The article examines various interpretations of the category "karma" in order to propose a classification of karmas (they can be cosmic, social, national, patrimonial, domestic, personal). The concept "fate" is studied to show the role it plays in the traditional culture of Kalmyks. The author compares the Buddhist understanding of karma with the secular treatment of fate and concludes that the category "fate" is a mythologem which expresses the idea of determinism (all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to his will) whereas the notion "karma" has the opposite meaning implying that people determine their life themselves as they are responsible for their actions. A scent of determinism that can be found in the Buddhist conception of causality is rather ambiguous since it admits some variability of cause-and-effect relations and allows man to make his karma better. Nowadays those Kalmyks who believe in karma interpret it in a wider, or secular, context as they are influenced by the European understanding of fate. At any rate, the categories "karma" and "fate" are the result of the attempts made to express the contradictoriness of man's existence, to facilitate his tense being, and to clarify the nature of social life.


Human bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) serve as a reservoir for the continuous renewal of various mesenchymal tissues; however, cellular physiology of ion channels is not fully understood. The present study investigated potential roles of large‐conductance Ca2+‐activated potassium (BKCa) channels and ether‐à‐go‐go potassium (hEag1 or Kv10.1) channels in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation in human MSCs. We found that inhibition of BKCa with paxilline or hEag1 with astemizole, or knockdown of BKCa with shRNAs targeting KCa1.1 or hEag1 channels with shRNAs targeting KCNH1 arrested the cells at G0/G1 phase. In addition, silencing BKCa or hEag1 channels significantly reduced adipogenic differentiation with decrease of lipid accumulation and expression of the adipocyte marker PPARγ, and decreased osteogenic differentiation with reduction of mineral precipitation and osteocalcin. These effects were accompanied with a reduced cyclin D1, cyclin E, p‐ERK1/2, and p‐Akt. Our results demonstrate that BKCa and hEag1 channels not only regulate cell proliferation, but also participate in the adipogenic and osteogenic differentiations in human MSCs, which indicates that BKCa and hEag1 channels may be essential in maintaining bone marrow physiological function and bone regeneration. J. Cell. Physiol. 229: 202–212, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The article presents reasoned material concerning a house in Kaunas, No. 27D A. Mickeviciaus Street, where Emmanuel Levinas' parents lived at least from 1936 until their violent death during the Second World War. Arguments are based on archival documents, related to the household (on No. 19, A. Mickeviciaus Street) that belonged to Feige and Nison Misleris in the interwar period, and on the local survey of the current location. In the second part of the article, presented are documents from the tax office of the Municipality of Kaunas district (1936–1939), related to the stationery supplies of Emmanuel Levinas' father, Jechiel Levinas. These documents reveal that the stationery shop was small (located only in one small room, with no warehouse and only one assistant, "garcon"). Its turnover of goods was low, even though the tax institutions used to annually (1936–1939) conclude that the turnover is rising, thereby increasing the tax percentage rate, and arguing that the office is old and has a steady flow of clientele. For two years Jechiel Levinas managed to protest this conclusion with the issue to recognize the turnover of 1934; nevertheless, he failed in 1939. In his protests, Jechiel Levinas wrote to the competent tax authorities, complaining that business is declining, not rising, and that the increasing taxes may ruin it completely.


Disturbances affect the spatial and temporal dynamics of ecosystems. The lack of long-term demographic data affects our understanding the effects of high intensity disturbances such as hurricanes. In this paper we assess population recovery of two epiphytic orchids, Broughtonia cubensis (Lindl.) Cogn. and Dendrophylax lindenii (Lindl.) Bentham ex Rolfe, for 7-8 years after Hurricane Ivan (September 2004, category 5, Saffir-Simpson scale). To analyze some spatial components, we applied recent techniques of marked point pattern analysis to ask two questions: 1) at level of phorophytes, was the height and basal diameter (DBH) related to the damage caused by hurricane Ivan, and 2) was the height of epiphytic orchids on phorophytes related to the damage, too? We found that phorophyte damage caused by the hurricane depends on the ecosystem in which the trees were found. Furthermore, damage to individuals of B. cubensis was independent of their height above ground, in contrast to those of D. lindenii. To assess orchid recovery we compared pre- and post-hurricane measures of vegetative traits: number of leaves and leaf area for B. cubensis and number of living roots and mean root length for the leafless D. lindenii. We also compared changes in the production of inflorescences, flowers, and fruits over this recovery period. We found that vegetative parts of B. cubensis recovered, whereas those of D. lindenii did not. However, neither reproductive effort nor success returned to pre-hurricane levels for either species. The greatest decline in fruit set was by D. lindenii, which may reflect a significant decline in availability of their sphingid pollinators. The relative population growth rate from 2004 to 2012 for B. cubensis indicates that the population has stabilized. Unfortunately, analysis of our eight-year data set (2003-2011) for D. lindenii shows negative population growth. Despite an evolutionary history exposed to severe periodic storms not all orchid species are resilient. .


Highly constrained Department of Defense budgets compel the U.S. Army to develop and employ a suite of holistic Data Driven Fleet Management (DDFM) approaches. This collection of capabilities supports proposals for investments aimed at reducing and/or mitigating Operation and Sustainment (O&S) cost growth. As part its overarching DDFM strategy, the Army's Aviation & Missile Command (AMCOM) invests in initiatives with the goal to improve reliability and reduce O&S cost, with no negative impact on the warfighter's readiness. DDFM employs a Systems Engineering approach to collect specific data, enabling focused analysis using multiple relevant databases and methodologies. This approach develops actionable information for presentation to Army leaders to support their critical funding decisions. Army Aviation uses the Army Working Capital Fund (AWCF) to invest in approved initiatives. AWCF investments support innovative projects with the objective to more wisely sustain the world's largest fleet of helicopters which includes the Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook platforms. As part of an update to AMCOM Logistics Center's (ALC) manuscript published through the International Workshop on Structural Health Management (IWSHM) 2015, this edition for the 2017 workshop features updates regarding models the ALC utilizes to measure investment results. The prior published work spelled out how ALC employs its Post Implementation Assessment (PIA) model to measure benefits yielded when the Army authorizes retirement life extensions for aircraft components. PIA models validated how those extensions greatly enable the consumption of valuable remaining useful life (RUL), by increasing time-on-wing, therefore reducing sustainment cost. This updated manuscript features ALC's PIA model, as specifically developed to measure investment results enabled by implementing redesigned components. Specifically, redesigns which occur to improve reliability, reduce cost and/or mitigate obsolescence.


Extemporaneous speech is one of the main natural forms of public speaking, exercising students to speak in public with little preparation. Many English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners, especially those at Al-Quds Open University have difficulty to speak spontaneously in front of the public due to their inability to speak, rooting from their lack of speaking proficiency. Due to the students' lack of competence in extemporaneous speech, the researcher aimed to investigate the English language undergraduates' engagement in an extemporaneous speech at the English Language and Literature Department of the university. The researcher employed the qualitative approach to gain profound knowledge and understanding of the research problem. The researcher selected a purposive sampling to collect and analyze the required data for efficient usage of the resources. The observation was performed on a selected class of 'Language Use' course, consisted of 35 students, at the English language and Literature Department at Al-Quds Open University, Palestine, to explore students' engagement in extemporaneous speech. Then, five students of the same class were interviewed by the researcher to check and examine how much extent do extemporaneous speech develops students' abilities in speaking skills. The researcher utilized the Analytical Field Notes and Thematic Analysis to analyze the collected data. The findings of the study indicated that undergraduate English language major students engaged pleasantly and positively in extemporaneous speech. Also, they had positive views, perspectives and beliefs towards engaging in extemporaneous speech represented by their active participation and their willingness to share and participate in this activity. The findings also showed that students found their speaking abilities are improved and developed based on their experiences in extemporaneous speech. They indicated that they could speak more fluently, their utterances are increased and developed, and they could speak freely in front of their peers and instructor. Furthermore, students' self-confidence is reinforced according to their experiences and beliefs.


Negative and positive selection procedures were used to establish whether the strong proliferative response of T cells to M1sa determinants is H-2 restricted. After negative selection of H-2 determinants in vivo, it was shown that T cells give high primary mixed lymphocyte reactions in vitro to M1sa determinants presented on H-2- incompatible stimulator cells. Other studies demonstrated that (a) negative selection of T cells to M1sa determinants on H-2-incompatible cells removed T cells with specificity for M1sa-bearing H-2-compatible cells, and (b) T cells primed in vitro or in vivo to M1sa determinants on H-2-compatible cells gave high secondary responses to M1sa determinants presented either on H-2-compatible or H-2-incompatible stimulator cells. From these data we conclude that T cells recognize M1sa determinants per se rather than an association of M1sa plus self or allo-H-2 determinants.


Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] reproduction is sensitive to temperatures . 35C. Two studies were conducted to determine temperature effects on soybean pollen germination (PG) and to detect genotypic differences. Pollen collected from 44 genotypes (Maturity Groups III to VI) grown outdoors was subjected to in vitro temperatures from 15 to 50 Ca t 5C intervals. Genotypes differed significantly for in vitro PG percentage (mean of 81%) and tube length (mean of 437 mm). Mean cardinal temperatures (Tmin ,T opt, and Tmax) were 13.2, 30.2, and 47.2C for PG and 12.1, 36.1, and 47.0C for pollen tube growth. Genotypes differed for leaf cell membrane thermostability (CMTS), but CMTS did not correlate with pollen parameters. Cumulative temperature response index, CTRI (unitless), of each genotype calculated as the sum of eight individual stress responses (ISRs) derived from maximum PG, maximum pollen tube length (PTL), and the maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin), and optimum (Topt) temperatures for PG and for PTLs was used to group genotypes for temperature tolerance. Heat-tolerant genotype (DG 5630RR) was less sensitive to high temperature (38/30C) compared with heat-intermediate (PI 471938) and heat-sensitive (Stalwart III) genotypes that had deformed pollen, with reduced apertures and collumellae heads. Hence, pollen can be used as a screening tool for heat tolerance. Most sensitive to temperature was D88-5320 with a CTRI of 6.8, while AG 4403RR was most tolerant with a CTRI of 7.5. Elevated [CO2] did not modify reproductive parameters or CTRI. The study also revealed that heat tolerance of vegetative tissue had little or no relationship with the heat tolerance of reproductive tissue. Maturity groups lacked a specific trend for tolerance to high temperature. The identified high temperature-tolerant genotypes and temperature-dependent pollen response functions might be useful in soybean breeding and modeling programs, respectively.


This thesis investigated the palaeoceanographic history of the Faeroe Shetland Basin, NE Atlantic, via identification and analysis of contourite drift deposits using petroleum industry seismic and well data. Integration of regional 2D seismic lines, 3D seismic volumes and high resolution seismic profiles w ith industrial well data permitted full spatial and temporal characterisation of the contourites within the basin, including identification of small scale architectural elements and subtle stratigraphic relationships. In turn, it was possible to make interpretations regarding the palaeoceanographic regime within the basin from the onset and evolution of thermohaline current flow through the basin to correlation with the present day oceanographic situation. Overall, the study serves to highlight the efficacy of industrial seismic and well data for contourite and palaeoceanographic research. A variety of contourite drift types were identified during seismic-chronostratigraphic division of the Cenozoic succession. Identification of an early middle Eocene contourite drift within the southern Faeroe Shetland Basin dates the onset of southerly flowing deep waters from the Norwegian Greenland Sea into the North Atlantic as part of a North Atlantic Conveyor Belt-style circulation system at approximately 49 million years, predating previous estimates by more than 15 million years. The presence of Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene contourite drifts within the basin reveals that following initiation in the middle Eocene, southerly flowing deep water circulation through the basin was continuous throughout the late Palaeocene and Neogene to the present day. A gradual increase in deep water flux through the basin throughout this time is hypothesised based on contourite distribution, and is thought to relate to the global greenhouse to icehouse climatic transition that occurred during the Cenozoic. Pulses of increased deep water current velocity related to a combination of climatic and tectonic factors are thought to be responsible for the formation of major deep w ater erosional unconformities which are associated with the contourite drift successions. A link between contourite deposition and the climatic fluctuations that characterised the late Neogene northern hemisphere is also proposed based on the identification of direct indicators of significant glaciation including iceberg plough marks within the contourite drift units. Contourite drift deposition is interpreted to occur predominantly during climatically warmer episodes, while periods of glaciation are characterised by apparent disruption of ocean current circulation within the basin.


This paper presents an intelligent corporate governance analysis and rating system, called AAE System, capable of retrieving SEC required documents of public companies and performing analysis and rating in terms of recommended corporate governance practices. With Machine Learning, local knowledge bases, databases, and semantic networks, the AAE system is able to automatically evaluate the strengths, deficiencies, and risks of a company's corporate governance practices and board of directors based on the documents stored in the SEC EDGAR database[1]. The produced score reduces a complex corporate governance process and related policies into a single number which enables concerned government agencies, investors and legislators to assess the governance characteristics of individual companies.


The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy, safety, and acceptability of low-dose mifepristone combined with self-administered misoprostol for ultra-early medical abortion. A total of 744 women with ultra-early pregnancy (amenorrhea ≤35 days) who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. Equal numbers of participants were allocated randomly to the hospital administration and self-administration groups. All participants took 75 mg mifepristone at the initial visit and 400 µg oral misoprostol 24 hours later in the hospital or by self-administration. The primary end point was complete abortion. Secondary end points were rates of unscheduled reattendance, time required for and cost of hospital observation and follow-up, vaginal bleeding, adverse effects, menstrual disturbance in the posttreatment period, and satisfaction rating. No differences in the rates of complete abortion, unscheduled reattendance, vaginal bleeding, adverse effects, or return of posttreatment menstruation were observed. The time required for (and costs of) hospital observation and follow-up per participant was 557.82 minutes (and US$40.12) in the hospital administration group and 18.46 minutes (and US$1.96) in the self-administration group (both P < .001). Satisfaction rates were similar in both groups, but the rates of "very satisfied" responses (87.60% vs 25.41%) and follow-up compliance (loss to follow-up, 0.45% vs 7.70%) were higher in the self-administration group (both P < .001). Low-dose mifepristone combined with self-administered misoprostol for ultra-early pregnancy termination was as effective and safe as hospital administration, with greater acceptability and lower cost to the women.


After anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, 30% of the patients aged 20 years and younger experience a second injury. Studies imply, that with the right rehabilitation and testing many of these injuries can be prevented. Return to play should not be allowed until nine months after surgery at the earliest and should be based on relevant testing of strength, function and mental readiness.


Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) are recently getting involved in many usage areas such as industrial, robotic, home and office applications due to the fact that they have several advantages like fast dynamic response, low size, high efficiency, high power density and more reliability. Since PMSMs require rotor position information for phase current commutation, a position encoder is used on the rotor. Unfortunately, position sensor increases the size and cost of the driver system.  In this study, a simple low cost position sensor based on photomicrosensor is proposed to replace the position encoder. A driver system for 12 poles PMSM with developed position sensor was set up and tested under different speed and load conditions. The experimental results proved that the PMSM driver is able to deliver sinusoidal currents to stator phase windings along with demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed sensor. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eie.22.4.15909


ABSTRACT New cancer cases are expected to surge 57% worldwide in the next two decades. The greatest burden will be in low- and middle-income countries that are ill equipped to face this epidemic. Similarly, in the United States, low-income populations are at greater risk for cancer. As most cancers contain over 50 genetic alterations, and as these alterations define dysregulation of over 10 different critical cellular signaling pathways, a "silver bullet" treatment is not effective against most cancers. Instead, the latest World Cancer Report (2012) suggests a research shift toward developing prevention strategies for cancer. Accumulating evidence suggests that a diet high in plant-based foods is preventive of a variety of chronic diseases, including cancer. A plethora of bioactive compounds—such as polyphenols, glucosinolates and carotenoids in fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—are shown to suppress a variety of biological capabilities required for tumor growth. While much research has shown that plant bioactive compounds can suppress sustained proliferative signaling, angiogenesis, and metastasis, as well as promote cancer stem cell apoptosis, public health campaigns to increase fruit and vegetable consumption have, overall, been less effective than desired. Thus, there is a need for innovative strategies to support increased consumption of bioactive compounds for cancer prevention particularly in vulnerable populations. Many practices of the farm-to-fork continuum, including preharvest practices, postharvest storage, and processing and consumer practices, affect a food's bioactive compound content, composition, and chemopreventive bioactivity. Food system practices may be adjusted to reduce the toxic compound levels (e.g., glycoalkaloids in potatoes) and improve the bioactive compound profile, thus, elevate the cancer fighting properties of fruits, vegetables, and other food products. This review presents current scientific evidence outlining farm-to-fork effects on fruit and vegetable bioactive compounds in order to aid the development of new and reasonable strategies for cancer prevention.


Influenza's Cryptic Constraint Because of the well-known pandemic potential of influenza viruses, it is important to understand the range of molecular interactions between the virus and its host. Despite years of intensive research on the virus, Jagger et al. (p. 199, published online 28 June; see the Perspective by Yewdell and Ince) have found that the influenza A virus has been hiding a gene in its small negative-sense RNA genome. An overlapping open reading frame was found contained in the PA viral RNA polymerase gene, which is accessed by ribosomal frameshifting to produce a fusion protein containing the N-terminal messenger RNA (mRNA) endonuclease domain of PA and an alternative C-terminal X domain. The resulting polypeptide, PA-X, selectively degrades host mRNAs and, in a mouse model of infection, modulated cellular immune responses, thus limiting viral pathogenesis. A previously unidentified influenza protein, partly old and partly new, turns off the expression of host genes. Influenza A virus (IAV) infection leads to variable and imperfectly understood pathogenicity. We report that segment 3 of the virus contains a second open reading frame ("X-ORF"), accessed via ribosomal frameshifting. The frameshift product, termed PA-X, comprises the endonuclease domain of the viral PA protein with a C-terminal domain encoded by the X-ORF and functions to repress cellular gene expression. PA-X also modulates IAV virulence in a mouse infection model, acting to decrease pathogenicity. Loss of PA-X expression leads to changes in the kinetics of the global host response, which notably includes increases in inflammatory, apoptotic, and T lymphocyte–signaling pathways. Thus, we have identified a previously unknown IAV protein that modulates the host response to infection, a finding with important implications for understanding IAV pathogenesis.


