamics of inflation of advanced economies as the extent of globalization rises. Additionally, import prices have considerable effect on countries' inflation rates in the post-globalization period consistent with the increase in import penetration and globalization of production throughout the world.


Abstract. This study introduces and evaluates a comprehensive,
model-generated dataset of Northern Hemisphere permafrost conditions at
81 km2 resolution. Surface meteorological forcing fields from the
Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications 2 (MERRA-2)
reanalysis were used to drive an improved version of the land component of
MERRA-2 in middle-to-high northern latitudes from 1980 to 2017. The
resulting simulated permafrost distribution across the Northern Hemisphere
mostly captures the observed extent of continuous and discontinuous
permafrost but misses the ecosystem-protected permafrost zones in western
Siberia. Noticeable discrepancies also appear along the southern edge of the
permafrost regions where sporadic and isolated permafrost types dominate.
The evaluation of the simulated active layer thickness (ALT) against remote
sensing retrievals and in situ measurements demonstrates reasonable skill
except in Mongolia. The RMSE (bias) of climatological ALT is 1.22 m (−0.48 m) across all sites and 0.33 m (−0.04 m) without the Mongolia sites. In
northern Alaska, both ALT retrievals from airborne remote sensing for 2015
and the corresponding simulated ALT exhibit limited skill versus in situ
measurements at the model scale. In addition, the simulated ALT has larger spatial variability than the remotely sensed ALT, although it agrees well with the retrievals when considering measurement uncertainty. Controls on
the spatial variability of ALT are examined with idealized numerical
experiments focusing on northern Alaska; meteorological forcing and soil
types are found to have dominant impacts on the spatial variability of ALT,
with vegetation also playing a role through its modulation of snow
accumulation. A correlation analysis further reveals that accumulated
above-freezing air temperature and maximum snow water equivalent explain
most of the year-to-year variability of ALT nearly everywhere over the
model-simulated permafrost regions.


The aim of this article is to propose a new database allowing a comparative evaluation of the relative performance of schooling systems around the world. We measure this performance through pupils' achievement in standardized tests. We merge all existing regional and international student achievement tests by using a specific methodology. When compared with other existing databases, our approach innovates in several ways, especially by including regional student achievement tests and intertemporal comparable indicators. We provide a data set of indicators of quality of student achievement for 103 countries/areas in primary education and 111 countries/areas in secondary education between 1965 and 2010.


This article presents musical communication from a multimodal, social semiotic and design-oriented perspective. Based on the notion that communication and learning constitute a social process of transformative sign-making, the article explores how choir conductors during video-recorded rehearsals and concerts use different modes of communication, such as gestures, gazes, body movements, singing, printed score and piano playing, as representations of the music they are working with, and how these modes are transformed into singing voices through translation, reshaping and imitation. The way conductors design their approaches to the music affords various choices and conditions for choir singers to learn and perform the music. The article draws attention to the complexity and multiplicity of an audiovisual music culture, characterised by different repertoires of action in performing and illustrating the music and by choir-specific, genre-specific and locally specific musical language constructions, in which learning is equated with interpretation and performance.


Focusing on Siberia, the feasibility of using Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Arrayed L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) summer-intensity and winter-coherence images for large-area forest monitoring was investigated. Fine beam dual horizontal/horizontal and horizontal/vertical (polarization) intensity strip images were acquired during the summer of 2007. The processing consisted of radiometric calibration, orthorectification, and topographic normalization. The coherence was estimated from interferometric pairs with 46-day repeat-pass intervals. The pairs were acquired during the winters of 2006/2007 and 2007/2008. During both winters, suitable weather conditions that allow for low temporal decorrelation had been reported. By using PALSAR intensities and winter-coherence data, areas of forest and nonforest were separated. By combining both data types, a minimal overlap of the class signatures was observed, even though the analysis was conducted at the pixel level and no speckle filter was applied. The study concludes that the operational delineation of forest cover using PALSAR data is feasible. By applying a segmentation-based classification, an accuracy of 93% was obtained.


The nature of crack propagation resulting from flight loading representative of military gas turbine operation is investigated. Mission stress profiles for turbine disks fabricated from the superalloys GATORIZED IN 100 and Waspaloy contain load sequences that produce synergistic effects on crack propagation. Major load throttle excursions, overloads, occur routinely during flight, and a retardation in subsequent crack propagation generally results. Such mission load interaction effects have been addressed in crack propagation testing employing repetitive overload-fatigue sequences. The influences of overload ratio (P o v e r l o a d /P m a x ) and the number of fatigue cycles between overloads have been investigated for crack propagation at 649°C (1200°F), and an interpolative model of these effects is presented. A determination of the instantaneous crack retardation following a mission major load excursion is accomplished with an unconventional method. The existence of a deceleration in crack growth rate, delayed retardation, following a mission overload is verified. Typically, this period is greater than the total number of baseline fatigue cycles applied between engine mission overloads, and delayed retardation is largely, if not entirely, responsible for the beneficial effects of the overloading.


We have measured the low-temperature transport properties of a quantum dot formed in a one-dimensional channel. In zero magnetic field this device shows quantized ballistic conductance plateaus with resonant tunneling peaks in each transition region between plateaus. Studies of this structure as a function of applied perpendicular magnetic field and source-drain bias indicate that resonant structure deriving from tightly bound states is split by Coulomb charging at zero magnetic field.


Li, Z., Yang, P., Peng, Y. and Yang, D. 2014. Ultrastructure and distribution of sensilla on the antennae of female fig wasp Eupristina sp. (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae). — Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 95: 73‐83. In the species-specific and obligate mutualism between the fig (Moraceae: Ficus spp.) and its pollinator (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae), the continuity of lifecycle of both partners completely depends on the female pollinator's ability to detect receptive figs. To better understand the chemical location mechanism, we examined the antennae and their sensilla of the female fig pollinator Eupristina sp. using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The antennae of female Eupristina sp. are geniculated, and in total, there were seven types of sensilla found on the antennae: two types of multiporous placoid sensilla (type 1 is sausage-like and type 2 is rounded), sensilla trichodea (ST), basiconic sensilla (BS), chaetica sensilla (ChS), coeloconic sensilla (CoS), and one specialized sensillum classified as sensillum obscurum (SO). We described external morphology, abundance, distribution, ultrastructure and discussed putative functions. We inferred from their ultrastructures as chemoreceptors that two types of multiporous placoid sensilla, BS and CoS, were innervated by sensory neurons. The aporous type ST, ChS, and SO were not innervated by dendrites which may function as mechanoreceptor/proprioceptor. These results were also discussed in relation to the interaction between Eupristina sp. and its host fig.


K eloids and Hypertrophic scars (HSc) are dermal fibroproliferative disorders unique to humans that occur following trauma, inflammation, surgery, burns and sometimes spontaneously. These are characterized by excesses deposition of collagen in the dermis and the subcutaneous tissues. Contrary to the fine line scar characteristics of normal wound repair, the exuberant scarring of keloid and HSc results typically in disfigurement, contractures, pruritis and pain. Keloids occur in individuals with a familial disposition among the Blacks, Hispanics and Orientals, they enlarge and extend beyond the margins of the original wound and rarely regress [Figure 1]. HSc are raised, erythematous, pruritic, fibrous lesions that typically remain within the confines of the original wound, usually undergo at least partial spontaneous resolution over widely varying time courses, and are often associated with contractures of healing tissues [Figure 2].


The ciliary ganglion of the chicken contains only two types of neurons. Using monoclonal antibodies against the alpha and the beta subunits of Ca2+/calmodulin-stimulated protein kinase II (CaMPK-II) we found that the alpha-subunit was localized to the choroid neurons while beta subunit was associated with the ciliary neurons. As both neurons receive their inputs from the oculomotor nerve, while their postganglionic axons leave via different nerves, the ciliary ganglion of the chicken is a neuronal system in which the functional differences between alpha and beta CaMPK-II homopolymers in the regulation of synaptic transmission can be investigated.


Objectives: This study was conducted to help reduce the anxiety about dental radiation exposures of people and to provide a way to instill proper awareness of dental radiation. Methods: To fulfill the research aim, this study conducted a survey to 330 subjects who are 20 years old or over living in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do during the month of December 2016. The collected data were analyzed using frequency analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis among others. Results: As a result of examining the correlation between the anxiety of dental radiography and the correlations between the variables showed that the knowledge of radiation knowledge and the need for radiography (r=0.186, p<0.01), thinking about shooting (r=0.137, p<0.05), and the effectiveness of wearing protective equipment (r=0.120, p<0.01), showing statistically significant differences. As a result of examining the factors influencing anxiety of dental radiography among adults, high awareness of the need for dental radiography (p<0.01), the more the idea of dental anxiety in dental radiography is radiography showed higher (p<0.01). Conclusions: It seems proper that adequate dental radiography requires adequate explanation about it to patients, wearing of protective equipment, and appropriate dental radiation safety education.


The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program is to reduce oil use and carbon emissions in the transportation sector and to enable clean, reliable energy for stationary and portable power generation. The Program seeks to accomplish this mission by supporting a comprehensive and focused portfolio of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities that address barriers to producing, storing, delivering, and using hydrogen in an efficient, clean, safe, reliable, and affordable manner. While RD&D is DOE's central mission, technology development alone is not a sufficient condition for commercialization. Other factors, such as regulatory status, market acceptance, level of consumer awareness, supplier manufacturing capabilities, and existing policies and incentives will play a big role in whether or not companies choose to go forward with commercialization. To address these factors, DOE conducts underlying safety research, facilitates and coordinates the activities of codes and standards development organizations, supports efforts in market transformation, and conducts public outreach and education activities.


