An accurate definition of the concept of permanent establishment is crucial to the application of the distributive rules provided by the Double Taxation Treaty, particularly, on business profits. In Spain, the cases of Roche and Dell have been very much talked about since the decisions of the Courts brought about a construction of the figure of permanent establishment far from the prevailing orthodox approach to the Commentaries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Model Tax Convention. The purpose of this broad interpretation of the concept of permanent establishment seems, then, clear: to avoid, with varying degrees of success, that multinational companies carrying on sizable business activity in Spain fail to pay taxes by means of a fabricated business structure scheme. This article shall, therefore, analyse this concept in the light of the Court's decisions in the above mentioned cases.


A decade ago, the "new sociology of masculinity" (NSM) emerged as an exciting new paradigm for understanding gender, emphasizing the study of "hegemonic power relations" among men and women. However, subsequent research has not fully redeemed the promise of the NSM, failing to seriously engage the theoretical implications of studying hegemony. This article addresses the lacunae by presenting a theoretically informed analysis of life history interviews with Chinese American men. Its chief empirical question is how Chinese American men "achieve" masculinity in the face of negative stereotypes. This is accomplished, it is found, through four possible gender strategies: compensation, deflection, denial, or repudiation. The author then fashions a theoretical account of these strategies to show how they can reproduce the social order by striking a hegemonic bargain, which occurs when a Chinese American man's gender strategy involves consciously trading on—or unconsciously taking advantage of—the "privileges" of his race, gender, class, generation, and/or sexuality for the purposes of elevating his masculinity.


Adverse weather conditions have a substantial effect on traffic flow. However, the adaptation effects in longitudinal driving behavior that underlie this impact are unclear, as are the determinants. A driving simulator experiment was performed with a repeated-measures design and 25 participants. The adaptation effects in actual longitudinal driving behavior and the physiological indicators of mental workload (i.e., heart rate and heart rate variability) were measured under two conditions: normal visibility and fog. Significant adaptation effects in longitudinal driving behavior and a significant increase in mental workload were observed. A new estimation method was used to investigate the extent to which fog influenced the position of so-called action points in the (Δv, s) plane of a psycho-spacing model, where Δv was relative speed and s was spacing. In addition, multivariate regression analysis was applied to investigate the extent to which an influence could be observed on acceleration and on jumps in acceleration at the action points. Large differences in the positions of action points in the (Δv, s) plane, acceleration, and jumps in acceleration were observed between conditions; therefore, car-following patterns closely resemble those predicted by psycho-spacing theory. However, a large degree of inter- and intradriver heterogeneity was observed, possibly caused by differences in mental workload within and between drivers. This heterogeneity indicates that the assumption of deterministic perceptual thresholds is unrealistic and necessitates the development of a data-driven stochastic model based on the principles of psycho-spacing models.


Purpose. To describe activity level, operationalized as ADL capacity and performance of occupations, and occupational balance, operationalized as time use and satisfaction with occupations, in women with limited systemic sclerosis, and to investigate the relationship between these occupational factors and disease characteristics, demographic variables and well-being. Method. Forty-four women of working age and with long-standing limited systemic sclerosis were assessed regarding occupational factors, clinical variables, sociodemographic characteristics and well-being. Results. The women exhibited a generally high activity level and were satisfied with their daily occupations. More time spent working was related to spending less time on household chores, greater satisfaction with occupations in general and greater well-being. Symptoms such as breathlessness, fatigue and pain, influenced ADL capacity and satisfaction with occupations negatively. Conclusions. Work seems to be an important factor for satisfaction with occupations and well-being. This emphasizes the importance of investigating risk factors for work disability in people with systemic sclerosis, and of developing strategies for people with a work disability to enable them to maintain routines and a structured day. The findings also demonstrate the importance of reinforcing performance in satisfying occupations in order to maintain a feeling of well-being.


(i) Standard solutions of buprenorphine (B) and three metabolites; (ii) immunoassay (IA) reagents designed for the analysis of B and/or its metabolites; and (iii) clinical urine specimens collected from patients (under B-treatment), constitute the B-System for fundamental study of parameters critical to the two-step test strategy, an analytical approach designed for a high-volume testing environment. The cross-reacting characteristics of IA reagents were examined using standard solutions of B and its metabolites. Resulting data were used as the basis for selecting target analytes suitable for the preliminary and the confirmatory test steps. Test data derived from IA and GC-MS analysis of clinical urine specimens (with natural distribution of B and its metabolites) were quantitatively correlated. Correlation parameters were examined: (i) to verify whether the analyte-pair targeted by the IA and GC-MS test steps has been properly selected; and (ii) to decide on appropriate cutoffs for the two test steps. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated that the most effective analyte(s) that should be targeted in the GC-MS determination step vary with the IA selected in the preliminary test step. All analytes that generate significant responses to the IA reagent should be targeted in the GC-MS test step.


The discovery of superconductors with high critical temperatures has led to a considerable effort to fabricate Josephson junctions operating at temperatures approaching, or even exceeding, 77 K for both scientific investigations and potential applications. Superconductor - normal - superconductor (SNS) devices, with noble or oxide metals as normal interlayers, are perhaps the most widely explored high- junction type at present. Although demonstrations of individual high- SNS devices exhibiting excellent current - voltage characteristics, high critical current - resistance products, and low noise behaviour have been made, reproducible devices suitable for electronic applications are elusive. It is therefore important to ask how well these nominally SNS high- junctions are understood. We review the available data, with emphasis on junction critical currents, and conclude that there is little evidence supporting a conventional proximity effect interpretation in the majority of reported high- devices. The strongest candidates for SNS behaviour are junctions in which N is a superconductor above its transition temperature. We discuss the present experimental and theoretical understanding of SNS junctions with emphasis on the implications for future research and development of these devices.


I present novel direct evidence on the static and dynamic impact of producer firms on local suppliers based on several firm level surveys that I conducted among producer firms and suppliers in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. I find that the level of use of suppliers does not differ between foreign direct investment (FDI) and Mexican producer firms. Next, I find substantial evidence that FDI firms generate a larger local dynamic impact; foreign-owned firms apply more pressure on their suppliers to improve and are also significantly more involved in the provision of several types of technological and organisational support. In extension of these findings, I use multivariate analysis to identify characteristics of suppliers and supply linkages that influence the dynamic impact among suppliers. I find that the level of absorptive capacity of suppliers, the size of the technology gap between producer firms and suppliers, and the provision of support by producer firms all enhance the likelihood that suppliers experience a large positive dynamic impact. Importantly, even when I control for the effects of these factors, suppliers of FDI firms are still significantly more likely to experience a large positive impact. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Drywood termite Cryptotermes domesticus (Haviland) is a serious pest causing wood damage. It is one of the most important termite species in China. This paper summarizes the progress in biological and ecological studies on the formation, survival, reproduction and dispersal of neotenics, the swarming of mature colonies, life cycle and behavioral feature of primary reproductives, and the formation, development and feeding behavior of the new colony of C. domesticus. The control strategy against C. domesticus is also discussed. The study may provide theoretical basis for controlling the spread, diffusion and damage of C. domesticus.


CCl4 is an organic solvent and a well known hepatotoxic agent. Injury is mediated by reactive free radicals, mainly-CCl3 (trichloromethyl). Liver lesion develops within one-two hours, however, late toxic effects may appear after a delay of several hours or two to three days. Some drugs and liver toxicants cause disturbances in synthesis and metabolism of triglycerides, cholesterol and lipoproteins, thus damaging the basic resource for living cells. In our experiments a single 1.25 ml/kg CCl4 dose was administered s.c. to male Wistar rats. 24 hours later triglyceride level increased in the plasma by 223%. Cholesterol content suffered no changes. HDL-C level decreased by 40%. LDL-C concentration was higher by 235%. Cholesterol/HDL-C ratio increased by 0.75% on account of the practically unchanged cholesterol amount in the blood. The most often used calculation (Friedewald equation) LDL-C/HDL-C ratio was higher by 305%. The increased triglyceride content in the blood is in correlation with the fatty degeneration of the liver. The high LDL-C/HDL-C ratio may point to incipient atherosclerotic complications. The pathological lipid levels measured 24 hours after intoxication claim for delayed toxic effects to be taken into consideration. It may be suggested to determine the main lipid parameters after carbon tetrachloride exposition.


The cyanide-ligated form of the baker's yeast cytochrome c peroxidase mutant bearing the mutation Asn82-->Ala82 ([N82A]CcPCN) has been studied by proton NMR spectroscopy. This mutation alters an amino acid that forms a hydrogen bond to His52, the distal histidine residue that interacts in the heme pocket with heme-bound ligands. His52 is a residue critical to cytochrome c peroxidase's normal function. Proton hyperfine resonance assignments have been made for the cyanide-ligated form of the mutant by comparison with 1-D and NOESY spectra of the wild-type native enzyme. For [N82A]CcPCN, proton NMR spectra reveal two significant phenomena. First, similar to results published for the related mutant [N82D]CcPCN [Satterlee, J. D., et al. (1994) Eur. J. Biochem. 244, 81-87], for Ala82 mutation disrupts the hydrogen bond between His52 and the heme-ligated CN. Second, four of the 24 resolved hyperfine-shifted resonances are doubled in the mutant enzyme's proton spectrum, leading to the concept that the heme active site environment is dynamically microheterogeneous on a very localized scale. Two magnetically inequivalent enzyme forms are detected in a pure enzyme preparation. Varying temperature causes the two enzyme forms to interconvert. Magnetization transfer experiments further document this interconversion between enzyme forms and have been used to determine that the rate of interconversion is 250 (+/- 53) s-1. The equilibrium constant at 20 degrees C is 1.5. Equilibrium constants have been calculated at various temperatures between 5 and 29 degrees C leading to the following values: delta H = 60 kJ mol-1; delta S = 0.20 kJ K-1 mol-1.


