Institutional investors have to optimise their asset-mix in such a way that at any time all future liabilities will be met. Many investors, especially pension funds, need on top of a certain minimum return some compensation for actual inflation. Amongst other reasons as for instance its low correlation with other asset classes, real estate is often added to investment portfolios to contribute to this inflation hedge. Over the last couple of years, due to matters as high operating costs and the desire for international diversification combined with lack of local knowledge, increasingly investors shifted their real estate portfolios from directly owned to indirect holdings via participations in listed and non listed real estate investment vehicles. Also, investors are actively looking for alternative investment products, which match the desired risk return profile and secure their inflation-based obligations. This trend has led to innovative financially structured products, which guarantee annual inflation. One of these products, which has been jointly developed by IEF N.V.1 and Bouwfonds Asset Management BV2, is the Inflation Exchange Contract (IEC). Via this contract, the actual future inflation will be sold to investors. Hedged by real estate portfolios, investors receive an annual compounded inflation (calculated over a fixed coupon amount) for a set time period (the Icontract periodo). In order to analyse the risk profile of the IEC, extensive data analysis and modelling has been done. A model using Monte Carlo simulation has been created to estimate the probability that the income stream from real estate portfolio is not able to meet all financing obligations, including those from the IEC. Based on the calculated Idefault risksI ratings can be assigned to the various financial instruments that have been used to finance the real estate portfolios. These ratings can then be used to price the IEC in a transparent way. This paper will discuss the motivation, assumptions, risks and returns of this innovative financially structured product.


DOI : 10.26650/actavet.2019.18010 The effect of Mediterranean mussel shell (Mytilus galloprovincialis) (MMS) on performance, egg quality and some blood parameters were studied on quails (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) for a period of 10 weeks (13-23 weeks). A total of 90 quails were randomly separated into one control and two treatment groups. Each group was divided into six subgroups, each containing 5 animals. MMS was replaced with lime stone at the ratios of 50 and 100% in first (50% MMS) and second (100% MMS) group rations respectively. The diets were prepared to be isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Rations and water were given ad libitum. Ca source replacement did not significantly affect body weight, egg weight, egg yield, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of laying quails. The effects of MMS replacement on shape index, yolk index, yolk color, blood Ca, Mg, P levels with Mg and P levels of egg shell had no significance. Ca levels of egg shell decreased (p<0.05) in treatment groups however, the amount of crude ash of tibia was not altered. In sum, dietary MMS did not alter egg quality of laying quails. It may be concluded that MMS can be replaced with limestone in the diet of laying quails.


In this paper, a new complex-valued neural network based on adaptive activation functions is proposed. By varying the control points of a pair of Catmull-Rom cubic splines, which are used as an adaptable activation function, this new kind of neural network can be implemented as a very simple structure that is able to improve the generalization capabilities using few training samples. Due to its low architectural complexity (low overhead with respect to a simple FIR filter), this network can be used to cope with several nonlinear DSP problems at a high symbol rate. In particular, this work addresses the problem of nonlinear channel equalization. In fact, although several authors have already recognized the usefulness of a neural network as a channel equalizer, one problem has not yet been addressed: the high complexity and the very long data sequence needed to train the network. Several experimental results using a realistic channel model are reported that prove the effectiveness of the proposed network on equalizing a digital satellite radio link in the presence of noise, nonlinearities, and intersymbol interference (ISI).


To maximize our ability to obtain recognition of Ocean Sciences Section members as Fellows of AGU while minimizing the associated workload, I have, in consultation with our executive committee, established an Ocean Sciences Fellows Committee chaired by the President-Elect to oversee and assist in the nomination process.

The committee asks that anyone wanting to make a nomination send a one-page proposal telling why an individual should be a Fellow. Proposals will be reviewed by the commitee, and a number equal to 1½ to 2 times our nomination quota will be chosen for full presentation. Committee members will then work with nominators to select and contact seconders, while the nominator provides the required curriculum vitae and publication list. The committee will assist in any manner possible to insure that the files that go forward are both timely and well documented.


This essay looks at the role of labor activism through the cultural work of El Teatro Campesino, the theater company that emerged from the farmworkers' strike led by Cesear Chavez in Delano, California, during the mid-1960s. Through makeshift performances along the picket line, the farmworkers and their creative visionary, Luis Valdez, innovated Chicano/a performance and created an activist aesthetic that has continued to influence Chicano/a performance and art. Their productions, which started as small improvisational actos, drew from a wealth of transnational influences as well as from a larger proletariat and activist theater tradition. However, El Teatro Campesino adapted these techniques to their local resources. The result created a unique forum that enabled promotional education about unions and workers' rights to exist side-by-side with themes of self-reflection and criticism concerning the risks of identity politics. The essay explores the methods by which El Teatro Campesino questioned and critiqued ethnic identity and argues for a more complex approach to their earlier picket-line entertainment. It proceeds to consider the importance of cultural production for labor mobilization, and argues for a more integrated analysis of the relationship between activism and art.


The purpose of the present study is to improve the on-street exhaust noise measurement technique for regulating vehicles that emit unacceptably large exhaust noise. The method under development uses racing operation of engines with a wide-open throttle on a standing vehicle. In contrast, the engine operation condition considered in the conventional on-street measurement technique considers operation at 75% of rated power followed by the throttle valve being released to its original position. The current regulation considers the maximum noise level during this engine operation condition. Accordingly, the engine is not loaded during testing. This loading condition provides unsatisfactory correlation between the exhaust noise level measured by the on-street method and the ISO vehicle acceleration noise under the wide-open throttle condition. The present paper reports the advantages of the proposed method as well as some important factors in the proper application of the newly proposed method. In the present study, we perform noise measurement along highways, a vehicle experiment in an anechoic chassis dynamometer, and computer simulations. The results revealed that the proposed on-street measurement method can be used to approximately determine the exhaust noise level during full acceleration for most vehicle types. In addition, the sensitivities of the measured noise levels for the testing conditions were clarified. The second item in this study is efficient engine speed measurement using exhaust sound signal only without electric wire harnessing. A survey of the measurement systems proposed by three different companies revealed that the measurement principles of two of these systems have potential application to on-street exhaust measurement. The last item investigated herein is better indices of exhaust noise evaluation. Loudness defined by ISO was found to be much better than the conventional dB(A) scale in terms of correlation with subjective evaluation results.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


In the neural circuits that comprise the crustacean stomatogastric nervous system (STNS), synaptically delivered neurotransmitters and circulating neurohormones elicit a wide range of rhythmic motor outputs. However, functional roles for second messengers in this system are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate two different signaling pathways that control the synthesis of 3′,5′-cGMP in the crab STNS. One pathway is activated by nitric oxide (NO) and is mediated by a cytoplasmic guanylate cyclase. A second pathway is stimulated by peptide-containing extracts from a crab neurohemal organ that activate a membrane-associated guanylate cyclase. Using whole-mount immunocytochemistry to localize individual cGMP-containing cells, we find that NO elevates intracellular cGMP in a small subset of STNS neurons. Immunopositive cells are found predominantly in the stomatogastric ganglion, with a few additional cells located in the oesophageal and commissural ganglia. Crab tissues differ in their sensitivities to NO and to the peptide-containing extract. The NO- mediated pathway is apparently restricted to the nervous system, whereas the peptidemediated pathway is present in every tissue tested. The results of these experiments demonstrate that multiple signaling pathways involving cGMP are present in the STNS and suggest that this second messenger may help control the metabolic and physiological status of these motor circuits.


When Czechoslovakia became independent in 1918, Czechs embraced democracy, which they saw as particularly suited to their national interests. Politicians enthusiastically supported a constitution that proclaimed all citizens, women as well as men, legally equal. But they soon found themselves split over how to implement this pledge. Some believed democracy required extensive egalitarian legislation. Others contended that any commitment to equality had to bow before other social interests, such as preserving the traditional family. On the eve of World War II, Czech leaders jettisoned the young republic for an "authoritarian democracy" that firmly placed their nation, and not the individual citizen, at the center of politics. In 1948, they turned to a Communist-led "people's democracy," which also devalued individual rights. By examining specific policy issues, including marriage and family law, civil service regulations, citizenship law, and abortion statutes, "Elusive Equality" demonstrates the relationship between Czechs' ideas about gender roles and their attitudes toward democracy. Gradually, many Czechs became convinced that protecting a traditionally gendered family ideal was more important to their national survival than adhering to constitutionally prescribed standards of equal citizenship. Through extensive original research, Melissa Feinberg assembles a compelling account of how early Czech progress in women's rights, tied to democratic reforms, eventually lost momentum in the face of political transformations and the separation of state and domestic issues. Moreover, Feinberg presents a prism through which our understanding of twentieth-century democracy is deepened, and a cautionary tale for all those who want to make democratic governments work.


It has been nearly 50 years since the United States initiated a military operation that sprayed approximately 20 million gallons of phenoxy herbicides and arsenicals on South Vietnam including Agent Orange, a formulation that was contaminated with dioxin. Alvin Young has been a major player in measuring and monitoring these herbicides since the 1960s. Retired from the Air Force (AF) and now receiving support from the herbicide manufacturers Dow and Monsanto, Young remains a governmental spokesman in post-conflict remediation dealings with Vietnam. His "new" book on the issue—actually, a largely unacknowledged compilation of his and others' writing and research—contains some valuable information. This value though, must be weighed against a number of serious deficiencies in scholarship.