Aerosol particles from forest fire events in the Amazon can be effectively transported to urban areas in southeastern South America, thus affecting the air quality over those regions. A combination of observational data and a comprehensive air quality modeling system capable of anticipating acute air pollution episodes is therefore required. A new predictive framework for Amazon forest fire smoke dispersion over South America has been developed based on the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry community (WRF-Chem) model. Two experiments of 48-hour simulations over South America were performed by using this system at 20 km horizontal resolution, on a daily basis, during August and September of 2018 and 2019. The experiment in 2019 included the very strong 3-week forest fire event, when the São Paulo Metropolitan Area, located in southeastern South America, was plunged into darkness on August 19. The model results were satisfactorily compared against satellite-based data products and in situ measurements collected from air quality monitoring sites. The system is executed daily immediately after the CPTEC Satellite Division releases the latest active fire locations data and provides 48-hour forecasts of regional distributions of chemical species such as CO, PM2.5 and O3. The new modeling system will be used as a benchmark within the framework of the Chemistry of the Atmosphere - Field Experiment in Brazil (CAFE-Brazil) project, which will take place in 2022 over the Amazon.


Objective. This study aimed to determine the energy density and satiety of meals based on the healthy food plate model for Filipino adults.
Methods. Thirteen healthy adult volunteers consumed breakfast test meals consisting of 1 cup go food, ½ cup grow food and 1 ½ cups glow food, following the recommended proportions in the plate model. Energy density (kcal/g) of the test meals was calculated. Feelings of hunger and fullness were assessed with 100-mm visual analogue scales (VAS) at pre-prandial (0 minute) and at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, and 240 minutes postprandial. Ghrelin levels at 0, 30, 60, 120, 180, and 240 minutes were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA).
Results. The test meals had an average energy density of 0.83 kcal/g. Hunger and fullness scores gradually changed with time but hunger remained significantly lower and fullness significantly higher than the pre-prandial levels at 180 minutes postprandial. Ghrelin declined after intake of the test meals and stayed significantly lower than the pre-prandial level at 240 minutes postprandial (30.21 ± 4.58 pmol/L).
Conclusion. Meals following the recommendations in the healthy food plate model for Filipino adults have low energy density and its consumption sustained short-term satiety.


A well-known stochastic model for intermittent fluctuations in physical systems is investigated. The model is given by a superposition of uncorrelated exponential pulses, and the degree of pulse overlap is interpreted as an intermittency parameter. Expressions for excess time statistics, that is, the rate of level crossings above a given threshold and the average time spent above the threshold, are derived from the joint distribution of the process and its derivative. Limits of both high and low intermittency are investigated and compared to previously known results. In the case of a strongly intermittent process, the distribution of times spent above threshold is obtained analytically. This expression is verified numerically, and the distribution of times above threshold is explored for other intermittency regimes. The numerical simulations compare favorably to known results for the distribution of times above the mean threshold for an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. This contribution generalizes the excess time statistics for the stochastic model, which find applications in a wide diversity of natural and technological systems.


This research study was set out to compare filled pauses used in spontaneous speech by Thai learners of English with independent and basic user levels of English language proficiency in terms of types, distributions and functions. The data consisted of filled pauses produced in spontaneous speech. The results show that non-lexical filled pauses were produced most frequency among the speakers with basic user level, while lexical filled pauses in English were used oftentimes by the independent user group. The distributions of filled pauses were found both before and within clauses. Throughout this study, a major function of filled pauses was organization.


I discuss Putnam's conception of logical truth as grounded in his picture of mathematical practice and ontology. i begin by comparing Putnam's 1971  Philosophy of Logic with Quine's homonymous book. Next, Putnam's changing views on modality are surveyed, moving from the modal pre-formal to the de-modalized formal characterization of logical validity. Section three suggests a complementary view of Platonism and modalism underlying different stages of a dynamic mathematical practice. The final section argues for the pervasive platonistic conception of the working mathematician.


ABSTRACT The fibre of Grewia bicolor bark (GB) was extracted and used as reinforcement for the development fibreboards using orthophtalique unsaturated polyester (UP) as a matrix. Two methods of extraction of fibres were used, namely biological retting and chemical extraction by a sodium hydroxide solution at a 5% concentration. Chemical, Physical, mechanical, and thermal characteristics were determined using ATF FTIR, mechanical test and thermogravimetric analysis. The theoretical density of the characterized fibres was 1.30 g/cm3. The porosity decreases by 5% from the root to the leaves. The SEM analysis indicated the presence of fibrils coated with a rough sheath similar to a honeycomb cell structure. The use of NaOH in the extraction method removes the hemicellulose, pectin, wax, and lignin from the fibres. The average elasticity modulus of untreated and treated fibres are, respectively, E = 35.18 ± 2.25 MPa and E = 33.47 ± 2.35 MPa and internal bond of fibreboards are 0.98 ± 0.05 MPa and 1.06 ± 0.02 MPa.


Problem statement: Due to current varied CSR models and how CSR is presently
defined and practiced differently in business and society worldwide, global CSR standards are vital
to creating best practices of CSR and to increase the competitive advantage of business and society.
Approach: Because most CSR business units in global organizations tend to focus on specific and
narrow corporate communications of social responsibility instead of broadening the scope to set global
CSR standards across sectors and industries, three global business leaders in Singapore who are
familiar with CSR practices at Thomson Reuters, Panasonic and Nanyang Business School were
interviewed to investigate how CSR is practiced in Singapore and China. The participants were
selected based upon their global business, CSR and HRD knowledge and experience. Ten interview
questions guided the case study. Results: The participants' responses produced seven key lessons learned and five inadequacies of current CSR models that resulted in two innovatory CSR models. The first model is a concentric circle that has culture in the center, followed by personal and collective ethics, economic, legal, environment and government domains. The second model is a concentric circle that has Human Resource Development (HRD) in the center followed by the domains in the first model. Conclusion/Recommendations: The innovatory CSR models can assist global organizations to successfully manage changing global conditions when the organization is viewed as an interwoven and dynamic whole that generates continuous knowledge and bridges its systems, processes and structures that are constantly transforming into an internal and external common global network. CSR values, not stakeholder demands or charitable contributions from global business leaders, managers and individual employees play a significant role in reducing globalization's unintended consequences and increasing the competitive advantage of global organizations and society.


A new type of optical fiber sensor for the detection of ammonia is proposed based on the electrostatic self-assembly method for the formation of ZrO/sub 2//polymer thin films on standard optical fibers. These sensors can work at room temperature, with a recovery time of less than 4 seconds. To our knowledge this is the first time that ZrO/sub 2/ has been deposited on optical fibers using such a deposition method.


ABSTRACT:Given the multifaceted obstacles facing Palestinian Muslim women in Israel, this article aims to understand what enabled the impressive sea change marked by the 2017 appointment of a Palestinian Muslim woman to the position of qadi (judge in a Muslim Shari'a court of law). The article describes some of the events leading up to this historic moment and analyzes what led to this shift in policy. The 2017 appointment is a groundbreaking achievement for the feminist struggle of Palestinian women in Israel, which primarily affects the status of Muslim women, yet it also impacted Jewish Israeli women. As understood all too well by ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) elements who hold sway in Israeli politics and strongly objected to the move, allowing Muslim women to serve in this role threatens male hegemony within the state-run rabbinic courts as well, where Jewish women are currently barred from serving as judges [dayanot]. This article analyzes the legal struggles of Muslim and Jewish feminists in Israel via Robert Cover's theoretical perspective of nomos and narrative, which explores links between sociocultural and legal transformation. Applying Irshai and Zion-Waldoks's concept of a narrative ripeness test, our analysis sheds light on complex processes involved in struggles for Palestinian women's rights in Israel who, as a minority within a minority, must overcome multiple intersecting layers of discrimination. The article argues Jewish and Muslim cases interconnect—to women's detriment or benefit—yet when women achieve rights for themselves, the principle of gender equality can potentially be expanded to benefit others as well.


Soon after the third-world state was declared impotent, contradictory evidence pointing to the importance of state leadership in development in the Asian miracles came to the fore. This article, through a critical review of the literature, pushes this argument further and claims that geographers have much to contribute to the analysis of the state and its role in development. An appropriate framework for this kind of work is a marriage of radical political economy and certain strands of neo-Weberianism. We suggest that this conceptual union allows for broad theorizing of the capitalist state in the periphery while minding the institutional details of third-world states in particular regions and countries. This approach can help explain the differential performances of various third-world states within the confines of the world system. Thailand and Botswana are used as comparative cases to demonstrate the utility of this framework.


