Modern system architectures require sophisticated access and usage control mechanisms. The need stems from demanding requirements for security, data sovereignty and privacy regulations, as well as the challenges presented by architectural approaches like zero trust networking. Usage control systems provide one approach to encapsulate and manage the complexities related to access and usage control. In order to trust a usage control system, it is essential to ensure that usage control policies express the intended properties and are enforced correctly. To achieve this, we need a precise specification of the intended behavior of a usage control system. For attribute-based access control, the XACML standard is a sufficient specification of the behavior of policies. Usage control models, such as UCON, extend access control with features for continuous authorization based on mutability of attribute values. This adds significant complexity to the problem of specifying the intended behavior. In this paper, we identify challenges with specifying a practical usage control system regarding continuous control, obligations, and concurrency aspects. We describe an approach to specifying the UCON+ model of Dimitrakos et al. and outline an implementation of the specification with Answer Set Programming.


Persisting unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, labour market flexibility, job insecurity and higher wage inequality, changing patterns of work and family life are among the factors that exert pressure on welfare states in Europe. This book explores the potential of an unconditional basic income, without means test or work requirement, to meet the challenges posed by the new social question, compared to policies of subsidized insertion in work. It also assesses the political chances of basic income in various European countries. These themes are highly relevant to policy-makers in the field of labour markets and social security, economists, political philosophers, and a social science audience in general.


Background Despite the rising number of older adults with medical encounters for opioid misuse, dependence, and poisoning, little is known about patterns of prescription opioid dose and their association with risk for opioid-related adverse events (ORAEs) in older patients. The study aims to compare trajectories of prescribed opioid doses in 6 months preceding an incident ORAE for cases and a matched control group of older patients with chronic noncancer pain (CNCP). Methods and findings We conducted a nested case–control study within a cohort of older (≥65 years) patients diagnosed with CNCP who were new users of prescription opioids, assembled using a 5% national random sample of Medicare beneficiaries from 2011 to 2018. From the cohort with a mean follow-up of 2.3 years, we identified 3,103 incident ORAE cases with ≥1 opioid prescription in 6 months preceding the event, and 3,103 controls matched on sex, age, and time since opioid initiation. Key exposure was trajectories of prescribed opioid morphine milligram equivalent (MME) daily dosage over 6 months before the incident ORAE or matched controls. Among the cases and controls, 2,192 (70.6%) were women, and the mean (SD) age was 77.1 (7.1) years. Four prescribed opioid trajectories before the incident ORAE diagnosis or matched date emerged: gradual dose discontinuation (from ≤3 to 0 daily MME, 1,456 [23.5%]), gradual dose increase (from 0 to >3 daily MME, 1,878 [30.3%]), consistent low dose (between 3 and 5 daily MME, 1,510 [24.3%]), and consistent moderate dose (>20 daily MME, 1,362 [22.0%]). Few older patients (<5%) were prescribed a mean daily dose of ≥90 daily MME during 6 months before diagnosis or matched date. Patients with gradual dose discontinuation versus those with a consistent low dose, moderate dose, and increase dose were more likely to be younger (65 to 74 years), Midwest US residents, and receiving no low-income subsidy. Compared to patients with gradual dose discontinuation, those with gradual dose increase (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.8 to 4.0; P < 0.001), consistent low dose (aOR = 3.8; 95% CI 3.2 to 4.6; P < 0.001), and consistent moderate dose (aOR = 8.5; 95% CI 6.8 to 10.7; P < 0.001) had a higher risk of ORAE, after adjustment for covariates. Our main findings remained robust in the sensitivity analysis using a cohort study with inverse probability of treatment weighting analyses. Major limitations include the limited generalizability of the study findings and lack of information on illicit opioid use, which prevents understanding the clinical dose threshold level that increases the risk of ORAE in older adults. Conclusions In this sample of older patients who are Medicare beneficiaries, 4 prescription opioid dose trajectories were identified, with most prescribed doses below 90 daily MME within 6 months before ORAE or matched date. An increased risk for ORAE was observed among older patients with a gradual increase in dose or among those with a consistent low-to-moderate dose of prescribed opioids when compared to patients with opioid dose discontinuation. Whether older patients are susceptible to low opioid doses warrants further investigations.


Although there is no generally accepted therapy for ergotamine-induced vasoconstriction, infusion of directly acting vasodilators is regarded presently as the treatment of choice. We present a case of peripheral arterial ischaemia secondary to excessive use of ergotamine suppositories, which was reversed with oral thymoxamine hydrochloride (an α 1-adrenoceptor antagonist) and ergotamine withdrawal. We suggest that in patients with ergotamine-induced peripheral arterial vasoconstriction with no evidence of gangrene, oral thymoxamine may be considered as a useful adjunct or possible alternative to infused vasodilator treatment.


The physiological characteristics of the dominant tree species in the tropical rain forest mainly belonging to dipterocarps as well as the environmental conditions especially for the light in the forest were studied to establish the silvicultural system for the forest regeneration in the tropical South Asia. The flowering patterns of the dipterocarp trees are usually irregular and unpredictable, which make difficult to collect sufficient seeds for raising the seedlings. The field survey revealed the diverged features of the so-called gregarious or simultaneous flowering of various species of this group. Appropriate conditions and methods for the storage of the seeds were established according to the detailed analyses of the morphological and physiological characteristics of the seeds such as the low temperature tolerance and the moisture contents. The intensity and spectra of the light in the forest primarily determine the growth and the morphological development of the seedlings under the canopy. Based on the measurements of the diffused light at the sites in the tropical forest in the varying sunlight, the parameters such as "the steady state of the diffuse light" and "the turning point" were defined, which were useful to evaluate the light conditions in the forest. To improve the survival of the transplanted seedlings, a planting method of "the bare-root seedlings", the seedlings easy to be handled by removal of all leaves, soil and pots, was developed. Its marked efficiency was proved with various dipterocarps and other tropical trees by the field trial in the practical scale. Tolerance of the various species to the extreme environmental conditions such as fires, acid soils and drought were examined by the experiments and the field survey, which revealed marked adaptability of Shorea roxburghii as a potential species for regeneration of the tropical forests.


The majority of computer vision applications assumes that the camera adheres to the pinhole camera model. However, most optical systems will introduce undesirable effects. By far, the most evident of these effects is radial lensing, which is particularly noticeable in fish-eye camera systems, where the effect is relatively extreme. Several authors have developed models of fish-eye lenses that can be used to describe the fish-eye displacement. Our aim is to evaluate the accuracy of several of these models. Thus, we present a method by which the lens curve of a fish-eye camera can be extracted using well-founded assumptions and perspective methods. Several of the models from the literature are examined against this empirically derived curve.


High power superfluorescent fiber sources (SFSs), which could find wide applications in many fields such as middle infrared laser generation, Raman fiber laser pumping and spectral beam combination, have experienced a flourishing time in recent years for its unique properties, such as short coherence length and high temporal stability. The challenge for performance scalability of powerful SFS mainly lies on the physical issues including parasitic laser oscillation and modal instability (MI). In this contribution, by employing in-band pumping avenue and high-order transverse-mode management, we explore a high power SFS with record power, near-diffraction-limited beam quality and spectral manipulation flexibility. An ultimate output power of 3.14 kW can be obtained with high temporal stability and a beam quality of $M^{2}=1.59$ for the amplified light. Furthermore, the dynamics of spectral evolutions, including red-shifting of central wavelength and unsymmetrical broadening in spectral wings, of the main amplifier with different seed linewidths are investigated contrastively. Benefiting from the unique high pump brightness and high MI threshold of in-band pumping scheme, the demonstrated system also manifests promising performance scaling potential.


Combinations of retinoic acid (RA) and cAMP mediate many biological responses in a large variety of cell types. While the basis for the apparent synergistic effects of RA and cAMP are not clearly defined, it is likely that activation of PKA by cAMP is involved. However, literature reports concerning the identity of PKA isoforms in HL60 and MCF-7 cells are conflicting. The purpose of the present investigation is to identify PKA isoforms in HL60 and MCF-7 cells. Utilization of high-performance anion-exchange liquid chromatography, immunoblotting, and 8-azido-cAMP photoaffinity binding resulted in the finding that HL60 cells contain PKA types I alpha and II alpha, while MCF-7 cells contain PKA types I alpha, II alpha, and II beta. PKA type I alpha in both HL60 and MCF-7 cells eluted from columns as two well-separated peaks. One peak eluted at a low salt concentration in agreement with previous reports. The second HL60 PKA type I alpha peak eluted at a salt concentration intermediate between that eluting the first peak and that eluting PKA type II alpha and contained approximately 62% of the total RI alpha protein. However, the second MCF-7 PKA type I alpha peak contained approximately 66% of the total RI alpha protein and co-eluted with PKA types II alpha and II beta. This "contamination" of PKA type II fractions with PKA type I has led, in some cases, to interpretations that may need reevaluation.


We propose a sampling type method to image scatterer in an electromagnetic waveguide. The waveguide terminates at one end and the measurements are on the other end and in the far field. The imaging function is based on integrating the measurements and a known function over the measurement surface directly. The design and analysis of such imaging function are based on a factorization of a data operator given by the measurements. We show by analysis that the imaging function peaks inside the scatterer, where the coercivity of the factorized operator and the design of the known function play a central role. Finally, numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the performance of the imaging method.


