Agricultural financing has a wide and deep history in Nigeria, owing to the fact that the Nigerian economy has huge potentials for growth especially from its agriculture sector which is the second largest contributor to GDP. Since the establishment of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme over 30 years ago, the total sum of 647,351 loans amounting to over N34 billion have been disbursed to farmers as at 2009. The result from this study shows that the guarantee scheme has been effective in providing agricultural financing as well as stimulating agricultural production in Nigeria. More specifically, the study found that, out of the five variables used in the models to determine agricultural performance, the credit finance provided under the ACGS and foreign exchange rates was found to be statistically significant to agricultural output. The credit provided under the ACGS has a significant effect on aggregate output; it was also found that the crop and the fishery subsectors are significantly affected by the credit finance provided under the ACGS, due to their short gestation period. However, the livestock and forestry subsectors do not have an immediate significant relationship with the credit finance due to their long gestation period; rather, they have a significant relationship with the depreciation of foreign exchange rates. A major policy implication from the study is that the government should continue to promote and support the operations of the ACGS to encourage farmers to invest their best efforts in agricultural production in Nigeria for food production and for enhanced agricultural export. Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za


As Internet of Things technology is applied to petroleum industry in China, petroleum product tracking and sales management are one of the tendencies of its application to the petroleum industry in future. On the basis that current situations about application of Internet of Things technology are analyzed and sales tracks of petroleum companies' petroleum products are surveyed, this thesis proposes design methods related to petroleum product tracking and sales management system based on Internet of Things, involves system structure and key techniques represented by RFID radio-frequency technique and cloud technology, simulates real application scenes of the management system and puts forward main framework and key technologies of application. Preliminary design and analyses of the management system provide theoretical support for us to expand application and realization of Internet of Things in the petroleum industry.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the diagnosis and surgical treatment of obstructive azoospermia.

METHODS
We analyzed the clinical data of 56 cases of obstructive azoospermia, 43 of them with ejaculatory duct obstruction (EDO), and the other 13 suspected of epididymal obstruction. The diagnostic methods included semen analyses, measurement of fructose and neutral alpha-glucosidase in the seminal plasma, transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS), and vasography when necessary. The 43 patients with EDO were treated by transurethral resection of the ejaculatory duct (TURED), and 11 of the 13 cases of suspected epididymal obstruction were confirmed by scrotal exploration and underwent either bilateral or unilateral vasoepididymostomy. The patients were followed up for 3 -51 months for postoperative semen quality and impregnation.

RESULTS
Of the 43 azoospermia patients with EDO treated by TURED, 36 (83.7%) showed improved semen parameters and 11 (25.6%) achieved pregnancies. Among the 11 cases of azoospermia with confirmed epididymal obstruction treated by vasoepididymostomy, 6 (54.5%) had sperm in the semen assay and 3 (27.3%) achieved pregnancies.

CONCLUSION
Semen analyses, measurement of fructose and neutral alpha-glucosidase in the seminal plasma, TRUS and vasography are important diagnostic methods for obstructive azoospermia. TURED is effective for azoospermia with EDO, while vasoepididymostomy is preferable for the treatment of azoospermia with epididymal obstruction.


"The Book of Shrigley" is the most extensive - and the first widely available - showcase of his edgy but accessible off-kilter vision. Here are bad-tempered pets, strange attractions, work, S-E-X, knitting, wrestling, and a host of other everyday activities, dangers, and amusements laid bare in Shrigley's urgently illustrated panels and wickedly mischievous punch lines. Made up of almost entirely new work and bursting with color and unsettlingly funny truths, "The Book of Shrigley" is the ideal introduction to this comic genius and the book fans have been waiting for.


War and the military have played central roles in shaping modern Chinese history. Worthing demonstrates how these factors have figured decisively in the rise and fall of imperial dynasties, the suppression of internal revolts, the emergence of revolutionary movements, the conduct of China's foreign relations, the development of political parties, the structure of governments, the rise of nationalism and the drive for modernization, all of which have shaped so much of China's modern history. War and the military have played central roles in shaping modern Chinese history. As Worthing demonstrates, the consequences of war and defeat, in both internal and external conflicts, have largely determined the course of history in China, especially in the period since the rise of the Manchu dynasty in the 17th century. Understanding the military history of China is, therefore, essential to an understanding of the Chinese state that is now emerging as a 21st-century military and economic power. Organized chronologically, this book is divided into three sections designed to reveal the manner in which war and the military have influenced the course of Chinese history.


BACKGROUND
This focus article is a theoretical reflection on the ethics of allocating respirators to patients in circumstances of shortage, especially during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Israel. In this article, respirators are placeholders for similar life-saving modalities in short supply, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines and intensive care unit beds. In the article, I propose a system of triage for circumstances of scarcity of respirators. The system separates the hopeless from the curable, granting every treatable person a real chance of cure. The scarcity situation eliminates excesses of medicine, and then allocates respirators by a single scale, combining an evidence-based scoring system with risk-proportionate lottery. The triage proposed embodies continuity and consistency with the healthcare practices in ordinary times. Yet, I suggest two regulatory modifications: one in relation to expediting review of novel and makeshift solutions and the second in relation to mandatory retrospective research on all relevant medical data and standard (as opposed to experimental) interventions that are influenced by the triage.


: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between seat position and linear velocity in wheelchair sprinting. Nine male subjects with various physical disabilities participated in the experiment. Linear velocity was determined by analyzing the filmed performance of subjects wheeling at maximum speed on a wheelchair ergometer. The results revealed no significant differences between the maximal linear velocities at each of the nine seat positions chosen for investigation. These findings suggest that given a limited variability in seat positions, maximal linear velocity will be minimally affected. Simple correlation procedures revealed a significant negative correlation between the length of push and linear velocity. This is in opposition to current findings and suggests that pushing frequency may be more critical than the length of push in generating maximum speed in wheelchair sprinting.


Super-resolution technology provides an effective way to increase image resolution by incorporating additional information from successive input images or training samples. Various super-resolution algorithms have been proposed based on different assumptions, and their relative performances can differ in regions of different characteristics within a single image. Based on this observation, an adaptive algorithm is proposed in this paper to integrate a higher level image classification task and a lower level super-resolution process, in which we incorporate reconstruction-based super-resolution algorithms, single-image enhancement, and image/video classification into a single comprehensive framework. The target high-resolution image plane is divided into adaptive-sized blocks, and different suitable super-resolution algorithms are automatically selected for the blocks. Then, a deblocking process is applied to reduce block edge artifacts. A new benchmark is also utilized to measure the performance of super-resolution algorithms. Experimental results with real-life videos indicate encouraging improvements with our method.


Cause of the difference in the cognitive process between intervention and observation on causal induction -A study of the effect of ego-involvement- Yoshiko Arai none Abstract: Pearl (2000) insisted on the importance of intervention in correlated events for causal induction. In addition, Sloman and Lagnado (2005) demonstrated that people infer differently, depending on whether they observed the events or intervened in them. I suppose that this result can be explained by the difference in the degree of ego- involvement. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of ego-involvement on causal judgment and the manner in which ego-involvement affects causal induction. In Experiment 1, the causal relationship was judged marginally more strongly when ego-involvement was present. Further, in Experiment 2, this effect was shown in a situation where causality is quite unclear or a situation where there is a fairly certain causal relationship between cause and effect. I conclude that ego-involvement affects causal induction in a situation where there is trouble because of causality.


Different methods are available to calculate multi-population genomic relationship matrices. Since those matrices differ in base population, it is anticipated that the method used to calculate the genomic relationship matrix affect the estimate of genetic variances, covariances and correlations. The aim of this paper is to define a multi-population genomic relationship matrix to estimate current genetic variances within and genetic correlations between populations. The genomic relationship matrix containing two populations consists of four blocks, one block for population 1, one block for population 2, and two blocks for relationships between the populations. It is known, based on literature, that current genetic variances are estimated when the current population is used as base population of the relationship matrix. In this paper, we theoretically derived the properties of the genomic relationship matrix to estimate genetic correlations and validated it using simulations. When the scaling factors of the genomic relationship matrix fulfill the property , the genetic correlation is estimated even though estimated variance components are not necessarily related to the current population. When this property is not met, the correlation based on estimated variance components should be multiplied by to rescale the genetic correlation. In this study we present a genomic relationship matrix which directly results in current genetic variances as well as genetic correlations between populations.


Higher education is a site of struggle over aims, values and identities of students and academics. Learning and teaching are increasingly the focus of policy in English higher education as universities wish to be seen to prioritise the student experience. In this thesis, I examine national policy on learning and teaching focusing particularly on its recontextualisation within institutional policy as well as practices around assessment. Using an interdisciplinary framework, I bring together Bernstein's (1990) ideas on pedagogy from a sociological perspective and a framework and concepts from critical discourse studies (CDS). Specifically, I draw on Bernstein's (1990; 2000) principles of how pedagogic discourse is created, the identities available to students and teachers, the notion of the official recontextualising field (ORF) and the pedagogic recontextualising field (PRF) and the tensions, as well as overlaps, between these two fields. From CDS, I use the discourse-historical approach (DHA) to provide an underpinning notion of context and the tools to explore the data for discursive strategies used in legitimising policy proposals. My data includes policy documents both national and institutional, assessment texts and interview data. I focus on four key policy texts for detailed analysis together with analysis of interviews with students and lecturers. Policy documents construct a picture of university education as producing employable graduates, students as partners, institutions as communities and teaching as facilitation. I find dissonances between these constructions in the policy documents and the portrayals in interview accounts. Findings also suggest a proliferation of discursive mechanisms designed to embed policy views on learning, teaching and the purpose of a university education. I address pertinent questions such as in whose interests, and with what effects, are such policy constructions and discursive mechanisms and whether certain types of universities are more likely to embrace them.


