Knowledge Management (KM) is mainly about creating the precise knowledge resource including people and other sources and to make that knowledge accessible to the correct individuals at the correct time. Knowledge management initiatives are significant for educational sector especially so in technical education segment since engineering education is a knowledge incubator for industrial growth of any country. A country cannot have a rich industrial sector without having a large base of technically educated population in it. Therefore technical education and more so engineering education must have KM techniques embedded into it. Knowledge sharing conceivably is a main feature in this procedure because enormous mainstream of KM procedures depends on it. Sharing of knowledge is not smooth in any sector because it depends on the willingness and the habits of its employees and also on the culture, incentives, technology, infrastructure and the leadership of the organization. This paper makes an attempt to analyze the modus operandi of knowledge sharing between faculty members of individual engineering colleges and comparing the knowledge sharing techniques present in self- financing and Government – aided engineering colleges of Mysuru district, Karnataka state


Soft skills in the today organizations are considered to be one of the most evaluable components for success. Soft skills are traditionally considered complementary to hard skills, which are the ability to perform a particular type of task or activity. Given that businesses have different requirements and criteria for hiring workers, the reason for this research is to see how much organizations in Kosovo and Albania give importance to soft skills and how much they require these skills when hiring workers. We conducted this research with primary data, ie through questionnaires, to collect data questionnaires were distributed to various commercial, service and production organization in several cities of Kosovo and Albania. We based this study on Goleman's theory of emotional intelligence. And then to derive the most accurate statistics and results SPSS software package was used. The results of the analysis show that businesses in Kosovo and Albania mainly apply soft skills and consider them important for their development.

Received: 28 April 2020 / Accepted: 23 December 2020 / Published: 17 January 2021


Workers nearing retirement face many important, and often irreversible, choices. We collected detailed demographic and financial literacy data on over 1,500 workers nearing retirement at three large companies to assess how individuals are planning for retirement. Many respondents display limited knowledge and understanding of public and company-provided retirement benefits. Controlling for basic demographics and wealth, we find that misconceptions about eligibility ages and plan generosity influence workers' expected age of retirement. Although retirement-related decisions will affect workers' wellbeing for the remainder of their lifetimes, many do not possess enough basic financial knowledge to confidently make optimal choices.


ABSTRACT Mycobacterium bolletii is a rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterium first characterized in 2006. Here, we report a case of disseminated infection caused by M. bolletii in a young adult patient. To our knowledge, this is the first case of disseminated M. bolletii infection in an otherwise healthy young adult.


Deleuze is the heir of a French interpretation of James which sought to displace the centre of gravity of pragmatism from the theory of truth to the assertion of pluralism. Indeed, following Bergson and Jean Wahl, Deleuze identified two principles of pragmatism which are, in fact, defining criteria of pluralism. The first is a principle of difference: the pragmatist begins, not with the Whole, but with a given which is always plural, multiple, fragmented and heterogeneous. The second is a principle of relation: the pragmatist will still seek to integrate these diverse parts, but will take care not to unify them or merge them together. Such a construction of the whole from its parts presupposes, if the initial multiplicity is not to be denied, that the relations between the parts be external, that is, not predetermined by the nature of the parts with which one begins or by the nature of the whole that one attains. Thus connected in a purely external way, the parts are coordinated without being subordinated to any one of them, or to the whole which they collectively form.
 These two principles of real difference and external relations are in actual fact very general principles in Deleuze's oeuvre, and he puts them to work well beyond his examination of American pragmatism. He applies them to American literature (Whitman, Melville). He rediscovers them in English empiricism (Hume's atomism and associationism). He puts them to work in the interpretation of his philosophical heroes (Lucretius, Spinoza, Nietzsche), and goes so far as to declare that 'pluralism (otherwise known as empiricism) is almost indistinguishable from philosophy itself. Pluralism is the properly philosophical way of thinking, the one invented by philosophy' (Nietzsche and Philosophy, p. 4). Finally, he makes use of these two principles in the creation of a number of his most emblematic concepts (multiplicity, assemblage, rhizome).
 We will, however, defend the thesis that this affirmation of pluralism is based on an initial misinterpretation of James' thought. Encouraged by Jean Wahl's comparisons of James and Russell, Deleuze confused American pluralism with English pluralism. Indeed, it is actually Russell, not James, who is Hume's heir with regard to the two principles of the atomic nature of the given and the construction of complex entities from simple elements (the simple and the complex); it is actually Russell, not James, who upholds an axiom of external relations, this being necessary for the analysis of complex entities into simple elements. Deleuze thus succumbed to an ambiguity with regard to the question of external relations: an ambiguity that must be dissipated in order to show the originality of Jamesian pluralism, in its difference from Russellian pluralism. It is thus time to re-examine the improper assimilation of pluralism and pragmatism, and to ask what a pragmatist such as James would have thought of Deleuze by applying the pragmatic method in order to know whether we can make Deleuze's ideas clear. We will focus in particular on the example of the concept of the 'event' and conclude negatively. This test will show that, for us, Deleuze is neither pragmatist, nor empiricist, despite his claims.


Social determinants of health (SDOH) – the conditions in which people live, grow, and age – play a crucial role in a person's health and well-being. There is a large, compelling body of evidence in population health studies showing that a wide range of SDOH is strongly correlated with health outcomes. Yet, a majority of the risk prediction models based on electronic health records (EHR) do not incorporate a comprehensive set of SDOH features as they are often noisy or simply unavailable. Our work links a publicly available EHR database, MIMIC-IV, to well-documented SDOH features. We investigate the impact of such features on common EHR prediction tasks across different patient populations. We find that community-level SDOH features do not improve model performance for a general patient population, but can improve data-limited model fairness for specific subpopulations. We also demonstrate that SDOH features are vital for conducting thorough audits of algorithmic biases beyond protective attributes. We hope the new integrated EHR-SDOH database will enable studies on the relationship between community health and individual outcomes and provide new benchmarks to study algorithmic biases beyond race, gender, and age.


The capability of the human auditory system is phenomenal. The dynamic range it can handle, the frequency range it covers, and, not the least, its ability to detect and identify speech in the presence of interfering sounds is astonishing. In daily life we use this capability in many ways. We use it for speech communication as well as for alerts and alarms. We use it for analysis of devices and machines, e.g. our computers and cars. Is it on? Does it sound normal, or is something wrong? We also use it for various forms of entertainment. However, there's a flip side to the great capability. From an engineering point of view it poses challenges when designing buildings, machines, and devices such as phones, computers, headphones, microphones, etc. And although we have a phenomenal ability to understand speech in challenging situations, we often mishear or misunderstand. Human hearing is also quite easily damaged. This paper presents old and new results related to the capability of our hearing, and some of the challenges related to the same. The content of this article was presented at the Acoustics Week in Canada 2014 as one of three invited keynote presentations.


Possible dust alignment in dense regions due to paramagnetic anisotropy ΔχPARA is discussed based on the results of a laboratory experiment on ortho-pyroxene grains containing a small amount of Fe2+ ions (1.8 mol%). Ortho-pyroxene has been detected in circum-stellar regions by infrared emission spectroscopy. Our experiment was performed at room temperature using He gas as the dispersing medium. Although the grains do not contain strong magnetic moments, alignment was achieved at low field strength (<2000 G). The alignment efficiency of ortho-pyroxene was compared with those of various rock-forming minerals. The magnitude of diamagnetic anisotropy ΔχDIA, free of paramagnetic ions, is generally <10-8 emu/g for various silicates. In contrast, ΔχPARA increases considerably with increasing Fe2+ concentration, reaching 10-5 emu/g for many of the silicates when the concentration of Fe2+ is >1 mol%; this increasing ΔχPARA is the cause of the above-mentioned alignment obtained at the low field strength. Based on our observations, we infer the field intensity needed to obtain partial dust alignment of sufficient size to explain the observed polarization in astrophysical environments. Due to temperature dependences caused by a Curie Law and a rotational Brownian motion, the field intensity required to cause the alignment is expected to decrease considerably at low-temperature conditions assumed for a proto-planetary disk. The results of our experiment performed at room temperature provide a technical basis to reproduce grain alignment under such temperature conditions.


Background: Teamwork and leadership training have been shown to improve subsequent resuscitation performance in a variety of clinical situations. Critical care nurses, in addition to those who may be part of resuscitation team leaders and members, have also the need for such training. This study examines the teamwork and leadership skills of critical care nurses and their perceptions of the need for teamwork and leadership training. Methods: We developed a pilot, interactive 3-hour teamwork, and the leadership training program based on the objectives and teaching methods of the Advanced Life Support (ACLS) course. Participants completed a 1-hour lecture, and discussion for team roles and obstacles, 30 min of script-based role play in resuscitation team training, and finally, 2-hour simulation-based team training program. Before the completion of the course, participants were anonymously surveyed on the perceived educational value of the teamwork and leadership program. Expert raters reviewed videos of simulated resuscitation events in the course, and scored each video by two existing checklist for the team dynamic. Results: Fifty-one nurses voluntarily participated and six videotaped simulation were rated by an expert rater. Most of the students believed the course was delivered at an appropriate level for them, and that it is a necessary training in their continuing professional education. The video rated average scores were from 68.5 to 72.9 according to the checklists. Conclusions: Critical care nurses can learn teamwork and leadership skills from appropriately designed programs, and believe it is a necessity in their training.


