. Open Government Data (OGD) consists of data released by publishers to drive the creation of innovative services by developers, and ultimately deliver value to citizens. However, the lack of communication between the different OGD stakeholders impedes the realization of this objective. The goal of this paper is to fill the technical aspects of this issue by identifying requirements needed in the design of a usable tool that can facilitate communication between OGD stakeholders. The stakeholders' requirements were identified from a literature review and validated through interviews with 9 stakeholders. Then, the identified features were integrated into the ODEON (Open Data Exchange solutiON) tool and its effectiveness in facilitating interaction between stakeholders was demon-strated through an evaluation with 22 stakeholders. This paper contributes to theory by proposing a list of 16 requirements to be implemented into a tool to facilitate communication between OGD stakeholders. Second, it contributes to practice by proposing a use case diagram listing the features needed to satisfy the requirements and a usable tool implementing them.


Introduction: High fracture resistance of prostheses are well accepted by both patients and dentists to have a proper restoration of the dentition. The research  designated  assess polymerization  time  effect distinct   and complete temperatures on mechanical properties (denture base resin) of a high strength. The research  purpose is to assess  and compare the procedure  used in  polymerization distinct effect autoclave on the elastic modulus  and transverse strength of a high strength acrylic resin  to the conventional heat polymerizing. Methods: Rectangular sample of ninety-one  polymarised high heat  strength denture base resin  were created.  Polymerized  sample done by hot water regarded as  control group  and the other groups were polymerized in autoclave at different temperatures and time lenghts. After deflasking of sample before procedure it was kept  forty eight hours in water. Three parameters were used  when conducting  transverse strength test bending using calibrated  universal testing machine  with a  load of 500 kg cell and a crosshead speed of 5 mm/min. One-way ANOVA was used in assessing transverse strength and elastic modulus data.  And for  comparison   of the groups application of Tukey HSD trial  has been seen appropriate (p <0.05). Results: Specimens that polymerized by autoclave at 130oC for 20 and 30 minutes showed significantly better characteristics compared to the other groups. Conclusion:  Upgrading of  base resins  transverse strength is required  because the  research  indicated autoclave polymerization at 130°C for 20 and 30 minutes may be an alternative polymerization method.


Cancer of the lung in women has the same signs and symptoms as in men, but the disease seems to advance more rapidly. Of 35 female patients, half were under radiation therapy (for inoperable tumor) within four months after the first manifestation. In three of the five who had no symptoms, the cancer when diagnosed was inoperable. Scalene node biopsy confirmed metastasis in nine of the eleven cases in which it was used, and this procedure should be used after diagnosis whenever metastasis is not evident. Of the 35 women, two received only chemotherapy, 32 radiotherapy. Only four were alive at the time of report-one without evidence of disease at 20 months, one with symptoms of disease at 11 months, two under chemotherapy at two months, For 29 who received palliative or radical irradiation to the primary tumor site, the median survival time was 26 weeks.


Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET) are often characterized with rapidly changing topologies, presenting a constant challenge for time synchronization. This challenge holds especially true in tactical edge ground military networks, where topological instabilities are enhanced by hostile transmission environments. In the absence of GPS, time synchronization within the context of a tactical environment requires resilience and ease of deployment. Hardware requirements must be carefully controlled, while relying on distributed coordination techniques to avoid single points of failure. Current tactical ground networks are often deployed without high accuracy oscillators, but still require time synchronization on the order of 1us. Our work demonstrates a distributed synchronization approach with a resource efficient solution that handles these requirements. We introduce cross-layer ad-hoc network synchronization (CLANS), a low overhead time synchronization protocol designed for MANETs and enables coarse synchronization without relying on GPS data. CLANS leverages routing information, channel access schemes, and distributed scheduling protocols that typically exist in a MANET. This provides a resilient, distributed time synchronization solution with relaxed hardware requirements. Simulation results show that CLANS can achieve network synchronization within 1 us in lossy multi-hop networks with the presence of packet loss and measurement noise.


Abstract : Iran and the United States have faced each other across a deep divide ever since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the events of the American Embassy Hostage crisis. The absence of diplomatic relations between the two nations has led to a lack of communication that has resulted in difficulties crafting successful policies to build bridges between the two governments. The specter of Iran's quest for nuclear weapons casts a further pall on the troubled relations. Case studies of historical examples of nuclear proliferation using multi-causality can shed light on what factors are motivating Iran to seek nuclear weapons. Once these factors are understood, the United States can craft rational policies to pursue its goals in the Middle East while accommodating the probable rise of nuclear industry in Iran. This thesis will be split into three basic sections. In the first section a collection of countries will be examined to determine whether or not multi-causality adequately accounts for their decisions with regard to nuclear proliferation. To examine a full range of causal factors a wide range of states over a broad period of time will be examined. Using the results from the examination of the case studies, Iran's decision making process will be studied. Using a more in-depth case study, the lessons of more than 50 years of nuclear proliferation will be applied to describe the policy choices Iran has made in the course of its nuclear program. Using the results of the detailed case study of Iran, recommendations will then be made for American policy. These recommendations will therefore be based on a thorough review of previous counterproliferation efforts both successful and unsuccessful. The policy options also will take into account the multiple issues that overlay the American-Iranian relationship.


The NG2 glycoprotein is a type I membrane protein expressed by immature cells in the developing and adult mouse. NG2+ cells of the embryonic and adult brain have been principally viewed as oligodendrocyte precursor cells but have additionally been considered a fourth glial class. They are likely to be a heterogeneous population. In order to facilitate studies on the function of NG2+ cells and to characterize these cells in situ, we generated an enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) "knockin mouse." EYFP‐expressing cells in heterozygous knockin mice expressed the NG2 protein in all regions and at all ages studied. The EYFP+ cells did not express markers of mature glia, developing or mature neurons or microglia, but expressed markers typical for immature oligodendrocyte‐lineage cells. Examination of the hippocampus showed heterogeneity in the population with regard to expression of S100ß and glutamine synthetase. Furthermore, different subpopulations of NG2+ cells in the hippocampus could be recognized by their electrophysiological properties. genesis 46:743–757, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) caused by diabetes mellitus (DM) is the main cause of death in diabetic patients. The treatment of diabetes complicated with coronary heart disease (DM-CHD) is still a big challenge in the medical practice. Endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) has been considered as the key process in endothelial dysfunction in the atherosclerotic diseases, including DM-CHD. The traditional Chinese prescription Fufang Zhenzhu Tiaozhi (FTZ) formula is used to treat diabetes and dyslipidemia. Recently, several studies have shown the therapeutic effect of FTZ in cardiovascular diseases. However, the mechanism of the protection on coronary atherosclerosis is still needed for further investigation.Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of FTZ in preventing DM-CHD and explore the specific mechanism of FTZ based on EndMT. Methods: DM-CHD minipigs model constructed by using high-fat/high-sucrose/high-cholesterol diet (HSFCD) combined with streptozotocin (STZ) and coronary balloon injury, then randomly divided into control (Ctrl), DM-CHD model (Mod), DM-CHD treated with FTZ (FTZ) or positive drug (metformin and atorvastatin, M+A). Twenty-two weeks after administration, the cardiac functions of pigs were detected by ultrasound and electrocardiography (ECG). The stenosis and plaque of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery were assessed through angiography, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Pigs were sacrificed after all examinations and the tissues were collected for further testing. The serum levels of blood glucose and lipid, myocardial injury markers, and inflammatory factors were detected. The biomarkers of EndMT were observed. The potential targets and signaling pathways were analyzed. The human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) was cultured for testing the effect of FTZ under high glucose (HG).Results: In the Mod group, the serum levels of FBG, TC, TG, HDL-C, and LDL-C and the myocardial injury markers (LDH, cTnT, CK-MB) were increased significantly. The ST segment and the height of the T wave of ECG were significantly elevated in the Mod group. The results of coronary angiography, OCT, and IVUS showed that there was an obvious narrow in the coronary artery of the Mod group, and the pathological changes were mainly intimal fibrosis. Furthermore, the levels of TGF-β1 and α-SMA significantly increased while the levels of CD31 and VE- cadherin notably decreased in the Mod group, which showed EndMT characteristic. Besides, the inflammation and apoptosis pathways were markedly activated in the Mod group. After treatment with FTZ, the glucolipid metabolism and the myocardium injury were effectively improved in DM-CHD minipigs. FTZ treatment improved the function of the heart and alleviated coronary stenosis. The expression of α-SMA in the coronary artery was significantly decreased, and the expression of CD31 and VE-cadherin were increased in the coronary artery of the FTZ group minipigs. In addition, FTZ treatement inhibited the expressions of the inflammatory relative protein p-IκB/p-NF-κB/IL-1β and the apoptosis proteins Bax/cleave-Caspase-3 in the coronary artery tissue. Additionally, FTZ ameliorated the injury effect and high migration activity of HUVECs caused by HG. Conclusions: Coronary atherosclearosis plaque formation is related to EndMT and FTZ protect heart partly via inhibiting coronary endothelial EndMT and regulating inflammation in DM-CHD pigs.