Received: Revised: Accepted: Published online: August 14, 2017 September 05, 2017 September 07, 2017 January 23, 2018 Gastrointestinal helminths (GI helminths) are of utmost importance in camels affecting their working potential and productivity. This study was aimed to monitor the status of GI helminths in camels of Cholistan region. This accompanied evaluation of effects exerted by helminthosis on various hematological parameters and comparative therapeutic trails of albendazole and Neem (Azadirachta indica) leaves against GI helminths in camels. A total of 384 camels were randomly selected in this study. The presence of helminths ova was observed using direct smear method, sedimentation and flotation techniques. An overall prevalence of GI helminths was recorded 66.67% in the study area. Trematodes were found the most prevalent parasite's type followed by nematodes and cestodes. Animals in age range of >10 years were significantly (P<0.05) affected more with nematodes than younger animals (5-10years age). A non-significant (P>0.05) difference in the prevalence between Berella and Marrecha breeds of camel was observed except for the trematodes where Marrecha breed was affected more (34.67%) than the Berella breed (25.16%), (P<0.05). Hemonchus spp. were the most prevalent compared to other nematodes (P<0.05), a non-significant difference was seen in the prevalence among Fasciola gigantica (F. gigantica) and Fasciola hepatica (F. hepatica), (P>0.05). The only cestode found in this study was Monieza expansa (M. expansa). The hematological study found a significant decrease in values of packed cell volume (PCV %), total erythrocyte count (TEC), hemoglobin (Hb) and increased in values of total leukocyte count (TLC), (P<0.05). The therapeutic trial conducted revealed albendazole as a superior drug over Neem leaves in control of GI helminths in camels; however, Neem leaves proved to be a successful candidate as an alternative to albendazole. ©2017 PVJ. All rights reserved


Stoneville 213 variety was planted on May 5 at the Plant Science Farm of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Mississippi State, MS. Plots 8 x 90 ft were arranged in a randomized complete block design replicated 4 times. Insecticides were applied to the center 4 rows of each plot at the rate of 5 gal of final spray mixture per acre, 3 mph, 40 psi, and 3 nozzles per row. Applications for Heliothis spp. control were made 12 times on a 4 to 5 day schedule from July 14 to Sept 3. Azinphosmethyl was applied to all plots at 0.25 lb ai/acre 13 times as needed from July 3 to Sept 24, to control boll weevils, Anthonomusgrondis Boheman. Aldicarb was applied to all plots at 2 lb ai/acre on June 10 to reduce beneficial arthropods. Plots were examined weekly for Heliothis spp. damage by randomly selecting 25 squares from all parts of the plants along the center 2 rows. The tobacco budworm consisted of 90% of the population on July 8, and Aug 6, respectively. Yields were estimated by machine picking the center 2 rows on Oct 20 and 21.


The article focuses on the process of production of news photographs. News photographs, created by leading information agencies, occupy a significant place in the visual flow that surrounds modern man, however their production is practically not investigated. Proposed by the author revision of approaches, developed in the context of visual researches and sociology of journalism, promotes designation of fundamental principles of microanalysis of visual production. For their detalization the materials of fieldwork conducted in Moscow bureaus of international wire services (interviews and participant observation) carried out by the author are used.


The main purpose of sinter pot studies is to quantify the common indicators of performance viz., mix moisture, productivity, coke rate and sinter quality. For three ore blends—containing 50 mass% pisolite ore and up to 30 mass% Marra Mamba ore—sintering studies were carried out using two laboratory sintering techniques, and the fundamental factors influencing these key indicators were accurately quantified. The study supports previous findings that pre- and post-ignition airflow rates provide invaluable information on flame front properties, sintering time and sinter strength. Sintering results obtained for the two techniques were very different because of differences in flame front properties. Clearly, a good understanding of the influence of flame front temperature, sintering energy requirements, airflow rate and bed thermal capacity on heat transfer and bed airflow resistance is necessary to explain the fundamental sintering behaviour of ore blends. To help quantify these links, the factors governing airflow through a sintering bed and the drivers causing the flame front to descend down a bed were also presented from a theoretical perspective. As expected, both theory and test results show that post-ignition airflow rate, the level of coke in the granulated mix, and endothermic reactions such as calcination were very important factors influencing flame front resistance and, therefore, the sintering performance of ore blends.


Power Quality (PQ) brings more challenges to the large- scale and medium scale industries because in the recent years most of them use high efficiency and low energy devices which cause vulnerable PQ disturbances at Point of Common Coupling (PCC). In this paper, the measurement at different times during load condition and analysis of all types of disturbances occurred has been done. When large rated equipments run, the disturbance (harmonics, RMS variations, and switching transients) levels are very high and poor power factor (PF) has also appeared. Due to this poor PF, reactive power consumption in load increases and accordingly total power increases. An electronic device such as LED lights, fluorescent lamps, computers, copy machines, and laser printers also disturb the supply voltage. We are very well known that every PQ problem directly or indirectly must affect economically. Many researchers have investigated PQ audit for over three decades. However these studies and analysis have been done only at simulation level. Hence, the PQ analyzer based study is required to find out the PQ issues at distribution feeders. It will be a valuable guide for researchers, who are interested in the domain of PQ and wish to explore the opportunities offered by these techniques for further improvement in the field of PQ. This paper gives a brief Real Time PQ measurement using PQ analyzer HIOKI PW3198 at Distribution Feeders and it gives an idea to the researcher to optimize problems-related to PQ with respect to the high rated and low rated electric machinery of different feeders at PCC level. This study further extends to analyze the grid disturbances and looks forward to the optimization methods for each individual PQ disturbance.


The problem of obesity affects all age groups. It is also observed among menopausal women. Menopause is the time in a woman's life when, as a consequence of hormonal changes occurring in the body, the risk of overweight and obesity increases significantly and, therefore, so does the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Excess body weight in menopausal women may also be of social and psychological importance since the occurring symptoms may considerably decrease quality of life and sexual activity of these women. Reduction of body weight in obese menopausal women should play a vital role in treatment of this group of patients. Therefore, adequate management seems to be essential, and it should involve dietary, pharmacological and/or surgical treatment, depending on the patient's needs. Following a rational weight loss plan provided by a dietician under medical supervision may contribute to improvement of the health condition and quality of life. It is recommended to observe the guidelines on dietary management described in this article by adjusting a diet plan individually. The following work constitutes a review of articles from 2004-2014 which are available in the PubMed medical knowledge base and the Polish Medical Bibliography (Polska Bibliografia Lekarska). For this purpose, the following controlled vocabulary has been used: menopausal woman, menopausal diet, menopausal weight gain, menopausal weight loss, dietary management in menopause.


A 25 year-old woman presented with left lower quadrant pain in the 11th week of gestation. Transvaginal sonography showed a 7 x 8 x 5 cm cystic-solid mass with an adjacent 9 mm echogenic structure on the left side corresponding to the adnexal stalk. Color Doppler sonography revealed the absence of central or peripheral flow within the mass suggestive of adnexal torsion and subsequent infarction. Laparoscopic detorsion of the left adnexa was not followed by restoration of perfusion ad a left adnexectomy was performed. Transvaginal color Doppler sonography is useful for preoperative diagnosis of adnexal torsion.


This paper is devoted to propose a novel method for studying the macroeconomic system with fractional derivative, which can depict the memory property of actual data of economic variables. First of all, we construct a constrained optimal problem to evaluate the coefficients of nonlinear fractional financial system based on empirical data and design the corresponding
genetic algorithm. Then, based on the stability criteria of fractional dynamical systems, the methodology of stability analysis is proposed to investigate the stability of the estimated nonlinear fractional dynamic system. Finally, our method is applied to discuss the macroeconomic system of the US, Australia, and UK to demonstrate its effectiveness and applicability.


The authors achieved a retrospective study about abdominal traumas in Bangui (Central Africa) during 7 years (1995 to 2001). The aim of the study was to come out epidemiologic and anatomoclinical aspects of those injuries, which outcome during war periods. From the 202 patients of the study, 166 of them were men (sex ratio at 4.6) and the middle age was 27.1. There were 151 penetrating abdominal injury (75%) and 51 cases of abdominal injury.The main aetiologies of penetrating abdominal injuries was due to war guns (23%), fights (23%). Traffic accidents (56.8), fights (21.5%) were the main causes in abdominal contusions. The spleen was more injured in contusions (58.5%) and the colon was more in penetrating abdominal injuries. There were also any multivisceral lesions. In 28 cases of laparotomy (16.6%), not any organ has been injured.


A simple method of aphakic refraction using ultrasonographic axial length measurement and keratometry was tried on 97 eyes of adult aphakic patients. The refractive errors determined by this method and by retinoscopy were compared to the subjective refraction of the same eyes. The ultrasonographically determined refractive errors were significantly nearer the subjective refraction than were the retinoscopically determined refractive errors.


The authors discuss several important circuits for fiber-optic transmission, implemented in an advanced silicon bipolar integrated circuit technology. Specifically, the authors discuss the design considerations and measured performance of a 2:1 multiplexer, front end receiver, limiting amplifier, and decision circuit IC. Also discussed are three hybrid circuit modules: a 2:1 multiplexer, 1:2 demultiplexer, and parallel processing decision circuit. These ICs and hybrid circuit modules operate at multi-Gb/s data rates. The performance of these ICs indicates that advanced silicon bipolar integrated circuits with their high speed, functionality and low cost potential could play an important role in alleviating the electronic bottleneck in future multigigabit optical communication systems. >


The wireless sensor network is used to solve problems in real world such as industrial and environmental Sensing. There are two types of Wireless Sensor Network, Mobile and Static. They are the Wireless Sensor Network are prone to attacks. The most prominent attack in Wireless Sensor Network is node replication attack were the nodes are replicated virtually. The replicated node captures the key or id of the node, makes copies of the node in the network with the same id and may cripple the entire network. It is even more difficult to detect them if they are in a mobile network. The scheme proposed is for a mobile Wireless Sensor Network where the location makes the detection of replication attack even more challenging. The proposed scheme will not only trace the location using array of the locations in the mobile sensor network, but also detect the replicas using multiple scenarios such as id recognition and neighbor replica detection. The scheme can efficiently detect and make way for defense in the network.