Leaders of universities in the U.S. are experiencing increased pressures from internal and external constituencies to meet changing expectations. At the same time as leadership jobs are becoming more difficult, academic leaders are aging and it is uncertain if there will be enough future leaders who are ready, willing and prepared to take on these challenging roles. Yet higher education is doing little to intentionally prepare new leaders. Research exists detailing formal career paths, and the roles and tasks of academic leaders, but little research exists on the developmental experiences that prepare academics for leadership roles. The purpose of this study was to deepen understanding of career experiences that prepare academics for leadership positions within research universities and identify those experiences that would enhance the preparation of future leaders. Career patterns were examined through content analysis of 41 curriculum vitae (CV) of academic deans, vice provosts, vice chancellors, chief academic officers (CAO)/provosts and chancellors within the University of California system. Patterns of formal jobs, professional service, scholarship and professional development were identified and quantified. Interviews with 13 academic deans from the CV study, and 4 CAO/provosts from within the university system identified career experiences that were most beneficial for leader development. An integrated theory of leader development was used to analyze and understand the data. Findings pointed to the value for leader development of serving as a department chair, director, Chair of the Academic Senate, leading campus-wide committees, leading professional associations and receiving mentoring. A model of the existing academic leader development process was identified and improvements to the model were proposed, including the addition of more developmental feedback and encouragement, professional development, and support for scholarship while participating in lower-level leadership positions earlier in the career. This study identified several dilemmas of leadership in research universities, including pressure for high scholarship interfering with leader development, problems with development of professional identity as a leader, and not enough support for leadership development of academics. Recommendations were made to help institutions and current leaders enable both scholarship and leader development in the research university.


Objective There is a need for early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) at precancerous-stage adenoma. Here, we identified novel faecal bacterial markers for diagnosing adenoma. Design This study included 1012 subjects (274 CRC, 353 adenoma and 385 controls) from two independent Asian groups. Candidate markers were identified by metagenomics and validated by targeted quantitative PCR. Results Metagenomic analysis identified 'm3' from a Lachnoclostridium sp., Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) and Clostridium hathewayi (Ch) to be significantly enriched in adenoma. Faecal m3 and Fn were significantly increased from normal to adenoma to CRC (p<0.0001, linear trend by one-way ANOVA) in group I (n=698), which was further confirmed in group II (n=313; p<0.0001). Faecal m3 may perform better than Fn in distinguishing adenoma from controls (areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCs) m3=0.675 vs Fn=0.620, p=0.09), while Fn performed better in diagnosing CRC (AUROCs Fn=0.862 vs m3=0.741, p<0.0001). At 78.5% specificity, m3 and Fn showed sensitivities of 48.3% and 33.8% for adenoma, and 62.1% and 77.8% for CRC, respectively. In a subgroup tested with faecal immunochemical test (FIT; n=642), m3 performed better than FIT in detecting adenoma (sensitivities for non-advanced and advanced adenomas of 44.2% and 50.8% by m3 (specificity=79.6%) vs 0% and 16.1% by FIT (specificity=98.5%)). Combining with FIT improved sensitivity of m3 for advanced adenoma to 56.8%. The combination of m3 with Fn, Ch, Bacteroides clarus and FIT performed best for diagnosing CRC (specificity=81.2% and sensitivity=93.8%). Conclusion This study identifies a novel bacterial marker m3 for the non-invasive diagnosis of colorectal adenoma.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the preparation and physicochemical characteristics of noctenylsuccinylated (OSAn) rice starches with different rice amylose contents. Amylose contents of Jinsumi flour and Milyang 261 flour were 15.42 and 20.31%, respectively. After processing by alkali treatment, amylose contents of Jinsumi rice starch and Milyang 261 rice starch were 34.21% and 39.32%, respectively. After OSAn treatment, the degree of substitution and reaction efficiency of Jinsumi starch were higher than those of Milyang 261. The stability of the modified Jinsumi emulsion was higher than that of the Milyang 261 emulsion. Viscosity of the Jinsumi emulsion was higher than that of the Milyang 261 emulsion. When the emulsions were spray dried, modified Jinsumi rice starch showed excellent coating efficiency compared to that of modified Milyang 261 rice starch. Therefore, Jinsumi was more suitable than Milyang 261 to apply for encapsulation as wall materials.


Purpose: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) are associated with a better prognosis in high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC). However, it is largely unknown how this prognostic benefit of TIL relates to current standard treatment of surgical resection and (neo-)adjuvant chemotherapy. To address this outstanding issue, we compared TIL infiltration in a unique cohort of patients with advanced-stage HGSC primarily treated with either surgery or neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Experimental Design: Tissue microarray slides containing samples of 171 patients were analyzed for CD8+ TIL by IHC. Freshly isolated CD8+ TIL subsets were characterized by flow cytometry based on differentiation, activation, and exhaustion markers. Relevant T-cell subsets (CD27+) were validated using IHC and immunofluorescence. Results: A prognostic benefit for patients with high intratumoral CD8+ TIL was observed if primary surgery had resulted in a complete cytoreduction (no residual tissue). By contrast, optimal (<1 cm of residual tumor) or incomplete cytoreduction fully abrogated the prognostic effect of CD8+ TIL. Subsequent analysis of primary TIL by flow cytometry and immunofluorescence identified CD27 as a key marker for a less-differentiated, yet antigen-experienced and potentially tumor-reactive CD8+ TIL subset. In line with this, CD27+ TIL were associated with an improved prognosis even in incompletely cytoreduced patients. Neither CD8+ nor CD27+ cell infiltration was of prognostic benefit in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that treatment regimen, surgical result, and the differentiation of TIL should all be taken into account when studying immune factors in HGSC or, by extension, selecting patients for immunotherapy trials. Clin Cancer Res; 22(3); 714–24. ©2015 AACR.


Antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) are two hazardous metalloid elements, and the biogeochemical cycle of Sb and As can be better understood by studying plant rhizosphere microorganisms associated with Sb mine waste. In the current study, samples of three types of mine waste—Sb mine tailing, waste rocks, and smelting slag—and associated rhizosphere microorganisms of adapted plants were collected from Qinglong Sb mine, southwest China. 16S rRNA was sequenced and used to study the composition of the mine waste microbial community. The most abundant phylum in all samples was Proteobacteria, followed by Bacteroidota, Acidobacteriota, and Actinobacteriota. The community composition varied among different mine waste types. Gammaproteobacteria was the most abundant microorganism in tailings, Actinobacteria was mainly distributed in waste rock, and Saccharimonadia, Acidobacteriae, and Ktedonobacteria were mainly present in slag. At the family level, the vast majority of Hydrogenophilaceae were found in tailings, Ktedonobacteraceae, Chthoniobacteraceae, and Acidobacteriaceae (Subgroup 1) were mostly found in slag, and Pseudomonadaceae and Micrococcaceae were mainly found in waste rock. Actinobacteriota and Arthrobacter are important taxa for reducing heavy metal(loid) mobility, vegetation restoration, and self-sustaining ecosystem construction on antimony mine waste. The high concentrations of Sb and As reduce microbial diversity.


Thin film and bulk samples were prepared from synthesized amorphous Te82.2Ge13.22Si4.58 chalcogenide glassy alloy by the thermal evaporation technique. X-ray analysis shows that both synthesized material and thin film forms have an amorphous nature. The electrical and thermal conductivities for the bulk sample were studied as a function of temperature in a range below Tg (Tg = 423 K). The obtained results for electrical conductivity are explained in accordance with the Mott and Davis model. The switching effects in amorphous films were also investigated. The switching phenomenon for this composition was of memory type. The mean value of the threshold voltage th was found to increase linearly with increasing film thickness (98.9-250.1 nm), while it decreased exponentially with increasing temperature (below Tg). The results obtained are explained in accordance with the electrothermal model for the switching process.


Abstract The objective of this study is to analyse the effect of tool-work interface temperature observed during the turning of AISI 4340 cylindrical steel components in three machining conditions, namely flooded, near-dry and dry conditions with three separate CNMG-PEF 800 diamond finish Titanium Nitride (TiN) coated carbide cutting tool. The machining parameters considered in this study are cutting velocity, feed rate and depth of cut. The experiments were planned based on full factorial design (33) and executed in an All Geared Conventional Lathe. The tool-work interface temperature was observed using a K-type tool-work thermocouple, while the machining of steel, and subsequently, a mathematical model was developed for the tool-work interface temperature values through regression analysis. The significance of the selected machining parameters and their levels on tool-work interface temperature was found using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and F-test. The results revealed that machining under near-dry condition exhibited lesser temperature at the tool-work interface, which is the sign of producing better quality products in equivalence with the machining under flooded condition.


Affect and Representation – Gaze and Sensation Starting with the Fly , Yoko Ono's video from the early 1970s, this article compares a feminist reading of the 1970s/80s with a performative, new materialist reading as developed since the 1990s. Whereas feminist art and media theories center on psychoanalytical concepts such as the gaze and the disavowal of the female/maternal body, new feminist materialism takes the body – the one represented in the image and in the viewer's body – as concrete, material co-processors provoking and stimulating a desire in motion . Whereas the 1970s understood the image as a chain of signification (and real women not fitting the concept of the WOMAN), the new reading goes beyond any semantic-linguistic interpretation. Today, a "philosophy of feeling" (Susanne Langer) focussing on movement, materiality, touch and sensation, meets the old anxieties of the 1970s where woman, body, feelings came along with nature – and nature was the pure opposite of the male logos ruling the world, producing knowledge, and governing policy.


The accuracy in the measurement of the rate of corrosion of steel in concrete depends on many factors. The high resistivity of concrete makes the polarization data erroneous due to the Ohmic drop. The other source of error is the use of an arbitrarily assumed value of the Stern-Geary constant for calculating corrosion current density. This paper presents the outcomes of a research work conducted to develop a reliable and low-cost experimental setup and a simple calculation procedure that can be utilised to calculate the corrosion current density considering the Ohmic drop compensation and the actual value of the Stern-Geary constants calculated using the polarization data. The measurements conducted on specimens corroded to different levels indicate the usefulness of the developed setup to determine the corrosion current density with and without Ohmic drop compensation.


