In this paper we investigate the problem of how to quantize the wavelet coefficients in the lowest frequency subband with multi-scalar method. A new quantization implementation of efficient lossy medical image compression using the Set Partitioning in Hierarchical Trees (SPIHT) algorithm at low bit rates is proposed. First, in the higher bit plane, this algorithm only quantizes the wavelet coefficients in the lowest frequency subband. Then it quantizes other ones by uniform scalar. Experiment results have shown the proposed scheme improves the performance of wavelet image coders. In particular, it will get better coding gain in the low bit rate image coding.


The paper discusses the problem of gender differences in social loafing, describes the existing positions, and provides a critical analysis of the results of empirical studies of social loafing and of their interpretations. The aim is to develop an unbiased view of gender differences in social loafing. Based on their theoretical review and critical analysis, the authors make several conclusion. First, the question of existence of gender differences in social loafing can not be given a definite answer at present, because the issue has not been studied sufficiently. The existing empirical studies demonstrate contradictory results, are limited to only a few countries, certain age groups, and use stimuli of certain limited type. Second, the prevailing position in the literature that suggests higher social loafing in males, compared to females, may be simply a result of gender stereotypes. Third, the interpretation given in several empirical studies of social loafing (that females are more inclined to cooperative behavior, and males tend to behave in competitive ways) can also be seen as an expression of gender stereotypes. Fourth, the ubiquity of gender stereotypes in psychological literature may have a negative effect on future research of gender differences in social loafing, as researchers may not be interested in studying an issue that already seems "clear" to them.


Ramadan in the year of 2020 is the witness of global pandemic caused by the spread of Covid-19 that significantly alters human behaviors. In response to the current phenomenon, the present study is conducted to scrutinize how the holy month of Ramadan and global pandemic affect human religiosity and donating behaviors. To this end, this study employed a web-based questionnaire to gather the required data from 128 Indonesians who were voluntarily participated upon invitation. Using WarpPLS to analyze the data, the results showed that there was a significant influence of global pandemic situation and Ramadan on the level of religiosity. Moreover, the pandemic situation also encouraged the exist growth of donation institutions. This study further revealed the positive impact of the holy month of Ramadan and religiosity on human donating behaviors. In other words, Ramadan and global pandemic increased the level of human religiosity and the existence of donation institutions, as a results, their donating behaviors were also improved. However, this study found that the existence of donation institutions did not have any influence on human donating behaviors. These results offer an implication that Ramadan and global pandemic obviously provide a direct impact on religiosity and human donating behaviors.


Few clinicians ever ask their local pulmonary function laboratory to determine closing volumes or expiratory flow-volume curves. And still fewer of us understand their true pathophysiological importance. It is thus timely to find a book that explains so well these and other advances in pulmonary physiology. The section on pulmonary blood flow, for example, so clearly presents complexities like transmural pulmonary artery pressure variations and lung capillary recruitment that one does not have to be a subspecialist in pulmonary medicine to understand or retain interest in these "basic science" topics. The last two thirds of this primer, more clinically oriented, achieve an excellent blending of the science and practice of medicine, especially regarding interstitial lung disease and hypoxemia. Current views about occupational lung diseases, sarcoidosis, optimal ventilator settings, complications of artificial ventilation, the nonrespiratory functions of the lung, and the pitfalls and misleading information that can result from radioisotope ventilation


The existing literature on the relationship between natural resources (NRs) and growth is inconclusive. To enrich this debate, some studies have investigated the role of institutions in the NRs-growth nexus. Unlike most previous work, which mostly considers the interactive effect of institutions, notably corruption, on the relation between NRs and growth, this paper determines the optimal threshold of corruption below and above which NRs affect economic growth differently. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of NRs on economic growth conditioned by the level of corruption in SSA. Using a panel data on 26 Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries over the period of 1985 to 2014, this paper uses the Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) model developed by Gonzalez et al. (2005). Firstly, we found evidence of the existence of corruption thresholds that change the effect of NRs on economic growth. These thresholds are 0.94, 0.40, 2.33, 1.16 and 0.48 for public, executive, legislative, judicial and political corruption, respectively. Secondly, the relation between NRs and economic growth below and above each type of corruption gives mixed results. The sensitivity analysis, which led to the decomposition of NRs into forest and oil resources, confirms the divergence of the results found by the baseline specification. These results have significant implications for policy sequencing in SSA. To benefit from NRs-led growth, improvement of the institutional framework, including different political corruption reducing, should precede NRs management policies. Also, a certain diversification of the economies of SSA countries leads to a better efficiency of the NRs on economic activity.


The evolution toward software-defined radio (SDR) technologies, in particular, cognitive radios, is leading toward the need to support multiple radio solutions with the same baseband processing resources. This implies not only a huge design effort, but also a shift from hardware to software design flavored tool chains. In this paper, a hardware complexity and energy dissipation are analyzed by implementing three programmable processor architectures that support 32- and 12-bit floating-point and 16-bit fixed-point arithmetics. The processors are based on the transport triggered architecture (TTA) that has a very low programmability overhead. We programmed a recently introduced selective spanning with fast enumeration (SSFE) soft-output detector for these processors. The processors are capable to achieve data rates required in multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency- division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) 3G LTE system with a small energy dissipation. The analysis shows that at the same goodput rate a floating-point implementation can achieve a lower gate count and a better power efficiency than a fixed-point design. Combined with tool chain benefits, the floating-point arithmetic is becoming attractive for future SDR solutions.


We propose a novel metaheuristic search for global optimization inspired by the behavior of a monkey climbing trees looking for food. The tree branches are represented as perturbations between two neighboring feasible solutions of the considered global optimization problem. The monkey mark and update these branches leading to good solutions as it climbs up and down the tree. A wide selection of perturbations can be applied based on other metaheuristic methods for global optimization. We show that Monkey Search is competitive compared to the other metaheuristic methods for optimizing Lennard‐Jones and Morse clusters, and for simulating protein molecules based on a geometric model for protein folding.


Visionary art, art brut, art of the insane, naive art, vernacular art, raw visionA" what do all these and many other categories describe? An art made outside the boundaries of official culture, first recognized more than a century ago by German psychiatrists who appreciated the profound artistic expression in the work of institutionalized patients. Promoted by brilliant museum curators like Alfred Barr and artists like Jean Dubuffet, such work became a wellspring of modern and contemporary art. This volume brings together works by twelve of the most influential self-taught artists to emerge during the past century. Each represents a facet of the outsider art phenomenon, from mental patients like Adolf Wolfli and Martin Ramirez, through vernacular masters like Bill Traylor and Thornton Dial, to artists who seem to be in touch with other worlds, such as Madge Gill and Henry Darger. Related artists are featured along with each key figure, allowing a fuller picture to emerge. This book presents a narrative of the history of outsider art, clarifies predominant theoretical issues, and draws comparisons with the modernist tradition. It brings into focus the enormous contributions self-taught artists have made to our understanding of creative genius and presents them in a book that will enthral anyone interested in Outsider Art.


In Germany, there is a vivid political debate on introducing a general statutory minimum wage. In this paper, we study the effects of minimum wages on labor supply using a structural household model where we distinguish between married and single households. In the model, labor supply of married women reacts positively and relatively strongly to minimum wages which we model as a wage subsidy as proposed in the German political debate. By contrast, other population subgroups show ambiguous reactions. An empirical analysis for Germany shows that minimum wages would affect total labor supply only weakly. Yet, in our baseline experiments, average labor supply of married women increases by 3-5%, whereas hours supplied by married female recipients of the minimum wage may increase by up to 28%. Further, we find that costs of a subsidized minimum wage increase sharply in its level while its effects on labor supply level out.


Higher education today is being viewed as a tool to achieve prosperity and high living standards. It is thus looked upon as a service to the society and a powerful weapon to change the society for its betterment. Motivation plays a crucial role in learning. Motivation energizes the behavior of the individual. It also directs the behavior towards specific goals. It helps in acquisition of knowledge, develops social qualities, increases initiation of persistence in activities, leads to improved performance and develops a sense of discipline in the individual. This paper aims to compare Open Education System and Traditional Education System with respect to Academic Motivation of students towards the two types of education systems. This paper also tries to compare the academic motivation of rural and urban based students. It has been found in this paper that there is significant different in Academic Motivation among students of the two types of education systems. The significant difference in academic motivation has also been found in urban and rural based students, compared between the two systems. The paper has also forwarded some suggestions which may be considered by the policy makers and administrators of OES to help increase the academic motivation of students of OES.


The research aimed at assessment of the influence of weed control methods on the potato yields and economic effects of potato cultivation. A field experiment was carried out in the years 2008-2010. In experiment grown medium-early of table potato cultivar Cekin, which is know in central-eastern Poland. Mechanical and chemical treatment with the used herbicides and their mixtures, increased yield by 50.2% as compared to the control object. The gross margin ranged from 1055,3 PLN for the control object to 11137,0 PLN for object in which weeds controlled with mixture herbicides Command 480 EC + Afalon Dyspersyjny 450 SC.


