This research investigates the Economic Crisis in Erbil-Iraq and its impact on Small Business (SBs) sector by using factor analyses model. Data was collected from 110 SBs by using cross sectional data and simple random techniques. The model is used to analyze the possible impact of Economic Crises on Erbil's economy. Results indicated that economic recession has a negative impact on the SBs sector in Erbil in the last two years. Employing the simplified static analysis framework based on simulations revealed that the economic recession has influenced negatively on the economy of Erbil. Increasing general inflation rate, decreasing living standards and purchasing power have negative impacts on the growth of SBs in Erbil and eventually the economy of Erbil.


The ANDRILL Program successfully recovered a 1285 m-long succession of cyclic glacimarine sediment with interbedded volcanic deposits in its fi rst season of drilling from the McMurdo Ice Shelf (MIS). The MIS AND-1B drill core represents the longest and most complete (98% recovery) geological record from the Antarctic continental margin to date, and will provide a key reference record of climate and ice-sheet variability through the Late Cenozoic. Here we present a synopsis of this Initial Science Report with emphasis on the potential of the record for improving our knowledge of Antarctica's infl uence on global climate.


Rats were fed for 6 consecutive days a diet containing casein supplemented with 3 g/kg methionine. The protein level was either 20% or 3%. Skeletal muscle ribosomes were isolated and the activity of the ribosomal enzyme peptidyl transferase was determined. [3H]puromycin acted as acceptor for tRNA bound peptide provided it was located at the ribosomal peptidyl site. The results showed that the rate of peptidyl transferase activity was 13% lower after protein restriction. The differences amounted to 6% when diphtheria toxin and NAD were added as an inhibitor of elongation factor2. This factor catalyzes translocation of peptidyl-tRNA from ribosomal acceptor to peptidyl site. Between 0.11 and 0.15 pmoles peptidyl-tRNA per pmole ribosome were originally accessable as a substrate for peptidyl transferase. The results indicate that peptidyl transferase contributes to a decrease in protein synthesis after protein restriction; but that other components also contribute to the decrease observed.


Infectious diseases are serious public health problems, affecting a large portion of the world's population. A molecule that plays a key role in pathogenic organisms is trehalose and recently has been an interest in the metabolism of this molecule for drug development. The trehalose‐6‐phosphate synthase (TPS1) is an enzyme responsible for the biosynthesis of trehalose‐6‐phosphate (T6P) in the TPS1/TPS2 pathway, which results in the formation of trehalose. Studies carried out by our group demonstrated the inhibitory capacity of T6P in the TPS1 enzyme from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, preventing the synthesis of trehalose. By in silico techniques, we compiled sequences and experimentally determined structures of TPS1. Sequence alignments and molecular modeling were performed. The generated structures were submitted in validation of algorithms, aligned structurally and analyzed evolutionarily. Molecular docking methodology was applied to analyze the interaction between T6P and TPS1 and ADMET properties of T6P were analyzed. The results demonstrated the models created presented sequence and structural similarities with experimentally determined structures. With the molecular docking, a cavity in the protein surface was identified and the molecule T6P was interacting with the residues TYR‐40, ALA‐41, MET‐42, and PHE‐372, indicating the possible uncompetitive inhibition mechanism provided by this ligand, which can be useful in directing the molecular design of inhibitors. In ADMET analyses, T6P had acceptable risk values compared with other compounds from World Drug Index. Therefore, these results may present a promising strategy to explore to develop a broad‐spectrum antibiotic of this specific target with selectivity, potency, and reduced side effects, leading to a new way to treat infectious diseases like tuberculosis and candidiasis.


In this classic article, reprinted from the March 1952 issue of the American Journal of Nursing, Barbara K. Coleman, RN, and John P. Merrill, MD, describe the early artificial kidney, which was being used experimentally to treat acute renal failure. This is the first article published in the nursing literature addressing the role of the dialysis nurse.


From the view of complex networks and emergent computation, a new emergence model of public opinion is built. It is based on small-world model, and takes Internet users as agents. Then the system parameters and realistic interactions in this model are set. Simulation results show that our model can demonstrate the whole evolution process of formed or unformed public opinion. The formation evolution of public opinion is in accordance with the real network of public opinion. We can get all kinds of public opinion forms via setting different model parameters. By comparing with the existing network model, there is an obvious advantage for the interaction rules and forms in our model, and it is realistic and reasonable. As a new model for the complex system, it can be used as one of the objects for studying the network behaviors and emergent computation.


Nowadays, many people use internet to help their life such as in education, socializing, communication, and others. The development of digital native's (DN) language is related to the technology development, internet, movie, room chat and social networking are factors that influence language development of digital native. It is different with digital immigrant (DI) that are not too familiar with social networking. Digital natives (DN) usually use Facebook to express their feelings in a sentence. Instead, the digital immigrants (DI) almost use common words in their sentences on their Facebook status updates. But, the language that is used by digital natives (DN) and digital immigrants (DI) are different. For that, writer focuses to identifying comparing the borrowing of languages used comparison between by digital native (DN) and digital immigrant (DI) use social media as Facebook updates status.

This study used many concepts, such as digital native (DN), digital immigrant (DI), borrowing language, alay language, facebook. Furthermore, research methods that are used in this study is descriptive qualitative research design. qualitative study is used to know about language used by digital immigrant and digital native in Facebook update status. Then, to analysis the data of this study, the researcher used some procedures, those are reading all facebook update status carefully; reviewing the data that had been collected; selecting the data concerning with the purpose of the study; data reduction; drawing the conclusion.

The results of study showed that the use of borrowing from English to Indonesian has some similarities and differences between digital native (DN) and digital immigrants (DI), because they also have an interest differences in the use of language borrowing. Examples of the similarities are "pren", "Walking-walking", Beb.....you made hidupku more alive ". This similarities exists because the words that are used are words commonly that are commonly used by all ages, both digital immigrants and digital natives. Then examples of the differences from digital native (DN) are "BTW", "Whassup", "Don't talk tentang yourself so much", "I had seribu of homework". This is examples of the differences from digital immigrant (DI) are "By The Way", "WhatÂ's Up", "Don't arrogant themselves", "I have a lot of the homework". This difference occurs because the digital natives (DN) have a younger age range and still not bound by the social environment and the working environment, and that it is different from the digital immigrant (DI).


ABSTRACT Planktonic crenarchaeotes are present in high abundance in Antarctic winter surface waters, and they also make up a large proportion of total cell numbers throughout deep ocean waters. To better characterize these uncultivated marine crenarchaeotes, we analyzed large genome fragments from individuals recovered from a single Antarctic picoplankton population and compared them to those from a representative obtained from deeper waters of the temperate North Pacific. Sequencing and analysis of the entire DNA insert from one Antarctic marine archaeon (fosmid 74A4) revealed differences in genome structure and content between Antarctic surface water and temperate deepwater archaea. Analysis of the predicted gene products encoded by the 74A4 sequence and those derived from a temperate, deepwater planktonic crenarchaeote (fosmid 4B7) revealed many typical archaeal proteins but also several proteins that so far have not been detected in archaea. The unique fraction of marine archaeal genes included, among others, those for a predicted RNA-binding protein of the bacterial cold shock family and a eukaryote-type Zn finger protein. Comparison of closely related archaea originating from a single population revealed significant genomic divergence that was not evident from 16S rRNA sequence variation. The data suggest that considerable functional diversity may exist within single populations of coexisting microbial strains, even those with identical 16S rRNA sequences. Our results also demonstrate that genomic approaches can provide high-resolution information relevant to microbial population genetics, ecology, and evolution, even for microbes that have not yet been cultivated.


Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the worst public health crisis of the century. Although we have made tremendous progress in understanding the pathogenesis of this disease, a lot more remains to be learned. Mitochondria appear to be important in COVID-19 pathogenesis because of its role in innate antiviral immunity, as well as inflammation. This article examines pathogenesis of COVID-19 from a mitochondrial perspective and tries to answer some perplexing questions such as why the prognosis is so poor in those with obesity, metabolic syndrome, or type 2 diabetes. Although effective vaccines and antiviral drugs will be the ultimate solution to this crisis, a better understanding of disease mechanisms will open novel avenues for treatment and prevention.


Wheat is an important cereal crop for food security. Boosting the wheat production and productivity is the major challenge across the nation. Good quality of seed is required for maintaining optimum plant stand which ultimately increases grain yield. Ensuring a good germination is one of the key steps to ensure proper plant stand and moisture assurance during seed germination may help to speed up the germination. The tiny size of nanoparticles may help in entry of water into seed without disturbing their internal structure. Considering above, a laboratory experiment was conducted during 2012-13 at G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India. The completely randomized design was used for statistical analysis. The experiment was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the appropriate concentration of nanoparticles for seed treatment was screened. In second phase seed soaking hours of nanoparticles for better seed germination were standardized. Wheat variety UP2526 was taken as test crop. Four nanoparticles (TiO2, ZnO, nickel and chitosan) were taken for study. The crop germination studies were done in petri dishes and standard package and practices were used to raise the seedlings. The germination studies were done by following standard procedure. In first phase of the experiment, seeds were treated with 50 and 300 ppm of nanoparticles and control was also maintained for comparison. In the second phase of experiment, seeds were soaked for 4 hours, 6 hours and 8 hours with 50 ppm nanoparticles of TiO2, ZnO, nickel and chitosan along with control treatment to identify the soaking time for better seed germination. Experiment revealed that the application of nanoparticles help to enhance seed germination. The study revealed that seed treatment with nanoparticles at 50 ppm concentration increases root length, shoot length, seedling length, shoot dry weight, seedling dry weight, seedling vigour index I and seedling vigour index II as compared to seed soaking at 300 ppm concentration. This experiment showed that seed soaking up to 4 hr was better as compared to 6 and 8 hrs. Seed soaking with nanoparticles specially TiO2, ZnO, and chitosan proved to enhance germination and seedling growth indices of wheat crop. Keywords—Nanoparticles, seed germination, seed soaking, wheat.


