Objective To determine (a) the prevalence of hypertension during sleep in pre-eclampsia and gestational hypertension, and (b) whether women with hypertension during sleep have worse pregnancy outcomes than hypertensive pregnant women with controlled (normal) blood pressure (BP) during sleep. Design Prospective double-blind cohort study. Setting Inpatients and outpatients managed in a day assessment unit (DAU) at St George Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Participants A total of 186 hypertensive pregnant women, 158 of whom had successful 24 h BP monitoring; 40% had proteinuric pre-eclampsia (PE), 43% gestational hypertension (GH) and 17% essential hypertension (EH). Interventions Blood pressure, 24 h non-invasive, monitoring (Spacelabs 90207) was undertaken successfully in 158 women with PE, GH or EH, whether or not they were receiving antihypertensives. Women and clinicians were blinded to results of these BP monitors. Sleep hypertension was defined as BP > 117/68 mmHg at 26–30 weeks or > 123/72 mmHg after 30 weeks gestation. Main outcome measures Maternal and fetal outcomes were compared between women with and without sleep hypertension and the prevalence of sleep hypertension was determined. Results Sleep hypertension was present in 59%, more commonly in PE (79%) than GH/EH (45%), P < 0.0001. Sleep hypertensives also had higher routine sphygmomanometer BPs [137(10)/91(7) mmHg; mean(SD)] than women with normal sleep BP [130(12)/87(8) mmHg] P = 0.007, and higher awake ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) BPs [137(8)/88(7) versus 127(7)/79(6) mmHg], P < 0.0001. Awake, but not sleep, average heart rate was lower in sleep hypertensives [85(11) versus 91(10) beats per minute, bpm], P = 0.002. Sleep hypertensives had a significantly greater frequency of renal insufficiency, liver dysfunction, thrombocytopenia and episodes of (awake) severe hypertension (P < 0.05), as well as lower birth weight babies [2715 (808) versus 3224(598) g, P < 0.0001]. Conclusions Hypertension during sleep is a common finding in women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, particularly pre-eclampsia. These women also have higher awake BPs and a greater frequency of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. These findings are largely explained by the greater likelihood of pre-eclamptics having sleep hypertension.


Natural language is a crucial tool to facilitate communication in our day-to-day activities. This can be achieved either in text or speech forms. Natural language processing (NLP) involves making computers understand and process natural language. NLP has enhanced the way humans interact with computers, from having computers use speech to talk to humans as well as having computers translate human speech. Apart from speech, computers also create and understand sentences in natural language in a process called morphological analysis. Morphological analysis is an important part in natural language processing, being applied as a preprocessing step in most NLP tasks. Morphological analysis consists of four subtasks, that is, lemmatization, part-of-speech (POS) tagging, word segmentation and stemming.  In this paper, we explore in detail each of these tasks of morphological analysis. We then evaluate the techniques used in this NLP field. Finally, we give a summary of the results of each of these techniques.


The turtle name Testudo scabra Linnaeus 1758 has variously and confusingly been used in association with nine different currently recognized nominal species in four separate families in both suborders of turtles. The name has not been recognized as valid since the early 1800s and has recently been synonymized as a nomen dubium under primarily two species: Emys trijuga Schweigger 1812 (= Melanochelys trijuga) and Testudo punctularia Daudin 1801 (= Rhinoclemmys punctularia) (both Geoemydidae). Other earlier attributions of the name, T. scabra L. sensu Statius Muller 1774, Schneider 1783, Retzius in Schoepff 1792, Thunberg in Schoepff 1792, Say 1824, or Agassiz 1857, have variously been referred to seven other currently recognized nominal species: two species of Leguat's tortoises (= both Testudo vosmaeri Suckow 1798 = Cylindraspis vosmaeri, and/or Testudo peltastes Dumeril and Bibron 1835 = Cylindraspis peltastes) (Testudinidae), Perrault's tortoise (= Testudo indica Schneider 1783 = Cylindraspis indica) (Testudinidae), Testudo europaea Schneider 1783 (= Testudo orbicularis L. 1758 = Emys orbicularis) (Emydidae), Testudo galeata Schoepff 1792 (= Testudo subrufa Lacepede 1788 = Pelomedusa subrufa) (Pelomedusidae), Testudo scripta Schoepff 1792 (= Trachemys scripta) (Emydidae), and Testudo insculpta LeConte 1830 (= Glyptemys insculpta) (Emydidae). The previously unidentified type specimens of both T. scabra L. 1758 and Testudo scripta Schoepff 1792 have been located in the Linnaean and Thunbergian collections in Uppsala, Sweden. The latter species was described by Schoepff both as Testudo scabra sensu Thunberg and Testudo scripta Thunberg. Based on our examination, the holotype of Testudo scabra Linnaeus 1758 is Rhinoclemmys punctularia. To promote nomenclatural stability, we designate Testudo scabra Linnaeus 1758 as a nomen oblitum and nomen rejectum synonymized under Testudo punctularia Daudin 1801, already a nomen protectum. The type specimen of Testudo scripta Schoepff 1792 has not previously been identified, but is also present in the collection and represents Trachemys scripta scripta. Based on the circumstances of the description, the proper authorship of the name should be given as Testudo scripta Thunberg in Schoepff 1792, rather than T. scripta Schoepff 1792, as currently done.


Network coding is a well-known technique used to enhance network throughput and reliability by applying special coding to data packets. One critical problem in practice, when using the random linear network coding technique, is the high computational overhead. More specifically, using this technique in embedded systems with low computational power might cause serious delays due to the complex Galois field operations and matrix handling. To this end, this article proposes a high-performance decoding logic for random linear network coding using field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) technology. We expect that the inherent reconfigurability of FPGAs will provide sufficient performance as well as programmability to cope with changes in the specification of the coding. The main design motivation was to improve the decoding delay by dividing and parallelizing the entire decoding process. Fast arithmetic operations are achieved by the proposed parallelized GF ALUs, which allow calculations with all the elements of a single row of a matrix to be performed concurrently. To improve the flexibility in the utilization of the FPGA components, two different decoding methods have been designed and compared. The performance of the proposed idea is evaluated by comparing with the performance of the decoding process executed by general-purpose processors through an equivalent software algorithm. Overall, a maximum throughput of 65.98 Mbps is achieved with the proposed FPGA design on an XC5VLX110T Virtex 5 device. In addition, the proposed design provides speedups of up to 13.84 compared to an aggressively parallelized software decoding algorithm run on a quad-core AMD processor. Moreover, the design affords 12 times higher power efficiency in terms of throughput per watt than an ARM Coretex-A9 processor.


Employers are beginning to search for ways to elicit more labor supply from older adults as the population ages, the ability to work in later life increases, and younger workers become relatively scarce. Many employers are turning to hybrid pension plans, such as cash balance plans and pension equity plans. Whereas traditional defined benefit plans often subsidize workers who retire early and penalize those who remain at work beyond the plan's retirement age, most hybrid plans reward work at older ages. This paper documents the impact of population aging on the labor market and changes over time in work capacity at older ages. It then shows how movement toward hybrid pension plans, among other types of private and public retirement plan reforms and redesigns, can be used to increase work incentives for older adults.


Abstract In the evaluation of magnetic field data, edge enhancement and detection techniques are important treatments for the interpretation of geological structures. In general geological sense, contiguity of deep and shallow magnetic sources leads to weak and intense anomalies that complicates the interpretation to disclose adjacent anomalous sources. Many of the existing filters for edge detection in magnetics mostly have the disadvantage that they require a reduction to pole transformation as the pre-process of the data or they cannot balance weak and intense anomalies and therefore fail in detecting edges of deep and shallow sources simultaneously. This study presents an improved edge detection filter LAS (logistic function of the analytical signal), based on the generalised logistic function configured by the ratio of derivatives of the analytical signal. This novel approach has the capability of reducing the dependence on the direction of the magnetization and also balancing anomalies of sources at different levels of depth. The feasibility of the method is examined on both theoretical and real data cases comparatively with some other methods that utilize the analytical signal in their basis. In comparison, the results demonstrate that the LAS method provides more accurate estimation of edge localization.


INTRODUCTION Starting around 1990 and especially following the 1995 Republican takeover of Congress, congressional committees have paid less attention to constitutional issues than before. During the same period, the House and Senate Judiciary Committees have become Congress's dominant voice on constitutional questions. In the pages that follow, I link these two phenomena to party polarization in Congress. Specifically, I argue that party polarization has played an important role in defining the policy agendas of congressional committees, committee resources and power, congressional attitudes toward the Supreme Court, and the willingness of committee chairs to allow members of the minority party to call witnesses and otherwise air objections to committee proposals. Each of these factors contributes both to diminishing committee interest in the Constitution and to the increasing share of constitutional hearings1 held by the Judiciary Committees. Yet polarization is not the only variable that figures into the number and location of constitutional hearings. Court decisionmaking and presidential action, for example, may prompt lawmakers (often at the urging of interest groups) to hold constitutional hearings. Moreover, even though party polarization affects many of the factors lowering interest in congressional hearings, it does not always depress congressional committee interest in constitutional questions. For example, when Republicans gained control of Congress in 1995, federalism figured prominently into the party's agenda, and as such, there was a spike in constitutional hearings. In calling attention to factors that influence the number and location of constitutional hearings, this Article extends the analysis of a 2004 chapter that I coauthored with Keith Whittington and Hutch Hicken.2 That chapter mapped patterns of constitutional hearing activity in Congress from 1970 to 2000. At that time, patterns of declining committee interest in the Constitution were harder to discern, as was the pivotal role that party polarization played in transforming congressional practices in congressional hearing activity. 3 By analyzing the period from 2000 to 2009, this Article will provide a somewhat different and hopefully fuller account of congressional committee consideration of constitutional questions.4 In particular, by explaining why party polarization is likely to depress committee interest in constitutional hearings, this Article explicitly links the overall decline in constitutional hearings with increasing party polarization. But this Article also accounts for the fact that congressional practices are both extremely dynamic and extremely situational.5 For example, on the one hand, the Gingrich Revolution of 1995 immediately transformed congressional practices and priorities; on the other hand, neither the 2007 Democratic takeover of Congress nor the 2008 election of Barack Obama led to dramatic change in the patterns of constitutional hearings.6 This Article will proceed in three parts. In Part I, I detail the data on House and Senate practices from 1970 to 2009, charting the frequency of congressional hearings as well as changing practices among congressional committees. In Parts II and III, I attempt to make sense of the changing patterns in constitutional hearings. Part II discusses the decline in constitutional hearings outside the Judiciary Committees. Part II explains in part how party polarization contributes to Congress's increasing focus on policy issues though not to the constitutional underpinnings of those policies. Part II also explains why it is that committee interest in constitutional questions varies over time and spurs occasional spikes in committee interest in constitutional questions. In Part III, I turn my attention to the Judiciary Committees and discuss why those committees continue to regularly hold constitutional hearings.7 In the Conclusion, I summarize the Article's claims and offer a brief commentary about the future of constitutional hearings. …


