In a modern world with extensive military cross-border cooperation, interoperability is often a decisive factor in order to reach success. The degree of interoperability is strongly influenced by our uncertainty-coping methods. A doctrine regulates and determines methods used by the military. Thus making the doctrines a profound source of information regarding methods taken by armed forces. By studying and comparing methods of uncertainty-coping we can see differences that might affect interoperability between coalition members. According to eminent scientists, uncertainty is a phenomenon which presence is inevitable in decision-making processes. Martin van Creveld states that organizations need to make conscious choices and strategies in order to cope with uncertainty. He presents a theoretical thesis, in which the organization possesses six interrelated demands.Demands that, if fulfilled, will optimize the organization in its quest for certainty.The concept of Network Centric Warfare(NCW) influences the way we think of future war in a considerable way, and it presents new ways of decreasing and coping with uncertainty. In this study, van Creveld's thesis with six demands and the principles of NCW formed an analytic tool which I used to analyse uncertainty coping and doctrinal interoperability regarding uncertainty management. This study compares a NATO member - Norway, and a non-NATO member - Sweden.By analysing and comparing these nation's Operational and C2 doctrines, I searched to discover how the respective nations decide to cope with uncertainty.Similarities were found and considerable differences in methods were not identified. However, this paper discovered and charted some minor and semi-minor differences in coping methods. For example, the analytic tool found that staffing methods, linked with uncertainty coping - somewhat varies between the armed forces in question. This diverseness may cause interoperability problems in future collaboration Considering the delimitation of this study I cannot say that interoperability has been reached. However, the similar doctrinal methods of uncertainty coping, gives us a slight piece of a greater picture. A piece which this paper found hypothetic interoperable. Even though the study uses the cases of Norway and rgSweden, the intention of this method is to be universal in its comparison between nations being members of NATO and those nations who aren't.


Abstract. We study the horizontal structure of the atmospheric gravity waves (AGW) in the height ranges between 6 and 22 km observed using the MU radar at Shigaraki in Japan, during a 3 day period in January and a 4 day period in August 1988. The data were divided by double Fourier transformation into a data set of upward moving waves and a data set of downward moving waves for independent analysis. The phase and group velocity tracing technique was applied to measure the vertical group and phase velocity as well as the characteristic period of the gravity wave packet. Then the dispersion equation of the linear theory of AGW was solved to obtain its intrinsic wave period – horizontal wavelength and horizontal group velocity – and the vertical flux of horizontal momentum associated with each wave packet was estimated to help determine the direction of the characteristic horizontal wave vector. The results showed that the waves with periods in the range of 30 min~6 h had horizontal scales ranging from 20 km to 1500 km, vertical scales from 4 km to 15 km, and horizontal phase velocities from 15 m/s to 60 m/s. The upward moving wave packets of wave period of 2 h~6 h had horizontal group velocities mainly toward east-south-east and northeast in winter, and mainly in the section between the directions of west-north-west and north in summer.


Background: Autonomic dysfunction, an early manifestation of diabetic neuropathy, presents with altered sweating patterns, leading to dryness and fissuring. We conducted a study to assess the sweat function in the diabetic foot and to determine the interrelation between the duration of diabetes, sensation, fissuring, and sweating. Methods: The sweat function was assessed in 30 diabetic patients, 28 of whom had fissuring of the feet, using Ninhydrin impregnated discs. Results: There was a significant association between f issuring and sensation, but not between the duration of diabetes and fissuring and between loss of sweating and fissuring. In 18 patients (60%) there was impairment or absence of sweating in the presence of normal sensation. Conclusion: Although fissuring increases with long-standing diabetes and sweating is reduced in diabetic patients with fissures on the foot, the correlation between these entities was not statistically significant. Since 60% patients had altered sweating in the presence of normal sensations, the sweat test can be used as an early indicator of diabetic neuropathy.


Objectives: The mathematical technique of optimizing a sequence of interrelated decisions over a period of time with fuzzy parameters is called Fuzzy Dynamic Programming. A typical characteristic of this proposed approach is the ambiguity and vagueness in Reliability models is effectively eliminated by FDP. Methods/ Statistical Analysis: In this paper, a new fuzzy approach is made to find an optimal solution of a fuzzy reliability problem. The values of Reliability are assumed as GTrFNs (Generalized Trapezoidal Fuzzy Numbers). Findings: Fuzzy Forward recursive equations as well as Fuzzy Backward recursive equations are framed to solve the numerical example of a fuzzy reliability problem. Now-a-days, many problems arise in the real world which involve decision making in multi stages. Sometimes, the parameters will not be known exactly due to some unmanageable components. Or else, some important data would be lost if the obtained results are taken as crisp values. Classical mathematics has proved its inadequate in handling many optimization problems that involve large number of decision variables along with inequality constraints. FDP furnishes an orderly process to determine the synthesis of decisions in order to maximize the effectiveness on the whole. Hence it has wide range of applications in the future. Application/Improvement: The proposed approach to solve a fuzzy reliability problem by fuzzy dynamic programming can be made use in the field of problems which involves various decision making situations. This will assist researchers currently engaged in fuzzy optimization to stimulate new areas of research in other DP models. This also gives Decision makers new tools and ideas on how to make decisions in fuzzy environment in optimization problems in current real life situations.


This study investigates the real representation of women in two villages in Orissa, India. Through my own feminist lens I have brought in theory of spaces of participation and power and hence linked this to the concept of real participation.Women from three different ranges within the local social hierarchies have participated in this study by sharing their knowledge, and I have tried to connect their stories and knowledge to political geography by captivating how they are represented in local governance.Representation is an important concept throughout this study, and it concerns how people feel that their interests are being represented and listened to. The study reveals women's constrains and enabling factors to participate in formal or public spaces of governance. The studied women show that they lack real access to the invited spaces of participation in their local villages and thus they lack access to real representation through public spaces.This study also investigates the links between different spaces of representation, and shows that real representation is vital in women's lives. When in practice excluded from the local public spaces of governance, these women claim spaces of participation and power by creating their own spaces of representation in the counter-publics.


In the fields of political science and economics there has been a recent surge of interest in the co-movement of globalization and democratization. Wavelet coherency analysis was first used to measure the co-movement of globalization and democratization in time and frequency domains. We collected our data from the period 1948-2010. The results were as follows: (1) Co-movement is weaker for fluctuations with a duration of less than 3 years during the period from 1950-1990, with the exception of significantly positive co-movement with a duration of greater than 4 years during 1965-1975; and (2) positive long-term, mid-term, and short-term co-movement was indicated after 1990, among which positive short-term to short mid-term co-movement was the most significant. These results suggest that the Cold War influenced the interaction between democratization and globalization.


Lee Smith, in her 1988 novel "Fair and Tender Ladies", provides a seminal account of the Appalachian experience during colonial activity and addresses its impact on native Appalachian people. Appalachia has long endured a history of outsiders who attempt, in various ways, to colonize it. While operating under the guise of Progressive Era savior ideologies of "improvement" and social and cultural change, this process of colonization ultimately acts as a form of physical and cultural theft, as well as cultural erasure. In this paper, the author investigates the ways in which Smith depicts Ivy Rowe and her disabled sister, Silvaney, as physical and figurative sites of Appalachian colonial activity. Within this framework Appalachian colonialism is read through two primary lenses: literacy and disability. The author argues that the novel's epistolary form not only refutes narratives of Appalachian illiteracy, but also makes readers privy to an Appalachian character's reactions to and understandings of colonial activity that they otherwise would not know. Thus, the epistolary form enables readers to reconceptualize dominant narratives of Appalachian dependency. This project, moreover, evaluates how colonial forces essentially define Appalachia as disabled, according to Northern conceptions of literacy and culture, and how this designation has served to justify Appalachian colonialism


Māori (the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, New Zealand) are intimately connected to wai (i.e., water) yet are overrepresented in New Zealand's drowning statistics each year. On average Māori account for 20-24% of all preventable and non-preventable drowning fatalities, despite comprising only 15 percent of New Zealand's population. Drowning remains a significant issue posing a threat to whānau (i.e., families) through premature death being imminent and whakapapa (i.e., genealogy) being interrupted. There is limited research that has examined Māori and indigenous understandings of water safety within the literature and limited studies that have investigated the issue of Māori drowning from a distinctly Māori or indigenous approach. This paper proposes a theory of Māori water safety depicted as the Wai Puna model and draws on three core concepts pertinent to a Māori worldview: whakapapa, mātauranga (i.e., Māori knowledge and ways of knowing) and tikanga (i.e., customs, practices). Wai Puna provides the foundation for conceptualising Māori water safety in a New Zealand context and a way forward for other indigenous communities around the world to redefine water safety and drowning prevention from their distinct worldviews that reflect their unique beliefs and attitudes to water and thus to water safety.


Helicopter dynamic response is one of the most important criterions of the helicopter design. For an accurate
prediction and calculation of the vibratory responses of the helicopter structure in different flight conditions, an
exact modelling is essential. The accuracy of the results returns back to the accuracies of the model and
calculation procedures.
The multibody dynamic simulation tool allows using modular models to build a complete detailed system. This
could be used to model a complex helicopter. SIMPACK (SImulation of Multibody systems PACKage) as a
multibody simulation tool has shown considerable ability to model and analyse linear and non-linear systems
during different DLR-projects, however use of this tool for modelling the helicopter dynamics is something
which is currently being investigated [1], [2]. This tool was originally developed by DLR (German Aerospace
Center) and is now further developed and commercially distributed by SIMPACK AG.
In this work the multibody simulation of the ground resonance effect is investigated. For this purpose, the
interface of SIMPACK with a FEM code for modelling the elastic rotor blades is considered. This interface creates a Standatrd Input Data, SID, based on blade geometry and eigenvalue analysis. The SID-file is then used for the calculation of elastic deformation. SIMPACK provides also an interface with MATLAB, which allows performing a part of postprocessing within this program. Fig.1 shows the general view of the ground resonance analysis using multibody dynamics simulation.