Young's book contains a gold mine of data on the herbicides, some of which have been out of public view until now. But caveat emptor: Page after page of text and many illustrations and photographs are taken directly from Young's prior publications without proper citation. There are also many lengthy direct quotations from other authors that appear without quotation marks or indents. Setting aside issues of copyright, the difficulty for users who wish to cite this book's contents will be the absolute requirement of locating all references to distinguish original from reproduced text.

A second caveat: Many quotations are taken out of context, emphasis has been added without acknowledgement, and other authors' work has in some cases been misinterpreted. For example, Major General John Murray—who evaluated military records aspects of the now abandoned Agent Orange Study—is quoted as seeming to urge abandonment of all military records–based studies with Young's emphasis-added, capitalized, and boldfaced "NOT." A check in the source material, though, will show that Murray's very next sentence reads "It is, of course, understood that eight (8) other studies which require determinations of the likelihood of Agent Orange exposure conducted by the Veterans Administration and for which the Joint Services Environmental Support Group will provide exposure determinations and military record abstractions will rigorously continue" (Murray JE. 1986. Report to the White House Agent Orange Working Group Science Subpanel on Exposure Assessment. Washington DC:Office of Science and Technology Policy). Palmer's work is cited as supporting the notion that science cannot contribute to understanding health effects of Agent Orange, because there are too many "quality of life issues." A check of source material (Palmer MG. 2005. The Legacy of Agent Orange: Empirical Evidence from Central Vietnam. Soc Sci Med 60:1061–1070) reveals that Palmer did not say this; further, the year of his paper is incorrectly cited.

More recently, Young has proposed a new theory to support his contention that no U.S. troops were directly sprayed upon. He asserts that because there were no reports of U.S. casualties resulting from attacks by the fighter planes that escorted the spray planes, no troops could have been in harm's way, and he cites Flanagan, a retired AF pilot who wrote of his varied experiences in Vietnam. In fact, Flanagan's description of a spray mission disparages the Army recordkeeping on which Young relies: "Failure was never recognized … friendly casualties could be failures, but they, too, were never identified" (Flanagan JF. 1992. Vietnam Above The Treetops: A Forward Air Controller Reports. New York:Praeger).

In the interest of full disclosure, Young describes our methodology for updating and correcting herbicide spray records as demonstrating a "woeful lack of understanding" of AF reporting procedures. We must point out in response that our work (Stellman JM, Stellman SD. 2003. Characterizing Exposure of Veterans to Agent Orange and Other Herbicides Used in Vietnam: Final Report. Washington, DC:National Academies Press) was performed in collaboration with the persons at the Department of Defense (DoD) who were the most knowledgeable about these procedures—the Center for Research on Unit Records—and co-authored by Col. Christian (retired), former director of the DoD Joint Services Environmental Support Group. Young discounts the ability of spray plane navigators to know where they were or pilots to accurately spray their targets—thereby dismissing the utility of the voluminous spray records available, despite much evidence to the contrary.

Some assertions in the book either are disingenuous or contradict Young's earlier work. Young rationalizes in this book that the omission of maximum dioxin contaminant levels from the military specifications for herbicide quality occurred because not enough was known and measurement was difficult; but two decades ago his edited volume stated that "the manufacturers of trichlorophenol and of 2,4,5-T had been aware for many years that this class of compounds and particularly their impurities produced a toxic reaction in humans … the same manufacturers had developed, as early as 1941, a … bioassay … to monitor the production of the herbicide" (Young AL, Reggiani GM. 1988. Agent Orange and Its Associated Dioxin: Assessment of a Controversy. New York:Elsevier). Indeed, in 1965 Dow Chemical Company's V.K. Rowe convened a highly unusual meeting of his toxicology counterparts from competitor companies to warn that the herbicide was dangerous and that processes needed cleaning up. Dow closed down and rebuilt its own feedstock operations to manage the problem. The military specifications never once mentioned dioxin for the duration of the war.

Science also seems to have ended in the 1970s and early 1980s for Young. Johnston Island, the final resting place for Agent Orange before its incineration at sea, had no important problems in 1978 according to Young. However, a 1986 AF reassessment found marine biota with up to 472 ppb dioxin, subsoil with 510 ppb dioxin, and 682,247 ppb of 2,4,5-T (Huse G, et al. 1991. Preliminary Public Health, Environmental Risk, and Data Requirements Assessment for the Herbicide Orange Storage Site at Johnston Island. Brooks Air Force Base, TX:Occupational and Environmental Health Directorate).

Finally, how very much beside the point is the book's quibbling about whether spray estimates differ by a few percent? Here we are in 2010, some 38 years since the last spray mission overflew hamlets and fields of our ally, the South Vietnamese, and we still cannot answer these questions: Were there health consequences? Just how many "hot spots" are there? Were veterans who served in heavily sprayed areas more likely to contract illnesses than those who did not? Are there adverse effects among the people of Gulfport, Mississippi, through which millions of gallons passed, too much of it in leaky barrels? The Institute of Medicine, the editors of Nature, Congress, and many others have repeatedly requested that studies be done—to no avail.

These are profoundly important questions still awaiting an answer. Young contends that science is being "filtered" through the public's confused perceptions. But while some confusion may exist, the predominant sentiment is dismay. If there is one thing that this compendium of reprinted materials shows us, it is that there is a wealth of data that can be used to answer the many open environmental questions.


We address the task of computing solutions for a separating fluid-solid wall boundary condition model. We present an embarrassingly parallel, easy to implement, fluid LCP solver. We are able to use greater domain sizes than previous works have shown, due to our new solver. The solver exploits matrix-vector products as computational building blocks. We block the matrix-vector products in a way that allows us to evaluate the products, without having to assemble the full systems. Any iterative sub-solver can be used. Our work shows speedup factors ranging up to 500 for larger grid sizes.


Introduction: Intacglobin is biological product obtained in the Havana Hemoderivatives Plant, contains polyclonal immunoglobulins of the classes IgG, IgM and IgA, presently used as immunologic complement in diverse conditions. Objective: to show the presence and effectiveness of antileptospiral immunoglobulins antibodies in Intacglobin for the specific treatment of leptospirosis. Material and method: a study was carried out in thirteen lots of Intacglobin, in order to show the presence of antileptospiral immunoglobulins in this product. Two laboratory techniques were used: microagglutination with 10 serogroups of leptospira (WHO reference technique), and UMELISA, with an Ag developed the University of Medical Sciences. The Intacglobin samples were diluted from 1:50 to 1.3200 for the microagglutination and from 1:21 for UMELISA. The test was considered positive when agglutination of the antigens was 50% or higher for the microaaglutination technique and positive according to range stablished for UMELISA. Results: in seven of the thirteen studied lots serologic reactions were detected before the two used techniques. Up to 1:1600, specifically in the case of the serogroup L. Hebdomadis 1:400, in the L. Icterohaemorrhagiae, Canicola, Pomona y Australis 1:200, and Ballum 1:100. Conclusions: a new possibility of treating leptospirosis, increasing the therapeutic stock with this product, which acquires now an added value. DeCS: Intacglobin; leptospira; serogroup; hyperimmune.


In this paper a new overall approach is presented to the selective network protection problem in the framework of computer control of the power system in normal and emergency conditions. The result is an inherently adaptive selective protection based on the concept of minimal nested protection units. This system uses no explicite individual relays but it is a systemwide interacting computer control. Adherence to classical concept such as distance relays has became an impediment on developing selective protection which actually exploits the potential of digital computer technology. These classics were ingenious developments in an age when microprocessors were built of steel, copper and an aluminum disk. Much more effective selective protection should be possible in todays technological context. This paper tries to point the way.


Detailed aerosol knowledge is essential in numerous applications, including risk assessment in nuclear industry. Cascade impactor sampling of uranium aerosols in the breathing zone of nuclear operators was carried out at a nuclear fuel fabrication plant. Collected aerosols were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Imaging revealed remarkable variations in aerosol morphology at the different workshops, and a presence of very large particles (up to ~100 x 50 µm 2 ) in the operator breathing zone. Characteristic X-ray analysis showed varying uranium weight percentages of aerosols and, frequently, traces of nitrogen, fluorine and iron. The analysis method, in combination with cascade impactor sampling, can be a powerful tool for characterization of aerosols. The uranium aerosol source term for risk assessment in nuclear fuel fabrication appears to be highly complex.


Probabilistic forecasts of continuous variables take the form of predictive densities or predictive cumulative distribution functions. We propose a diagnostic approach to the evaluation of predictive performance that is based on the paradigm of maximizing the sharpness of the predictive distributions subject to calibration. Calibration refers to the statistical consistency between the distributional forecasts and the observations and is a joint property of the predictions and the events that materialize. Sharpness refers to the concentration of the predictive distributions and is a property of the forecasts only. A simple theoretical framework allows us to distinguish between probabilistic calibration, exceedance calibration and marginal calibration. We propose and study tools for checking calibration and sharpness, among them the probability integral transform histogram, marginal calibration plots, the sharpness diagram and proper scoring rules. The diagnostic approach is illustrated by an assessment and ranking of probabilistic forecasts of wind speed at the Stateline wind energy centre in the US Pacific Northwest. In combination with cross-validation or in the time series context, our proposal provides very general, nonparametric alternatives to the use of information criteria for model diagnostics and model selection.


Atomic segmentation of cursive scripts into constituent characters is one of the most challenging problems in pattern recognition. To avoid segmentation in cursive script, concrete shapes are considered as recognizable units. Therefore, the objective of this work is to find out the alternate recognizable units in Pashto cursive script. These alternatives are ligatures and primary ligatures. However, we need sound statistical analysis to find the appropriate numbers of ligatures and primary ligatures in Pashto script. In this work, a corpus of 2, 313, 736 Pashto words are extracted from a large scale diversified web sources, and total of 19, 268 unique ligatures have been identified in Pashto cursive script. Analysis shows that only 7000 ligatures represent 91% portion of overall corpus of the Pashto unique words. Similarly, about 7, 681 primary ligatures are also identified which represent the basic shapes of all the ligatures.