In 2014, the prevalence of vision loss in the United States was estimated at nearly 3% with an estimated cost of $145 Billion and rising. While surveys of public opinion over the past 30 years have repeatedly shown that vision loss is one of the greatest concerns among the public and second only to cancer, eye health literacy remains low, and there has been little success influencing how patients, providers, and our health care institutions work together to provide and maintain eye health and vision. To move beyond where we are now, we will have to address numerous challenges, and the recent report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow (released on September 15, 2016), is a significant contribution toward that goal, which helps to identify and articulate the challenges that exist. To address these challenges will require that we also be intentional about setting priories. Health care in the USA is under intense pressure to do betterVto improve access, to improve care outcomes, to reduce costs, and most importantly, to improve the health of our citizens. It is common to think of health and wellness on a continuum (Fig. 1), and currently, most of our public investments in health are directed toward one end of this spectrumVtreating illness and supporting disease-focused research. Substantially less time and funding are dedicated to prevention and wellness although those investments yield measurable improvements in health. Changing that imbalance will require that we face some surprising realities and intentionally set about the long hard road of redefining our national priorities. To illustrate this point, consider the following comparison. Over the projected life of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, we are expected to invest $1.5 trillion dollars in this single defense program initiative. In 2016, we invested $31 billion funding the National Institutes of Health. Funding for the F-35 program could fund all current health and science research supported by the National Institutes of Health for more than 48 years. For generations, oral health, hearing, and vision have been separated from general health, in training, care delivery, research funding, and importantly, in healthcare reimbursement. Despite well-documented connections between systemic health, quality of life and each of these disciplines, our health care system remains fundamentally divided in ways that do not prioritize or truly support health and well-being. Most health training programs in medicine and other health professions devote relatively little time to evaluation and understanding of the eye, despite the need. This artificial and unhelpful division means that eye care, whether provided by optometrists or ophthalmologists, is generally not well connected to the rest of the health care system. This makes vision care and eye health care confusing to the public and inefficient. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine report nicely highlights this need and offers specific opportunities to move beyond where we are today to better connect eye care and the rest of the health care system. Meaningful improvements in eye health and vision care are possible and will come when educators, providers, researchers, institutions, professional societies, and the public demand it.


The impact of inefficient cross polarization (long TCH values), caused by long 13C-1H internuclear distances, on 13C CPMAS NMR spectra of charred and uncharred woods is determined by simultaneously fitting data from complementary variable spin lock and variable contact time experiments. As expected, the impact is minimal for uncharred woods, but is very significant for the charred woods. Quantification of the decrease in CPMAS signal intensity caused by both inefficient cross polarization and rapid T1rhoH relaxation is achieved using an advanced spin counting methodology, for which the term "spin accounting" is proposed. 13C CPMAS NMR observabilities determined using the spin accounting methodology were close to 100% for the uncharred samples, and 69-82% for the charred samples. This represents a large improvement on the 30-40% observabilities determined using other spin counting techniques. Furthermore, it is shown that remote protonation and rapid T1rhoH relaxation are roughly equally responsible for the low signal intensity of standard (I ms contact time) 13C CPMAS spectra of charcoal.


The accuracy and efficiency of the elements proposed by finite element method (FEM) considerably depend on the interpolating functions namely shape functions used to formulate the displacement field within the element. In the present study, novel functions, namely basic displacements functions (BDFs), are introduced and exploited for structural analysis of nanobeams using finite element method based on Eringen's nonlocal elasticity and EulerBernoulli beam theory. BDFs are obtained through solving the governing differential equation of motion of nanobeams using the power series method. Unlike the conventional methods which are almost categorized as displacement-based methods, the flexibility basis of the method ensures true satisfaction of equilibrium equations at any interior point of the element. Accordingly, shape functions and structural matrices are achieved in terms of BDFs by application of merely mechanical principles. In order to evaluate the competency and accuracy of the proposed method with different boundary conditions, several numerical examples with various boundary conditions are scrutinized. Carrying out several numerical examples, the results in stability analysis, free longitudinal vibration and free transverse vibration show a complete accordance with those in literature.


The efficacy of phages in multispecies infections has been poorly examined. The in vitro lytic efficacies of phage cocktails AB-SA01, AB-PA01, which target Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively, and their combination against their hosts were evaluated in S. aureus and P. aeruginosa mixed-species planktonic and biofilm cultures. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labelled P. aeruginosa PAO1 and mCherry-labelled S. aureus KUB7 laboratory strains and clinical isolates were used as target bacteria. During real-time monitoring using fluorescence spectrophotometry, the density of mCherry S. aureus KUB7 and GFP P. aeruginosa PAO1 significantly decreased when treated by their respective phage cocktail, a mixture of phage cocktails, and gentamicin. The decrease in bacterial density measured by relative fluorescence strongly associated with the decline in bacterial cell counts. This microplate-based mixed-species culture treatment monitoring through spectrophotometry combine reproducibility, rapidity, and ease of management. It is amenable to high-throughput screening for phage cocktail efficacy evaluation. Each phage cocktail, the combination of the two phage cocktails, and tetracycline produced significant biofilm biomass reduction in mixed-species biofilms. This study result shows that these phage cocktails lyse their hosts in the presence of non-susceptible bacteria. These data support the use of phage cocktails therapy in infections with multiple bacterial species.


Abstract The literature on de facto states challenges the conventional identification of states by legal recognition, proposing to identify states based on their effectiveness instead. Yet, as I argue in this paper, rather than turning the tables on recognition, the de facto state challenge ultimately reveals all state identification in International Relations and international law to be essentially indeterminate. This lacuna, I suggest, is not an accidental omission, but an expression of the foundational paradox of modern political order that is rooted in the intertwined ontology of the state system and the individual states constituting it, with each presupposing the other. As a result, the opposition between empirical facts, political decisions, and legal norms invoked in attempts to identify states cannot but remain irresolvable. This should not be regarded as a problem to be overcome, however, but as a source of social order. Although states cannot be substantively identified, any effort to do so in practice naturalizes the state as the very form through which we articulate and shape political claims, conflicts, and settlements. In performatively enacting states precisely at the contested margins, state identification thus both invokes and (re-)produces the statist international as the central imaginary of modern political order.


Dental transplantation can be a useful and efficious technic. It was first described by Ambroise Pare and the authors have had over 12 years success and failures enough to present clinical cases and illustrations of the surgery and the orthodontic treatment. Success depends essentially on the right indication, the time and the exact methodical technic, reproducible in a treatment plan.


It is known that rotated multidimensional constellations can be used effectively to achieve full-rate and full-diversity transmission in block fading channels. However, optimal decoding complexity is exponential with the number of fading blocks (or degrees of freedom). In this paper, we propose a reduced-complexity iterative receiver structure operating on a block basis for coded modulation schemes with rotated constellations. The proposed detector is based on iterative forward and backward filtering followed by a channel decoder that uses a priori log- likelihood ratios (LLR) of coded symbols. Forward and feedback filters are jointly optimized according to the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion to minimize the spatial interference induced by rotation. It is observed that the proposed structure achieves full diversity and performance close to outage probability for rotated inputs even with simple Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) rotations.


The device of sensor and light based on microcontroller AT89S51 has been done. This device can be used to determine the amount of temperature and light intensity role in the room. In the manufacture of temperature and light sensor device based on microcontroller AT89S51, starting from the selection of temperature and light sensors and signal conditioning,ADC, microcontroller, which is the minimum system control center of the whole system and RS-
232 converter. First picked sensors such as temperature and physical property of light and then sent to the conditioning cues used to adjust the output of the sensor to be read by the ADC.Furthermore, data from the ADC0804 forwarded to the microcontroller and the microcontroller
AT89S51 data is then processed by the MAX232 voltage level so that serial data from the microcontroller voltage levels equal to the computer and then the data will be displayed by the seven segments. Data is sent in accordance with the microcontroller input port and output from the temperature in degrees Celsius will at seven segment displayed
The system has been successfully realized and can show changes in the temperature graph of the measured in degrees Celsius and at seven segment display. Measured temperature
values are in accordance with that contained in the sensor datasheet.


Isolated synaptosomes were used to study the problem of net accumulation of neurotransmitters. The time-course and the kinetics of exogenous and endogenous GABA transport were studied by liquid-scintillation counting and HPLC-amino acid analysis respectively. Different pools of GABA were suggested by a 6-fold difference in tissue-to-medium-ratio of endogenous vs. exogenous GABA. Net accumulation, exchange and net efflux of GABA was found to be a function of the GABA concentration in the incubation medium. The Kms for net accumulation and for 3H-GABA accumulation were 2.68 +/- 1.16 and 6.19 +/- 1.26 microM respectively, whereas the Vmaxs were 5.9 +/- 4.9 and 134 +/- 13 pmol/mg w.w. min respectively. This means that the transport studies which use exogenous substances (e.g. 3H-GABA) considerably overestimate the transport by overlooking the magnitude of the counter transport.


This paper describes cultural and ecological characteristics of Northwest African and Middle Eastern food patterns and discusses the forces contributing to rapid dietary change. Focus is given to indigenous/tribal/ethnic/minorities in these areas with contributions to definitions of these groups, the extent of their diversity, and the importance of their traditional knowledge of local food resources. Urbanization, particularly for those facing extreme poverty in the urban environment, is recognized as a significant force to dietary change and consequent poor nutrition, especially for children. Examples of food systems are given for the coastal zone of West Africa and the semi-arid and desert zones of North Africa and the Middle East, also including the food system of Pharaonic times. Trends in dietary change are presented as data derived from FAO Food Balance Sheets.


ABSTRACT
 To ascertain mosquito species-specific oviposition height preferences, a study was conducted evaluating the response of field populations of container-inhabiting mosquitoes to water, oak (Quercus spp.), or oak—pine (Pinus spp.) infusion-baited ovitraps in four suburban and four sylvatic habitats in north central Florida. In total, 48 ovitraps, 24 suspended at each height of 1 or 6 m (near the ground or tree canopy, respectively), were monitored weekly for 5 mo. Throughout our study, we collected 13,276 mosquito eggs, representing five species from four genera, the most common being Aedes triseriatus (Say), Aedes albopictus Skuse, and Orthopodomyia signifiera (Coquillett). Significantly more Ae. triseriatus and Ae. albopictus eggs were oviposited in containers with oak and oak—pine infusions compared with water alone. Significantly more Ae. albopictus eggs were recovered from traps at 1 m in suburban habitats, whereas more Ae. triseriatus eggs were recovered at 6 m in sylvatic habitats.


