520 Abstract. Eight Bush Blue Lake type snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) lines and cultivars with similar genetic backgrounds were container-grown to green-pod maturity in open-top field chambers while being exposed to chronic doses of 03 for 7 hours·day -1 for 42 consecutive days. Treatments included charcoal-filtered air, nonfltered air, and 0.02, 0.04, or 0.08 ppm O3 added to nonfiltered air. Visible injury was estimated during the 2nd week of exposure and compared to the green pod yield data. The presence of four yield response groups, as determined via regression analysis, indicated the presence of variation for 03 sensitivity in the germplasm pool, but all eight lines were O3sensitive with yield losses at 03 levels exceeding a 7-hour daily mean of 0.085 ppm. Foliar injury may be a good indicator of general yield loss; however, estimates of visible injury lack the precision necessary to distinguish subtle differences among a collection of O3-sensitive snap bean lines.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
This study examined the associations between homelessness and clinical outcomes of CKD among adults from the urban healthcare safety net.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
This retrospective cohort study examined 15,343 adults with CKD stages 3-5 who received ambulatory care during 1996-2005 from the Community Health Network of San Francisco. Main outcome measures were time to ESRD or death and frequency of emergency department visits and hospitalizations.

RESULTS
Overall, 858 persons (6%) with CKD stages 3-5 were homeless. Homeless adults were younger, were disproportionately male and uninsured, and suffered from far higher rates of depression and substance abuse compared with adults with stable housing (P<0.001 for all comparisons). Over a median follow-up of 2.8 years (interquartile range=1.4-6.1), homeless adults experienced significantly higher crude risk of ESRD or death (hazard ratio=1.82, 95% confidence interval=1.49-2.22) compared with housed adults. This elevated risk was attenuated but remained significantly higher (adjusted hazard ratio=1.28, 95% confidence interval=1.04-1.58) after controlling for differences in sociodemographics, comorbid conditions, and laboratory variables. Homeless adults were also far more likely to use acute care services (median [interquartile range] number of emergency department visits was 9 [4-20] versus 1 [0-4], P<0.001) than housed counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS
Homeless adults with CKD suffer from increased morbidity and mortality and use costly acute care services far more frequently than peers who are stably housed. These findings warrant additional inquiry into the unmet health needs of the homeless with CKD to provide appropriate and effective care to this disadvantaged group.


Objectives: The primary aim of the study is to determine 2nd trimester ultrasound guided placental laterality as predictor of pre-eclampsia. It also aims to identify and appraise published studies on placental laterality and with the development of pre-eclampsia. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted using MEDLINE, PUBMED, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library and Herdin to identify eligible studies between 2010 to 2019. The indexed search terms used were ''placental laterality'', pre-eclampsia'', ''central placenta'', ''lateral placenta'' and ''placental location''. The search will be limited to published human studies. Eligible studies are prospective studies which will evaluate placental localisation of singleton pregnancy at 18–24 weeks' age of gestation in the development of pre-eclampsia. Nine studies were included in the study. We excluded studies of patients with other risk factors such as chronic hypertension, renal disease, history of smoking, multiple pregnancy, diabetes mellitus, uterine anomalies and placenta previa. We excluded the following types of study: narrative or systematic reviews, retrospective design studies, case report and case series. The statistical analysis will be performed with Revman 5.2 software with p = 0.05 as statistically significant. Data will be presented as a forest plot. Results: A forest plot for comparison of central versus lateral placentation in developing pre-eclampsia based on 7684 subjects is presented. 4044 patients had central placenta, 510 developed pre-eclampsia; while 3,640 subjects had lateral placenta, 571 had pre-eclampsia. There is a difference of 3.07 % which is significant at p = 0.0001 at p = 0.05 level of significance. Conclusions: Pregnant women with lateral placenta are at significant risk for development of pre-eclampsia. Ultrasound is a simple, reliable and cost-effective predictive screening test to determine placental laterality.


Extracts from the leaf of Tithonia diversifolia used in folk medicine for treatment of various ailments were tested for antimalaria and mosquito repellency properties in experimental animals and human volunteers, under the laboratory conditions. Comparison of the effectiveness of Chloroquine with the aqueous and methanolic extracts from the plant (T. diversifolia) showed that Chloroquine was 100% effective in clearing the parasite while the aqueous and methanolic extracts were 50 and 74% effective in clearing the parasites respectively. Both aqueous and methanolic extracts were more effective when administered before the onset of the infection, probably indicating the time-dependency of the antimalaria effects. Earlier application of the extracts at the onset of the malaria symptoms was more effective in reducing the parasitemia within a few days. The administration of the plant extracts during the malaria episode was also effective with longer period of administration. The LC50 of the aqueous extract in mice was 1.2ml/100g body weight while the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) was found to be 1.0ml/g. The repellent activity of volatile oil at different concentrations was measured by protection period against the bites of Anopheles gambiae, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. The volatile oil extract showed higher repellent effect on A. gambiae at higher concentrations however its repellent and protective effects at various concentrations on all other species of mosquito tested can not be underestimated.


The Middle East is going through a period of profound change in the wake of the Arab Spring, and there are several dynamics and actors shaping the contours of the change. China is one of the relatively new actors on this stage, actively engaging the Middle East both economically and politically. Beijing's dependence on Middle East hydrocarbons is increasing, and the stakes are rising in the competition between global powers seeking to secure their interests in the region. It is therefore crucial to examine how relations between China and the countries of the region are taking shape. This essay investigates how Turkey's relations with China have been evolving in recent years within the context of a changing Middle East and how these relations, at both the bilateral and the regional levels, will be an important factor shaping the dynamics of a transforming region.


Vega and Fomalhaut are similar in terms of mass, ages, and global debris disk properties; therefore, they are often referred to as "debris disk twins." We present Spitzer 10–35 μm spectroscopic data centered at both stars and identify warm, unresolved excess emission in the close vicinity of Vega for the first time. The properties of the warm excess in Vega are further characterized with ancillary photometry in the mid-infrared and resolved images in the far-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths. The Vega warm excess shares many similar properties with the one found around Fomalhaut. The emission shortward of ∼30 μm from both warm components is well described as a blackbody emission of ∼170 K. Interestingly, two other systems, ϵ Eri and HR 8799, also show such an unresolved warm dust using the same approach. These warm components may be analogous to the solar system's zodiacal dust cloud, but of far greater mass (fractional luminosity of ∼10−5 to 10−6 compared to 10−8 to 10−7). The dust temperature and tentative detections in the submillimeter suggest that the warm excess arises from dust associated with a planetesimal ring located near the water-frost line and presumably created by processes occurring at similar locations in other debris systems as well. We also review the properties of the 2 μm hot excess around Vega and Fomalhaut, showing that the dust responsible for the hot excess is not spatially associated with the dust we detected in the warm belt. We suggest it may arise from hot nano grains trapped in the magnetic field of the star. Finally, the separation between the warm and cold belt is rather large with an orbital ratio ≳10 in all four systems. In light of the current upper limits on the masses of planetary objects and the large gap, we discuss the possible implications for their underlying planetary architecture and suggest that multiple, low-mass planets likely reside between the two belts in Vega and Fomalhaut.


Privacy is a vague concept. This vagueness makes it difficult to understand what it means. Software engineering is an area such ambiguity creates a significant problem. For example, if the software developers do not understand privacy properly, they are not going to develop the software in a privacy-protected manner. To address this issue, as a community, over the last two decades, many researchers have proposed a few different Privacy by Design (PbD) schemes. Typically, PbD schemes comprise a set of instructions. These instructions are also referred to as guidelines, principles, strategies. Another way to address this problem of ambiguity is privacy patterns. Inspired by design patterns in software engineering domain, researchers and privacy experts have developed privacy patterns. Each Privacy pattern is designed to improve privacy in particular application design by eliminating certain privacy risks in a certain way. For our analysis, we identified ten (10) different PhD schemes. We analyse them against 74 different privacy patterns (\url{privacypatterns.eu}, \url{privacypatterns.org}). In this report, we examine the interplay between Privacy by Design (PbD) schemes and privacy patterns. This document contains the raw outcome of our analysis. Please refer to our research paper to read about insights we generated through this analysis.


The case aims to highlight key methodological and ethical challenges faced whilst conducting mixed methods evaluation research as an insider with a senior position in an exercise referral organization. This case derives from a PhD study exploring the expectations and experiences of participants in an exercise referral scheme for people with non-communicable diseases in northeast England. This case focuses mainly on the qualitative element of the evaluation and gives insight into the value of longitudinal semi-structured interviews as a research tool and the use of a framework approach to analyse the data. It explores some the benefits and dilemmas involved in conducting insider research, and discusses how using a reflective diary can raise awareness of bias; help develop research skills and aid analysis


Clinical and radiological studies were performed on avascular necrosis of the femoral head (ANF) in 220 hips 140 patients including 51 hips of 28 patients with systemic lupus erythe-matosus (SLE group). Sixty-nine hips of 41 patients wee treated with corticosteroid adminis-tration (S group) and 100 hips of 71 patients without corticosteroid administration (Non-S group). All patients with SLE were treated with corticosteroid adminstration. Thirty-one femoral heads (11 heads of SLE group, 9 heads of S group and 11 heads of Non-S group) were resected at operations nad studied histologically. Seventy-seven hips at an early stage showed that collapse of the femoral heads occurred in 80% without 3 years and no differences were found among these group. In the SLE group, bilateral involvement, multiple bone necrosis and predilection for young females were apparent. Collapse of the femoral head and subcapital fractures were more frequently seen in the SLE group. Histologically, almost all heads even in the SLE group showed repair process such as enchondral ossification and appositional bone formation, while the heads with subcapital fracture showed no such no such changes.


