The Deep Learning (DL) community sees many novel topologies published each year. Achieving high performance on each new topology remains challenging, as each requires some level of manual effort. This issue is compounded by the proliferation of frameworks and hardware platforms. The current approach, which we call"direct optimization", requires deep changes within each framework to improve the training performance for each hardware backend (CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, ASICs) and requires $\mathcal{O}(fp)$ effort; where $f$ is the number of frameworks and $p$ is the number of platforms. While optimized kernels for deep-learning primitives are provided via libraries like Intel Math Kernel Library for Deep Neural Networks (MKL-DNN), there are several compiler-inspired ways in which performance can be further optimized. Building on our experience creating neon (a fast deep learning library on GPUs), we developed Intel nGraph, a soon to be open-sourced C++ library to simplify the realization of optimized deep learning performance across frameworks and hardware platforms. Initially-supported frameworks include TensorFlow, MXNet, and Intel neon framework. Initial backends are Intel Architecture CPUs (CPU), the Intel(R) Nervana Neural Network Processor(R) (NNP), and NVIDIA GPUs. Currently supported compiler optimizations include efficient memory management and data layout abstraction. In this paper, we describe our overall architecture and its core components. In the future, we envision extending nGraph API support to a wider range of frameworks, hardware (including FPGAs and ASICs), and compiler optimizations (training versus inference optimizations, multi-node and multi-device scaling via efficient sub-graph partitioning, and HW-specific compounding of operations).


Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online's data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. [1] A year-round sequence of hydrographic casts is used to trace the evolution of the upper ocean waters in Marguerite Bay, western Antarctic Peninsula (wAP), between 1998 and 2002. Winter 1998 was anomalous, showing an unusually deep mixed layer that became progressively more saline until spring, reaching salinities as high as 34.0. The remnant of this mixed layer (the Winter Water, WW) was the deepest and most saline observed. Atmospheric and cryospheric conditions were anomalous during winter 1998 at both local and regional scales. Locally, we observed low sea ice concentrations, high air temperatures, and a high frequency of northerly winds. These are the local manifestations of the strong ENSO event of 1997/1998 that was then rapidly weakening. At the regional scale, this ENSO produced significant anomalies in the sea ice distribution throughout the Amundsen-Bellingshausen Sea area, and a large-scale low-pressure anomaly over the southeast Pacific was seen to be responsible for the warm, northerly winds. We use a coupled mixed-layer/ice production model to investigate the ENSO-driven forcings for the anomalous ocean conditions observed in winter 1998. This reveals that ice production is the main control on upper ocean stratification, and that the deep, saline mixed layer in 1998 was forced by anomalous sea ice conditions on spatial scales larger than purely local. We conclude that the near-coastal hydrography along the Peninsula shows a profound response to ENSO, with atmospheric and cryospheric forcings both implicated.


This paper presents a thorough study of the behaviour of microwave absorption occurring in lossy dielectric slabs as used for microwave absorbers. The influence of the various parameters governing absorption is demonstrated : dielectric constant, conductivity, thickness of slab and frequency. It is shown that for several combinations of values for these parameters absorption can be maximized to up to unity, i.e. all the incident power is absorbed.


A case-control study, determined the influence of breed, age and number of deliveries as risk factors for Ureaplasma genital infections in Costa Rica dairy cattle. The animals with none or one delivery had a risk of infection 2.99 times higher than those with several parturition, regardless of breed. The risk was 1.95 times higher in Jersey than in Holstein, and decreased progressively until three deliveries. In cows with four deliveries there was a significant increase in the amount of animals infected and also a significant difference in the rate of infection between Holstein (27%) and Jersey (64%). Ureaplasma isolation was rare in cows with more than six deliveries.


Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) have emerged and shifted the focus from the typical scalar wireless sensor networks to networks with multimedia devices that are capable to retrieve video, audio, images, as well as scalar sensor data. WMSNs are able to deliver multimedia content due to the availability of inexpensive CMOS cameras and microphones coupled with the significant progress in distributed signal processing and multimedia source coding techniques.
These mentioned characteristics, challenges, and requirements of designing WMSNs open many research issues and future research directions to develop protocols, algorithms, architectures, devices, and testbeds to maximize the network lifetime while satisfying the quality of service requirements of the various applications. In this thesis dissertation, we outline the design challenges of WMSNs and we give a comprehensive discussion of the proposed architectures and protocols for the different layers of the communication protocol stack for WMSNs along with their open research issues. Also, we conduct a comparison among the existing WMSN hardware and testbeds based on their specifications and features along with complete classification based on their functionalities and capabilities. In addition, we introduce our complete classification for content security and contextual privacy in WSNs. Our focus in this field, after conducting a complete survey in WMSNs and event privacy in sensor networks, and earning the necessary knowledge of programming sensor motes such as Micaz and Stargate and running simulation using NS2, is to design suitable protocols meet the challenging requirements of WMSNs targeting especially the routing and MAC layers, secure the wirelessly exchange of data against external attacks using proper security algorithms: key management and secure routing, defend the network from internal attacks by using a light-weight intrusion detection technique, protect the contextual information from being leaked to unauthorized parties by adapting an event unobservability scheme, and evaluate the performance efficiency and energy consumption of employing the security algorithms over WMSNs.


Relapse to drug taking is triggered by stimuli previously associated with consumption of drugs of misuse (cues) and involves brain systems controlling motivated behaviour towards natural reinforcers. In this study, we aimed to identify and compare neuronal pathways in corticostriatal systems that control conditioned heroin or natural reward (sucrose) seeking. To that end, rats were trained to self‐administer heroin or sucrose in association with an identical compound cue. After more than 3 weeks of abstinence during extinction training, cue exposure robustly reinstated heroin and sucrose seeking, but induced distinct and even opposing changes in the expression of the neuronal activation marker zif268 in the prelimbic cortex and striatal complex, respectively. Because in the prelimbic area zif268 expression was enhanced during cue‐induced heroin seeking but unaffected during sucrose seeking, a pharmacological intervention was aimed at this prefrontal region. Injection of a GABA agonist mixture within the prelimbic area enhanced conditioned heroin seeking, but had no effect on conditioned sucrose seeking. Our findings suggest a differential role of the prelimbic area and the striatum in the persistence of heroin vs. sucrose seeking following long‐term extinction.


Two regional trade agreements have been at the centre of attention in Ukraine: the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the EU and the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union (ECU). Arguably they were the source of the fall of the Yanukovych government and the hostilities in Eastern Ukraine in the spring and summer of 2014. This article argues that a trade policy that is global in perspective and the lowering of trade costs are critical for Ukraine, and that efforts should centre on addressing specific policy areas that negatively affect trade with both customs unions. Ukraine could propose the creation of a number of 'supply chain councils' organized around the major export sectors for Ukraine, the ECU countries as well as the EU. The councils would have a mandate to identify the most important sources of supply chain inefficiencies as well as actions to resolve them. Such an approach would help to rebuild trust between Ukraine and Russia after the cessation of hostilities and help to assure Russia that the DCFTA is not an anti-Russian agreement.


Using wavelet transform, signal's frequency properties of vibration induced by underground are analyzed A MATLAB program is developed in order to decompose and reconstruct acceleration signals. The law that acceleration signals change in time-spectral domain is got. Then the relations of vibration signal's maximum acceleration, energy, frequency and spectral are discussed. In contrast to conventional Fourier Transform, wavelet analysis can provide the evolution of spectral features of a signal as this evolves in time. It is ideal for random and non-stationary signal analysis.


The failures of corporations such as Enron, WorldCom and HIH Insurance, to name but a few, have heightened investor awareness of the need to not only evaluate company performance, but also to consider the possibility that financial statements may not be a true reflection of company results, as fraudulent activities may have occurred during the reporting period. Since parties who are outside of the firm do not have access to pertinent information, they have to rely upon published financial and non-financial data to form an opinion regarding performance and/or the risk that fraudulent activities may have occurred. The prior literature shows a relationship between weak corporate governance and fraudulent activities, although most if not all of this research relates to Western economies. The differences in institutional setting e.g. cultural values and legal environment in Malaysia would not give the same findings with the study in western economies. Composing of many ethnicities, Malaysia is a multicultural country. With each ethnic group upholding its own culture, values and belief, businesses are conducted according to each ethnic's culture. The results of this study could shed some light on the influence of institutional setting regarding corporate governance. Companies that were charged with accounting and auditing offences from year 2003 to 2007 were selected as the fraudulent samples. Data was collected from the years these companies were charged with fraud and the year prior to that. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine the significant differences between fraudulent and non-fraudulent companies with respect to corporate governance characteristics. The results indicated that the size of the board and the percentage of institutional shareholdings had significant relationships with the likelihood of corporate fraud occurrences consistently across the two-year period studied. The results of this study will assist public, corporate and accounting policy makers in formulating more effective corporate governance mechanisms.