This article examines participation as a "discursive fact". Using the framework of Foucault, it explores the importance of participation and citizenship as "ordering concepts" in the New Labour project. Moreover, it argues that participation is part of a wider discourse of control, cohesion, and consumption. By de-politicising participation, New Labour serves to enhance its own legitimacy. This is the logical outcome of government as systems of thought and action. Youth and community practitioners also objectify youth, exercising similar discursive power in their own work. Putting participation into practice thus presents a challenge for workers, as they are required to recognise their power and to exercise it in a reflexive way.


This article examines what moral theories are available to justify the harming of the innocent in war. Focusing on US conduct of the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the article examines how far the US is responsible for the deaths of Afghan civilians. Although US actions have been justified in terms of respect for the Just War principle of non-combatant immunity, the article shows how this principle rested uneasily with alternative moral theories of war that influenced the process of target selection. These are the realist doctrine of necessity in war and Michael Walzer's theories of `supreme emergency' and `war is hell'. Just War theory, realism and `supreme emergency' acknowledge moral responsibility for a state's conduct of war. But the doctrine that `war is hell' seeks to transfer any responsibility for the cruelty of war to the enemy. The article argues that, whilst the Taliban and al-Qaeda are responsible for exposing Afghan civilians to US attacks, this does not absolve US political and military leaders of responsibility for their conduct of the war.


Abstract Seventy-three species of stenolaemate bryozoans are documented worldwide from the Triassic. Stage-level diversity and paleogeographical analyses reveal that the recovery of bryozoans following the end-Permian mass extinction was delayed until the Middle Triassic. Early Triassic bryozoans faunas, dominated by members of the Order Trepostomida, were depauperate and geographically restricted. Bryozoan diversity increased during the Middle Triassic and diversity peaked in the Carnian (early Late Triassic). High extinction rates throughout the Late Triassic led to the extinction of all stenolaemate orders except the Cyclostomida by the end of the Triassic. Comparisons between global carbonate rock volume, outcrop surface area, and bryozoan diversity indicate that the documented diversity pattern for bryozoans may have been related, in part, to the availability of carbonate environments during the Triassic.


Introduction: IPE as a Global Conversation Mark Blyth Section 1: North American IPE 1. The Multiple Traditions of American IPE Benjamin J. Cohen 2. Realist Political Economy: Traditional Themes and Contemporary Challenges Jonathan Kirshner 3. Thinking Rationally about Hierarchy and Global Governance Alexander Cooley 4. Constructivism as an Approach to International Political Economy Rawi Abdelal 5. Of Margins, Traditions and Engagements: A Brief Disciplinary History of IPE in Canada Randall Germain Section 2: British IPE 6. Lineages of a British International Political Economy Ben Rosamond and Ben Clift 7. Empiricism and Objectivity: Reflexive Theory Construction in a Complex World Ronen Palan and Angus Cameron 8. Power-Knowledge Estranged: From Susan Strange to Post-structuralism in British IPE Paul Langley 9. Bridging the Transatlantic Divide? Toward a Structurational Approach to International Political Economy Philip G. Cerny Section 3: IPE in Asia 10. Reading Hobbes in Beijing: Great Power Politics and the Challenge of the Peaceful Ascent Giovanni Arrighi 11. States and Markets, States Versus Markets: The Developmental State Debate as the Distinctive East Asian Contribution to International Political Economy Walden Bello 12. The Rise of East-Asia: An Emerging Challenge to the Study of International Political Economy Henry Yeung 13. Neither Asia nor America: IPE in Australia Jason Sharman Section 4: IPE Elswhere - Exemptions, Exclusions, and Extensions 14. Why IPE is UNderdeveloped in Europe: A Case Study of France Nicolas Jabko 15. Why Did the Latin American Critical Tradition in the Social Sciences Become Practically Extinct? Gabriel Palma 16. What Do Sociologists Bring to International Political Economy John Campbell 17. Economic History and the International Political Economy Michael J. Oliver 18. Everyday International Political Economy Leonard Seabrooke and John Hobson


Australasian Muong Nong-type tektites from the locality centered at 16.46150° N, 106.48917° E in Laos contain sporadic spherical heterogeneous sulfide inclusions less than 10 μm in diameter, which have been identified by electron probe microanalyzer and electron backscatter diffraction to represent a mixture of rare mineral shenzhuangite with a pyrrhotite polytype (possibly troilite). Contrary to type shenzhuangite found in the shocked L6 chondrite Suizhou, the mineral embedded in the tektite glass is nearly free of copper, making the composition close to its expected end-member that has not yet been found in nature; the empirical formula closest to ideal end-member composition based on four atoms per formula unit is Ni1.007Fe0.998Cu0.016Co0.058S1.922. The described occurrence also represents the first find of shenzhuangite in terrestrial material. Presented is the Raman spectrum for shenzhuangite with the tentative assignment of spectral bands based on the analogy with synthetic chalcopyrite-structured phases. The chemical composition of shenzhuangite close to NiFeS2 is not consistent with any stable phase in the Fe–Ni–S system up to melting temperature. Available data so far on phase relations in this system do not allow unambiguous interpretation of conditions under which the sulfide association within inclusions had formed.


Studies on the control of inverted pendulum type systems have been widely reported. This is because this type of system is a typical complex nonlinear system and may be a good model to verify the performance of a proposed control system. In this paper, we propose the design of two fuzzy logic control systems for the control of a Segway mobile robot which is an inverted pendulum type system. We first introduce a dynamic model of the Segway mobile robot and then analyze the system. We then propose the design of the fuzzy logic control system, which shows good performance for the control of any nonlinear system. In this paper, we here design two fuzzy logic control systems for the position and balance control of the Segway mobile robot. We demonstrate their usefulness through simulation examples. We also note the possibility of simplifying the design process and reducing the computational complexity. This possibility is the result of the skew symmetric property of the fuzzy rule tables of the system.


Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria are the top-priority pathogens to be eradicated. Drug repurposing (e.g., the use of non-antibiotics to treat bacterial infections) may be helpful to overcome the limitations of current antibiotics. Zidovudine (azidothymidine, AZT), a licensed oral antiviral agent, is a leading repurposed drug against MDR Gram-negative bacterial infections. However, the rapid emergence of bacterial resistance due to long-term exposure, overuse, or misuse limits its application, making it necessary to develop new alternatives. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of ciclopirox (CPX) as an alternative to AZT. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of AZT and CPX against MDR Gram-negative bacteria were determined; CPX appeared more active against β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli, whereas AZT displayed no selectivity for any antibiotic-resistant strain. Motility assays revealed that β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli strains were less motile in nature and more strongly affected by CPX than a parental strain. Resistance against CPX was not observed in E. coli even after 25 days of growth, whereas AZT resistance was observed in less than 2 days. Moreover, CPX effectively killed AZT-resistant strains with different resistance mechanisms. Our findings indicate that CPX may be utilized as an alternative or supplement to AZT-based medications to treat opportunistic Gram-negative bacterial infections.


This paper introduces the new OLdenburg LOgatome speech corpus (OLLO) and outlines design considerations during its creation. OLLO is distinct from previous ASR corpora as it specifically targets (1) the fair comparison between human and machine speech recognition performance, and (2) the realistic representation of intrinsic variabilities in speech that are significant for automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. To enable an unbiased human-machine comparison, OLLO is designed for recognition of individual phonemes that are embedded in logatomes, specifically, three-phoneme sequences with no semantic information. A balanced set of target-phonemes important for human and automatic speech recognition has been chosen, drawing on pilot ASR studies and cross-fertilization from the field of human speech intelligibility testing. Several intrinsic variabilities in speech are represented in OLLO, by recording from 40 speakers from four German dialect regions, and by covering six articulation characteristics. Results from preliminary phonetic time-labeling and ASR experiments are promising and consistent with corpus variabilities.


A system consisting of two buffers, each with independent fluid sources, is considered in this paper. Due to ease of implementation, the output capacities for the two buffers depend on the workload of only one of the buffers that is measured. A threshold-based policy is considered to dynamically assign output capacities for both buffers. Marginal workload distributions for the two buffers need to be evaluated for this policy. The key contribution of this paper is the performance analysis to derive the workload distribution in the two buffers. In addition, the paper also provides some guidelines to choose the output capacities for the two buffers as well as a mathematical program to determine an optimal threshold to dynamically switch between output capacities. Further, various applications of such systems to computer-communication networks are discussed.


We examine whether and to what extent the presidential COVID-19 sentiment (PCS), constructed based on the former President Trump's tweets, has influenced the public's risk perception regarding COVID-19. We find that during the COVID-19 pandemic, PCS is negatively associated with social distancing behaviour in the Republican counties but is positively associated with social distancing behaviour in the Democratic counties. Our finding supports the view that individuals' risk perception is influenced by the information they receive from politicians through social media, with the impact exhibiting as variations with respect to the individuals' position on the political spectrum.