Abstract This paper examines the case of a Shiite practitioner of Tibetan medicine in Ladakh, North-western India. It recounts the story of a Buddhist family converted to Islam, for which the abandonment of religion has not led to the discontinuation of a lineal medical practice known to have Buddhist overtones. This situation provides an invitation to explore the social consequences of maintaining the practice in a region characterized by religious conflict, as well as the criteria of sameness and difference, technique and genealogy that make a marked 'other' a practitioner of Tibetan medicine. These religious overlaps are, however, not only apparent at the social level; they are also present in the preparation of medicines, in etiological narratives or in the physical regimes of bodily care. The composite nature of medical practice helps us to observe from a new angle the role of religion in the practice of Tibetan medicine. The way medicine is enacted and performed in this context provides empirical materials to study the paradigms that both structure and confer motion to Tibetan learned medicine. The ethnography of a remote region in the Himalayas opens up research paths for the anthropology of Asian medicine amongst new categories of healers and renewed contexts of practice.


SUMMARY.
 Migratory birds are sometimes known to make reverse movements to seek better fuelling sites before undertaking long-distance migratory flights across ecological barriers. Red knots Calidris canutus rufa regularly make prodigious migratory flights of ∼ 8,000 km from southern South America to North America; these flights depend critically on the birds being able to store adequate fuel at southern staging sites. Knots staging at San Antonio Oeste (SAO) in northern Patagonia in Argentina could potentially backtrack ∼200 km southwards to complete refuelling at Península Valdés (PV). We therefore analysed resightings of birds individually marked in SAO or the flyway at these two staging sites in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 to investigate whether reverse movements occurred between them. In the four-year period, 63 detected individuals backtracked south from SAO to PV in one or more years. These movements occurred in all years of the study thus demonstrating the annual occurrence of flights of ∼200 km in the opposite direction to the normal northward migration. There was no significant difference in body condition (mass), sex or day of first sighting in SAO between birds that made or did not make reverse movements to PV. However, individuals (N = 11) that backtracked to PV from SAO had significantly lower hematocrit levels at the time of capture than SAO resident birds (N = 205). Because migrating shorebirds have been shown to restore low hematocrit levels before undertaking rapid fuel storage to power long flights, we hypothesise that red knots backtracking to PV were probably behind schedule on migration, and thus may have traded-off the small cost of a ∼200 km flight for the increased foraging time and high quality soft-shell prey available late in the season at PV. This hypothesis helps to explain the later staging phenology of red knots using PV, and its role as an alternative staging area in the northward migration.


The Structural Aging (SAG) Program is addressing the aging management of safety-related concrete structures in nuclear power plants (NPPs) for the purpose of providing improved technical bases for their continued service. The program consists of three technical tasks: materials property data base, structural component assessment/repair technologies, and quantitative methodologies for continued service determinations. Recent accomplishments under each of these tasks are summarized.


Tillandsia multicaulis is an epiphytic bromeliad found in montane forests from Panama to Mexico. In Veracruz, Mexico, T. multicaulis is self-incompatible. However, in Monteverde, Costa Rica, large amounts of self-pollen are transferred autonomously to the stigma before and during floral opening. I hypothesized that T. multicaulis is self-compatible and capable of autonomous self-pollination in Costa Rica, and I examined the breeding system of one population in Monteverde. Fruit and seed set were high in open-, self-, and cross-pollinated treatments, and in caged, unmanipulated flowers. Flowers emasculated two days before opening did not set fruit. Therefore, T. multicaulis is self-compatible and autogamous, but not agamospermous in Monteverde. Prior selfing occurs during the day before anthesis. Fruit set ranged from 22-32% in emasculation treatments performed the day before anthesis to 78% among flowers emasculated within one hour after floral opening. Although plants in Monteverde offer pollen and nectar rewards and are visited by pollen-collecting bees and hummingbirds, past pollen limitation has likely driven the evolution of self-compatibility. The current potential for fruit set via autonomous self-pollination is high, thus populations may be predominantly inbred. However, mixed mating could be maintained if outcrossed pollen is prepotent or if post-fertilization mortality is higher among inbred offspring.


This paper is an attempt to describe the causality phenomenon of "Kansei Information" and its affect on buying behavior, and describe how what actions a company takes when transmitting "Kansei Information" can affect a buying behavior." What was the motivation for buying?" we suggest that one answer is the "Information" that is transmitted to the customers such as the wording on the POP ads at the store. We are focusing on information taken in through the five senses and processed within the brain, causing a positive affect, and we refer to this as "Kansei Information". And since the year 2000, throughout Japan, in various different industries, we have been researching the phenomenon of "Kansei Information" and its affect on buying behavior. Based on our observations of this phenomenon and the marketing and sales activity it results in, we are researching possibility to make a model by systems dynamics that relies on the affects of "Kansei Information" as the main component. In this paper we are focusing on the messages from "Kansei Information" in POP ads and direct mail to describe the causality by a systems thinking approach, and we attempt to make causal-loop diagram. We will also present case studies of actual store fronts which are actually using "Kansei Information" to affect buying behavior, and investigate its correlation to the causal-loop diagram.


Estimates suggest that only thirty percent of the world's population has access to formal land administration systems to register and protect their land rights. Cadastral maps are a core ingredient of any land administration system and comprise information about the extent, value and ownership of land, which are essential for recording and updating land records. Surveying and mapping cadastral boundaries using traditional, field-based methods is accurate but can prove to be extremely time, cost and labour intensive. This makes it difficult to create or update existing cadastral maps in developing or less developed countries. Alternate methods that could provide cheap, fast and effective solutions to speed up cadastral boundary mapping are being investigated recently. With the advent of very high resolution (VHR) imageries, satellite remote sensing offers tremendous advantage as it has potential to provide automatic feature extraction tools/methods for boundary extraction which could be used for fit-for-purpose land administration solutions. In this paper, we assess and validate the utilization of automatic feature extraction method in Dholakha district, Nepal for cadastral map creation by comparing the results with cadastral boundaries collected by three different methods. First, we compare the output of the automatic feature extraction with an existing cadastral map. Second, the results are compared with the cadastral boundaries collected by participatory methods. Third, we compare the results with parcel boundaries acquired by using a mobile application for spatial data collection. In the latter two cases, farmers provide the boundary information. Visual interpretation shows some deviations among the results of different methods. Further, we quantify the deviations between the maps in terms of percentage of completeness and correctness. Considering this study is one of the first attempts in validating methods for cadastral map creation in a hilly terrain, the results will give an insight on the potential of automatic feature extraction for this purpose in Nepal. Promising results could lead to fit-for-purpose applications of the method for large-scale cadastral mapping.


Traditionally, historians have viewed Queen Ranavalona I as being responsible for inaugurating an autarkic policy in Madagascar. Her expulsion of most foreigners from the country in 1835 is seen primarily as a reflection of her conservative and xenophobic attitudes. In this she is contrasted with her predecessor, Radama I, who is viewed as an enlightened and progressive monarch who, through wise domestic policies and an alliance with the British on Mauritius from 1817, built up an economically sound and prosperous empire. This paper challenges the traditional interpretation, arguing that in fact the Merina economy was in a dire condition from the second decade of the nineteenth century because the slave exports upon which it heavily depended were severely restricted in consequence of the British takeover of the Mascarenes. The subsequent alliance between Britain and Imerina totally prohibited slave exports. However, Radama I looked to Mauritius and British aid to promote legitimate exports and to help impose Merina rule over all Madagascar. Autarkic policies were initiated by Radama I in 1825–6 as a reaction against the failure of the British alliance to produce the anticipated results, and against the free trade imperialism that accompanied it. Convinced by 1825 that the Mauritius government meant to subordinate Imerina both economically and politically to British imperial interests, he reneged on the British treaty and adopted a policy designed to promote rapid economic growth within an independent island empire. Ranavalona I, far from implementing irrational and xenophobic policies, extended her predecessor's autarkic policies in a rational and systematic manner, and for precisely the same ends.


Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have recently become an affordable means to map forests at the species level, but research into the performance of different classification methodologies and sensors is necessary so users can make informed choices that maximize accuracy. This study investigated whether multi-temporal UAS data improved the classified accuracy of 14 species examined the optimal time-window for data collection, and compared the performance of a consumer-grade RGB sensor to that of a multispectral sensor. A time series of UAS data was collected from early spring to mid-summer and a sequence of mono-temporal and multi-temporal classifications were carried out. Kappa comparisons were conducted to ascertain whether the multi-temporal classifications significantly improved accuracy and whether there were significant differences between the RGB and multispectral classifications. The multi-temporal classification approach significantly improved accuracy; however, there was no significant benefit when more than three dates were used. Mid- to late spring imagery produced the highest accuracies, potentially due to high spectral heterogeneity between species and homogeneity within species during this time. The RGB sensor exhibited significantly higher accuracies, probably due to the blue band, which was found to be very important for classification accuracy and lacking in the multispectral sensor employed here.


To study the constituents of Rubus corchorifolius L. f, the constituents were separated by using various chromatographies and the structures were identified on the basis of chemical and spectral analysis. Two compounds were isolated from Rubus corchorifolius L. f. Their structures were identified as ent-kauran-3beta, 16beta, 17, 19-tetrol (1), ent-2-carbonyl-16beta-hydroxy-kauran-17-beta-D-glucoside (2). Compounds 1 and 2 are new compounds.


