This article explores the political dynamics that have led to the adoption of inflation targeting in Israel, within the context of a broader process of policy paradigm shift. We consider inflation targeting as an institutional arrangement with far reaching consequences for the distribution of power between different state agencies. Therefore, like other processes of institutional change, its adoption is not the simple outcome of smooth processes of learning and acceptance of more rational and efficient practices. Rather, it is the result of political conflicts among state actors seeking to improve their positions in the political-economic field. On the basis of a detailed study of the political conflicts that emerged around the adoption of inflation targeting in Israel between the central bank and the Ministry of Finance, we illustrate the contested character of the institutionalization of the neo-liberal policy paradigm and highlight the actions of local political actors as a major mechanism through which worldwide diffusion of institutional practices takes place.


It was established that distribution of the near-zero modes of the Dirac operator is consistent with the Chiral Random Matrix Theory (CRMT) and can be considered as a consequence of spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry (SBCS) in QCD. The higher-lying modes of the Dirac operator carry information about confinement physics and are not affected by SBCS. We study distributions of the near-zero and higher-lying modes of the overlap Dirac operator within $N_F = 2$ dynamical simulations. We find that distributions of both near-zero and higher-lying modes are the same and follow the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble of Random Matrix Theory. This means that randomness, while consistent with SBCS, is not a consequence of SBCS and is related to some more general property of QCD in confinement regime.


This paper is a synthesis of the results obtained in the different parts of the European Commission (EC) Child Advanced Safety Project for European Roads (CASPER) project and considers sociological approaches, technical works, and field and accident data. From parent's behaviour and wishes that show cultural differences, to human modelling works, this project widely covers the topic of child safety in cars. The CASPER project has brought a significant amount of field data that have been useful for a better understanding of the situation and used as basis for all the other tasks of the project. Consequent steps forward have been made in the development and improvement of tools usable for the approval of Child Restraint Systems (CRS) and in this aim a large collaboration with the GRSP Informal Group on CRS took place. Results have been presented and discussed in workshops with main participants and stakeholders of the child safety area.


Diabetic patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) are known to be at very high risk of foot ulceration causing significant morbidity and mortality. We surveyed the foot care of all diabetic patients in our area having RRT for ESRD over a three-month period. Of the 55 patients included, 36 (65.5%) had not been seen in a diabetes clinic and 32 (58.2%) had not been seen by a podiatrist in the preceding year. Of all patients, 36 had previous documented evidence of high-risk feet yet only 21 (58.3%) of this group had been seen by a podiatrist in the year before. Active ulceration was known to be present in seven patients. Ulcer duration was between 16 and 66 (mean 33) weeks. Three patients with active ulceration had not been seen by a podiatrist and four had not been seen in diabetes clinic in the previous year. In view of the worrying deficiencies in foot care in this group, we suggest increasing podiatry and diabetes team access for RRT patients at the site of their dialysis and advocate early multidisciplinary foot clinic referral for patients with ulceration. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Recently, we found that schizophyllan belonging to a β-1,3-glucan polysaccharide family forms macromolecular complexes with certain single-stranded polynucleotides. The specific complex formation is originated from the β-1,3-glucan skeleton in the main chain. In this paper, we have reported that curdlan, which is a β-1,3-glucan polysaccharide without a side chain glucose unit, shows unique poly(C) binding properties different from those of schizophyllan; in the experiments using curdlan samples with the controlled molecular weight, the complexation ability appeared only in a limited "Mw range window". Stoichiometric analysis revealed that the "Mw range window" appears as a result of the competition between curdlan–curdlan self-association and curdlan–polynucleotide complexation. Furthermore, when the experiments were extended to other polynucleotides such as poly(A), poly(dA) and poly(dT), the "Mw range window" also appeared at their characteristic molecular weights. We believe, therefore, that curdlan can be applicable, in spite of its cheapness, as a precious functional material to gene technology.


Achieving lumbosacral fusion through spinopelvic fixation is an important and challenging aspect of spinal deformity surgery. Numerous instrumentation techniques are available, with iliac screws and S2-alar-iliac (SRAI) screws being most commonly used today. However, the increasing popularity of minimally invasive sacroiliac (SI) fusion as a common procedure performed for SI joint pain presents a distinct challenge in complex adult deformity cases requiring iliac screw fixation. We report a case of a 71-year-old female with a longstanding history of spinal deformity status-post T11-L5 fusion and a subsequent right-sided SI joint fusion who presented with sagittal imbalance. The SI joint fusion implant obstructed the pathway for spinopelvic fixation. Spinopelvic fixation was achieved by burring a pathway through the SI joint implant. The increasing popularity of minimally invasive SI fusion as a common procedure performed for SI joint pain presents a distinct challenge in complex adult deformity cases requiring iliac screw fixation. This is the first report in the literature describing a technique for spinopelvic fixation in the setting of screw obstruction due to an instrumented SI joint.


The objective of this research was to predict the moisture content of Sang Yod germinated paddy with infrared radiation power value of 1,000 watts at 60, 80 and 100 °C and hot air temperatures of velocity 1.1 m/s at 60, 80 and 100°C using empirical model. In this research, the moisture content of the dried samples was compared with the moisture content of the drying using the empirical model. The results showed that Verma model was most suitable to describe the drying behavior of germinated paddy at 60, 80 and 100 °C drying temperature when dried with infrared and hot air. ABSTRACT


A procedure is presented for the automatic solution of composite (misfit) layer compounds, for the case when the composite crystal structure consists of two types of layer, each of which can be approximately described as a three-dimensional periodic structure with, however, mutually incommensurate lattices and hence mutually induced incommensurate modulations. The composite structure can be described as a periodic structure in four-dimensional superspace [van Smaalen (1992), Mater. Sci. Forum, 100&101, 173-2221. From reflection data indexed with four integer indices HKLM, the phase problem is solved as follows. The basic structures of layers 1 and 2 are solved by routine application of automated Patterson interpretation and Fourier recycling using the main reflections only and ignoring the modulation effects. The two layers are brought to a common origin by a shift function based on correlating F(obs) and F(calc) using the main reflections common to both layers. All other reflections, which are the (usually weaker) satellite reflections, are phased from the known phases of the main reflections of either layer by application of the Sayre equation in four-dimensional superspace [Hao, Liu & Fan (1987), Acta Cryst. A43, 820-824; Fan, van Smaalen, Lam & Beurskens (1993), Acta Cryst. A49, 704-7081. The procedure is performed by the program MISFIT, which is embedded in the DIRDIF system.


The authors explore transformations in the surveillance and discipline framework proposed by Foucault (technologies that "allow to see," the panoptic as a completely closed space) by analyzing new Global Positioning System (GPS) care technologies. The authors contrast the antinomadic characteristics of traditional care practices for people with dementia with the new "in-movement" GPS care devices. They outline three main displacements: the definition of a new space that erases the distance between separated social and sanitary spaces; the lifting of the boundary between the home and the neighborhood; and finally, we point out the importance of movement in this process. These devices show the emergency of new micropractices of power and control: a new anatomy of surveillance. Grounded on movement, they transform physical barriers into risk alarms that do not block users' way; instead, they generate information that mobilizes others. The authors refer to the notion of kinevalue to explain how these devices turn living organisms' motility properties into a value that can be managed, as well as the central feature around which new exercises of patients' security and caregiving may be deployed. Through the analysis of a pilot project on GPS telecare devices carried out by the Spanish Red Cross, the authors suggest a new diagram of the control and management of subjects based on their movement, called "kinepolitics."


Rates of alkali feldspar hydrolysis in the near-neutral pH range are up to 3 orders of magnitude slower in natural systems than in laboratory experiments. Correcting for differences in temperature between natural weathering and laboratory systems reduces the disparity by as much as a factor of 5. Any remaining disparity can be accounted for by differences in the ratio of effective surface area to total surface area; the ratio of effective-to- total surface area in natural systems is generally considerably smaller than in laboratory systems. This may be related, at least in part, to experimental preparation artifacts and to the fact that naturally weathered feldspars have lost much of their most reactive surface to the formation of etch pits. Hydrological factors such as inhomogeneous access of percolating fluids to mineral surfaces may also reduce the proportion of mineral surface area reacting in natural systems.


The heat production (indirect) of 30°C acclimated ( I ) and 6°C acclimated ( II ) Sprague-Dawley adult male rats was determined with an open-circuit metabolism apparatus and with a low-lag, closed-circuit apparatus over the temperature range −36° to 30°C. Heat production of II was linearly related to temperature between −36° and 20°C and was always higher than that of I . At the lower temperatures heat production of I fell rapidly with time of exposure to the test temperature, and showed a maximal initial value (obtained between the 3rd and 20th minute of exposure) which was independent of temperature between −35° and −25°C and fully elicited at the start of the measurements. Heat balance of I and II measured at −15°C indicated that body cooling in I was a resultant of the failure to produce enough heat to balance the heat loss. These results indicate that the metabolic response of white rats to cold exposure occurs within 3 minutes of the beginning of exposure and that I reach a maximum metabolic rate at temperatures at which II can still show an increase on further lowering of the environmental temperature.