Genetic algorithms are simple to accelerate by evaluating the fitness of individuals in parallel. However, when fitness evaluation is expensive and time to evaluate each individual is highly variable, workers can be left idle while waiting for long-running tasks to complete. This paper proposes a local search hybridisation scheme which guarantees 100% utilisation of parallel workers. Separate work queues are maintained for individuals produced by genetic crossover and local search neighbourhood operators, and a priority rule determines which queue should be used to distribute work at each step. Hill-climbing local search and a conventional genetic algorithm can both be derived as special cases of the algorithm. The general case balances allocation of computing time between progressing the genetic algorithm and improving individuals through local search. Through evaluation on a simulated expensive optimisation problem we show that the search performance of the algorithm in terms of number of function evaluations does not vary significantly with the number of workers used, while still achieving linear speedup through parallelisation. Comparisons with an asynchronous genetic algorithm show that this method of using idle worker capacity for local search can improve performance when the computation budget is limited.


We investigate the critical methane concentration (CMC) during the atmospheric-pressure chemical vapor deposition (AP-CVD) of graphene on Cu from CH4. Above the CMC, graphene both nucleates and grows; below the CMC, it etches; while at the CMC, carbon intermediate species attach and detach from graphene at equal rates. By studying how the CMC varies with [H2] and temperature, we determine the reaction mechanism and the intermediates. We find that the CMC scales with [H2]3/2 and determine a single Arrhenius temperature dependence close to the expected equilibrium value. For [CH4] > CMC, the radial growth rate is proportional to the "building unit" supersaturation indicating that graphene growth occurs under capture-limited kinetics through an intermediate hydrocarbon that is first-order dependent on [CH4] and proportional to [H2]−3/2. We develop a CH4 decomposition and capture model which is consistent with all measurements indicating that the intermediate is CH. We find that uniform monolayer graphene can only be achieved in AP-CVD near the CMC, with a nucleation density that varies 5 orders of magnitude from 880 to 1075 °C. Thus, our work also provides a roadmap for growing uniform graphene at atmospheric pressure on Cu over a broad range of experimental conditions.


Agricultural areas of production units of Las Tunas province were sampled during three growing seasons to determine the species of insects associated with the chickpea crop in the province. Thirty two species belonging to seven orders and 21 families were detected, among which Heliothis virescens (F.) was recognized as the main pest affecting the crop. Plodia interpunctella Hubner and Lasioderma serricorne (F.) were reported for the first time in the country attacking chickpea under storage.


B. Frank Gupton, the Floyd D. Gottwald Jr. Chair in Pharmaceutical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University, is the recipient of the 2019 Peter J. Dunn Award for Green Chemistry and Engineering Impact in the Pharmaceutical Industry. The award, presented by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable, recognizes excellence in the research, development, and execution of pharmaceutical green chemistry technologies. Nominations are being accepted for the 2020 Peter J. Dunn Award. Submissions should highlight impact relative to the principles of green chemistry. The award will be presented at the 24th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in Seattle, June 16–18, where the recipient will give an oral presentation. The deadline for nominations is 5 p.m. (EST) on Jan. 31. For details, visit bit.ly/36ReQAe.


Catherine II inspired many Russian projects in historical studies. She herself was an active, if amateur, historian. The empress eagerly used history to promote her own political ideas and was an avid reader of history, both Russian and ancient. But what about Byzantine history? One would think she would have been interested in it as well, since between the late 1770s and the early 1790s, Catherine was enraptured by a plan to dismember the Ottoman Empire and recreate Byzantium with the capital in Constantinople. In her view, her youngest grandson (born in 1779) was to rule this future empire and was deliberately named Konstantin. This "Greek Project", broadly regarded to have been the main thrust of Russian foreign policy for fifteen years, had very solid cultural "wrappings" such as architectural projects, poetry, drama, paintings, medals, etc. The author examines whether this campaign was accompanied by a deeper interest in and knowledge of the history of the Byzantium that Catherine wanted to revive. The author concludes that the empress did not bother to learn anything about this great civilization. Byzantine history, apart from Russo-Byzantine relations, did not become a subject of scholarly research during her reign. Catherine herself began reading Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, but gave it up on the eighth volume of its French translation, thus going no further than the fifth century, when Byzantium proper was just emerging. In her play Oleg's Early Rule, she demonstrated complete ignorance of Byzantine history, culture, court ceremonies, etc. Finally, numerous and blatant errors in the "Byzantine" parts of her Notes on Russian History suggest that Catherine had no interest in or "a big picture" of Byzantine history. Only once in this extensive book, and even then only in a footnote, do we suddenly come across a very precise, thoughtful, and detailed description of Byzantine facts, namely, of the Varangian guards at the imperial court of Constantinople. This suggests that when Catherine deemed a subject important, she was able to find exhaustive information on any "Byzantine" question. Yet, of all things Byzantine, Catherine showed interest in only one issue, and that was because it concerned the "Norman question", a highly sensitive topic in her time and ever since. Otherwise, the empress remained completely indifferent to Byzantium. It can be surmised that Catherine never saw the "Greek Project" as a practical task of recreating a real state with its distinct laws, officials, territorial division and, finally, church.


A human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched related donor is considered as the first donor candidate in case of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). Given the declining birthrate and aging population in Japan, the number of sibling donors is also decreasing. Hence, candidates other than HLA-matched siblings, named "alternative donors," have attracted increasing attention. Improved graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) prophylaxis with posttransplant cyclophosphamide or pretransplant antithymocyte globulin represented a major breakthrough in allo-HSCT with alternative donors by overcoming the barriers of HLA mismatch. In addition, there have been improved outcomes of unrelated cord blood transplantation, owing to better unit selection along with improved GvHD prophylaxis and supporting strategies. These changes have expanded the range of donor options and consequently, increased donor availability at the critical moment for allo-HSCT. The next challenge that warrants further investigation is the development of personalized strategies to select the best donor from the available multiple options according to the status of each patient.


Most existing houses in the UK have a single thermostat, a timer and conventional thermostatic radiator valves to control the low pressure, hot water space heating system. A number of companies are now offering a solution for room-by-room temperature and time control in such older houses. These systems comprise of motorised radiator valves with inbuilt thermostats and time control. There is currently no evidence of any rigorous scientific study to support the energy saving claims of these zonal control systems.
This thesis quantifies the potential savings of zonal control for a typical UK home. There were three components to the research. Firstly, full-scale experiments were undertaken in a matched pair of instrumented, three bedroom, un-furbished, 1930s, test houses that included equipment to replicate the impacts of an occupant family. Secondly, a dynamic thermal model of the same houses, with the same occupancy pattern, that was calibrated against the measured results. Thirdly, the experimental and model results were assessed to explore how the energy savings might vary in different UK climates or in houses with different levels of insulation.
The results of the experiments indicated that over an 8-week winter period, the house with zonal control used 12% less gas for space heating compared with a conventionally controlled system. This was despite the zonal control system resulting in a 2 percentage point lower boiler efficiency. A calibrated dynamic thermal model was able to predict the energy use, indoor air temperatures and energy savings to a reasonable level of accuracy. Wider scale evaluation showed that the annual gas savings for similar houses in different regions of the UK would be between 10 and 14% but the energy savings in better insulated homes would be lower.


▪ Abstract Recent studies of the morphodynamics of the coastal region are reviewed. Emphasis is given to idealized models that consider a morphological pattern in isolation from the others, to obtain indications on the physical processes controlling its appearance and development. In particular, attention focuses on morphodynamic stability analyses that allow understanding of the behavior of morphological features that are repetitive in both space and time. Indeed rhythmic patterns are commonly observed both in the continental shelf far from the coast and in the near-shore region.


Exchangeable and soluble soil aluminum (Al) is limiting plant growth in many soils worldwide. This study evaluated the effects of increasing rates of dolomite and magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) on Al3+, pH, dissolved organic carbon, cations, anions, and Al speciation on oil palm Deli dura × AVROS pisifera root growth. Dolomite and MgCO3 additions significantly raised linearly soil solution pH, magnesium (Mg2+), nitrate (NO3 −) and chlorine (Cl−) concentrations; exponentially decreased the activity of phytotoxic Al species [aluminum (Al3+), aluminum sulfate (Al2SO4), and aluminum fluoride (AlF3)]; and reduced manganese (Mn) concentration and activity. High activity of those species exponentially reduced root dry weight. Optimum oil palm growth was achieved at: <50 μM monomeric Al, < 30 μM Mn, and <0.20 unit of the ratio Al+Mn to calcium (Ca)+Mg. High activity of Al species and Mn in acidic soil solution cause significant reduction of the root growth. Soil acidity alleviation either with dolomite or MgCO3 mitigates the toxic effect of Al and Mn.


An important aspect of natural language understanding and generation involves the recognition and processing of discourse relations. Building applications such as text summarization, question answering and natural language generation needs human language technology beyond the level of the sentence. To address this need, large scale discourse annotated corpora such as the Penn Discourse Treebank (PDTB; Prasad et al., 2008a) have been developed.

Manually constructing discourse resources (e.g. discourse annotated corpora) is expensive, both in terms of time and expertise. As a consequence, such resources are only available for a few languages. In this thesis, we propose an approach that automatically creates two types of discourse resources from parallel texts: 1) PDTB-style discourse annotated corpora and 2) lexicons of discourse connectives. Our approach is based on annotation projection where linguistic annotations are projected from a source language to a target language in parallel texts.

Our work has made several theoretical contributions as well as practical contributions to the field of discourse analysis. From a theoretical perspective, we have proposed a method to refine the naive method of discourse annotation projection by filtering annotations that are not supported by parallel texts. Our approach is based on the intersection between statistical word-alignment models and can automatically identify 65% of unsupported projected annotations. We have also proposed a novel approach for annotation projection that is independent of statistical word-alignment models. This approach is more robust to longer discourse connectives than approaches based on statistical word-alignment models.