Purpose: According to the controversy about the role of ATF3 as a non-inflammatory index of myocardia in metabolic abnormalities as diabetes, the purpose of this study was to compare the effect of high intensity interval versus progressive resistance training on ATF3 myocardial gene expression of male diabetic rats. Methods: Sixty male six weeks rats with a weighing average of 150 g were randomly divided into five groups: diabetic (D), diabeteshigh intensity interval training (DIT), high intensity interval training (HIIT), resistance (RT), and diabetesresistance training (DRT). High intensity interval training included 10 repetitions of one minute running on a treadmill with two minutes of rest. Progressive resistance training included four climb of a resistance ladder with weights. The training program was performed three days a week for six weeks. Data analysis was performed using Fisher's and M-ANOVA tests at a significant level of P ≤ 0.01. Results: Significant increase in expression of ATF3 in diabeteshigh intensity interval training group was observed between diabetes and diabeteshigh intensity interval training (P <0.001). Between two groups of diabetes and diabetesresistance training (P = 0.001), there was a significant increase in expression in diabetesresistance training. In comparison between DIT and DRT groups, progressive respond were observed in DIT versus DRT (P = 0.03). Conclusion: high intensity interval training has been shown to be more effective in comparison with the progressive resistance training, because it activates more different molecular cell mechanisms, perhaps, significantly reduces the negative effects of diabetes mellitus on cardiovascular disease.


Thin films of cyanobiphenyl liquid crystals (nCB) deposited on water or glycerol have been studied in the nematic temperature range. A common property of the systems is the hybrid anchoring conditions at the film interfaces. The preferred orientation of the nematic director is planar at the liquid interface, and it is homeotropic and somewhat weaker at the air interface. The resulting structure of the film depends on its thickness. Films thicker than 0.5 microm show the usual defects of nematics. Between 0.5 microm and 20-30 nm, complex instability patterns such as stripes, "chevrons", or squares are observed in extended films. Then there is a forbidden range of thickness below in which much thinner structures (usually monolayers and trilayers) are present. The present paper investigates this common behavior in various systems and gives arguments for its analysis.


The low of listen ability in children aged 5-6 years is the background of this action research, so this research aims to improve these abilities. One method that has proven to be effective solve that problem is the method of storytelling with a big book. Data on classroom action research was collected using observation techniques and analyzed in quantitative descriptive. This study involved ten students as participants. The result of the study showed that storytelling with a big book can improve the listening skill of 5-6 years old children in PAUD Bintang Mutiara, Pekanbaru. Before applying storytelling method with big book, the participants' listening skill was categorized as 'has not been developed". After applying the storytelling method with big book, their listening skill was categorized as "Developed as expected" with a score of 71.67%. The improvement of participants' listening skill from 'pre-cycle' to 'cycle 1' was 21%. From cycle I to cycle II, their listening skill was improved by 64%. From pre-cycle to cycle II, the improvement was 89%. Overall, the improvement of listening skills was 75.56%.


The exact solution of nonlinear equations describing the symmetric stationary interaction of two light waves of an arbitrary polarisation on a local photorefractive grating in a crystal of the symmetry group 3m in the transverse configuration of crystal faces is obtained in the paraxial limit. The polarisation of light waves and efficiency of energy transfer between them are studied as functions of the reduced length of a sample and the intensity ratio of incident waves.


In this paper, the performance of cognitive radio systems is studied when the secondary users operate under statistical quality of service (QoS) constraints. In the cognitive radio channel model, secondary users initially perform channel sensing, and then engage in data transmission at two different average power levels depending on the channel sensing results. A state transition model is constructed to model this cognitive transmission channel. Statistical QoS constraints are imposed as limitations on buffer violation probabilities. Effective capacity of the cognitive radio channel, which provides the maximum throughput under such QoS constraints, is determined. This analysis is conducted for fixed-power/fixed-rate, fixed-power/variable-rate, and variable-power/variable-rate transmission schemes under different assumptions on the availability of channel side information (CSI) at the transmitter. The interactions and tradeoffs between the throughput, QoS constraints, and channel sensing parameters (e.g., sensing duration and threshold, and detection and false alarm probabilities) are investigated. The performances of fixed-rate and variable-rate transmission methods are compared in the presence of QoS limitations. It is shown that variable schemes outperform fixed-rate transmission techniques if the detection probabilities are high. Performance gains through adapting the power and rate are quantified and it is shown that these gains diminish as the QoS limitations become more stringent.


The hot mudflow released by Lapindo Mud Volcano periodically requires a large storage space. It is resulting the change in the main function of Kali Porong which is the channel for mud to the river mouth. This causes changes in water quality at Kali Porong estuary. The purpose of this study was to monitor water quality at Kali Porong estuary using Sentinel 2 image data with Total Suspended Solid (TSS) and chlorophyll-a analysis. Cloud computing technology can process image data into useful information. One of the open source cloud computing platforms is Google Earth Engine (GEE). In this platform, there is a database for storing satellite image data, including Sentinel-2. In addition to storing remote sensing data, GEE can process images quickly using the Java scripting language. In this study, monitoring was carried out in February-June 2021. The results show the average value of chlorophyll-a each month from February to June was 2.78 μg/m3, 2.76 μg/m3, 2.74 μg/m3, 2.98 μg/m3, and 3.2 mg/l. The average monthly TSS values from February to June were 16.11 μg/m3, 15.91 μg/m3, 15.76 μg/m3, 17.45 μg/m3, and 19.86 μg/m3, respectively. The correlation test result for chlorophyll-a estimation is 0.654. In the other hand, the correlation test result for the estimated TSS is 0.652. The trophic status of the waters at Kali Porong estuary is in the eutrophic class or has been polluted. The results show a tendency for the area with polluted trophic status to increase from February to June.


Electronic or e-portfolios act to bring the products or objects of learning and experience together in a digital format. They make visible the accumulation of learning, competencies and experience. The outputs can be shared with employers, accreditors and tutors alike. Used to their full potential they act as an area for focused reflection and future goal setting. In this article we will explore what an e-portfolio can be, what it can contain and how to create one.


One of the main problems limiting further growth in the production of parts by the hot forging of porous performs (HFPP) is that the obtained materials are prone to brittle fracture due to the poor quality of interparticle jointing formed during hot deformation, as well as the presence of impurities in the composition of initial powders. The paper studies the possibility of increasing the mechanical properties and endurance performance of hot-deformed powder steels by doping them with sodium or calcium microadditives and using thermomechanical treatment. Sodium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate were used for microalloying. Carbon was added as pencil graphite powder. The temperature of heating porous preforms before hot forging and the carbon content in steels were varied; the content of microalloying additives was, wt.%: 0.2 for sodium, and 0.3 for calcium. Mechanical properties as well as contact and low-cycle fatigue life were tested on 5 × 10 × 55 mm and 10 × 10 × 55 mm prismatic specimens, as well as ∅ 26 × 6 mm cylindrical specimens. In comparison with carburizing and thermal treatment, thermomechanical treatment improves the impact strength and endurance performance of hot-deformed powder steels with Na or Ca microadditives under the contact and low-cycle fatigue loading, and the hot repressing temperature of porous preforms is reduced without compromising the mechanical properties of powder steels obtained. It may be associated with the formation of a more fine-grained structure and higher microstresses of the crystal lattice. The cooling down of preform surface layers during hot forging process operations creates conditions for ausforming in them.


The study of brain stem auditory way in severe head trauma patients with auditory evoked potentials is very important for giving elements about functional and anatomic situation of analyzed neuronal substratum; ABR will be normal or altered in conformity with the level and/or the gravity of the damage. Authors have examined 20 post-traumatic comatose patients pointing out the existence of a strict relation between auditory brain stem responses and prognosis. Authors, in accordance with the ample literature in existence, agree to point out the auditory brain stem responses such as a very effective instrument for the prognostic valuation of post-traumatic comatose patients.


Development and refinement of methods to analyse differential gene expression has been essential in the progress of molecular biology. A novel approach called iGentifier is presented for profiling known and unknown transcriptomes, thus bypassing a major limitation in microarray analysis. The iGentifier technology combines elements of fragment display (e.g. Differential Display or RMDD) and tag sequencing (e.g. SAGE, MPSS) and allows for analysis of samples in high throughput using current capillary electrophoresis equipment. Application to epidermal tissue of wild-type and mlo5 barley (Hordeum vulgare) plants, infected with powdery mildew [Blumeria graminis (DC.) E.O. Speer f.sp.hordei], led to the identification of several 100 genes induced or repressed upon infection with many well known for their response to fungal pathogens or other stressors. Ten of these genes are suggested to be classified as marker genes for durable resistance mediated by the mlo5 resistance gene.


This Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems suffer from different security and privacy problems, among which relay attack is a hot topic recently. A relay attack is a type of attack related to man-in-the-middle and replay attacks, in which an attacker relays verbatim a message from the sender to a valid receiver of the message. The sender may not be aware of even sending the message to the attacker. The main countermeasure against relay attack is the use of distance bounding protocols measuring the round-trip time between the reader and the tag. In this paper, we consider a modification of these protocols using `error state' which stands for the number of response bit errors that have already occurred. We set a maximal error number to prevent adversary from malicious queries, we also apply a punishment mechanism for error responding, which to my best knowledge is proposed at the first time in distance bounding protocols, if the tag sends one error bit, it should respond one more challenge bit to successfully finish the protocol. By using error state and punishment mechanism, the success probability for an adversary to access to the system decreases. Finally, we use the Hancke and Kuhn's protocol as a comparison, to show the improvements achieved when different cases are analyzed.