Implicit associations and biases are carried without awareness or conscious direction, yet there is reason to believe they may be influenced by social pressures. In this paper, I study social pressure as a motive to give, as well as giving itself under conditions of implicit bias. In doing so, I pair the Implicit Association Test (IAT), commonplace in other social sciences, with a laboratory dictator game with sorting. I find that despite its popularity, the IAT does not predict dictator giving and social pressure does not explain acts of giving from biased dictators. These results are indicative of the meaningful difference between having an implicit bias and acting on one. As such, results can be thought of as a bound on the external validity of the IAT.


In this research article, we have described to establish a comparison between the solubility of the hydrochloride and non-hydrochlorideforms of ciprofloxacin and tetracycline in relevant solvents. For that purpose the solubility ofciprofloxacin and tetracycline were measured in water, methanol, propanol,and acetone, in the temperature range between 293.20 and 323.20 K for ciprofloxacin and between 288.20and 303.20 K for tetracycline. The solubility of the hydrochloride form in water is about 2 orders of magnitude higherthan those of the respective base forms. In acetone, we see the opposite effect. For methanol and propanolthe influence of the hydrochloride group of the antibiotic on the solubility in the alcohol is much smaller thanfor water and acetone. The experimental data was correlated with good results using two different activitycoefficient models, NRTL and UNIQUAC, with UNIQUAC giving better results, particularly for ciprofloxacin.The performance of COSMO-RS model to describe the studied systems was also evaluated.The dependence of these properties with temperature are shown. Theresults are interpreted in terms of solute-solvent interaction


The sustained restructuring of the military regime which has taken place in the 1980s is an essentially 'leninist' project with three components: new and enhanced structures of institutional and centralised control, down to the grass roots level kebellesand peasant associations but one that has not succeeded in many regions; a drastic, state‐controlled restructuring of the economic base; plus a limited but significant expansion of political representation essentially through the new Workers' Party. Some of its institutional forms and the economic and social changes (e.g. land reform) are probably irreversible but there has been over‐reliance on the use of state power as the solution to all problems.


ABSTRACT The effects of ozonation, anion exchange resin (AER) and UV/H2O2 were investigated as a pre-treatment to control organic fouling (OF) of ultrafiltration membrane in the treatment of drinking water. It was found that high molecular weight (MW) organics such as protein and polysaccharide substances were majorly responsible for reversible fouling which contributed to 90% of total fouling. The decline rate increased with successive filtration cycles due to deposition of protein content over time. All pre-treatment could reduce the foulants of a Ultrafiltration membrane which contributed to the improvement in flux, and there was a greater improvement of flux by UV/H2O2 (61%) than ozonation (43%) which in turn was greater than AER (23%) treatment. This was likely due to the effective removal/breakdown of high MW organic content. AER gave greater removal of biofouling potential components (such as biodegradable dissolved organic carbon and assimilable organic carbon contents) compared to UV/H2O2 and ozonation treatment. Overall, this study demonstrated the potential of pre-treatments for reducing OF of ultrafiltration for the treatment of drinking water.


Open channel structures are essential to infrastructure networks and expensive to manufacture. Optimizing the design of channel structures can reduce the total cost of a channel9s length, including costs of lining, earthwork, and water lost through seepage and evaporation. The present research aims to present various optimization models towards the design of trapezoidal channel cross section. First, a general resistance equation was applied as a constraint. Next, a genetic algorithm (GA) was used to determine the optimal geometry of a trapezoidal channel section based on several parameters, i.e., depth, bottom width, and side slope. Eight different models were proposed and evaluated with no other constraint besides financial cost as well as with a normal depth, flow velocity, Froude number, top width, and by ignoring the cost of seepage. Numerical outcomes obtained by the GA are compared to previous studies in order to determine the most efficient model. Results from a single application indicate that the restriction of depth, velocity, and Froude number can increase the total cost, while restriction of the top width can decrease the cost of the construction. Also, the solution for various example problems incorporating different discharge values and bed slopes caused increase and decrease in cost, respectively.


It is now some 6 years since the appearance in this series of a Review of Bacteriology and Mycology applied to Dairying (1) with sections on milk control, detergents and disinfectants, and pasteurization. Nearly 12 years have elapsed since a complete Review (2) including all the sections listed above was published in the Journal of Dairy Research; some attempt has been made to deal with the more important work going back to these Reviews.


Drawing inspiration from biological studies, we have developed a novel silicon cochlea model which better accounts for the effect of local fluid coupling on the basilar membrane. This fluid coupling is emulated by coupling an extra wideband filter to each narrowband filter in the array. In this paper we present some of the biological background and give a short survey of earlier silicon cochlea models. We then briefly discuss the bandpass-filter element used in the circuit before presenting our silicon cochlea model along with measurements of the performance of a single filter tap.


This paper presents a novel scheduling algorithm to support quality of service (QoS) for multiservice applications over integrated satellite and terrestrial networks using admission control system with multipath selection capabilities. The algorithm exploits the multipath routing paradigm over LEO and GEO satellites constellation in order to achieve optimum end-to-end QoS of the client-server Internet architecture for HTTP web service, file transfer, video streaming and VoIP applications. The proposed multipath scheduler over the satellite networks advocates load balancing technique based on optimum time-bandwidth in order to accommodate the burst of application traffics. The method tries to balance the bandwidth load and queue length on each link over satellite in order to fulfil the optimum QoS level for each traffic type. Each connection of a traffic type will be routed over a link with the least bandwidth load and queue length at current time in order to avoid congestion state. The multipath routing scheduling decision is based on per connection granularity so that packet reordering at the receiver side could be avoided. The performance evaluation of IP over satellites has been carried out using multiple connections, different file sizes and bit-error-rate (BER) variations to measure the packet delay, loss ratio and throughput.


Excess-carrier recombination lifetime is a key parameter in silicon solar cell design and production. With the vast international use and recent standardization (SEMI PV13) of eddy-current wafer and brick silicon lifetime test instruments, it is important to quantify the inter- and intra-laboratory repeatability. This paper presents results of an international inter-laboratory study conducted with 24 participants to determine the precision of the SEMI PV13 eddy-current carrier lifetime measurement test method. Overall, the carrier recombination lifetime between-laboratory reproducibility was found to be within ±11% for quasi-steady-state (QSS) mode and ±8% for transient mode for wafer samples and within ±4% for bulk samples.


The electric energy distribution infrastructure is undergoing a startling technological evolution with the development of the smart grid concept, which allows more interaction between the supply- and the demand-side of the network and results in a great optimization potential. In this paper, we focus on a smart grid in which the demand-side comprises traditional users as well as users owning some kind of distributed energy source and/or energy storage device. By means of a day-ahead demand-side management mechanism regulated through an independent central unit, the latter users are interested in reducing their monetary expense by producing or storing energy rather than just purchasing their energy needs from the grid. Using a general energy pricing model, we tackle the grid optimization design from two different perspectives: a user-oriented optimization and an holistic-based design. In the former case, we optimize each user individually by formulating the grid optimization problem as a noncooperative game, whose solution analysis is addressed building on the theory of variational inequalities. In the latter case, we focus instead on the joint optimization of the whole system, allowing some cooperation among the users. For both formulations, we devise distributed and iterative algorithms providing the optimal production/storage strategies of the users, along with their convergence properties. Among all, the proposed algorithms preserve the users' privacy and require very limited signaling with the central unit.


This work is concerned with the analysis of historical manuscripts. The manuscripts investigated are partially in a bad condition, due to their age, bad storage conditions etc. These circumstances impede a transcription of the ancient writings, as well as the application of document image analysis methods. Therefore, the writings are imaged with a portable MultiSpectral Imaging acquisition system. By using this non-invasive investigation technique the contrast of the degraded and faded-out writings can be enhanced. In order to gain a further contrast enhancement, a post-processing method has been developed. Additionally, two document analysis methods have been developed in order to facilitate the work of scholars: First, an Optical Character Recognition is described. Second, a method designed for the automated identification of writers of ancient Slavic manuscripts is explained. This paper provides an overview on the manuscript investigation techniques mentioned.


The systematic literature review presented here is designed to illustrate the role of metabonomics and metabolomics in pesticide exposure studies. The search was conducted in Thomson Reuters Web of Science (ISI Web of Knowledge) database. The references and citations for each article were downloaded for analysis. Graph theory was used to determine relevant articles and distinct relationships between classic and current research in this field through its structural characteristics. The initial network included 4423 nodes and 4978 links, from which indegree, outdegree and betweenness indicators were extracted. After preprocessing the data, the network was reduced to 415 nodes and 974 links. From this network, 80 articles with the highest score between the three indicators were extracted for review. This methodology allowed for the identification of different perspectives of metabolomic and metabonomic pesticide studies that included the mode and mechanism of action, toxicological and biological monitoring, environmental metabolomics, metabolism, dose response and biomarkers and its role in pesticide exposure.


