"Undoubtedly, internal communication in public administration is the most sought after point of good management practices. The activity of public institutions based on principles such as the principle of face-to-face or online communication, the principle of information, the principle of motivation and the principle of unity of success are an integral part of public administrations. The implemented principles have the role of improving the activities of civil servants, which can increase the level of efficiency. The lack of an efficient communication within the public institution will lead to unproductiveness, misunderstandings, frustrations and non-fulfillment of work tasks, implicitly of the job description. Time, planning work tasks, clear setting of priorities; self-discipline, punctuality, perseverance, are an essential pillar in labor productivity. This study aims to reflect and understand the nature of communication as an activity and as a process in the context of the present transformations and how important the principles of communication are in the performance of employees. "


The topic of remuneration of executive managers (included CEO) is considered such a key factor of personal management (PM). The issue of remuneration of high-ranking managers is a key area of personnel management and corporate governance. This is still a much-discussed topic, which seeks to answer the most important question: How to set management rules in companies so that all stakeholders behave effectively? It is high-ranking managers who are a specific group in which the creation of a remuneration contract must ensure the optimal connection of their performance with measurable indicators of the company. The consequences of their decisions can be clear for up to several years, so setting optimal benchmarks is more than important. The main aim of the research paper was to find a dependence between the type of respondent generation and the sought-after benefits in the managerial position. The hypothesis was defined as follows: the type of respondent generation influences the choice of benefit. IBM SPSS Statistics 25 was used to process and evaluate the data obtained from the structured questionnaire survey. The mathematical-statistical methods used to verify the dependence between selected variables were used the Chi-square test of independence of two variables.


This paper reports on the directed monolayered assembly of 2 nm colloidal gold nanoparticles onto charge patterns written by atomic force microscopy (AFM) on poly(methylmethacrylate) thin films with a sub-100-nm spatial resolution. The impact of key experimental parameters (surface potential of charge patterns, immersion time in the colloidal solution, nanoparticle concentration, rinsing time) on the nanoparticle assembly was quantified for the first time. This study reveals that the high level of control of this so-called AFM nanoxerography process will allow one to construct promising colloid-based devices integrating localized nanoparticle monolayers of desired density.


The sugar industry illustrates how nation-states still have a important impact on the global economic map. Protectionist policies of nations prevent comparative advantage from being attained. This paper examines current geographic patterns of production and trade and the export and import dependency levels of the leading sugar trading nations. The sugar policies of the U.S. and EU are reviewed because of their pervasive impact on patterns of production and trade. Following a brief consideration of the politics of U.S. sugar, the paper explores how patterns of production and trade would shift if protectionist policies were removed. High production cost areas (U.S., EU, and Japan) would experience declines in their shares of global output while low cost production areas (Australia, Thailand, Brazil, and Cuba) would experience increases. The net result would be significant gains in global welfare. Key words: sugar industry, policies, trade, comparative advantage, global welfare.


Multiple lines of evidence point to one or more moderately nearby supernovae, with the strongest signal at ∼2.6 Ma. We build on previous work to argue for the likelihood of cosmic ray ionization of the atmosphere and electron cascades leading to more frequent lightning and therefore an increase in nitrate deposition and wildfires. The potential exists for a large increase in the prehuman nitrate flux onto the surface, which has previously been argued to lead to CO2 drawdown and cooling of the climate. Evidence for increased wildfires exists in an increase in soot and carbon deposits over the relevant period. The wildfires would have contributed to the transition from forest to savanna in northeast Africa, long argued to have been a factor in the evolution of hominin bipedalism.


The CSP thin-slab technology (Compact Strip Production) provides a highly developed technical process for hot strip grades at low production costs. CSP combines the process stages of casting and rolling, which are discontinuous in the conventional process. This allows advantages to be achieved in terms of investments, energy consumption and operating costs. This paper describes the development work in progress, using the example of API steel grades. Key aspects of hot strip production such as alloying strategy, casting conditions, pass schedule design and the course of cooling are discussed and the resulting range of material properties is outlined. It can be demonstrated that CSP-produced hot strips feature very good toughness at low temperatures and may even allow applications which call for sour gas resistance.


Predicting contaminant movement in aquifers is essential for the protection of groundwater resources. Contaminant movement is strongly influenced by hydraulic property heterogeneity. The aim of this project has been to determine if hydraulic property values are correlated with geological structures, even if the aquifer is a cemented sandstone: if they are, the correlations could be used in gaining insight into, and quantitatively estimating, solute transport.
Example Permo-Triassic sandstone lithofacies associations across England were examined in order to determine common lithofacies geometries. Several thousand measurements of permeability and several hundred measurements of porosity were determined on a core from northern England and two outcrops from the Midlands in order to examine correlations with lithofacies. Two types of synthetic fluvial multiple channel systems with flow a long and across channels were then numerically simulated to determine the significance of the correlations found.
Results indicate that the Permo-Triassic sandstones have a wide range of lithologies and permeabilities, varying between and within sequences and regions. Permeability is generally greater for aeolian sandstone than for fluvial sandstone. The borehole core stud y shows that lithofacies correlate with porosity, permeability, and permeability to porosity ratio, though some significant overlaps occur for permeabilities of the three coarser lithofacies. Mudclasts can reduce sandstone permeability of the two coarser lithofacies by up to 6 % and 8% respectively. Markov chain analysis indicates that the sequences of lithofacies are structured, and hence the permeability is also similarly structured. The two outcrop studies confirm that permeability structures vary more between than within beds. Solute transport modelling indicates that differing solute breakthrough patterns will occur with different types of hydraulic property distributions based on lithofacies geometry. Thus lithofacies correlations can be used to help predict solute movement, but transverse dispersion, not explicitly studied here, also appears particularly important. Generally, the heterogeneous porous medium can be reasonably represented by an equivalent homogeneous medium for prediction purposes, however determining appropriate properties for the equivalent homogeneous medium is challenging.


In the Hebrew Bible, it is written "As for the person with a leprous affection . . . that person shall dwell apart — in a dwelling outside the camp" (Leviticus 13:45–46). Most likely, biblical leprosy was not what we call leprosy today, but this passage reveals the early public health policy for the control of leprosy: segregation and stigmatization of patients with leprosy. The Hawaiian Board of Health used a similar strategy to control leprosy in the late 1800s. The colony: the harrowing true story of the exiles of Molokai by John Tayman tells the story of that strategy and its aftermath.

Beginning in 1866, the Hawaiian Board of Health completely separated patients with leprosy, both adults and children, from their families and exiled them to live in a settlement on Molokai called Kalaupapa. This site was chosen because it is surrounded by huge cliffs, making it relatively inaccessible from the rest of the island. The board was concerned about the finances of the settlement, so despite suffering from nerve deficits, limb deformities, and blindness, patients were expected to be self-sufficient — growing their own food and building and repairing their housing. Although segregation of patients was considered appropriate medical management at the time, the severity of the segregation and isolation, as well as the inhumane treatment of patients, made for a tragic story.

The book traces the history of leprosy from the mid-1850s to the present, with stories focusing on some of those affected by the disease as well as the great heroes who cared for them and championed their rights, including Father Damien, Mother Marianne Cope, and Lawrence Judd. There were villains, foremost among which was the Hawaiian Board of Health. Although patients in Carville, Louisiana, were being treated with sulfones in 1942, this breakthrough drug was withheld from the Kalaupapa patients for four years.

Given the compelling personal stories, it is not surprising that the book received high marks in other reviews. The book is compelling, but is it accurate? Though I have taken care of patients with Hansen disease (so named after the discoverer of the bacteria that causes leprosy) and researched the immunology of the disease for 25 years, I am not a historian. So on October 23, 2006, I visited Kalaupapa and met some of the 27 current patients, health care providers, National Park Service officers, and patient advocates. I contacted historians who understand Hawaiian culture and the history of Kalaupapa. The patients that have lived most of their lives on Kalaupapa are some of the most inspiring individuals I have ever met. Kalaupapa is an incredibly beautiful place. After my visit, I could only conclude that Tayman's story is flawed and represents a further injustice to the patients of Kalaupapa and the natives of Hawaii.

The cover photograph Tayman has chosen is not of the cliffs of Molokai, but of a coastline in Italy. The first superintendent of Kalaupapa National Historical Park, Henry Law, discovered this discrepancy. He knew that the rocks in the picture were not volcanic rocks as found on Molokai (Figure (Figure1)1) and found the website from which the picture was purchased, then flipped, stretched, cropped, and recolored. Anwei Law, a historian and exemplary patient advocate, has stated, "The cliffs of Molokai are very important to the people there. When things were bad, they would look at those cliffs and get strength from them. When you've changed that, you've missed something very significant" (1). Tayman has stated that "This is a representative cliff" (1). The paperback edition was released with a more appropriate photograph similar to what I saw on my visit (Figure (Figure1). 1).

Figure 1

The cliffs of Kalaupapa.

The title itself raises concerns. The late Olivia Breitha, who was sent to Kalaupapa in 1937 at the age of 21, said, "It never was called the colony. It's always been called 'hospital' and 'settlement'" (1). Yet the author claims that he uses the word to avoid "historical revisionism"; there are only a very few instances in which the word "colony" is part of a direct quotation. On the other hand, Tayman uses the term "leper" frequently, claiming the necessity to do so, to avoid revisionism. A search of the text finds the term on 168 pages, sometimes more than once on a page. I have been taught by L.K. Bhutani that this term "smacks of contempt" and carries a great stigma and is therefore bitterly offensive to patients. Tayman's repetition of the term has only succeeded in propagating its use and perpetuating the stigma.