Abstract Today software systems are complex, dynamic, distributed, and evolve over time. Multi-agent systems (MASs) are a powerful abstraction to model such systems. Agent programming frameworks support software engineers in transforming these abstractions into concrete distributed applications. Even though there is wide availability of tools for multi-agent development, only few of them constitute valid support from a software engineering point of view. AgentService provides a reliable, robust, and modular software infrastructure for MAS development. In this paper, we present the innovative features of the framework, including the agent model, the scheduling engine, and the run-time environment. These components are discussed in detail and compared with the solution adopted by other frameworks.


The central theme of this Special Issue is emerging opportunities and future directions in automation for green manufacturing, where information technology based modeling, analysis, control and optimization are the focus areas. The purpose is to show the state-of-the-art research and applications in the general area of automation in green manufacturing, by bringing together researchers and practitioners from both academia and industry, to address the significant advancement, expose the unsolved challenges, present the critical needs for integration with new technologies, and provide visions for future research and development. This Special Issue presents original, significant and visionary automation papers describing scientific models, methods and technologies with both solid theoretical development and practical importance that improve process, efficiency, productivity, quality, and reliability in green manufacturing. The contributions in this Special Issue can be divided into the following categories in green manufacturing: renewable energy products and systems; energy savings in manufacturing processes and systems; remanufacturing system design; and emission reduction in supply chain management. Specifically, the following papers are included in this Special Issue. The first category addresses renewable energy source, which includes manufacturing and operation of alternative energy products, such as batteries for electric vehicles, and system design to support manufacturing activities using renewable energy sources, such as electricity generated by wind turbines and solar panels. The second category focuses on energy savings in manufacturing, such as operational control and robot scheduling to minimize energy consumptions in production, optimal design of facility and production to reduce energy cost. The third category extends the study to remanufacturing, which plays a significant role to achieve sustainability and multiple life cycles. This includes remanufacturing system analysis, design and optimization, such as strategies for recycling, reassembly, etc. Finally, the last category considers supply chain management, within which multiple firms work together to reduce negative environmental impact.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish the effect of credit and owner/manager educational qualification on performance of micro and small enterprises in Kenya and their joint effect using the 2016 MSMEs survey data.Methodology: This is cross-sectional data collected from a population of 50,043 enterprises. A sample of 384 enterprises was used in the analysis as obtained using Fisher's (2003) formula for computing sample size from a large population. Inferential statistics was used to interrogate the relationship between the variables.Results: Regression results indicated that both access to credit services and educational qualification had a positive and significant effect on performance of the sampled enterprises. Further analysis indicated that the joint effect of the two variables was greater than their individual effect.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Recommendations of this study are that the central Bank of Kenya should focus more on lending and credit facilitation programs in order to encourage greater bank-led financing to the sector to help bridge the unmet demand for credit and that micro and small enterprises should be encouraged to establish good credit history with various lending institutions to enable them access credit facilities from financial institutions. In addition, owners/managers of the enterprises should be provided with training on managerial and technical skills to complement their educational qualifications in running the enterprises.


Macrophages have been discovered more than 100 years ago. Recent studies indicated that monocytes and macrophages can be categorized into several distinct phenotypes and their respective differentiation mechanisms are known. We also reported that the Jmjd3 is critical for the macrophage subtype activated by allergic stimuli (Nat. Immunol. 2010) and that the tissue resident macrophage subtype in adipose tissue, which is controlled by Trib1, is responsible for maintaining homeostasis of peripheral tissues such as adipocyte (Nature. 2013). Thus, it is considered that various macrophage/monocyte subtypes corresponding to certain disorders were existed in our body. Furthermore, in order to investigate the relationship between macrophage subtype and disease, we focused on fibrosis as the next target disease. Its pathogenesis is poorly understood, and there are few effective therapies. Previously we found that a new macrophage/monocyte subtype, which their markers are monocyte and share granulocyte characteristics, involved in development of fibrosis was accumulated in the affected area in the lungs at the beginning of fibrosis. We termed the monocyte/ macrophage subtype segregated-nucleus-containing atypical monocytes (SatM) (Nature. 2017). Towards understanding the mechanism of fibrosis onset, we next focused on investigation of non-haematopoietic cells involved in activation of immune cell such as SatM during fibrotic phase.


We present a multiple classifier system for model-free tracking. The tasks of detection (finding the object of interest), recognition (distinguishing similar objects in a scene), and tracking (retrieving the object to be tracked) are split into separate classifiers in the spirit of simplifying each classification task. The supervised and semi-supervised classifiers are carefully trained on-line in order to increase adaptivity while limiting accumulation of errors, i.e. drifting. In the experiments, we demonstrate real-time tracking on several challenging sequences, including multi-object tracking of faces, humans, and other objects. We outperform other on-line tracking methods especially in case of occlusions and presence of similar objects.


In this study, metal evaporated (ME) tapes with and without diamondlike carbon (DLC) coating were tested for friction, wear, and magnetic performance. Performance of flat DLC ME tape is compared with two non-DEC ME tapes (one being flat and the other with waviness). By using a commercial VCR as a magnetometer and the Wallace equation, changes in the rms head output level were correlated to changes in head-to-tape spacing as tape wear occurred during play/rewind cycling tests. Interface stability and recording performance at a 0.6 /spl mu/m recording wavelength were measured to bit level resolution using a dropout counter. Some pause mode and environmental testing were also performed. Tribological performance and magnetic reliability of ME tape was affected by waviness of the ME tape surface as well as by the presence of a DLC coating. Waviness of one kind of non-DEC ME tape caused poor magnetic performance and localized wear of the tape surface, but loose wear debris could escape contact areas by settling into valleys on the tape surface. In the case of flat non-DLC ME tape, loose wear debris could not escape from contact areas leading to early failure. DLC coating prevented catastrophic abrasive wear and reduction in head-to-tape spacing or intimate contact during cycling tests, but could not significantly improve the durability of ME tape. DLC coating reduces asperity compliance as compared to non-DEC tapes. All ME tapes failed by lateral crack formation (cracks often propagated through coating defects) driven by longitudinal tape tension or flexing of the tape in the transport. In pause mode, DLC coating improved magnetic reliability and tribological performance by preventing the heads from contacting the metallic magnetic layer. Based on this study, a flat tape must be used for magnetic considerations and DLC coating is needed to prevent abrasive wear and intimate contact. Reducing the number of coating defects and optimization of the toughness of magnetic and DLC coatings are key parameters for future ME tapes. At fixed temperature, high relative humidity leads to severe tape instability and high dropout frequency. At high specific humidities, lower temperature leads to severe tape instability and high dropout frequency. Bearing ratio curves for the tapes determine the onset of high friction and tape instability at high humidities.


Fabrication of well-aligned arrays of microfluidic channels is very challenging using conventional microfabrication processes. On the other hand, nature is unique in creating complex hierarchical architectures. For instance, wood-derived materials present well-aligned microchannels that offer the possibility to add new functionalities to biological templates, such as high conductivity necessary for electric and electrochemical devices. However, one of the challenges is to address electrical properties without clogging cellulose-based channels. In this work, a new regioselective coating method is reported to prepare three-dimensional functional conductive structures using bamboo as a bio-template. Silver ink was flowed inside bamboo vascular bundles and excess of the material was removed to prepare ultra-highly conductive coatings that did not block its channels. The conductivity of the hollow channels was 9.3 (±4.0) × 105 S m−1, which is the highest value reported for cellulose-based ordered materials. Such remarkable feature enabled the fabrication of unprecedented electrical and electrochemical devices. For example, three-dimensional circuits, microfluidic heaters and fully integrated nanostructured carbon-based electrochemical cells were fabricated using bamboo with fast and low-cost prototyping processes. Moreover, the present work opens a plethora of possibilities to incorporate conductors, semi-conductors and insulating materials for the next generation of electric and electrochemical "bambootronic" bio-devices.


This study explores the affective dimensions of female sex workers' relationships with their intimate, non-commercial partners and assesses how emotions shape each partner's sexual and drug-related risk within their relationship. We draw on qualitative data from a study of HIV, sexually transmitted infections and high-risk behaviours among female sex workers and their non-commercial partners in Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to illustrate that these couples share relationships based on love, trust, respect and emotional and material support. These relationships range in emotional intensity, which shapes partners' decisions not to use condoms with each other. Drugs were important in most couples' relationships. Among injectors, syringe sharing was common and represented both a sign of care and a pragmatic reaction to conditions of material scarcity. Our findings suggest that couple-based HIV interventions to address dual sexual and drug-related risks should be tailored to the emotional dynamics of sex workers' intimate relationships.


Andrea Long Chu's New York Times article, "My New Vagina Won't Make Me Happy (And It Shouldn't Have To)," marks a shift in trans discourse, raising issues about the challenges of surgical outcomes and being a post-op transgender woman with a candor that has heretofore been rare publicly. Yet it devotes little attention to the actual experience of being transgender. Similarly, much of gender theory succeeds at cycles of better and more accurate deconstruction, without mobilizing this to explore what it's like to be transgender. This article calls for renewed academic attention to the phenomenology of transgender—on issues like psychology, sexuality, and embodiment.