We examined the allometric scaling of limb bones, forelimb and hindlimb musculature, and bone mineral content of the brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula and tammar wallaby Macropus eugenii eugenii to determine whether the pattern of development of these parameters in early pouch development fits in with the mechanical requirements necessary for true climbing following birth. In the brushtail possum the rates of increase of the forelimb and hindlimb bone widths with body mass were generally significantly lower than those predicted from the hypothesis of 'static strain similarity', that is 0.375, and were not significantly different from isometry. Conversely, the rates of increase of limb bone lengths with body mass were significantly greater than predicted, that is >0.25 in this species. In the wallaby the rates of increase in the widths of forelimb bones with body mass were lower than predicted by the hypothesis of static strain similarity whereas those of the hindlimb bones were higher. Again the rates of increase in forelimb and hindlimb bone lengths were all greater than predicted by the static strain hypothesis. These findings show that the neonates of both species had short wide forelimb bones better able to withstand the strain of body mass. Mineral content was lower in the forelimb bones of the pouch young of smaller body size in both species whereas the mineral content of wallaby hindlimb bones was relatively decreased in larger animals. The length of long bones scaled with positive allometry in relation to the associated mass of muscles in the limbs of both species, indicating that greater muscle mass per unit length in the neonate may compensate for the relatively low leverage of the neonatal limb bones. However, the more positive allometric scaling of the length of the hindlimb bones in relation to muscle mass indicates that the neonatal hindlimb has relatively greater muscle mass per unit length of bone. Given the relatively gracile form of the hindlimb bones, this suggests that neonatal forelimb morphology in these two species may result from the timing of birth in relation to limb development rather than the precocious specialization of the forelimb for early locomotion.


Finding optimal paths in stochastic networks is an important topic in many scientific and engineering fields. To cope with uncertainty, various performance measures, including expected travel time, reliability, value at risk, and expectation with chance constraint, have been introduced. The literature has shown that adaptive strategies that incorporate both anticipation and real-time information are more efficient than a preplanned strategy in a stochastic environment. Most adaptive optimal-path algorithms focus on least-expected travel time. Recently, an adaptive path-finding strategy, named the stochastic on-time arrival (SOTA) algorithm, was proposed to maximize the travel time reliability for any given time threshold. However, the originally proposed SOTA algorithm is based on the classic successive approximation. Whether this algorithm converges within a finite number of successive approximation steps is an open question. In this study, the proposed discrete SOTA algorithm runs in an optimal polynomial time and thus improves the computational efficiency significantly. Numerical examples are provided, and future extensions are proposed.


The choice of the adequate moment for the desiccation of the green cover that precedes the sowing is fundamental for the success of no-till soybeans. This context, the work was aimed to study two burndown systems: desiccation immediately before sowing (AP) and anticipated desiccation (MA), composed by two burndown herbicide applications. For MA, the first application of glyphosate (1240 g ha-1) occurred between 30 and 35 days before the sowing of the crop, and the second was done just before sowing. For AP, the applications (1080 to 1260 g ha-1 of glyphosate) occurred within 48 hours prior to sowing. The trials were developed in 2003/2004 growing season, in six localities in Parana State: Sertaozinho, Campo Mourao, Iretama, Pitanga, Boa Esperanca, and Mambore, in areas with high density of weeds preceding no-till soybean sowing. Evaluations related to weed control and soybean development and grain yield were performed. MA burndown systems provided improved control of weeds after crop emergence. Soybean plants from AP areas were shorter, in comparison to ME, evidencing a delay in the shoot growth. Reduction of grain yield was verified for all localities when AP burndown system was adopted, with reductions between 15% and 50%.


Abstract: The fossil record spanning the latest Ediacaran and earliest Cambrian is characterized by the proliferation of small, mineralized organisms that comprise the well-known and abundant deposits of small shelly fauna. Many of these fossils are tubular or conical forms with simple morphologies, and thus present difficulties in both taxonomic and phylogenetic interpretation. This study investigates a community of poorly preserved shelly tubicolous organisms in two fossiliferous slabs from the Soltanieh Formation, northern Iran. Analysis of the taphonomy of this fossil assemblage using thin-section petrography, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, suggests a two-part preservational pathway involving phosphatic replacement of the shell wall and separate, diagenetically later infillings of void space with either phosphatic or calcium carbonate cements. In parallel with the taphonomic study and given the difficulty in assigning the observed fossils taxonomically, morphometrics of the shelly organisms were also explored. Biometric measurements were collected from high-resolution photomosaic images of the slab-surface fossils, as well as from a three-dimensional volume of the interior of one of the slabs generated via X-ray tomographic microscopy. Statistical analysis of these measurements revealed a separation of the fossils into two morphologically distinct groups of conical and tubular forms, which we characterize respectively as 'conomorphs' and 'tubomorphs'. Based on previous studies of fossils from the Soltanieh Fm., we can offer tentative generic-level assignment to Anabarites and Cambrotubulus to at least some of the fossils present, though these are dependent on views in thin section rather than morphometric distinction. Cumulatively, we provide a conservative, taxonomy-free approach for detailing the morphology and preservation of poorly preserved fossils from the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition.


It is a challenging task to develop a high quality and secure multimedia service for mobile terminals used in the ubiquitous computing environment. One of the issues is the resource limitation of mobile terminals. We present a multimedia service composition scheme for sharing computer and communication resources by using terminals to compensate for this resource limitation. The proposed scheme is based on user authentication, service access control, and the multi-agent-based adaptive QoS control framework that we developed. We also propose a novel access mode control based on the trustworthiness of users and extension of the multi-agent-based adaptive QoS control framework to many users. Focusing on the home network as a typical ubiquitous network, we implement a prototype testbed system and show experimental results for the multimedia service composition.


Light‐toned layered deposits on the plains adjacent to Juventae and Ganges Chasmata have been identified and analyzed with several instruments onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, including HiRISE, CTX, and CRISM. Beds exhibit variations in brightness, color, polygonal fracturing, and erosional properties that are not seen in light‐toned layered deposits within the chasmata. At both Juventae and Ganges, the light‐toned layered deposits along the plains have associated features we interpret as fluvial, including sinuous ridges (inverted channels) that exhibit light‐toned layering and an extensive valley system for the Ganges deposit. The strong correlation between the inverted channels and light‐toned layered deposits suggests an association with fluvial‐lacustrine processes, although pyroclastic and eolian activity may also be involved in their emplacement. The identification of potential fluvial‐lacustrine layered deposits and associated valley networks suggests surface water flow in the Valles Marineris region that occurred for sustained periods during the Hesperian (3.7–3.0 Gyr).


Two important developments in recent policy analysis are behavioral economics and subjective-well-being (SWB) surveys. What is the connection between them? Some have suggested that behavioral economics strengthens the case for SWB surveys as a central policy tool, e.g., in the form of SWB-based cost-benefit analysis. This article reaches a different conclusion. Behavioral economics shows that individuals in their day-to-day, "System 1" behavior are not expected utility (EU-) rational – that they often fail to comply with the norms of rationality set forth by EU theory. Consider now that the standard preference-based view of individual well-being looks to individuals' rational preferences. If the findings of behavioral economics are correct, an individual's answer to a question such as "How satisfied are you with your life?" is not going to tell us much about her rational (EU-compliant) preferences. Behavioral economics, by highlighting widespread failures of EU rationality, might actually argue for an objective-good (non-preference-based) view of well-being. However (except in the limiting case of an objective-good view positing a single mentalistic good, happiness), SWB surveys will not be strong evidence of well-being in the objective-good sense. In short, SWB surveys are no "magic cure" for the genuine difficulties in inferring rational preferences and measuring well-being underscored by behavioral economics.


This paper gives a practical account of why and how to learn to practise evidence based medicine while still in clinical training. It highlights practical benefits to learning the skills (such as passing exams, coping with information overload and helping patients), and explains how to manage each of the four essential steps (asking questions, acquiring information, appraising evidence, and applying the results). Key resources to give the trainee rapid access to evidence based answers are highlighted, as are efficient ways of keeping up to date with the emerging literature.


Introduction To restore the Gold-spotted pond frog (Pelophylax chosenicus), a Korean endangered frog, 600 captive-reared individuals were reintroduced between August and September 2019 into an aquatic garden in the National Institute of Ecology where P. chosenicus had previously inhabited. After reintroduction, six post-release monitoring sessions were conducted from August 2019 to May 2020. Monitoring was performed using three methods (counting calls, observation, and capture) from sunset to midnight near release sites, eliminating potential threat factors. Snout-vent lengths and body weights of recaptured individuals were measured before they were released immediately. We noted that both snout-vent lengths and body weights of recaptured individuals were slightly higher than those before. The average recapture rate was 4.66%. Reintroduced frogs were recaptured at the last monitoring session conducted in May 2020, indicating that these reintroduced frogs hibernated during the winter successfully. We found that these reintroduced frogs successfully settled after release. This result will be useful for establishing management strategies for endangered frogs in Korea. Particularly, post-release monitoring could be an essential approach in the restoration program of a target species.


