Adrenergic anorexic agents of the amphetamine class suppress appetite and reduce body weight via activation of /3-adrenergic and/or dopaminergic receptors within the perifornical hypothalamus (PFH). Although phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is often considered to be a member ofthe amphetamine class ofanorexiants, this drug is an atypical adrenergic anorexiant. Unlike amphetamine, microinjection of PPA into the PHI does not suppress feeding. Moreover, PPA anorexia is not reversed by the dopamine antagonist haloperidol. The anorexic action of PPA may result, in part, from its interaction with a1-adrenergic receptors within the paraventricular medial hypothalamus (PVN). This hypothesis is supported by prior research, which documents that PPA is a direct-acting agonist predominantly at a1 adrenoceptors, that microinjections into the PVN of the a1-adrenoceptor agonists PPA and l-phenylephrine suppress feeding, and that injections of a,-adrenoceptor antagonists within the PVN enhance feeding behavior. Am JClin Nuir 1992;55: 1935-85.


Checkpoint recovery (CR) is a classic fault-tolerance technique, which enables computing systems to execute correctly even when affected by transient faults. Although a number of software and hardware based approaches for CR does exist, these approaches usually are either too large, too slow, or require extensive modifications to the software and the caching/memory schemes. In this paper, we propose a novel CR approach, which is based on re-engineering the instruction set of a target processor. We take the base instruction set and augment the native micro-operations, i.e., an architectural description language (ADL), with additional micro-operations to perform checkpointing at the granularity of basic blocks. The recovery mechanism is realized by three custom instructions, which can undo the corruptions caused by transient faults during instruction execution, including the values of general-purpose registers, data memory, and special-purpose registers (PC, status registers, etc.), which were incorrectly modified. Our checkpoint storage is sized according to the application program executed. The experimental results show that our approach degrades the system performance by just 0.76 percent when there is no fault, and introduces an area overhead of 44 percent on average and 79 percent in the worst case. During the fault injection test with the benchmark applications, the recovery took just 62 clock cycles (worst case).


Background Previously, we had reported the role of tacrolimus (TAC) versus sirolimus (SRL) on the generation of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in primary MLR assays with SRL, demonstrating a uniquely supportive effect. However, the mechanisms associated with their actions on alloreactive human T cells are not fully understood. Therefore, we tested whether TAC and SRL differentially affect already alloactivated human CD4+ T-cell subsets. Methods Alloreactive CD4+CD45RA−/CD45RO+ T cells generated in 9-day MLR were cocultured with anti-CD3 and autologous antigen presenting cells plus interleukin (IL)-2 in presence of TAC, SRL, or both, and the Tregs generated after another 5 to 6 days were phenotypically, molecularly, and functionally characterized. Results Tacrolimus significantly and SRL modestly inhibited interferon (IFN)-&ggr; (Th1) and IL-17 (Th17)–producing cells. At clinical therapeutic concentrations, SRL, however, significantly increased forkhead/winged helix transcription factor P3 (FOXP3+) Tregs, whereas TAC inhibited this T-cell population dose dependently and significantly. When used in combination, TAC and SRL had additive effects on inhibition of IFN-&ggr;– and IL-17–producing cells. This was in contrast to the ability of SRL to reverse TAC-mediated inhibition of FOXP3-expressing cells. Proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1&bgr;, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-&agr;) added to cultures caused significant decrease in FOXP3+ Tregs that was again reversed by SRL. Sirolimus-derived Tregs were phenotypically normal, anergic to allostimulation, and suppressed proliferation of allogeneic effector T-cells. Conclusions Thus, although TAC inhibits all alloreactive T cells, SRL promotes the differentiation and expansion of donor-specific Tregs without secondary reprogramming to IFN-&ggr;+FOXP3+ and IL-17+FOXP3+ Treg subsets. These results, although performed in an artificial in vitro model, add clinically applicable information on how these agents affect T-cell subpopulations.


Continuous heart rate monitoring can provide important context for quantitative clinical assessment in scenarios such as long-term health monitoring and disability prevention. Photoplethysmographic imaging (PPGI) systems are particularly useful for such monitoring scenarios as contact-based devices pose problems related to comfort and mobility. Each pixel can be regarded as a virtual PPG sensor, thus enabling simultaneous measurements of multiple skin sites. Existing PPGI systems analyze temporal PPGI sensor uctuations related to hemodynamic pulsations across a region of interest to extract the blood pulse signal. However, due to spatially varying optical properties of the skin, the blood pulse signal may not be consistent across all PPGI sensors, leading to inaccurate heart rate monitoring. To increase the hemodynamic signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we propose a novel spectral PPGI sensor fusion method for enhanced estimation of the true blood pulse signal. Motivated by the observation that PPGI sensors with high hemodynamic SNR exhibit a spectral energy peak at the heart rate frequency, an entropy-based fusion model was formulated to combine PPGI sensors based on the sensors' spectral energy distribution. The optical PPGI device comprised a near infrared (NIR) sensitive camera and an 850 nm LED. Spatially uniform irradiance was achieved by placing optical elements along the LED beam, providing consistent illumination across the skin area. Dual-mode temporally coded illumination was used to negate the temporal effect of ambient illumination. Experimental results show that the spectrally weighted PPGI method can accurately and consistently extract heart rate information where traditional region-based averaging fails.


The peptide DCRQKWKCCKKGSG [myotoxin-(29-42)], corresponding to residues 29-42 of myotoxin a, inhibits the activity of the Ca(2+)-ATPase of skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum, with a Kd value of 19.4 microM at pH 7.5, in 100 mM KCl. The peptide YKQCHKKGGHCFPKEK, corresponding to residues 1-16 of myotoxin a, is a less potent inhibitor. Inhibition by myotoxin-(29-42) is reduced at low pH and at high ionic strength, suggesting that charge interactions are important in binding to the ATPase. Inhibition of the ATPase has been shown to follow from a decrease in the rate of dephosphorylation, with no effect on the rate of phosphorylation of the ATPase or on the rate of the Ca2+ transport step (E1PCa2-->E2P). Binding of myotoxin-(29-42) decreased the affinity of the ATPase for Ca2+ and Mg2+, and increased the rate of dissociation of the outer Ca2+ ion from the ATPase. Unlike the amphipathic peptide melittin, it is suggested that myotoxin-(29-42) does not bind significantly to the lipid bilayer portion of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Fluorescence quenching studies suggest that it could bind to the ATPase in the vicinity of Cys-344 in the phosphorylation domain and Lys-515 in the nucleotide binding domain. Inhibition of the ATPase is observed when the ATPase is reconstituted in monomeric form in sealed vesicles, suggesting that aggregation of the ATPase is not involved in inhibition.


The overarching aim of the studies in this dissertation is to contribute knowledge about children's shared social knowledge in their preschool peer cultures, regarding both content and how it is established and maintained.An ethnographic approach has been used to study the shared activities of children, aged 3-5, in the preschool. During 1 ½ years, one preschool setting was visited on a regular basis. One hundred hours of observation have been made and documented through video camera recordings and field notes. The theory of children's peer cultures (Corsaro, 2005), positioning theory (Harre & Langenhove, 1999a) and social representation theory (Moscovici, 2001) have been used as theoretical tools in the analyses.The empirical results are presented in four articles (articles I-IV) and are all illustrations of the children's shared social knowledge. The findings are that children's shared social knowledge involves two main aspects of knowledge about relations; how to establish and maintain relations vis-a-vis various tokens or social resources (articles III and IV), and how to create distance to relations (articles I and II). Another find is that there seems to be a tension between the children's social knowledge and the social norms explicitly formulated in the studied preschool context.


This study examined the effects of a high load gluteal activation protocol on counter movement jump (CMJ) performance and gluteal activation levels. Eight sprinters performed 5 CMJ's prior to and subsequently after a gluteal activation protocol on two separate days. Height jumped (HJ), peak force (Forcewk), modified reactive strength index (RSId) and electromyographic gluteal activation levels were calculated on both days. Paired samples T tests found no significant differences for all reported variables on either day. This suggests that the gluteal activation protocol had no effect on CMJ performance. Future research should incorporate typical error analysis to investigate potentiation effects on an individual basis due to individual nature of the postactivation potentiation response and biological variability.


AIM
Cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) leakage caused by defects on the dura mater after trauma or some neurosurgical interventions is an important issue. In this study, we investigated the effects of local and systemic use of phenytoin sodium on dural healing.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Thirty-six male Wistar rats were divided into control, local phenytoin and systemic phenytoin groups with 12 rats in each. For each group, a dura defect was created at thoracic segment. Subjects were sacrificed at following 1st and 6th weeks and damaged segments were isolated. The results were compared histopathologically by Hematoxylin-Eosin and Masson-Trichrome staining. Criteria for the rate of collagen, neovascularization, and granulation formation were assessed semi quantitatively according to the histological assessment scale modified by Ozisik et al.

RESULTS
Better healing was achieved in the systemic and local phenytoin groups than in the control group. The level of healing was significantly higher in the systemic group in both early and late periods than in other groups (p < 0.01). The level of healing in the late-local group was also statistically significantly higher than that in the control group.

CONCLUSION
We observed that both systemic and local uses of phenytoin sodium (especially systemic) have positive effects on dura healing.


Currently, one of the most actively researched approaches regarding the design of deadlock avoidance policies for sequential resource allocation systems is based on concepts and techniques provided by the, so called, theory of regions, that addresses the broader problem of synthesizing PN models with pre-specified behaviors. However, one limitation of the theory of regions and its aforementioned derivatives is that they cannot be applied when the target behavior has a non-convex representation in the underlying state space. In this paper, we show how this problem can be circumvented by appropriately generalizing the employed class of the candidate policies.