We previously reported that embryonic stem (ES) cells cultured on M15 cells, a mesoderm-derived supportive cell line, were efficiently differentiated towards an endodermal fate, finally adopting the specific lineages of various digestive organs such as the pancreas and liver. We show here that the endoderm-inducing activity of M15 cells is in part mediated through the extracellular matrices, and that laminin α5 is one of the crucial components. In an attempt to establish a feeder-free ES-cell procedure for pancreatic differentiation, we used a synthesized basement membrane (sBM) substratum using an HEK293 cell line stably expressing laminin-511. On the sBM, mouse ES or induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells sequentially differentiated into the definitive endoderm, pancreatic progenitor cells, and then insulin-expressing pancreatic β-cells in vitro. Knockdown of ES cells with integrin β1 (Itgb1) reduces differentiation towards pancreatic cells. Heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2 (HSPG2) knockdown and heparitinase treatment synergistically decreased the number of Pdx1-expressing cells. These findings indicate that components of the basement membrane have an important role in the differentiation of definitive endoderm lineages. This novel procedure will be useful for the study of pancreatic differentiation of ES or iPS cells and the generation of potential sources of surrogate cells for regenerative medicine.


This article reports the results of one year of commercial television in Flanders and its consequences for the public broadcasting system. In an initial reaction of panic, the public broadcasting system has imitated the success formulae of the new commercial channel. This has led to a programming policy that began to lay ever-greater emphasis on entertainment. At this early stage commercial television has apparently dragged the public broadcasting system along in its `down-market' strategy.


Abstract The action of acetylcholine in the cortex is critical for cognitive functions and cholinergic drugs can improve functions such as attention and working memory. An alternative means of enhancing cholinergic neuromodulation in primates is the intermittent electrical stimulation of the cortical source of acetylcholine, the nucleus basalis (NB) of Meynert. NB stimulation generally increases firing rate of neurons in the prefrontal cortex, however its effects on single neurons are diverse and complex. We sought to understand how NB stimulation affects global measures of neural activity by recording and analyzing local field potentials (LFPs) in monkeys as they performed working memory tasks. NB stimulation primarily decreased power in the alpha frequency range during the delay interval of working memory tasks. The effect was consistent across variants of the task. No consistent modulation in the delay interval of the task was observed in the gamma frequency range, which has previously been implicated in the maintenance of working memory. Our results reveal global effects of cholinergic neuromodulation via deep brain stimulation, an emerging intervention for the improvement of cognitive function.


Environmental security can be framed in environmental risks towards security, such as extreme climatic events that incite new conflicts in local populations, and the security impact on the environment as a result of human-induced damage to the ecosystem. As a result, the fact that climatic-related events can pose a threat to security and the environmental footprint can undermine peace has thus raised a concern in many militaries of democratic nations. This research article introduces the mainstream environmental security literature through the geopolitical, human security and biocentric perspectives and main social trends to analyze ethical issues in the relationship between ecology and the armed forces. It is argued that there are two major ethical challenges for the military: the securitization of the development agenda that can lead to a militarized conservation in conflict areas; and the search for a corporate sense of responsibility in terms of efficient and still ecologically sustainable operational systems that comply with international environmental agreements.


The machining of hard metals historically has been understood to be challenging and
costly due to its material properties (such as titanium's low thermal conductivity and high
hardness, and nickel's rapid work-hardening and high strength at elevated temperatures) and
limited understanding in industry of the physics behind chip formation and material removal.
The achievement of meaningful cycle time reductions while maintaining part quality depends
on a capability to model the physics of hard metal machining operations. With the help of a
validated toolpath analysis model that can predict forces at each cutter location, cycle times
and scrap can be reduced and machine breakdown can be avoided, all through off-line analysis.
Productivity and process efficiency can be improved through simulation, drastically reducing
testing setup and machining time. Physics-based modeling technology has been identified as a
cost-effective solution for identifying optimum cutting speeds, enabling researchers and man-
ufacturers to increase material removal rates, reduce machining costs, and enhance industry
expertise in hard metal machining best practices. This paper presents new advances to physics-
based modeling that have been validated using experimental tests and comparisons with finite
element milling simulations, used to compare different process parameters and resulting mate-
rial removal rates, and successfully advance hard metal machining processes.


The Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California, is a hydrothermally active sediment-covered ridge crest. At present, it is the best studied of this type of ridge system. The methods that have been used are extensive deep and shallow drilling and coring, recovery of hydrothermal deposits via dredging and submersible, and sampling of the hydrothermal fluids as well as the recognition of the chemical anomalies these fluids create in the waters of the basin as a whole. Hydrothermal activity has also been observed in the sedimented Escanaba Trough of the Gorda Ridge and Middle Valley of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, but less sampling has been done at these sites and hydrothermal fluids have yet to be recovered from Middle Valley. The deposits at all three sites show many similarities in spit of the differences in the sediment composition in the three areas. Data from experimental interaction of sediment and seawater are helping to clarify the way in which reactions occurring in the sediment cover affect the chemistry of the hydrothermal fluids. Although isotopic data on the Guaymas Basin fluids suggest that they have reacted with underlying basalt, new experimental data show that the water chemistry can be closely reproduced by reaction of sediment and seawater alone at temperatures and pressures appropriate to the Guaymas Basin system. This suggests that the hydrothermal fluids in the experiment and in the basin have equilibrated with the sediments, and that the relative importance of reactions with basalt versus those with sediment as a source for most of the dissolved sp cies in the hydrothermal fluids cannot be discerned unless a distinctive isotopic signature is present. End_Page 743------------------------


We demonstrate universal and programmable three-mode linear-optical operations in the time domain by realizing a scalable dual-loop optical circuit suitable for universal quantum information processing (QIP). The programmability, validity, and deterministic operation of our circuit are demonstrated by performing nine different three-mode operations on squeezed-state pulses, fully characterizing the outputs with variable measurements, and confirming their entanglement. Our circuit can be scaled up just by making the outer loop longer and also extended to universal quantum computers by incorporating feed forward systems. Thus, our work paves the way to large-scale universal optical QIP.


We show a method how to convert any graph into the binary number and vice versa. We derive upper bound for maximum number of graphs, that, have fixed number of vertices and can be colored with n colors (n is any given number). Proof for the result is outlined. Next, graph coloring based check-digit scheme is proposed. We use quantitative result derived, to show, that feasibility of the proposed scheme increases with size of the number which digits are checked, and overall probability of digits errors.


Camu camu is one of the native fruits with a great economic potential for agroindustry and agro exportation. Edessa is one camu camu pest that produces in dry buds and fruits with a mark decolorated with concentric circles well marked and a central point when they feed. The aim of the current research was to determinate the biological cycle under laboratory conditions and population fluctuations of Edessa aff. aulacosterna. "Camu camu fruit stink bug" during January to November, 2004 in camu-camu culture, in development and production parcels located in flooded areas of restinga in Pucallpa, Ucayali, Peru. Eggs, nymphs and adults were colected to begin artificial rearing proceeding of distrit of Yarinacocha, Pucallpa, Ucayali, Peru. Development time of eggs to 1th nymphal instar was 5.1 days. 94.6% of egg hatchability, varied between 12 until 14 egg-laying was found. The time passed since eggs until III nymphal instar was 37.3 dias and of III to V nymphal instar was de 81.9 days. Percentage of mortality of 2nd nymphal instar to adult was 98,1%. Adults collected were localized mainly on branches and stem of the plants, while nymphs were found in delicated buds. In relation to seasonal populations only were registered eggs laying throught the year in parcels in production. Differences between nymphs I to V and adults of Edessa aff. aulacosterna, in production and development plantations were not found. Only differences in dry and wet period in III to V nymphs instar in development camu camu plants were found. Edessa aff. aulacosterna mainly presented a contagious distribution. Suitable knowledge of bioecology of Edessa aff. aulacosterna permit improves strategy of pest control.


We consider the evolution of Green's function of the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation in the presence of the complex potential −ikδ(x). Our result is the construction of an explicit time-dependent solution which we use to calculate the time-dependent survival probability of a quantum particle. The survival probability decays to zero in finite time, which means that the complex delta potential well is a total absorber for quantum particles. This potential can be interpreted as a killing measure with infinite killing rate concentrated at the origin.


Summary Virtually the entire population of the globally 'Vulnerable' Swan Goose Anser cygnoides winters in the Yangtze floodplain. Historically, the species was widely distributed throughout the floodplain but now approximately 95% of the population is confined to three closely-situated wetlands in Anhui and Jiangxi Provinces. Recent counts indicate that at one of these sites, Shengjin Lake (in Anhui), a decline of about 10,000‐20,000 birds, to about 1,000 currently, has taken place during the last five years. The likely cause of the decline in Swan Goose abundance at Shengjin Lake is the recent decrease in submerged vegetation, particularly tuber-producing Vallisneria which is the species's main food; this decrease has been linked with the introduction of intensive aquaculture in the main areas used by Swan Geese within the lake. Earlier range contractions in the Yangtze floodplain may also be linked to reductions in submerged vegetation cover at other sites, where intensive aquaculture has also been implicated. Changes in lake hydrology following construction of the Three Gorges Dam may also have adversely affected submerged vegetation productivity. Key information needs for the effective implementation of conservation measures for Swan Goose include an understanding of (1) the fitness consequences of Swan Geese being forced to switch to different foods; (2) how aquaculture can be managed to minimise impacts on submerged vegetation; (3) the impact of changing lake hydrology on key Swan Goose food plants; and (4) the optimal management of wetlands to ensure that adequate food is both produced during the summer period and is available throughout the winter.


