The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of online game digital pathology and how to overcome it through Islamic religious education. This research uses qualitative research with pedagogical and normative approaches. The digital pathology that developed at UPT SD Negeri 177 Tokke, Malangke District, is an online game pathology that is around 4 hours a day used by students. Students who are excessive in playing games tend to have emotional feelings that are difficult to control, children admit to being quick to anger, sad, and annoyed when their parents suddenly stop their online game playing activities. The negative impact of online games causes students to be more active in thinking about how to advance to the next stage or how to beat their playing opponents without caring about the lessons at school. It is hoped that parents will pay more attention to their children when children spend their learning time playing online games that are less useful for academic achievement. In the prevention function, understanding function and alleviation function, only PAI teachers and school personnel handle these students. If the PAI teacher has experienced difficulties, especially now that the learning epidemic is still online, in handling these students, a supervisory function is applied, namely the school is assisted by the students' families in handling and supervising students addicted to online games. only PAI teachers and school personnel handle these students. If the PAI teacher has experienced difficulties, especially now that the learning epidemic is still online, in handling these students, a supervisory function is applied, namely the school is assisted by the students' families in handling and supervising students addicted to online games. only PAI teachers and school personnel handle these students. If the PAI teacher has experienced difficulties, especially now that the learning epidemic is still online, in handling these students, a supervisory function is applied, namely the school is assisted by the students' families in handling and supervising students addicted to online games.


Acoustic streaming in a multi-well microplate is investigated using two different ultrasonic actuation frequency-schemes: Single-frequency and frequency-modulation. The streaming is tracked by the use of 1 µm fluorescent polymer beads and microparticle image velocimetry. The suspension also contained human B cells for studying the acoustic trapping and aggregation performance simultaneously with the acoustic streaming. Our results show a significant difference in the acoustic streaming between the two ultrasonic actuation schemes. A rotational fluid flow speed decreased a factor of 30 when frequency-modulation was applied compared to single-frequency actuation without apparently interfering with the acoustic cell trapping function.


Theoretical-reflective study aimed to comprehend psychiatric assistance by analysing, from a historical perspective, the different conceptions and tendencies which culminated with the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform. The authors question the different trends occurring in health assistance, since the country is facing a period of ideological, structural and political transformations in terms of Mental Health actions, which point to possible changes in the present psychiatric care model.


The ontological model framework provides a rigorous approach to address the question of whether the quantum state is ontic or epistemic. When considering only conventional projective measurements, auxiliary assumptions are always needed to prove the reality of the quantum state in the framework. For example, the Pusey-Barrett-Rudolph theorem is based on an additional preparation independence assumption. In this paper, we give a new proof of psi-ontology in terms of protective measurements in the ontological model framework. The proof does not rely on auxiliary assumptions, and it also applies to deterministic theories such as the de Broglie-Bohm theory. In addition, we give a simpler argument for psi-ontology beyond the framework, which is based on protective measurements and a weaker criterion of reality. The argument may be also appealing for those people who favor an anti-realist view of quantum mechanics.


On October 11, 2000, an estimated 306 million gallons of water and fine coal refuse slurry broke through a bedrock barrier from an impoundment in Martin County, eastern Kentucky, into an adjacent underground mine. Approximately 260 million gallons of the water and coal slurry discharged from two underground mine portals and affected over 75 miles of streams in Kentucky and West Virginia. As a result of this and several other breakthroughs over just half a decade, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) and other institutions undertook investigations to assess the causes of the events, the potential for additional breakthroughs in the future, and available methods for preventing them. In addition to needed improvements in the design, construction, and inspection of the facilities, the studies have addressed issues pertaining to the flow characteristics of refuse slurry, not only in impoundments still receiving pumped slurry, but also in "idle" and reclaimed facilities. Related questions concern: (1) the effects on breakthrough potential of the impoundment abandonment process and construction of slurry cells on top of capped structures; and (2) appropriate measures and available methods that may be used to ensure that underground mines adjacent to or underlying impoundments are known and accurately located. Current information on the engineering properties of coal refuse in existing facilities provides no assurance against fine refuse flowability during any stage in the impoundment construction and reclamation process or after reclamation has been completed. Due to this uncertainty, thorough site investigations and conservative measures in design, construction, reclamation, and quality control are of paramount importance.


The effect of salinity stress on grain filling was studied in two rice varieties(Kala-Rata 1-24 and IR28) with different resistances of yield to salinity. Plants were subjected to saline irrigation(150mM sodium chloride) during the grain-filling period in combination with the primary rachis-branch clipping. Saline irrigation decreased whole plant dry-matter production during the grain-filling period. A dry-matter increase of hulled rice was retarded because of the insufficient supply of dry-matter during the mid grain-filling period by saline irrigation; however it later recovered because of an increase in the compensatory translocation of stem reserves to the panicle. The final panicle dry weight did not decreass because of saline irrigation. The retardations of the dry-matter increases of hulled rice were markedly in the inferior spikelets of plants with intact primary rachis-branches, but not in the plants with half primary rachis-branches. The dry-matter increase of hulled rice that was retarded by saline irrigation recovered after the saline water was removed. These results in dicated that the potential of grain growth and the carriage of assimilates might not be affected by saline irrigation. The insufficient supply of dry-matter to hulled rice during saline irrigation may have resulted from a decrease in the production of low-molecular sugars for translocation because of the suppression of carbohydrate metabolism under salinity.


Owing to the autocatalytic antioxidant activity, cerium oxide nanoparticle (CeNPs) has been extensively used in biomedical fields for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, biosensing, and therapeutic applications. The redoxdependent interconversion between +3 and +4 oxidation states of CeNPs is suggested to be the reason of scavenging of free radical generated in the biological system. Herein we have explored the protective effect of CeNPs against the oxidative stress induced by organophosphate-based pesticide, 2,2-dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate (DDVP), in a normal human liver cell culture model (WRL-68). DDVP is known to cause the toxic effect in cells by inducing lipid peroxidation, cellular glutathione level depletion and DNA fragmentation by the caspase-dependent pathway. We followed the protection of cells by CeNPs against DDVP exposure using MTT and NRU assays. Exposure of DDVP to cells induced significant nuclear fragmentation, which could be avoided in cells pre-treated with CeNPs. Mechanistically, we observed that CeNPs induces an increase in cellular GSH level, which could assist in removal of excess of reactive oxygen species, generated in DDVP exposed cells, along with the superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity of CeNPs. The interaction study showed that there was no chemical interaction between DDVP and CeNPs, therefore, the intrinsic SOD-like activity of CeNPs was intact even in the complex cell culture media. Growing evidence suggest that excess use of DDVP could lead to the several diseases in cells/tissues, therefore our finding emphasizes that CeNPs can be used as a potent antioxidant agent to avoid the ramifications of DDVP and other commercial pesticides. Copyright © 2018 VBRI Press.


Background Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is associated with a number of respiratory diseases. Specific traffic conditions in East-Central Europe foster an increased risk of diseases but there is still relatively small evidence between TRAP concentrations and a risk of obstruction among people living close to busy roads. Material 4985 persons (urban and rural inhabitants) were investigated in a study made in 2008-2011 in Warsaw. Pulmonary function tests were completed (Easy One spirometer) and occurrence of respiratory system diseases symptoms, allergies, smoking, etc. were proved. Simultaneously traffic density and TRAP concentrations were measured. Association between place of living, air pollutants exposure and obstruction was explored by logistic regression analysis. Results TRAP concentrations were statistically significant higher (p Conclusion High TRAP concentrations in the proximity of main roads are one of the significant reasons of airways flow limitation. Therefore the risk of obstruction highly depends on place of living, particularly among non-smokers. Results obtained confirm the outcomes of the first investigation on the influence of TRAP on health carried out in Poland in 2005-2006.


Background: Phrenic nerve injury and diaphragmatic dysfunction are common after pediatric cardiac surgery leading to failure to wean from ventilatory support. Diaphragmatic plication is the standard management of diaphragmatic paralysis. The aim of this retrospective study is to review our experience with diaphragmatic plication and its effect on the operative outcome.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all patients who underwent diaphragmatic plication from June 2010 to June 2017. Seventy-six patients (2.87%) had unilateral diaphragmatic paralysis following 2646 congenital cardiac procedures. Sixty-four patients (2.4%) underwent diaphragmatic plication.
Results: The median age for the patients who had plication was 2.75 months (range 0.5- 36) and 3.7 months (range 0.66 to 123) for non-plicated patients. Thirty-six were males (56.25%), and the most common procedure associated with diaphragmatic plication was modified Blalock Taussig Shunt (n= 13; 20.3%). Left-sided diaphragmatic plication was performed in 44 patients (68.7%). The mean time between the primary surgery and diaphragm plication was 6.42±4.51 days. The mean ventilation period before plication was 4.93±3.71 days, and post plication ventilation median time was 2.11±1.82 days. Two patients (3.1%) required tracheostomy for prolonged respiratory insufficiency. One patient (1.6%) needed surgical revision, and two patients (3.1%) had their diaphragmatic plication during the initial surgery.
Conclusion: Diaphragmatic plication is an effective procedure in the management of postoperative diaphragmatic paralysis. We recommend early plication for patients with symptomatic diaphragmatic paralysis causing prolonged ventilation


SN 2007if was the third over-luminous Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) detected after 2003fg and 2006gz. We present the photometric and spectroscopic observations of the SN and its host by ROTSE-III, HET, and Keck. From the Hα line identified in the host spectra, we determine a redshift of 0.0736. At this distance, the SN reached an absolute magnitude of −20.4, brighter than any other SNe Ia ever observed. If the source of luminosity is radioactive decay, a large amount of radioactive nickel (∼1.5 M☉) is required to power the peak luminosity, more than can be produced realistically in a Chandrasekhar mass progenitor. Low expansion velocity, similar to that of 2003fg, is also measured around the maximum light. The observations may suggest that SN 2007if was from a massive white dwarf progenitor, plausibly exploding with mass well beyond 1.4 M☉. Alternatively, we investigate circumstellar interaction that may contribute to the excess luminosity.