From reading this book, it doesn't appear that Tayman understands Hawaiian culture. There is the undercurrent in the book that Hawaiians were afraid of leprosy. Yet at the same time, there is the story of the native Hawaiians of Molokai and how they helped the patients on Kalaupapa. A current resident of Kalaupapa, Paul Harada, told me, "Hawaiians were not afraid of leprosy."

The book begins with the story of Kaluaikoolau (known as Koolau), who had leprosy, his wife, Piilani, and their flight from the law and exile to Kalaupapa. According to Tayman, "Awaiting him there, was a life sentence of unspeakable horror." The paragraph proceeds to recount in graphic detail the rumors about what happened to patients at Kalaupapa. Yet as Tayman writes, "What most disturbed the young couple, however, was that exile would mean the destruction of their family." Well this is the point, and Tayman does not develop this part. Kalani Brady, a physician now caring for the patients at Kalaupapa, explained to me the powerful and important Hawaiian concept of "lokahi," meaning "being together." The book is disrespectful in failing to recognize something so vital to the Hawaiian culture. It is insulting to suggest that they were fearful of having the disease or having to live at Kalaupapa. What I learned is that the Hawaiian people were terrified and traumatized that outsiders would have the power to break up their families.

Several of the current patients have objected to the book, and Olivia Breitha commented to the New York Times, "It's disgusting to me" (1). In visiting Kalaupapa, I could not get very exact answers as to why the patients strongly objected. Brady explains the concept of "na'au," which is the center of a Hawaiian's being, literally located in the gut. Hawaiians accept such feelings without substantiation. Another concept is "talk-story," or "mo'olelo Kama'ilio," one of the great traditions and experiences of Hawaii. It involves collaboration and corroboration, so to tell this story without the appropriate language or understanding of the Hawaiian people is an insult. Kerri A. Inglis, assistant professor of History at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, speaks of the sensational way in which this story is told. "I think it is actually part of a larger problem of the western/colonizer's perspective of indigenous people, wherein indigenous peoples are stigmatized and stereo-typed" (personal communication). All of us — physicians, scientists, or laypeople — can learn from this the importance of understanding someone else's cultural upbringing when delivering healthcare, studying disease, or interacting socially.

According to Tayman's website, he has editorial experience working for several magazines, including Business 2.0, where he is listed with the nickname "Wheels" and is described as an automotive expert. I could not find any information about his qualifications as a historian or medical expert.

Harada told me that in 1945, "When I was told that I had leprosy, I thought I was going to be a zombie. I was 16 years old and all the comic books were about zombies. I didn't know anything about leprosy." But he wasn't afraid of being sent to Kalaupapa, only that he might not see his family again. Paul has nerve damage in his hands from leprosy but says, "I am glad I didn't have the benefit of antibiotics, because it helped me understand my destiny. Life could have been worse if I had a severely crippling disease like polio." Makia Malo, diagnosed at age 12, said that he learned that "to separate us, they used the penal system. We got a lot and we lost a lot. Being away from family, you realize that life is passing you by. Someone else is making decisions for you." Yet after antibiotic treatment, but now blind from the disease, Makia received his college degree from the University of Hawaii, where he was a role model for fellow students. He is an amazing storyteller, having performed throughout the world and produced two compact discs. Makia also started a scholarship to honor Kalaupapa through the Hawaii Community Foundation. The book ends with a vignette with Makia dreaming about being "swift and graceful and sighted." Makia never had this dream, and from meeting him it is clear that he isn't longing for a life with eyesight; he is empowered by his vision as a storyteller and by the inspiration he brings as a folk hero. There is more there than the "harrowing" story that Tayman tells. Once you understand the culture and character of these patients, you realize that they are the real heroes, and they are an inspiration to us all.


Set prediction tasks require the matching between predicted set and ground truth set in order to propagate the gradient signal. Recent works have performed this matching in the original feature space thus requiring predefined distance functions. We propose a method for learning the distance function by performing the matching in the latent space learned from encoding networks. This method enables the use of teacher forcing which was not possible previously since matching in the feature space must be computed after the entire output sequence is generated. Nonetheless, a naive implementation of latent set prediction might not converge due to permutation instability. To address this problem, we provide sufficient conditions for permutation stability which begets an algorithm to improve the overall model convergence. Experiments on several set prediction tasks, including image captioning and object detection, demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. Code is available at https://github.com/phizaz/latent-set-prediction.


ABSTRACT:Southernmost Kham, which borders Burma and Yunnan Province, remained at the juncture of several mutually competing political centers until the first half of the twentieth century. On the fringes of Tibetan, Naxi, and Chinese expansion and increasing political control, several Tibeto-Burman–speaking groups such as the Drung and Nung gradually became integrated into their neighbors' polities. Their political dependency often arose from trading with and accepting loans from commercial agents and from the intermediaries of local rulers, Naxi and Tibetans alike. This article addresses this practice of providing credit, which was developed at the expense of impoverished groups who were often obliged to accept the terms of the transaction. The author particularly emphasizes the connections between this system of debt dependency, the relationship between creditors and debtors that has to be considered in terms of exchange and reciprocity, and the question of political legitimacy. Within this broader context of regional interethnic relations, the article provides a detailed analysis of the concrete terms of the political relationship that existed between Drung communities and Tibetan chiefs of Tsawarong, which contributes to an understanding of the workings of this relationship and its economic, territorial, and even ritual components.


Introduction Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the world's fastest growing health problems. Asians have a strong ethnic predisposition for T2DM, developing T2DM at a lower degree of obesity and at younger ages than other ethnic groups. T2DM has a gradual onset, with most individuals progressing through a pre-diabetic state, providing an opportunity to prevent T2DM and its complications. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based lifestyle intervention programme on weight loss and improvements in insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic profiles in Chinese adults with pre-diabetes. Methods and analysis This study is a 12-month, assessor-blinded randomised controlled trial. Adults with pre-diabetes (aged 40–64 years, n=180) with pre-diabetes are randomised into either an intervention group (receiving group-based lifestyle interventions) or a control group (receiving text messages containing health information). The intervention programme targets a weight loss of 5% during the first 6 months by restricting caloric intake and increasing physical activity. Participants in the intervention group will attend six group sessions and two individual face-to-face diet counselling sessions during the first 6 months, followed by monthly telephone support during the 6-month maintenance phase. Participants in the control group will receive monthly text messages containing general health information only. The primary outcome is weight loss (%). Secondary outcomes include insulin sensitivity (assessed using fasting insulin level and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance), glycaemic control (assessed using glycated haemoglobin level), lipid profile, blood pressure, carotid artery thickness, dietary intake and level of physical activity. Intention-to-treat analysis will be conducted using a generalised linear mixed effects model with a logit link and linear mixed models. Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the relevant research ethics committee. The results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and scientific presentations. Trial registration number NCT03609697.


Secreted phospholipase A2 group X (sPLA2-X) is one of the most potent enzymes of the phospholipase A2 lipolytic enzyme superfamily. Its high catalytic activity toward phosphatidylcholine (PC), the major phospholipid of cell membranes and low-density lipoproteins (LDL), has implicated sPLA2-X in chronic inflammatory conditions such as atherogenesis. We studied the role of sPLA2-X enzyme activity in vitro and in vivo, by generating sPLA2-X-overexpressing macrophages and transgenic macrophage-specific sPLA2-X mice. Our results show that sPLA2-X expression inhibits macrophage activation and inflammatory responses upon stimulation, characterized by reduced cell adhesion and nitric oxide production, a decrease in tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and an increase in interleukin (IL)-10. These effects were mediated by an increase in IL-6, and enhanced production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 (PGJ2). Moreover, we found that overexpression of active sPLA2-X in macrophages strongly increases foam cell formation upon incubation with native LDL but also oxidized LDL (oxLDL), which is mediated by enhanced expression of scavenger receptor CD36. Transgenic sPLA2-X mice died neonatally because of severe lung pathology characterized by interstitial pneumonia with massive granulocyte and surfactant-laden macrophage infiltration. We conclude that overexpression of the active sPLA2-X enzyme results in enhanced foam cell formation but reduced activation and inflammatory responses in macrophages in vitro. Interestingly, enhanced sPLA2-X activity in macrophages in vivo leads to fatal pulmonary defects, suggesting a crucial role for sPLA2-X in inflammatory lung disease.


The tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib (Gleevec) is now a frontline treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). As with most cancer therapies, however, a subset of patients develop resistance to imatinib, a problem that has been traced to the acquisition of specific mutations in the oncogenic BCR-ABL kinase targeted by the drug. Guided by these mutational data as well as crystallographic data detailing how imatinib binds to the ABL kinase domain, Shah et al. have isolated a new tyrosine kinase inhibitor that appears to have all of the favorable characteristics of imatinib--and more. Preclinical studies of this second-generation drug (an orally available thiazolecarboxamide) in a mouse model and in cultured bone marrow cells from CML patients indicate that it is more potent than imatinib and, importantly, retains activity against the majority of imatinib-resistant BCR-ABL mutants without significant toxicity. N. P. Shah, C. Tran, F. Y. Lee, P. Chen, D. Norris, C. L. Sawyers, Overriding imatinib resistance with a novel ABL kinase inhibitor. Science 305, 399-401 (2004). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Objectives To discuss the serum level of complement c1q tumour necrosis factor-related protein 1 (CTRP1) and its related factors in patients with sleep apnoea obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and primary aldosteronism (PA). Methods A total of 28 in patients with confirmed OSA and PA were selected. As controls, 30 cases with OSA and essential hypertensive were matched for apnoea hypopnoea index (AHI) and plasma rennin activity (PRA). The levels of PRA, angiotensin II (AngII) and aldosterone (Ald) were measured by adioimmunodetection and the level of serum CTRP1 were determined by ELISA in all subjects. Results The level of Ald was significantly higher in patients with OSA and PA than that in controls (p=0.037), but no significant difference in the levels CTRP1, pRA, AngII, C-reaction protein (CRP), serum potassium and sodium were detected between two groups. Pearson correlation analysis indicated no correlation between the level of CTRP1 and the levels of ALD, AHI in the whole population but negative correlation with AngII(r=−0.454, p<0.05) in patients with OSA with PA. Conclusions No difference of the level of CTRP1 was detected between patients with OSA and PA and patients with OSA and essential hypertension. It is the level of AngII rather than aldosterone negatively related to the level of CTRP1 in patients with OSA and PA.