The purpose of the study was to test a biopsychosocial process model based on theoretically and empirically supported factors previously found to influence health and complaints in children and adolescents. Participants (N = 823) of the ages of nine, 14 or 18 were administered parts of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Questionnaire and a physical activity questionnaire. They subsequently underwent physical fitness tests and a medical examination. For complaints, direct and indirect influences over four levels (socioeconomic status, physical activity of relatives and peers, physical activity and physical fitness) were shown, but the findings did not hold for health. The interpretation of expected and unexpected results is discussed.


This paper presents a practical approach to implement data flow dominated System-on-Chip system with real-time requirements. With dataflow model and a virtual component (VC)-oriented implementation architecture, the approach has the advantages of effectively supporting design reuse or reconfiguration. Single bus architecture reduces the design complexity and implementation cost and provides an efective ways to meet real-time constraints. Based on the architecture some important aspects such as bus arbitrating, VC framework are described, these techniques are critical factors for achieving design goal. .


O ccipital neuralgia is a form of neuropathic-type pain that usually presents as severe, short-lasting, paroxysmal, electric shock–like painful attacks that occur in the occipital region in the distribution of the greater, lesser, or third occipital nerve. Patients may experience multiple attacks per day. The painful paroxysms may occur spontaneously or be provoked by localized pressure, cold or heat exposure, or certain neck movements. It may present as acute/episodic or chronic forms. It frequently occurs as a result of chronic nerve entrapment by a tight muscle or occasionally by a vascular structure. Other causes may include nerve "irritation" by degenerative changes in the cervical spine or sudden nerve trauma during whiplash injury. Although the entrapment theory is most commonly accepted, it lacks strong clinical evidence to support it, including several surgical studies. To make occipital neuralgia even more complicated, it may also occur spontaneously. Occipital neuralgia represents a significant therapeutic challenge.Multiple treatmentmodalities have be proposed over the years. Some patients with acute occipital neuralgia may experience relief from local application of heat or cold. Occasionally, short courses of muscle relaxants combined with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs may provide pain relief. Ultimately, occipital nerve blocks could be utilized (both as diagnostic and therapeutic modality) and have been known to produce substantial pain relief in some patients. Unfortunately, occipital nerve block frequently provides only temporary pain relief. Corticosteroids are frequently being used during this procedure, and cases of Cushing syndrome have been described after repeated blocks. Other conservative treatment modalities include the use of anticonvulsants such as carbamazepine, gabapentin, and phenytoin. Some patients may benefit from prolonged courses of tricyclic antidepressants. Side effects such as dizziness, sedation and lethargy, blurred vision, xerostomia, and blood disorders are extremely common with these medications and frequently limit the patient's daily activities and affect quality of life. Despite the availability of conservative treatment options (which are not as broad as we would like them to be), the treatment failure rate is still very high. Those patients who did not respond to conservative treatment modalities, ie, patients with intractable occipital neuralgia, may require interventional or invasive therapeutic approaches. Several interventional and surgical treatment modalities have been proposed, including occipital nerve pulsed and traditional radiofrequency ablation, chemical and cryodenervation, and dorsal cervical rhizotomy, with variable degrees of success. Some common complications of these treatment modalities are loss of sensation and denervation pain, which may present significant therapeutic challenges of their own. Overall, available data on the efficacy and safety of these procedures are very limited. In addition, most of the above-mentioned interventions represent destructive and irreversible approaches. Microvascular occipital nerve decompression has also been used, but again, it represents rather significant surgical intervention with limited data on efficacy and safety. Over the past several years, occipital nerve stimulation has been investigated and represents a rather interesting and promising treatment modality. There are several significant advantages of this particular approach. It is minimally invasive, nerve preserving, and essentiality reversible. It has been a common practice to perform occipital stimulation trial before proceeding with permanent pulse generator implantation. That alone creates a unique opportunity to predict anticipated treatment outcome before the surgery is performed. One of the most common complications of the occipital nerve stimulation is lead migration; thus, improvement in technology and further studies to optimize and perfect the technique are needed. There is a growing body of literature on occipital nerve stimulation and its efficacy and safety, yet there is still a lack of Alexander Feoktistov, MD, PhD


While quantum state tomography is notoriously hard, most states hold little interest to practically-minded tomographers. Given that states and unitaries appearing in Nature are of bounded gate complexity, it is natural to ask if efficient learning becomes possible. In this work, we prove that to learn a state generated by a quantum circuit with $G$ two-qubit gates to a small trace distance, a sample complexity scaling linearly in $G$ is necessary and sufficient. We also prove that the optimal query complexity to learn a unitary generated by $G$ gates to a small average-case error scales linearly in $G$. While sample-efficient learning can be achieved, we show that under reasonable cryptographic conjectures, the computational complexity for learning states and unitaries of gate complexity $G$ must scale exponentially in $G$. We illustrate how these results establish fundamental limitations on the expressivity of quantum machine learning models and provide new perspectives on no-free-lunch theorems in unitary learning. Together, our results answer how the complexity of learning quantum states and unitaries relate to the complexity of creating these states and unitaries.


Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Legislation empowers the FDA to regulate the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products, and requires new warnings on cigarette packs to communicate the risks of smoking. In this supplement to an existing P30 research grant, we seek to synthesize the literature and expand the ecological validity of the controlled laboratory experiments examining the warnings' impacts. To accomplish this, we will conduct a meta-analysis of the existing experimental literature on cigarette pack warnings (Aim 1). In addition, we will conduct a large-scale RCT in which we label cigarette packs that smokers use every day with text or graphic warnings to examine the impact on smoking behavior (Aim 2). This new approach combines the strengths of laboratory experiments and field studies in evaluating warnings to achieve strong generalizability and internal validity. Participants will be 2,250 adult smokers ages 18-65 from North Carolina and California. The proposed studies will additionally examine whether the impact of cigarette pack warnings on smoking behavior differs for low-income versus higherincome smokers.


Background: In Howard, Best, and Nickels (2015, Optimising the design of intervention studies: Critiques and ways forward. Aphasiology, 2015.), we presented a set of ideas relevant to the design of single-case studies for evaluation of the effects of intervention. These were based on our experience with intervention research and methodology, and a set of simulations. Our discussion and conclusions were not intended as guidelines (of which there are several in the field) but rather had the aim of stimulating debate and optimising designs in the future. Our paper achieved the first aim—it received a set of varied commentaries, not all of which felt we were optimising designs, and which raised further points for debate. Aims: This paper responds to the commentaries and in the context of recent guidelines for evaluation of the design of single-case studies. We aim to further the discussion our target article has started and extend the scope of the discussion more broadly to issues that were not raised in our target article (e.g., replication). Main Contributions and Conclusions: It is clear that there is a strong consensus that adequately designed single-case studies of intervention are an appropriate and important tool in our quest for effective interventions with people with cognitive disorders. It is also the case that many agree that there is no single design that is appropriate for every intervention, every participant or every question. However, whichever design is used it must be able to discriminate between the true effect of an intervention on behaviour, and other potential reasons for change (e.g., practice effects, spontaneous recovery, Hawthorne effects, and placebo effects). We have suggested that, depending on the conditions and question to be addressed, this can be achieved using a combination of design features. These may include: multiple pre-treatment baselines, treated and untreated (or subsequently treated) items/processes/tasks, control tasks (not predicted to be affected by treatment even when generalisation is expected), and a cross-over phase (replication across items/tasks). In addition, the outcome of treatment should be evaluated statistically. We note that generalisation, which is clinically desirable, can lead to particular difficulties in attributing change to intervention unless appropriate controls have been included, and that when items are selected on the basis of poor pre-treatment performance, apparent treatment-related gains may in fact be due to regression to the mean and discuss the implications of this for future research.


The clinical features of human T-lymphotropic virus type (HTLV-I) uveitis, an idiopathic uveitis in HTLV-I seropositive patients, were analyzed in a hospital located in an area where HTLV-I was endemic (Miyakonojo, Miyazaki). A total of 61 patients (25 males and 31 females) with HTLV-I uveitis were the subjects of the analysis. Intermediate uveitis with moderate to severe vitreous opacities accompanied by mild iritis and retinal vasculitis was the most characteristic feature, and was observed in the majority of the patients (66% of all or 84% in young adult patients between 20 and 49 years of age). The uveitis affected one eye in 57% and both eyes in 43% of the patients, with subacute onset of floaters and foggy vision. The uveitis responded well to therapy with topical or systemic corticosteroids, but recurred in many cases. A significant number of patients (15% of all and 25% of female patients) had a previous history of Graves' disease with hyperthyroidism.


Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) is a standard treatment in EGFR-mutated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, previous data have suggested that EGFR-TKI has limited potential as adjuvant therapy. On the contrary, based on subset analysis with the immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) plus platinum-doublet chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC with EGFR mutation, we hypothesized that this combination was worth testing as adjuvant therapy in patients with EGFR-mutated NSCLC. Methods: Herein, we introduce our phase II study of cisplatin plus vinorelbine combined with atezolizumab as adjuvant therapy for completely resected NSCLC with EGFR mutation. Accrued patients will be pathological stage II–IIIA with completely resected NSCLC and whose tumors have EGFR mutation. Treatment comprises four cycles of cisplatin plus vinorelbine combined with atezolizumab followed by maintenance with atezolizumab. The primary endpoint is the disease-free survival (DFS) rate at 2 years. Secondary endpoints are DFS, overall survival, and safety. In total, 18 patients will be enrolled in this study. Discussion: Ongoing phase III trials of adjuvant ICI allow the inclusion of patients with EGFR mutation, but our current trial will provide the earliest clinical data on the efficacy of platinum-doublet chemotherapy with atezolizumab.