Colonization of novel habitats is more likely with increasing propagule pressure— the total 21 number of individuals introduced to a site. Two key components of propagule pressure are the 22 number of introduction events and the size of those introduction events. It is unclear which of 23 these components is more important for colonization success, or under what environmental 24 conditions their relative importance might shift. Using demographic simulations paired with a 25 Tribolium flour beetle microcosm experiment, we introduced 20 total individuals into replicated 26 novel habitats of stable or fluctuating quality and manipulated the number and size of 27 introduction events used to distribute them through time. After seven generations, we evaluated how different combinations of the number and size of introductions affected establishment 29 probability, size of established populations, and whether effects depended on the variability of 30 the recipient environment. We found no effect of biologically realistic environmental 31 stochasticity on establishment probability or size of established populations in the demographic 32 simulations. However, there was strong evidence that establishment probability was enhanced 33 with more, smaller introductions. In the microcosm, we similarly found no effect of 34 environmental stochasticity on establishment probability, but unlike the simulations found that 35 populations that established were larger in the stable environment, especially with more 36 introduction events. The microcosm experiment yielded greater overall establishment probability 37 and larger populations compared to the demographic simulations. Genetic mechanisms likely 38 underlie these differences in results and thus deserve more attention in efforts to parse propagule 39 pressure. Our results highlight the importance of preventing further introductions of undesirable 40 species to invaded sites, and suggest conservation efforts should focus on increasing the number 41 of introductions or re-introductions of desirable species rather than increasing the size of those 42 introduction events.


Occupation of land by a squatter in England is seen as a wrong, and the squatter a trespasser. This is recognised as adverse possession and this doctrine has been established by iteration and reiteration over the long history of English land law with the sole intention of protecting the real property of the landed classes. The enduring nature of land law can also be used to demonstrate that the doctrine by which control of property is understood has changed little throughout this history. The purpose of this thesis is to explore and demonstrate that adverse possession does not exist and this is done by using an alternative exploration of the facts. This is by an extended literature review, analysis of common and case law, reappraisal of the historical background, and a review of property theorists. Consideration of judicial discourse and authoritative speech, the power of the landed classes and how these influenced the law of land are also evaluated. Finally scrutiny of trespass and the Limitation Act 1833 and Land Registration Act 2002, bring the arguments up to date. Crucial to this thesis is the assumption that occupation of land with the necessary intent creates a title to that land. This can be, and is, traced back through the history of English land law where it has been demonstrated that the doctrine by which property is understood has changed little over this long history. It has been established that the doctrine of adverse possession is a fiction developed by the courts to protect the most important possession of the English landed class – their land. It has also been demonstrated that the squatter is not a trespasser, a land thief or possessor of wrong. This is significant when the effectiveness of the Land Registration Act 2002 and Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 are considered.


This paper studies the long-run impact of HIV/AIDS on per capita income and education. We introduce a channel from HIV/AIDS to long-run income that has been overlooked by the literature, the reduction of the incentives to study due to shorter expected longevity. We work with a continuous time overlapping generations model in which life cycle features of savings and education decision play key roles. The simulations predict that the most affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will be in the future, on average, a quarter poorer than they would be without AIDS, due only to the direct (human capital reduction) and indirect (decline in savings and investment) effects of life-expectancy reductions. Schooling will decline on average by half. These findings are well above previous results in the literature and indicate that, as pessimistic as they may be, at least in economic terms the worst could be yet to come.


Background: According to the Healthy People 2020 goals, the sustainability of breastfeeding duration rates within the United States has not been achieved. To increase these rates, it is important that women with breastfeeding difficulties receive the support needed to continue breastfeeding. When supplementation occurs, it is essential that the breastfeeding relationship be preserved. Various methods of supplementation are often recommended including use of the supplemental feeding tube device (SFTD). Purpose: The question guiding this brief is "What evidence exists to support the use of an SFTD as a method of supplementation for breastfed infants?" Search Strategy: The PubMed and CINAHL databases were queried for original research published in English from 1990 through July 2016. Search terms included "supplemental feeding tube," "breastfeeding," "term infants," "premature infants," "Supplemental Nursing System," "Lact-aid," and "supply line." Findings: Very limited research exists on the use of SFTDs as a method of supplementation for breastfed infants; however, existing research suggests that an SFTD may be useful as a supplementation method for breastfed infants. Highquality research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of using an SFTD for supporting exclusive and all breastfeeding rates. Implications for Practice: Nurses and providers need to be educated and trained in the use of SFTDs as well as all supplemental feeding methods. Information on efficacy and SFTD use should also be included in policies related to breastfeeding and human milk use. Implications for Research: Further research should determine best methods of supplementation for breastfed infants and should examine differences in breastfeeding rates when using the SFTD for supplementation.


Abstract : One of the most difficult theoretical problems in robotics--motion planning for rigid body robots-- must be solved before a robot can perform real-world tasks such as mine searching and processing. This dissertation proposes a new motion planning algorithm for an autonomous robot, as well as the method and results of implementing this algorithm on a real vehicle. This dissertation addresses the problem of safely navigating an autonomous vehicle through free space of a two dimensional, world model with polygonal obstacles from a start configuration (position orientation) to a goal configuration using smooth motion under the structure of a layered motion planning approach. The approach proposes several new concepts, including v-edges and directed v-edges, and divides the motion planning problem of a rigid body vehicle into two subproblems: (1) finding a global path using Voronoi diagrams and for a given start and goal configurations planning an optimal global path; the planned path is a sequence of directed v-edges, (2) planning a local motion from the start configuration, using the aforementioned global path. The problem of how to design a safe and smooth path, is effectively solved by the steering function method and proximity. Another problem addressed here is how to make a smooth transition when the vehicle gets closer to an intersection of two distinct boundaries. This dissertation also presents a robust algorithm for the vehicle to continually eliminate its positional uncertainty while executing missions. This functionality is called self-localization which is an essential component of model-based navigation for indoor applications. This algorithm is based on the two-dimensional transformation group. Through this method, the robot can minimize its positional uncertainty, make safe and reliable motions, and perform useful tasks in a partially known world.


Quiescent Signal Analysis (QSA) is a novel electrical-test-based diagnostic technique that uses IDDQ measurements made at multiple chip supply pads as a means of locating shorting defects in the layout. The use of multiple supply pads reduces the adverse effects of leakage current by scaling the total leakage current over multiple measurements. In previous work, a resistance model for QSA was developed and demonstrated on a small circuit. In this paper, the weaknesses of the original QSA model are identified, in the context of a production power grid (PPG) and probe card model, and a new model is described. The new QSA algorithm is developed from the analysis of IDDQ contour plots. A "family" of hyperbola curves is shown to be a good fit to the contour curves. The parameters to the hyperbola equations are derived with the help of inserted calibration transistors. Simulation experiments are used to demonstrate the prediction accuracy of the method on a PPG.


Finite element analysis for large-scale complicated structure such as aluminum reduction cell makes higher demand on memory capacity and calculation speed, which often results in failure or inefficiency of traditional serial computation for such large-scale problems. Finite element EBE-PCG algorithm is proposed on the basis of EBE(Element-By-Element) idea and Jacobi preconditioned conjugate gradient(PCG) method. The main difficulties in parallel implementation of this algorithm are discussed and solved, such as data organization of grid model, mixed elements processing and data communication. Subsequently, parallel program of finite element analysis based on EBE-PCG is developed using C language and MPI standard library, and then applied to numeric simulation of electric field distribution in aluminum reduction cell. The computational accuracy of parallel program developed is verified through comparison with commercial finite element software ANSYS. Experiment results show that the method is of very high parallel efficiency and can greatly shorten the calculation time, which indicates the effectiveness of EBE's use in parallel computation of large-scale complicated structures.


The traditional Nifty-Fifty story is that the prices of growth stocks rose in the early 1970s to unreasonable heights, as evidenced by their subsequent crash. An article in The Journal of Portfolio Management argues that this story is wrong-the long-run performance of these investor favorites validates their seemingly high prices. That article poses a plausible list, although another list is frequently cited as the Nifty-Fifty. The 24 stocks that appear on both lists-the unambiguously Terrific 24-have done substantially worse than the market. For the combined lists, there is a substantial and statistically persuasive inverse relationship between P/E ratio and subsequent long-term performance. The basic elements of the Nifty-Fifty story are sound. With the spectacular exception of Wal-Mart, the glamour stocks that were pushed to relatively high P/E ratios in the early 1970s did substantially worse than the overall market, in both the short and the long run.


