The incidence of excessive body fat among young Japanese females with a normal BMI, which is referred to as normal weight obesity (NWO), has recently increased. Some studies have associated eating rates with BMI. However, an association between body fat rate and dietary habits has not been proven. We compared differences in dietary habits between 72 female Japanese junior college students with normal (<30%; normal body fat ratio, NFR) and high (≥ 30%; excessive body fat ratio, EFR) proportions of body fat. Energy and the intake of many nutrients and foods did not significantly differ between the two groups, but the EFR group consumed significantly less saturated fatty acid, sugar and confectionery. Eating rapidly was significantly associated with body fat ratios. Our findings suggest that eating rapidly increases body fat ratios.


Abstract This paper focuses on the concepts of etiquette and politeness within a genre of Buddhist texts known as "vinaya", or monastic law. These texts were created for the purpose of regulating behavior within the monastic institution. While they are often described by the tradition as a set of ethical principles, the content of monastic law codes also includes many things that would be better categorized as examples of normative protocol, encompassing mundane, everyday social situations that promote harmony between the monastic institution and its economic patrons. I argue here that a distinct concept of politeness can be gleaned from the narratives in these texts, despite the lack of such a category in the tradition's own account of itself. To illustrate this point, I analyze several stories concerned with the proper deportment of monastics, demonstrating that the standards for monastic behavior were sometimes at odds with the expectations of the lay communities that supported them.


We present analyses showing that HMEANT is a reliable, accurate and fine-grained semantic frame based human MT evaluation metric with high inter-annotator agreement (IAA) and correlation with human adequacy judgments, despite only requiring a minimal training of about 15 minutes for lay annotators. Previous work shows that the IAA on the semantic role labeling (SRL) subtask within HMEANT is over 70%. In this paper we focus on (1) the IAA on the semantic role alignment task and (2) the overall IAA of HMEANT. Our results show that the IAA on the alignment task of HMEANT is over 90% when humans align SRL output from the same SRL annotator, which shows that the instructions on the alignment task are sufficiently precise, although the overall IAA where humans align SRL output from different SRL annotators falls to only 61% due to the pipeline effect on the disagreement in the two annotation task. We show that instead of manually aligning the semantic roles using an automatic algorithm not only helps maintaining the overall IAA of HMEANT at 70%, but also provides a finer-grained assessment on the phrasal similarity of the semantic role fillers. This suggests that HMEANT equipped with automatic alignment is reliable and accurate for humans to evaluate MT adequacy while achieving higher correlation with human adequacy judgments than HTER.


One of the remarkable characteristics of the drug lexicon is its elusive nature. In order to communicate information related to drugs or drug trafficking, the community uses several terms that are mostly unknown to regular people, or even to the authorities. For instance, the terms jolly green, joystick, or jive are used to refer to marijuana. The selection of such terms is not necessarily a random or senseless process, but a communicative strategy in which figurative language plays a relevant role. In this study, we describe an ongoing research to identify drug-related terms by applying machine learning techniques. To this end, a data set regarding drug trafficking in Spanish was built. This data set was used to train a word embedding model to identify terms used by the community to creatively refer to drugs and related matters. The initial findings show an interesting repository of terms created to consciously veil drug-related contents by using figurative language devices, such as metaphor or metonymy. These findings can provide preliminary evidence to be applied by law agencies in order to address actions against crime, drug transactions on the internet, illicit activities, or human trafficking.


What are the effectiveness, benefits, and harms of therapies used to address core and associated symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in children two to 12 years of age?


In this paper, we present a new color image regularization method using a rotating smoothing filter. This approach combines a pixel classification method, which roughly determines if a pixel belongs to a homogenous region or an edge with an anisotropic perceptual edge detector capable of computing two precise diffusion directions. Using a now classical formulation, image regularization is here treated as a variational model, where successive iterations of associated PDE (Partial Differential Equation) are equivalent to a diffusion process. Our model uses two kinds of diffusion: isotropic and anisotropic diffusion. Anisotropic diffusion is accurately controlled near edges and corners, while isotropic diffusion is applied to smooth regions either homogeneous or corrupted by noise. A comparison of our approach with other regularization methods applied on real images demonstrate that our model is able to efficiently restore images as well as handle diffusion, and at the same time preserve edges and corners well.


Temperature-dependent Brillouin scattering studies have been carried out on $ La_{ \mathrm{0.77}} Ca_{ \mathrm{0.23}}MnO_{ \mathrm{3}} $across the paramagnetic insulator-ferromagnetic metal (I-M) transition (T-C ~ 230 K). The spectra show modes corresponding to a surface Rayleigh wave (SRW) and a high velocity pseudo-surface wave (HVPSAW) along with bulk acoustic waves (B1 and B2). The Brillouin shifts associated with the SRW and HVPSAW increase,whereas the B1 and B2 frequencies decrease, below T-C. The temperature dependence of the SRW and HVPSAW modes is related to the increase in the elastic constant C-11 across the I-M transition. The decrease in frequency across the I-M transition of the bulk modes is understood to be due to enhanced self-energy corrections as a result of increased magnon-phonon interaction across the I-M transition. Correspondingly,these modes show a large increase in the full width at half maximum(FWHM) as the temperature decreases. We also observe a central peak whose width is maximum at T-C.


Dental personnel (DP) may be exposed to pathogens during dental treatment, either through contact contaminated equipment, or with blood and respiratory secretion. On the other hand, health care professionals are constantly exposed to pathogens and opportunists in their work environment. Consequently, the dental healthcare environment is connected with the risk of exposure to biological agents both for patients and dental workers, and involves a wide number of microorganisms that can be present in biological matrices (gingival fluids, saliva, blood), contaminated and/or non-sanitized surfaces, water used in the dental unit, or emitted by patients suffering or carrier of a transmissible disease. The main determinants of exposure to biological agents in dentistry are related, therefore, to several factors, such as the lack in the application of disinfection/sterilization procedures for surfaces, reusable tools, water, etc.; the lack in the use of protective equipment by workers; an insufficient or inefficient training of personnel; the use of non-targeted, too diluted, or expired biocides. Therefore, each single patient needs to be treated as a potential communicable infectious disease carrier and each case must receive high level of attention in compliance with preventive and hygiene standards, following disinfection and sterilization procedures, and always wearing personal protective equipment. The goal of this article was to discuss on the infection risks related to dental practice both for patients and workers, and to evaluate the state of the art and future perspectives, with particular attention to disinfection procedures, for occupational biological hazards and HAIs prevention in this setting.


Based on a Freedom of Information request with data from 75 per cent of all English children's services departments covering over half a million children, this paper shows that 22.5 per cent of children born in the 2009–10 financial year were referred to children's social care before their fifth birthday. Three-quarters of them were at some point assessed, almost two-thirds found to be in need and a quarter formally investigated. These findings show the full extent of children's involvement in children's social care before the age of five. One in every nine children born in 2009–10 was suspected by social workers of being abused and this high level of involvement is only justifiable if it is demonstrably reducing harm and promoting well-being of children— an outcome which is contested. Early Help's introduction was associated with high proportions of children being referred and assessed and rapidly increasing numbers of investigations, thus questioning its ability to prevent entry to the child protection system. The paper calls for a change from the current emphasis on individualised and investigative approaches to child protection in order to provide an effective and humane response to children, the majority of whom live in families affected by high levels of deprivation and poverty.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of CNC routing, using different parameters with the Taguchi experimental design, on the surface quality of various wooden (pine, spruce, and beech) edge-glued panels (EGP). The study evaluated five processing parameters: cutting direction, cutting depth, cutting width, feed rate, and spindle rotation speed, and their effects on surface roughness on pine, spruce, and beech EGP. Based on the results of statistical analysis of the burr surface roughness values, the mentioned parameters affected panels at varying levels. It was seen that the parameters were only responsible for ~34% (Rz) of the roughness on the surface of pine EGP, ~49% (Rz) of spruce EGP, and ~27% (Rq) of beech EGP. Statistically important parameters were as follows: cutting direction for pine, cutting depth (tip diameter) and feed rate for spruce, and cutting direction and feed rate for beech.


To the Editor .—In regard to the article by Miedema and Kelly 1 in the March 1992 issue of theArchives, it should be made clear that humans were created with a Y ("Roux") juncture of the fused common bile and pancreatic duct, which jointly discharge their "irritating alkaline contents" (hormones, enzymes, and secretagogues) into the second portion of the duodenum. Reflux into the organs of origin, the acid-free gastric remnant, and the acid-gastric reservoir is inhibited by two independently and synergistically competent mechanisms, the sphincter of Oddi and the pylorus. Surgeons have deferred from respecting the latter force since it was first resected in 1881, all the while displaying much concern for such elements as sphincters and cardiac, anal, and ileocecal valves. The authors stated that "After a 12-hour fast the dogs are placed in a supine position...." To equate ingress into and egress from the stomach of the


Deinococcus geothermalis is a moderate thermophillic radiation resistant bacterium producing greater abundance of sugar metabolism enzymes than other Deinococcus species. In this study, optimal condition for xylanolytic activity of D. geothermalis was determined and xylooligosaccharides from oat spelt, beechwood, and birchwood xylan hydrolysates by this organism were analyzed through HPLC. Reducing sugar yield was increased in the order of beechwood, birchwood, and oat spelt xylan. D. geothermalis displayed maximal xylanolytic activity at 40°C and pH 8.0. Magnesium ion increased xylanolytic activity upto 7.5 fold. Six kinds of xylooligosaccharides (xylose, xylobios, xylotriose, xylotetraose, xylopentaose, and xylohexalose) were detected from beechwood and birchwood xylan reaction products. Among them, xylose was the major product. However, only three kinds of xylooligosaccharides (xylose, xylopentaose, and xylohexalose) were clearly detected from oat spelt xylan. Gamma-ray (50 kGy) treatment of beechwood xylan, birchwood xylan and oat spelt xylan increased xylanolytic activity of D. geothermalis. The results indicate that D. geothermalis and pretreatment of radiation is useful for xylooligosaccharides production.