Abstract The radial flow between two parallel circular disks is investigated with the aim to determine the optimum convective heat transfer conditions at the external disk surfaces in order to minimize the intrinsic irreversibilities. A general situation is considered where the fluid is electrically conducting and may be under the influence of a transversal magnetic field. The velocity and electric current density fields are obtained analytically and used to solve the heat transfer equation under boundary conditions of the third kind. The analysis is in the absence of fluid inertia, under creeping flow conditions (Reynolds number ≪ 1). A perturbation approach in order to include the convective heat transfer effects in the flow is used. The Péclet number is assumed to be small. The analytic expressions for the velocity, electric current density and temperature fields are used to calculate explicitly the global entropy generation rate. When the convective heat transfer coefficients for each wall are different, this function displays a minimum for specific heat exchange conditions. The results are shown for both the hydrodynamic and the magnetohydrodynamic cases. It is also found that the mean Nusselt number at the upper wall shows a maximum value for a given value of the Hartman number, when the dimensionless heat transfer coefficients for each disk and the Péclet number are fixed. This mean Nusselt number for maximum heat transfer is near its value for minimum entropy generation conditions.


Always, financial sector has a central role in development and economic growth. Hence the relationship between financial development and economic growth appears to be essential. This article examines the impact of financial development on economic growth, with consider other variables affecting the economic growth, such as ratio of commercial, domestic investment and interest rate. This study estimates a relationship between variables within a Auto regressive Distributed Lag framework over the periods . The results of this study represents a significant and positive impact of financial development on economic growth. Also domestic investment has a positive and significant impact on economic growth, and Interest rate has a significant negative impact on economic growth.


Tempe cannot be separated from the daily consumption habits of people in Java. The raw material for the soybean tempe industry in Surakarta has imported soybeans because Surakarta was not a soybean-producing area. This study aims to know the risks of the soybean tempe industry in Surakarta City. The method of determining the area was done by purposive sampling. The data used are primary and secondary data. Data collection techniques were carried out by observation, interviews, and data recording. The results showed that the average total cost incurred by the tempe industry entrepreneurs per month was Rp. 18,222,146. The average revenue earned in one month is Rp. 29,474,038, so it can be seen that the average profit earned is Rp. 11,251,892. Tempe industrial business has high risk with the coefficient of variation obtained of 2.09, the coefficient of variation obtained is greater than the standard coefficient of variation of 0.5. The lower limit of this industry's profit was negative Rp. 35,729,041.54, so that the tempe industry entrepreneurs are at risk with a possible loss per month of  Rp. 35,729,041.54. Administrative efforts are needed in the bookkeeping of the tempe industry and additional income from the sale of waste and tempe product innovation


© 2017 ASME. Strong aerodynamic coupling can make the high fidelity simulation of a number of critical aero-engine components prohibitively expensive - particularly within the timeframes of industrial design cycles. This paper develops a body force based hierarchy of approaches to modelling the effects of blade rows. These are envisaged as allowing the computationally expensive parts of coupled systems to be resolved much more cheaply, rendering the cost of the overall simulation as more manageable. Simulation of the coupling that exists between the flow around an aero-engine intake and its fan is particularly emphasised, as this is becoming stronger and more performance critical with the modern trends towards the reduction of the relative diffuser length. The use of the viscous smeared geometry level of fidelity is initially shown to be an effective model over a number of cases a simple compressor blade row, a modern high bypass fan, and the Darmstadt rotor. After this, it is shown working as part of a coupled system in an intake experiencing crossflow. Higher fidelity geometry representations are then considered, which mimic the effect of struts. Finally, a mix of various fidelity geometry representations and turbulence modelling approaches is shown to bring otherwise hugely expensive calculations within the realm of practical computation, in the form of a full fan-to-flap calculation.


Summary Geophysical technologies are routinely deployed to investigate and enhance exploration play models evoked to explain an economic discovery's geological setting. Such models are diverse for different commodities, but two such models adopted for hydrocarbon exploration lend themselves particularly suited to gravity surveying methods. Salt bodies and 4-way structural closures are unique in that their 3D shape and near homogenous density present themselves as ideal hydrocarbon trapping environments. An added complexity occurs where these bodies exist in both onshore and transition zone settings as deployment of conventional geophysical methods such as seismic becomes cost prohibitive. The arrival of Airborne Gravity surveying capabilities in recent years now makes exploring such exploration play models viable. Air-FTG® offers a high precision, high accuracy technology that determines changes to the gravity field as sourced by sub-surface geology. The technology is ideal for mapping density contrasts due to structural faulting and or the presence of geological bodies of near uniform density as exhibited by salt and 4-way structural closures. This paper will present data examples demonstrating the usefulness of FTG Gravity when investigating the prospectivity of exploration play models.


Having a rich multimodal inner language is an important component of human intelligence that enables several necessary core cognitive functions such as multimodal prediction, translation, and generation. Building upon the Conscious Turing Machine (CTM), a machine model for consciousness proposed by Blum and Blum (2021), we describe the desiderata of a multimodal language called Brainish, comprising words, images, audio, and sensations combined in representations that the CTM's processors use to communicate with each other. We define the syntax and semantics of Brainish before operationalizing this language through the lens of multimodal artificial intelligence, a vibrant research area studying the computational tools necessary for processing and relating information from heterogeneous signals. Our general framework for learning Brainish involves designing (1) unimodal encoders to segment and represent unimodal data, (2) a coordinated representation space that relates and composes unimodal features to derive holistic meaning across multimodal inputs, and (3) decoders to map multimodal representations into predictions (for fusion) or raw data (for translation or generation). Through discussing how Brainish is crucial for communication and coordination in order to achieve consciousness in the CTM, and by implementing a simple version of Brainish and evaluating its capability of demonstrating intelligence on multimodal prediction and retrieval tasks on several real-world image, text, and audio datasets, we argue that such an inner language will be important for advances in machine models of intelligence and consciousness.


In image steganography, determining the optimum location for embedding the secret message precisely with minimum distortion of the host medium remains a challenging issue. Yet, an effective approach for the selection of the best embedding location with least deformation is far from being achieved. To attain this goal, we propose a novel approach for image steganography with high-performance, where extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm is modified to create a supervised mathematical model. This ELM is first trained on a part of an image or any host medium before being tested in the regression mode. This allowed us to choose the optimal location for embedding the message with best values of the predicted evaluation metrics. Contrast, homogeneity, and other texture features are used for training on a new metric. Furthermore, the developed ELM is exploited for counter over-fitting while training. The performance of the proposed steganography approach is evaluated by computing the correlation, structural similarity (SSIM) index, fusion matrices, and mean square error (MSE). The modified ELM is found to outperform the existing approaches in terms of imperceptibility. Excellent features of the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed steganographic approach is greatly proficient for preserving the visual information of an image. An improvement in the imperceptibility as much as 28% is achieved compared to the existing state of the art methods.


It is supposed that a heated liquid is rising very slowly through a semi-infinite porous medium towards the permeable horizontal surface, where it mixes with a layer of cool overlying fluid. In the steady state a thermal boundary layer of exponential form exists in the medium. It is shown that the layer is stable provided that the Rayleigh number for the system does not exceed a critical positive value, and that the wave-number of the critical neutral disturbance is finite. The stability properties of the layer are explained qualitatively from physical considerations.


Author(s): Luke, Chung Sze Joyce | Advisor(s): Hasty, Jeff | Abstract: The field of synthetic biology has significantly grown over the past decade. Some of the major goals include creating simple gene circuits in order to elucidate complex biological network behaviors and creating new regulation and functionalities in cell. These gene networks allow us to study dynamics of intracellular gene and protein regulation, as they are essential in maintaining homeostasis and cell survival in response to changing or stressful environments. Single cell analytic techniques enable us to study dynamic gene expression of individual cells, which can sometimes be masked by population statistics. First, we developed a microfluidic chemostat for the long-term culturing and imaging of three well characterized strains of cyanobacteria and microalgae. Although microfluidic technology has been applied to culture and monitoring a diverse range of bacterial and eukaryotic species, cyanobacteria and eukaryotic microalgae present several challenges that have made them difficult to culture in a microfluidic setting. Second, we investigated the native ClpXP protease in Escherichia coli, and the correlation between proteins targeted for ClpXP degradation as a result of queueing (competition for a common enzyme). We compared the results to computational model predictions and generated evidence to support the hypothesis that E. coli can adapt the production of ClpXP in response to the number of mistranslated or tagged proteins targeted for ClpXP degradation in the cellular environment. Third, we expressed ClpXP from E. coli in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and further investigated its properties in an non-native system using flow cytometry. We engineered a ``probe'' that can detect when the processing capacity of ClpXP is saturated in S. cerevisiae. Together, these studies illustrated how synthetic biology and single-cell analytic techniques could help study fundamental cellular processes.


In contrast to sending humans to explore space, the applicat ion of autonomous robots reduces safety concerns and extends the possible mission distance since return transportation is not necessary. In addition, the use of robots decreases complexities and costs because there is no need for onboard life-support systems; robots can withstand and operate in harsh conditions, such as extreme temperature, pressure, and radiation, where humans cannot survive.