The teaching of English as a foreign language has a promising outlook in the nation of Kuwait. Recent policy reflects language development theories that see early childhood as an especially good period for the learning of a foreign language. Thus, English is now taught at 30 public kindergartens in Kuwait. However, the program apparently was implemented quickly, with little consideration for how teachers and other stakeholders would respond to it. This paper explores that program in the context of the perceptions and views of teachers affected by it. A review of the existing curriculum points towards deficiencies, and investigation of the perceptions of teachers clarifies them. For this study, surveys were distributed to kindergarten teachers tasked with teaching English in 30 kindergartens in five different school districts, in Kuwait. 631 surveys were completed, providing information about teachers' perceptions and views towards: 1) learning English at an early age, 2) the current English curriculum, 3) teacher needs for effective instruction, and 4) the challenges teachers face. Total agreement was tabulated for each survey statement. Results were also subjected to one-way analysis of variance tests to identify differences according to school district, training institution, and length of teaching experience. The results show that teachers generally agree with the idea of introducing children to English at an early age. Their agreement with the actual curriculum used for that purpose is considerably weaker. At the same time, the results indicate that teachers generally recognize that they have needs for teaching English which are not currently being met, and that they face considerable challenges in that role. District, source of training, and years of experience are connected to variation on only a few statements, but these variations help to explain the source of certain teacher perceptions and what can be done by policymakers to improve teacher engagement with kindergarten English education. Improvements to pre-service and in-service training are recommended as the most essential changes that the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education must make in order to continue implementing the current curriculum.


BACKGROUND Celiac disease presents with a wide spectrum of symptoms. This study clarifies different aspects of celiac disease along with the most common patterns of celiac presentation in Khuzestan Province, Iran. METHODS Patients' information was obtained by evaluation of their files from the archives of the Khuzestan Celiac Society and records at gastroenterologists' offices in this province. RESULTS Overall, there were 103 (40 males, 63 females) patients included in this study. Patients' mean ages were 33 ± 11 years (males) and 31.6 ± 11.7 years (females). In terms of geographic distribution, 54.1% resided in the center of the province followed by 26.5% who were residents of the northern area. The rate of employment among men was 70.6% whereas it was 8.3% for women. In terms of education, 21.9% of men and 33.3% of women had academic educations. The rate of matrimony was 80.6% (n=29) for men, 65.4% (n=38) for women and 3.4% (n=2) who were divorced. Mean height was 164 ± 14 cm in men and 157.5 ± 10 cm in women. Mean BMI at the time of presentation was 22.7 in men and 22.6 in women. The most common gastrointestinal (GI) complaints in male patients were diarrhea (35%), reflux (20%), bloating (17.5%), abdominal pain (15%), vomiting (15%) and constipation (7.5%). Female patients experienced diarrhea (49.2%), abdominal pain (31.7%), bloating (31.7%), vomiting (19%), constipation(9.5%) and reflux (7.9%). The most common concomitant non-GI disorders among male patients were anemia (17.1%), thyroid disease (14.3%), and weight loss (14.3%); women experienced anemia (33.9%), thyroid disease (12.5%), and weight loss (7.1%). Approximately half of the patients exhibited symptoms for more than five years prior to diagnosis and 90% were diagnosed by gastroenterologists. Of these, 43% had normal endoscopy results. The most common serologic markers were anti-TTG (69.9%), anti-EMA (27.7%). CONCLUSION Physicians, prior to attributing patients' symptoms to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), should be aware that patients who present with long-term nonspecific symptoms might possibly have celiac disease. During endoscopy, the threshold for obtaining biopsies should be low.


129 participants of military conflicts were examined; 72 of them had a mild combat craniocerebral trauma (CCT) (8.46 +/- 0.72 years before the observation on the average); 57 hadn't any trauma; 15 healthy individuals formed a control group. The examination included an analysis of the indices of autonomic background, cardiointervalograms, EEG, EMG, visual and acoustic evoked potentials as well as peculiarities of personality according to the modified MMPI test. The results confirmed a role of chronic combat stress in the development of the dysfunction of non-specific systems of the brain in the form of psycho-autonomic syndrome, in which a main role is played by headache of tension. The development of such dysfunction did not depend on the presence of CCT while a mild CCT aggravated the severity of these cases.


Treatment Failure Rates in Group Versus Individual Treatment Using the OQ-45: An Archival Replication Cameron Todd Alldredge Department of Psychology, BYU Master of Science In routine outcome monitoring (ROM), the rate and timing of treatment failure alerts has been related to the success of feedback in past randomized clinical trials. In a recent OQ-45 feedback study, Burlingame and colleagues (2018) found that the rates and timing of not-ontrack (NOT) progress alerts in group treatment were different than those reported for individual treatment. Using data from 58 different therapy groups and 374 patients, NOT progress alerts occurred at 186% of the rate reported by Shimokawa et al. (2010) when they examined over 6,000 patients receiving individual therapy at the same clinics. Another significant difference was found on the timing of the first NOT progress alerts with group treatment's first alerts occurring two sessions later than individual treatment. The goal of the current study was to use de-identified archival OQ-45 data from patients receiving group and individual treatment at a comparable clinic to determine if these rate and timing differences were replicable. Data from individual therapy (N = 5,493) and group therapy (N = 146) patients' OQ-45 scores show that the present study duplicated the significant difference found in the rate of NOT alerts between these formats. Relative risk of alerting as NOT at least once in group therapy was calculated to be 1.43 compared to individual therapy (group patients are 143% more likely to alert than individual patients). On the other hand, the present study did not find a significant difference in the timing of first alerts between formats. The implication of these results are significant when considering ROM in group therapy. Patients participating in group therapy are much more likely to flag as not-on-track later during the course of treatment when compared to patients in individual therapy.


The abrupt separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965 set these two states on separate political trajectories, but the economic ties proved more difficult to untangle. This article explores the nine years of transition required to complete the separation of the monetary systems of the two territories based on new archival evidence. It argues that, while socio-political hostility raged between the two partners, common economic interests prolonged an intimate monetary relationship that extended the interdependence of the two states for many years beyond their formal separation.


Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) refers to a set of encryption schemes that allow computations to be applied directly on encrypted data without requiring a secret key. This enables novel application scenarios where a client can safely offload storage and computation to a third-party cloud provider without having to trust the software and the hardware vendors with the decryption keys. Recent advances in both FHE schemes and implementations have moved such applications from theoretical possibilities into the realm of practicalities.
This paper proposes a compact and well-reasoned interface called the Homomorphic Instruction Set Architecture (HISA) for developing FHE applications. Just as the hardware ISA interface enabled hardware advances to proceed independent of software advances in the compiler and language runtimes, HISA decouples compiler optimizations and runtimes for supporting FHE applications from advancements in the underlying FHE schemes.
This paper demonstrates the capabilities of HISA by building an end-to-end software stack for evaluating neural network models on encrypted data. Our stack includes an end-to-end compiler, runtime, and a set of optimizations. Our approach shows generated code, on a set of popular neural network architectures, is faster than hand-optimized implementations.


Summary
Bacteroides sp. grown for 24 hours in the CLG medium releases a considerable quantity of ammonia into the medium. Such cultures containing bacterial cells which are rendered non-multiplying by penicillin are used in our laboratory for the routine propagation of Entamoeba histolytica. Further experiments revealed that the quantity of ammonia in such cultures does not show detectable increases or decreases during the period of propagation of amebae. It is suggested that these levels of ammonia produced during the period of bacterial growth might be one of the factors responsible for the prevention of luxurious growth in cultures of amebae in which Bacteroides is the associate organism.


Abstract This paper looks at the economic impact of secession through the lens of the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. It uses an econometric analysis covering the period between 1956 and 2011—including a series of factors linked to the independence process, socio-economic and structural controls, and the level of development—in order to assess whether (a) breaking away from the former Yugoslavia delivered an 'independence dividend' to the newly independent countries and whether (b) independence had a more favourable impact in richer, rather than poorer territories. The results of the analysis underline that there has been no favourable economic impact of secession and that how secession was achieved is key in understanding the subsequent economic performance of the newly independent countries. In cases of secession without conflict, independence did not have a noticeable impact on ensuing economic performance. Secession achieved by conflict, by contrast, seriously dented growth prospects.


SUMMARY: A circular map of two strains of Streptomyces rimosus was constructed by the analysis of several hundred heteroclones. Segregants from four-point and five-point heteroclones were scored and the markers arranged by the criterion of minimizing the number of quadruple crossovers. Distances between genes were estimated from the analysis of the segregation of pairs of loci, whenever the ratio between the frequency of parental segregants approached the ratio between those of recombinant segregants. The nutritional markers appear to be asymmetrically distributed around the map, the upper arc containing a larger proportion of genes. The arrangement of genes in the upper arc recalls that of S. coelicolor A3(2), with which S. rimosus forms fertile crosses. The 'empty' regions known in the S. coelicolor map may be absent in S. rimosus.