Background:Optimal antiretroviral exposure during pregnancy is critical for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission and for maternal health. Pregnancy can alter antiretroviral pharmacokinetics. Our objective was to describe lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) pharmacokinetics during pregnancy. Methods:We performed intensive steady-state 12-h pharmacokinetic profiles of lopinavir and ritonavir (three capsules: LPV 400 mg/r 100 mg) at 30–36 weeks gestation and 6–12 weeks postpartum. Maternal and umbilical cord blood samples were obtained at delivery. We measured LPV and ritonavir by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Target LPV area under concentration versus time curve (AUC) was ≥ 52 μg h/ml, the estimated 10th percentile LPV AUC in non-pregnant historical controls (mean AUC = 83 μg h/ml). Results:Seventeen women completed antepartum evaluations; average gestational age was 35 weeks. Geometric mean antepartum LPV AUC was 44.4 μg h/ml [90% confidence interval (CI), 38.7–50.9] and 12-h post-dose concentration (C12h) was 1.6 μg/ml (90% CI, 1.1–2.5). Twelve women completed postpartum evaluations; geometric mean LPV AUC was 65.2 μg h/ml (90% CI, 49.7–85.4) and C12h was 4.6 μg/ml (90% CI, 3.7–5.7). The geometric mean ratio of antepartum/postpartum LPV AUC was 0.72 (90% CI, 0.54–0.96). Fourteen of 17 (82%) pregnant and three of 12 (25%) postpartum women did not meet our target LPV AUC. The ratio of cord blood/maternal LPV concentration in ten paired detectable samples was 0.2 ± 0.13. Conclusions:LPV/r exposure during late pregnancy was lower compared to postpartum and compared to non-pregnant historical controls. Small amounts of lopinavir cross the placenta. The pharmacokinetics, safety, and effectiveness of increased LPV/r dosing during the third trimester of pregnancy should be investigated.


The present paper offers a qualitative analysis of how 22 co-habiting same-sex couples manage and think about their finances. Results show that partial-pooling and independent management are the most popular systems with emphasis placed on egalitarianism and devising a fair money management strategy. Significant income disparities between most partners necessitated the adoption of a system of proportional contributions to joint expenses. Despite attempts to equalise outcomes, an underlying norm of equality (characterised by equal contributions) paradoxically (re)produced the status and control of the higher earner in most cases. A degree of financial autonomy was an important ideal highlighting a valuing of co-independence rather than financial "merging" for lesbian and gay couples.


Novel approaches for optimized powder processing of advanced ceramics are reviewed with an emphasis on direct-casting methods and solid freeform fabrication techniques. The fundamental principles for green body formation are discussed; a distinction is made between physical and chemical gels based on the nature of the induced gelation. An overview of the properties of dense suspensions is presented, with a focus on the factors controlling the maximum solids loading. Recent work on direct measurements of interparticle forces in ceramic systems is presented and related to rheological properties.


—Rising concern for the societal implications of artificial intelligence systems has inspired a wave of academic and journalistic literature in which deployed systems are audited for harm by investigators from outside the organizations deploying the algorithms. However, it remains challenging for practitioners to identify the harmful repercussions of their own systems prior to deployment, and, once deployed, emergent issues can become difficult or impossible to trace back to their source. This research study introduces a framework for algorithmic auditing that supports artificial intelligence system development end-to-end, to be applied throughout the internal organization development lifecycle. Each stage of the audit yields a set of documents that together form an overall audit report, drawing on an organization's values or principles to assess the fit of decisions made throughout the process. The proposed auditing framework is intended to contribute to closing the accountability gap in the development and deployment of large-scale artificial intelligence systems by embedding a robust process to ensure audit integrity.


BACKGROUND
There is evidence to suggest that people with aphasia (PWA) may have deficits in attention stemming from the inefficient allocation of resources. The inaccurate perception of task demand, or sense of effort, may underlie the misallocation of the available attention resources. Given the lack of treatment options for improving attention in aphasia, Mindfulness Meditation, shown to improve attention in neurologically intact individuals, may prove effective in increasing attention in PWA.

AIMS
The purpose of the present study was to determine if Mindfulness Meditation improves divided attention or language in PWA and if it affects the overall sense of effort.

METHODS & PROCEDURES
A multiple baseline single-subject design was used to determine the effects of Mindfulness Meditation on divided attention for three PWA. Divided attention was measured using a non-linguistic divided attention task. Visual inspection of the data was used to determine changes in performance (sense of effort, reaction time and accuracy, language) over time.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS
High performance observed on the attention measures suggests that PWA have varying degrees of attentional impairment that may surface when certain demands are presented. There were no observable changes in the performance on the sense of effort or language measures; however, measures of reaction time may indicate Mindfulness Meditation improved efficiency of task completion.

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS
All three participants reported that Mindfulness Meditation was easy to learn and carry out on a daily basis, and reported feeling more 'relaxed' and 'peaceful' after Mindfulness Meditation training than before. With the knowledge that PWA can learn meditative practices, and with such successful findings in neurologically intact individuals, it is important to continue evaluating the benefits of Mindfulness Meditation in PWA.


This paper proposes an alternative coordinated motion control architecture of robot arms manipulating an object. The motion and the internal force of the object are resolved into the motion of each arm. Each arm is controlled based on the virtual internal model so as to operate in coordination even if geometric errors exist in the robot arms and the object. The virtual internal model is a reference model driven by sensory information implemented in the controller. The proposed architecture will keep the state of the system bounded even if the breakage of the manipulated object occurs. The control algorithm is experimentally applied to the coordinated motion control of two planar robot arms, each of which has three degrees of freedom. The results illustrate the validity of the proposed control architecture.


This thesis is divided into three sections. Section one concerns an investigation of the liverwort Gymnomitrion obtusum (Lindb) Pears (Hepaticae) which proved to he a rich source of sesquiterpenoids with a novel (5, 3, 1) undecane carton skeleton. Eight new sesquiterpenoids were isolated including the alcohol gymnomitrol, which is the major constituent. The chemical and spectroscopic properties of gymnomitrol and its congeners, which led to the structural elucidation, are described, together with some interesting reactions and more detailed discussions of the mass spectra and lanthanide ion induced shifts in the nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The absolute configuration of gymnomitrol has been determined by circular dichroism and a plausible biogenesis proposed. The initial stages of a potential synthetic route to this new skeletal type are reported. The discussion of the chemistry of gymnomitrol is prefaced by a brief review of the literature of the Hepaticae. In an extension of the previously reported work on the constituents Elythroxylon monogynun Roxb., which is discussed briefly in the introduction, section two describes the isolation and structural elucidation of seven new diterpenoids from the rootwood of Erythroxylon australe. The structures of these new stachene - and erythroxydiol X - related diterpenoids were assigned on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic evidence and interrelation with known compounds. It is of interest that all the new compounds have an oxygen substituent at C-1. In addition six known diterpenoids were also isolated. In section three the chemistry of some highly complex tetranor-triterpenoids is reviewed. The light petroleum extract of the wood of Trichilia prieuriana (Meliaceae) gave a crystalline substance named prieurianin, which appears to be a member of this group. Despite a considerable amount of data on prieuriariin, including p. m. r. and 13C. m. r. . its structure has still not been established. A suitable derivative for X-ray crystal structure analysis has been prepared and is being examined.


Feature engineering is a crucial but tedious task that requires up to 80% of the total time in data science projects. A significant challenge is when data consists of tables from different data sources, thus data scientists need to wisely aggregate and join tables while performing feature engineering task. In this work, we demonstrate a novel system called OneBM (One Button Machine), that enables data scientists to increase their efficiency with automated feature engineering for relational data. OneBM takes as input a relational dataset with multiple tables and its entity relation diagram (ERD) which can be declared with a novel, easy-to-use drag-and-drop graphical user interface. The system then automatically identifies and executes relevant joins and aggregates in the data, and generates new features with a rich set of transformations for various types of data including but not limited to time-series, sequences, number sets and itemsets, etc. The generated features then can be used by automated model selection and hyper-parameter optimization algorithms to complete a fully end-to-end automated data science (or AutoDS) workflow. A follow-up user evaluation illustrated how data scientists can perform multi-table feature engineering tasks in minutes using our system, compared to repeatedly coding SQL-like queries to transform and aggregate relational data requiring weeks of manual labor for comparable performance. In the live demos we plan to show two use cases with real-world datasets (video demos are available at the links in the footnote): sale prediction1 and call center user experience2. Pre-registered partcipants can play with these use-cases and the given datasets via Watson Studio on the cloud.


Murder by lying in wait is a particularly vile manner of murder. Each act is the culmination not only of planning and premeditation, but also of preying on an unsuspecting victim from a position of overwhelming advantage. However, has the definition of lying in wait, as a death qualifying circumstance in murder trials, been inappropriately broadened so that it has lost its distinctiveness as a legitimate narrowing mechanism for singling out those deserving of capital punishment? Does it now encompass scenarios not even contemplated at the time of its inclusion as a death qualifying event? This article discusses the requirement, set forth by the Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia, that any death penalty law must narrow the class of individuals that deserve execution. It then presents the history of lying in wait as a death qualifying circumstance. First, it discusses the early American lying in wait murder case of Riley v. State, which set out the three lying-in-wait prerequisites: (1) waiting, (2) watching, and secrecy. Then, it offers an explanation of the classification of lying in wait as an aggravating circumstance, with its four elements: (1) concealment, (2) watching and waiting, (3) surprise lethal attack, and (4) connection between lying in wait and having an advantage over the victim. This is followed by an analysis of the lying in wait aggravating circumstance in the California Penal Code, and how it has been used in California death penalty cases. This is followed by a comparison of the use of lying in wait as an aggravating circumstance in other states, including Indiana and Colorado. The article concludes with the argument that the use of lying in wait as an aggravating circumstance must be reexamined, rewritten, and reapplied to faithfully adhere to the fundamental fabric of our death penalty jurisprudence.