From a practical perspective, we have automatically created the Europarl ConcoDisco corpora from English-French parallel texts of the Europarl corpus (Koehn, 2009). In the Europarl ConcoDisco corpora, around 1 million occurrences of French discourse connectives are automatically aligned to their translation. From the French side of \parcorpus, we have extracted our first significant resource, the FrConcoDisco corpora. To our knowledge, the FrConcoDisco corpora are the first PDTB-style discourse annotated corpora for French where French discourse connectives are annotated with the discourse relations that they signaled. The FrConcoDisco corpora are significant in size as they contain more than 25 times more annotations than the PDTB. To evaluate the FrConcoDisco corpora, we showed how they can be used to train a classifier for the disambiguation of French discourse connectives with a high performance. The second significant resource that we automatically extracted from parallel texts is ConcoLeDisCo. ConcoLeDisCo is a lexicon of French discourse connectives mapped to PDTB discourse relations. While ConcoLeDisCo is useful by itself, as we showed in this thesis, it can be used to improve the coverage of manually constructed lexicons of discourse connectives such as LEXCONN (Roze et al., 2012).


Gastrointestinal parasitism is a year round problem in beef cattle herds. In attempting to formulate a strategic parasite control, we looked for the one parasite species, Ostertagia ostertagi, which caused most of the parasite problems causing clinical disease and economic loss. So based upon its seasonality and the peculiarities of its life cycle, a strategic deworming program including pasture management was developed. Perhaps the most important has been a better understanding of the epidemiology of ostertagiosis in each of our geographical-climatic regions. This has permitted development of control (pasture rotation) and treatment schedules which effectively reduce the impact of this parasitism.


Eukaryotic AAA proteases form a conserved family of membrane-embedded ATP-dependent proteases but have been analyzed functionally only in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, we have identified two novel members of this protein family in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, which were termed MAP-1 and IAP-1. Both proteins are localized to the inner membrane of mitochondria. They are part of two similar-sized high molecular mass complexes, but expose their catalytic sites to opposite membrane surfaces, namely, the intermembrane and the matrix space. Disruption of iap-1 by repeat-induced point mutation caused a slow growth phenotype at high temperature and stabilization of a misfolded inner membrane protein against degradation. IAP-1 could partially substitute for functions of its yeast homolog Yme1, demonstrating functional conservation. However, respiratory growth at 37 degrees C was not restored. Our results identify two components of the quality control system of the mitochondrial inner membrane in N. crassa and suggest that AAA proteases with catalytic sites exposed to opposite membrane surfaces are present in mitochondria of all eukaryotic cells.


Challenges in rapid prototyping are a major bottleneck for plant breeders trying to develop the needed cultivars to feed a growing world population. Remote sensing techniques, particularly LiDAR, have proven useful in the quick phenotyping of many characteristics across a number of popular crops. However, these techniques have not been demonstrated with cassava, a crop of global importance as both a source of starch as well as animal fodder. In this study, we demonstrate the applicability of using terrestrial LiDAR for the determination of cassava biomass through binned height estimations, total aboveground biomass and total leaf biomass. We also tested using single LiDAR scans versus multiple registered scans for estimation, all within a field setting. Our results show that while the binned height does not appear to be an effective method of aboveground phenotyping, terrestrial laser scanners can be a reliable tool in acquiring surface biomass data in cassava. Additionally, we found that using single scans versus multiple scans provides similarly accurate correlations in most cases, which will allow for the 3D phenotyping method to be conducted even more rapidly than expected.


Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) featuring a fuel source engine and an energy storage source battery play an important role in improving fuel efficiency compared with its conventional counterparts. In view of the drawbacks of the existing research neglecting the thermal aspects when it comes to energy management design, this study focuses on developing an integrated energy and thermal management system for HEVs. All the mechanical and thermal models of the hybrid powertrain components are constructed in the first place. An optimization strategy is then implemented to optimize the energy flow. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system to improve fuel economy.


Proteomics technologies and bioinformatics tools have been widely used to analyze protein-protein interactions of complex biological systems, which are essential for understanding the mechanisms of human and cancer biology. Although many studies have tackled the problem of high-throughput protein-protein interaction identifications in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans, and Drosophila melanogaster, the effort to predict human and cancer-related protein-protein interaction is still limited. Moreover, low consistency and high false positive rates are major drawbacks of these high-throughput methods. In this research, the focus is on predicting human cancer-related protein-protein interaction and reducing false positive rates with integrated classifiers. We propose a hybrid machine learning system by merging fuzzy multiset-based classifiers and support vector machines (SVMs) into fuzzy-SVM mixture models (FSMMs). Our experimental result of the FSMMs approach achieves consistent prediction accuracy on human protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with an receiver operating curve score of 0.965 that outperforms other models. Overall, prediction results on cancer-related protein pairs indicate that our proposed system is effective for identifying both known and novel PPIs to assist cancer research in discovering novel interactions.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by the accumulation of neurotoxic amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides. Aβ is derived from amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP). In the non-amyloidogenic pathway, AβPP is cleaved by α-secretase and γ-secretase at the plasma membrane, excluding Aβ production. Alternatively, AβPP in the plasma membrane is internalized via endocytosis, and delivered to early endosomes and lysosomes, where it is cleaved by β-secretase and γ-secretase. Recent studies have shown that insulin in the periphery crosses the blood-brain barrier, and plays important roles in the brain. Furthermore, impaired insulin signaling has been linked to the progression of AD, and intranasal insulin administration improves memory impairments and cognition. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of insulin treatment remain largely unknown. To investigate the effects of insulin on AβPP processing, we tested the effects of insulin on neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells overexpressing AβPP, and cultured rat cortical neurons. We found that insulin increased the level of cell surface AβPP, decreasing the endocytosis rate of AβPP. Insulin reduced Aβ generation through upregulation of AβPP O-GlcNAcylation via Akt insulin signaling. Our present data suggest that insulin affects Aβ production by regulating AβPP processing through AβPP O-GlcNAcylation. These results provide mechanistic insight into the beneficial effects of insulin, and a possible link between insulin deficient diabetes and cerebral amyloidosis in the pathogenesis of AD.


This paper starts with an analysis of certain problems and issues regarding penal law and penal policies in Poland. However, it appears that these problems are not limited to Poland only. An analysis of comparative statistical data shows that they have a broader /European or, more precisely, a Central and Eastern European dimension. That is, they seem to be of a more general character and of significance in the context of a broader European discussion. Moreover, they may constitute a crucial component of the discussion on the approximation and unification of criminal law and penal policies in the European Union. Today, there are still substantial differences in this area not only between all the member states but particularly between the "old" and "new" members. Hence, there is a great need for considerable efforts to change and improve the existing situation.


Special purpose simulation computer code development for analysis of dynamic fluid flow systems is a complex and time-consuming task. One alternating is the use of a simulation package entitled EASY/ROCETS, which is a concatenation of two previously existing packages along with several extensions designed for the EASY/ROCETS package. The capabilities of the package in its present form are discussed. An example turbopump simulation is presented, which compares simulation results to hardware test data obtained at Stennis Space Center.<<ETX>>


ABSTRACT This research entitled "Perlocutionary Act In The Film Eat, Pray, Love By Ryan Murphy". It is an attempt to identify, classify and analyze the aspects of perlocutionary act from the utterances in the film. The effects of perlocutionary are planned and unplanned effects, while there are sixteen aspects of perlocutionary act. The data were collected from the film by identification and classification the planned and unplanned effect in the conversation. The writer read, watched and looked for the context of conversation by the characters' expressions and body language. The collected data have been analyzed by using descriptive method to explain the aspects of perlocutionary act as revealed in the conversation between the characters in the film Eat, Pray, Love. It can be concluded that there are two effects and eleven aspects of perlocutionary act performed in the film. There are nineteen utterances for planned effect and five utterances for unplanned effect. In terms of aspects, there are eleven aspects have been found. They are: bring hearer to know or learn, persuade, impress, encourage, irritate, amuse, get hearer to do,relieve tension, distract attention, embarrass, deceive. The aspects of get hearer to do and irritate were mostly used by the characters in the film. Keywords : Pragmatics, Perlocutionary Act, Film.


Results of DTA-TG investigation and chemical analysis of electro-exploded aluminum nanopowders, passivated and/or coated with the non-inert reagents: nitrocellulose (NC), oleic acid (C17H33COOH) and stearic acid (C17H35COOH), which were suspended in kerosene and ethanol, amorphous boron, nickel, fluoropolymer, ethanol and air (for comparison), are discussed. Surface protection of aluminum nanopowders by coatings of different origin results in significant advantages in the energetic properties of the powders. Aluminum nanopowders with a protecting surface show increased stability to oxidation in nitrogen, air and in water during storage period. On the basis of the experimental results, a diagram of the formation and stabilization of the coatings is proposed. The kinetics of the interaction of aluminum nanopowders with nitrogen, air and water is discussed. Recommendations concerning the efficiency of non-inert reagent passivation are proposed on the basis of comprehensive analysis of the experimental data.


This paper considers Indigenous groups and data. The paper begins with fifteen assorted questions which are addressed in various ways in the next two sections. The second section is a review of 'Indigenous Data Sovereignty' a collection by Kukutai and Taylor of 2016. This collection is seen as an excellent statement of the position of the Indigenous group regarding data and each chapter is reviewed in several paragraphs. Beginning with Kukutai and Taylor, the third and final section is a commentary on recent literature on data with reference to the Nation-state, Big Tech and Indigenous groups. This section considers a shifting situation involving machine learning and the hunting, gathering and farming of data. A reappraisal of the way data is used in the context of the Indigenous group, the Nation state and Big Tech is proposed. That reappraisal involves new considerations of identity in forms of ethnicity, nationalism and tribalism as well as the way Indigenous groups are defined by others and the ways in which they define themselves.