A vertical stack of a "fiber" is planted in both ends that are not bound in the outer shape of the module header, which is aerated by the gas distribution means to generate a large amount of bubbles to the wiping function to rub the outer surface of the fiber. The membrane device air bubbles are seen to great effect because the vertical deployment of fiber to rise upward and to the flow rate through the membrane is constant, is reached at a relatively high value to a cleaning gas in a relatively small amount along the outer surface of the fiber It allows. Moreover, air bubbles flowing along the outer surface of the fiber is slightly longer than the straight line distance from center to center between two facing the length of each fiber header is preferably at least 0.1% - satisfies the long about 5% Conditions If it is possible to prevent that the fibers are contaminated by microbes or the deposits of inanimate particles in the substrate. When used in a relatively large vessel, to use a bank of bundles with the gas distribution means; The length of the fibers of each bundle is longer than 0.5 meters total surface area is greater than 10㎡. Terminal end portions of fibers in each header are maintained by a novel new methods to plant fibers are fibers and fibers do not come into contact.


This comprehensive study identifies the concepts that are central to assessing the effect of infrastructure reform on the poor, based on a detailed analysis of the effects of a decade of reforms in Latin America. It demonstrates that because the access to, and affordability of, basic services is still a major problem, infrastructure investment will be a core component of poverty alleviation programs in the region. The book shows that although affordability of service tariffs is often an issue, in many instances, access is a much more pressing concern in meeting the infrastructure needs of the poor. In this context, the book makes a valuable contribution to the debate about privatization and deregulation, striking an excellent balance between enthusiasm for reform, and concern for the potentially perverse effects. It provides guidelines to assess infrastructure needs, and to ensure that strategies addressing such needs, are cost-effective. By placing special emphasis on data collection, and explanations of quantitative methodologies, that serve as inputs to studies needed to ensure inclusion of the poor in the provision of infrastructure, the study offers a combination of research, policy analysis, and capacity-building efforts. Concluding remarks stipulate the need for political commitment in the redistribution of welfare policies, regulatory reform, and on how will the private sector participate.


We study the problem of actively searching for an object in a three-dimensional (3-D) environment under the constraint of a maximum search time using a visually guided humanoid robot with 26 degrees of freedom. The inherent intractability of the problem is discussed, and a greedy strategy for selecting the best next viewpoint is employed. We describe a target probability updating scheme approximating the optimal solution to the problem, providing an efficient solution to the selection of the best next viewpoint. We employ a hierarchical recognition architecture, inspired by human vision, that uses contextual cues for attending to the view-tuned units at the proper intrinsic scales and for active control of the robotic platform sensor's coordinate frame, which also gives us control of the extrinsic image scale and achieves the proper sequence of pathognomonic views of the scene. The recognition model makes no particular assumptions on shape properties like texture and is trained by showing the object by hand to the robot. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using state-of-the-art vision-based systems for efficient and reliable object localization in an indoor 3-D environment.


Within the framework of effective mass theory, we investigate the effects of spin–orbit interaction (SOI) and Zeeman splitting on the electronic properties of an electron confined in GaAs single quantum rings. Energies and envelope wavefunctions in the system are determined by solving the Schrödinger equation via the finite element method. First, we consider an inversely quadratic model potential to describe electron confining profiles in a single quantum ring. The study also analyzes the influence of applied electric and magnetic fields. Solutions for eigenstates are then used to evaluate the linear inter-state light absorption coefficient through the corresponding resonant transition energies and electric dipole matrix moment elements, assuming circular polarization for the incident radiation. Results show that both SOI effects and Zeeman splitting reduce the absorption intensity for the considered transitions compared to the case when these interactions are absent. In addition, the magnitude and position of the resonant peaks have non-monotonic behavior with external magnetic fields. Secondly, we investigate the electronic and optical properties of the electron confined in the quantum ring with a topological defect in the structure; the results show that the crossings in the energy curves as a function of the magnetic field are eliminated, and, therefore, an improvement in transition energies occurs. In addition, the dipole matrix moments present a non-oscillatory behavior compared to the case when a topological defect is not considered.


The present study introduces a revised Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale, a new conceptualization and operationalization of the resilience indicator SOC. It outlines the scale development and aims for testing its reliability, factor structure, and validity. Literature on Antonovsky's SOC (SOC-A) was critically reviewed to identify needs for improving the scale. The scale was investigated in two samples. Sample 1 consisted of 334 bereaved participants, Sample 2 of 157 healthy controls. The revised SOC Scale, SOC-A, and theoretically relevant questionnaires were applied. Explorative and confirmatory factor analyses established a three-factor structure in both samples. The revised SOC Scale showed significant but discriminative associations with related constructs, including self-efficacy, posttraumatic growth, and neuroticism. The revised measure was significantly associated with psychological health indicators, including persistent grief, depression, and anxiety, but not to the extent as the previous SOC-A. Stability over time was sufficient. The study provides psychometric support for the revised SOC conceptualization and scale. It has several advantages over the previous SOC-A scale (unique variance, distinct factor structure, stability). The scale could be used for clinical and health psychological testing or research into the growing field of studies on resilience over the life span.


In order to elucidate the evolutionary history and the population structure of the members of the phylum Cycliophora, which live commensally on three species of lobsters, we studied sequence variation in the mitochondrial gene cyctochrome c oxidase subunit I. Overall 242 sequences from 16 locations on both coasts of the North Atlantic, including the North Sea and the Mediterranean, were analysed, revealing 28 haplotypes, with a maximum sequence divergence of 16.6%. Total genetic diversity was high (h = 0.8322, π = 0.0898), as it was for the commensals on Homarus americanus (17 haplotypes, h = 0.7506, π = 0.0504). However, it was low for commensals on Nephrops norvegicus (6 haplotypes, h = 0.3899, π = 0.0035), and intermediate for cycliophorans on Homarus gammarus (5 haplotypes, h = 0.3020, π = 0.0140). Although two of the host lobsters co‐inhabit the coastal waters of Europe, a strong genetic structure (78.45% of the observed genetic variation) was detected among populations on all host species, indicating the existence of a reproductively isolated species on each lobster. In addition, genetic structure over long distances exists among populations on each host species. Such patterns can be explained by the limited dispersal ability of the cycliophoran chordoid larva. Demographic and phylogenetic analyses suggest old and possibly cryptic populations present on H. americanus and H. gammarus, while the latter may have experienced recent bottlenecks, perhaps during Pleistocene glaciations. Populations on N. norvegicus appear to be of recent origin.


-Elastic optical network (EON) is fast becoming a key solution for designing optical network with better usage of spectrum resources or other objectives of interest to tenant and/or operators. A primary concern of EONs is to protect the network against failures of its elements, because this kind of event can provoke the loss of substantial amount of traffic. In this paper, we propose a new mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation for protecting the network traffic against multiple link failures. The key idea is to use bandwidth squeezing together with grooming capability to provide few extra traffic for protection and guarantee a minimum bandwidth for each source–destination node pair under multiple failure events. The proposed formulation solves the virtual topology design problem jointly with the grooming, routing, modulation and spectrum allocation (RMSA) tasks. Due to the non-deterministic polynomial time (NP-hard) nature of the proposed MILP formulation, a heuristic strategy (referred to as two-step MILP) for large networks is also proposed. The solutions and performance of the proposed MILP formulation and two-step MILP analyzed through case studies in a small network. In addition, the performance of three large networks is assessed for cases scenarios where connections are under different service-level agreement (SLA). In view of proposed formulation and two-step MILP, it is possible to identify the configurations that ensure better usage of spectrum resources with different kinds of protection against single or multiple link failures.


As a case study for the evaluation of the nanostructure of layered materials, we report on results of the comprehensive characterization of high-energy ball-milled layered molybdenum disulfide (2H-MoS2) on different length scales. Analysis of X-ray powder diffraction patterns (XRPDs) including the Debye background at low scattering angles caused by uncorrelated single or few-layer MoS2 slabs (full scattering model), yield much more precise data about the average stacking degree than routine XRPD evaluation, and an estimation of the amount of single layer material is possible. Reflections with super Lorentzian line shape can be satisfactorily modeled assuming different stacking sequences induced by the mechanical forces exerted during the high-energy ball-mill process. An advanced analysis of UV-Vis spectra to determine layer number and lateral crystallite size, which was recently developed for liquid exfoliation materials, is used for the first time, and the results demonstrate the universal applicability of the approach. The data obtained with this analysis support the main findings of evaluation of the XRPD data. Both methods clearly evidence that increasing the duration of high-energy ball-mill treatment leads to an increase of material with decreasing average stacking and a reduction of the lateral size of the slabs. Finally, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy enabled identification of defects which can hardly be detected in XRPDs or in UV-Vis spectra.


Abstract The anterolateral ligament (ALL) was recently identified as a distinct component of the anterolateral capsule of the human knee joint with consistent origin and insertion sites. Biomechanical studies revealed that the current association between the pivot shift and an injured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) should be loosened and that the rotational component of the pivot shift is significantly affected by the ALL. This may change the clinical approach toward ACL-injured patients presenting with anterolateral rotatory instability (ALRI), the most common instability pattern after ACL rupture. Radiologists should be aware of the importance of the ALL to ACL injuries. They should not overlook pathology of the anterolateral knee structures, including the ALL, when reviewing MR images of the ACL-deficient knee. In this article, the current knowledge regarding the anatomy, biomechanical function, and imaging appearance of the ALL of the knee is discussed with emphasis on the clinical implications of these findings.


