»Integration des Tagesbuchverfahrens in die Untersuchung von Soziale Innovationsnetzwerke konstituierende Praktiken«. Organizing the early stage of the innovation process, and hence the development of ideas, is of considerable importance for the success of an enterprise. During this stage, decision making is particularly difficult because of both high complexity and high uncertainty. At the same time, these decisions are far reaching because the outcome of the early stage has a substantial influence on the results of subsequent stages. Social network research shows that specific network constellations in particular favor the development of ideas. To promote the development of these constellations, the dynamics of networks have to be understood. However, the insights that have been gained so far are insufficient. To go beyond these insights in the article, initially a research question is developed from a practicetheoretical point of view. The research aim is to explore the constitutive conditions of the practices of initiating and conducting idea-related interactions in the early stage of the innovation process. Subsequently, the article critically examines the given methodological approaches of social network research. It is demonstrated here that the existing research gap is essentially the result of two central methodological shortcomings. To overcome these shortcomings, a mixedmethod design that links the diary method with established methods of qualitative network research is proposed and discussed.


OBJECTIVE
To describe seven patients with proprioceptive sensory loss and choreoathetoid movements.

DESIGN
Case series.

SETTING
Outpatient and inpatient university referral.

PATIENTS
Patients with sensory loss and abnormal movements.

INTERVENTION
None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
None.

RESULTS
One patient had a parietal cortex injury, one had a thalamic infarction, two had spinal cord lesions, two had dorsal root ganglion neuronopathies, and one had an ulnar neuropathy. In each case, the duration of abnormal movements correlated with the duration of proprioceptive sensory loss, and the abnormal movements were restricted to body parts with proprioceptive sensory loss. The movements varied from chorea and athetosis to dystonia.

CONCLUSIONS
These cases suggest that proprioceptive sensory loss can lead to a movement disorder, termed pseudochoreoathetosis, which occurs following the appearance of lesions anywhere along proprioceptive sensory pathways, from peripheral nerves to the cerebral cortex. It is hypothesized that pseudochoreoathetosis occurs because of the failure to process limb proprioceptive information in the striatum. Therefore, both choreoathetosis and pseudochoreoathetosis may be manifestations of the failure of the striatum to properly integrate cortical motor and sensory inputs.


The helical modes of an electromagnetic wave are characterized by a helical shape of the wavefront. They carry quantized angular momentum of an orbital kind, as opposed to the spin-like angular momentum that can be associated with circularly polarized waves. Here, I review recent results on a novel method for generating helical waves of light by letting a circularly-polarized non-helical wave pass through an azimuthally inhomogeneous birefringent plate made of a suitably patterned liquid crystal, a device dubbed "q-plate". The q-plate converts the variation of spin angular momentum associated with the switching of light polarization handedness into orbital angular momentum, an optical process that had not been envisioned before. Generalizing this idea, patterned birefringent plates similar to q-plates may be used for shaping the optical wavefront of a circularly polarized beam in any prescribed way. Moreover, these plates allow fast switching between conjugate wavefronts by inverting the handedness of the input polarization. Devices based on this principle have been called Pancharatnam-Berry phase optical elements.


This thesis contains three essays on delegated portfolio management and deals with
issues such as impact of regulations on mutual fund performance, impact of competition
on transparency in financial markets and strategic trading behaviour of agents in illiquid
markets.
Chapter 1 analyses the impact of more frequent portfolio disclosure on mutual funds
performance. Since 2004, SEC requires all U.S. mutual funds to disclose their portfolio
holdings on a quarterly basis from semi-annual previously. This change in regulation provides
a natural setting to study the impact of disclosure frequency on the performance of mutual
funds. Prior to the policy change, it finds that the semi-annual funds with high abnormal
returns in the past year outperform the corresponding quarterly funds by 17-20 basis points a
month. This difference in performance disappears after 2004. The reduction in performance
is higher for semi-annual funds holding illiquid assets than those holding liquid assets. These
results support the hypothesis that performance of funds with more disclosure suffers more
from activities such as front running.
Chapter 2 analyses the impact of competition in financial markets on incentives to re-
veal information. It finds that discretionary portfolio disclosure and advertising expenses of
mutual funds decrease with competition. This supports the theory that mutual funds use
portfolio disclosure and advertising as marketing tools to attract new investments in a financial market, where superior relative performance and greater visibility are rewarded with
convex payoffs. With higher competition, the likelihood of landing new investments goes
down for each fund while the cost of disclosure goes up. Funds respond by cutting down on
costly disclosures and advertising activities. Thus competition seems to have adverse impact
on market transparency and search cost.
3Chapter 3 develops a model of strategic trading to study forced liquidation. Traders who
hold an illiquid risky security have to satisfy minimum capital requirements, or liquidate their
position. Therefore, traders with price impact can induce the fire sale of others to benefit
from future low prices. It shows that if traders have similar proportions of wealth invested
in the risky security, or the market is sufficiently liquid, they behave cooperatively and
smooth their orders over several trading periods. However, if the proportions are significantly
different across agents, and market liquidity is low, the strong agent, who is less exposed to
the risky asset, predates on the weak agent, and forces her to exit the market.


In the midst of increasingly fierce business competition, the growth of the entertainment world, especially the world of family karaoke in recent years has increased in Indonesia. The concentration of this research was conducted at Salemba Karaoke Family Diva in Jakarta, where the problem was to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty with SWOT analysis in the service of Salemba Karaoke Family Diva in Jakarta. This study uses a qualitative research approach with qualitative descriptive method where data collection uses observation and interviews to 1 shop manager at Salemba Diva Family Karaoke branch, 1 Salemba branch Diva Family Karaoke staff, and 5 Salemba Diva family Karaoke customers. The results of this study that the Diva Family Management of the Salemba Karaoke Branch managed to find strength, power, opportunities and threats. And by reviewing this, Diva Karaoke, Salemba Branch can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.


The objective of this research is to propose a practical model to predict the in-process surface roughness during the turning process by using the cutting force ratio. The proposed in-process surface roughness model is developed based on the experimentally obtain result by employing the exponential function with six factors of the cutting speed, the feed rate, the rank angle the tool nose radius, the depth of cut, and the cutting force ratio. The multiple regression analysis is utilized to calculate the regression coefficients with the use of the least square method. The prediction accuracy of the in-process surface roughness model has been verified to monitor the in-process predicted surface roughness at 95% confident level. All those parameters have their own characteristics to the arithmetic surface roughness and the surface roughness. It has been proved by the cutting tests that the proposed and developed in-process surface roughness model can be used to predict the in-process surface roughness by utilizing the cutting force ratio with the highly acceptable prediction accuracy.


From a Dalitz plot analysis of B --> K pi psi' decays, we find a signal for Z(4430)+ --> pi+ psi' with a mass M= (4443(+15-12)(+19-13))MeV/c^2, width Gamma= (107(+86-43)(+74-56))MeV, product branching fraction BR(B0 --> K- Z(4430)+) x BR(Z(4430)+ --> pi+ psi')= (3.2(+1.8-0.9)(+5.3-1.6)) x 10^{-5}, and significance of 6.4sigma that agrees with previous Belle measurements based on the same data sample. In addition, we determine the branching fraction BR(B^0 --> K*(892)^0 psi')= (5.52(+0.35-0.32)(+0.53-0.58)) x 10^{-4} and the fraction of K*(892)^0 mesons that are longitudinally polarized f_L= 44.8(+4.0-2.7)(+4.0-5.3)%. These results are obtained from a 605fb^{-1} data sample that contains 657 million B-anti-B pairs collected near the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy e+e- collider.


Small noncoding RNAs are central regulators of genome activity and stability. Their regulatory function typically involves sequence similarity with their target sites, but understanding the criteria by which they specifically recognize and regulate their targets across the genome remains a major challenge in the field, especially in the face of the diversity of silencing pathways involved. The dominance hierarchy among self-incompatibility alleles in Brassicaceae is controlled by interactions between a highly diversified set of small noncoding RNAs produced by dominant S-alleles and their corresponding target sites on recessive S-alleles. By controlled crosses, we created numerous heterozygous combinations of S-alleles in Arabidopsis halleri and developed an real-time quantitative PCR assay to compare allele-specific transcript levels for the pollen determinant of self-incompatibility (SCR). This provides the unique opportunity to evaluate the precise base-pairing requirements for effective transcriptional regulation of this target gene. We found strong transcriptional silencing of recessive SCR alleles in all heterozygote combinations examined. A simple threshold model of base pairing for the small RNA–target interaction captures most of the variation in SCR transcript levels. For a subset of S-alleles, we also measured allele-specific transcript levels of the determinant of pistil specificity (SRK), and found sharply distinct expression dynamics throughout flower development between SCR and SRK. In contrast to SCR, both SRK alleles were expressed at similar levels in the heterozygote genotypes examined, suggesting no transcriptional control of dominance for this gene. We discuss the implications for the evolutionary processes associated with the origin and maintenance of the dominance hierarchy among self-incompatibility alleles.


Jurnal Psikologi Pendidikan dan Perkembangan Vol. 2, No. 01, Februari 2013 Abstract. This study aimed to determine the differences between teacher efficacy level based on teacher certification status of high school in Tuban. The number of samples in this study was 86. Data collection tool in the form of teacher efficacy questionnaire (41 aitem) with a reliability of 0.948 and teacher certification status data which has to be completed by the subjects in the questionnaire which drawn up by the author. Data analysis was performed with parametric statistical analysis techniques Independent T-test using SPSS 16.0. The results of the analysis of the data obtained is the significance value of 0,002. This indicates that there are significant differences on teacher efficacy level between groups that have not been certified and certified group.