Helicopter ground resonance is a self exited dynamic instability, which may occur when helicopter is in contact with the ground. Elastic deformation and out of phase lagging motion of the rotor blades during rotor rotation lead to the oscillation of the rotor centre of gravity around the rotor rotation axis. Due to the interaction between rotor and fuselage, this oscillation excites the flexible fuselage and the rotor support and may cause a violent damage of the helicopter structure. This phenomenon is known as ground resonance. Modelling this phenomenon needs consideration of the following points: Linearisation, Geometric stiffening effect, Time-periodic system, Multiblade coordinates transformation. The work described within this paper is generally divided into three main parts. The first part is related to the "linearization and geometric stiffening effect", which is a preliminary step for the dynamic stability analysis of a rotating system. Here, the simulation results are compared with analytical results. Creating the Fan-Diagram of an isolated rotor and comparison of the results with those produced with CAMRAD II belongs also to this part. The second part deals with the
helicopter ground resonance analysis. Modelling the ground resonance starts with a simplified model (rigid blades with mechanically equivalent elastic lagging deformation and fuselage with two translational degrees of freedom) and is continued with more complex models comprising elastic blades and fuselage. Data used in this part belongs to DLR scaled (1:2.5) BO105 research rotor model (configuration K20) [3] and CAMRAD II model of full scale BO105 with modified skid gear provided by Eurocopter Germany. One of the features of the ground resonance model is its time-periodic characteristic, which leads to the invalidity of the direct usage of the classical eigenvalue method for the dynamic stability analysis. To perform the ground resonance
analysis, the model is first linearized about the equilibrium state. Then the linear system matrix of the model is extracted and transformed from the rotating coordinates to the non-rotating multiblade coordinates. This coordinate transformation changes the system from a time-periodic to a time-invariant one. Finally, a classical eigenvalue analysis of the transformed system matrix results in the frequencies and damping of the system. To evaluate the simulation procedures, the SIMPACK results are compared with results produced with CAMRAD II model. To validate the model and calculation procedures in addition to a comparison with the CAMRAD II-results an analytical validation of the dynamic response of the system is also performed. The third part of the work deals with the parametric studies of the ground resonance effect and analysing the results and tendencies of the changes of the dynamic response.


Handling Multiobjective Optimization Problems (MOOP) using Hybrid Metaheuristics represents a promising and interest area of research. In this paper, a Hybrid Evolutionary Metaheuristics (HEMH) is presented. It combines different metaheuristics integrated with each other to enhance the search capabilities. It improves both of intensification and diversification toward the preferred solutions and concentrates the search efforts to investigate the promising regions in the search space. In the proposed HEMH, the search process is divided into two phases. In the first one, the DM-GRASP is applied to obtain an initial set of high quality solutions dispersed along the Pareto front. Then, the search efforts are intensified on the promising regions around these solutions through the second phase. The greedy randomized path-relinking with local search or reproduction operators are applied to improve the quality and to guide the search to explore the non discovered regions in the search space. The two phases are combined with a suitable evolutionary framework supporting the integration and cooperation. Moreover, the efficient solutions explored over the search are collected in an external archive. The HEMH is verified and tested against some of the state of the art MOEAs using a set of MOKSP instances commonly used in the literature. The experimental results indicate that the HEMH is highly competitive and can be considered as a viable alternative.


A simple type-A three-phase voltage sag generator with programmable is proposed for testing equipment, small or medium-power application, such as adjustable-speed drives (ASDs), contactors, relays, programmable logic-controller (PLC), and personal computers (PCs), etc. The generating system consists of a 1-kVA synchronous generator, a phase-control ac-dc converter, a mechanical prime-mover. Additional visual basic (VB) software control functions are implemented with a dc voltage-controlled converter in field-winding circuit for regulating the three-phase voltage sag and monitor the system under test. The capabilities of the sag generator were experimentally tested on a standard type-A sag. It is composed of balance three-phase system under various sag conditions. The proposed approach can be easily tested install equipment to ensure that the equipment meets agreed-upon capabilities.


Abstract The Great Valley sequence of the eastern Diablo Range and northern San Joaquin Valley consists of a thick accumulation of marine and nonmarine clastic rocks of Jurassic to early Paleocene age deposited in a forearc basin that was situated between the Sierran magmatic arc to the east and the Franciscan subduction complex to the west. In the western part of the basin, the sequence rests conformably on the Jurassic Coast Range Ophiolite or is faulted against the structurally underlying Franciscan Complex. Beneath the eastern San Joaquin Valley, the sequence unconformably onlaps igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Sierran magmatic arc. The sequence generally thickens westward to as much as 8–9 km in the Diablo Range, where it is unconformably overlain by late Paleocene and younger strata. The stratigraphy of the Great Valley sequence has been the subject of much work, but problems, particularly nomenclatural, remain. Lithostratigraphic subdivisions of the sequence have not gained widespread acceptance because of the lenticularity of most sandstone bodies, abrupt facies changes in subsurface and outcrops, and the lack of detailed subsurface information from closely spaced or deep wells. Although microfossils provide the best means of regional correlation, their locally sparse distribution, together with post-depositional dissolution in outcrop sections, limits their usefulness. Sequence stratigraphy, in conjunction with well-log correlations, has great potential for stratigraphic analysis. Five outcrop sections in the Diablo Range between Del Puerto Creek on the north and the Avenal Ridge-Reef Ridge area on the south, and a representative subsurface columnar section from the northern San Joaquin Valley, illustrate the diversity of stratigraphic nomenclature, depositional facies, and thickness variations of the Great Valley sequence. Although rocks as old as Tithonian (Late Jurassic) and as young as Danian (early Paleocene) are present locally, the greatest outcrop thickness of Great Valley sequence strata is of Cenomanian to Maestrichtian (Late Cretaceous) age. Although there is, in a general sense, some correlation between plate-tectonic events and changes in forearc basin sedimentation, specific causes for unconformities in the sequence remain unclear. Outcrops of the Great Valley sequence in the Diablo Range consist mostly of submarine-fan, basin-plain, and slope deposits; the upper part of the sequence contains significant shelf and deltaic deposits. More extensive slope, shelf, and deltaic deposits underlie the San Joaquin Valley to the east. Paleocurrent data from outcrops, facies distribution patterns, and provenance information suggest predominantly westward or southwestward transport of sediments from the Sierran magmatic arc source area. The petrofacies generally reflect the petrologic evolution of the arc terranes and unroofing of Sierran batholiths in the late Mesozoic.


The thiamylal sparing effect of midazolam was studied in 30 healthy Beagle and mixed-breed dogs. Using a replicated Latin square design, all dogs were given placebo (saline solution) and 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 mg of midazolam/kg of body weight prior to IV administration of thiamylal sodium. The 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg dosages significantly decreased the amount of thiamylal required to obtund swallowing reflex and easily achieve endotracheal intubation. Midazolam at 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg reduced thiamylal requirement by 16.4% and 18.9%, respectively, whereas the 0.05 mg/kg dosage decreased thiamylal requirement by only 6.8%. The 0.2 mg/kg dosage did not further decrease thiamylal requirement beyond that achieved with the 0.1 mg/kg dosage of midazolam. This study demonstrates that the preanesthetic IV administration of midazolam reduces the thiamylal dose necessary to accomplish intubation. The optimal preanesthetic dosage (lowest dosage with significant effect) was 0.1 mg/kg.


This thesis compares the ancient games played by the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Hopi Pueblos and examines their contemporary application. A literature review resulted in the aggregation of 34 Blackfoot games and 34 Hopi games. The 68 games were clustered into games of dexterity, guessing games, amusement, and games in legend. Twenty games were selected to be compared in the areas of equipment, purpose of play, how the game was played, number of participants, the gender allowed to play, the age of participants, season of play, the length of time to play the game, scoring, and how a winner was declared. This study also examines, through the literature review, personal communication and Internet information that the ancient games of the Blackfoot and the Hopi have contemporary application, which may be achieved with slight variations. Additional information on the composition, origins, linguistic families, possible tribal associations, and some European encounters of the Blackfoot and the Hopi was provided. This information is included as context to aid in the exclusion of games that may have been adopted from the Europeans. The thesis concludes there is an urgent need to identify the ancient games of the Blackfoot and Hopi before knowledgeable elders are gone. Also it is recommended that this not be the end of the study of the games, but that it only be a beginning on which to build.


The IBM z14 is the latest update in the storied history of IBM mainframes. Reliability, availability, security, and scalability are the foundation of the IBM mainframe line. System reliability and availability targets are in excess of 10 years, requiring rigorous chip characterization processes. In this paper, we discuss some of the many processes used to ensure that lifetime. An additional part of this reliability is power management (PM). The 5.2-GHz high-power design of the central processor chip requires advanced on-die PM capabilities to adapt to power intensive instruction streams. We also discuss a number of improvements to the critical path monitoring design used to manage power supply voltage droops, reducing response time and the impact on system performance. Finally, we compare a set of simulations and hardware results to validate our power fluctuation models.