Submitted on September 14, 1956


In this work we realized and experimental and theoretical study of the N-alkylation of nitroimidazoles. The N-alkyl-2-methyl-nitroimidazoles correspond to biologically active molecules, obtained by reaction of 2-methyl-5-nitroimidazole and different alkyl halides. This reaction showed the formation of a mixture of isomeric products in different proportions, denominated like N-alkyl-2-methyl-4-nitroimidazole and N-alkyl-2-methyl-5-nitroimidazole, respectively. The reaction suggestes the formation of a tautomeric equilibrium, which generates two nucleophilic sites susceptible to electrophilic attack by the alkyl halide. The local nucleophilic reactivity of the nitroimidazole ring is determined using local reactivity indices such as the Fukui function and the electrostatic potential, besides the electronic localization function (ELF). The Fukui function was integrated for each atom using partition schemes based on analysis of Mulliken charges and natural bond orbital (NBO). Finally the reaction profiles were assessed. The results show a minor difference in the local reactivity. Nevertheless a significant difference in energy barriers is observed explaining the formation of an isomeric product over another. These results agree quite well with the experimental data.


Background and Purpose— Triaging of referrals to transient ischemic attack (TIA) clinics is aided by risk stratification. Deep learning-based natural language processing, a type of machine learning, may be able to assist with the prediction of cerebrovascular cause of TIA-like presentations from free-text information. Methods— Consecutive TIA clinic notes were retrieved from existing databases. Texts associated with cerebrovascular and noncerebrovascular diagnoses were preprocessed before classification experiments, using a variety of classifier models, based on only the free-text description of the history of presenting complaint. The primary outcome was area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operator curve. The model with the greatest AUC was then used in classification experiments in which it was provided with additional clinical information. Results— Of the classifier models trialed on the history of presenting complaint, the convolutional neural network achieved the greatest predictive capability (AUC±SD; 81.9±2.0). The effects of additional clinical information on AUC were variable. The greatest AUC was achieved when the convolutional neural network was provided with the history of presenting complaint and magnetic resonance imaging report (88.3±3.6). Conclusions— Deep learning-based natural language processing, in particular convolutional neural networks, based on medical free-text, may prove effective in prediction of the cause of TIA-like presentations. Future research investigating the role of the application of deep learning-based natural language processing to the automated triaging of clinic referrals in TIA, and potentially other specialty areas, is indicated.


4121 Curcumin, a yellow coloring agent from turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn, Zingiberaceae), possesses strong antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic activities. However, molecular mechanisms underlying its anticancer activities remain to be defined in both chronic (CML) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). To investigate whether curcumin induces apoptosis, pAkt, Bcl-2 family, Caspase 3 and cell cycle proteins including p53, Erk, P21, cyclin D and pRb were examined for their expression by western analysis. CML cell line (K562) and AML cell line (CCRF-SM) were treated with 50μM curcumin. Curcumin caused dose-dependent apoptosis in both CML and AML cells. Apoptosis was preceded by the sequential dephosphorylation of Akt, down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and activation of caspase 3. When the cells were pre-treated with cyclosporin A, dephosphorylation of Akt markedly decreased and cell viability increased. These indicated that curcumin induced apoptosis by inactivation the Akt-related cell survival pathway, providing a new mechanism for curcumin-induced cytotoxicity. Also, the expression of P21 and p53 were elevated and that of cyclin D decreased with curcumin treatment. Our study indicated that curcumin could induce apoptosis by disturbing cell cycle progression in both chronic and acute myeloid leukemia.


The biological damage produce by radiation is closely related to the amount of energy absorbed in the case of x-rays. Measurement of produced ionizing is provided a useful assessment of the total energy absorbed. This study was performed in Khartoum teaching hospital in period of January to June 2014. This study performed to assess the effective dose (ED) received in lumbosacral radiographic examination and to analyze effective dose distributions among radiological departments under study. The study was performed in Khartoum teaching hospital, covering two x-ray units and a sample of 50 patients. The following parameters were recorded age, weight, height, body mass index (BMI) derived from weight (kg) and (height (m)) and exposure factors. The dose was measured for lumbosacral x-rays examination. For effective dose calculation, the entrance surface dose (ESD) values were estimated from the x-ray tube output parameters for Lumbosacral Spine AP and lateral examinations. The ED values were then calculated from the obtained ESD values using IAEA calculation methods. Effective doses were then calculated from energy imparted using ED conversion factors proposed by IAEA. The results of ED values calculated showed that patient exposure were within the normal range of exposure. The mean ED values calculated were 2.49 + 0.03 and 5.60 + 0.22 for Lumbosacral Spine AP and lateral examinations, respectively. Further studies are recommended with more number of patients and using more two modalities for comparison.


Laboratory tests were carried out to investigate inherent quality differences among stored seeds of early, intermediate and late-maturing quality protein maize using completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications at the Seed Testing Laboratory of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Obafemi Awolowo University, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Nigeria for two consecutive years (2014 and 2015). From the results, germination and accelerated ageing germination traits were affected by the storage period. Similarly, the seed performance on germination, accelerated ageing and the conductivity test were seen to be better in early-maturing than in other maturing maize genotypes. The speed of germination measured as the germination index was low; ranging from 3.24-3.68 days after sowing (DAS) irrespective of the maturity group. Seedling traits measured after physiological quality tests were equally affected by the storage period and the maturity group. All the seedling traits measured were better in the early-maturing genotypes. Seed quality measured by laboratory quality assessments showed that genotypes in the early-maturing group are of high quality. Seeds of early-maturing genotypes retained significantly higher physical and physiological quality parameters and appear to have inherent potential to withstand effects of deterioration due to their slower rate of quality decline.


1. Through this experiment, we made certain that the best distinguished frequency area of the Hyundae Beta 2.0 engine's knocking is 6.8khz. 2. Through the experiment, we checked the output power voltage condition of the logging output with the generation of a engine knocking. And wechecked up that it generated maximumly up to 11.4 V which depends on the degree of the streng.


Drawing on reports and statistics that demonstrate the link between health and low income, this article explains how low income can act as a key health hazard and set off a domino effect involving other health hazards such as substandard housing, pollution and poor social support systems. The author argues that we have still some way to go to put a poverty perspective on strategies to promote positive health.


In this article, Professor Chester examines some of the legal and social issues relating to the conception of a child through artificial insemination using frozen sperm from the child's dead father. Among other things, he argues that the laws should allow those so conceived to inherit property via will or intestacy from their father, just as would traditionally-conceived children. He also argues that pretermitted child statutes should be interpreted to include as takers those posthumously-conceived children not mentioned in the will of a father dying testate. Thus, in general, Chester is arguing for financial responsibility to be imposed on the estate of a father who has not taken legal steps to shift such responsibility. In the case of the anonymous sperm donor who has made an election never to be considered a father, Chester asks for some financial accountability on the part of the woman using his sperm. In addition to addressing these and related issues, Professor Chester reviews various state statutes which bear on them, as well as cases relevant to deciding whether there is a constitutional right to direct how one's sperm will pass at death. He concludes that allowing inheritance by a posthumously-conceived child would be a good thing; for example, it would help strengthen the concept of family.


BACKGROUND
Endobronchial tuberculosis (EBTB) is a serious form of pulmonary tuberculosis. In EBTB, mycobacterium tuberculosis involves trachea, large airways and bronchial trees Combustion of biomass fuels causes anthracotic bronchitis that is characterized by black pigmentation in bronchial tissue. The majority of anthracotic bronchitis are in aged patients, particularly rural women, that use biomass fuel for cooking or traditional bakery .The aim of this study was to evaluate the endobronchial tuberculosis in anthracotic bronchitis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
In total, 483 EBTB patients who underwent flexible bronchoscopy (FB), for various indications, were included. Tuberculosis was confirmed by microbiological analysis of bronchoalveolar (smear and culture for Koch's bacillus) and histopathological methods. EBTB patients were divided in two groups: subjects with anthracotic bronchitis (group 1) and without anthracosis (group 2). Demographic data and important clinical, radiological and bronchoscopic findings were recorded. Chi-squre test and Spss 11.5 software were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS
483 out of 1824 patients who underwent FB had EBTB. 73.7% patients had EBTB and anthracotic bronchitis (versus 27.3% EBTB without anthracosis). The mean age was significantly higher in EBTB and anthracotic bronchitis (68.45 ± 16.31 versus 49.08 ± 14.7). Female/male ratio was 1.4:4 in EBTB and anthracotic group versus 1:1 in non anthracotic patients. Dyspnea, cough, hemoptysis and wheezing were higher in group 1. History of biomass fuel was more significant in EBTB and anthracotic bronchitis. Mass, diffuse infiltration in lower lobes were revealed higher in radiography of group 1. Bronchoscopy showed the higher frequency of bronchial stenosis in EBTB with anthracosis (P value < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
This study suggested significant association between EBTB and anthracotic bronchitis. Unusual findings in radiological and bronchoscopic features were seen in EBTB with anthracosis.


Abstract Background: Granular cell tumors (GCTs) are rare benign neoplasms of Schwann cells. These tumors have been described in almost every human organ. Although GCT has been described in the pancreas previously, we present a case report about GCTs in multiple organs at a simultaneous time. Case Presentation: A 51-year-old Caucasian female known with epilepsy and COPD presented with recurrent abdominal pain. Previously, endoscopic mucosal resection in the esophagus and lumpectomy of the right breast were performed for what proved to be GCTs. Computed tomography showed a hypodense unclearly demarcated tumor of the pancreas tail–body with the impression of infiltrative growth and pancreatic duct dilation. The patient underwent an uncomplicated distal pancreatectomy with the pathological examination showing a fibrotic area of 6 mm consisting of diffusely spread nests of large cells embedded in a collagenous stroma of the pancreatic tail. The tumor nuclei were not atypical and the cytoplasm was granular and eosinophilic. The cell clusters stained positive for S-100 and CD68 in the cell cytoplasm. The diagnosis, GCT of the pancreas, was made and the postoperative course was uneventful for our patient, and a year after surgery, there have been no new tumorous lesions detected. Conclusion: We present a rare case of multiple GCTs affecting the breast, esophagus, and pancreas. Although GCT of the pancreas is a rare disease, the diagnosis should be considered if there is GCT in the medical history of the patient.