Inverse associations have been reported between the incidence of advanced, neovascular, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the combined lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) intake in the diet, and L and Z concentration in the blood serum. We suggest that persons with high levels of L and Z in either the diet or serum would probably have, in addition, relatively high densities of these carotenoids in the macula, the so-called 'macular pigment'. Several lines of evidence point to a potential protective effect by the macular pigment against AMD. In this study we examined the relationship between dietary intake of L and Z using a food frequency questionnaire; concentration of L and Z in the serum, determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, and macular pigment optical density, obtained by flicker photometry. Nineteen subjects participated. We also analysed the serum and retinas, as autopsy samples, from 23 tissue donors in order to obtain the concentration of L and Z in these tissues. The results reveal positive, though weak, associations between dietary intake of L and Z and serum concentration of L and Z, and between serum concentration of L and Z and macular pigment density. We estimate that approximately half of the variability in the subjects' serum concentration of L and Z can be explained by their dietary intake of L and Z, and about one third of the variability in their macular pigment density can be attributed to their serum concentration of L and Z. These results, together with the reported associations between risk of AMD and dietary and serum L and Z, support the hypothesis that low concentrations of macular pigment may be associated with an increased risk of AMD.


ABDUCTTVE INFERENCE MODELS FOR DIAGNOSTIC PROBLEM-SOLVING, by Yun Peng and James A. Reggia Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1990, xii + 278 pp., extensive bibliography (10 pages), index (DM 78). This book is designed for research workers and practitioners in artificial intelligence and cognitive science, as well as for engineers and developers of automatic diagnostic systems. The work is concerned with causal associations during diagnostic problem-solving and presents a mathematical model of diagnostic reasoning known as the parsimonious covering theory. Furthermore, the model is integrated with the probability theory, the resulting probabilistic causal model leading to a generalized Bayesian classification embracing diagnostic problems where faults may occur simultaneously. By means of best-first search algorithms and parallel neural network it is thus possible to develop a most probable hypothesis.


Production of acid activated clay and its application in vegetable oil refining has reached its limit of optimization. Most acid activated clay often increases the acid value of refined bleached and deodorized (RBD) oil and hence requires further treatment to get the desired quality. In addition, the waste effluent from the treated clay is hazardous to the environment and as a result, this study aimed at investigating the potential application of alkali activated clay for Shea butter bleaching. Nigeria local clay was obtained and activated using sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide solutions at varying concentrations. The effectiveness of those clays was measured by determining the percentage color reduction and the final free fatty acid of the RBD Shea oil. The adsorption of colored impurities from the Shea butter was favored by low concentration (0.5m/dm) for sodium hydroxide activated clays and higher concentration (5m/dm) for potassium hydroxide activated clays. The percentage free fatty acid of the Shea butter was reduced from 6.836 to 2.74 and 3.2 for potassium hydroxide activated clay and sodium hydroxide activated clays respectively. The XRD patterns of the activated clays revealed that the clay sample consists of mixed layered minerals whose morphology has been changed as a result of the modification. The results of this work will address most shortcomings associated with acid activated clay and hence make alkali activated clay a good candidate for bleaching vegetable oil even at the level of the grass root.


: Managed care systems have traditionally found ER management issues difficult to address. Patients view these facilities as points of consistent, easy, and reliable care. Providers see these facilities as necessary off load points from busy practices for problems whose intensity or complexity would overwhelm their office work flow. Emergency Department physicians understand their roles as nondiscriminate passive recipients of all patient flow through their facilities. These same providers also recognize a huge liability potential for both missed diagnosis and for perceived inadequate/unsafe treatment plans such as non-hospitalization when hospitalization was needed.


This thesis focuses on the methodological problem of instability in political attitudes. Measured attitude change can be caused by the actual attitude change of the respondent or by measurement error. This research aims to provide insight in this last part of measured attitude change. On the one hand, this measurement error has a nonsystematic or random part that can reduce the reliability and the stability of the measurement over time. On the other hand, the part of instability that is measurement error might be systematically influenced by background variables. In other words, particular groups of respondents might be more stable in their attitudes than others. We look into the systematic and non-systematic part of the measurement error in the measurement of political attitudes over time using data collected in the LISS panel in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Three theories of attitude change were evaluated. The first one is the traditional model of Achen, who defines attitudes as fixed entities and considers measurement error non-systematic. Secondly, we evaluated the model of Converse, who considers attitudes "top-of-the-head-responses" and argues that stability of these attitudes is systematically influenced in favor of the "elite". Finally, we evaluated the model of Zaller, who agrees with Converse that the measurement error is systematic but draws a more complex model around stability in which political awareness is the key variable.
The results showed that stability differs between three political attitudes. Confidence in institutions is relatively stable, whereas the variables internal and external efficacy are considerably less stable. Furthermore, we learned that there was no empirical evidence for the theory of Converse that more educated respondents were more stable. The evidence for a systematic relation between political awareness and stability, in line with the model of Zaller, was somewhat stronger. However, we found no evidence that measurement error is systematically influenced, which means that the traditional model of Achen has the best explanation for instability in political attitudes from these three models. This indicates that the measurement error in measuring stability of political attitudes has an important random part.
These results indicate that although we cannot rule out the relation between education and instability, and more important; between awareness and instability, there is empirical evidence that random error, possibly caused by the survey, is a larger part of the instability than Converse and Zaller might expect. In this context, scholars could also focus on the exact source of random error that causes stability in political attitudes instead of seeking for a systematic influence on stability. Moreover, considering the fact that random error might be an important factor in instability, further research could focus on the relation between level of education and sources that cause random error, for instance the formulation of survey
5
questions. The same suggestion can be made for respondents who are less aware. The difference in stability between respondents who are not aware and those who are fairly or very aware was considerably larger than the differences for education. Respondents who are less aware, might be more sensitive to vague survey questions because they have less information and consequently, less formed opinions.
The last limitation that is discussed concerns the specification of the models by means of structural equation modeling. First of all, the models that are specified in LISREL are a simplified version of the theoretical models of Achen, Converse and Zaller, made in order to draw conclusions about the comparison of these models. A detailed analysis of all the exact workings of these separate models would involve specific evaluation of each model based on data collected for this purpose, which was not possible in this research. However, this possibility of omitted variables bias does not give rise to any conjectures about the direction of the results. New variables can strengthen or weaken the relation between awareness and stability, but are not likely to change the direction of the relation. In this research, measurement error is probably random and there is no reason to suspect that one of the other models will turn out much better in a more detailed analysis. However, further research that is able to simulate all the exact underpinnings of these models is called for in order to confirm this suspicion.


The Review of LHC Transfer lines and Injection (LTI) and CERN Neutrinos to Gran Sasso (CNGS) Controls was the first overview of requirements and preparations for the control of these facilities. Participants were asked to outline work that was already underway or planned in order to build an account of activit ies and responsibilities. The control of CNGS facilities downstream of the primary target was not included.


This thesis reports a study of the microstructural and electrical characterization of high quality epitaxial CoSi2 layers fabricated by the relatively new technique of Ion Beam Synthesis (IBS). The effect of incorporating common device processing dopants such as phosphorus, arsenic, antimony, boron and indium into the ion beam synthesised CoSi2/Si structure is also studied. Using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and four point probe resistivity measurements the crystallinity and resistivity of ion beam synthesised CoSi2 layers fabricated by implanting cobalt to doses in the range 0.7 - 7 x 1017 ions cm-2 at 200keV are examined. Substrates of (100), (111) and (110) orientation are used. The results show that the microstructure of the 'as implanted' sample is strongly dependent on the ion dose, the crystallinity and resistivity being sensitive to the cobalt:silicon ratio within the implanted region. The microstructure is also dependent on the orientation of the substrate. A detailed examination on the effect of annealing the cobalt implanted layer is also undertaken. Annealing at 600°C for 1 hour, 600°C/1 hour + 1000°C/30 minutes, sequential annealing in the range 200°C - 1000°C for 15 mins and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in the range 700°C - 1100°C for 5-60 seconds are all used allowing a number of different processes to be studied in the implanted region. The layers with the highest crystalline quality form after the highest temperature anneals (≥ 1000°C). The lowest resistivities can, however, be obtained after annealing at lower temperatures. The current/voltage characteristics of IBS (100) n-type CoSi2/Si Schottky barrier diodes are investigated using mesa device structures prepared by wet chemical etching. Measurements are performed over the temperature range 100 K - 400 K. For temperatures (T) > 250K the barrier height of the IBS CoSi2/Si interface is found to be 0.64 +/- 0.01 eV. The ideality factor (a 1.05 for T > 250 K) is found to increase with decreasing temperature. C/V measurements at 293 K also reveal the same value for the barrier height. The redistribution of indium, antimony and arsenic implanted to doses ≥ 5 x 1015 ions cm-2 into 'as implanted' and annealed CoSi2layers is examined after sequential annealing in the range 200°C - 1000°C for 15 minutes. Segregation of the implanted dopant occurs towards the interfaces of the layer and also into the underlying silicon, demonstrating the use of the silicide as a diffusion source. After annealing at the higher temperatures the crystallinity of the CoSi2 layer is restored and there is in addition evidence to suggest that the defect density at the interface is reduced by the presence of the dopant. A detailed study of the electrical characteristics of dopant implanted IBS CoSi2/Si structures shows that the barrier height can be controlled by varying the dose, and subsequent annealing temperature. The conclusions in the latter part of the thesis point the way to further research on IBS CoSi2.