Machine teaching is an algorithmic framework for teaching a
target hypothesis via a sequence of examples or demonstrations.
We investigate machine teaching for temporal logic
formulas—a novel and expressive hypothesis class amenable
to time-related task specifications. In the context of teaching
temporal logic formulas, an exhaustive search even for a myopic
solution takes exponential time (with respect to the time
span of the task). We propose an efficient approach for teaching
parametric linear temporal logic formulas. Concretely,
we derive a necessary condition for the minimal time length
of a demonstration to eliminate a set of hypotheses. Utilizing
this condition, we propose an efficient myopic teaching algorithm
by solving a sequence of integer programming problems.
We further show that, under two notions of teaching
complexity, the proposed algorithm has near-optimal performance.
We evaluate our algorithm extensively under different
classes of learners (i.e., learners with different preferences
over hypotheses) and interaction protocols (e.g., non-adaptive
and adaptive). Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of
the proposed algorithm in teaching temporal logic formulas;
in particular, we show that there are significant gains of
teaching efficacy when the teacher adapts to feedback of the
learner, or adapts to a (non-myopic) oracle.


Purpose Brn3b is a class IV POU domain transcription factor that plays an important role in the development of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), RGC survival, and particularly axon growth and pathfinding. Our previous study demonstrated that recombinant adenoassociated virus serotype 2 (rAAV-2)–mediated overexpression of Brn3b in RGCs promoted neuroprotection in a rodent model of glaucoma. However, the mechanisms underlying neuroprotection of RGCs in rats overexpressing Brn3b in animal models of glaucoma remain largely unknown. The goal of this study was to understand some of the mechanisms underlying the neuroprotection of RGCs overexpressing Brn3b during intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation in Brown Norway rats. Methods One eye of Brown Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) was injected with an AAV construct encoding either green fluorescent protein (GFP; recombinant adenoassociated virus–green fluorescent protein, rAAV-hSyn-GFP) or Brn3b (rAAV-hSyn-Brn3b). Expression of antiapoptotic proteins, including B cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 (Bcl-2) family proteins (Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL), and p-AKT, was observed following immunostaining of rat retinas that overexpress Brn3b. In a different set of experiments, intraocular pressure was elevated in one eye of Brown Norway rats, which was followed by intravitreal injection with AAV constructs encoding either GFP (rAAV-CMV-GFP) or Brn3b (rAAV-CMV-Brn3b). Retinal sections were stained for prosurvival factors, including Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and p-AKT. Results AAV-mediated expression of transcription factor Brn3b promoted statistically significant upregulation of the Bcl-2 protein and increased expression of p-AKT in RGCs of Brown Norway rats. In addition, following IOP elevation, AAV-mediated Brn3b expression also statistically significantly increased levels of Bcl-2 in the RGC layer in Brown Norway rats. Conclusions Adenoassociated virus–mediated Brn3b protein overexpression may promote neuroprotection by upregulating key antiapoptotic proteins, including Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and p-AKT, in animal models of glaucoma.


Abstract text : INTRODUCTION Avascular necrosis of the femoral head develops in 3-19% of patients with sickle cell disease and frequently this is bilateral. Intravascular sickling causes thrombosis and then ischemia, resulting in infarcts in the femoral head which progress to avascular necrosis. Total hip replacement is therefore indicated in such patients. However various studies have shown high complication rates in these groups of patients. There is no documented structural reason in the shape of the proximal femur in sickle cell disease patients which may cause implant loosening. The following are the objectives of this study-to assess the variation in the proximal femoral canal anatomy in sickle cell disease patients and compare with established documented findings in normal population and to also deduce if structural reasons could be the cause for implant loosening rate in this group of patients. METHODS The standardized anterior posterior radiographs of forty-two (42) sickle cell disease patients with degenerative hip osteoarthritis secondary to avascular necrosis and another identical cohort of forty-two (42) patients with primary degenerative hip OA were initially taken and evaluated on a standard imaging software. The following measurements were noted-proximal femoral canal(Y), mid-diaphysis canal(X), extra medullary canal (Z) diameters- in millimetres (mm) .The calcar-canal ratio (CC) and the cortical index (CI) was calculated as described by Dorr . RESULTS- THE SICKLE CELL GROUP:The mean cortical index (CI) was moderately high -0.65(0.38-0.83), while the mean calcar to canal (CC) ratio was low-0.49(0.27-0.89) Using independent sample t-test, there was no significant difference in the cortical index (CI) and calcar canal ratio (CC) for males and females. ( p=0.9 for CC: p value>0.05 and p=0.6 for CI: p value >0.05). OSTEOARTHRITIC GROUP:The mean cortical index (CI) was 0.49(0.19-0.79) and calcar canal ratio (CC) was 0.47(0.32-0.89). Using the independent t-test, there was no statistical difference between male and female cortical indices (t value- 0.29; degree of freedom (df)-0.221: p-0.76) . There was also no statistical difference in the calcar canal ratios between both genders. ( t value-0.153;df-0.20, p-0.87 with p value >0.05) CONCLUSION According to Dorr classification of types of variations in proximal femoral anatomy-xray measurements which show higher cortical indices and lower calcar to canal ratios suggest funnel shaped proximal femurs. This is clearly seen in the above measurements deduced in this sample of sickle cell disease patients. Their funnel shaped proximal femur allows for good implant fixation for both cemented and uncemented stems. These results therefore imply that the structural anatomy of these patients proximal femurs does not contribute to implant loosening and so other reasons for this should be sought.


The Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) has recently rolled out a new still image coding standard called JPEG 2000. This standard integrates an efficient image compression scheme along with functionalities required by multimedia applications, such as progressiveness up to lossless coding, region of interest coding, and error resiliency. Security is a concern in many applications, and therefore a highly desired functionality. For this reason, JPEG recently initiated an activity known as secure JPEG 2000 (JPSEC) in order to provide a standardized framework for secure imaging. This paper presents some insights on the current status of the JPSEC activities. We also provide examples of how to combine security solutions with JPEG 2000 compression. More specifically, tools for JPEG 2000 compressed image integrity, access control, and copyright protection are presented. They can be either applied to a JPEG 2000 codestream or directly integrated into the coding/decoding operations. In all cases, they result in a fully compliant JPEG 2000 image.


The potter wasp genus Parancistrocerus Bequaert, 1925, is reviewed from the Indian subcontinent. Three new species, namely, Parancistrocerus jaferpaloti Girish Kumar and Carpenter sp. n., P. loharbandensis Girish Kumar and Carpenter sp. n. and P. turensis Girish Kumar and Carpenter sp. n. are described. The species P. holzschuhi Gusenleitner, 1987, is recorded here for the first time from India. The male of P. vicinus Giordani Soika, 1994, is described. Parancistrocerus intermediatus (Sonan, 1939), P. nitobei (Sonan, 1939), P. kuraruensis (Sonan, 1939) and P. taikonus (Sonan, 1939) are new combinations. A key to species and subspecies from the Indian subcontinent and an updated checklist of Oriental species are also


SIR,-In his pathological study of the liver in kwashiorkor (Journal, May 31, p. 1263) Dr. N. K. Chanda states that, "although it may be true that prolonged fatty infiltration leads to cirrhosis, there may be other factors in addition to the fatty infiltration which help the progression to cirrhosis...." There is strong evidence that the cirrhosis described is caused primarily by these " other factors," and not by kwashiorkor. The latter disease is world-wide in distribution, but it seems that cirrhosis is commonly associated with it in only two regions, Jamaica and India.' In Jamaica cirrhosis is almost invariably the end-result of venoocclusive disease of the liver,2 a disease probably due to poisoning with crotalaria and similar toxic substances. In India the cause of cirrhosis in malnourished children is as yet uncertain, but recent work suggests that veno-occlusive disease of the liver often precedes the cirrhosis.' In South Africa kwashiorkor is very common in African children, but cirrhosis is very rarely seen in them. This hospital, which caters for a population of about half a million Africans, admits 6,000 children up to the age of 9 years annually, of whom 600-800 are advanced cases of kwashiorkor. Most of these cases have marked fatty livers, yet we see only 1-3 examples of cirrhosis of the liver per year. This condition does not appear to be more common in African children, in whom malnutrition is common, than in children of European descent, in whom severe malnutrition is exceedingly rare., During the last 2 years we have seen 5 children with veno-occlusive disease of the liver, 3 of whom were in the second phase of the disease, progressing to cirrhosis. The state of nutrition of the 5 children was rather better than average, and the disease was probably caused by a poison, as in Jamaican patients. In South Africa cirrhosis of the liver is not caused by the dietetic deficiencies responsible for the pathogenesis of kwashiorkor. In countries where cirrhosis exists in association with kwashiorkor, it may be advisable to look out fortoxic factors. As in the cases of senecio-poisoning reported from this country,3 the noxious agent may be concealed in the faulty diet.-We are, etc., E. KAHN.