This paper presents the main features and some simulation results for the DEPINT system, a multi-agent system conceived to illustrate some essential aspects of a social reasoning mechanism ( Sichman, 1995 ), based on the notion of social dependence ( Castelfranchi et al. , 1992 ). This social reasoning mechanism is considered to be an essential building block of really autonomous agents, immersed in an open multi-agent system (MAS) context, i.e., where agents may dynamically enter or leave the society, without any global control. As the adaptation of an agent in such a scenario concerns, dependence relations allow an agent to know which of his goals are achievable and which of his plans are feasible at any moment. This way, an agent may dynamically choose a goal to pursuit and a plan to achieve it, being sure that every skill needed to accomplish the selected plan is available in the society. Concerning coalition formation , this model introduces the notion of dependence situation , which allows an agent to evaluate the susceptibility of other agents to adopt his goals, since agents are not necessarily supposed to be benevolent and therefore automatically adopt the goals of each other. Finally, as regards belief revision , the social reasoning mechanism allows an agent to detect that his representation of the others is inconsistent. Because agents' interactions are guided by their information about the others, it is exactly during these interactions that they may detect that this information is either incorrect or incomplete, and eventually revise it.


The empirical turn in deliberative democracy has fostered the development of different methodological procedures. Within this literature, studies focusing on the internet have gained increasing attention. The belief that the internet may help solve some of the deliberative deficits of democracies has propelled an interest in the potential benefits and problems of online discourse. This article seeks to discuss some of the methods that have been advocated for the study of online deliberation to point out three of their weaknesses: (01) the establishment of misleading distinctions; (02) the neglect of the implications of the deliberative system; and (03) the disregard of some specificities of the internet.


Over the course of the Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) Programme (2016-22), researchers produced over 150 publications, including Working Papers, Briefs, COVID-19 Papers, Journal Articles and several books. The intended audience of these publications varied, from the academic community to national and regional policymakers and other stakeholders; but their value is multiplied when they engage a broader audience. A key approach taken by APRA's Information, Communication and Engagement team to further the reach of these publications was to support the researchers in publishing weekly blogs. Ranging in length from 700 to 1,000 words, these blogs condensed the key insights and messages from longer, more technical publications, particularly highlighting valuable findings and policy takeaways, into a shorter, more accessible and relevant format. With over 200 blogs published since 2018, these outputs have proved highly valuable in promoting APRA publications and events, receiving multiple viewings from a diverse audience and leading to significant subsequent downloads of the related research outputs. This report explores the use of blogs throughout the APRA programme to identify what went well and what could have been improved to expand their impact even further.


INTRODUCTION
The factors of prognosis of the cutaneous T-cell lymphomas are less well known as those of the B-cell lymphomas and the role of the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is not yet definitively evaluated.

CASE REPORTS
Two male patients aged 62 and 82 years had a mycosis fungoides with a lethal outcome. The first patient had mutilating facial tumors; the RNA m of EBV and the genome of EBV were demonstrated in the diseased skin. The second patient had an erythrodermic course with enlarged peripheral lymph nodes and circulating Sézary's cells; the genome of EBV was demonstrated by PCR in the diseased skin.

DISCUSSION
The role of the EBV has already been demonstrated in peripheral aggressive T-cell lymphomas. In the mycosis fungoides, the EBV is associated with the lesions in 0 to 32 p. cent according to the published series. EBV associated T-cell lymphomas have a poor survival rate and the EBV infection may be associated with the expression of the multidrug resistant gene-1 (MDR-1) and the risk of a terminal hemophagocytosis. In our both patients the presence of the EBV in the lymphocytes of the skin lesions is also an argument in favour of the pathogenic role of the virus.


The goal of a computer system is to run an application workload securely, reliably, efficiently, and fast. A computer's hardware architecture and operating system exist to support this goal, and it would be nice if they cooperated as effectively as possible. Yet there is a growing gap between architectural research and OS research, which seems to be the result of poor communication about what actually matters.

In this paper, we discuss this gap and what to do about it. We illustrate the opportunities for closing the gap using examples from some recent OS research.


Stenosis of the nerve root canal caused by isolated resorption of a lumbar disc is a frequently observed pathology, but one about which the orthopaedist still knows relatively little. Henry Crock was the first to reveal its principal pathogenetic factor, disc resorption, and to accurately describe the syndrome and its surgical treatment. A total of 22 patients operated according to Henry Crock's indications and followed-up after 2 years were reviewed. In 20 cases decompression alone was performed, while in 2 cases anterior fusion and MOSS instrumentation were associated. Of the 22 patients submitted to decompression 17 revealed complete regression of pain. Three cases failed: 1 patient had previously been treated with chymopapain, while 3 are awaiting anterior fusion to treat persistent lumbar pain. Follow-up is not sufficient for the two patients submitted to anterior fusion.


In recent years, transmitting and sharing multimedia data across the Internet have raised up many data security issues such as copyright and contents protection due to the communication channel (network) which is often insecure. Therein, the need for new data hiding security mechanisms like steganography has become a necessity. Steganography is the art and science of veiling the existence of the private message while keeping the communication invisible. To exploit this feature, a new reversible data hiding method based on pixel value modification (PVM) that allows secret data to be veiled into the carrier image is introduced in this paper. The proposed method employs the logarithmic predictor and the reference pixel to control the embedding process while the key indicator is used to record the position and the operations performed on each pixel. The embedded confidential data and the original carrier image can be reconstructed without any degradation. Besides, the experimental results, analysis and comparisons demonstrate that the quality of the stego image is better than those of existing methods.


Blockade of the B7: CD28 costimulatory pathway has emerged as a promising therapy to prevent allograft rejection. However, this pathway has also been demonstrated to be important for the generation and maintenance of regulatory T cells. In this study, we investigated the role of the B7: CD28 pathway in the 'bm12 into B6' MHC class II‐mismatched vascularized cardiac transplant model of chronic rejection. Allograft rejection was remarkably accelerated in B6 background B7DKO and CD28KO recipients compared with B6 wild‐type (WT) recipients. Allograft rejection was associated with a significantly enhanced Th1/Th2 alloreactivity and marked reduction in the ratio of regulatory T cells to CD4+ effector/memory cells. We noted that administration of anti‐B7‐1 and anti‐B7‐2 mAb prior to transplantation also accelerated allograft rejection. Furthermore, depleting CD25+ cells in B6 WT recipients of bm12 hearts prior to transplant also precipitated rejection at a similar rate. Neither B7/CD28 deficiency nor CD25 depletion affected graft survival in single MHC class I‐mismatched (bm1 into B6) recipients. This study highlights the paradoxical functions of B7: CD28 costimulation in a MHC class II‐mismatched model, in which the B7: CD28 pathway is demonstrated to be important in preventing rejection through the generation and maintenance of Tregs.


We report a case involving intravenous sedation for third molar extractions in a 32-year-old man with citrullinemia type I (CTLN1), a genetic disorder that affects the urea cycle. The patient was diagnosed with CTLN1 after he exhibited seizures soon after birth and was intellectually disabled because of persistent hyperammonemia, although his recent serum ammonia levels were fairly well controlled. We planned to minimize his preoperative fasting, continue his routine oral medications, and monitor his serum ammonia levels at least twice. Sedation with midazolam and a propofol infusion was planned to suppress his gag reflex and reduce protein hypercatabolism due to stress. Epinephrine-containing local anesthetics, which enhance protein catabolism, were avoided, replaced by plain lidocaine for blocks and prilocaine with felypressin for infiltration anesthesia. No significant elevation in ammonia levels was observed. In patients with CTLN1, sedation can be useful for preventing hyperammonemia. Patients who develop symptomatic hyperammonemia may require urgent/emergent treatment involving other medical specialists. Therefore, preoperative endocrinology consultation, perioperative monitoring of serum ammonia levels, and preemptively coordinating for appropriate care in the event hyperammonemia occurs should all be considered.


Groundwater is one of the precious water resources, especially in the areas suffering from scarcity of surface water resources during lean periods. Consequently various surveying techniques are developed. Very Low Frequency (VLF) surveying is one of the promising techniques in prospecting of groundwater. Studied area is located in Shadnagar district, A.P., India. The area mainly occupied by granite and gneisses intruded by dolerite dykes of Archean age and covered by thin soils layers. The groundwater occurs in such terrains as isolated pockets in fracture zones. To overcome the probability of getting failed bore well, and to identify the ground water potential zone, VLF surveying has been used as in-situ prospecting technique. Surveying using VLF ABEM Wadi instrument, at 7 profiles in E-W direction are carried out. The VLF profile data obtained from surveyed locations are analyzed by RAMAG, IXVLF and KHFfilt software packages, using Karous-Hjelt and Fraser linear filtering. The analysis of the collected data shows various percentages of current density ranging from 5 to 30%. With many In-phase Fraser filtering anomaly peaks. The result of the study, indicate the occurrence of groundwater in two main fracture zones at varying depths. Also the results indicate that, low yield of groundwater, because the area is located on the boundary of a major watershed with low recharging of groundwater.


Inter-network interference in ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless body area networks (WBANs) is analyzed using stochastic geometry with the objective of quantifying the inherent interference tolerance of UWB WBANs in terms of the bit error probability. Such networks are expected to be common in the IoT segment of 5G networks and our methodology may be extended to other network configurations. Our results show that the amount of interference that can be tolerated depends on the node density of a Poisson point process and the transmission power. Moreover, decreasing the number of pulses per burst while transmitting a bit may increase the interference tolerance. On the other hand, UWB WBANs cannot tolerate significant amounts of interference in networks of ultra-densely deployed nodes. In these situations, there will be a significant amount of inter-network interference, and it is essential to adjust the power levels of all the nodes. With this objective, the transmission power of all nodes is decreased and their levels are determined by using a game theoretical approach; specifically with a non-cooperative continuous-kernel game. These optimized power levels not only reduce interference but also enhance the energy efficiency, which is of critical importance for WBANs.