We consider Internet‐based master–worker task computations, such as SETI@home, where a master process sends tasks, across the Internet, to worker processes; workers execute and report back some result. However, these workers are not trustworthy, and it might be at their best interest to report incorrect results. In such master–worker computations, the behavior and the best interest of the workers might change over time. We model such computations using evolutionary dynamics, and we study the conditions under which the master can reliably obtain task results. In particular, we develop and analyze an algorithmic mechanism based on reinforcement learning to provide workers with the necessary incentives to eventually become truthful. Our analysis identifies the conditions under which truthful behavior can be ensured and bounds the expected convergence time to that behavior. The analysis is complemented with illustrative simulations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Purpose
The dissemination of fake news has accelerated with social media and this has important implications for both organizations and their stakeholders alike. Hence, the purpose of this study is to shed light on the effectiveness of the crisis response strategies of denial and attack in addressing rumors about consumer privacy when non-profit organizations are targeted on social media.

Design/methodology/approach
To test the hypotheses, a 2 (response type: denial vs attack) × 2 (privacy concerns: low vs high), between-group online experiment was conducted via Qualtrics.

Findings
The results indicated that one's involvement level in the issue determines the effectiveness of the crisis response strategy. Data showed that attacking the source of fake news (as a crisis response) reduces the message's credibility more than denying fake news. Furthermore, highly involved individuals are more likely to centrally process information and develop positive supportive intentions toward the affected non-profit brand. High issue involvement also predicted organizational and response credibility. Conversely, an attack rebuttal message increased the credibility of the circulated malicious rumors for low involved individuals.

Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that issue involvement plays a key role in message perceptions of false information regarding consumer privacy in social media.

Practical implications
Practically, this study offers insights for organizations that are developing response strategies in the current environment of fake news. Findings from this study suggest that organizations need to consider the degree to which audiences are currently involved in an issue before deciding how aggressively to respond to perpetrators of fake news.

Originality/value
The present study examines the intersection of fake news and crisis management in the non-profit sector, with an emphasis on various response strategies and issue involvement. This is one of the first attempts to experimentally investigate how social media strategies can defend and protect non-profit reputation in the fake news era.


Elderly patients with valvular aortic stenosis have an increased prevalence of coronary risk factors, of coronary artery disease, and evidence of other atherosclerotic vascular diseases. Statins may reduce the progression of aortic stenosis (AS). Angina pectoris, syncope or near syncope, and congestive heart failure are the 3 classic manifestations of severe AS. Prolonged duration and late peaking of an aortic systolic ejection murmur best differentiate severe AS from mild AS on physical examination. Doppler echocardiography is used to diagnose the prevalence and severity of AS. The indications for cardiac catheterization and the medical management of AS are discussed. Once symptoms develop, aortic valve replacement (AVR) should be performed in patients with severe or moderate AS. Other indications for AVR are discussed. Warfarin should be administered indefinitely after AVR in patients with a mechanical aortic valve and in patients with a bioprosthetic aortic valve who have either atrial fibrillation, prior thromboembolism, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, or a hypercoagulable condition. Patients with a bioprosthetic aortic valve without any of these 4 risk factors should be treated with aspirin 75–100 mg daily.


1821 soil samples(GPS used for recording sample location) were collected in agricultural lands in Taiyuan in 2005.Total soil organic matter and nitrogen contents were measured.The spatial pattern of the data were analyzed using both traditional descriptive statistics and geo-statistics.The results indicated that soil organic matter and total nitrogen contents are at moderate level of soil fertility according to the soil fertility classification standards of the second national soil survey in 1980s.The semivariograms of geostatistics analysis indicated the spatial autocorrelations for soil organic matter and soil total nitrogen,with spatial dependence of 122.4 km and 75.6 km,respectively.The spatial variability of soil total nitrogen content is mainly controlled by its auto-spatial dependence,whilst spatial autocorrelation and random both contribute to the spatial structure of soil organic matter.The distribution of soil total nitrogen and organic matter was controlled by soil types,elevation,land use and human factors such as the impact of production activities.The spatial distributions of soil organic matter and soil total nitrogen content interpolated by ordinary kriging also demonstrate that in Taiyuan soil organic matter and soil total nitrogen have significantly different spatial structure due to the soil contamination by coal mining dusts in Loufan County and Gujiao County and other topographical and geomorphologic factors.The study showed the spatial pattern soil organic matter and total N in Taiyuan due to complex natural and social variables and provides a scientific basis for the evaluation and sustainable management of soil fertility and nutrient resources.


This research presents the development of environmentally-friendly and energy efficient refrigerant for medium temperature refrigeration systems that new azeotropic refrigerant mixture of hydrofluorocarbons and hydrocarbon that can retrofit in the refrigeration system using R404A. The medium back pressure refrigeration testing standard that follow CAN/ANSI/AHRI540 standard air-conditioning, heating, and refrigeration institute (AHRI) and The properties of refrigerants and refrigeration simulation system that used national institute of standards and technology (NIST) reference fluid thermodynamic and transport properties database (REFPROP) software and NIST vapor compression cycle model accounting for refrigerant thermodynamic and transport properties (CYCLE_D-HX) software. The methodology use decision tree function in datamining by rapid minor software that first of KDnuggets annual software poll that showed new azeotropic refrigerant mixture had cooling capacity, refrigerant effect, GWP and boiling point were lower than R404A but work and pressure for medium temperature refrigeration system of azeotropic refrigerant mixture were higher than R404A. The artificial intelligence (AI) by data mining technic can predictive environmentally-friendly and energy efficient refrigerant for medium temperature refrigeration. The result of refrigerant mixed by R134A, R32, R125 and R1270 and is consistent with the evolution of fourth-generation refrigerants that contain a mixture of HFCs and HCs which are required to produce a low-GWP, zero-ozone-depletion-potential (ODP), high-capacity, low-operating-pressure, and nontoxic refrigerant.


The primary purpose of this study was to compare regular classroom instruction which used Guided Mental Imagery (GMI) to a non-GMI teaching method. This comparison was expected to yield data which would provide insights relating to the potential of GMI as a useful and effective instructional strategy. Quasi-experimental research methods were followed. The experimental design was a modified "post-test only control group design." Two-hundred-four students in naturally occurring in tact classes formed the experimental and control groups. All groups received instruction in identical science/health content. Two parallel post-tests were administered to all students. Post-test "A" was given immediately after instruction to measure learning acquisition. Post-test "B" was given four weeks later to measure retention of learning. Means for test scores were grouped according to treatment and sub-grouped by the variables: IQ, handedness, identified learning disability, and intellectual giftedness. T_ tests for differences between independent means were conducted. Students' acquisition of basic academic content, when instructed with GMI methodology, was found to differ significantly from students' acquisition of the same content with non-GMI instruction. No statistically significant differences based on instructional methodology were found for content retention. The investigator concluded that GMI instruction may increase learning. Although measures of retention did not show significant differences between groups, a review of the mean scores revealed a minimal difference. This was interpreted to indicate equality of retention between the two methods. Recommendations for further investigation were offered. Post-testing of subjects at additional intervals, and increased training of students and teachers in GMI prior to collection of data were suggested.


The reduced availability of sophisticated tests and procedures in hospitals on weekends (the so-called "weekend effect") delays care. Addressing this problem requires hospital managers to balance the desire for timeliness with the need for efficient operations. We illustrate how a hospital can profile timeliness, demand, and capacity utilization across the week for multiple testing areas. This simple, practical method; using data extracted from the hospital's accounting system, makes visible the pattern and magnitude of delays caused by reduced availability on weekends, while also showing how capacity is deployed. We combined the analytical tool with a process of transparent feedback and local problem solving that engages multiple stakeholders in the hospital. The goal is to optimally configure capacity so as to balance the imperatives of timely availability and efficient resource utilization.