The search for novel approaches to multimodality prophylaxis and treatment of sequelae of perinatal nervous system affection as well as introduction of the early diagnostic criteria are topical problems in present-day pediatric neurology. Peloid therapy efficacy in combined sanatorium treatment was studied (Peloterm unit) in 44 infants aged 1 to 3 years. They suffered from sequelae of perinatal affections of the central nervous system including infantile cerebral paralysis. A positive effect (improvement of motor and psychic-speech development) was achieved in 98% cases. This indicates validity of this method in the treatment of CNS affections following perinatal affection of the brain in infants over 1 year of age.


Korthalsia is a genus of palms endemic to Malesian region and known for the several
species that have close associations with ants. In this study, 101 new sequences were
generated to add 18 Korthalsia species from Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar and
Vietnam to an existing but unpublished data set for calamoid palms. Three nuclear (prk,
rpb2, and ITS) and three chloroplast (rps16, trnD-trnT and ndhF) markers were
sampled and Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood methods of tree
reconstruction used. The new phylogeny of the calamoids was largely congruent with
the published studies, though the taxon sampling was more thorough. Each of the three
tribes of the Calamoideae appeared to be monophyletic. The Eugeissoneae was
consistently resolved as sister to Calameae and Lepidocaryeae, and better resolved,
better supported topologies below the tribal level were identified. Korthalsia is
monophyletic, and novel hypotheses of species level relationships in Korthalsia were
put forward.
These hypotheses of species level relationships in Korthalsia served as a framework for
the better understanding of the evolution of ocrea. The morphological and
developmental study of ocrea in genus Korthalsia included detailed study using Light
and Scanning Electron Microscopy for seven samples of 28 species of Korthalsia, in
order to provide understanding of ocrea morphological traits. The new phylogenetic
hypothesis allowed homology of ocrea types to be tested. Ancestral reconstructions
revealed that the inflated ocreas are not homologous; based on these reconstructions, it
is suggested that ocreas that provide domatia for ants evolved more than once. Despite
their non-homology, ocreas are remarkably uniform developmentally. New time
calibrated trees estimated the divergence time for the Korthalsia crown node to be
19.89 MYR and ocrea to appear 17.06 MYR consistent with the published estimates for
other groups.
A taxonomic treatment of the ant Korthalsia species was based on material gathered
from four herbaria and during the two field trips. Ten species were recognised in the
treatment. Descriptions, keys and distribution maps to all species are presented.


Dale Chihuly's sculptures rely on overlapping transparent glass shapes in a wide variety of colors, and the effect of light in the sculptures is a crucial component of the design. The purpose of this dress is to translate a Chihuly glass sculpture into a unified composition using the principle of the circular shapes of Chihuly's sculptures and capturing the colors and transparency of the original art, incorporating 1950s historic inspiration reminiscent of the shapes present in the glass. This work explores the visual similarity between Chihuly's bowl-shaped sculptures and the full skirts of 1950s dresses. Iridescent silk organza yoyos applied to the garment mimic the layered, transparent effects of Chihuly's sculptures, adding a three-dimensional element to the two-dimensional fabric design. In this garment, digital technology is combined with traditional dressmaking techniques to integrate glass art, textile design, and historic inspiration into a contemporary design.


An accurate modeling of neutrino flux attenuation and the distribution of leptons they produce in transit through the Earth is an essential component to determine neutrino flux sensitivities of underground, sub-orbital and space-based detectors. Through neutrino oscillations over cosmic distances, astrophysical neutrino sources are expected to produce nearly equal fluxes of electron, muon and tau neutrinos. Of particular interest are tau neutrinos that interact in the Earth at modest slant depths to produce $\tau$-leptons. Some $\tau$-leptons emerge from the Earth and decay in the atmosphere to produce extensive air showers. Future balloon-borne and satellite-based optical Cherenkov neutrino telescopes will be sensitive to upward air showers from tau neutrino induced $\tau$-lepton decays. We present nuPyProp, a python code that is part of the nuSpaceSim package. nuPyProp generates look-up tables for exit probabilities and energy distributions for $\nu_\tau\to \tau$ and $\nu_\mu\to \mu$ propagation in the Earth. This flexible code runs with either stochastic or continuous electromagnetic energy losses for the lepton transit through the Earth. Current neutrino cross section models and energy loss models are included along with templates for user input of other models. Results from nuPyProp are compared with other recent simulation packages for neutrino and charged lepton propagation. Sources of modeling uncertainties are described and quantified.


Some design and operation aspects of axial flux permanent magnet synchronous machines, wound with concentrated coils, are presented. Due to their high number of poles, compactness, and excellent waveform quality and efficiency, these machines show satisfactory operation at low speeds, both as direct drive generators and as motors. In this paper, after a general analysis of the model and design features of this kind of machine, the attention is focused on wind power generation: The main sizing equations are defined, and the most relevant figures of merit are examined by means of a suitable parametric analysis. Some experimental results obtained by testing a three-phase, 50-kW, and 70-rpm prototype are presented and discussed, validating the modeling theory and the design procedure.


Drying process is one of the important stages in paddy milling process and plays a key role in the product quality.  In this modified the effects of air temperature (40°C, 50°C and 60°C) and final paddy grain moisture content (8-9%, 9-10% and 10-11% d.b.) were examined on the drying time and milling properties in fluidized bed dryer with two heating sources (infrared radiation and heater types).  The experimental design was randomized complete design with factorial layout in which three levels of final paddy grain moisture content, three levels of air temperature and two types of dryers with three replications in each treatment.  The results indicated that the lowest cracked grain (8.01%) was related to the air temperature of 40°C and the moisture content of 10%-11%; whereas the highest cracked grain percent (14.67%) was registered at the air temperature of 60°C and the moisture content of 8%-9%.  The milling recovery decreased as the air temperature and final paddy grain moisture content increased. At each final paddy grain moisture content, the drying time decreased and broken rice increased significantly (P<0.01) as the air temperature increased from 40°C to 60°C, however the broken rice and drying time in infrared fluidized bed dryer was significantly (P<0.01) lower than those of the heater type one.  The drying time in the infrared fluidized bed dryer was reduced by 67.7%, 70.0% and 75.4% compared to heater type fluidized bed dryer at the air temperatures of 40°C, 50°C and 60°C, respectively.


Introduction: A retrospective study aimed at analyzing the patterns in the CT scans of patients of CKD infected with COVID-19 in the period of two months. We reviewed the CT scans for the pattern of Lung involvement, number of lobe involved, distribution of the lesions and characteristic appearances, along with other coexisting features. Methodology: After consent, we studied the parameters of interest among the patients admitted in the dedicated COVID-19 hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka, who were admitted during the months of October and November 2020. Each CT scan was reported by in-house radiologist and results were analyzed. Results: We found that of the 92 CKD patients, 51 had got a CT thorax done, out of which 45 had lung parenchymal involvement of COVID-19; of which 44 were bilateral. 26 of the patients had only peripheral lesions and 19 had both central and peripheral distribution. The most common finding was GGOs occurring in 43 of them while 30 of them had GGOs with consolidation. This study shows that the CT patterns in patients of CKD with COVID-19 involves mainly peripheral distribution of lesions with majority involving >2 lobes, with GGOs being most common finding; similar to those without CKD, but the incidence of pleural effusions and mediastinal lymphadenopathy is slightly higher, possibly because of coexistent comorbidities contributing to the same. Conclusion: We conclude that though some patients with CKD and COVID-19 can have a normal lung, the involvement of lungs is more severe and extensive in distribution, implying a more severe involvement of the lung. Hence, further Studies are required on larger population to ascertain the findings and further resources should be allocated for the benefit of this significantly vulnerable patients in this era.


The relation between serum digoxin concentration and the electrocardiogram was assessed by correlating computerized measurements of electrocardiographic parameters (PR, QRS, QT and QTc intervals, ST segment, and T‐wave amplitude) with the serum digoxin concentration in 97 patients on digoxin maintenance therapy and in 40 nondigitalized control subjects. None of the patients had unstable ischemic heart disease, electrolyte disorders, medication known to influence the ST segment, and/or the presence of a bundle‐branch block or ventricular hypertrophy. We found a trend toward lengthened PR interval and shortened QT and QTc intervals in digitalized versus nondigitalized patients. Increasing serum digoxin concentrations were associated with progressive depression of the ST segment and decreased T‐wave amplitude (p<0.001). A normal ST segment in four leads (I, aVF, V5, V6) excluded the presence of a serum digoxin concentration > 1.3 ng/ml in our patients, whereas severe ST‐segment depression with a J point of > 100 m̈V was a strong indicator for the presence of a serum digoxin concentration >2.0 ng/ml in our selected patient population (specificity 99%, sensitivity 30%, predictive accuracy 85%). We conclude that computerized electrocardiographic analysis of the ST segment may provide clinically useful information for the management of selected patients on digitalis therapy and may therefore increase the diagnostic yield of the electrocardiogram in predicting the presence of higher serum digoxin concentrations in a small but significant percentage of patients.


The information provided on package inserts and inner wrapping of eight products containing Panax ginseng from different manufacturers was compared internally and checked against data from the scientific literature. The inserts included extensive text, containing abundant information on indications for use, but no scientific evidence in humans. All the inserts lacked information on potential adverse effects and drug interaction. There was no standardization as to dose regimens, particularly in relation to the dried extract and ginsenoside concentration. The eight inserts thus showed no concern over standardization, indication for usage, or possible side effects and drug interactions.