In this work, we investigate tennis stroke recognition using a single inertial measuring unit attached to a player's forearm during a competitive match. This paper evaluates the best approach for stroke detection using either accelerometers, gyroscopes or magnetometers, which are embedded into the inertial measuring unit. This work concludes what is the optimal training data set for stroke classification and proves that classifiers can perform well when tested on players who were not used to train the classifier. This work provides a significant step forward for our overall goal, which is to develop next generation sports coaching tools using both inertial and visual sensors in an instrumented indoor sporting environment.


The regulation of autophagy-dependent lysosome homeostasis in vivo is unclear. We showed that the inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase INPP5K regulates autophagic lysosome reformation (ALR), a lysosome recycling pathway, in muscle. INPP5K hydrolyzes phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2] to phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate [PI(4)P], and INPP5K mutations cause muscular dystrophy by unknown mechanisms. We report that loss of INPP5K in muscle caused severe disease, autophagy inhibition, and lysosome depletion. Reduced PI(4,5)P2 turnover on autolysosomes in Inpp5k–/– muscle suppressed autophagy and lysosome repopulation via ALR inhibition. Defective ALR in Inpp5k–/– myoblasts was characterized by enlarged autolysosomes and the persistence of hyperextended reformation tubules, structures that participate in membrane recycling to form lysosomes. Reduced disengagement of the PI(4,5)P2 effector clathrin was observed on reformation tubules, which we propose interfered with ALR completion. Inhibition of PI(4,5)P2 synthesis or expression of WT INPP5K but not INPP5K disease mutants in INPP5K-depleted myoblasts restored lysosomal homeostasis. Therefore, bidirectional interconversion of PI(4)P/PI(4,5)P2 on autolysosomes was integral to lysosome replenishment and autophagy function in muscle. Activation of TFEB-dependent de novo lysosome biogenesis did not compensate for loss of ALR in Inpp5k–/– muscle, revealing a dependence on this lysosome recycling pathway. Therefore, in muscle, ALR is indispensable for lysosome homeostasis during autophagy and when defective is associated with muscular dystrophy.


The welfare of zoo animals depends on a combination of physical, social, dietary and other ecological characteristics of the captive setting. We analysed the influence of the transfer of an adult couple of hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) from a small and non-enriched cage that was closed to the public to a larger and enriched exhibit at the visitation area of the Sapucaia do Sul Zoological Park, RS, Brazil. A total of 350 h divided into four stages were spent observing the baboons: (i) in the non-enriched enclosure before the transfer; (ii) soon after the transfer to the enriched enclosure; (iii) six months; and (iv) 12 months after the transfer. The occurrence of stereotypic, social aggressive and social affiliative behaviours was recorded by 'all occurrences' sampling. The female showed a decrease in frequency of a stereotypic behaviour (spinning) and an increase in grooming in the enriched enclosure. The male showed a decrease in the frequency of certain stress-related or stereotypic behaviours after transfer, but other stress-related behaviours either increased or remained constant. The male behaviour of throwing faeces was affected by the presence of visitors. We suggest that the well-being of the female was more positively influenced by the new enclosure than that of the male, although gender differences may reflect the normal behavioural repertoire of this sexually dimorphic species.


Abstract This paper considers how utilizing a model of job-related affect can be used to explain the processes through which perceived training and development influence employee retention. We applied Russell's model of core affect to categorize four different forms of work attitude, and positioned these as mediators of the relationship between perceived training and development and intention to stay. Using data from 1191 employees across seven organizations, multilevel analyses found that job satisfaction, employee engagement and change-related anxiety were significantly associated with intention to stay, and fully mediated the relationship between perceived training and development and intention to stay. Contrary to our hypotheses, emotional exhaustion was not significantly associated with intention to stay nor acted as a mediator when the other attitudes were included. These findings show the usefulness of Russell's model of core affect in explaining the link between training and development and employee retention. Moreover, the findings collectively suggest that studies examining employee retention should include a wider range of work attitudes that highlight pleasant forms of affect.


Objective To identify fixed and time-varying predictors of incident proteinuria. Methods This analysis was based on patients who did not have a history of diabetes and who did not have a prior episode of renal involvement. We defined an incident case of proteinuria as two or more measures of urine protein to creatinine ratio (or 24-hour protein measure) greater than 0.5 in two visits separated by more than 30 days and less than 180 days. We estimated rates of incident proteinuria in subgroups of patients with lupus defined by time-invariant and time-varying predictors. Results Among 895 patients included in the analysis, 840 (94%) were female, and 518 (58%) were Caucasian, 304 (34%) African-American, with mean age of 42 years at the start of follow-up. We observed 57 incident cases of proteinuria over a span of 4669 person-years of cohort follow-up. The overall rate of incident proteinuria was 12.2 per 1000 person-years. The rate was significantly lower among those of older age, and higher among those who were not Caucasian. In those with a very low C3 measure in a previous cohort visit, the rate was increased by a factor of 16.1 and in those with a very low C4 by 16.3. The rate among those prescribed hydroxychloroquine or ACE inhibitors/ARB was similar to those not on them. Conclusions Older patients with SLE are at low risk for developing proteinuria. There was not strong evidence that hydroxychloroquine or angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor reduced the risk of proteinuria. The highest rates of incident proteinuria were among those with recent low complement.


This paper presents a dynamic thresholding algorithm for robotic apple detection. The algorithm enables robust detection in highly variable lighting conditions. The image is dynamically split into variable sized regions, where each region has approximately homogeneous lighting conditions. Nine thresholds were selected so as to accommodate three different illumination levels for three different dimensions in the natural difference index (NDI) space by quantifying the required relation between true positive rate and false positive rate. This rate can change along the robotic harvesting process, aiming to decrease FPR from far views (to minimize cycle times) and to increase TPR from close views (to increase grasping accuracy). Analyses were conducted on apple images acquired in outdoor conditions. The algorithm improved previously reported results and achieved 91.14% true positive rate (TPR) with 3.05% false positive rate (FPR) using the NDI first dimension and a noise removal process


Karst cavities beneath bored cast in situ piles are hazardous to the stability of infrastructure projects. Therefore, it is important to detect karst cavities during the construction of piles. Downward-looking sonar deployed at the bottom of a pile hole can be used to detect cavities; however, interference of multiple reflected surface waves from the walls of the pile hole masks the weak cavity reflections. We have developed a sonar method that exploits the instantaneous phase difference between signals recorded at two receivers to detect karst cavities beneath piles. The receiver separation is set to half the dominant wavelength of surface waves propagating along the pile hole. We define the instantaneous phase difference intensity (IPDI) as an index that measures the similarity of instantaneous phase between the signals at the two receivers. Higher IPDI values signify that the two signals have a similar instantaneous phase at that time, which implies the arrival of a reflection from a cavity. Reflected surface-wave arrivals exhibit low IPDI by design of the receiver geometry. Thus, the first break of reflected P-waves from the roof and floor of a cavity can be identified. We evaluate the effectiveness of the IPDI-based analysis method using numerical tests simulating the varying depth, azimuth, and size of karst cavities. A prototype using the IPDI analysis demonstrates the application of the new pile hole sonar method at two field investigations. Advance drilling, borehole optical image logs, and crosshole tomography verify the IPDI detection results. We conclude that the two-receiver sonar instrumentation along with the IPDI analysis are effective for detecting cavities beneath piles.


The 'published literature on strength, structural and
thermal aspects of hot working has been reviewed with particular
reference to their application to the hot rolling of stainless steel.
Mild and stainless steel slabs. have been hot rolled on a
mill instrumentated to measure load, torque and speed. Internal
temperatures have been measured during rolling using embedded
thermocouples whose outputs have been recorded on a U.V. recorder
coupled with an automatic back-off system.
As-rolled stainless steel slabs recrystallised very
~ slowly relative to the rate found by previous workers for simpler
austenitic stainless steels. Additionally, slabs exhibited
retarded recrystallisation at the surface compared with the centre
whereas theoretical analysis predicts the reverse. These
phenomena have been explained by rapid precipitation at temperatures
~950oC and limited electron microscopical evidence has been
obtained to support this. Precipitation also increased the flow
stresses at lower rolling temperatures and masked any effects that
different substructures were expected to have on the hot strength.
A finite difference computer programme has been developed
to predict the temperature changes that occur through a two
dimensional transverse section of a slab during a hot rolling
SChedule. The air cooling and roll contact heat transfer coefficients
have been derived by comparison of measured and computed
temperature-time curves. This programme enabled a mean pass
temperature to be derived from measured temperatures which then
resulted in good agreement between hot strengths derived from
rolling and torsion tests on stainless steel.
The programme has been simplified to a one dimensional model for simulating temperature changes over central regions of
wide sections during industrial hot rolling. Data have been
presented to enable mean temperatures to be derived from measured
surface temperatures and to illustrate the effects of various
parameters on the heat loss during a pass.