Abstract We assessed the importance of potential sources of mortality for the Vulnerable southern pudu Pudu puda in southern Chile using the clinical records of wildlife rehabilitation centres, necropsies of animals found in the field and a review of the diet of potential predators. To assess whether the identified mortality sources operate in nominally protected areas, we conducted a camera-trap survey in two areas to determine the presence of pudus and their potential predators. Predation by domestic dogs Canis lupus familiaris and car collisions were the commonest causes of pudu admissions to rehabilitation centres (35 of 44) and of deaths of animals encountered opportunistically in the field (seven of 14). Field data suggest that poaching could also be an important threat to pudus. Pudus were detected in both areas surveyed, accounting for 15.6% of mammal detections. Dogs accounted for 47.8% of all detections of potential predator species, followed by pumas Puma concolor (17.4%), guignas Leopardus guigna (17.4%) and chilla foxes Lycalopex griseus (17.4%). The literature survey implicated only pumas as important pudu predators among native carnivores. Our data suggest that, aside from forest loss, dogs, road kills and probably poaching are important concerns for pudu conservation. Our frequent detections of free-ranging dogs associated with roads within nominally protected areas suggest that long-term efforts to conserve pudu will require not only the protection of remnant native forest but also substantive environmental education to modify dog management near protected areas.


We propose a new method for aggregating crowdsourced responses, based on a deep neural network. Once trained, the aggregator network gets as input the responses of multiple participants to the same set of questions, and outputs its prediction for the correct response to each question. We empirically evaluate our approach on a dataset of responses to a standard IQ questionnaire, and show it outperforms existing state-ofthe-art methods.


Artifact-centric process modelling is a promising technology to manage business operations. The Guard-Stage-Milestone (GSM) life-cycle is a declarative approach to specify artifacts and their lifecycles. Currently there's no approach to manage process variability in the field of artifact-centric business process models. Existing variability management approaches are designed especially for activity-centric process models. This master thesis develops a process variability management approach in an artifact-centric paradigm. The approach adapts and extends the Provop approach by carefully considering the characteristics of artifact-centric process models. By constructing a process family meta-model, we have also identified the variation points and the elements that can be reused. The approach provides stakeholders who are involved in process design with good efficiency, understandability and maintainability.


Many methods have been extended for the preparation of nanoparticles. One of the most important methods is the chemical wet process, e.g. the co-precipitation method that has been used for the preparation of Fe-Ni nanoparticles by the authors. XRD patterns show that the nanoparticles are amorphous before calcination and crystallized after calcination. SEM images show that the grain size of the Fe-Ni particles is in 50–300 nanometre range and that the texture of the nanoparticles after calcination was smoother than before calcination. Hysteresis loops show that the Fe-Ni nanoparticles are superparamagnetic before calcination, because the carbonate phase still exists in the sample, and that they are ferromagnetic materials after calcination. For 40Fe-60Ni nanoparticles after calcination, Hc = 0.12 and Bs = 4800 Oe, being very different in respect to the bulk 40Fe-60Ni alloy.


It is commonly assumed that normal human observers can exhibit 'blindsight-like' behavior: the ability to discriminate or identify a stimulus without being aware of it. However, we recently used a bias-free task to show that what looks like blindsight may in fact be an artifact of typical experimental paradigms' susceptibility to response bias. While those findings challenge many previous reports of blindsight in normal observers, they do not rule out the possibility that different stimuli or techniques could reveal such perception without awareness. One particularly intriguing candidate for this unconscious perception is emotion processing, as processing of emotional stimuli (e.g. fearful/happy faces) has been reported to potentially bypass conscious visual circuits. Here we used the bias-free blindsight paradigm to investigate whether emotion processing might reveal 'featural blindsight', i.e. the ability to identify a face's emotion without having introspective access to the task-relevant features of the face that led to the discrimination decision. However, despite the purported ability of emotional stimuli to bypass conscious visual processing, we saw no evidence for such emotion processing 'featural blindsight': like in our previous study, as soon as participants could identify a face's emotion they reported introspective access to the task-relevant features, matching predictions of a Bayesian ideal observer. The present results challenge dominant theory, adding to the growing body of evidence that perceptual discrimination ability in the complete absence of introspective access may not be possible for neurologically intact observers.


Indonesia is one of the countries on the equator. This geographical position makes the soil of Indonesia become fertile and have high rainfall. It also makes forests and plantations grow well. The main product of forest and plantation products in Indonesia gives positive and economical value to society and country. However, it also gives negative value, one of them is the biomass waste that it produces. If not managed properly, then this will be bad for the cleanliness and aesthetic environment. Through the bioenergy program, it can be done how to utilize biomass waste into Biomass Power Plant (PLTBM). In this research, mapping and development of geographical information distribution system and bioenergy potential by classifying the biomass sources used by the plant and also the analysis of land area to potential energy that can be used.


The project to build the Great Mosque of Algiers is underway. This will be the largest mosque in the world, after the mosques at Mecca and Medina. Trying to reflect the Algiers' context, this project refers in his architectural design to Almoravid (11th century) influences, through an abstract way of interpretation. The aim of this paper is to explain this mode of interpretation by using a new approach. This approach combines both syntactic and semantic categories of the architectural object. It consists on the architectural syntax which tries the combination of space syntax and figurative abstract process. It is through a comparative study between the former mosque of Algiers: Djama' al-A'dam (AH 490/ AD 1096–1097) and the future great mosque of Algiers that will explain this abstract way of interpretation, which seems more expressive than figurative.


We report on reproducible shock acceleration from irradiation of a λ=10  μm CO_{2} laser on optically shaped H_{2} and He gas targets. A low energy laser prepulse (I≲10^{14}  W cm^{-2}) is used to drive a blast wave inside the gas target, creating a steepened, variable density gradient. This is followed, after 25 ns, by a high intensity laser pulse (I>10^{16}  W cm^{-2}) that produces an electrostatic collisionless shock. Upstream ions are accelerated for a narrow range of prepulse energies. For long density gradients (≳40  μm), broadband beams of He^{+} and H^{+} are routinely produced, while for shorter gradients (≲20  μm), quasimonoenergetic acceleration of protons is observed. These measurements indicate that the properties of the accelerating shock and the resultant ion energy distribution, in particular the production of narrow energy spread beams, is highly dependent on the plasma density profile. These findings are corroborated by 2D particle-in-cell simulations.


In the complex pre-Cambrian terrane of the Lead area of the northern Black Hills of western South Dakota is a group of amphibolites parallel to the structure of the enclosing sedimentary rocks and found at many stratigraphic horizons. These bodies have long been assumed by most workers in this area to be altered igneous intrusions. The present study was undertaken to determine with certainty the origin of these amphibolites and to correlate their history with that of the district as a whole. Structural and petrographic evidence supports the previous conclusion, indicating that the amphibolites were originally gabbroic sills intruded into the sedimentary rocks toward the close of the dynamic metamorphism and then altered in various degrees by the movements. A zonal distribution of minerals in the sedimentary series is ascribed to the temperature effect of depth of burial and igneous intrusion, and it has been found that the amphibolites also were considerably affected by this thermal phase of the metamorphism. Hydrothermal alteration was the final chapter in the metamorphic history of the amphibolites.


Recent clinical and experimental data have proved that CD4 + T cells play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of aplastic anemia (AA). However, the mechanisms how CD4 + T cells in AA over-proliferate, activate, infiltrate bone marrow and damage hematopoietic cells have largely remained unknown. Therefore we adopted the suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) method so as to screen differentially expressed genes of bone marrow CD4 + T cells between AA patients and normal donors, which may hopefully help clear up the mystery of the pathogenesis of AA. Firstly, we selected a pair of subjects: a typical first-visit AA patient and a healthy donor of the same age and sex. Their bone marrow (BM) mononuclear cells were isolated using lymphocyte separating medium by density gradient centrifugation. After a 24-hour expansion culture, CD4 + T cells were separated with magnetic bead sorting technique. Secondly, with CD4 + T cells of the patient as "tester" and those of the normal donor as "driver", a cDNA library was established by the SSH method. 110 clones were detected by means of PCR in the established subtractive library, which contained an inserted fragment with 200∼700bp respectively, and the positive detected rate was up to 88%. Then 10 of the resulting subtracted cDNA clones were randomly selected for a respective DNA sequencing and honologic analysis. Among 10 sequenced clones, there were 8 known genes including 2 repeated genes. Lastly, we collected BM samples of 20 AA patients and 20 healthy donors so as to validate the expression levels of differentially expressed genes from SSH library with semi-quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We found, compared with normal donors, there were 6 genes among these 8 genes from SSH library up-expressed in BM CD4 + T cells of patients with AA. These genes were transducin (beta) -like 1X-linked receptor 1 (TBL1XR1) (NM024665); ATP-binding cassette, sub-family B (MDR/TAP), member 6 (NM005689); ARP2 actin-related protein 2 homolog (ACTR 2) (NM005722); zinc finger protein 561 (ZNF561) (NM152289); NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) 1 beta subcomplex, 6 (NM002493); eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3, subunit 5(NM003754). These results indicate that some genes are found able to regulate functions of BM CD4 + T cells in AA, concerned with protein synthesis, biology oxidation, signal transduction and cell migration, etc. Therefore, screening and cloning these genes are helpful to elucidate the possible mechanisms of AA.