The main purpose of this work is to present a new parallel direct solver: Dissection solver. It is based on LU factorization of the sparse matrix of the linear system and allows to detect automatically and handle properly the zero‐energy modes, which are important when dealing with DDM. A performance evaluation and comparisons with other direct solvers (MUMPS, DSCPACK) are also given for both sequential and parallel computations. Results of numerical experiments with a two‐level parallelization of large‐scale structural analysis problems are also presented: FETI is used for the global problem parallelization and Dissection for the local multithreading. In this framework, the largest problem we have solved is of an elastic solid composed of 400 subdomains running on 400 computation nodes (3200 cores) and containing about 165 millions dof. The computation of one single iteration consumes less than 20 min of CPU time. Several comparisons to MUMPS are given for the numerical computation of large‐scale linear systems on a massively parallel cluster: performances and weaknesses of this new solver are highlighted. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


ABSTRACT Autotaxin (ATX), or nucleotide pyrophosphatase-phosphodiesterase 2, is a secreted lysophospholipase D that promotes cell migration, metastasis, and angiogenesis. ATX generates lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a lipid mitogen and motility factor that acts on several G protein-coupled receptors. Here we report that ATX-deficient mice die at embryonic day 9.5 (E9.5) with profound vascular defects in yolk sac and embryo resembling the Gα13 knockout phenotype. Furthermore, at E8.5, ATX-deficient embryos showed allantois malformation, neural tube defects, and asymmetric headfolds. The onset of these abnormalities coincided with increased expression of ATX and LPA receptors in normal embryos. ATX heterozygous mice appear healthy but show half-normal ATX activity and plasma LPA levels. Our results reveal a critical role for ATX in vascular development, indicate that ATX is the major LPA-producing enzyme in vivo, and suggest that the vascular defects in ATX-deficient embryos may be explained by loss of LPA signaling through Gα13.


The solid solution 0.9PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3-0.1PbTiO3 is one of the most widely investigated relaxor ceramic, because of its high dielectric constant and low sintering temperatures. PMN-PT powders containing single perovskite phase were prepared by using a Ti-modified columbite precursor obtained by the polymeric precursor method. Such precursor reacts directly with stoichiometric amount of PbO to obtain pyrochlore-free PMNPT powders. The structural effects of K additive included in the columbite precursor and 0.9PMN-0.1PT powders were also studied. The phase formation at each processing step was verified by XRD analysis, being these results used for the structural refinement by the Rietveld method. It was verified the addition of K in the columbite precursor promotes a slight increasing in the powder crystallinity. There was not a decrease in the amount of perovskite phase PMN-PT for 1mol% of K, and the particle and grain size were reduced, making this additive a powerful tool for grain size control.


To evaluate the effects of local fluid geochemistry on microbial communities associated with active hydrothermal vent deposits, we examined the archaeal and bacterial communities of 12 samples collected from two very different vent fields: the basalt-hosted Lucky Strike (37°17'N, 32°16.3'W, depth 1600-1750 m) and the ultramafic-hosted Rainbow (36°13'N, 33°54.1'W, depth 2270-2330 m) vent fields along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). Using multiplexed barcoded pyrosequencing of the variable region 4 (V4) of the 16S rRNA genes, we show statistically significant differences between the archaeal and bacterial communities associated with the different vent fields. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays of the functional gene diagnostic for methanogenesis (mcrA), as well as geochemical modelling to predict pore fluid chemistries within the deposits, support the pyrosequencing observations. Collectively, these results show that the less reduced, hydrogen-poor fluids at Lucky Strike limit colonization by strict anaerobes such as methanogens, and allow for hyperthermophilic microaerophiles, like Aeropyrum. In contrast, the hydrogen-rich reducing vent fluids at the ultramafic-influenced Rainbow vent field support the prevalence of methanogens and other hydrogen-oxidizing thermophiles at this site. These results demonstrate that biogeographical patterns of hydrothermal vent microorganisms are shaped in part by large scale geological and geochemical processes.


Watchfulness kind that do this watchfulness survey, where does researcher do observation in data collecting, only register data as it is, analyze and interpret data that done in restaurant fast food kfc kawi Malang with title "Service Quality Towards Consumer Satisfaction In Restaurant Fast Food KFC Kawi Malang ".
This watchfulness aim is that is to detects influential service quality variable towards consumer satisfaction and to detect variable in service quality where influential dominant towards kepusan consumer in restaurant fast food KFC Kawi Malang. Watchfulness use that want achieved especially for company that is supposed serve the purpose of deliberation for management side in determine policy memasa coming in the effort increase service quality for consumer. Analyzer that used in this watchfulness that is by using logistics regression.
Based on watchfulness result and discussion by using logistics regression analysis that done so can be pulled conclusion that service quality variable that cover reliability variable, power, guarantee, empathy, physical proof, influential according to significant towards satisfaction consumers that buy at restaurant fast food KFC Kawi Malang. From service quality variable, empathy gives biggest contribution towards satisfaction consumers that buys at restaurant fast food KFC Kawi Malang.
Based on conclusion result from watchfulness result, so be submitted several suggestions that is supposed for restaurant manager fast food KFC Kawi Malang always out for give satisfaction to consumer so that can membeir guarantee on consumer satisfaction. Real effort that can be done that is with try memperkerja employee that has kepedulian in fulfil consumer request. Supposed has good ability in communicatings in build good connection with consumer, has kepedulian in give attention it to consumer and always out for creat consumer freshment in course of purchasing. besides supposed manager side KFC Kawi Malang make wisdom hits club member for consumer on the chance of consumers gets various facilities from card. For researcher other that intend to continue this watchfulness is supposed to complete it that is by using variable other influential towards consumer satisfaction and supposed for watchfulness sample total increase.


Addressing the paradoxes of gender in Pentecostal churches attended by converts of African or Latin-American origin in Brussels, it is argued that religious and migratory experiences are intimately intermingled in these spaces and that, in most cases, the geographical shift experienced by male believers has led to questions regarding their "traditional" masculinity. Their capacity to hold the role of bread- winner has often been undermined and they experience a kind of vulnerability against which religious gendered ideology often provides assurance and self-esteem by affirming men as heads of the religious space and chiefs of the household unit. Pentecostal masculinity, although adhering to a model of hegemonic patriarchal masculinity regarding the sexual division of domestic tasks, the recognition of men's formal authority, and an exclusive focus on young women as the purity "capital" of churches, also reveals significant ruptures with that model: religious discourse values domestic involvement, sensibility and gentleness, encouraged and valorised as masculine characteristics. This hybrid posture of Pentecostal masculinity appears as a contrasted gender repertoire allowing men of the church to oscillate between various identifications and social locations according to specific situations and different contexts of enunciation.


Following ICANN's decision to permit new top-level domains pursuant to its New gTLD Program, and the likely explosion in the number of top-level domains ("TLDs"), it was anticipated that there would be competing claims to register new TLDs, particular by trade mark owners. Given the success of ICANN's earlier alternative dispute resolution system - the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy ("UDRP") - ICANN decided to again make use of an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. To this end, the New gTLD Dispute Resolution Procedure (the "Procedure") was introduced to resolve disputes relating to applications for new TLDs. There are different dispute resolution mechanisms within the Procedure for each of the four enumerated grounds of opposition, and the Legal Rights Objection ("LRO") is the dispute resolution mechanism for trade mark disputes. A number of trade mark disputes have now been determined under the LRO, which has provided some insights into how disputes are likely to be determined under it. From a trade mark perspective, there does appear to be a concern that not all trade marks are being given equal recognition. There appears to be a tendency to give greater weight to trade marks from certain jurisdictions. Hopefully, this concern is more apparent than real, because, if that is not the case, the credibility of the LRO as a dispute resolution mechanism may be undermined.


Objectives There is little knowledge about which elements of health care simulation are most effective in improving patient safety. When empirical evidence is lacking, a consensus statement can help define priorities in, for example, education and research. A consensus process was therefore initiated to define priorities in health care simulation that contribute the most to improve patient safety. Methods An international group of experts took part in a 4-stage consensus process based on a modified nominal group technique. Stages 1 to 3 were based on electronic communication; stage 4 was a 2-day consensus meeting at the Utstein Abbey in Norway. The goals of stage 4 were to agree on the top 5 topics in health care simulation that contribute the most to patient safety, identify the patient safety problems they relate to, and suggest solutions with implementation strategies for these problems. Results The expert group agreed on the following topics: technical skills, nontechnical skills, system probing, assessment, and effectiveness. For each topic, 5 patient safety problems were suggested that each topic might contribute to solve. Solutions to these problems and implementation strategies for these solutions were identified for technical skills, nontechnical skills, and system probing. In the case of assessment and effectiveness, the expert group found it difficult to suggest solutions and implementation strategies mainly because of lacking consensus on metrics and methodology. Conclusions The expert group recommends that the 5 topics identified in this consensus process should be the main focus when health care simulation is implemented in patient safety curricula.