Abstract Fractures in basement rocks of Gebel El Zeit and Esh El Mallaha fault blocks, Egypt, occur in three nearly orthogonal sets: a SE-dipping, cross-rift set that parallels ENE faults and dykes; a SW-dipping set sub-parallel to bedding in overlying clastic rocks; and a NE-dipping, rift-parallel set that parallels the rift-border faults. Restoration to prerift orientations puts these sets into vertical, horizontal and vertical attitudes respectively. All fracture sets are present throughout the fault blocks, except for the horizontal set which is absent on the NE side of Gebel El Zeit and in the Nubia Sandstone. Fracture density increases near the top of basement where sheet fracturing is common, near faults, and in and around dykes. The distribution of similar fracture sets is recorded from sub-surface Formation Micro Scanner and Formation Micro Imager logs in the basement of the Ashrafi Oil-field, southern Gulf of Suez. The similarity of the fracture pattern between Gebel El Zeit and the Ashrafi Field suggests that surface fault blocks can be adequate analogues to the sub-surface blocks. The intersection of sheet and fault-parallel fractures localizes the maximum fracture density at the edges and near the top of the fault blocks. Block faulting and subsequent depth of erosion govern the distribution of fractures within the blocks. Block rotation during rifting relocated the maximum fracture density at an upper corner or structural crest, whereas block faulting without rotation maintained the maximum fracture density at block edges. In both styles, erosion of an exhumed block removed rocks of high fracture density by eroding the crest in the first case, and by stripping off the sheet fractures in the second. The first style is an analogue for half-graben reservoirs, e.g. the southern Gulf of Suez, while the second style is an analogue for full-graben reservoirs, e.g. the Mekong Basin, southern Vietnam.


INTRODUCTION
Laparoscopic hernia repair is in vogue in the present era. Both the operating surgeon and the patient are concerned about the postoperative inguinodynia which has now replaced recurrence as the predominant factor affecting quality of life.

AIM
Our study aimed to compare early postoperative outcomes with the standard non absorbablepolypropylene and the newer partially absorbable composite meshes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 60 patients with unilateral uncomplicated inguinal hernia were included in the study and randomly divided into two groups, one each for one kind of mesh. Patients underwent Transabdominal Preperitoneal (TAPP) repair of hernia after taking written informed consent. Follow up was done in the immediate postoperative period and at three months. Patients were compared for inguinodynia, sensation of heaviness, seroma/haematoma formation and return to work activities. Standard statistical tests were applied and a p-value <0.05 was taken as significant.

RESULTS
Patients in the composite group complain of significantly less pain as compared to those with the non absorbable mesh at three months (p-value 0.003). They also report less sensation of heaviness over the groin area. However, incidence of seroma formation was higher in the composite group (20%) when compared to the non absorbable group (6.67%). An earlier return to work was seen in the patients with composite mesh.

CONCLUSION
Use of composite mesh in TAPP is associated with better patient outcomes in terms of less postoperative pain and an earlier return to work.


There's a constant need to reason about diverse cultures all over the world. Past cultural-reasoning research has focused primarily on techniques to organize, catalog, and reason about cultural and historical artifacts of the kind typically stored in a museum. This is extremely valuable. However, the term "cultural reasoning" as we use it in the previous examples (and in this article) focuses on understanding how different cultural groups today make decisions and what factors those decisions are based on. An architecture that supports cultural reasoning should, for example, be able to pinpoint characteristics that differentiate organizations engaging political action within legitimate frameworks from those engaging in violence and terror. Key in all this is that cultural reasoning must go hand in hand with environmental reasoning. We believe that any architecture to support cultural reasoning about a given group, political entity, business, or religious organization should contain these components: 1) a semantic Web extraction engine to elicit data about the organization, 2) an opinion-mining engine that captures the organization's opinions, 3) an algorithm to correlate environmental variables with actions that the organization takes, and 4) a simulation or game environment within which analysts and users can see what the organization has done and what it might do in hypothetical situations


The International American Moroccan Agricultural Sciences Conference (AMAS Conference; www.amas-conference.org) is an international conference organized by the High Council of Moroccan American Scholars and Academics (HC-MASA; www.hc-masa.org) in collaboration with various universities and research institutes in Morocco. The first edition (AMAS Conference I) was organized on March 18-19, 2013 in Rabat, Morocco; AMAS Conference II was organized on October 18-20, 2014 in Marrakech, Morocco; and AMAS III was organized on December 13-16, 2016 in Ouarzazate, Morocco. The current proceedings summarizes abstracts from 62 oral presentations and 100 posters that were presented during AMAS Conference III.


Background Despite the high prevalence of exercise-associated muscle cramping (EAMC) in endurance runners, the aetiology and risk factors for this condition are not fully understood. Purpose The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to identify risk factors associated with the development of EAMC in ultra-distance runners. Methods 49 runners participating in a 56 km race completed a validated pre-race questionnaire. Pre-race muscle pain in the calves, hamstrings and quadriceps muscles was recorded (visual analogue scale) and pre-race serum creatine kinase (CK) activity was measured. 20 runners reported EAMC (EAMC group) during or within 6 h after the event, while 29 runners reported no cramping (CON group). Results EAMC was not associated with age, body mass index, sex, recent and past personal best running times, pre-race muscle pain and pre-race training (duration and frequency). Runners in the EAMC group tended to report on average longer training sessions during the 3 days before the race (EAMC 1.2 (1.1), CON 0.6 (1.0); p=0.077). Significant risk factors for EAMC were a past history of EAMC (EAMC 100%, CON 48%; p<0.001) and a faster running time (min) for the first 28 km split time of the race (EAMC 144 (20), CON 157 (14); p=0.029) despite being matched for recent (<15 weeks before race) personal best times in the 42.2 km race. Pre-race CK activity tended to be higher in the EAMC group (EAMC 89 (80), CON 58 (35); p=0.066). Conclusions Novel risk factors for EAMC in distance runners are a past history of EAMC, faster running pace at the early stage of a race and possibly pre-race muscle damage.


The high number of tin mining in the Bangka Belitung Islands leaves a number of problems such as unused land after tin mining. Whereas on the other side, the post tin mining areas can be used as a source of water reserves although additional treatment is needed because it is feared contain heavy metals. Calcium oxide is a compound that can be used to coagulate dispersed pollutants in water so that it can be used to improve the quality of water stored in the post tin mining area. One of the most abundant sources of calcium in the Bangka Belitung Islands comes from wasted cockle shell. Through a heating process at temperatures of about 700°C calcium carbonate in the wasted cockle shell will begin to decompose into calcium oxide. Based on the results obtained have known that the longer the heating process then the decomposition process of calcium carbonate more and more occur.  Keywords: Rietveld, calcium crystal, heat treatment.


IgM memory cells are recognized as an important component of B cell memory in mice and humans. Our studies of B cells elicited in response to ehrlichial infection identified a population of CD11c-positive IgM memory cells, and an IgM bone marrow antibody-secreting cell population. The origin of these cells was unknown, although an early T-independent spleen CD11c- and T-bet-positive IgM plasmablast population precedes both, suggesting a linear relationship. A majority of the IgM memory cells detected after day 30 post-infection, also T-bet-positive, had undergone somatic hypermutation, indicating they expressed activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID). Therefore, to identify early AID-expressing precursor B cells, we infected an AID-regulated tamoxifen-inducible Cre-recombinase-EYFP reporter strain. Tamoxifen administration led to the labeling of both IgM memory cells and bone marrow ASCs on day 30 and later post-infection. High frequencies of labeled cells were identified on day 30 post-infection, following tamoxifen administration on day 10 post-infection, although IgM memory cells were marked when tamoxifen was administered as early as day 4 post-infection. Transcription of Aicda in the early plasmablasts was not detected in the absence of CD4 T cells, but occurred independently of TLR signaling. Unlike the IgM memory cells, the bone marrow IgM ASCs were elicited independent of T cell help. Moreover, Aicda was constitutively expressed in IgM memory cells, but not in bone marrow ASCs. These studies demonstrate that two distinct long-term IgM-positive B cell populations are generated early in response to infection, but are maintained via separate mechanisms.


The purpose of this paper is to examine patterns of attainment of boys and girls at different stages of their secondary education and to investigate factors that may affect pupil outcomes. We employ a national dataset of matched examination results, recently released by the Department for Education and Skills, which includes the results of the cohort of pupils who sat Key Stage 3 exams at age 14 in 1997 and GCSE (or equivalent) exams at age 16 in 1999. We find a consistent picture of boys underachieving relative to their female peers. This gender gap widens between the ages of 14 and 16. Grammar schools outperform comprehensives and secondary moderns for both boys and girls at both Key Stage 3 and GCSE. This is no longer the case when we consider a measure of the 'value added' by different school types between these two stages. For example, we find that comprehensives add more value on average than grammar schools for female pupils. The relative importance of gender and school type (here proxied by admissions policy) on pupil outcomes depends on which measure of pupil attainment we consider.


Targeted at improving the overall integrity of functionalised composite structure, an embedded sensor network technique was developed using circuited piezoelectric wafers. The technical difficulties due to sensor embedment, such as electrical insulation, were addressed. With Hilbert transform-based signal processing and a correlation-based identification algorithm, Lamb wave signals, excited and captured by the integrated sensor network, were evaluated for damage assessment. Effectiveness of the sensor network and proposed identification algorithm was demonstrated by identifying delamination in orthotropic woven fabric CF/EP composite laminates. Excellent identification capacity of the built-in sensor network indicates its considerable application potential in providing high-fidelity data acquisition/condition monitoring for composite structures.


This paper reports a MEMS-based electrostatically tunable circular microstrip patch antenna. This antenna is fabricated using printed circuit processing techniques. The microstrip patch antenna is patterned on the top side of a Kapton polyimide film which is suspended above the ground plane. The resonant frequency of the antenna is tuned electrostatically by applying a dc bias voltage between the patch and the ground plane. The movable patch deflects downward toward the fixed ground plane due to electrostatic force of attraction caused by the applied dc bias voltage. This deflection decreases the air gap thereby increasing the effective permittivity of the antenna. This increase in effective permittivity results in a downward shift in the resonant frequency. The patch is inductively coupled to a coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed line via a slot in the ground plane. A 6 mm diameter circular patch antenna tunable from 16.91 GHz at 0 V to 16.64 GHz at 165 V, a tuning range of 270 MHz, is presented in this paper.