A methodology for implementing real-time DSP applications on a field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) using Xilinx System Generator (XSG) for Matlab is presented in this paper. It presents architecture for Edge Detection using Sobel Filter for image processing using Xilinx System Generator. The design was implemented targeting a Spartan3A DSP 3400 device (XC3SD3400A-4FGG676C) then a Virtex 5 (xc5vlx50-1ff676). The Edge Detection method has been verified successfully with no visually perceptual errors in the resulted images.


During the last couple of decades, many researchers have been trying to explicate "effective teaching" in higher education. As a result, when one searches the term, a vast amount of papers and research reports pop up in the literature, involving lists of attributes and competencies of effective teachers. But the impressive point is that "effectiveness" has been viewed mostly from a technical vantage point and disciplinary differences have not received proportionate attention. At the same time, some sociologists of science began to view disciplines as tribes and territories who own their exclusive norms, rituals, and values. Hence, this research aims at investigating effective teaching in higher education within the framework of disciplinary culture. Methodologically, the research may be deemed as interpretive ethnography as it aims at representing emically how members of disciplinary cultures perceive and interpret effective teaching. Hence, based on Tony Becher classification of disciplines into civil and rural, two postgraduate classes were selected, namely from Pure Mathematics (involving 15 students to represent civil disciplines) and Education Studies (involving 18 students to represent rural disciplines). To collect data, the researcher deployed non-participant observation for a full semester and informal interviews were also conducted at regular intervals. The field notes and interview protocols were analyzed thematically to produce meaningful categories for results representation. As credibility was of great concern in the research, three strategies were used for this purpose namely member check, peer debriefing and prolonged engagement. Based on the interpretations, members of rural disciplines evaluate teaching as effective when it focuses on classic texts, cares about human and social issues, approaches laymen jargons, emphasizes understanding, appreciates variety of teaching strategies and learning styles, holds a critical stance towards cultural issues, and takes on a lenient approach in marking. On the other side, members of civil disciplines evaluate teaching as effective when it focuses on updated resources, is content-oriented, approaches professional terminology, emphasizes practicality, and takes on a tough stance on marking.


Purpose: To evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab in the treatment of myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Methods: Three-year retrospective, nonrandomized, interventional case series. Forty eyes of 39 patients with myopic CNV were included; 15 with previous photodynamic therapy, and 25 naïve eyes. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) changes, central foveal thickness (CFT), and number of treatments were assessed, from baseline to month 36. Results: Mean visual acuity improved from 55.4 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters at baseline to 59.7 letters at 12 months (p = 0.07), 61.8 letters at 24 months (p = 0.008) and 63.4 letters at 36 months (p = 0.039). Twenty-five percent of the patients gained ≧15 letters (3 lines) at 12 months, 30% at 24 months and 35% at 36 months. There was a mean reduction of 80 µm in CFT (p < 0.001). A mean of 4.1 injections were performed in the first year, 2.4 in the second year and 1.1 in the third year. Fifty-three percent of the eyes had no need for treatment during the third year of follow-up. Conclusions: Intravitreal ranibizumab seems to be an effective and safe therapeutic procedure to treat CNV in highly myopic eyes, with a high proportion of patients gaining or stabilizing BCVA at a 3-year follow-up.


We define and study a recurrence relation in $\mathbb{Z}^3$, called the hexahedron recurrence, which is similar to the octahedron recurrence (Hirota bilinear difference equation) and cube recurrence (Miwa equation). Like these examples, solutions to the hexahedron recurrence are partition functions for configurations on a certain graph, and have a natural interpretation in terms of cluster algebras. We give an explicit correspondence between monomials in the Laurent expansions arising in the recurrence with certain double-dimer configurations of a graph. We compute limit shapes for the corresponding double-dimer configurations. The Kashaev difference equation arising in the Ising model star-triangle relation is a special case of the hexahedron recurrence. In particular this reveals the cluster nature underlying the Ising model. The above relation allows us to prove a Laurent phenomenon for the Kashaev difference equation.


Shells containing flowing fluids are widely used in engineering applications, and they are subject to manifold excitations of different kinds, including flow excitations. The response of a shell conveying fluid to harmonic excitation, in the spectral neighbourhood of one of the lowest natural frequencies, is investigated for different flow velocities. The theoretical model has been developed using the Donnell theory retaining in-plane inertia. Linear potential flow theory is applied to describe the fluid-structure interaction, and the steady viscous effects are added to take into account flow viscosity. For different amplitudes and frequencies of the excitation and for different flow velocities, the following are investigated numerically: (i) periodic response of the system; (ii) unsteady and stochastic motion; (iii) loss of stability by jumps to bifurcated branches. The effect of the flow velocity on the nonlinear periodic response of the system has also been investigated. Bifurcation diagrams and Lyapunov exponents have been used to study the unsteady and stochastic dynamics of the system.© 2009 ASME


The activities of companies in the foreign market that offer their products and services face several unique challenges, domestic and international, global competition, and additional requirements at several levels. Therefore, developing best practices and considering the evolution of trading processes, strategies, regulations, and technological innovations are mandatory for continuity and prosperity in the international market. The article carries out a bibliometric analysis of publications by keywords «international trade» and «innovations» in the system of international commodity-monetary relations in the conditions of innovative processes and prospects of international exchange of scientific and technical knowledge and technologies. The article aims to investigate the functional link between international trade and the level of the country's innovative development and confirm the hypothesis about the significance of this link. The following methodological tools were used in the article: Canonical Correlation Analysis and Multivariate Panel Data Regression Model. Forty-four European and Asian countries are investigated. The period of the investigation is from 2006 to 2021. The array of input variables includes a set of indicators, six of which characterize the innovative development of the studied countries; five indicators represent international trade; and three indicators control and describe the socio-economic development of nations. The revealed correlation-regression dependences generally provide a basis for confirming the hypothesis of a direct relationship between the country's innovative development level and its positioning in the field of international trade. The obtained results proved the presence of a direct statistically significant relationship between High technology exports, Import and Current account balance; Innovation index and External balance on goods and services. An inverse functional dependence was found between the indicator Patent applications by residents and the Current account balance. In the future, it is necessary to adapt the proposed methodology to develop a functional basis for the analysis of the impact of innovations on the ecosystem of specific enterprises; to consider the national aspects of conducting business, and the state policy implication of supporting the digitization of crucial stages of production.


Narrow craters and trenches have been scribed into Si/TCO thin film systems on glass by selective laser lift-off using nano-, pico- and femtosecond pulses of ∼ 0,5 μm wavelength. A high-resolution microstructural material investigation shows a significant reduction of HAZ (heat affected zone) by changing from ns to ps and fs pulse durations. Thus, ablation efficiency and selectivity of ps- and fs-lift-off thin film processing in comparison to thermal ablation by ns pulses is strongly increased. This allows reducing the total scribe region (optically inactive zone) to widths below 50 μm and minimized structural modifications on TCO/glass substrate regarding to laser interaction processes.


Abstract High-resolution reflection surveys have been used in watercovered areas for some time, but only during the last decade has serious attention been paid to the development of survey techniques to give comparable results on land. These techniques are now becoming well established. This paper gives an outline of the principles of reflection seismology and of the particular problems that arise when the method is applied to depths of 200 m and less.


OBJECTIVES
To perform an epidemiological, pathologic and therapeutic study of asymptomatic bacteriuria (AB) in a population of outpatient women.

METHODS
Transversal study for detection of AB in 1718 outpatient women 14-year-old or older. All patients complied with the inclusion/exclusion criteria for the study. Two groups of patients, with AB (n = 113) and controls without AB (n = 200), underwent: 1) urine analysis: urine sediment, biochemical analysis, and culture; 2) blood tests: hemoglobin, red blood cell count, urea, creatinine, sedimentation rate velocity, C reactive protein, immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, and IgG), HLA-A3, blood group and Rh. The therapeutic management for AB was analyzed. Comparative statistical analyses of data were performed.

RESULTS
AB prevalence was 6.34%. The most frequently isolated germ was E. coli (77.87%). Diabetes mellitus was detected in 27.43% of patients with AB and 7.01% without AB (27.43% vs. 7.01%); coronary arterial disease and other heart disorders (9.73% vs. 4%, p = 0.0206); general cardiovascular disorders excluding hypertension (46.9% vs. 31%, p = 0.0025). Urine analysis showed leukocyturia in 81.41% of the patients with AB and 17.5% without AB (p = 0.0002); positive nitrites (77.87% vs. 0%, p < 0.001); urine sediment showed bacteriuria in 86.72% of patients with AB and 0% of non-AB patients (p < 0.0001), leukocytes (93.80% vs. 6%, p < 0.0001), and pyuria (19.46% vs. 2.5%). Low water intake (50.44% vs. 9.5%, p < 0.0001) was the most significant urinary tract infection hygienic-dietetic predisposing factor. Higher levels of IgA (15% vs. 2%, p = 0.004). Positive HLA-A 3 (5% vs. 0%, p = 0.039), Rh negative (16.66% vs. 13.33%), and increased C reactive protein (15% vs. 10%). Renal abnormalities detected by radiological tests (10.29% vs. 1.47%, p = 0.014). AB disappeared after treatment with cefuroxime, ceftibuten, trimetropin/sulfametoxazole and amoxicillin in 100% of the patients receiving treatment. Topical vaginal estrogen therapy was effective in 38.09% of the patients.

CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of AB increases with age. The most frequent germ is Escherichia coli. A statistically significant greater number of coronary artery disease, other heart diseases, and cardiovascular disorders were found among patients with AB in comparison with non-AB controls. Immunoglobulins levels disturbances, and HLA-A3 positivity suggest an immune systemic imbalance in certain patients with recurrent AB. Other therapeutic alternatives such as vaginal topical estrogens, fruit juices intake, vaccinations, etc. should be pursued in addition to antimicrobial therapy.