In 1897, James Cantlie from Scotland published his findings of an autopsy on a patient in which the right side of the liver was atrophied whereas the left side of the liver showed a marked hypertrophy. He noted the hepatic vessels to the atrophied side to be obliterated. From this observation, he drew two important conclusions. First, that the transition of the atrophied part to the hypertrophied part defined the anatomical mid-line of the liver, according to the portal division of blood supply to the liver. This line we now know as Cantlie's line which he described connecting the fundus of the gallbladder with the centre of the inferior vena cava. Second, he foresaw that the potential of one half of the liver to hypertrophy when the other half is deprived of its blood supply, could be used to the advantage of hepatic resection. It would take another 85 years, however, before the first clinical, pre-operative portal vein embolization was carried out in Japan in 1982.


We were able to transform the usual refraction equations for an observer within a spherically symmetric atmosphere into an Abel integral equation that has a unique inverse. It is now possible to extract accurate temperature profiles of the atmosphere below an observer over the marine boundary layer with use of simple edge-finding software on solar images at sunset. Several examples are presented demonstrating the efficiency of the method.


Summary Optical imaging has long been considered a method for histological or microscopic investigations. Over the last 15 years, however, this method was applied for preclinical molecular imaging and, just recently, was also able to show its principal potential for clinical applications (e.g. fluorescence-guided surgery). Reviewing the development and preclinical evaluation of new fluorescent dyes and target-specific dye conjugates, these often show characteristic patterns of their routes of excretion and biodistribution, which could also be interesting for the development and optimization of radiopharmaceuticals. Especially ionic charges show a great influence on biodistribution and netcharge and charge-distribution on a conjugate often determines unspecific binding or background signals in liver, kidney or intestine, and other organs. Learning from fluorescent probe behaviour in vivo and translating this knowledge to radio-pharmaceuticals might be useful to further optimize emerging and existing radiopharmaceuticals with respect to their biodistribution and thereby availability for binding to their targets.


An unusual outbreak of post-vaccination reactions to 17D yellow fever vaccine occurred at Shaki, Nigeria, in May 1987. Twenty-five of the affected people were treated at the Baptist Hospital Shaki. The patients presented with rapidly progressing swelling of the left arm with associated fever and other constitutional symptoms few hours after inoculation with the vaccine. Some of the patients developed gangrene of the affected limb, five of them went into coma and died. Poor hygiene and improper handling of vaccine as well as contamination of vaccine from the source are possible causes. A review of vaccine delivery strategies especially at local community levels; sound training, supervision of vaccinators and health education are strongly recommended to prevent reoccurrence of similar reactions.


Developers of modern distributed systems continuously face the impossibility result proved by the CAP theorem. In a nutshell, the theorem states that a partition-tolerant system can either guarantee consistency or availability. Most distributed programming languages implicitly make the choice between consistency or availability in their designs and implementations. Concretely, distributed programming languages can be roughly divided into two categories. A first category of languages provide abstractions to implement the consistent parts of a distributed system. A second category of languages provide abstractions to implement the available parts of a distributed system. However, real-world distributed systems often require consistency for some parts while requiring availability for others. Programmers are therefore forced to implement the abstractions missing from their chosen distributed programming language themselves or rely on external libraries. In this paper we present a novel distributed programming model. This model introduces two object-oriented abstractions: consistents and availables. The former guarantees strong consistency by sacrificing availability. The latter guarantees availability, but only provides eventual consistency. Through these constructs programmers are able to implement the entirety of their distributed system within the same language. We present a prototypical implementation of the model as a TypeScript library called CAPtain.js. To showcase the usefulness of our approach we implement a non-trivial example application. Moreover, we highlight both the functional as well as the performance characteristics of both language abstractions.


Experiments were conducted to assess and model the effects of unsaturated zone soil moisture content on vapor-phase pollutant propagation in a controlled setting. A two-dimensional sandtank was utilized for controlled vapor-phase experiments, with pollutant vapors of octane and diesel fuel introduced through a finely slotted source tube. Soil moisture content was varied from 0% to 10% by weight for octane experiments, and from 0% to 5% by weight for diesel fuel. The effects of introduced soil moisture on the transport o f each pollutant vapor were observed via soil-gas sampling from access ports. Soil-gas samples were analyzed with FID gas chromatography to determine a gross hydrocarbon concentration for discrete time intervals and distances from the vapor source. Analytical modeling methods based on Fickian diffusion, developed by Kreamer (1982), were used to estimate two primary diffusion parameters Dg, the effective diffusion coefficient, and A*, the sorption corrected porosity. Estimations were carried out using a FORTRAN program with a non-linear subroutine. The estimated parameters were used to model concentration curves for each moisture content. The modeling indicated adverse effects on vapor propagation near 2% moisture content for octane and 2% moisture content for diesel fuel.


Abstract The timing of the Neanderthal-associated Middle Palaeolithic demise and a possible overlap with anatomically modern humans (AMH) in some regions of Eurasia continues to be debated. The Iberian Peninsula is considered a possible refuge zone for the last Neanderthals, but the chronology of the later Middle Palaeolithic record has undergone revision and has increased the debate on the timing of Neanderthal extinction. Here we report on a study of the 5-m-thick archaeological stratigraphy of the Cardina-Salto do Boi, an open-air site located in inland Iberia, from which optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages were obtained for Middle and Upper Palaeolithic occupations preserved in overbank alluvial deposits. Geomorphology, archaeostratigraphy, stone-tool evolution, and OSL dating support the persistence of Neanderthals after 41 ka in central Iberia; the transition between the Middle Palaeolithic material culture and the AMH-associated Aurignacian blade and bladelet production is estimated to lie between 34.0 ± 2.0 ka and 38.4 ± 1.9 ka. Our results demonstrate that investigations focusing on different geomorphological situations are necessary to overcome the current limitations of the evidence and to establish more consistent models for Neanderthal disappearance and AMH expansion in the Iberian Peninsula.


The introduction of any new technology can pose various threats to the users of its applications. More specifically, the usage of the Tor network, has introduced a new malware paradigm that could also threaten mobile security and privacy. In the recent past months there have been two cases of Android malware spotted in the wild that use the Tor network to conduct their malicious activities. In both cases, the malware used Tor for secondary operations and was not built around Tor from the ground up, limiting the potential impact. A new malware using Tor as a communication channel at is core would have an increased its potential impact along with hardening its detection from antimalware mechanisms. This increased sophistication could also increase the period that the malware would be performing its illegal operations. The lack of commercially available mechanisms that are embedded in any anti-malware software that can detect Tor connection initiation at its source identifies this specific type of malware as a significant threat in both personal and business environments. This paper aims to set the principles and provide a proof of concept at design level of a new Tor-based Android malware, along with a related detection mechanism. This effort can prove that the risk can be significant and that such malware can be an actual threat, aiming to drive researchers and anti-malware vendors to include this type of malware in their research for anti-


Abstract This paper explores the contesting images of two Filipino women in Australia—both victims of domestic homicide—as 'woman in danger' and 'dangerous woman'in the narratives of their families and friends and Australian and Philippines' newspapers. 'Woman in danger' and 'dangerous woman' are flexible and heterogeneous discourses in which meanings are always contested and shifting. To their families and friends, Gene and Elma were women in danger—at the hands of the men they loved, in the court trials of their killers, and in Australian media accounts. Similar representations of Gene and Elma emerged in the Philippines' articles where fear of Australian men is a pervasive theme. The discourse is framed as a warning to Filipino women about the dangers of marrying foreign men. While the woman in danger in the Australian articles may be a victim of an abusive partner, the image hinges on the notion of a poor woman who needs to be rescued from the poverty of the Philippines by an Australian man. By representing Gene and Elma as dangerous women, Australian journalists mask the reality of their lives. Images represented were of Gene as a gold-digging opportunist who used an Australian man as a passport to Australia and Elma physically and emotionally abusing her husband, which silenced the domestic violence both women experienced in their marital relationships. Recasting relations of violence in this way shifts responsibility away from their killers and onto the women themselves. Portrayals of Gene and Elma as women in danger and dangerous women in the Australian and the Philippines' articles were frequently intertwined with their (mis)representation as 'mail order brides.' While Filipino journalists often reinforced stereotypes of Filipino women, they provided more culturally sensitive and informed accounts than many Australian journalists. The narratives of Gene and Elma's families and friends revealed that media images did not reflect Filipino women's realities, but are in themselves sites of conflict over constructions of identity.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Ectopic atrial tachycardia (EAT) is an unusual and potentially risky arrhythmia that can result in left ventricular dysfunction if not properly managed. In adults, EAT is mainly caused by diseased atrial myocardium and responds poorly to antiarrhythmic drugs. The characteristics of EAT in children might be different from those in adults because of their immature myocardium and the different electrophysiologic characteristics of their conduction tissue. We examined the natural history and treatment of EAT in children.