Abstract : A dual approach is used in the determinatio of the heats of formation of aluminum-lithium and aluminum-boron bi-metallic alloys. The heats of formation of t e oxide resulting from t combustion of the alloys and the individual constitue ts of the alloys are al o sough . The experimental techniques involved are oxyg n bomb calorimetry and solution calorimetry. The two experimental apparatus to be employed for the study were calibrate . The heat of formation of alpha-alumina by the direct combustion of ultrafine aluminum powder was quantitatively measur d. Successful combustions of lithium an aluminumlithium alloy were accomplished. Because of undesirable low ctive metal analyses in these two systems, results of the combustions were not used in the thermodynamic calculations; however, they were qualitatively useful in providing operational data. Reruns of the material preparation were made and increased purity is a ticipated. Preliminary runs of the solution calorimeter pproach indicate satisfactory dissolution of lithium an aluminum in 5 N HCl at room temperature. (Author AD-2844 N +++Thermodynamic properties of bi-metallic powders. Heats of formation of aluminum-lithiu and aluminum-boron bi-metallic alloys. Combustion of lithium and aluminum-lithium alloy. Heat of formation of alpha-alumina by combustion of ultra-fine aluminum powder.


Over the past decade innovation and creativity have been portrayed as a crucial means by which organisations secure competitive advantage. Seeking to enhance the creative potential of their employees, many seemingly progressive organisations utilise an array of methodologies – from creating culture of fun and play, to commissioning beautifully designed office spaces – to explore the aesthetic sensibilities of their employees and unleash the inherently creative power of their employees' collective and individual unconscious. Drawing on psychoanalytical theory and experiences of conducting research in creative industries, an alternative perspective is offered which calls into question precisely what is being 'unleashed' during these processes of creativity; suggesting a distorted view of artistic endeavour and an elision of the centrality of skill, ability and craft expertise: the central platforms enabling aesthetic expression in artistic performance.


Information-theoretic throughput scaling laws are analyzed in an underwater acoustic network with n regularly located nodes on a unit square, in which both bandwidth and received signal power can be severely limited. A narrow-band model is assumed where the carrier frequency is allowed to scale as a function ofn. We first characterize an attenuation parameter that depends on the frequency scaling as well as the transmission distance. In the dense network having unit area, a cut-set upper bound on the capacity scaling is then derived. We show that there exists either a bandwidth or a power limitation, or both, according to the path-loss attenuation regimes, thus yielding the upper bound that has three fundamentally different operating regimes. In the dense network, we also describe an achievable scheme based on the simple nearest-neighbor multihop transmission. The operating regimes that guarantee the order optimality are identified, where frequency scaling is instrumental towards achieving the order optimality in the regimes.


For many applications, the understanding of very long life fatigue in materials becomes extremely important. In this study, the fatigue behavior of bearing steel GCr15 (conforming to AISI 52100) at very high number of cycles has been examined. Experiments on hourglass specimens were conducted in air at room temperature, for fully reversed loading condition (R=-1), using a piezoelectric fatigue testing machine operating at a frequency of 20kHz. The results indicate that the S-N data does not reach a horizontal asymptote (signifying the fatigue limit) at 107 cycles, as conventionally believed, and that the material can fracture up to 109 cycles. Therefore, to quote a fatigue limit at 107 cycles may not hold good for the material studied. The influence of defects (such as inclusions) on the crack initiation and fracture was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy.


Real Estate Management (REM) practice is being increasingly challenged, as a result of the economic recession, encroachment of quacks and allied professionals as well as the technological revolution of the contemporary knowledge-based economy. This implies that conformist approach to the REM training might not be enough to guarantee REM students employment prospect. More so, the issue of graduates' employability in the job market is becoming more competitive in Malaysia. However, entrepreneurship education (EE) introduced in the Malaysian Higher learning institutions with the intention of boosting the employability of the graduates. In spite of the above initiative, impact assessment of the EE is still ambiguous, particularly, in the REM discipline. Hence, an absence of a common assessment framework to evaluate diverse EEs registered in the literature. Therefore, the research aimed to assess perception of the REM students on the impact of entrepreneurship education on the entrepreneurial capacity and self-employment intention and to propose an Objective-based Entrepreneurship Education Assessment Model (OBEEAM). The research employed quantitative research approach and ex-post research design. Hence, purposive sample technique applied to collect data on the sample size of 437 REM students through a cross-sectional survey in the four Malaysian public universities. SPSS 22.0 and Structural Equation Modeling tools of analysis were used to analyse, data collected, proposed OBEEAM and test of the nine research hypotheses empirically. The findings indicated a positive impact of entrepreneurship education on the perception of REM students' entrepreneurial capacity and self-employment intention as a career option. Despite, the skills of creativity and innovation in the idea development, risk taking proficiency and practical workshop practice were somewhat weak. Therefore, the need for more practical initiative exercises such as extended entrepreneurship teaching in the core courses and across the years of REM programmes recommended. This could provide the innovation required for the development of dynamic future real estate-entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The research's novelty is the proposed multidirectional OBEEAM that had integrated the core values and drivers of entrepreneurship teaching and self-employment intention; it could be adopted, adapted and implemented for the assessment of EEs in any academic field of studies.


The application of global optimization techniques, such as genetic algorithms, to antenna array layouts can provide versatile design methodologies for highly directive, thinned, frequency agile, and shaped-beam antenna systems. However, these methodologies have their limitations when applied to more demanding design scenarios. Global optimizations are not well equipped to handle the large number of parameters used to describe large- antenna arrays. To overcome this difficulty, a new class of arrays was recently introduced called polyfractal arrays that possess properties well suited for the optimization of large- arrays. Polyfractal arrays are uniformly excited with an underlying self-similar geometrical structure that leads to aperiodic element layouts. This paper expands on polyfractal array design methodologies by applying a robust Pareto optimization technique with the goal of reducing the peak sidelobe levels at several frequencies specified over a wide bandwidth. A recursive beamforming algorithm and an autopolyploidy based mutation native to polyfractal geometries are used to dramatically accelerate the genetic algorithm optimization process. This paper also demonstrates that the properties of polyfractal arrays can be exploited to create designs that possess no grating lobes and relatively low sidelobe levels over ultrawide bandwidths. The best example discussed in this paper maintains a dB peak sidelobe level with no grating lobes from a , to more than a minimum spacing between elements, which corresponds to at least a 40:1 bandwidth for the array.


Summary Assortative mating for age and several anthropometric characteristics is considered in a sample of 68–70 husband-wife pairs from a rural Zapotec-speaking community in the Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Conditions in the community with a population of approximately 1700 indicate chronic, mild-to-moderate undernutrition as reflected in high infant mortality rates, smaller body size of school children, and delayed biological maturation. Phenotypic assortative mating, as expressed in husband-wife correlations, is significant for age (r = 0·96), stature (r = 0·35) and grip strength (r = 0·29), but is not significant for body weight (r = 0·01), arm circumference (r = 0·07), the estimated midarm muscle circumference (r = 0·003), Quetelet's index (r = 0·02), and the ponderal index (r = 0·11). Controlling for age of husband and wife reduces the correlations for stature (r = 0·24) and grip strength (r = 0·12), but increases those for arm circumference (r = 0·21) and estimated midarm muscle circumference (r = 0·16). Grouping the spouses into younger (under 30 years of age) and older (30 years and older) results in significant spouse correlations for age, stature, arm circumference and estimated midarm muscle circumference in the younger group and for only age and fatness in the older group.


Expression of decorin using the vaccinia virus/T7 expression system resulted in secretion of two distinct glycoforms: a proteoglycan substituted with a single chondroitin sulfate chain and N-linked oligosaccharides and a core protein glycoform substituted with N-linked glycans but without a glycosaminoglycan chain. In this report, we have addressed two distinct questions. What is the rate-limiting step in glycosaminoglycan synthesis? Is glycosylation with either N-linked oligosaccharides or glycosaminoglycan required for secretion of decorin? N-terminal sequencing of the core protein glycoform, the addition of benzyl-β-d-xyloside, and a UDP-xylose: core protein β-d-xylosyltransferase activity assay show that xylosylation is a rate-limiting step in chondroitin sulfate biosynthesis. Decorin can be efficiently secreted with N-linked oligosaccharides alone or with a single chondroitin sulfate chain alone; however, there is severely impaired secretion of core protein devoid of any glycosylation. A decorin core protein mutant devoid of N-linked oligosaccharide attachment sites will not be secreted by Chinese hamster ovary cells deficient in xylosyltransferase or by parental Chinese hamster ovary wild type cells if the xylosyltransferase recognition sequence is disrupted. This finding suggests that quality control mechanisms sensitive to an absence of N-linked oligosaccharides can be abrogated by interaction of the core protein with the glycosaminoglycan synthetic machinery. We propose a model of regulation of decorin secretion that has several components, including appropriate substitution with N-linked oligosaccharides and factors involved in glycosaminoglycan synthesis.


Railway infrastructure must meet safety requirements concerning its construction and operation. Track geometry monitoring is one of the most important activities in maintaining the steady technical conditions of rail infrastructure. Commonly, it is performed using complex measurement equipment installed on track-recording coaches. Existing low-cost inertial sensor-based measurement systems provide reliable measurements of track geometry in vertical directions. However, solutions are needed for track geometry parameter measurement in the lateral direction. In this research, the authors developed a visual measurement system for track gauge evaluation. It involves the detection of measurement points and the visual measurement of the distance between them. The accuracy of the visual measurement system was evaluated in the laboratory and showed promising results. The initial field test was performed in the Vilnius railway station yard, driving at low velocity on the straight track section. The results show that the image point selection method developed for selecting the wheel and rail points to measure distance is stable enough for TG measurement. Recommendations for the further improvement of the developed system are presented.