The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and how auditors' pricing decisions are affected by their clients' offshore trading activities, which are comprehensively measured through a textual analysis technique.,The authors identified a sample of 32,264 firm-year observations from publicly listed firms in the US during 2004 to 2015. The authors then used multivariate regressions to examine the effect of offshore trading activities on audit fees. In the regression models, the authors also control for a series of factors that are documented to influence audit pricing.,The authors find that offshore trading activities are positively associated with audit fees, suggesting that offshore activities are likely to increase a client firm's business risk and/or the extent of client complexity. The authors also find that auditors charge higher audit fees only to firms purchasing inputs produced by their own assets overseas but not to firms buying inputs produced by local firms overseas. Moreover, the association between offshore trading activities and audit fees is more pronounced for offshore activities that are in countries with high trading centrality, for Big 4 auditors, or for auditors with industry expertise.,This paper extends the literature on the consequences of offshore activities by providing evidence on how auditors react to offshore activities. Moreover, it contributes to the audit fee literature. Prior studies largely focus on client-level determinants, while this study complements this line of literature by identifying firm's offshore activities as an important risk indicator, which is perceived by auditors in their pricing decisions. A firm's offshore activity is unique because the risk implication of the offshore activities depends not only on factors within the firm, but also on factors outside the firm in foreign nations.


Abstract. A new pilargid species, Sigambra sundarbanensis sp. nov., is described from the rivers Matla and Thakuran, in the central Indian sector of the Sundarbans Estuarine System. This species is characterized by several characters such as the starting position of the notopodial hooks, the length of the median antenna and the variation in number of the neuropodial chaetae. These characters distinguish the new species from its congeners. Some parapodial glands have been found in individuals of this species. The new species closely resembles Sigambra parva (Day, 1963). Additionally, an updated key of genus Sigambra is provided, along with a table indicating their morphological variations and a global map showing their type localities.


The power dissipated by one-, two-, or three-disk turbines (Rushton type) in stirred vessels was experimentally determined under turbulent conditions. The power dissipated by each individual impeller (in single- or multiple-impeller configurations) and the total power consumption were measured by means of strain gauges mounted on the shaft and were reported as individual or total power numbers. Results were obtained for different combinations of number of impellers, off-bottom clearance of the lowest impeller, and spacing among impellers. These variables were found to play a very important role in the power drawn by individual impellers and, hence, the total power consumption. The impeller closest to the vessel bottom generally consumed significantly less power than the other impeller(s). This was especially true for combinations of low impeller clearances and small impeller spacing. Proximity of two impellers also lowered their power consumption. Only when the impellers were significantly spaced apart an...


Background: Controversy exists regarding the need for nerve stimulation when performing an ultrasound (US)-guided peripheral nerve block. We tested the hypothesis that the quality of a femoral nerve block (FNB) performed with US is equivalent to an FNB performed with US and nerve stimulation. Methods: One hundred seven patients undergoing unilateral total knee arthroplasty were randomized to receive either a US-guided FNB (group US) or a US-guided FNB with nerve stimulation (group USNS). Thirty milliliters of bupivacaine 0.5% was injected in both groups. At 10, 20, 30, and 40 mins after block placement, blinded motor and sensory examinations were conducted. Secondary outcomes included time to perform the block, the number of needle redirections, and 24-hrs intravenously administered morphine equivalent consumption. Results: There were no significant differences in the proportion of patients with either a partial or complete block. At 40 mins, 95.7% of the USNS subjects had a partial or complete sensory block of the femoral nerve (complete in 71.7% and partial in 24%) compared with 88.1% of US subjects (complete in 69% and partial in 19.1%; odds ratio, 2.97; P = 0.19). There were more needle redirections in group USNS (4.1 vs 1.1, P < 0.001), with a higher percentage of patients requiring 2 or more needle attempts (44.2% vs 18.9%, P < 0.01). The time to perform the block in group USNS was longer (188 vs 148 secs, P = 0.01). Conclusion: The addition of nerve stimulation to a US-guided FNB did not change preoperative block efficacy.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report on two institutional change scenarios of performance measurement (PM) systems, namely, subversion and integration. Subversion represents insiders' use of existing institutional logic whereas integration represents insiders' use of imported institutional logic. Design/methodology/approach - The scenarios are drawn from two case studies: BAE Systems (a large UK manufacturing company) and Alpha (a medium-sized Sri Lankan manufacturing company). The data were collected through in-depth interviews and documentary sources. Findings - An internal "culture change programme" led to a business value scorecard (BVS) in BAE Systems, and an external knowledge diffusion programme gave rise to a balanced scorecard (BSC) in Alpha. The culture change programme was facilitated by a particular institutional logic resulting in a successful BVS practice. In contrast, at Alpha, the BSC project was externally imposed, although it was designed with the blessing of the owner-manager. This triggered internal controversies and the workforce became unreceptive. Consequently, attention was diverted to other management fads such as total quality management, Six Sigma, and enterprise resource planning but these were also short lived. Research limitations/implications - While this paper provides evidence on practice variation and adds to neoinstitutional-based management accounting research, the empirical materials, however, did not allow the authors to trace all four scenarios in the typology. Practical implications - PM systems, such as the BSC, seem to be malleable and adaptable to local requirements subject to organisational and managerial flexibility and democratic possibilities. Originality/value - This research highlights how the institutional environment is fragmented and contested, in different organisational and political conditions and spaces, resulting in variation in practices.


Language shift is the process whereby one language becomes increasingly lesser used in place of the use of another language. In Scotland, language shift is occurring for Gaelic, as English takes its place for a variety of functions in the home and wider community. Extensive literature has argued the important role that education can play in the process of reversing language shift, and there is a growing body of research in this area as relates to Gaelic medium education. Gaelic (learners) education, which is second language education of Gaelic that begins in secondary school, is lesser researched and its effects on reversing language shift are not well understood. This article presents the findings of 13 in-depth interviews held with teachers, depute head teachers and head teachers of five schools offering Gaelic (learners) education in the Highland Council area. The interview design borrowed heavily from the National Plan for Gaelic 2007–2012 (Bord na Gaidhlig) in the selection of topics and questions for discussion. Transcripts of interviews were inputted into Atlas.ti and coded during content analysis, using inductive codes. Findings from this investigation supported the contention that Gaelic (learners) education is able to achieve benefits in the development areas of acquisition and status.


Abstract. Rice is the most important food crop in Vietnam, providing food more than 90 million people and is considered as an essential source of income for majority of rural populations. Monitoring rice-growing areas is thus important to developing successful strategies for food security in the country. This paper aims to develop an approach for crop acreage estimation from multi-temporal Sentinel-1A data. We processed the data for two main cropping seasons (e.g., winter–spring, summer–autumn) in the Mekong River Delta (MRD), Vietnam through three main steps: (1) data pre-processing, (3) rice classification based on crop phenological metrics, and (4) accuracy assessment of the mapping results. The classification results compared with the ground reference data indicated the overall accuracy of 86.2% and Kappa coefficient of 0.72. These results were reaffirmed by close correlation between the government's rice area statistics for such crops (R2 > 0.95). The values of relative error in area obtained for the winter–spring and summer–autumn were -3.6% and 6.7%, respectively. This study demonstrates the potential application of multi-temporal Sentinel-1A data for rice crop mapping using information of crop phenology in the study region.


The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of mild cognitive impairment on pattern electroretinogram (pERG) among urban elderly Malays. A total of 36 subjects aged 60 years and above comprising of 18 MCI subjects and 18 normal controls were recruited for this study. The inclusion criteria for both the MCI and normal subjects included best corrected distance visual acuity ≥ 6/9 (Snellen) with refractive error less than ±4.00 DS and/or ±2.00 DC (astigmatism), near visual acuity ≥ N8, absence or no previous history of any significant media opacities, retinal disorders and ocular pathologies. pERG was recorded with the RetiPort/Scan21 system in accordance with the International Society for the Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision standards. The target presented to subjects through a 19" CRT monitor was a black and white reversing checkerboard with luminance equal to 80 cd/m2, contrast 97% and stimulus frequency 2.00 Hz (4 rev/s). Amplitudes and implicit times of P50 and N95 waves generated by the system were noted and compared between the two groups. The results showed no significant difference in the amplitude and implicit times between the right and left eyes so only the right eye was used for comparison between the MCI and control groups. The mean amplitude and implicit times of the right eye of the MCI and control groups were 1.86±0.65 μV, 56.27±6.20 ms and 1.54±0.74 μV, 56.15±4.98 ms, respectively. T-test showed no significant differences in pERG amplitudes and implicit times between MCI and the control groups. In conclusion, our results may imply that the inner retina is intact in early MCI elderly subjects.


This experiment involves the growth of mammalian cell cultures established from embryos of pregnant mice. Growth parameters will be varied to determine the effect of each on cell growth. The purpose of this experiment is to determine the most economical way to establish and maintain a mouse cell line at Pembroke State University.


The IceCube Neutrino Observatory probes a breadth of particle physics through the DeepCore low-energy extension. DeepCore provides access to an abundance of earth-crossing neutrinos over much of the atmospheric cosmic-ray spectrum, from 5-100 GeV. Over such baselines, and having overcome the kinematic threshold for 𝜈 𝜏 charged current interactions, DeepCore provides unique multi-channel sensitivity to atmospheric oscillations (including 𝜈 𝜏 -appearance) with unprecedented statistical power. As a result, oscillations measurements from DeepCore are complementary to and competitive with those of long-baseline beam experiments. Here, recent and upcoming results from the current generation of IceCube oscillations analyses are summarised, including work on an 8+ year dataset which represents a milestone in high-statistics atmospheric mixing measurements.