This study concerns with the utilization of waste paper sludge, which contains mainly cellulose fibers and inorganic fillers together with coating materials such as calcite, kaolinite and talc. Paper sludge was fired at 500–900°C for 6 h. The crystalline phases originally present decomposed at increasing temperatures (up to 800°C) in the order kaolinite < calcite < talc. Gehlenite was formed at 800°C in increasing amounts above this temperature together with small amounts of magnesium aluminum silicate and anorthite. The uptake of these fired samples of Ni2+, PO4 3− and NH4 + was investigated at room temperature. Paper sludge fired at 700°C showed the highest uptake of Ni2+, PO4 3− and NH4 + (3.93, 1.28 and 0.49 mmol/g, respectively). The main process responsible for the sorption of these ions is the ion change along with precipitation with higher solution pH. From an economic point of view, paper sludge is the cheapest raw material for preparing adsorbents with high uptake ability for heavy metal, phosphate and ammonium ions.


Shape deformation and editing are important for animation and game design. Based on as-rigid-as-possible (ARAP) surface modeling, an efficient approach is proposed to approximately preserve the volume of an object with large-scale deformations. The classical ARAP surface modeling uses two-stage iterations to recover rotations and preserve edge lengths. However, there is no volume preserving constraint, which may cause undesired artifacts. We show that the volume can be roughly kept by leveraging the skeleton information. First a skeleton is selected, and points are evenly generated on the skeleton. Then each point is correlated with several vertices on the surface of the object. The connectivity between the skeleton and the surface is defined as skeleton edges, which can be easily added into the linear system of the ARAP method as additional rows without breaking the manifoldness or sacrificing speed. Since this linear system is able to preserve the lengths of both the surface and skeleton edges, the area of cross sections and the volume between cross sections can be approximately preserved. In our experiments, we show that the rotations are natural and volumes are roughly kept. The system achieves real time performance for surface meshes with 5k vertices.


Hybrid micro-architected materials with unique combinations of high stiffness, high damping, and low density are presented. We demonstrate a scalable manufacturing process to fabricate hollow microlattices with a sandwich wall architecture comprising an elastomeric core and metallic skins. In this configuration, the metallic skins provide stiffness and strength, whereas the elastomeric core provides constrained-layer damping. This damping mechanism is effective under any strain amplitude, and at any relative density, in stark contrast with the structural damping mechanism exhibited by ultralight metallic or ceramic architected materials, which requires large strain and densities lower than a fraction of a percent. We present an analytical model for stiffness and constrained-layer damping of hybrid hollow microlattices, and verify it with finite elements simulations and experimental measurements. Subsequently, this model is adopted in optimal design studies to identify hybrid microlattice geometries which provide ideal combinations of high stiffness and damping and low density. Finally, a previously derived analytical model for structural damping of ultralight metallic microlattices is extended to hybrid lattices and used to show that ultralight hybrid designs are more efficient than purely metallic ones. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4038672]


The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial was unveiled in Ballarat to great fanfare in February 2004. Struggling to overcome serious setbacks in order to raise the necessary funds to construct the $2 million memorial over more than a period of four years, the memorial, listing the names of all Australian prisoners of war from all conflicts was judged by the Federal Government to be nothing but a 'local' memorial rather than a 'national' memorial. The article investigates whether this issue is at all associated with the ambiguity and difficulty of incorporating prisoners of war into the Anzac legend or whether there were other factors at hand deciding the official 'national' status of the first war memorial to list the names of all Australian prisoners of war. The importance of this issue reveals how government bureaucracy and party politics can influence the future and potential public significance of a war memorial.


Legal intermediation is an emerging theoretical concept developed to grasp the importance of the process and actors who contribute to legal endogenization, in particular in the field of economic activities and work governed by various public regulations. This chapter proposes to extend the analytical category of legal intermediary to all actors who, even if they are not legal professionals, deal on a daily basis with legal categories and provisions. In order to deepen our understanding of these actors and their contribution to how organizations frame legality, this chapter investigates four examples of legal intermediaries who are not legal professionals. Based on field surveys conducted over the past 15 years in France on employment policy, industrial relations, occupational health and safety regulation, and forensic economics, I make three contributions. First, the cases show the diversity of legal intermediaries and their growing and increasingly reflexive roles in our complex economies. Second, while they are not legal professionals per se, to different degrees, these legal intermediaries assume roles similar to those of legal professionals such as legislators, judges, lawyers, inspectors, cops, and even clerks. Finally, depending on their level of legitimacy and power, I show how legal intermediaries take part in the process of legal endogenization and how they more broadly frame ordinary legality.


Soybean is one of the most important food and oil crops in the world. Plant height (PH) and the number of nodes on the main stem (NNMS) are quantitative traits closely related to soybean yield. In this study, we used 208 chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSL) populations constructed using "SN14" and "ZYD00006" for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of PH and NNMS. Combined with bulked segregant analysis (BSA) by extreme materials, 8 consistent QTLs were identified. According to the gene annotation of the QTL interval, a total of 335 genes were obtained. Five of which were associated with PH and NNMS, potentially representing candidate genes. RT-qPCR of these 5 candidate genes revealed two genes with differential relative expression levels in the stems of different materials. Haplotype analysis showed that different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between the excellent haplotypes in Glyma.04G251900 and Glyma.16G156700 may be the cause of changes in these traits. These results provide the basis for research on candidate genes and marker-assisted selection (MAS) in soybean breeding.


The purpose of this paper is to present a Hermite polynomial approach for solving a high-order ODE with non-linear terms under mixed conditions. The method we used is a matrix method based on collocation points together with truncated Hermite series and reduces the solution of equation to solution of a matrix equation which corresponds to a system of non-linear algebraic equations with unknown Hermite coefficients. In addition, to illustrate the validity and applicability of the method, some numerical examples together with residual error analysis are performed and the obtained results are compared with the existing result in literature.


Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is an intervention for the treatment of achalasia which has gained popularity over the last decade. It's efficacy and invasiveness are comparable to laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM). The purpose of this systematic review is to compare POEM to existing therapies. The systematic review was performed following the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Libraries were searched using keywords: esophageal achalasia, POEM, LHM, pneumatic dilation (PD), and related terms. The studied outcomes were Eckardt score, clinical success, hospital stay, cost-utility analysis, complications, and post-treatment gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Articles were reviewed by one researcher and uncertainty was resolved by a second researcher. The search strategy retrieved 1948 citations. After removing duplicates and applying the exclusion criteria, 91 studies were selected for full-text review of which a total of 31 studies were considered eligible for further analysis, including two studies which were found through manual searching. POEM has improved efficacy compared to PD with similar cost-effectiveness. POEM results showed comparable patient outcomes when compared with laparoscopic myotomy. Overall, POEM is a feasible first-line treatment for achalasia.


"This study explores by simulation analysis the extent of a potential dividend from workforce ageing in Australia. The analysis suggests that the optimum workforce is older than the actual workforce today. Hence, workforce ageing implies that the actual age distribution of the workforce can be expected to shift closer to the optimum age distribution, generating a dividend in terms of aggregate labour productivity. Simulations suggest that the dividend is likely to be non-trivial in magnitude, although the size of the effect depends very much on the values of elasticities of substitution about which little is known. Nevertheless, plausible scenarios can be constructed in which the dividend is sufficient to offset significantly the costs of projected declines in the worker to population ratio."


This book examines the idea of sustainable development and its role within environmental governance and policy. In order to realize sustainable development that goes beyond the realm of models or socioeconomic visions, the authors posit it is necessary to use methodology that addresses issues at the global, national, regional, and local levels, and their multilayered, mutual relationships. The book uses case studies to illustrate the problems of sustainable development, how they have been addressed, and the important lessons that can be learned from these experiences. The book clarifies the issues of transition management for sustainable development by taking into account the idea of human development for environmental governance. Although the concepts of human and sustainable development overlap and share many arguments against existing mainstream development initiatives, it is important to look at the ways in which the two concepts can be integrated or are consistent with each other. This book combines the two concepts and discusses how to make sustainable human development operational. Finally, it looks at how and why transition toward multilevel environmental governance takes place and the challenges for the future.


Enzymes of the cytochrome P450 superfamily play a key role in xenobiotic metabolism. Their properties and significance are discussed with particular reference to interactions with the H+,K(+)-ATPase blocker, omeprazole. Such interactions include both inhibitory (subfamily 2C) and inducing effects (subfamily 1A). Delayed metabolic elimination of diazepam, warfarin, carbamazepin and phenytoin is probably due to omeprazole competition for the concerned isoform of subfamily 2C; however, these effects are modest to negligible in magnitude and, for phenytoin, not consistently reproducible. Also, induction of subfamily 1A is only minor as assessed from the resultant changes in N-3-demethylation of caffeine, a reaction specific to this subfamily. Concerns about a possible activation of procarcinogens that might arise from subfamily 1A induction appear ill-founded given the fact that cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts are potent inducers, but rather seem to lower the incidence of certain types of cancer. Likewise, the idea that the toxicity of acetaminophen might increase upon subfamily 1A induction appears far-fetched, mainly because much stronger inducers of subfamily 1A (cigarette smoke and charcoaled beef) are unable to alter acetaminophen metabolism.