This study sought to analyze the relationship between pulse pressure (PP) index (PPI) (PP/systolic blood pressure; a less variable and objective form of PP) and coronary artery disease (CAD) progression. A registry of 193 patients was evaluated to show CAD progression by comparing current vs previous (6 months to 3 years prior) angiograms. One day after the second angiogram, we conducted ambulatory blood pressure measurements on the patients. Of the 193 patients, 65 (34%) had CAD progression. The PP and PPI were significantly higher in the progression than in the non-progression group (55 ± 12 vs. 51 ± 10 mmHg, P = .02 and .47 ± .06 vs. .42 ± .05, P = .004, respectively). Also, the PP and PPI were independently predictive of CAD progression (OR = 1.03, P = .03 and OR = 6.47, P = .01, respectively). Moreover, the correlation of PPI with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and glycosylated hemoglobin was greater than their correlation with PP. In addition, PPI predicted CAD progression better than PP (area under the curve [AUC] = .649 vs. .574, P = .03). Elevated PP and PPI may be associated with the progression of CAD. PPI seems more successful in predicting CAD progression than PP.


Purpose: Identifying the source of stone formation in recurrent stone formers has always been a big problem. Material and Methods: In this study kidney stones from 52 patients were submitted to direct examination by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) after manual fracture and 27 calculi were cultured in Eagle's Minimum Essential Medium (E-MEM) and Brain-Heart Infusion (BHI) for eight weeks at 37°C in 5% CO2 atmosphere. Twenty-seven powdered and demineralized stones were suspended in sterile PBS, filtered through 0.22 m-pore-size sterile filters Millex (Millipore, Massachusetts, USA) and submitted to DNA extraction (Quiagen-Brazil). Platinum PCR SuperMIX (GIBCO-BRL), primers (Invitrogen), and Ultra Pure Water (Advanced Biotechnologies, Columbia, MD) were used for PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), which was generally conducted for 30 or 35 cycles with annealing of primers for 40 sec at 55°C and extension for 1 min at 72°C. Results: In 36 out 52 (69%) kidney stones it was detected the presence of biofilm coating the mineral surface of the stone when examined by SEM, consisting of coccoid particles, isolated or clustered, with diameter of 500 nm or less. Eleven out 27 (41%) kidney stone cultures produced white-colored sediment on the bottom of the tubes after eight-week incubation, revealing tiny structures similar to those observed directly by SEM. These structures were similar in size and morphology to spherical apatite particles previously observed in human kidney stones and named as nanobacteria (NB). No PCR products were observed in the samples. Conclusion: We found a strong correlation between renal stones and calcifying nanoparticles (CNP) in this study and these results open a new insight on this area to explore the etiology of stone formation. Whether NB/CNP are truly microorganisms or self-propagating mineral compounds is still controversial and its contribution, if any, in apatite nucleation and crystal growth remains uncertain.


Papillomaviruses can infect epithelia of humans and animals, resulting in most cases in asymptomatic infections. However many benign and several malignant disorders were shown to result from papillomavirus infections. Many different papillomaviruses have been described, most of them infecting humans. Animals have their own papillomaviruses but relatively few animal papillomaviruses are characterized or known at all. Even in common domestic animals, like the dog and the horse only one papillomavirus each had been studied in some detail in the past. This study was consequently initiated to shed more light onto the papillomavirus situation in these two species and to establish viable tools for this purpose. We were able to identify novel canine papillomaviruses (CPVs) associated with distinct clinical conditions. The DNA genomes from some of these viruses were cloned and sequenced. We found, that histologically distinct types of inverted papillomas seem to be associated with the
presence of DNA belonging to different CPVs. Sequence analyses of newly cloned CPV genomes revealed that these genomes belonged to the papillomavirus genera Lambda, Tau and Chi. This phylogenetic characterization was supported by analysis of other features, such as genome organization and genome size. Some clinical-pathological characteristics were also reflected in this categorization, above all the finding that all CPVs inducing pigmented plaques belonged to the Chi papillomavirus genus. Based on a careful evaluation of PCR assays it was possible to show that viral DNA could be detected in the clinically healthy tissue from oral mucosa and interdigital skin of dogs. As a first step towards developing a tool for future research on the mechanisms of virus cell interaction, we have in addition generated keratinocyte cell lines harboring and transcribing the DNA of CPV1, CPV3 or CPV5
respectively. We also conducted a related project on horse papillomaviruses. In the horse papillomatoses are a well known problem and have already been described in ancient times.
Curiously, the best known papillomavirus affecting horses so far is a bovine papillomavirus, BPV1, involved in the equine sarcoid. In this project, we identified equine papillomaviruses (EcPVs) in two other occasionally observed disorders, namely penile papillomas and aural plaques. We established PCR and in situ hybridisations and showed that samples of penile papillomas from the histological archive were positive for either of two described variants of EcPV2. Viral DNA was located in the nuclei of koilocytes, cells typical for active viral infection in the skin. This test might help in the molecular classification of equine papillomatoses.


The present paper is concerned with the study of some general properties of coherent light. A clear definition of coherence is given, which appears to be preferable to definitions previously proposed by other authors. Several new theorems relating to correlation functions and the spectral density functions of coherent light are derived. The results are used to establish the Huygens-Fresnel principle for a coherent optical field. This principle has previously been freely applied to such a field, although the validity of the principle has only been justified for the much more idealized (and physically unrealizable) case of a field which is strictly monochromatic. The present formulation of the Huygens-Fresenel principle involves only observable quantities and not the instantaneous amplitudes and the instantaneous phases of the light vibrations.


Fatigue and cachexia are common symptoms of advanced disease that have a significant impact on quality of life for palliative care clients. Management of cachexia and fatigue is often overlooked, but growing understanding of the multidimensional nature of fatigue and muscle wasting has led to interest in a model of care based on multimodal therapy that has been successfully implemented in specialized multidisciplinary hospital-based clinics in the oncology/palliative care setting. This article reports on an innovative incorporation of features of this model into a client-centred, interdisciplinary programme that aims to manage the effects of cachexia and fatigue and to improve quality of life for palliative care clients in their home setting. This Cachexia and Fatigue Management Programme (CFMP) involves the use of an anti-inflammatory agent, high protein intake, and an individually tailored resistance exercise regimen to counteract muscle wasting and fatigue. The article provides an overview of the role of multimodal therapies in the management of cachexia and fatigue before moving on to discuss the development of the CFMP, its features, and potential benefits for palliative care clients, caregivers, and health services.


The Intelligent Techniques for Planning presents a number of modern approaches to the area of automated planning. These approaches combine methods from classical planning such as the construction of graphs and the use of domain-independent heuristics with techniques from other areas of artificial intelligence. The book presents, in detail, a number of state-of-the-art planning systems that utilize constraint satisfaction techniques in order to deal with time and resources, machine learning in order to utilize experience drawn from past runs, methods from knowledge systems for more expressive representation of knowledge and ideas from other areas such as Intelligent Agents. Apart from the thorough analysis and implementation details, each chapter of the book also provides extensive background information about its subject and presents and comments similar approaches done in the past.


To make a connection between pedagogy and technology in teaching, this chapter will explore whether or not a professional development design and practice, whose aim is to help teachers use technology for personal purposes, readily translates into the ability to effectively teach and learn with technology. Adopting a conceptual framework known as self-efficacy beliefs and TPACK, or technological pedagogical content knowledge (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), this chapter discusses the design of a professional development model, the goal of which is increasing the critical attribute of the successful professional development: self-efficacy. In an effort to provide empirical knowledge to support this design, this chapter further showcases a faculty member's approaches to connecting technology and pedagogy using the TPACK approach, while implementing a model designed to improve teachers' self-efficacy. Implications and guidelines for developing teachers' self-efficacy, through activities during the professional development workshop, are discussed.


BACKGROUND
 With increased access to technology and the internet, there are many opportunities for utilizing electronic health (eHealth), internet, or technology-delivered health services and information for the prevention and management of chronic diseases.

 OBJECTIVE
 The aim of this paper was to explore (1) the differences in technology use, (2) Web-based health information seeking and use behaviors, (3) attitudes toward seeking health information on the Web, and (4) the level of eHealth literacy between adults aged 18 and 64 years with and without chronic disease.

 METHODS
 A cross-sectional internet survey was conducted in March 2017 with 401 US adults. Participant responses were examined to understand associations between chronic disease status and eHealth behaviors such as internet health-seeking behaviors and Web-based behaviors related to health, tracking health indicators with a mobile app, patient portal use, and preferences for health information.

 RESULTS
 About 1 in 3 (252/401, 37.2%) participants reported at least 1 chronic disease diagnosis. Seventy-five percent (301/401) of all participants reported having ever searched for health information on the Web. Participants with a chronic disease reported significantly higher instances of visiting and talking to a health care provider based on health information found on the Web (40.0% [48/120] vs 25.8% [46/178], χ22=6.7; P=.01; 43.3% [52/120] vs 27.9% [50/179]; χ22=7.6; P=.006). The uses of health information found on the Web also significantly differed between participants with and without chronic diseases in affecting a decision about how to treat an illness or condition (49.2% [59/120] vs 35.0% [63/180], χ23=6.7; P=.04), changing the way they cope with a chronic condition or manage pain (40.8% [49/120] vs 19.4% [35/180], χ22=16.3; P<.001), and leading them to ask a doctor new questions or get a second opinion (37.5% [45/120] vs 19.6% [35/179], χ22=11.8; P<.001). Chronic disease participants were significantly more likely to be tracking health indicators (43.9% [65/148] vs 28.3%, [71/251] χ22=10.4; P=.006). In addition, participants with chronic disease diagnosis reported significantly higher rates of patient portal access (55.0% [82/149] vs 42.1% [106/252], χ22=6.3; P=.01) and use (40.9% [61/149] vs 21.0% [53/252], χ22=18.2; P<.001). Finally, both groups reported similar perceived skills in using the internet for health information on the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). The majority of participants responded positively when asked about the usefulness of health information and importance of accessing health resources on the Web.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The high rates of reported information seeking and use of internet-based health technology among participants with chronic disease may reflect the uptake in eHealth to help manage chronic disease conditions. Health care providers and educators should continue to seek ways to interact and support patients in their management of chronic disease through eHealth platforms, including capitalizing on Web-based resources, patient portals, and mobile phone apps for disease education and monitoring.