Abstract : This monograph examines the current force structure of the Bottom-Up Review and its ability to meet the requirements as outlined in the National Military Strategy. The goals and objectives of the national U.S. strategy are examined in the context of the two MRC scenario as described in the National Military Strategy. Cold War logic has had a significant impact on the framers of the National Military Strategy and the Bottom-Up Review force reflects this influence. The two MRC scenario 'sizing function' has left the U.S. military with a smaller, more lethal, but probably irrelevant force in the post-Cold War environment. The monograph traces the historic roots of the modern-day National Guard and discusses the inherent tensions built into the U.S. Constitution between the federal and state forces. From the Federalist Papers to the current 'Off-Site' agreement, the evolution of the Guard and the legal framework that it works within are discussed. A detail analysis of the current force structure highlights the shortages in Contingency Force Pool support personnel to support the two MRC scenario. Several case studies examine the Guard's ability to meet both its state and federal missions. This is followed by an in-depth look at the current force structure, specifically the relevance of the eight National Guard combat divisions to the total force as organized. The monograph culminates with an evaluation of the National Military Strategy and the potential changes that the current Quadrennial Review could make toward future force structure. Finally, the monograph concludes with two basic recommendations: Either change the National Military Strategy's goals and objectives, or change the force structure to meet the current goals and objectives. The goals and objectives of the National Military Strategy set the conditions for determining the force structure.


Podarcis lilfordi is an endemic lizard found on islands and islets off the coast of Mallorca and Menorca (including the Cabrera archipelago) in the Balearic Islands, which is extinct on the two main islands themselves. Analyses of mtDNA revealed four unconnected parsimony networks. These represented (I) all Menorcan populations, (II) Dragonera, Malgrats and Toro islands (Western Mallorca), (III and IV) the remaining populations from Cabrera and Mallorca. We applied NCPA to evaluate its utility in understanding the genetic sub-structure. Within network I, contiguous range expansion was inferred for both main clades. Populations from western Mallorca (II) have undergone historical allopatric fragmentation events following isolation around the start of the Pleistocene. Clades within networks III and IV showed some allopatric fragmentation and restricted gene flow (isolation by distance) among islands from Cabrera, as well as long distance dispersal between the Cabrera archipelago and southern Mallorca. The NCPA strongly supports the importance of allopatric fragmentation, with some additional support for range expansion. The primary advantage of the NCPA approach was to provide statistical support for these inferences.


Hirst and Thompson's Globalization in Question is the key text questioning claims of economic globalisation. This review of its revised second edition examines its main claims: that contemporary levels of international integration fall short of the Gold Standard period; genuinely global companies remain exceptional; capital mobility is not shifting economic activity to developing countries wholesale; international eco nomic activity is primarily regional rather than global; and that international economic activity is sanctioned by nation states and remains subject to their political power. This review argues that, while their evidence provides a useful corrective to extreme globalisation views, focusing on this view understates changes in the international economy.


Water is a critical resource in western Africa, and droughts are a serious threat to the population and the environment. A technique to retrieve soil moisture from ERS scatterometer data is applied over a large region covering southern Mali and Burkina Faso. How the method accounts for the wide range of climatic and physiographic conditions encountered in the study area is discussed. An analysis of monthly soil moisture maps covering six years of data shows that the climatic conditions are well reflected in the remotely sensed data.


This paper deals with the analytical modelling of an U-Oscillating Water Column (U-OWC). It is shown that this device can be adequately described by a nonlinear equation of motion including hydrodynamic memory effects. The excitation of the system, the added mass and the retardation function are derived by approximating the solution of a pertinent initial boundary value problem via eigen-function expansions of the (linear) velocity potential.Next, the performance of the system is investigated in random waves by relying on Monte Carlo simulations. The excitation of the system is synthesized from a given power spectral density. Then, the nonlinear equation of motion is numerically integrated. Pertinent statistical measures are estimated for assessing the efficiency of the U-OWC in exploiting sea wave energy. In this regard, the parameters show that the device can absorb most part of the incident wave energy. Further, the device can work in safe conditions even in quite rough sea states.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Development of smart DNA nanostructures is of great value in cancer studies. Here, by integrating rolling circle amplification (RCA) into split aptamer design, a novel strategy of polyvalent and thermosensitive DNA nanoensembles was first proposed for cancer cell detection and manipulation. In this strategy, a long nanosolo ssDNA with repeated Split-b and Poly T regions was generated through RCA. Split-b supplied polyvalent binding sites while Poly T supported signal output by hybridizing with fluorophore-labeled poly A. After addition of Split-a, nanoensembles formed on the cell surface due to target-induced assembly of Split-a/Split-b from the free state to the recognition structure, and on the basis of the thermosensitivity of split aptamer, nanoensembles were controlled reversibly by changing temperatures. As proof of concept, split ZY11 against SMMC-7721 cancer was used to construct nanoensembles. Compared with monovalent split aptamer, nanoensembles were demonstrated to have a much stronger interaction with target cells, thus realizing an ∼2.8-time increase in signal-to-background ratio (SBR). Moreover, nanoensembles extended the tolerance range of target binding from 4 °C to room temperature and speeded recognition thus achieving almost 50% binding in 1 min. Then, nanoensembles were successfully applied to detect 7721 cells in serum and mixed cell samples. By utilizing microplate well surface as the model, temperature-controlled catch/release of target cells was also realized with nanoensembles, even under unfriendly conditions for monovalent split aptamer. The RCA-mediated aptameric nanoensembles strategy not only solved the problem of split aptamer in inefficient binding but also paved a brand new way for developing polyvalent and intelligent nanomaterials.


In this paper, a new method of calibrating adaptive writing pulses suitable for installing into the digital versatile disc random access memory (DVD-RAM) 4.7 GB drive is described. To obtain a wider margin of write/read operation, it is desirable to optimize all adaptive parameters for every disk inserted into the drive. We propose the jitter minimizing (JM) method, which is characterized by using selected test patterns, detecting only jitter in the drive and applying a search algorithm to obtain bottom jitter. As a result of optimizing all parameters by JM, the total calibration time is 4.8 s with the accuracy of ≤1 ns, and overwrite jitter of random data is 8.6% at the drive. It is proved that JM offers the same results as the measurement by the time interval analyzer (TIA), uses small-sized hardware and exhibits satisfactory performance for application in commercial drives.


A four-year series of subjective probability forecasting tournaments sponsored by the U.S. intelligence community revealed a host of replicable drivers of predictive accuracy, including experimental interventions such as training in probabilistic reasoning, anti‐groupthink teaming, and tracking of talent. Drawing on these data, we propose a Bayesian BIN model (Bias, Information, Noise) for disentangling the underlying processes that enable forecasters and forecasting methods to improve—either by tamping down bias and noise in judgment or by ramping up the efficient extraction of valid information from the environment. The BIN model reveals that noise reduction plays a surprisingly consistent role across all three methods of enhancing performance. We see the BIN method as useful in focusing managerial interventions on what works when and why in a wide range of domains. An R-package called BINtools implements our method and is available on the first author's personal website. This paper was accepted by Manel Baucells, decision analysis.


Abstract Context A growing body of evidence demonstrates that gastrointestinal motility disorder (GIMD) and gastric stress ulcers can be induced by restraint stress, while melatonin (MT) elicits anti-inflammation and antioxidant effects. Objective The present study investigated the mechanisms of MT-mediated protection effects on restraint stress-induced GIMD. Materials and methods 144 8-week-old male ICR mice were divided into four groups: control, restraint stress, restraint stress + MT and MT (positive control). 20 mg/kg MT or vehicle were intraperitoneally injected 60 min before restraint stress (10 h/day) once daily for 3 days. Biochemical parameters, intestinal mucosal integrity, tissues antioxidant ability and autophagic proteins levels were determined. Results Mice subjected to restraint stress elevated NE level by 141.41% and decreased MT content by 38.82% in plasma. Consistent with the decrease in MT level, we observed a reduction in the antioxidant ability and an increase in autophagic proteins by 14.29–46.74% in the gut, resulting in injury to intestinal mucosa which was manifested by reductions in villus height and villus height/crypt depth (V/C) ratio, number of goblet and PCAN-positive cells, and expression of tight junction protein (ZO-1, occludin and claudin-1). In contrast, MT reversed these changes caused by restraint stress and improved the intestinal mucosal injury. However, there was no significant difference between MT (positive control) and control group. Discussion and conclusion Our results suggest that MT effectively mitigates psychological stress-induced injury to intestinal mucosa, providing evidence demonstrating the potential for using MT as therapy against intestinal impairment associated with psychological stress.