Measurement systems are used widely in manufacturing organisations in order to make many important decisions. These decisions range from the acceptability of a given product against tolerance requirements to the level of statistical control of a process or its capability to consistently perform a given task. In most situations, however, little thought is given to the quality of the data generated by such measurement processes. By using potentially flawed data in making fundamental manufacturing decisions, organisations undermine the quality of the decision-making process itself. This paper reviews the approaches presently available from both a technical and a practical point of view, based on the priorities of process improvement practitioners. The conclusion of the paper is that the Evaluation of the Measurement Process proposed by Wheeler and Lyday offers the best balance of accuracy and utility.


New Science: The field of bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells was created as a result of the discovery of ultrafast charge transfer. The length scale for the wavefunction describing the probability amplitude for finding a photoexcitation at a particular point in space was estimated using position–momentum uncertainty as expressed by the uncertainty principle. The problem can also be considered semi-classically and a very similar estimate of the length scale of the photoexcitation wavefunction is obtained via the resolution limit of a microscope; (λ/2πn) where n is the index of refraction. Finally, the BHJ solar cell should be especially sensitive to the effective interaction volume of the photon because it is comprised of a densely packed collection of strong absorbers. The photoexcitation process, therefore, generates a delocalized coherent superposition of the eigenfunctions of the Schrodinger equation that describes the nanostructured blend, with an immediate probability amplitude for finding a photoexcitation near a BHJ boundary enabling charge transfer in the femtosecond regime over relatively long distances. New Technology: A general strategy is presented to self-assemble unidirectional alignment and efficient charge transport for semiconducting polymer films deposited on textured Si/SiO2 substrates. By employing sandwich casting in a tilted tunnel system, we utilize capillary action, generated by functionalized spacers, to self-assemble semiconducting polymers along uniaxial nano-grooves on the substrate. The strength of capillary action can be tailored by different surface treatments of the glass spacers. PTS functionalization yields highly oriented crystalline films with compact structure with µh = 25.4 cm2 V−1 s−1 and µh = 22.2 cm2 V−1 s−1 for PCDTPT and CDTBTZ, respectively. These values are limited by the S–D contact resistance, Rc. Using longer channels, Rc is significantly less than the channel resistance and µ = 36.3 cm2 V−1 s−1 was measured. Extrapolating to infinite channel length, the intrinsic mobility for PCDTPT is obtained at this degree of chain alignment and structural order: µ = 47 cm2 V−1 s−1. The mobility is strongly anisotropic with 13.6- and 17.6-fold higher values parallel to the direction of polymer alignment.


The optical properties of gallium nitride light-emitting diode with mesh-textured sapphire back delineated by laser scriber and subsequently coated with silver-copper layers were investigated. This new structure improves the optical characteristics. The electroluminescence and luminous intensities are 30% and 20% stronger than that without mesh-textured trench and silver-copper at 20 mA, respectively. The maximum luminous intensity has 1.6 times enhancement, which is mainly from higher light extraction by the mesh-textured trench.


While Yes-associated protein (YAP) antagonizes pluripotency during early embryogenesis, it has also been shown to promote stemness of multiple stem cell types, including pluripotent stem cells. Whether cellular context underlies these distinct functions of YAP in pluripotency remains unclear. Here, we establish that depending on the specific cells in which it is expressed, YAP exhibits opposing effects on pluripotency induction from somatic cells. Specifically, YAP inhibits pluripotency induction cell-autonomously but promotes it non-cell-autonomously. For its non-cell-autonomous role, YAP alters the expression of many secreted and matricellular proteins including CYR61, which recapitulates the promotional effect when added as a recombinant protein. Thus, we define a unique YAP-driven non-cell-autonomous process that enhances pluripotency induction. Our work highlights the importance of considering the distinct contributions from heterologous cell types in deciphering the mechanism of cell fate control and calls for careful re-examination of the co-existing bystander cells in complex cultures or tissues.


Fault analysis of digital systems is highly dependent upon the fault model employed. Much previous work utilizes fault models known to contain inaccuracies in order to permit mathematically tractable analysis. In this correspondence a new approach is taken which combines faults, hardware, and software together into one overall model. This new model is shown to be useful for the consideration of intermittent/transient faults. It supports a new method, based on the novel concept of a containment set, for realizing transient fault tolerance without massive redundancy. It also allows for a new approach to system fault tolerance evaluation and validation which uses a transition matrix which is defined in terms of the containment set.


Different types of radiographs of dental structures undoubtedly offer a least destructive approach to age estimation of individuals, but most of these methods are based on the calcification stages of the developing teeth. Very limited studies have been carried out in India using Kvaal's technique based on pulp changes on radiographs as a tool for age estimation. Further, only few studies have been reported so far, applying Kvaal's technique on orthopantomograph. The present study has been carried out using Kvaal's technique of age estimation from dental pulp size on digital orthopantomograph of Indian population.


A higher-order-accurate numerical procedure has been developed for solving incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for fluid flow problems. It is based on low-storage Runge-Kutta schemes for temporal discretization and fourth- and sixth-order compact finite-difference schemes for spatial discretization. New insights are presented on the elimination of the odd-even decoupling problem in the solution of the pressure Poisson equation. For consistent global accuracy, it is necessary to employ the same order of accuracy in the discretization of the Poisson equation. Accuracy and robustness issues are addressed by application to several pertinent benchmark problems in Part II.


Two isolates each of Magnaporthe poae, Gaeumannomyces incrustans, and Leptosphaeria korrae were grown at 25°C in liquid shake culture in minimal salts medium (-0.12 MPa) or minimal salts medium adjusted to -0.5 MPa with KCl, MgCl2, or polyethylene glycol (PEG). Fungal dry weight of all three species was greater in minimal salts medium amended to -0.5 MPa with MgCl2 than in nonamended medium, and dry weight in medium amended with PEG was not different from dry weights in nonamended medium or medium amended with KCl. Fungi were incubated at varying temperatures on a minimal salts solid-agar medium (-0.12 MPa) adjusted to osmotic potentials ranging from -0.5 to -5.0 MPa with KCl or MgCl2. Optimum growth of M. poae, G. incrustans, and L. korrae on nonamended medium occurred at 30, 30, and 25°C, respectively. At optimum temperatures for each species, fungal growth was greatest at the higher osmotic potentials tested (-0.5 to -1.0 MPa) and decreased in a linear manner as osmotic potential decreased. In most cases, growth was detected at the lowest osmotic potential measured (-5.0 MPa). The relationship of fungal growth to osmotic potential depended on both temperature and osmoregulant. At temperatures optimal or nearly optimal for fungal development, the growth of all three fungi declined more rapidly with decreasing osmotic potential when grown on medium amended with MgCl2 than on medium amended with KCl. At the highest temperature evaluated for growth of M. poae and L. korrae (35 and 30°C, respectively), growth on medium amended with KCl was curvilinear and peaked at osmotic potentials of -2.5 to -3.0 MPa. Furthermore, between osmotic potentials of -2.0 and -5.0 MPa, M. poae grew best at 35°C. When maintained on nonamended minimal salts medium (-0.12 MPa) in liquid culture at 25°C or on nonamended solid-agar medium at temperatures optimal for growth, M. poae grew at a faster daily rate than L. korrae.


A Longitudinal Analysis of Adult ESL Speakers' Oral Fluency Gains Kostiantyn Fesenko Department of Linguistics and English Language, BYU Master of Arts While a number of studies have sought to investigate ESL speakers' fluency gains over the course of one 15-week semester, few if any studies have investigated these changes over a longer developmental period. A critical factor in researching longitudinal change is that students do not often remain in an intensive English program (IEP) for more than two semesters before moving to a new school, applying to an American university, or returning to their home country. Longitudinal research, therefore, is necessary as program administrators, teachers, and learners all seek to understand points where change in oral fluency actually occurs. For this study data were collected from students in a large intensive English program over a 45-week period. For 39 ESL learners audio files from speaking tasks that were part of placement and end-of-semester level achievement tests were collected and analyzed. Specific oral fluency features such as speech rate, articulation rate, and pause frequency were investigated. This thesis will share the results of the analysis while also discussing the implications of the data for program administrators, teachers, and learners. Particular focus will be given to helping stakeholders understand specific changes that occurred in learners' fluency over the time period of three semesters.


Thermal infrared data become more popular in remote sensing investigation, for it could be acquired both in day and night. The change of temperature has special characteristic in natural environment, so the thermal infrared images could be used in monitoring volcanic landform, the urban development, and disaster prevention. Heat shadow is formed by reflecting radiating capacity which followed the objects. Because of poor spatial resolution of thermal infrared images in satellite sensor, shadow effects were usually ignored. This research focus on discussing the shadow effects of various features, which include metals and nonmetallic materials. An area-based thermal sensor, FLIR-T360 was selected to acquire thermal images. Various features with different emissivity were chosen as reflective surface to obtain thermal shadow in normal atmospheric temperature. Experiments found that the shadow effects depend on the distance between sensors and features, depression angle, object temperature and emissivity of reflective surface. The causes of shadow effects have been altered in the experiment for analyzing the variance in thermal infrared images. The result shows that there were quite different impacts by shadow effects between metals and nonmetallic materials. The further research would be produced a math model to describe the shadow effects of different features in the future work.