This study was conducted to identify the degree to which the objectives of secondary level national curriculum (2006) of chemistry were aligned with the textbooks in Pakistan. The qualitative study was conducted by reviewing the national curriculum and the chemistry textbooks for grade 9 and 10 so as to find the degree of alignment. The analysis was done using two instruments after literature review: a) Curriculum-Textbook Alignment Rubric (CTAR); and b) Curriculum-Textbook Alignment Checklist (CTAC). The instruments were developed by the researchers and validated through experts' opinion. The instruments contained chapter-wise analysis besides other aspects such as physical features, typography, content organization, assessment exercises etc. The outcomes of the study revealed that there were some gaps between curriculum and textbooks. The specific objectives of some of the units/chapters were partially aligned with its general objectives. The study lays great implications in the sense that it provides feedback to curriculum developers and textbook authors to consider alignment between objectives and contents, and between contents and assessment exercises. The study suggests adequate training for the curriculum and textbook developers to ensure alignment between national curriculum and textbook in the subject of chemistry. Keywords: National Curriculum, Chemistry, Alignment


As architectures have recently become high-risers and mega-structured, stable high strength products have been ensured. Accordingly, use of precast concrete accouplement has been increased in order to facilitate air compression and rationalize construction. Since not only external heating but also internal temperature rise caused by the accumulation of cement hydration heat in manufacturing process, precast concrete members with large cross-section used for high-rise mega-structure's columns and beams may exhibit different temperature history compared to the precast concrete members for wall and sub-floor with relatively small cross-sections. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the characteristics of temperature history of mass concrete members cast with high-strength concrete for precast concrete application. In this study, large cross-sectional precast concrete mock-up, unit cement quantity, and temperature histories in manufacturing precast concrete member under different curing condition were inclusively investigated.


DNA was extracted from rice plants infected with mycoplasmalike organisms (MLOs) causing yellow dwarf disease. DNA of the causal agent was separated from the host DNA by repeated bisbenzimide-CsCl equilibrium density gradient centrifugations. MLO DNA cut by HindIII was ligated into plasmid Bluescript II and cloned in Escherichia coli NM522. The DNA inserts were labeled with peroxidase and employed as probes in hybridization. Southern analysis revealed that the insert in pRYD-12 consisted of one, presumably chromosomal, piece of MLO DNA, whereas the insert in pRYD-19, another recombinant plasmid, consisted of one, presumably extrachromosomal, piece of MLO DNA. Cloned DNA probes were successfully applied in dot blot hybridization for the detection of rice yellow dwarf disease MLOs in rice plants and in an insect vector, the green rice leafhopper (Nephotettix cincticeps).


This study conducted a detection and attribution analysis of the observed global and regional changes in extreme temperatures during 1951–2015. HadEX3 observations were compared with multimodel simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) using an optimal fingerprinting technique. Annual maximum daily maximum and minimum temperatures (TXx and TNx; warm extremes) and annual minimum daily maximum and minimum temperatures (TXn and TNn; cold extremes) over land were analyzed considering global, continental, and subcontinental scales. Response patterns (fingerprints) of extreme temperatures to anthropogenic (ANT), greenhouse gases (GHG), aerosols (AA), and natural (NAT) forcings were obtained from CMIP6 forced simulations. The internal variability ranges were estimated from preindustrial control simulations. A two-signal detection analysis where the observations are regressed onto ANT and NAT fingerprints simultaneously reveals that ANT signals are robustly detected in separation from NAT over global and all continental domains (North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania) for most of the extreme indices. ANT signals are also detected over many subcontinental regions, particularly for warm extremes (more than 60% of 33 subregions). A three-signal detection analysis that considers GHG, AA, and NAT fingerprints simultaneously demonstrates that GHG signals are detected in isolation from other external forcings over global, continental, and several subcontinental domains especially for warm extremes, explaining most of the observed warming. Moreover, AA influences are detected for warm extremes over Europe and Asia, indicating significant offsetting cooling contributions. Overall, human influences are detected more frequently, compared to previous studies, particularly for cold extremes, due to the extended period and the improved spatial coverage of observations.


It is demonstrated that non-central H, controllers can have advantages over the usual central 'H, controller. In particular, it is shown that non-central controllers can improve the quadratic performance of the closed loop. It is further shown how to characterize non-central controllers with lower order than the central controller. The analysis is made possible by a statespace representation of the free contraction based on the Bounded Real Riccati equation.


Abstract
This article is about buying and selling manure in Kampung Sulusuban Seputih Agung Subdistrict. In Kampung Sulusuban Kecamatan Septih Agung Lampung Tengah many pera farmers who can process and make Animal Manure as a reliable organic fertilizer, although manure is unclean and disgusting stuff that is livestock manure but in practice the fertilizer can fertilize agricultural crops and restore the soil structure that Has begun to become barren .. Though buying and selling of this unclean goods is an issue of controversy among scholars, especially between Syafi'i madhab with Madhab Hanafi. The focus of the study of this article is: how is the legal status of the sale and purchase in terms of comparative madhab between imam syafi'i and Imam Hanafi ? This article uses qualitative analysis with Islamic legal approach. The nature of this research is descriptive-analysis that is by describing the legal basis of the scholars in deciding cases of buying and selling unclean goods.
Keywords: Sale and Purchase, Manure, Imam Syafi'i, Imam Hambali


The effect of Olbetam on serum lipid and lipoproteins was studied in 30 diabetic patients with hyperlipidemia in four weeks trial. The dose of Olbetram was 500 mg/d. The results showed serum concentrations of TC, TG, and VLDL-C were decreased while HDL-C especially HDL2-C increased significantly after treatment. There were no significant changes in FBG, blood creatinine and urine acid. This result suggests Olbetam can improve dyslipidemia in NIDDM and was well tolerated by all patients.


The E. Stein and E. M. Nikishin criteria for continuity of an operator in measure are extended to the case of sequences of operators pointwise bounded in measure. The results obtained are applied to studying convergence in measure of multiple Fourier series and summation methods for them. Bibliography: 24 titles.


The profitability of a commercial bank is an important factor to measure its comprehensive development level. Taking the 2019 annual data of China's 16 listed commercial banks as a research sample, the factor analysis method is used to empirically analyze the profitability of each bank, extract four public factors, and calculate the comprehensive score of each bank's profitability. The research results show that the non-performing loan ratio and risk of joint-stock banks are higher, and the capital adequacy ratio is lower. The comprehensive profitability and anti-risk ability of state-owned banks are better than joint-stock banks, and their finances are more stable. This suggests that commercial banks should strengthen their risk control while increasing their profit margins.


A high-throughput method has been developed to allow rapid analysis of maize seed storage proteins by matrix-assisted laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The extraction solution containing an organic solvent, a reducing agent, and a volatile base has been optimized to enable extraction of all classes of zein proteins (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-). A near-saturating concentration of matrix, 2-(4-hydroxyphenylazo)benzoic acid, was necessary to obtain strong peaks for the most lipophilic zeins, the alpha-zeins. Zein proteins with small mass differences, difficult to separate by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, were resolved through this analysis. Mass signals corresponding to the 10-kDa delta-, 15-kDa beta-, 16-kDa gamma-, 27-kDa gamma-, and several 19 and 22-kDa alpha-zeins were detected. The zein identities were further confirmed by the association of the number of cysteine residues in each zein MS peak, as determined by iodoacetamide derivatization, with the number predicted from its coding sequence. The relative zein abundance in the zein MS peaks was also correlated with the relative zein EST abundance among endosperm EST libraries. This method was utilized to examine the zein composition of a number of corn inbred lines and opaque mutants.


We report detailed numerical studies for bound and resonance states of HO2 using a time‐dependent (TD) wave packet approach. The energies of bound and resonance states are calculated from an energy spectrum which is obtained by time→energy Fourier transform of the autocorrelation function. Numerous bound and resonance (both inelastic and reactive) states are identified and their energies are obtained, all from a single wave packet calculation. We employed a Gaussian function to generate the Gaussian spectrum which is defined by convoluting the autocorrelation function with a Gaussian weighting function in the time→energy transform. As shown in a previous paper, the Gaussian spectrum is positive definite and each spectral peak corresponds to a true eigenenergy which makes the picking of eigenenergies straightforward. The wave functions of highly excited bound states and essentially all resonance states show complicated nodal patterns and their spectroscopic assignments seem to be impractical. Our calculated energy spectrum above the reaction threshold shows similar structures as the energy dependence of the reaction probabilities obtained from a previous reactive scattering wave packet calculation. The DMBE IV potential energy surface (PES) of Varandas and co‐workers is used in the present calculation.


The current study takes a qualitative approach to examining the unique use of mobile communications in romantic relationships among young Chinese adults, a research field few scholars have evinced interest in at this point in time (Lim & Soriano, 2016: p. 4). The overarching question "What is the 'Chinese-ness' of the mobile phone user culture of young romantic couples regarding perpetual contact, boundary maintenance, and the connectedness-autonomy tension?" was answered by 15 semi-structured individual interviews. The findings suggest that 1) WeChat messaging was the most prominent mobile media platform used by the respondents to stay in "perpetual contact", i.e., defined as a continuous conversation through frequent short messages between individuals not physically in the same location (Katz & Aakhus, 2002: p. 2). The interviewees wished to protect their relationship a couple by not disclosing too much or by preventing others from prying too far into it. 3) Respondents resolved the tension between the needs to connect with each other and to remain independent individuals by adopting the former approach. Respondents frequently practiced perpetual contact, supporting the Apparatgeist theory, which views mobile phones as mystical devices that allow constant communication with unseen others, combined with the collective construction of meaning (Katz & Aakhus, 2002). This current study further discusses relevant theoretical and social implications.