Urban 'tourism exploration space': the example of Łódź The author refers to the concept of 'tourism space' published earlier, and confronts this notion with a definition of 'urban space', bearing in mind that both these 'spaces' are subspaces of general 'geographical space'. Assuming that each is distinguished on the basis of differing criteria, the author believes that the tourism function which gives rise to 'tourism space' can develop within 'urban space'. Further on, the formulation of a precise definition of urban 'tourism exploration space' is focused on, which is understood as a personal space of created in the discovery of a city. The conclusion includes three case studies of urban 'tourism exploration space' in Łódź: Bidermann family properties, Piotrkowska courtyards and the 'Green Ring of Tradition and Culture'.


The usability of the alkali niobates with their ferroelectric and photorefractive properties could be expanded if the development of synthesis methods would allow to obtain small, preferably monodispersed, crystals in the sub-μm to nanometer regime. Of all the possible synthesis methods, the most reliable is currently hydrothermal synthesis to generate small crystallite sizes of these materials. Although the products of sodium niobate are polydisperse and partially agglomerated, they show a significant SHG signal that is unexpectedly comparable to that of potassium niobate. A view on the hydrothermal synthesis of sodium niobate reveals that the incorporation of cations in the crystalline lattice of the niobium educt plays a part in the formation of the product. The occurrence of distinct different phases, as in the case of potassium niobate, is not observed. Instead, it is shown that a clear assignment of the crystalline phase cannot be made here. This indicates that crystallization of the alkali niobates in hydrothermal synthesis depends on the stoichiometry, the niobium starting material and the cation used.


Introduction In the English Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, colonoscopy is the standard investigation to exclude cancer in participants who receive a positive faecal occult blood test result. A questionnaire is sent to all patients 30 days post-test. These data were used to assess patients' experience of colonoscopy. Methods Anonymised data were extracted from the Bowel Cancer Screening System. These included all patients who had colonoscopy between 01/01/11 and 31/12/12. Questionnaire items on the pre-test experience (whether patients understood the risks/benefits), the hospital experience (the test itself, issues of dignity/privacy) and post-test complications (bleeding/pain) were analysed. Pearson chi-square tests were used to compare experiences by gender, high vs. low levels of socioeconomic deprivation (using Index of Multiple Deprivation scores), and whether patients reported receiving sedation or not. Results After excluding patients outside the target date range and those who did not have colonoscopy, 76,717 patients were eligible for analysis, of whom 60,581 (79.0%) responded to the questionnaire. Nearly all patients felt they understood the risks (95.7%) and benefits (98.2%) of the test, and 97.8% felt the preparation instructions were clear. Comparison by gender and deprivation did not yield clinically meaningful (≥3%) differences. In terms of the hospital experience, virtually all patients felt they were treated with respect (98.5%) and had privacy (98.0%), but 20.8% experienced more discomfort than expected (although only 5.2% asked for the test to be stopped/paused). Procedural discomfort was moderated by gender, with more women than men reporting higher-than-expected discomfort (25.4% vs. 17.9%; p < 0.0005), and requesting that the test be stopped/paused (7.1% vs. 3.9%; p < 0.0005). Use of sedation showed only a weak association with patient experience: 22.2% of sedated vs. 20.2% of non-sedated patients reported unexpected discomfort; 6.4% vs. 4.8% asked for the test to be stopped/paused; both p-values <0.0005). Post-test, 14.3% of patients reported pain and 6.9% reported rectal bleeding. Pain was more common in women (18.0% vs. 11.9%; p < 0.0005) but there were no other clinically meaningful differences post-test related to gender or deprivation level. Conclusion Most patients referred for colonoscopy as part of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme have a positive colonoscopy experience. The most negative aspect of the experience was the test being unexpectedly uncomfortable. Patients are extensively counselled pre-procedure but more emphasis on managing expectations, along with continued measures to reduce discomfort and pain are required, particularly for women. Disclosure of Interest None Declared.


A retrospective study of 295 myasthenia gravis patients is presented. Age and sex distribution are analyzed, as well as the socio-economic background of the patients. The presenting clinical picture is recorded in detail, with emphasis on particular muscle groups initially involved. The course of the disease is studied with attention to the occurrence of myasthenic and cholinergic crises and to the overall pattern of the disease with the passage of time. The influence of pregnancy, respiratory infections, and menses on the course of myasthenia gravis is presented. Separate attention is given to coincident thyroid disease and to the ocular form of myasthenia gravis. The results of treatment of the disease with irradiation of the thymus, thymectomy and pharmacologic agents are analyzed in detail.


From results of first-principles all-electron full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave calculations, a materials design of half-metallic ferromagnetic semiconductors based on V- and Cr-doped BeTe is proposed. Without the need of n- or p-type doping, the stability of the ferromagnetic spin configuration versus the antiferromagnetic state for V- and Cr-based systems is predicted, whereas the situation is reversed for Mn-doped BeTe ordered alloys. The calculated electronic and magnetic structures of transition-metal-doped BeTe shows that consistent with the integer value for the total magnetic moment, half metallicity is obtained for V-and Cr- doped structures, whereas the Mn-doped systems are semiconducting. A careful analysis of the spin density reveals the antiferromagnetic (ferromagnetic) coupling between the Cr and V (Mn) d states and the anion dangling-bond p states, which is believed to be responsible for the stabilization of the ferromagnetic (antiferromagnetic) phase. These ferromagnetic semiconductors offer a potential for semiconductor spintronic applications at room temperature; therefore, an experimental confirmation of our theoretical predictions is encouraged.


In order to separate and/or attenuate noise contaminating seismic data, it is necessary to identify and use some characteristic of the noise which distinguishes it from "legitimate" seismic reflection energy. Sometimes, effective use of this characteristic requires the transformation of the input data samples to a new coordinate system via one or more transform or mapping operations. One unique characteristic available to analyze/separate certain noise modes on multi-component seismic data is that of particle motion polarization, since modes exhibiting characteristic polarization can be simultaneously and independently detected on sensors recording motion in two or more orthogonal directions. One seismic noise mode well known for its distinctive polarization is the Rayleigh Wave or "ground roll", so it constitutes a good target for a noise attenuation algorithm based on some aspect of polarization. Another prominent example of strongly polarized noise is the ice flexural wave often encountered on seismic data recorded on floating ice in the arctic; it is also a prime candidate for some form of polarization filtering. A simple common-mode noise estimation technique was devised and applied to a multi-component field example of each of these two types of coherent noise. Based on our relatively simple tests, however, it appears that separation of coherent noise based on its polarization on two independent particle motion component wavefields is no more effective than estimation of the noise in each wavefield separately, based solely on the coherence characteristics of the noise.


Banana production in Australia is currently worth $600 million annually, but is constantly threatened by root pathogens, such as plant-parasitic nematodes and Fusarium wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense). To reduce the impacts of soil borne diseases on banana production, farm management interventions are being designed to enhance organisms which suppress pathogens, while maintaining productivity. A holistic view of soil functions with an understanding of the ecological interactions is therefore required to develop productive, disease suppressive farming systems. Soil nitrogen and organic matter are two factors that have a large impact on soil organisms, and can be manipulated by farm management. Their impacts on biological processes were monitored in field trials in north Queensland using soil nematodes community structures and Community Level Physiological Profiling using MicroResp™. Nitrogen is applied to bananas to enhance vegetative plant growth and maintain production. However, high soil nitrogen inputs tended to increase bacterial domination in the soil environment and lead to an increase in root pathogens. Organic matter inputs provide carbon substrates for soil organisms. By increasing the diversity of organic matter inputs, through vegetative groundcovers, it was possible to increase soil biological diversity. Furthermore, vegetative groundcovers tended to increase the proportion of nematodes involved in organic matter recycling and reduce the proportion of plant-parasitic nematodes. The use of vegetative groundcovers also led to suppression of Fusarium wilt symptoms determined through soil bioassays. The results indicated that through the careful manipulation of nitrogen and organic matters inputs it was possible to engineer banana cropping system that suppress soil borne diseases and maintaining productivity.


Feedlot steers representing two breed-X groups (Salers-X, n = 46 and Brangus-X, n = 50) were measured ultrasonically at 28 d intervals to evaluate changes in fat thickness (FTU1), and area of the longissimus muscle (REAU1) for tbe possible development of prediction equations for time and weight effects on ultrasonic measurements. The Salers-X group was also measured (FTU2 and REAU2) with an additional ultrasound unit. Individual ages were not available on the cattle studied, so date of measurement was used as the time effect. Body weights were taken at time of isonification. Initial weight means were 649.5 and 798.3 (pooled SE = 61.1) lb for Salers-X and Brangus-X groups, while final weights were 1093 and 1087.9 (pooled SE = 81.3) lb, respectively. Regression equations for the Salers-X group indicated linear relationships (P < .01) between FTUI for both time and weight effects. Regression coefficients, b (and R2 values) for the Salers-X group were: b = .00045 (.51), b =-.0000079 (.57) for FTUI on weight and time, respectively. For the Brangus-X group, linear relationships existed (P < .01) between REAU1 on weight and time, respectively; b=.0091 (.51) and b=-.OOOI2 (.36). For the Salers-X group, correlation coefficients between the two machines ranged from .802 to .928 for FTU and .361 to .738 for REAU. These data could be useful for development of adjustment procedures of ultrasonic measurements for prediction of carcass merit.