Since the establishment of astrochronology, calcareous rhythmites are frequently used as the basis of high-resolution chronostratigraphy. In particular for the Neogene, calcareous rhythmites serve as stratotypes and for absolute dating of stratigraphic boundaries (Global Stratotype Sections and Points – GSSPs). However, the exact mechanisms responsible for the formation of the rhythmic intercalation of lithologies in such successions are complex and not easily reconstructed. To a large extent this is the effect of diagenetic modifications of the original sediment. Here, two examples of Neogene calcareous rhythmites are studied; the Monte dei Corvi section and the Monte Gibliscemi section. The first is the GSSP location of the Serravallian–Tortonian boundary, whereas the second is an auxiliary stratotype for the same boundary. During the past years, astrochronological approaches were applied to these successions to considerably increase time resolution compared to the elaborated biostratigraphic database. The present study focuses on micropetrographic, trace element and clay mineralogical methods in order to gain a better understanding of the genesis of the rhythmites. In the Monte Gibliscemi section, sediment parameters that are robust against diagenetic change clearly reflect primary differences, i.e. cyclical environmental changes. In contrast, no clear primary signal is determined for the Monte dei Corvi section on a couplet scale, leaving the origin of the rhythm ambiguous. This impedes the interpretation of the latter and the comparability between the two successions, and also compromises any bed-by-bed correlation between the two. The unclear origin of the rhythmites of Monte dei Corvi introduces uncertainty into the applicability of astrochronology to this succession.


By far the most popular specification for learning objects is the IEEE Learning Object Metadata (LOM) standard. In it are outlined 76 different elements that correspond to pedagogical, technical, and administrative aspects of learning objects. This standard, however, has proven to be ineffective for creating computer adapted


Patients with Graves' disease (GD) not only need appropriate medical care, but they also need to be cared for. The aim of this review is to examine the literature on GD patient needs, expectations, perceptions, and quality of life. We will also present methods for patient care, define gaps in knowledge, and suggest factors that can be introduced into the regular care of GD patients. Patient information, teamwork with thyroid/contact nurses, education of personnel and patients, quality of life measurements, and the formation of a rehabilitation program have enough evidence to be implemented into regular care. However, visualizing patient needs through person-centered care requires further evaluation in GD patients before being implemented in routine care. We conclude that considerable improvement in nursing can be achieved in relation to GD.


INTRODUCTION
The Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada--hypertension component (SLCDC-H) is a 20-minute cross-sectional telephone survey on hypertension diagnosis and management. Sampled from the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), the SLCDC-H includes Canadians (aged ≥ 20 years) with self-reported hypertension from the ten provinces.

METHODS
The questionnaire was developed by Delphi technique, externally reviewed and qualitatively tested. Statistics Canada performed sampling strategies, recruitment, data collection and processing. Proportions were weighted to represent the Canadian population, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were derived by bootstrap method.

RESULTS
Compared with the CCHS population reporting hypertension, the SLCDC-H sample (n = 6142) is slightly younger (SLCDC-H mean age: 61.2 years, 95% CI: 60.8-61.6; CCHS mean age: 62.2 years, 95% CI: 61.8-62.5), has more post-secondary school graduates (SLCDC-H: 52.0%, 95% CI: 49.7%-54.2%; CCHS: 47.5%, 95% CI: 46.1%-48.9%) and has fewer respondents on hypertension medication (SLCDC-H: 82.5%, 95% CI: 80.9%-84.1%; CCHS: 88.6%, 95% CI: 87.7%-89.6%).

CONCLUSION
Overall, the 2009 SLCDC-H represents its source population and provides novel, comprehensive data on the diagnosis and management of hypertension. The survey has been adapted to other chronic conditions--diabetes, asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and neurological conditions. The questionnaire is available on the Statistics Canada website; descriptive results have been disseminated by the Public Health Agency of Canada.


The numerical solution of the laminar boundary-layer flow over an embedded cavity is studied. The purpose of the study is to examine the relevant drag characteristics of laminar cavity flow. The solution field is obtained in terms of velocity and vorticity variables, with the stream function and pressure derivable from the directly computed variables. An analysis and comparison is made among four square cavities, ranging in size from 0.25 to 1.00 boundary-layer thickness deep. The dominant flow features are examined in the vicinity of the cavity by means of the stream function and isovorticity contours. The dominant physics in the overall drag characteristics of the flow are examined by an analysis of the pressure and wall shear-stress distributions in the cavity, and upstream and downstream of the cavity. Pressure forces and frictional forces in, and in the vicinity of, the cavity are determined. Stress relaxation distances, both upstream and downstream of the cavity, are calculated and analyzed. The dynamics of the boundary-layer flow over an embedded cavity are summarized. Finally, the relevance of the present results to the control of flow separation in such flows is discussed.


Bond portfolio holding period returns are decomposed into four macro components: horizon, spot rate, spread, and interaction. The spot rate and spread could be decomposed further based on modified duration, convexity, and cross-convexity, each of which could be further decomposed into three subcomponents tied to level, slope, and curvature. Applying a parsimonious version of this model to the Morningstar universe of bond funds explains approximately 56% of the variability of the returns. Thus, we provide a powerful approach to attribution of bond fund performance, aiding the many different stakeholders in their efforts to improve their decision-making process.


Abstract Objectives Olorofim is a novel antifungal agent with in vitro activity against Aspergillus and other opportunistic moulds. We investigated the in vitro activity of olorofim against a range of filamentous fungi comprising isolates of Aspergillus species, Scedosporium species, Alternaria alternata, dermatophytes, including terbinafine- and multidrug-resistant Trichophyton species, and Penicillium/Talaromyces species originating from patients in North India. Methods Antifungal susceptibility of olorofim was tested against 241 mould isolates of Penicillium/Talaromyces species, Trichophyton species, A. fumigatus and cryptic Aspergillus species, Scedosporium species, and Alternaria alternata using CLSI broth microdilution. The comparators were five systemic azoles, amphotericin B, terbinafine, and luliconazole. Results Overall, olorofim showed highly potent in vitro activity against dermatophytes and opportunistic moulds (MIC range of 0.004–0.125 mg/L) except for Alternaria alternata. Penicillium, and Talaromyces species and Trichophyton species exhibited a low geometric mean (GM) MIC (GM 0.027 mg/L and 0.015 mg/L, respectively) of olorofim. Importantly, a 2–12 dilution step decrease in in vitro activity of olorofim as compared with azoles was observed against Penicillium and Talaromyces. Notably, olorofim displayed potent in vitro activity against Trichophyton isolates including terbinafine-resistant and azole-resistant Trichophyton mentagrophytes/interdigitale with a modal MIC value of 0.008 mg/L. Further, azole-resistant A. fumigatus isolates harbouring mutations in azole target Cyp51A genes and several cryptic aspergilli displayed low MICs (range 0.004–0.03 mg/L) of olorofim. However, no in vitro activity of olorofim against Alternaria alternata was observed. Conclusions The potent in vitro activity of olorofim against drug-resistant dermatophytes and opportunistic moulds is promising, warranting evaluation of the clinical utility of olorofim.


Powerful states can lose wars to militarily weaker opponents. This can only be understood by moving away from an over-simplified traditional definition of power and by incorporating the symbolic dimensions of power. The present study focuses on honour, which is one facet of symbolic power that is particularly relevant for understanding conflict because it is often associated with publicly participating in violence. Barry O'Neill's Game of Honour model, originally developed for inter-state relations, provides a structured framework to analyse the strategic use of symbols in internal asymmetric conflicts. The main claim in this dissertation is that because there is only one recognised state apparatus competition is always for the same audience. I argue that this makes it difficult to assume that the state can adequately foresee the audience's expectations, and that outcomes of a challenge can best be understood as the relative honour of the primary actors. Two cases were selected from the recent conflict in Algeria to empirically apply the model. The first is a public demonstration that occurred in Algiers in 1991 and involves a domestic news media audience, while the second is a plane hijacking that involves a Western news media audience. Six other cases are also considered with the aim of highlighting salient issues relevant to incorporating other dimensions of symbolic power connected, but not equal, to honour. The application of the model to the cases clearly reflects that symbolic challenges can be perceived as serious threats to actors who are militarily far superior. This suggests that key events can alter the relative power balance in asymmetric conflicts and, therefore, it is not possible to assume that symbolic power is merely a reflection of underlying material capabilities as a traditional definition of power implies.


Privacy concerns inhabit professional cloud adoption. Assurance seals resulting from a third-party cer-tification are frequently used from cloud service provider to provide privacy assurance for their cus-tomers. However, empirical findings on the effectiveness of assurance seals focusing on "who" issues those, even if customers also require the information why the assurance seal is valid and reliable. To fill this gap, we build on information integration theory and investigate the impact of certification au-thorities' reputation and the quality level of an audit on customers' perceived privacy within a profes-sional cloud environment by using an experimental design including 43 professional cloud decision makers. We show that certification authorities' reputation does not alone produce opinion change, it rather affects customers' perceived privacy resulting from the quality level of an audit. Our findings have theoretical implications for the information integration theory and assurance seal research. We also discuss the managerial implications of our work for cloud service providers and certification au-thorities.