Introduction: Schizophrenia is a serious psychiatric disorder that significantly impacts a person's quality of life. This condition is characterized by three groups of symptoms: positive, negative and cognitive. There have been developments of new therapeutic methods for treating schizophrenia, both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic. Antipsychotic drugs such as the second generation antipsychotic olanzapine are often the first course of treatment, for the purpose of controlling symptoms. However, research has determined that using antipsychotics alone may limit its long-term effectiveness and produce adverse effects. Psychosocial interventions like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) aim to reduce psychotic symptoms and prevent relapse when used in conjunction with medication. This review aims to discuss the effectiveness of the integration of olanzapine and CBT, and how these treatments improve symptom reduction, reduce relapse and reduce the occurrence of adverse effects.
Methods: A literature search between the years of 2010 to 2020 was conducted using PubMed and PsycInfo. Keywords included variations of "schizophrenia", "treatment", "olanzapine", and "cognitive behavioural therapy".
Results: Olanzapine by itself was found to improve symptom reduction, yet showed adverse effects such as weight gain and extrapyramidal symptoms. CBT used as a lone treatment of schizophrenia showed less adverse effects than antipsychotics, yet was significantly less effective than both antipsychotics alone and the combinatorial treatment of CBT and olanzapine. The integration of olanzapine and CBT demonstrated an overall improvement in a schizophrenic patient's health.
Discussion: The integration of olanzapine and CBT show promise for symptom reduction, relapse prevention, reduced occurrence of adverse side effects, and the overall improvement of one's health.
Conclusion: Individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia experience emotional, physical and social hardships, thus it is imperative that physicians are aware of current treatments that can be tailored to best treat their patients.


ABSTRACT In Latin America, 'judicialization' for access to healthcare refers to thousands of different claims, conditions, technologies and circumstances. Its impact depends on what is 'judicialized', why, for which benefit, and at what cost to society. Since judges cannot, by themselves, reduce medical uncertainty – or price tags – their health systems are exposed to costly adjudications based solely on interpretations of right to health, or life. The result is a low-governance, inefficient system for deciding coverage. We reviewed lists of judicialised medicines in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Uruguay, dividing them into types A, B and C. We propose a debate by type, and that judges, facing litigation type-C, consider mandating coverage conditional on results, as requisite for reimbursement.


The aim of this article is to explain how forms of consent-driven domination are produced over actors with critical capacity to question the processes of domination to which they are subjected. Drawing on observations of meetings during which actors evaluated employee sick leave, we show how domination is locally achieved in situated interactions by (a) constructing a specific situational reality, (b) transferring responsibilities in accordance with this reality, and (c) positioning the actors within the confirmed bounds of the situation. Domination is produced by exploiting a gap between the reified instituted reality and the lived realities of embodied actors. Doing so enables critiques of the workplace to be absorbed and situational responsibility to be directed towards individual employees. Engaging with French sociologist Luc Boltanski's recent work, we refer to these processes as 'complex domination': the domination appears centre-less and well-intentioned politics result in permanent asymmetrical outcomes – that is, the same people always lose.


In this study, the authors propose an efficient extension of the standard empirical mode decomposition (EMD) for complex-valued univariate signal decomposition. The key idea of the extension is to convert a complex-valued univariate signal into a longer real-valued signal by augmenting the real part with the flipped imaginary part, and then to decompose it into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) using the EMD once only. The bivariate IMFs are then retrieved from the obtained IMFs. Their empirical results on synthetic data show that the proposed method significantly outperforms the traditional bivariate EMD (BEMD) method in terms of computational efficiency while producing a comparable extraction error. Moreover, the proposed method shows better micro-Doppler signature analysis performance on physically measured continuous-wave radar data than that of the BEMD.


Both frequent and rare deformities of the nails have been reported that are due to self-inflicted damage. Some of these disorders may be confused with common diseases such as psoriasis, lichen planus, onychomycosis, or industrial injury. Awareness of the common patterns, inspection of the periungual tissues, observation of the patient's attitude toward his or her nail disorder, and inclusion of self-trauma in the differential diagnosis will lower the incidence of ineffective treatments and unnecessary laboratory tests.


Abstract Objective: This study explored the psychological process from avoidance to acceptance in adults with acquired hearing impairment. Study design: A descriptive qualitative interview study was conducted in Sweden in 2010. Participants were 18 adults with an acquired sensorineural hearing impairment aged 50–70 years, who had recently obtained hearing aids at the Audiology Clinic of the Örebro University Hospital. The sample included both first-time hearing aid users (n = 10) and experienced hearing aid users (n = 8). Each participant took part in one semi-structured interview. Qualitative content analysis was performed on the manifest content of the interview transcripts. Results: Participants described the process from avoidance to acceptance as a slow and gradual process rooted in the awareness of the frequency and severity of hearing disability and of its psychological consequences. Facilitators included adaptive coping mechanisms, other people's comments and positive experiences, accessibility of help-seeking and routine health assessments. In contrast, barriers included maladaptive coping mechanisms and stigma. Conclusions: Participants described the process of acceptance as a personal process that involved, to some extent, their social network of family, friends and colleagues. It was also a trade-off between the consequences of untreated hearing impairment and the threat to normal identity that, through stigma, hearing impairment carries. Further studies are needed to fully investigate the role of access to information on hearing impairment acceptance. How professionals and society can facilitate the process of acceptance should also be a focus of future research efforts.


Waste phosphogypsum (PG) was treated with citric acid, oxalic acid, sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate to reduce the contaminants in the material and render the material applicable for other applications. The chemical composition revealed that the material was laden with contaminants
 such as fluorides and phosphorous which have a detrimental effect on the development of material strength. Citric acid was the best leaching reagent to reduce the radionuclides in PG and it was selected as the leaching reagent to treat PG. The chemical composition of both the raw PG and treated
 PG showed that there was insufficient pozzolans in the materials to trigger the pozzolanic reaction for strength development. Therefore the PG had to be stabilized with fly ash and lime. The optimum mix ratio of the raw PG composite that yielded the highest UCS was made up of 50% raw PG and
 30% FA, while 30% treated PG and 50% FA yielded the highest strength. The variation in strengths between the raw and treated PG was due to differences in the microstructure of the materials and the particle size distribution. The strength obtained met the minimum requirements for the material
 to be used in bulk as building construction elements.


Secondary flow is the most dominant hydraulic loss in axial compressor. If secondary flow is weak, it could improve the performance of axial compressor. One of the efforts to reduce the secondary flow is through giving the addition of leading edge fairing, but it is not effectively used at high Angle of Attack (AoA). Moreover the information of the highly turbulent flow occurs, after crossing a forward facing step turbulence generated (FFST). Consequently, the addition FFST is predicted to reduce the occurrence of secondary flow.
 This research was presented by means of experiments in the wind tunnel. The results of the experiment were exposed in the skin friction surfaced through the oil flow visualization. Then these results were confirmed by numerical simulations in the steady state conditions and free stream flows with Red =105. Body profile isused by British 9C7/32.5C50 with chord length 120mm. This analysis compared the result of the secondary flow character between without and with FFST.
Results of the addition FFST generated new theory of secondary flow characters. Meanwhile, the new theory stated that the end stagnation point is the determinant point the forward saddle point. As a result, the separation line 3D opened and kept away from the body contour. End Stagnation Point (ESP) was the source of attachment line in horseshoe vortex formations. Moreover the blockage in horseshoe formations always caused by attachment line in horseshoe vortex. Whereas previous theories have always stated, determining the blockage occurs always based on the forward saddle point. Therefore, this theory states that the blockage depends on the ESP, it cause the high turbulent flows. This states gives additional information about the change of secondary flow characteristics. The higest performance FFST to reduce the blockage is at 4 degress AoA by 21.9%.


We conduct a field experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of labor market speeddates where unemployed workers meet temporary employment agencies. Our analysis shows that participation in such events increases immediate job finding by 6-7 percentage points. In the subsequent months, employment effects diminish again, suggesting that vacancies mediated through temporary employment agencies have no long-lasting effect on employment prospects. While the intervention is cost effective for the UI administration, higher labor earnings of treated job seekers do not fully compensate for the decline in benefit payments. Additional survey evidence shows that speeddate participation increases job search motivation and reduces reservation wages.


Abdominal ultrasound is one of the most accessible imagistic method used in clinical practice, being the logical choice after patient history and clinical examination in cases of patients with abdominal problems. An ultrasound examination in optimal conditions needs, first of all, ensuring the optimum conditions of examination: a room with controlled luminosity (semi obscure), sufficient time for examination, knowledge and integration of complete clinical information. The examination must follow a certain protocol, with emphasize on the interest area. The sections or incidences of ultrasound examination are: longitudinal, sagittal or axial, and transverse. The evaluation must be dynamic, with the movement in many planes of the organs to be examined, with the modification of the incidence for not to miss lesions located in areas hard to examine. The examiner must have ecoanatomical and ecostructure knowledge of the species examined and to hold in mind the spatial representation of the organs and their anatomical ratio. Before establishing an ultrasound diagnostic, the examiner must know and differentiate the possible pathological changes in comparison with the normal aspect. This paper describes some normal, characteristic aspects of ultrasound anatomy.