We used regional P -wave arrival times to invert for 3D velocity structures beneath the Taihang Mountains, which are bordered by the intensely active zones of the Shanxi rift to the west and the eastern plain basin to the east in the North China Block. P -wave velocities show that low velocities (−1.0 to −3.0%) are focused at depths of ∼15–20 km beneath the Taihang Mountains, similar to those beneath the active zones of the Shanxi rift and the eastern plain basin, If the lower velocity is representative of weakness in the underlying crust, there our results indicate that the Taihang Mountains might be potentially active, because the structure patterns are similar to their bounding active zones. Future seismic research, therefore, should strongly focus on the Taihang Mountains.


Concept Relation Discovery and Innovation Enabling Technology (CORDIET), is a toolbox for gaining new knowledge from unstructured text data. At the core of CORDIET is the C-K theory which captures the essential elements of innovation. The tool uses Formal Concept Analysis FCA), Emergent Self Organizing Maps (ESOM) and Hidden Markov Models (HMM) as main artifacts in the analysis process. The user can define temporal, text mining and compound attributes. The text mining attributes are used to analyze the unstructured text in documents, the temporal attributes use these document's timestamps for analysis. The compound attributes are XML rules based on text mining and temporal attributes. The user can cluster objects with object-cluster rules and can chop the data in pieces with segmentation rules. The artifacts are optimal zed for efficient data analysis, object labels in the FCA lattice and ESOM map contain an URL on which the user can click to open the selected document.


Federated Learning (FL) has emerged as a de facto machine learning area and received rapid increasing research interests from the community. However, catastrophic forgetting caused by data heterogeneity and partial participation poses distinctive challenges for FL, which are detrimental to the performance. To tackle the problems, we propose a new FL approach (namely GradMA), which takes inspiration from continual learning to simultaneously correct the server-side and worker-side update directions as well as take full advantage of server's rich computing and memory resources. Furthermore, we elaborate a memory reduction strategy to enable GradMA to accommodate FL with a large scale of workers. We then analyze convergence of GradMA theoretically under the smooth non-convex setting and show that its convergence rate achieves a linear speed up w.r.t the increasing number of sampled active workers. At last, our extensive experiments on various image classification tasks show that GradMA achieves significant performance gains in accuracy and communication efficiency compared to SOTA baselines. We provide our code here: https://github.com/lkyddd/GradMA.


The literature on workplace learning in secondary education has mainly focussed on vocational education programmes. In this study, we examine the impact of internship experience in secondary education on a student's schooling and early labour market outcomes, by analysing unique, longitudinal data from Belgium. To control for unobserved heterogeneity, we model sequential outcomes by means of a dynamic discrete choice model. In line with the literature on vocational education programmes, we find that internship experience has a positive effect on labour market outcomes that diminishes over time, although within the time window of our study, we find no evidence for a null or negative effect over time.


Barchia, M. F., Ishak, A., Utama, S. P. & Novanda, R. R. (2021). Sustainability status of paddy cultivation on marginal peat soils in Indonesia. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 27 (2), 259–270 Erratic circumstances of agricultural food cultivation on marginal peat soils in Indonesia could be a barrier for sustainable rice production and food security because of various determinants. Purpose of this study was to evaluate rice cultivation sustainability on peatlands and to find the significant attributes that degraded the sustainable agricultural activities. This research was conducted from June to September 2020 at two areas of marginal peat soils in Air Hitam irrigated paddy fields in Central Bengkulu Regency and Air Manjuto irrigated paddy fields in Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu Province. Purposive and snowball sampling method was used to obtain 50 key informants. A scalable and normative rapid appraisal multidimensional scaling (MDS) was used to examine sustainable status based on five dimensions of ecology, economy, socio-culture, technology and institution as well as 53 attributes. Accuracy of MDS analysis was analyzed with goodness of fit and Monte Carlo analysis, while sensitive attributes was fitted with root mean square leverage analysis. Rice cultivation sustainability on marginal peat soils in Bengkulu under uncertain circumstance revealed less sustainable status with value 47.81. Determinants suppressed the sustainability status were various attributes of economic dimension and institutional and policies with values 40.95 and 32.48, respectively. Strengthening sustainability of rice cultivation on marginal peat soils in Bengkulu should initially be supported by government through increasing agricultural product price and more subsidized agricultural inputs. Facing uncertain circumstances causing harvesting failures, rice farmers proposed policy supports and facilities form agricultural insurances.


Gasoline taxes can be employed to correct externalities associated with automobile use, to reduce dependency on foreign oil, and to raise government revenue. Our understanding of the optimal gasoline tax and the efficacy of existing taxes is largely based on empirical analysis of consumer responses to gasoline price changes. In this paper, we directly examine how gasoline taxes affect consumer behavior as distinct from tax-exclusive gasoline prices. Our analysis shows that a 5-cent tax increase reduces gasoline consumption by 1.3 percent in the short-run, much larger than that from a 5-cent increase in the tax-exclusive gasoline price. This difference suggests that traditional analysis could significantly underestimate policy impacts of tax changes. We further investigate the differential effect from gasoline taxes and tax-exclusive gasoline prices on both the intensive and extensive margins of gasoline consumption. We discuss implications of our findings for the estimation of the implicit discount rate for vehicle purchases and for the fiscal benefits of raising taxes.


Background Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a prevalent and serious mental health condition. People can experience recovery or remission after receiving psychotherapy for BPD; however, it is estimated that about 45% of people in well conducted treatment trials do not respond adequately to current psychological treatments. Aim To further advance psychotherapies for BPD by identifying the factors that contribute to the problem of non-response. Method 184 consecutive participants with BPD in community treatment were naturalistically followed up over 12 months and measures of personality and social functioning were examined. Logistic regressions were used to determine which baseline factors were associated with the likelihood of being a non-responder after 12 months of psychotherapy. After 12 months, 48.4% of participants were classed as non-responders due to a lack of reduction in BPD symptoms according to the Reliable Change Index (RCI) method. Results At baseline intake, patients who endorsed an adult preoccupied attachment relationship style and increased anger were more likely to be a non-responder regarding BPD symptoms at 12 months. In addition, those with preoccupied attachment patterns in their adult relationships were more likely to be non-responders regarding general psychological distress at follow up. Higher baseline levels of paranoia and endorsement of a dismissive adult relationship style was associated with being a non-responder in regard to global functioning. Conclusions Consistent with previous research, almost half of the sample did not achieve reliable change at 12-month follow up. A relationship style characterised by preoccupied insecurity and high anger seemed to be particularly challenging in being able to benefit from psychotherapy. This style may have affected both relationships outside, but also inside therapy, complicating treatment engagement and alliance with the therapist. Early identification and modification of treatment based on challenges from these relationship styles may be one way to improve psychotherapy outcomes for BPD.


Power generation and transmission are complementary activities that must be coordinated to ensure an optimal use and development of the transmission network. This coordination is today more difficult in a liberalized system, because of unbundling and the freedom for investors to choose their generation technologies (Joskow, 2006). Shorter investment time between generation and network create uncertainty for the network planning and congestions. In the economic literature, the efficiency of anticipating generation investment has been under-evaluated assuming that it is a cost free activity. Our model evaluates the effect of anticipation costs and defines in which cases the previous results by Sauma and Oren (2006, 2007) could still hold.


We examine the portfolio choice of an investor with generalized disappointment aversion preferences who faces returns described by a normal-exponential model. We derive a three-fund separation strategy: the investor allocates wealth to a risk-free asset, a standard mean-variance efficient fund, and an additional fund reflecting return asymmetries. The optimal portfolio is characterized by the investor's endogenous effective risk aversion and implicit asymmetry aversion. We find that disappointment aversion is associated with much larger asymmetry aversion than are standard preferences. Our model explains patterns in popular portfolio advice and provides a reason for shifting from bonds to stocks as the investment horizon increases.


I. INTRODUCTION: NEMATODE HYDROSTATICS The observation that the interior of a nematode is under pressure was first documented for Ascaris by Harris and Crofton (1957). The common observation that a healthy worm bursts when the cuticle is punctured shows that it is true for C. elegans as well. This pressure is the "hydrostatic skeleton" (Crofton 1966) that allows the worm to maintain its shape against forces (such as surface tension) which would tend to squash it flat and provides the tension against which body muscles act in locomotion. The internal pressure is crucial to understanding the design of the digestive system. The central part of the digestive system is the intestine (Fig. 1, top), a flexible one-cell-thick epithelial tube that runs most of the length of the worm. It is composed of a series of toroids, the anteriormost consisting of four cells, and each of the rest of two cells (Fig. 1, bottom) (White 1988), with microvilli on the lumenal surface (Sulston et al. 1983; Albert and Riddle 1988). Little is known about the physiology of the intestinal cells. In addition to absorbing nutrients, they may secrete digestive enzymes into the lumen, are thought to store nutrients (White 1988), and are known to synthesize yolk proteins (Kimble and Sharrock 1983). The basal surface of the intestine forms most of the inner boundary of the pseudocoelomic space, which extends beyond the ends of the intestine to contact all tissues. This space is filled with fluid that can be seen to flow...