Background Acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) in the intensive care unit portends a poor prognosis. The decisions regarding dialysis catheter placement is based mainly on physician discretion with little evidence to support the choice of dialysis catheter location. Methods The Veterans Affairs/National Institutes of Health Acute Renal Failure Trial Network Study was a multicenter, prospective, randomized trial of intensive vs. less intensive RRT in critically ill patients with AKI. We assessed the association of dialysis catheter location with dialysis catheter-related outcomes including catheter-related complications, mortality, dialysis dependence, and dialysis dose delivered. Results Of the 1,124 patients enrolled in the ATN study, catheter data were available in 1,016 (90.39%) patients. A total of 91 (8.96%) subclavian, 387 (38.09%) internal jugular, and 538 (52.95%) femoral dialysis catheters were inserted. The femoral group was younger (58.39 ± 16.27), had greater bleeding tendency [lower platelet count (96.00 ± 109.35) with higher INR (2.01 ± 2.19)], and had a higher baseline sequential organ failure assessment score on admission (14.59 ± 3.61) compared to the other two groups. Dialysis catheter-related complications were low in this study with no significant difference in the rates of complications among all catheter locations. Mortality and dialysis dependence was lowest in the subclavian group, while the dose of dialysis delivered (Kt/V) remained lowest in the femoral group, after propensity score and center adjustments. Conclusion Patient characteristics influence the choice of dialysis catheter location with a tendency to place femoral catheters in younger, sicker, and more coagulopathic patients. There were no statistically significant differences in complication rates among the three catheter locations, although femoral catheters may be associated with a lower delivered dose of dialysis during intermittent hemodialysis. Clinical Trial Registration www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT00076219.


This contribution presents D-Terminer: an open access, online demo for monolingual and multilingual automatic term extraction from parallel corpora. The monolingual term extraction is based on a recurrent neural network, with a supervised methodology that relies on pretrained embeddings. Candidate terms can be tagged in their original context and there is no need for a large corpus, as the methodology will work even for single sentences. With the bilingual term extraction from parallel corpora, potentially equivalent candidate term pairs are extracted from translation memories and manual annotation of the results shows that good equivalents are found for most candidate terms. Accompanying the release of the demo is an updated version of the ACTER Annotated Corpora for Term Extraction Research (version 1.5).


Prior to any operation, it is important that the patient be given a description of the disease, its prognosis and the treatment to be employed. The patient's obligations in respect to the part which he is to play in the course of treatment should be outlined. He should be informed of the probable length of his stay in the hospital and of the amount of time to be spent under the physician's care after dismissal from the hospital. The gravity of his problem should not be minimized. A fissure may appear trivial to every one except the person who is its host. To him it presents a grave problem, and a physician makes a serious mistake when he tells such a patient that hospitalization is unnecessary and that the problem is simple. Often the physician and the patient are both disillusioned later, when it is found that after some simple


This paper analyses the digital simulation of a buck converter to emulate the photovoltaic (PV) system with focus on fuzzy logic control of buck converter. A PV emulator is a DC-DC converter (buck converter in the present case) having same electrical characteristics as that of a PV panel. The emulator helps in the real analysis of PV system in an environment where using actual PV systems can produce inconsistent results due to variation in weather conditions. The paper describes the application of fuzzy algorithms to the control of dynamic processes. The complete system is modelled in MATLAB® Simulink SimPowerSystem software package. The results obtained from the simulation studies are presented and the steady state and dynamic stability of the PV emulator system is discussed.


Abstract. This paper reports the numerical demonstration of a silicon (Si)-compatible continuous wave laser based on the erbium-doped lithium niobate-on-insulator rib waveguide, emitting around 1531 nm by optical pumping at 980 nm. The model involves a full vector finite-element-method-based modal analysis of the proposed device with the solution of laser rate equations and propagation equations using in-house developed computer codes. Optimization of the laser cavity, which maximizes the laser output, is investigated for different values of background loss along with a set of realistic input parameters. For 0.027-dB  /  cm loss, a maximum laser output of 79.64 mW with a threshold of 10 mW is computed when 200-mW pump power is coupled to the cavity and the cavity length is optimized to 13.54 cm. For a 6.04-cm long optimized cavity, the laser threshold is reduced to 5 mW with a computed output power of 43.59 mW. The computed slope efficiencies at 20 mW of the coupled pump are 37.72% and 43.79%, respectively, for 13.54- and 6.04-cm long laser cavities. These results indicate the possibility of realizing an efficient hybrid Si laser operating at the third telecommunication window, which may find potential application in Si photonics.


Comprehend Medical is a stateless and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) eligible Named Entity Recognition (NER) and Relationship Extraction (RE) service launched under Amazon Web Services (AWS) trained using state-of-the-art deep learning models. Contrary to many existing open source tools, Comprehend Medical is scalable and does not require steep learning curve, dependencies, pipeline configurations, or installations. Currently, Comprehend Medical performs NER in five medical categories: Anatomy, Medical Condition, Medications, Protected Health Information (PHI) and Treatment, Test and Procedure (TTP). Additionally, the service provides relationship extraction for the detected entities as well as contextual information such as negation and temporality in the form of traits. Comprehend Medical provides two Application Programming Interfaces (API): 1) the NERe API which returns all the extracted named entities, their traits and the relationships between them and 2) the PHId API which returns just the protected health information contained in the text. Furthermore, Comprehend Medical is accessible through AWS Console, Java and Python Software Development Kit (SDK), making it easier for non-developers and developers to use.


Ionospheric signal distortions are commonplace in low-frequency space-borne SAR observations and can lead to the degradation of SAR data quality and data consistency if no signal compensation is applied. In this paper we will give an overview of the problem of ionospheric influence in SAR, PolSAR, and InSAR data. We will characterize the spatio-temporal signal properties of ionospheric signals, introduce a selection of currently available correction methods, and present a list of performance requirements to be met by ionospheric correction.


Background: The current evidence for occupational therapy practice, teaching, and research is replicated and implemented significantly from high-income countries in India. Therefore, a systematic review and an evaluation of existing evidence for occupational therapy (OT) to reduce disabilities including impairments, activity limitations, and participation restriction in persons with disabilities (PWD) in India are warranted. Objectives: The objective of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of OT interventions for reducing disabilities in PWD in India. Study Design: Systematic review. Methods: We searched the Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, AMED, and Web of Science. A hand search was also carried out in selected Indian journals, OT-specific databases, and repositories, such as Indian Journal of Occupational Therapy, Indian Journal of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, OT Seekers, World Federation of Occupational Therapy Bulletin, Asia Pacific Occupational Therapists Regional Group, and clinical trials registers. The search was restricted to published studies conducted in India during 2000–2021. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of an occupational therapy intervention delivered by OTs for PWD, where the effects of the intervention were evaluated using any relevant disability outcome measure. Studies without access to full text were excluded. Two review authors independently completed screening, and one author reviewed the full text of the screened studies. Another pair of authors extracted data from included studies for prespecified disability outcomes, and two authors assessed the risk of bias in the included studies. Results: We identified seven RCTs of occupational therapy interventions for PWD in India with 305 participants in total. All seven studies were very different in terms of their objective, participants, comparison, and outcomes. Allocation concealment and blinding and risk of bias were high in five trials. All the trials reported impairment outcomes with a statistically significant difference between the experimental arm and the control arm in terms of their primary outcomes except one. Given the sample size and the risk of bias in each of the included trials, the effect size has to be understood and interpreted with utmost caution. Conclusion: Overall, this review establishes the paucity of evidence for occupational therapy for PWD in India. Building the capacity for rigorous and relevant scientific research in occupational therapy would enable bridging the gaps in evidence for occupational therapy in India.


The interfacial electrochemistry of mixed monolayers formed by self-assembly from a dilute dodecanethiol-11–(ferrocenylcarbonyloxy)undecanethiol (FcSH) ethanolic solution at pre-treated Au electrodes is reported. The effect of different electrolytes on the interaction among electrochemical products, the interfacial capacitance and the heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (k0), using fast cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry, are examined. The anions have a strong influence on the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the interfacial redox reaction through the formation of ion pairs with the oxidized ferrocenium. The ion-pairing capability of various anions with immobilized ferrocenium is compared through evaluation of an effective formation constant. The electrolyte cation is shown to affect the thermodynamics of the ferrocene–ferrocenium electrochemical reaction, with cations of lower mobility shifting the apparent formal potential to more positive potentials, which is explained for the first time with the electric force by means of Debye–Huckel theory. A linear relationship between the apparent formal potential of the ferrocene redox couple in self-assembled monolayers and cation mobility and concentration was observed.


A case of a generalized hematogenous tuberculosis with exacerbation in a woman of 62 is described. The disease had an undulating course and was manifested by a rare combination of miliary lung tuberculosis with extrapulmonal lesions. The latter included cavernous spondylitis with two paravertebral abscesses, fibrinous pericarditis and a large-focal lesion in the myocardium.


Four experimental interview styles, each recommended by experts in the field, were compared for their efficiency in eliciting factual information during the initial diagnostic interviews with the mothers of children referred to a psychiatric out-patient clinic. If encouraged to talk freety, mothers tended to mention most (but not all) key issues without the need for standardized questioning on a pre-determined range of topics. However, systematic questioning was essential in order to obtain good quality factual data. Better data were obtained when interviewers were sensitive and alert to factual cues and chosa their probes with care. Clinically significant factual information, idiosyncratic to the family and outside the range of standard enquiry was common, but was obtained satisfactorily with all four styles. No one style was generally preferred by informants. The advantages of systematic questioning for obtaining factual information were not associated with any disadvantages with respect to the eliciting of emotions and feelings.