Shortly after his election in 1992, President Clinton appointed a health care reform task force to develop a proposal for providing health care benefits for all American citizens and legal residents. Between February and May 1993 the Interdepartmental Working Group, composed of more than 30 working groups addressing specific health care issues, prepared options for the task force. The Health Security Act was introduced in November 1993. Besides universal coverage and a basic benefit package, provisions included health insurance reform, regional alliances for structuring competition among health insurance plans, consumer choice of health plans, and provisions for Medicaid beneficiaries. Proposed mental health and substance abuse provisions included coverage of intensive nonresidential services, medical management, evaluation and assessment services, and case management. Initial limitations on coverage of inpatient mental health services and psychotherapy would be removed by 2001. The Clinton plan also called for integration of public mental health and substance abuse services into the full range of health services offered by local health plans. Major issues that will have to be resolved if health care legislation is to be enacted include whether regional alliances should be mandatory and whether employers should be required to contribute to insurance premiums.


The susceptibility of aged persons to verbal transformations was studied in an experiment with ambiguous verbal stimuli ('reversible words'). Twenty-five subjects, aged 64 to 86 years, participated in the experiment. The results indicate that the aged are somewhat less susceptible to verbal reversals than are young adults, but there seem to be no age differences in the type of illusory forms heard. These results differ from those of experiments with nonreversible words, which show a very low rate of transformation and a total absence of transformations into meaningless forms in the aged. It is hypothesized that the reversibility of repeated ambiguous patterns is a general phenomenon arising from satiation, whereas transformations of repeated unambiguous verbal stimuli, involving phonetic distortions, are based on specific speech-perception mechanisms that are absent in the aged.


Assessments of safety and cost and the optimisation of chemically deposited PbS thin films for solar control applications are presented. The maximum integrated infrared reflectance, 44%, is obtained at a PbS thin film thickness of approximately=95 nm. The corresponding value of the solar control parameters (AM2 case) are: integrated infrared transmittance, 45%; integrated visible transmittance, 17% (yellowish appearance); integrated visible reflectance, 21% (purple appearance); and integrated solar absorptance, 36%. The total solar radiation and heat transfer into the building through a glazing with such a PbS coating is less than 44%, as compared with the approximately=84% of 3 mm thick clear glass, giving a shading coefficient of approximately=50%. A film thickness of 95 nm is obtainable with a deposition time of 50 min from a bath (at 24 degrees C) containing Pb2+ ions and thiourea in the 1:3 molar ratio. However, molar ratios up to 1:5 may be employed, thereby enabling the reduction of deposition time to 35 min. Analyses of the safety and the cost of these coatings have shown excellent promise for their application as medium-efficiency low-cost solar control coatings appropriate for small-scale industrial and 'do-it-yourself' production of the coatings.


For nearly a quarter of a century the FDA Office of Orphan Products Development has administered the US Orphan Drug Act, which assists in bringing a wide variety of drug and biological (drug) products to treat rare diseases to market. Enthusiasm for rare disease product development has been sustained, seen throughout a wide spectrum of product types and disease conditions, and has resulted in clinically meaningful medical advances. Development of programmes for rare disease treatment worldwide, coupled with the development of drugs for diseases affecting developing countries, attests to the strength of this legislation. The marketing of almost 300 products in the US for rare diseases also testifies to the depth and intensity of scientific endeavour in this area.


The foot and ankle are rare sites of involvement for giant cell tumor of tendon sheath. We present three rare cases of giant cell tumor of tendon sheath arising from the tendon sheaths of the flexor hallucis longus, peroneus brevis, and extensor hallucis brevis tendons, along with a literature review of such cases in the foot and ankle region. All of the patients were treated with surgical excision of the mass and were asymptomatic after minimum follow-up of 18 months. Giant cell tumor of tendon sheath involving the foot and ankle region is a rare clinical entity, and good results can be expected after surgical excision.


Macro-social disruptions and evolutions open up new possibilities for feeding the family. This paper aims to review prior constraints imposed by the gendered history of care work as part of the moral economy, with particular focus on how food traditions and routines reproduce family relations. An assemblage perspective provides an appropriate theoretical lens to trace such emergent reconfigurations. The paper takes as its focus three macro shifts with the potential to incite more and less intentional changes to the realities of feeding the family: changes in home life and organization of care, dads' participation in feeding the family and innovation in food systems. Theoretical contributions reveal how shifting macro-social structures constrain and shape trajectories for the work of feeding the family. Practical implications focus on how creative family members, marketers and policymakers influence arrangements, capacities and practices of family life. This commentary brings an assemblage view of family life that proposes potential lines of flight when considering macro-context shifts, with particular attention to the relationship between food and family.


This paper deals with facilities planning for Esso Production Malaysia Inc's (EPMI's) Semangkok oil field and is supplementary to the Semangkok Field Development Planning paper presented at this conference. The original plan was to develop the field with three platforms but further studies indicated that two platforms would reach all reserves utilizing higher angle wells. The production facilities include a manned central processing platform, Semangkok A, with gas re-injection facilities and an unmanned satellite platform, Semangkok B. Remote operation of the unmanned satellite platform is accomplished by a telemetry system operated from the central platform. Crude production is pumped to the onshore Trengganu Crude Oil Terminal (TCOT) via a pumping platform. Development planning had to consider the high CO/sub 2/ content of Semangkok gas which required careful selection of materials in the facilities design.


Purpose: To evaluate the psychiatric diagnoses and psychotropic drug prescription by psychiatrists and non psychiatrist physicians (general practitioners and physicians of other disciplines). Methods: Sample group consists of 95 consecutive patients of our outpatient clinic, who were previously examined by general practitioners, specialty physicians and private practice psychiatrists. Preliminary diagnoses of and psychotropic drugs prescribed to the study group were evaluated. Axis I disorders of these patients were diagnosed with SCID-I; Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Ham-D) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (Ham-A) were used to evaluate their depression and Anxiety; Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) was used to evaluate their general clinical condition. Sociodemographic features, previous treatment plans were determined with questionuaries. Results: The most frequent diagnoses by non psychiatrist physicians (NPP), neurologists (N) and private practice psychiatrists (PPP) were anxiety disorders and depression. The most frequently prescribed drugs were SSRI?s. NPP tended to prescribe minimal effective doses which was statistically significant. The PPP patients usually had prenous psychiatric treatments. The treatments that had been administered to the PPP group were superior in terms of accuracy and management. Conclusion: Depression and anxiety disorders should be assessed in patients who present with somatic complaints. Appropriate drug regime, dose and duration; appropriate interview intervals are important.


In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) optical fiber tip sensor fabricated by a blade-sawing technique using a fiber optic patch cord for high-resolution temperature measurement. The sensor head consists of a short air FP cavity near the tip of a single-mode fiber patch cord tip. The temperature which we can measure is determined through a phase variation of the interference fringes in the reflective spectrum of the sensor. The fiber optic FPI sensor in this work can monitor the environmental temperature very accurately from 40 to 120 o C. As a result, the temperature sensitivity is obtained as 38.2 pm/ o C.


Members of the family of pulsar-like stars are distinguished by their different manifestations observed, i.e., radio pulsars, accretion-driven X-ray pulsars, X-ray bursts, anomalous X-ray pulsars/soft gamma-ray repeaters, certral compact objects, and dim thermal neutron stars. Though one may conventionally think that these stars are normal neutron stars, it is still an open issue whether they are actually neutron stars or quark stars, as no convincing work, either theoretical from first principles or observational, has confirmed Baade-Zwicky's original idea that supernovae produce neutron stars. After introducing briefly the history of pulsars and quark stars, the author summarizes the recent achievements in his pulsar group, including quark matter phenomenology at low temperature, starquakes of solid pulsars, low-mass quark stars, and the pulsar magnetospheric activities.


Abstract We reviewed photographic images of fishes from depths of 381–2282 m in Marguerite Bay and 405–2007 m in the Amundsen Sea. Marguerite Bay fishes were 33% notothenioids and 67% non-notothenioids. Channichthyids (47%) and nototheniids (44%) were the most abundant notothenioids. The deep-living channichthyid Chionobathyscus dewitti (74%) and the nototheniid genus Trematomus (66%) were the most abundant taxa within these two families. The most abundant non-notothenioids were the macrourid Macrourus whitsoni (72%) and zoarcids (18%). Amundsen Sea fishes were 87% notothenioids and 13% non-notothenioids, the latter exclusively Macrourus whitsoni. Bathydraconids (38%) and artedidraconids (30%) were the most abundant notothenioids. We observed that Macrourus whitsoni was benthopelagic and benthic and infested by large ectoparasitic copepods. Juvenile (42 cm) Dissostichus mawsoni was not neutrally buoyant and resided on the substrate at 1277 m. Lepidonotothen squamifrons was seen near and on nests of eggs in early December. A Pogonophryne sp. from 2127 m was not a member of the deep-living unspotted P. albipinna group. Chionobathyscus dewitti inhabited the water column as well as the substrate. The pelagic zoarcid Melanostigma gelatinosum was documented in the water column a few metres above the substrate. The zoogeographic character of the Marguerite Bay fauna was West Antarctic or low-Antarctic and the Amundsen Sea was East Antarctic or high-Antarctic.