Chronic liver disease resulting in fibrosis and cirrhosis is associated with morbidity and mortality, irrespective of the etiology. Although major progress has been made in the medical management of patients with liver diseases, liver surgery remains the only curative treatment strategy for many conditions. Yet, factors such as perioperative bleeding, and the capacity of remnant liver to regenerate may affect the outcome following the liver surgery. In this thesis we conducted clinical and pre-clinical studies that aimed to gain better understanding of factors influencing the outcome of liver surgery. In addition, we evaluate if the development of HCC in patients with cirrhosis is associated with activation of primary hemostasis and whether or not the bioactive molecules within the platelets are altered in cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In addition, we studied the paradoxical relation of gamma glutamyl-transferase (GGT) with outcome in liver transplantation patients and in patients admitted to the intensive care unit.


In analogy with quantum optics it is possible to impose nonseparability between different degrees of freedom of an optical beam. The resulting correlations between these degrees of freedom can be investigated with correlations functions traditionally employed in quantum mechanics, such as the well-known Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) correlation function. In this paper we present results achieving a maximal violation of Tsirelson's bound on CHSH correlations between spatial and polarization degrees of freedom of classical (Maxwell) fields. We describe the theoretical method, based on the realization of a nonunitary gate, and then proceed to its experimental implementation carried out with classical optical techniques. Our approach relies on the realization at the level of classical Maxwell fields of a so-called POVM (positive operator valued measure) which is traditionally discussed in the realm of quantum physics.


In this article, I propose the theory of imperial play as a tool with which scholars can expose ideologies embedded into video games and video game culture and industry. While representation-oriented theories and methodologies help scholars think about the visual and narrative components of a game, analysis of representation fails scholars when we examine video games as simulations. With imperial play, I reimagine Laura Mulvey's male gaze through the lens of post-colonial theory and through Ian Bogost's concept of procedural rhetoric. While I acknowledge two key participants in the practice of imperial play, the game developer and game player, within this article, I demonstrate the framework by focusing on the experience of the player. Using examples from popular console and PC video games, I analyze embedded colonial attitudes within game missions, within the nature of the avatar, within the construction of the gamescape, and in regard to non-playable characters (NPCs).


Seaward migration of immature salmonids (smolts) may be associated with severe mortality in anthro- pogenically altered channels. Few studies however, have identified distinct behaviours that lead to exposure to adverse habitats or even unsuccessful migration. This study used high resolution telemetry to map migration routes of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) smolts approaching a water withdrawal zone associated with an aquaculture facility in a lowland river. Individual smolts were tagged with an acoustic transmitter and released upstream of the water withdrawal zone. A trap was installed downstream of the water withdrawal zone. The trap captured all smolts that passed the water with- drawal zone. The tracking results confirmed previous studies on Pacific salmon showing that Atlantic salmon smolts may perform milling behaviours (i.e. upstream excursions and circular swimming behaviour) in anthropogenically al- tered channels. Non-milling and milling smolts were compared. Smolts performing milling behaviours covered a larger area (m 2 ) and experienced an increased probability of entering the water withdrawal zone, considered an adverse habi- tat. Finally, smolts were identified as either passing (67%) or non-passing (33%) the water withdrawal zone based on the recapture data from the trap. In total, 20% of the non-passing smolts entered the aquaculture facility. Several be- havioural traits differed between the remaining (80%) non-passing smolts and the passing smolts. In particular, time spent near the water withdrawal zone correlated negatively with the probability of passage. These links between indi- vidual behaviours and exposure to adverse habitats and passage probability may be applied to improve management of salmonid populations.


In this thesis I explore how people conceptualised, explained and managed their
experiences of everyday stress before the concept became ubiquitous. In doing so, I
reveal some of the factors which contributed to that ultimate ubiquity.

The existing historiography of stress comes mostly from a medical perspective and
deals largely with post-traumatic stress. I address these limitations by specifically
focusing on the everyday stress more commonly experienced by the wider population
and by doing so from a more popular perspective. I focus on changes to everyday life
at work and at home, which had a significant impact on the popularisation of stress, in
the period from the First World War to the 1980s.

Drawing on a range of sources including self-help books, diaries, oral history interviews
and popular culture, I foreground continuities in the approach to treating stress and
changes in ideas about causation. My analysis reveals a vocabulary of nerves and
nervous disorders as precursors to stress, but also illustrates the mutability of the
nerves/stress concept and how its very imprecision gave it utility. An examination of
contemporary medical, sociological and governmental research demonstrates how the
increasing problematisation of everyday life contributed to a growing discourse of
stress. This was reflected in popular culture which revealed both the workplace and
home to be potential locations of stress.

I argue that this arose due to changes to these domains resulting from increased
affluence, evolving gender roles and changes to people's expectations of life in the
second half of the century. At its heart my thesis argues that despite material
improvements in both work and home life during the period, societal changes and a
growing popular discourse of stress made it far more likely that by the late twentieth
century people would interpret their everyday woes as stress.


This study is the second of two publications that investigate the interactions between volatile and nonvolatile components in coffee brew. The purpose here was to shed some light into the chemical mechanisms responsible for the decrease of volatile thiols when in contact with coffee nonvolatiles. A mixture of volatile thiols covering a large range of physicochemical properties was monitored over time in the presence of a coffee brew model. The binding potential was estimated by SPME-GC-MS. Additives inhibiting specific reaction pathways were preincubated with the coffee brew 1 h prior to addition of the volatile compounds. Degradation kinetics of the volatile thiols were characterized by their rate constants k(obs). The effect of individual additives was shown by calculating k(rel), the relative rate constant as compared to the reference without additive. The conclusion was that thiols, mainly responsible for the "roasty" and "burnt" notes, disappear via two main chemical mechanisms. The results suggest that nucleophilic addition is the major pathway for thiol degradation. Addition occurs on oxidized species generated in the matrix in the presence of air. This mechanism prevails for aliphatic thiols (e.g., ethanethiol, methanethiol). Benzylic thiols (such as 2-furfurylthiol) can react in parallel via another pathway that is slowed in the absence of oxygen and in the presence of a radical scavenger. This points to a radical mechanism, but further work is needed to support this hypothesis. A direct correlation between thiol hydrophobicity and the magnitude of the interactions was shown as well. Therefore, weak physical interactions or hydrophobic assistance accelerating chemical reactions cannot be excluded at this point of the study.


This paper focuses on data preprocessing for WUM. Web page mining (WUM) applies data procedures to analyze user access of Well sites. As with any knowledge, discovery and data mining (KDD) process, WUM contains three main steps: preprocessing, knowledge extraction and results analysis. This data preprocessing try to determine the exact list of users who accessed the Web site and to reconstitute user sessions-the sequence of actions each user performed at the Web site. For privacy reasons, the preprocessing users use Web server log files from Web servers as well as the Website map and then anonymizing and joining log files are used. The data preprocessing involves data fusion, data cleaning, data structuration and data summarization. This data preprocessing not only reduces the log file size but also increases the quality of available data through the new data structures.


Software defect prediction plays an important role in software quality assurance. However, the performance of the prediction model is susceptible to the irrelevant and redundant features. In addition, previous studies mostly regard software defect prediction as a single objective optimization problem, and multi-objective software defect prediction has not been thoroughly investigated. For the above two reasons, we propose the following solutions in this paper: (1) we leverage an advanced deep neural network-Stacked Contractive AutoEncoder (SCAE) to extract the robust deep semantic features from the original defect features, which has stronger discrimination capacity for different classes (defective or non-defective). (2) we propose a novel multi-objective defect prediction model named SMONGE that utilizes the Multi-Objective NSGAII algorithm to optimize the advanced neural network-Extreme learning machine (ELM) based on state-of-the-art Pareto optimal solutions according to the features extracted by SCAE. We mainly consider two objectives. One objective is to maximize the performance of ELM, which refers to the benefit of the SMONGE model. Another objective is to minimize the output weight norm of ELM, which is related to the cost of the SMONGE model. We compare the SCAE with six state-of-the-art feature extraction methods and compare the SMONGE model with multiple baseline models that contain four classic defect predictors and the MONGE model without SCAE across 20 open source software projects. The experimental results verify that the superiority of SCAE and SMONGE on seven evaluation metrics.


An isolated frog heart placed in a special chamber with Ringer solution (pH 7.2) was stimulated by electric field at a frequency of 0.3-4.0 Hz with graphite electrodes immersed in the solution. Unusual resonance phenomena were observed during a progressive increase or decrease of the stimulation frequency: the amplitude of the mechanical responses of the preparation rose at multiple frequencies of stimulation, whereas the frequency of the responses remained unchanged.


Herpetology maintains a collection of more than 207,500 specimens and ranks as about the ninth largest amphibian and reptile collection in the United States. Ninety percent are fluid preserved; others are preserved as skeletons, skins, mounts, or cleared and stained preparations.

Notable historic collections rich in type specimens are the Taylor Philippine collection, the Le Boutellier collection of South American snakes, and specimens from early museum expeditions to the Isle of Pines and Angola. Collection data are completely computerized. Collection growth has averaged 1–2% per year. There are approximately 35 new research loans a year handled by the collection manager, and around 80 research data inquiries are filled annually.

Research is supported by a library with an outstanding collection of 19th-century herpetological literature (Gunther Collection) and more than 22,000 reprints.