The purpose of this research is to derive principles for conducting critical research using postcolonial theory in information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) studies. While information systems research focusing on development in underserved, rural and remote communities has been growing, too little focus is placed on the pervasive and powerful postcolonial context that hampers progress in the impacted regions. This research contends that more critical research will help examine the assumptions and contexts that ICTs are deployed, adopted and used in developing countries, particularly those impacted by colonialism. Critical research in ICT4D studies positions information systems beyond merely being tools for immediate organizational efficiencies but as an emancipatory mechanism for the marginalized against structures of disempowerment. Postcolonial theory is a macro critical theory concerned with the historical asymmetric power relations due to colonialism, therefore, its application as a theoretical lens in ICT4D studies will enable the field to better explain the continuing multidimensional developmental implications of colonialism.


Most applications in computer vision manage to suppress textures and noise while maintaining meaningful structure based on colour intensity variation, but it is intractable due to texture patterns or error. This study presents an edge-preserving suppression method for depth estimation. The authors formulate a functional energy function based on the relative total intensity and space variation, and they minimise the energy function via iteratively reweighted least squares. Assuming that textural edges most likely correspond to depth discontinuities, they exploit the comparative variations of the colour image to produce a more accurate depth map. The experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed approach, and show that texture patterns are suppressed while meaningful edges are preserved. According to the results of the depth acquisition methods, the proposed depth estimation methods generate the accurate and robust results.


Summary: The proportion of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) in the general adult population that goes undiagnosed was estimated from a sample of 4,925 employed adults. Questionnaire data on doctor-diagnosed sleep apnea were followed up to ascertain the prevalence of diagnosed sleep apnea. In-laboratory polysomnography on a subset of 1,090 participants was used to estimate screen-detected sleep apnea. In this population, without obvious barriers to health care for sleep disorders, we estimate that 93% of women and 82% of men with moderate to severe SAS have not been clinically diagnosed. These findings provide a baseline for assessing health care resource needs for


Abstract. Traffic congestion is a dynamic spatial and temporal process and as such might not be possible to model with linear functions of various dependent variables. That leaves a lot of space for non-linear approximates, such as neutral networks and fuzzy logic. In this paper, the focus is on the fuzzy logic as a possible approach for dealing with the problems of measuring traffic congestion. We investigate the application of this framework on a selected case study, and use floating car data (FCD) collected in Augsburg, Germany. A fuzzy inference system is built to detect degrees of congestion on a federal highway B17. With FCD, it is possible to obtain local speed information on almost all parts of the network. This information, together with collected vehicle location, time and heading, can be further processed and transformed into valuable information in the form of trip routes, travel times, etc. Initial results are compared with traditional method of expressing levels of congestion on a road network e.g. Level of Service – LOS. The fuzzy model, with segmented mean speed and travel time parameters, performed well and showed to be promising approach to detect traffic congestions. This approach can be further improved by involving more input parameters, such as density or vehicle flow, which might reflect traffic congestion event even more realistically.


The recently introduced choleragen-induced rat foot edema model has been employed as a bioassay for evaluating the immunogenicity of three purified preparations containing cholera exo-enterotoxin antigen, choleragen, choleragenoid, and Formalin-treated choleragen (formagen). The results indicated that choleragen evoked antitoxic immunity. Both the degree of resistance to challenge and the serum antibody levels of immunized animals were found to be related to the immunizing dose. Responses to the natural toxoid, choleragenoid, were erratic: some animals responded well and some failed to respond with either serum antibody or resistance to challenge. On the other hand, the artificially prepared toxoid, formagen, was found to be superior to the parent toxin in immunogenicity. Resistance to the choleragen-induced rat foot edema could be transferred passively by means of antibody-containing serum from previously immunized animals. Each of the antigens induced a state of hypersensitivity manifested by an immediate edematous response to challenge with either choleragen or choleragenoid. This condition, which was also passively transferable, suggests that untoward reactions should be anticipated in people receiving multiple doses of immunogens containing the cholera exo-enterotoxin antigen. Some of these observations were repeated, in a preliminary fashion, in an apparently equally suitable mouse foot edema model.


Gene therapy utilizing retroviral vectors is being postulated as a real therapeutic alternative for many hemopoietic inherited diseases, such as β-thalassemia or sickle cell disease. A major limitation of current vectors is their inability to achieve efficient gene transfer into quiescent cells, such as human CD34+ cells that reside in the Go phase of the cell cycle and are highly enriched in hemopoietic stem cells. For that reason, lentiviral vectors (LVs) were proven to be more efficient than oncoretroviral vectors. Additional problems of these vectors are a) the low titers observed due to regulatory elements of the β-globin locus, used for the improvement of the transgene's expression b) the eventual silencing of the transgene and c) the toxicity posed on CD34+ cells due to the usage of VSV-G as an envelope protein. These facts hamper their application for gene therapy of hematopoietic cells. Thus, the major current drawbacks of the field affecting therapeutic efficacy, include 1) insufficient transduction efficiency of the target hemopoietic stem cells, 2) inconsistent expression of the transgene, 3) putative aberrant expression near integration sites raising safety issues and 4) lack of long term expression of the transgene exhibiting eventual silencing. This review presents the current status of globin gene therapy for the hemoglobin disorders, reviews the recent results and discusses how the knowledge gained from these trials can be used to develop a safe and effective gene therapy approach for the treatment of β-thalassemia and SCD.


Introduction Recognising our strengths and using them in our daily lives is essential for improving our well-being. Recently this approach has been applied to work settings. Strengths Finder (SF) and Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIAIS) are the most commonly used international instruments. However, these instruments were originally developed in Western countries and it is not certain whether the subordinate concepts of these instruments are suitable for people in the East. Therefore, this study was designed to develop an instrument for assessing the personal strengths of Japanese workers. Methods All concepts within SF and VIA-IS and several other concepts that emerged as a result of brainstorming conducted by occupational health professionals in Japan were considered as subscales of the developing instrument. Thirty-three concepts were elicited, and subordinate items of each concept were developed. Of these, one concept was considered ambiguous, and therefore, 32 concepts with 264 items were used in the preliminary instrument. This was distributed to Japanese workers (n=971) between July and November 2011. After excluding 122 participants with missing responses, the data of the remaining 849 participants were used in the analyses. Results After excluding 55 items that showed low factor loadings for each factor, 209 items were used for checking the reliability and validity of the new scale. Cronbach's alpha mostly ranged from 0.64 to 0.84, except for one concept, 'Shin' (believe), which showed a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.54. Moreover, factorial validity using confirmatory factor analyses revealed that most goodness of fit indices were within acceptable range (CFI: 0.78 to 0.99, SRMR 0.02 to 0.07). Conclusion A new strengths instrument was developed through discussions with occupational health professionals and a preliminary study with Japanese workers. However, future studies are warranted because several concepts used in the instrument showed insufficient reliability or validity.


Abstract Through a review of recent writings in political ecology and agrarian studies, this paper appraises the potential for emerging forms of 'green economy' initiatives to catalyze new forms of internal displacement in West Africa, with specific emphasis on the postwar contexts of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Following the International Committee of the Red Cross' Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the primary drivers of forced migration are conventionally thought to include some combination of civil war, ostensibly 'ethnic' strife or cleansing, development-induced migration, or allegedly 'natural' disasters. However, land acquisitions for both conservation and commercial agriculture seem poised to constitute an important additional driver of internal displacement, threatening to map onto the unresolved legacies of these previous instances of forced migration in both Liberia and Sierra Leone. Drawing lessons from the role of agrarian grievances in each country's history of civil conflict, in particular, I explore the ways in which such forms of displacement may pose clear and present dangers to the very peacebuilding efforts that proponents of a green economy transition in the Mano River region claim to support.


Salmonella is one of the major causes of foodborne infection in humans, referred to as salmonellosis. It is common worldwide and widespread in fisheries products of Bangladesh because of poor post-harvest handling. The conventional microbiological detection methods of Salmonella require more time and need many tests for the confirmation of pathogenicity. Therefore, the requirement for more rapid and conformatory methods of Salmonella detection becomes apparent. The purpose of this study was to apply the real-time qPCR (Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction) method for detection of Salmonella spp. in shrimp (Pandalus borealis) and scallop (Chlamys islandica), which is more convenient and less time consuming than conventional microbiological methods. In addition, its partial validation will be developed further for routine analysis of shrimp and fish. PCR and real-time qPCR were initially tested and compared with pure culture of seven Salmonella spp. Each detection method was tested using artificially contaminated shrimp and scallop samples. The method validation of the real-time PCR method was performed according to ISO 17025 in contrast to qualitative, quantitative and reliability criteria of validation. The sensitivity of the real-time PCR, as well as the decreased time requirements of this detection method, would suggest its usefulness in commercial laboratory practices.


We present the first reported case of vertebral osteomyelitis due to Staphylococcus lugdunensis. The infection occurred in an 80-year-old woman who had been taking glucocorticosteroids. S. lugdunensis is a coagulase-negative staphylococcus with considerable potential as a human pathogen. Isolation of this organism should be regarded as significant unless evidence suggests otherwise.


Summary. Agresti (1994, Biometrics50, 494–500) and Norris and Pollock (1996a, Biometrics52, 639–649) suggested using methods of finite mixtures to partition the animals in a closed capture‐recapture experiment into two or more groups with relatively homogeneous capture probabilities. This enabled them to fit the models Mh, Mbh (Norris and Pollock), and Mth (Agresti) of Otis et al. (1978, Wildlife Monographs62, 1–135). In this article, finite mixture partitions of animals and/or samples are used to give a unified linear‐logistic framework for fitting all eight models of Otis et al. by maximum likelihood. Likelihood ratio tests are available for model comparisons. For many data sets, a simple dichotomy of animals is enough to substantially correct for heterogeneity‐induced bias in the estimation of population size, although there is the option of fitting more than two groups if the data warrant it.