Cotopaxi is an active volcano in Ecuador, whose eruptions are characterized by producing destructive primary lahars which represent a major risk for the country. The hazard assessment related to such lahars relies largely on the knowledge of the latest event, which occurred on 26 June 1877, for either scenario definition or simulation calibration. A detailed (1:5000 scale) cartography of the deposits belonging to that eruption has been obtained in the proximal northern drainage of Cotopaxi. The cartography was performed through a combination of geological fieldwork, as well as the analysis and interpretation of high-definition imagery obtained by drone surveys combined with the Structure from Motion technology for image processing. Such imagery included red and green visible bands, and a near-infrared band, which allowed the obtention of NDVI imagery where the primary lahar deposits were identified and cartographed with support of fieldwork data. Both data sources are mutually complementary, and the final cartography would be impossible if any of them were not available. The results obtained represent a significant advance for the level of detail with respect to previous cartographic works. Moreover, they should allow an improved calibration of the new generation of numerical models that simulate lahar flow for hazard assessment at Cotopaxi.


A novel cavity-backed slot antenna is proposed and experimentally studied. The antenna consists of a slot cut in a ground plane and backed by shorting strips, forming a backing cavity. Preliminary results based on a prototype show a 2:1 VSWR input impedance bandwidth of more than 20%, which can be further enhanced. The antenna allows an efficient excitation by coaxial or strip lines from either side of the ground plane.


Attribution 4.0 License (https:// creativecommons. org/ licences/ by/ 4. 0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https:// us. sagepub. com/ enus/ nam/ openaccessatsage). Book Review Africa Spectrum 2021, Vol. 56(1) 122–124 © The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub. com/ journalspermissions DOI: 10. 1177/ 0002 0397 20967363 journals. sagepub. com/ home/ afr Book Review


Background: Methotrexate (MTX) is used as an alternative immunosuppressive treatment for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of the study was to evaluate effectiveness and tolerance of MTX for children with IBD. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in our pediatric IBD center of all children having received MTX for the treatment of their IBD between 2000 and 2008. Remission was defined as discontinuation of steroids and Harvey–Bradshaw Index <4 for Crohn's disease (CD) patients or Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) <10 for ulcerative (UC) or indeterminate colitis (IC) patients. Results: Seventy‐five patients had CD, 5 UC, and 13 IC. Mean age at diagnosis was 11 (0.6–17.4) years. Ninety patients were previously treated with purine analogs and 26 with anti‐tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Among patients assessed for effectiveness of MTX (n = 79), clinical remission was observed in 29, 37, 25, and 16% of CD patients (n = 63) and 19, 25, 13, and 7% of patients with UC or IC (n = 16), respectively, 3, 6,12, and 24 months after initiation of MTX. The 1‐year remission rate for CD patients was significantly higher in patients with colonic disease. Forty‐six patients (49%) experienced side effects but only 13 (14%) had to discontinue treatment. Conclusions: The long‐term remission rate with MTX in our pediatric IBD population was low. However, MTX was generally well tolerated and induced and maintained remission in some patients who previously had failed a purine analog and/or anti‐TNF. Prospective controlled trials are indicated to determine the place of MTX in the management of pediatric IBD.


Objective : The experiment was conducted with the aim of investigating maize response to Tithonia diversifolia and Minjingu Rock phosphate (MPR) applied under maize-bean intercrop as compared to the traditional maize monocrop to improve maize grain yields. Methodology : The experiment was conducted in pots in a greenhouse for the duration of 8 weeks.. The trial was laid out in a split plot arrangement with three replicates. The main plots comprised of sole maize crop and maize-bean intercrop whereas the sub plots included the control (no input), Tithonia biomass applied alone, MPR also applied alone, TSP again applied alone and Tithonia biomass co-applied with MPR. Soil samplings were done at 4 and 8 weeks after planting and assessed for .P availability and soil labile P. Data was also taken on maize dry matter yield at 8 weeks. ANOVA was done using SAS (version 9.2) and means separated at 5% probability level using DMRT. Results : Maize-bean intercrop was effective in increasing PR solubilisation, P availability and shoot dry matter production. At the same level of P input from MPR, P availability under maize-bean intercrop increased above the ones under sole maize by 154.8% and 91.4% in the first and second samplings, respectively. The increase is thought to have been partly due to the effect of the rhizosphere acidification by bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris ) during the process of biologically nitrogen fixation. Implications : This farmers-practices matching and also environmentally-friendly low input approach enables farmers to boost production, cut down the cost of production and consequently increase the profit margin. Keywords : Maize-bean intercrop; Maize shoot dry matter yield; P availability; Rock phosphate solubility.


A facile two-step strategy is adopted to construct a free-standing composite paper of MnO2 nanoflake/ polyaniline (PANI) nanorod hybrid nanostructures on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) for flexible supercapacitor electrode application. MnO2 nanoflakes are first grown on RGO paper via an electrodeposition method, followed by assembly of PANI nanorods between MnO2 nanoflakes by in situ polymerization using camphorsulfonic acid as a dopant. The morphology and structure of the composite paper are characterized and the electrochemical properties are systematically investigated. The interconnected PANI nanorods deposited on the interlaced MnO2 nanoflakes have a length of 100 nm and a diameter of 30 nm, creating plenty of open porous structures which are beneficial for ion penetration into the electrode. The RGO/MnO2/PANI composite paper shows a large specific capacitance of 636.5 F g 1 at 1.0 A g 1 in 1.0 M Na2SO4 electrolyte and excellent cycling stability (85% capacitance retention after 10 cycles). The optimized composite structure with more electroactive sites, fast ion and electron transfer, and strong structural integrity endows the ternary composite paper electrode with outstanding electrochemical performance.


Lontra provocax is an endemic species from Patagonia that has been categorized as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In this study, noninvasive molecular methods were used to investigate the genetic diversity and haplotype distribution of L. provocax in Argentinean Patagonia. We analyzed 150 scat samples collected from 1995 to 2006 and obtained 13 sequences of control region with 1 haplotype and 34 sequences of cytochrome b with 4 haplotypes. The population of the south of Patagonia (Tierra del Fuego and De los Estados Island) showed a relatively high haplotype diversity (h = 0.71) and was statistically different to the population of the north (analysis of molecular variance, F(ST) = 0.15, P = 0.018). We concluded that there are 2 different subpopulations of L. provocax that deserve conservation attention and that the southern population appears not to have suffered a human-induced population bottleneck of the sort typically experienced by various otter species around the world.


In 2012 the CRYRING storage ring was delivered from Stockholm to Darmstadt as a part of the Swedish in-kind contribution to the FAIR project. The ring lattice has been slightly changed for optimal injection and to provide additional space for experiment equipment. For the injection from the experimental storage ring (ESR), a new transfer line has been designed. The local injector line has been significantly modified compared to the previous one in Stockholm taking into account the geometry of the existing GSI building. In this paper we present the ion-optical properties of CRYRING@ESR after the described modifications. Single-turn injection from the ESR and multi-turn injection from the local injector are discussed. Ion-optical calculations of fast and slow extraction from CRYRING are also presented. The closed orbit correction scheme is considered taking into account the future arrangement of the beam position monitors and correction magnets. Based on the results of the calculations the requirements for the magnet alignment are finally discussed.


There is a nascent but growing body of work on innovation in community-based settings, including what is termed grassroots innovation, jugaad innovation, user-driven innovation, and autonomous innovation. This paper examines a related concept, that of local innovation—the creation of new and improved ways of doing things compared to existing practice within a specific local context. Drawing on existing literature and three years of qualitative interviewing and case study research into local innovation processes in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, we find promising early evidence of the value of local innovation to developing economies, and particularly to the localities where this innovation is taking place. We find that the innovations emerging from these processes create meaningful livelihood impacts for their users and that, more significantly, the act of innovating contributes to building and strengthening a set of system capacities which are essential for local economic development.


The aim of this paper is to show how speech act theory can be used in systems development as a theoretical foundation for conceptual modelling. With the traditional notion of the conceptual model as an image of reality, the predominant modelling problem is to analyse how the external reality should be mapped into, and represented in, the system in a 'true' way. In contrast to this, we maintain that the main modelling problem should be to analyse the communication acts performed by use of the system within its business context. This implies an integration of traditional conceptual modelling with action-oriented business modelling based on speech act theory. With such an approach it is possible to reconcile traditional conceptual modelling and the pragmatic aspects of language and computer use. It is argued that such reconciliation is essential to arrive at systems that provide relevant information to users and in which users can trace responsibilities for information, actions and commitments made.


The Internet provides unlimited resources to persons of all ability levels. However, access can be limited. The purpose of this study is to inform organizations about accessibility implementation and revision procedures for persons with disabilities. This piece focused on State Department of Education home pages and special education pages that were evaluated for accessibility compliance according to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Section 508 accessibility guidelines. Results concluded that a small portion (26%) of the state department home pages achieved overall W3C accessibility compliance, and a greater number of the special education pages (52%) achieved compliance. Findings regarding Section 508 conformity revealed that 16% of the state department home pages achieved approval, while a greater proportion of the special education pages (42%) achieved approval. A majority of the errors and non-compliance factors could be remedied with minimal revision. Recommendations and resources for improving equal access are discussed.