Workplace Incivility is one of negative and deviational behaviors involved in present organizations and can affect on employees' attitudes. This research aims to study the relationship between Workplace Incivility and employees' job positive attitude in Rafsanjan Tejarat banks. Statistical society of the research includes employed employees of Rafsanjan Tejarat banks containing 152 people and regarding limitation of statistical society, statistical sample is selected equal to statistical society. Measuring instruments are two questionnaires. Questionnaire of discourtesy behavior that was designed and organized by Hasani (2013) is 0.92. Also to measure job positive attitudes, standard questionnaire of Saeedi (2012) is used for which validity is 0.98. Using Cronbach alpha method reliabilities for every questionnaire are 0.87 and 0.94 respectively. To test hypotheses Kendal and Spearman correlation coefficients are used. All statistical analyses are done by SPSS statistical software. Regarding the results it is determined that there is no meaningful relationship between Workplace Incivility and its components ( excluding others, gossiping, roughness and hostility) with employees' job positive attitudes in Rafsanjan Tejarat banks.


The strength of Al6061 alloy can be improved by precipitation hardening, during the precipitation of metastable phases formed by supersaturated solid solution. The experimental study is focused on artificial ageing of solutionized Al6061 alloy at 100 o , 150 o and 200 o C. The peak hardness is obtained at different aging temperature by plotting hardness v/s time. The peak aging duration is observed to vary between 3 to 10 hours depending on aging temperature. As the aging temperature decreases the precipitation of secondary solute rich phases takes place in the more number of intermediate stages. The intermediate phases strain the lattice during their precipitation to enhance the mechanical properties, so better mechanical property is observed at lower aging temperature. In this paper, mechanical properties such as microhardness, tensile strength, and wear resistance have been studied to determine the effect of artificial ageing on Al6061 alloy. However, under identical heat treatment conditions, the precipitation hardened alloy exhibited better mechanical properties in comparison with as-cast alloy.


Establishment of disease by artificial inoculation is essential for studies of various aspects of plant pathology. Keeping this in mind, five inoculation methods were compared namely spraying, infiltration, wounding, spore suspension drop and spore suspension drop along with agarose method. The findings of the present study suggest that out of five inoculation methods used, spore suspension drop along with agarose inoculation method was most ideal as this fixed the inoculum on the target site. The mean value of number of initial disease lesions in drop plus agarose method was highest in all of the time intervals of observation namely 312.2, 484.2, 664.2, 734.2 and 799.2 at 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h after pathogen inoculation compared to other methods respectively. Statistical analysis software (SAS) was used to find out the significant comparison among the different methods. The spore suspension drop along with agarose method has the advantage of being accurate and precise, and it was also easy to handle the inoculated plants. Keywords : Artificial inoculation, Brassica , Alternaria , pathogenicity, screening African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(18), pp. 2422-2426


Traditionally, China and North Korea have been described as 'blood brothers' because of their common socialist ideological ground. Since 2000 the basis of their relationship has shifted from one-sided economic support by China into strategic and mutual cooperation. In this paper, we analyse changes in their relationship by examining two specific points: first, China's growing investment and trade in North Korea, and second, close linkages of regional development strategies between the two countries. While the prevalent discussions around North Korea and its relations with China concentrate on geopolitical issues, this research shed more light on geoeconomic engagement between China and North Korea. This paper argues that it is crucial to grasp how China and North Korea perform geoeconomic calculations toward each other and how this affects geopolitical conditions.


This paper describes the pervasive game unexceptional.net. Unexceptional.net is a unique pervasive game that is story-driven where the story evolves through multiple media channels interacting with the player. The game interacts with the user on a cellphone and a PC, and the game provides unique gaming experience by introducing gameplay elements through comics, web hacks, Blogs, a 3D-client, a database transaction visualizer, a cellphone client and an Applet client. The game is an example of pervasive game that integrates gaming, the web, fine art and social critique. The paper describes the process of building this game through integrating various open source software and running multiple student projects. Further, the paper reveals challenges in building multichannel pervasive games and identifies how this was solved in the unexceptional.net project. The contribution of this paper is the description of a novel pervasive game and the experiences from designing and implementing this game.


Climate model projections show an unambiguous trend to higher temperatures at coffee locations. The seasonal distribution of rainfall will likely remain similar. Precipitation amounts during the dry season should remain similar to current conditions. May precipitation may increase compared to current conditions with possible reductions in the following months. However, a wide range of projections reflects the difficulty to predict future precipitation. Projected temperature increase and mean reduction in precipitation make droughts more likely and potentially more severe for coffee production. Stakeholders should prepare for more efficient water management.


Trehalose is absorbed by two distinct systems—one constitutive, the other induced by turanose and to a lesser extent by nigerose but not by trehalose. The constitutive system is apparently mediated by a surface trehalase; the induced system has the characteristics of a permease. The specificity of the induced system is apparently limited to the α glucosyl-glucose or glucosyl-fructose linkage, because absorption of kojibiose, nigerose, maltose, isomaltose, turanose, sucrose, and melezitose, in addition to that of trehalose, was increased. Absorption of β-linked or of galactose-containing disaccharides was not increased. The constitutive and induced trehalose-absorbing systems differ in their activity, specificity, lability to acid treatment, effects of substrate concentration, and pH optima. Both systems require oxygen, and no marked differential effects of inhibitors were observed. The activity of the induced system is proportional to log turanose concentration (from about 1 to 300 μg/ml), and is an approximate linear function of time of exposure (from about 1 to 50 min). Accumulation of trehalose occurred against a concentration gradient in both systems but particularly in the induced. No leakage was observed. The activity of the induced system declined slowly upon removal of the inducer. Accumulated trehalose is metabolized after activation by azide as are the endogenous trehalose reserves. The accumulated trehalose appears to enter the endogenous trehalose pool found in these spores, although some data suggest it may be more accessible. Respiratory data indicate that absorbed trehalose is available for metabolism while in transit from the external membrane to the internal pool.


Abstract Effect of mating status on locomotor activity was examined in females of the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Walker). Mated females were more active than virgin females in both strains of N. vitripennis that were tested and regardless of whether or not the mated female stayed with her mate before testing. Mated females were more active than virgin females when tested immediately after mating and when tested 1 h, 1.5 h, and 2 h after mating. Mated females were still more active than virgin females when both had been allowed to parasitize a host for 2 h. Mated females were not significantly more active than virgin females at 1, 3, and 5 d after mating. Mated females that were allowed to parasitize a host for 3 h before testing were less active compared with those not given a host. Amount of activity was independent of a female's head width and did not affect a female's subsequent offspring production. Despite being more active, mated females did not kill more hosts than virgin females. However, among mated females, females that were more active subsequently killed more hosts, whereas this was not true for virgin females. Discussion of relevance to biological control and suggestions for future research are provided.


The purpose of the present paper is to consider some weak asymptotic problems concerning the infinite-dimensional Kolmogorov widths, the infinite-dimensional linear widths, the infinite-dimensional Gel'fand widths and optimal recovery in Besov space. It is obvious to be found that the results obtained and methods used in Besov space are easily generalized, and hence in this paper these results in an extension of Besov spaces on Rd are stated and proved. Meantime, the representation theorem and approximation of these spaces by polynomial splines are discussed.


Spinal cord injury is a significant cause of motor dysfunctions. There is no definite cure for it, and most of the therapeutic modalities are only symptomatic treatment. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the effectiveness of stem cell therapy in the treatment of the spinal cord injuries in animal models was studied and evaluated. A systematic search through medical databases by using appropriate keywords was conducted. The relevant reports were reviewed in order to find out cases in which inclusion and exclusion criteria had been fulfilled. Finally, 89 articles have been considered, from which 28 had sufficient data for performing statistical analyses. The findings showed a significant improvement in motor functions after cell therapy. The outcome was strongly related to the number of transplanted cells, site of injury, chronicity of the injury, type of the damage, and the induction of immune-suppression. According to our data, improvements in functional recovery after stem cell therapy in the treatment of spinal cord injury in animal models was noticeable, but its outcome is strongly related to the site of injury, number of transplanted cells, and type of transplanted cells.


We investigate a modified version of the ΑΒ random sequential adsorption model. Specifically, this model involves the deposition of two distinct types of particles onto a lattice, with the constraint that different types cannot occupy neighboring sites. By restricting the deposition attempts to only one per site, we derive an analytical expression for the average densities of particles of types Α and Β, at all time instances, for all deposition probabilities of each particle type.


To compare the efficiency of conventional needle irrigation, passive ultrasonic irrigation, sonic irrigation and XP-endo Finisher in removing Vitapex paste from root canals. The root canals of human single-rooted teeth were prepared and obturated with Vitapex paste. After 2 weeks, the 48 teeth were randomly allocated into four groups: conventional needle irrigation (CNI) group, passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI) group, sonic irrigation (SI) group and XP-endo Finisher (XP) group. The specimens of four groups were scanned using a micro-computed tomography after the Vitapex pastes was removed. The results showed that more residual paste was left in the CNI group than in the other three groups (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference among the PUI, SI and XP group (p > 0.05). And, the majority of the residual Vitapex was found in the apical third, with a small amount in the middle third after using any of the three agitated irrigation techniques.