Background Recognition of inflammatory back pain (IBP) is central to early diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), as well as to that of axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA), which has been introduced as a more inclusive term to make early diagnosis of AS possible in the absence of radiographic sacroiliitis. While AxSpA is a hot topic for practicing rheumatologists, it is not yet known to what extent the recent knowledge accumulated in this field has been communicated to the other specialties. Objectives To assess the level of awareness of features of IBP and AxSpA among physicians, who are frequently consulted first by patients with low back pain, and also the referral and management behavior of those specialties in patients with IBP and AxSpA. Methods Trained interviewers using a structured questionnaire performed face to face interviews with a total of 403 physicians, from six different regions of Turkey, which included orthopedists (n:202), family physicians (n:102), and neurosurgeons (n:99). In the first part of the interview, physicians were asked to tell the topics they question when interviewing patients with back pain. Then they were shown 10 questions relevant for inflammatory back pain, and asked to rank them, from 1 to 10, with 1 having the highest importance. In the second part of the interview they were asked, which laboratory tests and imaging modalities they order, when assessing patients with back pain. They were also asked if they would order any of the tests displayed to them when they think the patient has inflammatory back pain. In the next part of the interview the physicians' familiarity with the concept of AxSpA and their referral patterns and management strategies in this group of patients were evaluated. Results The duration of back pain was the most frequent topic questioned by the physicians (68%). Other domains, such as the effect of activity and night/morning pain, which are relevant for diagnosing IBP were asked by only a small proportion of physicians, (15% and 14%, respectively). Duration of back pain was ranked as having the highest importance (mean rank: 2.5) and the history of NSAID use with the least importance (6.9). The majority of physicians stated that they don't request blood tests (64%) when evaluating patients with low back pain and they refer 24% of their patients. Suspicion of a rheumatologic disease is the reason for referral in 15% of those cases. The great majority of physicians (89%) expressed that they can make distinction between mechanical and inflammatory pain. When asked what tests they would order if the patient has IBP; the answers given were CRP (85%), ESR (72%), pelvic X ray (1%), MRI (9%) and HLA-B27 (10%). However when it is asked in multichoice format, then the corresponding figures changed dramatically: 97%, 92%, 80%, 75% and 32%, respectively. About half of the interviewed physicians admitted that they were not aware of the concept AxSpA. Conclusions There is a great need, at least in Turkey, to increase awareness of the concept of AxSpA and its main clinical features among specialists who are likely to be the first physicians consulted by patients with back pain. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.4838


A new idea is proposed for constructing object-oriented hypertext database systems: query pairs as hypertext links, where each query is defined over a collection of document objects that are classified using a class hierarchy. With this idea, users need not modify their hypertext links against the insertions, deletions and updates of document objects. Also, when a database schema (here, a class hierarchy) evolves, a systematic method can be considered to modify user-defined query-pair links. The TextLink-III system that was developed based on this idea and that is currently running is described. The notable features of TextLink-III are the following: document objects are classified by class hierarchy and the notion of class expression is used for formulating a query for a class hierarchy; multiple viewpoint support; and less link maintenance against data updates.<<ETX>>


Landslides are prevalent in the Western Ghats, and the incidences that happened in 2021 in the Koottickal area of the Kottayam district (Western Ghats) resulted in the loss of 10 lives. The objectives of this study are to assess the landslide susceptibility of the high-range local self-governments (LSGs) in the Kottayam district using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy-AHP (F-AHP) models and to compare the performance of existing landslide susceptible maps. This area never witnessed any massive landslides of this dimension, which warrants the necessity of relooking into the existing landslide-susceptible models. For AHP and F-AHP modeling, ten conditioning factors were selected: slope, soil texture, land use/land cover (LULC), geomorphology, road buffer, lithology, and satellite image-derived indices such as the normalized difference road landslide index (NDRLI), the normalized difference water index (NDWI), the normalized burn ratio (NBR), and the soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI). The landslide-susceptible zones were categorized into three: low, moderate, and high. The validation of the maps created using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) technique ascertained the performances of the AHP, F-AHP, and TISSA maps as excellent, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) value above 0.80, and the NCESS map as acceptable, with an AUC value above 0.70. Though the difference is negligible, the map prepared using the TISSA model has better performance (AUC = 0.889) than the F-AHP (AUC = 0.872), AHP (AUC = 0.867), and NCESS (AUC = 0.789) models. The validation of maps employing other matrices such as accuracy, mean absolute error (MAE), and root mean square error (RMSE) also confirmed that the TISSA model (0.869, 0.226, and 0.122, respectively) has better performance, followed by the F-AHP (0.856, 0.243, and 0.147, respectively), AHP (0.855, 0.249, and 0.159, respectively), and NCESS (0.770, 0.309, and 0.177, respectively) models. The most landslide-inducing factors in this area that were identified through this study are slope, soil texture, LULC, geomorphology, and NDRLI. Koottickal, Poonjar-Thekkekara, Moonnilavu, Thalanad, and Koruthodu are the LSGs that are highly susceptible to landslides. The identification of landslide-susceptible areas using diversified techniques will aid decision-makers in identifying critical infrastructure at risk and alternate routes for emergency evacuation of people to safer terrain during an exigency.


The antinuclear antibody (ANA) test is widely used for screening, diagnosing, and monitoring of autoimmune diseases. The most common methods to determine ANA are indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), performed by human epithelial type 2 (HEp-2) cells, as substrate antigen. The evaluation of ANA consist an analysis of fluorescence intensity and staining patterns. This paper presents a complete and fully automatic system able to characterize IIF images. The fluorescence intensity classification was obtained by performing an image preprocessing phase and implementing a Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifier. The cells identification problem has been addressed by developing a flexible segmentation methods, based on the Hough transform for ellipses, and on an active contours model. In order to classify the HEp-2 cells, six SVM and one k-nearest neighbors (KNN)classifiers were developed. The system was tested on a public database consisting of 2080 IIF images. Unlike almost all work presented on this topic, the proposed system automatically addresses all phases of the HEp-2 image analysis process. All results have been evaluated by comparing them with some of the most representative state-of-the-art work, demonstrating the goodness of the system in the characterization of HEp-2 images.


For many assets and liabilities there exist deep and liquid markets so that the market value are reasily observed. However, for non-hedgeable risks, the market value of liabilities must be estimated. The Draft Solvency II Directive suggests in article 75 that the valuation of technical provisions (for non hedgeable risks) shall be the sum of a best estimate and a market value margin measuring the cost of risk. The market value margin is calculated as the present value of the cost of holding the solvency capital requirement for non-hedgeable risks during the whole run-off period of the in-force portfolio. One of the majour input of the market value margin is the cost-of-capital rate which corresponds to the risk premium applied on each unit of risk. According to European Commission (2007), European insurance and Reinsurance Federation (2008), and Chief Risk Officer Forum (2008), a single cost-of-capital rate shall be used by all insurance undertakings and for all lines of business. This paper aims at analyzing the cost-of-capital rate given by European Insurance and Reinsurance Federation (2008), and Chief Risk Officer Forum (2008). In particular, we highlight that it is very difficult to assess a cost-of- capital rate by using either the frictional cost approach or the full industry information beta methodology. Nevertheless, we highlight also that it seems to be irrelevant to use only one risk premium or all the risks and all the companies. We show that risk is not characterized by a fixed prices. In fact, the price of risk depends on the basket of risks at which it belongs, the risk level considered and the time period.


2,3 Abstract: The aim of the project is to make a low voltage and high voltage indicator. The system will save costly electrical and electronic appliances from the adverse effects of very high and very low mains voltages. A project has been proposed on simulating a overvoltage and under-voltage protector, with the hardware. The advantages of our project are -Wide single supply voltage range 2.0 V DC to 36 V DC ,Very low supply current drain (0.8mA) independent of supply voltage , low input biasing current 25mA.,Input common mode voltage range includes ground, differential input voltage range equal to the power supply voltage.


This paper presents a tool to investigate the design of multimodal instructions (MIs), i.e., instructions that contain both text and pictures. The benefit of including pictures in information presentation has been established, but the characteristics of those pictures and of their textual counterparts and the rela-tion(s) between them have not been researched in a systematic manner. We present the PAT Work-bench, a tool to store, annotate and retrieve MIs based on a validated coding scheme with currently 42 categories that describe instructions in terms of textual features, pictorial elements, and relations be-tween text and pictures. We describe how the PAT Workbench facilitates collaborative annotation and inter-annotator agreement calculation. Future work on the tool includes expanding its functionality and usability by (i) making the MI annotation scheme dynamic for adding relevant features based on empirical evaluations of the MIs, (ii) implementing algorithms for automatic tagging of MI features, and (iii) implementing automatic MI evaluation algorithms based on results obtained via e.g. crowdsourced assessments of MIs.


One general avenue to obtain optimized performance on large and complex systems is to approach optimization from a global perspective of the complete system in a customized manner for each application, i.e., application-centric optimization. Lately, there have been encouraging developments in reconfigurable operating systems and hardware that will enable customized optimization. For example, machines built with PIM's and FPGA's can be quickly reconfigured to better fit a certain application and operating systems, such as IBM's K42, can have their services customized to fit the needs and characteristics of an application. While progress in operating system and hardware and hardware has made re-configuration possible, we still need strategies and techniques to exploit them for improved application performance.In this paper, we describe the approach we are using in our smart application (SMARTAPPS) project. In the SMARTAPP executable, the compiler embeds most run-time system services and a feedback loop to monitor performance and trigger run-time adaptations. At run-time, after incorporating the code's input and determining the system's state, the SMARTAPP performs an instance specific optimization. During execution, the application continually monitors its performance and the available resources to determine if restructuring should occur. The framework includes mechanisms for performing the actual restructuring at various levels including: algorithmic adaptation, tuning reconfigurable OS services (scheduling policy, page size, etc.), and system configuration (e.g., number of processors). This paper concentrates on the techniques for providing customized system services for communication, thread scheduling, memory management, and performance monitoring and modeling.