Along-axis gradients in mantle Bouguer anomalies (MBAs) were calculated for detailed gravity surveys at the Southwest, Central, and Southeast Indian ridges with half-spreading rates of 0.9, 2.3, and 3.1 cm/yr, respectively. MBA gradients at the very slow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge are 0.4–0.7 mgal/km, similar to the gradients found at the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge, whereas gradients at the Central Indian and Southeast Indian ridges are 0.2–0.35 mgal/km. The results of this study, when combined with other published data, show that axial MBA gradients at ridge segments with an axial high are about 0.1 mgal/km, independent of spreading rate. Gradients at segments with a median valley are higher and generally decrease with increasing spreading rate. The spreading-rate–independent MBA gradient at ridge segments with an axial high represents the mantle gravity signal due to the focusing of upwelling within segments. The larger gravity gradients at segments with an axial valley result from the superposition of intrasegment variations in crustal thickness on this mantle signal. The consistent relation between along-axis MBA gradient and across-axis axial morphology suggests that the axial morphology is related to the efficiency of along-axis transport of melt.


We investigate transport and shot noise in lateral normal-metal – 3D topological-insulator – superconductor contacts, where the 3D topological insulator (TI) is based on Bi. In the normal state, the devices are in the elastic diffusive transport regime, as demonstrated by a nearly universal value of the shot noise Fano factor F N ≈ 1 = 3 in magnetic field and in a reference normal-metal contact. In the absence of magnetic field, we identify the Andreev reflection (AR) regime, which gives rise to the effective charge doubling in shot noise measurements. Surprisingly, the Fano factor F AR ≈ 0 . 22 (cid:1) 0 . 02 is considerably reduced in the AR regime compared to F N , in contrast to previous AR experiments in normal metals and semiconductors. We suggest that this effect is related to a finite thermal conduction of the proximized, superconducting TI owing to a residual density of states at low energies. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.147001


Motion platforms can be used to provide vestibular cues in a driving simulator, and have been shown to reduce driving speed and acceleration. However, motion platforms are expensive devices, and alternatives for providing motion cues need to be investigated. In independent experiments, the following eight low-cost nonvestibular motion cueing systems were tested by comparing driver performance to control groups driving with the cueing system disengaged: (1) seat belt tensioning system, (2) vibrating steering wheel, (3) motion seat, (4) screeching tire sound, (5) beeping sound, (6) road noise, (7) vibrating seat, and (8) pressure seat. The results showed that these systems are beneficial in reducing speed and acceleration and that they improve lane-keeping and/or stopping accuracy. The seat belt tensioning system had a particularly large influence on driver braking performance. This system reduced driving speed, increased stopping distance, reduced maximum deceleration, and increased stopping accuracy. It is concluded that low-cost nonvestibular motion cueing may be a welcome alternative for improving in-simulator performance so that it better matches real-world driving performance.


Abstract Lower-bounds on uncertainties in oceanic data and a model are calculated for the 20-year time means and their temporal evolution for oceanic temperature, salinity, and sea surface height, during the data-dense interval 1994–2013. The essential step of separating stochastic from systematic or deterministic elements of the fields is explored by suppressing the globally correlated components of the fields. Justification lies in the physics and the brevity of a 20-year estimate relative to the full oceanic adjustment time, and the inferred near-linearity of response on short time intervals. Lower-bound uncertainties reflecting the only stochastic elements of the state estimate are then calculated from bootstrap estimates. Trends are estimated as in elevation, 0.0011 ±  0.0001 °C/y, and (−2.825 ± 0.17) × 10−5 for surface elevation, temperature and salt, with formal 2-standard deviation uncertainties. The temperature change corresponds to a 20-year average ocean heating rate of  W/m2 of which 0.1 W/m2 arises from the geothermal forcing. Systematic errors must be determined separately.


Abstract. Tropospheric O3 remains a major air-quality issue in the Mediterranean region. The combination of large anthropogenic emissions of precursors, transboundary contributions, a warm and dry aestival climate, and topographical features results in severe cases of photochemical pollution. Chemical transport models (CTMs) are essential tools for studying O3 dynamics and for assessing mitigation measures, but they need to be evaluated specifically for each air basin. In this study, we present an optimisation of the LOTOS-EUROS CTM for the Madrid air basin. Five configurations using different meteorological datasets (from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast, ECMWF; and the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, WRF), horizontal resolution and number of vertical levels were compared for July 2016. LOTOS-EUROS responded satisfactorily in the five configurations reproducing observations of surface O3 with notable correlation and reduced bias and errors. However, the best-fit simulations for surface O3 were obtained by increasing spatial resolution and using a large number of vertical levels to reproduce vertical transport phenomena and the formation of reservoir layers. Using the optimal configuration obtained in the evaluation, three characteristic events have been described: recirculation (REC) episodes and northern and southern advection (NAD and SAD, respectively) events. REC events were found to produce the highest O3 due to the reduced ventilation associated with low wind speeds and the contribution of reservoir layers formed by vertical transport of O3 formed near the surface in the previous days of the event. NAD events, usually associated with higher wind speeds, present the lowest ground-level O3 concentrations in the region. During SAD episodes, external contributions along with low wind speeds allow O3 to increase considerably but not as much as in REC events because steady southerly winds disperse local emissions and hinder the formation of reservoir layers.


Although team-based projects have become a popular practice in colleges with focus on helping students learn subjects collaboratively and effectively, the current education paradigm mainly adopts ad hoc collaboration practices. There lacks a quantitative methodology for enabling appropriate and scientific approaches to guide the educational community in teaching and transforming educational practices to support the development, implementation, and improvement of state-of-the-art collaborative-learning practices on campuses. This paper presents a new computational model and framework to quantitatively explore the collaboration-based behavioral dynamics of student teams and its impact on team performance. More specifically, a suite of mathematical models in the form of computations, structural equation modeling, and principal component analysis are created to describe and analyze a variety of learning circumstances, aimed at generating rules of thumb to guide student teams to retune collaborative practices in a proactive and realtime manner for improved performance.


Background and Objectives
Over 10,000 people a day turn 65 in the United States. For many older adults, driving represents an essential component of independence and is one of the most important factors in overall mobility. Recent survey studies in older adults suggest that up to 60% of older adult drivers with mild cognitive impairment, and up to 30% with dementia, continue to drive. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive and detailed resource on the topics of cognition and driving for clinicians, researchers, and policymakers working on efforts related to older adult drivers.

Research Design and Methods
Publications on PubMed and Medline and discussions with experts working in geriatrics, technology, driving policy, psychology, and diverse aspects of driving performance were utilized to inform the current review.

Results
Research indicates that there is a complex and inverse correlation between multiple cognitive measures, driving performance, and risky driving behaviors. The fragmented nature of available peer-reviewed literature, and a reliance on correlative data, do not currently allow for the identification of the temporal and reciprocal nature of the interplay between cognition and driving endpoints.

Discussion and Implications
There are currently no widely accepted definitions, conceptual models, or uniform set of analyses for conducting geriatric research that is focused on driving. Establishing conventions for conducting research that harmonizes the fields of geriatrics, cognition, and driving research is critical for the development of the evidence base that will inform clinical practice and road safety policy.


In food safety the detection of food contaminations with pathogenic microorganisms is a race against time and often outpaced by error-prone epidemiological approaches. For evidence-based outbreak investigations fast and reliable techniques and procedures are required to identify the source of infection. Metagenomics has the potential to become a powerful tool in the field of modern food safety, since it allows the detection, identification and characterization of a broad range of pathogens in a single experiment without pre-cultivation within a couple of days. Nevertheless, sample handling, sequencing and data analysis are challenging and can introduce errors and biases into the analysis. In order to evaluate the potential of metagenomics in food safety, we generated a mock community containing DNA of foodborne bacteria. Herewith, we compare the aptitude of the two prevalent approaches – 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing and whole genome shotgun sequencing – for the detection of foodborne bacteria using different parameters during sample preparation, sequencing and data analysis. 16S rDNA sequencing did not only result in high deviations from the expected sample composition on genus and species level, but more importantly lacked the detection of several pathogenic species. While shotgun sequencing is more suitable for species detection, abundance estimation, genome assembly and species characterization, the performance can vary depending on the library preparation kit, which was confirmed for a naturally Francisella tularensis contaminated game meat sample. The application of the Nextera XT DNA Library Preparation Kit for shotgun sequencing did not only result in lower reference genome recovery and coverage, but also in distortions of the mock community composition. For data analysis, we propose a publicly available workflow for pathogen detection and characterization and demonstrate its benefits on the usability of metagenomic sequencing in food safety by analyzing an authentic metagenomic sample.


With rapid advancements of information and communication technologies and its integration with business, e-commerce has become common practices for many business transactions. It has emerged with business processes to deliver values to internal and external customers. The demand of customer-centric services requires innovative approaches to identify customer needs, and design effective processes to deliver values to customers, especially facing the increasing number of Web-based applications (e.g., Web 2.0). Thus, the study of the innovation in services for e-commerce is becoming the next wave of e-commerce research and practices. This special issue aims to advance our understanding of this matter and hopefully to encourage and develop research momentum across disciplines to contribute to service innovations for e-commerce.