Despite the social forces behind the introduction of invasive species as well as their immense environmental and economic impacts, scholars of animals and society and environmental sociology have so far largely ignored ecological invasions. This study is intended to address this lacuna through a cross-national empirical analysis of invasive species and economic development in 186 nations. We contextualize this study within appropriate historical, ecological, and social literature and integrate this analysis into the long-standing and important debate in environmental sociology between treadmill of production theory and ecological modernization theory. We develop a negative binomial regression model to examine the relationship between population, per capita gross domestic product, urban development, and the presence of invasive species taxa in nations. Our findings support treadmill of production theory, showing that economic development contributes to the establishment of invasive species.


The effects of a fixed combination of chlorthalidone (25 mg) and metoprolol slow-release (200 mg) (CM) on 24 hour blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) values and their variabilities were evaluated in 6 ambulant hypertensives by the Oxford method, to obtain continuous intra-arterial recording and by computer to have a beat-to-beat analysis of the data. Compared to pre-treatment values, average 24 hour HR and mean BP recorded after 7-10 days of once daily CM orally administration were reduced by 18.4 +/- 3.1 and 14.7 +/- 3.0%, respectively. The effects of CM were also evident during isometric and dynamic exercise, whose pressor and tachycardic responses were left unimpaired (BP) or were only slightly reduced (HR) by CM. The long- and short-term BP and HR variabilities (calculated as variation coefficients among and within half hours, and within minutes) were also left unaffected by CM. These findings indicate that once a day administration of CM effectively reduces BP and HR over the 24 hours, without interfering with cardiovascular homeostasis. The effective and persistent reduction in both these variables (as well as their occurrence during exercise) suggests that the antihypertensive action of this treatment is accompanied by a clear-cut reduction in cardiac work.


Experiments with artificial microbial communities indicate that certain community compositions are more resistant to microbial invasion than others. However, few invasion experiments have used natural microbial communities to investigate how the effect of community composition on invasion resistance relates to different aspects of community growth. We conducted experimental invasions of two bacterial species (Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas putida) into 678 bacterial communities, comparing composition to several aspects of community growth prior to invasion to see how well they predicted invasion. We show that even in these complex microbial assemblages, the effects of resident community composition and growth are largely overlapping - with parameters associated with the productivity of the community (cell yield, community respiration) emerging as the main limiting factors for invasion success. Despite their complexity, these communities can be classified into a few compositional groups that are associated with the main differences in community growth, and thereby invasion resistance.


Lower-limb robotic exoskeletons are wearable devices that can be beneficial for people with lower-extremity motor impairment because they can be valuable in rehabilitation or assistance. These devices can be controlled mentally by means of brain–machine interfaces (BMI). The aim of the present study was the design of a BMI based on motor imagery (MI) to control the gait of a lower-limb exoskeleton. The evaluation is carried out with able-bodied subjects as a preliminary study since potential users are people with motor limitations. The proposed control works as a state machine, i.e., the decoding algorithm is different to start (standing still) and to stop (walking). The BMI combines two different paradigms for reducing the false triggering rate (when the BMI identifies irrelevant brain tasks as MI), one based on motor imagery and another one based on the attention to the gait of the user. Research was divided into two parts. First, during the training phase, results showed an average accuracy of 68.44 ± 8.46% for the MI paradigm and 65.45 ± 5.53% for the attention paradigm. Then, during the test phase, the exoskeleton was controlled by the BMI and the average performance was 64.50 ± 10.66%, with very few false positives. Participants completed various sessions and there was a significant improvement over time. These results indicate that, after several sessions, the developed system may be employed for controlling a lower-limb exoskeleton, which could benefit people with motor impairment as an assistance device and/or as a therapeutic approach with very limited false activations.


Most assessments of the impact and effects of biased-based policing have been reviewed from the aspect of officer-citizen interaction during traffic stops, with the majority of studies focusing on these occurrences in larger police jurisdictions. Yet police officers themselves, and particularly African American officers, bring a completely different perspective to this issue that has not been fully considered or developed, especially where it concerns the smaller agencies that make up the bulk of the nation's police community. This study considers the perceptions of African American police officers regarding the presence and impact of biased-based policing in their agencies, as well as their perceptions of the positive or negative effects of their presence in these small local police agencies.


BACKGROUND
Medical school faculty members influence students' health promotion beliefs by their patient care activities and personal health habits. We characterized the medical school environment by defining faculty's health promotion and early disease detection attitudes and practices. The data disclose faculty needs and suggest a new paradigm to alter medical students' health promotion beliefs and care patterns.

METHODS
An observational study of all academic faculty was conducted at a medical school using self-report survey data collected with a confidential questionnaire. The survey instrument assessed faculty demographics, 27 behaviors, and 23 beliefs concerning health promotion.

RESULTS
Eighty-four percent of faculty (575 of 683) responded. Although agreement was moderate to good between lifestyle beliefs and personal behaviors, the concordance between personal adherence to and beliefs concerning the recommended physical examinations and laboratory tests was only fair (kappa 0.21 to 0.40).

CONCLUSION
Faculty's health promotion and disease detection beliefs and behaviors were inconsistent. Observing this discrepancy may relate to students' establishment of attitudes and practices. Modifying faculty's personal behaviors and altering the medical school environment might enhance students' commitment toward preventive care.


How do messages from political elites interact with individual traits of citizens to spur intergroup aggression? Building on research in social psychology, we expect that in places of protracted conflict, violent rhetoric from elites will be enough to mobilize antagonism toward an outgroup, especially among those who are generally less apt to be hostile toward the outgroup. We present results from two large survey experiments, the first conducted with young Jewish-Israeli adults across Israel and the second with a nationally diverse sample of adults in India. The results show that mild "fighting" words (e.g. "battle," "fight"), combined with a reference to the outgroup, provoke significantly greater support for policies that harm the outgroup among some citizens. This effect is largest among individuals low in outgroup prejudice and low in aggressive personality traits, people who are usually less inclined to support policies that hurt the outgroup. Effects of violent rhetoric persist even with policies and rhetoric to help the outgroup. This work highlights the importance of considering both individual traits and contextual factors together to understand their full impact in the study of intergroup conflict.


New collections of bryozoans from the Middle Jurassic (Late Bajocian and Bathonian) of Poland add significantly to our knowledge of the diversity and biogeography of the Cyclostomata at a time when they were the dominant bryozoan order in the fossil record. A total of 16 species and one form-genus ("Berenicea") are present. Most are encrusters, predominantly on hiatus concretions. A single erect species was found in deposits interpreted as regurgitates of a marine vertebrate. The following new species are described: Microeciella annae sp. nov., M. kuklinskii sp. nov., M. maleckii sp. nov., M. mokrskoensis sp. nov., M. magnopora sp. nov., Reptomultisparsa harae sp. nov., and Hyporosopora bugajensis sp. nov. The taxonomic importance of the morphology of both the gonozooids and pseudopores is underlined, especially for encrusting species of the "Berenicea" type that are otherwise difficult to distinguish from one another. The described bryozoan assemblage encrusting hiatus concretions from the Polish Middle Jurassic is the richest that has been documented globally from this kind of substrate.


The EU is very concerned with the implementation of Human Rights, so it has become the basic value and the main terms in its membership1. The EU's desire toexpand the territorial prompts efforts to discipline the implementation of Human Rights is intensified in order to increase the number of members. However, individual identity, how one defines itself as a nation, and freedom of expression are also major points in Human Rights. This is clearly a major obstacle that unknowingly appears in the territorial expansion efforts being undertaken by the European Union. The most obvious and most recent example is the occurrence of Brexit through the EU referendum in June 2016 which resulted in the United Kingdom having to quit the EU membership. This is a major blow to the EU, because in the course of territorial expansion, the EU would have to lose one of its larger member states. This paper discusses the paradox of the virtue of Human Rights as a value that is upheld within the EU and the freedom of individuals and nations in defining themselves, as well as an identity crisis which is beginning to undermine the comfort of life in society.


OBJECTIVE
The region on the United States (US) side of the US-Mexico border consists of 44 counties in four states; populations on both sides of the border have similar health problems. Healthy Border 2010: An Agenda for Improving Health on the US-Mexico Border (HB 2010) is a binational agenda of health promotion and disease prevention for individuals in the region. This study reports on the health status of the four southern Arizona border counties.

METHODS
Data on health indicators for Cochise, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Yuma Counties were collected from the Arizona Department of Health Services Vital Records and Statistics. Progress was calculated as a percentage made toward or away from the 2010 target. Comparisons were made between the border counties and Arizona.