Abstract. Information on what aerosol particle types are the major sources of ice nucleating particles (INPs) in the atmosphere is needed for climate predictions. To determine which aerosol particles are the major sources of immersion-mode INPs at a coastal site in Western Canada, we investigated correlations between INP number concentrations and both concentrations of different atmospheric particles and meteorological conditions. We show that INP number concentrations are strongly correlated with the number concentrations of fluorescent bioparticles between −15 and −25 °C, and that the size distribution of INPs is most consistent with the size distribution of fluorescent bioparticles. We conclude that biological particles were likely the major source of ice nuclei at freezing temperatures between −15 and −25 °C at this site for the time period studied. At −30 °C, INP number concentrations are also well correlated with number concentrations of the total aerosol particles ≥ 0.5 μm, suggesting that non-biological particles may have an important contribution to the population of INPs active at this temperature. As we found that black carbon particles were unlikely to be a major source of ice nuclei during this study, these non-biological INPs may include mineral dust. Furthermore, correlations involving chemical tracers of marine aerosols and marine biological activity, sodium and methanesulfonic acid, indicate that the majority of INPs measured at the coastal site likely originated from terrestrial rather than marine sources. Finally, six existing empirical parameterizations of ice nucleation were tested to determine if they accurately predict the measured INP number concentrations. We found that none of the parameterizations selected are capable of predicting INP number concentrations with high accuracy over the entire temperature range investigated. This finding illustrates that additional measurements are needed to improve parameterizations of INPs and their subsequent climatic impacts.


Cahaya's retail an kopitiam is a design project of the interior and achitecture (building's volume and facade). The retail store located in the first floor sells variety of merchandise and souvenirs.The store sell products of many kinds of food, clothings,and souvenirs made by the locals. Kopi tiam serves main course and light meal with strais chinese indonesian's cuisine specialties. The target consumer of the retail and kopitiam comes from tourist and local people, that needs to shop for local merchandise and souvenirs. Basedon that facts and client's wants the write than apply design's concept that suits the brief, the concept is Explore Cahaya's House of Heritage". This concept offers warm welcome to the customer and brings out the historical value of Cahaya as retail that wase stablished since 1907 in Makassar by the ancestors.


This research develops and empirically tests a factor model for understanding college students' acceptance of Tablet PC (TPC) as a means to forecast, explain, and improve their usage pattern in education. The analysis involved more than 230 students from a regional Midwestern institution. Overall, our model exhibited a good fit with the data and provided satisfactory explanatory power for students' acceptance of TPC in an educational setting. Analysis of the results suggests a number of implications to educational institutions. Most notably are the need for programs aimed at influencing students' attitudes and perceptions towards TPC, creating an environment of a positive image surrounding the use of TPC on campus, and facilitating the use of TPC.


Background: All the medical colleges face students with poor performance. Studies have shown that there was no significant relationship between the learning approaches and academic performance. This study was conducted to know the role of Urdu and English language as medium of education during Primary and Secondary school in Pakistan and its impact on the results of university MBBS professional examinations. Material and Methods: Material and Methods: Material and Methods: Material and Methods: Material and Methods: This study was designed and conducted during September to December 2005 in Gomal Medical College, D.I.Khan. Students of MBBS classes, from sessions 2001 to 2004, were provided with a proforma. The first professional Part-1 examination was expressed as M-1 and other university examinations as M-2, M-3 and M-4 respectively. The medium of learning either Urdu or English during Primary and Secondary level and attempts in their university examinations were asked. The statements regarding medium were randomly checked and the university level performance was verified from results available in the student affairs section of this college. The data was tabulated and statistically analyzed by x 2 test. Results: All the 189 students studying in second to fifth (final) year of MBBS classes in Gomal Medical College were included in this study. Among these 47 were in Second year, 57 in Third year, 46 in Fourth year and 42 in Final year. In Second year, students passing in the first attempt in M-1 examination from Urdu medium were 9 out of 19. In Third year, passing M-I and M-2 in first attempt were 26 out of 44 from Urdu medium. In Fourth year, in first attempt of M-1, M-2, M-3 examinations were 39 out of 72 from Urdu medium. In Fifth year, students passed in M-1, M-2, M-3 and M-4 examinations in first attempt coming from Urdu medium schools were 44 out of 56. The rest of the students from each class were from English medium schools. The results of students from Urdu and English medium schools were compared with each other by x 2 test for the number of students passing in first and second attempts, the p-value was found to be insignificant (p > 0.5).


We describe a new approach to automatic dialect and accent recognition which exceeds state-of-the-art performance in three recognition tasks. This approach improves the accuracy and substantially lower the time complexity of our earlier phoneticbased kernel approach for dialect recognition. In contrast to state-of-the-art acoustic-based systems, our approach employs phone labels and segmentation to constrain the acoustic models. Given a speaker's utterance, we first obtain phone hypotheses using a phone recognizer and then extract GMM-supervectors for each phone type, effectively summarizing the speaker's phonetic characteristics in a single vector of phone-type supervectors. Using these vectors, we design a kernel function that computes the phonetic similarities between pairs of utterances to train SVM classifiers to identify dialects. Comparing this approach to the state-of-the-art, we obtain a 12.9% relative improvement in EER on Arabic dialects, and a 17.9% relative improvement for American vs. Indian English dialects. We also see a 53.5% relative improvement over a GMM-UBM on American Southern vs. Non-Southern English.


Composites consisting of silver and yttria-stabilized bismuth oxide (YSB) were fabricated and investigated as cathodes for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with thin electrolyte films of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The films were deposited using spin coating with YSZ suspension. Comparison of YSB-Ag and conventional La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 (LSM) based cathodes showed that the YSB-Ag composite has better electrochemical performance; Interfacial polarization resistance of YSB-Ag cathode is 0.13 Ωcm2 at 750oC. Power density of the single cell with YSB-Ag cathode was about 535 mW/cm2 at 750oC, while that with LSM-Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9 cathode was only 329 mW/cm2.


A simple, rapid RP-HPLC method was developed and validated for assay of Levetiracetam in formulations. Isocratic elution at a flow rate of 1.0ml/min was employed on a Chromosil C18 (250x4.6mm, 5μm in particle size) at room temperature. The mobile phase consisted of Methanol: Water:TEA 75:25:05 (V/V). The UV detection wavelength was 214 nm and 20μl sample was injected. The retention time for Levetiracetam was 2.59 min. The percentage RSD for precision and accuracy of the method was found to be less than 2%. The method was validated as per the ICH guidelines. The method was successfully applied for routine analysis of Levetiracetam in tablet dosage form and bulk drug.


As time goes by, wars emerge and the flux of refugees increases. The refugee status is a vicious circle where people find themselves fleeing from a country and looking for refuge in another, hoping to find a final solution. The Palestinian refugee issue is one of the longest crisis in the world, which has been ongoing for almost seventy years with no solution in sight. While some scholars have analysed the issue from a legal perspective and others from a human rights' aspect, this study will consider both perspectives to discuss and argue the reasons for grating citizenship as the best temporary solution. This study will consider the special category in which they are, and it will be given an explanation about the differences similitudes between nationality and citizenship. Moreover, it will look at the evolution of the Palestinian nationality from the Ottoman Empire until today. It will breakdown the international and regional treaties that protect and provide for the right to citizenship, and the Israeli and Palestinian's national laws that concern Palestinians. To conclude, after having a deep insight of the legal framework, the author of this thesis will point out some observation regarding some treaty violations and recommendations.


A primary difference between black women (BW) and white women (WW) diagnosed with breast cancer is aggressiveness of the tumor. Black women have higher mortalities with similar incidence of breast cancer compared to other race/ethnicities, and they are diagnosed at a younger age with more advanced tumors with double the rate of lethal, triple negative breast cancers. One hypothesis is that chronic social and economic stressors result in ancestry-dependent molecular responses that create a tumor permissive tissue microenvironment in normal breast tissue. Altered regulation of N-glycosylation of proteins, a glucose metabolism-linked post-translational modification attached to an asparagine (N) residue, has been associated with two strong independent risk factors for breast cancer: increased breast density and body mass index (BMI). Interestingly, high body mass index (BMI) levels have been reported to associate with increases of cancer-associated N-glycan signatures. In this study, we used matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) to investigate molecular pattern changes of N-glycosylation in ancestry defined normal breast tissue from BW and WW with significant 5-year risk of breast cancer by Gail score. N-glycosylation was tested against social stressors including marital status, single, education, economic status (income), personal reproductive history, the risk factors BMI and age. Normal breast tissue microarrays from the Susan G. Komen tissue bank (BW=43; WW= 43) were used to evaluate glycosylation against socioeconomic stress and risk factors. One specific N-glycan (2158 m/z) appeared dependent on ancestry with high sensitivity and specificity (AUC 0.77, Brown/Wilson p-value<0.0001). Application of a linear regression model with ancestry as group variable and socioeconomic covariates as predictors identified a specific N-glycan signature associated with different socioeconomic stresses. For WW, household income was strongly associated to certain N-glycans, while for BW, marital status (married and single) was strongly associated with the same N-glycan signature. Current work focuses on understanding if combined N-glycan biosignatures can further help understand normal breast tissue at risk. This study lays the foundation for understanding the complexities linking socioeconomic stresses and molecular factors to their role in ancestry dependent breast cancer risk.


This article presents masculinity as a dynamic risk factor in offences of violence between men. It argues that existing interventions into such violence, in prison, hospital and community settings may be enhanced by incorporating masculinity as a dynamic risk factor alongside other dynamic risk factors such as difficulties in anger management, social skills deficits or problems in moral reasoning. Masculinity is defined as a common denominator of men, as men, across social divisions, as opposed to existing approaches to men's identity, as men, which employ the concept of different 'masculinities' being produced by men in different social positions. The latter approach, while useful in terms of discovering men's personal identity, may be less useful in terms of explaining commonality between men, across other axes of social identity, and consequent broad patterns of violence between men. The development of masculinity as a dynamic risk factor depends on isolating masculinity from other axes of men's identity. It is argued that the individual man may demonstrate his masculinity by two categories of violence to other men: violence which includes victims in the category 'man' as worthy rivals and violence which excludes victims from the category 'man' as unworthy of being there. Masculinity as a dynamic risk factor in man to man violence is developed with particular reference to racism and homophobia.