The objective of this paper is to examine the link between the attenuation coefficients and the interferometric phase center heights, for several frequencies from P- to L-band, and to study the extent to which it depends on the canopy architecture and description. This paper relies on the use of a coherent and full polarimetric scattering model, which simulates the fields backscattered by a forested area. In the first part, we study the behavior with a frequency of the interferometric phase center heights, and in the second part, we focus on the attenuation coefficients. Then, we compare the behaviors of these two quantities, and we propose to empirically derive a relation between these two quantities and the mean forest height. Finally, we investigate if a change in the initial forest or radar configuration has an impact on the determination of this relation.


In many scenarios, such as the evaluation of place-based policies, potential outcomes are not only dependent upon the unit's own treatment but also its neighbors' treatment. Despite this,"difference-in-differences"(DID) type estimators typically ignore such interference among neighbors. I show in this paper that the canonical DID estimators generally do not identify interesting causal effects in the presence of neighborhood interference. To incorporate interference structure into DID estimation, I propose doubly robust estimators for the direct average treatment effect on the treated as well as the average spillover effects under a modified parallel trends assumption. When spillover effects are of interest, we often sample the entire population. Thus, I adopt a finite population perspective in the sense that the estimands are defined as population averages and inference is conditional on the attributes of all population units. The general and unified approach in this paper relaxes common restrictions in the literature, such as partial interference and correctly specified spillover functions. Moreover, robust inference is discussed based on the asymptotic distribution of the proposed estimators.


The aim of this study was to show that the quality of an expressive interpretation depends on expressive context. The main hypothesis was that expression is evaluated in relation to preceding expressive variations. Two experiments and a model tested this hypothesis. In the first experiment, 39 listeners rated the quality of the performance of the continuation (second half of the musical stimulus) given the performance of the initiation (first half of the musical stimulus). The results showed a significant effect of continuation on the quality judgments and a significant interaction between continuation and initiation. This interaction was seen as the first confirmation of the hypothesis. In the second experiment, 20 participants rated the quality of six performances of the initiation and of the continuation separately. The results of this experiment did not explain the quality judgments found in Experiment 1. The low agreement between the judgments was taken as a second confirmation that contextual considerations can overrule general aesthetic preference. A regression model was proposed that predicts the quality rating of Experiment 1 from the similarity in rubato extent, key-velocity pattern, average articulation, grace-note duration, and average asynchrony between the two segments. This model was better able to explain the quality judgments of the continuation, providing final confirmation that the quality of the second half was a function of its agreement with the first half.


Abstract : The purpose of this report is to present the minutes from the Third Workshop on Standards for the Interoperability of Defense Simulations. This is the third workshop concerning the development of technical standards for networking defense simulations. These standards are intended to meet the needs of large scale simulated engagement systems which are being used increasingly to support system acquisition, test and evaluation, tactical warfare simulation and training in DoD. The primary goal of this workshop was to recommend revisions to the proposed Draft Standard for Protocol Data Units in Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) published in June 1990 by IST. Another goal of the workshop was to continue work toward developing standards in other areas of Distributed Simulation. The two day workshop focused on three major topic areas. These are: Communication Protocols, Terrain Databases, and a new area called Performance Measures.


During the summer of 1973, an epidemic of Chikungunya broke out in Barsi, Sholapur district. Epidemiological investigations carried out during the decline phase revealed that all age groups and both sexes were involved with varying morbidity. The absence of previous immunity was demonstrated by a very high morbidity of 37.53 per cent for the whole town. The clinical picture encountered during the epidemic was quite characteristic of chikungunya. Besides gingivitis and epistaxis there were no frank haemorrhagic episodes. Reports about the presence of demonstrable rash varied. Except for one possible case, there was no mortality as a result of the epidemic. Results of the search for the index case are also described.


Objective Patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas exhibit high morbidity and mortality rates. Growth hormone deficiency and high doses of glucocorticoid substitution therapy have been identified as corresponding risk factors. Interestingly, high levels of endogenous cortisol in, e.g., patients with post-traumatic stress disorder or patients with Cushing's disease have been linked to shorter telomere length. Telomeres are noncoding DNA regions located at the end of chromosomes consisting of repetitive DNA sequences which shorten with aging and hereby determine cell survival. Therefore, telomere length can serve as a predictor for the onset of disease and mortality in some endocrine disorders (e.g., Cushing's disease). Design/methods Here, we examine telomere length from blood in patients (n = 115) with non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) in a cross-sectional case–control (n = 106, age-, gender-matched) study using qPCR. Linear regression models were used to identify independent predictors of telomere length. Results We show that patients with NFPA exhibited shorter telomeres than controls. No significant association of indices of growth hormone deficiency (IGF-1-level-SDS, years of unsubstituted growth hormone deficiency etc.) with telomere length was detected. Interestingly, linear regression analysis showed that hydrocortisone replacement dosage in patients with adrenal insufficiency (n = 52) was a significant predictor for shorter telomere length (β = 0.377; P = 0.018) independent of potential confounders (gender, age, BMI, arterial hypertension, systolic blood pressure, number of antihypertensive drugs, total leukocyte count, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, diabetes mellitus type 2, HbA1c, current statin use). Median split analysis revealed that higher hydrocortisone intake (>20 mg) was associated with significantly shorter telomeres. Conclusion These observations strengthen the importance of adjusted glucocorticoid treatment in NFPA patients with respect to morbidity and mortality rates.


Human settlements worldwide have experienced environmental problems as a result of population growth, an increase in productive activities and low financial capacity of municipalities to provide adequate infrastructure and public services. At the local level, problems of water, soil and air pollution, as well as, land use changes have arisen due to the expansion of urban agglomerations. Regionally, there have been negative impacts on watersheds, ecosystems and biodiversity. Globally, the world is experiencing climate change, the reduction of the ozone layer and the increase of natural disasters. The situation has posed a challenge in terms of urban and regional planning, especially for metropolitan areas and medium-sized cities. The purpose of this study is to present an alternative to integrate environmental sustainability into metropolitan planning in Mexico, specifically applied to the Metropolitan Area of Mexicali, Baja California. Therefore the Environmental Sustainability Agenda has focused on three objectives: first, identifying the weaknesses of the existing environmental and human settlements legal framework; second, developing an environmental assessment and; third, designing policies, strategies and indicators to implement institutional monitoring of environmental programmes. The results were obtained by conducting surveys, regional community workshops, and reviewing previous research. Lastly, this study concludes with six sectoral programs: water, air, solid wastes, green areas, soils and physical pollution and six transversal www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3541 (on-line) WIT Transactions on Ecology and The Environment, Vol 173, © 2013 WIT Press doi:10.2495/SDP130 1 22 Sustainable Development and Planning VI 267


In this article, I argue that the relationship between performers, audience members, electronic technologies and the wider, physical context of the performance environment may be redefined by developing the 'concert' model of electroacoustic performance. I propose that managing proximity between audience members and performers plays a catalytic role in a process through which the human voice may emerge from its status as an 'instrument' for the delivery of notated musical ideas to, simply, 'voice'. To illustrate, I refer to As I Have Now Memoyre, my 2008 installation-performance on the relationship between music, memory and the passing of time. Accordingly, I investigate the way in which a performer is able to assert her ontological reciprocity with the total performance environment by 'embodying' the electronic processing, asserting continuity between the electronically mediated performance and the performance rendered by her own unaided body.


Lane detection is one of the core functions in autonomous driving and has aroused widespread attention recently. The networks to segment lane instances, especially with bad appearance, must be able to explore lane distribution properties. Most existing methods tend to resort to CNN-based techniques. A few have a try on incorporating the recent adorable, the seq2seq Transformer \cite{transformer}. However, their innate drawbacks of weak global information collection ability and exorbitant computation overhead prohibit a wide range of the further applications. In this work, we propose Atrous Transformer (AtrousFormer) to solve the problem. Its variant local AtrousFormer is interleaved into feature extractor to enhance extraction. Their collecting information first by rows and then by columns in a dedicated manner finally equips our network with stronger information gleaning ability and better computation efficiency. To further improve the performance, we also propose a local semantic guided decoder to delineate the identities and shapes of lanes more accurately, in which the predicted Gaussian map of the starting point of each lane serves to guide the process. Extensive results on three challenging benchmarks (CULane, TuSimple, and BDD100K) show that our network performs favorably against the state of the arts.


A retrospective study of oculovisual assessment records of the population of three Ontario schools for deaf children assessed the differential effects of various causes of deafness on the prevalence of vision anomalies. Inherited deafness (ID) appears to be associated with the fewest visual anomalies. Congenital rubella (CR) had the greatest prevalence and was associated with the broadest spectrum of ocular and visual problems. It appears to have a significant effect on corneal curvature as well as being associated with anomalies of other organ systems. Children who had had CR, neonatal sepsis (NS), and Rh incompatibility (Rh) all showed higher rates of strabismus and amblyopia. Those who were deaf from meningitis (MEN) or NS showed a tendency to be more hyperopic, whereas the sample with Rh showed a trend toward myopia. The CR children had the broadest range of spherical refractive errors of all the causes of deafness. Children in schools for the deaf are generally those with substantial or profound hearing loss and thus are more likely to have an accompanying vision impairment. Knowledge of the effect on vision of the causes of deafness should aid practitioners in identifying and detecting similar effects on vision when mild or moderate deafness does not require a child's attendance at schools for the deaf.


: Online feedback mechanism, best known right now for building trust and reputation in electronic markets, are regarded as a major player in the success of many online trading communities. It can reduce sellers' anonymities, mitigate the buyers' risks, and affect the price premiums. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between feedback mechanisms and price premiums by the analysis of field data. An intelligent agent is build to collect actual data from Yahoo Auction. The research results will also allow us to better understand whether positive/negative rating has different effects. It may also clarify mediating effects of product characteristics on the relationship between reputation systems and price premiums.