Background: As a new infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not fully understood. During January - July 2020, there were two clusters infections in Beijing, China. This study was to analyze the features of the two COVID-19 infections in Beijing.Methods: In this retrospective single-center study, 89 cases with the positive novel coronavirus nucleic acid test were collected from January to July 2020 in Beijing. They were divided into January-March group and June-July group. Two groups of data were compared.Results: The eighty-nine cases, 47 males and 42 females, mean age (41±14 years), were used for our study. The most common symptoms were fever (46/89, 52%) and cough (34/89, 38%). The clinical classification were moderate type (56/89,63%), mild type (24/89, 27%), severe type (4/89, 4%), critical type (0), respectively. Ground glass opacity (GGO) (47%) was the majority CT pattern. The frequency of involvement of lower lobe was higher than that of upper lobe (P<0.01). In January - March group, there were 5 patients (18%) exposure to Wuhan, 15 patients (54%) family clusters, 5 patients (18%) colleague clusters, 3 patients (11%) imported cases. In June-July group, 41 patients (68%) had an exposure to Xinfadi market of Beijing, 6 patients (10%) family clusters, and 14 patients (23%) colleague clusters. The number of patients with fever, cough, chest CT severity score and the number of lesion lung lobes in January-March group was higher than that in June-July group (P<0.05).Conclusions: Two COVID-19 clusters were dominated moderate and mild type, but few severe types. Patients in June-July group had less symptoms, imaging and family clusters than that in January-March group. This suggested that closely monitoring, early quarantined, nucleic acid test of COVID-19 and chest CT were important measures to prevent epidemic.


This paper presents numerical modelling of powder sintering. The numerical model introduced in this work employs the discrete element method which assumes that material can be modelled by a large assembly of discrete elements (particles) of spherical shape interacting among one another. Modelling of sintering requires introduction of the cohesive interaction among particles representing inter-particle sintering forces. Numerical studies of sintering have been supplemented with experimental studies which provided data for calibration and validation of the model. In the laboratory tests evolution of microstructure and density during sintering have been studied. Comparison of numerical and experimental results shows a good performance of the numerical model developed.


: Ninety experimentally naive male white rats were divided into groups with lateral (AL), medial (AME) and central (ACE) amygdalar nuclei lesions, sham-operated and normal controls. The AL-rats showed a facilitation of instrumental conditioned alimentary reflexes (CAR) acquisition and retardation of initial avoidance learning in a shuttle box; the AME-rats exhibited a slower acquisition of the CAR and a facilitation of avoidance conditioning; in the ACE-rats acquisition of the CAR was the same as in controls but avoidance performance was significantly impaired as compared with all experimental groups. It has been assumed that functional non-identity of the amygdalar nuclei in alimentary and avoidance behaviour is caused by dominant drive and by presence of "specific" amygdalar neurones participating in functional systems of the studied behavioural reactions.


The Pasteurella-like organism of porcine necrotizing pleuropneumonia described by Bertschinger and Seifert in 1978 was shown to be phenotypically similar to the V factor-requiring strains hitherto classified as Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae (Matthews and Pattison 1961) Shope 1964. Deoxyribonucleic acid-deoxyribonucleic acid hybridization experiments in which the optical method was used yielded 91% binding of the genomes of the type and reference strains of these two taxa, thus indicating that they belong to the same species. The levels of deoxyribonucleic acid binding between these strains and the type strain of Haemophilus influenzae indicated no measurable relatedness. Therefore, these organisms do not belong to the genus Haemophilus sensu stricto. On the other hand, they are closely related to Actinobacillus lignieresii, as determined by both phenotypic characteristics and deoxyribonucleic acid base sequence relatedness (72 to 75% binding). To take into account the different host ranges of these organisms, we propose to classify them as a species distinct from, but closely related to, A. lignieresii, under the new combination Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. The emended species A. pleuropneumoniae is composed of V factor-requiring and V factor-independent biovars. The type strain (strain Shope 4047 [= CCM 5869 = ATCC 27088]) requires V factor; the V factor-independent biovar is represented by strain Bertschinger 2008/76 (= Frederiksen P 597 = HIM 677-3/4).


This guide highlights important information and services for Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law students as they prepare to take the bar examination in Arizona or elsewhere.


The pulse transmission properties of integrated strip lines are examined for a structure that has been proposed for application in a large capacity, high-speed magnetic film memory. The lines are vacuum-deposited onto an insulated ground plane and are characterized by low impedances. Previous analyses, such as those given by Eastman and Chang, McQuillan, and Harloff, examine the effects of skin-depth losses in lines which are assumed to be perfectly terminated. In general, this type of analysis is insufficient for lines which are lossy and which have resistive terminations. The present analysis considers skin-effect losses in the ground plane and in the strip conductors separately and also includes the effect of reflections from resistive terminations. The influence of heavy magnetic loading of the transmission line due to the presence of magnetic film devices is examined in detail. A computer program, similar to the one described by Bertin, has been used to obtain numerical results for the pulse response of the transmission lines. Data are presented which demonstrate the influence of line geometry and material properties.


Despite the large medical evidence relating the onset and localization of vascular diseases and flow-related quantities, the massive use of computational models in the daily medical practice is still strongly limited due to the computational burden involved in large-scale hemodynamic simulations. Strategies relying on parallel computing are able to perform some reduction in the computational time of blood flow simulations but, at the same time, the computational resources needed for an effective reduction pose strong limitations, which highlights the need of novel numerical strategies capable to reduce the computational cost of this kind of simulations. In this work, we explore the Transversally Enriched Pipe Element Method (TEPEM) as a novel numerical strategy, specially developed aiming the reduction of both computational time and resources required to perform patient-specific blood-flow simulations. By combining a goal-oriented slab-type geometrical discretization of the vasculature and mixed order polynomials for the field approximation, the TEPEM provides a spatially detailed description of the main flow-related quantities (velocity, pressure, wall shear stress) at a fraction of the cost of approximations based on the classical Finite Element Method (FEM). The potentialities of the presented strategy are studied through numerical examples of increasing complexity scale.


Summary An outbreak of cyptosporidiosis occurred in late April 1993 among resort hotel guests which was temporally associated with, but geographically distant from, a massive waterborne outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that occurred in late March and early April of 1993. A case-control study was performed among groups with members who reported illness and among a systematic sample of groups who stayed at the resort hotel during the risk period. Of 120 persons interviewed, 51 (43%) met the case definition. Swimming in the resort hotel's pool was significantly associated with case status (OR = 9·8; 95% Cl 3·4, 29·7), as was consumption of ice from the hotel's ice machines (OR = 2·3; 95% Cl 1·01, 5·2). When analysis was restricted only to laboratory-confirmed cases and controls, swimming pool use was the only risk factor significantly associated with illness (OR=13·0; 95%C1 2·6, 88·7). Following waterborne outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis associated with water supplies, swimming pools should be considered as possible ongoing sources for transmission regionally.


The success of total hip arthroplasty depends on the experience of the surgeon, and one of the ways the surgeon currently determines the final implant insertion depth is to listen to the change in audible pitch of the hammering sound. We investigated the use of vibration emissions as a novel method for insertion quality assessment. A non-invasive contact microphone-based measurement system for insertion depth estimation, fixation and fracture detection was developed using a simplified in vitro bone/implant (n = 5). A total of 2583 audio recordings were analyzed in vitro to obtain energy spectral density functions. Out of the four main resonant peaks under in vitro conditions, broach insertion depth statistically correlates to increasing 3rd and 4th peak frequencies. Degree of fixation was also observed as higher goodness of fit (0.26–0.78 vs. 0.12–0.51 between two broach sizes, the latter undersized). Finally, however, the moment of fracture could not be predicted. A cadaveric in situ pilot study suggests comparable resonant frequencies in the same order of magnitudes with the bone model. Further understanding of the signal patterns are needed for an early warning system diagnostic system for imminent fractures, bone damage, improving accuracy and quality of future procedures.


Cobalt-nitrilotriacetic acid (Co(III)-NTA) chemistry is a recognized approach for oriented patterning of His6-tagged bioreceptors. We have applied the matching strategy for the first time on an SPR platform, namely the commercialized FO-SPR. To accomplish this, His6-tagged bioreceptor (scFv-33H1F7) and its target PAI-1 were used as a model system, after scrutinizing the specificity of their interaction. When benchmarked to traditional carboxyl based self-assembled monolayers (SAM), NTA allowed (1) more efficient FO-SPR surface coverage with bioreceptors compared to the former and (2) realization of thus far difficult-to-attain label-free bioassays on the FO-SPR platform in both buffer and 20-fold diluted human plasma. Moreover, Co(III)-NTA surface proved to be compatible with traditional gold nanoparticle-mediated signal amplification in the buffer as well as in 10-fold diluted human plasma, thus expanding the dynamic detection range to low ng/mL. Both types of bioassays revealed that scFv-33H1F7 immobilized on the FO-SPR surface using different concentrations (20, 10 or 5 μg/mL) had no impact on the bioassay sensitivity, accuracy or reproducibility despite the lowest concentration effectively resulting in close to 20% fewer bioreceptors. Collectively, these results highlight the importance of Co(III)-NTA promoting the oriented patterning of bioreceptors on the FO-SPR sensor surface for securing robust and sensitive bioassays in complex matrices, both in label-free and labelled formats.


In a prospective study on breast-feeding in Jerusalem, 274 middle-class Jewish women were interviewed about their breast-feeding practices, and symptoms and signs of disease, episodes of illness and hospitalization of the infant. Women of a higher education level breast-fed more often and for a longer period than did women with less education. Infants exclusively breast-fed had significantly fewer symptoms of disease than did those not breast-fed or partially breast-fed. The odds ratios for cough, respiratory difficulty, and diarrhea by breast-feeding practice were 3.66, 2.14 and 2.72 (P = 0.04). Significant differences in the number of illness episodes were found between breast-fed and bottle-fed infants at 20 weeks; infants exclusively breast-fed had the least number of illness episodes. A positive association was found between number of illness episodes and duration of breast-feeding. Infants who were breast-fed for 20 weeks had the least number of illness episodes; 52% of them had no episode compared with only 15% who were not breast-fed. Comparison of the numbers of illness episodes among non-breast-fed infants of mothers with low and high education levels indicated that the infants of better educated mothers had a significantly lower percentage of illness episodes (P less than 0.05). Even infants of a middle-class and well-educated population benefit from the breast-feeding practice and its protective effect, more so if they are exclusively breast-fed and for a longer period.