In healthcare, the accuracy of interpretation is the most critical component of safe and effective communication between providers and patients in medical settings characterized by language and cultural barriers. Although medical education should prepare healthcare providers for common issues they will face in practice, their training often does not adequately teach the communication skills necessary to work with patients who use interpreters. This new volume in the Studies in Interpretation series addresses critical topics in communication in healthcare settings around the world. Investigations in Healthcare Interpreting consists of ten chapters contributed by a broad array of international scholars. They address topics as diverse as the co-construction of medical conversation between interlocutors, healthcare interpretation in Ireland, and how interpreters make requests for clarification in their work. Using a variety of methodological approaches including ethnography, questionnaires, observation, and diary accounts, these scholars report on trials of simultaneous video interpreting in Austrian hospitals; direct, interpreted, and translated healthcare information for Australian deaf people; the interpretation of medical interview questions from English into ASL; and specialized psychological/psychiatric diagnostic tests for deaf and hard of hearing clients. Researchers, practitioners, and students, as well as all healthcare professionals, will find this volume to be an invaluable resource.


OBJECTIVES
To validate in a multicentric cohort of patients a self-administered PsA screening tool, called Simple Psoriatic Arthritis Screening (SiPAS) questionnaire, to screen psoriasis patients for signs and symptoms of PsA.

METHODS
The SiPAS questionnaire was validated in a multicentric Italian cohort of psoriasis patients referred to two rheumatological centres.

RESULTS
A total of 202 psoriasis patients were screened with SiPAS in the validation study. Sixty-two psoriasis patients (30.7%) were diagnosed with PsA. The five screening questions (1. Have you ever had a finger or a toe and/or another joint swollen and painful without any apparent reason?; 2. Occasionally, has an entire finger or toe become swollen, making it look like a 'sausage'?; 3. Do you wake up at night because of low back pain?; 4. Have you had pain in your heels?; 5. Has a doctor ever diagnosed you with psoriatic arthritis?) with a dichotomous response, demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity for predicting PsA. Likelihood ratios for individual parameters varied between 2.06 and 4.75. Using the Bayesian Analysis, the presence of three of five items answered as "yes" showed respectively a sensibility and a specificity of 79% and 87%, with a positive likelihood ratio of 6.14.

CONCLUSIONS
The SiPAS questionnaire is able to quickly screen psoriasis patients for PsA. A SiPAS score ≥3 is an indication for referral to a rheumatologist. The SiPAS needs further validation.


Studies of both the flower thrips and lygus bug indicate that they caused no serious sesame plant injury, reduction of pod set, or seed loss at the populations existing under the conditions of these experiments. It appeared that much larger population densities of these pests would be necessary to contribute to the poor pod set and low yields observed recently on untreated field plants. The green peach aphid caused up to 27% seed loss when present in moderate to large numbers, however. The aphid was effectively controlled by use of two applications of either oxydemetonmethyl or endosulfan.


There are well-founded fears that it is unrealistic to expect Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 1 (MDG1) to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and to halve the proportion of people who suffer hunger by 2015. Recent efforts of African governments to meet the MDG1 have resulted in a number of initiatives including the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) framework that calls for 6% agricultural growth rates, the Maputo Declaration calling for 10% of total public spending to be on agriculture, and the 2006 Abuja Declaration calling for an increase in fertilizer use from 8 – 50 kg/ha by 2015. CAADP estimates that an average investment of US$18 billion/year will be required to trigger sufficient agricultural growth rate to meet MDG1. Meanwhile, budgetary allocation to agriculture in many African nations is low and an analysis of trends in foreign development assistance to Africa over a 10-year period (1995-2004) showed that the annual commitment to agriculture out of the total assistance of US$230 billion declined from 11% in 1995 to 6% in 2004. This decline could be traced to the frustration of donors and African governments alike at the failure of agriculture to achieve sufficient progress towards food security and poverty reduction. Nevertheless, there is evidence from the past that where projects have been successful, governments provided political leadership and financial support; organized farmers groups actively participated in decision-making; and that close public-private-partnership existed. Based on the lessons learned from previous projects and the subsequent more favorable rules of engagement of donors with beneficiaries, the paper concludes that the challenges and responsibility for getting agriculture back to the front-burner of the development agenda is largely that of African governments.


The Hengduan Mountains region (HMR) on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, supports a high diversity of herbs, particularly in its subalpine to alpine ecosystems, due to high altitude and cool temperate climate. Current understanding on the formation of such herbaceous richness is based chiefly on molecular phylogenies; however, direct geological evidence is lacking because herbs are rarely preserved as macroscopic fossils. In this study, we present abundant fossil fruits and seeds of herbs from the late Pliocene Heqing Basin in the southern HMR. Our systematic analysis shows the presence of at least 18 species belonging to 11 genera, that is, Ranunculus, Corydalis, Rumex, Polygonum, Chenopodium, Stellaria, Fragaria, Astragalus, Aster, Carex, and Schoenoplectus, of which Polygonum is most abundant followed by Astragalus. This finding throws the first light from fossil evidence on the rise of herbaceous diversity in the region. We interpret the local assembly of these herbs as resulting from rapid pre‐Pliocene species diversifications of many herbaceous groups in the HMR. As nowadays most of these herbs grow primarily in meadows and a few occur as subaquatic plants, we suggest an open meadow hosting some scattered shrubs in the vicinity of a vegetated wetland in the Heqing Basin during the late Pliocene. This provides the first direct evidence of past treeless open vegetation within the HMR and thus improves our knowledge of vegetation evolution in the region. We suggest that the uplift‐induced climate cooling and monsoon‐associated precipitation seasonality are potentially the key driving forces for the opening of meadow vegetation in the HMR.


Problem statement: Our researches have proposed two ligands of disulfide cyclic polypeptide, which are CDEEC and CDGSC as potential inhibitor of DENV RNA-dependent RNApolymerase by molecular docking. Approach: Methodological approach was conducted to determine the best ligand to act as inhibitor. Molecular docking simulation was conducted without a solvent in which enzyme was made rigid and ligand was left free to find the most suitable conformation. In actual cellular system there is a solvent which makes the enzyme to have a dynamic movement. Results: Therefore in this study, Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulation was performed to estimate more reliable condition of enzyme-ligand complex. In this study, molecular dynamics simulation was performed during 5 ns with two different temperatures, 300 and 312 K. At the end of MD simulation at 300 K, CDEEC bound to two RdRp important residues, Arg-729 and Arg-737 while CDGSC didn't bind to any important residues. Conclusion: Simulation at 312 K also showed almost similar result. CDEEC was bound to two RdRP important residues, Arg-737 and Ser-710, whereas CDGSC didn't bind to any important residues. Based on the result of these two simulations, CDEEC is proposed as a better inhibitor of RdRp dengue virus and feasible to be developed as anti-dengue drug.


BACKGROUND
Falls are a common occurrence and the most effective quality improvement (QI) strategies remain unclear.

METHODS
We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to elucidate effective quality improvement (QI) strategies for falls prevention. Multiple databases were searched (inception-April 2017). We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of falls prevention QI strategies for participants aged ≥65 years. Two investigators screened titles and abstracts, full-text articles, conducted data abstraction and appraised risk of bias independently.

RESULTS
A total of 126 RCTs including 84,307 participants were included after screening 10,650 titles and abstracts and 1210 full-text articles. NMA including 29 RCTs and 26,326 patients found that team changes was statistically superior in reducing the risk of injurious falls relative to usual care (odds ratio [OR] 0.57 [0.33 to 0.99]; absolute risk difference [ARD] -0.11 [95% CI, -0.18 to -0.002]). NMA for the outcome of number of fallers including 61 RCTs and 40 128 patients found that combined case management, patient reminders and staff education (OR 0.18 [0.07 to 0.47]; ARD -0.27 [95% CI, -0.33 to -0.15]) and combined case management and patient reminders (OR, 0.36 [0.13 to 0.97]; ARD -0.19 [95% CI, -0.30 to -0.01]) were both statistically superior compared to usual care.

CONCLUSIONS
Team changes may reduce risk of injurious falls and a combination of case management, patient reminders, and staff education, as well as case management and patient reminders may reduce risk of falls. Our results can be tailored to decision-maker preferences and availability of resources.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION
PROSPERO (CRD42013004151).


Polyanionic lipopolysaccharides (LPS) play an important role in regulating the permeability of the outer membrane (OM) of Gram-negative bacteria. Impairment of the LPS-enriched OM is essential in initiating the bactericidal activity of polymyxins. We are interested in how colistin (polymyxin E) affects the membrane permeability of LPS/phospholipid bilayers. Our vesicle leakage experiment showed that colistin binding enhanced bilayer permeability; the maximum increase in the bilayer permeability was positively correlated with the LPS fraction. Addition of magnesium ions abolished the effect of LPS in enhancing bilayer permeabilization. To describe the vesicle leakage behavior from a structural perspective, we performed liquid atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements on planar lipid bilayers. We found that colistin caused the formation of nano- and macroclusters that protruded from the bilayer by ∼2 nm. Moreover, cluster development was promoted by increasing the fraction of LPS or colistin concentration but inhibited by magnesium ions. To explain our experimental data, we proposed a lipid clustering model where colistin binds to LPS to form large-scale complexes segregated from zwitterionic phospholipids. The discontinuity (and thickness mismatch) at the edge of LPS–colistin clusters will create a passage that allows solutes to permeate through. The proposed model is consistent with all data obtained from our leakage and AFM experiments. Our results of LPS-dependent membrane restructuring provided useful insights into the mechanism that could be used by polymyxins in impairing the permeability barrier of the OM of Gram-negative bacteria.