Municipalities in Southern California are facing an increasing amount of complexity in Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) permits. Two of the more trying requirements for roadway projects that have been incorporated into permits in the region are hydromodification management (HM) and low-impact development (LID). These are being implemented as specific measurable requirements in permits and create significant challenges for municipalities. This paper analyzes the challenges that these requirements present for linear roadway projects and details the application of a stormwater model and technical feasibility analysis to identify cost-effective solutions.


We present the reconstructed real-space density and the predicted velocity fields from the Two-Micron All-Sky Redshift Survey (2MRS). The 2MRS is the densest all-sky redshift survey to date and includes about 23 200 galaxies with extinction-corrected magnitudes brighter than Ks= 11.25 . Our method is based on the expansion of these fields in Fourier–Bessel functions. Within this framework, the linear redshift distortions only affect the density field in the radial direction and can easily be deconvolved using a distortion matrix. Moreover, in this coordinate system, the velocity field is related to the density field by a simple linear transformation. The shot noise errors in the reconstructions are suppressed by means of a Wiener filter which yields a minimum variance estimate of the density and velocity fields. Using the reconstructed real-space density fields, we identify all major superclusters and voids. At 50 h^−1 Mpc , our reconstructed velocity field indicates a backside infall to the Great Attractor region of vinfall= (491 ± 200) (β/0.5) km s^−1 in the Local Group frame and vinfall= (64 ± 205) (β/0.5) km s^−1 in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) frame and β is the redshift distortion parameter. The direction of the reconstructed dipole agrees well with the dipole derived by Erdogdu et al. The misalignment between the reconstructed 2MRS and the CMB dipoles drops to 13° at around 5000 km s^−1 but then increases at larger distances.


Properly handling parallax is important for video stabilization. Existing methods that achieve the aim require either 3D reconstruction or long feature trajectories to enforce the subspace or epipolar geometry constraints. In this paper, we present a robust and efficient technique that works on general videos. It achieves high-quality camera motion on videos where 3D reconstruction is difficult or long feature trajectories are not available. We represent each trajectory as a Bézier curve and maintain the spatial relations between trajectories by preserving the original offsets of neighboring curves. Our technique formulates stabilization as a spatial-temporal optimization problem that finds smooth feature trajectories and avoids visual distortion. The Bézier representation enables strong smoothness of each feature trajectory and reduces the number of variables in the optimization problem. We also stabilize videos in a streaming fashion to achieve scalability. The experiments show that our technique achieves high-quality camera motion on a variety of challenging videos that are difficult for existing methods.


There has recently been a 'turn to men' in gender politics, an increasing emphasis on the roles that men can play in building gender equality. This is a feminist achievement that locates the responsibility for gender injustice squarely with the group who benefit from it, and it prompts programmes and policies that ideally involve men in processes of personal and collective transformation. Yet there are problems with this turn to men. In popular discourse, the bar for men is set very low, with high-profile campaigns asking little of men yet rewarding them with praise and gratitude, and doing little to challenge systems and cultures of oppression. The limits of the turn to men reflect the wider limits of contemporary feminism in popular culture, in which feminism risks meaning everything and thus nothing.


We know ASEAN motto is one vision, one identity, one community. For the purpose of ASEAN tourism, ASEAN using the tagline feel the warmth. Not only ASEAN trying to promote the tourism in the community but also each country in ASEAN has their own tourism slogan. Namely Brunei (Brunei, The Green Heart of Borneo, The Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures), Cambodia (Kingdom of Wonder), Indonesia (Wonderful Indonesia), Laos (Simply Beautiful), Malaysia (Malaysia Truly Asia), Myanmar (Mystical Myanmar), Philippines (It's More Fun in the Philippines), Singapore (Your Singapore), Thailand (Amazing Thailand, Always Amazes You), Vietnam (The Timeless Charm). According to Kotler (2008) brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller of a group the of seller and to differentiate them from those of competitors. In 1965 Association for Better New York launched campaign "The Big Apple". It was J FitzGerald a reporter in Morning Telegraph who started using the word The Big Apple in 1920. After the campaign New York had shown the significant increasing tourist number. Now days there are a lot of cities in famous country also using the branding too promote it tourism. Not only in developing country but also in develop country such as France, England, USA and others. This paper is trying to explain how city branding has been developing in almost all ASEAN country. But we will focusing on city branding in Indonesia. Literature study is used for this research.

Keywords: branding, tourism, Asean


BACKGROUND
Patients with primary malignant disease undergoing oncological surveillance, upon completion of their treatment, are a unique population that is gradually growing. Therefore, the number of patients with a pulmonary nodule and a previous malignant disease has increased over recent years. In order to select appropriate management for these patients, a few questions should be answered: Is it a malignant lesion? Secondly, is it primary or metastatic? Is it the only one? In the past, several imaging and invasive diagnostic procedures were used to clarify theses uncertainties. However, in many cases the results were equivocal and it was difficult to establish treatment policy. In recent years PET/CT-FDG was found to be specific, sensitive and accurate in the evaluation and staging of patients with primary malignant disease. In this study we analyzed the accuracy and value of PET/CT-FDG in patients with primary malignant disease and an indeterminate pulmonary nodule.

METHODS
Patients with primary malignant disease in the past and undefined pulmonary nodule/s were recruited. Computerized retrospective screening was performed. The specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative predictive value of PET/CT-FDG were calculated. The influence of the PET results on the clinical policy was evaluated.

RESULTS
Forty one patients with previous malignant disease entered the study. PET/CT-FDG was positive in 15 cases. In 13 patients (87%) the FDG positive nodule was found to be malignant. In 26 patients the PET/CT was negative. In 19 (73%) diagnosis of non-malignant nodule was confirmed. The positive and negative predictive value of PET/CT-FDG for metastatic disease was 87% and 91% respectively and the accuracy 86%.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of the present study demonstrate that PET/CT-FDG is a very valuable tool in the evaluation of patients with previous primary malignant disease and a pulmonary nodule. This imaging technique was able to clarify most of the thoracic surgeon's uncertainties and provided enough data to choose the optimal treatment strategy.


Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major determinant of graft survival in kidney transplantation. Survivin, an inhibitor of apoptosis that participates in the control of mitosis and cell cycle progression, has been implicated in renal protection and repair after I/R injury; however, no study has been performed in the transplant setting. We investigated the role of survivin in modulating posttransplant I/R injury in syngeneic and allogeneic kidney grafts, and studied whether protection from I/R injury impacted on the recipient immune system, on chronic allograft nephropathy and rejection. We used genetically engineered mice with survivin haploinsufficiency and WT mice in which survivin over‐expression was induced by gene‐delivery. Survivin haploinsufficiency in syngeneic grafts was associated with exuberant I/R tissue injury, which triggered inflammation eventually resulting in graft loss. Conversely, survivin over‐expression in the grafts minimized I/R injury and dysfunction in syngeneic grafts and in a clinically relevant fully MHC‐mismatched allogeneic combination. In the latter, survivin over‐expression translated into limited anti‐donor adaptive immune response and less long‐term allograft injury with protection from renal parenchymal damage. Our data support survivin over‐expression in the graft as a novel target for protocols aimed at limiting tissue damage at the time of transplant ultimately modulating the recipient immune system.


Introduction When a composite beam is constructed using a profiled steel deck, a void is created between the deck and the top flange of the beam. With open trapezoidal steel decks this void is comparatively large while with a 'closed dovetail' deck the void is much smaller. In the case of the open trapezoidal deck the fire resistance of the composite beam may be reduced because of the effects of additional heat entering the steel beam through the top surface of the flange. This article presents the background to determining the fire resistance of composite beams with profiled steel decking and recommendations for how to modify fire protection of beams supporting steel decking where voids occur.


The rapid adoption of damascene copper processing has brought about an increased need to understand and control microstructure in the barrier, seed and electroplated copper layers during manufacture. We will discuss an in-line, x-ray diffraction based metrology for rapidly characterizing thin film polycrystalline microstructures on 300 mm silicon wafers in terms of crystallographic texture, phase composition, and film thickness. The microstructure control plays an increasingly important role in improving the performance and reliability of ULSI devices that use the damascene copper technology at 0.13-µm node and below. The problems related to delamination, stress voiding, and electromigration failures could be mitigated by the selection of proper materials, processing methods, and manufacturing tools. The optimum process would result in a tailored microstructure of barrier/seed/electroplated copper aggregate. At the same time, the microstructure could be used as an internal sensor, sensitive to process excursions and providing guidance for the corrective actions. The texture and crystallographic phase data can be used as a direct measure of the deposition process in terms of film quality, reproducibility, and stability over time. The spatial distribution of crystallographic texture and phase can be measured on a single wafer in order to check wafer uniformity. More importantly, the same measurements can be carried out at predetermined intervals on wafers from a single deposition tool, and the results used to create a database that can be applied to trend charting and tool qualification. Examples of microstructure control in damascene copper processing include: process development and qualification, process control and stability, deposition tool qualification, and on-line R&D. Examples of texture control will refer to materials and processes typical of damascene copper technology for ULSI. A typical processing route includes the PVD deposition of a barrier layer and copper seed layer, followed by copper electroplate (EP), anneal, and chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP). All the processing steps affect the texture of annealed copper, and therefore affect directly the performance of interconnects.