METHODS AND RESULTS
From June 1990 through June 1999, 24 children (8 girls and 16 boys; median age 4 mo [1 d-10 yr]) were admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of EAT. Fifteen had healthy hearts, six had congenital heart disease, one had myocarditis, one had bronchopulmonary dysplasia with severe pulmonary hypertension, and one had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Thirteen patients presented with congestive heart failure. Only four patients had symptoms of prodromal airway infection. The maximum atrial rate was 244 +/- 66 beats per minute. Atrioventricular block was documented at least once during tachycardia in 10 patients. Warm-up or cool-down phenomenon was seen at the initiation or termination of tachycardia in thirteen patients. Primary pharmacologic treatment was attempted in all patients. EAT was initially controlled in all patients using digoxin plus propranolol (18 patients), propranolol only (4), or digoxin plus procainamide (2). EAT was controlled using medication in 22 patients. Fifteen patients had sinus rhythm but did not receive medication for 39 +/- 25 months. Two patients died of uncontrolled arrhythmia, and two of underlying disease. Recurrence was seen within 3 months after initial therapy in five patients. Surgery was performed to correct the underlying heart disease in three patients with frequently recurring EAT, all of whom remained tachycardia-free after surgery, without pharmacologic treatment. The spontaneous remission rate was 75% (18/24).

CONCLUSION
EAT in children without underlying heart disease can be effectively treated using antiarrhythmic drugs. Spontaneous resolution of EAT after medication in children was frequent (75%) in this series. The results of this study suggest that a step-wise approach using digoxin, a beta-blocker, and a class I antiarrhythmic drug may be the most effective treatment for EAT.


A silicalite-1 nanophase material with an elementary particle size of 18−100 nm is synthesized from clear solution and isolated and purified using supercentrifugation. The nanopowder is characterized in detail using scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, attenuated force microscopy, 29Si magic angle spinning NMR, 13C cross polarization magic angle spinning NMR, X-ray diffraction, dinitrogen physisorption, and thermogravimetric analysis and compared with micrometer-sized silicalite-1. The nanosized and micrometer-sized materials have many common properties including the refined structure and the nature and concentrations of tetrapropylammonium species incorporated during the synthesis. Unique properties of the nanophase are a splitting of the characteristic framework vibration at 550 cm-1 into a doublet at 555 and 570 cm-1, a high concentration of defect sites, and a strain in the crystallites along the "a" crystallographic direction. The nanophase exhibits a two-st...


This article provides answer to the MUI statements that BPJS is inconsistent with the principles of sharia economics.  First, a solution to avoid Gharar , where participants pay a monthly premium, but it is unclear how much they will receive.Second, the solution to avoid the element of gambling, where financial calculations can be profit or loss. Third, the solution of usury, when claims were received by participants of BPJS greater than the premium paid; therefore, it contains elements of usury and usury Fadl category. Meanwhile, when there is a delay of participants to pay premiums, BPJS establishes fines that is also included nasi'ah usury. DOI:  10.15408/ajis.v15i2.2859


Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a heterogenic group of devastating disorders that characterizes higher rates of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Recent clinical studies have shown that clinical features, hemodynamic parameters, echocardiography patter, multi-spiral computer tomography findings, exercise capacity, and anti-nuclear antibody profiles could be used as predictors of clinical severity and outcomes in PAH patients. However, the reliability, sensitivity, specificity and predictive value are derived from PAH patients with different comorbidities and specific complications associated with CTD, congenital heart disease and respiratory disease might be unacceptable. The aim of the review: to summarize the knowledge regarding predictive value of several biomarkers in PAH individuals. The review is argued the perspective to utilize single sample and serial measurements of biomarkers as a regulatory peptide contributed in PAH pathogenesis aimed to improve prediction of PAH development and progression.


Objectives: Additional properties of the stochastic neural circuit model suggested in [1] were studied.
Methods: The performance of the whole circuit when the system employs a different jitter was studied by extensive simulations. By performance we mean the time needed to obtain a reliable estimate of ITD.
Results: It was found that the relation between jitter and performance is nonlinear and we estimated a plausible range of jitter values for the model.
Conclusion: To conclude, there exists an upper bound of the timing jitter since the number of neurons needed to compensate the injected noise grows exponentially and above certain jitter values becomes unrealistically high.


The YPR184w gene encodes a 1536-amino acid protein that is 34-39% identical to the mammal, Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans glycogen debranching enzyme. The N-terminal part of the protein possesses the four conserved sequences of the alpha-amylase superfamily, while the C-terminal part displays 50% similarity with the C-terminal of other eukaryotic glycogen debranching enzymes. Reliable measurement of alpha-1,4-glucanotransferase and alpha-1, 6-glucosidase activity of the yeast debranching enzyme was determined in strains overexpressing YPR184w. The alpha-1, 4-glucanotransferase activity of a partially purified preparation of debranching enzyme preferentially transferred maltosyl units than maltotriosyl. Deletion of YPR184w prevents glycogen degradation, whereas overexpression had no effect on the rate of glycogen breakdown. In response to stress and growth conditions, the transcriptional control of YPR184w gene, renamed GDB1 (for Glycogen DeBranching gene), is strictly identical to that of other genes involved in glycogen metabolism.


Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a large number of genetic variants associated with disease as well as normal phenotypic variation for complex traits. However challenges remain in determining the functional relevance of human DNA sequence variants. Even after fine mapping, most variants are located in non-coding regions making it difficult to infer mechanisms linking individual genetic variants with the disease trait. In addition, we do not know under which environmental conditions the sequence variants have a functional impact, and whether they become one of many factors involved in complex phenotypes at the organismal level. Chapter 1 describes computational methods to predict causal GWAS variants, validation of a subset for ASE using a traditional reporter assay, and development of a method to identify ASE in high throughput assays. These methods improved positive detection of enhancer activity and ASE, and this analysis pipeline will continue to be useful as more researchers begin using high throughput assays to identify allelic effects. Chapter 2 improves upon chapter 1 with the development of a new modification of STARR-seq in order to streamline the assay and improve power to detect ASE through the addition of an UMI. Additionally, by integrating BiT-STARR-seq with a high throughput allele-specific EMSA, we are able to identify the mechanism behind many ASE variants. Studying GxE in human studies is extremely difficult, so our approach of using an in-vitro method and modeling molecular phenotypes is a useful alternative. Chapter 3 describes the investigation of GxE with complex traits. Using GEMMA, we were able to identify environments that were enriched for complex traits. With ATAC-seq data we were able to identify differentially accessible regions, TF footprints, and differential TF footprints. Integrating this data with BiT-STARR-seq, we were able to identify enrichment for these differential chromatin accessibility regions with ASE. Overall, these chapters show the integration of computational predictions with experimental validation in order to identify allelic effects. This design is a useful approach to validate the molecular mechanism for specific transcription factors, and link these to the context of human health.


Objective: To report a case presenting with chronic hypertension undergoing upper cervical chiropractic care. Clinical Features: A 55-year-old male seeking chiropractic care with a 20-25 year history of hypertension. Various medication combinations have been used without success in maintaining normal blood pressure. Radiographs revealed an atlas misalignment anterior and superior with right laterality. History revealed a traumatic side blow cervical spine injury 25-30 years prior to chiropractic visit. Intervention and Outcome: The patient received upper cervical specific chiropractic care over a seven month period. Thermography performed bilateral in the cervical spine via infra-red technology and leg length inequality were used to analyze progress on a daily visit basis. Radiographic analysis was utilized to determine the characteristics of the upper cervical misalignment present. An upper cervical adjustment was performed according to the KCUCS knee chest protocol. Through the course of 7 months care, the patient received one upper cervical adjustment and the blood pressure progressively lowered. Conclusion: The findings presented in this case study suggest that an upper cervical chiropractic adjustment may benefit patients who have unresolved chronic hypertension.