Abstract The hindguts of lower termites harbor highly diverse, endemic communities of symbiotic protists, bacteria, and archaea essential to the termite's ability to digest wood. Despite over a century of experimental studies, ecological roles of many of these microbes are unknown, partly because almost none can be cultivated. Many of the protists associate with bacterial symbionts, but hypotheses for their respective roles in nutrient exchange are based on genomes of only two such bacteria. To show how the ecological roles of protists and nutrient transfer with symbiotic bacteria can be elucidated by direct imaging, we combined stable isotope labeling (13C-cellulose) of live termites with analysis of fixed hindgut microbes using correlated scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM), transmission electron microscopy, and high resolution imaging mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS). We developed methods to prepare whole labeled cells on solid substrates, whole labeled cells milled with a FIB-SEM instrument to reveal cell interiors, and ultramicrotome sections of labeled cells for NanoSIMS imaging of 13C enrichment in protists and associated bacteria. Our results show these methods have the potential to provide direct evidence for nutrient flow and suggest the oxymonad protist Oxymonas dimorpha phagocytoses and enzymatically degrades ingested wood fragments, and may transfer carbon derived from this to its surface bacterial symbionts.


Ezrin and moesin are components of actin-rich cell surface structures that are thought to function as membrane-cytoskeletal linking proteins. Here we show that a stable complex of ezrin and moesin can be isolated from cultured cells by immunoprecipitation with specific antibodies. The capacity of these two proteins to interact directly was confirmed with a blot-overlay procedure in which biotin-tagged proteins in solution were incubated with immobilized binding partners. In addition to the heterotypic association of ezrin and moesin, homotypic binding of ezrin to ezrin and of moesin to moesin was also demonstrated in vitro. These results suggest mechanisms by which ezrin and moesin might participate in dynamic aspects of cortical cytoskeletal structure.


This study used action research methodology to examine the development of sustainability leadership in a graduate leadership course. The research investigated the impact of this leadership course, which was designed using transformative learning theory with attention to integrating thematic content, multiple and nondominant perspectives, a participatory process, and a contextual place-based approach. Grounded theory was used to explore if and how students' understanding of sustainability leadership changed, and the pedagogical strategies that were most influential to their learning. Results revealed that students came to understand sustainability leadership as: the facilitation of a shared process, a process of emergence, and a way of being. Key pedagogical strategies that stood out as being most influential to students' learning of sustainability leadership including: creating a sense of community, learning from peers, and case-in-point experiential learning. These results point to key pedagogical elements that may support the development of sustainability leadership in higher education courses.


The objective of this research was to examine the effect of garlic ( Allium sativum ) at different doses on nonspecific immune response and growth of nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ). Experimental fish was nile tilapia measuring 8-15 cm with an average weight of 10.4 g per individual. Before used in the experiment, fish were reared in fiber tank for two weeks for acclimatization. After acclimatization, the fish were moved into glass aquarium (50 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm) at the density of 15 fish/aquarium. Each aquarium was equipped with aerator. Five doses of garlic as treatments used in this research consisted of A= 0 g/kg diet, B= 10 g/kg, C= 20 g/kg, D= 30 g/kg and E= 40 g/kg. Fish was fed experimental diet at a dose of 5% of body weight per day, twice a day at 08.00 and 17.00. Data collected at the end of the experiment included immune parameters (TLC and phagocytosis activity) and growth of fish. ANOVA was used to evaluate the effect of treatments on immune response and growth of fish while Duncan Test was used to evaluate the different effect between treatments. Research result showed that after four weeks of feeding, TLC of fish fed diet supplemented with garlic significantly different (p < 0,01) as compared to that of control fish. The highest number of TLC was observed at treatment C (15.413x10 7 cell.ml -1 ) followed by treatment B (15.39x10 7 cell.ml -1 ), D (13,920 x 10 7 cell.ml -1 ), E (13,582 x 10 7 cell.ml -1 ) and A (12,195 x 10 7 cell.ml -1 ). TLC of fish in treatment C was different significantly compared to control as well as to other treatments. Phagocytosis activity of fish in treatment C also increased significantly (p < 0,01) compared to control. The highest PA was achieved in treatment C and then treatment B, D, E and A. Growth of fish in treatment C was different significantly compared to control fish as well as other treatments. As conclusion, oral administration of garlic at 20 g/kg diet could enhance nonspecific immune response and growth of nile tilapia. Key words: Garlic, Immune response, Total leukocyte count , Phagocytosis activity, Growth


This lightning talk will discuss the current efforts to identify and analyze the possibility of language bias in documents, exams, technical interviews, and actual interviews used in computer science as contributing factors in the continued lack of participation/success of underrepresented populations in computers science despite extensive efforts to develop a more inclusive environment. Although many factors have been examined while attempting to explain the continued lack of participation/success of under-represented populations in computer science, language bias in the very instruments that are used to measure success and entry does not seem to be among the forefront of these endeavors. This work is inspired by previous work done to examine biased language based upon neutral point of view (NPOV) revisions done on Wikipedia pages and seeks to apply similar methodologies to computer science instruments of evaluation in order to determine if there may indeed be a subtle and unconscious language bias within them.


Microwaves (MWs) are widely known and used in human life and production activities based on their thermal effects. In contrast, their nonthermal effects are still under debate. Fortunately, the nonthermal effects of MWs have been investigated by an increasing number of researchers and have shown great potential in industrial production. In this review, typical studies that demonstrate the nonthermal effects of MWs in chemistry and materials science are introduced and discussed, and the applications of and the harms that are caused by these effects are summarized to facilitate the safe use of these MW effects. The mechanisms of the nonthermal effects of MWs that have been proposed by researchers with various backgrounds are presented. Because some researchers did not detect nonthermal effects of MWs, four typical relevant studies are identified and introduced. Various types of MW reactors (single-mode and multimode reactors and reactors without a MW cavity) are summarized and compared. Finally, possible directions for future research on the nonthermal effects of MWs are proposed.


Naked Lunch, Burroughs' breakthrough work, was written in scraps and fragments and is a hallucinatory tour through a realm he calls Interzone, closely modeled on the international zone of Tangier and that corresponds with Tangier in many ways: geographically, culturally, and politically. Much of the book's content is inspired by or a direct transcription of events he witnessed there. Burroughs developed a fascination with Morocco's anticolonial revolution and the violence surrounding the movement for independence. Scenes in Naked Lunch involving Islam Inc. and lengthy descriptions of Interzone's political factions serve as satirical representations of the revolutionary organizations operating inside Morocco during the writing of the novel, many of which had a tendency to fight each other as often as they fought the French. With the publication of Naked Lunch in 1958, William S. Burroughs expressed both his admiration for the transformative potential of revolutionary violence and his dismay that this potential went unrealized in Morocco.


Some time, perhaps around the turn of the century, robot technology will develop to the degree necessary to produce the totally automated factory. In such factories, robots will perform most, if not all, of the operations that now require human skills. There will be totally automated inventory and tool management, automated machining, assembly, finishing, and inspection systems. Automated factories will even be able to reproduce themselves, i.e., automated factories will make the components for other automated factories.


Solid electrolyte interface (SEI) is a critical factor that influences battery performance. SEI layer is formed by the decomposition of organic and inorganic compounds after the first cycle. This study investigates SEI formation as a product of electrolyte decomposition by the presence of flouro‐o‐phenylenedimaleimaide (F‐MI) additive. The presence of fluorine on the maleimide‐based additive can increase storage capacity and reversible discharge capacity due to high electronegativity and high electron‐withdrawing group. The electrolyte containing 0.1 wt% of F‐MI‐based additive can trigger the formation of SEI, which could suppress the decomposition of remaining electrolyte. The reduction potential was 2.35 to 2.21 V vs Li/Li+ as examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) cell with F‐MI additive showed the lowest SEI resistance (Rsei) at 5898 Ω as evaluated by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The morphology and element analysis on the negative electrode after the first charge‐discharge cycle were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). XPS result showed that MCMB cell with F‐MI additive provides a higher intensity of organic compounds (RCH2OCO2Li) and thinner SEI than MCMB cell without an additive that provides a higher intensity of inorganic compound (Li2CO3 and Li2O), which leads to the performance decay. It is concluded that attaching the fluorine functional group on the maleimide‐based additive forms the ideal SEI formation for lithium‐ion battery.


Deuterium isotope effects on the enantioselectivity in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of enamides and related substrates have been studied. Distinct deuterium isotope effects were observed in the hydrogenation of aryl-substituted enamides having an ortho substituent that is capable of forming a hydrogen bond. The observed isotope effects are interpreted in terms of the competitive reactions of two dihydride intermediates and dideuteride intermediates that exist in equilibrium in the catalytic cycle.


Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy in women worldwide, second only to breast cancer and it remains a leading cause of cancerrelated death for women in developing countries. The incidence of invasive cervical cancer has declined steadily in developed countries over the past few decades; however, it continues to rise in many developing countries. Apart from the well known association of cervical cancer with Human papilloma virus (HPV), cervical cancer has been associated with Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and it is classified as Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) defining disease since 1993 (CDC). Two thirds of the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated 40 million people in the world with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) live in Africa. One is yet to see if the HIV pandemic will have any effect on the epidemiological trend, natural history of cervical cancer, response to standard treatment and overall survival. Described below is recent experience with 3 cervical cancer patients with HIV infection.