In this study, we examined the linkages between two important features of influence messages, explicitness and dominance, and emotional response. Two positions were considered. From politeness theory, we deduced that judgments of the politeness of the message would mediate the effects of message form on emotional response. Consideration of cognitive appraisal theories suggested judgments of goal blockage and legitimacy would assume the role of mediators. Participants took part in two role-plays in which they adopted the role of the influence target and listened to an audiotape of a request to change their behavior. Self-report and physiological data were gathered as indicators of their emotional responses to the influence messages. The findings indicated some support for both politeness and appraisal theories, but also suggested that neither one constituted a thorough explanation of the effects of influence messages on emotions.


(1) Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) store a mean of only 3.7 whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) seeds per cache, which reduces competition for moisture and space. The mean depth at which seeds are stored, 2.0 cm, is compatible with germination requirements, and many sites selected appear suitable for seed germination. (2) One nutcracker stores about 32 000 whitebark pine seeds at subalpine elevations each year, which represent 3-5 times its energetic requirements. Although parent nutcrackers feed stored seeds to juveniles, in some years there is probably an excess of seeds stored by the population as a whole. (3) Experimental results suggest that seeds retrieved from nutcracker caches are as viable as seeds extracted by hand from cones and that seedlings originating in nutcracker caches have a good survival rate: 56% over the first year and 25% by the fourth year. (4) In comparison with Clark's nutcracker, alternative disperal agents, i.e. rodents and cone disintegration, disperse fewer seeds, disperse seeds shorter distances from parent trees, place seeds in sites less suitable for germination, and/or make large seed caches which lower reproductive potential. Nutcrackers disseminate seeds throughout the subalpine habitat and are, in part, responsible for the 'pioneering' status of whitebark pine. (5) The evolution of wingless seeds and indehiscent cones in the Cembra pine group was probably a consequence of seed dispersal by an ancestral nutcracker form. It appears that the Clark's nutcracker-whitebark pine interaction is both coevolved and mutualistic.


Attosecond x-ray pulses offer unprecedented opportunities for probing and triggering new types of ultrafast motion. At the same time, pulse characterization of x-rays presents new challenges that do not exist in the UV regime. Inner-shell ionization is the dominant ionization mechanism for x-rays and it is followed by secondary processes like fluorescence, Auger decay, and shake-up. In general, we find that inner-shell ionization and secondary processes can create additional delay-dependent modulations that will affect pulse reconstruction schemes. Our recently proposed pulse characterization method (Pabst and Dahlström 2016 Phys. Rev. A 94 013411), where a bound electron wavepacket is sequentially photoionized by the attosecond pulse, can be adapted to mitigate the impact of these effects, thus opening up an avenue for reliable pulse reconstruction in the x-ray regime.


Abstract. White light, which contains polychromic visible components, affects the rhythm of organisms and has the potential for advanced applications of lighting, display, and communication. Compared with traditional incandescent bulbs and inorganic diodes, pure organic materials are superior in terms of better compatibility, flexibility, structural diversity, and environmental friendliness. In the past few years, polychromic emission has been obtained based on organic aggregates, which provides a platform to achieve white-light emission. Several white-light emitters are sporadically reported, but the underlying mechanistic picture is still not fully established. Based on these considerations, we will focus on the single-component and multicomponent strategies to achieve efficient white-light emission from pure organic aggregates. Thereinto, single-component strategy is introduced from four parts: dual fluorescence, fluorescence and phosphorescence, dual phosphorescence with anti-Kasha's behavior, and clusteroluminescence. Meanwhile, doping, supramolecular assembly, and cocrystallization are summarized as strategies for multicomponent systems. Beyond the construction strategies of white-light emitters, their advanced representative applications, such as organic light-emitting diodes, white luminescent dyes, circularly polarized luminescence, and encryption, are also prospected. It is expected that this review will draw a comprehensive picture of white-light emission from organic aggregates as well as their emerging applications.


This paper presents a new control scheme for a Class DE inverter, that is, frequency modulation/pulsewidth modulation (FM/PWM) control. Further, the FM/PWM controlled Class DE inverter is analyzed and we clarify performance characteristics. Since the FM/PWM controlled inverter has two control parameters, namely, the switching frequency and the switch-on duty ratio, it has one more degree of freedom for the control than the inverter with the conventional control scheme. The increased degree of freedom is used to minimize the switching losses. Therefore, it is possible to control the output power with high power-conversion efficiency for wide-range control. Carrying out the circuit experiments, we confirm that the experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions quantitatively. For example, the proposed controlled inverter can control the output voltage from 56% to 191% of the optimum one, which is designed for 1.8 W at 1.0 MHz, with maintaining over 90% power-conversion efficiency.


Hybridization of synthetic and natural fibres as reinforcement makes the polymer composites environmental friendly and sustainable when compared to synthetic fibres based polymer composites. In this study chopped strand mat/pineapple leaf fibres were hybridized. Four laminates with six layers each, with different stack sequence (GGGGGG, GPPPPG, PGGGGP and PPPPPP) were fabricated using hand layup technique while maintaining a fibre to matrix ratio of 30:70 by weight with polyester resin as matrix. Mechanical properties such as tensile and flexural strength were determined and morphology of fractured specimens was studied. Maximum tensile strength of 180 MPa was obtained for the laminate with six layers of chopped strand mat followed by hybrid laminate with four layers of chopped strand mat at the centre (120 MPa). Tensile strength of hybrid laminate with four layers of pineapple leaf fibres at the centre was in third position at 86 MPa. Least tensile strength of 65 MPa was obtained for the laminate with six layers of pineapple leaf fibres. Similar trend was observed in case of flexural behaviour of the laminates with maximum flexural strength of 255 MPa and minimum flexural strength 107 MPa. Scanning electron microscopy of the fractured specimen reinforced with chopped strand mat only, indicated, fibre pull out, matrix cracking and lack of matrix adhesion to fibres. In case of hybrid composite (GPPPPG and PGGGGP) delamination was observed to be prominent due to improper wetting of the pineapple leaf fibres with the matrix. More significant delamination led to lesser strength in case of pineapple fibres reinforced composites even though the fibre pull out was relatively less.


While Christianity has existed in Iran/Persia since the fourth century, if not earlier, at the middle of the twentieth century almost all Iranian Christians belonged to an ethnic minority, especially the Assyrians and the Armenians. Ethnic Iranians were almost all Muslims, and then mostly Shi'a Muslims. Since the Revolution of 1979 hundreds of thousands of ethnic Iranians have left Islam for evangelical Christianity, both within and outside of Iran. This paper seeks to explore the multifaceted factors – political, economic and technological – that have helped to create an environment wherein increasing numbers of ethnic Iranians have apostatized from Islam and become evangelical Christians. A concluding section outlines Steven Lukes' theory of power and analyzes the growth of Iranian Christianity in the light of his theory.


This paper examines the impact of historic amenities on residential housing prices in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. Our study is directed towards identifying the spatial variation of amenity values for churches, palaces, lithic (stone) architecture and other historic amenities via the housing market, making use of both global and local spatial hedonic models.Our empirical evidence reveals that different types of historic and landmark amenities provide different housing premiums. While having a local non-landmark church within 100 meters increases housing prices by approximately 4.2%, higher concentrations of non-landmark churches within 1000 meters yield negative effects in the order of 0.1% of prices with landmark churches having a greater negative impact around 3.4%. In contrast, higher concentration of both landmark and non-landmark lithic structures positively influence housing prices in the order of 2.9% and 0.7% respectively.Global estimates indicate a negative effect of protected zones, however this significance is lost when accounting for heterogeneity within these areas. We see that the designation of historic zones may counteract negative effects on property values of nearby neglected buildings in historic neighborhoods by setting additional regulations ensuring that dilapidated buildings do not damage the city's beauty or erode its historic heritage.Further, our results from a geographically weighted regression specification indicate the presence of spatial non-stationarity in the effects of different historic amenities across the city of Lisbon with variation between historic and more modern areas.


In the current climate, pattern is an often-misused buzzword. However, there is no clear definition of pattern-ness, perhaps because patterns do not lend themselves to prescriptive, formal definitions. The authors propose a set of characteristics that can be used as a test for pattern-ness. Each characteristic in their test describes an essential aspect of a design pattern. Recognizing these characteristics will help software designers understand, use, and write better patterns.


The treatment of Amoeba indica with ethylmethanesulphonate (EMS) at early S, late S and late G2 phases of the cell cycle leads to the production of mini amoeba cells in the G2 period. Among them, only a few of the mini cells that originated from EMS treatment at early S phase have been found to be viable and to give rise to stable clones. These mini amoebae show stable and altered characteristic features in cell size, structure, membrane properties, cell-cycle timing and the patterns of macromolecular syntheses as compared to the parental cells. It is suggested that the mini amoeba cell is a size mutant that has a cell-cycle-phase-specific origin. The finding is discussed in relation to preferential mutagenic action involving the functional state of DNA leading to the production of viable mutant amoebae.