The unique duality of Jewish existence, wherein a major Jewish centre in the Land of Israel flourished alongside a large and prosperous diaspora, was one of the outstanding features of Second Temple and post-Temple Jewish life. As in modern times, ongoing Jewish dispersion raised questions that went to the heart of Jewish self-identity, and declarations of allegiance to the ancestral homeland were frequently accompanied by seemingly contrary expressions of 'local-patriotism' on the part of Jewish diaspora communities. The destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 CE, and the subsequent failure under Bar-Kokhba to revive political independence (135 CE) forced Jews in Judaea as well as in the diaspora to re-evaluate the nature of the bonds that linked Jews throughout the world to 'The Land', and at the same time effected a re-examination of the authority structure that claimed priority for the communal leaders still functioning in Jewish Palestine. The chapters of this book, first delivered in Oxford as the Third Jacobs Lectures in Rabbinic Thought in January 1994, address a broad spectrum of questions relating to the centre-diaspora reality of Jewish life in Late Antiquity.


The organizational capability of a firm to create, integrate and maintain cyber versions of complex physical systems known as Digital Twins is a key enabler for joining the 4th Industrial Revolution. This article highlights the business case for firms in the petrochemical process industry to manage digital twins as valuable business assets based on academic and business literature, webcast and live presentations, and the professional experiences of the author. A digital twin maturity model is provided to differentiate how each level of data integration contributes to informing. Three digital twin asset valuation models are introduced to illustrate how digital twins can inform value in different contexts. Findings include how knowledge is generated from digital twins, and how an informing attribute of decision making referred to here as 'insight value' can be realized from maintaining digital twins over the full asset lifecycle. Many software applications and tools have become available for firms to adopt this innovative technology; however, integration with the diverse and often siloed systems that serve as data sources have been hampered by inconsistent data governance, data exchange requirements, and interface standards. This article, the first in a series of three, explores on-going efforts to mitigate this problem of practice as interest in application of this innovative technology reaches the tipping point where industry-wide adoption drives greater efficiency and improves decision making throughout the complex facility lifecycle.


In this paper, the characteristics and design rules of piston skirt middle-convex ellipse surface are studied, and the piston skirt profile mathematical model was established. Piston skirt middle-convex curve is interpolated based on MATLAB, and the piston middle-convex surface was generated according to the theory of surface modeling; the piston skirt transversal section was controlled based on Pro/E curvilinear equation, and then the piston skirt surface was created. The example indicates that commonality and fitting precision of these two design methods are excellent, so it has the better application value of project.


Subordination has long been a key concept in labour law theory. It aims to depict a central characteristic of employment relationships that explains (at least partially) the need for labour laws. More recently there is an increasing interest among labour law scholars with the concept of domination as developed in republican theory. On the face of it, being dominated by an employer appears to be very similar to being subordinated to an employer. To assess the relevance and usefulness of domination for labour law, I begin by providing an account of subordination and its different possible meanings. I then examine the different components of the definitions of domination developed by Philip Pettit and by Frank Lovett (with some reference to other scholars), and explore the similarities with, and differences from, the concept of subordination. I conclude that some key parts of domination — most notably the existence of arbitrary power — are not an optimal fit to describe employment relationships and justify labour law. In this respect domination cannot serve as a general theory of labour law. Nonetheless, republican theories are certainly helpful in providing normative support for specific labour laws as well as some other concrete benefits.


Symbolism in art is largely connected with the structure of the unconscious, as children do in their artistic manifestations sometimes finding the same images and metaphors that have occurred in the art from older periods as prehistory this would lead us to believe that there is no single idea or concept that has no essential historical background , all based ultimately archetypal primitive forms , which are evident in the art through a consciousness that does not act only through thought but sees internally. In this article you will see how the unconscious would not be just a mere repository of the past, but is also full of germs of future psychic situations and creative ideas , the not few artist sometimes be their best work to the inspirations that appear suddenly unconscious , it would exert a great influence on the mythological, religious, artwork and all other cultural activities that the human being is expressed.


In this dissertation, we explore the optical properties of various opal-based photonic crystal structures. Particular attention is paid to the tunability of the optical properties, especially the photonic band gaps (PBG), with the motivation to apply these opal-based photonic crystals (PCs) to the design of functional surfaces and switchable windows. After reviewing the basic optical properties of inverse opals, two different types of opal-based photonic crystals, namely the Double-Shell Photonic Crystal (DSPC) and the Double-Inverse-Opal Photonic Crystal (DIOPC) are successively introduced and throroughly studied. In the DSPC structure, each sphere in the periodic photonic crystal structure is made of a hollow core, along with an accompanying shell of a different dielectric material; the resulting spherical structure is embedded in a high-index dielectric background. By contrast, the DIOPC is designed with an inverse opal backbone, in which the air pores are partially filled with a dielectric core sphere. In our work, two types of photonic bandgap tuning are examined, namely geometrical/positional, and tailoring of the materials' properties. A comparison of the proposed structures regarding their potential for experimental realization is also performed. Considering that the air shells in the DIOPC structure allow for relative movement of the dielectric cores inside them, we propose and study a completely novel approach to obtain a switchable complete band gap achieved, by shifting the spheres inside the air shells. After demonstrating that the complete photonic band gap is open for certain core sphere positions and is closed for others, we propose ways to optimise this new switching process. This optimisation leads to a maximum switching of the complete photonic band gap of 3.5%.Taking into account that in real-world situations, all photonic crystals possess a certain amount of structural imperfections, the last step of the study concerns the effects of disorder on the optical properties of opal-based photonic crystals. After discussing different types of disorder, in both the backbone and the core spheres, we conclude that to retain a complete PEG in the DIOPC structure, and thus the switching process, a maximum backbone disorder of 1 % should be reached experimentally, whereas the disorder on the core sphere does not affect the PEG as much. These investigations have been performed using both a plane-wave expansion method and a finite-difference time-domain method.


Recent research suggests that emerging markets (EM) sovereign and high-yield (HY) corporate bonds with the same credit rating have similar creditworthiness in general and similar average default rates in particular. Consequently, all else equal, similarly rated sovereign and corporate bonds should trade at similar spreads over U.S. Treasuries. This article sets out to improve on the intuitive method of relying on ratings-adjusted spread differentials to determine relative value between the two asset classes. It argues that for any given credit rating, annual default rates of EM and HY bonds are closely linked to their respective macroeconomic cycles and thus deviate significantly from their long-term averages. As the EM and HY macro cycles are not necessarily synchronous, there may be situations in which similarly rated EM and HY bonds have different term structures of default and should therefore trade at very different spread levels. Given the recent outperformance of the EM macro cycle, incorporating a cyclical perspective into a relative value framework accentuates even more the persistent undervaluation of EM sovereigns. The lack of sufficient familiarity of most investors with EM most plausibly explains the undervaluation of EM relative to HY. As EM debt matures as an asset class, this lack of knowledge is likely to be rectified.


The hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) equipped both engine and generator is a transitional type from the internal-combustion engine vehicle to electric vehicle, but is a self-existent type, too. Applying a thermoelectric generator to recovery the waste heat of its engine, could not only improve the energy saving, but also the discharge / charge performance of the vehicle. For this purpose, the applicable generator must be a high-power and high-density one, which exchanges energy between the waste heat flow field and the conversion electric field; moreover, the temperature field is the coupling field with them. One of the methods to increase power-density of the generator is to strengthen the conversion intensity among above fields. In this paper, firstly a novel internal-axial-netted thermoelectric generator is presented, which includes following basic ideas: (1) using the stereo-electrodes to improve the integration of thermo-elements; (2) let the thermocouples to do heat convection directly with heat gas flow in pipe, to increase the heat flow density and electric current density, reduce the thermal resistance on solid conducting; (3) using the compensating wire to connect thermoelectric circuit and elongate the distance between hot source and cold source, so a higher temperature difference and a stronger cooling effect can be made. The analyses show though this generator used existing thermoelectric materials, its out-power can be increased and volume can be compacted. After this, secondly, the application scheme and key technologies of the novel high-intensity thermoelectric generator (HTG) as a main electrical source to supply electric power in HEV are chiefly discussed also.


During all levels of software testing, the goal should be to fail the code to discover software defects and hence to increase software quality. However, software developers and testers are more likely to choose positive tests rather than negative ones. This is due to the phenomenon called confirmation bias which is defined as the tendency to verify one's own hypotheses rather than trying to refute them. In this work, we aimed at identifying the factors that may affect confirmation bias levels of software developers and testers. We have investigated the effects of company size, experience and reasoning skills on bias levels. We prepared pen-and-paper and interactive tests based on two tasks from cognitive psychology literature. During pen-and-paper test, subjects had to test given hypotheses, whereas interactive test required both hypotheses generation and testing. These tests were conducted on employees of one large scale telecommunications company, three small and medium scale software companies and graduate computer engineering students resulting in a total of eighty-eight subjects. Results showed regardless of experience and company size, abilities such as logical reasoning and strategic hypotheses testing are differentiating factors in low confirmation bias levels. Therefore, education and/or training programs that emphasize mathematical reasoning techniques are useful towards production of high quality software. Moreover, in order to investigate the relationship between code defect density and confirmation bias of software developers, we performed an analysis among developers who are involved with a software project in a large scale telecommunications company. We also analyzed the effect of confirmation bias during software testing phase. Our results showed that there is a direct correlation between confirmation bias and defect proneness of the code.