While the majority of studies of alteration of UO 2 and commercial spent nuclear fuel under simulated geological repository conditions have emphasized the importance of uranyl oxide hydrates and uranyl silicates, the influence of peroxide on repository performance has been largely overlooked. There is considerable evidence that uranyl peroxides will be important alteration phases of nuclear waste, and that these phases may impact the long-term performance of a geologic repository such as Yucca Mountain. Here we report the thermodynamics and kinetics of becquerelite, Ca[(UO 2 ) 6 O 4 (OH) 6 ](H 2 O) 8 , in the presence of solutions containing hydrogen peroxide. Thermodynamic calculations reveal that in solutions containing 3.5 × 10 -6 M hydrogen peroxide, studtite is thermodynamically favorable over becquerelite at 298 K. To access the kinetics of this reaction, batch experiments were conducted by the reaction of becquerelite and solutions containing hydrogen peroxide. In the presence of 0.1 M hydrogen peroxide, becquerelite altered to studtite within eight hours.


Background: Tonsillar herniation is a condition that manifests as herniation of the brain parts, originating from the hindbrain and progressing through the foramen magnum into the cervical vertebral canal. Although the etiology of tonsillar herniation is unclear, it has been suggested that it may be congenital or acquired. In particular, there is speculation that primary mesodermal insufficiency may affect the size of the posterior cranial fossa. Objectives: Our main objective is to perform measurements of the cranium, cerebrum, and cerebellum in order to clarify the etiology of tonsillar herniation. Patients and Methods: Magnetic resonance images were taken for 1,052 patients (629 females and 423 males) with no disease affecting the bones. Chiari malformation type I (CMI) was detected in 63 of the patients. The remaining 989 patients were considered to be the control group. The patients' mean age was 36.58 ± 22.34 (1 94 years). Measurements were performed using midsagittal and axial T1 and T2 images. Nine parameters were used to evaluate cranium morphometry, while a further nine were used to evaluate cerebrum and cerebellum morphometry. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 14 statistics software, in addition to the t-test and the Mann-Whitney U test. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: In individuals with tonsillar herniation, while the front-back diameter of the foramen magnum, the cerebellum height, and the sagittal diameter of the cerebellum increased, the maximum cranial height, supraocciput length, clivus length, and height of the posterior cranial fossa decreased. Also, in the case of all age groups, there was no statistically significant difference between the healthy controls and the people with tonsillar herniation in terms of tentorial slope angle. The mean herniation value was 4.85 ± 3.09 mm in those with tonsillar herniation. Conclusion: Our results concerning cranium morphometry support the theory that hypoplastic posterior cranial fossa due to mesodermal insufficiency may play a role in the etiology of tonsillar herniation.


INTRODUCTION:
The neck of femur fracture is one of the common fractures in elderly. It
has been always a challenge to the orthopaedic surgeons to manage these
fractures.
The prevalence of neck of femur fractures has increasing with increased
incidence of osteoporosis, poor vision in elderly, poor neuro muscular
coordination, life style changes, sedentary habits, improvement in life
expectancy. The incidence is expected to be double in next twenty years, triple
by 2050. The burden of neck of femur fractures and its sequelae continued to be
on the rise. The treatment goal for this fractures is restoring of functions without
morbidity, still controversy exists in management of neck of femur fractures in
elderly. Open reduction and internal fixation in elderly has higher chance of non
union & avascular necrosis.
In 1974, bipolar prosthesis was introduced by bateman which had mobile haed
element and had additional head surface to alow movement within acetabulum. This
reduces the erosion in acetabulum and reduction in pain and incidence of protrusio.
The motion occurs between metal head and polyethylene socket (inner bearing) as
well as between metallic head and acetabulum (outer bearing).
Unipolar prosthesis is used only in developing countries. It should be reserved
for acive elderly and very limited patients. In india, bipolar prosthesis is slowly
replacing unipolar prosthesis in elderly patients, because of the advantage of bipolar
than unipolar like less post operative pain, good results, good range of movements &
cost effectiveness.
AIM OF THE STUDY:
1. To study the functional outcome of intracapsular fracture of femoral
neck with bipolar prosthesis in Indian population.
2. To study the end results of bipolar prosthesis with respect to pain,
mobility and stability.
3. To analyse the radiological parameters and bipolar mobility in
fluorosocpy
4. To study the complications of bipolar hemiarthroplasty.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
In this retrospective study, patients who underwent
bipolarhemiarthroplasty for neck of femur fractures in Government Royapettah
hospital was considered for the study
Total number of cases : 34
Patients who came for follow up – 30 cases
Inclusion criteria:
1. Patients who were treated with bipolar hemiarthroplasty
2. Age of patient > 60 years
3. minimum period of 2 years post op
Methodology:
The contact list of neck of femur fracture patients who were treated by
bipolar hemiarthroplasty were obtained from medical records department. All
the patients were communicated either thro' letter or phone.
A proforma were postulated, which after thorouh wetting by the guide
was used for this study. All the patients were analysed uniformly with the same.
All the patients were analysed in single visit.
At the time of presentation all the patients analysed for
1. Functional outcome using modified hip score
2. Radiological assessment
3. Fluoroscopy analysis for interprosthetic movement
Functional outcome:
Modified harris hip score was used for analysis of the functional outcome
for all the patients.
OBSERVATION AND RESULTS:
Out of 34 patients, only 30 patients came for the follow up. Data was
collected with respect to history, clinical examination, radiological examination
and fluoroscopy examination. The patients who have completed post op period
minimum of 2 years included in the study.
CONCLUSION:
Bipolar hemiarthroplasty for fractures of the femoral neck
provides freedom from pain and more rapid return to unassisted
activity with an acceptable complication rate.
 The end functional results depend on the associated co- morbidity
and optimum post-operative rehabilitation.
 There is no correlation between functional outcome and
interprosthetic movements also radiological outcome.
 Our study patients has good radiological outcome with significant
interprosthetic movements, bipolar seems to be a cost effective
prosthesis in active elderly individuals.
 Similar study on long term follow up would provide more affirmative
findings.


During the past six years the minimum duration of optical (XUV) pulses has fallen from 5 femtoseconds (5×10−15 sec) to about 100 attoseconds (~10−16 sec)-less than the classical period of a ground-state electron in a hydrogen atom. Lasers drove this revolution by forcing electron wave packets to tunnel from the atom or molecules, move under the force of the time dependent electric field and then re-collide with their parent ions. From the ion's perspective, an attosecond electron wave packet re-collides. Attosecond XUV pulses are the byproduct of this collision.


Groundnut which is a major staple food crop in Uganda is constrained by late leaf spot (LLS) and
groundnut rosette disease (GRD), accounting for major economic yield loss. This study was
conducted to identify sources of resistance to LLS and GRD and yield potential of selected
groundnut genotypes that could be used in breeding programs. Thirty-eight groundnut genotypes
were evaluated at the National Semi Arid Resources Research Institute (NaSARRI)-Serere, EasternUganda during the first and second seasons of 2015. The experiment was arranged in randomized
complete block design with four replications. The results showed highly significant (P < 0.01)
genotype-by-season interaction for most of the traits studied. There were significant differences
among the genotypes for 100 seed weight (P < 0.01), and dry pod yield and unshelled sample of
100 pods at P < 0.05. Late leaf spot severity (at harvest), GRD incidence (at 12 weeks) and severity
(at harvest) were significantly (P < .01) different and positively correlated with Area Under Disease
Progress Curve (AUDPC). GRD severity at harvest showed highly significant (P < 0.001) negative
correlation with shelling percentage. Both 100 seed weight and unshelled sample of 100 pod
showed highly significant (P < 0.01) negative correlations with LLS at harvest, LLS AUDPC, GRD at
12 weeks, GRD AUDPC, and GRD severity. Genotypes susceptible to both LLS and GRD recorded
the lowest 100 seed weight. Nine genotypes (Serenut.2, SGV 0001, SGV 0005, SGV 0006, SGV
0019, SGV 0071, SGV 0082, SGV 0083, and SGV 89751T) showed resistance to both diseases
with high yield potential. These genotypes could be used to introgress resistance to both diseases
in acceptable cultivars which are susceptible.


This paper discusses the development of a numerical method for the approximation of the nonlinear time-periodic rotorcraft flight dynamics with higher order linear time-invariant (LTI) models. The method relies on a per-rotor revolution perturbation scheme, which is of particular importance for the linearization of simulation models that do not allow for per-time-step perturbations, and for those output measures that necessitate the solution of partial differential equations and thus require several time steps to be computed. The paper demonstrates the application of the proposed methodology to obtain high-order LTI models capable of predicting vibrations for a generic utility helicopter. Simulations are used to validate the response of the linearized models against those from nonlinear simulations and from competing approaches in the literature. The proposed method is shown to predict accurately the nonlinear response for the case shown and for small amplitude maneuvers. Frequency-domain validation is also performed to compare the linear models derived with the proposed method with those obtained with harmonic decomposition, a competing approach based on a per-time-step perturbation scheme. Interestingly, the proposed algorithm yields nearly identical numerical results compared to harmonic decomposition, suggesting that the two methods are in fact equivalent but rely on different formulations.


Background Transitions of care between providers are vulnerable periods in healthcare delivery that expose patients to preventable errors and adverse events. Patient discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) to a medical or surgical hospital ward is one of the most challenging and high risk transitions of care. Approximately 1 in 12 patients discharged will be readmitted to ICU or die before leaving the hospital. Many more patients are exposed to unnecessary healthcare, adverse events and/or are disappointed with the quality of their care. Our objective is to conduct a scoping review by systematically searching the literature to identify ICU discharge planning tools and their supporting evidence-base including barriers and facilitators to their use. Methods and analysis Systematic searching of the published health literature will be conducted to identify the existing ICU discharge planning tools and supporting evidence. Literature (research and non-research) reporting on the tools used to facilitate decision making and/or communication at ICU discharge with patients of any age will be included. Outcomes will include adverse events and provider and patient/family-reported outcomes. Two investigators will independently review the abstracts (screen 1) to identify those meeting the inclusion criteria and then independently assess the full text articles (screen 2) to determine if they meet the inclusion criteria. Data collection will include information on citations and identified tools. A quality assessment will be performed on original research studies. A descriptive summary will be developed for each tool. Ethics and dissemination Our scoping review will synthesise the literature for ICU discharge planning tools and identify the opportunities for knowledge to action and gaps in evidence where primary evidence is necessary. This will serve as the foundational element in a multistep research programme to standardise and improve the quality of care provided to patients during ICU discharge. Ethics approval is not required for this study.