Credible fiscal plans that aim at restoring fiscal sustainability will be essential to counter the present increase in debt levels all across Europe. The macroeconomic scenario of such plans will be crucial. This paper assesses whether there is any advantage in delegating (part of) such power to supra-national forecasts. The evidence on the relative performance of the European Commission's (EC) growth forecast is rather mixed, with considerable variation at the country level. Some national government forecasts (France, Italy, and Portugal) perform worse in terms of descriptive statistics than the EC forecast for all forecast horizons. For the year ahead the EC growth forecast is better than the official forecasts for almost ¾ of the EU-15 countries. All in all, since the EC forecast appears to be a good benchmark, in order to reduce the (optimistic) forecast bias, national governments could be forced to justify any large (optimistic) deviation from this benchmark when presenting their respective national stability and growth programmes.


Background Currently, health care systems worldwide are challenged with providing care to an increasing number of migrants, refugees, and displaced persons. In this article, we report on disease burden and drug prescription patterns in a large refugee cohort in Germany. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of anonymized medical records including demographic data, diagnoses, and drug prescriptions in two refugee reception centres between 2015 and 2019. Refugees and migrants received medical assistance exclusively through the on-site clinics. Thus, this study represents all medical visits of the housed residents. Results In total, n = 15531 diagnoses from n = 4858 patients in a cohort of n = 10431 accommodated refugees were recorded. N = 11898 medications were prescribed. Overall, 29.8% of all refugees sought medical attention. Half of the patients were female (49.6%), the average age was 23.8 years (SD [standard deviation] 17.0, min 0, max 81), and 41.5% were minors (<18 years). Most patients had Middle Eastern or Northern African origin (63.9%). The largest proportion of diagnoses belonged to the ICD (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) category "R" (miscellaneous, 33.5%), followed by diseases of the respiratory system (category "J", 16.5%), or the musculoskeletal system (category "M", 7.1%). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were most frequently prescribed. Conclusions This analysis in two large refugee centres in Germany shows that about one third of refugees seek medical attention upon initial arrival. Complaints are manifold, with a high prevalence of respiratory infections.


This paper presents a comparative theoretical study of the performance of a set of controllers for improving the speed of actuators based on shape memory alloys (SMAs), especially on Nitinol (NiTi). To prevent overheating and thermal fatigue, these controllers take into account the maximum heating current at which a NiTi element can safely be heated. The thermal behavior of NiTi is first modeled for calculating the time response and, based on the suggested model, we show that hysteresis due to phase transformation can be neglected for rapid heating, thus simplifying the model to a linear problem. We present then the design and performance of a set of linear controllers. Simulation results show a substantial increase in actuation speed.


In these notes, I first discuss some recent perspectives on the relationship between technical change and economies of scale. I then discuss the issues of scale economies from the perspective of the Hayami-Ruttan work on induced innovation. In the third section, I raise the question of why farms are so small. I then tum to the issue of potential technological constraints on labor and land productivity. In a final section, I raise several questions about research on farm structure.


We have extracted the ratio | V ub | / | V cb | from a combined study of the available inputs on B → ( π, ρ, ω ) (cid:96)ν (cid:96) and B ( B s ) → ( D ( ∗ ) , D ( ∗ ) s ) (cid:96)ν (cid:96) ( (cid:96) = µ or e ) decays. We have done our analysis with and without the inclusion of the available experimental results on the branching fraction BR ( B s → Kµν µ ) or the ratio of the rates Γ( B s → K(cid:96)ν (cid:96) ) / Γ( B s → D s (cid:96)ν (cid:96) ). We have used all the available experimental data on the branching fractions in different q 2 -bins, the available theory inputs on the form factors from lattice and the light cone sum rule (LCSR) approach; analysed the data in different possible scenarios and presented the results. From a combined analysis of all the b → c(cid:96)ν (cid:96) exclusive decays, we have obtained | V cb | = (41 . 3 ± 0 . 6) × 10 − 3 and from all the b → u(cid:96)ν (cid:96) modes, we obtain | V ub | = (3 . 50 ± 0 . 09) × 10 − 3 which changes to | V ub | = (3 . 55 ± 0 . 10) × 10 − 3 after dropping BR ( B s → Kµν µ ). We hence report the values of the ratio | V ub | / | V cb | = 0 . 085 ± 0 . 003 and 0 . 086 ± 0 . 003 with and without the input from B s → Kµν µ modes, respectively. We have also predicted the ratio Γ( B s → K(cid:96)ν (cid:96) ) / Γ( B s → D s (cid:96)ν (cid:96) ) using the fit results. In addition, we provide the predictions of BR ( B s → Kµν µ ) and BR ( B → ( ρ, ω ) (cid:96)ν (cid:96) ) in the Standard Model (SM) in small q 2 -bins.


Fluor-chlorellestadite solid solutions Ca(10)(SiO(4))(3)(SO(4))(3)Cl(2-x)F(x), serving as prototype crystalline matrices for the fixation of hazardous fly ash, were synthesized and characterized by powder X-ray and neutron diffraction (PXRD and PND), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The lattice parameters of the ellestadites vary linearly with composition and show the expected shrinkage of unit cell volume as fluorine (IR = 1.33 Å) displaces chlorine (IR = 1.81 Å). FTIR spectra indicate little or no OH(-) in the solid solutions. All compositions conform to P6(3)/m symmetry where F(-) is located at the 2a (0, 0, (1)/(4)) position, while Cl(-) is displaced out of the 6h Ca(2) triangle plane and occupies 4e (0, 0, z) split positions with z ranging from 0.336(3) to 0.4315(3). Si/S randomly occupy the 6h tetrahedral site. Ellestadites rich in Cl (x ≤ 1.2) show an overall deficiency in halogens (<2 atom per formula unit), particularly Cl as a result of CaCl(2) volatilization, with charge balance achieved by the creation of Ca vacancies (Ca(2+) + 2Cl(-) →□(Ca) + 2□(Cl)) leading to the formula Ca(10-y)(SiO(4))(3)(SO(4))(3)Cl(2-x-2y)F(x). For F-rich compositions the vacancies are found at Ca(2), while for Cl-rich ellestadites, vacancies are at Ca(1). It is likely the loss of CaCl(2) which leads tunnel anion vacancies promotes intertunnel positional disorder, preventing the formation of a P2(1)/b monoclinic dimorph, analogous to that reported for Ca(10)(PO(4))(6)Cl(2). Trends in structure with composition were analyzed using crystal-chemical parameters, whose systematic variations served to validate the quality of the Rietveld refinements.


 Abstract— Cloud Computing is a technology where users can remotely store their data into the cloud environment so as to have the on-demand applications and services from the common pool of computing resources. By this, users can be relieved from the burden of local data storage and maintenance. However maintaining data integrity over Cloud environment is a very challenging task. Our proposed public auditability technique for cloud data security is of significant importance so that users can route to an external audit party to check the data integrity of outsourced data when it is needed. In this paper we make use of the public key based homomorphic authenticator with random mask method to achieve the privacy public auditability for data storage security in cloud and also with the fair share algorithm we are maintaining fair network bandwidth allocation. Our proposed public auditability and fair share technique achieves high security, performance, and also provide less communication and computation overhead. .


Along with many Pacific Rim cities in Australia and North America, Auckland, New Zealand has enacted an urban growth management strategy premised on two concepts: "liveability" and a "quality compact city". The effective implementation of this strategy will, in part, require higher density housing typologies to be developed within the existing suburban fabric. The urban amenities in a neighbourhood play an important role in providing a sense of liveability for residents. This paper examines these issues by evaluating and reporting on key outcomes from 57 face-to-face qualitative interviews with residents who currently live in medium density housing in four Auckland suburbs; Takapuna, Kingsland, Botany Downs, and Te Atatu Peninsula. Findings consider the trade-offs residents make when choosing to live in medium density housing typologies, how they value the urban amenities in their neighbourhood and the role they think these amenities play in their location satisfaction. Conclusions are drawn around how the resident-derived information may inform the market on the supply side of housing, and comment is made about how these preferences may, or may not, respond to the objectives of the underlying urban management strategies involved.


Abstract. Soil degradation is a global challenge that is intrinsically linked to climate change and food security. Soil degradation has many causes, but all degraded soils suffer from poor soil structure. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals 12, 13 and 15 strive towards responsible consumption and production, building a zero-waste circular economy, achieving net zero by 2030 and reversing land degradation to protect one of our most valuable assets, soil. Global efforts to stop and even reverse soil degradation require sources of both organic and inorganic materials to rebuild soil structure. The increasing global production of water treatment residual (WTR), an organo-mineral waste product from clean water treatment, means that the sustainable reuse of this waste provides a potential timely opportunity. Recycling or reuse of WTR to land is commonplace across the world but is subject to limitations based on the chemical properties of the material. Very little work has focused on the physical impacts of Fe-WTR application and its potential to rebuild soil structure particularly improving its ability to hold water and resist the effects of flooding. This paper presents novel research in which the use of Fe-WTR and Fe-WTR/compost [1:1] co-amendment has shown to be beneficial for a soil's water retention, permeability, volume change, and strength properties. Application rates of WTR were 10 and 30 % by dry mass. Compared to the control soil, co-amended samples have 5.7 times the hydraulic conductivity (570 % improvement), 54 % higher shear strength and 25 % greater saturated water content. Single WTR amendment had 26 times the saturated hydraulic conductivity (2600 % improvement), 129 % higher shear strength and 13.7 % greater saturated water content. Data indicates that WTR can be added as a single amendment to significantly improve soil physical characteristics where shear strength and hydraulic conductivity are the most important factors in application. Although the co-application of Fe-WTR with compost provides a lesser improvement in shear strength and hydraulic conductivity compared to single WTR amendment, the co-amendment has the best water retention properties and provides supplementary organic content, which is beneficial for environmental applications where the soil health (i.e. ability to sustain ecosystem functions and support plants) is critical. We develop the term 'flood holding capacity' to holistically describe the physical ecosystem services that soil delivers, which incorporates not only the gravimetric water content but the extra water storage potential due to increases in volume that occur in organic rich soils, the transmissivity of the soil (hydraulic conductivity) and the shear strength of a soil, which determines how well a soil will resist the erosive forces of water movement.