Neural networks have proven their ability to be usefully applied as component of a speech enhancement system. This is based on the known feature of neural nets to map regions inside a feature space to other regions. It can be taken to map noisy magnitude spectra to clean spectra. This way the net can be used to substitute an adaptive filtering in the spectral domain. We set up such a system and compared its performance against a known adaptive filtering approach in terms of speech quality and in terms of recognition rate. It is a still not fully answered question how far the speech quality can be enhanced by modifying not only the magnitude but also the spectral phase and how this phase modification could be realized. Before trying to use a neural network for a possible modification of the phase spectrum we ran a set of oracle experiments to find out how far the quality can be improved by modifying the magnitude and/or the phase spectrum in voiced segments. It turns out that the simultaneous modification of magnitude and phase spectrum has the potential for a considerable improvement of the speech quality in comparison to modifying the magnitude or the phase only.


We used the DFT + U method to describe the modification of the physical properties induced by cationic point defects in cubic magnetite Fe3O4. We considered the case of Fe vacancies and interstitial atoms in non-stoichiometric magnetite, and of Frenkel defects in a stoichiometric crystal. For each of these defects, we give results on the modification of the magnetic moment of atoms near the defect. We describe the local reorganization of the electric charge which is responsible for changes in the average oxidation degree of Fe atoms. We show that gap states, when they exist, do not destroy the half-metallic character of magnetite. Fe defects, however, change the filling of bands crossing the Fermi level and must be mostly responsible for a decrease in the magnetization.


A number of epidemiological studies have clearly shown that post-menopausal women on hormone therapy (which tends to simulate normal ovarian production) have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (coronary heart disease, stroke and thrombotic events). In fact most of the studies have involved equine oestrogen (Premarin) taken orally. The effects of oestrogens and the progestins depend on the type of administration (oral or percutaneous administration) and the variety of the drug chosen and finally is also dose dependent. The most favourable effect is obtained in normolipidaemic women with the combination of conjugated oestrogens given orally and a non-androgenic progestins. Such therapy is associated with an increase in HDL-cholesterol and a decrease in LDL-cholesterol. HDL subfraction analysis shows that HDL2 are the main species involved in this increase. The mechanism of action of oestrogens and progestins can be summarized as follows: oestrogens stimulate hepatic triglyceride secretion, inhibit the action of hepatic lipase, augment LDL breakdown via the cellular receptor apo B-E and may decrease LDL oxidability and Lp(a) levels. Although several points remain obscure, we may notice that most of studies show that the atherogenic profile of the women who are currently being treated tends to improve.


This single-blind comparative study compares the efficacy and safety of oral itraconazole and fluconazole in the 1-day treatment of vulvo-vaginal candidosis. A total of 27 nonpregnant symptomatic patients with microscopically proven vaginal candidiasis were included in the study. Patients assigned to the fluconazole group received a single oral dose of 150 mg while those assigned to the itracozanole group received 200 mg twice a day after breakfast and after dinner. In the analysis of comparative mycological effectiveness of the drugs fluconazole shows a 55.6% cure rate 33.3% failure rate and 11% relapse/reinfection while itraconazole has a 76.9% cure rate 73.1% failure rate and no relapse/reinfection. Researchers could not draw any conclusions regarding the efficacy of the two drugs because of the small sample size. However it was found that neither drug showed any significant adverse effect. Both appear to be safe convenient and well tolerated at the recommended doses.


The Choice Campaign Introduction Offering patients and their carers opportunities to have conversations about preferences for care is key to enabling realistic decisions and choices. Feedback from acute trust clinicians shows that holding these conversations can be difficult, resulting in lack of patient and carer involvement, increased bed days at end of life and carer distress in bereavement. Aims • To raise awareness that choice in place of care at end of life is possible • To encourage patients, carers and staff to initiate conversations about end of life care (EoLC) and advance care planning (ACP) • To empower staff to have effective and sensitive discussions with patients and carers • To reduce bed days Method As part of the Choice Campaign we designed a poster fronted by a young cancer patient and featured in local media. Pilots were held on 2 wards with training for staff and support provided to relatives at visiting times. The Posters are next to all clinical areas accompanied by information about ACP and contact details for the EoLC Coordinator with an Out of Hours answer phone for messages. Results Feedback from patients, carers and staff has been positive although some clinicians were initially concerned that the poster would cause distress and raise unrealistic expectations. Since launching the campaign the EoLC Coordinator has reported increasing contacts via the telephone helpline. There has been an increase in the use of the rapid discharge at end of life pathway . Staff are demonstrating an awareness of the importance of ACP. An evaluation will be included in the presentation. Conclusion The poster campaign is the first step in enabling choice in end of life care within the Trust. We plan to consolidate this through an intensive ward based programme of end of life training and outcomes monitored at Board level.


Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease characterized by a wide range of disease-specific and disease-related autoantibodies (autoAbs). Profile assays have been developed and are currently in use to meet the demand for better characterization of all autoAbs found in SSc patients. Aim: To assess the clinical relevance of SSc-related autoantibodies in 158 patients with SSc, all from Central Greece, taking advantage of a multiparametric SSc autoantibody line immunoassay. Material and methods: 158 consecutive patients with SSc (137 females, mean age 53.2 ± 10 years; 63 patients with dcSSc and 95 with lcSSc) from central Greece were included in the study. Eighteen patients with morphea were also included. Serum samples were analyzed by a profile SSc nucleoli line assay (Euroimmun) to detect Abs against 13 autoantigens: Scl-70, Centromere (A, B), RNA polymerase III (subunits 11 & 155), fibrillarin, NOR90, Th/To, PM/Scl 100, PM/Scl75, Ku, PDGFR and Ro52. Antinuclear autoAbs (ANAs) were detected by indirect immunofluorescence. Results: ANAs were detected in 97.5% of SSc patients. Reactivities to specific autoantigens were as follows: Topo I, 40.5%; CENP, 32.9%; Ro52, 21.5%; RP11, 8.9%; RP155, 13.3%; NOR 90, 4.4%; Ku 3.8%; PM-Scl75, 3.2%; PM-Scl100, 1.3%; Th/To, 1.3%; Fibrillarin, 1.3%; PDGFR 0%; Ro52 21.5%. Twenty-one of SSc did not have any of the main autoAbs, namely anti-Topo I, anti-CENP, anti-RNA pol III Abs. Conclusions: Multiparametric autoAb test provides positive SSc-associated autoAb reactivities in SSc patients negative for the three main autoAbs and this may prove of significance in early disease diagnosis.


Advanced communication technologies have allowed power-line-communication (PLC) channel to be a transmission medium that enables the transfer of high-speed digital data over the classical indoor electrical wires. The development of PLC systems for Internet, voice, and data services requires measurement-based models of the transfer characteristics of the mains network suitable for performance analysis by simulation. This paper presents the impact of load impedances connected on the electrical network on insertion gain and capacity of the PLC link.


With respect to team training, traditional instructional design (ID) guidelines, mainly aimed at training at the individual level, seem to be insufficient given the different nature and characteristics of teams and team performance. In order to provide adequate support, guidelines have been developed supporting the analysis of team tasks, and the design of team training scenarios. This paper discusses an approach to the empirical validation of these guidelines and the implications for further research on ID for team training.


Aims: There is no data regarding the survival rate of pathogens in party foods held at different temperature and time interval in Nigeria. Hence, the need to study the survival rate of selected food borne pathogens in Fried rice (spiced and non – spiced) served at parties, monitor toxin production and the rate at which it is produced with respect to time and holding temperature as well as determine the effect of spices on the survival of food pathogens. Place and Duration of Study: Lagelu and Ibadan North Local Government Authority Area of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, between May 2017 and September 2017. Methodology: We obtained 10 fried rice samples (5 spiced and 5 nonspiced) from different parties inside sterile food warmers and transferred to the Food Microbiology Laboratory. Pathogens inoculated were obtained from the culture collection unit of the Food Microbiology laboratory and they were Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi and Escherichia coli. Inoculum size of the pathogens was determined prior to inoculation. Initial temperature of the fried rice sample was taken and after inoculation, samples were taken at an interval of 2 hours to determine the survival rate of the pathogens. Brine Shrimp Lethality (BSL) assay was used to determine the level of toxin produced. Original Research Article Olanbiwoninu et al.; EJNFS, 12(4): 1-8, 2020; Article no.EJNFS.56430 2 Results: The microbial load of all pathogens inoculated increased from its initial size as the holding temperature reduces and holding time increases. For E. coli, there was an increase from 5.3 log10CFU/g to 9.3 log10CFU/g and 8.3 log10CFU/g in non–spiced fried rice and spiced fried rice, respectively, initial load for S. typhi also increase from 4.1 log10CFU/g to 9.1 and 8.4, for B. cereus and S. aureus there was an increase form 6.3 log10CFU/g to 9.0 and 8.4 for non-spiced and spiced rice respectively. Toxicity test shows that the lethal dose was high at 8 hours (LC50:1.5) which connotes that the toxicity was high at this holding time. Conclusion: Holding cooked foods at ambient temperature for 6 h or longer without appropriate reheating constitute a major critical control point for party food. Keeping foods at the right temperatures is an essential food safety practice. Adequate knowledge and application of this by caterers will reduce the rate of food borne illness in the country.