Archaeologists studying Late Bronze and Iron Age Cyprus have produced diverse theories regarding the origins of the Cypriot Iron Age city kingdoms, but it has proved difficult to integrate Cyprus within larger models designed to evaluate relationships between communities of the East Mediterranean. In this article I use cultural hybridization theory to investigate material from Iron Age Cyprus and uncover underlying cultural meanings. Based on this new understanding I argue that Cyprus does not sit easily within broader historical trajectories because it embraced its own insularity and employed ambiguity as cultural strategy. Case studies are presented which show that Cyprus was adept at hybridizing external influences within its own cultural systems. Its city kingdoms developed their own cultic topographies focused on acropolises and sanctuaries. During the Iron Age the island experienced fluctuating entanglements and disentanglements on the peripheries of several different and powerful imperial cores, but the evidence suggests that the settlements maintained their independence, always negotiated their relationships and selectively adopted imported material culture and symbols. Despite limited populations, the Iron Age city kingdoms managed to assert their own identities and eventually created a distinctive Archaic culture which blossomed during a two century long belle epoque. World systems theory can be utilized to some extents to describe the island's society, but Iron Age Cyprus can only be fully understood through a more nuanced theoretical approach that invokes hybridity as a concept and contextualizes the material within its cultural systems and landscapes. DOI:10.2458/azu_jaei_v05i3_lightbody


Abstract. Dense matching techniques, implemented in many commercial and open source software, are useful instruments for carrying out a rapid and detailed analysis of complex objects, including various types of details and surfaces. For this reason these tools were tested in the metric survey of a frescoed ceiling in the hall of honour of a baroque building. The surfaces are covered with trompe-l'oeil paintings which theoretically can give a very good texture to automatic matching algorithms but in this case problems arise when attempting to reconstruct the correct geometry: in fact, in correspondence with the main architectonic painted details, the models present some irregularities, unexpectedly coherent with the painted drawing. The photogrammetric models have been compared with data deriving from a LIDAR survey of the same object, to evaluate the entity of this blunder: some profiles of selected sections have been extracted, verifying the different behaviours of the software tools.


Optical burst switching (OBS) has recently been subject to increased interest since, given the state-of-the-art technology, it appears to be the most attractive technique for meeting transparency and bandwidth on demand requirements in high capacity, backbone optical networks. In this study a Monte Carlo based model is developed for calculating the overall burst drop probability performance of JIT protocol in OBS networks under fairly realistic conditions. Our simulation results indicate that the advantages gained in using OBS become more pronounced as the channel occupation ratio decreases.


: This paper describes radiological characteristics of the skeleton in a patient suffering from type II fucosidosis. The early symptom of anterior beaking of the vertebral bodies, in combination with mental retardation and angiokeratoma corporis diffusum, can suggest the possibility of type II fucosidosis.


An autofocusing method is proposed to compensate for the inter-pulse phase errors in stepped-frequency ISAR imaging. A genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimisation (PSO), and a combination of PSOs (CPSO) model were applied and compared with the existing subarray averaging and entropy minimisation method. In simulations using measured data, CPSO gave the most accurate and stable results.


STUDY OBJECTIVE To test the validity of proxy measures of household wealth and income that can be readily implemented in health surveys in rural Africa. DESIGN Data are drawn from four different integrated household surveys. The assumptions underlying the choice of wealth proxy are described, and correlations with the true value are assessed in two different settings. The expenditure proxy is developed and then tested for replicability in two independent datasets representing the same population. SETTING Rural areas of Mali, Malawi, and Côte d'Ivoire (two national surveys). PARTICIPANTS Random sample of rural households in each setting (n=275, 707, 910, and 856, respectively). MAIN RESULTS In both Mali and Malawi, the wealth proxy correlated highly (r⩾0.74) with the more complex monetary value method. For rural areas of Côte d'Ivoire, it was possible to generate a list of just 10 expenditure items, the values of which when summed correlated highly with expenditures on all items combined (r=0.74, development dataset,r=0.72, validation dataset). Total household expenditure is an accepted alternative to household income in developing country settings. CONCLUSIONS It is feasible to approximate both household wealth and expenditures in rural African settings without dramatically lengthening questionnaires that have a primary focus on health outcomes.


The items of the Beck Depression Inventory are reanalyzed by a non-metric multidimensional scaling procedure (Smallest Space Analysis, SSA-I). The structure of the test items is characterized within the framework of Guttman's facet theory. Two systematic components (facets) are discerned: "centrality" and "aspect". Properties of the facets as well as their relations are assessed and examined empirically by analyzing the interrelations among the items. The spatial configurations obtained by the scaling procedure fit the expectations derived from the facet-theoretic model. The facet "centrality" was found to have a strong overriding influence over the "aspect" facet. The results suggest the introduction of a new combination and selection of items reflecting different facets of depression consistently over time.


The objective of this project is to calculate heat losses from NIT Rourkela's swimming pool and to conduct a study on evaporative losses using MATLAB. A swimming pool is an open system from which continuous heat and mass transfer occurs to and from its environment. One of the major losses of heat from a swimming pool happens because of evaporation. In this project, temperatures of the concerned swimming pool water and the ambient air were recorded for a period of 26 days starting from 2 Nov 2010 to 27 Nov 2010. On each day readings were taken 6 times on a regular basis. Then, relative humidity data for Rourkela, India was collected for 5 days from 23 Nov 2010 to 27 Nov 2010. So, along with vapour pressure data of water, the different heat losses, namely, convective, evaporative and radiation heat losses were calculated for the 5 days. Also, graphs were plotted between evaporative losses per unit area of the swimming pool vs Time and total heat losses per unit area vs time. The results thus obtained are discussed. Then, a study was conducted using MATLAB to see the variation of evaporative losses with relative humidity and ambient air temperature. It was found that for a given relative humidity, evaporative loss increases with increase in ambient air temperature.


In this article, projective synchronization of double-scroll attractor of an extended Bonoffer-van der Pol oscillator (BVPO) is considered via the backstepping and active control techniques. In each synchronization scheme, a single control function is designed to achieve projective synchronization between two Bonhoffer-van der Pol oscillator evolving from differ- ent initial conditions. To obtain a single control function via the active control, the coefficient of the error dynamics is chosen such that the number of control functions is reduced from three to one, thereby, reducing control function complexity in design. The results show that the transient error dynamics convergence and synchronization time are achieved faster via the backstepping than that of the active control technique. However, the control function obtained via the active con- trol is simpler with a more stable synchronization time and hence, it is more suitable for practical implementation. Numerical simulations are presented to confirm the effectiveness of the analytical results.


This Note analyzes the development of interspousal tort liability for personal harms following the enactment of the married women's property acts. The case law is broken down into three periods (1) the 1860s through 1913, when all courts hearing interspousal torts barred them; (2) 1914 through 1920, when a trend permitting the claims developed; and (3) 1921 through 1940, a period in which the seemingly inevitable evolution toward allowing the suits stalled. The existing literature characterizes the law as illustrating a continuing judicial desire to impose patriarchal restrictions on women's rights and blames the third-period reversal on the stagnation of the women's movement following ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. In contrast, this Note removes the case law from the realms of conventional feminist analysis and women's history. The women's movement had no direct influence over judicial construction of the married women's acts, and the alleged post-suffrage stagnation is itself questionable. Instead, this Note suggests that the trend allowing interspousal torts was complicated by the emergence of a new fact pattern: negligent automobile accidents. Following decades of willful tort suits, automobile negligence suits brought the risk of insurance fraud and collusion, which consequently halted judicial willingness to allow them. Because willful and negligent torts were legally indistinguishable based on the text of the statutes, judicial refusal to allow negligent torts translated into a complete bar on interspousal liability.


Characteristic of wood is that its behavior is strongly orthotropic due to the internal structure of the material and dependent on moisture and temperature. In addition, the material is characterized by a strong variation of the properties in the radial direction. Another important property that affects the behavior of wood is spiral grain, causing the direction of the fibers to deviate from the longitudinal direction of the tree. It is hardly possible to assess spiral grain in the woods, no rejection of severe spiraled trees are done before the log arrives into the sawmill. If a method for on site rejection is available, and the severest spiraled trees, 2-10%, could be avoided in the shipment to the sawmill substantial money could be saved in the forest industry. The causes of spiral grain have been thoroughly discussed through the years and the debate about the environmental and genetic impact on the phenomenon is still not settled. We present evidence for a direct effect of wind on the degree of spiral grain. We also present evidence for a putative thinning effect on spiral grain that is probably connected to wind. Additionally we also present evidence for a strong genetic impact on the formation of spiral grain in conifer trees. In another study mechanical properties such as shape stability has been investigated for the same trees. In some of the logs it may therefore be possible to quantify the relation between spiral grain and distortion in sawn timber.


Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a genetically complex disease of immune dysregulation. Genome-wide association scans (GWAS) have shown common variants at approximately 100 genetic loci to be associated with RA. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are typically intergenic and causative disease genes remain ill-defined. Examining how RA-associated SNPs influence gene expression in relevant biological contexts will begin to address this. Methods Patients naïve to immunomodulatory therapy attending the Newcastle Early Arthritis Clinic donated RNA and DNA, extracted from purified peripheral blood CD4+ T- and B-lymphocytes within 4 hours of blood draw. Detailed baseline and longitudinal clinical data were recorded for all participants, each followed up for >1 year. Genotyping and global gene expression measurement was carried out using the Illumina Human CoreExome array, and either HT12v4 or WG6v3 BeadChip arrays, respectively, and expression data was batch-corrected and normalised using standard algorithms. Data from both cell types were analysed using the R package. Variants in linkage disequilibrium (LD) with 100 confirmed RA- SNPs (r2 >0.8) were included in analyses, seeking evidence of cis- and trans- eQTLs according to whether associated probes were or were not within 4 MB of these LD blocks. Results Cell-type specific gene expression data from 351 genotyped white Caucasian early arthritis patients were available for analysis (including paired CD4+/B lymphocyte data for 160 of these). Genes subject to cis eQTL effects common to both CD4+ and B-lymphocytes at RA risk loci included FADS1, FCRL3, PIPL3, ORMDL3 and GSDMB. Cis eQTLs acting on BLK, IKZF3 and PADI4 were, by contrast, unique to CD4+ lymphocytes in this population, and equivalent B-lymphocyte-specific effects were seen for IRF5 and FAM167. Evidence emerged that the 12q13 RA risk variant regulates STX1B gene expression on chromosome 7 of B-lymphocytes, but no trans eQTLs achieved experiment-wide significance thresholds in CD4+ lymphocytes. Linear modelling could not identify a significant influence of biological co-variates (diagnosis, systemic inflammation, age) upon eQTL effect sizes. Conclusions We present the first detailed eQTL analysis in the pathophysiologically relevant setting of early arthritis lymphocytes, free of confounding immunomodulatory treatment. The findings should help refine understanding of candidate causal genes in RA pathogenesis.