Since the beginning of the century, there have been calls for the integration of traditional individualistic (micro) and management (macro) paradigms in Human Resource Management studies. In order to understand this so-called 'black box,' the HR field needs research which is more sensitive to institutional and cultural contexts, focusing on formal and informal relationships between employees, supervisors and HR managers and the means by which these organizational participants enable and motivate one another. This book presents advanced quantitative and mixed research methods that can be used to analyze integrated macro and micro paradigms within the field of Human Resource Management. Multi actor, social network and longitudinal research practices, among others, are explored. Readers will gain insight into the advantages and disadvantages of different research methods in order to evaluate which type is most suitable to their research. This book is suitable for both advanced researchers and graduate students.


The recent pandemic outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and associated with the pathology called COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), has now become one of the most strenuous health care challenges since the emergence of the three pandemics caused by influenza viruses during the past century. Throughout the clinical decision-making of COVID-19, laboratory tests are essential for supporting the screening, diagnosis, prognostication and therapeutic monitoring of this severe infectious disease. Serological testing, that reflects the humoral immune response developing after interaction between the host and the virus (or its components), enables to garner a vast array of clinical information which can be especially used in seroprevalence or seroconversion studies. To this end, the Task Force on COVID-19 of the Italian Society of Clinical Biochemistry and Clinical Molecular Biology (SIBioC) has endorsed a series of technical, practical and clinical ad interim recommendations, aimed at facilitating and optimizing the introduction, clinical usage and governance of SARS-CoV-2 serological immunoassays in routine practice.


Plato and the Virtue of Courage canvasses contemporary discussions of courage and offers a new and controversial account of Plato's treatment of the concept. Linda R. Rabieh examines Plato's two main thematic discussions of courage, in the Laches and the Republic, and discovers that the two dialogues together yield a coherent, unified treatment of courage that explores a variety of vexing questions: Can courage be separated from justice, so that one can act courageously while advancing an unjust cause? Can courage be legitimately called a virtue? What role does wisdom play in courage? What role does courage play in wisdom? Based on Plato's presentation, Rabieh argues that a refined version of traditional heroic courage, notwithstanding certain excesses to which it is prone, is worth honoring and cultivating for several reasons. Chief among these is that, by facilitating the pursuit of wisdom, such courage can provide a crucial foundation for the courage most deserving of the name.


Introduction: In an era of increasing accountability throughout our society, it is not surprising that questions about the efficacy and efficiency of our health care system are also being raised. Both functional and technical qualities have to be monitored and managed effectively.
Objectives: To enhance service effectiveness CHC/PHC health de-livery systems. To evaluate the quality of care rendered by CHC, PHCs, Sub centres, AWCs by IPHS guidelines, Likert's scale and WHO Assessment tool. To assess the health workforce in their ca-pabilities. Patient satisfaction in the quality of care.
Methodology: Out of the thirteen districts of Uttarakhand, the district of Dehradun has six blocks of which Doiwala is the largest block. A qualitative study design: One Community Health Centre namely CHC Doiwala, which has five Primary Health centres were studied using three different tools. (i) IPHS standards (ii) SARA (WHO) (iii) Likerts scale for patient satisfaction. However, in the COVID scenario some limitations have been considered in the study.
Results: The quality of health care in the healthcare delivery system has been assessed as per scale and has been found that factors of patient satisfaction, infrastructure and outcomes for assessment of quality are strong contending variables.
Conclusion: The PPP model has upgraded the healthcare system with substantial contribution from the private sector.


An optimization method is given for solving problems where a portion of the explicit mathematical form is unknown but can be evaluated. The solution scheme is an iterative process utilizing optimization and subsystem evaluation (such as via simulation). Conditions for the convergence of the iterative process are given. Several published application articles are noted as using this basic methodology. The method is superior to most other numerical optimization procedures. However, the class of problems for which the method is applicable is restricted to problems with enough known structure to generate a convergent iterative procedure. Three numerical examples are given and comparisons made with several other methods of optimizing unknown systems.


: Multi-fidelity Kriging model is a promising technique in surrogate-based design as it can balance the model accuracy and cost of sample preparation by fusing low- and high-fidelity data. However, the cost for building a multi-fidelity Kriging model increases significantly with the increase of the problem dimension. To attack this issue, an efficient Hierarchical Kriging modeling method is proposed. In building the low-fidelity model, the maximal information coefficient is utilized to calculate the relative value of the hyperparameter. With this, the maximum likelihood estimation problem for determining the hyperparameters is transformed as a one-dimension optimization problem, which can be solved in an efficient manner and thus improve the modeling efficiency significantly. A local search is involved further to exploit the search space of hyperparameters to improve the model accuracy. The high-fidelity model is built in a similar manner with the hyperparameter of the low-fidelity model served as the relative value of the hyperparameter for high-fidelity model. The performance of the proposed method is compared with the conventional tuning strategy, by testing them over ten analytic problems and an engineering problem of modeling the isentropic efficiency of a compressor rotor. The empirical results demonstrate that the modeling time of the proposed method is reduced significantly without sacrificing the model accuracy. For the modeling of the isentropic efficiency of the compressor rotor, the cost saving associated with the proposed method is about 90% compared with the conventional strategy. Meanwhile, the proposed method achieves higher accuracy.


Groundwater resources are among the most important water supplies for human beings especially in arid and semi-arid regions where precipitation is scarce. These blessings are also vital for life sustenance as well as sustainable development in industry and agriculture. The quality of groundwater bears a great concern due to its key role in human health and safety therefore studying and monitoring the qualitative parameters of these resources is a useful and effective approach to tackle the related challenges. In this study, all the available data of Marand Plain's aquifer were collected from the Regional Water Company. Checking the available dataset, a temporal range of 12 years (2002-2013) was chosen to be integrated into GIS. In ArcGIS, the map layers of the qualitative parameters were produced applying the Geostatistical Analyst tool and an appropriate interpolation method of the Ordinary Kriging model was selected to produce the interpolated surfaces for qualitative parameters. Finally, the change detection layer of each parameter was extracted. The change detection layers show the spatial fluctuations of groundwater quality over time. The temporal trends of the quality indices of the study area were also drawn. Based on the results the quality of Marand aquifer varies in different patterns spatially over the plain. The temporal analysis results suggest that in general, the water quality of the aquifer is in an inappropriate situation in which the groundwater quality has been deteriorated gradually during the study period.


We examine entry in a market-entry timing model. Early entry allows a firm to enjoy a higher instantaneous post-entry pro t, while later entry has the benefi t of lower entry costs. In our model, firms can be asymmetric in terms of costs. Specifically, a more efficient rm enters with lower present value of costs. First, we show that entry order is always efficient in the duopoly game while in the triopoly model an efficient entry order could be violated. Moreover, one of the most notable results is that in the triopoly model we generate the necessary condition for an efficient order of entry. In addition, we explore how the rents earned by duopolists relative to a monopolist (the structure of pro ts in the market) impact the order of entry. These results would be useful for future empirical studies of market entry. Furthermore, our paper investigates the welfare implications of the entry in equilibrium by exploring the dynamics of the initial entry time in duopoly and triopoly markets. Previous studies found that the leader's time of entry is typically inefficiently too late. Our results show that unlike in the symmetric case, in the presence of asymmetric fi rms, fi rst entry is not necessarily inefficiently delayed, especially in markets with higher duopoly effects (which capture duopoly rents relative to those for a monopolist) and with fi rms that are more differentiated. This result implies that encouraging an extra fi rm to enter in an oligopolistic market could shorten the period consumers have to wait for new products, and potentially increase social welfare.


The dental technology education in Canada is described through a brief introductory historical overview with the emphasis placed on the present status of dental technology teaching institutions, accreditation system, admission policies, curriculum content, requirements for registration or certification and the comparison of provincial board examinations. The role and the responsibility of organized dentistry is stressed on shaping the future trends in dental technology.


A numerical modeling procedure was used to quantify calibration chamber size and boundary
eects for cone penetration testing in sand. In the numerical analyses, chamber diameter
and boundary conditions were varied to investigate the eects of chamber size and boundary
conditions on cone tip resistance. These analyses show that, for loose sand, a chamber-tocone
diameter ratio of 33 is sucient for the boundaries to have no in
uence on the cone tip
measurements. However, for very dense sand, the numerical analyses show that the chamberto-
cone diameter ratio should be more than 100 to ensure that boundaries have no in
uence
on cone tip measurements. Numerical analysis indicates that, not only the sand relative density
but its stress state is also a signi cant factor in in
uencing the chamber size eects. The
results of the numerical analyses were compared to existing empirically based relationships.
Suggestions are provided to reduce the eects of chamber size and boundaries on cone tip
resistance measurements in sand.