Throughout the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, media pundits and commentators puzzled and despaired that Americans were not more outraged at their president's behavior (Kurtz 1998). Opinion poll after poll showed that most Americans believed the president had an affair with the White House intern and lied about it, gave Clinton very high approval ratings, and disapproved of the House members conducting the impeachment trial. How could Americans give high ratings to an admitted lecher, liar, and adulterer? What were Americans' values? Was Clinton the new "Teflon President?" Why? My colleagues and I at the Catholic University of America fielded numerous queries from reporters who could not reconcile the public's reaction to the scandal with the rise of the Christian Right, Promise Keepers, and the Million Man and Million Woman Marches. After much deliberation, I have concluded that a theory advanced by James Rosenau, an international relations theorist from George Washington University who studies changes in the system of sovereign states, can lead to an explanation of the U.S. public's reaction. Rosenau (1990, 1995; Rosenau and Fagen 1997) has contended that globalization and the spread of technology has made citizens more skillful in gathering and using a variety of information and analyzing how it affects them. This information and skills revolution has changed the nature of political authority. As regimes in China, Nigeria, Indonesia, and South Africa have learned, citizens are becoming less deferential to traditional sources and claims of authority and legitimacy and are paying more attention to the performance of their leaders. According to Rosenau, citizens arc beginning to judge the legitimacy of state leaders not by whether they adhere to moral or spiritual standards (traditional legitimacy claims), but by competence. During the Middle Ages, church and state used to compete for the allegiance (and taxes and military service) of citizens. Sovereignty, or the system of having only one source of political control or authority over one piece of territory, was a rejection of the church's claims of jurisdiction. The church may have sway over all men's souls, the Treaty of Westphalia admitted in 1648, but only one sovereign could govern the people in any specific territory. In an economic system where labor, capital, and the means of production were fixed, control over territory was critical and at the heart of sovereignty. Now, in a global economy in which goods, technology, labor, and capital flow easily over borders, control over territory is less important. Not only are borders now more porous and less important, but territory is less important in the pursuit of wealth. Small states like Japan can do well in a service and information-based economy, whereas land-rich states like Russia or even reunified Germany may find that size actually hinders performance.


Organic–inorganic hybrid materials applied as electrode materials for supercapacitors encounter the largest challenge of poor conductivity as a result of insulating organic groups in the frameworks. Our strategy responding to the challenge involves selection of organic groups containing a conjugated structure, and the design of hierarchical structures constituted of 1D or 2D nanometer building blocks to provide practicable conduction pathways in the frameworks. For the first time, nickel phenylphosphonate microspheres with a hierarchical flower-like structure self-assembled from layer-structured nanosheets were synthesized and successfully applied as an electrode material for supercapacitors. Encouraging pseudocapacitive performance, such as a specific capacitance of 500.8 F g−1 and remaining at 305.5 F g−1 after 1000 cycles, and a maximum energy density and power density of 17.3 W h kg−1 and 1956 W kg−1 respectively, can be achieved, which is attributed to the new electrode material's intrinsic characteristics related to the unique hierarchical flower-like structure and layer-structured nanosheets as building blocks. Furthermore, the derivatives of nickel phenylphosphonate microspheres calcined at 600 °C retain their precursor's morphology and hierarchical structure, and exhibit excellent electrochemical properties superior to that of previously reported nickel pyrophosphate. The research work presents a successful paradigm for the application of metal phosphonates as supercapacitive electrode materials and also provides a facile and feasible method for preparation of porous metal phosphate electrode materials with special morphology and hierarchical structure.


This paper examines the structure, operation, required input data and the output of a simulation model that is used for a simulation investigation for a Sailing Container Terminal (SCT) for the port of Rotterdam. The SCT will be used to tranship small consignments of containers between the inland waterway and feeder vessels and the shore based container terminals of the port of Rotterdam. The objective is to reduce the turnaround time of the vessels and to increase the efficiency of the transhipment of the containers themselves. In addition the SCT will be used to transport containers between the various terminals, in other words for Inter-Terminal Transport (ITT). The model is generic with respect to the following features: All necessary shipping lines, each with characteristic container flows, origin and destination distributions can be defined. All shore based terminals involved can be defined, each with a set of container cranes, inter-terminal flow characteristics, opening regimes and geographic data. A choice can be made from all types of rendezvous and operation strategies of the SCT. Experiments with the model indicated that under certain conditions, an SCT service system is feasible in the Port of Rotterdam.


Diabetic Retinopathy is a disease that strikes the retina of the eye in patients who have diabetes mellitus. Medical examination against sufferers of Diabetic Retinopathy is done with observation directly by eye surgeons. In this case, eye retinal images are taken using the camera the fundus. Retinal fundus Photographs resulted from fundus cameras usually are not able to give a clear picture against the retinal blood vessels. This makes it difficult for doctor to analyze images of the retina. It takes a relatively long time to find out the results of the examination. Overcoming these weaknesses, a system was built using a computational model to change the retina image pixel retina into a feature of the retina. So it can help the doctor to decide medical actions quickly and precisely. In this research a system that can detect and classify the diabetic retinopathy was created, using local binary pattern method to extract the characteristics and learning vector quantization method for the classification process. Local binary pattern will generate an image of a uniform which has the most image information. The image will be a characteristics vector as input to the method of classification learning vector quantization. The results of the testing show that the number of levels of extraction of characteristics affect the results of the classification, in this case the best accuracy results is 85%. Keywords— Diabetic Retinopathy, Fundus Image, Local Binary Pattern, Pre-Processing, Learning Vector Quantization.


Boundary conditions on the relationships of contingent rewards and noncontingent punishments with evaluated performance and satisfaction are sought for supervisory and professional staff in local governments in the United States and Japan. Subgroup differences in tolerance for noncontingent punishment are reflected in mean differences in its use between nations (more reported in Japan), genders (less reported by women), and regions of the United States. The effects of noncontingent punishment on outcomes were not found for U.S. police sergeants. Evidence for a national contingency is reflected in the finding that the relationship of noncontingent punishments (but not contingent rewards) with cooperation, individual effectiveness, and satisfaction was stronger in the United States than in Japan. The study adds caution to the culture-free and contingency-free application of the theory of performance-contingent rewards and punishments. Implications for the theory of social rewards and punishments and for the contingencies and criteria considered in leadership research, particularly cross-cultural leadership research, are addressed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract Core-barrel motion (CBM) surveillance and diagnostics, based on the amplitude of the peaks of the normalized auto power spectral densities (APSDs) of the ex-core neutron detectors, have been performed and continuously developed in Sweden and were applied for monitoring of the three PWR units, Ringhals 2 to 4. From 2005, multiple measurements were taken during each fuel cycle, and these revealed a periodic behavior of the 8-Hz peak of the beam-mode motion: the amplitude increases within the cycle and returns to a lower value at the beginning of the next cycle. The work reported in this paper aims to clarify the physical reason for this behavior. A combination of a mode separation method in the time domain and a nonlinear curve-fitting procedure of the frequency spectra revealed that two types of vibration phenomena contribute to the beam-mode peak. The lower frequency peak around 7 Hz in the ex-core detector APSDs corresponds to the CBM, whose amplitude does not change during the cycle. The higher frequency peak around 8 Hz arises from the individual vibrations of the fuel assemblies, and its amplitude increases monotonically during the cycle. This paper gives an account of the work that has been made to verify the above hypothesis.


This work presents an on-field validation of an in-house built real-time phase-OTDR for monitoring the status of roller bearings. The acoustic sensor prototype was designed and assembled at RISE and evaluated on a 1 m diameter bearing at SKF AB facilities in Göteborg, Sweden. A 0.24 numerical aperture single-mode optical fiber was installed in the bearing lubrication groove, which is 50 mm large and 5 mm deep. Tests were performed to verify the response of the phaseOTDR to acoustic emissions in the bearing such as hammer hits and running the rollers at different loads. The fiber optic sensor results agree with the measurements performed by a standard industrial high sensitivity electronic accelerometer used for comparison. Moreover, as opposed to the reference electronic sensor, the phase-OTDR proved to be insensitive to electrical disturbances present on the environment.


This paper defines a hierarchy of human supervisory mediation levels into a robotic system. This interaction creates a semi-autonomous system which should enable completion of all feasible tasks. We propose that the increased interaction between the supervisor and all levels of a robotic system will permit a human supervisor to maintain the system in a stable state. We have incorporated these hierarchical levels in MASC, a multiple agent supervisory control system which provides the human supervisor with a three dimensional graphical user interface. Our current test bed includes four mobile robots, of which two are equipped with manipulators.<<ETX>>


This is a chapter taken from the first edition of The Right to Privacy: A Doctrinal and Comparative Analysis. The book was co-written with Dr. Hilary Delany and published by Round Hall in 2008.The chapter provides a conceptual analysis of the notion of a right to privacy and serves as an introduction to the general themes that are explored in the remainder of the book in chapters.The chapter reviews the literature on the difficulties of defining a right to privacy and provides a summary of the work of authors such as Judith Jarvis Thomson, Russell Brown, Warren and Brandeis, Ruth Gavison, Beate Rossler, Nicole Moreham and Daniel Solove.The chapter argues in favour of an approach in accordance with which the right to privacy is justified as a necessary element of a system which adequately values and protects human autonomy. Privacy is argued, in this regard, to go beyond the simple protection of the secret or confidential so as to include the social dimension of human existence. Protecting privacy encourages the individual to fully engage in this social sphere by facilitating experimentation, intimacy and the development of a sense of individual and social identity.The chapter then proceeds to consider the differences between privacy as an autonomy value and privacy as a legally enforceable right. It would not be workable for the law to define privacy as anything which engages individual or social identity.The chapter therefore proposes a tripartite distinction between different types of privacy claim:• Decisional privacy: This is the entitlement of an individual to make their own decisions. It is argued that this is incoherent as an independent legal right.• Spatial privacy: This a claim of privacy over a physical space, whether that be territorial privacy or the privacy of the individual's own body.• Informational privacy: This is claim of privacy over particular information.The chapter then considers the extent to which a right to privacy may be regarded as a claim of control over these dimensions. It concludes that control should not be understood in this context as an all-or-nothing entitlement to prevent all access to the area in question. Privacy is a more complex and context-sensitive concept. Thus a right to privacy operates as an entitlement to exercise control over who may access a particular dimension and/or of the use that may legitimately be made of such access. Just what the right involves will depend upon the particular circumstances of the claim.The chapter concludes by considering the relationship between privacy and freedom of expression. It argues that privacy and freedom of expression are, in many instances, complementary. Protecting privacy may facilitate the individual's freedom of expression. A conflict will more frequently arise between privacy and the media's freedom of expression. However, the expression rights of individuals and of the media are different in character and in degree. There is a necessity therefore for a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the relationship between privacy and the expression rights of individuals and of the media.