Abstract This article examines the process, causes and repercussions of the accession of Taiwan, as a contested state, together with China, to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 1991, the first intergovernmental organization that Taipei has joined since 1971. Based on an analysis of elite interviews, primary and secondary data, the paper traces the under-explored diplomatic history of the accession. It argues that changes in Taiwan's domestic and external environments, as well as changes in the diplomatic process, account for Taipei's admission, rather than the China factor alone. The paper examines four positive effects of accession on Taiwan's international space and the implications for Taiwan's continuous survival as a contested state. By undertaking a nuanced analysis of an important yet little explored milestone in the contested state's struggle to mitigate its international isolation, the article sheds light on Taiwan's external ties against the backdrop of the sovereignty dispute between Taipei and Beijing. 摘要 本文探讨台湾身为一个受争议国家, 在 1991 年与中国大陆同时加入亚太经济合作会议的过程, 成因及影响。亚太经济合作会议是台北自 1971 年以来加入的第一个政府间国际组织。本文藉由分析精英访谈, 第一手以及第二手资料, 追溯此段未被充分探索的外交史。本文主张, 台北之所以能够成为该组织的会员, 主要是因为台湾内外环境的变化及外交折冲过程中的变因, 而非唯独凭藉中国因素。文章进而分析该会籍对于开拓台湾国际空间的四大正面效益, 以及对于台湾身为受争议国家的生存之道的启示。本文细緻入微地解析此一受争议国家在降低国际孤立的历程裡, 一个重要却受忽视的里程碑, 有助读者了解在台北与北京的主权争议下, 该国的对外关係。


Billions of fresh-cut flowers are flown into the United States every year, allowing Americans to choose from a broad array of blooms regardless of the season. Favored Flowers is a lively investigation of the worldwide production and distribution of fresh-cut flowers and their consumption in the New York metropolitan area. In an ethnography filled with roses, orchids, and gerberas, flower auctions, new hybrids, and new logistical systems, Catherine Ziegler unravels the economic and cultural strands of the global flower market. She provides an historical overview of the development of the cut flower industry in New York from the late nineteenth century to 1970, and on to its ultimate transformation from a domestic to a global industry. As she points out, cut flowers serve no utilitarian purpose; rather, they signal consumers' social and cultural decisions about expressing love, mourning, status, and identity. Ziegler shows how consumer behavior and choices have changed over time and how they are shaped by the media, by the types of available flowers, and by flower retailing.

Ziegler interviewed more than 250 people as she followed flowers along the full length of the commodity chain, from cuttings in Europe and Latin America to vases in and around New York. She examines the daily experiences of flower growers in the Netherlands and Ecuador, two leading exporters of flowers to the United States. Primary focus, though, is on others in the commodity chain: exporters, importers, wholesalers, and retailers. She follows their activities as they respond to changing competition, supply, and consumer behavior in a market characterized by risk, volatility, and imperfect knowledge. By tracing changes in the wholesale and retail systems, she shows the recent development of two complementary commodity chains in New York and the United States generally. One leads to a high-end luxury market served by specialty florists and designers, and the other to a lower-priced mass market served by chain groceries, corner delis, and retail superstores.


This article1 analyzes three debut novels –Alicia Erian's Towelhead (2005), Laila Halaby's West of the Jordan (2003), and Diana Abu-Jaber's Arabian Jazz (1993)– in order to explore the representation of fatherhood by the Arab diaspora in the United States. To do so, it will draw on Ralph La Rossa's notion of "new father", and on Julie Peteet's and Daniel Monterescu's ideas about Arab masculinity. It will then analyze the main father figures in the novels under the light of these concepts. It will finally conclude that the different existing models of Arab fatherhood move from traditionalism to liberalism, and that allows the possibility of "new fatherhoods" to emerge.


Feature screening is a key step in handling ultrahigh dimensional data sets that are ubiquitous in modern statistical problems. Over the last decade, convex relaxation based approaches (e.g., Lasso/sparse additive model) have been extensively developed and analyzed for feature selection in high dimensional regime. But in the ultrahigh dimensional regime, these approaches suer from several problems, both computationally and statistically. To overcome these issues, in this paper, we propose a novel Hilbert space embedding based approach to independence screening for ultrahigh dimensional data sets. The proposed approach is model-free (i.e., no model assumption is made between response and predictors) and could handle non-standard (e.g., graphs) and multivariate outputs directly. We establish the sure screening property of the proposed approach in the ultrahigh dimensional regime, and experimentally demonstrate its advantages and superiority over other approaches on several synthetic and real data sets.


The average U.S. household is expected to pay $395 for electricity this summer. That's down 2.5% from last year and the lowest residential summer power bill in four years, according to the new forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Lower electricity use to meet cooling demand this summer because of forecasted milder temperatures compared with last summer is expected to more than offset higher electricity prices. The result is lower power bills for most U.S. households during the June, July, and August period. However electricity use and prices vary by region. EIA expects residential power bills will be lower in all areas of the country… except for the West South Central region, which includes Texas and in the Rocky Mountain states. In those regions, higher electricity prices will outweigh expected lower power use.


Owing to recent developments in science and technology, we now have the data, and the requirement, that moral systems should no longer be based on fallacies such as appeals to tradition, force, authority, and other similar fallacies. A reasonable way to address this problem is to adapt the most effective method for determining fact, the scientific method, applying its methods and its findings to decisions about how we live. Using a pragmatic and evidence-based approach, we can derive the morally right act, for any situation, independent of institutions or cultural biases.


Mental health in first responders and other public safety personnel has received substantial research attention in the past decade. Emergency medical services (EMS) demonstrate a heightened prevalence of maladaptive mental health concerns compared to other first responders (e.g., police, fire fighters). Interestingly, there is an absence of research examining helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) personnel, who respond to what are often life-threatening cases in challenging circumstances. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to assess the experiences of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and associated mental health conditions (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress) in HEMS workers. HEMS workers from a single mid-western Canadian organization (n = 100) participated in the study. The participants completed the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) as part of an online survey. The results revealed that five per cent of HEMS personnel experienced heightened PTSD symptoms. Few participants exhibited signs of mild to severe depression, anxiety, and stress (< 17%). HEMS personnel experienced fewer mental health concerns than other first responder groups as reported in the literature; indeed, these figures are similar to levels observed within the general population. These findings may be explained by organizational or personality characteristics. Underreporting of mental health concerns may be an alternate explanation. Future qualitative and quantitative research is needed to explain and replicate the results of the present study.


The novel terthiophene (3T) oligomer 6 and a series of cationic Ir(III) bis-cyclometalates [Ir(C^N)(2)(N^N)]PF(6) 9-12 were prepared. The synthesis, characterization, electrochemical, and photophysical properties are reported. The cyclometalating ligands (C^N) are 2-phenylpyridinato (ppy) or the 3T oligomer (3T-ppy), asymmetrically capped in the 5 and 5" positions with the ppy and mesityl groups. The diimine ligands (N^N) are 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) or 4-NO(2)-bipyridine (4-NO(2)-bpy). Hybrid metal-organic complexes 11 and 12 bear 3T-pendants ligated through the ppy cap, 10 and 12 contain NO(2) functionalized diimines, whereas 9 contains neither. Structural characterization of 10 by single crystal X-ray diffraction confirms the presence of the NO(2) substituent and pseudo-octahedral coordination geometry about the Ir(III) ion. Cyclic voltammetry highlights the large electron withdrawing effect of the NO(2) substituent, providing an 850 mV shift toward lower potentials for the first diimine centered reduction of 10 and 12. Strong overlap of the intense π → π* absorptions of the 3T-pendants with Ir(III) charge transfer bands is evident in complexes of 11 and 12, precluding the possibility for selective excitation of either chromophore. Photoexcitation (λ(ex) = 400 nm) of the series affords strong luminescence from the 3T oligomer 6 and the unsubstituted 9, with φ(em) = 0.11. In stark contrast the NO(2) and 3T functionalized complexes 10-12 display near total quenching of luminescence. Computations of the ground and excited state electronic structure using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) indicate that both the NO(2) and 3T substituents play an important role in excited state deactivation of complexes 10-12. A substantial electronic contribution of the NO(2) substituent results in stabilization of the diimine based molecular orbital (MO) and offers an efficient nonradiative decay pathway for the excited state. Spin-orbit coupling effects of the Ir(III) ion lead to efficient population of the low lying, nonluminescent, triplet states centered on the 3T-pendants.


Experimental observations have shown that the transition characteristics of the boundary-layer flow over rotating cones depends on the cone half-angle. In particular, pairs of counter-rotating Görtler-type vortices are observed over cones with slender half-angles and co-rotating vortices are observed over broad cones. Garrett et al (2009 J. Fluid Mech. 622 209–32) have hypothesized the existence of a centrifugal instability mode over slender cones that is more dangerous than the types I (crossflow) and II (streamline curvature) modes which dominate over rotating disks and broad cones. Work is currently underway to clarify this alternative mode; however, a clear understanding of the growth rates of types I and II modes is crucial to the ultimate understanding of how the dominant mode changes with half-angle. In this paper, we demonstrate that the maximum growth rate for types I and II modes decreases with reduced half-angle, which clears the way for the dominance of the alternative instability mode. Furthermore, it is suggested that vortices travelling at 75% of the cone surface speed will be selected over smooth, clean rotating cones with half-angle such that the type I mode is dominant. Interestingly, this vortex speed has been experimentally observed by Kobayashi and Arai within the rotating-sphere boundary layer.


The Brush-less Doubly-Fed Reluctance Machine (BDFRM) is drawing more attention because of its low producing capital. The paper is trying to treat this new kind of motor as a special kind of induction machine. The torque producing principle has been revealed. And the relationship of three speeds was yielded from the calculation. based on the matrix(differential equations), a model of bdfrm was built with software of matlab. At the moment, two scalar control methods: One is open loop V/F, and the other is close-loop (P.I.) were applied to the test. From the simulation results, it is obvious that the new machine can achieve the required response.