The idea of having assistants for the physician is not new. The concept of the division of responsibilities and the stratification of functions among the various types of health professionals has been endorsed for many decades— in some instances, for centuries. Today heightened interest and concern about health and medical care in the nation are forcing a reexamination of interpretations of this concept by the medical community and the public. It is too early to seek a consensus about the descriptions and roles of such personnel in the United States. However, there is an identifiable interest in both the medical and the nonmedical sectors of US society. The goal is to develop means to make adequate health care available to more people. One consideration is the rational delegation of the physician's traditional functions to nonphysicians in the delivery of health care. If some of the physician's responsibilities and duties are


This paper provides an overview of the position and development of the Croatian language from 1918 to 1945, including government involvement in language, norming work by Croatian linguists, and its stylistically stratified usage. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Croatian language found itself in a new situation, exposed to unitarist tendencies within a South Slavic state. During the Second World War and the fascist Independent State of Croatia, the linguistic freedoms of the population were threatened, and both public and private language use found itself under state scrutiny. Despite this, a number of philological works and handbooks describing the Croatian language were published from 1918 to 1945, and the usage of the Croatian language reached expressive peaks in all functional styles during this period.


The Anniversary Dinner for 1955 was held at the Dorchester Hotel on St Andrew's Day, 30 November 1955. The Toast of 'The Royal Society of London' was proposed by His Excellency the American Ambassador to the Court of St James, the Honourable Winthrop W. Aldrich, who said: 'It is indeed an honour and a privilege to be chosen to propose the toast of the Royal Society, a society which for three centuries has exerted a vast and beneficent influence in the life not only of Britain but of the world. 'In America, even as a child at school, I became familiar with many of the great names which are inscribed on the rolls of this Society, and I was taught to venerate their achievements. We Americans know how indebted we are in our own progress in science and technology to the inductive principle which was expounded by Francis Bacon and which has since, in every generation, been so brilliantly applied by the great experimentalists of this nation. 'Restless curiosity about the secrets of the universe, and the irresistible instinct to ferret them out, are just as lusty in Britain today as they were at the birth of this Society three hundred years ago. I am told that when Sir Edmund Hillary was asked why he climbed Mt Everest, he replied "Because it was there". For this body of scientists, Sir Edmund undoubtedly said all that needs to be said. I venture to prophesy that so long as any Everest, in the laboratory, in nature, or in the conceptual realm, remains unconquered, the Fellows of this Society, the blood brothers of Hillary, will be found assaulting its most forbidding slopes.


A solution is presented for the backscatter (monostatic) radar cross section of dielectric disks of arbitrary shape, thickness, and dielectric constant. The result is obtained by employing a Kirchhoff-type approximation to obtain the fields inside the disk. The internal fields induce polarization and conduction currents from which the scattered fields and the radar cross section can be computed. The solution for the radar cross section obtained in this manner will be shown to agree with known results in the special cases of normal incidence, thin disks, and perfect conductivity. It will also be shown that the solution can be written as a product of the reflection coefficient of an identically oriented slab times the physical optics solution for the backscatter cross section of a perfectly conducting disk of the same shape. This result follows directly from the Kirchhoff-type approximation without additional assumptions.


The aims of this study were to determine the relationship between seasonal variations (wet and dry periods) on sedimentation loads and to identify the yearly trend of sedimentation loads at Chalok River, Terengganu, Malaysia from 2003 to 2008. It was found that wet and dry periods influenced the transportation of suspended sediment into the river significantly. The highest suspended sediment loads at Chalok River occurred during the wet period when the intensity of rainfall is high. Besides, the rainfall, water level, stream flow and suspended sediment loads also were analysed using Spearman correlation to identify their relationships. The results showed significant positive relationship between suspended sediment loads with rainfall (r = 0.664, p< 0.05), water level (r = 0.923, p< 0.05) and stream flow (r = 0.919, p< 0.05). Multiple linear regressions revealed 63% of high suspended sediment loads at Chalok River can be explained by rainfall, water level and stream flow. The trends of rainfall, water level, stream flow and suspended sediment loads were analysed by using Mann-Kendall trend test where the results showed that there is a significant increasing trend for suspended sediment loads but no significant increase trend for rainfall, water level and stream flow over the studied periods. It is evident that the evaluations conducted in this study are useful in providing better understanding and reliable conclusion on the basis of seasonal variations and other environmental variables that affect the sedimentations loads in the river. Such effort provides holistic information for effective and wise management policy of river basin management in the future.


Calibration of an electric field probe using a different type and size of probe as a reference is carried out in a GTEM cell from 1 to 6GHz. We compared our results with those of calibration in an anechoic chamber to determine the effectiveness of the calibration. The difference between the calibration factors of the GTEM cell and the anechoic chamber increases when the probe is calibrated in an area in which the electric field distribution is nonuniform. Therefore, it is important to place the probe in an area with good uniformity or maintain the uniformity of the electric field in the GTEM cell when calibrating electric field probes with different dimensions.


Passive structural control techniques are generally used as seismic rehabilitation and retrofit methodologies for existing structures. A poorly explored and exciting opportunity within structural seismic control research is represented by the possibility to design new structural forms and configurations, such as slender buildings, without compromising the structural performance through an integrated design approach. In this paper, with reference to viscous dampers, an integrated seismic design procedure of the elastic stiffness resources and viscoelastic properties of a dissipative bracing‐damper system is proposed and developed to ensure a seismic design performance, within the displacement‐based seismic design, explicitly taking into account the dynamic behaviour both of the structural and control systems. The optimal integrated seismic design is defined as the combination of the variables that minimizes a suitable index, representing an optimized objective function. Numerical examples of the proposed integrated cost‐effectiveness seismic design approach both on an equivalent SDOF system and a proportionally damped MDOF integrated system are developed defining the design variables, which minimize the cost index. Validation of the effectiveness of the proposed integrated design procedure is carried out by evaluating the average displacement of the time‐history responses to seven unscaled acceleration records selected according to EC8 provisions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The Comprehensive Nuclear‐Test‐Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) operates the international monitoring system (IMS), consisting of four complementary technologies: Seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasound, and radionuclide, to detect events that might indicate a treaty violation. Infrasound is the main technology aimed at detecting atmospheric nuclear explosions. However, there are many other sources of infrasound signals, which are low frequency inaudible sound‐waves in the atmosphere, that are detected. To deny that the source is of a nuclear nature, requires a lot of resources. As opposed to most other sources of infrasound, nuclear explosions also emit an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Thus, if an infrasonically detected event is not accompanied by an EMP, it is certain that it has not originated from a nuclear explosion. In this research we use electromagnetic data recorded by a single antenna to examine coincidence of infrasonically detected events with detected EMPs. We show that a large fraction of infrasonically detected events are not accompanied by any EMP and thus the need to analyze them in the context of the IMS is eliminated. For those infrasonically detected events that do coincide with EMPs, we use machine learning techniques to classify the EMPs as either lightning or a potential explosion. We show that one can identify the lightning out of the EMPs. By filtering out all lightning signals one can almost always verify that there is no EMP other than lightning, which coincided with the infrasonically detected event. This way we can dramatically reduce the number of infrasound signals which require manual analysis.


The score of market model will increase competition, the primary objective of Mongolia's reform effort, and can be implemented within the current constraints facing the electricity sector. It is flexible and robust, has relatively low implementation and ongoing administration costs, and has acceptable risk. In order to successfully implement the process of creating a competitive market should find out in detail the characteristics and limitations EES Mongolia.


Skarns, mantos, and breccia pipes occur at Cananea in a 2- by 4-km horst of Paleozoic carbonate rock and minor quartzite. Surface mapping and core logging reveal a sequence of events beginning with early metamorphism that converted impure carbonate lithologies to iron-poor garnet-pyroxene + or - idocrase hornfels. Subsequent metasomatism formed garnet-py-roxene skarn along the pre-Cretaceous Elisa fault contact between carbonate rock and Mesozoic volcanic rock. Skarn is zoned from an andradite-rich center, through a zone containing both andraditic garnet and salitic pyroxene, to a mineralogic sequence near the marble front which is largely a function of the sedimentary protolith; chert nodules are rimmed by wollastonite, dolomite is converted to massive phlogopite-magnetite skarn, calc-silicate hornfels is over-printed by veins of skarn garnet, and relatively pure marble is replaced by coarse blades of iron and manganese-rich pyroxene. Multiple generations of garnet and pyroxene can be distinguished by subtle variations in color and texture. Age classification on the basis of crosscutting vein and overgrowth relationships indicates that late pyroxenes are more iron and manganese rich than the early generations; garnets show a less regular iron enrichment with time. The spatial distribution of the different garnet and pyroxene generations is irregular; garnet and pyroxene in late veins have iron-rich compositions both near the skarn center and near the marble front. Pyrite and minor chalcopyrite are the only sulfides associated with this stage of metasomatism.Following the main stages of garnet and pyroxene formation, veins and orbicular patches of amphibole + or - quartz + or - calcite occur replacing pyroxene and in some cases, garnet. Most of the amphibole is actinolitic in composition and is associated with pyrite and minor amounts of chalcopyrite. About 20 percent of the amphibole is subcalcic and is associated with or replaced by massive calcite. The alteration of prograde skarn to amphibole + or - quartz + or - calcite can be best explained by a general temperature decline.The destruction of skarn by alteration related to brecciation and breccia pipe formation and the replacement of previously unaltered carbonate rocks by stratiform blankets (mantos) of iron oxides and sulfides resulted in some of the highest grade orebodies. Breccia pipe and manto formation appears to have been largely contemporaneous with emplacement and subsequent sericitic alteration of a series of quartz monzonite porphyry stocks. Where breccia pipes crosscut skarn, garnet, pyroxene, and amphibole are converted to mixtures of calcite, quartz, chlorite, hematite, siderite, and sulfides. Where breccia pipes or porphyries crosscut previously unaltered carbonate rock, mixtures of magnetite, sulfides, chlorite, siderite, calcite, quartz, and serpentine form massive mantos. Veinlets of chlorite and magnetite + or - pyrite + or - serpentine extend tens of meters beyond the zones of massive replacement. There is a rough vertical and lateral zonation of sulfide minerals with respect to the Democrata breccia pipe from chalcopyrite + or - bornite or pyrite in the core and at depth to sphalerite-pyrite-chalcopyrite to pyrite-sphalerite-galena distal to the center of mineralization. Mineral stability relations suggest that brecciation and mineralization took place at lower temperatures (275 degrees -25 degrees C) and possibly under lower X (sub CO 2 ) conditions than the earlier skarn formation.The high Zn/Cu ratios in skarn, the zonation of most hypogene mineralization relative to the breccia pipes which crosscut skarn, and the lack of skarn spatially associated with the quartz monzonite porphyry stocks which intrude carbonate rock all suggest that, unlike skarn in most porphyry copper districts, skarn at Cananea is not related to the quartz monzonite porphyry stocks that are mined elsewhere in the district for disseminated supergene-enriched sulfide mineralization. Rather, the skarn may be related to a deeper magmatic system which has not yet been encountered in subsurface exposures.