Working with qualified personnel means for each industrial company effectiveness and competitiveness. International standards and guidelines help to continue not only on the domestic market. In the recent years a considerable standardisation was made specially in the European Community. In the field of thermal spraying EN standards were and will be worked out, which fix the approval testing of thermal sprayers and the tasks and responsibilities of spraying co-ordinators. At the same time EWF guidelines were created to define the minimum requirements for training and educating spraying personnel. These standards and guidelines will be introduced, showing connections between them. Paper text in German.


Image fusion techniques are useful to integrate the geometric detail of a high-resolution panchromatic (PAN) image and the spectral information of a low-resolution multispectral (MSS) image, particularly important for understanding land use dynamics at larger scale (1:25000 or lower), which is required by the decision makers to adopt holistic approaches for regional planning. Fused images can extract features from source images and provide more information than one scene of MSS image. High spectral resolution aids in identification of objects more distinctly while high spatial resolution allows locating the objects more clearly. The geoinformatics technologies with an ability to provide high-spatial-spectral-resolution data helps in inventorying, mapping, monitoring and sustainable management of natural resources.
Fusion module in GRDSS, taking into consideration the limitations in spatial resolution of MSS data and spectral resolution of PAN data, provide high-spatial-spectral-resolution remote sensing images required for land use mapping on regional scale. GRDSS is a freeware GIS Graphic User Interface (GUI) developed in Tcl/Tk is based on command line arguments of GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) with the functionalities for raster analysis, vector analysis, site analysis, image processing, modeling and graphics visualization. It has the capabilities to capture, store, process, analyse, prioritize and display spatial and temporal data.


Background and purpose: Although phase-contrast MR angiography (MRA) provides some information regarding hemodynamics of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), but mos t Conventional MR angiographic techniques have not been helpful in this respect. We attempted to determine the value of MR digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in assessing AVM hemodynamics. Soin this retrospective observational study was carried out to compare MRA and DSA in diagnosis of cerebral AVM . Methods and materials: It was a retrospective observational study conducted in the Department of Neurology Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Dhaka during the period of January 2010 to December 2010. Thirty patients with haemorrhagic stroke age ranging from 13 to 65 years were selected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria as the study sample. MRA and DSA were done in all the selected patients. Results: The mean age of the patients of haemorrhagic stroke was 30.3±14.3years and male female ratio was 2.7:1.The venous drainage of AVM 13 and 12 were superficial and deep respectively evaluated 100% by MRA. In the diagnosis of cerebral AVM  nidussize S 1 6cm, 100% sensitive in the diagnosis of superficial and deep venous drainage AVM. Regarding the eloquence of brain area 15 was no eloquence by both MRA and DSA and identification of eloquence of brain area sensitivity 73.3% and accuracy 86.7%.The feeding vessels main vessels was found 22(73.3%) in both DSA and MRA findings. Distal vessels was seen 8(26.7%) in DSA but not seen in MRA findings. Intranidal aneurysm and Angiopathic AVM were seen 3(10.0%) and 4(13.3%) respectively in DSA, Conclusion: This study was carried out to diagnose the patients presented with cerebral AVM by MRA and DSA. MRA could not be evaluated flow status of AVM, distal feeding arteries, intranidal aneurysm and angiopathic AVM which could be detected by DSA. So, DSA is superior to MRA in diagnosis of cerebral AVM. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjmed.v24i2.18699 Bangladesh J Medicine 2013; 24 : 51-58


It is possible that no catastrophe has mobilized the global ocean science and coastal emergency management communities more than the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Though the Pacific tsunami threat was recognized, and a warning system had been in place since 1965, there was no warning system in the Indian Ocean, and almost 230,000 people perished. More broadly, the event highlighted critical gaps in global tsunami science and observation systems. In 2004, real-time coastal and deep-ocean observation systems were almost nonexistent. Tsunami sources were inferred based on rough seismic parameters. Since then, tremendous strides have been made under the auspices of IOC/UNESCO toward better understanding tsunami mechanisms, deploying advanced real-time tsunami observation systems, and establishing tsunami warning and mitigation systems for the four main ocean basins at risk from tsunamis. Nevertheless, significant detection, measurement, and forecast uncertainties remain to meet emergency response and community needs. A new generation of ocean sensing capabilities presents an opportunity to address several of these uncertainties. Ocean bottom pressures can be measured over dense, multisensor grids linking stand-alone buoy systems with emerging capabilities like fiber-optic cables. The increasing number of coastal sea-level stations can better verify forecasts and account for local variability. In addition, GNSS sensors may be able to provide solid-earth data needed to define seismic tsunami sources more precisely in the short timescales required. When combined with advances in seismology, other emerging techniques, and state-of-the-art modeling and computational resources, these capabilities will enable more timely and accurate tsunami detection and measurement to meet identified user needs and save lives. Because of these advances in detection and measurement, the opportunity exists to greatly reduce and/or quantify uncertainties associated with forecasting tsunamis. Providing more timely and accurate information related to tsunami location, arrival time, height, inundation, and duration would improve public trust and confidence and fundamentally alter tsunami emergency response. Additionally, this capability could be integrated with related fields (e.g., storm surge, sea-level rise, tide predictions, and ocean forecasting) to develop and deploy one continuous, real-time, accurate depiction of the always moving boundary that separates ocean from coast, wet from dry, and, sometimes, life from death.


The hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome is known to contain four conserved and overlapped open reading frames (ORFs) encoding the viral core, polymerase (P), surface (S), and X proteins. Whether HBV encodes other proteins has long been a major interest in the field. Using (32)P-labeling of an introduced protein kinase A site attached to the N- or C-terminus of the HBV polymerase gene, a 43-kDa P-S fusion protein was detected in cell lysate, secreted virions, and 22-nm subviral particles. Immunobiochemical studies showed that the 43-kDa protein contains the epitopes of the N-terminus of polymerase and most parts of the surface proteins. This 43-kDa protein was shown to be a glycoprotein, similar to the surface protein. RT-PCR and sequence analyses identified a spliced mRNA which was derived from pregenomic RNA with a deletion of 454 nucleotides (nt) from nt 2447 to 2902. This splice event creates a P-S fusion ORF. This finding is consistent with the result obtained from an immunobiochemical study. Mutations at the splice donor or acceptor site on the HBV genome abrogated the production of the 43-kDa protein. These mutants had no effect on viral replication in transfected HuH-7 cells. However, this P-S fusion protein is able to substitute for the LS protein in virion maturation. On the basis of these results, we conclude that the 43-kDa protein is a polymerase-surface fusion protein encoded by a spliced RNA. Similar to the LS protein, the 43-kDa P-S fusion protein is a structural protein of HBV and might play a role in the HBV life cycle.


Certificate-based cryptography is a useful primitive that combines traditional public key cryptography (PKC) and identity-based cryptography (IBC). It not only solves the key escrow problem inherent in IBC, but also simplifies the certificate problem in traditional PKC. So far, several certificate-based signature (CBS) schemes have been proposed in the literature. However, none of them consider the malicious certificate authority (CA) attack. Cryptanalysis shows that two previous CBS schemes without random oracles fail in achieving unforgeability under such attack. To overcome the security weakness in these schemes, the authors propose an improved CBS scheme that can withstand malicious CA attacks. They prove it to be existentially unforgeable against chosen message attacks under the computational Diffie–Hellman assumption in the standard model. Compared with the previous standard-model CBS schemes, the proposed scheme has obvious advantages in both the computation and communication efficiency.


With the development of biological identification for human beings, it also develops such as fingerprint, facial recognition, and iris identification. Scientists and zoologists must be more content with the cumbersome ways of identifying previously existing animals. Old methods such as ear cutting, chip implantation, and nose print recognition harm animals and humans. It has to catch the animals or needed professionals for individual identification (e.g, identify sharks by taking photos of their fins). Therefore, more and more scientists and engineers are trying to develop more efficient methods for individual animal identification. Of course, there are also many very constructive cases. Thus, this literature review will provide information about three regions of the latest recognition technology: radio-frequency identification (RFID), animal facial identification, and iris recognition.


A new approach to the extraction of navigation information from Loran-C radionavigation signals is described. A reduced-rate time-reversed sequence is derived from the RF signal and processed by a finite-impulse response (FIR) filter. It is shown that proper design of the FIR filter and proper control of the sampling point guarantee the rejection of skywave contamination, and achieve excellent rejection of continuous-wave interference (CWI). The process is computationally efficient.


The demonstration of the first enzyme-based electrode to detect glucose, published in 1967 by S. J. Updike and G. P. Hicks, kicked off huge efforts in building sensors where biomolecules are exploited as native or modified to achieve new or improved sensing performances. In this growing area, bionanotechnology has become prominent in demonstrating how nanomaterials can be tailored into responsive nanostructures using biomolecules and integrated into sensors to detect different analytes, e.g., biomarkers, antibiotics, toxins and organic compounds as well as whole cells and microorganisms with very high sensitivity. Accounting for the natural affinity between biomolecules and almost every type of nanomaterials and taking advantage of well-known crosslinking strategies to stabilize the resulting hybrid nanostructures, biosensors with broad applications and with unprecedented low detection limits have been realized. This review depicts a comprehensive collection of the most recent biochemical and biophysical strategies for building hybrid devices based on bioconjugated nanomaterials and their applications in label-free detection for diagnostics, food and environmental analysis.