The potential of using institutional credit and other financial services for poverty alleviation in Kenya is quite significant. About 18 million or 60 % of the population are poor and mostly out of scope of informal banking services. According to the National Micro and Small Enterprise Baseline survey of 1999, there are close to 1.3 million SMEs employing nearly 2.3 million people or 20% of the country's total employment and contributing 18% o f the overall GDP and 25% non agricultural GDP. Despite this important contribution only 10.4% of the SMEs receive credit and other financial services. The formal banking sector in Kenya over the years has regarded the informal sector risky and not commercially viable. The purpose of the study was to establish the impact of microfinance services on financial performance of SMEs in Kenya. Survey method was employed in this study. The study population consisted of all SMEs in Nairobi. The study adopted systematic random sampling method with an interval o f 50 SMEs. The sample size was 47 SMEs. The researcher used primary' and secondary data. Primary' data was collected through the use of semi-structures and structured questionnaires. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that all SMEs borrow investment capital and they use it for the purpose in which they were borrowed, most o f them do not have other source of financing other than from micro-finance institutions and they did not have other form of financing before they started receiving financing from microfinance institutions.. Based on the findings, the study concludes that SMEs got savings services, credit services and training services from SMEs. The SMEs mostly borrow investment capital and use the loan(s) for the purpose which they were taken. The study revealed that most of the SMEs do not have other source of financing other than that from micro-finance institutions. The study finally concludes that ROA increased with each consecutive loan showing that microfinance services enhance financial perfonnance o f SMEs in Kenya. From the study findings, the study recommends that in order to enhance the impact of microfinance services on financial performance of SMEs in Kenya, the MFIS should train the borrowers on entrepreneurial skills so as to enhance their competence. The MFIs should also consider the performance of the business before allocating money to the business ow ners.


This Article critiques the central commitments of contemporary separation of powers theory and doctrine. It then suggests more promising ways to think about separation of powers disputes, suggestions that derive from the criticisms offered here. The separation of powers provisions of the Constitution are understood as a way of controlling the exercise of state power by fragmenting it among three different institutions and guaranteeing that fragmentation. Conventional separation-of-powers analysis relies on two mechanisms to achieve and maintain the dispersal of state power: separating legislative, executive, and judicial power in three different branches and preserving a balance among those branches. There is vigorous disagreement about the proper characterization of any given dispute, but there is little controversy about the proper framework within which that debate should proceed. There should be. The embarrassing secret is that both commitments at the center of separation-of-powers doctrine are misconceived. The effort to identify and separate governmental powers fails because, in the contested cases, there is no principled way to distinguish between the relevant powers. The effort to maintain balance among the branches fares no better. We do not know what balance means, how to measure it, or how to predict when it might be jeopardized. The deficiencies are partly explained by the most fundamental difficulty with claims about balance among the branches. Inquiring about inter-branch balance is incoherent because it assumes that branches of government are unitary entities with cohesive interests, but that is not true. The branches are made up of individuals and sub-institutions with varying incentives that do not neatly track the institution within which they are located. The criticisms offered here reveal that we are thinking about questions of horizontal constitutional structure in the wrong way. Taking seriously the failings of current ideas offers at least two important lessons for its reconceptualization. The most significant lesson is that, if one is interested in fragmenting state power and assuring that it remains fragmented, the failure of the conventional approaches is of little moment. In the course of noticing that there is no such thing as three essential powers exercised by three undifferentiated branches, we will also notice that government authority is fragmented, widely so, albeit not according to the three-powers-in-three-branches formula. The other lesson is that current efforts go about the ambitious undertaking of matching particular powers with specific decisionmakers in the wrong way. That effort must start with an understanding of how those decisionmakers might exercise that authority, which requires a fine-grained appreciation of the forces that push and pull government actors in one direction or another. A doctrine built around such understandings will offer no easy answers, but it will at least ask the right questions.


This book challenges certain differences between contract, tort and equity in relation to the measure (in a broad sense) of damages. Damages are defined as the monetary award made by a court in consequence of a breach of contract, a tort or an equitable wrong. In all these causes of action, damages usually aim to put the claimant into the position the claimant would be in without the wrong. Even though the main objective of damages is thus the same for each cause of action, their measure is not.

While some aspects of the measure of damages are more or less harmonised between contract, tort and equity (for example causation in fact and mitigation), significant differences exist in relation to:

(1) remoteness of damage, which is the question of whether, when and to what degree damage needs to be foreseeable to be recoverable;
(2) the compensability of non-pecuniary loss such as pain and suffering, distress and loss of reputation;
(3) the effect of contributory negligence, which is the victim's contribution to the occurrence of the wrong or the ensuing loss through unreasonable conduct prior to the wrong;
(4) the circumstances under which victims of wrongs can claim the gain the wrongdoer has made from the wrong; and
(5) the availability and scope of exemplary (or punitive) damages.

For each of the five topics, this book examines the present position in contract, tort and equity and establishes the differences between the three areas. It goes on to scrutinise the arguments in defence of existing differences. The conclusion on each topic is that the present differences between contract, tort and equity cannot be justified on merits and should be removed through a harmonisation of the relevant principles.


Objectives: The objectives were to determine the proportion of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among adolescent athletes who attend selected sports medicine clinics in Sri Lanka and to describe the clinical spectrum of CVD among adolescent athletes who attend selected sports medicine clinics in Sri Lanka. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted within six months in three sports medicine clinics(clusters) in Colombo, Galle and Kandy and included all adolescent athletes aged 10-19years(n=566), who attended these during the said period for medical clearance prior to the competitive sports events. Secondary data was collected from the pre-participation examination (PPE) forms using a data extraction form. Results: Prevalence of CVD among adolescent athletes in Sri Lanka was 1.5%. Most common cardiac abnormality was Mitral Valve Prolapse(MVP). Mitral Stenosis, Ventricular Septal Defect(VSD) and Aortic Stenosis were other cardiac abnormalities detected. An important incidental finding of the study was the higher prevalence of (5%) of bronchial asthma among adolescent athletes. Conclusions: Prevalence of CVD among adolescent athletes in Sri Lanka is relatively low, but may lead to fatal outcomes if undetected early. Further research is needed to inform possible interventions to prevent health adversities arising from CVD in adolescent athletes in Sri Lanka.


The field of medical imaging has experienced an awesome advance in the last decades, far above other areas, both in oncological and non-oncological diseases. This technological development has resulted in the expansion of the molecular imaging. Molecular imaging combines elements of medicine, molecular biology, immunology, biochemistry, radiochemistry, pharmacology, nanotechnology and computing, allowing the " in vivo " visualization, characterization and quantification of biological processes at cellular and molecular level in its own pathophysiological environment, and includes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), ultrasonography, optical imaging, fluorescence and bioluminescence.


Dry eye syndrome is a common multifactorial disorder of the tear film and ocular surface. In rare cases, it may be caused by systemic diseases. Corneal melting is a complication of dry eye syndrome and is a potentially blinding condition. Here we report a case of a 67-year-old patient who attended her general practitioner for a year complaining of persistent dry eyes. Ophthalmological assessment showed severe dry eye syndrome with cornea melting in left eye. Blood test revealed anaemia and thrombocytopenia with circulating blasts. Bone marrow biopsy showed 15% myeloblasts with monosomy 7, compatible with acute myeloid leukaemia. Patient was started on intensive chemotherapy regime and was a candidate for allogenic bone marrow transplant. To our knowledge, this is the first case report demonstrating dry eye syndrome with sterile corneal melting as the possible presenting complaints of acute myeloid leukaemia. This case will serve as a useful reminder to general practitioners and accident and emergency doctors about the current guidelines regarding referral of persistently symptomatic patients with dry eye syndrome for further investigation in secondary care.


This paper presents a Web-based graphical tool that makes it possible to view and simulate a working circuit at the layout level. This tool allows one to observe changes in logical levels with a dynamic alteration of the color properties of the graphical elements that characterize the circuit at layout level. The layout view changes colors in function of logic level changes. Two aspects of the circuit simulation are presented: taking into account the gates delay or not.


Abstract Smoke or heat from fire can act as a cue that affects seed germination. We examined germination responses of 10 plant species (six forbs, two shrubs, two grasses) native to the southern High Plains in the United States, to smoke, heat, and their interaction in a laboratory experiment. Smoke treatments were applied by soaking seeds in 1∶5, 1∶10, or 1∶100 (v/v) Regen 2000® smoke solution for 20 h. Heat treatments were applied by placing seeds in an oven at 50°C or 80°C for 5 min. Nine species responded to smoke, heat, or both. Results showed that smoke can enhance, inhibit, or not affect seed germination. Germination capacities of Gutierrezia sarothrae (Pursh) Britton & Rusby and Astragalus crassicarpus Nutt. were promoted by 1∶5 and 1∶100 dilutions of smoke water, respectively; Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt., G. sarothrae, Salvia reflexa Hornem., Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koeler, and Panicum virgatum L. were inhibited by high and/or moderate concentrations of smoke water either in germination percentage or in mean germination time. Germination percentage of Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav. increased following an 80°C heat treatment. Interaction effects between smoke and heat on germination also were detected. Smoke and heat treatments might be useful as management tools for promoting or suppressing specific target species of shortgrass prairie communities in future habitat management.


Developers of open source projects are distributed across the world. They rely on email, mailing lists, instant messaging, IRC channels and more recently IRC meetings to communicate. Most of the studies thus far focus on the use of mailing lists by OSS developers, however, an increasing number of open source projects are using IRC meetings to hold developer meetings. In this paper, we mine the #gtk-devel IRC meeting channel and study the usage of the IRC meetings held by the GNOME GTK+ core developers and maintainers. We look at three different dimensions: the discussion volume of the meetings, the number of participants attending the meetings and the activity of these participants. Our findings show that IRC meetings are gaining popularity among open source developers and maintainers: the IRC meeting discussions are increasing in volume, have increasing attendance levels, and the participants actively contribute to the meetings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the use of developer IRC meetings by OSS developers.