Abstract The principles of green chemistry include a statement as to the necessity for real-time analysis for prevention of pollution. Methodologies need to be developed for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances. These should be carried out by (chemical) sensors. Monitoring also allows optimizing the efficient use of reagents and permits determination of the composition of waste and effluents. In this paper, new monitoring strategies are surveyed and some of the recent advances which have been achieved with respect to novel devices in terms of miniaturization and reliability are indicated. Emphasis is given to continuous and online flow and injection methodologies and the requirements for successful sensors. Particular attention is given to the future potential of electrochemical flow and batch injection sensors which can often be used without external sample pretreatment. Electrochemical sensors using carbon film-based electrodes, including their application in room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) for which electrochemical methodologies are directly suited are also described.


What makes a good question recommendation system for community question-answering sites? First, to maintain the health of the ecosystem, it needs to be designed around answerers, rather than exclusively for askers. Next, it needs to scale to many questions and users, and be fast enough to route a newly-posted question to potential answerers within the few minutes before the asker's patience runs out. It also needs to show each answerer questions that are relevant to his or her interests. We have designed and built such a system for Yahoo! Answers, but realized, when testing it with live users, that it was not enough. We found that those drawing-board requirements fail to capture user's interests. The feature that they really missed was diversity. In other words, showing them just the main topics they had previously expressed interest in was simply too dull. Adding the spice of topics slightly outside the core of their past activities significantly improved engagement. We conducted a large-scale online experiment in production in Yahoo! Answers that showed that recommendations driven by relevance alone perform worse than a control group without question recommendations, which is the current behavior. However, an algorithm promoting both diversity and freshness improved the number of answers by 17%, daily session length by 10%, and had a significant positive impact on peripheral activities such as voting.


Hypothetical power dissipation by a tidal in‐stream energy conversion device was calculated for Admiralty Inlet, Washington, a highly energetic entrance channel to Puget Sound and currently a candidate for tidal energy development. Power dissipation was calculated for a device of a given capacity as a function of hub height above sea bottom (z), using acoustic Doppler current profiler data taken in 2007 and 2009 at seven locations throughout the Inlet. At five of the seven locations, where the tidal currents were predominantly bi‐directional, power dissipation density increased roughly as ~z γ , with the exponent γ narrowly ranging from 0.62 to 0.66, up to at least z = 18m. At two of the five sites where the water depth exceeded this substantially, power was found to increase further with z but at slower rates with γ = 0.19 and 0.42. The remaining two sites out of the seven were both close to shoreline features, and the currents deviated significantly from bi‐directionality. At one of the two the power increased at a slower rate of γ = 0.35 – 0.5, while at the other the increase was faster with γ = 0.91 – 0.96. The increase in power with height at the bi‐directional sites is faster than would be expected from the one‐seventh power law applicable to turbulent channels. However, it is still slower than the likely increase in the cost of device foundation with height, which would at a minimum scale as ~z due to the cost of materials alone, and likely scale faster in order for the installation to withstand the overturning moment exerted by the tidal current. Thus, placing a tidal device high in the water column to exploit stronger currents may not be economically attractive, given that the device operator needs to recoup the higher cost of device foundation required.


It is proved that a numerical semigroup can be associated to the triangle-free $(r,k)$-configurations,
and some results on existence are deduced.
For example it is proved that for any $r,k\geq 2$ there exists infinitely many $(r,k)$-configurations.
Most proofs are given from a graph theoretical point of view, in the sense that the configurations are represented by their incidence graphs.
An application to private information retrieval is described.


Three experiments were conducted on Tamarindus indica (Tamarind) and Ziziphus
mauritiana (Ber) in parkland systems in Mali between 2006 and 2009: 1) the effect of
Tamarind on yield and nutritional quality of African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum L)
in comparison with sorghum (Sorghum bicolour (L. ) Moench) was performed in
Siramana village; 2) methods of domesticating an improved cultivar of Ber on farms
through intercropping with African eggplant and sorghum were performed in
Sanankoroba and 3) methods of enhancing the growth of Tamarind and Ber seedlings
through mycorrhizal inoculation were performed in the nursery of Sotuba research
Centre. All the three sites are situated in South Sudanian zone with annual rainfall
ranging from 900 to 1200 mm. The soils in Siramana and Sanankoroba have sandy clay
loan and sandy loan texture respectively. For the third experiment, nursery soil was used
which consisted of local soil (1/3), sand (1/3) and compost (1/3). Concerning the first
experiment, six adult trees of Tamarind were randomly selected in the collaborating
farmers' fields. The area around each sample tree was subdivided into three concentric
zones: Zone A; Zone B and Zone C. A control plot (Zone D) was installed in an open
area. Crop production (eggplant and sorghum) in these zones was assessed over two
cropping seasons. Regarding the second experiment, an experimental plantation was
established with seedlings of the local variety of Ber half of which were grafted in-situ
with an improved cultivar of Ber called SEB. Crop production as well as the
performance of Ber was assessedin each experimental plot over two cropping seasons.
Concerning the experiment on mycorrhizas, three inocula were used: Glomus
aggregatum, Glomus fascia and unselected nursery soil inoculum as a control. The
results of the study on the intercropping trial of Tamarind showed that Tamarind may
have a positive effect on yield of eggplant but a negative effect on yield of sorghum.
Tamarind had, however, no effect on nutritional composition of both crops. The results
of farmer's feedback survey showed that growing eggplants under Tamarind has a great
potential for adoption by farmers in Mali because majority of respondents mentioned
that the tree-crop association tested was a good idea and should be promoted for making
more productive use of land under trees, improving crop yields and increasing farmers'
incomes. The results of the study on Ber domestication showed that SEB, the improved
variety as well as the local variety of Ber had no detrimental effect on either eggplant or
sorghum, both in terms of yield and nutritional quality, two years after establishment. In
fact a beneficial effect of trees was found on the performance of both crops (yield, dry
matter production) which suggest a complementarity of resource use. The high level of
fruit production of the improved variety of Ber observed on farms under rain-fed
conditions may be a source of additional income and diversification of diet for rural
communities in Africa. Therefore, the adoption by farmers of the agroforestry practice
of domesticating improved Ber varieties in association with food crops may help
considerably in alleviating poverty in the region. The results of the mycorrhizal studies
showed that VAM species differed in their ability to enhance plant growth. The growth
of Ber was significantly improved by G. aggregatum inoculum while the growth of
Tamarind was enhanced with nursery soil inoculum. The results on Tamarind suggest
the need for isolating the local soil mycorrhizal fungi in future screening experiments.


In this research, charisma has been measured at different levels of online social networks including charisma at the level of messages, individuals, and communities. First, the charisma-associated features have been extracted and then weighted by hybrid proposed methods. Eventually, measuring and ranking charisma has been investigated through technique for order preference by similarity to ideal situation (TOPSIS) as one of the leading multi-criteria decision-making methods. Through the proposed approach, the charisma of different messages, individuals, as well as implicit and explicit communities can be measured, ranked, and compared. In this research, eight datasets were collected from Twitter with different and diverse features. The results indicated that the charismatic messages and individuals of each dataset have been chosen properly and logically. Further, a method has been presented to measure the rate of charisma in every community which can be employed for comparing communities and predicting behavior in online communities.


Results of a comparative investigation of diphtheria antitoxin and type-specific antibacterial antibodes in 264 carriers of diphtherial bacteria, 41 diphtheria patients and 263 non-infected subjects are presented. A high level of antitoxin did not prevent the development of toxigenic-strain carrier state. A basically similar immunological antibacterial response was observed in patients with manifest forms of diphtheria and in carriers of toxigenic strains; such a response could not as yet be detected in carriers of non-toxigenic strains. It has been suggested that the infectious process in the toxigenic-strain carrier state is due to factors of the virulence responsible for infectivity and invasiveness of the diphtherial microbe. The toxin plays no pathogenic role in carrier state.


In spite of progress in improving skills levels over the past decade, Britain still lags far behind many of its main competitors in key areas. Andy Green and Hilary Steedman report on the results of work carried out at the CEP as part of the Skills Audit. Governments increasingly access the adequacy of the skill levels of their own population in relation to those of key competitors.


Article received December 5, 2014. Article accepted April 22, 2015. Introduction: The present study addressed the issue of hospitalization in 13 patients, children and adolescents, specifically focusing on burn patients admitted to a center for burn treatment. The objective of this study was to observe and analyze the perception of those involved in the treatment process in order to understand the relationship of the patient with pain and the treatment process with the quality of life in the hospital environment and with their self-image, and to collect information on the importance of prophylactic treatment on thermal trauma. Methods: To meet the objectives of the research, we used the case study method with a qualitative approach. Results: The results showed that most of the patients were male. The predominant etiologic agent was ethanol. The accidents caused burns of various severities, firstand second-degree burns in 1 patient, secondand third-degree burns in 7 patients, and third-degree burns in 5 patients. The length of hospitalization ranged from 15 to 75 days. The ages of the patients ranged from 1 year 8 months to 18 years. As to education, with the exception of the youngest patient, all attended the school network. Regarding socioeconomic level, most had a family income of up to 2 minimum wages, which was not sufficient. In general, only one person worked per family. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the need to provide guidance to parents, with educational programs and campaigns. ■ ABSTRACT


This thesis presents the results of an empirical study investigating the use of facial skincare products by men in the UK. It examines the under-researched area of how men negotiate facial skincare usage in terms of masculine identities. Men's facial skincare remains a 'culturally sensitive' area (Hall, 2015). The existing literature on various types of 'capital' (Bourdieu, 1979) does not adequately describe the cultural and social benefits for men using facial skincare products to improve their appearance. Furthermore, 'gender capital' (Bridges, 2009) fails to explain sufficiently how men protect their sense of masculine identity whilst using a potentially feminising product. The research explores the consumption of a diverse range of products within this growing sector of consumption that supposes men should seek to improve their overall body image (Cornwall et al., 2016). The study offers an insight into how modern men relate to products that were previously positioned in relation to women's beauty. The research adopts a social constructionist approach. Firstly, a framework based on the approaches of Williamson (2002) and Van Leeuwen (2005) for semiotic analysis is developed and used to illustrate the various signifiers of masculinity applied by advertisers for audiences. The second stage of the research is focussed on qualitative interviews and the first of two focus groups with men about their responses to advertisements for male skincare products and their feelings about male skincare and masculine identities in the 21st Century. Final stage data collection explores how pressures on appearance informs identity ideals involved interviews with younger males supplemented by a focus group. In addition, industry representatives express their views in a series of interviews in order to provide a means by which to understand current trends and issues surrounding men's facial skincare products. Key findings from this study highlight how men escape accusations of being vain or effeminate whilst using a product that retains a feminine inference. The reliance on women to guide decision-making provides a context that enables men to preserve their male identity by distancing themselves from seeming to be overtly interested in a 'beautifying' product. The contested concept of 'hegemonic masculinity' (Connell, 1995) and Cooley's (1902) 'looking glass' analogy are brought together through the concept of 'looking glass capital' to illustrate how men who use facial skincare products benefit from an improved appearance and how they go about protecting gender ideals.