Obliquely rotated T-mode principal component analysis has been applied to the NCEP/NCAR geopotential height reanalysis data for winter months from 1958 to 1996 over the New Zealand region. A new set of ten representative weather types were identified, with two being the most dominant. The temporal characteristics of the ten synoptic weather types were anlayzed in relation to different phases of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). While weather type-local meteorology relationships were consistent over time, the frequency of some weather types changed significantly with the SOI phases. In general, and relative to "normal" conditions, the frequency changes in El Nino years tended to be more significant than in La Nina episodes.


The Debord's Society of the Spectacle: towards the Integrated Spectacle. Published in 1967, the Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord continues to be a very important tool to observe our reality. Starting from the analysis of commodity fetishism in Marx, which Debord draws on, and the vision of Benjamin about the fundamental role of the magic aspects of the commodity, the paper wondering how human life is changing when, according to Debord, commodity completely involves the social life. By analyzing the various socio-historical phases in which goods have been turned into a spectacle (from les passages to the World Expositions), adopting the principle of visibility – produced by the culture of bourgeois democracy – we reach the current situation, characterized by rhythms and stimuli that saturate the communicative and social spaces. Nowadays, a relationship of mutual complementarity is established between flow of communication and spectacle. It can be said that the "Integrated Spectacle", mentioned by Debord in the "Comments on the society of the Spectacle" (1988) has come true: a model dominated by representations in which the spectacle is totally merged with the social culture, and the experience of reality is filtered by media. In order to emerge from the communication flow of contemporary society, spectacular events of great impact are increasingly necessary. In the era of the "attention economy", where the scarce resource is the attention ability of consumers, daily bombed by myriads of stimuli and information, spectacle seems to be the predominantly model even used.


To meet the requirements of the network activities and take into account P2P traffic classification challenges, a promising method is to use Machine Learning (ML) techniques and identify network applications based on flow features. We present a novel P2P traffic identification approach using back propagation neural network. It is demonstrated by simulation results that our approach can identify popular P2P applications with very high accuracy, low overheads and robustness. Experiment results clearly illustrate that this approach can be competent for classifying P2P traffic which can learn unknown traffic with minimum manual intervention.


It is our great pleasure to introduce the final issue of the second volume of PoPETs, an open access journal that publishes articles accepted to the annual Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS). Articles submitted to this issue were reviewed by 79 members of the Editorial Board, all of whom are internationally recognized researchers in the field of computer security and privacy. Starting with PETS 2015, the PET Board, which oversees PETS, decided to follow a hybrid conferencejournal model following in the footsteps of PVLDB.1 A hybrid model brings journal-style reviewing to conferences to improve the quality of published articles as well as to provide more predictable, but rigorously peerreviewed, paths to acceptance for authors. PoPETs publishes four issues per year, accepting submissions every three months. Reviews are conducted similarly to conferences, including bidding, individual reviews, author rebuttals, discussion among reviewers, and consensus recommendation. Decisions are provided to authors two months after submission. Recognizing the need to increase the availability of the publication, PoPETs is now published under the open-access Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license. To avoid conflicts of interest, the editorial board membership was published before submissions were opened and authors were asked to identify members who should not review their article. In addition, editorial board members were asked to identify any conflicts of interest the authors did not list, and the editorial board chairs also checked for any missed conflicts. Editorial board members were welcome to submit articles, but the chairs were not. There were 80 submissions to this issue of PoPETs, most of which were assigned for review to four members of the editorial board (in a few cases, articles received three or more than four reviews). External experts were


Reward signals in reinforcement learning are expensive to design and often require access to the true state which is not available in the real world. Common alternatives are usually demonstrations or goal images which can be labor-intensive to collect. On the other hand, text descriptions provide a general, natural, and low-effort way of commu-nicating the desired task. However, prior works in learning text-conditioned policies still rely on rewards that are defined using either true state or labeled expert demonstrations. We use recent de-velopments in building large-scale visuolanguage models like CLIP to devise a framework that generates the task reward signal just from goal text description and raw pixel observations which is then used to learn the task policy. We evaluate the proposed framework on control and robotic manipulation tasks. Finally, we distill the individual task policies into a single goal text conditioned policy that can generalize in a zero-shot manner to new tasks with unseen objects and unseen goal text descriptions.


The food system is responsible for some of society's most pressing sustainability challenges. Dietary guidelines are one policy tool to help address the multiple sustainability challenges associated with food systems through dietary recommendations that better support environmental and human wellbeing. This article develops and applies a sustainability framework scoring tool comprised of four key dimensions (environmental, economic, human health, and sociocultural and political) and 32 sub-dimensions of sustainable food systems for the analysis and modification of national dietary guidelines. Two coders pilot tested the framework to quantify the occurrence of sustainability dimensions and sub-dimensions in national/regional dietary guidelines of 12 randomly selected high-income and upper-middle income countries including Albania, Australia, Brazil, the Grenadines, Grenada, Qatar, Netherlands, Nordic Countries, St. Vincent, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Sustainability Dimension Scores (SDS) were calculated as a percentage of the occurrence of the 8 sub-dimensions comprising each sustainability dimension and Total Sustainability Scores (TSS) were calculated as a percentage of the occurrence of the 32 sub-dimensions in each guideline. Inter-rater reliability of TSS and SDS indicated high validity of applying the sustainability framework for dietary guidelines. SDS varied between the four sustainability dimensions with human health being the most represented in the dietary guidelines examined, as hypothesized (average SDS score of 83%; range from 50-100%). Significant differences (p < 0.0001) were found in mean SDS between the four sustainability dimensions. Overall, results indicate that the ecological (average SDS score of 31%; range from 0-100%) economic (average SDS score of 29%; range from 0-100%), and socio-cultural and political (average SDS score of 44%; range of 0-100%) dimensions of sustainability are underrepresented in the examined national dietary guidelines with significant differences in SDS between guidelines (p < 0.0001). TSS varied by country between 12% to 74% with a mean score of 36% ( 20%). Brazil had the highest TSS (74%) followed by Australia (69%). The sustainability framework presented here can be applied by policy makers, researchers, and practitioners to identify gaps and opportunities to modify national dietary guidelines and associated programs for transforming food systems through diets that support planetary health.


'Imagining Autism: Now I See the World' is a film emerging from the University of Kent's AHRC funded project, in which an interdisciplinary team of drama and psychology researchers pioneered novel ways of interacting with this hard to reach condition and in so doing revealed new insights into what Francesca Happe describes as the 'extraordinary otherness of the autistic mind'. As a dialogue between documentary film and participatory performance arts, Nicola Shaughnessy (Principal Investigator and Producer) and Sarah Turner (Film Maker) create a window into the imaginative world of autism and the perceptual experience of the participants. As an experimental film artist, Turner sought 'to keep the documentary real, but to privilege the more feeling space.' The project's practical methods facilitated communication (verbal and physical), social interaction (with practitioners and peers) and imagination (pretence and play), the key diagnostic elements in autism. Multisensory scenic "environments" (e.g. forest, arctic, space) functioned as intermedial encounters; the film is similarly positioned between two worlds, a key to an alternative sensuality and a means of imaginatively walking in the shoes of the other.

The sub-title (Now I see the World) comes from the words of the boy who is centre-stage, discovering his voice through the microphone and his mother's testimony closes the film. The participants in the film are co-producers, working through improvisation and intensive interaction with specially trained practitioners.
Whilst the impact narrative as reported in the New Scientist ascribes 'value' in terms of empirical evidence of efficacy (statistically significant improvements in language, emotion recognition, empathy and socialization), the film's exploration of the affective journeys for participating children, teachers, and practitioners, articulates complementary perspectives, valuing agency, self-expression and aesthetics.


The aspect-oriented software development (AOSD) paradigm permits modularizing crosscutting concerns of base modules, a non-usual task in other software development paradigms. Since AOSD was born in the programming stage as an extension of an object-oriented (OO) programming language, and AOSD considers, in addition to base modules, new modules named aspects, then a complete AOSD process requires that each stage considers the base and aspect modules. Therefore, looking for an AOSD process, mainly to apply AOSD in other phases of the OO software development process, so far, different OO modeling tools and language extensions to support AOSD have been proposed. As an example, AspectZ is an extension of the formal language Z to support AOSD. To reach a transparency of concepts and design in AOSD, the main contribution of this article is to propose OOAspectZ, a formal language for the requirements specification stage of aspect-oriented (AO) software applications, that, firstly, extends AspectZ and, secondly, integrates Object-Z and AspectZ formal specifications. Thus, OOAspectZ supports relevant AO elements such as join points, and This and Target objects for join point events. As an application example, this article applies OOAspectZ to a system named GradUTalca for a Chilean university. For GradUTalca, this article presents AO UML use cases and UML class diagrams, formal Object-Z and OOAspectZ specifications, and a final woven specification to show an integration of Object-Z and OOAspectZ specifications.