The authors examine whether the value loss from diversification affects takeover and breakup probabilities. They estimate diversification's value effect by imputing stand-alone values for individual business segments and find that firms with greater value losses are more likely to be taken over. Moreover, those acquired firms whose losses are greatest are most likely to be bought by leveraged buyouts associations, which frequently break up their targets. For a subsample of large diversified targets, higher value losses increase the extent of posttakeover bustup and post-takeover bustup generally results in divested divisions being operated as part of a focused, stand-alone firm. Copyright 1996 by American Finance Association.


In the upcoming H.264, intra-prediction with block sizes of 4/spl times/4 and 16x16 is used to compress I-frame. However, there are 9 or 4 candidate modes for the 4x4 or 16x16 intra-prediction. The full search algorithm to choose the modes is computationally expensive. In this paper, we suggest an efficient intra-prediction (EIP) algorithm based on early termination, selective computation of highly probable modes, and partial computation of the cost function. The proposed EIP reduces the complexity considerably while maintaining similar PSNR and bit rate.


The precautionary principle is one of the most contested principles in international law. In the context of trade regulation in particular, it has been a source of concern to those who fear that it might help to justify existing non-tariff barriers to trade or create addi-tional ones. Proponents of the principle, in turn, argue that it is needed to fend off un-warranted health and environmental risks in situations where scientific uncertainty pre-vails, even if this works against the liberalisation of trade. In these contests the question of where and when the precautionary principle should be applied is inextricably linked to the question of what it means in the first place. Starting from the observation that consensus on a precise definition is missing both in legal-political practice and in aca-demic scholarship, the present paper is concerned precisely with those practical inter-pretative contests which result from the principle's ambiguity. We focus on attempts to agree legally binding definitions in the context of international trade regulation. The core of the paper is an empirical analysis of debates on several specific aspects of the precautionary principle, which were at issue during the past decade in four different international institutions: the WTO dispute settlement, some of the WTO's political committees, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (in particular its Committee on Gen-eral Principles), and the conference of states which negotiated the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Differences and similarities among these institutions are then analysed in a comparative perspective, taking up various contested issues one by one. From our findings we derive a set of hypotheses regarding the conditions under which, and the legal or political pathways on which, the precautionary principle (and perhaps other abstract normative ideas of a similar type as well) can make a difference to the out-comes of international decision-making.


Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing technique in which a laser beam with a high energy density is used to melt a metal powder substrate. Although this technique has several advantages, including the possibility of fabricating complex metal components quickly, there are concerns about the mechanical properties of the parts produced by the SLM method. This is study aims to ensure the achievement of acceptable mechanical properties including yield stress, tensile strength, and elongation percentage compared to conventional manufacturing methods. For this purpose, samples of 316L stainless steel were printed using the SLM machine. These samples and samples of annealed 316L bar were tested under same conditions and by the same equipment. Despite the large differences in microscopic structure, no significant differences were observed in mechanical properties. Also, the obtained results were compared with the results related to the sample made by the DLD additive manufacturing method, which is similar to SLM in terms of energy source and raw materials. The result represents that the mechanical strength and microhardness of the sample produced by the SLM technique are higher than the other samples, and the elongation percentage is within the desirable range. The yield stress, tensile strength, and elongation are respectively 595Mpa, 696Mpa, and 34.5%, all of which are within the acceptable range required by the standards for such samples. The investigation of the microstructure shows a complete austenitic cellular structure without considerable solidification defects. Overall, the SLM additive manufacturing is a reliable process to produce 316L stainless steel parts in terms of mechanical properties.


: There is some uncertainty among doctors and lawyers about the form and content of presurgical medical enlightenment of the patient. Presurgical enlightenment is of increasing significance with respect to malpractice suits. Current jurisdiction has developed principles of enlightenment that are often difficult for the doctor to handle. For routine procedures in major hospitals a standardized, pragmatically designed consent form is therefore necessary. At Wurzburg University Eye Hospital the results of glaucoma and cataract surgery have been documented for years by using computer-readable forms. On the basis of these large-scale results from many thousands of procedures a written consent form was developed and tested for its suitability. Two hundred and twenty-two patients were questioned on their expectations as to proper enlightenment. The results of these broadly scattered interviews are summed up and presented. Especially with glaucoma patients, the best method of enlightenment, satisfying both medical and legal requirements, is an information booklet designed for lay people together with verbal information furnished by the doctor. Nearly all of the patients interviewed found the preoperative enlightenment complete and sufficiently clear. The majority ot them could repeat the contents of the enlightenment form four to six days after the operation. This speaks well for the adequacy of the enlightenment. As a rule, the written consent form was supplemented by verbal enlightenment from the operating physician immediately before hospitalization of the patient. A psychological investigation of preoperative anxiety with enlightened and non-enlightened patients revealed that the enlightenment form did not increase preoperative anxiety. Surgical ophthalmology lends itself to a written consent form more readily then other surgical disciplines, because diseases with poor prognoses for life are fortunately rare.


Cut-based directed graph (digraph) clustering often focuses on finding dense within-cluster or sparse between-cluster connections, similar to cut-based undirected graph clustering. In contrast, for flow-based clusterings the edges between clusters tend to be oriented in one direction and have been found in migration data, food webs, and trade data. In this paper we introduce a spectral algorithm for finding flow-based clusterings. The proposed algorithm is based on recent work which uses complex-valued Hermitian matrices to represent digraphs. By establishing an algebraic relationship between a complex-valued Hermitian representation and an associated real-valued, skew-symmetric matrix the proposed algorithm produces clusterings while remaining completely in the real field. Our algorithm is more memory efficient, requires less computation, and provably preserves solution quality. We also show the algorithm can be easily implemented using standard computational building blocks, possesses better numerical properties, and loans itself to a natural interpretation via an objective function relaxation argument.


This thesis has been carried out within a project at AR Lab (Autonomous Robot Laboratory) and IAS-Lab (Intelligent Autonomous Systems Lab) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and University of Padua respectively. The project aims to create a system to recognize and localize multiple object classes for an autonomous wheelchair called JiaoLong, and in general for a mobile robot.
The thesis had as main objective the creation of an object recognition and localization system in an indoor environment through a RGB-D sensor. The approach we followed is based on the recognition of the object by using 2D algorithm and 3D information to identify location and size of it. This will help to obtained robust performance for the recognition step and accurate estimation for the localization, thus changing the behavior of the robot in accordance with the class and the location of the object in the room.
This thesis is mainly based on two aspects:
• the creation of a 2D module to recognize and detect the object in a RGB image;
• the creation of a 3D module to filter point cloud and estimate pose and size of the object.
In this thesis we used the Bag of Features algorithm to perform the recognition of objects and a variation of the Constellation Method algorithm for the detection; 3D data are computed with several filtering algorithms which lead to a 3D analysis of the object, then are used the intrinsic information of point cloud for the pose and size estimation. We will also analyze the performance of the algorithm and propose some improvements aimed to increase the overall performance of the system besides research directions that this project could lead


Cancer metastasis is a physical process in which tumor cells break away from the primary tumor, enter, and then exit the blood or lymph vessels, and establish secondary tumors in distant organs. Current clinical studies report a higher risk of cancer metastasis for diabetics than non-diabetics. However, due to complex overlapping risk factors between diabetes and cancer, the mechanism underlying this correlation is largely unknown. Elevated lifetime blood sugar levels in diabetics are known to increase glycation of collagen, causing stiffening of the ECM and connective tissue. In this study, we explored the roles of glycation of 3D collagen matrices in tumor cell invasion and migration. Using time-lapse images, we quantitatively compared the motility behavior of malignant breast tumor cells (MDA-MB-231) and co-culture spheroids (1:1 ratio of MDA-MB-231 cells with normal epithelial MCF-10A cells) embedded in glycated and non-glycated collagen matrices of various concentrations. Experimental results demonstrated that glycation increased tumor invasion within collagen matrices. More specifically, the average speed of MDA-MB-231 cells was higher in glycated collagen gels than in non-glycated collagen gels for all three gel concentrations tested. Cell spreading characterized by its diffusion coefficient or the effective spheroid radii at various time points was significantly greater in glycated collagen than in non-glycated collagen at a concentration of 3.5 mg/mL. This enhancement was moderate and less evident at lower collagen concentrations of 1.0 and 2.0 mg/mL. These results suggest a possible biomechanical link that relates to the high blood sugar level in diabetic patients and the cancer metastatic outcome.


In this letter, an effective technique for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) antenna mask design is presented for optimizing the system performance of an active phased array SAR. The SAR antenna radiation pattern has an important effect on the system performance. Therefore, the authors derived the quantitative equations for the SAR antenna mainlobe and sidelobe mask design on the basis of the system performance measures such as the range-to-ambiguity ratio (RAR), the noise-equivalent sigma zero (NESZ), and the radiometric accuracy. The antenna mask template should be designed to minimize the ambiguous signals reflected from the antenna sidelobes and maximize the system sensitivity, i.e., the NESZ, determined by the antenna mainlobe. The simple iterative method such as random-mutation hill climbing was utilized to successfully assign the sidelobe level at each ambiguous area using the derived equations. Finally, the antenna patterns were synthesized with reference to the optimized antenna mask templates using the particle swarm optimization, and the swath width, RAR, and NESZ performances were evaluated in order to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique.