Introduction low birth weight (LBW) remains a devastating adverse pregnancy outcome in low and middle income countries (LMICs). There is evidence showing that maternal demographic and pregnancy-related characteristics are associated with LBW. Little attention is given to paternal characteristics, which may be associated with a higher risk of LBW. This study aimed to assess the effect of paternal characteristics on LBW among singleton deliveries at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) zonal referral hospital in Kilimanjaro region, northern Tanzania. Methods this was a secondary analysis of a hospital-based cohort study from maternally-linked medical birth registry data at KCMC between 2000 and 2018. A total of 47,035 singleton deliveries were included in this study. Data analysis was performed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), version 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Relative risk and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to determine association between LBW and paternal characteristics using log-binomial regression models, with robust standard errors to account for clustering of deliveries within mothers. Results the proportion of LBW during the study period was 9.6%. After adjusting for maternal characteristics, higher risk of LBW was among fathers with low education level (RR=1.72, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.41, p=0.002), aged ≤24 years old (RR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.55), and those unemployed (RR= 1.11, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.21). Lower risk of LBW was among fathers aged ≥40 years (RR=0.97, 95% CI: 0.88, 1.08), but this association was not statistically significant. Conclusion the study confirmed paternal young age (≤24 years old), paternal low education level and unemployment as predictors for LBW. Current evidence on the effect of paternal characteristics on LBW might suggest that programs and policies should target their engagement as a key strategy for improving birth outcomes during the perinatal period. Future studies should assess how paternal factors are associated with the risk of adverse birth outcomes.


Performance estimation for feature tracking is a critical issue, if feature tracking results are to be used intelligently. In this paper, we derive quantitative measures for the spatial accuracy of a particular feature tracker. This method uses the results from the sum-of-squared-differences correlation measure commonly used for feature tracking to estimate the accuracy (in the image plane) of the feature tracking result. In this way, feature tracking results can be analyzed and exploited to a greater extent without placing undue confidence in inaccurate results or throwing out accurate results. We argue that this interpretation of results is more flexible and useful than simply using a confidence measure on tracking results to accept or reject features. For example, and extended Kalman filtering framework can assimilate these tracking results directly to monitor the uncertainty in the estimation process for the state of an articulated object.


Abstract:Though Edward Said's passionate interest in Western classical music is a well-known aspect of his biography, scholars have largely treated Said's musical writings and activities as peripheral to his intellectual legacy. Through an examination of his extensive writings on music and his intense engagement with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an explicitly political/musical project intended to promote Arab-Israeli collaboration in the context of Western classical performance, this article examines how Said deployed Western classical music as a discursive space on which he could inscribe and celebrate the political and cultural values of his mobile, cosmopolitan upbringing in interwar Cairo. Said's insistence on the universality and political applicability of Western musical forms thus came to represent a mode of relocating a lost form of elite cosmopolitanism as a central aspect of Arab identity and rejecting what he saw as the intolerant, philistine parochialism of the post-war Arab political landscape.


In several practically interesting applications of electromagnetic scattering theory like, e.g., scattering from small point-like objects such as buried artifacts or small inclusions in non-destructive testing, scattering from thin curve-like objects such as wires or tubes, or scattering from thin sheet-like objects such as cracks, the volume of the scatterers is small relative to the volume of the surrounding medium and with respect to the wave length of the applied electromagnetic fields. This smallness typically causes problems when solving direct scattering problems due to the need to discretize the objects and also when solving inverse scattering problems because small objects have very little effect on electromagnetic fields. In this paper we consider an asymptotic representation formula for scattered electromagnetic waves caused by low volume objects contained in some otherwise homogeneous three- dimensional bounded domain, assuming only that the scatterers are measurable and well-separated from the boundary of the domain. The formula yields a very general asymptotic model for electro- magnetic scattering due to low volume objects that can either be used to simulate the corresponding electromagnetic fields or as the foundation of efficient reconstruction methods for inverse scattering problems with low volume scatterers. Our analysis extends results originally obtained in (Y. Capde- boscq and M.S. Vogelius, A general representation formula for boundary voltage perturbations caused by internal conductivity inhomogeneities of low volume fraction. Math. Model. Numer. Anal. 37 (2003) 159-173) for steady state voltage potentials to time-harmonic Maxwell's equations.


The characteristics of shear buckling about corrugated plates affect web height as well as the corrugated plate. Besides, there are complex phenomena, separated by local buckling, global buckling and ductility buckling. For this reason, the experimental and analytical study of corrugated webs are mainly conducted on shear buckling behavior and stability, whereas analytical study mainly uses commercial software. However, there are some differences between the application of boundary conditions and element modeling in the literature for each one. This study was performed to study about appropriate boundary condition in finite element analysis for sinusoidal corrugated plate. The analysis in this study was compared to shear buckling strength about each boundary condition with the plate shear theory, and shear buckling strength was obtained by converting the eigenvalues about primary mode. From the result of the analysis, the proposed boundary condition was demonstrated better condition.


This study is to investigate the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and the influencing factors among coal mine workers employed in on-site operations. The job burnout scale and MSD scale were implemented to investigate a random sample of 1,500 coal mine workers working in on-site operations in Xinjiang, China. In total, 1,325 valid questionnaires were collected, with a recovery rate of 88.33% (1,325/1,500). The rate of job burnout was 90%, of which 39.8% were categorized as mild burnout, 43.8% as moderate burnout, and 6.4% as severe burnout; the average job burnout score was 50.77 ± 11.93. The annual prevalence of MSDs was 65.6%, with the highest annual prevalence in the waist (50.7%), followed by the neck, shoulder, and knee, and the lowest prevalence in the elbow (18.8%). Of the areas of the body affected by work-related MSDs, the highest proportion of requests for leave of absence was related to the waist, accounting for 25.7% of requests, while the lowest proportion (13.4%) was related to the wrist. In addition, the incidence of MSDs increased with the years of service. The lowest incidence of MSDs was associated with the two-shift and three-group working pattern. The prevalence of MSDs in the neck and waist was higher in women than in men. The prevalence of MSDs in various body parts increased with the years of service. Moreover, multiple logistic regression indicated that three shifts with four groups (OR = 1.096, 95% CI: 0.832-1.445), working more than 10 years (OR = 3.396, 95% CI: 2.369-5.748), working more than 20 years (OR = 3.008, 95% CI: 1.419-6.337), significant bending (OR = 2.062, 95% CI: 1.400-3.038), forward neck tilting (OR = 1.572, 95% CI: 1.071-2.281), maximum force operation within a short period of time (OR = 1.7222, 95% CI: 1.164-2.547), repeated movement of upper arms or fingers (OR = 1.495, 95% CI: 1.034-2.161), slip or fall incidents (OR = 1.124, 95% CI: 1.039-1.216), work under conditions of cold or temperature variations (OR = 1.911, 95% CI: 1.342-2.720), mild burnout (OR = 1.492, 95% CI: 1.016-2.191), moderate burnout (OR = 1.852, 95% CI: 1.267-2.708), and severe burnout (OR = 2.001, 95% CI: 1.145-3.496) were risk factors for MSDs. In conclusion, there is a high annual prevalence of MSDs among the coal mine workers employed in on-site operations in Xinjiang, China. Measures to reduce this prevalence are required.


Do extrinsic rewards able to encourage employee commitment especially those in the professional industry and in high position? The purpose of this research is to critically examine the link between rewards and organisational commitment underpinned by motivation theory; Self-Determination Theory and Regulatory Focus Theory among Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) in Malaysia. This research used a scaling questionnaire covering 2 categories on a 6-point Likert scale. The survey involved 260 IFAs registered with Securities Commission Malaysia using the SurveyMonkey web tools consisting of 18-item scale for measuring a three-component model of organisation commitment (Affective Commitment, Normative Commitment and Continuance Commitment) and a 14-item scale for measuring a five-component model of rewards (Extrinsic Rewards: Pay Satisfaction, Promotion and Team Support; Intrinsic Rewards: Autonomy and Participation in Decision Making). This research used a measurement model via Structure Modelling Equation (SEM) to find the factor analysis for each latent variable. The hypotheses tested clearly show that rewards have a positive and significant effect on organisational commitment. This research has been able to identify the most practical and effective rewards for IFAs. For extrinsic rewards, prospects of promotion have the most positive effect on employee commitment which can be translated into employee performance. Besides that, autonomy and participation in decision making able can foster intrinsic motivation among IFAs. Overall, employee commitment is one of the antecedent determinants of employee performance.


There is a high level of financial risk associated with the direct participation of wind generation in liberalised electricity markets, due to the stochastic nature of output and imbalance charges set by market prices. The positioning of generation with respect to the market is therefore critical to successful trading activities. Examined is the use of risk characterisation to select the best output level for a wind generator to trade, dependant on maximising revenue and managing marginal costs from imbalances in a competitive market situation. Trading strategies based on utility risk assessment are presented as a possible way to improve market participation for wind generators based on these criteria.