Water user farmer association (P3A) is an organization closely related to regulation of irrigation water in a tertiary or village plot service area formed by farmers or farmer groups in a democratic village. The role of P3A is to manage irrigation water and water distributors fairly and evenly in tertiary / stronger printing. The research aims to analyze the management of community-based irrigation system by P3A  in Suak Village of Manis Raya Village of Sepauk Subdistrict of Sintang Regency and to Analyze the inhibiting factors in the management of irrigation system. The research was done by descriptive method and qualitative analysis. Data obtained from interviews, literature, and field observations, then analyzed and interpreted by giving conclusions. The results of the research indicate that (1) the institutional aspect, irrigation network in Suak sub village has no institution of water user farmer association (P3A), (2) HR aspect, farmer of Dusun Suak has adequate human resources seen from age, education, social economy and work ability. (3) Aspects of facilities and infrastructure, facilities and infrastructure of farmers in the village of Suak are still limited, farmers have not been able to utilize existing facilities and infrastructure. (4) Aspects of irrigation systems, farmers are still freely flowing water without regulation, irrigation maintenance is done when there is government funding, the main dam leaked for the last two years has not been fixed. Farmers' awareness of irrigation networks is not yet available. The inhibiting factor of irrigation system management is that there is no P3A institution yet, the participation of farmers is limited, the fund is limited. From the results of the research, irrigation management in the village of sweet is still not implemented maximally either from government or from society, seen from condition of irrigation network which often happened accumulation of garbage and weeds. In addition, community participation is still very poor. Irrigation management in the hamlet of Suak has not been well managed by the farmers either in the maintenance of irrigation networks, as well as the distribution of farmers' peat water because there is no P3A organization that regulates irrigation management and water distribution. Irrigation management can be sustainable should the cooperation between stakeholders. K eywords : Farmers' Participation, Irrigation System Management, P3A


I. Body composition and metabolic activity of tissues during ontogenesis.- 1. Ratio of lean body mass and fat in relation to energy turnover.- 2. Composition of lean body mass.- 3. Composition and metabolic activity of adipose tissue.- 4. Lipid metabolism in muscular tissue.- II. Lean body mass and depot fat during ontogenesis in humans.- 1. Changes in subcutaneous fat during ontogenesis.- 2. Ontogenetic changes of the total body fat and lean body mass ratio.- 3. Relationship of total and subcutaneous fat during ontogenesis.- 4. Results of comparison of skinfolds measured by means of different calipers.- III. Changes in the maximum level of metabolic activity of lean body mass during ontogenesis.- 1. Changes of the relationship of aerobic capacity and lean body mass during ontogenesis.- 2. Changes in the capillary network in skeletal muscle in relation to body composition and aerobic capacity.- IV. Some consequences of adaptation to increased or restricted activity during ontogenesis.- 1. Growth curves and body composition during adaptation to different loads.- 2. Caloric intake and physical activity.- 3. Catecholamine synthesis and degradation in relation to physical activity and body composition.- 4. Excitability of the central nervous system in relation to physical activity and body composition.- V. Influence of adaptation to increased muscle work on body composition in relation to caloric intake in man.- 1. Changes in body composition after adaptation to increased muscle work.- 2. Caloric intake during periods with different physical activity.- VI. Adaptation to increased muscular work: consequences in adipose tissue.- 1. Metabolic activity of adipose tissue and fatty acid utilization during adaptation to different loads.- 2. Deoxyribonucleic acid content in adipose tissue during adaptation to different loads.- 3. Fatty acid uptake and their inflow rate to adipose tissue in animals with different levels of activity.- 4. Ratio of individual fatty acids in adipose tissue.- VII. Adaptation to different loads: consequences in the lipid metabolism of skeletal and heart muscle and other organs.- 1. Weight, fibre size and percentage of fat in muscles during different activities and in different age groups.- 2. Lipoprotein lipase activity in heart and skeletal muscle after adaptation to different loads.- 3. Cholesterol formation during different levels of physical activity.- 4. Influence of increased physical activity during prenatal ontogenesis on the lipid metabolism in the offspring.- VIII. Effect of increased physical activity on body composition during growth in different groups of children (longitudinal studies).- 1. Somatic and functional development of preschool children.- 2. Body build and body composition in boys engaged and not engaged in physical training.- 3. Body composition in relation to aerobic capacity in boys.- 4. Functional characteristics and composition of weight increments in boys with different physical activity during adolescence.- 5. Stability of body composition characteristics in boys during adolescence.- 6. Influence of physical activity on stability of somatotype in boys during adolescence.- 7. Body build and composition of girl gymnasts and of non-training girls.- 8. Comparison of the development of body composition in girls and boys engaged in swimming training.- 9. Relationship between development of body weight, body composition and functional development.- 10. Body composition and fitness of youth in relation to socio-economic conditions.- IX. Consequences of adaptation to increased physical activity in obese children.- 1. Somatic characteristics of obese children.- 2. Heart volume in obese children.- 3. Economy of work in obese children.- 4. Effect of adaptation to prolonged increased load on body composition and indicators of the lipid metabolism in blood.- 5. Changes in the response of vegetative functions to a load in obese children after weight and fat reduction.- 6. Changes of anthropometric indicators after repeated reductions of body fat during growth in obese children.- 7. Conditions for the maintenance of reduction of body fat during repeated treatment.- 8. Changes in the aerobic capacity after weight reduction in obese boys.- 9. Consequences of reduction treatment of child obesity in adult age.- X. Body composition and body build of champion athletes in relation to fitness and performance.- 1. Characteristics of body build and composition of champion athletes.- 2. Lean body mass in relation to functional characteristics in champion athletes.- 3. Changes in body composition during Olympic training of gymnasts.- 4. Body composition during excessive training.- XI. Body composition, body build and fitness of elderly men with a different life-long regime of physical activity.- 1. Body composition and body build in active and inactive men of advanced age.- 2. Body composition in relation to aerobic capacity.- 3. Body composition in relation to muscular strength.- 4. Body composition in relation to sports performance.- 5. Density of the capillary network in skeletal muscle and body composition.- 6. Indicators of the lipid metabolism in blood in relation to physical activity and body composition.- 7. Long-term investigation (8 - 10 years) of changes in body composition and somatic characteristics in old men with different activity.- 8. Body composition and somatic indicators with regard to the perspective of longevity.- 9. Relationship of body composition and changes in performance and aerobic capacity of old men after 8 - 10 years.- XII. Relationship between body composition and physical activity and the development of experimental cardiac necrosis in male rats of different age.- 1. Effect of age, body weight and body composition on the development of experimental myocardial necrosis in made rats.- 2. Effect of adaptation to increased or reduced physical activity.- 3. Density of the capillary network in the heart muscle in male rats after a different load during postnatal ontogenesis.- 4. The impact of work load during prenatal ontogenesis on the subsequent development of the offspring.- XIII. Summary.- XIV. General conclusions and perspectives.- References.


This study was designed to determine the pin head formation time and yield values of Agaricus bisporus on some casing materials. Composts were prepared basically from wheat straw and waste tea leaves by using wheat chaff as activator substance. Temperatures of the compost formulas were measured during composting at various depths in order to determine the compostability level. Results showed that in both compost types, maximum temperature values were recorded in the second turning stage. Composting was completed in 21 days for both composts. While the fastest pin head formation (12.50 days) was obtained on wheat straw based compost using peat of Bolu (PB) and peat of Agacbasi (PA) (50+50; in volume); waste tea leaves based compost using peat of Caykara (PC) and forest soil (FS) mixture (50+50; in volume) as casing material gave the fastest pin head formation (13.25 days). In terms of yield, a mixture of peat of Bolu and peat of Agacbasi (PA) (50+50; in volume) gave the highest yield for wheat straw based compost, a mixture of peat of Agacbasi and perlite (P) (80+20; involume) had the highest yield for waste tea leaves based compost.


OBJECTIVE
Deletion of Deltex1 (DTX1) in mice caused hyperactivation of T cells and lupus-like autoimmune syndromes, however, the association of DTX1 with human autoimmune diseases is totally unknown. This study investigated the role of DTX1 in human T cell functions and its correlation with disease activity in patients with SLE.

METHODS
The influence of DTX1 on T cell function was evaluated using human primary cells. DTX1 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy controls and SLE patients was measured by quantitative real-time PCR and the SLEDAI was used to assess disease activity.

RESULTS
After stimulation with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28, silencing of DTX1 expression enhanced IFN-γ secretion by human T cells. The expression of DTX1 in PBMCs was significantly lower in 100 SLE patients than in 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (DTX1/glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, 0.452 vs 1.269, P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operator characteristics curve of the model was 0.737 (95% CI 0.658, 0.815). Intriguingly, a low DTX1 level in T cells led to high IFN-γ production in SLE patients and had a correlation with severe disease activity. In addition, low DTX1 expression in SLE patients was associated with active LN, lung involvement or hypocomplementaemia.

CONCLUSION
Knockdown DTX1 expression in human T cells reduced IFN-γ secretion. DTX1 expression in the PBMCs was significantly lower in SLE patients and had an inverse correlation with disease activity, indicating that the DTX1 level may be a good disease marker of SLE.