This article examines femininity construction in Narjiss Nejjar's film L'Amante du Rif (2011). This work has stirred a heated debate among cinema critics and movies goers regarding Nejjar's rebellious representation of women. The study of female identity in films directed by a Moroccan female filmmaker would certainly contribute to the understanding of the complex relationship between the filmmaker's gender and the discourse they produce; films directed by women offer the opportunity to have women's experiences, concerns, and aspirations reported by women, which helps the audience and critics alike find out how the filmmaker's gender has an impact on femininity construction. This article tries to deconstruct women's cinematic discourse and gauge the extent to which their films can be of help to the women's emancipation project. No doubt, the cinematic work or the film is the manifestation of a cluster of elements such as politics, ideology, and gender that interplay to produce meaning or a certain reality. Amidst these variants, the content analysis seems to be a suitable method that can situate Nejjar's film within the women's filmmaking map. The paper adopts a feminist approach to test the extent to which Nejjar's unconventional gender representation has served women's cause. The paper concludes that Nejjar has tried to introduce a rebellious feminist perspective by tackling taboo issues and using obscene language. However, according to some critics, Nejjar's film was not appreciated by a large segment of the Moroccan audience because it does not respect the local specificities of Moroccans. Moreover, the tragic fate of the two main characters, Aya and her mother, aligns with Carter's notion of women's defeatism in film endings (Carter: 2009, 309).


The novelty of this study is presentation of an exact solution for prediction of postbuckling behavior of shear deformable micro- and nano-scale beams based on modified couple stress theory and using principle of minimum potential energy. Timoshenko and Reddy-Levinson beam theories are applied to consider the shear deformation effect and Von Karman nonlinear kinematics is used to describe the nonlinear behavior of the postbuckling, and the Poisson's effect is also considered in stress-strain relation. Also, the size effect is exposed by introducing a material length scale parameter. Finally, the influences of shear deformation, Poisson's ratio and variations of length and thickness are investigated. The results indicate that the classical theory exaggerates the postbuckling amplitude of the nanobeam and overstates the effect of shear deformation on the postbuckling response of the nanobeam.


Doses of picrotoxin from 58 to 101 mgm. per kilogram administered over a period of forty hours will save the lives of dogs receiving 1250 mgm. of sodium barbital and 100 mgm. of sodium pentobarbital, but will fail to save animals poisoned with 1500 mgm. of sodium barbital or 150 mgm. of sodium pentobarbital. Metrazol has a life-saving action in doses of 350 to 500 mgm. per kilogram against doses of sodium barbital from 600 to 1000 mgm. per kilogram and of sodium pentobarbital of 100 mgm. per kilogram. The blood sugar concentration remains normal or rises above normal in the animals receiving large doses of both the barbiturate and the antidote. The body temperature, after an initial fall, is also maintained at the normal level under the same conditions. Dogs excrete from one-half.to three-fourths of the massive doses of sodium barbital or, conversely, may destroy from one-half to one-fourth of these amounts or fairly large quantities of this drug during the course of seventy-two hours.


The electrosorption of Gd3+ ions from an aqueous 70 mM Gd(NO3)3 solution in monolithic carbon aerogel electrodes was recorded by dynamic neutron imaging. The aerogels have a bimodal pore size distribution consisting of macropores and mesopores centered at 115 and 15 nm, respectively. After the uptake of Gd3+ ions by the negatively charged surface of the porous structure, an inhomogeneous magnetic field was applied to the system of discharging electrodes. This led to a convective flow and confinement of Gd(NO3)3 solution in the magnetic field gradient. Thus, a way to desalt and capture paramagnetic ions from an initially homogeneous solution is established.


ABSTRACT Soil fertility decline is a significant challenge to the agroecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Accurate and demand-driven soil fertility information is vital for improving agricultural production. We achieved two objectives, i) identifying soil fertility information needs and access and ii) assessing socioeconomic determinants of soil fertility information needs and access among smallholder farmers in the central highlands of Kenya. We sampled 397 smallholder farming households in Murang'a and Tharaka-Nithi counties. We found high soil fertility information need indices among farmers in the two regions. The main soil fertility information needs for farmers in Murang'a County were knowing the correct method of manure application, knowing sources of information, and how to determine soil fertility levels. In Tharaka-Nithi County, farmers' information priorities were how to apply conservation agriculture, knowing soil erosion control methods, and how to apply animal manure. We found mixed results on soil fertility information access ranging from low to high across different information items and study sites. The binary logistic regression results highlight the influence of farmer perceptions and other factors on soil fertility information need and access. To promote soil fertility information access, agricultural policies should consider site-specific information priorities and socioeconomic contexts.


In the city of Cusco and in other parts of Peruvian Andes, adobe masonry is the primary construction material. Adobe continues to be used for the construction of housing because of its low cost, its thermal properties, the use of unskilled labor, and the local traditions of the Peruvian highlands. The Peruvian National Statistics Office estimates that 67% of rural housing in Cusco is made of adobe masonry. Besides, previous seismic events and laboratory tests demonstrated that adobe dwellings without reinforcement are prone to collapse during an earthquake. Therefore, seismic vulnerability assessment of this type of dwellings is necessary aiming at developing proper contingency and mitigation risk policies. Then, fragility curves constitute a key tool when conducting seismic loss assessment because they provide information regarding the probability of exceeding a certain damage limit state as a function of a given engineering demand parameter. This work aims at developing fragility curves, combining in-plane and out-of-plane loading conditions, for typical adobe buildings located in the city of Cusco. Initially, a set of one- and two-story adobe houses were studied to determine the geometrical characteristics of representative local building typologies. Subsequently, 1,000 artificial buildings were generated by means of Monte Carlo simulation based on the information gathered. The structural capacity of each artificial building was represented by simplified bilinear and trilinear capacity curves for in-plane and out-of-plane mechanisms, respectively. In order to represent the characteristics associated with subduction processes, a set of ground motion records was established. The damage state of each building was assessed for each seismic record, and this information was collected into a Probability Damage Matrix (DPM). Finally, fragility curves were fitted for each damage state of the cumulative DPM. Preliminary results show that one- and two-story adobe dwellings have a probability of collapse of 30 and 60%, respectively, when considering a peak ground acceleration of 0.30 g, which corresponds to the expected acceleration related to a return period of 475 years over a soil type 2 according to the Peruvian Standards.


Internationalization is defined as an integration process of international, intercultural or global dimensions with educational purpose and offers. There are many dimensions of educational institutions internationalization from research partnership to international mobility. Among the several requirements for students to participate in exchanging programs promoted by international universities and organizations is English language proficiency. On the other hand the proficiency level requirements can vary according to the mobility programs which set the minimum English level. One example is the SAKURA Science High School Program promoted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) which selected science and technology students to participate in an exchanging program in Japan. In order to be selected, applicants needed to have B1 (CEFRR) as minimum English proficiency level. Thus this study aims to investigate if Brazilian students of an educational institution have such required level to successfully take part in mobility programs. The qualitative methodology of this research includes documents analysis - internationalization documents and English course program - and questionnaires to students and English teacher. The results show that students are expected to achieve B1 level by the end of high school according to the English subject program. However students believe that they do not have such level in speaking skill which would be one of the main skill in JST program. Most of them classify their level in A2. Furthermore the English teacher claims that although some students have already achieved B1 or even higher level the majority is at A2.Thus in order to allow more students to participate in mobility programs the institution should invest in extra-curricular English courses to increase study hours and focus more on developing speaking skills.


SUMMARY Field experiments were conducted to study the differential responses of a wheat crop to water stress during different stages of its growth. Evidence was produced to show that both the flowering phase and the stage of grain filling and maturation were more sensitive to drought than the vegetative period of growth. Yield of wheat was not reduced when the crop suffered from cycles of water stress induced during the vegetative period, if the crop received favourable water regimes thereafter. Efficiency of water utilization from different water treatments was assessed. There was no relation between the protein and starch contents of the grain and the type of water treatment. The effects of different water treatments on crop development and on components of yield were studied.