This paper outlines the evolution and classification of the major works (published books) of Clem Tisdell. To do this it divides these books into six categories. 1. Those focusing on knowledge limitations and, the presence of uncertainty (information economics). These develop microeconomic theory and apply it to policy issues. Subjects covered include the operation of market systems, the economics of decision-making, managerial economics, science and technology policy, bounded rationality, and evolutionary economics. 2. Textbooks on microeconomics and basic economics. 3. Ecological, natural resource and environmental economics. 4. Tourism economics and leisure studies. 5. Economic development in general and in particular, Asian-Pacific countries or regions. 6. Social policy, which includes coverage of gender issues, social issues associated with globalization, and the investigation of poverty and social disadvantage. The subject matter of several of these books overlaps and other classifications are also possible. Some of Tisdell's books are co-authored and several are jointly edited. In addition, a collection of his articles (several of which are jointly authored) have not yet appeared in book form. Note that this overview is not intended to provide an in-depth analysis of recurring themes in Tisdell's books and the development of these.


As a clean renewable energy, biomass energy is now gradually being used in electric power, chemicals, heating and other related industries with great potential, and further research is also ongoing in depth. At the same time, because the demand of the construction of environment-friendly society, feed gas from biomass gasification for Fischer-Tropsch fuel synthesis in this way also has gained more and more attention. For the selection of ideal way to obtain synthetic fuels with relatively high system efficiency from biomass, this paper simulation for a variety of processes and different gasification conditions based on Gibbs free energy minimization method. The impacts of pre-treatment of biomass, temperature of gasification and pressure are analyzed. In the evaluation of energy efficiency of the system, an exergy analysis of biomass integrated process is presented. All parts of the process were calculated and compared, which mainly includes the gasification, pre-treatment, HRSG, compression, purification, WGS and FT reactor sections. The results showed that in the process the largest exergy losses take place in the gasifier section, and the pre-treatment of biomass materials for this part will have a greater impact on exergy loss.


The world's seas and the oceans are under constant negative pressure caused by human activity. It is estimated that more than 150 million tonnes of litter will be accumulated in the world's oceans until 2025, while up to 12.7 million tonnes of litter will be added to the sea every year. Besides ecology-related issues, marine litter can also hurt the economy of the affected areas. Detection and classification of sea litter thus becomes a first step in tracking the litter and consequently a basis for the development of any automatic or human-based marine litter retrieval system.Modern convolutional neural networks are a logical choice for detection and classification algorithms since they have proven themselves time after time in image-based machine learning tasks. Nevertheless, according to the available literature, the application of such neural networks in underwater images for marine litter detection (and classification) has started just recently. Thus, the paper carries out an initial study on the performance of such detection and classification system constructed in several ways and with several architectures, as well as using several sources of training data. It is shown that obtained validation accuracy is around 88% and test accuracy around 85%, depending on the used architecture, and that inclusion of synthetically generated images reduces the network performance on real-world image dataset.


Some researchers consider soccer matches as the stylization of a war in other battlefields. Such an approach has largely been used to interpret the violent phenomena related to the soccer environment, while less attention has been paid to the potential role of political and economic interactions between countries in determining the aggressive attitude of players on the pitch. In our paper we empirically investigate whether and how political hostility among countries reverberates on a soccer pitch by influencing players' aggressiveness. The analysis focuses on official matches played by national teams in the final phases of the European and World Cup tournaments since 2000. We estimate a negative binomial regression including both political and sport variables, and we find that (a) commercial hostility, (b) the level of diplomatic relationships, (c) power asymmetry and (d) education gap between countries are positively and significantly associated with aggressiveness of the players on the pitch, approximated by the number of yellow and red cards. That is, briefly stated, international hostility reverberates onto the pitch. Moreover, sport covariates present the expected signs, namely, results show that the closeness of the teams, their ranking and the stage of the game (knockout stages with respect to the group phases) are also crucial in determining the cautions.


We designed an omnidirectional reflector for both the transverse electric (TE) and the transverse magnetic (TM) modes in one dimensional liquid-crystal-based heterostructure composed of the ThueMorse multilayered structure and periodic medium. The electrical tunabilities of the reflector are theoretically studied by the Berreman's matrix method. The omnidirectional reflective bands (ORB) of the TE and TM modes have different behaviours. For the TE mode, the ORB is electric independent, and is wider than its counterpart of the TM mode. The ORB of the TM mode becomes narrow with the increase of the incident angle. The polarity-independent ORB was observed in the proposed structure.


Current research suggests that there may be positive local economic benefits associated with holding local sporting and other tourism-related events in communities. This study examined the economic impact of two municipal hockey tournaments, one urban and one rural, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Based on the responses of three geographically-oriented travel groups (Total N=169), an estimated CDN $137,442 was generated by both tournaments; 87% was associated with the larger urban tournament in Saskatoon. However, the smaller rural tournament generated $10,635 revenue in Kamsack and vicinity. Evidence of the direct economic input from tourism should help communities and organizations who are interested in implementing similar tournaments provide incentives for local business owners to assist in the creation and continuation of such events.


The current global financial crisis has reopened an old debate on the international monetary system by baring weaknesses and flaws that have long been known. The debate is centred on both stability and equity. International co-operation is necessary to resolve a complex interplay of several interrelated problems. The G 20 seems to be better positioned than the IMF arrive at some international consensus on these issues. However, while there has been some progress, the big issues of moral hazard and inequities deriving from the global reserve currency seem intractable. With the macro-economic framework under great strain, we may indeed be poised for a leap into the dark going forward. Since solutions seem elusive, even as everybody is agreed that there is a major problem, discussion and debate are crucial. [Policy Series No. 11]. URL:[http://www.icrier.org/pdf/Policy_Series_No_11.pdf].


Social media (SM) platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and online cancer support groups are an emerging source of social support. However, oncology care professionals may be unfamiliar with how patients use SM related to their cancer diagnosis. SM can be potentially beneficial by providing an avenue for patient engagement and empowerment, increasing psychosocial and informational support, strengthening patient-physician relationships, and relaying opportunities for clinical and research study participation. Conversely, it can spread misinformation, overwhelm with information overload, violate privacy, and expose users to financial exploitation. The purpose of this article is to describe five potential benefits and five potential drawbacks patients may experience while using SM and to encourage oncologists to become aware of these, to guide patients in using SM to their benefit. This review also provides specific care practice behaviors that oncologists can apply during care delivery to guide patients' SM use, to help avoid the potential drawbacks and harness the potential benefits.


People often look for the proverbial "silver bullet" to take down a roadblock on the path out of poverty. All too often, land titling is seen as this kind of solution to credit access and a means to rural poverty reduction. Unfortunately, silver bullets of this sort aren't found often in reality. While land titling can help to expand access to credit in some circumstances and can be an important part of a poverty reduction strategy, in most developing world environments, the ability to leverage a title for credit is limited for a variety of reasons.


—In this paper, the product sequencing decisions in multiple-piece-flow assembly lines problem is approximately solved with a hybrid evolutionary algorithm. The product sequencing decisions in multiple-piece-flow assembly lines, known as the sequencing m -vector bin packing problem, occurs in manufacturing organization and because of its NP-hardness it is however computationally challenging. The designed method combines a population approach and both first fit bin packing procedure coupled with a repairing operator: the population approach tries to maintain the diversity of a series of populations reached throughout an iterative procedure while the added operators try to highlight the quality of the solutions throughout the search process. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated on a set of benchmark instances taken from the literature. The results provided by the method are compared to those reached by recent published methods and to those reached by the state-of-the-art Cplex solver. The preliminary experimental part showed that the designed method outperforms the other ones by discovering new bounds for most of considered instances.


Pursuing our official collaborative ICF-laser search and development program at Limeil National Laboratory (LNL) with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) for high damage threshold optical coatings, we have now formally established that Sol-Gel highly reflective coatings prepared from colloids are superior to those prepared from solutions of precursor materials. Thus, single layer coatings of bohemite A1203.H20 have been prepared on fused silica and BK-7 substrates from aqueous colloidal suspensions of hydrated alumina at room temperature. Such coatings were porous and therefore revealed a measured refractive index of about 1.44, lower than the relevant dense material. These single coats when laser damage tested, have exhibited thresholds, under S-on-i irradiation mode (S shots at the same fluence onto a selected site) of respectively i2-i4 J/cm2 with 3-ns pulses and 35-50 i/cm2 with-i6 ns pulses at 30-Hz. Multilayer, high reflectivity, dielectric coatings were also prepared at room temperature by laying down quarterwave-thick, alternating coats of this alumina with silica also prepared from colloidal sol, and having a refractive index of 1.22. To achieve 99% reflectivity 32 to 36 total layers were required. Such HR-coatings revealed damage thresholds as good as those of single layers of the constituting oxides in the same laser conditions.


With hundreds of millions of users already today,virtual worlds will become an important factor in tomorrow's media landscape. In a virtual world, users are represented by so-called avatars. These avatars move around the virtual world, communicate with each other,and interact with the virtual world. The movements of these avatars can be tracked precisely, and useful information can be inferred from analyzing these movements. In this paper, we analyze a large data set (≫200 million records) of position data describing the movements of avatars in the virtual world Second Life.The dataset was derived from in-world sensors that had been deployed beforehand, but also so-called bots can be used to gather such information. From this data, we can track usage patterns of avatars (and therefore users) overtime. We can also identify regions of high interest where a large number of users gather frequently (which would be important for planning advertising in the virtual world), and visualize this statistical analysis using heat maps. By combining the position data with information about the language spoken by the avatars, we can label these regions according to the language predominantly spoken there. Analyzing incidents of co-location of avatars over a period of time, we can automatically infer friends, and eventually social networks. Using additional metadata such as language we can label clusters in this automatically generated social network.