Infectious stomatitis is bacterial essentially when of dental origin, the viral forms most often causing a vesicular and erosive stomatitis, and fungal secondary to a modification of the oral commensal flora. The diagnosis is often clinical with the lesions being of characteristic appearance and arising in a suggestive context. When the appearance is less typical or when the choice of treatment necessitates the identification of the germ, specific samples are taken. The treatment of viral stomatitis is essentially symptomatic, that of bacterial and fungal stomatitis comprising two arms: the specific treatment of the acute episode and then that of the particular oral-dental terrain.


Lewis R. Gilbert, Class of 1900. Mr. Gilbert received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Case School of Applied Science in 1900. He became a draftsman with the Browning Engineering Company and later worked for the Packard Motor Company in Detroit. In 1905, Mr. Gilbert was employed by the Peerless Auto Company in Cleveland as an assistant mechanical engineer and designer. Working conditions in the U.S. caused him to leave and go to France to work at his profession until the outbreak of World War I.


More than 14 circuit miles of 230-kv oil-filled underground cable were recently placed in service in Vancouver, B. C., Canada. A description is given of the two types of cable used, as well as installation details.


PURPOSE
To assess whether direct measurement of ureteral length correlates with patient height or the ureteral length measured on intravenous urography in order to determine the appropriate ureteral stent length to be used for ureteroscopic surgery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Sixty-five patients (70 ureters) who underwent ureteroscopic procedures were evaluated. The ureteral length between the ureteropelvic and ureterovesical junctions was determined either by preoperative intravenous urography (straight ureteral length; SUL) or intraoperatively with the aid of a guidewire (practical ureteral length; PUL). We regarded the PUL as a clinically useful measurement. The height, SUL, and PUL for each patient was determined. For a postoperative comparison of proper stent position, we selected another 36 patients in whom the length of the stent was based on patient height.

RESULTS
The SUL values correlated significantly with the PUL (R2 = 0.482 on the right v 0.564 on the left side) and might be used as a predictor of stent length. However, patient height did not correlate with the PUL. Postoperative stent position tended to be better in the patients who had direct ureteral measurements than in those with stents chosen on the basis of patient height.

CONCLUSION
Determination of stent length according to patient height does not correlate well with the length needed for endoscopic procedures. Direct measurement of the ureteral length is easy and minimizes stent-associated complications and stent migration.


Training a robust policy is critical for policy deployment in real-world systems or dealing with unknown dynamics mismatch in different dynamic systems. Domain Randomization~(DR) is a simple and elegant approach that trains a conservative policy to counter different dynamic systems without expert knowledge about the target system parameters. However, existing works reveal that the policy trained through DR tends to be over-conservative and performs poorly in target domains. Our key insight is that dynamic systems with different parameters provide different levels of difficulty for the policy, and the difficulty of behaving well in a system is constantly changing due to the evolution of the policy. If we can actively sample the systems with proper difficulty for the policy on the fly, it will stabilize the training process and prevent the policy from becoming over-conservative or over-optimistic. To operationalize this idea, we introduce Active Dynamics Preference~(ADP), which quantifies the informativeness and density of sampled system parameters. ADP actively selects system parameters with high informativeness and low density. We validate our approach in four robotic locomotion tasks with various discrepancies between the training and testing environments. Extensive results demonstrate that our approach has superior robustness for system inconsistency compared to several baselines.


We measured the faunal similarityb etween samples of Coleoptera, Araneae and Gastropoda + Lumbricidae + Opiliones from infields ites in the Faroes by ordination,a nd compared the sites on a between-islandb asis. The aeriallyd ispersingA raneae did not show any island-specific pat-tern; the faunal similarityw as high between the islands. Coleoptera showed a patternw heres imilarityw ithini slandsw as highert hanb etween them.T he anthropochorous parto ft he Coleopteraf ormeda clear pattern reminiscentof t heg eographicala ppearanceo ft heF aroes; similarity within large islandsw as clearlyh ighert han betweeni slands. This indicatest hat one of the axes in thep rincipalc omponenta nalysisi s an approximationo f some measure of geographical distance. The small islands, however, showed the randomp atterno f a waifc olonizationa nd occurreds cattered in the factors pace. The anthropochorous groupsG astropoda + Lumbricidae+ Opiliones differedm arkedlyf roms uch a pattern,a nd were more similart o the aerially dispersingA raneae. We interprett his as being the result of a dispersalb etweena nd withinis landsd ependento n Man, and a persistence (of manys pecies) in man-madeh abitatso nly. We termt hiss erfc oloniza-tion to indicate those species' total dependence upon Man.


We use the NIRSPEC near-IR spectrometer on Keck II to obtain moderate resolution (R = 1540) spectroscopy that shows conclusively that the C IV emission line in the z = 5.74 quasar SDSSp J104433.04-012502.2 is accompanied by broad, blueshifted C IV absorption. The line has a "balnicity index" of 900 km/s and a rest-frame equivalent width of 13.1 +/- 1.3 relative to the continuum. This confirms its membership in the class of objects called "broad-absorption line" (BAL) QSOs. SDSSP J1044-0125 was previously suggested to be a BAL QSO based on its larger UV-to-X-ray flux ratio than most non-BAL QSOs. The C IV emission is of normal strength, implying a metallicity similar to that found in other, lower-redshift QSOs.


Control of polymer molecular weight is critical for tailoring structure-function properties; however, traditional molecular weight characterization techniques have limited ability to determine the molecular weight of polymers in real time without sample removal from the reaction mixture, with spatial resolution, and of insoluble polymers. In this work, a fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) method was developed that overcomes these limitations. The method is demonstrated with polynorbornene and polydicyclopentadiene, polymers derived from ruthenium-catalyzed ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). The polymer Mw, ranging from 35 to 570 kg/mol as determined by gel-permeation chromatography, was quantitatively correlated with the fluorescence lifetime. The revealed correlation then enabled time-resolved measurement of Mw during an ongoing ROMP reaction, requiring only 1 s per measurement (of a 45 μm × 45 μm polymer sample area), and provided spatial resolution, resulting in simultaneous characterization of polymer morphology. To provide the fluorescence signal, the initial reaction solutions contained a very low doping of a reactive norbornene monomer labeled with fluorescent boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY), such that 1 in every 107 monomers contained a fluorophore. The resulting FLIM visualization method enables the rapid determination of the molecular weights of growing polymers without removal from the reaction mixture and regardless of polymer solubility.


Based on novel data and a literature review, an inventory of Harpacticoida from the northern part of the East Sea and the southern part of Sea of Okhotsk is compiled. A total of 151 species belonging to 70 genera and 26 families, of which 16 species are deemed to be new to science, are recognized from the region. Twelve harpacticoid species assemblages are described from marine and brackish water soft sediments and the phytal zone. Estuarine faunas were similar throughout the East Sea and Sea of Okhotsk, both in species composition and dominant-taxon structure. Conversely, the fauna of marine soft sediment and phytal zones differed greatly throughout this region. This distinction may have been caused by differences in dispersal rates or by differences in environmental conditions. The distribution of littoral and sublittoral harpacticoids was determined primarily by climatic factors and the temperature of surface waters. Three basic sub-regions were distinguished within the survey area: Korean, which includes many tropical taxa (39%) and a smaller amount (about 20%) of boreal taxa; Primorye, where boreal and subarctic-arctic species (>40%) predominate, and representatives of the tropical complex are rare (17%); and Soya, with a mix of tropical (22%) and boreal (31%) faunal elements. The faunas of the Korean and the Primorye sub-regions are distinct, whereas that of the Soya has intermediate features.


Building embedded systems is nothing like building desktop applications, as the hard real time requirements and relative harshness of the operating environment further constrains design choices to meet real world needs. Those familiar with mainframe or server farm hosted, high volume, wide bandwidth applications know similar harsh computing environments for application development. Given that more man-hours have been devoted to web application development over the past decade than have been devoted to embedded application development, there may be some valuable lessons to be learned that can be adopted by the embedded community for in-vehicle computing. The best web application development teams successfully apply the notions of Representational State Transformation (REST) and Resource Description Framework (RDF) to handle the increasing demands on their sites. We have taken these technologies and applied them to the smaller scale vehicle telematics platforms (PowerPC, ARM, and Atom) to test their viability. This paper describes how we approached the design decisions that enabled us to successfully wrap a commercial J1939 CAN bus with a miniature web server that provides a REST API for applications to interact with an engine control unit. The architecture has been successfully deployed for custom mining and construction equipment.


Background and purpose: Dose heterogeneity in tangential breast irradiation has been shown to be as high as 20% and may lead to problems in local control and cosmesis. In this study, dose heterogeneity in three dimensions (3D) in the breast irradiated with wedged tangential beams is assessed and the improvement which can be made by the use of individualised two dimensional (2D) compensators is established. The compensation required is calculated in two ways: (I) by an iterative technique giving a uniform dose on a plane through the isocentre normal to the central axis of each beam, and (II) by inverse planning using an optimisation technique based on simulated annealing. Materials and methods: A total of 17 patients with histologically proven T0-3, N0, N1, M0 breast cancer undergoing breast irradiation following wide local excision, were CT scanned using contiguous 1 cm slices from approximately 2 cm superior to 2 cm inferior of the irradiated volume. The dose distributions are determined using a 3D algorithm that calculates primary and scatter dose separately using a differential scatter air ratio method and corrects both for the presence of heterogeneities. The iterative technique achieves a dose variation of better than 0.5% on the plane through the isocentre with compensation on both beams. Compensation for the lateral beam only is calculated using the optimisation technique in order to minimise the scatter dose to the contralateral breast. The optimisation algorithm minimises the dose variance over the target and sets upper dose limits for the lung and the remainder of the irradiated volume. Results: For the group of patients the average dose heterogeneity in 3D using wedges is 12% (range 8±17%), which reduces to 8% (5±16%) using compensation on a plane and to 5% (4±7%) using the optimisation technique. Conclusions: Inverse planning is normally used for complex radiotherapy techniques but when applied to tangential breast irradiation, can reduce the dose heterogeneity through the breast as a whole to as little as 4%, with potential bene®ts in local control and cosmesis. q 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.