Track quality affects passenger comfort and safety. To maintain the quality of the track, track geometry and track component defects are inspected routinely. Track geometry is inspected using a track geometry car (TGC). Measured values are stored in the machine and processed to evaluate the track quality. However, track component defects require more effort to inspect. Track component defects can be inspected manually which is time- and workload-consuming or using sensors installed at additional cost. This study presents an approach using track geometry obtained by a TGC to detect track component defects, namely, rail, switch and crossing, fastener and rail joint defects. Detection models are developed using several supervised machine learnings. The relationships between track component defects are analysed to gain insights using unsupervised machine learnings. From the study, the best model for detecting track component defects using track geometry is a deep neural network with an accuracy of 94.31% followed by a convolutional neural network with an accuracy of 93.77%. For the exploration of insights, k-means clustering is used to cluster the track components defects, and association rules are used to find the relationships between them. Examples of the insights from applying these two techniques are that switch and crossing defects are usually found where the radius of curvature is less than 2000 m and the gradient is positive, the most common defects when the radius of curvature higher than 4000 m are rail defects, or a worn wing rail will be found when the rail section has failed, ties in switches and worn point blades are found with the confidence of 92.17%. The findings of the study can be applied to detect track component defects using track geometry where additional cost is not required and unsupervised machine learning provides the insights that will be beneficial for railway maintenance. The information obtained from machine learning models will be complementary information to support decision making and improve the maintenance efficiency in the railway industry.


ABSTRACT Pareas iwasakii, a rare pareatine snake endemic to Japan, is considered a dietary specialist on land snails. I observed the oviposition and hatchling diet of this species in captivity. One female laid six eggs on 30 September, and one of these eggs hatched on 26 November 2004. The hatchling fed on the soft body of juvenile land snails, leaving empty shells, most likely by extracting the former from the latter using its mandibles as do the adult snakes. This observation suggests that the dietary habits of P. iwasakii do not exhibit ontogenetic changes.


The relationship between the homeless and the social service community marks a border where the disenfranchised meet the mainstream of society. "Crossing the Border", the first book-length study of outreach work to the mentally ill homeless, uses ethnographic tools to examine encounters at this border. Michael Rowe provides a rich picture not only of a particular group of homeless people, but also of the complicated interactions between the marginalized and those who try to help them. As it examines both the dilemmas and opportunities of outreach work to the mentally ill homeless, this compelling study asks us to consider the broader questions about how we relate to the poor and other marginal persons at the border of society. The author's personal encounters with the homeless as Director of the New Haven ACCESS outreach project, his interviews with fifty homeless persons for this study, and his numerous interviews with outreach staff, provide an invaluable personal perspective. In this study, Rowe draws a collective portrait of the homeless whom he interviewed and observed, discusses the outreach workers in depth, examines transactions from the perspective of each party, and finally, places these encounters within the social and institutional contexts that shape them. Rowe's writing is accessible and punctuated with many vivid anecdotes. As "Crossing the Border" shows, encounters between the homeless and outreach workers represent a measure of where we will set our social boundaries and what standard of living we will accept for those who live at that boundary.


The economical development in Indonesia since happen the monetary crisis that caused a lot either of state-owned companies or private companies had decline in various field, especially in the financial in payment of the labor fee.
 PT. Shendita Adi Karya is a company operating in the field of dwelling marketing while the name of author study how the implementation of payment in a working agreement in Laws number 13 of 2003 about the Employee of PT. Shendita Adi Karya in executing the payment makes an working agreement where a worker should or had to follows the testing period or training as long three month with the payment be given only half of the base salary. The author found the present of legal case in the working agreement that either be used for or be functioned by PT. Shendita Adi where PT. Shendita Adi Karya used two forms of working agreement. They are: working agreement for certain period or contract, and working agreement for uncertain or stagnant period, while in the working agreement for certain period or contract, PT. Shendita Adi Karya listed the presence of working test period or training whereas in the Laws Number 13 of 2003 Article 58 paragraph (1), it is very incompatible with the working agreement for certain period made by PT. Shendita Adi Karya. It is similar in the payment for working test period or training. The employer gives salary to the workers according to the current Provincial Minimum Salary. Such matter is incompatihle with Article 60 paragraph (2) Las number 13 of 2003. The meaning of salary according to Governmental Regulation Number 81 of 10181 about the Salary Protection is mentioned that the salary is an achievement as gifts from the employers to their labors for either completed or to will be completed works or service. The workers of labor are everyone that work and get the salary or payment in whatever forms and a!so the workers promised the increasing of salary if the dwellings is sold out in a great number, iii fact, there isn't any increasing salary had been promised. It often caused the workers or labors feel their duty and rights didn't be esteemed by the employers. The author used method of empirical legal research with the primary source data from PT. Shendita Adi Karya, whereas the secondary data that is primary legal sources includes laws regulations, and collection of data based on the result of interview with respondents.
 Thus, the author concluded that the part of workers or labors in doing every tasks in order to firstly understand either contains and forms of working agreement that be offered by and to the part of employer or entrepreneur should more esteem the rights and duties of worker or labor, and also the presence of consideration from the part of entrepreneur or employer in making working agreement. Thus, between the rights and duties of employees and the employers have mutual regards. The author gave advice in order there is any guidance about the working laws, especially in the matter of giving salary in working agreement, and it needs the presence of legal upright in the matter of an oral working agreement in order the part of employer more regard the rights and duties of workers or labors. Also the employers should do their duties as certainty to the workers or labors concerned with the system of salary payment according to the valid regulation


The popularity of online shopping has contributed to the development of comparison shopping agents (CSAs) aiming to facilitate buyers' ability to compare prices of online stores for any desired product. Furthermore, the plethora of CSAs in today's markets enables buyers to query more than a single CSA when shopping, thus expanding even further the list of sellers whose prices they obtain. This potentially decreases the chance of a purchase based on the prices outputted as a result of any single query, and consequently decreases each CSAs' expected revenue per-query. Obviously, a CSA can improve its competence in such settings by acquiring more sellers' prices, potentially resulting in a more attractive ``best price''. In this paper we suggest a complementary approach that improves the attractiveness of a CSA by presenting the prices to the user in a specific intelligent manner, which is based on known cognitive-biases.The advantage of this approach is its ability to affect the buyer's tendency to terminate her search for a better price, hence avoid querying further CSAs, without having the CSA spend any of its resources on finding better prices to present.The effectiveness of our method is demonstrated using real data, collected from four CSAs for five products. Our experiments with people confirm that the suggested method effectively influence people in a way that is highly advantageous to the CSA.


Biological invasions are a driving force for biodiversity decline, worldwide. These dynamic systems often include the transference of symbiotic or pathogenic organisms that display their own threat to local fauna. Alternatively, parasites introduced during an invasion can help to control the invasive host population and limit ecological damage. To understand invasion systems that include parasites, it is important to record the presence of invasive parasites as they travel to novel locations. In this study, we screen non-native Dikerogammarus haemobaphes located in Boroughbridge (United Kingdom) for microsporidian parasites, using a PCR diagnostic. We found a prevalence of 9.1% for two microsporidian pathogens: Cucumispora ornata and Dictyocoela berillonum. Genetic data for the two parasites and accompanying haplotype maps are used to determine potential origin and relatedness. Our hapmap for C. ornata indicates two haplotypes of this parasite in the UK, sharing similarities with isolates from Poland and Germany. For D. berillonum , our data concur with recent findings that this parasite does not appear to have high relative genetic variability and shares similarities with isolates across the EU and from multiple hosts. These microsporidian pathogens have a wide host range and pose a risk to surrounding native crustacean fauna. We report the presence of these two parasites in their most northern range and consider their likely origin and connectivity with other isolates across the UK, Europe, and Russia.


Extremely low birth weight infants (ELBW) are defined by birth weight of less than 1000 g and are frequently born at 27 weeks' gestation (GW) or younger. The neonatologists' efforts focused on improvement of intact survival rate, especially for those born at the frontiers of viability at 22/23 GW. Survival rates of >80% for the advanced gestations and > 50% for 23–24 GW have been reported. Higher gestational age and birth weight, female gender, better maternal education, and white race have been recognized as significant predictors of decreased morbidity in ELBW infants. Although the mortality rate has significantly contracted for this group with improved technology and better understanding of pathophysiology, the proportion of surviving infants without sequelae, has not improved as noticeably. We review the short and long-term morbidities in ELBW infants and compare own and literature data. We analyze some of the specific immediate problems for this group such as: respiratory problems, infection, thermoregulation, impaired glucose homeostasis and disturbed cardiovascular and excretory functions as well as late morbidities such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, late-onset infections, central nervous system occurrences, retinopathy and anemia of prematurity. We also deal with preventive and therapeutic strategies for improved outcome in this sensitive group of patients.