In this paper, we show how to compute an orthogonal mesh that strictly conforms to a given simplicial complex SC in ^d. This result will be applied to improve the treatment of wells in oil reservoir simulation. The trend for this problem is to use hybrid meshes obtained by inserting radial well meshes in a structured reservoir grid. Our work can be used to generate a transition mesh connecting the reservoir mesh to well meshes and preserving strict conformity.


The current and emerging security threats poses a variety of security risks to e-government services. The Tanzanian national e-government strategy recognizes the importance and use of e-government maturity models (eGMMs) as a tool for guiding and benchmarking e-government implementation and service delivery. However, the models lack security services (technical and non-technical) in their maturity stages - leading to misalignment of strategic objectives between e-government services and security services. To bridge the existing security services gap in eGMMs - a framework for securing e-government services which integrates IT security services into maturity stages of eGMMs was proposed. The goal of this paper is to present an outline of the evaluation results for the proposed framework, in the context of a developing world environment. In the process, seven evaluation criteria were developed; thereafter, a case-study was conducted into six government organizations located in Tanzania. The overall results show that the framework was accepted in the studied environment. The framework usefulness was perceived highest at 95%; the framework dynamics & flexibility was perceived lowest at 76%.


Chronic pain not only increases the morbidity but also affects the life of the patient to a large extent. Patients from lower socio-economic status tend to use the preventive and curative health services less, thus making them prone to chronicity of conditions, increasing the economic burden on an already overwhelmed health care system. The aim of this study was to primarily learn about the perspectives of the patients belonging to low-socio economic status towards physiotherapy treatment recommended for their chronic musculoskeletal pain, and secondarily, identify gaps and suggest solutions to improve patient satisfaction. The study was completed on 79 subjects. Patients diagnosed with chronic disabling pain of musculoskeletal origin perceived electrotherapy as the prime cause of relief of their symptoms. There was a mixed reaction about the importance of exercise therapy. Better communication between the Physiotherapist and the attending Physiotherapy students with the patients about the beneficial effects of exercise therapy needs to be established. An interdisciplinary approach by a team consisting of musculoskeletal/orthopedic experts (physicians/surgeons), physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychiatrists and medical social workers could help these patients in attaining better relief of their aches and pains and also higher levels of satisfaction with the treatment. Keywords:  Rehabilitation, India, chronic pain, exercise therapy, electrotherapy


Abstract Wireless network in today's era is increasing day by day, with the rising need of wireless connectivity the threat of attack on the Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET) is also increasing. MANET Routing protocols suffer from different kind of attacks on all the layers of protocol stack. One of such attack which occurs at network layer is Black Hole Attack [1]. Black hole attack is one of the security issues in MANET, in which the Traffic is redirected to such a node that actually does not exist in the network. This malicious node uses the Routing Protocol to advertise itself as having the shortest path to the node whose packet it want to intercept. Once intercepted malicious node attracts the packet towards it and discards the packet without informing the source that the data didn't reach to the intended recipient. Previously, work done on the security issues in MANET were based on Reactive Routing Protocols like AODV, DSR etc. Aim of the study is to analyze the effect of black hole attack on Routing protocol and proposing the feasible solution for the same. Keywords: MANET, AODV, DSR. Cite this Article Kapil Chaudhary, Md. Khwaza Meharban, Monu Singh. Black Hole Attack in MANET. Journal of Communication Engineering & Systems. 2017; 7(1):        29–31p.


Objective: In order to better understand the etiology of the vulvar vestibulitis syndrome, we examined the histopathologic parameters in vestibular mucosa, and compared the findings in specimens obtained from women with vulvar vestibulitis with those obtained from the control group. Study Design: Specimens of vestibulitis were obtained from 24 patients, undergoing circumferential vestibulectomy under general anesthesia due to the symptoms and signs consistent with vulvar vestibulitis. Control specimens were obtained from 16 women, without symptoms or signs of vulvar vestibulitis, undergoing reconstructive introital surgery due to roomy vagina, rectocele or painful episiotomy. All vestibular tissue specimens were examined for intensity of inflammation, extension of inflammatory cells into the epithelium, vascular proliferation, the presence of mast cells and proliferation of peripheral nerve bundles. Results: No significant difference was found regarding the degree of inflammation, the extension of inflammatory cells into the epithelium, the vascular proliferation and the presence of mast cells while comparing the study and the control groups. The only histopathologic feature, differentiating the patients with vulvar vestibulitis from the control group, was the proliferation of peripheral nerve bundles found in 19 out of 24 (79.1%) specimens expressing vestibulitis and in none of 16 control specimens (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Our results, therefore, support the existence of peripheral nerve hyperplasia in vestibular tissue obtained from patients with vulvar vestibulitis, and exclude the role of active inflammation or mast cells as probable etiologies for the vulvar vestibulitis syndrome.


PREMO is an emerging international standard for the presentations of multimedia objects including computer graphics. Open Inventor$^{TM}$ is a commercially available ``de facto'''' standard for interactive computer graphics packaged as a library of objects. In this report we consider whether the concepts and objects of PREMO are sufficient to represent a professional quality system, such as Open Inventor. By comparing PREMO with Open Inventor, we hope to show that PREMO''s computer graphics environment model can properly describe the procedure by which Open Inventor realizes graphics applications, and PREMO''s event model can naturally model Open Inventor''s event handling mechanism in a natural way. The scene graph is a core concept in Open Inventor. Most Open Inventor functions rely on various operations over scene graphs. The construction, edition and traversal of scene graphs are shown to be readily implemented based on the current set of PREMO objects. Graphics rendering, event handling and the scene graph constitute the fundamental parts of Open Inventor, other Open Inventor functionalities can be constructed from these. We conclude that since these three fundamental parts of Open Inventor can be properly modelled and implemented by PREMO, the concepts and objects of PREMO are sufficient to represent Open Inventor.


In Process Industry, process development traditionally takes a large part of the company's total development efforts, but has nevertheless not received much attention in academic studies. As a part of a larger research project concerning process development in Process Industry, the allocation of company resources to R&D, and to process development in particular, has been investigated in an exploratory survey to R&D managers in European Process Industry (Mining & Mineral Industry, Food & Beverage Industry, Pulp & Paper Industry, Chemical Industry, Basic Metal Industry, and Other Process Industry). The results show that of the total resources for R&D, 40% was allocated to process development, and over 60% of the companies expected this figure to increase in the future. This figure not only shows the future importance of process development, but also indicates that the importance of product development in this group of companies is at present still rated higher than process development. The results from the study do not fit the most widely used theoretical models, and it is concluded that there is a need for better models with more explanatory power. The new concepts of product and process development intensity are introduced. The product and process development intensities can be looked upon as aggregated measures of individual development efforts by a company, and it is thus argued that they are of overall company strategic importance.


Automatic feedback temperature control has been proposed recently as a promising approach for retinal thermal laser therapy. It can regulate the retinal temperature increase to a pre-specified desired value, which can provide homogeneous temperature increase at the different irradiation sites as the feedback control can automatically set the required corresponding laser power. Therefore, we can avoid over treatment and its consequences due to the manual setting often provided by ophthalmologists in practice. However, in order to achieve successful automatic treatment, a mathematical model for the process is necessary to synthesize the feedback control algorithm. In this study, we develop a model, which can describe the dynamical relation between the temperature increase and the applied laser power at the different irradiation sites. We adopt the system identification approach, which is used to build mathematical models for dynamical systems based on experimental measurements. The identified model here can fit the rear-time data with an accuracy of about 91 ± 1.91%, which indicates its validity for effective feedback control. The control algorithm based on such models can achieve consistent irradiation time of about 50 ms in simulation


The development of organotypic epithelial raft cultures has provided researchers with an efficient in vitro system that faithfully recapitulates epithelial differentiation. There are many uses for this system. For instance, the ability to grow three-dimensional organotypic raft cultures of keratinocytes has been an important milestone in the study of human papillomavirus (HPV)(1). The life cycle of HPV is tightly linked to the differentiation of squamous epithelium(2). Organotypic epithelial raft cultures as demonstrated here reproduce the entire papillomavirus life cycle, including virus production(3,4,5). In addition, these raft cultures exhibit dysplastic lesions similar to those observed upon in vivo infection with HPV. Hence this system can also be used to study epithelial cell cancers, as well as the effect of drugs on epithelial cell differentiation in general. Originally developed by Asselineau and Prunieras(6) and modified by Kopan et al.(7), the organotypic epithelial raft culture system has matured into a general, relatively easy culture model, which involves the growth of cells on collagen plugs maintained at an air-liquid interface (Figure 1A). Over the course of 10-14 days, the cells stratify and differentiate, forming a full thickness epithelium that produces differentiation-specific cytokeratins. Harvested rafts can be examined histologically, as well as by standard molecular and biochemical techniques. In this article, we describe a method for the generation of raft cultures from primary human keratinocytes. The same technique can be used with established epithelial cell lines, and can easily be adapted for use with epithelial tissue from normal or diseased biopsies(8). Many viruses target either the cutaneous or mucosal epithelium as part of their replicative life cycle. Over the past several years, the feasibility of using organotypic raft cultures as a method of studying virus-host cell interactions has been shown for several herpesviruses, as well as adenoviruses, parvoviruses, and poxviruses(9). Organotypic raft cultures can thus be adapted to examine viral pathogenesis, and are the only means to test novel antiviral agents for those viruses that are not cultivable in permanent cell lines.