The bioconversion of waste paper to single-cell protein at pH <1 by Scytalidium acidophilum is described. Waste paper pretreated with 72% H2SO4 at 4°C was diluted with water to a pH of <0.1 and hydrolyzed. This yielded an adequate sugar-containing substrate for the growth of the fungus. A total of 97% of the sugars (glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, arabinose) in the hydrolysates were converted to cell biomass. Microbial contamination was not observed. Based on the sugars consumed, S. acidophilum produced higher yields in shake cultures than many other Fungi Imperfecti. In aerated cultures, productivity increased, and yields of 43 to 46% containing 44 to 47% crude protein were obtained. This compares favorably with Candida utilis, a yeast used commercially to produce single-cell protein. The chemical constituents and the essential amino acids of the fungal cells were similar to those of other fungi. The nucleic acid content was characteristic of microbes containing low levels of nucleic acid. The advantages of using S. acidophilum for single-cell protein production are discussed.


Intra- and interspecific phylogenetic analysis of Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma and white-spotted charr Salvelinus leucomaenis throughout Hokkaido Island was conducted using nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial DNA control region and three nuclear DNA markers [ribosomal DNA (ITS-1), microsatellite (u-85), SINE (Fok-223)]. A total of 19 mtDNA haplotypes from 271 individuals of Dolly Varden, nine haplotypes from 134 white-spotted charr were defined, and identified two well-supported monophyletic clades for each species. Two haplotypes of Dolly Varden, however, were clustered together in the white-spotted charr clade. Those haplotypes were found only from several rivers in the Shiretoko Peninsula, and a neighbouring river of that region. Analyses of ribosomal DNA and Fok-223 loci revealed that both species are characterized by having completely species-specific diagnostic sequence and fragment patterns. Dolly Varden of the Shiretoko populations are typically allopatric in distribution where white-spotted charr do not currently occur. In addition, incongruence in genetic relationships between mtDNA and nuclear DNA markers give strong evidence of historical mtDNA introgression between Dolly Varden and white-spotted charr. Some white-spotted charr diagnostic alleles in a nuclear microsatellite locus (u-85) were found in some Shiretoko Dolly Varden populations, suggesting that introgressive hybridization might have also occurred in relatively recent contact and potentially ongoing evolutionary event. The present study presents an example of historical hybridization and introgression at the southernmost distribution limits of Dolly Varden.


A considerable amount of the effort and enthusiasm that goes into the development and implementation of technology-mediated learning environments often fails to create effective settings for learning. Too often the opportunities and advantages of the use of technology in the learning process are poorly exploited. This paper explores ways in which contemporary pedagogical principles can inform and guide the design of technology-mediated learning environments. The paper argues the need to plan learning settings based on meaningful and relevant activities and tasks which are supported in deliberate and proactive ways by the tutor. The paper presents and describes a framework which supports a design process comprising three critical strategies: the selection of learning tasks; the selection of learning supports; and the selection of learning supports as a strategy for the development of online learning settings that promote knowledge construction.


In this study, we have employed the Interacting Boson Model-2 (IBM-2) to determine the most appropriate Hamiltonian for the study of tellurium nuclei. Using the best fit values of parameters to construct the Hamiltonian, we have estimated energy levels and electromagnetic transitions (B(E2), B(M1)), multipole mixing ratios (δ(E2/M1)) for some doubly-even Te nuclei and monopole transition probability. The results are compared with previous experimental and theoretical data and it is observed t hat they are in good agreement


Participatory research in multiple forms is rapidly gaining ground and stands to provide valuable benefits in the area of health research. Citizen science, an increasingly popular form of participatory research, aims to involve laypersons in knowledge production and, as such, can offer new insights that may not be readily accessible by the traditional scientific research enterprise. Heralded as an advance in the democratization of science, citizen science stands as a potential player in evidence generation. Yet, while citizen science offers advantages through its emphasis on lay participation in uncovering information likely to be pertinent to improving health outcomes, without deliberate attention to pathways to inequity and oversight, some aspects can operate to perpetuate or exacerbate health inequities. Drawing on health disparities literature to assist in identifying possible pathways, this work aims to provide support for greater attention to 'process', which would include active engagement with intersecting inequities as a way of interrupting pathways to health inequity. If citizen science is to be true to its moniker, it cannot be 'equity-neutral' in a society where structural or systemic inequities are present. It must be equity-promoting. In the health context, the concerns of justice evolve into concerns of differential health impacts. To accomplish this, equity and justice, as well as representation and fair process, become critically important. Accordingly, this paper foregrounds proactive commitment to equity by confronting the reality of social inequalities present in a given society and adapting the project accordingly to minimize downstream health inequities.


BACKGROUND
Although gait speed slows with age, the rate of slowing varies greatly. To date, little is known about the trajectories of gait speed, their correlates, and their risk for mortality in older adults.

METHODS
Gait speed during a 20-m walk was measured for a period of 8 years in initially well-functioning men and women aged 70-79 years participating in the Health, Aging and Body Composition study. We described the trajectories of gait speed and examined their correlates using a group-based mixture model. Also risk associated with different gait speed trajectories on all-cause mortality was estimated using a Cox-proportional hazard model.

RESULTS
Of 2,364 participants (mean age, 73.5 ± 2.9 years; 52% women), we identified three gait speed trajectories: slow (n = 637), moderate (n = 1,209), and fast decline (n = 518). Those with fast decline slowed 0.030 m/s per year or 2.4% per year from baseline to the last follow-up visit. Women, blacks, and participants who were obese, had limited knee extensor strength, and had low physical activity were more likely to have fast decline than their counterparts. Participants with fast decline in gait speed had a 90% greater risk of mortality than those with slow decline.

CONCLUSION
Despite being well-functioning at baseline, a quarter of older adults experienced fast decline in gait speed, which was associated with an increased risk of mortality.


Effective management of salmonid populations in the Great Lakes basin requires understanding how their distribution and density vary spatially. We used a hierarchical ap- proach to evaluate the predictive capabilities of landscape conditions, local habitat features, and potential effects from coinhabiting salmonids on the distribution and densities of rain- bow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis, brown trout Salmo trutta, and coho salmon O. kisutch within the majority of the Canadian tributaries of Lake Ontario. We collected fish assemblage, instream habitat, and water temperature data from 416 wade- able stream sites. Landscape characteristics were obtained for each site's catchment and sum- marized into six key attributes (drainage area, base flow index, percent impervious cover (PIC), reach slope, elevation, and location with respect to permanent fish barriers). Classification trees indicated that PIC in a catchment was a critical predictor of salmonid distribution, in that beyond a threshold of 6.6-9 PIC, all salmonids were predicted to be absent. Base flow index and barriers were also important predictors of the distribution of salmonids. Models generally provided higher classification success at predicting absence (86-98%) than predict- ing presence (63-87%). Landscape features were the best predictors of densities of rainbow and brook trout (adjusted r 2 = 0.49 and 0.30 respectively), although the local habitat features were almost as effective for predicting brook trout (r 2 = 0.23). Local habitat features (propor- tion of riffles and pools, substrate, cover, and stream temperature), and presence of other salmonids produced the best predictive model for brown trout. Coho salmon was only locally distributed in the basin, and the derived model was driven by spatial characteristics rather than ecological processes. Our models estimate 653,000 juvenile rainbow trout and 231,000 brook trout (all age-classes) in our study streams. Finally, we estimate that current brook trout distribution in our study area is only 21% of its historic range.


The atmospheric pressure Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) arc plasma in argon is studied combining results from emission spectroscopy temperature maps with composition data and transport parameters available from literature. Two arc currents are considered and maps are obtained for the Debye number, the number of particle in the Debye sphere, which shows values of the order of 10 or less in the core region of these arcs. This low number puts into serious question the plasma quasi-neutrality. It is striking that this circumstance occurs where Local Thermodynamical Equilibrium (LTE) is usually assumed in these discharges. It is shown that TIG arcs violate the quasi-neutrality requirements and, as such, these discharges are called 'plasma' quite improperly. Differently from previously published works, the starting point of the discussion is the experimental two-dimensional temperature maps. Keywords : welding, arc physics, plasma spectroscopy, LTE, Langmuir probes


[1] Monthly gridded global temperature and salinity fields from the near-surface layer down to 2000 m depth based on Argo measurements are used to analyze large-scale variability patterns on annual to interannual time scales during the years 2003–2008. Previous estimates of global hydrographic fluctuations have been derived using different data sets, partly on the basis of scarce sampling. The substantial advantage of this study includes a detailed summary of global variability patterns based on a single and more uniform database. In the upper 400 m, regions of strong seasonal salinity changes differ from regions of strong seasonal temperature changes, and large amplitudes of seasonal salinity are observed in the upper tropical and subpolar global ocean. Strong interannual and decadal changes superimpose long-term changes at northern midlatitudes. In the subtropical and tropical basin, interannual fluctuations dominate the upper 500 m depth. At southern midlatitudes, hydrographic changes occur on interannual and decadal time scales, while long-term changes are predominantly observed in the salinity field. Global mean heat content and steric height changes are clearly associated with a positive trend during the 6 years of measurements. The global 6-year trend of steric height deduced from in situ measurements explains 40% of the satellite-derived quantities. The global freshwater content does not show a significant trend and is dominated by interannual variability.