Widespread availability of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has prompted a recent surge in interest in the microbiome. As a consequence, metagenomics is a fast growing field in bioinformatics and computational biology. An important problem in analyzing metagenomic sequenced data is to identify the microbes present in the sample and figure out their relative abundances. Genome databases such as RefSeq and GenBank provide a growing resource to characterize metagenomic sequenced datasets. However, both the size of these databases and the high degree of sequence homology that can exist between related genomes mean that accurate analysis of metagenomic reads is computationally challenging. In this article we propose a highly efficient algorithm dubbed as "Hybrid Metagenomic Sequence Classifier" (HMSC) to accurately detect microbes and their relative abundances in a metagenomic sample. The algorithmic approach is fundamentally different from other state-of-the-art algorithms currently existing in this domain. HMSC judiciously exploits both alignment-free and alignment-based approaches to accurately characterize metagenomic sequenced data. Rigorous experimental evaluations on both real and synthetic datasets show that HMSC is indeed an effective, scalable, and efficient algorithm compared to the other state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy, memory, and runtime.


Exposure to nanoparticles (NPs) that release metals with potential phytotoxicity could pose problems in agriculture. The authors of the present study used growth in a model growth matrix, sand, to examine the influence of 5 mmol/kg of Na, K, or Ca (added as Cl salts) and root exudates on transformation and changes to the bioactivity of copper(II) oxide (CuO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs on wheat. These salt levels are found in saline agricultural soils. After 14 d of seedling growth, particles with crystallinity typical of CuO or ZnO remained in the aqueous fraction from the sand; particles had negative surface charges that differed with NP type and salt, but salt did not alter particle agglomeration. Reduction in shoot and root elongation and lateral root induction by ZnO NPs were mitigated by all salts. However, whereas Na and K promoted Zn loading into shoots, Ca reduced loading, suggesting that competition with Zn ions for uptake occurred. With CuO NPs, plant growth and loading was modified equally by all salts, consistent with major interaction with the plant with CuO rather than Cu ions. Thus, for both NPs, loading into plant tissues was not solely dependent on ion solubility. These findings indicated that salts in agricultural soils could modify the phytotoxicity of NPs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:2116–2125. © 2015 SETAC


The Internet of Things (IoT) represents the best option for smart vineyard applications, even if it is necessary to integrate the technologies required for the development. This article is based on the research and the results obtained in the DISAVIT project. For Smart Agriculture, the project aims to provide a trustworthy, intelligent, integrated vineyard management solution that is based on the IoT. To have interoperability through the use of a multiprotocol technology (being the future connected wireless IoT) it is necessary to adopt an agnostic approach, providing a reliable environment to address cyber security, IoT-based threats and traceability through blockchain-based design, but also creating a concept for long-term implementations (modular, scalable). The ones described above represent the main innovative technical aspects of this project. The DISAVIT project studies and promotes the incorporation of better management tools based on objective data-based decisions, which are necessary for agriculture adapted and more resistant to climate change. It also exploits the opportunities generated by the digital services market for smart agriculture management stakeholders. The project's final result aims to improve decision-making, performance, and viticulturally infrastructure and increase real-time data accuracy and interoperability. Innovative aspects such as end-to-end solutions, adaptability, scalability, security and traceability, place our product in a favorable situation over competitors. None of the solutions in the market meet every one of these requirements by a unique product being innovative. Keywords—Blockchain, IoT, smart agriculture, vineyard.


This paper is based on my recently completed PhD, a practice-led investigation into drawing as a form of enquiry. The thesis identified a number of knowledge-making operations enacted within the figuring process of drawing: delineating or negotiating boundaries; marking experiences; registering differences; describing relationships. The main focus of study was observational drawing, particularly of the body.

The word 'observation' carries connotations of detachment. The practice passed on through Western academic tradition, sometimes utilises a distancing mode of perception: the eyes are focussed in such a way as to flatten the visual field, map spatial relationships and make judgements of dark and light.

On the other hand, drawing from visual perception can also invoke an attitude of involvement and attentiveness. It can be a means of drawing closer. It is a direct, bodily engagement calling on animal sensation and gestural action. Drawing from the visual can be confusing, challenging and affecting.

The paper summarises some of the contradictions and oscillations found within my own practice, to generate discussion. It can be argued that drawing produces knowledge grounded in the materiality and specificity of bodily experience, but how does a concentration on vision, to the exclusion of other senses, skew such experience?


Cancer cachexia is a metabolic disorder syndrome that causes skeletal muscle loss and progressive physical dysfunction, which is observed in more than half of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Cancer cachexia is considered to be associated with poor prognosis, worsening adverse events, decreased treatment compliance, and decreased treatment efficacy. The ghrelin receptor agonist leads skeletal muscle gain, weight gain, and the improvement of anorexia in patients with cancer cachexia, and has been approved as an anti-cachexia treatment in Japan. Cancer cachexia patients who present with cachexia symptoms such as appetite loss as well as weight loss are able to receive the treatment of the ghrelin receptor agonist, but the evidence for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer is limited. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of the ghrelin receptor agonist for cancer cachexia in pancreatic cancer patients. Inhibition of inflammatory cytokine such as interleukin-1α and nutrition and exercise therapy are under development for anti-cachexia therapy.


Background: One of the consequences of the institutionalization of the elderly is the increased risk of falls. Games of video games have shown ability to improve balance in the elderly population, but there is no data on their use in institutionalized elderly. Objective: To evaluate the effects of training with Nintendo Wii on static balance and functional mobility in elderly living in Long-Term Care Facilities for Elderly. Methods: Participated in the research 10 institutionalized elderly, who underwent training with Nintendo Wii for eight weeks, twice a week. Functional mobility was assessed by the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and the static balance by a force platform. Results: Significant improvement in TUG was observed (17.65 ± 4.38s pre-treatment and 15.30 ± 3.70s p= 0.03). There was no significant improvement in the static equilibrium variables, but there was a tendency for improvement. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the intervention with Nintendo Wii significantly improved the functional mobility, but with no improvement in the static balance in the institutionalized elderly.


The utilization of both polarimetric amplitude and relative phase terms of the polarization scattering matrix [S] given for each pixel, is pursued for polarimetric SAR imagery interpretation. The existing amplitude-only backscattering approaches hitherto used are extended and modified to accommodate the interpretation of information contained in the amplitude and/or phase terms. Both a vector radiative transfer model for surface versus volume scattering from rough terrain with and without vegetation canopy and a high-frequency electrical curvature model for perfectly conducting surfaces are examined to come up with theoretical models that out-perform other hitherto known approaches. The developed models agree with the excellent polarimetric SAR imagery recently obtained with the JPL CV-990 dual-polarization L-band (1.225 GHz) SAR system. Recommendations are made on how to further perfect the system for integration in the SIR-C and other future polarimetric SIR-SAR systems.


The 1,550-m.y.-old Paraguaza granite of the northwestern Guayana Shield in Venezuela represents one of the larger, apparently anorogenic rapakivi intrusive rocks of the world. The massive rapakivi granite intrudes foliated granitic rocks and associated volcanic rocks of trans-Amazonian age in a structural setting transcurrent to the general northeast-southwest trend of the older basement rocks of the Guayana Shield. Age relations and the geochemistry of the rapakivi suggest an anatectic origin from tensional effects developed by internal distortions within a continental mass. The extensive 1,550-m.y.-old Parguaza intrusion in Venezuela is correlated with 1,550-m.y.-old basement rocks underlying the Amazon Basin in Brazil and suggests a widespread "Parguazan" event 1,500 to 1,600 m.y. ago which affected a large part of the northwestern and southern Guayana Shield, extending as far south as the Guapore craton of Brazil. The Parguazan event therefore marks an important Proterozoic episode in the tectonic evolution of the widespread Precambrian Shield area of northern South America.


A 3-month ecologic investigation was done to identify the reservoir of Ebola virus following the 1995 outbreak in Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Efforts focused on the fields where the putative primary case had worked but included other habitats near Kikwit. Samples were collected from 3066 vertebrates and tested for the presence of antibodies to Ebola (subtype Zaire) virus: All tests were negative, and attempts to isolate Ebola virus were unsuccessful. The investigation was hampered by a lack of information beyond the daily activities of the primary case, a lack of information on Ebola virus ecology, which precluded the detailed study of select groups of animals, and sample-size limitations for rare species. The epidemiology of Ebola hemorrhagic fever suggests that humans have only intermittent contact with the virus, which complicates selection of target species. Further study of the epidemiology of human outbreaks to further define the environmental contact of primary cases would be of great value.