Persistent homology is currently one of the more widely known tools from computational topology and topological data analysis. We present in this note a brief survey on the evolution of the subject. The goal is to highlight the main ideas, starting from the subject's computational inception more than 20 years ago, to the more modern categorical and representation-theoretic point of view.


In this study, dynamic models for thrusting and ballistic flight modes of multi mode projectile are obtained and Marginalization method is applied by separation of the linear and nonlinear parts of state space model. In Marginalized Particle Filter (MPF), dimension of the nonlinear system is reduced so that the model can be utilized to obtain better estimates of the state using the same number of particles as that of standard particle filter. The Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), the Particle Filter (PF) and the Marginalized Particle Filter (MPF) are compared by their RMS errors in position and velocity estimations obtained by Monte Carlo simulations. In general, EKF has the best performance on position estimation and MPF has the best performance on velocity estimation.


I N the confusion which marks much of the current consideration of sex, this book speaks with freshness and clarity. Too often the church has fallen into the position of ignoring sex in the hope that everything will turn out all right, or has managed to speak words of condemnation and prohibition only. Cole believes that the time is at hand to reexamine the historical development of this situation, and to discover what light, if any, is shed on the question by the insights of psychoanalysis. He not only accomplishes his purpose in an amazingly helpful way, but also demonstrates a methodology of historical survey and analysis that has implications for other areas which are the concern of the Christian faith. Despite the scope of the book, the material is organized so carefully, and presented so concisely that the argument is easily followed. Cole begins by examining the teachings of Jesus and of Paul. Thence he proceeds to Augustine and Aquinas. The next stop is the Reformation in the writings of Luther and Calvin. Finally, he summarizes contemporary Protestant and Roman Catholic positions. His study of psychoanalysis begins with Freud, and continues with Horney, Alexander, and Rado. The book is concluded with a reconstruction of the Christian interpretation of sex. In this chapter, Cole begins with the three classic Christian doctrines of creation, sin, and redemption and sets forth a point of view which is free of legalism on the one hand and antinomianism on the other. Kinsey, for all his critics, has made us painfully aware that the problem of sex cannot be ignored. The Christian faith, for all its imperfect interpreters, makes us painfully aware that the problem of sex cannot be dealt with by judgment and condemnation. Cole has accepted the challenge of our time and of the Christian faith, and blazes a trail that is helpful to theologian and psychoanalyist alike. The parish minister will find here a book that he will read with profit, and will be valuable to put into the hands of his parishioners. Few readers will turn from this book without an increased awareness of the relationship of the gospel to the culture, and the necessity of every generation making its own response to the Christian faith.


An automated system for the detennination of radiochemical composition of microcurie samples of medical radionuclides and/or radiophannaceutical preparations is described. The system incorporates a multichannel analyzer, a Nal (17) detector, a lead collimator, a motor-driven rack, and associated electronic components to provide a fast, accurate, and reproducible method for the identification of radiochemical species. When analyzing a radiochromato· gram, the system provides both graphic and hard-copy qualitative and quantitative infonnation. The system is applicable to the needs of most nuclear medicine and radiochemistry laboratories, is easy to operate, reduces radiation exposure to personnel, enhances versatility, and decreases the time required to perfonn radiochemical quality control tests. Results indicate this system provides better analytical data than the strip-counting technique and comparable quality infonnation of more expensive systems.


Abstract Background Population-wide ultrasound screening programmes for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) for men have already been established in some countries. Women account for one third of aneurysm-related mortality and are four times more likely to experience an AAA rupture than men. Whole-population screening for AAA in women is unlikely to be clinically or economically effective. The aim of this study was to determine the outcomes of a targeted AAA screening programme for women at high risk of AAA. Method Women aged 65–74 years deemed at high risk of having an AAA (current smokers, ex-smokers, or with a history of coronary artery disease) were invited to attend ultrasound screening (July 2016 to March 2019) for AAA in the Female Aneurysm screening STudy (FAST). Primary outcomes were attendance for screening and prevalence of AAA. Biometric data, medical history, quality of life (QoL) and aortic diameter on ultrasound imaging were recorded prospectively. Results Some 6037 women were invited and 5200 attended screening (86.7 per cent). Fifteen AAAs larger than 29 mm were detected (prevalence 0.29 (95 per cent c.i. 0.18 to 0.48) per cent). Current smokers had the highest prevalence (0.83 (95 per cent c.i. 0.34 to 1.89) per cent) but lowest attendance (75.2 per cent). Three AAAs greater than 5.5 cm were identified and referred for consideration of surgical repair; one woman underwent repair. There was a significant reduction in patient-reported QoL scores following screening. Conclusion A low prevalence of AAA was detected in high-risk women, with lowest screening uptake in those at highest risk. Screening for AAA in high-risk women may not be beneficial.


This paper proposes a multiclass nonlinear relevance vector machine (MNRVM) model for health monitoring of smart structures equipped with magnetorheological (MR) dampers. The proposed model will be used to classify the damage statuses of the integrated structure-control systems subjected to ambient excitations. A numerical model of a three-story building equipped with an MR damper is studied to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed health monitoring schemes. Dynamic responses of the smart structures subjected to random excitations are measured. Discrete wavelet transform is applied to the obtained data to compress and filter noises of the measured data. As a next step, the compressed and de-noised signals are used for developing autoregressive (AR) models. Then the MNRVM is applied to the AR-coefficient data to classify them with respect to the damage statuses. As a baseline, the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm is considered. It is demonstrated that the proposed MNRVM framework is effective in classifying various damage statuses of the nonlinear smart structures subjected to ambient excitations. Simulation results also show that the MNRVM performs similar to the SVM with faster computation time.


Many recent studies have probed status bias in the peer-review process of academic journals and conferences. In this article, we investigated the association between author metadata and area chairs' final decisions (Accept/Reject) using our compiled database of 5,313 borderline submissions to the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) from 2017 to 2022. We carefully defined elements in a cause-and-effect analysis, including the treatment and its timing, pre-treatment variables, potential outcomes and causal null hypothesis of interest, all in the context of study units being textual data and under Neyman and Rubin's potential outcomes (PO) framework. We found some weak evidence that author metadata was associated with articles' final decisions. We also found that, under an additional stability assumption, borderline articles from high-ranking institutions (top-30% or top-20%) were less favored by area chairs compared to their matched counterparts. The results were consistent in two different matched designs (odds ratio = 0.82 [95% CI: 0.67 to 1.00] in a first design and 0.83 [95% CI: 0.64 to 1.07] in a strengthened design). We discussed how to interpret these results in the context of multiple interactions between a study unit and different agents (reviewers and area chairs) in the peer-review system.


The European Union (EU) is at the threshold of a new development period. Hungary as a Member State of the EU was given an opportunity to frame its comprehensive development programs for the next seven years (2007-2013). One of these programs is the Transport Operative Program, which focuses on large-scale, large-volume national transport infrastructure developments including road, air, inland water, rail, and combined transport. The Program cover a defined period, however, it will assign the direction of developments for a longer time and foreshadow the vision of the whole transport system in future. Under the related EU legislation a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) must be accomplished for these kinds of programs. SEA is a specific procedure to identify and control environmentally harmful processes at the earliest and highest level of planning. SEA covers all fields of environmental issues including wildlife conservation and biodiversity maintenance. In the course of the present research the authors examined the opportunities the SEA's institutionalized framework (regulations as well as measures) offers or might offer to mitigate the direct and indirect impacts of transportation via the nascent Hungarian Transport Operative Program. The half-year-long study conducted between June and December, 2006 primarily aims at exploring opportunities lying in strategic-level assessment to conserve biodiversity at national and regional level and to treat habitat fragmentation. The authors study focused on determining what are the main issues that can be handled by the SEA and which ecological conflicts can be – at least partly -- resolved at this level. During the course of the research the author used experience gathered by older EU Member States like the United Kingdom (UK), Italy and Spain that have been formulated in the form of guidelines. The significance of our research is strengthened by fact that the overwhelming majority of one out of the nine European eco-regions (called Pannonian Biogeographical Region) can be found in Hungary. It is a great challenge for the country to meet Europe's controversial expectations: how to conserve this valuable area but at the same time carry out a large transport infrastructural development. The results gained suggest that SEA is a satisfactory tool to indicate large-scale harmful processes, however, it does not guarantee certain and sizable mitigation of effects unless the its methodology will be developed further and it will be integrated more efficiently in the implementation process of the transportation strategies in future.


This paper proposes a novel mask estimation method for missing-feature reconstruction to improve speech recognition performance in time-varying background noise conditions. Conventional mask estimation methods based on noise estimates and spectral subtraction fail to reliably estimate the mask. The proposed mask estimation method utilizes a Posterior-based Representative Mean (PRM) vector for determining the reliability of the input speech spectrum, which is obtained as a weighted sum of the mean parameters of the speech model with posterior probabilities. To obtain the noise-corrupted speech model, a model combination method is employed, which was proposed in our previous study for a feature compensation method [1]. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed mask estimation method is considerably more effective at increasing speech recognition performance in time-varying background noise conditions. By employing the proposed PRM-based mask estimation for missing-feature reconstruction, we obtain +36.29% and +30.45% average relative improvements in WER for speech babble and background music conditions respectively, compared to conventional mask estimation methods.