RESULTS
Progress toward the HB 2010 targets varied among the border counties. All border counties made progress toward the targets with the cervical cancer, hepatitis A, and teenage birthrate objectives. Most border counties moved toward the goals for breast cancer, diabetes mortality, tuberculosis, motor vehicle crashes, infant mortality from congenital abnormalities, and prenatal care. Border counties moved away from the target with the human immunodeficiency virus and infant mortality objectives.

CONCLUSIONS
Assessment of the HB 2010 objectives provided a comprehensive description of the health status of the population. Although the southern Arizona border counties have shown improvement in some areas, monitoring is still needed to identify the disparities that remain.


There is an interactive relationship between soil and hydrology. Identifying and interpreting soil properties active in this relationship can enhance our understanding of the hydrological behaviour of soils and the hillslopes in which they occur. This study was conducted in the Weatherley research catchment, South Africa, where a hillslope in the upper part of the catchment was selected for detailed study. Soil properties and their spatial distribution in the hillslope were interpreted and related to their predicted hydrological response. From these interpretations a conceptual model of hillslope hydrological behaviour was developed. Vertical drainage was considered to be dominant in the upper areas of the hillslope as indicated by the presence of freely-drained apedal soils. These soils recharge the mid- and lower slope. Soils showing clear indications of interflow (A/B and soil/bedrock interface) dominate on the midslope. The valley bottom is covered by gleyed soils which is an indication of long periods of saturation. These saturated conditions favour overland flow due to saturation impairing infiltration. The conceptual model was then evaluated using hydrometric measurements in the form of tensiometers and streamflow hydrographs. Results confirm the reliability of the model and accentuate the contribution that soil science can make to the science of hydrology. Keywords: conceptual model, hillslope hydrology, hydropedology, soil properties


With advancements in technology, new inventions are emerging day-by-day, resulting in more number of patent filings all over the globe. The analysis of existing patents to analyze novelty or patentability of upcoming inventions and to check the non-infringing process of the patented technology, there is need to analyze patents of targeted domain technology. The analysis of patents is done not only to analyze novelty or infringement but also to explore the undiscovered innovative knowledge covered in patents. Patent searching using keywords, sometimes, gives very broad results. The analysis of thousands of patents becomes difficult for patent analyst. The methodology used with IPC (International Patent Classification) codes helps to reduce the result of patent search and helps patent analyst in targeted search. But in case of Japanese patent search, IPC alone unable to give targeted results. Then it becomes important to understand the concept of JPC (Japanese Patent Classification) codes and their use to make the Japanese patent search easy. The Japanese Patent Classification includes File Index, Facets and F-term. In this article, Japanese Patent Classification codes are explained in details with their consequences, applications, constructions and search methodology using them.


Since the times of P. Ehrlich, F. D. von Recklinghausen, and O.Westphal, the research on mast cells and basophils made significant progression towards the recognition of their involvement in antimicrobial functions and of their role in mobilizing inflammation in wound healing, allergy, and autoimmunity. However, the role of mast cells in normal physiology is still poorly understood. Only in recent years, these cells are increasingly recognized as important effectors in number of pathways related mostly to tissue remodeling. The mast cells are capable to orchestrate inflammatory reactions and angiogenesis, they are frequently present near pre-neoplastic epithelial cells, etc. Absolute mast cell deficiency, as in the cross of Min mice to the C57BL/6-KitWsh/Wsh mice, can have overreaching immunological consequences.


Abstract The article presents numerical analyses and results of experimental fatigue tests of the welded stairs made from prefabricated EN-AW 6063-T66 aluminium alloy thin-walled profiles. Fatigue life analysis of welded thin-walled structures is a complicated and demanding task. Fatigue analysis of stairs was carried out according to the concept of a weak link, which was verified experimentally. The FEM method was applied in strength analysis. The conducted research allowed identifying the weak link of the structure at the welded joint. The samples stairs were subjected to fatigue tests. The fatigue tests have been conducted using specially designed set up. The experiments confirmed the numerical analysis. The cracks occurred at welded joints before expected fatigue life to fracture. Then the stairs structure was modified by changing the weld joints arrangement. The fatigue tests were carried out again and showed further weaknesses of their structure cracking of the step profile. To precisely capture this problem, detail finite element calculations for the analysed stairs have been conducted. Applying the nominal stress method, this problem was solved changing the treads profile of the stairs step. The last improvement in the construction was sufficient to satisfy fatigue strength requirement of the analysed structure. The weak link approach and nominal stress method proved to be an effective tool in fatigue analysis of the examined structure.


In this thesis we discuss applications of quantum information theoretic concepts to quantum gravity and the low-energy regime of quantum field theories. The first part of this thesis is concerned with how quantum information spreads in four-dimensional scattering experiments for theories coupled to quantum electrodynamics or perturbative quantum gravity. In these cases, every scattering process is accompanied by the emission of an infinite number of soft photons or gravitons, which cause infrared divergences in the calculation of scattering probabilities. There are two methods to deal with IR divergences: the inclusive and dressed formalisms. We demonstrate that in the late-time limit, independent of the method, the hard outgoing particles are entangled with soft particles in such a way that the reduced density matrix of the hard particles is essentially completely decohered. Furthermore, we show that the inclusive formalism is ill-suited to describe scattering of wavepackets, requiring the use of the dressed formalism. We construct the Hilbert space for QED in the dressed formalism as a representation of the canonical commutation relations of the photon creation/annihilation algebra, and argue that it splits into superselection sectors which correspond to eigenspaces of the generators of large gauge transformations. In the second part of this thesis, we turn to applications of quantum information theoretic concepts in the AdS/CFT correspondence. In pure AdS, we find an explicit formula for the Ryu-Takayanagi (RT) surface for special subregions in the dual conformal field theory, whose entangling surface lie on a light cone. The explicit form of the RT surface is used to give a holographic proof of Markovicity of the CFT vacuum on a light cone. Relative entropy of a state on such special subregions is dual to a novel measure of energy associated with a timelike vector


Mobile technologies can transform clinical research and health care worldwide—and save money. The surge in computing power and mobile connectivity have fashioned a foundation for mobile health (mHealth) technologies that can transform the mode and quality of clinical research and health care on a global scale. Unimpeded by geographical boundaries, smartphone-linked wearable sensors, point-of-need diagnostic devices, and medical-grade imaging, all built around real-time data streams and supported by automated clinical decision–support tools, will enable care and enhance our understanding of physiological variability. However, the path to mHealth incorporation into clinical care is fraught with challenges. We currently lack high-quality evidence that supports the adoption of many new technologies and have financial, regulatory, and security hurdles to overcome. Fortunately, sweeping efforts are under way to establish the true capabilities and value of the evolving mHealth field.


This paper examines sexually dimorphic skeletal characters within the face and upper dentition of extant hominids (great ape), not including members of the Hominini. Specimens of Pan paniscus, Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla, and Pongo pygmaeus are used to help identify likely sex specific characters for the Hominidae. The aim of this paper is to identify extant hominid faciodental sexual features which can be used to help sex fossil specimens. A morphometric and skeletal study of sexual variability demonstrates relatively diverse patterns of sexual variability within the extant hominids. In terms of morphometrics, P. paniscus is relatively non-dimorphic, while P. troglodytes, Gorilla and Pongo display a large degree of sexual dimorphism. In their respective skeletal anatomies, however, each has specific characters which tend to differentiate between the sexes. Some faciodental sex features are shown to be common amongst all four taxa and as such are likely to be important criteria for determining the sex of Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene fossil hominid specimens. The construction of extant great ape sexual ranges of variability are also important in helping to test the fossil ape single species hypotheses. The testing of sex and species ranges of variability should employ range based statistics not only because they are sample size independent, (relative to C.V.) but also because they are of low power.


Abstract Objective The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and characteristics of stillbirths during the initial wave of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and whether or not this differed from the incidence and characteristics of stillbirths that occurred in the pre-pandemic period. Study design This was a single-center retrospective cohort study of pregnant individuals who delivered stillbirths during two different time periods: March–September in 2017, 2018, and 2019 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic period) and March–September 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic period). Results No difference in the rate of stillbirths was found between the two time periods. The women who experienced a stillbirth during the pre-pandemic period attended on average more prenatal visits than women who experienced a stillbirth during the pandemic period (p < .05). During the pandemic period, a higher proportion of stillbirths were suspected to be due to poorly controlled hypertension (p = .04). Conclusions The incidence of stillbirth during the pandemic period was similar to that during the pre-pandemic period; however, there were more stillbirths that occurred due to poorly controlled hypertension, a potentially preventable cause of stillbirth, during the pandemic period when compared to those of the pre-pandemic period. While the impact of the disease process of COVID-19 on stillbirth remains uncertain, the change in the provision of prenatal care during the pandemic period may have had unintended consequences with respect to the prevention and management of hypertension and the risk of potentially preventable stillbirths.