I have hesitated some time over the title of the present paper. The alternative was something like: "WALLACE versus ZOLLINGER" or "The "idea of a demarcation line through Malaysia, a limiting factor towards "the progress of biogeography". However, the first being too agressive, and the second too melodramatic ,the one found in the heading was chosen. The above introductory lines mean to put the reader at once face to face with the nucleus of what I will discuss here: the question how ZOLLINGER'S "Karte der Flora Malesiana" of 1857 was apparently almost entirely forgotten, although it well deserves to come under the eyes of modern biogeographers, for the sake of the honour of its author and of the priority of his work.


Libraries Accessibility Project was developed between September and December 2012 and used a qualitative approach to identify physical, communicational, equipment and personalized assistance accessibility conditions at 15 libraries in the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal. The main objectives were creating opportunities for improving the built environment; disseminating existing conditions in the libraries; informing the public about the available different accessibility conditions; distinguishing good practices aiming at coordinating efforts for a larger receptiveness towards accessibility. Triangulation of data collected indicates that accessibility conditions in all four domains are still not in place in most of Lisbon municipality libraries visited and analyzed.


This article maps the multiple methods used to bring scholar-activists, music producers and music consumers together in a conversation that culminated in the creation of three winning 'empowering songs' from the 'Changing representations of women in popular music' project. This project explores the gendered stereotypes of women in popular music, and seeks to contribute to reflection on, and creation of, alternative (empowering) narratives about women through song. The article discusses this marriage of research and advocacy and reflects on some of the outcomes from 'corporate' reflections – all of which generated a lot of passion about the tensions and possibilities around women's representations and roles. The authors conclude that for research findings to have practical and policy value and legitimacy, what, how, when and where we communicate our messages is extremely important.


Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine the information search behavior of Hong Kong's inbound tourists, in particular business and leisure travelers. The study clearly shows that business and leisure travelers demonstrate different information search behavior. 'Personal experience,' 'Travel agency/tour company,' 'Airlines' and the 'Internet' are most frequently relied upon by business travelers in searching for travel information, while leisure travelers prefer 'Travel agency/tour company,' 'Friends or relatives,' 'Travel guide books,' and 'Personal experience.' The study also reveals that the total number of information sources used and the length of pre‐trip planning lead‐time are significantly different between these two groups of travelers. First time travelers also have a longer pre‐trip planning lead‐time than repeat travelers. Furthermore, business and leisure travelers perceive the levels of influence of several information sources, including 'Corporate travel departments,' 'Friends or relatives,' 'Travel guide books,' and the 'Internet,' differently. These information sources were classified into five different dimensions, including 'Media,' 'Neutral,' 'Retail,' 'Interpersonal,' and 'Personal experience.' Analysis based on travelers' purpose for traveling and demographic information was performed. Leisure travelers perceive the level of influence of 'Neutral' sources as significantly higher, and those with lower household incomes perceived the level of influence of 'Personal experience' as lower. The results of this study will allow marketers in Hong Kong to better understand travelers' information search behavior so that they can more effectively tailor their marketing strategies to these two major markets.


The conduction of ions and electrons over multiple length scales is central to the processes that drive the biological world. The multidisciplinary attempts to elucidate the physics and chemistry of electron, proton, and ion transfer in biological charge transfer have focused primarily on the nano‐ and microscales. However, recently significant progress has been made on biomolecular materials that can support ion and electron currents over millimeters if not centimeters. Likewise, similar transport phenomena in organic semiconductors and ionics have led to new innovations in a wide variety of applications from energy generation and storage to displays and bioelectronics. Here, the underlying principles of conduction on the macroscale in biomolecular materials are discussed, highlighting recent examples, and particularly the establishment of accurate structure–property relationships to guide rationale material and device design. The technological viability of biomolecular electronics and ionics is also discussed.


Sexual violence (SV) is an important public health issue with a major impact on victims and their peers, offspring and community. However, SV in older adults is under-researched. This paper aims to establish the prevalence and nature of SV in older adults in Europe, link this with existing policies and health care workers' response to sexual health needs in older age, and critically revise the currently used frameworks in public health research. To fill this gap in the literature, we applied a Critical Interpretative Synthesis (CIS) approach. The CIS approach uses techniques from grounded theory and processes from systematic review. It allows to critically interpret key findings from both academic as well as grey literature, engendering theory refining. In the first phase of purposive sampling, we conducted a systematic review of academic sources and included 14 references. The cut-off age used to define old age varied between 60 and 70 years old among the included studies. Subsequently we added another 14 references in the second phase of theoretical sampling. We ultimately included 16 peer-reviewed articles and 12 documents from the grey literature. The CIS results demonstrate that knowledge of SV in older adults is still limited. The current research suggests that SV in older adults rarely occurs, however, prevalence rates are likely to be underestimated because of methodological shortcomings. The complexity of SV in older adults is not acknowledged in ongoing research due to the conflation of SV with other types of violence. Information on specific risk factors and about assailants committing SV in old age is absent. Policy documents dealing with sexual and reproductive health, rights and ageing make no mention of SV in older adults. In clinical practice, the sexual health needs of older adults often remain unmet. In conclusion, our findings suggest that older adults are forgotten in prevention and response to SV. Greater awareness about this topic could contribute to a revision of current policies and health care practices, leading to more tailored care for older victims of SV.


The main objective of the thesis is to identify the optimal set-up for future satellite gravimetry missions aimed at monitoring mass transport in the Earth's system.The recent variability of climatic patterns, the spread of arid regions and associ- ated changes in the hydrological cycle, and vigorous modifications in the ice coverage at polar regions have been attributed to anthropogenic influence. As such, it is important to continue monitoring the Earth system in order to properly constrain and improve the geophysical and climatic models and to better interpret the causes and consequences of climate change. Satellite gravimetric data are also exploited to further the knowledge on other geophysical processes with high societal and scientific impact, such as megathrust earthquakes, drought monitoring and Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA). The primary focus of the study is to properly quantify the errors in the gravimetric data to be collected by future gravimetric satellites, in particular those related to the measurement of the temporal gravitational field variations. One source of errors comes from the background force models describing rapid mass transport processes; another error source is related to the background static gravity field model. These models are used to complement geophysical signals that are missing or improperly represented in the gathered satellite gravity data. However, they are built on the basis of in situ data that lack global coverage and, therefore, suffer from a limited accuracy (particularly in remote areas). Although the fidelity of these models is constantly improving, the satellite data accuracy is also increasing with the on-going technological and methodological advances. etermining the net effect of these conflicting trends is the main driver to study the propagation of errors in background models into the estimated models. Other sources of errors arise from imperfections of the on-board sensors, such as the ranging sensor or the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver. The influence of the sensors errors is divided into the major independent contributions, with the corresponding frequency description, and assembled into a detailed noise model. The model predicts the effects of i) the inaccurately known orbital positions, ii) the noise in the inter-satellite metrology system, iii) the noise in the on-board accelerometers, iv) the wrongly-estimated Line of Sight (LoS) frame accelerations resulting from errors in the radial orbital velocities, and v) errors in the orientation of the LoS vector. The model has been validated with the help of actual Gravity Recov- ery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) a posteriori residuals, which are compared to the output of the noise model considering a simulated GRACE mission. Therefore, once the assumptions describing sensor and model accuracies are modified to reflect those predicted for future gravimetric missions, it is reasonable to expected that this noise model reproduces realistic errors for those missions. Also relevant is the analysis of the sensitivity of the data in terms of isotropy. As learned from the GRACE mission, the nearly-constant North-South alignment of the measurement direction makes the data less sensitive to gravitational changes along the East-West direction. Although formally not an error itself, the anisotropic data sensitivity amplifies the errors in the data. The sensor and model errors are propagated firstly to the gravimetric data and further to the gravitational field, in full-scale simulations of the cartwheel, trailing and pendulum satellite formations. The results are analysed in terms of i) the observation error in the frequency domain and ii) the estimated gravity field model error in the frequency and spatial domains. The error budgets for these formations are also quantified. The results indicate that the pendulum formation with no along-track displacement is least sensitive to model and sensors errors, in particular to temporal aliasing. The conducted study reveals serious limitations in the cartwheel mission concept, since the orbit errors are considerably amplified by the diagonal components of the gravity gradient tensor, while the pendulum and trailing formations are only affected by (small) off-diagonal components. The spatial error patterns provide valuable clues on how to best combine the different formation geometries in order to produce minimum anisotropy in the sensitivity of collected data. The data from the pendulum formation show some anisotropic sensitivity but the combination of such data with those from a trailing formation, such as the GRACE Follow On (GFO), would eliminate this disadvantage (as well as the low accuracy near the poles of the pendulum formation). Unlike alternative proposals for dual-pair satellite missions, such as the Bender constellation, the dual trailing/pendulum constellation would provide global coverage in case of failure of one satellite pair and dense temporal sampling at high latitudes. Furthermore, the data from gravimetric missions are shown to benefit greatly from the data gathered by numerous non-dedicated satellites. From the conducted simulations, it is predicted that the achievable temporal resolution is increased to a few days for the degrees below 10 and, crucially, with no significant level of temporal aliasing. Longer estimation periods allow for higher degrees to be estimated, with greatly reduced effects of temporal aliasing in the resulting gravity field models.