This paper deals with five extensions of the Pr\"ufer domain concept to commutative rings with zero divisors. We investigate the stability of these Pr\"ufer-like conditions under localization and homomorphic image. Our results generate new and original examples of Pr\"ufer-like rings.


This paper investigates the timing of hydrocarbon generation in the northern part of the Urdaneta West field in the NW of the Lake Maracaibo Basin, NW Venezuela, based on 1D basin modelling at three wells referred to as wells X, Y and Z. Kitchen areas were identified and secondary migration directions were inferred based on analyses of the thermal and burial history of the Upper Cretaceous La Luna Formation source rock and the geochemistry of 20 oil samples from the Río Negro Formation reservoir. Aliphatic hydrocarbons in the oil samples were analysed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) while the vanadium‐nickel and sulphur contents were determined by energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, respectively. Bulk and molecular characterizations indicated that the oils originated from a marine carbonate source rock containing oil‐prone Type II kerogen, consistent with generation by the La Luna Formation.


ABSTRACT Catching ground feeding birds has typically been accomplished through small, walk-in funnel-style traps. This approach is limited because it requires a bird to find its way into the trap, is biased toward less wary birds, and does not allow targeted trapping of individual birds. As part of a large study on Band-tailed Pigeons (Patagioenas fasciata) in New Mexico, we needed a trapping method that would allow more control over the number of birds we could trap at one time, when a trap was deployed, and target trapping of specific individuals. We adopted a relatively novel trapping technique used primarily for shorebirds, whoosh nets, to trap Band-tailed Pigeons at 3 different sites where birds were being fed by local landowners. During 2013–2015, whoosh nets were used to trap 702 Band-tailed Pigeons at 3 different locations in New Mexico. We captured 12.54 ± 8.19 pigeons per shot over 56 capture events across 3 locations (range: 2–39). Some superficial injuries occurred using this technique and typically involved damage to the primary and secondary wing coverts. In 2013, 24% of captured birds had an injury of this nature, but after modifying the net speed, injury rates in 2014 and 2015 dropped to 8% and 7%, respectively. Recaptured previously injured birds showed new feather growth within 2 weeks and showed no signs of injury after 4 weeks. Whoosh nets proved to be a highly effective solution for trapping large numbers of pigeons at baited sites. These systems are easily transported, quickly deployed, and easily adapted to a variety of site conditions. Received 5 May 2016. Accepted 6 March 2017.


Background and Objective: Post-operative respiratory failure (PRF) is one of the serious and common complications associated with poor outcomes, prolonged hospital stay and increased health care expenditure. Objective identification of factors leading to PRF would help optimization of patients and improve outcomes. The aim of the study was to assess the risk of PRF in a cohort of patients undergoing surgery using a validated risk calculator score. Methods: The risk calculator score developed by H Gupta et al was used to predict the chances of PRF in patients undergoing elective/emergency surgery at our hospital from January to June 2016. The primary end point was discharge from hospital or death. Results: 100 patients (Male: 74; Female: 26) undergoing elective/emergency surgery were analyzed. Four patients (4%) died and eleven (11%) developed respiratory failure. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve with a risk calculator score of 6.30 had 92% sensitivity and 82% specificity for predicting PRF. A higher risk score had good correlation with longer hospital stay ( p=0.001). Interpretation and Conclusion: PRF risk calculator score is a valuable tool in predicting respiratory failure in patients, undergoing elective/emergency surgery. It can be useful in identifying high risk patients, allowing one to make an informed choice prior to surgery and may also help optimise such patients pre-operatively.


Background The ambulatory dispensation area is one of the most important sections of the hospital pharmacy. Treatment of several pathologies, such as oncology disease, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus and more, are dispensed in this area, where the pharmacist has total responsibility for patient satisfaction. Purpose Outpatient satisfaction after implementing an improvement cycle. Material and methods All patients who attended the outpatient unit of pharmacy and who agreed to participate were asked to complete a satisfaction survey during the first half of 2014. After a cycle of improvement, when facilities were improved, a system of timeouts was implemented and staff training increased, the same surveys were conducted during the first half of 2015. Surveys consisted of 14 items and several aspects were scored: facilities, waiting time, kindness of staff, information explained by the pharmacist and overall satisfaction, on a scale of 1–10. Results 72 surveys were conducted, 38 pre-intervention and 34 after the intervention. Regarding the average score obtained in the pre-intervention phase, the following scores were obtained: 5.7 for facilities, 6.4 for waiting times, 8.4 for kind staff, 7.5 for information explained by the pharmacist and 7.5 for overall satisfaction. After the improvement cycle, the following scores were obtained: 8.1 for facilities, 6.9 for waiting times, 9.3 for kind staff, 9 for information explained by the pharmacist and 9 for overall satisfaction. Improvements in the scores were: +2.4 (p < 0.05) for facilities, +0.3 (p > 0.05) for waiting times, +0.9 (p > 0.05) for kind staff, +1.5 (p < 0.05) for information explained by the pharmacist and +2 (p < 0.05) for overall satisfaction Conclusion The facilities obtained the lowest score in the pre-intervention surveys, but showed the greatest increase after the improvement cycle. The improvement after implementing a system of waiting time was not significant, which led to a new cycle of improvement focused on that aspect. In general, the overall satisfaction of patients was positive after implementing the improvement cycle. No conflict of interest.


The effects of several chemico-physical factors (pH, SO2, and ethanol concentration) on the growth and malolactic activity of Lactobacillus plantarum and Leuconostoc oenos strains, isolated from different Italian red wines, were evaluated. A large individual variability of stress resistance was observed within the two species. The isolates of L. plantarum showed, under the various conditions better growth performances with respect to Leuc. oenos. Ethanol and malic acid concentration, temperature, pH, and inoculum size were modulated according a Central Composite Design (CCD). Two representative strains of each of the two species were individually grown in the various combinations of the CCD, and their activity was evaluated by gas chromatograph on the basis of the CO2 concentration in the head space of sealed vials. The malolactic activity of the various runs were modelled according to the Gompertz equation. The Gompertz parameters, µmax and length of lag phase, were calculated in order to obtain polynomial equations. The comparison of the models obtained indicated that different factors limit the activities of the two species and that L. plantarum is more resistant to the combined action of various stresses. Having revealed a weaker dependence on the medium modifications as well as higher decarboxylation performances, L. plantarum can be considered as a more efficient alternative to Leuc. oenos for the induction of malolactic fermentation in musts.


Abstract : Contents: Report on Q Fever Vaccine Studies; Demonstration of Viruses in Leukocytes by the Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Recovery of Viral Particles from Serum for Electron Microscopy; Effects of Ionizing Irradiation on the Immune Response to Venezuelan Equine Encephalomyelitis; Studies on the Pathogenesis and Control of Typhoid Fever; Role of Endotoxin during Typhoid Fever and Tularemia; Possible Polymer Configurations of Anthrax Toxin Components; Adrenal Function during Infectious Illness; Thyroid Function during Generalized Infection; Influence of Viral Infection on Host Protein and Ribonucleic Acid Biosynthesis; Protein Synthesis by Liver Cell Components of Mice Infected with Diplococcus pneumoniae; Alterations in Tissue Alkaline Phosphatase Activity during Acute Infection; Detection of Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis Antibodies by Microhemagglutination; Review of Virology Division Program; Comparative Pathology of Cutaneous Anthrax in the Immunized and Unimmunized Guinea Pig.


A B S T R A C T Liquidity play an important role on performance of firms listed in Stock Exchange. When there is a good flow of trading stocks, people could expect more financing through absorbing investors on market. The proposed study of this paper investigates the relationship between Tobin's Q and illiquidity in some selected firms in Tehran Stock Exchange. The proposed study selects non-financial stocks over the period of 2001-2010. The result of the survey indicates that there is a negative relationship between illiquidity and Tobin's Q but the ratio is approximately seven percent. In other words, as illiquidity increases by one percent, we could expect only a small change in firms' performance.


Increased use of lakes and rivers for sport and commercial fishing in the vicinity of large municipal and industrial discharges has led to the realization that fish in many bodies of water are not palatable. The dischargeof organic compounds has led to the contamination of fish flesh to such an extent that fishing is curtailed more because of poor eating quality rather than the lack of fish. To evaluate the magnitude of the tainting of fish flesh in a large river, studies were conducted on the flavor of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus Rafinesque) flesh from the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Cairo, Ill. Tasting of fish flesh determined that a panel could differentiate between fish held upstream and downstream from a wastewater discharge. Caged test fish exposed for three days acquired a minimum of 70 percent of the off-flavor of native fish.


Background: One of the most important risk factors for non-communicable diseases is physical inactivity. This study was conducted to determine the geographical distribution of physical inactivity in Yazd City to identify places that need intervention. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive analysis conducted based on Geographic Information System (GIS). The data for residents between 20 to 69 years in Yazd city of Yazd Health Study (YaHS) yielded 8727 people. The short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) was used. The SPSS V.19 and ARC Map10.5 software were used to analyze the data. Results: The pattern of geographical distribution of physical inactivity in the subgroups of sex, age, and socio-economic status were similar. Spatial auto-correlation analysis showed that physical activity score had a cluster significant level. Also, hot spot analysis showed that this clustering is different in men and women. Using interpolation, the lowest score of physical activity for the central parts of Yazd city and from east to west was estimated. Conclusion: It is necessary to design and implement interventions to promote physical activity for women, older people and those with a better socio-economic status. In the meantime, it is necessary to prioritize areas with lower physical activity, especially in the central part and in the direction from east to west.