Although oscillations in membrane-transport activity are ubiquitous in plants, the ionic mechanisms of ultradian oscillations in plant cells remain largely unknown, despite much phenomenological data. The physiological role of such oscillations is also the subject of much speculation. Over the last decade, much experimental evidence showing oscillations in net ion fluxes across the plasma membrane of plant cells has been accumulated using the non-invasive MIFE technique. In this study, a recently proposed feedback-controlled oscillatory model was used. The model adequately describes the observed ion flux oscillations within the minute range of periods and predicts: (i) strong dependence of the period of oscillations on the rate constants for the H+ pump; (ii) a substantial phase shift between oscillations in net H+ and K+ fluxes; (iii) cessation of oscillations when H+ pump activity is suppressed; (iv) the existence of some 'window' of external temperatures and ionic concentrations, where non-damped oscillations are observed: outside this range, even small changes in external parameters lead to progressive damping and aperiodic behaviour; (v) frequency encoding of environmental information by oscillatory patterns; and (vi) strong dependence of oscillatory characteristics on cell size. All these predictions were successfully confirmed by direct experimental observations, when net ion fluxes were measured from root and leaf tissues of various plant species, or from single cells. Because oscillatory behaviour is inherent in feedback control systems having phase shifts, it is argued from this model that suitable conditions will allow oscillations in any cell or tissue. The possible physiological role of such oscillations is discussed in the context of plant adaptive responses to salinity, temperature, osmotic, hypoxia, and pH stresses.


The main objective of the study was to determine the attitudes and knowledge gaps about cervical carcinoma in the urban and rural women and health workers. A cross sectional study survey was done on four districts of Sironko in the eastern part of Uganda, Kawempe in the central, Ntungamo in the south-west and Arua in the north. Focus group discussions were held and structured questionnaires was administered 288 rural and urban women and 29 health workers in all the four districts. The study revealed that less than 10% of rural and urban women had claimed to know what cancer of the cervix was and how it was prevented compared to 96% of the health workers. Thirteen percent (n=4) of the health workers knew Pap screening procedures. Regarding the causes of cancer of the cervix, less than 35% of both urban and rural women believed that cancer of the cervix is caused by early coitus, family planning, having many partners and prolonged painful bleeding. While 3.4% rural and 1.4% urban women linked cancer of the cervix to witchcraft, only 0.7% of rural women associating it with "curse from GOD". Although more than 60% of rural and urban women had a positive attitude towards going to health centers when sick, less than 10% preferred visiting a witchdoctor while less than 30% wanted home medication. None had had a Pap smear done. Eleven percent (n=2) of the female health workers had Pap smear despite the fact that they were near health facilities. Although urban and rural women had different education backgrounds, they had the same low understanding of cancer of the cervix and its prevention. The difference in their beliefs and attitudes on the causes of cancer of the cervix and health seeking behaviour was insignificant. Most of the health workers lacked skills on Pap screening and female health workers were found to have low opinion towards going for Pap screening. There is therefore a need to sensitise rural and urban women, and female health workers about cancer of the cervix and on the relevance of Pap screening. There is equally a great need for health workers to be trained and have Pap screening services introduced at health centers. If the above measures are put in place, then prevention and early detection of cervical carcinoma will be done with good prognosis upon treatment. _____________________________________________________________________________________


A novel process of micro-arc oxidation (MAO) on AZ91D magnesium alloy is investigated in a Na2SiO3-NaOH-montmorillonite-EDTA-acacia gum electrolyte solution. The morphologies, elements distribution, phase components of the coatings are characterized by SEM, EDS and XRD. And CHI600 electrochemistry corrosion workstation is employed to investigate the property of corrosion resistance of the coatings. Furthermore, the anti-corrosion behavior is analyzed immersed in 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution. The results reveal that the ceramic coatings have the relatively dense and uniform in thickness and the silicon element tends to present primarily in the outer region of the coatings. The XRD results indicate that the oxide films are mainly composed of Mg2SiO4 and MgAl2O4 phases. The immersion results show that the corrosion resistances of the ceramic coatings on AZ91D magnesium surface are better than the magnesium substrate.


A specimen of a population of large-sized Marginopora sp., collected at 26 m depth north of Wistari Reef, near Heron Island (Capricorn Bunker group of islands, southern Great Barrier Reef), reproduced overnight in an aquarium. The specimen and its offspring were photographed. The reproductive chamber growth was quite fragile, and much of the periphery of the disc was fragmented. Most of the released offspring formed two or three chambers; a few had formed four. The overall sizes of the offspring reflected considerable variance in the sizes of proloculi and flexostyles. This suggests possible uneven division of the parental cytoplasm and/or differences in the growth rates of the juveniles. All of the offspring were pigmented brown, and their tests were surrounded with zooxanthellae. Although it was clear that zooxanthellae were present in them when the juveniles were released, it was not clear whether they were acquired directly while the parental cytoplasm was being subdivided, or if they were acquired by the feeding juveniles. Because this organism has not been in continuous culture, which would allow routine observation of its life cycle, and because the reproductive stage is fragile and not likely to be preserved, and further because the stage has rarely been observed, this paper gives the reader a snapshot observation of the natural history of this giant protist.


The chinese one belt one road (obor) initiative often referred to as the new silk road (nsr), seems to be the greatest endeavour of our times in terms of economy, politics and logistics. the study aimed to examine the potential of poland, belarus, lithuania, latvia, estonia and russia to participate in the nsr. the method applied was comparative analysis including both quantitative and qualitative studies. the juxtaposition of data from the intensity of global integration enabled assessment of the potential negative consequences of non-participation of the countries in the nsr. in turn, the analysis of specific indicators of trade integration, the intensity of global integration and the logistics performance of the researched part of europe has made it possible to answer the question about the most promising variants of the nsr.


Iron phases present in alloys from the 6xxx series affect the workability behaviour of these alloys. Iron in these alloys occurs in the form of intermetallic phases and AlFe, α-AlFeSi, β- AlFeSi eutectics. The homogenisation treatment is carried out to induce the transformation of  phase into phase The aim of the studies was EDX and EBSD analysis by scanning microscopy of iron phases present in model alloys based on 6061 system, characterised by the silicon-iron ratio Si/Fe=0,5 and 1, examined in as-cast condition and after homogenisation, followed by a comparison of the detected phases with phases present in industrial ingots. In 6061 alloy, copper in the amount of 0,4wt.% occurred in the solid solution of aluminium. The EDX analysis proved that copper atoms were embedded also in iron precipitates, and scarce phases of an AlxCuy type were being formed. Different content of magnesium in the examined alloys (0,8 and 1,2wt.%) affected not only the quantitative content of Mg2Si phases, but also the presence of AlFe phases in alloy with small content of Si (0,4wt.%) and high content of Mg (1,2wt.%).


An adamantane-linked tetracene dyad (Tc–Ad–Tc) undergoes exergonic intramolecular singlet fission (SF), producing longlived (τ = 175 μs) and high-energy (2 x 1.03 eV) multiexcitons. Timeresolved absorption, fluorescence decay, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic analysis revealed that the long-lived triplet species is generated in this system via correlated triplet pair having singlet and quintet characteristics. Time-resolved EPR analysis revealed that conversion of 1(3Tc–Ad–3Tc)* -> 5(3Tc–Ad–3Tc)* requires small conformational dynamics accompanied by molecular motion. Analysis of the geometries of the quintet states shows that formation of the long-lived multiexciton is enabled by precise and close alignment of the tetracene moieties, which leads to their moderate interaction in the singlet excited state, while triplet–triplet annihilation is prevented by quintet generation. The presence of aliphatic linkages, like the rigid adamantane group, might enable effective conservation of intrinsic S1 and T1 levels of the original monomers, and moderate bridge-mediated σ–π interaction leading to exergonic intramolecular SF involving 1Tc*–Ad–Tc -> 1(3Tc–Ad–3Tc)*.


This paper presents the optimal train operation that minimizes sum of supplied energy from substations. It describes how in recent years, the energy storage devices have had enough energy and power density to use in trains as on-board energy storage. The electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) is assumed as an energy storage device in our study, because of its high power density. The on-board storage can assist the acceleration/deceleration of the train and may decrease energy consumption. Many works on the application of the energy storage devices to trains were reported, however, they did not deal enough with the optimality of the control of the devices. On the other hand, previous works were for optimizing acceleration/deceleration commands of the train for minimizing energy consumption without the energy storage device. Therefore, we intend to optimize acceleration/deceleration commands together with current commands through energy storage devices as our next research target. The proposed method can determine the optimal acceleration/deceleration and current commands at every sampling point. For this purpose, the optimal control problem of the train operation is formulated mathematically. It is generally difficult to solve the problem because the problem is composed of a large-scale non-linear system. However, the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) can be applied to solve the problem. Two results with and without on-board energy storage device are compared. These optimized results indicate that the total energy consumption is reduced by at least 0.35% by using the EDLC. The relation between internal resistance and energy consumption is also revealed.


This paper studies the effects of natural resource abundance on wages for local public sector leaders in Norway. Local governments with high public revenues from the hydropower sector have fewer economic constraints compared with other local governments. High revenues might make it easier for public sector leaders to use their political power to increase leader wages relative to the wages received by other working groups. Novel data on local public sector wages, in combination with an exogenous instrument for hydropower revenues, lead to a unique empirical framework for this analysis. The instrumental variable estimates exploit the variation in geographical and topological characteristics, such as the length of rivers, river slope, water flow volume, and precipitation. Although the results indicate that public sector wages are positively affected by local government revenues, there is no evidence that the revenue effect is stronger for leader wages than for the wages of other working groups.