Former tin mining lakes are recent fresh water man-made lakes. The lakes were
suspected to have high sedimentation rate and anthropogenic toxic metals due to past
mining activities and recent human activities in and around the lake areas. Sedimentation
in lake occurred through run-off from the land surface and settles on the bottom lake.
Increasing of interest on metals contaminant in the sediment lakes was due to the fact
that sediment can act as sink and storage of heavy metals. Profile of metals against
sediment depth enables us to obtain valuable information about environmental and
deposition of contamination in that area. The study involved depth profiling of Pb-210
and metals concentration and then applying Pb-210 dating technique to estimate
sedimentation rate, history of metals input and modeling of contaminants. The sediment
cores were sampled from a former tin mining lake in Kampung Gajah, Perak, by using
gravity corer. The sliced cores were then analyzed using alpha-spectrometry and
Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) technique to determine activity of Pb-210 and
concentration of Al, As, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Zn, Th and U. Result showed activity of Pb-
210 for sediment cores ranged between 175.48 Bq kg-1 - 450.96 Bq kg-1. From this
study, sedimentation rate and Pb-210 inventory is depending on the contour of lake. Pb-
210 flux in the study area showed the highest value as compared to atmospheric regional
and global value. It seems high in situ production of Pb-210 and emitted radiation in the
study lake. Application of Pb-210 has successfully dated age of sediment back to about
60 years ago (~1950 – 2007) that corresponded to the stoppage of mining activities at
the study area. Study in metals profile showed Al, As, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Zn, Th and U
within the sediment lake were relatively higher than concentration of reference site.
Enrichment factor (EF) value employed to estimate the degree of contaminant in the lake
sediment indicated As, Th, U and Zn are enriched in lake sediment as compared to Co,
Cr, Fe and Mn elements. Comparison to sediment guidelines, earth crust and reference
site showed lake sediment is highly contaminated by As, moderate contamination by Zn
and slightly contaminated by Cr and Mn. While, Th and U concentration showed
relatively higher as compared to earth crust composition and reference site. Application
of Pb-210 dating method enables to construct chronology of metals history. According
to chronology of metals history showed most of metals increased to the recent years.
This findings are likely due to anthropogenic input such human activities, atmospheric
emission from fossil fuel and industries, cutting, slashed and burn of trees, clearing of
land for agricultures, road construction and beginning of agriculture activities started
during late 1980s. Correlation and cluster analysis were used to show origin source of
metals. Porosity analysis of sediment cores showed compaction effect could be
negligible. Modeling of contaminant modeled using emission of Pb-210 with relating to
metals concentration derived using simple linear regression model. The derived equation
could be used to predict either through metal concentration or radionuclides activities to
the similar location as an assessment for monitoring and management practice.


Objective: The aim of the present study is to develop colon targeted drug delivery of chitosan microspheres with celecoxib as a model drug. Materials and Methods: Mucoadhesive microspheres were prepared using chitosan as a core polymer and coated with Eudragit S-100 by a solvent evaporation technique. The effect of different microsphere formulations was studied. Results: In vitro release study, core microspheres are found to show burst release in the first 1 h, whereas coated microspheres exhibit a controlled release, and thus suitable for colon target drug delivery. Through an in vivo study, we investigated the effect of the coated microspheres in rats exposed to experimental colitis. Colitis was induced in rats by rectal instillation of acetic acid. Rats experienced hemorrhagic diarrheic, body weight loss, rise in myeloperoxidase (MPO), and reduction of reduced glutathione (r-GSH) activity by cyclooxygenase (COX), after 5 days administration of acetic acid. Oral administration of coated microspheres (5 mg/kg) twice-a-day to rats after induction of colitis significantly attenuated the severity of the colonic injury. In addition, there was a significant reduction of MPO and COX levels but arises in the levels of GSH. Conclusion: Thus, the study provided the evidence that coated microspheres are beneficial in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease with minimal side effects.


Hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 (HT1) is a genetic disorder of the tyrosine degradation pathway (TIMD) with unmet therapeutic needs. HT1 patients are unable to fully break down the amino acid tyrosine due to a deficient fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH) enzyme and, therefore, accumulate toxic tyrosine intermediates. If left untreated, they experience hepatic failure with comorbidities involving the renal and neurological system and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Nitisinone (NTBC), a potent inhibitor of the 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPD) enzyme, rescues HT1 patients from severe illness and death. However, despite its demonstrated benefits, HT1 patients under continuous NTBC therapy are at risk to develop HCC and adverse reactions in the eye, blood and lymphatic system, the mechanism of which is poorly understood. Moreover, NTBC does not restore the enzymatic defects inflicted by the disease nor does it cure HT1. Here, the changes in molecular pathways associated to the development and progression of HT1-driven liver disease that remains uncorrected under NTBC therapy were investigated using whole transcriptome analyses on the livers of Fah- and Hgd-deficient mice under continuous NTBC therapy and after seven days of NTBC therapy discontinuation. Alkaptonuria (AKU) was used as a tyrosine-inherited metabolic disorder reference disease with non-hepatic manifestations. The differentially expressed genes were enriched in toxicological gene classes related to liver disease, liver damage, liver regeneration and liver cancer, in particular HCC. Most importantly, a set of 25 genes related to liver disease and HCC development was identified that was differentially regulated in HT1 vs. AKU mouse livers under NTBC therapy. Some of those were further modulated upon NTBC therapy discontinuation in HT1 but not in AKU livers. Altogether, our data indicate that NTBC therapy does not completely resolves HT1-driven liver disease and supports the sustained risk to develop HCC over time as different HCC markers, including Moxd1, Saa, Mt, Dbp and Cxcl1, were significantly increased under NTBC.


Objectives: Although literature exists regarding surgery after hip screw/side plate devices, we are unaware of any reports of hip arthroplasty after intramedullary devices. Design: This is a retrospectively reviewed case series. Setting: Tertiary care medical center. Patients/Participants: A consecutive unselected series. Intervention: Hip arthroplasty surgery after failed hip fracture fixation surgery using an intramedullary nail device. Main Outcome Measurements: Twenty cases of conversion surgery after intramedullary fixation for hip fractures were retrospectively reviewed. Results: The indications for hip arthroplasty were nonunion with failed fixation in 15, avascular necrosis with secondary hip arthritis in three, and progression of hip arthritis in four. Average operative time and blood loss were 166 minutes and 621 mL, respectively. Of note, nine of 20 patients ultimately developed a nonunion of the greater trochanter after hip arthroplasty. In only one of these cases of nonunion was the greater trochanter refractured intraoperatively and this as part of a trochanteric osteotomy. Conclusion: Patients undergoing hip arthroplasty after failed hip fracture fixation using an intramedullary nail device are at high risk for greater trochanteric fracture and nonunion. The average operative time and blood loss for these procedures were greater than reported for primary but less than for revision arthroplasty. We now consider treating these cases with a trochanteric plate with or without a trochanteric slide osteotomy to minimize fracture of the remaining, damaged trochanteric bone. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See page 128 for a complete description of levels of evidence.


The introduction of the HDMP-1000 Gigabit Rate Transmit/Receive (GLINK) Chip Set by Hewlett-Packard has provided a hardware device capable of matching SONET STS-3c up to nearly STS-24c rates over either coaxial cable or optical fiber. The capability enables high speed local communication over a low cost medium, and lends itself well to use as both the physical and the data link layers for ATM in a local (few hundred feet) environment. This paper analyzes the capabilities of the GLINK chip set in terms of link length and data rate trade-offs, and in terms of its usefulness as a physical and DLL for local ATM. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MSCIS-93-88. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/291 Evaluation of the GLINK Chip Set as a Data Link Layer for Local ATM MS-CIS-93-88 DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS LAB 35


Jasmine flower (Jasminum sambac) contains essential oil compounds. Jasmine flower essential oil is a high-quality essential oil. Essential oils are volatile oils that have aroma similar to the original plant. Jasmine flower essential oil is sought due to its calming and anti-depression nature. In this study, the effect of extraction temperature, extraction time and solvent to jasmine flower ratio on jasmine oil was studied. The extraction was carried out at 30oC, 35oC, and 40oC for 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, and 5 hours by using n-hexane. The ratio of jasmine flower to n-hexanes were 1:3; 1:4; and 1:5 (w/v). Resulting jasmine oil was analyzed by GC-MS, and its quality was assessed according to SNI 06-2385-2006 which include colour test, refractive index analysis, acid number analysis, and ester number analysis. This experiment showed that increasing of extraction time, extraction temperature, and volume of solvent lead to increase of absolute yield of jasmine essential oil. The highest jasmine oil yield obtained at 11.69 %. The jasmine oil contained was 47.14 % benzyl acetate and had yellow color. Its refractive index, acid number, and ester number were 1.478, 20.92 mg KOH/gram jasmine essential oil, and 150.27 mg KOH/gram jasmine essential oil respectively.


Importance
Impairment of methylation status (ie, methionine to homocysteine ratio) may be a modifiable risk factor for structural brain changes and incident dementia.

Objective
To investigate the association of serum markers of methylation status and sulfur amino acids with risk of incident dementia, Alzheimer disease (AD), and the rate of total brain tissue volume loss during 6 years.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This population-based longitudinal study was performed from March 21, 2001, to October 10, 2010, in a sample of 2570 individuals aged 60 to 102 years from the Swedish Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen who were dementia free at baseline and underwent comprehensive examinations and structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on 2 to 3 occasions during 6 years. Data analysis was performed from March 1, 2018, to October 1, 2018.

Main Outcomes and Measures
Incident dementia, AD, and the rate of total brain volume loss.