Tumour metastasis is the leading cause of death within cancer patients. Therefore the development of new small molecules targeting this process is crucial in the therapeutic arsenal. Migrastatin is a biologically active natural product isolated from Streptomyces that shows a high potency inhibition of tumor cell migration. Upon completing the first total synthesis of migrastatin, sets of structurally simplified synthetic analogs were developed. In the light of extensive in vitro screening leading to informative structureαactivity relationship, a new generation of analogs was launched which demonstrated higher levels of in vitro inhibitory activity, stability and synthetic accessibility. We investigated two promising ether-derivative analogs, the migrastatin core ether (ME) and the carboxymethyl-ME (CME). Both compounds exhibited high efficacy in blocking tumor cell migration in vitro with IC50 values in the micromolar range, more than two orders of magnitude less than the LD50 values. In the light of these results, in vivo efficacy of these compounds in inhibiting tumor metastasis was assessed in human tumor xenograft models established in NOD/SCID IL2R gamma null (NSG) mice. First in a human Small-Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) primary xenograft model, developed by subcutaneous injection of tumor cells, ME and CME compounds were found to be highly potent in inhibiting overall metastasis even at the lowest dosage used (degree of inhibition: 96% and 99%, for ME and CME at 10mg/kg or 12mg/kg respectively). Next, in a human Colorectal Carcinoma (CRC) xenograft model, developed by intrasplenic injection of tumor cells, ME at the highest dosage (100mg/kg) was found to significantly reduce the metastatic spread to the liver, the lungs and the GI tract (degree of inhibition: 97%, 84% and 95% respectively). CME and ME selectively inhibited tumor cell migration in vitro and in vivo but neither compound inhibited tumor proliferation at the primary site of tumor injection or at the metastatic site if tumor metastases occurred prior inhibition by drug treatment. All together these very encouraging findings suggest that these analogs have promise as potent anti-metastatic agents in epithelial tumors. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5638. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5638


As a method to optimize the investment for computational resources, cloud bursting is collecting a lot of attention, where the organizations utilize the cloud computing environment in on-demand fashion, while preserving the minimum amount of on-premise resources for sensitive data processing. For the practical cloud bursting, we need to achieve 1) secure job / data sharing, 2) uniform job execution environment for on-premise and cloud, and 3) on-demand automatic deployment of the execution environment on the cloud. To enable these items, we propose a meta-scheduling system called CloudQ. CloudQ 1) uses cloud object storage for data sharing, 2) utilizes container images to provide uniform job execution environment, and 3) automatically deploys an execution environment on the cloud.


The use of splitter blade as a passive flow control mechanism in the design of separation free aggressive annular diffuser is explored through computational fluid dynamics simulations. The fundamental working principle of a splitter blade in case of a two-dimensional rectangular diffuser and an annular diffuser is discussed. The effects of splitter blade configuration on the end-wall adverse pressure gradients are discussed. An aggressive diffuser design space is identified with ducts of maximum slope of 50 degree and maximum divergence angle between the outer and inner walls of 10 degree for axial-length to inlet height ratio ranging from 1.25 to 2.5. One or more splitter blades are employed in the duct to eliminate flow separation for all the ducts in the aggressive design space considered. Requirement of number of splitter blades in the aggressive design space is demarcated. Performance charts for the ducts in this aggressive design space are also established.


The traditional search engines like In most cases, a Web page contains multiple semantic topics and a natural approach would be not to consider it as an atomic element. It is more natural to reason and operate with the semantic blocks in which a Web page can be decomposed, each block corresponding to a di®erent topics, as the smallest units of information. Google , Yahoo , Altavista , etc. which gained a huge success during the last decade, were initially designed in order to easily locate and retrieve any information available on the Web. The computer engineers did not considered at that moment, the possibility that information meaning to be understood by the machines. Due to the huge amount of information currently available on the Web, the automatic intelligent retrieval of information becomes a tedious task: the user shall understand, combine, interpret, select and evaluate this information.


Abstract. The effect of spatial resolution of digital terrain models (DTM) on topography and soil erosion modelling is well documented for low resolutions. Nowadays, the availability of high spatial resolution DTM from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) opens new horizons for detailed assessment of soil erosion with hydrological models, but effects of DTM resolution on model outputs at this scale have not been systematically tested. This study combines plot scale soil erosion measurements, UAV-derived DTM, and spatially explicit soil erosion modelling to select an appropriate spatial resolution based on allowable loss of information. During 39 precipitation events, sediment and soil samples were collected on five bounded and unbounded plots and four land covers (forest, fallow, maize, and eroded bare land). Additional soil samples were collected across a 220 ha watershed to generate soil maps. Precipitation was collected by two rain gauges and vegetation was mapped. Two UAV campaigns over the watershed resulted in a 0.60 m spatial resolution DTM used for resampling to 1, 2, 4, 8, and 15 m; and a multispectral orthomosaic to generate a land cover map. The OpenLISEM model was calibrated at plot level at 1 m resolution and then extended to the watershed level at the different DTM resolutions. Resampling the 1 m DTM to lower resolutions resulted in an overall reduction of slope. This reduction was driven by migration of pixels from higher to lower slope values; its magnitude was proportional to resolution. At the watershed outlet, 1 and 2 m resolution models exhibited the largest hydrograph and sedigraph peaks, total runoff and soil loss; they proportionally decreased with resolution. Sedigraphs were more sensitive than hydrographs to spatial resolution, particularly at the highest resolutions. The highest resolution models exhibited a wider range of predicted soil loss due to their larger number of pixels and steeper slopes. The proposed evaluation method showed to be appropriate and transferable for soil erosion modelling studies, indicating that 4 m resolution (


For a map (function) $F(x):\ftwo^n\rightarrow\ftwo^n$ and a given $y$ in the image of $F$ the problem of \emph{local inversion} of $F$ is to find all inverse images $x$ in $\ftwo^n$ such that $y=F(x)$. In Cryptology, such a problem arises in Cryptanalysis of One way Functions (OWFs). The well known TMTO attack in Cryptanalysis is a probabilistic algorithm for computing one solution of local inversion using $O(\sqrt N)$ order computation in offline as well as online for $N=2^n$. This paper proposes a complete algorithm for solving the local inversion problem which uses linear complexity for a unique solution in a periodic orbit. The algorithm is shown to require an offline computation to solve a hard problem (possibly requiring exponential computation) and an online computation dependent on $y$ that of repeated forward evaluation $F(x)$ on points $x$ in $\ff_{2^n}$ which is polynomial time at each evaluation. However the forward evaluation is repeated at most as many number of times as the Linear Complexity of the sequence $\{y,F(y),\ldots\}$ to get one possible solution when this sequence is periodic. All other solutions are obtained in chains $\{e,F(e),\ldots\}$ for all points $e$ in the Garden of Eden (GOE) of the map $F$. Hence a solution $x$ exists iff either the former sequence is periodic or a solution occurs in a chain starting from a point in GOE. The online computation then turns out to be polynomial time $O(L^k)$ in the linear complexity $L$ of the sequence to compute one possible solution in a periodic orbit or $O(l)$ the chain length for a fixed $n$. Hence this is a complete algorithm for solving the problem of finding all rational solutions $x$ of the equation $F(x)=y$ for a given $y$ and a map $F$ in $\ff_{2^n}$.


Abstract : High quantum efficiency, robust photocathodes produce picosecond-pulsed, highcurrent electron beams for photoinjection applications like free electron lasers. In photoinjectors, a pulsed drive laser incident on the photocathode causes photoemission of short, dense bunches of electrons, which are then accelerated into a relativistic, high quality beam. Future free electron lasers demand reliable photocathodes with long-lived quantum efficiency at suitable drive laser wavelengths to maintain high current density. But faced with contamination, heating, and ion back-bombardment, the highest efficiency photocathodes find their delicate cesium-based coatings inexorably lost. In answer, the work herein presents careful, focused studies on cesium-based photocathodes particularly motivated by the cesium dispenser photocathode. This is a novel device comprised of an efficiently photoemissive, cesium-based coating deposited onto a porous sintered tungsten substrate, beneath which is a reservoir of elemental cesium. Under controlled heating cesium diffuses from the reservoir through the porous substrate and across the surface to replace cesium lost to harsh conditions -- recently shown to significantly extend the lifetime of cesium-coated metal cathodes. This work first reports experiments on coated metals to validate and refine an advanced theory of photoemission already finding application in beam simulation codes. Second, it describes a new theory of photoemission from much higher quantum efficiency cesium-based semiconductors and verifies its predictions with independent experiment. Third, it investigates causes of cesium loss from both coated metal and semiconductor photocathodes and reports remarkable rejuvenation of full quantum efficiency for contaminated cesium-coated surfaces, affirming the dispenser prescription of cesium resupply.


The indole-3-acetamide hydrolase gene (iaaH) of the limited-host range strain AG162, a biotype III strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens has been the subject of several studies and reviews, but its primary structure has not been previously reported. In the course of our own work we found that this gene hybridizes only weakly to a nucleic acid probe corresponding to the iaaH gene from a biotype I strain of A. tumefaciens. Analysis of the primary structure of the Ag162 iaaH gene revealed that it is diverse from biotype I iaaH genes and, surprisingly, also from the iaaH genes of previously characterized biotype III Agrobacterium strains.


Before a falling drop can contact a solid surface, it must displace the air beneath it. Recent calculations and experiments show that as the drop approaches the surface, the air fails to drain, and instead compresses. As the air compresses, the pressure in the gas layer deforms the surface of the drop, thus inhibiting liquid-solid contact. Ultimately, the liquid droplet skates over a nanometer-thin film of air at a strikingly high velocity. These dynamics take place at fleeting timescales and diminutive length-scales, and are obscured by the bulk of the drop, making experimental observation difficult. We directly image the dynamics of the liquid-air interface, and use a novel form of TIR microscopy to study the dynamics and stability of the thin film of air beneath the drop. We show that the stability of the air film governs a novel transition in droplet impact events.