Activities undertaken on a construction site are often accompanied with high levels of noise. Addressing the issue of noise pollution in construction is gaining significance with the growing awareness about the social and environmental components of sustainable construction and the increasing numbers of projects being undertaken in congested urban areas. The documented methods for reducing noise pollution in construction include controlling (1) the noise produced at the source; (2) noise levels reaching a receptor; (3) noise propagated along the transmission path. Methods addressing the latter points use the fact that attenuation of noise increases as the transmission path gets longer. Thus the efficiency of such methods can be improved considerably through optimising the arrangement of temporary facilities on construction sites, with respect to a receptor, making use of noise attenuation due to distancing noisy facilities away from noise-sensitive receivers. The building under construction can also be used as a barrier to the noise transmission path, where obstruction of particular facilities from a given receiver can help in producing lower levels of sound as measured at the receptor. The available literature on site layout planning is extensive but limited to only achieving traditional construction project objectives (travel and material handling cost, safety, etc.). This paper presents a mixed integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model that optimises the location of temporary facilities on site in order to minimise the sound levels measured at a pre-defined receptor. The present model is expressed in three stages: (1) defining the noise objective function; (2) implementing model constraints; and (3) application of COUENNE to solve the MINLP for a case study.


Measuring the impact of portfolio allocations in terms of non-pecuniary effects is becoming more mainstream in the financial industry. A logical extension to methodologies such as portfolio carbon footprinting is that more or less capital provisioning through leverage or short positions should have increased/negative non-financial effects as well. Focusing on climate impact, this paper develops a stylized model where investor capital allocations drive total economy carbon emissions, and derive the carbon footprint attributable to the investor. In the model, using leverage in the form of long-short short strategies, the investor can reduce or even make their footprint negative when their investment allocations drive (shifts of) cost-of-capital and full economy emissions reductions. In an empirical application using the iTraxx Main non-financial index, we demonstrate how a generic corporate bond exposure can achieve a zero or negative carbon footprint by using a leveraged long-short overlay. The findings should be useful in terms of repositioning traditional non-impact portfolios by using overlays as well as to validate and leverage already operational ESG strategies.


Tasks and task analysis play an important role in broad Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research, based on the view that users utilize technologies to support their primary tasks. Several models and heuristics are developed for task analysis for HCI design. Yet tasks and task analysis have received relatively little attention in the MIS literature that primarily considers IT use and impact on individuals, groups, and organizations. This can be a problem considering the task artifact cycle, where the use and impact of IT on tasks should feed back into the next round of IT design. This study examines MIS studies that focus on humans interacting with IT at individual and group levels where tasks are part of the research interest. Our objective is to gain a better understanding of the types, the characteristics, and the roles of tasks in the MIS literature.


Observations over a 5-year period at a site at Ottawa showed that the ground temperature had significant Fourier components with period and 2 years. The average annual ground temperature and amplitudes of the Fourier components of period 1 year and year underwent non-periodic fluctuations of almost 1 C degree at a depth of 10 cm. The amplitude of this fluctuation decreased with depth, and its maximum occurred later in time. There was evidence of a gradual increase in average annual ground temperature amounting to about 0.2 C degree over the 5-year period at the 610-cm depth. The significance of such small temperature changes in areas where the ground temperature is close to 0 °C is pointed out.


A novel shape controlled Cu2O/reduced graphene oxide/In2O3 (Cu2O/RGO/In2O3) hybrid with abundant oxygen vacancies was prepared by a facile, surfactant-free method. The hybrid photocatalyst exhibits an increased photocatalytic activity in water oxidation and degradation of environmental pollutants (methylene blue and Cr6+ solutions) compared with pure In2O3 and Cu2O materials. The presence of oxygen vacancies in Cu2O/RGO/In2O3 and the formation of heterojunction between In2O3 and Cu2O induce extra diffusive electronic states above the valence band (VB) edge and reduce the band gap of the hybrid consequently. Besides, the increased activity of Cu2O/RGO/In2O3 hybrid is also attributed to the alignment of band edge, a process that is assisted by different Fermi levels between In2O3 and Cu2O, as well as the charge transfer and distribution onto the graphene sheets, which causes the downshift of VB of In2O3 and the significant increase in its oxidation potential. Additionally, a built-in electric field is generated on the interface of n-type In2O3 and p-type Cu2O, suppressing the recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs and allowing the photogenerated electrons and holes to participate in the reduction and oxidation reactions for oxidizing water molecules and pollutants more efficiently.


Large zero-bias resistance anomalies as well as a collapse of magnetoresistance were observed in Co/Al2O3/Co magnetic tunnel junctions with thin Cr interfacial layers. The tunnel magnetoresistance decays exponentially with nominal Cr interlayer thickness with a length scale of approximately 1 A more than twice as fast as for Cu interlayers. The strong suppression of magnetoresistance, as well as the zero-bias anomalies, can be understood by considering a strong spin-dependent modification of the density of states at Co/Cr interfaces. The role of the interfacial density of states is shown by the use of specially engineered structures. Similar effects are predicted and observed in junctions with Ru interfacial layers.


GelBandFitter is a computer program that uses non‐linear regression techniques to fit mathematical functions to densitometry profiles of protein gels. This allows for improved quantification of gels with partially overlapping and potentially asymmetric protein bands. The program can also be used to analyze immunoblots with closely spaced bands. GelBandFitter was developed in Matlab and the source code and/or a Windows executable file can be downloaded at no cost to academic users from http://www.gelbandfitter.org.


The rules on the admittance of visitors or 'strangers' within the parliamentary chambers have a long history in the Westminster tradition of parliamentary practice. Over the past 30 years there has been a dramatic increase in the representation of women in Parliament and some of them have given birth while in office. In response to changing values, new procedures and facilities have been developed in parliament that attempt to address the needs of senators and members who are parents of young children. These include the establishment of a childcare centre within Parliament House, measures to support breastfeeding and enabling proxy voting for nursing mothers in the House of Representatives.


Due to its interdisciplinary nature, the field of educational technology is characterized by approaches, models and methodologies that derive from a number of different disciplines. Consequently, to understand how the different approaches have been concretely applied to the design, practical implementation and analysis of learning environments integrating technology, it is necessary to refer to some overarching notions through which it is possible to link theoretical reflections and the pedagogical and technical considerations that one has to face when designing or analysing learning environments integrating technology. In this paper two notions will be considered in particular: that of perspectives and that of the didactical functionalities of an ICT-based tool. The idea is to use these two notions as conceptual complementary lenses: the notion of perspectives can help to better connect the educational technology field with related areas and concepts; the notion of didactical functionalities, in the framework of each perspective, can help to highlight relevant issues and research questions. The aim is to sketch a framework to support the understanding of research studies in the field of educational technology at the school level and, in particular, to situate, as examples, specific projects carried out at the Institute for Educational Technology (ITD) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR).


Although informative, the semantic definition proposed for the most standard agent communication language (FIPA ACL 1997) is complicated and contentious, while published inter-action protocols (IPs) tend to be ambiguous, incomplete, and unverified with respect to message semantics. To clarify and help rectify these problems, this paper proposes an integrated framework based on Propositional Dynamic Logic and Belief and Intention modalities (called the PDL-BI language). Specifically, we provide an axiomatisation of PDL-BI and for an agent's propositional attitudes (beliefs and intentions) and social attitudes (such as sincerity and trustworthiness). Then, we suggest a revised and simpler core semantics for many of the FIPA ACL speech acts, which, in turn, lead to the specification of the semantics of IPs. As a case study, we specify the semantics of the contract net protocol (CNP) in PDL-BI, which allows to prove that the CNP terminates.


A variant of human growth hormone (hGH), in which 15 amino acids are missing (commonly referred to as 20K-hGH in contrast to the traditional form which is referred to as 22K-hGH), is known to exist in human pituitary glands. However, lack of a method to measure it in blood has hindered investigations of its physiopathology. We have applied a newly-developed technique called GEISAA for its detection in small volumes of human plasma. The method is based upon the lower Mr of the variant and its ability to partially crossreact with existing antibodies for 22K-hGH. It consists of retrieval of the substance from plasma by immunoprecipitation, separation from 22K-hGH by NaDodSO4-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transfer onto nitrocellulose paper by electroblotting and visualization by immunostaining and autoradiography. It revealed the 20K-hGH in plasma of some normal individuals and in that of an acromegalic patient. Furthermore, plasma concentration of the variant rose in conjunction with 22K-hGH following exercise, a natural stimulus for GH release. These results show that the 20K-hGH circulates under normal conditions and it is measurable by GEISAA using existing antibodies.