Results
This study included 2570 individuals (mean [SD] age, 73.1 [10.4] years; 1331 [56.5%] female). The methionine to homocysteine ratio was higher in individuals who consumed vitamin supplements (median, 1.9; interquartile range [IQR], 1.5-2.6) compared with those who did not (median, 1.8; IQR, 1.3-2.3; P < .001) and increased per each quartile increase of vitamin B12 or folate. In the multiadjusted model, an elevated baseline serum total homocysteine level was associated with an increased risk of dementia and AD during 6 years: for the highest homocysteine quartile compared with the lowest, the hazard ratios (HRs) were 1.60 (95% CI, 1.01-2.55) for dementia and 2.33 (95% CI, 1.26-4.30) for AD. In contrast, elevated concentrations of methionine were associated with a decreased risk of dementia (HR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.36-0.81) for the highest quartile compared with the lowest. Higher values of the methionine to homocysteine ratio were significantly associated with lower risk of dementia and AD: for the fourth methionine-homocysteine quartile compared with the first quartile, the HR was 0.44 (95% CI, 0.27-0.71) for incident dementia and 0.43 (95% CI, 0.23-0.80) for AD. In the multiadjusted linear mixed models, a higher methionine to homocysteine ratio was associated with a decreased rate of total brain tissue volume loss during the study period (β [SE] per 1-SD increase, 0.038 [0.014]; P = .007).

Conclusions and Relevance
The methionine to homocysteine status was associated with dementia development and structural brain changes during the 6-year study period, suggesting that a higher methionine to homocysteine ratio may be important in reducing the rate of brain atrophy and decreasing the risk of dementia in older adults.


ABSTRACT To accurately determine the pathotypes of Escherichia coli strains, a comprehensive assessment of each strain that targets multiple genes is required. A new approach to the identification and characterization of E. coli pathotypes was developed by constructing gene-specific probes (70-mers) for not only the virulence genes associated with each E. coli pathotype but also the O157-, CFT073-, and K-12-specific and common genes of each pathotype. Analysis of oligonucleotide probes with reference and clinical isolates of E. coli pathotypes indicated that the array could differentiate the pathotypes on the basis of their virulence and specific gene patterns. Probes targeting common genes of E. coli were present in all the reference and clinical strains. Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica-specific genes and Salmonella core genes were used as negative controls. The entire E. coli pathotype showed reactivity to only 4 of the 81 Salmonella-specific gene probes. Characterization of the genetic and virulence profiles of a single strain by using probes for virulence factors and specific and common genes in the spotted array is an ideal diagnostic tool for determination of E. coli pathotypes and could also have a significant impact on the epidemiological analysis of E. coli infections.


Abstract The Middle East has had a complex relationship with the so-called liberal international order. Many peoples and elites of the region welcomed the promise, and promises, of the liberal order after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and sought to integrate into it; for other peoples and elites, there have been negative reactions and resistance to it. Today, a majority of countries are integrated, at least nominally, into the global order, while some are decidedly still in systemic challenge with it. The Middle East has also had difficulty in cohering as a region; the condition today is one of collapsed regional order and proxy conflict.


This report provides a commentary on available migration and asylum statistics submitted by Irish official sources to EUROSTAT. Data on flows, citizenship of immigrants, asylum applications and decisions, illegal immigration and return are interpreted in light of policy and legislative developments. Similar reports by other EU Member States are published on the website of DG Justice, Freedom and Security.


The researchers undertook a study on the effects of a total rewards system on the motivation and quality of working life of female employees in institutions of higher learning: A case of the Catholic University of East Africa.  The research looked into the prevalent aspects of a total reward system in institutions of higher learning, the effects of these aspects on the motivation of the female employees, impact of these aspects have on their quality of working life and sought suggestions to improve the total reward system of institutions of higher learning. The population under study was the 127 female employees of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. A stratified sampling design was used with instruments used in data collection being questionnaires for everyone in the sample population and interviews with some selected individuals to verify the data filled in the questionnaires.   The data from this study was analyzed and presented using graphs, frequency tables and percentages to represent the data. The major findings of the study lead to the conclusion that the reward system in the institution's reward system is perceived to be discriminative and not holistic in motivation though there is much room for improvement in meeting the gaps present. The research concludes by recommending review of the institution's reward system and eliminating all aspects that don't favor women and employing strategies that have holistic mechanisms of motivation of female employees. Key words : employee motivation, compensation, total reward system and quality of work life


We consider decentralized detection through distributed sensors that perform level-triggered sampling and communicate with a fusion center (FC) via noisy channels. Each sensor computes its local log-likelihood ratio (LLR), samples it using the level-triggered sampling, and upon sampling transmits a single bit to the FC. Upon receiving a bit from a sensor, the FC updates the global LLR and performs a sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) step. We derive the fusion rules under various types of channels. We further provide non-asymptotic and asymptotic analyses on the average detection delay for the proposed channel-aware scheme, and show that the asymptotic detection delay is characterized by a KL information number. The delay analysis facilitates the choice of appropriate signaling schemes under different channel types for sending the 1-bit information from sensors to the FC.


Abstract A growing body of literature has documented the rapidly increasing income disparities that accompanied China's economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, and the driving factors behind this. Growing income inequality in its turn may have important implications for the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital and as a consequence for sustainable economic development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential impact of income inequality on savings, human resources and the environment in China. It starts with an overview of the different causal mechanisms through which income inequality may affect the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and natural capital, and discusses to what extent these causal relationships may be relevant in the case of China. Next, provincial data for the year 2002 are used to explore the relationship between income inequality and different elements of sustainable development in China. It is found that income inequality does not affect aggregate savings levels. Rising inequality, however, contributes to lower health and possibly also to higher fertility levels. It also lowers the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and therefore is likely to reduce water pollution. Other types of environmental degradation are not affected.


Provides a comprehensive modern biographical survey of homosexuality in the Western world. Among those included are: * controversial political activists - Peter Tatchell; Guy Hocquenghem; Harvey Milk * pop icons - David Bowie; k d lang; Boy George * groundbreaking artists, writers and filmmakers - Pier Paolo Pasolini; Derek Jarman; David Hockney * intellectuals who have shaped and changed the modern understanding of sexuality - Michel Foucault; Simone de Beauvoir; Alfred Kinsey * over 500 entries - clear, informative and enjoyable to read - build up a superbly thorough overview of gay and lesbian life in our time.


The climate system is driven, primarily, by energy absorbed at the surface. Surface albedo sensitivity is incorporated into all types of climate models, and changes can lead to large feedback effects. For example, alterations in the extent and/or state of the cryosphere and large-scale modification of vegetation cause significant perturbations in climate model results. The specification of surface albedo in general circulation climate models (GCM's) differs. An improved and agreed surface albedo data set is urgently required for climate modeling. It is likely that the most appropriate means of achieving consistent and credible surface albedos is by using well-designed satellite surveillance to augment global inventories of soils and vegetation. However, retrieval of surface albedo values for all sky and surface conditions from satellite observations is difficult. Atmospheric distortion is especially hard to remove. Some of the sensitivity of GCM's to surface albedo values may be the result of inadequate parameterization of other climatic components. The accuracy of information demanded by climate modelers could be reduced and made more consistent. Recommendations are made for the implementation of a new global scale observational program with the aim of providing surface albedo data at an accuracy of ±0.05 within 5–10 years. Immediate initiation is urged.


Rhenium heptafluoride, ReF7, is one of only two stable binary compounds MX7 with a heptacoordinated metal atom M and halide atom X. Its low-temperature crystal structure, as determined by high-resolution powder neutron diffraction, reveals the molecular structure, which has been the subject of speculation and debate for many years. Here it is shown within experimental error that at 1.5 kelvin the lowest energy configuration of ReF7 has symmetry Cs (m) and is a distorted pentagonal bipyramid. The deviation of the two axial Re-F bonds from collinear and the puckering of the ring of equatorial fluorine atoms are similar to what has been postulated as one of the conformations of the pseudorotational motion observed at higher temperatures.


Objectives
To profile and compare the subgingival microbiome of RA patients with OA controls.

Methods
RA (n = 260) and OA (n = 296) patients underwent full-mouth examination and subgingival samples were collected. Bacterial DNA was profiled using 16 S rRNA Illumina sequencing. Following data filtering and normalization, hierarchical clustering analysis was used to group samples. Multivariable regression was used to examine associations of patient factors with membership in the two largest clusters. Differential abundance between RA and OA was examined using voom method and linear modelling with empirical Bayes moderation (Linear Models for Microarray Analysis, limma), accounting for the effects of periodontitis, race, marital status and smoking.

Results
Alpha diversity indices were similar in RA and OA after accounting for periodontitis. After filtering, 286 taxa were available for analysis. Samples grouped into one of seven clusters with membership sizes of 324, 223, 3, 2, 2, 1 and 1 patients, respectively. RA-OA status was not associated with cluster membership. Factors associated with cluster 1 (vs 2) membership included periodontitis, smoking, marital status and Caucasian race. Accounting for periodontitis, 10 taxa (3.5% of those examined) were in lower abundance in RA than OA. There were no associations between lower abundance taxa or other select taxa examined with RA autoantibody concentrations.

Conclusion
Leveraging data from a large case-control study and accounting for multiple factors known to influence oral health status, results from this study failed to identify a subgingival microbial fingerprint that could reliably discriminate RA from OA patients.


Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common in men with obstructive sleep apnea (OSAS) but no completely convincing hypotheses about the underlying pathogenic mechanisms have been published in the literature. The aims of the present study were to assess the presence of ED in a group of OSAS patients without daytime respiratory failure and to determine whether this dysfunction was related to peripheral nerve involvement. Evaluation of the bulbocavernosus reflex (BCR) and the somato-sensory evoked potentials of pudendal nerve (PSEPs), the most widely established method of documenting pudendal neuropathies as being the cause of impotence, was performed in 25 patients. Data on BCR were compared with those of 25 healthy males volunteers matched for age. BCR was altered in 17 patients: in 6 it was elicited while in 11 it had a prolonged latency and reduced amplitude. Patients with altered BCR presented an higher AHI, an higher percentage of sleep time spent with SaO2 <90% (TST90) and a lower daytime PaO2. Six patient had clinically silent neurophysiological signs of mild polyneuropathy. The degree of OSAS and gas exchange alteration was more severe in patients with polyneuropathy than in those with isolated BCR alteration. ED is a common finding in OSAS patients and this alteration seems to be related to a nerve dysfunction. The development of nerve dysfunction is associated with a more severe degree of OSAS and nocturnal hypoxia.


Objectives: In the recently updated clinical guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology on the management of stable coronary artery disease (CAD), the updated Diamond Forrester score has been included as a pretest probability (PTP) score to select patients for further diagnostic testing. We investigated the validity of the new guidelines in a population of patients with acute-onset chest pain. Methods: We examined 527 consecutive patients with either an exercise-ECG stress test or single-photon emission computed tomography, and subsequently coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). We compared the diagnostic accuracy of PTP and stress testing assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) to identify significant CAD, defined as at least 1 coronary artery branch with >70% diameter stenosis identified by CCTA. Results: The diagnostic accuracy of PTP was significantly higher than the stress test (AUC 0.80 vs. 0.69; p = 0.009), but the diagnostic accuracy of the combination of PTP and a stress test did not significantly increase when compared to PTP alone (AUC 0.86 vs. 0.80; p = 0.06). Conclusions: PTP using the updated Diamond and Forrester Score is a very useful tool in risk-stratifying patients with acute-onset chest pain at a low-to-intermediate risk of having CAD. Adding a stress test to PTP does not appear to offer significant diagnostic benefit.


12 This article is dedicated to the methodology for the study of international cooperation on marine environment protection. The author suggests applying the practices of marine environment protection in the Baltic Sea to the northern seas as well as examining earlier projects for the effective implementation of interdisciplinary initiatives bringing together international law, international relations and world politics.


This paper describes a theoretical study of the problem of linear waves propagating over an emergent poroelastic medium. Lan-Lee's poro-elastomer theory is extended to derive a new analytical solution for describing this problem, with the free surface boundary condition discussed in the context of a poroelastic medium, a topic that has rarely been covered by previous studies. In the present approach, the problem domain is divided into three subregions and a negligible water-exposed region. Using general solutions for each region and the matching dynamic and kinematic conditions for neighboring regions, a set of simultaneous equations is developed and numerically solved. The present analytic solution compares reasonably well with simplified cases of impermeable, rigid structures and porous structures. Using this analytic solution, the wave reflection and transmission induced by different key parameters of the poroelastic medium are studied. The results show that softer poroelastic media can transform the incident waves. For almost impermeable conditions, a softer emergent medium induces resonance, whereas higher permeability depresses the resonant effects and induces significant wave damping.


Increase of dThd-uptake 4 to 12 h after infection of BHK or primary rabbit kidney cells with Herpesvirus hominis of type 1 or 2 can be considered as an early function of the virus genome, because the presence of Cyd-Ara does not prevent the increase of uptake. However, increase of uptake can be prevented by addition of actinomycin D and cycloheximide early in the synthetic cycle. Two modes of uptake have been differentiated by kinetic analysis: at low substrate concentration dThd is taken up by 'facilitated transport', whereas at high substrate concentration (above 2-5 micronM) simple diffusion takes place. The Km of transport of normal BHK or primary rabbit kidney cells (1-4 or 0-5 micronM respectively) is not changed after infection. Only the Vmax increases from 8 to 26-6 pmol in BHK cells or from 2-9 to 9-0 pmol in primary rabbit kidney cells. This indicates that 'carrier sites' with identical affinity for dThd-transport are responsible for the increase of transport after infection. This increase of transport is correlated with the induction of a virus coded thymidine kinase (TK) and not with different types of c.p.e. or cellular damage. Transport of BdUrd increases in a similar manner to that of dThd after infection; transport of dCyd or dUrd increases only slightly, whereas the mechanism of dAdo or Urd uptake by infected cells is quite different.


Counterfactual thinking describes a psychological phenomenon that people re-infer the possible results with different solutions about things that have already happened. It helps people to gain more experience from mistakes and thus to perform better in similar future tasks. This paper investigates the counterfactual thinking for agents to find optimal decision-making strategies in multi-agent reinforcement learning environments. In particular, we propose a multi-agent deep reinforcement learning model with a structure which mimics the human-psychological counterfactual thinking process to improve the competitive abilities for agents. To this end, our model generates several possible actions (intent actions) with a parallel policy structure and estimates the rewards and regrets for these intent actions based on its current understanding of the environment. Our model incorporates a scenario-based framework to link the estimated regrets with its inner policies. During the iterations, our model updates the parallel policies and the corresponding scenario-based regrets for agents simultaneously. To verify the effectiveness of our proposed model, we conduct extensive experiments. Experimental results show that counterfactual thinking can actually benefit the agents to obtain more accumulative rewards from the environments with fair information by comparing to their opponents.


The Peratrovich Formation and overlying Ladrones Limestone in the Craig C4 quadrangle of the Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, record the accumulation of Carboniferous carbonates behind the remnants of a Late Devonian volcanic arc in the Alexander terrane. The occurrences of declinognathodid elements in the lower Ladrones Limestone suggest the possibility of a conformable Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary near the base of the Ladrones Limestone. The recovery of the Early Pennsylvanian conodont Idiognathoides chaagulootus n. sp. in the lower part of the Ladrones Limestone helps to constrain current models of the paleogeographic position of the Alexander terrane during the Carboniferous because of its limited occurrence within the Uralian Seaway. The presence of Id. chaagulootus n. sp. in the Alexander terrane, the Brooks Range of Alaska, and Novaya Zemlya indicates a species level biogeographic connection between these regions that shows that the Alexander terrane remained in the Uralian Seaway until at least the Middle Pennsylvanian.


Evaluates the effect of laser spot diameter and beam profile on the shape of the thermal denaturation zone produced during laser tissue welding, 2-cm-long full thickness incisions were made on the epilated backs of guinea pigs in vivo. India ink was used as an absorber and clamps were used to appose the incision edges. Welding was performed using continuous-wave 1.06-/spl mu/m, Nd:YAG laser radiation scanned over the incisions to produce /spl sim/100-ms pulses. Laser spot diameters of 1, 2, 4, and 6 mm were studied, with powers of 1, 4, 16, and 36 W, respectively. The irradiance remained constant at 127 W/cm/sup 2/. Monte Carlo simulations were also conducted to examine the effect of laser spot size and beam profile on the distribution of photons absorbed in the tissue. The laser spot diameter was varied from 1 to 6 mm, Gaussian, flat-top, dual Gaussian, and dual flat-top beam profiles were studied. The experimental results showed that 1-, 2-, 4-, and 6 mm-diameter spots produced thermal denaturation to an average depth of 570, 970, 1470, and 1900 /spl mu/m, respectively. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrated that the most uniform distribution of photon absorption is achieved using large diameter dual flat-top beams.


Cavities are air-filled spaces within a pulmonary consolidation and can be indicative of various diseases like primary bronchogenic carcinoma, mycobacterium tuberculosis, cancer and infections. Segmentation of cavities is a challenging task in chest radiographs due to the presence of superimposed structures. It is important to accurately measure the extent of cavitation to measure temporal changes and response to therapy. In this paper, we propose a semi-automatic technique for cavity border segmentation based on dynamic programming. A pixel classifier is trained using cavity border pixels based on Gaussian, location and Hessian features to construct a cavity wall likelihood map. A polar transformation of this likelihood map around the seed point is then used as a cost function to find an optimal border using dynamic programming. We have validated our technique on 50 chest radiographs (2048 × 2048 resolution, pixel size 0.25 mm, Delft Imaging Systems, The Netherlands) containing in total 50 cavities. These cavities have been manually outlined by three human experts, one chest radiologist and two readers certified to read chest radiographs according to a tuberculosis scoring system. The automatic border segmentations are compared with manual segmentations provided by the readers using Jaccard overlapping measure. The agreement between the automatically determined outlines is comparable to the inter-observer agreement.