The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and related regulations have had a profound impact on most aspects related to privacy on the Internet. By requiring the user's consent for e.g., tracking, an affirmative action has to take place before such data collection is lawful, leading to spread of so-called cookie banners across the Web. While the privacy impact and how well companies adhere to those regulations have been studied in detail, an open question is what effect these banners have on the security of netizens. In this work, we systematically investigate the security impact of consenting to a cookie banner. For this, we design an approach to automatically give maximum consent to these banners, enabling us to conduct a large-scale crawl. Thereby, we find that a user who consents to tracking executes 45% more third-party scripts and is exposed to 63% more security sensitive data flows on average. This significantly increased attack surface is not a mere theoretical danger, as our examination of Client-Side Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities shows: By consenting, the number of websites vulnerable to our verified XSS exploits increases by 55%. In other words, more than one third of all affected websites are only vulnerable to XSS due to code that requires user consent. This means that users who consent to cookies are browsing a much more insecure and dangerous version of the Web. Beyond this immediate impact, our results also raise the question about the actual state of client-side web security as a whole. As few studies state the vantage point of their measurements, and even fewer take cookie notices into account, they most likely underreport the prevalence of vulnerabilities on the Web at large.


A suite of core samples for palynological examination was macerated, observing the usual precautions against contamination. The resulting microflora assemblage was erratic. Contamination was introduced through the technical grade reagents used. Examination of the slight sediment present in technical grade hydrochloric and nitric acid reagent bottles revealed abundant plant tissue, diatoms, and some spores and pollen. It is suggested that chemically pure grade reagents will eliminate contamination.


Assessing the well-being of an animal is hindered by the limitations of efficient communication between humans and animals. Instead of direct communication, a variety of behavioral, biochemical, physiological, and physical parameters are employed to evaluate the well-being of an animal. Especially in the field of biomedical research, scientifically sound tools to assess pain, suffering, and distress for experimental animals are highly demanded due to ethical and legal reasons. For mice, the most commonly used laboratory animals, a valuable tool is the Mouse Grimace Scale (MGS), a coding system for facial expressions of pain in mice which has been shown to be accurate and reliable. Currently, MGS scoring is very time and effort consuming as it is manually performed by humans being thoroughly trained in using this method. Therefore, we aim to develop a fully automated system for the surveillance of well-being in mice. Our work introduces a semi-automated pipeline as a first step towards this goal. We use and provide a new data set of images of black-furred laboratory mice that were moving freely, thus the images contain natural variation with regard to perspective and background. The analysis of this data set is therefore more challenging but reflects realistic conditions as it would be obtainable without human intervention. Images were obtained after anesthesia (with isoflurane or ketamine/xylazine combination) and surgery (castration). We deploy two pre-trained state of the art deep convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures (ResNet50 and InceptionV3) and compare to a third CNN architecture without pre-training. Depending on the particular treatment, we achieve an accuracy of up to 99% for binary "pain"/"no-pain" classification. Author summary In the field of animal research, it is crucial to assess the well-being of an animal. For mice, the most commonly used laboratory animals, there is a variety of indicators for well-being. Especially the facial expression of a mouse can give us important information on its well-being state. However, currently the surveillance of well-being can only be ensured if a human is present. Therefore, we developed a first approach towards a fully automated surveillance of the well-being status of a mouse. We trained neural networks on face images of black-furred mice, which were either untreated or underwent anesthesia or surgery, to distinguish between an impaired and unimpaired well-being state. Our systems successfully learnt to assess whether the well-being of a mouse was impaired and, depending on the particular treatment, its decision was correct in up to 99%. A tool that visualizes the features used for the decision making process indicated that the decision was mainly based on the facial expressions of a mouse.


The incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma has increased markedly over the past three decades, particularly in the Western world.1 2 The cancer is considered to be a long-term complication of chronic oesophageal mucosal damage produced by acidic gastric refluxate. The gastric juice, which also contains pepsin and intermittently bile, produces ulceration of the oesophageal squamous mucosa, and in some individuals the mucosa undergoes columnar metaplasia to resemble that of the gastric antrum or small or large intestine. This metaplastic mucosa referred to as Barrett's oesophagus is believed to be the precursor of oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Though the evidence for the increasing incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma is unequivocal and there is also some evidence of an increase in Barrett's oesophagus,3 the evidence for an increase in the incidence of reflux oesophagitis is less robust. However, this may simply be due to the problem in obtaining reliable population incidence rates for reflux oesophagitis.

The rapid rise in incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma indicates a change in the environment, and there is considerable interest in identifying the responsible factor or factors. Increased body weight due to dietary and lifestyle factors is a strong candidate. Body mass index (BMI) has been progressively increasing over the past few decades in the Western world, and there is a strong positive association between BMI and oesophageal adenocarcinoma.4

Another environmental candidate for explaining the rising incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma is loss of a protective effect related to Helicobacter pylori infection. The prevalence of H pylori infection has been falling in the Western world over recent decades, thus showing the opposite trend to oesophageal adenocarcinoma.5 In addition, numerous studies have demonstrated a negative association between H pylori infection and reflux oesophagitis, Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal adenocarcinoma.6–10 There is also a plausible, biological mechanism by which …


In the recent years antenna design appears as a mature field of research. It really is not the fact because as the technology grows with new ideas, fitting expectations in the antenna design are always coming up. In the past, it followed a simple method based on some Euclidean geometry comparatively. However, the wide-spoken attractive fractal antennas do not follow this design. Their complex structure is built up through replication of a base shape. In this paper, the performances of a newly shaped fractal structures have been investigated using Ansoft HFSS 3D electromagnetic simulation tool. The design was carried out using FR4 as the substrate and copper as antenna material. The designed antennas resonate at multiple frequencies with very low return loss and VWSR values. The self-similarity and space filling properties of fractals have been exploited to achieve radiation in C, J and X band regions.


ABS surveillance requirements have been ever-increasing under both market and regulatory pressure as the ABS market has flourished. Demands for improved databases, more analytics, and better reporting are heightened as securitization has moved from an obscure derivative to a mainstream portfolio holding. Satisfying the increased disclosure, reporting, and dissemination challenges is both an operational and technology issue for many institutions. This article outlines some of the most recent and far-reaching changes in ABS surveillance, data tracking, and investor reporting. It pays special attention to the new SEC rulings and those requirements that have the greatest impact on securitization technology. In addition, this review discusses current industry "best practices" and introduces ways to mitigate the technology impact on an issuer's bottom line.


Ayurveda is a traditional system of Indian medicine which aims to promote health and wellness by maintaining equilibrium of all three Dosas of body. Natural medicinal herbs are an important component of this science which aims to protect the body from various ailments and offer an user a variety of health benefits including physical as well as mental health. Haritaki has been placed in high esteem among all medicinal herbs due to its rich property to prevent and cure disease. It is always listed first in Ayurveda as it is called the king of medicines due to its large number of uses having extraordinary therapeutic benefits. Since ancient time, Haritaki has enjoyed a prime place among all medicinal plants. It is being found to be used in many of compound formulations due to its wide spectrum of pharmacological activities. Haritaki is one of three dried fruits that make up the Ayurvedic formula Triphala. It has been used among the large number of population to promote healing from variety of diseases ranging from use as Rasayan to the diseases related to indigestion and many more. Haritaki is being used as a best prescribed remedy for many of the common ailments in day today's life by large number of physician. It is being used easily in all diseases, either for its health promoting benefit or for its disease alleviating property. Nowadays, using Haritaki as a single Dravya with various Anupaan is a great trend giving optimum results. Ekaldravya concept of using single substances has been mentioned in our ancient Ayurvedic literature. Use of Haritaki as a single drug therapy has been evidenced at various instances in Brihatrayee.


This is a series of Flexi-bound dictionaries one of each on the following themes: Thesaurus ("synonymes et nuances et contraires" 9782849022399 - 1280pp); Difficulties with French ("Difficultes du francais" 9782849023549 - 640pp); Expressions and idioms ("Expressions et locutions" 9782849023174 - 920pp); French quotations ("Citations francaises" 9782849022405 - 960pp); Proverbs and sayings ("proverbes et dictons" 9782849022382 - 528pp); Quotations from the world ("citations du monde" 9782849024218 - 576pp); Spelling ("orthographe" 9782849022375 - 800pp); Etymology ("etymologique" 9782849024232 - 640pp); Rhymes and Assonance ("Rimes et assonances" 9782849023150 - 720pp); and, Thesaurus of words together ("Combinaisons de mots - les synonymes en contexte" 9782849020555 - 1024 pp). Each book is Flexi-bound - and larger than the paperback edition - suitable for libraries. (15.2 X 24 cm). There is also a smaller paperback version of each title Poche-paperback available.