Abstract. The regional transport of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) plays an important role in the air pollution of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region in China. However, previous studies on regional transport of PM2.5 mainly aim at province level, which is insufficient for the development of an optimal joint PM2.5 control strategy. In this study, we calculate PM2.5 inflows and outflows through the administrative boundaries of three major cities in the BTH region, i.e., Beijing, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang, using the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting model)-CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality) modeling system. The monthly average inflow fluxes indicate the major directions of PM2.5 transport. For Beijing, the PM2.5 inflow fluxes from Zhangjiakou (in the northwest) and Baoding (in the southwest) constitute 57 % of the total in winter, and Langfang (in the southeast) and Baoding constitute 73 % in summer. Based on the net PM2.5 fluxes and their vertical distributions, we find there are three major transport pathways in the BTH region: the northwest–southeast pathway in winter (at all levels below 1000 m), the northwest–southeast pathway in summer (at all levels below 1000 m), and the southwest–northeast pathway in both winter and in summer (mainly at 300–1000 m). In winter, even if surface wind speeds are low, the transport at above 300 m can still be strong. Among the three pathways, the southwest–northeast happens along with PM2.5 concentrations 30 and 55 % higher than the monthly average in winter and summer, respectively. Analysis of two heavy pollution episodes in January and July in Beijing show a much (8–16 times) stronger transport than the monthly average, emphasizing the joint air pollution control of the cities located on the transport pathways, especially during heavy pollution episodes.


It is a fact that the doctrine of Militant Democracy is essential to protect society from the threat of terrorism. On the other hand, we should not ignore the element of its interpretive nature, which means that there is an apprehension that the states having a poor human rights record may use it to achieve their ulterior motives while damaging the fundamental rights of the individual. In Europe, the ECtHR and domestic courts at the national level are duty-bound to save these fundamental rights. Hence, the doctrine of proportionality is an essential tool to check the militant democracy measures on the fundamental freedoms and human rights. To understand the authenticity of the doctrine of proportionality, it is essential to establish its origin and stages of evolution, because this will enable me to explore the use of this doctrine, which is adopted by many nations, before analyzing its use in the UK's legal system.


Scientific social networking sites like ResearchGate or Academia.edu have become part of the work practice of academic researchers. These digital platforms have been designed precisely to encourage the exchange of knowledge between scholars and to help the expansion of collaborative networks among them. Even if studies on this topic have multiplied in recent years, there is a dearth of research on the actual impact of these platforms on scientific production. The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between the attitude of researchers towards scientific social networks and the use of knowledge in their scientific work. Data from users of the scientific social networking site ResearchGate were collected. A total of 143 valid responses were received and structural equation modeling was applied for data analysis. Findings of this study confirmed that researchers use knowledge obtained from scientific social networking sites both incorporating it within their research products and to acquire new competences. In particular approaching the platform as a scientific community with a shared language and a shared vision was found to have a positive impact on knowledge use. To the best knowledge of the authors this is the first study investigating the actual use of knowledge from scientific social networking sites by academic researchers. Results help us to understand the impact of these platforms on the work practice of a strategic sector like scientific research.


Small businesses often engage in social responsibility (SR) without knowing it or without referring to their actions as SR. This is particularly the case in developing countries where the idea of SR is seen as synonymous with philanthropy. While the literature on small business social responsibility is growing, our understanding of the context- specific determinants of responsible practices in microbusinesses (those that employ less than 10 employees) that dominate the business landscape in many developing countries is still limited. In this paper, we address this gap and offer a theoretical understanding of how microbusiness owner- managers understand and approach SR by drawing on rich qualitative data collected from Nigeria— Africa's largest economy. We utilise Social Representations Theory to understand (1) how and why microbusiness owner- managers limit their understanding of SR to philanthropic activities and (2) the wide range of practices, including philanthropic activities, that account for their overall Responsible Business Practices (RBPs)— those practices that enable them to act responsibly towards their stakeholders and/or operating environments. We find that owner- managers' representations of SR are anchored primarily on an idiosyncratic ethical tendency and inclination towards the creation of social/communal harmony by 'giving back to society' and objectified via actions deriving from three 'giving back' orientations, namely Core Philanthropism, Social Problem Solving, and Empowering. We model microbusiness owner- managers' RBPs, highlighting the intersectional interplay of the voluntary (SR as philanthropy) and non-voluntary (self- regulatory and legal) dimensions of RBPs. Finally, we discuss the key findings in relation to the extant literature and to policymakers and managers. process of attributes characteristics non- notions. In other words, it is the process of


Published data describing the inverse relationship between calcium intake and body weight in 564 women were evaluated for their dispersion around their means, and the fraction above any given weight or rate of weight gain was calculated from the parameters of the normal distribution for the variable concerned. At the 25th percentile of calcium intakes, 15% of young women were overweight, and that fraction fell to only 4% at calcium intakes in the range of currently recommended values. Similarly, obesity prevalence in this cohort fell from 1.4 to 0.2% across the same difference in calcium intakes. At midlife, women at the 25th percentile of intakes gained weight, on average, at a rate of 0.42 kg/y. This gain dropped to -0.011 kg/y at currently recommended calcium intakes. Although calcium intake explains only a small fraction of the variability in weight or weight gain, shifting the mean of the distributions downward by increasing calcium intake can be estimated to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity by perhaps as much as 60-80%.


In this paper we study the determinants of the strength of patent enforcement in 43 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) between 1998 and 2011, a period after the signing of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. We do so by building on and expanding the seminal work of Ginarte and Park (1997) on the pre-TRIPS determinants of patent rights in the years 1960-1990. We find that in the years after TRIPS was signed, the strength of patent enforcement of a country is positively determined by two variables that signify the usage of the patent and intellectual property system, and the number of patent and trademark applications. We also find that the level of research and development expenditure, the quality of human capital, and the level of development of a country have positive effects on the strength of the enforcement of patent law in practice. Intellectual property rights enforcement is one of the key investment-related policies included in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development. Identifying the determinants of strong patent systems will help policymakers at the national and supranational levels to design and implement effective policies that strengthen national patent systems, thereby enhancing economic benefits such as greater levels of commercialization of intangible assets and greater levels of international trade and investment.


We report a 15 years old girl presenting with severe hematochezia with secondary anemia and hemodynamic decompensation, rectal prolapse and spontaneous anal elimination of polyps. She had no family history of polyposis and a search for the disease in her close relatives was negative. A complete diagnostic work up did not find polyps in other segments of the digestive tract. Colonoscopy showed more than 200 polyps between the cecum and the rectum. Pathological analysis confirmed the presence of retention polyps with adenomatous areas and mild atypia. The patient was subjected to a proctocolectomy with ileal pouch and sphincteric preservation, using a mechanical suture. Postoperative evolution was uneventful and after 24 months of follow up, the patient is asymptomatic, with two stool movements per day and without incontinence.


The globalization of businesses and the cooperation between organizations have brought on an ever increased need for providing support for distributed collaborations. In this paper, we argue that existing peer-to-peer frameworks, although suitable for collaborative environments, fail to provide the support for multiple consistency semantics required by modern complex collaborations. We present GRACE, a middleware platform that enables distributed and mobile collaborations, by combining the capabilities of distributed hash tables (DHTs) with a layered architecture that supports a wide range of semantics. The DHT substrate provides support for mobility, high scalability, availability and load balancing of data, as well as self-repairing capabilities and ease of management, while the layered architecture takes into account the different semantic needs of the applications. We evaluate the efficiency of the algorithm for routing requests to the correct replica in an implementation of GRACE built on Pastry.


Bioactive CNT reinforced hydroxyapatite nano-composite is synthesized by in-situ precipitation for use in load bearing orthopedic applications. Microwaves augment the synthesis, enhance the reaction rate, and institute energy savings. Heat and acid treated purified CNTs in microwaves are functionalized and dispersed in calcium nitrate tetrahydrate. Diammonium hydrogen phosphate is incorporated in calcium ion solution to furnish the required Ca:P ratio. Refluxing of the precursor solution is accomplished under microwaves. XRD shows the phase purity and crystallinity, FTIR spectroscopy indicates the fucntionalization of CNTs and SEM analysis depicts the nanoporous nanomorphology of synthesized powder. TGA measures the thermal endurance of product, showing good CNTs retention at high temperatures (1100°C) in nitrogen ambient, otherwise they get oxidized in air in that temperature range. CNT reinforced sintered biomaterial exhibits excellent consolidation and a Vicker hardness increment of 30%. The relation of between mechanical properties and sintering time is correlated by SEM.


Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) is one of the leading vegetable crops around the world. However, its growth, yield, and quality are reduced by several abiotic stresses such as salt stress. This study, consisted of two independent experiments was conducted to examine the effects of salt stress in potato and influence of nanoparticle-sized zinc (ZnO-NPs) in improving salt tolerance. The first experiment was conducted under in vitro conditions to evaluate the regenerated callus growth in response to the presence or absence of ZnO-NPs under different levels of NaCl (0, 17, 34, 51 and 68 mM). The second experiment was conducted using in vitro derived plantlets treated ex vitro with ZnO-NPs to evaluate its effect on tuber yield and nutritional quality under salt stress (0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 g L -1 ). In both experiments, ZnO-NPs were applied at 0.0 or 50 mg L -1 to three potatoes cvs. Spunta, Nicola, and Hermes raised under five levels of NaCl-induced salt stress: 0, 17, 34, 51 and 68 mM. Salt stress significantly reduced the in vitro callus growth progressively with increasing NaCl levels, while ZnO-NPs had a positive impact on growth under salt stress. Potato tubers harvested ex vitro differed significantly for calcium and iron under different levels of salt stress in response to ZnO-NPs application. The number of tubers responded negatively to increasing levels of NaCl with or without ZnO-NPs application. All three potato cultivars, grown under 34 mM NaCl, regardless of ZnO-NPs application, had a significantly higher number of tubers than when grown at other NaCl concentrations. The highest number of tubers was recorded for all three tested potato cultivars receiving ZnO-NPs under non-saline conditions, whereas the lowest number was recorded in plants under high levels of salinity, with or without ZnO-NPs. The cv. Spunta was the least affected by salt stress followed by the cv. Hermis and cv. Nicola for most traits. Application of ZnO-NPs proved effective in ameliorating the salinity-induced harmful effects on yield and quality of potato.