In the paper, we have proposed a novel optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OOFDM) link scheme with the colorless beat interference cancellation receiver (BICR) structure for the single-sideband OOFDM (SSB-OOFDM) signal with an orthogonally polarized optical carrier and sideband, which is generated by using a polarization modulator and an optical band-pass filter. The BICR, employing only a polarization beam splitter and a balanced photodiode pair, can colorlessly mitigate the signal-signal beat interference (SSBI) induced by the square-law detection in a photodiode and thus the spectral efficiency (SE) is improved by reducing the guard band (GB) between the optical carrier and OOFDM signal. A simulation link for the 40  Gbit/s 16-QAM SSB-OOFDM signal with a reduced GB is built to demonstrate the feasibility of our proposed scheme. The simulation results indicate that the link has a higher SE compared to the conventional intensity modulation and direction detection scheme and the BICR exhibits a better performance in suppressing SSBI according to the error vector magnitude and the constellation diagrams.


In order to effectively reduce the incidence of depression in college students, the author proposes a method to influence brain functional magnetic resonance through running exercise. Aiming at the effect of running exercise on the brain functional magnetic resonance characteristics of depression in college students, through the comparison experiment between the MDD group and the HC group and the retrospective analysis of the sugar water preference experiment in rats, explore it in depth. Experimental results show that under the running exercise for six consecutive weeks, the average body weight of the rats in the depression model group was significantly lower than that in the blank control group, and the health status was significantly better than that in the blank group. Running exercise can effectively affect and reduce the incidence of depression in college students.


To its critics, the automobile is a voracious consumer of irreplaceable energy resources, a leading polluter of the environment, and a destroyer of cohesive communities. The most outspoken opponents call for greater regulations and restrictions to ultimately replace the automobile as the country's primary means of transportation. But their proposals all ignore one simple fact: Americans love their cars! Millions of citizens have made the automobile the most successful method of mass transportation ever developed, and they are not about to give up the personal mobility it offers. This book presents the controversial view that, for the vast majority of Americans, the automobile is not the problem, but the solution to transportation needs. While acknowledging the automobile's significant drawbacks, the author refutes much of the shrill rhetoric and doomsday predictions of its opponents. He takes a skeptical look at the major policy initiatives to tax, regulate, and provide alternatives to the automobile, pointing out that any policies designed to remove Americans from their cars without offering them a superior means of mobility are "worse than useless" and doomed to failure. The book offers suggestions and guidelines for politically realistic initiatives that preserve the benefits of the automobile while building public support for policies that will reduce its negative effects on energy use and the environment. James A. Dunn Jr. is professor of political science and public administration at Rutgers University-Camden. He was a member of the U.S. research team on MIT's International Automobile Program and he served as chairman of the South Jersey Transit Advisory Committee. He is the author of Miles To Go: European and American Transportation Policies (MIT, 1981).


This paper describes a proposal for the modification of traditional sand-lime products using the granulate of foamed glass and lithium polysilicate. These fillers are intended to reduce gross density in a dry state and retain the highest possible compressive strength of the obtained material in comparison to the starting material. Basic functional property tests were thus performed on blocks made from the terminal material, i.e. compressive strength, gross density in the dry state, water absorption. The results of this research are discussed and presented in tabular and graphic form of this paper.


Abstract. Positioning of an intraoperative C-arm to achieve clear visualization of a particular anatomical feature often involves repeated fluoroscopic views, which cost time and radiation exposure to both the patient and surgical staff. A system for virtual fluoroscopy (called FluoroSim) that could dramatically reduce time- and dose-spent "fluoro-hunting" by leveraging preoperative computed tomography (CT), encoded readout of C-arm gantry position, and automatic 3D–2D image registration has been developed. The method is consistent with existing surgical workflow and does not require additional tracking equipment. Real-time virtual fluoroscopy was achieved via mechanical encoding of the C-arm motion, C-arm geometric calibration, and patient registration using a single radiograph. The accuracy, time, and radiation dose associated with C-arm positioning were measured for FluoroSim in comparison with conventional methods. Five radiology technologists were tasked with acquiring six standard pelvic views pertinent to sacro-illiac, anterior–inferior iliac spine, and superior-ramus screw placement in an anthropomorphic pelvis phantom using conventional and FluoroSim approaches. The positioning accuracy, exposure time, number of exposures, and total time for each trial were recorded, and radiation dose was characterized in terms of entrance skin dose and in-room scatter. The geometric accuracy of FluoroSim was measured to be 1.6±1.1  mm. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) observed in the accuracy or total elapsed time for C-arm positioning. However, the total fluoroscopy time required to achieve the desired view decreased by 4.1 s (4.7±3.6  s for conventional, compared with 0.5±0.0  s for FluoroSim, p<0.05), and the total number of exposures reduced by 4.0 (6.4±4.8 for conventional, compared with 2.0±0.0 for FluoroSim, p<0.05). These reductions amounted to a 50% to 78% decrease in patient entrance skin dose and a 55% to 70% reduction in in-room scatter. FluoroSim was found to reduce the radiation exposure required in C-arm positioning without diminishing positioning time or accuracy, providing a potentially valuable tool to assist technologists and surgeons.


The development of membrane properties, firing patterns, and δ oscillations in neurons of the cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) was investigated in vitro during the first 7 postnatal weeks. Compared with adult neurons, the resting membrane potential was more depolarized at postnatal days 1–9 (P1–P9), the input resistance was higher at P1–P7, and action potentials had a higher threshold and a smaller amplitude at P1–P3 and a longer duration at P1–P9. At P1–P3 trains longer than 200 msec were rarely observed, and trains with more than three action potentials were only present in 41% of the neurons, whereas at P1–P7 the normalized slope of the instantaneous frequencies at the first five interspike intervals was smaller than in the adult. A long-lasting (up to 6 sec) afterhyperpolarization followed a short train of action potentials in 88 and 30% of neurons at P1–P3 and P30–P32, respectively, but it was rarely observed in the adult. The low-threshold Ca2+potential could evoke a burst of action potentials since P1. However, at P1–P7 the number of action potentials per burst was smaller (range, one to five), and at P1–P9 their maximum instantaneous frequency was lower (<190 Hz) than in the adult (range, six to eight, and 344 Hz, respectively). No δ oscillations were observed until P17, and their frequency (0.36 Hz) was lower than that in the adult (1.8 Hz). The percentage of neurons displaying δ oscillations and their frequency reached adult values by the end of the seventh postnatal week, i.e., well after the maturation of the membrane properties and firing patterns (second postnatal week). In conclusion, the maturation of the electrophysiological properties of thalamocortical neurons in the cat dLGN is completed later than the retinogeniculate axon segregation (Shatz CJ, 1983), and the immaturity of the oscillatory, and not of the burst-firing, activity is a limiting factor in the development of δ waves (Jouvet-Mounier et al., 1970).


The awareness on the advantage of the international trade role for social welfare encourage a number of countries, including Indonesia to establish regional/international economic organisations aiming at building mutual economic strength. Several prominent economic cooporations are ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and General Agreement on Tariffand Trade (GATT). It is expected that through economic integration trade barriers in the form of tariff barriers and non tariff barrier present among the member countries can be reduced or even eliminated, with a result that the trading goods traffic (including livestock and its products), services, and investment among countries in a region can be carried out more smoothly . From the aspect of animal health, the increase in the traffic of livestock and its products will bring risks due to the entry of animal diseases into Indonesian regions. Indonesia that has been stated to be free from 13 out of 15 contagious diseases according to list A and several diseases based on list B of OIE (Office Internationale des Epizootes) needs to anticipate this through policy reorientation by obeying the agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary for food safety, and animal and plant health protection. For livestock and its product commodities, the Directorate General of Livestock Production Building has issued a decree number 71/TN.690/Kpts. DJP/Deptan/2000 regarding the import of livestock and its products using a standard procedure. Besides that, it is necessary to carry out risk analysis, harmonisation, transparency, and the same treatment on products from abroad. In order to maintain animal health status, monitoring, surveillance, optimal reporting system, campaign to enhance the society attention, and quarantine action are required. Key words: Exotic and zoonotic diseases, international trade


If we could have the capability to edit or customize our body scheme by technology, could our abilities and activities be enhanced? This research proposes a novel interaction to alternate body scheme using artificial limbs substitution metamorphosis. In this work, two additional robotic arms are added to user's body, and are manipulated by legs movement. Limbs control is achieved using two sets of tracking systems: global motion tracking of legs using an optical tracker and local motion tracking for manipulation purposes using socks type device. These data are mapped into artificial limbs' arms, hands and fingers motion. Lastly, force feedback is provided to the feet and mapped to manipulator's touch sensors.


Title: Normative control in the pre-school: A Swedish case study Abstract: The project "Normative leadership in the pre-school" is a series of case-studies which aims at clarifying how normative leadership is practiced and negotiated, as well as which norms are created by leaders and co-workers. The amount of research into leadership in pre-schools is currently low, despite the comprehensive nature and significance of the institution. Relation to theory is often weak, as is the connection to more general research on leadership. I have chosen the theory of normative control of organisations as a framework for my analysis. The empirical methods are a combination of interviews and observations. In this first case study, the subject is an unusual leadership task. A number of new pre-schools are to be established, and the leader is to create a vision for these. Tension arises between vision and daily reality, however. It is the vision that must confront everyday life, and not the other way around. A common understanding must gradually be established, with its foundation just as much in norms and ideas as in security and common experience. The results indicate that negotiation and re-negotiation are important aspects of normative control in the pre-school. I propose the concept distributed normative control as the collaborators and the leader share the normative power in the daily round. Keywords: Pre-school leadership, Normative control, Distributed leadership, Case study Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


Objectives: The survey was conducted to gain a current understanding of how economic evaluations affect surgeon practice and determine their role in hospital purchasing decisions. Methods: A total of 589 surgeons completed a survey on their experience with health economics and hospital purchasing decisions. Demographics and survey results were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Statistical testing was performed through Chi-square analysis. Results: Of all respondents, 89% and 83% were affected by economic topics at the department level and personally, respectively, within the year before the survey. Fifty-eight percent had discussed device costs with their Finance Department and 32% stopped using their preferred implant for financial reasons. Forty percent indicated that their hospital included both the medical and Financial Departments in purchasing decisions, while 14% and 13% reported that these decisions involve the finance department only and the individual surgeon only, respectively. Fifty-five percent reported that a mixture of both financial/economic and medical/patient information is used when purchasing devices. Fifty-one percent stated that they "always" or "very often" consider the implant cost preoperatively, compared to 18% who responded with "rarely" or "never." Conclusions: The rise of health economics has impacted surgeon practice; however, these individuals seldom receive training in the area. Interventions that improve knowledge of costs and economic evaluations among these decision-makers must be implemented in a manner that is accessible and well understood.