Abstract Spatially resolved spectroscopy of the Shoemaker–Levy 9 (SL9) sites traces the dynamical evolution of cometary material, upwelled tropospheric gas, and compounds produced when the plume splashed back upon the atmosphere. The emissions of impact-produced stratospheric NH3, C2H4, and dust were imaged at NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility, with Irshell (the U. Texas mid-IR echelle spectrometer) 21 hr and 6, 11, and 12 days following the K impact. The images covered a ∼7 × 17″ region generally centered on the K site and were composed of 0.8 × 1 arcsec pixels, each containing a spectrum of resolution ∼15,000. We find evidence for two sources of NH3. Most of the stratospheric NH3resided at ∼20 mbar. A second reservoir existed above 1 mbar, with a column abundance ∼ 1 20 lower than that of the deeper source (2 ± 1 × 1017molecules cm−2above 40 mbar for the K site). The position of the high altitude NH3suggests that it rose and was quenched within the fireball and survived the splash. The 2 ± 1 × 1013g of low altitude NH3indicates that the K impact upwelled at least ∼2 × 1016g of jovian gas from Jupiter's troposphere. Its altitude coincides with the level where static stability is maximum. The NH3lineshape 12 days following impact indicates a gradual depletion of the high altitude source, which suggests that NH3was partially shielded from UV radiation. Enhanced continuum emission observed around 908 and 948 cm−1and not at wavenumbers outside the silicate feature is consistent with 8 ± 4 × 1012g of cometary dust residing in the plume fallback region. The total mass of C2H4was found to be 1 ± 0.3 × 1012g and remained constant within error limits throughout the observations. The compounds above 1 mbar displayed differing horizontal coverages consistent with each molecule's role in a ballistic plume, having a range of temperatures. Ammonia at 20 mbar spread out with time; however, its coverage was never as extensive as that of the dark material seen in HST images. In contrast, the dust, C2H4, and HCN (B. Bezardet al.1997,Icarus125,94–120), observed at significantly lower pressures than NH3, covered a broader spatial extent, similar to the coverage of the ejecta blanket observed by HST. Six days following impact, the dust and C2H4spread 7° eastward of NH3, similar to the dark particulates. The quiescent behavior of the NH3at 20 mbar in contrast to the zonal drift of the dust indicates the presence of winds above 1 mbar that are disconnected from those in the lower stratosphere.


It has been hypothesized that R-type Ca currents result from the expression of the α1E gene. To test this hypothesis we examined the properties of voltage-dependent Ca channels in mice in which the α1E Ca channel subunit had been deleted. Application of ω-conotoxin GVIA, ω-agatoxin IVA, and nimodipine to cultured cerebellar granule neurons from wild-type mice inhibited components of the whole-cell Ba current, leaving a "residual" R current with an amplitude of ∼30% of the total Ba current. A minor portion of this R current was inhibited by the α1E-selective toxin SNX-482, indicating that it resulted from the expression of α1E. However, the majority of the R current was not inhibited by SNX-482. The SNX-482-sensitive portion of the granule cell R current was absent from α1E knock-out mice. We also identified a subpopulation of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons from wild-type mice that expressed an SNX-482-sensitive component of the R current. However as with granule cells, most of the DRG R current was not blocked by SNX-482. We conclude that there exists a component of the R current that results from the expression of the α1E Ca channel subunit but that the majority of R currents must result from the expression of other Ca channel α subunits.


We discuss properties of large amplitude magnetic field fluctuations during fast Alfvenic solar wind streams, focussing on the statistics of the rotation angle between consecutive magnetic field vector measurements for different scales in the plasma. Since in the fast solar wind fluctuations preserve the modulus of the magnetic field to a good approximation, the tip of the magnetic field vector is observed to move on a sphere of approximately constant radius |B|. We then compare statistics of solar wind measurements with that of a simple model of a random walk bounded on a spherical surface. The analogy consists in the fact that in both systems the geometrical constraint imposes a limiting amplitude at large separations and thus introduces a break scale in the power spectrum of the fluctuations, leading to a shallower slope for scales where the fluctuations amplitude becomes scale-independent. However, while in the case of the random walk the saturation of the fluctuations occurs when the pattern becomes uniform on the sphere (flat distribution of the cosine of the rotation angle), transitioning then to a white noise regime, in the solar wind magnetic field fluctuations saturate in amplitude maintaining a preferential direction. We suggest that this behaviour is due to the presence of the background interplanetary magnetic field, which keeps some long-range memory in the system also when the fluctuations becomes independent of the scale. This long-range correlation is a necessary ingredient in order to produce the 1/f spectrum observed at large scales in the solar wind.


Eight dedicated mapping cruises have taken place since 2003 in the mostly ice-covered waters north of Alaska to 83.5° N (Mayer et al. 2010), using the USCG Icebreaker Healy . Due to the generally heavy sea-ice conditions (the sea-ice edge was typically encountered at about 75° N), most surveys involved single multibeam swaths that covered specific targets. During the 2012 record sea-ice minimum, however, the ice margin was at about 80° N which allowed mapping using overlapping multibeam surveys (Mayer & Armstrong 2012). The complete-coverage surveys of 2012 revealed a previously unknown submarine channel (informally named 'Weather Channel') that is one of the most northerly submarine channels mapped to date and is probably related to glacial processes.

'Weather Channel' is about 160 km long, first appearing at a depth of about 3300 m on a relatively flat basin floor in what is probably a pull-apart basin separating the northern extension of Chukchi Rise from Chukchi Cap (Brumley et al. 2009). It lies in the middle of the basin, approximately 13 km north of the base of Chukchi Cap and 9 km south of the topographic highs of the …


Effect of Composite Microstructure on Electrical and Mechanical Properties of Poly(vinyl acetate) Composites with Carbon Black and Clay. (August 2007) Sethu M. Miriyala, B.E., Andhra University, India Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Jaime Grunlan The electrical and mechanical behavior of carbon black filled poly(vinyl acetate) latexbased and solution-based polymer composites was examined. A set of experiments were performed to distinguish composites with a segregated network (emulsion-based) from those with random dispersion (solution-based) of the filler. The percolation thresholds for the emulsion-based composites were near 1.2 vol% carbon black, while the solutionbased composites were around 8.2 vol% carbon black. This difference is due to the segregated network formation, which leads to excluded volume effects in emulsionbased systems. This excluded volume created by the solid polymer particles forces the carbon black particles into conductive pathways at low concentration. In the solutionbased case, fully solvated polymer results in a random dispersion of carbon black. The segregated network composite also shows significant improvement in both electrical conductivity and storage modulus with low carbon black loading, while the solutionbased composite achieves significant property enhancements at higher carbon black loading because of the greater percolation threshold. The effect of clay in both emulsion and solution-based composites with carbon black was also studied by preparing composites with three clay concentrations (0.2, 0.4 and 2 wt%). In emulsion-based


Abstract Aims We performed a retrospective nonrandomized study to analyze the results of microsurgery of acoustic neuromas (AN) using 2μ-thulium flexible hand-held laser fiber (Revolix jr). Methods From September 2010 to September 2015, 89 patients suffering from AN have been operated on with microsurgical technique via retrosigmoid approach. In 37 cases, tumor resection was performed with the assistance of 2μ-thulium flexible hand-held laser fiber (L-group). Eight cases operated on with the assistance of CO2 hand-held flexible laser fiber were excluded from this study. A total of 44 patients, operated on without laser assistance during the same period, were used as comparison group (C-group) (matched pair technique). Facial nerve function was assessed with the House–Brackmann (HB) scale preoperatively, and 1 week and 6 months postoperatively. Results Overall time from incision to skin suture changed in relation to size of tumor (165–575 minutes) and was not affected by the use of laser. In 7 out of 81 cases, a preoperative facial nerve palsy HB2 and in 1 case, HB4 (permanent) were observed. In the remaining 80 cases, at 6-month follow-up, facial nerve preservation rate (HB1) was 92.5%. Hearing preservation rate (AAO-HNS A/B classes) was 68.2% (26 out of 36). Adopting a 0 to 3 scale, the mean surgeon satisfaction rate of usefulness of laser fiber was 2.7. Conclusion The use of 2μ-thulium hand-held flexible laser fiber in AN microsurgery seems to be safe and subjectively facilitates tumor resection especially in "difficult" conditions (e.g., highly vascularized and hard tumors). In this limited retrospective trial, the good functional outcome following conventional microsurgery had not further improved, nor the surgical time reduced by laser. Focusing its use on "difficult" (large and vascularized) cases may lead to different results in future.


Anxiety is often associated with poor economic outcomes, including earning 13% to 18% less than non-anxious peers. On the other hand, few studies explore how anxiety affects an individual's economic behavior. In part, this is due to a limited focus of clinical research on the impact of psychopathology, more generally, on economic choice. It is also due to the perceived conceptual overlap of anxiety with risk aversion and betrayal aversion, well-known behavioral economic characteristics. Our laboratory experiments disentangle these factors and show that anxiety has an independent effect on decision-making and merits separate theoretical modeling and experimental treatment and investigation. More specifically, we find that anxiety and betrayal aversion independently inhibit the growth of economic trust while greater risk tolerance is associated with an overall increased level of trust. Our findings suggest that anxiety diminishes the ability to adapt in changing social economic environments such as workplaces. In addition, the behavioral regularities that we find provide the foundation for future theoretical modeling.


Abstract Tryphonin, Papinian and the regard for immaterial losses in the law of obligations. Contrary to the first impression given by the sources, there is no dispute among late classical lawyers as to whether a creditor can obtain compensation for an immaterial loss. Rather, the only disputed issue is whether a creditor can demand compensation for performance of monetary value even if it had benefitted a third party. Papinian and Paul affirm this with reference to the precept of bona fides. Tryphonin focuses on the creditor's freedom of disposal: If the creditor can claim his interest in a hypothetical sale of the object of performance, he must also be entitled to do so if he wants to pass it on free of charge and thus prove his generosity.