We consider the classical problem of selecting the best of two treatments in clinical trials with binary response. The target is to find the design that maximizes the power of the relevant test. Many papers use a normal approximation to the power function and claim that Neyman allocation that assigns subjects to treatment groups according to the ratio of the responses' standard deviations, should be used. As the standard deviations are unknown, an adaptive design is often recommended. The asymptotic justification of this approach is arguable, since it uses the normal approximation in tails where the error in the approximation is larger than the estimated quantity. We consider two different approaches for optimality of designs that are related to Pitman and Bahadur definitions of relative efficiency of tests. We prove that the optimal allocation according to the Pitman criterion is the balanced allocation and that the optimal allocation according to the Bahadur approach depends on the unknown parameters. Exact calculations reveal that the optimal allocation according to Bahadur is often close to the balanced design, and the powers of both are comparable to the Neyman allocation for small sample sizes and are generally better for large experiments. Our findings have important implications to the design of experiments, as the balanced design is proved to be optimal or close to optimal and the need for the complications involved in following an adaptive design for the purpose of increasing the power of tests is therefore questionable.


In recent times, despite the fact that Mobile learning or m-learning is a relatively new concept, it has become a buzz word in academic, researchers and companies developing learning systems and instructional materials. Unfortunately, standards and platforms like those that exist in elearning are still evolving. One thorny issue is that of m-examinations. Although in e-learning setup supervised examination rooms/center, have worked well the ability to authenticate the candidate doing an examination in unsupervised environment on remote place is limited. Moreover, the requirement of Internet access throughout the examination session and particularly for the student to be able to submit his answers is also a major limitation. This study was not only an effort to remove the two limitations, but also to do so on the mobile learning environment. The study investigated the concept of sending by email a locked examination as an android mobile application. The student would then download and install the App in their smart devices a few minutes, days or even weeks but will not be able to run the App until the instructor sends a key to the registered student's mobile phone number in the device to unlock the examination App installed in their phones two or three minutes before the examination start time. The approach used in this study was mixed methods. The first method was experimental where a mobile examination application was developed in Android. Then the mobile examination application was send by email to the 60 students who participated so that they could download it in their smart devices. The second method was a questionnaire survey to capture the student's perception. The findings of the study show that the effect of Organizational Support (OS), Availability of ICTs (ICT) and Effort Expectancy (EE) on Behavioral intention to use M-learning and particularly m-examination was significant. The findings of this research will not only help m-learning practitioners develop m-learning examinations and promote this new IT to potential users, but also provide insights into research on m-examination acceptance.


Understanding how small enterprises overcome capital barriers is the key to understanding China's rapid development. The literature traditionally emphasizes the development of financial market to raise small amount of loan. By studying the division of labor in the cashmere sweater cluster in Puyuan and the cash flow in the course of daily operation, this paper, argues instead that industry clusters lower capital entry access through the division of labor; various entities in the cluster obtain the capital required for daily operation by taking advantage of individual social capital and endogenous capital in the cluster.


This thesis comprises two interrelated papers. Chapter 3 examines the impact of hydropower development on Bhutan's GDP growth (1980 until 2017) using a two-stage least squares regression. The study found that domestic investments, domestic labour and hydropower investments foster economic growth in Bhutan, whereas foreign labour and the Hicks neutral technological change has no significant impact on economic growth. Chapter 4 investigates the impact of rural electrification on household non-farming income activities in rural Bhutan using clogit and the difference-in-differences approach. The findings indicate that rural electrification has had a positive effect on improving household non-farming income diversification.


A novel method for representing 3D objects that unifies viewer and model centered object representations is presented. A unified 3D frequency-domain representation, called volumetric frequency representation (VFR), encapsulates both the spatial structure of the object and a continuum of its views in the same data structure. The frequency-domain image of an object viewed from any direction can be directly extracted employing an extension of the projection slice theorem, where each Fourier-transformed view is a planar slice of the volumetric frequency representation. The VFR is employed for pose-invariant recognition of complex objects, such as faces. The recognition and pose estimation is based on an efficient matching algorithm in a four-dimensional Fourier space. Experimental examples of pose estimation and recognition of faces in various poses are also presented.


BACKGROUND
Kinases represent potential therapeutic targets in pancreatic endocrine tumours (PETs).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Thirty-five kinase genes were sequenced in 36 primary PETs and three PET cell lines: (i) 4 receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK), epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), tyrosine-protein kinase KIT (KIT), platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha); (ii) 6 belonging to the Akt/mTOR pathway; and (iii) 25 frequently mutated in cancers. The immunohistochemical expression of the four RTKs and the copy number of EGFR and HER2 were assessed in 140 PETs.

RESULTS
Somatic mutations were found in KIT in one and ATM in two primary neoplasms. Among 140 PETs, EGFR was immunopositive in 18 (13%), HER2 in 3 (2%), KIT in 16 (11%), and PDGFRalpha in 135 (96%). HER2 amplification was found in 2/130 (1.5%) PETs. KIT membrane immunostaining was significantly associated with tumour aggressiveness and shorter patient survival. PET cell lines QGP1, CM and BON harboured mutations in FGFR3, FLT1/VEGFR1 and PIK3CA, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Only rare PET cases, harbouring either HER2 amplification or KIT mutation, might benefit from targeted drugs. KIT membrane expression deserves further attention as a prognostic marker. ATM mutation is involved in a proportion of PET. The finding of specific mutations in PET cell lines renders these models useful for preclinical studies involving pathway-specific therapies.


Airport crash fire vehicle simulator is an important device that is used in training of the airport firefighters, which has advantage of safe, energy saving and decreasing training cost. Sound system is an important part of airport crash fire vehicle simulator, which provides voice message to training personnel, which can make training personnel have immersed sense. Based on the principles of sound source position to analyze the different physical structure of the human body (head, torso, pinna) the impact of sound localization, the establishment of head-related transfer function model, using the model of the sound source, filtering, delay processing, and virtual sound source. And we have tested and verified with listening experiment.


Abstract Population differentiation often reflects a balance between divergent natural selection and the opportunity for homogenizing gene flow to erode the effects of selection. However, during ecological speciation, trait divergence results in reproductive isolation and becomes a cause, rather than a consequence, of reductions in gene flow. To assess both the causes and the reproductive consequences of morphological differentiation, we examined morphological divergence and sexual isolation among 17 populations of Timema cristinae walking‐sticks. Individuals from populations adapted to using Adenostoma as a host plant tended to exhibit smaller overall body size, wide heads, and short legs relative to individuals using Ceonothus as a host. However, there was also significant variation in morphology among populations within host‐plant species. Mean trait values for each single population could be reliably predicted based upon host‐plant used and the potential for homogenizing gene flow, inferred from the size of the neighboring population using the alternate host and mitochondrial DNA estimates of gene flow. Morphology did not influence the probability of copulation in between‐population mating trials. Thus, morphological divergence is facilitated by reductions in gene flow, but does not cause reductions in gene flow via the evolution of sexual isolation. Combined with rearing data indicating that size and shape have a partial genetic basis, evidence for parallel origins of the host‐associated forms, and inferences from functional morphology, these results indicate that morphological divergence in T. cristinae reflects a balance between the effects of host‐specific natural selection and gene flow. Our findings illustrate how data on mating preferences can help determine the causal associations between trait divergence and levels of gene flow.


When a male actor looks at himself in a mirror while acting for the screen, does he see himself and contemplate the processes of his own mind or does he see his character and think the thoughts that his character would be thinking? The 1924 silent photoplay Beau Brummel, directed at Warner Bros. by Harry Beaumont and starring John Barrymore, presents several of these instances, enabling us to reflect on this very question. When John Barrymore gazes at himself in a mirror in this film, does he see himself and think his own thoughts or does he see his character and think the thoughts of Beau Brummel? In other words, when confronted by his own image, can he prevent himself from thinking about himself or can he, even when confronted by what he looks like and what he's doing at that moment, remain in character? Remaining in character was a fundamental part of the teaching at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the 1890s and 1900s, as well as a central component of the teaching of Soviet Social Realist Konstantin Stanislavsky, associated closely with the actors of the Moscow Art Theatre. It is also feature of what Cynthia Baron describes as Modern Acting, a precursor to the Method. Is it possible that John Barrymore, that infamous theatrical ham was also an exponent of Modern Acting? It may seem unlikely but analysis of the film suggests that Barrymore was indeed able him to see his character Beau Brummel when he gazed in a mirror and remain focused on thinking the thoughts of his character in that moment of introspection. At least, that is the argument advanced in this essay.


This meta-analysis investigated the significant association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G 14-bp insertion/deletion and +3142G>C polymorphisms with susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This relationship has been scrutinized in several studies, and the findings are controversial. The association studies related to HLA-G gene polymorphisms and RA were extracted from PubMed, Mendeley, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases up to December 31, 2020. Finally, a total of 1516 cases and 1683 control samples were chosen from 7 published research articles for this meta-analysis. A significant association was evaluated using the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) under allelic, dominant, recessive, and additive models. Overall, there is absence of significant association between 14-bp ins/del polymorphism and RA (recessive model: OR = 1.012, 95% CI = 0.841–1.217, P = 0.900; dominant model: OR = 1.068, 95% CI = 0.919–1.241, P = 0.393; ins/ins vs. del/del: OR = 1.059, 95% CI = 0.861–1.303, P = 0.587). In the case of +3142G>C polymorphism, the recessive model (OR = 1.332, 95% CI = 1.083–1.640, P = 0.007) showed a significant association with RA susceptibility. When subgroup analysis was done by ethnicity, +3142G>C polymorphism was found to be significantly associated with RA susceptibility in the Asian population under the recessive model (OR = 1.450, 95% CI = 1.048–2.006, P = 0.025). This meta-analysis brings to light that there was no significant association between 14-bp ins/del polymorphism and RA susceptibility. Whereas, +3142G>C polymorphism was found to be significantly associated with susceptibility to RA.