Objectives. To determine whether candidates for aesthetic rhinoplasty show more severe symptoms of psychopathology in comparison with functional rhinoplasty patients. Study Design. Case-control study. Aesthetic rhinoplasty candidates were taken as cases and functional rhinoplasty patients comprised the control group. Setting. A surgical center for rhinoplasty. Subjects and Methods. Forty-two patients seeking either aesthetic rhinoplasty (n = 21) or functional rhinoplasty (n = 21) were included in this study in winter 2012 using a convenience sampling method. All patients were asked to complete the Symptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) preoperatively. An independent t test was performed for each subscale of the instrument. Cohen's d was calculated as a measure of effect size. Pearson's correlation was also performed between the subscales. Results. Independent t test verified that aesthetic rhinoplasty patients scored significantly higher in 8 subscales of the SCL-90-R in comparison with functional rhinoplasty patients as control group. Aesthetic rhinoplasty seekers showed more severe symptoms in obsessive-compulsive disorder (P \ .01), depression (P \ .01), interpersonal problems (P \ .01), psychoticism (P \ .05), paranoia (P \ .05), hostility (P \ .05), phobia (P \ .01), and general psychopathology (P \ .01). All subscales were correlated strongly in the current sample. Conclusion. This study demonstrated that a sample of patients seeking aesthetic rhinoplasty had higher symptoms in various components of psychopathology compared with a control group. Therefore, preoperative psychological screening of aesthetic rhinoplasty candidates may be useful.


Neutralization of the aspartate near the selectivity filter in the GYGD pore sequence (D292N) of the voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+ channel (MaxiK, BKCa) does not prevent conduction like the corresponding mutation in Shaker channel, but profoundly affects major biophysical properties of the channel (Haug, T., D. Sigg, S. Ciani, L. Toro, E. Stefani, and R. Olcese. 2004. J. Gen. Physiol. 124:173–184). Upon depolarizations, the D292N mutant elicited mostly gating current, followed by small or no ionic current, at voltages where the wild-type hSlo channel displayed robust ionic current. In fact, while the voltage dependence of the gating current was not significantly affected by the mutation, the overall activation curve was shifted by ∼20 mV toward more depolarized potentials. Several lines of evidence suggest that the mutation prevents population of certain open states that in the wild type lead to high open probability. The activation curves of WT and D292N can both be fitted to the sum of two Boltzmann distributions with identical slope factors and half activation potentials, just by changing their relative amplitudes. The steeper and more negative component of the activation curve was drastically reduced by the D292N mutation (from 0.65 to 0.30), suggesting that the population of open states that occurs early in the activation pathway is reduced. Furthermore, the slow component of the gating current, which has been suggested to reflect transitions from closed to open states, was greatly reduced in D292N channels. The D292N mutation also affected the limiting open probability: at 0 mV, the limiting open probability dropped from ∼0.5 for the wild-type channel to 0.06 in D292N (in 1 mM [Ca2+]i). In addition to these effects on gating charge and open probability, as already described in Part I, the D292N mutation introduces a ∼40% reduction of outward single channel conductance, as well as a strong outward rectification.


Classical wave systems are represented in terms of Lagrangian coordinates and a variational equation related to Hamilton's principle. Isentropic ideal gas dynamics and shallow water waves are considered as examples. A simple mapping, derived from Schrödinger's original transform, is introduced. Nonlinear Schrödinger equations are obtained as resultant Euler-Lagrange equations when total convection within the system is extremal. In the shallow water waves example, a form for the Jacobian of the continuity equation in Lagrangian coordinates is presented, corresponding to free surface height solitons.


In this paper, enhanced spatial and temporal shifts in the reflection of Gaussian wave packets from two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides supporting above-the-light-line leaky modes are studied, for the first time to our best knowledge. Particular attention is given to two important special cases, namely, harmonic Gaussian beams and Gaussian-pulse uniform plane waves. Analytical expressions are given for enhanced spatial and temporal shifts when the stationary phase approximation holds and the incident wave excites above-the-light-line leaky modes. The enhanced spatial and temporal shifts of Gaussian wave packets are thereby related to each other via the group velocity of the excited leaky modes.


INTRODUCTION
The aim of the study was to compare the effects of ten-week multicomponent training with different exercise frequencies on body composition (BC) and physical fitness (PF) in overweight and obese young children.

METHODS
40 children, aged 12-15 (14.77±1.49), were randomly selected and assigned to experimental groups to train three times/week (EG1) or two times/week (EG2) for 10 weeks and a CG group (no training program).

RESULTS
It was shown that experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) improved similarly aerobic capacity (3.8% and 3.5%, respectively), muscular strength (29.7% and 25.2%), flexibility (6.1% and 9.9%), body mass index (5.0% and 4.6%), and body fat (6.4% and 5.6%) from pre- to post-training. CG group showed no significant improvements on BC and PF variables.

CONCLUSION
Short-term multicomponent training seems to be effective on PF improvements, independently of the exercise frequency, in overweight and obese young children. However, it seems to be more effective to perform a multicomponent exercise training three times/week to improve muscular strength, body mass index, and decrease body fat percentage. This knowledge should be considered by professionals in physical education or youth sport in order to adapt practical tasks depending on the training purposes.


This study aimed to investigate the relationship between on-treatment morning home blood pressure (HBP) and incidence of cardiovascular events using data from the Home Blood Pressure Measurement With Olmesartan Naive Patients to Establish Standard Target Blood Pressure (HONEST) study, a prospective observational study of 21 591 outpatients with essential hypertension (mean age, 64.9 years; women, 50.6%) enrolled between 2009 and 2010 at clinics and hospitals in Japan. They received olmesartan-based treatment throughout. The primary end point was major cardiovascular events. After a mean follow-up period of 2.02 years, cardiovascular events occurred in 280 patients (incidence, 6.46/1000 patient-years). The risk for the primary end point was significantly higher in patients with on-treatment morning HBP ≥145 to <155 mm Hg (hazard ratio [HR], 1.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12–2.99) and ≥155 mm Hg (HR, 5.03; 95% CI, 3.05–8.31) than <125 mm Hg and with on-treatment clinic blood pressure ≥150 to <160 mm Hg (HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.10–2.60) and ≥160 mm Hg (HR, 4.38; 95% CI, 2.84–6.75) than <130 mm Hg. Morning HBP associated with minimum risk was 124 mm Hg by spline regression analysis. Cardiovascular risk was increased in patients with morning HBP ≥145 mm Hg and clinic blood pressure <130 mm Hg (HR, 2.47; 95% CI, 1.20–5.08) compared with morning HBP <125 mm Hg and clinic blood pressure <130 mm Hg. In conclusion, it is essential to control morning HBP to <145 mm Hg, even in patients with controlled clinic blood pressure.

Clinical Trial Registration— URL: . UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, trial No. UMIN000002567.

# Novelty and Significance {#article-title-18}


Caching of popular content on wireless nodes is recently proposed as a means to reduce congestion in the backbone of cellular networks and to improve Quality of Service. From a network point of view, the goal is to offload as many users as possible from the backbone network to the wireless caches while at the same time offering good service to cache-unrelated users. Aggressive offloading can lead to an unbalanced user association. Some wireless nodes can be overloaded by cache-related traffic while the resources of others remain underused. Given a fixed content placement, this work proposes an efficient distributed algorithm to control and balance the association of cache-related traffic among cellular cache memories. The algorithm allows the network to achieve the globally optimal solution and can be executed on base stations using a limited amount of information exchange between them. It is based on a novel algorithm we call Bucket-filling. The solution limits the cache-users per node by balancing the total load among the nodes in a fair way. The improvement compared to common user assignment policies is highlighted for single-as well as for multi-tier random networks.


Abstract The central Platte River valley (CPRV) in Nebraska, USA, is a key spring-staging area for approximately 80% of the midcontinent population of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis; hereafter cranes). Evidence that staging cranes acquired less lipid reserves during the 1990s compared to the late 1970s and increases in use of the CPRV by snow geese (Chen caerulescens) prompted us to investigate availability of waste corn and quantify spatial and temporal patterns of crane and waterfowl use of the region. We developed a predictive model to assess impacts of changes in availability of corn and snow goose abundance under past, present, and potential future conditions. Over a hypothetical 60-day staging period, predicted energy demand of cranes and waterfowl increased 87% between the late 1970s and 1998–2007, primarily because peak abundances of snow geese increased by 650,000 and cranes by 110,000. Compared to spring 1979, corn available when cranes arrived was 20% less in 1998 and 68% less in 1999; consequently, the area of cornfields required to meet crane needs increased from 14,464 ha in 1979 to 32,751 ha in 1998 and 90,559 ha in 1999. Using a pooled estimate of 88 kg/ha from springs 1998–1999 and 2005–2007, the area of cornfields needed to supply food requirements of cranes and waterfowl increased to 65,587 ha and was greatest in the eastern region of the CPRV, where an estimated 54% of cranes, 47% of Canada geese (Branta canadensis), 45% of greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons), and 46% of snow geese occurred during ground surveys. We estimated that a future reduction of 25% in available corn or cornfields would increase daily foraging flight distances of cranes by 27–38%. Crane use and ability of cranes to store lipid reserves in the CPRV could be reduced substantially if flight distance required to locate adequate corn exceeded a physiological maximum distance cranes could fly in search of food. Options to increase carrying capacity for cranes include increasing accessibility of cornfields by restoring degraded river channels to disperse roosting cranes and increasing wetland availability in the Rainwater Basin to attract snow geese using the CPRV.


A survey of the techniques used in the preparation and evaluation of semiconductor materials is presented. The various processes for the preparation and growth of crystals are described, and an outline of their relative merits is given. Crystalgrowth records must be maintained to permit control of yield from subsequent manufacturing processes.


This tutorial defines the device packaging problem and describes several solutions. A device package is the optical, mechanical, electrical, and thermal interface between the optical device and the outside world. It must be manufacturable in large volume at low cost, and it is expected to be troublefree for years. So far there are no perfect solutions, but the problems are well understood.