Machine failure prediction involves the processing of massive amounts of data, expert's knowledge of various types of machines, problems of noisy data and operation variability. The chief advantages of effective machine failure prediction are that it improves system reliability, reduces maintenance costs, and improves response times in emergencies as well as the appropriateness and management of these responses. In recent decades, there has been much promising research into machine failure prediction that has involved neural networks, case-based reasoning and data mining, yet while all of these methods have proven useful, they differ in their suitability for application to machines of differing levels of reliability. Neural network approaches also require additional difficulties in that they must use specific feature extractors and that they learn slowly. This project has the objectives of integrating neural networks, case-based reasoning and data mining approaches into an Integrated Optimization Maintenance Planning System (IOMPS) that will create a machine failure prediction model which incorporates an efficient machine maintenance planning system including an automatic failure prediction and scheduling features.
To determine the optimized application model, we first pre-process the machine maintenance case file data. This data is then hybridized through a neural network and using mining association rules for case-based reasoning. The output of these two processes is then evaluated for speed and accuracy. This knowledge is then applied to future similar problems.
IOMPS has been used to handle complex machine failure predictions and associated maintenance planning on a number of the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited (MTRCL) systems, these systems, including the Automatic Fare Collection System, Passenger Escalator and Station Chiller Plant of (MTRCL), all operate differently as their maintenance planning processes are individually designed, yet IOMPS significantly outperformed the existing systems.


- The sector of Private Construction Companies is one of the most important sectors in construction market in IRAQ. This sector played an important role in the last ten years in the Iraqi construction field. The idea of this research came from the hardly competitive bidding among these many private companies, and because of the lack of knowledge by many of these companies about the bidding strategy theories. This research is a trial to create a balanced condition of the bidding price for the contractor. The average bidding strategy method depends on historical data for the bidders and it is a relationship between the added percentage of profit and the winning probability. An important factor is inserted in this research, which is the maximum fiscal deficit that is facing the contractor during construction period of any project; this deficit is the difference between the received discounted payments and the cost of finished works for any period during construction. The contractor apply the bidding strategy method to lower his profit margin to the lowest certain extent to rise the opportunity to win the contract. Nevertheless, he forget that the lowest profit margin leads to highest cash deficit during construction. A survey was done for a contract construction company in the private sector in Iraq, where the competition is more clearly than the governmental sector, by collecting data for (5) competitive companies in (16) projects. By using the average bid method, to determine the added (12%) of profit the winning probability was (9%), and from the analysis of the cash flow forecasting curve the maximum fiscal deficit will be IQD (8,972,000) at the second month of the project execution duration. By applying the resultant equation and to lower the deficit through rising profit by (0.1%) the winning opportunity will be decrease by (0.6%). In this research, a relationship is drawn between the profit margin and the maximum deficit for project, and finally a relationship is drawn between the deficit and the winning opportunity of the contract. Both of these two relationships are linear, and the important results are that any contract should apply both average bid method and cash deficit method at the same time, according to the economic condition to its firm.


The aim of this research study was to evaluate the influence of utilising natural polymers as a form of soil stabilization, in order to assess their potential for use in building applications. Mixtures were stabilized with a natural polymer (alginate) and reinforced with wool fibres in order to improve the overall compressive and flexural strength of a series of composite materials. Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and mechanical strength testing techniques were then used to measure the porous properties of the manufactured natural polymer-soil composites, which were formed into earth blocks. Mechanical tests were carried out for three different clays which showed that the polymer increased the mechanical resistance of the samples to varying degrees, depending on the plasticity index of each soil. Variation in soil grain size distributions and Atterberg limits were assessed and chemical compositions were studied and compared. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) techniques were all used in conjunction with qualitative identification of the aggregates. Ultrasonic wave propagation was found to be a useful technique for assisting in the determination of soil shrinkage characteristics and fibre-soil adherence capacity and UPV results correlated well with the measured mechanical properties.


Over the last two decades, the European Union (EU) has increasingly relied on the use of restrictive measures in its external action; however, this has not been accompanied by an attentive evaluation of their effectiveness. In this Issue Paper, Francesco Giumelli and Paul Ivan focus on the case studies of Iran, Belarus, Syria and Myanmar (Burma) and explore ways of understanding the effectiveness of EU restrictive measures by providing a framework for assessment which looks at: the role of sanctions in an overall foreign policy strategy; the purpose and goals of the policy in terms of coercing, constraining and signalling; the impact of sanctions and the costs incurred by the EU; and the sanctions' comparative utility. After evaluating the four case studies, the authors argue that restrictive measures positively contribute to shaping the EU's external relations but that there is a need for a careful evaluation of what sanctions are supposed to achieve in order to build the proper expectations upon which their effectiveness can be judged. In order to improve the monitoring mechanisms of sanctions at the EU level, the authors recommend the creation of an EU panel of experts who would be tasked with monitoring sanctions, a measure which would enhance the evaluation of sanctions and could potentially improve the way in which they are integrated into the EU external action.


We theoretically investigate structural relaxation and activated diffusion of glass-forming liquids at different pressures using both Elastically Collective Nonlinear Langevin Equation (ECNLE) theory and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. An external pressure restricts local motions of a single molecule within its cage and triggers slowing down of cooperative mobility. While the ECNLE theory and simulations generally predict a monotonic increase of the glass transition temperature and dynamic fragility with pressure, the simulations indicate a decrease of fragility as pressures above 1000 bar. The structural relaxation time is found to be linearly coupled with the inverse diffusion constant. Remarkably, this coupling is independent of compression. The theoretical calculations quantitatively agree well with the simulations and are also consistent with prior work.


Objective: To determine the prevalence, incidence, and predictors of epilepsy among older adults in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). Methods: We analyzed data prospectively collected in CHS and merged with data from outpatient Medicare administrative claims. We identified cases with epilepsy using self-report, antiepileptic medication, hospitalization discharge ICD-9 codes, and outpatient Medicare ICD-9 codes. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to identify factors independently associated with incident epilepsy. Results: At baseline, 42% of the 5,888 participants were men and 84% were white. At enrollment, 3.7% (215 of 5,888) met the criteria for prevalent epilepsy. During 14 years of follow-up totaling 48,651 person-years, 120 participants met the criteria for incident epilepsy, yielding an incidence rate of 2.47 per 1,000 person-years. The period prevalence of epilepsy by the end of follow-up was 5.7% (335 of 5,888). Epilepsy incidence rates were significantly higher among blacks than nonblacks: 4.44 vs 2.17 per 1,000 person-years (p < 0.001). In multivariable analyses, risk of incident epilepsy was significantly higher among blacks compared to nonblacks (hazard ratio [HR] 4.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.99–8.17), those 75 to 79 compared to those 65 to 69 years of age (HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.21–3.55), and those with history of stroke (HR 3.49, 95% CI 1.37–8.88). Conclusions: Epilepsy in older adults in the United States was common. Blacks, the very old, and those with history of stroke have a higher risk of incident epilepsy. The association with race remains unexplained.


Background: Anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs (e.g., warfarin, clopidogrel and acetylsalicylic acid) are key therapeutic agents in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However, drug–drug interactions may lead to a greatly increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding when these drugs are combined. We assessed whether antithrombotic drug combinations increased the risk of such bleeding in a general practice population. Methods: We conducted a population-based, retrospective case–control study using records in the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database from 2000 through 2005. Cases were identified as patients over 18 years of age with a first-ever diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding. They were matched with controls by physician practice, patient age and index date (date of diagnosis of bleeding). All eligible patients had to have at least 3 years of follow-up data in the database. Drug exposure was considered to be any prescription issued in the 90 days before the index date. Results: There were 4028 cases with a diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding and 40 171 matched controls. The prescribing of acetylsalicylic acid with either clopidogrel (adjusted rate ratio [RR] 3.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.78–5.47) or warfarin (adjusted RR 6.48, 95% CI 4.25–9.87) was associated with a greater risk of gastrointestinal bleeding than that observed with each drug alone. The same was true when a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug was combined with either clopidogrel (adjusted RR 2.93, 95% CI 1.74–4.93) or warfarin (RR 4.60, 95% CI 2.77–7.64). Interpretation: Drug combinations involving antiplatelets and anticoagulants are associated with a high risk of gastrointestinal bleeding beyond that associated with each drug used alone. Physicians should be aware of these risks to better assess their patients' therapeutic risk–benefit profiles.


ABSTRACT:  The purpose of this paper is to increase the awareness of accounting instructors, particularly those teaching introductory courses, of an important and relatively new development in cognitive psychology. This development, called cognitive load theory (CLT), both identifies the cognitive constraints of novice learners when learning complex tasks and also provides specific methods for improving learning efficiency. Despite extensive CLT research and its widespread application in the instructional design applications for many other fields, very little discussion has appeared in accounting education literature. This suggests not just an oversight, but also a great opportunity. This paper will present: (1) an overview of CLT and its use, (2) a brief history of recent learning theory and its effect on accounting education and the development of CLT, (3) a discussion of the key elements of CLT and its prescriptive research results for the classroom, and (4) suggestions for how CLT might benefit accoun...