T helper cell differentiation occurs in the context of the extracellular cytokine milieu evoked by diverse microbes and other pathogenic stimuli along with T cell receptor stimulation. The culmination of these signals results in specification of T helper lineages, which occurs through the combinatorial action of multiple transcription factors that establish distinctive transcriptomes. In this manner, inducible, but constitutively active, master regulators work in conjunction with factors such as the signal transducer and activator of transcriptions (STATs) that sense the extracellular environment. The acquisition of a distinctive transcriptome also depends on chromatin modifications that impact key cis elements as well as the changes in global genomic organization. Thus, signal transduction and epigenetics are linked in these processes of differentiation. In this review, recent advances in understanding T helper lineage specification and deciphering the action of transcription factors are summarized with emphasis on comprehensive views of the dynamic T cell epigenome.


We report a wafer-to-wafer bonding technique with solder as the bonding layer but without the use of any flux. This fluxless or flux-free feature makes void-free and uniform bonding layer possible. If flux were used as in the case of typical soldering processes, the flux or flux residues could be easily trapped in the joint, resulting in voids and uneven solder layer. Flux residues, if not completely removed, could also cause potential reliability problem. The bonding process is performed in a developed vacuum chamber to inhibit solder oxidation. To prevent oxidation during solder manufacturing, 20mum of Sn is electroplated over the entire 2-inch silicon wafer, followed immediately by a thin capping layer of Ag. This outer Ag layer prevents the inner tin from oxidation when the wafer is removed from the plating bath and exposed to air. To evaluate the joint quality and study the microstructure and composition, scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) are used. The success of this development shows that it is indeed possible to bond entire wafers together with a thin metallic joint of high quality. This fluxless bonding technique can be extended to bonding wafers of different materials for new device and packaging applications


Both concise and comprehensive, this out-and-out 'crammer' covers all the essentials of the RYA Day Skipper syllabus, arranged and highlighted to make revising easier and now updated and expanded for the fifth edition. Since the first edition was published, Pass Your Day Skipper has helped thousands of students through their shorebased Day Skipper course. Throughout, the theory is set in a practical seagoing perspective,and helpful tips on exam tactics are also provided. And to relieve the tension of all that swotting, each section is enlivened with some of Mike Peyton's best loved cartoons. 'Well worth investing in to help you pass your Day Skipper with flying colours!' Boat Mart 'All the essentials are covered with lucidity...after you pass, you won't throw it away' Cowes Yachting


This study contributes to our understanding of the complex issues inherent in dealing with the heterogeneity of current high school science classrooms, by reporting on in-depth interviews with 38 experienced biology teachers. Analyses of teachers' responses revealed complex and occasionally counter-intuitive relationships among: (a) their perceptions of what was distinctive about their school, its biology program, or their students; (b) their allocation of class time; (c) their efforts to individualize instruction and meet the needs of a heterogeneous student population; (d) their student outcome goals; and (e) the methods they used to evaluate student progress. Thus, for example, of the 9 teachers who cited the diversity of their students. 4 also commented on their poor motivation, but another 4 also commented on their high motivation. In addition, teachers reported using a similar range of instructional formats but for different reasons, depending on the characteristics of their students (e.g., cooperative learning groups used to compensate for poor attention spans, to challenge bright students, and to foster social tolerance). Discussion of these findings addresses several points of relevance for science education, teacher preparation, and curriculum reform. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


Acoustic vibration in two stack liners located inside a stack downstream of two induced draft fans occurred at high loads. Measurements confirmed that an acoustic wave developed in the fundamental diametral mode of the cylindrical stack liners. It manifested itself as a pure tone traveling through the stack to surrounding residential areas. It was suspected that turbulent flow in the pipe bends upstream of the stack and downstream of the fans was the source of the excitation. Laboratory scale model tests confirmed that the bends indeed acted as the source. Two guide vane configurations placed inside the bends were tested experimentally. The tests showed that properly placed guide vanes would reduce the acoustic levels in the stack. The paper gives a description and evaluation of the problem.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


The anonymity of social networks makes it attractive for hate speech to mask their criminal activities online posing a challenge to the world and in particular Ethiopia. With this ever-increasing volume of social media data, hate speech identification becomes a challenge in aggravating conflict between citizens of nations. The high rate of production, has become difficult to collect, store and analyze such big data using traditional detection methods. This paper proposed the application of apache spark in hate speech detection to reduce the challenges. Authors developed an apache spark based model to classify Amharic Facebook posts and comments into hate and not hate. Authors employed Random forest and Naïve Bayes for learning and Word2Vec and TF-IDF for feature selection. Tested by 10-fold cross-validation, the model based on word2vec embedding performed best with 79.83%accuracy. The proposed method achieve a promising result with unique feature of spark for big data.


ABSTRACT Shan, P., 2020. Coastal landscape planning and design: A low-impact development–based study. In: Gong, D.; Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 359–362. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Qingdao is a coastal city, which has hundreds of years of modern urban infrastructure history. In recent years, Qingdao has become the main gateway of China's foreign trade and an important starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. Therefore, the city scale and area of Qingdao are expanding rapidly. With the expansion of the city scale, the coastal landscape belt of Qingdao city has also expanded. However, in the process of landscape belt construction, Qingdao is faced with many core issues of urban planning and design, including construction land planning, construction and maintenance funding, environmental protection, etc. Through a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, this paper analyzes the above problems and puts forward solutions. In the early stage of landscape belt planning, enterprises can be invited to participate in the planning and design by introducing financial leverage of financial funds reasonably, which will improve the economic benefits of the coastal landscape belt. Through the comprehensive utilization of the planning system in the coastal landscape belt, these problems can be solved. In the construction of Qingdao coastal landscape belt, full use should be made of the original sewage facilities, including inheritance and sustainable use of the Qingdao low-impact development construction concept.


This chapter examines the contribution of Marxism to the study of international relations. It first considers whether globalization is a new phenomenon or a long-standing feature of capitalist development, and whether 'crisis' is an inevitable feature of capitalism, and if so, whether capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction. The chapter proceeds by discussing a number of core features common to Marxist approaches as well as the internationalization of Karl Marx's ideas by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently by writers in the world-system framework. It also explains how Frankfurt School critical theory, and Antonio Gramsci and his various followers, introduced an analysis of culture into Marxist analysis as well as the more recent 'return to Marx'. Two case studies are presented, one relating to the Naxalite movement in India and the other focusing on the recent experience of Greece. There is also an Opposing Opinions box that asks whether the global economy is the prime determinant of the character of world politics.


We demonstrate the construction of modular corrugated waveguides using stacked rings to propagate Terahertz frequencies. This waveguide allows propagation of the same fundamental mode as an optical-fiber, namely the HE11 mode. This simple concept opens the way for corrugated wave-guides up to several Terahertz, along with the necessary properties for Terahertz applications.


Layout managers are used to control the placement of widgets in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Constraint-based layout managers are among the most powerful. However, they are also more complex and their layouts are prone to problems such as over-constrained specifications and widget overlap. This poses challenges for GUI builder tools, which ideally should address these issues automatically. We present a new GUI builderthe Auckland Layout Editor (ALE)that addresses these challenges by enabling GUI designers to specify constraint-based layouts using simple, mouse-based operations. We give a detailed description of ALE's edit operations, which do not require direct constraint editing. ALE guarantees that all edit operations lead to sound specifications, ensuring solvable and non-overlapping layouts. To achieve that, we present a new algorithm that automatically generates the constraints necessary to keep a layout non-overlapping. Furthermore, we discuss how our innovations can be combined with manual constraint editing in a sound way. Finally, to aid designers in creating layouts with good resize behavior, we propose a novel automatic layout preview. This displays the layout at its minimum and in an enlarged size, which allows visualizing potential resize issues directly. All these features permit GUI developers to focus more on the overall UI design.


For centuries, molecular hydrogen (H2) was supposed to be inactive and useless in the cells of mammals. Scholars reversed this notion by representing that H2 reacts with extremely reactive oxygen species (ROS) like hydroxyl radical (•OH) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-) in cells. H2 has appeared as a uniquely therapeutic and preventive agent, with its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties confirmed in surplus of experimental animal models and human studies. H2 can be administered by different approaches, comprising direct inhalation in the form of hydrogen gas, oral intake of hydrogen-rich water (HRW), and injection with hydrogen-rich saline (HRS) against the majority of disease conditions. Numerous antioxidant systems are restricted and unsuccessfully picked up by organelles such as mitochondria, but H2 has the capacity to efficiently enter plasma membranes and penetrate into subcellular organelles, like nucleus and mitochondria. The therapeutic/protective capability of H2 is developing in several human infections and in their experimental animal models, comprising ischemia-reperfusion diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, graft-versus-host disease, multiple organ dysfunction syndromes, to mention some. The medical view of H2 offers evidence-based progress for beneficial use and prospect investigation on H2 for the extensive health of the society. This paper reviews current progress in protective and therapeutic uses of H2 against different human and experimental animal disease models.