A central role of iron in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), due to its increase in substantia nigra pars compacta dopaminergic neurons and reactive microglia and its capacity to enhance production of toxic reactive oxygen radicals, has been discussed for many years. Recent transcranial ultrasound findings and the observation of the ability of iron to induce aggregation and toxicity of alpha-synuclein have reinforced the critical role of iron in the pathogenesis of nigrostriatal injury. Presently the mechanisms involved in the disturbances of iron metabolism in PD remain obscure. In this review we summarize evidence from recent studies suggesting disturbances of iron metabolism in PD at possibly different levels including iron uptake, storage, intracellular metabolism, release and post-transcriptional control. Moreover we outline that the interaction of iron with other molecules, especially alpha-synuclein, may contribute to the process of neurodegeneration. Because many neurodegenerative diseases show increased accumulation of iron at the site of neurodegeneration, it is believed that maintenance of cellular iron homeostasis is crucial for the viability of neurons.


GPR18, a member of the Class A G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), is recently a de-orphanized receptor, that upon activation has been found to boost the immune system. Although a GPR18 crystal structure has not been solved, a homology model of the inactive state (R) of GPR18 was built in the Reggio lab based upon the mu-opioid x-ray crystal structure. The present study continues this work by adding loop regions and N- and C-termini to the R state model and by developing a model of GPR18 R* (Active) state, complete with loop regions and N- and C-termini. The complete inactive and active state models were used for docking studies of five known GPR18 antagonists, 1,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-2-[(1R,6R)-3-methyl-6-prop-1-en-2-ylcyclohex-2-en-1-yl]benzene; 1, (Z)-2-(3((4-chlorobenzyl)oxy)benzylidene)-3-methylene-2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-5H-imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazine; 2, (1R,2R)-2',6'-dimethoxy-4',5-dimethyl-2-(prop-1-en-2-yl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,1'-biphenyl; 3, (Z)-2-(3-(4-chlorobenzyloxy)benzylidene)-6,7-dihydro-2H-imidazo[2,1-b][1,3]thiazin-3(5H)-one; 4, and 2-[(1R,6R)-6-isopropenyl-3-methylcyclohex-2-en-1-yl]-5-pentylbenzene-1,3-diol; 5 and the GPR18 endogenous ligand, N-arachidonylglycine (NAGly). Conformational searches were performed on all antagonists using a systematic search using the Hartree-Fock method at the 6-31G* level of theory. Because NAGly is highly flexible, its low energy conformations were determined using the Conformational Memories method. All low energy conformations, less than 3.0 kcal/mol, of each ligand were docked using Glide into their respective bundles based on the state of the receptor each ligand stabilizes. The key interaction site for all antagonists, an ARG in TMH5, R5.42, anchors each antagonist in the TMH bundle such that rotameric changes in key toggle switch residues, F6.48/H6.52, are prevented, thus preventing the activation of the receptor. The extracellular loop 2 (EC2 loop) residue Y160 further stabilizes each antagonist in the binding site. Identified interactions result in Glide scores consistent with experimental EC50 data. The primary interaction site for the agonist, NAGly, was TMH2 residue R2.60. An additional NAGly interaction was identified with the EC2 loop residue K174. Mutation experiments of key residues identified here are underway in a collaborator's lab. These studies will help confirm the importance of these key residues and further our understanding of the receptor.


About 20% of the survivors from acute stroke are relocated from a general hospital to a rehabilitation centre or to a nursing and reactivation home. This occurs about one or two months after the stroke. At that point in time the most important period for spontaneous recovery has already passed. In 1981 a recent stroke was the somatic reason for admission in 21.4% of all patients in nursing-homes. In comparison to rehabilitation centres more elderly stroke patients with many other disorders are admitted to nursing-homes. It is also shown that the more disabled stroke patients are admitted to nursing-homes, but this appears to be influenced by the presence of a rehabilitation centre in the area. Urinary incontinence, a 'psychosyndrome', a relapse of stroke, a healthy partner and, to a lesser degree, aphasia determine the perspectives for discharge, besides functional recovery. But also the care setting and the facilities of a day hospital in a nursing-home are important factors that will influence the prognosis for discharge.


Based on its epidermal growth factor receptor-mediated tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity, (Z)-alpha-[(3,5-dichlorophenyl)methylene]-3- pyridylacetonitrile (RG 14620) is undergoing evaluation as a topical drug for psoriasis. Disposition studies were conducted in rats and rabbits, using [14C]RG 14620, primarily to investigate percutaneous absorption. Plasma radioactivity and the unchanged drug along with material balance were determined following intravenous administration (2.5 mg/kg) of a solution in PEG 400 or dermal application (50 mg/kg) of a 5% petrolatum ointment. Following an intravenous dose, initial (5-min) plasma radioactivity concentrations were comparable (approximately 1700 ng-eq/ml) in both species, but the decline was slower in rabbits. After dermal application, maximum plasma concentrations were attained at 12 hr in rats and 24 hr in rabbits, and corresponded to approximately 160 and 90 ng-eq/ml, respectively. Overall, the unchanged drug represented < 22% of the total plasma radioactivity in both species, suggesting extensive metabolism. In the rat, fecal route was the major route of excretion, whereas in the rabbit, urinary and fecal excretion contributed to about similar extent. Based on dose-adjusted ratios of plasma radioactivity AUC0-24 hr values, extent of percutaneous absorption appeared to be 1.9% in rats and 0.6% in rabbits. The estimates were 0.6% and 1.2%, respectively, when AUCs were determined for the unchanged drug in plasma. However, based on cumulative excretion of radioactivity up to 96 hr, percutaneous absorption was 12.0% in the rat and 2.0% in the rabbit. The differences in estimates of absorption were attributed to slow but continued absorption of the drug from skin, even after removal of the dose.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The increasing use of the new high-yielding varieties of cereal seeds during the past decade has undoubtedly brought about immense agricultural and social progress in the developed world. Contrary to all expectations, however, the application of these technological innovations, commonly known today as the 'green revolution', has not resulted in similarly favourable developments in the underdeveloped countries, particularly of South Asia, but rather seems to have shaken the economic foundation of their agricultural populations and given rise to unexpected developments. Some observers still maintain that the very momentum of the green revolution will eventually be strong enough to bring about the gradual transformation of agriculture which is an essential precondition for development. Considering the structure of the prevailing agrarian systems, however, it seems more likely that rather than improving rural conditions such a transformation will primarily benefit the already privileged farmers while bypassing the bulk of the rural people and even reducing their chances of gaining a livelihood in agriculture.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Objective: The aim of this study was to review and appraise how quality improvement (QI) skills are taught to surgeons and surgical residents. Background: There is a global drive to deliver capacity in undertaking QI within surgical services. However, there are currently no specifications regarding optimal QI content or delivery. Methods: We reviewed QI educational intervention studies targeting surgeons or surgical trainees/residents published until 2017. Primary outcomes included teaching methods and training materials. Secondary outcomes were implementation frameworks and strategies used to deliver QI training successfully. Results: There were 20,590 hits across 10 databases, of which 11,563 were screened following de-duplication. Seventeen studies were included in the final synthesis. Variable QI techniques (eg, combined QI models, process mapping, and "lean" principles) and assessment methods were found. Delivery was more consistent, typically combining didactic teaching blended with QI project delivery. Implementation of QI training was poorly reported and appears supported by collaborative approaches (including building learning collaboratives, and coalitions). Study designs were typically pre-/post-training without controls. Studies generally lacked clarity on the underpinning framework (59%), setting description (59%), content (47%), and conclusions (47%), whereas 88% scored low on psychometrics reporting. Conclusions: The evidence suggests that surgical QI training can focus on any well-established QI technique, provided it is done through a combination of didactic teaching and practical application. True effectiveness and extent of impact of QI training remain unclear, due to methodological weaknesses and inconsistent reporting. Conduct of larger-scale educational QI studies across multiple institutions can advance the field.


The 83 ASTER L1B thermal channels of Cuban territorial scenes, from 2000 to 2008 years, selected and processed with geothermal aims showed almost 50% of cloudy coverage. The vortex coordinated as well as other data from such metadata facilitated completing the designed database. From a preliminary mosaic with the images existent these were subsequently processed in order to obtain temperature images. Such images were then integrated into another mosaic with a suitable reclassification resulting in 11 classes with 3°C each. This allowed delimitating those anomalous zones where the greater distribution of pixels oscillated from 25°C to 37°C, and the cloudy coverage temperature aroused up to 20°C approximately. In the resulting temperature map, 69 polygons were a priori delimitated and categorized, as for their perspective and the temperature value above 40°C. These polygons were later overlapped to Google Earth images with the aim to identify those from anthropogenic origins. Finally it was obtained an estimation of the temperature value of the surface coverage of the national territory as well as the understanding of that the eastern zone is the most perspective. This is an experimental application, using satellite images ASTER L1B with geothermic purpose.