Sexual function is an important component of either general health and quality of life in both genders. Many studies have focused on the different risk factors for sexual dysfunctions, proving an association with several medical conditions. Endocrine disorders have been often mentioned in the pathogenesis of female and male sexual dysfunctions; however, particularly in women, sexual function is rarely addressed during clinical, in general, and endocrinological, in particular, consultations. As a thorough diagnosis is required in order to provide an adequately tailored treatment, knowing how each endocrine dysfunction can impair sexual health is of the utmost importance, also considering the high prevalence of conditions such as disorders of pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, gonads as well metabolic disorders. We performed a thorough review of existing literature on the different mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of female sexual dysfunctions secondary to endocrine disorders in order to provide an up-to-date reference.


This paper examines poverty and hardship in Europe after the 2008 crisis, using household interviews in nine European countries. A number of findings deserve highlighting. First, making a distinction between 'the old poor' (those who lived in poverty before as well as after the crisis) and 'the new poor' (those who fell into hardship after the crisis), we show that hardship is experienced quite differently by these groups. Second, the household narratives showed that while material deprivations constitute an important aspect of hardship, the themes of insecurity and dependency also emerged as fundamental dimensions. In contrast to popular political discourse in countries such as the UK, dependency on welfare or family was experienced as a source of distress and manifested as a form of hardship by participants in all countries covered in this study.


Dynamic and smart Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructures allow the development of smart healthcare systems, which are equipped with mobile health and embedded healthcare sensors to enable a broad range of healthcare applications. These IoT applications provide access to the clients' health information. However, the rapid increase in the number of mobile devices and social networks has generated concerns regarding the secure sharing of a client's location. In this regard, federated learning (FL) is an emerging paradigm of decentralized machine learning that guarantees the training of a shared global model without compromising the data privacy of the client. To this end, we propose a K-anonymity-based secure hierarchical federated learning (SHFL) framework for smart healthcare systems. In the proposed hierarchical FL approach, a centralized server communicates hierarchically with multiple directly and indirectly connected devices. In particular, the proposed SHFL formulates the hierarchical clusters of location-based services to achieve distributed FL. In addition, the proposed SHFL utilizes the K-anonymity method to hide the location of the cluster devices. Finally, we evaluated the performance of the proposed SHFL by configuring different hierarchical networks with multiple model architectures and datasets. The experiments validated that the proposed SHFL provides adequate generalization to enable network scalability of accurate healthcare systems without compromising the data and location privacy.


The structure of the ovary, including stages in the ripening of the oocytes, is described. A prolonged diplotene stage with 'lamp-brush' chromosomes is shown to occur in reptiles, as in other classes of vertebrates with large yolky eggs. The striated layer of the egg membrane is shown to be composed of the same cuticular substance as the zona pellucida. A follicular epithelium composed of three types of cells, later reduced to a single layer of small cells, agreeing with Loyez9s observations, is described. A discontinuous theca interna, comparable with that of mammalia, is noted outside the membrana propria of the nearly ripe oocyte. A thin, soft, fibrous shell membrane is formed round the uterine egg and polyspermy occurs. The latebra, and the male and female pronuclei in apposition, are described. The corpus luteum is shown to consist of luteal cells invested by fibroblasts from the theca externa. Septa of fibroblasts are also present, but no blood-vessels. The theca is rich in capillaries. The theca interna plays no part in the development of the corpus luteum. A lipoid secretion, which may be of physiological importance, is formed in it. It is compared with that in Monotremes and Marsupials.


This paper presents the architecture of a multimedia sensor network, especially dedicated to video surveillance. The founding ideas of our architecture are: (a) continuous 3D real-time reconstruction of the monitored area in which streams originated form video sensors are merged. (b) locating parts of data analysis/extraction tasks on the sensors themselves in a way to reduce drastically the network bandwidth usage, traditionally consumed by video stream. Hence video sensors perform in addition to capturing tasks, data analysis and extraction of features needed for the 3D reconstruction. We validated our approach through real experimentations, in particular on the video sensor.


Although historians have read the athleticism of seven-time national tennis champion Bill Tilden as a cover for his sexual identity, his playing style was very much a product of his existence outside normative gender expectations in the 1920s. Tennis allowed Tilden to engage in the homosocial amateur sporting code of upper-class Northeasterners—establishing psychological intimacy with playing partners, opponents, and protégés—while also adapting the more "roughneck" and varied techniques of working-class Californian players into a style that observers celebrated for both its power and its beauty. Tilden defied contemporary expectations that bourgeois white men should eventually limit their participation in leisure and settle down with marriage and stable capitalist production, while using athletic movement to bridge gender categories in the creation of his own "artistic" self-expression.


SIR,-An account of the following case may be of some interest as it illustrates two points of general importance. Mrs. M. A. is a lady of 71 years who has suffered intermittently since 1954 from vomiting after meals. This was thought to be due to Meniere's disease, but in fact she usually responded to alkalis and oesophagitis appeared to be a more likely diagnosis. Radiological investigation was negative. Following a severe shock (the deaths of her husband and her lodger) she attended again in February, 1962, with complaints of heartburn, belching, and of a sensation of a lump in the throat. These symptoms were very simnilar to those of which she had complained intermittently for years, and she was given " mucaine." This produced a considerable lessening of the pain, but the dysphagia persisted. She was therefore referred back to hospital, where investigation showed a carcinoma of the oesophagus. The first point illustrated is the problem which perplexes every general practitioner-namely, the patient who is seen regularly over a period of several years with essentially similar symptoms, which have already been investigated and yet still may have some ominous import. The difficulty arises in deciding when and how often to refer such patients for reinvestigation. The second point is in connexion with the use of mucaine itself. This emulsion contains a topical anaesthetic which introduces, to the best of my knowledge, a new principle in the treatment of dyspeptic symptoms. I was impressed with the speed with which pain was relieved in attacks of acute gastritis and oesophagitis, but was nevertheless uneasy in case the topical anaesthesia might mask important symptomsin this case the pain but not the dysphagia improved. In hospital practice it is practicable to x-ray a great proportion with dyspeptic symptoms. In general practice this is clearly impossible and a treatment which will produce rapid symptomatic relief without masking serious underlying lesions is therefore of interest.I am, etc.,


The neuropeptides vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP) and their class II G protein-coupled receptors VPAC1, VPAC2, and PAC1 play important roles in human physiology. No small molecule modulator has ever been reported for the VIP/PACAP receptors, and there is a lack of specific VPAC2 antagonists. Via high-throughput screening of 1.67 million compounds, we discovered a single small molecule antagonist of human VPAC2, compound 1. Compound 1 inhibits VPAC2-mediated cAMP accumulation with an IC50 of 3.8 μM and the ligand-activated β-arrestin2 binding with an IC50 of 2.3 μM. Compound 1 acts noncompetitively in Schild analysis. It is a specific VPAC2 antagonist with no detectable agonist or antagonist activities on VPAC1 or PAC1. Compound 2, a close structural analog of compound 1, was also found to be weakly active. To our surprise, compound 1 is completely inactive on the closely related mouse VPAC2. Chimera experiments indicate that compounds 1 and 2 bind to the seven transmembrane (7TM) region of the receptor as opposed to the N-terminal extracellular domain, where the natural ligand binds. Compound 1, being the first small molecular antagonist that is specific for VPAC2, and the only VPAC2 antagonist molecule known to date that allosterically interacts with the 7TM region, will be a valuable tool in further study of VPAC2 and related receptors. This study also highlights the opportunities and challenges facing small molecule drug discovery for class II peptide G protein-coupled receptors.


Conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria over the past fifteen years have produced the largest waves of displaced people and refugees since World War II. As European Union (EU) leaders braced for an influx of thousands of people fleeing from these conflicts, they faced pressures to revisit and modify legal rules that left countries in Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean unable to cope with a crisis of unprecedented proportions in the twenty-first century. While the logistical challenges of this humanitarian disaster threatened to undermine Southeastern and Mediterranean states' capacity, multiple terrorist attacks across Europe magnified the security concerns of EU leaders. This paper compares how two of the European Union's newest member states – Bulgaria and Hungary – have tackled the migrant crisis and assesses the impact of security concerns on their refugee policies. Some of the responses of these countries' governments were similar – both governments mandated the erection or extension of physical barriers to impede migrants' entry on their countries' territory. While the Bulgarian government took cues from the rhetoric and actions of key EU leaders such as Angela Merkel, the Hungarian government continuously antagonized EU leaders and declined to cooperate with their proposed multi-lateral strategies of handling the migrant crisis. Decisions taken by the two governments were, to some extent, dictated by security concerns. The rhetoric of the Hungarian government, however, contained stronger nationalist overtones than that of the Bulgarian government. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his right-wing government led an anti-migrant and anti-refugee campaign that sought to exclude foreign nationals due to the patent incompatibility of their cultural values with those of Hungary's nationals. On the other hand, the rhetoric of Bulgaria's Prime Minister – Boiko Borisov – was more dualistic and contradictory. His policy statements to the foreign press or at EU summits reflected the general sentiment of the top EU brass, whereas statements made to the Bulgarian media focused more specifically on security concerns and were far more critical of the foreign nationals attempting to enter Bulgaria's territory. Moreover, the security-focused rhetoric and actions of the government became more strident immediately before and after the Bulgarian presidential elections of November 2016, which led to the resignation of Borisov's cabinet. Political parties in Bulgaria, including Borisov's GERB party have increasingly become critical of refugees living in Bulgaria's admission centers. Borisov's government even extradited a group of Afghan asylum seekers due to their involvement in a riot at one of the refugee admission centers. This study is based on a content analysis of statements made by Bulgarian and Hungarian government officials and media coverage in several Bulgarian and Hungarian news publications between 2015 and 2017.


The Takakura Composting Method has experienced decreasing degree of the
effectiveness in organic matter degradation due to several factors. The objective of the research
is to know the effect of adding yeast and sugar into Takakura Inoculum. There were two control
and three variation include control A (8 kg new inoculum), control B ( 8 kg used inoculum),
Variation C (8 kg used inoculum : 75 gr sugar), Variation D (8 kg used inoculum : 20 gr yeast),
Variation E (8 kg used inoculum : 20 gr yeast : 45 gr sugar). Yeast is a consortium of
microorganism and sugar is a good nutrition resource for microorganism. The measurement result showed that the adding sugar and yeast didnot affect the
degradation of organic matter process and humification process. Temperature Control A was in
thermophilic phase and Variation B, C, D, E used old inoculum in mesophilic phase in
degradation process. The temperature got to be lower until room temperatur if it didnot be
added by rice. The pH of Compost was about neutral measurement 6,4 up to 7,4. Twenty days
later, physical characteristics of compost was shown. They are blacky brown in color, loose and
soil smelling. Laboratory test result showed that Carbondioxside, Nitrogen, Potassium, Phospor,
Water Level, Physical Condition were qualified for compost standart according to SNI no 19-
7030-2004. However, these minerals content wasn't enough compared to other organic compost
standards of PT. Pusri and Agriculture Departement. Takakura compost is good for ornamental
plant, pot plant, fruit with the correct mixing procedure.
Key Word: Inoculum, Yeast, Sugar


The purpose of this paper is to study the behavior of elast ic-plast ic stresses under Abstract severe drag braking. A railway wheel performs three tasks, aiding in trian movement, supporting the car load, and acting as a brake drum. Finite element computer programs are developed for elasto-plastic stress analysis. An attempt is made here to find an improved fillet profile of the wheel with the intention of minimizing high tensile mechanical stresses. Three new fillet profiles for the wheel are tested. A penalty function is used as a criterion for comparison of stresses between the new designs and the old design. The design with the least penalty is chosen to be the improved one.


Saccadic burst neurons in the pontine reticular formation have been implicated in the generation of saccades in the horizontal plane on the basis of lesion and extracellular recording studies in the cat and monkey. In the present study, saccadic burst neurons were anatomically and physiologically characterized with intraaxonal recording and injection of horseradish peroxidase in the alert squirrel monkey. A population of burst neurons were found that appear analogous to the excitatory burst neurons (EBNs) described previously in the cat. All neurons are located in the caudal pontine reticular formation and have a major axonal projection to the ipsilateral abducens nucleus. Additional projections were found to the medial vestibular nucleus, the nucleus prepositus, and regions of the pontine and medullar reticular formation rostral, ventral, and caudal to the abducens. All neurons fire exclusively during saccades and have a discharge pattern similar to that of medium‐lead burst neurons described previously in the cat and monkey. In most neurons the saccadic burst begins 5‐15 msec before saccade onset. Linear relationships exist between burst duration and saccade duration, number of spikes in the burst and saccade amplitude, and firing frequency and instantaneous velocity. Physiological activity of each neuron shows the closest relationship with the amplitude of the saccade component in a particular direction. For all neurons, this on‐direction is in the ipsilateral hemifield and is predominantly horizontal, but may have either an upward or downward vertical component. These results support a major role for the EBNs in the monkey in generating the saccadic burst in abducens motoneurons, as well as in contributing to the oculomotor activity in other classes of premotor neurons.


Here, we present two high-quality, draft metagenome-assembled genomes of deltaproteobacterial OalgDelta3 endosymbionts from the gutless marine worm Olavius algarvensis. Their 16S rRNA gene sequences share 98% identity with Delta3 endosymbionts of related host species Olavius ilvae (GenBank accession no. AJ620501) and Inanidrilus exumae (GenBank accession no. FM202060), for which no symbiont genomes are available. ABSTRACT Here, we present two high-quality, draft metagenome-assembled genomes of deltaproteobacterial OalgDelta3 endosymbionts from the gutless marine worm Olavius algarvensis. Their 16S rRNA gene sequences share 98% identity with Delta3 endosymbionts of related host species Olavius ilvae (GenBank accession no. AJ620501) and Inanidrilus exumae (GenBank accession no. FM202060), for which no symbiont genomes are available.


Introduction This resume deals only with those phases of Mesozoic history which have a direct bearing on the biologic, relationships of North and South America by indicating on the one hand epochs of probable marine connection between the Pacific and the Atlantic through tropical America, and on the other hand epochs of probable land connection between North and South America. The evidence to be presented consists of the distribution of the sediments of different epochs on the present land area, their character as marine or continental, and the relationships of the marine faunas found in them. Most of the data are recorded on the Geologic Map of North America compiled by Willis and Stose, and in the literature abstracted by Willis in his Index to the Stratigraphy of North America. These have been supplemented by the consideration of more recent papers by C. Burckhardt, E. Bose, G. R. Wieland, J. P. Smith,. . .


A crucial problem in image analysis is to construct efficient low-level representations of an image, providing precise characterization of features which compose it, such as edges and texture components. An image usually contains very different types of features, which have been successfully modelled by the very redundant family of 2D Gabor oriented wavelets, describing the local properties of the image: localization, scale, preferred orientation, amplitude and phase of the discontinuity. However, this model generates representations of very large size. Instead of decomposing a given image over this whole set of Gabor functions, we use an adaptive algorithm (called matching pursuit) to select the Gabor elements which approximate at best the image, corresponding to the main features of the image. This produces compact representation in terms of few features that reveal the local image properties. Results proved that the elements are precisely localized on the edges of the images, and give a local decomposition as linear combinations of "textons" in the textured regions. We introduce a fast algorithm to compute the matching pursuit decomposition.


Personality disorders are associated with dysfunction in a variety of areas. Recent longitudinal research has shown that personality disorders are also predictive of problems later in life, as well as of poor response to treatment of depression and anxiety. This study assessed whether personality disorder features were associated with psychiatric symptoms in a cohort of women treated for substance abuse in Sweden. Patients were diagnosed with personality disorders using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-II) personality questionnaire and SCID-II interview, and were then administered a self-report questionnaire designed to measure symptoms of psychiatric illness, the Symptoms Checklist-90 (SCL-90), during and five years after treatment. Concurrently, features of all personality disorders, except histrionic, were associated with SCL-90 score. At five-year follow-up, most personality disorders remained associated with SCL-90 score, with the exception of paranoid and schizoid personality disorder. After controlling for baseline score on the SCL-90, conduct disorder, borderline personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder remained significantly associated with symptoms at follow-up. After controlling for abstinence and baseline score, only borderline personality disorder features remained associated with SCL-90 score at follow-up. Patients with personality disorders should be monitored after treatment for psychiatric symptoms.


This research aims to simulate bio-contamination risk propagation under real-life conditions in the water distribution system (WDS) of Lille University's Scientific City Campus (France), solving the source identification and the response modeling. Neglecting dynamic reactions and not considering the possible chemical decay of most of the contaminants leads to an overestimation of the exposed population. Therefore, unlike the available event detection models, this study considers the interrelated change of several water-quality parameters such as free chlorine concentration, pH, alkalinity, and total organic carbon (TOC) resulting from the pollutants blending. In fact, starting from regular WDS monitoring, the baseline thresholds for each of the mentioned parameters are established; then, significant deviations from the baseline are used as indication for contaminations. For this reason, the purpose of the research was to develop and demonstrate the feasibility of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based smart monitoring system that will effectively enable water operators to ensure a quasi real-time quality control for early chemical and/or bio-contamination detection and preemptive risk management. Advanced pattern recognizers, such as Support Vector Machines (SVMs), and innovative sensing technology solutions, such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), have been used for this purpose, identifying the anomalies and the severity-level assessment.