The development of embedded systems on Macintosh has been constrained by a lack of software tools. In this paper, we look at a number of tools for developing embedded software on a Macintosh host. Also, we examine the advantage of writing embedded applications in high-level, type-safe languages. In this context, we discuss programming PIC micro-controllers in C, Basic Stamps in PBasic and TINI micro-controller in Java. Abstract. The development of embedded systems on Macintosh has been constrained by a lack of software tools. In this paper, we look at a number of tools for developing embedded software on a Macintosh host. Also, we examine the advantage of writing embedded applications in high-level, type-safe languages. In this context, we discuss programming PIC micro-controllers in C, Basic Stamps in PBasic and TINI micro-controller in Java.


A fully integrated soft-start circuit for DC—DC buck converters is presented. The proposed high speed soft-start circuit is made of two sections: an overshoot suppression circuit and an inrush current suppression circuit. The overshoot suppression circuit is presented to control the input of the error amplifier to make output voltage limit increase in steps without using an external capacitor. A variable clock signal is adopted in the inrush current suppression circuit to increase the duty cycle of the system and suppress the inrush current. The DC—DC converter with the proposed soft-start circuit has been fabricated with a standard 0.13 μm CMOS process. Experimental results show that the proposed high speed soft-start circuit has achieved less than 50 μs start-up time. The inductor current and the output voltage increase smoothly over the whole load range.


Background: Intra-articular injections of human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) have shown promise in slowing cartilage degradation in posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). Clinical use of cell therapies for osteoarthritis has accelerated in recent years without sufficient scientific evidence defining best-use practices. Common recommendations advise patients to avoid nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use before and after cell injection over concerns that NSAIDs may affect therapeutic efficacy. Recommendations to restrict NSAID use are challenging for patients, and it is unclear if patients are compliant. Hypothesis: NSAIDs will reduce the efficacy of hMSC therapy in treating a preclinical model of PTOA. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Lewis rats underwent medial meniscal transection (MMT) surgery to induce PTOA or a sham (sham group) surgery that did not progress to PTOA. Rats received naproxen solution orally daily before (Pre-NSAID group) or after (Post-NSAID group) hMSC treatment, throughout the course of the experiment (Full-NSAID group), or received hMSCs without NSAIDs (No NSAID). Cartilage morphology and composition were quantified using contrast-enhanced micro–computed tomography and histology. Pain (secondary allodynia) was measured using a von Frey filament. Results: Injection of hMSCs attenuated cartilage degeneration associated with MMT. hMSCs prevented proteoglycan loss, maintained smooth cartilage surfaces, reduced cartilage lesions, reduced mineralized osteophyte formation, and reduced pain by week 7. The Pre-NSAID group had decreased proteoglycan levels compared with the hMSC group, although there were no other significant differences. Thus, pretreatment with NSAIDs had minimal effects on the therapeutic benefits of hMSC injections. The Post-NSAID and Full-NSAID groups, however, exhibited significantly worse osteoarthritis than the hMSC-only group, with greater proteoglycan loss, surface roughness, osteophyte volume, and pain. Conclusion: Use of NSAIDs before hMSC injection minimally reduced the therapeutic benefits for PTOA, which included preservation of cartilage surface integrity as well as a reduction in osteophytes. Use of NSAIDs after injections, however, substantially reduced the therapeutic efficacy of cellular treatment. Clinical Relevance: Our data support the clinical recommendation of avoiding NSAID use after hMSC injection but suggest that using NSAIDs before treatment may not substantially diminish the therapeutic efficacy of cell treatment.


A semianalytical method to estimate the bit-error rate performance of nonsynchronous ASK and FSK optical heterodyne systems is presented. This approach takes into account numerous system details with an accuracy similar to Monte-Carlo simulation, but with a computation time reduced by several orders of magnitude. An analytical approximation, based on a closed-form expression for the decision variable moment generating function, is also presented. The results obtained with the semianalytical method and the analytical approximation are compared to Monte-Carlo simulation results and to measurements obtained on a practical FSK system. >


Transport planning relies extensively on forecasts of traveler behavior over horizons of 20 years and more. Implicit in such forecasts is the assumption that travelers' tastes, as represented by the behavioral model parameters, are constant over time. In technical terms, this assumption is referred to as the "temporal transferability" of the models. This paper summarizes the findings from a literature review that demonstrates there is little evidence about the transferability of mode-destination models over typical forecasting horizons. The literature review shows a relative lack of empirical studies given the importance of the issue. To provide further insights and evidence, models of commuter mode-destination choice been developed from household interview data collected across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in 1986, 1996, 2001, and 2006. The analysis demonstrates that improving model specification improves the transferability of the models, and in general the transferability declines as the transfer period increases. The transferability of the level-of-service parameters is higher than transferability of the cost parameters, which has important implications when considering the accuracy of forecasts for different types of policy. The transferred models over-predict the key change in mode share over the transfer period—specifically, the shift from local transit to auto driver between 1986 and 1996—but under-predict the growth in commuting tour lengths over the same period.


Multivariate regression models have been commonly used to estimate the software development effort to assist project planning and/or management. These models require a complete data set that has no missing values for model construction. The complete data set is usually built either by using imputation methods or by deleting projects and/or metrics that have missing values (we call this RC deletion). However, it is unclear which method is the most suitable for the effort estimation. In this paper, using the ISBSG data set of 706 projects (containing 47% missing values) collected from several companies, we applied four imputation methods (mean imputation, pairwise deletion, k-NN method and CF method) and RC deletion to build regression models. Then, using a data set of 143 projects (with no missing values), we evaluated the estimation performance of models after applying each imputation or the RC deletion. The result showed that the similarity-based imputation method (k-NN method and CF method) showed better performance than other methods in terms of MdMAE, MdMRE, MdMER and Pred(25).


In this paper,the traveling wave solution of an integral differential equation arising from neuronal networks are discussed.We will study the phase-plane in order to obtain traveling wave solution with boundary conditions in the case of two fixed points.


The Las Negras and Rodalquilar areas contain excellent exposures of middle to upper Miocene carbonate and volcaniclastic deposits that fringe earlier formed Neogene volcanic substrates in an archipelago setting. The Miocene sedimentary sequence consists of three depositional sequences composed of reworked volcanic rocks and reef crest to distal slope strata that display 100-200 m of relief over 0.5-2.0 km. The entire sequence is truncated by a regional subaerial unconformity. The lower two depositional sequences are composed predominantly of shallow-dipping, normal marine, distal to proximal slope wackestones and packstones. The two sequences are separated by a megabreccia composed of Tarbellastreaea and Porites blocks and volcaniclastic sandstones and conglomerates. The reef blocks likely developed as upslope patch reefs, and, with the volcaniclastics, were eroded and transported via mass movements and tractive currents to a distal slope position. The upper (third) depositional sequence consists predominantly of foreslope strata of a Porites-dominated fringing reef complex. The base of this sequence is characterized by a megabreccia of Porites reef blocks, shallow-marine packstones, or volcaniclastic conglomerates. Five volcaniclastic wedges, interpreted as fan delta deposits, alternate with prograding carbonate foreslope deposits likely as a response to high frequency relative sea level fluctuations during a new sea levelmore » fall. The apparent correlatability of similar deposition sequences throughout the region indicates the importance of sequence development from allogenic processes, including glacio-eustatic sea level fluctuations and tectonism associated with the isolation of the Mediterranean Sea during the latest Miocene.« less


Concern over the impacts of incidental catches of Alewife,Alosa pseudoharengus and Blueback Herring, A. aestivalis (collectively managed as 'river herring') in the commercial Atlantic Herring (Clupea harengus) and Atlantic Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) fisheries has resulted in the recent implementation of river herring incidental catch limits. These incidental catches are highly variable in frequency and magnitude, and the environmental conditions associated with these catches are poorly understood. We used generalized additive models (GAMs) to describe habitat associations of Alewife, Blueback Herring, Atlantic Herring, and Atlantic Mackerel. Bottom temperature, bottom depth, bottom salinity, solar azimuth and elevation, and region of the Northeast U.S. continental shelf were all significant in the habitat models; GAMs explained 25.2, 16.9, 18.9, and 20.6% of the deviance observed for the presence/absence of Alewife, Blueback Herring, Atlantic Herring, and Atlantic Mackerel. A subset of the data was omitted from the model and the probability of presence was compared with observations; 66–77% of observations were correctly predicted. The individual probabilities of presence were used to quantify and evaluate the accuracy of modelled overlap of Alewife and Blueback Herring with Atlantic Herring (68–72% correct predictions) and Alewife and Blueback Herring with Atlantic Mackerel (57–69% correct predictions). Our findings indicate that environmental gradients influence the distributions and overlap of Alewife, Blueback Herring, Atlantic Herring, and Atlantic Mackerel, and with further testing and refinement these models could be developed into a tool to aid industry in reducing incidental catches of river herring.


During the last two centuries of the Eastern Roman Empire, liturgical chant reached its point of highest development, producing an impressive wealth of compositions which are both grounded in the past classical style of the 10th-13th centuries and bringing a new, theretofore unknown flowering in the realm of the musical life of Byzantium – the so-called kalophonia. After a brief introduction, we will focus on some fragments from the oeuvre of three coryphées of the kalophonic style, namely Ioannis Glykys, St John Koukouzelis and Xenos Koronis. The presentation will end with some preliminary conclusions concerning the way in which old and new elements intermingled in the creation of the kalophonic style.