An optically pumped far-infrared laser and superconducting magnet have been used to perform high resolution studies of the energy levels of neutral and negatively charged shallow donors in high purity n-GaAs and n-InP in magnetic fields where the dimensionless magnetic field gamma is approximately one (where gamma=hoc/(2R*), hoc is the cyclotron energy and R* is the Coulomb binding energy). The central cell structure caused by the presence of different shallow donor species has been studied on the 1s-2p+1,0 transitions of neutral shallow donors in undoped GaAs samples grown by molecular beam epitaxy, liquid phase epitaxy and vapour phase epitaxy (VPE). VPE material showed two new shallow donor species with negative central cell shifts. The ls-2p-1 transition at magnetic fields where gamma>1 shows exceptionally well resolved central cell structure. Detailed structure at magnetic fields below the 1s-2p+2 transition is due to transitions from the is to higher excited states. Samples of undoped high purity InP grown by the VPE, metal organic chemical vapour deposition and bulk growth techniques have been studied. VPE samples always show a strong component related to sulphur though some also show a strong silicon related component, and some show up to 7 components. A bulk, sample showed two strong components shallower than silicon which may have negative central cell shifts. Transitions between the excited states of neutral shallow donors in GaAs have been studied. Recent theoretical work by Makado (1982) describes the transition energies very well. Clearly resolved central cell structure is observed on inter-excited state transitions involving the 2s state. The first unambiguous observation of negatively charged shallow donors (D-states) in GaAs is reported. Simultaneous observations of transitions involving D-states, the cyclotron resonance and inter-excited state transitions of neutral donors over a wide magnetic field range, 0.03


Estimation of distribution algorithms are evolutionary algorithms using probabilistic techniques instead of traditional genetic operators. Recently, the application of probabilistic techniques to program and function evolution has received increasing attention, and this approach promises to provide a strong alternative to the traditional genetic programming techniques. Although a probabilistic context-free grammar (PCFG) is a widely used model for probabilistic program evolution, a conventional PCFG is not suitable for estimating interactions among nodes because of the context freedom assumption. In this paper, we have proposed a new evolutionary algorithm named programming with annotated grammar estimation based on a PCFG with latent annotations, which allows this context freedom assumption to be weakened. By applying the proposed algorithm to several computational problems, it is demonstrated that our approach is markedly more effective at estimating building blocks than prior approaches.


Characterization of the molecular attributes and spatial arrangements of cells and features within complex human tissues provides a critical basis for understanding processes involved in development and disease. Moreover, the ability to automate steps in the analysis and interpretation of histological images that currently require manual inspection by pathologists could revolutionize medical diagnostics. Toward this end, we developed a new imaging approach called multidimensional microscopic molecular profiling (MMMP) that can measure several independent molecular properties in situ at subcellular resolution for the same tissue specimen. MMMP involves repeated cycles of antibody or histochemical staining, imaging, and signal removal, which ultimately can generate information analogous to a multidimensional flow cytometry analysis on intact tissue sections. We performed a MMMP analysis on a tissue microarray containing a diverse set of 102 human tissues using a panel of 15 informative antibody and 5 histochemical stains plus DAPI. Large-scale unsupervised analysis of MMMP data, and visualization of the resulting classifications, identified molecular profiles that were associated with functional tissue features. We then directly annotated H&E images from this MMMP series such that canonical histological features of interest (e.g. blood vessels, epithelium, red blood cells) were individually labeled. By integrating image annotation data, we identified molecular signatures that were associated with specific histological annotations and we developed statistical models for automatically classifying these features. The classification accuracy for automated histology labeling was objectively evaluated using a cross-validation strategy, and significant accuracy (with a median per-pixel rate of 77% per feature from 15 annotated samples) for de novo feature prediction was obtained. These results suggest that high-dimensional profiling may advance the development of computer-based systems for automatically parsing relevant histological and cellular features from molecular imaging data of arbitrary human tissue samples, and can provide a framework and resource to spur the optimization of these technologies.


This scientific paper reflects a detailed study of the reproduction and nuptial behavior ofamphibian females of the Pelohylax esculenta complex (Pelohylax ridibundus, Pelohylax. lessonae,Pelohylax esculentus) from the natural and anthropized ecosystems in the Center Area of the Republic of Moldova. This study has been finalized with the elucidation of very important biological and ecological particularities, regarding to the pace of arrival of the females in the breeding stations and their participation in the mating and ovopositation process. These particularities features of females represent, in fact, an indispensable component of a more ample original ecological and ethological mechanism, what was formed during evolution in the order to ensure a high level of reproductive success, at the same time, to solution some conflictual aspects that arise as a result of the interspecific competition of amphibians for breeding stations.


This paper gives a short overview of early analog computing in Sweden in the 1940s and 1950s. Being a small country, Sweden tried to catch up with the development of computing that had been going on in the United States and elsewhere during World War II, and in the 1950s Sweden was pioneering this technology. By the late 1960s, Sweden was one of the most computer-intensive countries with a successful domestic computer industry. Unable to maintain a sustainable general computer production, some small sectors of Swedish computer R&D have prospered. In the concluding remarks, I suggest that the concept of "technological niches" is a useful tool, both analytically and for technology policy-making.


The Empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa Steud.) is a fast growing deciduous tree originating from East Asia. It is grown as an ornamental plant, but can also be used as industrial wood. However, in some parts of North America, this species is considered invasive, with high impact on autochthonous populations. We have investigated whether post-fire expansion of this species can be explained at the germination level by analyzing the interaction between physical (light and temperature) and chemical (smoke and nitrogenous compounds) fire-related cues in the regulation of P. tomentosa germination. Light is the key environmental signal in the induction of germination of positively photoblastic P. tomentosa seeds. Smoke, applied in the form of extract (liquid smoke [LS]), stimulates light-induced germination if applied during imbibition, or shortly after the inductive irradiation. This stimulatory effect of LS can be effectively prevented by far-red light, suggesting that the mechanism of smoke action is phytochrome related. The LS had no effect on the germination percentage when applied during the phase of radicle protrusion. However, LS reduced radicle elongation and slowed its protrusion. The LS had no effect on the optimal temperature range of germination (23–27°C). The combined action of LS and KNO3 in light-induced germination was more effective then when each chemical was applied separately. It can be concluded that all tested components of fire, except elevated temperature, operate to stimulate germination of P. tomentosa seeds, suggesting that the post-fire invasive potential of this species can, at least in part, be explained at the germination level.


In this article I discuss a variety of theoretical and conceptual dimensions of Atlas.ti (Muhr, 1994, 1997a, 1997b). I draw on my own Atlas.ti experiences (Smit, 2001), and discuss advantages and disadvantages of using computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) (Lee & Fielding, 1995). How can the quality of a research project be enhanced and how will the end product be affected? These are some questions I intend to answer. Firstly, I introduce qualitative data analysis in general. Secondly, I discuss the relevance of computer-aided qualitative data analysis software in qualitative research and how Atlas.ti, focuses on coding procedures, (cf. Miles & Huberman, 1994; Dey, 1993) which supports a grounded theory approach for data analysis. Thirdly, I illustrate some facets of my Atlas.ti project and explain some technical aspects, such as the VISE principles, visualisation, integration, serendipity and exploration as the main strategic modes of operation that may enhance the quality in the data analysis.


Packaging and storage time are very important factors that can significantly affect the physicochemical properties of wine and wine quality. The aim of this study was to investigate physicochemical properties and color of wine packed in three different packaging materials (glass, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and multilayer containers), during the storage period of one year (3, 6, 9 and 12 months). The results showed that during the period of one year, total SO2, free SO2 and oxygen amount decreased, while other properties of wine were constant. Color changed during one year of storage too (yellow color, color intensity and hue increased, while red and blue percentage decreased). In glass and PET containers those changes were less pronounced.


Aim: Tecoma stans (L.) Kunth is a promising species in the trumpet creeper family Bignoniaceae. This study aimed at showing the antibacterial and antifungal potentials of T. stans methanolic leaf extract (TSME) correlated to its phytoconstituents. Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial potential of TSME was evaluated using agar diffusion method. The main alkaloids were separated on silica gel column and identified using nuclear magnetic resonance spectral analysis. Molecular docking was performed for the isolated compounds against MurD ligase, penicillin-binding protein, and dihydropteroate synthase enzyme to rationalize the observed antibacterial effect. Results and Discussion: TSME showed significant antibacterial effect against all tested microorganisms with comparable minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to the ampicillin and gentamicin with MIC values ranging between 0.98 and 1.95 µg/mL, in addition to a promising antifungal effect when compared to amphotericin with MIC values 3.9 and 15.63 µg/mL for Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans, respectively. Several alkaloids were separated, purified, and identified as tecostanine, 4-OH tecomanine, 5-hydroxyskytanthine, and tecomanine, which were previously isolated from T. stans. The docking study showed that the alkaloids bind in a similar fashion to the co-crystallized ligands of the crystal structures of MurD ligase. The binding poses and scores in the case of penicillin-binding protein and dihydropteroate synthase did not match the co-crystallized ligands in their crystal structures. The in silico results suggest an antibacterial mechanism that involves the inhibition of MurD ligase. Conclusion: T. stans alkaloids could represent the basic skeleton for a powerful antimicrobial agent.


We would like to draw your readers' attention to an ampoule of 0.5% bupivacaine, which was discovered by one of our midwives preparing to top-up an epidural for pain relief in labour. This ampoule, sterihsed and packaged by the manufacturers, had a visible white precipitate at the bottom, but no other obvious defect. However, close inspection under a microscope revealed a hair-line crack which had enabled evaporation to occur and sodium chloride to crystallise out (see Figure). This appears to be an isolated case, but it reinforces the need for close checking of local anaesthetic ampoules for epidural or intrathecal use, to ensure that contamination has not occurred.