In this tutorial, we will examine issues in the design and verification of microprocessors for safety-critical and security-critical applications. We will consider architectural and design alternatives to support high-assurance applications, and will describe techniques to improve secure system evaluation-measured in terms of completeness, human effort required, time, and cost-through the use of highly automated formal methods. We will describe practical techniques for creating executable formal computing platform models that can both be proved correct, and also function as high-speed simulators. This allows us to both verify the correctness of the models, as well as validate that the formalizations accurately model what was actually designed and built. As a case study, we will examine the design and verification of the Rockwell Collins AAMP7G microprocessor. The AAMP7G, currently in use in Rockwell Collins high-assurance system products, supports strict time and space partitioning in hardware, and has received an NSA MILS (Multiple Independent Levels of Security) certificate based in part on proofs of correctness. We will discuss the AAMP7G verification effort, focusing on the proof architecture that enabled us to show that the AAMP7G separation kernel microcode implements a particular security specification, using the ACL2 theorem prover.


An accurate technique for remotely determining the internal structure of an object or underground environment would have a significant impact in mining, geoexploration, ultrasonics, and the life sciences. This process of resolving the intrinsic properties of an object or environment by the transmission of radiation or ultrasound through the unknown anomaly is known as reconstructive imaging or tomography. Several efforts have been made to apply imaging (reconstruction) methods to measurements taken between two boreholes on either side of an unknown geophysical structure. However, it became necessary, because of the nature of existing reconstruction methods, to assume a straight-line propagation path from source to receiver. This assumption is not valid in many important applications of geophysical imaging; thus it is desirable to develop a method to account for the radiation mechanisms of refraction and reflection in the unknown medium. An imaging scheme that explicitly incorporates refraction and first-order reflection in the reconstruction process is developed. Several examples of successful reconstruction of multicell underground environments are presented to demonstrate its accuracy.


The objective of this research was to evaluate the applicability of the Asian Precipitation Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources (APHRODITE) gridded dataset to develop a spatially distributed extreme daily rainfall map in Southeast Asia. We compared the extreme daily rainfall values of the 5-year return period, estimated by a frequency analysis based on annual maximum rainfall during 1987–2006 from the APHRODITE dataset and rainfall observations from 185 gauges in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. It was found that the extreme rainfall values estimated from the APHRODITE dataset are approximately 33–38% less than those estimated from observations at rain gauge stations. When the APHRODITE data were corrected with an appropriate bias correction ratio and elevation factor and then used to estimate extreme daily rainfall, they showed a better match with the extreme daily rainfall estimations from the rain gauge observations. Moreover, our estimations were independently verified with the rainfall observations in the Mae Chaem Watershed (MCW) in Thailand. This study suggests that the APHRODITE dataset can be used to obtain an estimation of the extreme rainfall in the Mekong River countries after proper bias and orographic corrections are made.


At the present stage of electric power industry development, special attention is being paid to the development and research of new efficient energy sources. The use of hydrogen fuel cells is promising for remote autonomous power supply systems. The authors of the paper have developed the structure and determined the optimal composition of a hybrid generation system based on hydrogen fuel cells and battery storage and have conducted studies of its operating modes and for remote consumers' power supply efficiency. A simulation of the electromagnetic processes was carried out to check the operability of the proposed hybrid generation system structure. The simulation results confirmed the operability of the structure under consideration, the calculation of its parameters reliability and the high quality of the output voltage. The electricity cost of a hybrid generation system was estimated according to the LCOE (levelized cost of energy) indicator, its value being 1.17 USD/kWh. The factors influencing the electricity cost of a hydrogen generation system have been determined and ways for reducing its cost identified.


The World Meteorological Organization has developed a set of headline indicators for global climate monitoring. These seven indicators are a subset of the existing set of essential climate variables (ECVs) established by the Global Climate Observing System and are intended to provide the most essential parameters representing the state of the climate system. These indicators include global mean surface temperature, global ocean heat content, state of ocean acidification, glacier mass balance, Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent, global CO2 mole fraction, and global mean sea level. This paper describes how well each of these indicators are currently monitored, including the number and quality of the underlying datasets; the health of those datasets; observation systems used to estimate each indicator; the timeliness of information; and how well recent values can be linked to preindustrial conditions. These aspects vary widely between indicators. While global mean surface temperature is available in close to real time and changes from preindustrial levels can be determined with relatively low uncertainty, this is not the case for many other indicators. Some indicators (e.g., sea ice extent) are largely dependent on satellite data only available in the last 40 years, while some (e.g., ocean acidification) have limited underlying observational bases, and others (e.g., glacial mass balance) with data only available a year or more in arrears.


We demonstrate theoretically how, by imposing epitaxial strain in a ferroelectric perovskite, it is possible to achieve a dynamical control of phonon propagation by means of external electric fields, which yields a giant electrophononic response, i.e., the dependence of the lattice thermal conductivity on external electric fields. Specifically, we study the strain-induced manipulation of the lattice structure and analyze its interplay with the electrophononic response. We show that tensile biaxial strain can drive the system to a regime where the electrical polarization can be effortlessly rotated and thus yield giant electrophononic responses that are at least one order of magnitude larger than in the unstrained system. These results derive directly from the almost divergent behavior of the electrical susceptibility at those critical strains that drive the polarization on the verge of a spontaneous rotation.


Photometric observations of 12 totally eclipsing W UMa binaries (NSVS 3325547, V646 Lac, V1320 Cas, V539 Dra, V816 Cep, NSVS 9045055, V1115 Cas, V902 Cep, V596 Peg, NSVS 1768818, V619 Peg, and NSVS 3198272) are presented. We found that the longer (in phase units) the flat eclipses are, the smaller the mass ratios (or the reciprocal values) are. The mass ratios of five targets turned out close to the lower-mass ratio limit. We found that the periods of V1115 Cas and V646 Lac increase, while that of V596 Peg decreases. Masses, radii, and luminosities of the target components were calculated by the light-curve solutions and Gaia distances. In order to perform more reliable statistical analysis of the results we added to the sample of 12 targets from this paper another 29 totally eclipsing W UMa stars studied by us earlier. As a result we found the following trends: (a) the radius and luminosity of the target components increase with their mass but the dependencies are different from those of main-sequence (MS) stars; (b) the temperatures of stellar components whose masses are above 1 M⊙ tend to be lower than those of the corresponding MS stars, while the temperatures of stellar components whose masses are below 1 M⊙ tend to be higher than those of the corresponding MS stars; (c) there is no relationship between the fillout factor and mass ratio; and (d) 11 of the 41 targets are of A subtype, 24 are of W subtype, and 6 systems are with equal-temperature components.


Many applications of classification methods not only require high accuracy but also reliable estimation of predictive uncertainty. However, while many current classification frameworks, in particular deep neural networks, achieve high accuracy, they tend to incorrectly estimate uncertainty. In this paper, we propose a method that adjusts the confidence estimates of a general classifier such that they approach the probability of classifying correctly. In contrast to existing approaches, our calibration method employs a non-parametric representation using a latent Gaussian process, and is specifically designed for multi-class classification. It can be applied to any classifier that outputs confidence estimates and is not limited to neural networks. We also provide a theoretical analysis regarding the over- and underconfidence of a classifier and its relationship to calibration, as well as an empirical outlook for calibrated active learning. In experiments we show the universally strong performance of our method across different classifiers and benchmark data sets, in particular for state-of-the art neural network architectures.


Sand intrusions are commonly associated with hydrocarbon-bearing clastic reservoirs and they can host a significant part of the reserves. They modify the depositional sandbody architecture, and can have an impact on the petroleum system elements. Their significance and complex architecture is difficult to assess in the subsurface due to limited resolution of seismic or core data. Outcrop analogues are key to better understand these complex reservoirs. In the Eastern Carpathians Bend Zone, the Oligocene and lower Miocene succession offer spectacular exposures of deep-water siliciclastic rocks modified by remobilization and sand-intrusion processes. These rocks are also present in producing fields in this area. Sills can be as thick as the depositional sandstones (c. 4 m), and sill-dominated outcrops can provide a net:gross (net sandstone to shale ratio) of about 35–50%. We quantified their architecture, in a study of the timing and mechanism of emplacement, their relationship to regional tectonics and their impact on reservoir connectivity. The intrusions are interpreted to be syn-tectonic, related to the major mid-Miocene compression in this part of the Carpathian Mountain Belt. The intrusions lead to a large increase in vertical and horizontal connectivity. Our results will help to improve reservoir characterization and production in these reservoirs.


5G wireless networks aim to achieve seamless mobile broadband services, machine to machine and ultra-reliable low latency communications. These goals require massive improvements in terms of capacity, reliability, latency reduction, and scalability. Besides software defined networks and network function virtualization, self organizing networks (SON) is another enabling technology which makes 5G feasible. Automatic neighbor relations (ANR) is a prominent component of SON which has direct impact on reliability, scalability, and capacity of the wireless networks. When the current state of standardization and implementation of ANR functionality is considered, it is seen that a new approach is needed for ANR to comply with 5G requirements. Thus, in this paper a comprehensive hybrid ANR (H-ANR) architecture which leads to the management of relations utilizing an extensive set of universal performance criteria, configuration metrics, and measurements is proposed. The H-ANR functionality ranks the neighbors not based on instantaneous information but on historic values of the performance criteria and other metrics. The attributes of distributed ANR (D-ANR) module is also managed by H-ANR to prevent the repetitive addition of unwanted neighbors via D-ANR or X2 interface. Performance of the proposed H-ANR functionality is also compared with the case when only D-ANR is available on a Long Term Evolution Advanced network.