In a glass house experiment, we investigated the effect of both the frequency of water pulses and the total amount of water supplied on individual performance in the absence and presence of neighbors. We used monocultures and all combinations of pairs of seedlings of three species of perennial grasses, characteristic of different points along a soil moisture gradient within a semi-arid grassland in New Mexico, USA. In the absence of neighbors, higher total water or more frequent (but smaller) pulses significantly increased growth of all three species. The species with the fastest intrinsic growth rate, and from the most productive habitat, exhibited the largest increase in absolute and relative growth in response to higher total water quantity. Competitive effects were highly significant overall and there were significant hierarchies of competitive ability. Un- der frequent pulses, the fast-growing species from the most productive environment was the best competitor in terms of both ability to suppress other plants and ability to tolerate the presence of neighbors. However, under infrequent pulses, the slowest growing species from the least productive environ- ment became a much stronger competitor, again in terms of both suppression and tolerance of neighbors. While differences in total water availability had greater effects than differences in pulsing regime on individual plant performance in the absence of competition, pulsing regime had much stronger effects on relative competitive abilities and thus may be more likely to influence field distribution patterns.


First results of a soft photon yield in nucleus-nuclear interactions at 3.5 GeV per nucleon are presented. These photons have been registered at Nuclotron (LHEP, JINR) by an electromagnetic calorimeter built in the SVD Collaboration. The obtained spectra confirm the excess yield in the energy region less than 50 MeV in comparison with theoretical predictions and agree with previous experiments at high-energy interactions.


A phase shifter has been designed to give a constant phase over the octave bandwidth 70-140 GHz in dielectric guide. The phase shifter was designed for use in a multistate reflectometer in dielectric guide, though other applications are possible. The multistate reflectometer required two less power meters than a previous six-port reflectometer. The whole device enabled very accurate measurement of phase and amplitude in the range 70-140 GHz for little more than the cost of a swept source.


The polymorphism of TTC repeats in Mycobacterium leprae was examined using bacilli from slit skin samples of leprosy patients attending at Central Special Skin Clinic, Yangon General Hospital and nasal swabs of their contacts to elucidate the possible mode of leprosy transmission. It was found that bacilli with different TTC genotypes were distributed among same household contacts and also harbored bacilli in patients were different TTC genotype from that harbored on the nasal mucus of the healthy contacts. Genotypes of TTC repeats were found to differ between husband under treatment and his wife and also mother under treatment and her sons living in same house. This study revealed that TTC genotype of bacilli harbored by household contacts was different with the TTC genotype by index cases. These results indicate that the family members get transmission from outside the dwellings rather than from commonly supposed their MB index cases. There might have been some infectious sources to which the populace had been commonly exposed outside the dwellings.


This thesis studies the quantum reflection factor of the sinh-Gordon model under boundary conditions consistent with integrability. First, we review the affine Toda field theory in Chapter One. In particular, the classical and quantum integrability of the theory are reviewed on the whole line and on the half-line as well, that is, in the presence of a boundary. We next consider the sinh-Gordon model which is restricted to a half-line by boundary conditions maintaining integrability in Chapter Two. A perturbative calculation of the reflection factor is given to one loop order in the bulk coupling and to first order in the difference of the two parameters introduced at the boundary. The result provides a further verification of Ghoshal's formula. The calculation is consistent with a conjecture for the general dependence of the reflection factor on the boundary parameters and the bulk coupling. In Chapter Three, quantum corrections to the classical reflection factor of the sinh-Gordon model are studied up to second order in the difference of boundary data and to one loop order in the bulk coupling. Chapter Four deals with the quantum reflection factor for the sinh-Gordon model with general boundary conditions. The model is studied under boundary conditions which are compatible with integrability and in the framework of the conventional perturbation theory generalised to the affine Toda field theory. It is found that the general form of a subset of the related quantum corrections are hypergeometric functions. Finally, we sum up this thesis in Chapter Five along with some conclusions and suggestions for further future studies.


It had been studied that thermal deformation properties of AerMet100 steel (AMT100) by thermal simulation on Gleeble 3500 Simulator, which the ranges of temperature and strain rates were 900~1100°C and 0.01~10/s. According the experiment data, the parameters of thermal deformation was calculated, in which the activation energy is 261.2KJ/mol. The strain-rate sensitivity coefficient is m=0.0998, and temperature sensitivity coefficient is s=7912. The relationship among peak stress and deformation temperature and strain rate was established. And the ranges of temperature and strain rates were 900~1100°C and 0.01~10/s, and the relative errors of calculation results by the stress-strain model were less than 11.3%.


As a global NGO working in 45 countries, ActionAid International aims to eradicate poverty by addressing its underlying causes such as injustice and inequality. This case follows a series of radical transformations implemented by the organization's CEO, Ramesh Singh -- a power shift from its headquarters in London to an international secretariat in Johannesburg; a new federated governance structure that increases the influence of units in Africa and Asia; and, innovations in accountability and transparency to the poor communities with which it works. But as Singh gets ready to step down after seven years, he is confronted with challenges from newly empowered country units that he feels risk taking the organization in the wrong direction. How will the divisions between the Northern and Southern units play out? Will they tear the organization apart, just when it is becoming a global player?Learning Objective: To examine the relationship between governance and accountability in a global organization; to explore processes of leading and implementing transformational change in global organizations.


The shared threat emanating from Pyongyang creates a centripetal force that binds Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul because the three partners need mutual assistance. On the other hand, however, the high stakes involved in the North Korea policy of these states also intensify discord over the means to address the threat, thereby producing a centrifugal force. Policies that hurt each other's fundamental security interests have to be pursued only with careful consultation with the partners, for both the policies' effectiveness and for the maintenance of the partnerships. For effective cooperation, the U.S., Japanese, and ROK governments must all embrace the centripetal force of the North Korean threat while being mindful of the centrifugal force.


With the development of Chinese smart substations, it will be a vital factor for time synchronization for all the substation equipments and we can not use the traditional method to synchronize the equipments in smart substations. This paper inquiries into the time synchronization problems in the substations and puts forward some methods on how to solve them: one is to time synchronize the equipments by PTP, another one is using IRIG-B code, in practical use, these two methods can combine program code. To improve communication efficiency of RTDMS, other efforts are also underway.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the differential impact of government promotional measures and government ownership on two internationalization variables: location and speed of internationalization of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs). Central to the authors' study is the mediating role of strategic intents to internationalize. In particular, we study how government impacts the resource-seeking, market-seeking and technology-seeking motives to internationalize.

Design/methodology/approach
The empirical setting for the paper is Chinese companies that have internationalized via an equity based entry mode. The authors employ 672 firm responses collected by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

Findings
The empirical results demonstrate that different home government measures have differential impact on internationalization outcomes. Government promotional measures (such as direct incentives and bilateral agreements to support internationalization) have only an indirect effect on international location and speed through the effect they have on the strategic motives to internationalize; while government ownership in the company has a direct impact on international location.

Research limitations/implications
The study highlights that home governments are shaping EMNEs strategic intent. Home government can influence EMNEs internationalization choices by providing resource flows through financial resources and state ownership or through asset-accumulation mechanisms via promotional measures.

Practical implications
Policy makers in emerging markets need to develop policies focused on the specific motivations that firms have when internationalizing. EMNEs are suggested to take advantage of government policies more intentionally.

Originality/value
The theoretical contribution centers on identifying important mediating mechanisms pointing to the interplay between government policies and international location and speed of firms. The authors contribute to the growing stream of research on internationalization of emerging market firms by building a sound theoretical model and examining empirically the role of home government in the internationalization of EMNEs.


"Partnership" is often promoted as an unquestioned "good" for higher education institutions in relation to its various stakeholder organizations. This paper seeks to problematize this uncritical valorization through a critical interrogation of the concepts and socio-material practices associated with partnership. In the name of partnership, new forms of governance are inaugurated that have far-reaching effects. More specifically, this paper is concerned with a critical analysis of partnership in relation to a longitudinal study of the relational practices between a university and five local authorities within a Scottish educational context. In particular, we trace how a "signature event" transformed a partnership assemblage, from one characterized by a grammar of participation, to a formal partnership aligned with a set of principles that we characterize as a grammar of representation. We argue that this transition led to a new assemblage that enacted new accountabilities, performativities, and alignments under the sign of partnership.