Background Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) is a challenge during assisted reproductive technology (ART). In the present study, potential diagnostic biomarkers for the immune status of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets in patients with RIF were analyzed, with the aim of identifying novel biomarkers that may predict RIF. Methods A total of 41 participants, including 21 women with RIF and 20 fertile controls, were included in the present study. Functional analysis was performed and the cytokine status of natural killer (NK), T, CD8+ T, T helper (Th), and γδ T cells which are lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood was measured using flow cytometry. Binary logistic regression analysis adjusted for T follicular helper 1 (Tfh1), Tfh2, Tfh17, and early NK cells was performed to determine the relationship between the peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and RIF. Potential diagnostic biomarkers were assessed by logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curves. Results There were significantly more Tfh1, Tfh17, and NK cells in the RIF group compared with the control group (all P < 0.05). However, the percentage of T, regulatory T (Tregs), and Tfh2 cells, as well as early inhibitory NK cells, was significantly lower in the RIF group compared with the control group (all P < 0.05). Following logistics regression analysis, Treg, Tfh17, and early inhibitory NK cells exhibited significant differences between the two groups. Combination diagnosis using these 3 biomarkers had a higher area under the curve of 0.900 (95% confidence interval: 0.808–0.992, P < 0.001) in the RIF group compared with that in the control group. Conclusion T, Tregs, Tfh1, Tfh2, Tfh17, NK cells, and early inhibitory NK cells may play important regulatory roles in embryo implantation. The combination of 3 molecular markers (Treg, Tfh17, and early inhibitory NK cells) could provide a high diagnostic value for women with RIF, thus providing novel potential biomarkers for RIF in ART. The present findings could provide a reference either for the clinical treatment of patients with RIF or for future large, well-designed studies.


This thesis examines the role of media-resources and the framing of the Chechen conflict by media on the social intolerance and xenophobic tendencies in Russian Federation in the context of two phases of Chechen armed conflict: 1st Chechen conflict (1994-1996) and 2nd Chechen conflict (1999-2009). This thesis predicts that different ways in which 1st Chechen conflict and 2nd Chechen conflict was framed in public discourse and communicated via media has had different impact on social tolerance in Russian society. It was found that the framing of the 2nd Chechen conflict magnifies "threat" emanating from separatist forces of Chechen rebels and introduces discriminatory rhetoric, which in turn leads to increased intolerance and xenophobia in the society towards minority ethnic group (i.e. Chechens). The study is based upon comparative-case study implemented by experimental methodology. Thus, the main goal of this research is to illuminate and to understand the role of media in conflict and its impact on social tolerance in general.


Adaptive Neural Networks (ANN) can be used in the analysis of a complex panorama of interconnected input/output industrial data, even when they present substantial noise. The ANN, despite presenting substantial mathematical complexity associated with non-linear parameterization (which includes transfer equations and corresponding "training"), are largely used under industrial conditions in several engineering areas (such as in steelmaking), with substantial success. This work shows the applicability of the ANN in a specific case related to the analysis of internal defects of extruded aluminum sections (occurring both at the head and at the extrusion tail), and the associated bar hardness as a function of process parameters such as: billet temperature, extrusion ratio, ram speed and billet length. Results were analyzed in terms of the adhesion to an ANN built upon the collected industrial data, as well as the relevance of each variable within the ANN.


Modular coordination (MC) is recognized as a tool towards rationalization and
industrialization. The implementation of MC concept in the design stage may improve the
constructability and construction time. However, the implementation of MC in Industrialized
Building System (IBS) implementation is still low compare to other developed countries such
as the United Kingdom, Sweden and Japan. This paper examined the interrelationship between
motivational factors of stakeholders in adopting MC concept using Interpretative Structural
Modeling (ISM). Questionnaire survey was engaged in this study to identify significant
motivational factors. Then, semi-structure interviews were used to collect qualitative data. ISM
was adopted to build relationship between factors and develop an initial model to promote the
adoption of MC in IBS construction. Seven (7) significant motivational factors were identified
in this research namely 1) 'stakeholder's commitment', 2) 'reduce site disruption', 3) 'increase
productivity', 4) 'high skilled workers', 5) 'site sustainability (environment, economy and
social benefits)' 6) 'standardization' and 7) 'enabling 'open building' concept'. The result
using Matrice d'Impacts Croises Multiplication Applique an Clasment (MICMAC) shows that
there are three factors can be categorized as Independent / Driving Factors namely
'stakeholder's commitment', 'standardization' and 'enabling "open building" concept'. These
factors should be explored in details to enhance the adoption of IBS in Malaysia. The findings
provide a very good platform for a further research in formulating an efficient solution to
promote MC concept adoption among the stakeholders. This scenario will improve the
deliverables of IBS construction and eliminate negative perception in its implementation.


Joints and interfaces are one of the key aspects of the design and production of composite structures. This paper investigates the effect of adhesive–adherend interface morphology on the mechanical behavior of wavy-lap joints with the aim to improve the mechanical performance. Intentional deviation from a flat joint plane was introduced in different bond angles (0°, 60°, 90° and 120°) and the joints were subjected to a quasi-static tensile load. Comparisons were made regarding the mechanical behavior of the conventional flat joint and the wavy joints. The visible failure modes that occurred within each of the joint configurations was also highlighted and explained. Load vs. displacement graphs were produced and compared, as well as the failure modes discussed both visually and qualitatively. It was observed that distinct interface morphologies result in variation in the load–displacement curve and damage types. The wavy-lap joints experience a considerably higher displacement due to the additional bending in the joint area, and the initial damage starts occurring at a higher displacement. However, the load level had its maximum value for the single-lap joints. Our findings provide insight for the development of different interface morphology angle variation to optimize the joints behavior, which is widely observed in some biological systems to improve their performance.


After providing a brief introduction to Brakhage's prolific career, MacDonald interviews the legendary avant-garde filmmaker about four pivotal films: Anticipation of the Night (1958), the controversial film that established Brakhage's commitment to a new form of cinematic sight and threw the avant-garde film world into an uproar; the four-part Scenes from Under Childhood (1969-1970), one of Brakhage's most elaborate evocations of how the freedom of a baby's vision is lost as the child is acculturated into language; The Loom (1986), Brakhage's requiem for his remarkable marriage with Jane Collum Brakhage; and Commingled Containers (1997), a film made during the first moments of Brakhage's confrontation with bladder cancer. He died on March 9, 2003.


More new exact solutions for a class of nonlinear coupled differential equations are obtained by using a direct and efficient hyperbola function transform method based on the idea of the extended homogeneous balance method.


By analyzing the experience with the treatment of 192 cases of jaw fractures the authors show that in 23.9% of cases these fractures are associated with a cerebrocranial trauma. In such cases the spinal puncture is of great diagnostic and therapeutic value. The treatment of such cases should be complex, depending on the severity of the patient's condition, spinal fluid analysis findings and intracranial pressure.


Dense barium titanate (BaTiO3, BT) nanoparticle accumulations were prepared by an electrophoresis deposition (EPD) method using three kinds of BT nanoparticles with different particles sizes and tetragonality. First, the BT particles were dispersed into ethanol using ball-milling technique, and an optimum milling condition was investigated. As the results, it was confirmed that ball-milling led to a formation of mixture between single-dispersed nanoparticles and aggregated particles. Thus, the aggregated particles in the slurry were removed by a centrifuge in order to obtain narrow the size distribution. Using well-dispersed slurry, BT nanoparticle accumulations were deposited on paradigm electrode by the EPD method. Despite various BT nanoparticles, the dense BT nanoparticle accumulations were obtained at relative densities of around 60 %. After gold electrode deposition on the both surfaces of the accumulations by spattering method, dielectric properties were measured at 20 °C, the highest dielectric constants of around 160 was measured at 10 MHz.


Abstract : With PASP Plus as its primary payload, the APEX satellite was launched by a standard Pegasus rocket released from a NASA B-52 aircraft on 3 August 1994. A 70 deg inclination, 363 km X 2550 km orbit was achieved, allowing both investigation of space plasma effects on high-voltage operation in the perigee region and investigation of space radiation effects on array power output from passage through the inner radiation belt in the apogee region. Data gathering by PASP Plus was begun on 7 Aug 94 and ended on 11 Aug 95. In one year, PASP Plus collected an order of magnitude more data on environmental interactions on solar arrays than all previous space-borne photovoltaic experiments combined. The test arrays flown and the interactions-measuring and space-environment sensors of PASP Plus are described. The results of measurements of leakage current under test-array positive biasing and arc rates under negative biasing as a function of bias voltage, plasma density, array orientation, and other conditions are presented. The results of measurements of test-array power-output degradation caused by space radiation are also examined.


We use field-theoretic methods to explore the statistics of eigenfunctions of the Floquet operator for a large family of Floquet random quantum circuits. The correlation function of the quasienergy eigenstates is calculated and shown to exhibit random matrix circular unitary ensemble statistics, which is consistent with the analogue of Berry's conjecture for quantum circuits. This quantity determines all key metrics of quantum chaos, such as the spectral form factor and thermalizing time-dependence of the expectation value of an arbitrary observable. It also allows us to explicitly show that the matrix elements of local operators satisfy the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (ETH); i.e., the variance of the off-diagonal matrix elements of such operators is exponentially small in the system size. These results represent a proof of ETH for the family of Floquet random quantum circuits at a physical level of rigor. An outstanding open question for this and most of other sigma-model calculations is a mathematically rigorous proof of the validity of the saddle-point approximation in the large- N limit.