Poverty and high levels of food insecurity have been some of the biggest problems facing the nation of South Africa since the early days of democracy. Whilst the black majority hoped for a more improved economy after the country's first democratic elections, the legacy of apartheid laws has made the reality to be a different story. Yes, it is true that the nation has continued to grow over the last decade but only the minority has enjoyed this growth at the expense of the majority. This paper attempts to review the situation in South Africa (SA) through discussing food insecurity and the different faces of poverty faced by the citizens of this rainbow nation. This paper covers a number of concepts, which include the concept of food security, poverty, their definitions and application in South Africa's context. Poverty situation and their indicators in South Africa were also discussed. The paper advocates for the development of small-scale agricultural system in rural areas, provision of financial support and commercialization of the farm produce as the means to reduce poverty, achieve food security and decimate the high rate of unemployment in South Africa.

 Key words: Poverty, food security, smallholder agriculture, rural development.


The ability of contrast echocardiography to assess regional myocardial perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass in a dog model for coronary artery bypass surgery was evaluated. Sonicated Renograffin-76 microbubbles (meglumin diatrigoate and sodium diatrigoate) were injected into an aortic root proximal to an aortic occlusion clamp root while dogs were on cardiopulmonary bypass, with the heart arrested in diastole. Echocardiographic contrast-enhanced regions of myocardial perfusion were easily visualized. Differences in contrast-enhanced myocardial regions depended on coronary artery occlusion or patency. The contrast-enhanced images of myocardial perfusion showed that, for a given myocardial segment of the supplying vessel, the presence or absence of contrast effect reliably predicted vessel occlusion or patency (P less than .01). In the future contrast echocardiography may allow the direct assessment of regional myocardial perfusion in the operating room.


Alternating current (AC) is the main driving force in the industries and residential areas, but for the long transmission line (more than 400 miles) AC transmission is more expensive than that of direct current (DC). Technically, AC transmission line control is more complicated because of the frequency. DC transmission does not have these limitations, which has led to build long HVDC transmission lines over the last 40 years. HVDC technology made possible to transfer bulk power over long distances. This paper presents a comparative evaluation of HVDC and HVAC transmission systems.


Drug addiction adversely affects the addict and his/her entire family. Spouses of drug addicts are seriously affected by their partners' addiction. Co-dependency is usually attributed to family members of addicts, especially spouses. It is often described as a condition whereby a person/s related to the drug addict is extremely focused on the addict and his/her behavior such that the family member eventually becomes dysfunctional. In Iran, the majority of drug addicts are married men. Hence, this study focused on wives of drug addicts in Iran who were actively involved in Nar-Anon self-help groups. However, their experience in the journey to recovery from co-dependency is unclear. There is also a lack of consensual definition about the concept of co-dependency and its recovery process despite the vast use of this term in addiction counseling. This qualitative study explored the characteristics of co-dependency among wives of drug addicts in Iran before their involvement in NarAnon self-help groups and provided insight into the process of their recovery through participation in Nar-Anon. This study was guided by two research questions: 1) What are the characteristics of codependency among wives of drug addicts before their involvement in Nar-Anon self-help groups in Iran? 2) How do the wives of drug addicts recover from co-dependency based on their experiences in Nar-Anon self-help groups in Iran? Specifically, this study employed qualitative case study design. Based on purposive snowball sampling technique, 11 Iranian wives of drug addicts voluntarily participated. The respondents had been actively participating in Nar-Anon self-help groups and had completed working on the 12 steps of the Nar-Anon program. The data were collected through face to face interviews, non-participation observation, and documents. The data derived from transcripts of the interviews were analyzed through constant comparative method. Field notes, and documents were used to triangulate the data. The analyses of data derived from the first research question yielded five major themes for the characteristics of co-dependency among wives of Iranian drug addicts, namely: denial, enabling behaviors, low self-worth, enmeshed self, and weak relationship with God. The findings showed that the characteristics of co-dependency among wives of Iranian drug addicts were mostly similar to the characteristics of co-dependents in previous studies conducted outside Iran. However, the finding that "Weak relationship with God" as one of the characteristics of co-dependent wives in Iran, had rarely been reported in previous studies. Seven interconnected themes emerged from analyses based on the second research question including: social network of Nar-Anon, raised awareness, acceptance of the reality, spiritual growth, detachment from unhealthy dependence on others, taking the responsibility of herself, and transferring the message of Nar-Anon to others. The findings indicated that recovery from co-dependency was an ongoing process which takes place gradually through regular participation in the Nar-Anon self-help program and step work. The findings of this study demonstrated the importance of a supportive and empathetic group environment in the process of recovery from co-dependency. Furthermore, the present study highlighted the importance of integrating spirituality in the process of recovery from co-dependency. These findings of this study mainly support Whitefield's Recovery Model of Co-dependency. In terms of practical implications, this study would help addiction counselors and other mental health professionals in Iran to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of co-dependency among wives of drug addicts and to provide more effective services to family members of drug addicts.


There is a need for new approaches and endpoints in oncology drug development, particularly with the advent of immunotherapies and the multiple drug combinations under investigation. Tumor dynamics modeling, a key component to oncology "model-informed drug development," has shown a growing number of applications and a broader adoption by drug developers and regulatory agencies in the past years to support drug development and approval in a variety of ways. Tumor dynamics modeling is also being investigated in personalized cancer therapy approaches. These models and applications are reviewed and discussed, as well as the limitations and issues open for further investigations. A close collaboration between stakeholders like clinical investigators, statisticians, and pharmacometricians is warranted to advance clinical cancer therapeutics.


Increasingly stringent pollution regulations have spurred a broad interest in the reduction of engine emissions. Two strategies can be considered: after-treatment or engine emissions reduction. For Diesel engines, after-treatment has a high cost induced by the required technology and implementation issues. In this context, the Highly Premixed Combustion combustion mode (HPC) has emerged as a topic of major interest in recent years. It represents one of the most promising ways for new generation of CI engines using high Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) rates. Experimentation on the testbench brought the proof of significant emission reduction. However, actual vehicle implementation implies frequent transient which fall far beyond steady state experimentation on the testbench. Several key challenges have to be addressed. With this combustion technology, accurate torque balancing at all engine modes is a requirement. Even slight unbalance between the cylinders can have dramatic consequences and induce important noise, possible stall and higher emissions. To achieve this goal, we develop high frequency individual cylinder estimators. These serve as tools for real time control strategies.


In laboratory experiments, infants can learn patterns of
features that co-occur (e.g., Fiser & Aslin, 2002). This finding
leaves two questions unanswered: What do infants do with the
knowledge acquired from such statistical learning, and which
patterns do infants attend to in the noisy and cluttered world
outside of the laboratory? Here, we show that 9-month-old
infants form expectations about co-occurring features
remaining fused, an essential skill for object individuation and
recognition (e.g., Goldstone, 2000; Schyns & Rodet, 1997).
We also show that though social cues may temporarily detract
attention away from learning events, they appear to stimulate
infants to display learning better in complex situations than
when infants learn on their own without attention cues. These
findings suggest that infants can use feature co-occurrence to
learn about objects and that social cues shape such
foundational learning in a noisy environment during infancy.


In 1992, amid renewed neo-Nazi agitation throughout Western Europe, a German court tried a sick old man named Josef Schwammberger for crimes committed in Poland in World War II. The survivors of the Holocaust are now in the last years of their lives, and soon there will be no one left who can offer personal witness to the appalling events of that time. This investigation of the case of the last major Nazi war criminal likely to be brought to trial explores the historical and personal legacies of the Holocaust. How did Schwammberger, an SS sergeant, come to hold absolute sway over two Polish towns? How accurate are victims' recollections? Why did the German government make no serious effort to pursue Schwammberger, until the Simon Wiesenthal Centre established his whereabouts beyond question? What can his case teach us about our shared responsibility to remember?