Objetive. To explore opinions and beliefs about risky sexual behavior and HIH transmission in tow hospital of Piura. Material y methods. Qualitative study based on extensive interviews and focus groups of people over 15 years old of age living with HIV. Interviews were recorded as audio, and then transcribed as text in MS Word. Information was analyzed with AtlasTi. Results. Results indicate that people living with HIV and receive antiretrovirals practice risky sexual behavior. Those results agree with quantitative-epidemiological studies establishing that TARGA era is associated with continuation or increase of risky sexual behavior. Two reasons could explain such behavior; first there is a belief that HIV is innocuous by effect of the antiretrovirals. Second, there is belief that a medical confirmation of undetectable viral count means being healed from infection. Conclusions. People living with HIV receiving antiretrovirals improving general health status maintain risky sexual behavior that may facilitate HIV transmission to their serodiscordant partners and increase the number of people infected. Until now, prevention activities mostly targeted people believed not to be infected, however, it is also necessary an intense secondary prevention effort that includes an explicit approach of sexuality in its entire dimension.


This study explores the differences that may exist between the literature on perspectives of graduate recruiters and the opinions of the graduates themselves. The research looked at the opinions of graduates after attending university on the process of recruitment that they have personally experienced. There was an investigation into what the graduates perceive to be their most important aspect to depict within the application forms at the beginning of the recruitment process. Graduate participants were interviewed in a semi-formal manner to allow expansion of the participants' answers fully. Seven participants were interviewed through the research, all who had graduated within the last eight years over a wide selection of disciplines. Throughout this study, it has been seen that in some respects the literature is similar to the responses of the graduates, however in the respect of e-recruitment and graduate attributes, there are some inconsistencies within this area. Furthermore, the decisions graduates make when deciding which organisations to seek employment with shows that, in the majority of the responses from the participants of this research, there was no reasoning behind the decision other than the need for employment. The emergent conclusions have shown that there are interesting areas within this field of study regarding the consistencies between the literature that is available and the responses of the participants. It would seem that Universities have to take responsibility by providing direction and education for graduates. This would in turn mean a coalition between graduate recruiters and universities in developing strategies to do so.


The production-operations literature is rife with the inventory model where the demand rate, D, is iid, but where the lead time, L, is deterministic. Here we present a mirror-image lead time model where the reverse is true; that is, where D is deterministic and L is iid. This lead time model is interesting: first, it is subject to order crossover; second, because of order crossover, the optimal order cycle and order quantity could be smaller; and third, the optimal cost incurs inventory savings due to the reduction in the variance of the lead times in crossover situations. We perform this analysis in the context of three inventory reorder point, order quantity models that differ only in the characterisation of the shortage cost. These are Model 1 that uses the shortage cost per stockout occasion; Model 2 with the shortage cost per unit short; and Model 3, where the shortage cost is per unit short per unit time. Also, we develop response surfaces (for the normal approximation) for the optimal cost, C*, the optimal order quantity, Q*, and the optimal safety stock factor, , in terms of the problem parameters (ordering cost per order, holding cost per unit per unit time, the particular shortage cost, and the standard deviation of the parent lead time). However, we find that the normal approximation is good in Model 1 and adequate for Model 3. For Model 2, the normal approximation understates the cost, because of the large penalties associated with the long right tail of the distribution of the demand during the effective lead time when the parent lead time is exponentially distributed. Nevertheless, the normal approximation could serve to provide a bound for the total cost and could be more convenient, albeit biased slightly upward in the case of Model 3 and significantly downward in the case of Model 2 than a straightforward simulation of the problem.


Ink-jet printing is a precise and versatile technique that accurately deposits small volumes of solutions (pico litres) in specific locations. Recently inkjet printing has attracted increasing attention in the pharmaceutical industry because of its ability to deliver low adjustable doses, variable drug release profiles and drug combinations suitable for the paradigm of personalised medicines. The significant growth in the aging population and the rise in the number of patients suffering from multiple chronic diseases are the key drivers. The current traditional tablet compression methods are largely limited in terms of flexibility and complexity of dosage form. There is a need for new innovative technologies that can produce bespoke medicines in a relatively cheap and efficient manner at the point of care. 3D inkjet printing (3DIJP) provides a platform with the potential to address the above need.
This thesis investigates the capability of 3DIJP as a tool for manufacturing solid dosage forms. In chapter 3, a piezoelectric drop on demand printer was used. The chapter focuses on two solvent based inkjet printing methods. In the first solvent based method, excipients including hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and Eudragit RL were investigated for printability. PVP (K10) which showed the best printability behaviour was loaded with digoxin or carbamazepine (CBZ) and printed to obtain films. In the second solvent based method, a solution containing CBZ dissolved in a mixture of of polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) and with poly(caprolactone dimethyl acrylate) (PCLDMA) was printed and polymerised in situ using ultraviolet light to form films. The printed drug loaded films were investigated using time of flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF SIMS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning microscopy (DSC). PVP formulations were homogeneous, with no evidence of crystallisation PEGDA/PCLDA/CBZAFM images showed a clear phase separation at the micron scale and no drug was detected at the surface. In this chapter, the production of adjustable doses was also evaluatedusing UV-VIS spectrophotometry.
In chapters 4 and 5, a solvent-free hot-melt 3D inkjet printing method suitable for manufacturing solid dosage forms was developed. Excipients including beeswax, carnuba wax, gelucire 44/14 and trimyristin were examined for printability. Beeswax a naturally derived and FDA approved material showed the best printability behaviour and was selected as the drug carrier. Traditional circular shaped tablets and cylindrical implants loaded with 5% w/w fenofibrate were successfully fabricated. The printed tablets and implants were well-defined, smooth surfaced and with no apparent defects. The architecture of the tablets was investigated using 3D micro X-ray computed tomography (μCT), revealing well defined and ordered honeycomb channels in the interior of the tablets. The distribution of the drug was evaluated at the macro scale level using DSC and at the micro scale level using ToF - SIMS and Raman spectroscopy. The drug was homogenously distributed within the drug carrier (beeswax matrix ) at the microscale level. At the micron scale level, the drug was heterogeneously distributed. ToF - SIMS studies also revealed that the drug was depleted from the upper most top surfaces.
Production of solid dosage forms with intricate and adaptable geometries was demonstrated by printing honeycomb architecture tablets with predetermined variable cell diameters. The diamater of the honeycomb cells was varied, in order to achieve controlled variable drug release profiles. The ablity to control drug release was only applicable above an established critical cell diameter of 0.5 mm. An analytical model describing Fickian diffusion from a slab geometry was developed to allow for the prediction of drug release from the honeycomb tablets. The predicted drug release profiles varied slightly from the experimental data, but the trends for the two data set were identical. For both data sets the rate of drug release increased with increase in the surface area to volume ratio.
The findings and the developments demonstrated in this thesis provide an insight into the potential application of 3DIJP as a tool for manufacturing solid dosage forms with bespoke properties for controlled drug release but also highlights some limitations.


In this paper we analyse the influence of sector specific developments in productivity and demand on net entry and employment in 19 industrial sectors of the Austrian economy. Based on the model of structural dynamics of Pasinetti, we develop an identification scheme that allows us to extract technology and demand shocks, by means of a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model with long-run restrictions. We study the patterns of productivity and demand shocks across industries by means of a principal components analysis and find that sectoral and macro-economic developments in demand strongly correlate, while this is not the case for technology shocks. Impulse-response analysis shows that for almost all sectors productivity growth rates experience an immediate increase to positive technology shocks while the hours worked decline as conjectured by Pasinetti. Finally, we use the identified shocks as explanatory variables in time-series cross-section regressions on net-entry and employment data. Both types of shocks are able to explain dynamics on the industry level in terms of employment and sales but not firm dynamics. Acknowledgements We thank Werner Müller for helpful comments and the participants of the FSP-Research seminar and the participants of the NOeG 2004 conference in Vienna and the participants of the Schumpeter 2004 conference in Milan for useful discussion and comments. All remaining errors and shortcomings are in our sole responsibility. This research project was supported by a research grant (project nr. 9800) from the Jubiläumsfonds der Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB).