Abstract Background Globally, there is an unprecedented demand for physical rehabilitation services due to, among others, an increase in non-communicable diseases, and the ageing of the population. Iran is no exception and epidemiological trends suggest that population needs for physiotherapy services will rise significantly. However, inadequate insurance coverage, weak stewardship, the predominant role of the private sector in service delivery, and inappropriate supervision have created a favourable environment for corrupt practices in the Iranian physiotherapy sector. Objectives To identify drivers of corruption and potential combating strategies for the physiotherapy sector from the perspective of key stakeholders: physiotherapists, academics, and health policymakers. Methods In-depth semi-structured interviews were performed to explore physiotherapists', academics', and health policymakers' perceptions about corruption in Iranian physiotherapy sector. The individuals were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse transcripts and identify relevant themes. Results On the whole, 22 individuals (5 physiotherapists, 8 academics, and 9 health policymakers) agreed to take part in the interviews. Several drivers and determinants of corruption in the physiotherapy sector as well as potential combating strategies were identified across five categories: (1) government regulator function, (2) payer function, (3) providers function, (4) suppliers function, and (5) patients function. Conclusions Corruption represents a real threat in the physiotherapy sector in Iran impeding accessibility and utilisation of rehabilitation services and therefore is a serious barrier to the achievement of Sustainable Developments Goals. Development and adoption of effective anti-corruption strategies are therefore necessary.


Summary
The influence of tree species diversity and functional group on soil properties (carbon stock, pH and C/N ratio) has not been explored across major European forest types.
We evaluated the relative importance of tree species diversity and functional group for soil carbon (C) stocks, C/N ratio and pH in major European forest types in the six regions Finland, Poland, Germany, Romania, Italy and Spain. We sampled soils in 209 permanent plots along a species diversity gradient from monocultures to five-species mixtures.
Carbon stocks in the topsoil (forest floor (FF), 0–10 cm and FF + 0–10 cm) were positively, but weakly, related to diversity across the regions. While the C/N ratio in the FF + 0–10 cm layer decreased significantly with increasing diversity in the Spanish region, pH was unrelated to species diversity across the regions. Tree species functional group (in terms of conifer proportion, CP) explained a larger proportion of the variability in soil properties than diversity. Conifer admixture increased C stock and C/N ratio, and decreased pH, but the impacts differed between the regions in some layers. Differences in mean annual temperature, actual evapotranspiration and soil texture between the regions were possible driving factors behind the different CP effects in Finland, Spain and Germany.
The results imply that targeted selection of tree species with desired characteristics, e.g. complementary traits for resource use, is a preferred management approach for influencing soil C stock, C/N ratio and pH in mixed forests rather than increasing tree species diversity per se.

A lay summary is available for this article.


Abstract A new type of polyimide/silica (PI/SiO2) hybrid composite has been successfully prepared using the polymer‐modified silica gels with the purpose of improving the affinity of silica particles for the polymer matrix. First, poly(maleic anhydride‐co‐styrene)/silica [P(MA‐ST)/SiO2], polymer‐modified silica gels, were prepared by the condensation reaction of the surface hydroxyl group of silica gel with a polymeric coupling agent, P(MA‐ST)–trimethoxysilane. Then, PI/SiO2 hybrid films of different silica contents were obtained by blending polymer‐modified silica gels with Poly (amic acid) (PAA) from pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) and 4,4′‐diaminodiphenyl ether (ODA) in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone (NMP). The decomposition temperature at 5 wt% loss (Td5) of hybrid films as measured by thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) increased with the increasing P(MA‐ST)/SiO2 content within the measured range. The PI/SiO2 hybrid films with ca. 5 wt% of modified‐silica exhibited balanced mechanical properties, whereas the hybrid films with higher silica contents had reduced mechanical properties, as confirmed by the scanning electron micrographs (SEM) observation.


Purpose: Background of the study: Water extraction is a major activity in the processing of formulations such as Kashayam, Arishtam, Medicated Oil and Lehyam. The herbal residues produced after the water extraction are mostly discarded. This study is on one such residue of a potent herb namely Curcuma longa. Curcuma longa generally known as turmeric is an important and potential drug widely used in different formulations of Ayurveda. The officinal part used is rhizome. It has been Phytochemicaly explored by different researchers. The prominent active principle in it is considered to be the phenolic compound Curcuminoids. Curcumin is the major compound in Curcuminoids. It is responsible for the yellow colour of turmeric and is practically insoluble in water. An assessment of phytochemicals in Curcuma longa rhizomes, before and after water extraction, and the fate of water insoluble compounds and Curcumin is explored in this paper. Aim: To explore bioactive principles retained with the remnants of curcuma longa rhizomes, after taking water decoctions and the scope of commercial utilization of the remnants or the active principles. Method: The samples were collected from The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (Coimbatore) Limited. The preliminary phytochemical studies were done using the methods by Harborne and the antioxidant properties were estimated by DPPH radical scavenging activity. Result: Preliminary phytochemical studies on Curcuma longa rhizome samples before and after extraction show the presence of bioactive principles like phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids and terpenoids in both samples. The physicochemical parameters such as Alcohol extractive values, Total Ash, and Acid insoluble Ash were also compared. Thin layer chromatography was carried out for phytochemical comparison of methanolic extract of Curcuma longa before and after extraction and the profile shows comparable spots at same Rf values. The isolated Curcumin was compared with the standard Curcumin by UV–Visible Spectroscopy and the ?max was obtained at 421nm. The yield of Curcumin obtained was 3.91%. The antioxidant study gave IC50 values for the fresh sample, extracted herb and Curcumin are obtained at concentrations 49μg/ml, 85μg/ml and 12.1μg/ml respectively. Conclusion: The present study shows that considerable amount of secondary plant metabolites are retained in the herbal residue. The presence of phenols and other secondary metabolites in the herb even after extraction suggest that they can be used either as such for the isolation of Curcumin, a natural colouring compound. Both turmeric and Curcumin has wide application in Pharmaceutical, Food and Textile industries. Usually a large amount of such extracted curcuma longa is available from Ayurvedic Industry. Scope of the present study thus can be extended further to the possible utilization of the extracted Curcuma longa.


A new method is presented for long-range transmission network expansion planning, based on the decomposition principle. The overall transmission expansion planning task is divided into two problems, the first one dealing with investments, and the second with operations. The investment problem is specified as the minimum cost problem of network programming, leading to the decomposition into the model of minimum load curtailment and the proposed model of the (local) marginal network. The operation problem is solved by applying the Monte Carlo simulation, with suitable control strategies and additional reliability constraints. The final result is the software package, verified on test examples, as well as on the real transmission network of the power pool of eastern Yugoslavia. >


IEEE 802.11e standard has been published in 2005. In the next few years, we may expect a proliferation of 802.11e capable stations. In the mean time, the legacy 802.11 stations will exist Therefore, it is of practical significance to study the network performance when 802.11 stations and 802.11e stations coexist. In this paper, a novel Markov chain based analytical model is proposed to investigate the coexistence of DCF and EDCA, which are the fundamental access mechanisms for 802.11 and 802.11e respectively. The performance impact of the differences between DCF and EDCA is analyzed, including the contention window (CW) size, the interframe space (IFS), the backoff counter decrement rule, and the transmission timing when the backoff counter reaches zero. Based on the proposed model, the saturated throughput is analyzed. Simulation study is carried out to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed model.


Affordable high magnetic permeability material has always been a challenge for those who are working with RCD. This article tried to show the possibility of using the low cost Iron Oxide powder. This is because Fe 2 O 3 is more available nowadays. The first work was trying to analyze Fe 2 O 3 permeability using physics approaches. It was included the simulation using Abninit - a Density Functional Theory software. Then it discussed the test of the simple magnetic core using common household's AC voltage. From the test, 9.52 mV AC could be easily induced from 230 V AC using the magnetic core with only sixteen windings at a low current of 13.21 mA,


This poster presents a simple and efficient method for stitching sections of a high dynamic range (HDR) panorama, taking advantage of perception to minimize visible seams. Most approaches to panoramic stitching require exact or nearly exact overlay of the input images in order to produce a seamless blend. Most methods also require identical image exposures, and do not work in HDR. We overcome these limitations with an approach that is fast and memory-efficient, working on a scanline at a time within each overlapping rectangle. Input to the algorithm is a set of HDR images with correspondence points between each pair to be joined, one point pair per seam. These correspondence pairs may be selected manually, or generated automatically using a technique such as [Pollefeys & Van Gool 2002].


.  Based on results from interviews with theological educators at forty-five seminaries in North America, the author begins by listing twenty-six concerns expressed about technology in theological education, particularly the concerns about electronically mediated distance education. These concerns are categorized loosely under three headings: Practical and Personal Concerns, Pedagogical and Educational Concerns, and Philosophical and Theological Concerns. More important than the list is the sociology of decision-making surrounding technology among theological educators. In the final section of the article entitled, "how concerns about technology function within institutions," the author discusses how it is that these concerns are allowed to function in very different ways across the spectrum of theological education today.


The paper analyzes in five local governance case studies: i) the processes and tools employed for engaging stakeholders in different phases of the 'stakeholder management cycle' and ii) the role played by public managers. The case studies deal with experiences of co-consultation, co-decision, co-design, co-delivery and co-evaluation. Findings highlight that the processes for engaging stakeholders are both formal and informal and that new institutional and organizational arrangements can be created for managing stakeholders. Moreover, results show that public managers tend to play a proactive role when stakeholders are engaged for service delivery, whereas they tend to play a bureaucratic role when stakeholders are engaged for policy making.


Abstract. This paper will focus on the national inventory of South Africa and application in heritage management. The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) is mandated to compile and maintain an inventory of the national estate, defined as heritage resources of cultural and other significance as per Sections 3 and 39 of the National Heritage Resources Act. No.25 of 1999. This inventory is presented in a form of a database facilitated through the South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS). SAHRA is also mandated to produce a summary and analysis of this inventory of the national estate at regular intervals as per Section 39(7) of the NHRA. This inventory and its subsequent publication facilitate accountability for the institution, access to the data by the public as well as public awareness. The national inventory is populated through numerous digitisation projects by various heritage institutions namely museums, galleries, Provincial Heritage Resources Authorities (PHRA's) and the public at large.