Usability is an important aspect that every website should focus more. It tells us how well and success website will function with real users. Many people often think usability tests are expensive and time-consuming. It can be a cost-effective and time saver with usability testing instead of spending more time fixing an unusable website. This study evaluates the usability of encyclopedia websites by using automated usability testing tools and questionnaire methods. The questionnaire was developed based on a standard form called Website Analysis and Measurement Inventory (WAMMI) that identified 20 common usability questions divided into five categories. Each category deals with one aspect of usability. Simultaneously, the automated usability testing tools used in this study were Pingdom and GT Metrix to calculate and analyse the website performance of selected encyclopedia websites based on website components including page load time, media size and overall web performance grades. This study could help web designer, developer, and practitioners design better and more user-friendly encyclopedia websites.


Active Feedback Control of MHD Modes and Plasma Rotation Using Currents Driven from a Bias Electrode Array John Whitlock Brooks The first large-scale study of magnetically-confined plasma for the production of fusion energy is scheduled to begin this decade and will answer many questions. Two critical issues are: (1) how to control and prevent non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbations that may drive harmful current and plasma energy into the surrounding walls, and (2) how to understand the relationship between plasma rotation, plasma confinement, and plasma stability. To address both, this dissertation reports research with biasable electrode arrays in the HBT-EP tokamak. This work conducts systematic studies of driven current and achieves the first active control of plasma rotation and rotating magnetic instabilities with a toroidal electrode array. Electrode-driven current impacts the plasma in several ways. First, it can increase, decrease, and reverse plasma rotation as measured by Mach probes, which results in an altered radial electric field. By controlling the electrode voltage with an active feedback system, plasma rotation is controlled between 4 and 8 kHz. Second, by modulating the driven electrode current at fixed frequencies, spontaneous magnetic perturbations develop at the plasma's edge. These distortions are field aligned, do not rotate, and match the magnetic helicity of the scrape-off-layer (SOL). Direct measurement of SOL current to collectors mounted on the wall, show that the SOL current is field-aligned with a filamentary structure. When a naturally-occurring rotating m=2 mode is present, magnetic measurements show that the two structures are superimposed with no obvious indication of coupling. Third, when the electrode current is driven at the natural frequency of rotating magnetic perturbations, the plasma's proportional response increases, indicating a resonance at 9 kHz. Resonance is observed in the radial electric field, floating potential profile, plasma rotation, and magnetic measurements. Finally, when the electrode array is biased in quadrature and actively controlled, driven currents modify the rotation and amplitude of the long-wavelength rotating magnetic modes. When the quadrature electrode array is phase locked to the n=1 mode rotation, mode amplitudes are suppressed by as much as 50%. Suppression shows a clear dependence on a phase between the rotating mode and the driven current. These experiments show that the structure of SOL currents are field-aligned and demonstrate a clear relationship between biased-electrode driven current and the rotation and amplitude of helical magnetic perturbations.


In this study, hot channel analysis of a 333 MWth civil nuclear marine Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) core operating in steady-state conditions has been performed to determine whether it satisfies thermal-hydraulic (TH) safety limits. For this purpose, we have used the code COBRA-EN with standard and the tightest achievable fuel dimensions (lower pitch-to-diameter ratio (P/D)) and typical PWR TH conditions. The reactor power distribution was computed using the WIMS and PANTHER reactor physics codes. The analysis shows that even in the hot channel at 118% overpower, the minimum departure from nucleate boiling ratio (MDNBR) and the fuel temperatures remain well within TH margins for both the standard and low P/D geometry cores. It is also necessary to prevent boiling in the coolant. In the COBRA-EN model, the coolant does not begin to boil unless the core-averaged linear power rating exceeds 27 kW/m for standard geometry, which is 155% higher than the design value. At steady state, due to the increased pressure drop, a low P/D lattice leads to a reduced coolant flow rate. In turn, this leads to a higher temperature rise across the core, which affects temperature limits and the MDNBR. Nevertheless, we find that it is possible to increase the power density by more than 45% while remaining within TH limits.


OBJECTIVE
To construct and express ribonuclease-resistant virus-like particles containing rotavirus NSP3 gene by changing the affinity of MS2 bacteriophage coat protein pac site and to discuss the stability.

METHODS
In the study, 1 049 bp rotavirus NSP3 gene fragments were amplified by PCR using the primers containing PvuI and KpnI restriction enzyme sites and the uridine at position -5 in the pac site was replaced with cytosine to increase the affinity. The gel-purified PCR-amplified DNA fragments and pACYC-MS2 vector were digested with PvuI and KpnI and then ligated to generate recombinant plasmid pACYC-MS2-NSP3. The expression vector was transformed into competent Escherichia coli strain TOP 10, and was verified by PCR and sequencing. The positive bacteria were transformed into competent E.coli strain BL21(DE3). Then the cells were lysed by ultrasonic disruption, virus like particles (VLPs) were harvested after purification and their stability was discussed.

RESULTS
The expression plasmid containing mutant pac site (uridine at position -5 in the pac site replaced with cytosine) was constructed successfully and the ribonuclease-resistant virus-like particles containing rotavirus NSP3 gene were expressed successfully. The VLPs were resistant to ribonuclease and deoxyribonuclease, and were stable at -20 °C, 4 °C and room temperature(25 °C), respectively.

CONCLUSION
The methods used to increase the affinity of pac site could successfully construct and express the VLPs. The VLPs containing rotavirus NSP3 gene are stable and could be used as surrogates for positive controls and standards in rotavirus real time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription-PCR kits.


Recent economic upheavals raise important questions about the nature of the transformation that has taken place in the East Asian economics. Are these economics really catching up with the West? Is there growth process sustainable? Or will they suffer the type of systemic disintegration experienced by the East European countries during the 1990s—Paul Krugman (1994) and Young (1994) had demonstrated similarities in the East Asian and East European growth paths some time ago. Technological upgrading is an important element in the development of a sustainable growth strategy. This paper seeks to describe policies and initiatives taken by the South Korean government to stimulate technological learning during 1960–1990—the decades during which the South Korean economy achieved a "miraculous" transformation. The description relics mainly on Korean sources and is based on our own field research in that country. Section one describes the technological learning processes and Section Two presents a discussion of the policies that facilitated this learning. Section Three briefly addresses the question: Did this type of technological learning make a contribution towards enhancing the sustainability of Korean development processes? The concluding section briefly reflects on the lessons that seem relevant for Pakistan.


Comparisons of Farm Service Agency direct and guaranteed farm loans made from fiscal 2000 through fiscal 2003 shows that differences in performance measure between the two delivery systems are substantial, but that those differences appear to be consistent with differences in program objectives. Direct loans made during these years had higher delinquency, restructuring, and loss rates than guaranteed loans made. In addition, when loan repayments occur, they occur more quickly in direct loans than in guaranteed loans. Despite the differences, most loan performance measures for both delivery systems continue to show significant improvement from historical highs set in the 1980s and 1990s.


The optical measuring device developed in this study is based on laser autocollimation and can measure the radial error motions of a miniature ultra-high-speed spindle having a maximum rotational speed of 200 krpm. The maximum response frequency of this optical measuring device is over 500 kHz, while the frequency of the radial error motion at 200 krpm is 3.33 kHz for 1 undulation per revolution (upr), and 333 kHz for 100 upr. In addition, the optical measuring device is capable of a highly detailed analysis of the radial error motion of a miniature ultra-high-speed spindle since it has a high signal-to-noise ratio due to little susceptibility to electrical noises.


Abstract : The 198th Expeditionary Signal Battalion (ESB) provided unparalleled communications support to the warfighters during its 2013 2014 deployment to Afghanistan. The ESB provided tactical satellite communications, network operations expertise, and cable and wire services. This National Guard Battalion is comprised of three units from Delaware and a fourth from South Carolina. The Battalion faced the unique challenge of learning how to close a Technical Control Facility (TCF). The Battalion met this daunting task with detailed preparation and coordination, effectively closing four TCFs.


Wind resource assessment studies have been conducted in the Israeli side and the Palestinian side before; however, the previous studies were restricted with the political border either Palestinian or Israeli except one of them that was based on measurements dated to 1940-1983 (R. Shabbaneh & A. Hasan, 1997). Moreover, the studies were performed years ago, with simple techniques and based on old data (R. Shabbaneh & A. Hasan, 1997). Hence, the needs for a new study that is based on updated data, and using updated model is highly demanded. This study is intended to perform wind resource assessment in Palestine/Israel; the study has used two stages of assessment, primary one based on reference station data on both sides, Israeli and Palestinian. The second stage of wind resource assessment is based on WindPRO software. The wind resource assessment ends up with identifying sites with higher potential that are situated in four selected sites, North of Palestine/Israel, North of West-bank, Jerusalem, and Eilat, the higher potential was in Eilat area bearing mean wind speed of 9.88m/s at 100 m hub height.Moreover, the study recognized the importance of political situation assessment due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Based on conducted survey, the political situation assessment concluded that international non-governmental organizations seem to be most capable of starting up wind power project in Palestine/Israel. Furthermore, the study concluded that supportive policies from both the Israeli and Palestinian governments are crucial to promote wind power projects in the region.


SUMMARY  Overactivation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is frequently reported in breast cancer, consequently inhibitors targeting this pathway are clinically useful. AKT constitutes a hub in the regulation of several cancer hallmarks, such as proliferation, survival and migration. Three AKT isoforms, named AKT1, AKT2 and AKT3, are identified in humans. AKT alterations, mainly upregulation of phosphorylated AKT in tumors may have prognostic and predictive value. Moreover, the AKT isoforms may possess partly divergent cellular functions and be upregulated in certain breast cancer subtypes, suggesting the importance of isoform-specific analyses. In conclusion, AKT isoform-specific detection and targeting in different tumor subtypes will hopefully result into a further developed personalized medicine.