The study investigated perception and attitudinal behavior of lecturers in the use of ICT in classroom teaching and learning in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. A structured questionnaire was administered on a 5 point Likert-type questions to 120 of the 550 lecturers following simple random technique. The collected data were analyzed by finding means of respondents' feelings and hypothesis with correlation coefficient. The means showed that ICT facilities are not frequently used in classroom teaching/learning by the lecturers (x̅ = 2.20). However, multimedia projector (x̅ = 3.49) and computer (x̅ = 3.36) were mostly used. The lecturers perception (x̅ = 3.05) was positive and their attitudinal behavior (x̅ = 2.89) was negative in the use of ICT in classroom. The correlation coefficient (r) was 0.373 and significant at 5% critical alpha level. It implies that there was a positive significant relationship between perception of ICT and attitude of the lecturers in the use of ICT. We advised that lecturers should put in more effort in the use of ICTs order than the multimedia and computer in classroom teaching/learning.


Introduction: Risk factors for systemic reactions (SRs) from hymenoptera venom (HV) allergy are well known in the adult population but they have been little studied in the pediatric one. Method: The aim of our study was to identify risk factors for SRs in a population of children allergic to HV, comparing a series of clinical (age, gender, atopy, asthma) and laboratory (total IgE, tryptase, venom-specific IgE levels) variables between patients with at least two large local reactions (LLRs) and patients with SRs of different severity for the identified insect. We selected a population of HV allergic children aged <15 years with LLRs or SRs stratified according to Mueller grades after stinging. Results: The population included 80 children, 35 with at least 2 LLRs and 45 with SRs. The level of specific IgE for vespid (Polistes dominula, Vespula species) venoms was significantly higher (p = 0.0321) in children with SRs (Mueller grade II+III+IV) than in those with LLRs and the same significance was also found for specific IgE for Apis mellifera, considering SRs group (Mueller grade I+II+III+IV) in respect with LLRs group (p = 0.0001). Conclusion: The main difference in our pediatric population was the highest level of specific IgE in children with a history of SRs compared to those with a history of LLRs for both vespids and honey bees. These results, once confirmed on a larger population, could suggest the opportunity to follow the behavior of venom specific IgE in children with LLRs to reveal a risk to develop future more serious reactions.


Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine disorder, affecting 13% of reproductive-aged women. While lifestyle management is the first-line treatment for improving complications, women experience challenges with implementation. This cross-sectional study aims to identify the types and sources of dietary and physical activity (PA) interventions implemented by women with PCOS and understand how they use self-management strategies to support lifestyle change. An online questionnaire was disseminated via a consumer-based PCOS website (May 2015–2016). Women (n = 1167) were aged 18–45 years and primarily born within the United States (70%). A quarter or less of women (diet 25%, PA 14%) sought lifestyle advice from health professionals (medical clinicians or dietitians) compared to over half (diet 59%, PA 67%) using alternative sources, namely from online platforms. While only 33% and 16% of women reported following formal dietary or PA guidelines, respectively, 57% had implemented a 'special diet' to manage their condition, many of which were inconsistent with evidence-based practice in PCOS. Participants also displayed a low level of engagement with important self-management behaviors, including goal setting and positive self-talk. These findings suggest that online information may promote inaccurate and ineffective lifestyle advice and emphasize the need to increase engagement with qualified health professionals.


Context. It has been reported that the intrinsic dispersion at constant magnitude in the structural relations of early-type galaxies is a useful tool to study the universality of these structural relations, that is to say, to study whether the structural relations depend on luminosity, wavelength, redshift, and/or environment. Aims. We study the intrinsic dispersion at approximately constant magnitude in the Faber-Jackson relation as a function of luminosity, mass, and redshift. Methods. We use a sample of approximately 90 000 early-type galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-DR7) spanning a magnitude range of 7 mag in both g and r filters. We calculate the intrinsic dispersion in the Faber-Jackson relation at approximately constant magnitude and compare this at different luminosities, masses, and redshifts. Results. The main results are the following: i) the intrinsic dispersion in the Faber-Jackson relation depends on the luminosity, mass, and redshift; ii) the distribution for brighter and more massive galaxies has smaller intrinsic dispersion than that for fainter and less massive galaxies; iii) the distribution of bright and massive galaxies at higher redshift has smaller intrinsic dispersion than similar galaxies at low redshift. Conclusions. Comparisons of the results found in this work with recent studies from the literature make us conclude that the intrinsic dispersion in the Faber-Jackson relation could depend on the history of galaxies, in other words, the intrinsic dispersion could depend on the number and nature of transformation events that have affected the galaxies during their life times, such as collapse, accretion, interaction, and merging.


We have developed a LaBr3:Ce scintillator array consisting of 8 × 8 pixels with a size of 5.8 mm×5.8 mm×15.0 mm, which serves as an absorber of scattered gamma rays with energies from 0.1 to 1 MeV in a Compton camera. The pixels were cut from two pieces of LaBr3:Ce crystal with a diameter of 38 mm and a length of 38 mm with full width at half-maximum (FWHM) energy resolutions of 4.1 ± 0.1% and 3.0 ± 0.1% at 356 and 662 keV, respectively, measured with a single anode photomultiplier tube (PMT). The crystal had the following volumetric uniformities: light outputs with a difference of 0.5% (standard deviation: SD) and energy resolutions with that of 2% (SD) at 356 keV. In contrast, for each pixel in the array, the average and SD FWHM energy resolutions over 64 pixels, measured with a single-anode PMT and a collimator, were 5.8 ± 0.9% at 356 keV. The array was then coupled to a 64-channel multi-anode PMT (Hamamatsu H8500), the anode pitch of which was the same as the LaBr3:Ce pixel pitch of 6.1 mm. When the 64 anodes were read out from four channels in a resistor chain by the charge division method, the FWHM energy resolution of all 64 pixels was 7.0 ± 0.5% at 662 keV, whereas that of the inner 6×6 pixels was 5.8 ± 0.4% at 662 keV. In addition, we measured a Gd2SiO5:Ce (GSO:Ce) scintillator array consisting of 8×8 pixels with a size of 5.9 mm×5.9 mm×13.0 mm to compare its performance with that of the LaBr3:Ce array. The FWHM energy resolution of all 64 GSO:Ce pixels was 10.8 ± 0.3% at 662 keV. With these energy resolutions, FWHM angular resolutions of the Compton camera using the LaBr3:Ce and GSO:Ce arrays are expected to be 4.6° and 5.3°, respectively, at 662 keV.


This brief paper presents a mathematical formulation for a team of cooperating microgrids (TCM) proposing a robust distributed control strategy based on partially nested information. This brief paper faces one of the main problems in a TCM, which is to react to the unpredictable production/demand processes, optimizing power flows, and energy storage in each microgrid (MG). This brief paper focuses on a high-level control of the TCM through properly coordinating power that is exchanged among MGs. The robust distributed control strategy operates in order to minimize the maximum divergence both from an agreed power exchange among MGs and from a technical reference value of the energy storage system of each MG. The proposed approach is based on some quite recent results on robust control for cooperative teams. The robust control approach is tested through a case study.


This study examined the secondary students' perceptions towards NESTs and NNESTs in an English course in Surabaya regarding the teachers' teaching competence, cultural knowledge of English language teaching, teaching style, and classroom management. Most secondary students perceived both teacher groups were good at most categories. Using questionnaires distributed to 96 secondary school students of an English course who participated in this study, the researchers found that 38 students took part in doing a focus group interview. The interview was done to capture deeper perceptions that could be gained. The study reported that cultural knowledge of the English language teachers, especially the NESTs, exceeded that of the NNESTs. This research finding also proved that students perceived NESTs to be as good as NNESTs in such areas as teaching grammar, listening, reading, and writing. Furthermore, both NESTs and NNESTs were perceived to be not able to understand the students' special needs since teachers at the the English course under study handled one level for about twelve meetings only.


The effects of long-term silvicultural thinning on soil C and N content are not well known. We evaluated the impact of periodic thinnings on soil C and N pools in a 134-yr-old red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) forest in Minnesota, and a 104 yr-old northern hardwood forest in Wisconsin. The red pine stands had five thinning regimes (13.8, 18.4, 22.7, 27.6, 32.1 m2 ha-1 residual basal area [BA]), which were cut five or seven times over 46 yr. The northern hardwood stands had three residual basal area treatments (13.8, 17.2, 20.6 m2 ha-1) that were thinned five times over 50 yr. Our results showed that the heaviest-thinned (13.8 m2 ha-1) and uncut control red pine stands had higher C and N contents in the mineral A horizon, as compared to the other four thinning treatments. Multiple thinning did not affect C and N pool size in the forest floor and surface mineral soil (30-cm depth) in either red pine or hardwood stands. Within stand BA variability was positively correlated to C and N pools in the forest floor of the lightly-thinned (32.1 m2 ha--1) red pine treatment, but was negatively correlated to C and N pools in the A horizon. Our study and the literature indicate that stem-only removal for wildfire risk reduction and bio-energy production would have little impact on total soil C and N pools. However, more information is needed on the effects of whole-tree thinning regimes on soil C and nutrient contents.


The Historical Dictionary of Albania endeavors to provide a comprehensive overview, not only of Albanian history, but also of contemporary Albania as it enters the 21st century, focusing as it does both on the past and on a modern European nation struggling to put its formidable Stalinist past behind it. For half a century, Albania was a planet of its own, isolated from the rest of Mother Earth; since the fall of the communist regime, the Albanians have been striving, not without difficulty, to find their place among the nations of Europe. This work offers the reader basic, factual information on the country, its historical development, its current situation, and the culture of its people through its 700 entries.


In supervised learning there is usually a clear distinction between inputs and outputs - inputs are what you will measure, outputs are what you will predict from those measurements. This paper shows that the distinction between inputs and outputs is not this simple. Some features are more useful as extra outputs than as inputs. By using a feature as an output we get more than just the case values but can learn a mapping from the other inputs to that feature. For many features this mapping may be more useful than the feature value itself. We present two regression problems and one classification problem where performance improves if features that could have been used as inputs are used as extra outputs instead. This result is surprising since a feature used as an output is not used during testing.