Physical activity status is increasingly recognized as a reliable predictor of mortality and hospitalization in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The reduction in physical activity occurs earlier in the clinical course of COPD than previously appreciated, possibly arising from breathlessness, reduced exercise tolerance, and adoption of a more sedentary lifestyle. To date, no clinical trial has evaluated the impact of pharmacotherapy on both lung function and physical activity. We recently designed a study that evaluates the impact of tiotropium (a once-daily inhaled anticholinergic) on lung function and physical activity in a maintenance/treatment-naïve Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Stage II COPD cohort. Previous studies have demonstrated that tiotropium improves lung function and exercise tolerance; whether these benefits translate into improvements in physical activity is the focus of the current work. Here we describe the rationale and challenges in developing and implementing this study and review its unique features and novel design, including: utility of direct activity monitoring in multicenter clinical trials; importance of behavioral-modification techniques (including motivational interviewing to improve patient self-efficacy and adherence for a healthy, more active lifestyle); utility of individualized activity plans that provide an integrated approach with pharmacotherapy and behavioral modification to help patients achieve a more active lifestyle.


Recently the growing of the hospital as the healthy services organization is increasing rapidly. This raises an intense competition between hospitals. Hospital not only compete each other but also with a practical tocologist, practical doctors and other healty services. The result of the research show that leadership transformation is significantly effect te job satisfaction. Leadership transformation is significantly effect the OCB. Job satisfaction is significantly effect the organization commitment. Organization commitment is significantly effect the OCB


This letter presents our study of throughput enhancement achieved by multiuser diversity (MUDiv) in a multiuser system using a new asymptotic approach. The MUDiv gain is evaluated by deriving a new asymptotic formula with a closed form, which is flexible to the number of MUDiv orders. To do this, we simplify a Puiseux series instead of a extreme value theory used in the previous researches. The formula shows that the MUDiv gain is independent of the signal-to-noise ratio, and it is applied to analyze proportional fair scheduling. Finally, this analysis is verified using Monte-Carlo simulations of scheduling algorithms.


Cumulative innovation is central to economic growth. Do patent rights facilitate or impede follow-on innovation? We study the causal effect of removing patent rights by court invalidation on subsequent research related to the focal patent, as measured by later citations. We exploit random allocation of judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to control for endogeneity of patent invalidation. Patent invalidation leads to a 50 percent increase in citations to the focal patent, on average, but the impact is heterogeneous and depends on characteristics of the bargaining environment. Patent rights block downstream innovation in computers, electronics and medical instruments, but not in drugs, chemicals or mechanical technologies. Moreover, the effect is entirely driven by invalidation of patents owned by large patentees that triggers more follow-on innovation by small firms.


Herein we have investigated the photovoltaic properties of ferrocenyl tetracyanobutadiene derivatives of diketopyrrolopyrroles SM1 and SM2 as efficient non-fullerene acceptors along with a donor–acceptor (D–A) conjugated polymer P as a donor for polymer solar cells. The solar cell devices showed a maximum power conversion efficiency of 6.44% and 6.89% for the vacuum dried P:SM1 and P:SM2 active layers respectively. The solar cells based on SM2 showed higher PCE compared to SM1 which may be due to the larger values of both Jsc and FF. The results presented here demonstrate that employing ferrocene as a donor unit can provide great scope for the molecular design of highly efficient non-fullerene acceptors and provides important progress in the development of non-fullerene organic solar cells.


Aim: To characterize validity, acceptability and perceived impact of the national Danish Diabetes PROM IT tool (DiaProfile) in routine diabetes care among people with both type 1 and 2 diabetes (PWD) and their health care professionals (HCP). To inform the evaluation design of a national study. Methods: 12 PWD were recruited using a purposive analytical consecutive method in a single-arm mixed-methods qualitative clinical design. PWD completed the PROM prior to their visit and DiaProfile was used in visit to collaboratively identify individual care needs and options. PWD and HCP completed psychometric PROM evaluation scales on acceptability, validity, relevance, usability and perceived impact of the PROM intervention. Semi-structured interviews were done with all PWD (45-60 min). Visits/interviews were tape recorded and transcribed for coding. Phenomenological, thematic analyses with both inductive and deductive methods were used and all data sources were combined for triangulation. Results: 12 PWD: 8 female/4 male, 4 type 2/8 type 1, mean age 51 (24-79), 9 on insulin pens, 2 on pumps, 2 on glp-1, 2 on metformin. Complications ranged from 0 to 6 per PWD. 2 physicians and 2 nurses each treated 3 PWD. PWD consistently found PROM easy and acceptable to complete, relevant, understandable and with no major topics missing. Triangulation identified consistent PWD and HCP experiences of improved visit preparedness, dialogue quality, care quality and focus, patient participation, and care confidence and experience with PRO use across users. All advocated for use in standard care. Conclusions: This is the first real-world study to characterize perceptions of context validity, relevance, acceptability, usability and value (patient participation, dialogue, care quality) of the Danish diabetes PROM in a routine care setting. Outcomes were used to inform design of a national large-scale PRO diabetes study. Disclosure S.E. Skovlund: None. L. Troelsen: None. L. Norgaard: None. P.H. Kjaer: None. A. Pietraszek: None. H. Ravn Larsen: None. D.M. Hessler: Consultant; Self; Eli Lilly and Company. P.O. Jakobsen: None. N. Ejskjaer: None. Funding Region of Northern Denmark; Danish National Health Data Board


The Fleet Test and Evaluation Team at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory is evaluating and documenting the performance of electric and plug-in hybrid electric drive systems in medium duty trucks across the nation. U.S. companies participating in this evaluation project received funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to cover part of the cost of purchasing these vehicles. Through this project, Navistar will build and deploy all-electric medium-duty trucks. The trucks will be deployed in diverse climates across the country. This report covers the third quarter of 2013.


A laminin–DNA–apatite composite layer was successfully formed on the surface of an ethylene–vinyl alcohol copolymer. The immobilized DNA was transferred to the cells adhering onto the laminin–DNA–apatite composite layer more efficiently than those adhering onto a lamininfree DNA–apatite composite layer. It is considered that laminin immobilized in the surface layer enhances cell adhesion and spreading, and DNA locally released from the layer is effectively transferred into the adhering cells, taking advantage of the large contact area. The present gene transferring system, which shows high efficiency and safety, would be useful in gene therapy and tissue engineering.


Studies of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries have generally failed to detect real economic expansions in preelection periods, casting doubt on the existence of opportunistic political business cycles. We develop a theory that predicts that a substantial portion of the economy experiences a real decline in the preelection period if the election is associated with sufficient policy uncertainty. In particular, policy uncertainty induces private actors to postpone investments with high costs of reversal. The resulting declines, which are called reverse electoral business cycles, require sufficient levels of polarization between major parties and electoral competitiveness. To test these predictions, we examine quarterly data on private fixed investment in ten OECD countries between 1975 and 2006. The results show that reverse electoral business cycles exist and as expected, depend on electoral competitiveness and partisan polarization. Moreover, simply by removing private fixed investment from gross domestic product, we uncover evidence of opportunistic cycles.


Oscilloscopes are traditionally used for the graphical presentation and analysis of electrical waveforms. In many experiments, waveform acquisition and live presentation forms the heart of the problem. In particular, data acquisition and presentation of repeating complex signals like sine sweep in vibration generation and testing and frequency-modulated signals in radar and sonar applications offers the challenge of live waveform presentation and their basic measurements. In this paper, we present a new, robust, fast, and simple technique for waveform period estimation in the time domain and oscilloscope triggering for both complex and simple waveforms. The proposed technique, namely, the normalized degree of difference (DOD), has both these capabilities, and it has been verified by extensive software simulations and implementation on the National Instruments (NI) LabVIEW-PXI platform. Successful real-time results are obtained for the sine sweep vibration waveform. The proposed technique, simulation, and implementation results are presented in this paper.


Because of the advancement of geospatial technologies such as GIS and GPS integration, many mining companies have started to use the technology for mine planning, analysis and management. In this context, this study focuses on real-time monitoring of the excavated coal quality using GIS and GPS integration. For this purpose, firstly, digital maps and tabular quality data were created by analysing the drill holes data, and then they were combined under the GIS environment by writing a MapBasic computer application using Visual Basic. The application consists of three sections. A GPS section that awaits the coordinate information that will be received over the GPS and that makes coordinate transformations; a map analysis section that functions in order to view digital maps and track shovel or trucks on the screen and the point-block-quality query section allows flexible data extraction, based on the structured query. Finally, by mounting a GPS receiver on the bucket wheel excavators in exemplary opencast coal mining, the monitoring of the excavation point over the digital maps were enabled , and the monitoring of the stock accounts as a database for the quality data such as the amount, LCV, MC%, and AC%, simultaneously with the coal production were provided.


This paper discusses novel joint (intracell and intercell) resource allocation algorithms for self-organized interference coordination in multicarrier multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) small cell networks. The proposed algorithms enable interference coordination autonomously, over multiple degrees of freedom, such as base station transmit powers, transmit precoders, and user scheduling weights. A generic <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX"> $\alpha$</tex-math></inline-formula>-fair utility maximization framework is considered to analyze performance-fairness tradeoff and to quantify the gains achievable in interference-limited networks. The proposed scheme involves limited inter-base station signaling in the form of two step (power and precoder) pricing. Based on this decentralized coordination, autonomous power and precoder update decision rules are considered, leading to algorithms with different characteristics in terms of user data rates, signaling load, and convergence speed. Simulation results in a practical setting show that the proposed pricing-based self-organization can achieve up to <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$100\%$</tex-math></inline-formula> improvement in cell-edge data rates when compared to baseline optimization strategies. Furthermore, the convergence of the proposed algorithms is also proved theoretically.