Calculus of the bladder is endemic in parts of China. Thomson 1 reported 2,949 lithotomies performed at the Canton Hospital between the years 1861 and 1919. Olpp and Kuhne, 2 in the same province observed 189 cases of vesical calculus in nine years. Cochran 3 in Anhwei Province, in Central China, treated 227 patients with calculus of the bladder in the course of twelve years. In five years I saw about 150 patients with vesical calculus at the University Hospital in Tsinan, capital of Shantung Province; 126 of these patients admitted for treatment form the basis of this report. Shantung is a northern coastal province. The dense population, estimated at about 38,000,000, is largely rural, wresting a subsistence from the arid soil by means of a primitive system of irrigation. Although the winters are long, the total number of hours of sunshine during the year is large. INCIDENCE Three fourths


When Montenegro narrowly voted to break way from its loose union with Serbia in its May referendum, world leaders praised the peaceful election and embraced the re-emergence of the tiny nation. Attention quickly turned away from the Balkan region and back to the continuing trouble in Iraq, the nuclear standoffs in Iran and North Korea, and radical Islamic terrorism. However, the Balkan peninsula remains troubled; it still contains elements that could unravel the tenuous peace. To lay the foundations for peace and stability in southeastern Europe within the next decade, the European Union, the United Nations, and the United States need to reverse their inattentiveness toward the region and redouble their efforts in healing its painful past. Fortunately, the prospect of EU accession provides ample leverage for the trio toward achieving its goals. Montenegro's break from Serbia has created difficulties that must be defused. That the close vote for Montenegrin independence broke down along regional and ethnic lines demonstrates that the country's greatest challenge is dealing with the ethnic tensions among its people. Montenegrin independence already has emboldened talk of Serb separatism in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the northern autonomous province of Vojvodina of Serbia. The ongoing talks between Serbian and Kosovar leaders on the status of Kosovo have produced few results, and Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica continues to insist that Kosovo must remain a part of Serbia despite the general consensus held by European nations that Kosovo should become independent. If ignored by the international community, the former Yugoslavian states face the risk of backsliding into militant nationalism and regional conflict. With the region threatening to erupt again, the United Nations and European nations should carefully monitor nationalist and separatist feelings within the Balkans. Efforts to clamp down on extremist elements must begin without delay. Aid and capacity building projects by the United States and other allies should continue to be funded and even increased if necessary to bring calm during this volatile transition period. Besides harming the Balkans, constant fighting would ultimately divert more attention and resources from the international community than would a proactive approach. Many Balkan states, especially Macedonia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, will likely welcome active international participation. These countries crave EU membership and are eager to follow EU advice to seem worthy of admission. Unfortunately, whether from fatigue at the ten-country enlargement two years ago, paralyzed politics due to narrowly divided governments, or ongoing debate over the EU constitution, EU nations have recently been noncommittal about further enlargement. In spite of these problems, the European Union needs to understand quickly it is solely the promise of membership that provides the impetus in these countries for change. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As it re-engages, the European Union should not handle the incorporation of the Balkans as a slow-moving and linear process. …


With increasing utilization of high power-electronic converters, power-system modeling and stability analysis become ever more challenging. This paper introduces a transfer-matrix-based modeling method for power-system stability analysis. The method has previously been applied for studying the dynamic interaction between voltage-source converters and ac systems. In this paper, the modeling method is used to analyze some conventional power-system stability issues. It is demonstrated that the proposed modeling method gives a new interpretation of conventional power-system stability from a feedback-control point of view. The poles and zeros of the so-called Jacobian transfer matrix (JTM) are useful for understanding the properties of ac/dc systems.


Supportive housing is a package of assistance for tenants to address health and other needs as well as sustaining affordable tenancies, mostly in social housing. Some supportive housing is provided in a congregate (single) site context, but some providers use housing scattered across multiple locations with support provided through outreach workers. Tenants typically are highly vulnerable because of life experiences, such as trauma and dysfunctional families. The project used a mix of methods including a survey of over 100 tenants in scattered-site and single-site supportive housing, and qualitative interviews with both tenants and tenancy and support providers in single-site supportive housing. Support, in all the forms it assumed, was not fundamentally about support providers doing practical things for the tenant. Rather it was a practice mechanism for tenants to take greater control over the day-to-day functioning of their own lives. Providers sought to: improve habits and behaviours (e.g. being a good neighbour, keeping one's property clean, paying rent, etc); foster responsibility and independent living skills that would last beyond supportive housing; and empower and normalise tenants with the goal to enable tenants to become functional and then to access normal housing. Tenants of supportive housing were expected to, and often did, play roles in constructing the nature of support, especially in single site housing. An important factor in recovery from homelessness and other problems was to develop informal networks of support by neighbours, however, networks and socialising among neighbours could also undermine recovery efforts and contribute to or exacerbate personal problems. Tenants described making a diverse range of life improvements and also attributed their positive life changes to the support they received. Key to this was the security and stability afforded to tenants because of the long-term nature of the housing provided, and many were able to sustain housing for at least 18 months. Its effectiveness and desirability was also due to its safety (many tenants had prior experiences of violence, intimidation and danger). Supportive housing, be it single-site or scattered-site, is also more effective when it is a practical resource to address problems, when barriers to access support are removed, and when support is sufficiently broad to make opportunities available for tenants to exercise choices. It is also effective when tenure arrangements offer security so that tenants are provided opportunities to improve their lives and leave on their own terms.


Rac1 GTPase is implicated as a signaling mediator in various cellular events. In this study, we show that Rac1 contributes to IFN-γ-induced inflammatory responses in rat astrocytes. We revealed that IFN-γ rapidly stimulated activation of Rac1 in C6 astroglioma cells by investigating GST-PAK-PBD-binding ability. We also found that Rac1 deficiency led to attenuation of IFN-γ-responsive transcriptional responses. Compared with levels in control cells, IFN-γ-induced IFN-γ-activated sequence promoter activity was markedly reduced in both C6 astroglioma cells and primary astrocytes expressing RacN17, a well-characterized Rac1-negative mutant. The expression of several IFN-γ-responsive genes, such as MCP-1 and ICAM-1, was also reduced in cells expressing RacN17. Consistent with these observations, IFN-γ-induced phosphorylation of STAT1 and STAT3 was lower in C6 cells expressing RacN17 (referred to as C6-RacN17) than in control cells. However, there was no difference in expression level of IFN-γRα subunit and IFN-γ-induced phosphorylation of JAK1 between C6 control and C6-RacN17 cells. Interestingly, Rac1 appeared to associate with IFN-γRα and augment the interaction of IFN-γR with either STAT1 or STAT3 in response to IFN-γ. Taken together, we suggest that Rac1 may serve as an auxiliary mediator of IFN-γ-signaling, at least at the level of STAT activation, thus contributing to maximal activation of IFN-γ-responsive inflammatory signaling in rat astrocytes.


Introduction In our experience, surgical participation in point-of-care simulation training has been poor, in most part due to the lack of an available surgical simulator. Our aim was to create an interactive operative site within a simulation manikin, to encourage surgical participation in point-of-care simulation team training. Method Using a non-functional Laerdal SimMan manikin, we removed the abdominal block (usually houses the bowel sounds speaker) and created a mould of this cavity using plaster of Paris. This mould was painted, and then made waterproof using several layers of PVA glue. A Sengstaken tube was secured in the centre of the cavity to replicate a large blood vessel (the four lumens allowing us to create multi-source bleeding), and moulding clay was used to replicate the liver/Bowel. A section of synthetic skin was secured tightly across the top of the cavity, with enough tension to allow surgical incisions to be performed. The manikin with the new abdominal insert was then used for a point-of-care surgical scenario covering the management of intra-operative haemorrhage. Results The simulation took place in surgical theatres involving a full theatre team, including a consultant and registrar from both surgery and anaesthesia, and anaesthetic and scrub ODPs. The scenario involved elective laparoscopic surgery complicated by intra-abdominal bleeding, with the learning points around the surgical decision making, the anaesthetic and surgical management of major haemorrhage, and the associated human factors. Feedback from the scenario was extremely positive, with particular reference to the surgical insert enhancing the surgical aspects of the simulation. Conclusion The creation of our surgical insert was simple and inexpensive, and has allowed us to enhance the simulation experience for theatre team training. The insert is easily reproducible and reusable, and will allow incorporation of simple laparoscopic and open surgical procedures within point-of-care simulation.


Desert Australia is a vast, largely unpopulated area serviced by few roads. In recent years, tourism has been identified as an industry that has some potential to generate employment and investment opportunities in the region. Because of the distances involved and the largely unsealed road network that radiates off the main north-south highway much of the region is inaccessible to conventional vehicles. As a consequence, interest in four-wheel-drive (4WD) tourism has grown and a number of desert regions have identified this group as a potential market that could be further developed. One of the experiences that is associated with parts of desert Australia is its heritage values, both natural and built. This paper explores the role of heritage as a motivation to travel to desert Australia by four-wheel-drivers and the subsequent proportion of visitor expenditure that can be attributed to heritage tourism consumption. It concludes that while heritage is just one of many components of a 4WD trip, there may be substantial potential for increasing its economic contribution.


Private and public partnerships are defended by both guidelines for action and legal frameworks for disaster risk management. The objective of this study is to identify a framework for action that allows joint collaborative partnership between these sectors. The theoretical discussion brings concepts that raise questions that permeate the possibility of partnership based on the new Sendai framework, as well as corporate social responsibility in the value, balance and accountability (VBA) integrative model. The presented framework is compared to the experience of the tornado which occurred in Brazil in the city of Xanxerê (Santa Catarina) in 2015. We came to the conclusion that partnership advance results from paradigm shifts in both sectors, on the one hand, with the development of management mechanisms that clearly define roles and responsibilities of those involved, and, on the other hand, motivation for responsible business conduct.


Deep complex U-Net structure and convolutional recurrent network (CRN) structure achieve state-of-the-art performance for monaural speech enhancement. Both deep complex U-Net and CRN are encoder and decoder structures with skip connections, which heavily rely on the representation power of the complex-valued convolutional layers. In this paper, we propose a complex convolutional block attention module (CCBAM) to boost the representation power of the complex-valued convolutional layers by constructing more informative features. The CCBAM is a lightweight and general module which can be easily integrated into any complex-valued convolutional layers. We integrate CCBAM with the deep complex U-Net and CRN to enhance their performance for speech enhancement. We further propose a mixed loss function to jointly optimize the complex models in both time-frequency (TF) domain and time domain. By integrating CCBAM and the mixed loss, we form a new end-to-end (E2E) complex speech enhancement framework. Ablation experiments and objective evaluations show the superior performance of the proposed approaches.