This paper presents the development of a runway allocation planning tool that seeks to maximize the permissible number of flight operations into and out of an airport within a given annual noise budget. Although the model that underlies the planning tool is generic in nature, the tool has been customized for application to a specific airport, viz. Amsterdam airport Schiphol in the Netherlands. The noise budget regulations applicable at Schiphol stipulate limits on the annual cumulative noise loads at a large number of enforcement points arranged around the airport. To ensure an equitable distribution of the cumulative noise load at the enforcement points, an efficient allocation and distribution of the annual flight movements over available runways and routes is required that takes weather induced restrictions into account. To this end, a Linear Programming (LP) optimization formulation has been developed that implements a minimax performance criterion that aims to minimize the maximum cumulative noise load value occurring at any of the enforcement points. The numerical results obtained for the operational year 2005 clearly demonstrate the potential of the tool to maximize the yearly number of flight movements within the assigned noise budget.


The project explores how we can make and use a java game development framework to shorten the development process in small projects connected to a course in software architecture at NTNU. The framework should let the development team concentrate their effort on implementing the game to certain quality attributes and software architectures. In these projects the game itself is not the main goal. In this paper we describe the architecture of the framework and show how the different components let the users choose their own game architecture and quality attributes for their game projects. We show how the framework can be used in course projects and describe the framework features and constraints. The framework is put together from a combination of self made and existing components. We show how the framework components were chosen and what properties the components needed to support the course goals.


The aim of this handbook, say Davis (Research Institute of History and Culture, Utrecht U., the Netherlands), Evans (women's studies, U. of Kent at Canterbury, UK), and Lorber (emerita, sociology and women's studies, City U. of New York), is to demonstrate the theoretical plurality and diversity of gender and women's studies, as well as the political and international range of the field. To give form to this diversity, the 26 papers are organized into sections dealing with the current state of gender and women's studies, cultural representations and critiques, knowledge, globalization and the state, work and family, intimate relationships and sexualities, embodiment in a technological world, and making change. The contributions primarily consist of reviews of the literature in various subdivisions of the field, but authors also offer thoughts on future directions for research.


In conventional soil mechanics method, the soil particle is known as rigid and its size remains unchanged during a compression. With regard to waste landfill, however, the degradation can decrease the volume of solid particle, produce new gases and liquids. Settlement character, excessive settlement and differential settlement of waste landfill might lead to all kinds of pipelines rupture, and then percolate cannot be expelled and result in rising ground water level. This will threaten seriously the stability of the landfill. It is fundamental to the landfill recycle to calculate the stability of settlement after closure of landfill. Based on the landfill site engineering in Langfang of North China, this article explores a new computing method of the landfill settlement with layering filling and organic matter degradation. Different factors influences on settlement are analyzed by the computer numerical simulation to offer evidence to the landfill recycle.


In this study we want to examine the relationship between free cash flow and dividend in presence of a moderator firm size. Results indicate proxies of free cash flow have positive and highly statistically significant relationship with free cash flow. Second model of moderator showed results insignificant with relationship between FCF and dividend. In simple regression of free cash flow and dividend, results were also insignificant which also indicate that there is no relationship in these variables.  In our study we have used panel data analysis and to check the time and cross sectional effect, dummies has used. The results were highly statistically significant across the mostly companies and free cash flow but only two companies showing insignificant results. The results were insignificant across different periods. Our hypothesis was rejected under moderator but acceptable in fixed effect model.


Political systems and technology are interdependent and influence each other. On the one hand, political systems and political leaders aim at influencing the technological development and benefiting from technological progress; on the other, technological development has a considerable proportion of its own dynamics and potential to influence society and political systems. This chapter particularly focuses on electronic democracy and virtual communities and accordingly discusses recent ideas and plans of political leaders, derives requirements for technology, presents systems and prototypes, and reports cases demonstrating how and what technology is really used.


The grid is not all the time available and a daily scheduled program of electricity shortage is applied in some developing countries like Lebanon. In such situation renewable energy systems connected to the grid can't be an effective solution. Although net metering or feed forward connectivity is allowed, still the grid outage program prevents its use in an efficient way. For this reason, this research work suggests a new control algorithm for photovoltaic systems connected to a grid with scheduled outage. This solution provides to the consumer the maximum benefit of connectivity.


The Supreme Court's recent decision in Kansas v. Hendricks provides an exclamation point to the proposition that the Court will defer to reasonable legislative judgments regarding the substance of state civil commitment laws. This article argues that such deference is appropriate as a matter of constitutional law because of important institutional and structural considerations. For mental health professionals interested in influencing the law of civil commitment, the Hendricks decision suggests two propositions: (a) Mental health professionals must offer their expertise and input in the legislative process, and (b) when possible, mental health professionals should identify and explain for the courts any professional consensus on important issues regarding the definition and treatment of mental conditions.


Impacting liquids can be reflected by moving solid plates, provided the surface is fast enough. We describe and model here the threshold speed of bouncing, in particular as a function of the impact velocity of the incoming liquid. We also demonstrate that the aerodynamic force responsible for the nonwetting behavior induces an oblique rebound, which contributes to the liquid removal. In summary, this situation repels viscous, low surface tension drops of any size, all kinds of cases where repellency is impossible to achieve by other means.


When a vortex refracts surface waves, the momentum flux carried by the waves changes direction and the waves induce a reaction force on the vortex. We study experimentally the resulting vortex distortion. Incoming surface gravity waves impinge on a steady vortex of velocity $U_0$ driven magneto-hydrodynamically at the bottom of a fluid layer. The waves induce a shift of the vortex center in the direction transverse to wave propagation, together with a decrease in surface vorticity. We interpret these two phenomena in the framework introduced by Craik and Leibovich (1976): we identify the dimensionless Stokes drift $S=U_s/U_0$ as the relevant control parameter, $U_s$ being the Stokes drift velocity of the waves. We propose a simple vortex line model which indicates that the shift of the vortex center originates from a balance between vorticity advection by the Stokes drift and self-advection of the vortex. The decrease in surface vorticity is interpreted as a consequence of vorticity expulsion by the fast Stokes drift, which confines it at depth. This purely hydrodynamic process is analogous to the magnetohydrodynamic expulsion of magnetic field by a rapidly moving conductor through the electromagnetic skin effect. We study vorticity expulsion in the limit of fast Stokes drift and deduce that the surface vorticity decreases as $1/S$, a prediction which is compatible with the experimental data. Such wave-induced vortex distortions have important consequences for the nonlinear regime of wave refraction: the refraction angle rapidly decreases with wave intensity.


Product platforms, product families, and modular design are an evolving research area. Many of the theories and concepts proposed serve as powerful tools to industry in reducing the number of specialized components in products, reducing assembly time and accelerating the conceptual and embodiment design stages. In this paper, a structured approach to the modular design of electro-mechanical consumer products is proposed based on a study of the module structure of products. The approach is based on developing product family design templates. These templates are based on prior product design knowledge and the flow and conversion of energy through a product. The templates also carry potential embodiment solution information. Design templates for two product classes, electricity to thermal energy and electricity to rotational energy, have been developed and can be used by designers to undertake design or re-design efforts on products. A group of 16 consumer products from two product families has been used in this study. A clarifying design example is presented.


In this paper we empirically study the relation between public debt and economic growth. We analyze how the public debt to GDP ratio at a certain point in time is correlated with the GDP growth rate in the following period, where we consider a one-year time span, a three-years time interval and a five-years interval. Using panel data comprising seven developed countries from 1970-2012, we estimate a pooled regression model and a random effects model. We find strong evidence for a significantly negative relation between debt and growth. Further, for most specifications this relationship does not seem to be characterized by non-linearities.


Abstract:Technological advances have always had an impact on the development of new audio-visual aesthetics. Recently, exploiting the spatial capabilities of immersive sound technology in the form of Dolby Atmos, Alfonso Cuarón introduced in Gravity (2013) an innovative sound design approach that enhances the illusion of 'presence' in the space of the diegesis by always maintaining a coherent, realistic, and immersive representation of a given point-of-audition. Such sonic strategy – which we have termed immersive point-of-audition – provides a three-dimensional representation of the filmic space, localising sound effects, music, and dialogue in accordance to the position of the sources within the diegesis. In this paper, we introduce the definition and main characteristics of this emergent sound design approach, and using Gravity as an illustrative example, we argue that it has the potential of facilitating the processes of transportation and identification in cinema.


PurposeAs the Covid-19 crisis recedes, struggling firms will be bought by bargain hunters and suffering industries will consolidate, giving rise to another wave of M&A transactions. But buyers beware! There is ample evidence that M&A creates significant post-deal performance issues for acquiring "buy-side" firms.Design/methodology/approachNew research shows that effectively managing three processes of acquisitions can have an outsized beneficial impact on M&A success.FindingsRecent research has identified three mission-critical tasks that stand out as being vital to creating M&A success: Process 1: Accurately valuing targets. Process 2: Proficiently managing post-merger integration. Process 3: Skillfully addressing the "big-three human factors" of M&A.Practical implicationsRobust talent retention and re-recruitment plans initially entail identifying key talent, defined as individuals and groups who are essential to retain and re-recruit during a transitionary period and those required for long-term value creation.Originality/valueThe articles describes best practices for post-deal M&A activities companies could perform better including operations and technology integration, communication, cultural analysis and integration, talent management and retention, senior leadership involvement and measurement and reporting.