This research study sought to examine the effect of outsourcing ICT projects on the performance of Tanzania Police Force. The study adopted a cross sectional descriptive research design using a mixed approach. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 62 respondents. Questionnaires and document review were the tools used to collect data. Quantitative data analysis using mean, correlation and regression analysis was used. Qualitative data analysis was done using content analysis and data were presented in statements. The findings showed that there was a significant relationship between ICT projects outsourcing and cost reduction, quality of services and employee motivation. Secondary data indicated that outsourcing is more expensive than in-house sourcing. Also the study found that TPF outsourced for the wrong reasons including corruption and self interest,favouritism/nepotism, politics and fear for accountability. The conclusion reached was that ICT projects outsourced did not achieve the intended objectives of cost reduction, increased credibility and reputation of the Tanzania Police Force. The study recommended more involvement of ICT professional Police officers in decision making involving outsourcing of ICT projects. The study recommended future studies to be conducted in other sectors to see if similar results will be obtained or conduct the same study using a different methodology.


In this paper we propose a novel method to estimate ego-motion parameters of a camera by directly using normal flows. The normal flow field is fully determined by the spatio-temporal derivatives of the image sequence. Therefore, different from traditional methods which achieve the estimation by tracking corresponding features or by calculating the optical flow field, the proposed method could achieve the ego-motion estimation without any artificial assumptions on imaging scene. Additionally, the interferences can be eliminated by the RANSAC algorithm and the reliability of the estimation is further verified by the back-tracking validation. A series of experiments with various synthetic data and real images have been conducted to test the feasibility and reliability of our method.


Abstract This paper is informed by Furse's practice as a theatre maker in two fields of output that are connected by two factors: first, the presence of the woman patient — hysteric/subfertile respectively — within the clinical gaze; second, the significance of the womb to each pathology. In the treatment of each (explored in Furse's theatre), lens based technologies play their part, whilst the cultural and medical can be seen to have overlapped to produce specific meaning with regard to Her body and its spectacularity. The article presents an overview of some of the key issues in precisely how the woman's body becomes spectacular within this prosthetic medical gaze and how the medical — and theatrically designed spaces to represent these — become meaningful and potent proxemics that in turn inform medical/ theatrical spectatorship. Overarching nineteenth-century protocols at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris (where Furse's Augustine (Big Hysteria) is set) to contemporary imaging technologies used in the treatment of subfertility with Assisted Reproduction Technologies (the topic of her Art of A.R.T. projects), it examines the way in which photography develops through cinema to X-Ray, ultrasound and then 3D/4D ultrasound to 'capture' the woman's body in ways by which she becomes muted and exposed. These occular technologies that extend the gaze, first to an exterior subject and then, eventually, traversing the flesh without knife, lend specific performativity to the 'patient' women, within the context of hysterias and reproductive impairments respectively. Finally, issues of suspension of disbelief are addressed. The spectator's faith in the screen-based image of Her spectacular body is interrupted in Furse's work, which is also keenly interested in the effect of such imagery on the woman's sense of Self. The historical and cultural leaps in this article argue that there is indeed a trajectory through the history of medical imaging since the first application of photography to anatomy to the more advanced scoping technologies of medical imaging today, and that in each era, the production of these images remain fraught with cultural implications.


Accurate and efficient monitoring of dynamically changing environments is one of the most important requirements for ubiquitous network environments. To exploit these ubiquitous environments, we designed and implemented a monitoring system called MONETA that can obtain sensor data transmitted from wireless sensors to hub nodes in embedded equipment. MONETA adopts Web technology for the implementation of a simple but efficient user interface that allows an operator to visualize any of the processes, elements, or related information in a convenient graphic form. We developed MONETA using a kernel wrapper mechanism. This wrapper is a software module that enables us to monitor the state information of several embedded devices without any modification to the kernel. This wrapping method has allowed us to increase the portability of the monitoring system to other platforms and reduce the time required to write monitoring software modules.


Aspect Term Extraction (ATE) detects opinionated aspect terms in sentences or text spans, with the end goal of performing aspect-based sentiment analysis. The small amount of available datasets for supervised ATE and the fact that they cover only a few domains raise the need for exploiting other data sources in new and creative ways. Publicly available review corpora contain a plethora of opinionated aspect terms and cover a larger domain spectrum. In this paper, we first propose a method for using such review corpora for creating a new dataset for ATE. Our method relies on an attention mechanism to select sentences that have a high likelihood of containing actual opinionated aspects. We thus improve the quality of the extracted aspects. We then use the constructed dataset to train a model and perform ATE with distant supervision. By evaluating on human annotated datasets, we prove that our method achieves a significantly improved performance over various unsupervised and supervised baselines. Finally, we prove that sentence selection matters when it comes to creating new datasets for ATE. Specifically, we show that, using a set of selected sentences leads to higher ATE performance compared to using the whole sentence set.


Polyurethane is a thermoses polymer with various applications. Using form this polymer has spread for military applications by Otto Bayer in 1930.In one general look polyurethane is product of Iso Syanate and ploy with each other, So that: Iso + ploy = polyurethane. Spend large cost for application and launching oil and gas transitions, has cleared the necessity protection from them agonist corrosion. In this direction protection coating with specific properties such as high electricity resistance presented to market by various companies that each of them has special advantage and disadvantages. In this research has tried while analysis coatings specifications of gas and oil transitional pipelines, has compared properties and common qualities of them with each other.


: Diagnostics and differential diagnostics of irritated bowel syndrome are currently governed by Rome III criteria that require that patients' complaints be correlated with these criteria and a minimal amount of laboratory and instrumental studies be conducted. However, such approach is fraught with errors bearing in mind the subjective character of complaints. It is therefore more reasonable to regard diagnosis of irritated bowel syndrome as exclusion diagnosis.


Abstract. In recent years, we can easily get various data of human mobility. Based on these data, there are many studies about human mobility all over the world. In Japan, Person Trip (PT) survey has been carried out once a decade after 1960s. With the use of PT data, we can grasp people's flow, however, it is difficult to get such data in the modern era. In old Tokyo city, some traffic surveys were carried out by municipality. These data are limited, however, it is possible to figure out the people's flow in the modern era by digitizing and making maps from historical documents of these surveys. The purpose of this study is to make and analyse streetcar passenger flow maps in old Tokyo city by using origin-destination (OD) data acquired through the survey conducted in 1930.We used the OD flow data of the streetcar passenger acquired by old Tokyo city on Tuesday, June 10th, 1930. The study area was in the centre of present Tokyo 23 wards. Although the streetcars no longer exist except for one line at present, there were a lot of routes in the city in 1930. The streetcars were the important transportation for people living inside and outside the city.To make OD flow map, we first made digital data of the OD matrix of the passengers from historical documents of the survey. There were about 400 stops, however, some adjacent stops were aggregated to save space of the document. Therefore, the OD matrix were 289 by 289. In addition, we created GIS data of streetcar's network based on old maps and historical documents. The aggregated stops were created in a midpoint of original stops. After that, we made the OD flow map by using the visualizing method described by Wood, Dykes, & Slingsby (2010).Figure 1 shows OD flow map of streetcar passenger in 1930. The results of this study are summarized as follows; 1) There were many people who went to the direction of Tokyo station(E6), Nihonbashi(E7), and Ginza(F6) from the entire area of the city. These areas have been a centre of commerce since pre-modern era, being crowded with shoppers, tourists and workers. Particularly, there were many commuters around Tokyo station because it had many office buildings. 2) There were many people who used the terminal stations located outside the city. These stations such as Shinjuku(D1) and Shibuya(G1) have been nodal points of other railways in the western part of Tokyo. This result showed that the people moved to the suburb of Tokyo after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923. 3) The movements from the west of the city to the centre of Tokyo were longer than those from the east of the city, because the western area had the restrictive land uses such as high class residential area and military reservation which covered a vast area of the western part of the city. In contrast, the old urban area extended to the eastern part of the city since that era.


Grammont's (1914) influential Law of Three Consonants (LTC) states that French schwa is obligatorily pronounced in any CC_C sequence to avoid three-consonant clusters. Later works have shown that schwa presence is also sensitive to the nature of the consonants involved, at least at the word and phrase levels. However the LTC is still generally considered as accurate under its original formulation to describe schwa-zero alternations at the stem level. The goal of the paper is to test whether the LTC should be relaxed even in this context. The paper presents two studies using judgment data to compare the behavior of schwa in derived words (stem-level phonology) and in inflected words (word-level phonology). The results of the two studies show that the nature of consonants involved in the CC_C sequence plays a role at both stem and word levels. Moreover, the same phonotactic asymmetries among consonant clusters are found in both contexts. The data therefore support a weaker version of the stem-level vs. word-level divide than what is usually assumed for French. This conclusion is strengthened by the results of a modeling study showing that a constraint-based grammar with the same phonotactic constraints across stem- and word-level phonologies provides a better fit to the judgment data from Study 1 and Study 2 than a grammar with different phononotactic constraints in the two morphosyntactic domains. The paper also replicates a number of earlier findings on the role of morphosyntactic domains, clash avoidance, and dialectal variation in schwa-zero alternations.