This paper is a kind of observations' thesis on the role of psychological treatment of patients of the clinic of acute poisonings. Some proposals of affective treatment of potentially suicidal patients are also presented for doctors and other medical advisors.


Summary

Although it is clear that coworker absenteeism, tardiness, and turnover can influence an employee's actions, scholars have yet to consider the impact of relational demography on the adoption of these behavioral norms. Inspired by social identity, situational strength, and attraction-selection-attrition theories, we proposed that individuals who differ from their coworkers in age, sex, or racioethnicity would feel threatened by their outnumbered status and subsequently motivated to be absent, tardy, or more likely to turnover. However, we expected coworker withdrawal behavior to moderate whether or not dissimilar personnel act on these desires. Results from hierarchical multilevel modeling analyses of data from 470 U.S. call center workers nested in 51 work groups revealed that racioethnic dissimilarity was positively related to time-lagged changes in absenteeism and tardiness as well as heightened turnover likelihood. These effects emerged only among employees whose coworkers engaged in greater withdrawal behavior. Importantly, racioethnically dissimilar employees working in more permissive climates (i.e., those with high levels of coworker absenteeism, tardiness, or turnover) exhibited the greatest increases in absenteeism and tardiness over three months and had the highest supervisor-rated turnover likelihood. Implications for diversity management are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This case report discusses a 25-year-old male who was referred to community mental health services from primary care with symptoms of anxiety and depression related to climate change, which the referring clinician believed were of delusional intensity. This case report gives the history of his interaction with the service. A literature review is performed noting the dearth of case reports in this area and a subsequent discussion charts the emerging literature on mental health issues related to climate change. Finally the paper makes some broad recommendations for mental health practitioners on how to approach these issues.


Young women in the juvenile justice system have high rates of prior physical and sexual abuse, substance use and psychiatric disorders. Understandably services usually are based on a therapeutic model to address those needs. Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a complementary alternative format that aims to provide resilience, life competencies, and self efficacy for pro-social actions. We provide a narrative review of PYD programs with a focus on how those relate to youth in closed custody. Sleep and physical activity are two behaviors where incarcerated young women still have personal agency, and we present the additional relevance of those program aspects. We describe methods and findings from a feasibility trial of an existing evidence-based, peer-led program for young women high school athletes used with incarcerated young women. Findings are placed in the context of established models of behavior change. The program was feasible and acceptable, and in this small trial, results demonstrate the format's potential efficacy. PYD may provide a trajectory of success and assets that could durably assist these young women following incarceration.


The authors have investigated the effect of thermal cycling on the output intensity, peak position and chromaticity coordinates of a high-power AlGaInP light-emitting diode (LED) driven under pulse-width modulation (PWM; pulse width of 200 s to 20 ms at a constant repetition frequency of 50 Hz) and pulse-frequency modulation (PFM; repetition frequency of 50 5000 Hz at a constant pulse width of 200 s) modes. Experimental data on the junction temperature oscillation were obtained by using the transient forward voltage method and accounted for by a thermal model of a repetitive-pulse-driven LED with multi-exponent relaxation of the junction temperature. Compared to the PWM driving mode, the PFM mode, which causes a reduced junction temperature oscillation, was shown to offer an efficiency gain (5 at a 50 duty cycle) and a reduced non-linearity of output characteristics (deviation of the output intensity dependence on duty cycle from a self-heating-free one, as well as electroluminescence (EL) band peak position and chromaticity coordinates dependences on duty cycle). Based on the results of the investigation, the PFM driving mode is suggested as an advantageous alternative for controlling polychromatic LED clusters by temperature feed-forward compensation loops and dimming LEDs in lighting applications.


The purpose of the current research is to identify the role of maturity in knowledge management represented by (individuals, processes, and technological skills) in the institutional performance of (employee satisfaction, productivity improvement, and growth), and accordingly a sample of the (58) senior leaderships of the University of Babylon were selected. A leader in order to identify the level of availability of knowledge management maturity, and attention to institutional performance, which means the necessity of demonstrating the tools that are used in order to demonstrate the results of the study, and accordingly, the most famous statistical tools that were used for this purpose were (the structural modeling equation, The Cronbach alpha coefficient, the normal distribution represented by the tests "Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro-Wilk", the arithmetic mean, the standard deviation, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and the regression coefficients that were extracted by means of the program "AMOS.V.24". Based on the results of the study, the study has concluded It was found that there is a correlation and moral influence between the maturity of knowledge management and the institutional performance of the university, which requires the research sample to work on investing its knowledge potentials in order to develop and improve its institutional performance.


From a pharmacological perspective, anesthesia is concerned with controlling the time course of drug effect. Mathematical models are commonly used to relate the administered drug dose to the measured drug concentration (a pharmacokinetic model) and to relate the measured drug concentrations to the measured drug effects (a pharmacodynamic model). With such models, the time course of the drug effect for different drug regimens can be predicted. Although the conventional pharmacokinetic parameters such as the volume of distribution, clearance, distribution and elimination half-lives can be used to accurately describe the time course of the plasma concentration, the plasma is usually not the site of drug effect. An understanding of the "effect compartment concept" and the "time of the peak effect site concentration," together with the concepts of" context sensitive"half-time and "relevant decrement time,' contribute substantially to the anesthetist's understanding of the principles governing the onset and offset of drug effect. As part of a computer-controlled infusion system, the pharmacokinetic model facilitates optimized and rational dosing. These systems, also called target-controlled infusion systems (TCI), calculate the infusion rates for rapidly achieving and then maintaining a target concentration.


. [Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the neural mechanisms of the brain regions activated by training dependent changes in large-scale motor networks induced by performance of sequential motor learning, using functional MRI. [Method] Twenty healthy subjects were recruited, who were randomly allocated to the training or control group. The training group performed a serial reaction time task for two weeks, whereas the control group did not receive any training. Behavioral assessment was conducted in terms of response accuracy and reaction time during pre- and post-fMRI scanning. [Results] The training group showed a significant improvement in motor performance. On the other hand, the control group also showed a slight improvement of performance. After the two-week training, activations of all areas observed on the initial fMRI showed a remarkable decrease, whereas no differences or slight increases were observed in the change of activation in the control group. In the cerebellar activation of the training group, the most prominent change was observed in the medial cerebellar area, and contralateral deep cerebellar nuclei were newly activated. [Conclusion] Our findings suggest that brain reorga nization for sequential motor learning was induced by motor sequence acquisition, and that decreased cerebral and increased cerebellar activity during explicit learning might be related to familiarity with the task.


Model transformation and semantic mapping are enabling technologies for new, advanced solutions to address enterprise software interoperability. Such technlogies are nowdays tackled by two different disciplines: software architectures, with the MDA approach, and semantic interoperability, with an ontology-based approach. This paper briefly compares the model-based (MB) and the ontology-based (OB) approaches and draws some preliminary conclusions on similarities and differences, in the perspective of combining these approaches in a value-adding way.


We developed convenient synthetic routes for the preparation of para-benzene disulfonic acid (H(2)BDS) and its tetrachloro (H(2)BDSCl(4)) and tetrafluoro (H(2)BDSF(4)) derivatives. The reaction of these acids with zinc nitrate in DMF led to single crystals of [Zn(BDS)(DMF)(2)] (triclinic, P ̄1[combining macron], Z=2, a=976.62(4), b=986.85(4), c=1014.40(4), α=69.106(2)°, β=68.746(2)°, γ=86.295(2)°, wR(2)=0.0627), [Zn(BDSCl(4))(DMF)(4)] (triclinic, P ̄1[combining macron], Z=1, a=831.5(1), b=905.2(1), c=989.6(1), α=90.44(2)°, β=91.41 (2)°, γ=106.72(2)°, wR(2)=0.0635), and [Zn(BDSF(4))(DMF)(4)] (monoclinic, P2(1)/c, Z=2, a=889.01(3), b=968.91(3), c=1633.07(5) pm, β=106.524(2)°, wR(2)=0.0948). While [Zn(BDS)(DMF)(2)] exhibits a layer structure, the disulfonate linkers connect the zinc ions into chains in the crystal structures of [Zn(BDSCl(4))(DMF)(4)] and [Zn(BDSF(4))(DMF)(4)]. Thermoanalytical investigations revealed that desolvation of the compounds occurs in a temperature range between 100 and 200 °C. The solvent free sulfonates show remarkably high stabilities, [Zn(BDS)(DMF)(2)] is stable up to nearly 600 °C. The halogenated acids were also used to prepare copper salts from aqueous solutions and Cu(2)(OH)(2)(CO(3)) (malachite) as a copper source. The crystal structure of [Cu(H(2)O)(6)](BDSF(4)) (triclinic, P ̄1[combining macron], Z=1, a=510.45(2), b=744.68(3), c=1077.77(4) pm, α=85.627 (2)°, β=77.449 (2)°, γ=76.015 (2)°) exhibits complex cations and uncoordinated sulfonate anions, while in [Cu(BDSCl(4))(H(2)O)(4)] (orthorhombic, Pnma, Z=4, a=721.27(2), b=2147.81(6), c=979.42(3) pm) the Cu(2+) ions are linked to infinite chains in the crystal structure. The most interesting structural feature of [Cu(BDSCl(4))(H(2)O)(4)] is the significant deviation from planarity of the disulfonate dianion. Theoretical investigations revealed that a boat conformation is favoured due to steric hindrance in cases where a syn coordination of the sulfonate groups occurs. The thermal behaviour of the copper compounds was also investigated by DTA/TG measurements and X-ray powder diffraction.