The sensitivity of animals to endotoxin differs significantly between species. Thus, factors that determine the susceptibility to endotoxin may play important roles in the pathogenesis of septic shock. In order to determine the mechanism responsible for susceptibility to endotoxin, the effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the circulatory status of Propionibacterium acnes (PA)-sensitized rats was studied. Following the intravenous administration of a low dose of LPS, the arterial blood pressure of PA-treated rats, but not of normal animals, progressively decreased; the PA-sensitized animals died of circulatory shock within 7 h of LPS administration. N omega-nitro-L-arginine (NA) reduced the depressor effect of LPS by an L-arginine-inhibitable mechanism. Administration of LPS markedly increased the level of the inducible type of nitric oxide (NO) synthase in various tissues, including the aorta, of PA-treated rats but not of control animals. LPS also increased plasma levels of nitrate plus nitrite and aortic levels of cGMP. Dexamethasone inhibited the de novo synthesis of NO synthase in the aorta and other tissues and reduced the depressor effect of LPS. These and other findings suggest that induction of nitric oxide synthase in resistant arteries might underlie the pathogenesis of LPS-induced hypotension in PA-sensitized animals and the mechanism responsible for the susceptibility to endotoxin.


Objectives Female physicians in medicine are increasing, but disparities in female authorship exist. The aim of this study was to characterise factors associated with female first (FF) and female senior (SF) authorship in later phase systemic oncological clinical trials in biliary tract cancer (BTC) and identify any changes over time. Setting Embase/Medline identified trial publications in BTC (2000–2020) were included. χ2 tests and log regression were used (assessed factors associated with FF and SF authorship, including changes over time (STATA V.16)). Primary outcome measure FF and SF authorship in later phase systemic oncological clinical trials in BTC. Secondary outcome measure Any changes over time? Results Of 501 publications, 163 met inclusion criteria. The median percentage of female author representation in publications was 25%; there were no female authors in 13% of publications. Geographic location of the home institution of the first and senior authors was Asia (42%/42%), Europe (29%/29%), USA (24%/22%) and other (4%/6%), respectively. Overall, FF and SF author representation was 20% and 10%, respectively. The median position of the first female author was second in all the publication author lists. The phase of trial, journal-impact factor, industry funding or whether the study met its primary endpoint did not impact FF/SF author representation. More SF authors had home institutions in 'other' geographic locations (40% in 10 trials) (p=0.02) versus Asia (6%), Europe (8%) and USA (14%). There were no significant changes in FF/SF representation over time (p=0.61 and p=0.33 respectively). Conclusions FF and SF author representation in later phase systemic clinical trial publications in BTC is low and has not changed significantly over time. The underlying reasons for this imbalance need to be better understood and addressed.


Compactive faulting was systematically investigated on highly porous chalk containing deformation bands from Pegwell Bay. The pore grain radius, porosity, and Klinkenberg-corrected gas permeability were determined for both deformed and undeformed rock. CT-scans show a decrease in porosity by more than 10% in deformation bands compared to the associated undeformed chalk. Microstructural analysis suggests that the porosity reduction occurred due to the collapse of fossils that contained macroporosity. The gas permeabilities range from 0.9 mD to 3.1 mD for the core plugs containing deformation bands and from 1.8 mD to 2.8 mD for the core plugs of the host rock. Mercury injection analysis show that there is considerable overlap between the pore size distribution and threshold pressures of the undeformed chalk and the samples containing the deformation bands. Permeability and threshold pressures are not significantly affected by the presence of the deformation bands because the destroyed macroporosity did not form a connected network.


According to a Concept of continuous special education, postgraduate special training remains an essential link in creating a widely educated doctor with humanistic and natural-science ideology, high culture and knowledge of contemporary circumstances.


In this paper, is a study that analyzed the fuel consumption of hybrid tractor. Testing and analysis in order to evaluate the fuel consumption was performed. Analysis model was developed by using the SimulationX that is a commercial software. Also, map of the analysis model was modeled on the basis of test data. Test was performed using a dynamo device. The engine was tested the fuel consumption in accordance with the conditions on the load and throttle opening. The battery was tested the discharge and charge in accordance with the current amount. We verified the reliability of the analysis model by comparing the analysis results with the rest results. After considering the reliability of each analysis model was extended to the entire hybrid tractor system. To evaluate the efficiency using the analysis model, compared the fuel consumption of general tractor with hybrid tractor in the same load conditions.


Abstract Objective To generate global and regional estimates for the prevalence and incidence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 and type 2 infection for 2016. Methods To obtain data, we undertook a systematic review to identify studies up to August 2018. Adjustments were made to account for HSV test sensitivity and specificity. For each World Health Organization (WHO) region, we applied a constant incidence model to pooled prevalence by age and sex to estimate the prevalence and incidence of HSV types 1 and 2 infections. For HSV type 1, we apportioned infection by anatomical site using pooled estimates of the proportions that were oral and genital. Findings In 2016, an estimated 491.5 million people (95% uncertainty interval, UI: 430.4 million–610.6 million) were living with HSV type 2 infection, equivalent to 13.2% of the world's population aged 15–49 years. An estimated 3752.0 million people (95% UI: 3555.5 million–3854.6 million) had HSV type 1 infection at any site, equivalent to a global prevalence of 66.6% in 0–49-year-olds. Differing patterns were observed by age, sex and geographical region, with HSV type 2 prevalence being highest among women and in the WHO African Region. Conclusion An estimated half a billion people had genital infection with HSV type 2 or type 1, and several billion had oral HSV type 1 infection. Millions of people may also be at higher risk of acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), particularly women in the WHO African Region who have the highest HSV type 2 prevalence and exposure to HIV.


A room-temperature Pd(II)-catalyzed regioselective chlorination reaction has been developed for a facile one-pot synthesis of a broad range of 2-chlorophenols. The reaction demonstrates an excellent regioselectivity and reactivity for C-H chlorination. This reaction represents one of the rare examples of mild C-H functionalization at ambient temperature.


This thesis describes and explains different aspects that together contribute to the development of internal brand loyalty: namely brand management, organizational culture and relationship marketing. We have integrated these parts to show that they are closely related and dependent on each other. Since this thesis focuses on corporate brands, we have used brand management to understand the underlying concepts in order to see how this can influence and develop internal brand loyalty. The organizational culture is fundamental to how things are done in the organization and therefore important when developing internal brand loyalty. Further, the relationship marketing area is used since it includes the internal market, with emphasis on the importance of the individuals working within the company. It is of great importance that the employees are satisfied and motivated if they are to be brand loyal. Since the traditional focus has been on the external environment instead of the internal, this thesis emphasizes the employee instead of the customer, since the former represents the corporate brand. We think that if companies start to direct more attention to the internal market, they will increase the organizational effectiveness. In this thesis we discuss the qualitative and not the quantitative aspects in order of developing internal brand loyalty. Monetary rewards are not enough; the degree of employee motivation is determined by more soft-core aspects, such as shared responsibility, degree of influence and involvement. All these are major determinants when developing internal brand loyalty. We further discuss the management's responsibility in creating such an internal service environment.


Biopsy and autopsy findings in a girl who died at 7 1/2 months after having suffered from progressive axial hypotonia, myoclonus, EEG changes and retarded psychomotor development. Inclusions consisting of lamellar profiles, situated in membrane-bound cytosomes were found mainly in astrocytes, but also in neurones and in axons of peripheral nerves. Lipofuscin bodies were also increased in number. The patient belongs in the same category as cases studied by Towfighi et al. (1975) and Martin et al. (1977). Etiology and pathogenesis of this syndrome remain unknown. It is suggested, however, that the pathological changes observed might have been caused by the administration soon after birth of anti-epileptic drugs (diphenylhydantoin, clonazepam and nitrazepam).


We have investigated the link between climate change and Parkinson's diseases (PD) by contrasting variations between 1990 and 2016 of PD patients' indices (prevalence, deaths, and disability-adjusted life years) and climate indices (warming and annual average temperature) for 185 countries. Countries have been clustered in four categories, depending on whether they had higher-than-median warming and higher-than-median temperature, and for each cluster variations in PD patients' and climate indices have been studied. In the cluster of the 25 countries (home to about 900 million people) characterized by higher-than-average warming and higher-than-average temperature, we have found evidence of a correlation between more intense warming and higher variations. This statistical result is discussed and linked to other evidence reported in literature. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a statistically-sound link between climate change and the epidemiological data of PD patients has been found and documented.


Sequential recommendation predicts users' next behaviors with their historical interactions. Recommending with longer sequences improves recommendation accuracy and increases the degree of personalization. As sequences get longer, existing works have not yet addressed the following two main challenges. Firstly, modeling long-range intra-sequence dependency is difficult with increasing sequence lengths. Secondly, it requires efficient memory and computational speeds. In this paper, we propose a Sparse Attentive Memory (SAM) network for long sequential user behavior modeling. SAM supports efficient training and real-time inference for user behavior sequences with lengths on the scale of thousands. In SAM, we model the target item as the query and the long sequence as the knowledge database, where the former continuously elicits relevant information from the latter. SAM simultaneously models target-sequence dependencies and long-range intra-sequence dependencies with O(L) complexity and O(1) number of sequential updates, which can only be achieved by the self-attention mechanism with O(L2) complexity. Extensive empirical results demonstrate that our proposed solution is effective not only in long user behavior modeling but also on short sequences modeling. Implemented on sequences of length 1000, SAM is successfully deployed on one of the largest international E-commerce platforms. This inference time is within 30ms, with a substantial 7.30% click-through rate improvement for the online A/B test. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first end-to-end long user sequence modeling framework that models intra-sequence and target-sequence dependencies with the aforementioned degree of efficiency and successfully deployed on a large-scale real-time industrial recommender system.