This paper presents a study on influence of model parameters on deformation analyses with Duncan-Chang Modified Nonlinear Stress-strain (E-B) model for an ore mining tailings located in Chengde, Hebei Province of China. How to determine and derive these parameters from the laboratory experimental results was introduced first. Findings from numerical analyses performed with Midas GTS indicate that model parameters K and n most significantly affect the vertical and horizontal deformation respectively. Based on the analysis, the accuracy and effectiveness of these parameters were discussed further. Principles of the model and the parameter derivations suggest the model and parameters work better for small strain cases, hence model parameters shall be better determined with laboratory tests with low confining pressures or using new apparatus to measure small strain behavior of soil to ensure analysis results reliable.


Culture – the foundation of views about health and healing – is subject to modification, translation, and adaptation as it grapples with changes in its geographic, economic, and socio-political context. For the Hmong, an Indigenous People with a millennia-long history of regional and international migration, it can be said that their cultural context has been change itself. Given the empiricist certainty that Indigenous medical systems will invariably yield to modern education and the increased availability of biomedical services, the perpetuation of various traditional elements in the medical culture of the Hmong is nothing short of remarkable. As minorities in a dominant society that rejects their ontology of health, the retention of a distinct mytho-cultural medical identity has been a choice on the part of the Hmong in Southeast Asia and the diaspora. Not only has traditional Hmong medical culture persisted in the face of (supposedly) stronger cultures of modernization, scientific rationality, and state power, but the practices and conceptualizations enshrined in traditional healing have also come to constitute a form of resistance to cultural colonization, cognitive imperialism, and social assimilation. This paper examines the ontology of health and traditional medicince among the Hmong in Southeast Asia and the United States. Ananalysis of the forces driving change or supporting continuity in the healing practice and the ontology of health reveals how the Hmong have managed to reconcile 'tradition' and 'modernity' – bio- and ethno-medicine – without conceptualizing these realms as mutually exclusive.


Summary The effectiveness of a parallel or distributed system is often determined by its communication network. In order to operate more efficiently a network is required to provide low latency and be able to handle large amount of traffic. This paper introduces a new fault-tolerant multistage interconnection networks (MIN) named as Modified Augmented Baseline Network (MABN). Performance of the proposed network is analysed in terms of permutation passibility, reliability and cost. The performance comparison of the MABN with ABN shows the significant improvement of MABN over existing Augmented Baseline Network (ABN).


The aim of this research was to evaluate lysine availability of chickpea (Cicer arietinum, L.) flour submitted to thermoplastic extrusion at three feed moisture levels (13%, 18% and 27%). It was verified that extrusion treatments reduced available lysine by 58% and 55% at 13% and 18% feed moisture levels. The major lysine loss, 71%, was verified at 27% feed moisture level.


Although galactic winds play a critical role in regulating galaxy formation, hydrodynamic cosmological simulations do not resolve the scales that govern the interaction between winds and the ambient circumgalactic medium (CGM). We implement the Physically Evolved Wind (PhEW) model of Huang et al. (2020) in the gizmo hydrodynamics code and perform test cosmological simulations with different choices of model parameters and numerical resolution. PhEW adopts an explicit subgrid model that treats each wind particle as a collection of clouds that exchange mass and metals with their surroundings and evaporate by conduction and hydrodynamic instabilities as calibrated on much higher resolution cloud scale simulations. In contrast to a conventional wind algorithm, we find that PhEW results are robust to numerical resolution and implementation details because the small scale interactions are defined by the model itself. Compared to our previous wind simulations with the same resolution, our PhEW simulations are in better agreement with low-redshift galactic stellar mass functions at M∗ < 10 11 M⊙ because PhEW particles shed mass to the CGM before escaping low mass halos. PhEW radically alters the CGM metal distribution because PhEW particles disperse metals to the ambient medium as their clouds dissipate, producing a CGM metallicity distribution that is skewed but unimodal and is similar between cold and hot gas. While the temperature distributions and radial profiles of gaseous halos are similar in simulations with PhEW and conventional winds, these changes in metal distribution will affect their predicted UV/X-ray properties in absorption and emission.


The creation of a process ontology for biology is one of the most ambitious and important projects of current philosophy of biology. Process ontology is usually seen as opposing mechanistic ontology which currently dominates biology. However, the terms 'process' and 'mechanistic' are not always clearly defined in current debates. In this paper I provide a new definition of 'mechanism' and 'mechanistic ontology' based on the most abstract definition of 'machine'—von Foerster's 'non-trivial machine' that is related to Turing machine. I argue that the main methods of modeling used in systems biology rest upon the implicit assumption that organisms abide by the non-trivial or Turing machine logic. By showing that organisms and machines obey two incompatible logics of causality I demonstrate the limits of this assumption. The paper concludes by introducing an organism-centered concept of process and arguing that Whitehead's process metaphysics offers a way of understanding organisms as exemplifications of a specific category of process.


Introduction. The paper deals with the philosophical problems of functioning of the most complex phenomena in the universe: creation of the universe, emergence of life and appearance of consciousness. The scientific timeliness of the research is determined by that unceasing interest to the origin of the universe and life in it. The most difficult problem is the origin of intelligence in the universe which is confirmed through the ongoing research in the SETI program. The scientific novelty of research is that the authors link three fundamental problems relates to the origins of complexity in the universe in a single intellectual cluster.Methodology and sources. The analysis is based on the issues in modern cosmology, astrobiology and anthropology treated in the context of complex systems and their radical sensitivity to the uncontrolled initial conditions. In particular, one implies the so called "fine-tuning" of the cosmological parameters necessary for the origin of life on the planet Earth. The hypothetical deviation of the numerical values of such parameters by, let say some per cents, would exclude the development of the biological systems. However the sphere of the necessary conditions for these parameters does not guarantee the fulfillment of the sufficient conditions for creation complexity and a possibility of life. Such conditions are not determined by the physical and biological context and make inevitable an appeal for their interpretation to philosophical ideas. The methodological foundation of this research is based in finding the boundaries of efficiency of the necessary conditions for emergence of complexity and attempts to provide in some cases an interpretation of the possible sufficient conditions.Results and discussion. It is shown that it is impossible to account on scientific grounds for the original conditions which launched creation of the universe, emergence of life and appearance of consciousness. Scientifically, one can formulate the necessary conditions for existence of life in the universe and hence the embodied consciousness, however it is beyond the reach of science to account for the sufficient conditions. One simple model of origin of life illustrating the dependence of its phenomenon on the uncontrolled sufficient conditions is proposed on the grounds of analogy with Bernard's instability in complex systems. If one identifies such phenomena as existence of the universe, biological and intelligent life with the behavior in super-complex material systems, there still remains a fundamental problem in unpredictability and contingency of those "initial" conditions which predetermined the factual outcomes in evolution of these complex systems. In other words science faces a fundamental limitedness in describing the sufficient conditions (sufficient reason) for those forms of complexity in nature with which this article deals.Conclusion. A scientific description of the most complex phenomena such as the universe as a whole, biological and intelligent life demonstrate its limited scope as regards the sufficient conditions for their happening. In this sense an exhaustive understanding of these phenomena becomes fundamentally impossible, showing that science functions in the conditions of the positive uncertainty.


Relational Frame Theory (RFT) is the simplest form of operant theory since it claims nothing more than a particular type of behavior, arbitrarily applicable derived relational responding, is an operant. While the theory is simple, its implications are not, and adoption has been slow until recently. RFT was first formally described in 1985 and in the 35 years since, hundreds of studies have been conducted on relational learning from an operant point of view. The present paper briefly summarizes that history and examines some of its key claims. So far, the empirical program delineated by RFT has held up remarkably well. Future directions are delineated that will enable a more comprehensive evaluation of the importance of the RFT research program, and a more thorough exploration of its profound implications.


Writing consultants regularly perform emotional labor. They suppress or express emotions to welcome clients and invoke enthusiasm to cultivate writers' confidence. Because emotional labor performs these crucial functions, it merits focused attention in writing center studies. However, while research has considered the emotional needs that writers bring, scholars have not yet sufficiently examined the affective engagements that consultations require of writing consultants. The first section of this article presents a case for treating affective dimensions of tutoring as labor. The second section analyzes five tutor-training manuals using the Specific Affect Coding System (SPAFF) to identify references to emotion and affect in the texts. This analysis shows that these tutor training manuals offer limited or indirect discussions of emotional labor and neglect the fact that relational work is just as much a practiced skill as cognitive work. The final section offers implications and proposes ways these manuals could start more robust discussions of emotional labor to further writing center goals of creating supportive, collaborative environments. By teaching and valuing the emotional labor of tutors, writing centers can become more inclusive places and mitigate factors that lead to burnout.


: The authors reported the results of retrospective analysis of the level of polyamines in urine and the duration of clinicohematological remission in 25 AL children aged 3 to 14. Of this number 23 patients suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 2--from acute myeloblastic leukemia. Direct correlation between polyamine changes during a course of chemotherapy and the duration of remission was established. Longer duration was observed in the patients in whom a 2-fold rise of the level of all polyamines, especially spermidine, followed the administration of a cytostatic within the first 24-72 h. On the discontinuation of therapy a certain decrease in polyamine excretion with urine was observed in these children as compared to the level determined on their admission to hospital.