1 The macroscopic and single channel gating characteristics of connexin (Cx) 50 gap junction channels between pairs of N2A neuroblastoma cells transfected with mouse Cx50 DNA were investigated using the dual whole‐cell voltage clamp technique. 2 The macroscopic junctional current (Ij) of Cx50‐transfected cells decayed exponentially with time in response to transjunctional voltage (Vj) steps (time constant (τ) of ≈4 s at a Vj of 30–40 mV and 100–200 ms at a Vj of 80–100 mV). The steady‐state junctional conductance (gj) was well described by a two‐state Boltzmann equation. The half‐inactivation voltage (V0), the ratio of minimal to maximal gj (gmin/gmax) and the equivalent gating charge were ± 37 mV, 0.21 and 4, respectively. 3 The conductance of single Cx50 channels measured using patch pipettes containing 130 mM CsCl was 220 ± 13.1 pS (12 cell pairs). A prominent residual or subconductance state corresponding to 43 ± 4.2 pS (10 cell pairs) was also observed at large Vj s. 4 The relationship between channel open probability (Po) and Vj was well described by a Boltzmann relationship with parameters similar to those obtained for macroscopic gj (V0= 34 mV, gating charge = 4.25, maximum P= 0.98). The ensemble average of single channel currents at Vj= 50 mV declined in a monoexponential manner (τ= 905 ms), a value similar to the decline of the macroscopic Ij of Cx50 channels at the same voltage. 5 Ion substitution experiments indicated that Cx50 channels have a lower permeability to anions than to cations (transjunctional conductance of KCl vs. potassium glutamate (γj,KCl/γj,KGlut), 1.2; 6 cell pairs). 6 The results have important implications for understanding the role of connexins in tissues where Cx50 is a major gap junction component, including the lens.


Proteasome inhibitors (PIs) capitalize on the constitutive activation of NF-KB in AML cells and increase chemosensitivity to anthracyclines and cytarabine. We combined the second generation PI, ixazomib, with the standard AML salvage regimen of MEC (mitoxantrone, etoposide, cytarabine). The primary objectives of this study were to determine the dose limiting toxicity (DLT), maximum tolerated dose (MTD), and phase 2 dose of ixazomib in combination with MEC in relapsed/ refractory (R/R) AML. Secondary objectives included evaluating the efficacy of this combination and correlating response to the gene expression profile and CD74 expression, which may identify a subset of leukemias in which NF-KB is operative with increased sensitivity to PI (Attar et al. CCR 2008; 14: 1446-54). Methods: Patients (pts) were treated at Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals of Cleveland from Oct 2014 to present. An IND was approved by the FDA, and the protocol was approved by each institutional review board. Eligibility: age 18-70 yrs, R/R AML, and cardiac ejection fraction ≥ 45%. The fraction of blasts positive for CD74 was assessed by flow cytometry. Samples were stored for gene expression profiling pre- and post-treatment (at the time of response assessment). Pts received MEC: mitoxantrone (8 mg/ m2), etoposide (80 mg/m2), and cytarabine (1000 mg/m2) intravenous (IV) Days 1-6. Ixazomib, provided by Takeda, was given orally on Days 1, 4, 8, and 11 and was dose escalated using a standard 3x3 design. Dose levels (DLs): 1 (1.0 mg), 2 (2.0 mg), 3 (3.0 mg), 4 (3.7 mg). An additional 18 pts were to be treated at the MTD. One cycle of treatment was administered. Response was assessed by bone marrow aspirate/ biopsy by Day 45 and complete remission (CR) was defined by IWG criteria (Cheson 2006). Toxicities were graded according to NCI CTCAE v 4.03. Toxicities secondary to neutropenia or sepsis were not considered DLTs. DLTs included: (1) ≥ Grade 4 non-hematologic toxicity (NHT) with the exception of nausea, vomiting/ alopecia and drug-related fevers; (2) any ≥ Grade 3 neurologic toxicity; (3) grade 4 platelet or neutrophil count 50 days beyond the start of chemotherapy and not related to leukemia; (4) any Grade 4 NHT > grade 2 by 45 days beyond the start of chemotherapy. Grade 2, 3, and 4 hyperbilirubinemia were redefined as 1.5- 20 x ULN. Results: Of 23 pts enrolled, 22 are evaluable. The median age was 58 yrs (range 31-70), 12 (52%) were male and the median baseline WBC was 2.56 K/ uL (range 0.1-62.9). The median time from initial diagnosis to registration was 7.1 months (range 1.4-36.8) and 7 pts (30%) had a history of an antecedent hematologic disorder. Thirteen pts were in 1st relapse and 10 pts were refractory to their last therapy. One pt had received a prior allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (AHCT), 7 pts had FLT3 ITD mutations and 7/ 21 pts (33%) had adverse cytogenetics per CALGB 8461 criteria at the time of relapse. At DL1, 1 DLT occurred (grade 4 thrombocytopenia), so this DL was expanded to 6 pts. At DL2, 2 pts developed Grade 4 thrombocytopenia; therefore, the MTD of ixazomib was 1.0 mg. The most common grade 3-5 NHTs in the dose escalation phase were febrile neutropenia (100%), hypoalbuminemia (25%), hypokalemia (42%), hypotension (33%), and respiratory failure (33%). No adverse events in the dose escalation phase were attributed to ixazomib alone. The overall response rate was 55% [CR/ CR with incomplete count recovery (CRi)], and 9 pts proceeded to AHCT. Five of these 9 pts remain alive with a median follow-up of 12.8 months. Five pts had CD74 expression performed. Two pts had high levels of CD74 expression (> 80%); and both achieved CRi. Myeloid mutation panel data was available in 14 pts. Previous data has demonstrated the number of mutations in DNTMT3A, TP53, ASXL1, and NRAS (0, 1, >1) is associated with a worse response to salvage therapy (Advani et al, abstract 3825, ASH 2015). Seven pts had at least one of these mutations and 6 of the 7 achieved CR/ CRi. Conclusions: The combination of MEC and ixazomib was well-tolerated and produced an overall response rate of 55% in patients with relapsed/ refractory AML irrespective of molecular mutation status. The combination is safe with a similar toxicity profile to MEC alone. CD74 expression may represent a biomarker for response to this therapy. Results from gene expression profiling will be complete by the time of the meeting and will be presented. Disclosures Mukherjee:Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Ariad: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding. Caimi:Genentech: Speakers Bureau; Gilead: Consultancy; Roche: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy. Maciejewski:Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Sekeres:Millenium/Takeda: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees.


In this paper I present a work in progress concerning the mimesis of Italian speech, which is possible to study not only into the two traditional forms of language — written and spoken — but also in broadcast language of tv series. In order to find examples of mimesis of spoken language which are as close as possible to the contemporary linguistic reality, I have excluded all specialised TV programmes which cater for specific contents and sectorial registers and I concentrate on television stories of TV fiction. Tv fiction can be divided up into various narrative formulae and, depending on the subject matter, in different macrocategories. I have focused my study on a particular kind of fiction based on realistic serial format: family fiction, which narrates the daily life of a family or group of families whose stories become entwined in a succession of petty or major events where the language must necessarily draw on colloquial Italian. The corpus analysed in this first phase of the research project was taken from two series: La famiglia Benvenuti (1968) and Un medico in famiglia (1998). I have selected a shortlist of phenomena which best match up to the characteristics of spontaneous speech, grouped in four areas of analysis: 1: Register and lexical–grammatical phenomena; 2: Linguistic commonplaces; 3: The polyvalent 'che'; 4: Mechanisms of segmentation and focalisation.


The indications for and limitations of cryosurgery for various types of hemangiomas on the body surface or in the intraoral region are reported based on our clinical experience. In our opinion, cryosurgery is not the method of choice in the management of hemangiomas but is useful under certain conditions, as with a localized cavernous under certain conditions, as with a localized cavernous hemangioma in the facial or intraoral region. It is also valuable for strawberry marks with bleeding or infection and may be acceptable for small port-wine stains; in the treatment of extensive port-wine stains, a resulting hypertrophic scar or depigmentation may present difficulties.


The rapid development of information technology and location techniques not only leads to an increasing growth of massive geospatial big data but also raises the attention of using these data to complement with remote sensing images. Many efforts have been made to utilize geospatial big data to identify human activity patterns and carry out urban and environmental researches, integrating with remote sensing images. Nonetheless, there are still many issues, including the representativeness and locality of geospatial big data, as well as the fusion methods, remain to be further explored. In this article, we first reviewed the innovation and proceedings of data mining and analyzing techniques, as well as remote sensing applications driven by geospatial big data. Besides, two popular concepts, namely, "Social Sensing" and "Urban Computing," were briefly introduced. Then, we highlighted the role of geospatial big data in mining human activity dynamics and socioeconomic characteristics, and the feasibility of combining with remote sensing data for various studies. Lastly, we presented some empirical case studies on the confluence of remote sensing and geospatial big data in land use extraction, environmental and disaster monitoring, as well as socioeconomic dynamics sensing. The provided examples and discussion demonstrated the high efficiency and complementarity of the integration of remote sensing and geospatial big data, which benefits decision making from multiple perspectives and scales.