Limited water availability coupled with the lack of hygienic and reliable water sources plague rural areas throughout the developing world. Tanzaniahas abundant fresh water sources, yet delivery, disinfection, and conservation outside of large towns is lacking or minimal at best. Here we examine drinking water sources in two climatologically distinct regions in Tanzania. We consider their chemical and microbiological characteristics specifically with respect to the potential for ultraviolet (UV) disinfection treatment. Interviews with local villagers provided information on collection means, frequency, storage, and incidences of water related illnesses. Total suspended solids, iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) concentrations, total bacterial abundances, presence of fecal coliforms, and evidence of Escherichia coli contamination were measured in 31 water sources. Total suspended solids exceeded 15 mg/L, the limit for effective UV treatment, in more than half the sources. Principal component analysis indicated a positive correlation of bacterial abundances with levels of Fe. Water with elevated levels of Mn was associated with greater incidences of diseases. Levels of both Fe and Mn appeared to be more dependent on water source than on climatic differences with the chemical composition of the source rock and redox conditions of the water source at time of collection likely contributing to measured concentrations. E. coli was detected more frequently in water sources in the drier Kondoa district than in the wetter Arusha region. Water quality and socio-economic conditions within villages were linked to incidences of water-borne diseases. The maximum risk of exposure to diarrhea-causing pathogens, for example was strongly related to household income level. Nonetheless, incidences of diarrhea were reduced by more than 40% when the average monthly household expenses increased from US $10 to $20. Finally, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study known to derive an empirical relationship between water-related diseases and poverty.


The concept of the social responsibility of business has roots in the Puritan doctrine of stewardship as well as the nineteenth-century gospel of wealth, but business leaders only began to consider community welfare as a whole in the context of their corporate aspirations of the latter half of the twentieth century. Originally appearing in 1970, The Social Responsibilities of Business surveys the history of corporate actions in pursuit of social responsibility, and attempts to assess likely developments. Reissued in 1988 by Transaction with a new introduction by the author and now available in paperback, the volume provides Morrel Heald the opportunity to evaluate his earlier predictions and identify prospects for further development in the area of corporate social responsibility. Some of Heald's predictions have not yet come to fruition, and he reflects upon the reasons. No effective structure yet exists to permit an open exchange of views and needs between business and representatives of its various constituencies. In addition, two of Heald's earlier suggestions have not taken root in the way he anticipated--the company foundation, and the corporate social audit-and he assesses why they have not, and what opportunities they still provide. The Social Responsibilities of Business provides essential back ground for understanding the developing social role of the corporation and for assessing its future direction.


At a certain point, it became clear that testimony contained at its core an essential lacuna; in other words, the survivor bore witness to something it is impossible to bear witness to. (Giorgio Agamben) [Schizophrenics] destroy imposed speech, which is violating in its claims to proper, exclusive, totalitarian meaning ... They explode that meaning which for them had always been meaningless--in order to get back down to, and play around with, its categorical and lexical components, its underlying articulations. (Luce Irigaray) El padre mio, Madness and the Limits of Witnessing Diamela Eltit's (1949) avant-garde aesthetic projects, written during the years of dictatorship and postdictatorship in Chile, have received abundant critical attention that, in general, has focused on certain key elements of her poetics: marginality and exclusion, the deployment of unstable speaking positions, panoptical vigilance and the feminine, the body as a site of domination and resistance, and the use of fragmented aesthetic forms as a strategy for intervening ordered power systems. While keeping these elements in mind, I would like to focus here on Eltit's exploration of the limits of witnessing by studying her first incursion into the testimonial genre, El padre mio (1989). In a postdictatorial context dominated by manifold testimonial voices offering truths about trauma and political violence under Pinochet, Eltit's book urges us to consider alternative ways of reading testimony. Her transcription and framing (in her prologue) of the broken poetics of a schizophrenic, homeless vagabond offers the reader an image of testimony not as a simple collection of facts or data, but as a literary or metaphorical constellation of meanings that symbolically reflect a moment of socio-political and subjective crisis. I am interested in how Eltit's textual project avoids transparency at every turn, forcing readers to understand testimony's layered meanings as well as the very difficulties of communicating traumatic experience--difficulties which, as I will argue, she transforms into a personal poetics of the impossibility of speaking trauma. After a few words of introduction to contextualize Eltit's project, I will organize my discussion around three key questions. First, how does El padre mio dramatize the tension between the possibility and impossibility of speaking trauma? Second, where are we to locate the notion of "truth" in relation to the loco's discourse? (1) And third, who bears witness in El padre mio? More than thirty years after the military coup of September 11, 1973, Chile has made great strides in coming to terms with its traumatic past. Certain recent developments, including the Lagos administration's 2004 publication of the Informe Valech (a report containing over 30,000 testimonial accounts that detail for the first time the Pinochet regime's use of torture as a state-sponsored practice), the attainment of justice in various landmark human rights cases, the inauguration of Michelle Bachelet in 2006, the prosecution of the former dictator and his family following the Riggs Bank scandal, and a series of recent reforms to Pinochet's 1980 constitution, have all proven positive signs. At the same time, many perpetrators still walk the streets unpunished, more than 1000 former Allende supports remain "disappeared," and many competing narratives about the Pinochet years still circulate in Chilean society. Though today debate and dissent over historical memory are possible in Chile, this was much less the case during the dictatorship when opposing voices were silenced through torture, censorship, exile and disappearance. (2) With the dawn of the transition in 1990, the question of who should bear witness took on vital importance. We can recall the dispute that ensued in the wake of the Aylwin administration's (1990-1994) Truth and Reconciliation Commission, whose mandate was to report only on "the most serious violations of human rights resulting in death and disappearances" (Rettig et al. …


Thomas Schelling, winner of the 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, was a Founding Father of the Kennedy School of Government. He served the School warmly and well for many years. Schelling always served as an inspiration for his creativity, and as an exemplar for his ability to make his writings scholarly, broadly general, and of great policy import. His path breaking essays and books provide an anatomy of human behavior in the individual, the dyad, and the larger group. This essay was written as the preface for a forthcoming biography by Robert Dodge, titled The Strategist, The Life and Times of Thomas Schelling.


This paper presents a new grid-connected delta inverter system (DIS) for large scale photovoltaic (PV) power systems. The delta inverter achieves DC to three phase AC inversion by using only three power semiconductor devices instead of six devices as in a conventional full bridge three phase inverter. This reduction in the number of switching devices contributes to higher power density for PV energy conversion systems and potentially, an increase in reliability and lifetime. Two configurations of the proposed DIS are discussed in the paper: (a) A large scale PV field grouped into three DC voltage blocks, each block connected to a front end MPPT boost converter which is connected to a 3-switch DIS interfaced to the utility-grid; (b) PV field connected to a flyback converter with high frequency isolation, followed by a DIS interfaced to utility grid. Advanced pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques are investigated for DIS for operation under unbalanced condition. A design example and simulation results of a 30 kW DIS based PV plant are presented to explore the feasibility of such a system. Experimental results on a scaled down laboratory delta inverter system are shown to demonstrate the operation of this topology.


The cyclin-dependent kinase 5 regulatory subunit-associated protein 1-like 1 (CDKAL1) gene encodes methylthiotransferase, and the gene contains risk variants for type 2 diabetes in humans. In this study, we performed complementary DNA cloning for Cdkal1 in the cat and dog and characterized the tissue expression profiles of its messenger RNA. Cat and dog Cdkal1 complementary DNA encoded 576 and 578 amino acids, showing very high sequence homology to mammalian CDKAL1 (>88.4%). Real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed that Cdkal1 messenger RNA is highly expressed in smooth muscle and that tissue distribution of Cdkal1 is similar in cats and dogs. Genotyping analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphism for cat Cdkal1 revealed that obese cats had different tendencies from normal cats. These findings suggest that the cat and dog Cdkal1 gene is highly conserved among mammals and that cat Cdkal1 may be a candidate marker for genetic diagnosis of obesity.


Introduction Current ASPECTS scoring used for mechanical thrombectomy patient selection assumes each neuroanatomic region as having an equal contribution to clinical outcomes. However, each ASPECTS-based region is known to have a variable effect on determining clinical outcomes. This study aims to identify which ASPECTS-based neuroanatomic region best predicts clinical outcomes. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on consecutive mechanical thrombectomies at an urban, tertiary care academic comprehensive stroke center. Baseline imaging and 24 hour post-thrombectomy imaging were reviewed by two ASPECTS-trained physicians for affected ASPECTS-based regions. Clinical data, thrombectomy performance and modified Rankin scores at 90 days were also collected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether certain APSECTS regions could predict clinical outcomes. Results Between June 2013 through September 2016, 109 patients underwent stroke thrombectomy with a mean age of 63 years. Overall, 42% were female, mean NIHSS was 19 (SD +/-5), and TICI 2b/3 rate was 85%. Mean 24 hour ASPECTS was 5.5 (SD 2.2). Forty percent had mRS ≤2 at 90 days. Among the cohort with mRS ≤2, the most common ASPECTS-hypodensity regions were the insula (68%), M5 (63%), lentiform nuclei (58%), and caudate (55%). Among those with mRS >2, the most common ASPECTS-hypodensity regions were the insula (55%), M5 (54%), M2 (46%), and lentiform nuclei (43%). In logistic regression analysis, the ASPECTS regions most significantly associated with poor outcomes was M4 (OR=5.6, 95% CI 1.3–23.9, p=0.02) and M6 (OR=5.7, 95% CI 1.2–27.5, p=0.03). Conclusions In the entire cohort, the insula, M5, and lentiform nuclei were the most commonly affected ASPECTS-based regions but were not significantly associated with poor clinical outcomes. The M4 and M6 ASPECTS–based regions were most predictive of decreased long-term functional independence. These results may assist the future use of weighted ASPECTS-based region scoring to improve the utility of this tool for stroke thrombectomy patient selection. Abstract O-005 Figure 1 Disclosures K. Fukuda: None. K. Keppetipola: None. M. Davison: None. M. Chen: None.