Of 168 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection-related liver disease, 20 patients who had received 100 mg of lamivudine plus 10 mg/day of adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) (ADV group) and 124 patients who had received 0.5 mg/day of entecavir or 100 mg/day of lamivudine (non-ADV group) for >1 year were enrolled. For comparative analyses, 19 well-matched pairs were obtained from the groups by propensity scores. At the time of enrollment, serum creatinine and phosphate concentrations were similar between the ADV and non-ADV groups; however, urinary phosphate (P = 0.0424) and serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) (P = 0.0228) concentrations were significantly higher in the ADV group than in the non-ADV group. Serum BAP was significantly higher at the time of enrollment than before ADV administration in the ADV group (P = 0.0001), although there was no significant change in serum BAP concentration in the non-ADV group. There was a significant positive correlation between the period of ADV therapy and ΔBAP (R 2 = 0.2959, P = 0.0160). Serum BAP concentration increased before increase in serum creatinine concentration and was useful for early detection of adverse events and for developing adequate measures for continuing ADV for chronic HBV infection-related liver disease.


Evidence from the World Health Organisation suggests that adolescent girls who are sexually abused and exploited can suffer long term sexual, reproductive and mental health problems. Since 2011 the prosecution of Asian men for Group Localised Child Sexual Exploitation (GLCSE) in the UK has provoked considerable public controversy, resulting in a number of official and media reports. The disproportionate number of Asian men prosecuted for this crime requires further analysis, and so we collected data on available newspaper reports identified as GLCSE cases. We also scrutinised the relevant literature, government documents and official case reviews. The data includes 498 defendants in 73 prosecutions between the years 1997 and 2017, of which 83% have Muslim names. Using regression analysis we find, independently of their names, a significant correlation between GLCSE and Muslims. We attribute this positive relationship for Muslims, particularly Pakistanis, to a number of factors including motivation, accessibility and opportunity.


A straightforward and efficient method has been developed for the synthesis of 2-benzylbenzaldehyde derivatives from 2-methylbenzaldehyde and iodobenzene via a C(sp(3))-H activation process. In the course of the activation reaction, acetohydrazone is formed between 2-benzylbenzaldehyde and acetohydrazine as a transient directing group. As a new kind of transient directing group, acetohydrazone exhibits a remarkable directing effect to give corresponding products in good to excellent yields.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the awareness of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections both in male and female adults in Hungary. A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was completed by 785 college students and parents between January and May, 2009. The results were analysed by gender and age. Participants' knowledge about HPV and HPV-associated conditions was relatively incomplete. One-third of the respondents had never heard about HPV prior to the survey. Almost half of the respondents (42%) thought that the only sexual way of spreading HPV was vaginal intercourse, while the role of skin-to-skin contact was disregarded (6%). More than one-third of the participants (38%) believed that condoms give full protection from HPV infection. Encouragingly, the majority of respondents (64%) were open to further information about sexually transmitted diseases. The most trusted sources of information were health professionals. When talking about children, parents attributed the major role in delivering information about sexually transmitted diseases to schools. Primary prevention through carefully planned educational programmes may further raise the awareness about HPV-associated conditions, thus reducing the comparatively high mortality of cervical carcinoma in Hungary.


Honours fulfil one of the most fundamental desires of human beings, namely, to be recognised and held in esteem by others. There are thousands of awards in all areas of society: the state, arts and media, sports, religion, the voluntary sector, academia, and business. Awards are well visible, can raise the recipients' intrinsic motivation and creativity, and establish a bond of loyalty to the giver. They have distinct advantages over money and other rewards. Presenting empirical evidence using modern statistical techniques Honours versus Money argues that awards can significantly raise performance in different contexts even if they are purely symbolic, recommending how this can be used in practice. It makes the case for reorienting our focus- away from the monetary or material dimensions of work and private life, and towards the symbolic dimensions to celebrate and shine a light on merit and achievement. Honours versus Money discusses award bestowals in their different forms and facets, including as signals and as components of organisations' human resource strategies. It opens our perspective for motivational strategies beyond money, while also outlining their potential pitfalls.


A marine geophysical survey and geotechnical investigation were conducted to assist in siting a new wastewater outfall into Commencement Bay. The new outfall is being moved from the Puyallup River into Commencement Bay in order to improve river water quality and to comply with federal and state regulations. The geophysical surveys consisted of collecting bathy-metric, side scan, and subbottom profile data at three sites. These data were used to characterize the sea floor and map the subsurface strata. Results from these studies indicated that two of the sites were unsuitable because of evidence of recent slumping of the sea floor and the presence of obstacles, in particular sunken logs. A geotechnical investigation was undertaken at the three sites to confirm earlier subsurface data, corroborate the subbottom profiling, and provide sea floor soil samples for engineering laboratory tests. Analysis of field data and laboratory samples provided information on liquefaction potential, sea floor stability, and sea floor bearing capacity. The results of the studies and analyses led to the following conclusion: of the three alignments considered, the optimum outfall site is the one farthest from the mouth of the Puyallup River; liquefaction resulting from a seismic event is possible; the outfall should be provided with a weak link at a serviceable location to reduce possible damage resulting from a slope failure; and the outfall may undergo up to 6 in. of settlement on the sea floor.


The study seeks to evaluate microparticles based on chitosan and sodium alginate blend for enhanced delivery of ciprofloxacin in plasmid-mediated drug resistance. Microparticles were prepared using the ionotropic-gelation method. Three different ratios were prepared for optimization. The microparticles were optimized based on encapsulation efficiency, in-vitro drug release, pH stability and bacterial susceptibility studies. The encapsulation efficiency of the three batches was higher than 40 %. The formulations showed an extended release profile over 8 h and reached a peak of about 30 % release at the 6 h. The pH of the particles was stable over a period of 6 d. The microparticles containing only 0.075 mg of ciprofloxacin dropped in an agar well plate inoculated with E. coli Flac Tn3 gave an IZD of ≥ 6 mm. The microparticulate blend of chitosan and sodium alginate holds good potentials for ciprofloxacin delivery against plasmid-mediated drug resistance.
Keywords: microparticles, ciprofloxacin, chitosan, sodium alginate, plasmid, resistance


We are told that Twitter is the new public sphere, the place where we hold government accountable, encourage diverse voices, and provide resources for public benefit like education, healthcare, and welfare. Using the #metoo campaign as a case study, Naomi Barnes and Huw Davies question whether Twitter really is a public sphere or if it is simply a platform capitalist that monetises displays of outrage?


We studied DNA amplification of helper virus-dependent parvoviruses [adeno-associated virus (AAV)] following genotoxic treatment of a number of mammalian cell lines from different species including primary, immortalized, and tumorigenic cells. All cell lines, either infected with AAV or transfected with parvoviral DNA, readily amplified AAV DNA in the absence of helper virus following treatment of cells with a wide variety of genotoxic agents like chemical carcinogens, UV, heat shock, and metabolic inhibitors of DNA replication or protein synthesis. In addition, we show that in the SV40-transformed Chinese hamster cell lines CO60 and CO631 carcinogen-induced AAV DNA amplification may result in a complete AAV replication cycle giving rise to infectious AAV progeny. Our results demonstrate that AAV DNA amplification induced by genotoxic agents is completely independent of the presence of viral helper functions. Because its induction is not restricted to a specific cell type or to a malignant phenotype, AAV DNA amplification may represent a marker for cellular genotoxic stress response.


Previously, we demonstrated that ethanol potentiates glycine current (I(Gly)) in 35% of neurons freshly isolated from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of rats (J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 296 (2001) 77). In the present study, we examined the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in this action of ethanol on VTA neurons from young rats. Extracellular ethanol and intracellular ATP-gamma-S when applied separately potentiated I(Gly). However, ethanol potentiation of I(Gly) was significantly reduced in neurons dialyzed with 2 mM ATP-gamma-S. Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA, 10 nM), a PKC activator also increased I(Gly) and reduced ethanol potentiation of I(Gly). In addition, GF109203X (0.2 microM), a PKC inhibitor antagonized the potentiation effects produced either by PMA or by ethanol. Thus, ethanol potentiation of I(Gly) may be associated with PKC activation. While intracellular application of 1,2-bis(aminophenoxy)-ethane-N,N,N,N'-tetraacetic acid, a Ca(2+) chelator or Gö6976, an inhibitor of Ca(2+)-dependent PKC had no appreciable effect on ethanol potentiation of I(Gly), translocation inhibitor peptide (PKC(epsilon)-TIP) (500 nM) significantly reduced ethanol potentiation, an action the translocation inhibitor peptide negative control (PKC(epsilon)-TIP-NC) (500 nM) did not have. These results suggest that the activation of PKC(epsilon) isoenzyme contributes to ethanol-induced potentiation of GlyR function.


District cooling systems are used in many areas, especially where the building density is high. However, its efficiency is still quite controversial compared with conventional individual cooling systems, especially in China. It is highly necessary to conduct a detailed study and give clear answers when a decision is made between the district cooling system and individual cooling system. Key factors that affect the decision need to be studied. This article therefore conducts a comprehensive performance assessment of district cooling systems by comparing with individual cooling systems. The comparative performance of both systems is analyzed when the combination of buildings with different functions varies. The optimal combinations for each system are obtained using genetic algorithms, and recommendations are summarized for better application of both systems. Impacts of the efficiency of chillers, the resistance of chilled water networks, and the cooling loads on the comparative performance are quantified considering uncertainties. Economic performance of both systems is analyzed, including the capital costs and operational costs. Suggestions are summarized for the future application of district cooling systems and individual cooling systems.