Professionals working inside companies may bring with them frames of mind set by their professional experience and socialization. Lawyers, in particular, are said to "think like a lawyer" — to have a lawyer cast of mind. In seeking power within a company and in exercising the power that they obtain, professionals may draw on their professional background to frame, name, diagnose, and prescribe a remedy for the company's problems. In making decisions about their compliance with the law, companies are constrained not only by their environment, but also by their agents' understanding of whose (or what) interests the company should serve. In particular, compliance managers' understandings will frame and influence their companies' calculations of the value, benefits, and costs of compliance activities. The profession of the compliance manager then may influence how the company complies with the law. This Article uses data from a survey of 999 large Australian businesses to examine the professional background of the person in charge of compliance and (1) how they analyze the costs, benefits and risks of non-compliance; and (2) their company's structures and practices of compliance. Contrary to our hypotheses, we find that the professional background of the individual responsible for compliance has little impact on a company's compliance management structures and practices or assessment of stakeholders. The exceptions are that having a lawyer in charge of compliance is associated with the company's perception of heightened legal risk; and where the person in charge of compliance is a lawyer, the company compliance efforts will be marked by manuals and training programs, but not more fulsome compliance structures, which are present when a compliance specialist leads the department. Unfortunately, our data also reveals that these compliance structures are generally merely formal — and likely largely symbolic.


a viscoelastic core is considered. The governing equations and related boundary conditions are derived in terms of sectional force and moment resultants by using the principle of virtual work for free vibrations of the plate. The eigenvalue problem defined by these equations is solved by using the generalized differential quadrature method to obtain the frequencies and loss factors. Results are compared with the ones that exist in the literature for three plate problems. Lastly, a parametric analysis is carried out for sandwich plates with carbon fiber reinforced plastic face layers and a frequency-dependent viscoelastic core. Viscoelastic behavior is modeled based on the five-parameter fractional Zener model. The master curves and material properties of four different viscoelastic polymers are obtained from the experimental data thatexist in the literature. The effects of these polymericdamping materials on the vibration and damping characteristics of the sandwich plate are thoroughly studied. The eigenproblem is also solved by using the finite element method to verify the results of the generalized differential quadrature method.


This study looks at how students and staff experience asynchronous online discussion (AOD) within initial teacher education. The aim is to explore participant perspectives, including expectations of fellow participants, with a view to informing pedagogy, defined as the relationship between teaching and learning (Loughran, 2006). The underpinning argument is essentially that learning and teaching can be enhanced by awareness of how participants experience the situation. Understanding the complexities of AOD entails a better understanding of participants' tacit reasoning, expectations, misunderstandings, and responses to tasks and behaviours (Brookfield & Preskill, 2005; Loughran, 2006). It is the situation as it is perceived which is central to the quality of teaching and learning, and this puts participants and their experiences at the centre of efforts to improve pedagogy and to enhance deep learning. This study is framed by sociocultural theory and phenomenography to explore AOD through the eyes of teacher educators and teacher education students in a specific teacher education context. Participants engaged in focus groups (face-to-face and online) and a series of semi-structured interviews, generating data about experiences and perspectives of AOD. Key findings show the need for participants in AOD to establish expectations for purposeful communication; to maintain a presence for learning premised on formative interaction; and to work together in ways conducive to community and student leadership in pursuit of deep learning. This thesis adds to the limited research literature on teacher perceptions about online teaching (Spector, 2007), and makes a contribution to addressing the neglect of student approaches to study in higher education using eLearning technologies for discussion (Ellis et al., 2008; Jackson et al., 2010; Sharpe et al., 2010). The results contribute to knowledge in the field of online learning in initial teacher education by giving rise to specific pedagogical strategies for teachers and students in given situations, and by providing conceptual tools for participants when thinking about teaching and learning through AOD.  Participant experiences function as footprints, picking out pathways as others make their way through AOD (Salmon, 2002).


Urban areas are integral to India's growth and development, accounting for around two-thirds of the country's GDP. Analysing India's rapidly expanding process of urbanisation, the book identifies the key challenges and opportunities and proposes suitable managerial and policy reforms. It addresses critical issues and puts forth suggestions for better planning financing alternatives and, most importantly, better governance for improved service delivery and affordable housing. Divided thematically into three sections, the volume takes into account the important facets of urbanisation, including the state of urban infrastructure and planning in India with due attention to sustainability, the role of finance in urban development and its dependence on governance, and methods to generate good governance in public institutions, and the impact on housing and climate change.


Sleep health is an important factor across several physical and mental health disorders, and a growing scientific consensus has identified sleep as a critical component of opioid use disorder (OUD), both in the active disease state and during OUD recovery. The goal of this narrative review is to collate the literature on sleep, opioid use, and OUD as a means of identifying therapeutic targets to improve OUD treatment outcomes. Sleep disturbance is common and often severe in persons with OUD, especially during opioid withdrawal, but also in persons on opioid maintenance therapies. There is ample evidence that sleep disturbances including reduced total sleep time, disrupted sleep continuity, and poor sleep quality often accompany negative OUD treatment outcomes. Sleep disturbances are bidirectionally associated with several other factors related to negative treatment outcomes, including chronic stress, stress reactivity, low positive affect, high negative affect, chronic pain, and drug craving. This constellation of outcome variables represents a more comprehensive appraisal of the quality of life and quality of recovery than is typically assessed in OUD clinical trials. To date, there are very few clinical trials or experimental studies aimed at improving sleep health in OUD patients, either as a means of improving stress, affect, and craving outcomes, or as a potential mechanistic target to reduce opioid withdrawal and drug use behaviors. As such, the direct impact of sleep improvement in OUD patients is largely unknown, yet mechanistic and clinical research suggests that therapeutic interventions that target sleep are a promising avenue to improve OUD treatment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).


A collection of 87 strains of the soft rot pathogen Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora (Ecc) isolated from various host plants in Japan, Korea and Thailand was characterized by bacteriological, pathological and genetic properties. On the basis of pathogenicity on the potato, tomato, onion and cucumber, strains were divided into four groups. They were also characterized by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) of 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer regions (ISRs) and a pel gene encoding pectate lyase. By analysis of 16S rDNA RFLP generated by Hinf I, Ecc strains were differentiated into two groups where it was discovered that most strains from Korea and Japan belonged to the same group. In the analysis of ISRs RFLP with MboI, two patterns were found. All Thai strains showed the same pattern. In the analysis of the pel gene RFLP with Sau3AI, all strains were separated into two independent patterns except for one strain. The strain (MAFF 301937) isolated from the mulberry showed a unique RFLP pattern of the pel gene. In cluster analysis based on 26 phenotypic characters, Ecc strains were composed of two groups, A and B. Group A contained typical Ecc strains which provided negative reactions in testing the production of reducing substances from sucrose and acids from α-methyl glucoside. All Thai strains and most of the Korean strains belonged to group A, whereas group B contained atypical Ecc strains, which were isolated in Japan and Korea; the properties of this group were similar to those of E. carotovora ssp. atroseptica. The research reported here was undertaken to provide information on the strains of E. carotovora ssp. carotovora in Asia.


The principal objective of this research concerned the production, characterisation and application of antibodies for the specific detection of Listeria monocytogenes.

Monoclonal antibodies were generated against various L. monocytogenes-derived antigens. Initially, a panel o f antibodies was produced against a 60 kDa extracellular protein isolated from exponentially growing L. monocytogenes culture supernatants.Subsequently, the L. monocytogenes-speclfic surface pathogenicity protein, Intemalin B (InlB), was biochemically isolated and used to generate InlB-specific monoclonal antibodies. The specific reactivity of these antibodies was demonstrated using purified recombinant InlB (rlnlB) and p60 (rp60) proteins, respectively. However, the anti-p60 antibody was cross-reactive with certain non-pathogenic members of the Listeria genus and the anti-InlB monoclonal antibody was not capable of efficiently binding InlB on the L.monocytogenes cell surface.

Thus, a third panel of monoclonal antibodies was generated using intact, formalininactivated L. monocytogenes cells as the immunogen. From this panel, a promising antibody was selected and shown to demonstrate improved specificity for the L.monocytogenes species. This antibody was further examined in order to demonstrate its potential application in traditional immunoassay and SPR-based biosensor formats.

The L. monocytogenes inlA gene was cloned into a compatible expression vector and recombinant InlA protein (rlnlA) was heterologously expressed in Escherischia coli. This was then used to confirm that the antibody was indeed specific for the L. monocytogenes pathogenicity marker, InlA. The results indicated that the anti-InlA monoclonal antibody produced was capable o f specifically binding to intact L. monocytogenes cells and therefore, it was concluded that it could potentially be employed to facilitate more rapid, reliable and specific detection o f L. monocytogenes cells.


To seek beneficial immunomodulation with interleukin-2 (IL-2) for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a study was conducted of the response to and concentration of IL-2 by mononuclear cells (MNC) from 45 NPC patients who had been pathologically verified, but pre-treatment, at the time they were studied. Thirty-eight normal healthy controls were studied simultaneously. Lymphocyte subsets did not change much after IL-2 stimulation in either NPC patients or the controls. A decreased IL-2 concentration was found in NPC, and a trend of inverse correlation to clinical staging was detected; the more advanced stage, the less concentration of IL-2. It was concluded that there was a normal response to and decreased concentration of, IL-2 in NPC patients. Whether decreased concentration of IL-2 in NPC patients resulted from decreased production or increased consumption is not clear. A further research of IL-2 immunomodulation in NPC patients should be done before its clinical application.


Climate variability and change are some of the most pressing environmental challenges in semi-arid Kenya and Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and are associated with persistent droughts, dry spells and erratic rains. The present study aimed at determining exposure and adaptation mechanisms among selected small-scale farmers cultivating drought tolerant crops in Wote, Makueni County, Eastern Kenya in the period 2003 to 2013. The sampled 120 farmers cultivate sorghum, cow peas and pigeon peas, which are some of the dominant multipurpose crops. Data collection methods included the use of semi-structured questionnaires. Results indicated that household level vulnerability was caused by exposure to extreme events: Drought (100%) and erratic rains (59%). Key drought adaptation means were drought resistant crops, 65%; terracing, 28%; and crop diversification, 13%. A multiple regression model, R2=0.319, indicated that age, gender and land size influenced adaptation choices significantly <0.05=0.027, 0.043 and 0.011, respectively. The results reveal prevailing exposure to extreme events at household level and further existing influence of responses by household social characteristics. From the results, the study mainly recommends adoption of alternative income activities, including on farm value addition, coupling of indigenous and modern adaptation mechanisms and provision of comprehensive climate information services.