A high temperature operation type electrodeless bulb of a plasma lighting system includes: a luminous unit defining a space for enclosing luminous materials, and made of glass having selective permeability that transmits visible light generated from the luminous unit and reflects infrared rays to the interior; and a supporting unit extending from the luminous unit to have a particular length and supporting the luminous unit.


While economic or trade liberalization entails deregulation of telecommunication (ICT) sector, paradoxically, it does not entails leaving the mercy of state security and other interests in the hands of ICT vendors. The other interests include consumers' protection, fair competition, interoperability, Intellectual Property Rights such as copyright and fair use, etc. Current trend in the so called right to innovation has created concern as state security has been increasingly been threatened by such innovations. The most live example is the present state of art of Blackberry smartphone technology. Without doubt Blackberry is full of many applications. But its state of encryption has upset several sovereign states. The fear developed by the sovereign states over the impossibility of knowing what is transmitted or communicated via Blackberry smartphone networks has pushed some states to ban Blackberry or planning to ban or rather suspend its sale in particular states. The states are decrying the denial over their right to censor information exchanged via Blackberry smartphone e-mail services.In light of the foregoing the paper at hand is dedicated at exploring the security concerns which ICT development in the one hand and the vendors' right to innovate may give rise to security issues and conflict other interests. For the purpose of this article ICT vendors include but not limited to ICT developers/engineers or Multinational Companies. This paper therefore will explore among others how Blackberry smartphone e mail services work and how that poses a threat to not only national security by inceasing risk of crimes but also how ICT vendors' jeorpadize other public interests.


Background: Various international guidelines and recommendations are available for management of diabetic foot infections. We present a review of the guidelines and recommendations for management of these infections. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted through MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, LILACS, DARE, and national health bodies. Based on the review of fifteen documents, we present details on the importance of suspecting and diagnosing skin, superficial infections, and bone infections in diabetics. Results: The guidelines recommend classifying the infections based on severity to guide the treatment. While antibiotics have shown the best results, other treatments like hyperbaric oxygen therapy and negative wound pressure have been debated. It is suggested that a team of specialists should be in-charge of managing the infected wounds. Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) 2012 guidelines are widely followed world-over. All guidelines and reviews have consistent suggestions on the assessment of the severity of infection, diagnosis, start, selection, and duration of antibiotic therapy. Conclusions: It is reasonable to conclude that the IDSA 2012 guidelines are commonly followed across the world. There is a consensus among the Australian guidelines, Canadian guidelines, IDSA 2012, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2015, and International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF) 2016 guidelines on the management of infected wounds for patients with diabetes mellitus.


Based on a clinical, pathologic, and genetic study of 14 families, at least three types of familial motor neuron disease can be distinguished, all apparently of autosomal dominant transmission. The first is characterized by rapid, progressive loss of motor function with predominantly lower motor neuron manifestations and a course lasting less than 5 years. Pathologic changes are limited to the anterior horn cells and pyramidal tracts. The second type is clinically identical to the first, but at autopsy additional changes are found in the posterior columns, Clarke's column, and spinocerebellar tracts. The third type is characterized by a much longer survival usually beyond 10 and after more than 20 years in affected family members but is otherwise similar to the second type.


Two lines of black bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), '70001' and 'Strain 39', were grown at between-row spacings of 76, 61, and 46 cm. Cultivation treatments included an uncultivated check and a single cultivation at 1 of 3 plant growth stages: first trifoliolate leaf fully expanded; anthesis; or pod elongation. Root weight, shoot weight, and shoot:root ratio of individual plants decreased linearly as between-row spacing decreased. Biological yield increased linearly as between-row spacing decreased, but seed yield and harvest index did not show significant responses to spacing. None of the measured parameters gave a significant response when the uncultivated control was compared with the average of the 3 time-of-cultivation treatments. Root weight of individual plants and biological yield gave quadratic responses within the 3 time-of-cultivation treatments, both decreasing most markedly with cultivation at the pod elongation stage. Plants of '70001' were larger and lodged less compared to those of 'Strain 39'. Seed yields of both lines were similar. Results suggest that a single shallow cultivation may be used for black beans grown in narrow rows through anthesis. Although cultivation at the pod elongation stage was generally not detrimental to seed yield, it is not recommended.


We study three discrete fixed point concept (SPERNER, DPZP, BROUWER) under two different models: the polynomial-time function model and the oracle function model. We fully characterize the computational complexities of these three problems. The computational complexity unification of the above problems gives us more choices in the study of different applications. As an example, by a reduction from DPZP, we derive asymptotically equal lower and upper bound for TUCKER in the oracle model. The same reduction also allows us to derive a single proof for the PPAD-completeness of TUCKER in any constant dimension, which is significantly simpler than the recent proofs.


Decellularized extracellular matrix components isolated from animal sources have shown much clinical promise in the treatment of several wound care indications including a variety of dermal ulcerations (diabetic, pressure, venous, e.g.), full-thickness trauma wounds affecting the skin and skeletal muscle, and post-operative surgical wounds. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of three sources of decellularized matrix wound care products using a novel tissue engineered dermal cellular proliferation assay. Deceullarized basement matrices derived from porcine small intestinal submucosa (pSIS), porcine peritoneal membrane (pPM), and ovine forestomach (oFS), respectively, were tested for their ability to support the engraftment and proliferation of human neonatal dermal fibroblasts. Cells were seeded onto each respective membrane using a custom, non-adherent, cell culture system and cultured for 2 weeks. At 3, 5, 7, and 14 days time points cultures were assayed for proliferation and matrix integration using the PrestoBlue cell viability assay and fluorescent confocal laser scanning microscopy, respectively. Human dermal fibroblast attachment to all three materials was relatively low compared to conventional two-dimensional culture systems. However, pSIS displayed a consistently, but not statistically significant, greater level of fluorescence intensity in the cell viability assay, and qualitatively displayed a superior ability to support engraftment of dermal fibroblasts in comparison to pPM and oFS matrices. These data indicate that pSIS supports the attachment and growth of dermal cells in vitro, which may underscore the success of this material in pre-clinical and clinical wound healing studies.


This case study reports on collaborative design of an interactive artifact. The team works in the iLounge, which is designed and built with the purpose of supporting co-located collaborative work. iLounge is equipped with several horizontal large screens, called Smart boards, where the team members can make their contributions available to all others. We have studied how the students learn to use the electronic whiteboards in order to express their ideas, how the electronic whiteboards support them when making their conceptual design, and how they express themselves when using them. The results presents how whiteboards serve as a collective memory of earlier discussions and negotiations, it also gives the users opportunities for re-negotiation and re-representation of design proposals.


Low-altitude urban flight planning for small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) requires accurate vehicle, environment maps, and risk models to assure flight plans consider the urban landscape as well as airspace constraints. This paper presents a suite of motion planning metrics designed for small UAS urban flight. We define map-based and path-based metrics to holistically characterize motion plan quality. Proposed metrics are examined in the context of representative geometric, graph-based, and sampling-based motion planners applied to a multicopter small UAS. A novel multi-objective heuristic is proposed and applied for graph-based and sampling motion planners at four urban UAS flight altitude layers. Monte Carlo case studies in a New York City urban environment illustrate metric map properties and planner performance. Motion plans are evaluated as a function of planning algorithm, location, range, and flight altitude.


The heavy use of mineral fertilizers causes imbalances in the biological processes that take place in soil. Therefore, it is necessary to develop more effective fertilizers or fertilizer complexes that ensure agricultural productivity and soil conservation. There is currently a lack of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of biologically enriched, complex mineral fertilizers for spring barley fertilization. The hypothesis of this study was that bacteria-enriched (Paenibacillus azotofixans, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus mucilaginosus, and Bacillus mycoides), complex mineral fertilizers (N5P20.5K36) have significant impacts on the yield and potential for economic use of spring barley. Experimental studies were carried out for three years (2020–2022) with sandy loam soil in southern Lithuania. Four different spring barley fertilization scenarios (SCs) were investigated. In SC-1 (control), complex mineral fertilizer (N5P20.5K36) was not applied. In the other SCs, spring barley was sown with a drill and fertilizers were incorporated locally during the sowing operation: fertilization scenario SC-2 used 300 kg ha−1, SC-3 used 150 kg ha−1 preceded by a bacteria-inoculated complex mineral fertilizer (N5P20.5K36), and SC-4 used 300 kg ha−1 with the same bacterial complex. The results showed that the bacterial inoculant increased the efficiency of the mineral fertilizer and had an effect on plant growth in barley. For three consecutive years in the same plots, the bacterial inoculant showed significant positive effects on grain yield (changes of 8.1% in 2020, 6.8% in 2021, and 17.3% in 2022 between SC-2 and SC-4). Comparing the several different fertilizer scenarios from an economic point of view, it was observed that the highest profit per hectare was obtained with SC-4 in all three years of the study. Comparing SC-4 and SC-2, an increase of 13.7% was observed in 2020, followed by 9.1% and 41.9% in 2021 and in 2022, respectively. This study will be useful for farmers, biological inoculant manufacturers, and scientists researching the effectiveness of biological inoculants for growing agricultural crops. We found that it is possible to increase the yield of barley (7–17%) using the same rate of mineral fertilization by enriching it with bacterial inoculants. Further studies should be conducted to determine the effects of the bacterial inoculant on crop yield and soil over a period longer than 3 years.


Inflation produces super-horizon sized perturbations that ultimately return within the horizon and are thought to form the seeds of all observed large scale structure in the Universe. But inflationary predictions can only be compared with present day observations if, as conventional wisdom dictates, they remain unpolluted by subsequent sub-horizon causal physical processes and therefore remain immune from the vicissitudes of unknown universal dynamics in the intervening period. Here we demonstrate that conventional wisdom need not be correct, and as a result cosmological signatures arising from intervening unknown non-inflationary processes may confuse the interpretation of observational data today.


Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) could be used to restore control of the bladder after spinal cord injury, but substantial development is still required to tailor this technology for bladder function. Computational models could be utilized to accelerate these efforts enabling in-silico optimization of stimulation parameters. However, no model of the spinal pudendo-vesical reflex can simulate the effect of stimulation amplitude on neuron recruitment. This limitation hinders accurate prediction of bladder pressure changes for different stimulation configurations. Here., we implemented an open-source realistic spiking neural network model of the pudendo-vesical reflex enabling exploration of the impact of stimulation amplitude and frequency on bladder pressure changes. We used the o2S2 PARC platform to design a parallel implementation of the bladder reflex circuits with NEURON. Our model successfully reproduced and expanded previous studies., producing a decrease in bladder pressure at low stimulation frequency (10 Hz) and excitation at high stimulation frequency (≥33 Hz) in isovolumetric experiments. We then explored the effect of mixed nerve recruitment., simulating a common case of poorly selective spinal cord stimulation. We found that high recruitments of pudendal nerve axons are necessary to maintain this bi-modal behavior., regardless of stimulation specificity. Our framework is fully open-source and can be used to simulate any type of axon stimulations such as SCS and peripheral nerve stimulation.


X-ray studies of the ankle joints of 209 patients with operatively certified ankle joint instability were examined retrospectively in order to estimate the importance of lateral instability in causing degenerative osteoarthritis of the ankle joint. The patients were distributed into two groups: group A (126 patients with chronic fibular instability; 98 were up to 29 years of age and 28 between 30 and 40 years) and group B (83 patients with a fresh fibular rupture: 70 up to 29 years and 13 between 30 and 40 years). For more subtle differentiation of the grades of osteoarthritis, a new score system was developed. The results were tested statistically. In the patients with chronic instability in the younger group signs of degenerative arthritis could be seen twice as frequently as in the recently injured patients; in particular, higher grades of arthritis were found five times more frequently than in the recently injured. All patients with chronic instability in the older group had signs of degenerative arthritis. Higher grades of degenerative arthritis occurred ten times more frequently than in the recently injured. Regarding the recently injured patients, there was no significant difference between the younger and the older group. It is concluded that chronic fibular instability is an important factor in the development of degenerative arthritis, which shows the importance of early stabilization in order to prevent the development of degenerative arthritis.


We analyze the Cenozoic topographic evolution of the Catalan Coastal Ranges (NE Spain) and the role of fault activity, erosion, sedimentation, and isostasy in controlling uplift and subsidence. A forward numerical model constrained by an extensive geological and geophysical data set is used to examine the temporal and spatial record of Cenozoic vertical motions. We show that the effect of isostasy, erosion, and sedimentation is as important as the contribution of fault deformation to the topography of the Catalan Coastal Ranges. The model predicts that Paleogene topography generation by thrusting was compensated by erosion (up to 1.3 km) and isostatic subsidence (up to 1.2 km), resulting in a 1.2–1.9 km high mountain range by the end of compression (29 Ma). During the Neogene, strong tectonic subsidence related to normal faulting and the consequent flexural uplift (of 0.7–1.2 km), surface erosion (as much as 1.6–2.3 km), and sedimentation (up to 4.5 km) led to the present landscape configuration. Extension rates along the Barcelona fault controlled flexural uplift and, in combination with erosion and sedimentation processes, led to the migration of the topographic maximum of the Prelitoral Range toward the easternmost Ebro Basin.


Background White recipients of 2-haplotype HLA-matched living kidney transplants are perceived to be of low immunologic risk. Little is known about the safety of induction avoidance and calcineurin inhibitor withdrawal in these patients. Methods We reviewed our experience at a single center and compared it to Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) registry data and only included 2-haplotype HLA-matched white living kidney transplants recipients between 2000 and 2013. Results There were 56 recipients in a single center (where no induction was given) and 2976 recipients in the OPTN. Among the OPTN recipients, 1285 received no induction, 903 basiliximab, 608 thymoglobulin, and 180 alemtuzumab. First-year acute rejection rates were similar after induction-free transplantation among the center and induced groups nationally. Compared with induction-free transplantation in the national data, there was no decrease in graft failure risk over 13 years with use of basiliximab (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.86; confidence interval [CI], 0.68-1.08), Thymoglobulin (aHR, 0.92; CI, 0.7-1.21) or alemtuzumab (aHR, 1.18; CI, 0.72-1.93). Among induction-free recipients at the center, calcineurin inhibitor withdrawal at 1 year (n = 27) did not significantly impact graft failure risk (HR,1.62; CI, 0.38-6.89). Conclusions This study may serve as a foundation for further studies to provide personalized, tailored, immunosuppression for this very low-risk population of kidney transplant patients.


During the past decade, brain tissue oxygen monitoring has been studied predominantly in Europe. Cerebral oxygenation monitoring was implemented in many intensive care units and correlations of intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, end-tidal carbon dioxide monitoring, fever and partial pressure of brain tissue oxygenation (PbtO2) have been described (Crit Care Nurse. 2003;23[4, pt 1]:17–27). The monitoring of brain tissue oxygen is now being done and researched in the United States. This article will discuss the history of treatment of traumatic brain injury and how treatment interventions are changing with the latest technological advances in monitoring of cerebral oxygen levels and suggested interventions and factors that affect brain tissue oxygenation. It is clear that by understanding the causes of hypoxia and ischemia—along with the interventions to treat them—the critical care team will be better able to prevent low oxygen states in the brain and optimize treatment, thus improving patient outcome.


Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to examine the abundances and distributions of different picophytoplankton groups (i.e. Synechococcus, Prochlorococcus and picoeukaryotes), nanophytoplankton, heterotrophic bacteria and viruses were examined in the Changjiang Estuary, China and adjacent coastal waters during autumn 2004. Water temperature and light availability were found to be critical factors for picophytoplankton growth. Positive correlations were found between picophytoplankton, heterotrophic bacteria and viruses, and a seaward-increasing trend in the V-I (the group yielding high green fluorescence according to FCM) population within viruses was detected. The importance of nanophytoplankton is progressively usurped by picophytoplankton with increasing distance offshore. Picoeukaryotes are the most successful group among picophytoplankton in near-shore eutrophic waters, whereas Prochlorococcus surpasses other groups within the pico- and nanophytoplankton community in offshore oligotrophic regions of the East China Sea Shelf.


Abstract The movement of contaminants through soils is an important environmental task. Chromium (Cr), a heavy metal that is potential hazardous to the environment (including human health), has been sometimes added to agricultural soils of some regions through the disposal of tannery wastes. There is a lack of knowledge about the movement of this metal in highly weathered soils frequently found in the tropics. The purpose of this work was to study the movement of Cr in soil columns considering the influence of the pH and the horizons of the soils. It was also applied a mathematical model to quantify some parameters of this movement, although in an exploratory way. Miscible displacement experiments were carried out in A and B soil horizon samples, that received two liming levels, collected in São Paulo State, Brazil: a Typic Eutrorthox (TE), and a Typic Haplorthox (TH). Liming showed little effect on the elution curve forms for both soils. The Cr movement in the A horizon for the TE soil was greater than the observed in the B horizon, possible due the formation of soluble compounds between the metal and fulvic acids. It was also applied a simplified version of the MRTM (Multireaction and Transport Model), which showed good fit to experimental data.


The psoas abscess is an entity, some times forgotten in our daily clinical practice. The gram-positive microorganisms are the most frequent, and S. aureus is the most important pathogen. We present a retrospective study of six cases. In our revision, five patients were women (83.3%), and one man (16.6%), with a median age of 65.83 years. The associated pathology were vertebral in four patients (66.6%), and urologic in two of them. The main symptoms were fever and lumbar pain. All the patients were diagnosed by CT. The correct identification of the microorganisms, and the prompt use of the antibiotherapy associated to surgery, helped to a total recuperation of this patients.


A new optimal state feedback and disturbance feedforward control design in the sense of minimizing -gain from disturbance to control output is proposed for disturbance attenuation of systems with bounded control input and measurable disturbance. The controller is derived in the framework of linear matrix inequality(LMI) optimization. A gain scheduled state feedback and disturbance feedforward control design is also suggested to improve disturbance attenuation performance. The control gains are scheduled according to the proximity to the origin of the state of the plant and the magnitude of disturbance. This procedure yields a stable linear time varying control structure that allows higher gain and hence higher performance controller as the state and the disturbance move closer to the origin. The main results give sufficient conditions for the satisfaction of a parameter-dependent performance measure, without violating the bounded control input condition.


Mining association rules with multiple minimum supports is an important research aspect of data mining. In this paper we propose a database partition method to mine the frequent item sets, and use MIS-tree to store the crucial information about frequent patterns. We use the CFP-growth algorithm to mine local frequent patterns and insert them into the global frequent pattern. The experiment on OASN shows that the method is effective to predict the optical warning level.


Use of Benchmark Methodology in Environmental Impact Assessment Every industrial activity and procedure influences the environment and climate change. This impact has to be assessed and therefore the procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) including the application of a benchmark methodology has been developed. The developed benchmark methodology can be used in the initial assessment as a screening method. The article surveys the developed benchmark methodology for impact assessment of the projects providing extraction of dolomite in the deposits of mineral resources. The benchmark methodology developed makes it possible to assess the impacts caused by the provided activity by objective considerations, to conduct comparison of different projects and evaluate whether the provided activity corresponds to the principles of sustainable development.