This study offers a high-resolution model of nationwide water supply. The model is sufficiently detailed to represent all main water sources in an economy, the principal segments of the conveyance system, urban, industrial and agricultural demand regions, and various water types, including fresh, saline and recycled. Calibrated for Israeli 2010 data, we find that the optimal extraction of fresh water is only 2% larger than the total observed supply from those sources. However, for some specific sources, the deviation between optimal and observed quantities is significant. Assuming average constant recharge, the optimal aggregated desalination is 57% of the 2010 desalination capacity and only 33% of the present desalination capacity. Even with an assumed 40% decline in recharge (for example, due to climate change), the model uses only 50% of the present desalination capacity. This may suggest that the construction of desalination facilities in Israel, which began in 2005, could have been delayed. The model establishes a comprehensive system of pumping levies and user fees that support the optimal allocation. However, due to considerable scale economies, the average cost is almost 50% larger than the marginal cost. The implications are that the welfare cost of the recent Israeli Balanced Budget Water Economy legislation is more than 100 million USD per year, about 10% of the water economy share of the GDP.


This volume offers in-depth introductions into major aspects of the Foundations of Arabic Linguistics, early Syriac and medieval Hebrew linguistic traditions. It presents Sībawayhi in the context of his grammatical legacy and reviews his work in the light of modern theories.


We report high-fidelity 10-Gb/s optical-proximity-communication using reflecting mirrors micro-machined into silicon and co-integrated with low-loss silicon-on-insulator waveguides for packaged chip-to-chip communication. Device integration was carried out by dry etching a rib waveguide 8 mum wide that was tapered to a width of 13 mu m and subsequently truncated with a wet-etched, micro-mirror facet forming a 54deg angle with the (100) surface. Light in waveguides on a bottom chip can couple to waveguides on a top chip upon face-to-face positioning so that the reflecting mirrors form a coupled pair and complete an optical proximity hop. High-speed link measurements were accomplished with chips aligned with a six-axis nano-positioner stage and compared with results for a new precision alignment approach that packages silicon chips for proximity signaling. Our new packaging approach is based on the co-integration of pyramidal etch pits micro-machined into silicon that match a precision micro-sphere for accurate chip alignment. Assemblies of chips can self-align in the package using chip placement that is initially coarse. The final chip alignment accuracy of our new packaging approach is limited by photolithographic resolution. Additionally, multichip arrays can be aligned together with global positioning having similar precision. Nonreturn-to-zero data was fiber launched into the waveguides and transported across a package consisting of a three-chip assembly with two optical proximity hops for inter-chip communication. Continuous wave optical losses, eye diagrams, bit error rates, and power penalties were measured. A passively aligned chip-to-chip optical proximity hop in the package was measured to have optical coupling loss of 4.0 dB, which was 1 dB more than when measured with precision-aligned chips with a nano-positioning stage. RMS jitter and amplitude metrics for the eye quality are shown to be nearly identical (to within 1%) when OPxC hops associated with the package is inserted into 10-Gb/s links. This self-aligned mechanism enables chip packages for several classes of proximity communication.


Abstract The authors studied the development of postural adjustments associated with the initiation of gait in children by using kinematic and electromyographic (EMG) analysis. Participants (N = 28) included infants with 1-4 and 9-17 months of walking experience, children 4-5 years of age, and adults. Anticipatory postural adjustments (APA) were present in the youngest age groups, including a clear anticipatory lateral tilt of the pelvis and the stance leg, which enabled the child to unload the opposite leg shortly before its swing phase. An anticipatory activation of the hip abductor of the leg in stance phase prior to heel-off was found, suggesting pelvis stabilization. APA did not appear consistently until 4-5 years of age. A decrease in segmental oscillations occurred across the ages, indicating better control of intersegmental coordination in the frontal and sagittal planes during the postural phase of gait initiation. Young walkers presented APA involving movements of both the upper and the lower parts of the body, whereas, like adults, 4- to 5-year-olds were able to laterally shift only the pelvis and the stance leg. The oldest children and the adults also showed lower activation levels of hip and knee muscles but higher activation at the ankle level. Those kinematic and EMG results taken together suggest a clear developmental sequence from an en bloc operation of the body through an articulated operation with maturation, walking experience, or both.


Understanding and predicting changes in the abundance of natural populations is a central goal of ecology. These changes are influenced by a variety of exogenous processes (weather, floods, fire); variation in these processes leads to variation in vital rates (survival, fecundity) that may be positively or negatively correlated across the life cycle. We used 20 years of data and a hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate vital rates and their covariation in an endangered plant, Dicerandra frutescens ssp. frutescens (Lamiaceae), as a function of time since fire and random year effects. Germination and the number of flowering branches declined with time since fire, and all plants were increasingly likely to become nonreproductive with time since fire. Time since fire had negative effects on survival of seedlings, vegetative plants, and small flowering plants, and positive effects on survival of medium and large flowering plants. Model comparison strongly supported inclusion of time-since-fire effects and weakly supported inclusion of year effects influencing all vital rates (''model-wide'' year effects). We used samples from the joint posterior distribution of model parameters to simulate population dynamics as a function of fire regime and year-to-year environmental variation. These simulations suggest that populations of Dicerandra frutescens ssp. frutescens are least likely to go extinct if the average time between fires is ;24-30 years. The design of the simulations allowed us to distinguish variation in stochastic population growth associated with process variability (fire, year effects, and demographic stochasticity) from variation associated with parameter uncertainty (finite amounts of data). Even with 20 years of data, half or more of the uncertainty in population growth rates was due to parameter uncertainty. This hierarchical Bayesian population viability analysis illustrates a general analytical framework for (1) estimating vital rates as a function of an exogenous environmental factor, (2) accounting for covariation among vital rates, and (3) simulating population dynamics as a function of stochastic environmental processes while taking into account uncertainty about their effects. We discuss future areas of development for this approach.


Flexible strain sensors are essential for providing electronic skin with the ability to detect motions and pressure, enabling their use in health applications and robotics. In this context, strain sensors should simultaneously guarantee a high sensitivity and flexibility, with a fast response when applied to the detection of various human motions. Here, we demonstrate a flexible strain sensor made of graphene nanoplatelets encapsulated between two elastomer films with a high sensitivity and stretchability. The liquid-exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets were spray-coated on the first elastomer film and then encapsulated by the second elastomer film. The encapsulated graphene sensor exhibited a high gauge factor, fast responsivity, and high durability. It proved stretchable up to 290% and highly bendable (operating at almost zero bending radius). As an additional key feature, proximity sensing to detect remote motions of a distant object was demonstrated, owing to the unique characteristic of graphene, i.e., variations in its electrostatic in response to the interaction between the surface charges of the elastomer and the electrostatic charges of the remote object. Our work introduces a novel route for the fabrication of flexible graphene sensors with proximity-sensing capability, which are useful for wearable smart devices and human motion detection.


11.1 Introduction Today, large-aperture modern telescope optical systems such as the ground-based Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) and Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) are divided into four parts: a large precision telescope radiation collector, a metrology and wavefront sensing and control (WFSC) system, the instrument that analyzes the complex wavefronts, and the detector that converts the complex wavefronts into intensity. Smaller-aperture space telescopes such as those used
by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), Kepler, Stereo, and Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) do not require optical metrology and wavefront sensing and control because they are sufficiently small that their rigidity is obtained using mass, since the space system mass budget will accommodate it. In this chapter we expand the classical two-part astronomical optical system comprised of telescope and instrument into the much more capable (for large apertures) new three-part optical system of (1) the telescope,
(2) the metrology and WFSC system, and (3) the instrument. At the heart of this new system is the two-stage optics system1 that collects, measures, and corrects the wavefront, and focuses it onto a field stop where the radiation passes into instruments that process the input complex wavefront for spectral, spatial (image), polarization, and radiometric information. In Chapters 8 and 9, we learned how scalar complex wavefronts propagate through an optical system to create an image, and we discussed the relationship between the wavefront and image quality. In Chapter 10, we learned that interferometry is a tool for analyzing the spectral (temporal) content and spatial structure of wavefronts. In this chapter, we show how wavefronts are
manipulated to compensate for the following: • telescope fabrication errors, • the low mechanical stiffness characteristic of the new lightweight next-generation ground and space telescopes, and • atmospheric turbulence.


Objectives The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among the psychological, social, and environmental factors influencing the utilization of senior centers among older adults in Korea. Methods A questionnaire survey was administered to two types of older adults who lived in Seoul, Korea: 262 older adults who used senior centers (3 places) and 156 older adults who did not use senior centers. Results Our results showed clearly that the utilization of the senior centers in Korea is affected by higher self-efficacy (odds ratio [OR], 6.08; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.31 to 12.32), higher perceived benefits (OR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.16 to 4.36), lower perceived barriers (OR, 6.43; 95% CI, 3.07 to 11.45), higher family support (OR, 4.21; 95% CI, 2.02 to 8.77), and higher support from friends (OR, 4.08; 95% CI, 2.38 to 7.81). The results also showed that participants whose total travel time was 15 to 29 minutes (OR, 2.84; 95% CI, 1.21 to 3.64) or less than 14 minutes (OR, 4.68; 95% CI, 3.41 to 8.41) were more likely to use a senior center than those who had to travel more than 30 minutes. Conclusions This study showed that the utilization of senior centers in Korea is affected by psychological, social, and environmental factors, specifically by self-efficacy, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, social support, convenience of transportation, and total travel time to the senior centers. The effects of longer-term utilization of the senior centers by non-users on health-related outcomes in a large population warrant attention.