 Key words: Climate change and variability, vulnerability, adaptation, smallholder farmers, semi-arid, Kenya.


Pummelo farmers need production technology and marketing information to optimize their capability and agricultural productivity. Communication process to disseminate information about pummelo nursery, maintanance, and marketing between farmers and external stakeholder will build a communication network. The purpose of this study is to analyze communication structure in dissemination of pummelo nursery, maintanance, and marketing information; identified main actors in the networks; analyze correlation between farmer characterctics and communication network analysis, and correlation between communication network analysis with the effectiveness of information dissemination. The result of this study shows that extension worker are the main actor in dissemination of pummelo nursery and maintanance information network, and whole seller is the main actor in dissemination of marketing information network. There's no significantly correlation between farmers characteristics and communication network analysis in dissemination of pummelo nursery, maintanance, and marketing information, except cosmopolity variable and outdegree centrality in dissemination of pummelo maintanance information. In addition, there's no significatly correlation between communication network analysis variables and effectiveness dissemination of information in production and marketing network. Keywords: communication process, farmers, network


Researchers are accelerating work on self-monitoring, self-healing systems, which detect problems and continue to operate by fixing or simply bypassing malfunctions without human intervention. Although self-healing technology adds cost, the approach not only reduces potentially catastrophic delays or errors in critical systems but also saves money by reducing the need for IT department intervention. The article looks at the eLiza project and autonomic-computing projects from IBM including Active Memory system and Blue Gene project. The article also looks at ONE and N1 from Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard's Superdome high-end Unix server and Blue Ocean Software's Track-It!.


Experimental data indicate that acute hyperglycaemia can aggravate the consequences of epileptic seizures on the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of chronic administration of alpha -tocopherol (vitamin E) and acute catalase administration on the disrupted BBB during experimentally pentylenetetrazole-induced status epilepticus in acute hyperglycaemic rats. The integrity of the BBB was tested using the Evans Blue (EB) dye extravasation. The concentration of EB dye was measured in four regions of the brain. Epileptic seizures induced a significant increase in EB dye extravasation in the brain regions compared with that of the groups of rats treated with saline, glucose, catalase and alpha -tocopherol (P< 0.01). The content of EB dye in the brain regions of animals in the acute hyperglycaemia plus epileptic group was higher than that of the saline, glucose, catalase, alpha -tocopherol and epileptic groups (P< 0.01). The increased EB dye transfer from blood to the brain in status epilepticus and acute hyperglycaemia plus status epilepticus was attenuated by the treatment with catalase and alpha -tocopherol. These data suggest that a partial reduction in the production of reactive oxygen species by catalase and alpha -tocopherol contributes to decreases in the content of EB dye across the BBB during pentylenetetrazole-induced status epilepticus in acute hyperglycaemic rats.


Ultrathin VO2 nanobelts with rough alignment features are prepared on the induction layer-coated substrates by an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-mediated hydrothermal process. EDTA acts as a chelating reagent and capping agent to facilitate the one-dimensional (1D) preferential growth of ultrathin VO2 nanobelts with high crystallinities and good uniformities. The annealed induction layer and concentration of EDTA are found to play crucial roles in the formation of aligned and ultrathin nanobelts. Variation in EDTA concentration can change the VO2 morphology of ultrathin nanobelts into that of thick nanoplates. Mild annealing of ultrathin VO2 nanobelts at 350 °C in air results in the formation of V2O5 nanobelts with a nearly unchanged ultrathin structure. The nucleation and growth mechanism involved in the formations of nanobelts and nanoplates are proposed. The ethanol gas sensing properties of the V2O5 nanobelt networks-based sensor are investigated in a temperature range from 100 °C to 300 °C over ethanol concentrations ranging from 3 ppm to 500 ppm. The results indicate that the V2O5 nanobelt network sensor exhibits high sensitivity, good reversibility, and fast response-recovery characteristics with an optimal working temperature of 250 °C.


The main tasks of the "Kyiv City Development Strategy until 2025" are in development and reconstruction of the city, improvement of its infrastructure and environmental protection, which perfectly correlates with the basic principles of green building. This is the modern practice in construction, reconstruction and the exploitation of buildings, in which they im-plement optimal architectural solutions, advanced engineering systems and materials for re-ducing of energy consumption and material resources, it is the process of improving the qual-ity of buildings and the comfort of their internal environment, improving of impact of build-ings on the health of people by minimizing the negative impact on the environment at all stag-es of life cycle of building structures. The practice of the tasks outlined in the Strategy will significantly contribute to the implementation of international environmental standards and to the application of constructive solutions of green building technologies. In particular it ap-peals to such urban development sectors as city development and land relations, housing and communal services, transport and urban mobility, environmental policy and environmental protection, public space, security and civil protection, historical and architectural heritage.


This paper examines the impact of debt financing on overinvestment in Chinese listed companies. Using an accounting-based framework to measure over-investment and free cash flow, we find evidence that, debt financing can't mitigate overinvestment in Chinese listed manufacturing companies. Further tests examine whether firm's governance structures are associated with overinvestment. The evidence suggests that governance factors also can't mitigate over-investment in China. Reasons lie that hard constraint of debt financing doesn't play its role in China. There also exists assets maturity and debt maturity mismatching problems in Chinese manufacturing listed companies.


We consider the stationary solution for the Ca concentration near a point Ca source describing a single-channel Ca nanodomain, in the presence of a single mobile Ca buffer with one-to-one Ca binding. We present computationally efficient approximants that estimate stationary singlechannel Ca nanodomains with great accuracy in broad regions of parameter space. The presented approximants have a functional form that combines rational and exponential functions, which is similar to that of the well-known Excess Buffer Approximation and the linear approximation, but with parameters estimated using two novel (to our knowledge) methods. One of the methods involves interpolation between the short-range Taylor series of the buffer concentration and its long-range asymptotic series in inverse powers of distance from the channel. Although this method has already been used to find Padé (rational-function) approximants to single-channel Ca and buffer concentration, extending this method to interpolants combining exponential and rational functions improves accuracy in a significant fraction of the relevant parameter space. A second method is based on the variational approach, and involves a global minimization of an appropriate functional with respect to parameters of the chosen approximations. Extensive parameter sensitivity analysis is presented, comparing these two methods with previously developed approximants. Apart from increased accuracy, the strength of these approximants is that they can be extended to more realistic buffers with multiple binding sites characterized by cooperative Ca binding, such as calmodulin and calretinin. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Mathematical and computational modeling plays an important role in the study of local Ca signals underlying vesicle exocysosis, muscle contraction and other fundamental physiological processes. Closed-form approximations describing steady-state distribution of Ca in the vicinity of an open Ca channel have proved particularly useful for the qualitative modeling of local Ca signals. We present simple and efficient approximants for the Ca concentration in the presence of a mobile Ca buffer, which achieve great accuracy over a wide range of model parameters. Such approximations provide an efficient method for estimating Ca and buffer concentrations without resorting to numerical simulations, and allow to study the qualitative dependence of nanodomain Ca distribution on the buffer's Ca binding properties and its diffusivity.


The present work illustrates the results of a wide experimental campaign in the frame of the EU-funded project sCO2-Flex, focused on the investigation of a MW-scale sCO2 compressor operating in plant-representative conditions. The experimental tests are carried out for four temperature levels between 304.15K and 309.15K at a fixed pressure (79.79 bar), hence covering an extended thermodynamic region close to the critical point. The experimental results are thoroughly discussed with the support of steady computational fluid-dynamics simulations, assuming homogeneous flows and thermodynamic equilibrium for the two-phase flow description. Changing the upstream total state, two peculiar variabilities in the compressor pressure ratio and choked-flow rate are experimentally and computationally observed. While the former is mainly related to the single-phase flow thermodynamics, the latter originates from the onset of two-phase flows. As the simulations predict the experimental choking with a maximum error of 3%, the corresponding two-phase speed of sound is analyzed to infer the underlying equilibria between phases. It is found that, for the tested conditions, two-phase flows quickly achieve thermodynamic equilibrium, and non-equilibrium or meta-stable effects arguably play a marginal role in the process.


Abstract : The report concerns the results of an investigation into the cause of failure of DRTE rocket BB II-50. During flight, the rocket developed a diverging angle of attack which caused the nose tip and fins to break off. This, together with a reduction of the trajectory angle, prevented the vehicle from reaching a useful altitude. With the help of wind tunnel tests, it is shown that the divergent angle of attack is caused by effects of vehicle asymmetries and non-linear aerodynamic moments. Roll magnitude, roll direction, and other aerodynamic moments are included in the following analysis of stability. The analysis provides a probable explanation for other flight failures of fin stabilized vehicles. The conclusions provide general guide lines for the design of future rocket payloads to ensure stable flight. (Author)


In this paper, we propose an event specification language for event-based collaboration support software architecture, which incorporates some basic concepts, four event operators and four event-occurrence operators to conveniently allow complex event descriptions. The semantics of the language is also studied In the event specification language, we distinguish between event and event occurrence, identify primitive events, and introduce a small number of event operators for constructing composite (or complex) events. The novel aspect of our work lies in supporting a rich set of events and event expressions.