Mobility Partnerships constitute a key tool of the EU's GAMM (Global Approach to Migration and Mobility) aiming to facilitate and organise the legal mobility of Third Country Nationals, to address irregular migration under effective and humane measures and to reinforce the development outcomes of migration. Key actions in this respect are the introduction of visa facilitation agreements and readmission agreements with the partner countries. Circular and/or return migration schemes are other priorities around labour mobility that countries may wish to promote through Mobility Partnerships. This Policy Paper will critically assess the tool of Mobility Partnerships in the framework of the new EU GAMM in the light of recent data on legal migration channels between EU countries and actual and potential partner countries of the EU neighbourhood and the effectiveness of preventive and reactive measures against irregular migration.


Sir, The problems of conversion to S units are amply illustrated in the interesting article by Allen and coworkers in the May Archives, (1977, 52, 373). 1 wish to point out an error, both in the text and in Table 3, in which pressures recorded in SI units for CPAP and ventilator therapy are wrong by a factor of 10, e.g. in Table 3 peak airway pressure in the early-intervention group should read 2 0 and not 0 * 20 kPa, the latter being equivalent to a pressure of only 2 cm of water. Should ventilator settings as shown in Table 3 be used, survival statistics would truly be decimated! In comparing the composition of the earlyand lateintervention groups, the authors rightly comment that the latter group contained the smallest infant, presumably that of 24 weeks' gestation, and 3 infants with coagulation disorders. There are other differences, however, which though not significant when taken in isolation, may have militated against survival in this late-intervention group: the mean age of entry into the trial was lower in the lateintervention group, suggesting perhaps that the condition was more severe. Secondly, the late-intervention group contained only 1 girl, compared to 3 of the 12 babies in the early-intervention group. Since the prognosis in hyaline membrane disease, as in many other neonatal disorders, tends to be worse in boys, this may also have influenced the results in the late-intervention group. There are no details of the ages of the infants when assisted ventilation was begun. Presumably CPAP was started at the time of entry to the trial in the earlyintervention group. How much later was assisted ventilation started in the second group? Was the age at intervention significantly different in the two groups?


Background Cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) results in significant morbidity and mortality. Intra-arterial administration of calcium channel blockers or intracranial angioplasty may be performed when non-invasive medical management fails to prevent neurologic deterioration. Technical improvements in balloon catheters are expected to improve the success and safety of cerebral angioplasty. Objective To describe our initial experience with the new Scepter XC balloon catheter in cerebral vasospasm treatment following SAH. Design All patients who underwent cerebral angioplasty using the Scepter XC balloon for the treatment of medically refractory cerebral vasospasm after SAH were identified. Patient demographic information, procedural details, and outcome were obtained from electronic medical records. Results Five consecutive patients undergoing vasospasm treatment with cerebral angioplasty using the Scepter XC were identified. All treated patients had medically refractory vasospasm that was moderate or severe. Angioplasty of the supraclinoid internal carotid artery, the A1 and A2 segments of the anterior cerebral artery, the M1 and M2 segments of the middle cerebral artery, the V4 segment of the vertebral artery, and the basilar artery was performed. All angioplasty procedures were technically successful, and the degree of vasospasm improved significantly following angioplasty. There were no complications related to the cerebral angioplasty procedures. Conclusions The Scepter XC balloon catheter is safe and effective in the treatment of cerebral vasospasm following SAH. The excellent trackability and stability of the balloon catheter and the extra compliant design of the balloon represent technical advancements in the endovascular armamentarium in the treatment of cerebral vasospasm.


A new channel order estimation method is proposed for single- input multi-output (SIMO) systems. The method is based on a cost function which is constructed from the channel output er- ror (COE). Proposed method uses the least-squares-smoothing (LSS) technique for channel estimation and Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse for the estimation of input. Channel outputs are obtained using the estimated channel coefficients and the input data sequence extracted from the estimated input data matrix via data unstacking. The cost function is calculated from the difference between the observed and the estimated channel out- put. It is proven that the cost function has a global minimum. The proposed method performs significantly better than the al- ternative algorithms. The proposed algorithm is more robust to changes in channel order and the number of channels, and gives exact result from limited number of samples in case of free noise.


The identification of hydric soils is important for wetland delineation and protection. South Africa currently uses the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) wetland delineation guidelines which can be subjective in certain contexts. A robust technical standard that can be legally conclusive is therefore required and should be developed for South African conditions. The National Technical Committee of Hydric Soils (NTCHS, 2007) in the United States of America has accepted the Indicator of Reduction in Soils (IRIS) tube methodology as a technical standard, but this had not yet been tested in South Africa. It is proposed that the NTCHS (2007) be adapted for use in South Africa. These Fe-coated tubes are installed into the soil and if reducing conditions are present, the Fe coating is removed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of IRIS tubes as a technical standard for wetland delineation in South Africa. The study took place in three different wetland systems (Malahlapanga, Nshawu and the Tshuthsi spruit) in the Kruger National Park. Piezometers were installed in triplicate in each zone, and the water table, pH and Eh were recorded monthly. Soils were classified, soil wetness indicators identified, and vegetation described. The study took place from September 2012 to August 2013. The areal percentage of paint removed from the top 300 mm of the IRIS tubes was quantified by scanning the tubes and then compared to the DWAF wetland indicators. It was found that the DWAF indicators and the IRIS tube method were mostly in agreement; however, the conditions at the Tshutshi spruit were not favourable for Fe reduction, and hence the use of IRIS tubes, due to the high pH values recorded. The IRIS tubes were therefore a useful tool for wetland delineation in the majority of conditions, but are not recommended in high pH, sodic environments. Further research is recommended over a wider geographical area as well as testing the MIRIS methodology (Manganese Indicators of Reduction in Soils) in wetlands that would inhibit Fe reduction.
Keywords: guidelines hydric soils IRIS reducing conditions technical  standard wetland indicators


Retransmission based schemes are not suitable for energy constrained wireless sensor networks. Hence, there is an interest in including parity bits in each packet for error control. From an information-theoretic perspective the most efficient usage of network capacity can be achieved by performing full encoding/decoding at each node and using a variable rate in accordance with the link-quality. However, such an approach represents a major burden on power-constrained sensors. In this paper, we propose a more practical approach that is based on optimally distributing iterative channel decoding over sensor networks. In such a paradigm, the guarantee with which the base station, or collector, gets the data from a sensor is a function of the processing within the intermediate nodes between source and destination (in-network processing). There are two extreme cases: a) Complete channel decoding at each hop and b) decoding only at the final destination. In this paper, we present a novel scheme in which intermediate nodes conduct partial decoding of LDPC coded packets. In this scheme each node is assigned some number of decoding iterations. The relay node conducts LPDC decoding for that number of iterations and forwards the packet, without ensuring a complete error correction. We show that such partial processing is sufficient to improve the end-to-end reliability significantly. Additionally, we show that it is feasible to tradeoff complexity/energy usage with distortion/reliability by varying the assignment of number of iterations. Finally, we present a low-complexity dynamic programming algorithm that optimally assigns iterations within the network to facilitate operation along an optimal energy-distortion curve.


A challenge in creating a dataset for machine reading comprehension (MRC) is to collect questions that require a sophisticated understanding of language to answer beyond using superficial cues. In this work, we investigate what makes questions easier across recent 12 MRC datasets with three question styles (answer extraction, description, and multiple choice). We propose to employ simple heuristics to split each dataset into easy and hard subsets and examine the performance of two baseline models for each of the subsets. We then manually annotate questions sampled from each subset with both validity and requisite reasoning skills to investigate which skills explain the difference between easy and hard questions. From this study, we observed that (i) the baseline performances for the hard subsets remarkably degrade compared to those of entire datasets, (ii) hard questions require knowledge inference and multiple-sentence reasoning in comparison with easy questions, and (iii) multiple-choice questions tend to require a broader range of reasoning skills than answer extraction and description questions. These results suggest that one might overestimate recent advances in MRC.


The detonation of an explosive charge has two major effects, blast wave generation and fragmentation. New technologies of energy dissipati on, based on granular materials, seem to have good shock attenuation capabilities. Plastic deformation , brittle fracture and comminution are different mechanisms of dissipation which can take place in g ra ular media, allowing blast energy absorption and reduction of dynamic solicitation applied on struct res. Dynamic solicitation of structures is determined by the reflected pressure in a quasi-static loading case or by the reflected impulse in an impulsive lo ading case. Blast pressure and impulse damping represent in a macroscopic way the effects of energ y dissipation mechanisms appearing in granular materials. Material efficiency can be determined by the study of the attenuation of these two paramete rs. Vermiculite, a porous crushable material and CRUSHM AT®, a ceramic granular material made of alumina have been tested. Blast impulse amplificati on has been observed with thin layers of vermiculit e while with CRUSHMAT® only attenuation has been obse rved. Efficiency stagnation has also been noticed for thick layers of CRUSHMAT® in which pres sure and impulse, after being passed through the sample's upper part, seem to be too low for further attenuation in the lower part of the layer. LS-DYNA has been used to simulate the experimental setup in which reflected pressure and impulse measurements have been realized on the different sa mples. The simulation model has been developed for a better understanding of pressure and impulse decr ease, dissipation mechanisms and macroscopic behaviour of granular materials when they are subje cted to blast. The CRUSHMAT® stress-strain curve has been optimized with LS-OPT trying to allow a be tter correlation between simulations and experimental observations.