During the 19th century American law (as, indeed, English law) was open to foreign influences. Foreign creativity was welcomed, not seen as an attempt to interfere with American values and life by telling them how to ordain their affairs. English statutes, mainly on matters of private law, would thus reach the westward expanding United States with a jet lag of anything between 10 and 20 years. Decisions of the highest English courts would also be followed, within about the same period of time, unless local conditions made their adoption undesirable. Occasionally and increasingly local courts also developed the courage to challenge the wisdom of the progenitor system, displaying not only growing intellectual confidence in their own, but also showing the flexibility that is found in societies which have the mixed blessing of a shorter tradition; but when they did so, they invariably felt the need to explain why they chose to go down another path. The reasons given for distinguishing or rejecting the parent model were often informative about both systems. American courts were thus among the first which would allude openly to the policy reasons which dictated their results.


This paper presents a formal framework for the bottom-up abstract interpretation of logic programs which can be applied to approximate answer substitutions, pariial an swer substitutions and call patterns for a given program and arbitrary initial goal. The framework is based on a Tp like semantics defined over a Herbrand universe with vari ables which has previously been shown to determine the answer substitutions for arbitrary initial goals. The first part of the paper reconstructs this semantics to provide a more adequate basis for abstract interpretation. A notion of abstract substitution is introduced and shown to determine an abstract semantic function which for a given program can be applied to approximate the answer substitutions for an arbitrary initial goal. The second part of the paper extends the bottom-up approach to provide approxima tions of both partial answer substitutions and call patterns. This is achieved by applying Magic Sets and other existing techniques to transform a program in such a way that the answer substitutions of the transformed program correspond to the partial answer substitutions and call patterns of the original program. This facilitates the analysis of concurrent logic programs (ignoring synchronization) and provides a collecting semantics which characterizes both success and call patterns.


Given n heterogeneous traffic sources which generate multiple types of traffic among themselves, we consider the problem of finding a set of disjoint clusters to cover n traffic sources. The objective is to minimize the total communication cost for the entire system in the context that the intracluster communication is less expensive than the intercluster communication. Different from the general graph partitioning problem, our work takes into account the physical topology constraints of the linear arrangement of physical cells in highway cellular systems and the hexagonal mesh arrangement of physical cells in cellular systems. In our partitioning schemes, the optimal partitioning problem is transformed into an equivalent problem with a relative cost function, which generates the communication cost differences between the intracluster communications and the intercluster communications. For highway cellular systems, we have designed an efficient optimal partitioning algorithm of O(mn/sup 2/) by dynamic programming, where m is the number of clusters of n base stations. The algorithm also finds all the valid partitions in the same polynomial time, given the size constraint on a cluster and the total allowable communication cost for the entire system. For hexagonal cellular systems, we have developed four heuristics for the optimal partitioning based on the techniques of moving or interchanging boundary nodes between adjacent clusters. The heuristics have been evaluated and compared through experimental testing and analysis.


Antibiotics have been considered as a boon to mankind as it has been able to save millions of lives. However, the greatest challenge of today's era is resistant to antibiotics. Multidrug resistance seen in tuberculosis is the most common, live example of devastating effect of resistant. Multidrug resistance is said to occur most commonly by the mechanism of quorum sensing (QS), multidrug resistance genes (drug efflux pumps) and beta-lactamase (penicillin and cephalosporin). Resistance can be noted in C. violaceum mainly due to presence of such multidrug resistance genes which are under the control of QS mechanism and biofilm formation. The bacterium colony can be identified by distinct purple color due to presence of an antioxidant, non-diffusible pigment called violacein. Among the QS- controlled characteristics of this bacterium, violacein generation has attracted the attention of most of the researchers working in this area. This is an, opportunistic pathogen, which rarely cause pathogenicity but once occurs ends with high mortality rate in immune-compromised patients. The QS in C. violaceum regulates resistance to several antimicrobials, including bactobolin, tetracycline and ethidium bromide. Thus, in an attempt to find out alternative strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance we have performed, virtual screening of library of polyphenolic ligands obtained from Phenol-Explorer database against QS protein of C. violaceum. During the screening process the 2D structure of more than 500 naturally occurring polyphenols from seven different classes belonging to flavones, flavanols, lignans, stillbenes, anthocyanins, etc. found in food as enlisted in Phenol-Explorer database, were collected from ZINC database. All the ligands were minimized using molecular mechanics (MM-2) force field method, and the minimized compounds were docked inside the active site pocket of CviR (PDB ID: 3QP5) transcriptional protein of C. violaceum. Out of 756 screened ligands about 25 (-9.0 to -10.3 kcal/mol) were found to have better binding affinity than natural homo serine lactone (HSL) ligand (-8. 2 kcal/mol) of C. violaceum. We further, ranked different classes of polyphenols as per their binding affinity (-5.8 kcal/mol to -10.3 kcal/mol) with CviR target protein. ADMET studies of best docked ligands were also performed using Swiss ADMET online web server in order to analyze their pharmacokinetics and toxicity fitness scores. On the ADMET parameters 11 polyphenolic ligands found to exhibit excellently well scores in terms of solubility, bioavailability (fitness score: 0.55), Carcinogenicity and mutagenicity experiments which make these screened moieties quiet safer in terms of drug toxicity. Further, the top two compounds were evaluated for their QS inhibition and anti-biofilm activity using violacein and biofilm inhibition assay where promising results were observed as compared to standard drug. Hence, the above study helps in identification of polyphenols obtained from natural source as potential leads owing to their anti-QS and anti-biofilm activity.


General guidelines for selecting probabilistic input models as part of a discrete-event simulation study are presented. Two short examples illustrating input modeling decisions are also presented, as opposed to a complete treatment of the subject.


Here we consider EAS events with energy above 1E17 eV with recorded pulses delayed by t>=5 mcs in scintillation detectors with different thresholds: 10, 5 and 1.8 MeV. In order to identify pulses from electrons, muons and neutrons, experimental data were compared to computational results performed within the framework of QGSJET01d model. Preliminary, one may speculate of registration of low-energy electrons arisen from moderation of neutrons in a detector or a medium surrounding a detector or in the snow cover and frozen crust (albedo particles). The fact that such pulses were registered mostly in low-threshold detectors confirms this hypothesis.


0.6 (cid:4) 0.1, p < 0.0001). Stone clearance in group 1 was 100% while in group 2 it was 95%. There was no signi fi cant difference in complications between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both Standard tubeless PCNL & tubeless Mini PCNL are effective for renal stones less than 2 cm. Operative time is more in tubeless Mini PCNL whereas pain score, analgesics requirement and hemoglobin drop are more in standard tubeless PCNL comparatively. Stone clearance in both groups is comparable and more than 95%.


Abstract:The digital age has greatly expanded the terrain and opportunities for a range of foreign influence efforts. A growing number of countries have invested significantly in their capabilities to disseminate online propaganda and disinformation worldwide, while simultaneously establishing information dominance at home. This introductory essay provides a brief examination of terms, concepts, and examples of these efforts and concludes by reviewing how the articles of this issue of the Journal of Advanced Military Studies contribute to our understanding of political warfare and propaganda.


Sample preparation and scanning electron microscopy imaging methods were developed to characterize solid-oxide fuel cell anodes made out of a nickel- yttria-stabilized zirconia porous cermet. The sample preparation uses only tripod polishing and does not require any resin impregnation. To overcome surface damages induced by polishing, as well as to increase contrast between phases, high acceleration voltages were used. The method gave results of a small systematic increase of the measured nickel proportion due to imaging conditions. A quick image analyzing method is also presented.


Introduction : DMFT (Decay-missing-filled teeth index) and dmft (the equivalent of DMFT index for deciduous teeth) indexes are dental epidemiological indicators showing the status of oral health in the population. This study evaluated the DMFT index of 6, 9 and 12-year-old students in Hashtrood city in 2013. Materials & methods : The present descriptive-analytical study using interview, examination and recording of information, in the study population included students aged 6, 9 and 12 -year-old conducted in Hashtrood city. Gender, parents' income, toothbrushing frequency and carbohydrates intake frequency were recorded. Data analysis was done using SPSS 18. Findings : The average DMFT index of 6 years old children was 0.13 ± 0.78, for 9 years old children was 2.86±1.39 and for 12 years old children was 4±2.17. The average dmft index of 6 years old children was 4±2.57, for 9 years old children was 3.83±2.36 and for 12 years children was 0.483±1.26. The analysis of Kruskai Wallisfound, significant differences between the amount of dmft and DMFT indexes of students based on brushing frequency and carbohydrate However, no significant association was found between gender and amount of family income conclusions : DMFT and indexes of students of Hashtrood city according to WHO goals were not in good condition.