The stroma of the human postmenopausal ovary is postulated to produce androgens, but evidence for and against this idea exits in the literature. The purpose of this study was to determine whether key steroidogenic enzymes involved in androgen synthesis are expressed in the postmenopausal ovarian stroma. Stromal cells were isolated from postmenopausal ovaries and expression for genes involved in steroidogenesis [steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), P450scc, 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3 beta-HSD) P450c17, and P450c27] as well as for several growth factor binding proteins [gremlin, IGF binding protein-4, follistatin, and secreted frizzled-related protein (sFRP)-1 and -4], were compared with cultured human theca cells and dermal fibroblasts. Production of steroids (pregnenolone, progesterone, and hydroxysterol metabolites) and the metabolism of [3H] pregnenolone by ovarian stromal cells were also assessed. Isolated ovarian stromal cells from different subjects had a uniform morphology within and across cultures. Quantitative real time RT-PCR revealed that StAR, P450scc, and 3 beta-HSD transcripts were, respectively 30, 25, and 45 times more abundant in theca cells than in stromal cells. Mean levels of P450scc and 3 beta-HSD transcripts in stromal cells were similar to those found in dermal fibroblasts, whereas StAR transcripts in stromal cells were 285-fold more abundant than in fibroblasts. There was no significant expression of P450c17 in ovarian stromal cells or fibroblasts ( approximately 2000-fold less than in theca cells). Western analysis demonstrated the presence of the 30-kDa StAR mature protein in the cultured stromal cells, whereas P450c17 protein was not detectable. Ovarian stromal cells did not metabolize [3H] pregnenolone in the presence or absence of 8-Br-cAMP. Furthermore, pregnenolone and progesterone secretion by stromal cells was also undetectable, even in the presence of 22-hydroxycholesterol. P450c27 protein was detected in ovarian stromal cells and its metabolic products (i.e. 27-hydroxycholesterol and cholestenoic acid) were found in the culture media, reflecting functional cholesterol 27-hydroxylase activity. Follistatin, gremlin, IGF binding protein-4, and sFRP-1 and -4 transcripts were detected in the stromal cells in relative amounts significantly higher than theca cells, but not significantly different from fibroblasts, except for sFRP-1, which was significantly higher in stromal cells. Our observations demonstrate that stromal cells of the postmenopausal ovary have a signature biochemical and molecular phenotype that can be distinguished from fibroblasts. These cells do not appear to have significant steroidogenic potential in vitro, but they do metabolize cholesterol into hydroxysterols. We conclude that the predominant stromal cells of the postmenopausal ovary are not a significant site of androgen biosynthesis.


In the present thesis turbulent natural convection of air within different challenging test cases are investigated numerically by means of an unstructured finite volume code, Code_Saturne. First, flow within both two-dimensional vertical and inclined differentially heated rectangular cavities at 60� and 15� to the horizontal for an aspect ratio of H/L=28.6 and Rayleigh number of 0.86�10e6 is computed using several high and low-Re models. Here the effectiveness of the RANS models in Code_Saturne is assessed through comparisons with a range of available experimental data. After some tests of thermal field inside vertical cavity, the ?two-velocity-scale wall function? is chosen to be used with high-Re models. In both vertical and inclined cases the overall flow pattern appears similar, with a single circulation cell, and a boundary layer at the wall. The levels of turbulence energy are generally slightly lower in the inclined case. Most models give a reasonable prediction of measured Nusselt number, with the two low-Re approaches generally being closer to the data than the schemes employing wall functions. For the 15� inclined cavity, a multi cellular motion is shown by the high-Re models. Nevertheless, all the model predictions disagree with experimental data due to the presence in real flow of 3-D unsteady structures as found in Benard convection problems. These cannot, definitely, be reproduced using a 2-D geometry. Both highly resolved LES and unsteady RANS computations are then conducted, for turbulent natural convection of air inside 15� unstably and stably stratified cavities. In accordance with recent experimental data, the LES computations for both enclosures returned three-dimensional time-averaged flow fields. In the case of the unstably stratified enclosure, the flow is highly unsteady with coherent turbulent structures in the core of the enclosure. Results of LES computations show close agreement with the measured data. Subsequent comparisons of different URANS schemes with the present LES are used in order to explore to what extent these models are able to reproduce the large-scale unsteady flow structures. All URANS schemes have been found to be able to reproduce the 3-D unsteady flow features present in the 15� unstable cavity. However, the low-Re model tested as well as requiring a high resolution near-wall grid, also needed a finer grid in the core region than the high-Re models, thus making it computationally very expensive. Flow within the 15� stable cavity also shows some 3-D features, although it is significantly less unsteady, and the URANS models tested here have been less successful in reproducing this flow pattern. Finally, natural convection of CO2 inside a horizontal annular penetration enclosure, which can be found in AGR's, has been performed using a highly resolved LES and a set of RANS models. The Rayleigh number is 1.5�10e9. RANS models agree with the present LES on the fact that the flow is unsteady and there are large-scale oscillations present which decrease in amplitude as one moves from the open towards the closed end of the annular enclosure. Overall heat transfer and thermal quantitative and dynamic results show that RANS schemes are in close agreement with the current LES data except some discrepancies shown by the high-Re model which can be returned to the limitation of the simple wall function used to predict such complex flow.


Catalyst support materials play an important role in the electrochemical performance of the catalyst in fuel cells. Herein, we present a synergistic effect of surface area and electronic conductivity on the efficiency of a carbon support material towards its application in direct formic acid fuel cells. A composite of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and metal organic framework (MOF-5) derived porous carbon (PC) was used as a novel support material for a high dispersion of palladium nanoparticles. The rGO1-C1 electrocatalyst, which consists of an equal ratio of PC and rGO, was found to be the most effective for the formic acid electro-oxidation reaction. The obtained mass specific activity for Pd/rGO1-C1 (969.76 mA mg−1) is 1.52 times higher than for Pd/rGO (639.5 mA mg−1) and 2.63 times higher than Pd/C (368.73 mA mg−1) synthesized under the same conditions and at given onset peak potentials. The Pd/rGO1-C1 electrocatalyst was also found to be much more stable than other catalysts as evidenced by chronoamperometric measurements for up to 3000 s. The high activity and stability of the catalyst fabricated over the composite carbon support is due to a synergism between the Pd metal and the composite support toward charge transfer, where highly porous carbon provides a high surface area and the rGO is highly conductive, thereby boosting the electrical properties of the catalyst.


For many years, Gunter Grass (born 1927) has been one of the world's most vital literary figures. From the publication of The Tin Drum through his latest pleas for sane government and civil treatment of Germany's "foreign citizens" in the 1990s, Grass has been at the forefront of both literary and political worlds. This representative volume features two important works: Cat and Mouse and The Meeting at Telgte. Both speak to our time, but under very different settings. It also includes a selection of other works to give a well-rounded view of a writer whom John Irving characterizes in his foreword as "the greatest living novelist today". The German Library is a new series of the major works of German literature and thought from medieval times to the present. The volumes have forewords by internationally known writers and introductions by prominent scholars. Here the English-speaking reader can find the broadest possible collection of poetic and intellectual achievements in new as well as great classic translations. Convenient and accessible in format, the volumes of The German Library will form the core of any growing library of European literature for years to come.Select list of volumes now published: -- German Medieval Tales -- German Humanism and Reformation -- Immanuel Kant: Philosophical Writings -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: The Sufferings of Young Werther and Elective Affinities -- Friedrich Schiller: Plays -- "Intrigue and Love" and "Don Carlos" -- Friedrich Schiller: "Wallenstein" and "Mary Stuart" -- German Fairy Tales -- German Literary Fairy Tales -- German Romantic Novellas -- German Romantic Stories -- German Novellas of Realism -- German Poetry from 1750 to 1900 -- Georg Buchner: Complete Works and Letters -- Rainer Maria Rilke: Prose and Poetry -- Gottfried Benn: Prose, Essays, Poems -- German Essays on Art History -- Essays on German Theater -- Hans Magnus Enzensberger: Critical Essays


This paper investigates the maximum stress in the riveted splice joint of an aircraft wing due to tensile loading. Riveted joints are used in aircraft assembly because of their reliability as well as high strength. Research is based on previous work done on riveted splice joints in aeroplane fuselage which is attached to the skin of the airship. The analysis considers the strength of splice joints used in aerofoils consisting of two stringers and one splice which are connected to each other by means of aluminium rivets to form a single cover butt joint. This aluminium riveted carbon fibre structure is analysed using experimental tests and these results are validated using numerical simulations. The stress analysis of the splice joint is carried out to compute the stress under tensile load as well as to determine the mode of a failure. Refining of the numerical model was also undertaken to produce accurate results closer to that of the experimental findings.


Information systems are experiencing rapid development that has become a necessity for organizations, companies and individuals. It became a basic requirement for large companies because they can provide convenience, speed and accuracy in processing data to become necessary information. This research was conducted at a regional drinking water company in Bandung, namely Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum (PDAM) Tirtawening. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the application of information systems on employee performance in PDAM Tirtawening. Descriptive analysis and verification methods were used to answer the problem formulation in this study. Respondents in this study were 114 PDAM Tirtawening employees who used the application in customer mutation activities, meter recording, billing systems, and digital asset mapping. Regarding population, the sampling used in this study was saturated sampling. To test the hypotheses, quantitative analysis methods used with Structural Equation Model analysis techniques or commonly known as SEM (Structural Equation Model). Based on the results of the study, it is known that the variable application of information systems (X) as a whole have a positive effect on employee performance (Y). From the results of the study, it can be concluded that the Information System has a positive and significant effect on employee performance with a path coefficient of 0.68, meaning that the better the information system, it will create good employee performance as well. Keywords—Information Systems, Employee Performance


In order to know the potential for internal erosion in embankment dam, a method was proposed for defining structures with a high potential for erosion. The method borrows its idea on an examination of a number of existing embankment dams with moraine cores by investigating the influence of the filter coarseness in terms of filter coarseness and the internal stability of the filter and core material. The new method furthers additional aspects like filter segregation and devoid of sufficient transition layers in order to find indicators of internal erosion prone moraine core dams.