Crosslinked high-density polyethylene (XHDPE) is used to manufacture large and rigid products, such as fuel tanks, using a rotomolding process. Currently, defective and post-consumer parts are not recycled and sent to landfills. Hence, reuse of this material, through compression molding is the objective of this study. Thermal characterization indicated that the recycled XHDPE, in pulverized powder form, could melt although the heat of fusion was less than that of virgin material. However, while the virgin XHDPE could be compression molded at the melting temperature, the recycled XHDPE required higher temperature. The recycled XHDPE started to degrade at lower temperature than virgin XHDPE. Based on this data, optimal compression molding process conditions were chosen to prepare dense tensile test coupons. Both materials exhibited similar tensile properties demonstrating the recyclability of XHDPE. Rotomolding; compression molding; recycled XHDPE.


On the basis of the analysis of literature the authors make a correction in the significance of terms "addiction" and "addictive behaviour", making from them a single notion "additive disorders". The article analyses the problem of addictive disorders which occupied an important place among psychiatric casualties in the 40th Army during the war in Afghanistan. The comparison of this experience with the experience of the US Army in Korea and Vietnam gave the possibility to come to a conclusion that addictive disorders were an important medico-social problem for modern local wars. Its subdivision into addictive behaviour and narcomanic pathology lead to a necessity to revise some aspects in psychiatric care to servicemen in wartime period.


During the design process of Internal Combustion (IC) engine, what is often taken into consideration is the temperature of the important heated parts. The temperature distributions are the primary causes of thermal fatigue in the engine. A combined experimental and analytical approach was followed in this work to study temperature distributions of gasoline engine under steady-state and transient operation condition. Experimental studies were conducted to measure temperatures under a series of steady-state and transient operating conditions. A comparison of the steady-state and transient measurements has been made and the character of transient temperature distributions is concluded. Subsequently, a calculation analysis was conducted to predict the detailed temperature distributions. Solid-Fluid whole conjugated heat transfer method is applied in the numerical calculation, which can take the mutual influence both the fluid flow and the heat transfer into account. The predicted temperatures met well with the measurements. Furthermore, the predicted location of coolant boiling phenomena in the water jacket can be made certain. This can give some suggests for the further observation experiment of boiling heat transfer.


:  In test operations using IRT (item response theory), items are included in a test before being used to rate subjects and the response data is used to estimate their item parameters. However, this method of test operation may lead to item content leakage and an adequate test operation can become difficult. To address this problem, Ozaki and Toyoda (2005, 2006) developed item difficulty parameter estimation methods that use paired comparison data from the perspective of the difficulty of items as judged by raters familiar with the field. In the present paper, an improved method of item difficulty parameter estimation is developed. In this new method, an item for which the difficulty parameter is to be estimated is compared with multiple items simultaneously, from the perspective of their difficulty. This is not a one-to-one comparison but a one-to-many comparison. In the comparisons, raters are informed that items selected from an item pool are ordered according to difficulty. The order will provide insight to improve the accuracy of judgment.


Background The prevalence of Wuchereria bancrofti, which causes lymphatic filariasis (LF) in The Gambia was among the highest in Africa in the 1950s. However, surveys conducted in 1975 and 1976 revealed a dramatic decline in LF endemicity in the absence of mass drug administration (MDA). The decline in prevalence was partly attributed to a significant reduction in mosquito density through the widespread use of insecticidal nets. Based on findings elsewhere that vector control alone can interrupt LF, we asked the question in 2013 whether the rapid scale up in the use of insecticidal nets in The Gambia had interrupted LF transmission. Methodology/Principal Finding We present here the results of three independently designed filariasis surveys conducted over a period of 17 years (1997–2013), and involving over 6000 subjects in 21 districts across all administrative divisions in The Gambia. An immunochromatographic (ICT) test was used to detect W. bancrofti antigen during all three surveys. In 2001, tests performed on stored samples collected between 1997 and 2000, in three divisions, failed to show positive individuals from two divisions that were previously highly endemic for LF, suggesting a decline towards extinction in some areas. Results of the second survey conducted in 2003 showed that LF was no longer endemic in 16 of 21 districts surveyed. The 2013 survey used a WHO recommended LF transmission verification tool involving 3180 6–7 year-olds attending 60 schools across the country. We demonstrated that transmission of W. bancrofti has been interrupted in all 21 districts. Conclusions We conclude that LF transmission may have been interrupted in The Gambia through the extensive use of insecticidal nets for malaria control for decades. The growing evidence for the impact of malaria vector control activities on parasite transmission has been endorsed by WHO through a position statement in 2011 on integrated vector management to control malaria and LF.


We propose a noise robust adaptive blind multichannel identification algorithm for acoustic impulse responses. It has been known that the normalized multichannel frequency domain least-mean-square (NMCFLMS) algorithm misconverges under low signal-to- noise ratio. The coefficients of NMCFLMS converge initially toward the true impulse response after which they then misconverge. The extended NMCFLMS (ext-NMCFLMS) algorithm which has been proposed to mitigate this misconvergence problem assumes the knowledge of magnitude and time-differences-of-arrival (TDOA) of the direct paths for the acoustic impulse responses. In this work, we show how the TDOA can be obtained. More importantly, we present a novel approach to estimate the magnitude of the direct path component under practical conditions. We then show how these estimates can be incorporated to the proposed ext-NMCFLMS with direct path estimation algorithm. We analyze how errors in these estimates affect the performance of the proposed algorithm.


In this paper, a problem for Offline Signature Recognition and Verification is presented. A system is designed based on two neural networks classifier and three powerful features (global, texture and grid features). Our designed system consist of three stages: the first is preprocessing stage, second is feature extraction stage and the last is neural network (classifiers) stage which consists of two classifiers, the first classifier consists of three Back Propagation Neural Network and the second classifier consists of two Radial Basis Function Neural Network. The final output is taken from the second classifier which decides to whom the signature belongs and if it is genuine or forged. The system is found to be effective with a recognition rate of (%95.955) if two back propagation of the first classifier recognize the signature and (%99.31) if all three back propagation recognize the signature.


Latent fingermark detection remains one of the most commonly utilised forensic practices when dealing with scenes of crime or related items. Although many options are available to detect and visualise these marks, the quest for techniques with greater sensitivity and selectivity continues. This has led to many improvements in detection methods and also numerous new techniques being developed. However, these have largely only led to incremental advancements despite the desire for transformational improvements. The use of immunology in the detection of latent fingermarks is an area that has been investigated more recently as a possible proposal to provide these transformational improvements, specifically to overcome sensitivity and selectivity issues currently seen with existing methods. This paper reviews the attempts to harness the detection capabilities of immunology and utilise them in the field of latent fingermark detection. Results achieved to date have highlighted many advantages and possibilities in detection and visualisation of latent marks, including the possibility of gaining 'intelligence' from the marks themselves. This paper also presents a brief introduction to the use of aptamers as the next logical step in immunogenic techniques for investigation.


Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting 5.29% of children worldwide. It presents a heterogeneous clinical expression, and both environmental and genetic factors are involved in the etiology. Despite high heritability estimates, identification of genes that confer susceptibility to ADHD has been a slow and difficult process. The first genetic studies targeted dopaminergic genes, but the effects were small and only explained a small portion of ADHD heritability. Recent studies focus on the identification of novel genes and pathways that may underlie ADHD. The main goal of this review is to present evidence from genome-wide association, copy number variation and family-based studies of genetic susceptibility to ADHD. The challenges involved to disclose ADHD susceptibility genes will be reviewed in order to provide directions for future studies.


Weatherization is one of the most efficient affordable housing tools available to communities and residents. Weatherization is defined as the practice of protecting a building from the elements (such as sunlight, precipitation and wind) and modifying the building to reduce energy consumption and maximize energy efficiency. Traditionally, weatherization processes have focused on heating and cooling as methods to conserve energy. Currently, however, weatherization is expanding and beginning to focus on "whole house" approaches to incorporate advanced technology. The new methods address energy usage in a comprehensive manner, with a focus not only on heating and cooling, but on environmental impact, health and safety, and economic benefits. Weatherization technologies are evolving from traditional methods in an effort to provide greater energy savings for consumers and to contribute to the economic and environmental health of communities.


This paper presents designing of a conformal antenna using a number of microstrip patches in X band frequency range i.e. 7 GHz to 11.2 GHz. In radar engineering its range is taken from 8 GHz to 12 GHz. A conformal antenna is designed to conform or follow some prescribed shape, example is a flat curving antenna which is mounted on or embedded on a curved surface. The shape can be a part of an aircraft, missiles and other high-speed vehicle. For feeding simple probe feed is used. An antenna is designed that can be integrated within the structure of host and is less visible to human eye, without affecting any of the host characteristics and thus preventing aerodynamic and hydrodynamic drags. Antenna is made to conform on a cylindrical surface. A microstrip patch antenna is designed of desired specifications using transmission line model equations. The proposed model and is used for forming conformal antenna with 0 phase shift and 0 time delay which differentiates it with standard phased array antennas. This antenna uses 4 elements in forming array. The analysis is done through MATLAB (Phased Array System Toolbox) and the equivalent design also has been verified using the HFSS 3D simulation tool. Conformal antennas with the bandwidths of 0.5 GHz, 0.73 GHz, and 0.75 GHz have been designed with centre frequencies of 9.6 GHz. The conformal antenna shows different bandwidths for different angles and radii with the same micros-trip antenna. Further improvement can result in more bandwidth. Also, this antenna with compact size is capable of providing 3600 coverage due to its ability to conform on curved surface which can be cylinder, sphere or cone.