The present study was to demonstrate the G protein coupled receptors serve as targets for the treatment of autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Rats received pristane at the base of the tail. Affected joints were counted daily. The T cell mediated autoimmune diseases such as pristane induced arthritis (PIA) and autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in rats model were profoundly ameliorated by treating with the specific G protein couple receptors 120 (GPR120) stimuli Omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3 FAs). Our study further revealed that the activation of GPR120 by ω-3 FAs can result in a decrease of phosphorylated transforming growth factor-β activated kinase 1 (TAK1), and further inhibit the downstream IKKβ/I-κB pathway and the terminal NF-κB activation which serves as a mediator of T cell activation. ω-3 FAs exhibited inhibitory effect on TAK1 by enhancing the association of β-arrestin2 and TAK1 binding protein 1 (TAB1), thus the disassociation of TAB1 from the TAB1/TAK1 complex render the limited effect on the β-arrestin2 signaling as innated immunity regulation. GPR120 is a functional receptor of ω-3 FAs in the T cell-mediated autoimmune disease compared to its effect on the innate immunity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Genetic improvement of any crop species depends upon the existence, nature and extent of the genetic variability available for manipulation .This study was conducted on six samples of barley (Hordeum vulgare) collected from different regions of Saudi Arabia (Taif, Hail, Qassim, Asir, Al Baha and Jazan) in order to test the ability of these samples to tolerate different levels of salt stress, and then to determine the fingerprint at the level of protein, as well as at the level of DNA, and to study the variation and the genetic relationship between samples using the technique of RAPD-PCR . Results indicated that the presence of a direct correlation between the small and dwarf shoot of the samples and increasing salt concentration which is probably due to a metabolic defect as a result of salt stress . It also showed significant decrease of the fresh weight of the treated seedlings, this reduction was evident in the seedlings treated with concentration of 12000 ppm . The highest rate of decrease in wet weight were recorded in the sample from Hail, Qasim, Jizan, Asir, Al Baha and Taif, respectively. Salt stress caused significant decrease in seedlings dry weight of all samples that increase by increasing salt concentration. Jazan sample was the least affected, where it recorded the lowest decline in both concentrations, this decline is probably due to inhibition of plant cell division as a result of salt stress . Despite the disparity of the total content of amino acids in the leaves of the studied samples seedlings, but they all showed that Aspartic acid was the most abundant acid. On the other hand, proline was the least among the list of amino acids recorded in the samples. Moreover, the studied samples agreed that the group of neutral amino acids constituted the largest in terms of total acid content followed by acidic, basic, and then aromatic group. Salt stress leads to accumulation of amino acids in the leaves of the samples, which could be of preventive value. The highest rate of amino acids accumulation under the influence of stress salt was seen in the sample from Jazan at a concentration of 4000 parts per million, and in Qassim sample at a concentration of 12000 ppm. Increase in the content of amino acids may be associated with plant tolerance to salinity . Gel electrophoresis of protein samples did not show clear differences in the patterns of protein bands that have been obtained, the number of basic bands were the same in all samples at the weight of 55, 27, 23 and 16 kDa. However, salt stress induced the emergence of a number of new bands that is likely belong to heat shock proteins (HSPs), which are activated under stress conditions. Changes in pattern of protein bands is the result of changes in gene expression caused by salt stress . By using eight RAPD-PCR primers, we were able to obtain 91 genetic bands that represent the sources of variation between the study samples. The two primers OP-N1 and OP-H1 showed a higher ability to detect a high rate of variation between the studied samples .The average variation rate obtained by the eight primers was 92.86%. Cluster analysis based RAPD-PCR data analysis divided barley varieties in the studied samples into two groups . We found the highest degree of genetic similarity between samples from Al Baha and Jazan (65.3%) , also similar degree of genetic convergence (65.1%) was found beteween samples from Asir and Taif, while samples from Al Baha and Taif were the most divergent from each other genetically .


Abstract Perceptual errors are common contributors to missed diagnoses in the clinical practice of radiology. While the physical attributes of an image such as image resolution, signal-to-noise characteristics, and anatomic complexity are major causes of poor conspicuity of pathologic lesions, there are major interrelated cognitive contributors to visual errors. The first is satisfaction of search (SOS), where the detection of an abnormality results in premature termination of further search. Another form of incomplete search pattern is visual isolation, where a radiologist's search pattern is truncated to the main areas of an image, while little or no attention is given to peripheral areas. A second cognitive error is inattentional blindness, defined as the failure to notice a fully visible, but unexpected object because attention was otherwise engaged. Strategies for error mitigation have centered around the use of check lists, self prompting routines, and structured reporting within an institutional culture of safety and vigilance.


This study investigates the effects of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN) on ice formation in mixed‐phase clouds using an adiabatic parcel model. The simulations with lower updrafts represent mixed‐phase stratiform clouds, and those with higher updrafts represent deep convective clouds. Increasing CCN concentration can lead to more ice crystals with smaller sizes, but does not affect the height of freezing nucleation at lower updrafts. At higher updrafts, ice number concentration is more sensitive to CCN, and CCN effect on ice nucleation height is also more noticeable. This study also investigates the effects of IN properties (number concentration, size, contact angle) on ice formation assuming the immersion freezing mechanism. At very low IN number concentration, ice nucleation is dominated by homogeneous freezing and ice number concentration is relatively high. As IN number concentration is increased, ice number concentration decreases because both heterogeneous and homogeneous freezing processes occur. A mixed‐phase layer extends up to the height for homogeneous freezing and there is a competition between the two freezing processes. As IN number concentration is further increased, ice number concentration increases because heterogeneous freezing dominates ice nucleation. IN number concentration needs to be higher for heterogeneous freezing to dominate ice nucleation at higher updrafts and lower at lower updrafts. Increasing IN size and contact coefficient also increases the contribution of heterogeneous freezing to ice nucleation. Finally, spheroids are used to represent columnar and plate‐like ice crystals. CCN and IN effects are not dependent on the assumption of ice crystal shapes.


Additional functionality within load bearing components holds potential for adding value to a structure, design or product. We consider the adaptation of an established technology, electrostatic adhesion or electroadhesion, for application in glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite materials. Electroadhesion uses high potential difference (~2-3 kV) between co-planar electrodes to generate temporary holding forces to both electrically conductive and nonconductive contact surfaces. Using a combination of established fabrication techniques, electroadhesive elements are co-cured within a composite host structure during manufacture. This provides an almost symbiotic relationship between the electroadhesive and the composite structure, with the electroadhesive providing an additional functionality, whilst the epoxy matrix material of the composite acts as a dielectric for the high voltage electrodes of the device. Silicone rubber coated devices have been shown to offer high shear load (85kPa) capability for GFRP components held together using this technique. Through careful control of the connection interface, we consider the incorporation of these devices within complete composite structures for additional functionality. The ability to vary the internal connectivity of structural elements could allow for incremental changes in connectivity between discrete sub-structures, potentially introducing variable stiffness to the global structure.


Epidermolysis bullosa is a group of inherited blistering diseases classified into three main sub-groups on the basis of the level of cleavage within the skin. In dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, characterized by cleavage below the basal lamina, two variants can be distinguished by the presence (Pasini form) or absence (Cockayne-Touraine form) of albo-papuloid lesions. The present study was undertaken to investigate the glycosaminoglycan chains of proteoglycans in the albo-papuloid lesions of a patient with the Pasini form, using histochemical and immunohistochemical methods. Histological examination revealed no dermo-epidermal separation. In the dermis, the papillary and subpapillary layers were slightly homogeneous, and exhibited a strong affinity towards alcian blue, which was abolished by treatment with chondroitinase ABC or in the presence of MgCl2 0.3M, but was resistant to digestion with streptomyces hyaluronidase. The papillary and subpapillary layers were intensely stained with a monoclonal antibody against small size proteoglycan with dermatan sulfate. These results suggest the presence of degraded dermatan sulfate proteoglycan in the papillary and subpapillary dermis of albo-papuloid lesions in the Pasini form of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.


The Controller Area Network (CAN) is a serial, asynchronous, multi-master communication protocol for connecting electronic control modules in automotive and industrial applications. CAN was designed for automotive applications needing high levels of data integrity and data rates of up to 1 Mbit/s. In this project Controller Area Network protocol is implemented using on chip Motorola Scalable Controller Area Network (MSCAN) of MC9S12DP256B 16-bit Microcontroller. The application we have taken up is "Monitoring of Temperature using LM35 based on Controller Area Network architecture". The system is constituted of two CAN nodes, each CAN node is formed by a transceiver MC33388 and 16-bit microcontroller MC9S12DP256B. The first stage consist of the conventional sensor of temperature (LM35) that converts the room temperature into voltage signal, and then this signal is conditioned and then the signal is transmitted to the input of the A/D converter of the microcontroller. The A/D converted data is transmitted to the CAN node 2 using the CAN architecture. At node 2 the received temperature readings are displayed using an alphanumeric LCD display of size 16X2. Node 2 consists of a keypad through which user can enter the maximum operating temperature of the device. According to the maximum temperature value entered the node 2 can take decisions and controls temperature source which is at node1 by sending control signals via the CAN network as per the user In this thesis we have concerned with design techniques for implementation of CAN nodes for data monitoring and taking appropriate decision based on data in the control system. Implementation of CAN for temperature monitoring and controlling the device is successful and the same idea can be applicable to monitor tire pressure monitoring system, Adaptive Cruise control, power window and Engine management systems in Automotives. This leads to decentralization of control system in vehicles. This can be extended to industrial control applications.