A series of chemical-looping combustion (CLC) tests were conducted in a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) reactor to investigate the potential of a Chinese sulfur-containing lean iron ore as the oxygen carrier. Two main products of solid-fuel pyrolysis and gasification, namely, CH4 and CO, were selected as the reducing gases. Consecutive reduction–oxidation cycles were first carried out in the TGA reactor to evaluate the cyclic stability and agglomeration tendency of the oxygen carrier. The effects of the temperature, fuel gas concentration, and reaction gas composition on the reduction reaction were further investigated. Increasing the reaction temperature or fuel gas concentration enhanced the reduction rate and reaction degree of the oxygen carrier. Meanwhile, CO showed much higher reduction reactivity than CH4. A comparison of the rate index of the iron ore used with those of high-grade minerals indicated that the iron ore had adequate reactivity for its application in solid-fuel CLC technology. The si...


Recommended Citation Berman, M.R., Nunez, K., Killeen, S., Rudnicky, T., Bradshaw, J., Stanhope, D., Duhring, K., Brown, K.F., Hendricks, J., Weiss, D. and Hershner, C.H. 2016. City of Chesapeake, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report: Methods and Guidelines, SRAMSOE no.451. Comprehensive Coastal Inventory Program, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 23062


The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) regulates insulin secretion, carbohydrate metabolism and appetite, and is an important target for treatment of type II diabetes and obesity. Multiple GLP-1R agonists have entered into clinical trials, such as semaglutide, progressing to approval. Others, including taspoglutide, failed through high incidence of side-effects or insufficient efficacy. GLP-1R agonists have a broad spectrum of signalling profiles. However, molecular understanding is limited by a lack of structural information on how different GLP-1R agonists engage with the GLP-1R. In this study, we determined cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of GLP-1R-Gs protein complexes bound with semaglutide and taspoglutide. These revealed similar peptide binding modes to that previously observed for GLP-1. However, 3D variability analysis of the cryo-EM micrographs revealed different motions within the bound peptides and the receptor relative to when GLP-1 is bound. This work provides novel insights into the molecular determinants of peptide engagement with the GLP-1R.


ABSTRACT Aim of the study: Repeated pulmonary lavage allows to reliably reproduce failure of gas exchange and major histological findings of acute lung injury (ALI). However, because the capacity of pulmonary lavage to induce pulmonary inflammation is not well established in rodents, this study aims to characterize the induction of pulmonary inflammation in a rat model of ALI. Materials and Methods: Male adult rats were divided into a treatment group (n = 9) that received pulmonary lavage with consecutive mechanical ventilation, and a control group that received mechanical ventilation only (n = 9). Arterial blood gas analyses were performed every 30 min throughout the study. Pressure-volume curves, and lung tissue and plasma samples, were obtained at 240 min after the start of mechanical ventilation. Protein content and surface activity of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was assessed. Transcriptional and translational regulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 was determined in lungs and plasma. Markers of cellular stress were measured in lung tissue. Results: Pulmonary lavage significantly decreased lung compliance, induced hypoxia and hypercapnia, and mediated respiratory acidosis. Protein content of lavage fluid was significantly increased and contained washed out surfactant. Expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 mRNA and protein expression of IL-1β and TNF-α was significantly induced in lavaged lungs, without spillover into the systemic circulation. Markers of cellular stress were significantly upregulated in lavaged lungs. Conclusions: This model of ALI applied in rats can induce pulmonary inflammation. The model might be used to develop therapeutic strategies that target pulmonary inflammation in ALI.


Sugar-beet is one of the most important crops in the Red River valley of U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota for both social and economic reasons. Sugar-beet industry in Red River valley is owned by about 2800 shareholders who produce about 17% of America's sugar which makes them a large coop. This paper focuses on the transportation phase of this operation. We present a model to calculate the total cost associated with the sugar-beet transportation. This model utilizes the Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis to calculate the distances travelled from member coop farms during harvest and transport to processing facilities in various locations. We propose this model sheds light on a critical cost factor associated with the total economic analysis of sugar-beet processing. With a future yield forecasting it can be used to estimate the associated costs and to maximize the profit by minimizing transportation cost.


Recently developed graded photonic super-crystals show an enhanced light absorption and light extraction efficiency if they are integrated with a solar cell and an organic light emitting device, respectively. In this paper, we present the holographic fabrication of a graded photonic super-crystal with a rectangular unit super-cell. The spatial light modulator-based pixel-by-pixel phase engineering of the incident laser beam provides a high resolution phase pattern for interference lithography. This also provides a flexible design for the graded photonic super-crystals with a different ratio of length over the width of the rectangular unit super-cell. The light extraction efficiency is simulated for the organic light emitting device, where the cathode is patterned with the graded photonic super-crystal. The high extraction efficiency is maintained for different exposure thresholds during the interference lithography. The desired polarization effects are observed for certain exposure thresholds. The extraction efficiency reaches as high as 75% in the glass substrate.


Space cooling and heating always tends to be a major part of the primary energy usage. By using fossil fuel electricity for these purposes, the situation becomes even worse. One of the major electricity consumptions in India is air conditioning. There are a lot of different technologies and few researchers have come up with a debate between solar absorption cooling and PV electric cooling. In a previous paper, PV electric cooling was studied and now as a continuation, this paper focuses on solar thermal absorption cooling systems and their application in commercial/office buildings in India. A typical Indian commercial building is taken for the simulation in TRNSYS. Through this simulation, the feasibility and operational strategy of the system is analysed, after which parametric study and economic analysis of the system is done. When compared with the expenses for a traditional air conditioner unit, this solar absorption cooling will take 13.6 years to pay back and will take 15.5 years to payback the price of itself and there after all the extra money are savings or profit.  Although the place chosen for this study is one of the typical tropical place in India, this payback might vary with different places, climate and the cooling demand. Article History : Received May 12 th 2017; Received in revised form August 15 th 2017; Accepted 1 st Sept 2017; Available online How to Cite This Article : Narayanan, M. (2017). Techno-Economic Analysis of Solar Absorption Cooling for Commercial Buildings in India.  International Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 6(3), 253-262. https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.6.3.253-262


(1) Background: This study analyzes the profile of female sterilization in Brazil by age, parity, type of delivery, place of delivery, color/race, region of residence, years of schooling, marital status, number of unions, and desired number of children reported by women; (2) Methods: The descriptive analysis is based on the most recent Brazilian database on reproductive health: the 2006 Brazilian National Survey on Demography and Health of Women and Children (PNDS). This dataset has information on the history of pregnancies with live births from January 2001 to July 2007; (3) Results: The study suggests that (a) women with high levels of sterilization, high percentages of more than one pregnancy in the period, and larger parity than the desired number of children tend to have high parity, be black, brown, or indigenous, reside in the North or Northeast, have low levels of education, and have two or more unions; and (b) women with high levels of sterilization, low percentages of more than one pregnancy in the period, and lower parity than the desired number of children tend to have cesarean sections, give birth utilizing private health care obtained through a private insurance plan or direct out-of-pocket payment at private hospitals, and be married. (4) Conclusions: The 1997 family planning law could be altered in order to allow female sterilization in conjunction with childbirth, as a way to attend the demand of Brazilian women in public hospitals. Policies are necessary not only to regulate the public sector, but also to aim better services at private institutions. Female sterilization should be discussed in the context of fertility below the replacement level, as one of its associated factors.


Mobile viral marketing has a tremendous potential for communication and distribution purposes. Although seen as an important issue from the viewpoint of practitioners there has been little research on the phenomenon so far. This paper represents a first step in filling this void. We examine 34 case studies in order to identify relevant characteristics of mobile viral marketing. The outcome of the paper is a description model of mobile viral marketing as well as a derivation of four mobile viral marketing standard types. The proposed scheme allows unambiguously characterizing any given mobile viral marketing strategy and providing recommendations for designing new mobile viral strategies.


A new method is proposed for estimating the frequency domain structure of digital signals which may be characterized as having a narrow-band, rapidly time-varying spectrum. The estimated parameter is termed the digital instantaneous frequency of the input and is defined in a manner similar to that used previously to describe frequency-modulated, continuous-time signals. Instantaneous frequency estimates are derived from a spectral computation based on the use of an adaptive linear prediction filter. The proposed method differs from previous techniques in that the coefficients of this filter are continuously updated as each new input data sample is received using a simple time-domain algorithm, A derivation of the algorithm and its properties are presented. Numerical examples are included which illustrate the properties of the procedure.


With the development of storage technique, new caching policies are continuously being introduced, which makes it increasingly important for cache systems to select the optimal caching policy dynamically under varying workloads. This paper proposes SOPA, a mechanism to adaptively select the optimal policy and perform policy switching. First, SOPA encapsulates the functions of a caching policy into a module, and enables online policy switching by policy reconstruction. Second, SOPA selects the optimal policy dynamically by collecting and analyzing access traces, and reduces the decision-making cost by asynchronous decision. The simulation evaluation showed that no single caching policy could perform well under all of the different workloads, but SOPA could select the appropriate policy for each workload. The real-system evaluation showed that SOPA could reduce the average response time by up to 20.3% compared with LRU and up to 11.9% compared with ARC.