Abstract This paper examines the impact of regulatory policies on banking market efficiency using a sample of 678 commercial banks from 21 European Union countries for the post-crisis year 2010, controlling for bank-specific and country-specific variables. Data on regulation, supervision and monitoring variables, and activity restrictions are from the most recent Bank Regulation and Supervision Survey database conducted by the World Bank, published 2012. Besides these we incorporate bank size, equity, market share, government ownership, and growth of Gross Domestic Product per capita, employing an Ordinary Least Squares method. Focus is on two alternative measures of banking market efficiency: net interest margin and overhead costs (operating expenses to assets). Elevated levels of these two ratios should indicate a low level of banking efficiency. The evidence suggests that the link between capital regulation and banking efficiency is not robust enough to control for other regulatory variables. Results confirm that activity restrictions have a negative and significant impact on banking efficiency. Policies encouraging official supervisory power do not enhance efficiency of the banking sector. The only approach positively and statistically significantly associated with efficiency is private monitoring. This leads to the suggestion that government regulation and supervision should be more focused on promoting transparency of information.


Semen quality is said to have been declining over the past 50 years. The biological significance of these changes is emphasized by a concomitant increase in the incidence of genitourinary abnormalities such as testicular cancer and cryptorchidism. The increase in regional frequency of testicular abnormalities over a relatively short period of time may be due to local environmental factors, including the comparatively recent fashion for wearing tight-fitting underwear. Data also indicates that prenatal exposure to environmental agents can affect the development of the male genital tract. From the reproductive point of view, an increased environmental impact on the human male gonad is of concern and merits the development of sensitive techniques that can detect deleterious agents.


The spread of COVID-19 has caused severe damage to human lives and the global economy. The stock markets around the world have plummeted to their lowest levels since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. This paper attempts to examine the joint dynamics of gold and stock market returns during unprecedented times of health and financial shock due to COVID-19 between January 2020 and May 2020 using granger test, ARMA model, and symmetric and asymmetric GARCH models to improve the understanding of the microstructure of investment scenario in India. The period considered in the study helps to evaluate the impact of lockdown due to coronavirus on Gold and Nifty index return. Results based on GARCH and E-GARCH models indicate a significant negative impact of gold on nifty returns during the sample period. The results also indicate investors' perception of gold as a safe-haven asset during periods of elevated uncertainty. Thus, the study is expected to enhance the understanding of market asymmetry, the behavior of investors towards these avenues of investments, and information processing.


Wet-chemical syntheses have been applied to the production of ceramic powders, with the aim of tailoring compositional and micro/nanostructural features, as an imperative requirement toward the elaboration of ceramic components with improved functional or even structural properties. Three syntheses are here presented and discussed, respectively concerning a purephased, nanostructured YAG powder, a biphasic Al2O3-YAG composite and three-phased Al2O3- YAG-ZrO2 material. In particular, this paper is aimed to illustrate the path followed from the set-up of the easier synthesis of the mono-phased system to the definition of the advanced procedures for the production of more and more complex compositions.


'Whole of government' interventions are increasingly being used in disadvantaged communities to improve safety and break the cycle of violence. This paper draws on learning from the evaluation of two whole of government interventions in western Sydney that arose in response to community violence and extensive property damage. Methods for strengthening program logic and overcoming differences in perspective are outlined.


Some chloroplast proteins are known to serve as messengers to transmit retrograde signals from chloroplasts to the nuclei in response to environmental stresses. However, whether particular chloroplast proteins respond to drought stress and serve as messengers for retrograde signal transduction are unclear. Here, we used isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) to monitor the proteomic changes in tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) treated with drought stress/re-watering. We identified 3936 and 1087 differentially accumulated total leaf and chloroplast proteins, respectively, which were grouped into 16 categories. Among these, one particular category of proteins, that includes carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA1), exhibited a great decline in chloroplasts, but a remarkable increase in leaves under drought stress. The subcellular localizations of CA1 proteins from moss (Physcomitrella patens), Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa) in P. patens protoplasts consistently showed that CA1 proteins gradually diminished within chloroplasts but increasingly accumulated in the cytosol under osmotic stress treatment, suggesting that they could be translocated from chloroplasts to the cytosol and act as a signal messenger from the chloroplast. Our results thus highlight the potential importance of chloroplast proteins in retrograde signaling pathways and provide a set of candidate proteins for further research.


Joint radio resource management (JRRM) is the envisaged process aimed at optimizing the radio resource usage of wireless systems to satisfy the requirements of both the network operators and the users in the context of future generation wireless networks. In particular, this paper proposes a two-layered JRRM framework to improve the efficiency of multiradio and multioperator cellular scenarios. On the one hand, the intraoperator JRRM relies on fuzzy neural mechanisms with economic-driven reinforcement learning techniques to exploit radio resources within a single-operator domain. Microeconomic concepts are included in the proposed approach so that user profile differentiation can be considered when making a JRRM decision. On the other hand, interoperator JRRM enables subscribers to obtain service through other operators, if the home operator network is blocked. Simulation results in a number of different scenarios show that interoperator agreements established in a cooperative scenario benefit both the operators and users, which enables efficient load management and increased operator revenue.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the clinical efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and safety of presurgical devascularization of meningiomas.

METHODS
Matched samples of embolized and nonembolized groups of meningiomas were compared. The study variables for clinical efficacy were estimated blood loss, number of transfusions, surgical resection time, and length of hospitalization. The cost-effectiveness was evaluated by adjusting all hospital costs to 1991 dollar amounts, and adding additional embolization costs and fees to the hospital cost totals for the embolized group. A qualitative comparison of complications was made.

RESULTS
All dependent variables evaluating the clinical efficacy of the procedure (estimate blood loss, 533 cc versus 836 cc; number of transfusions, 0.39 units versus 1.56 units; surgical resection time, 305.8 minutes versus 337.5 minutes; and length of hospitalization, 10.6 days versus 15.0 days) displayed trends of higher means in the nonembolized group; however, only the estimated blood loss and number of transfusions variables were significant. The cost-effectiveness of the procedure was not statistically significant. The mean cost was $29,605 for the embolized group and $38,449 for the nonembolized group. There were three major and nine minor complications in the nonembolized group and zero major and six minor complications in the embolized group. There were four additional minor complications caused by the embolization procedure.

CONCLUSION
Endovascular devascularization of meningiomas is beneficial for large meningiomas because it diminishes the necessity of intraoperative transfusions and decreases blood loss. The additional day of hospitalization, emolization costs, and costs of complications do not conversely increase treatment costs. There were no major complications or adverse long-term effects caused by the embolization procedure.


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Chymotrypsin is a member of the trypsin family of serine proteases and is one of the first proteins successfully studied by X-ray crystallography. It is secreted into the intestine as the inactive precursor chymotrypsinogen; four sequential cleavages of the peptide bonds following residues 13, 15, 146 and 148 occur to generate the active π, δ, κ and α forms of chymotrypsin. 13C NMR has shown [O'Connell & Malthouse (1995). Biochem. J. 307, 353–359] that when the δ form of chymotrypsin is inhibited by 2-13C-enriched benzyloxycarbonylglycylglycylphenylalanyl chloromethane, a tetrahedral adduct is formed which is thought to be analogous to the tetrahedral intermediate formed during catalysis. This inhibitor complex has been crystallized as a dimer in space group P41212. The structure has been refined at 2.14 A resolution to an R value of 21.2% (free R = 25.2%). Conformational differences between δ-chymotrypsin and chymotrypsinogen in the region of the flexible autolysis loop (residues 145–150) were observed. This is the first crystal structure of δ-chymotrypsin and includes two residues which are disordered in previous crystal structures of active chymotrypsin. A difference of 11.3 A2 between the average B values of the monomers within the asymmetric unit is caused by lattice-disordering effects approximating to rotation of the molecules about a crystallographic screw axis. The substrate-binding mode of the inhibitor was similar to other chymotrypsin peptidyl inhibitor complexes, but this is the first published chymotrypsin structure in which the tetrahedral chloromethyl ketone transition-state analogue is observed. This structure is compared with that of a similar tetrahedral transition-state analogue which does not alkylate the active-site histidine residue.


Policy concerns arise as e-business activities become increasingly common. This paper discusses important elements of such concerns, particularly the pro- and anti-competitive assessment of online business-to-business (B2B) exchanges. The definition of markets, the role of quality management and communication, and join purchasing implications within such environments are related to food distribution systems. Other online business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-business (C2B) policy concerns are also raised.


Abstract Microwave processing has gained worldwide acceptance as a novel method for heating and sintering a variety of materials from food to rubber to specialty ceramics, as it offers specific advantages in terms of speed, energy efficiency, process simplicity, novel and improved properties, finer microstructures, and lower environmental hazards. In the present paper, microwave sintering of modulus of rupture (MOR) bar samples of PM copper steel (MPIF FC-0208 composition) and the comparative evaluation of the mechanical properties using both microwave and conventional sintering techniques has been reported. The starting powder characteristics and the processing details of copper steel bar samples sintered in a conventional furnace and in an in house modified commercial microwave oven has been covered at length. In this study, the sintering temperature used typically ranged between 1100 and 1300°C, soaking time ranged from 5 to 20 min, and the atmosphere was controlled using flowing forming gas (mixture of 95% N2 + 5% H2). Microwave sintering resulted in higher sintered density, higher Rockwell hardness (HRB), and higher flexural strength as compared with conventional sintering. The improved mechanical properties of microwave sintered samples can be mainly attributed to the evolution of distinct porosity distribution, primarily consisting of small, rounded, and uniformly distributed pores as against large, angular and non-uniformly distributed pores observed in the case of conventional sintering.