In a job-scarce environment, where unemployment is rife the need for fostering entrepreneurship especially among youth is a prime concern. This is arguably the case in South Africa, where despite a number of government-pioneered interventions, the level of youth entrepreneurship, particularly in township areas remains unsatisfactory. This study takes a two-pronged approach to establish specific factors that are inhibiting youth entrepreneurship development, and determine the prospects of youth entrepreneurship development in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, South Africa. The data was collected via self-administered questionnaires that were distributed to 132 respondents, which were randomly drawn from a population of 200 youth entrepreneurs registered on the database of a local organisation which promotes and develops entrepreneurship in the Western Cape. The findings revealed, among others, that a major inhibiting factor to entrepreneurship development is the lack of awareness and inaccessibility of youth entrepreneurship support structures and initiatives in this community. Interestingly though, this hindrance does not appear to have a negative bearing on the identified growing enthusiasm of the youth to engage in entrepreneurial activities. Overall, on the basis of the challenges and prospects revealed, recommendations to improve the current situation are made. This study is an applied research effort and its relevance is linked to the fact that it provides rare insight into the state of youth entrepreneurship in a large but under-researched township community in the Western Cape. The findings and recommendations therefore bear far-reaching ramifications for all stakeholders who are concerned about developing youth entrepreneurship in this society.


ABSTRACT The German anthropologist Erhard Eylmann relied heavily on assistance provided by missionaries when he undertook fieldwork in Australia. During two periods at the Hermannsburg mission he developed a strained relationship with Carl Strehlow. In his major work Eylmann wrote a damning critique of missionaries. While there was a level of personal animosity between Eylmann and Strehlow, at the heart of the antagonism were fundamental differences concerning the nature and function of the discipline of anthropology. The missionaries sought anthropological knowledge to promote mutual understanding, above all through language, as a prelude to conversion to Christianity. They proceeded from the assumption that the future of Indigenous Australians would be within the context of the adoption of Christian belief systems. Eylmann in contrast took the view that the differences between Europeans and Indigenous Australians were physical, essential and insuperable. Sceptical about the possibility of achieving mutual understanding, he devoted his fieldwork primarily to describing, recording and collecting for the purpose of assembling a detailed record of a population he believed destined for extinction. Eylmann and German missionary anthropologists such as Strehlow had in common that they stood outside the paradigm of British social evolutionistic thinking which dominated Australian anthropology around the turn of the century at the time. At the same time, the differences in the anthropological endeavours of Eylmann and Strehlow indicate the great breadth of approaches opening up within German anthropology. In particular they point to the emergence of an 'antihumanist' turn at the end of the nineteenth century.


Curriculum analysis is attracting widespread interest in educational field. There are two main approaches: (i) human-based and (ii) text-based assessments. Although an evaluation by teachers and learners are widely used, it is inconvenient and time-consuming. Also, the results absolutely rely on individual attitude. The text-based approach aims to directly evaluate the course syllabus; however, there is only a course description in the syllabus, so this cannot really express the actual course contents. In this paper, we present an automatic text-based curriculum analysis that straightforwardly assesses entire course materials. Our approach employs a well-known text-mining technique that extracts keywords using TF-IDF. The analysis is based on keywords from the course materials matching to the keywords from online documents, which is similar to the domain expert. Moreover, a new measurement is proposed to quantify associations between course materials and online documents using amounts of matching keywords. The experiment was conducted on materials of three subjects collected from five top universities mapping to the latest Computer Engineering Curricular Guideline (CE2016). The results illustrate significant relations among courses from different universities and CE2016. To further analyze the courses, each of them are visualized using radar charts.


The allotropes of graphite and activated carbon were mixed with Cu and Mo powder, respectively. And the two groups of mixtures were high-energy milled and annealed. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and DSC/TG were used to investigate the phase transformation during the milling and sintering process. For both groups of powder milled, Mo was hard to dissolve in Cu, and C mainly congregated in the surface of Cu powder. When Cu-Mo-graphite powder as milled was annealed, Mo2C was formed. In comparison to Cu-Mo-graphite alloyed powder, Cu-Mo-activated carbon powder partially formed Cu oxide and Mo oxide with higher binding energy during milling process, which caused higher reduction temperature of Cu oxide and reaction temperature of Mo2C.This template explains and demonstrates how to prepare your camera-ready paper for Trans Tech Publications. The best is to read these instructions and follow the outline of this text.


I have attempted to sketch the ideas forged in a long-term investigation of the possible relationship between host nutrition and resistance to infection. Our endeavor had its origins in the now partially forgotten field of experimental epidemiology, once epitomized in somewhat contrasting schools of thought, English and American. The work of Webster, which showed the importance of host genetic constitution, was an early and decisive influence in the work discussed here, and led to formulation of a new laboratory model of infectious disease, which has been fruitful.


This article examines the Australian newspaper coverage of the Emo youth cultural movement in relation to two incidents that contributed to its growing inclusion in mainstream media discourse: the February 2007 murder of 15-year-old Carly Ryan and the April 2007 suicides of 16-year-old friends Jodie Gater and Stephanie Gestier. The deaths of the three young women were frequently linked to their apparent involvement in the Emo movement, which was described as a dangerous and worrying development in youth culture. However, specific concerns about Emo were frequently subsumed into broader anxieties about young people more generally, particularly in relation to concerns associated with self-harm, unsupervised internet use and school bullying. The disinclination among participants of this movements to identify as Emo or to challenge the media's framing of Emo culture has contributed much to the media's redefinition of Emo as a characteristic of 'kids today' rather than a specific subcultural affiliation.


The analysis study has been done for a First Order plus Delay Time (FOPDT) model controlled by Proportional Integral Derivative (PID), proportional integral (PI) and Model Predictive Control (MPC) using MATLAB software. The study has been done for both MPC and conventional control methods to design the controller for the level tank system and the results has been compared in terms of rise time,settling time and maximum overshoot. The conventional PID controller gives corrective action only after error has developed but not in advance but MPC provides corrective action in advance. The objective of this study is to investigate the Model predictive control (MPC) strategy, analyze and compare the control effects with conventional control strategy in maintaining a water level system. A Comparison between the performance of Conventional controller and MPC Controller has been performed in which MPC Controller gives better system parameter in terms of Rise time (tr), Settling time (ts) and maximum overshoot (Mp).


In the absence of generally accepted content standards and with little evidence on the learning for long-term retrieval and transfer, how does one design or evaluate a course in quantitative reasoning (QR)? This is a report on one way to do so. The subject QR course, which has college algebra as a prerequisite and has been taught for 8 years, is being modified slightly to be offered as an alternative to college algebra. One modification is adding a significant formal writing component. As the modification occurs, the current course and the modified one are judged according to six sets of criteria: the six core competencies of the Association of American Colleges and Universities rubric on quantitative literacy; the five mathematical competencies from the National Research Council (NRC) study report, Adding It Up; the eight practice standards from the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics; the five elements of effective thinking as articulated by Edward Burger and Michael Starbird, the summary research findings on human cognition from the NRC study report, How People Learn; and the ten principles gleaned from applying the science of learning to university teaching. The QR course, as described by ten design principles, is determined to be generally well aligned with most of the overlapping criteria of the six sets, providing cogent evidence of high educational value.


Purpose
This study aimed to describe nurses' knowledge and practices toward patients with acute or chronic confusion.

Design and Methods
A cross-sectional design was used, and 249 nurses engaged in clinical practice fulfilled an online self-report questionnaire.

Findings
Tools for diagnosing acute confusion/delirium are never used by 57.80% of the nurses. Between 80% and 81% of nursing interventions involve managing patients' physical environment and between 62% and 71% deal with managing communication. Theoretical training in the use of tools for assessing and intervening in cases of confusion was significantly associated with nurses' knowledge and practices.

Practice Implications
These results suggest the need for increased investment in nurses' training.


Internet of Things (IoT) is in the booming age of its growth, therefore a vast amount of applications, projects, hardware/software solutions, and customized concepts are being developed. The proliferation of IoT will enable location-based services to be available everywhere for everyone, and this will raise a large number of privacy issues related to the collection, usage, retention, and disclosure of the user's location information. In order to provide a solution to this unique problem of IoT, this paper proposes Location Privacy Assured Internet of Things (LPA-IoT) scheme, which uses the concepts of Mix-Zone, location-obfuscation along with context-awareness. To the authors' best knowledge, the proposed LPA-IoT scheme is the first location-based privacy-preserving scheme for IoT that provides flexible privacy levels associated with the present context of the user.


Based on the existing image mosaic technology, this paper introduces the granular computing and obtains a simplified new algorithm. The image mosaic executed by this algorithm at first establishes correlation model on the basis of granular computing theory, and obtains edge map of each image needing mosaic. The new calculation method is used to calculate gradient of in different columns of edge map, to obtain the feature point coordinates with the maximum gradient; meanwhile, all feature points of two images are matched with each other, to acquire the best matching point. In addition, the error-correcting mechanism is introduced in the matching process, which is used to delete feature points with matching error. The correlation calculation is carried out for the matching pixels acquired by the above processing, to get the feature transformational matrix of the two images. According to the matrix, two separated image maps map into the same plane. The slow transitional mosaic method is applied in the aspect of image addition plus overlap removal, so that images have no bulgy boundary after mosaics. The whole image mosaic process shows that the given granular computing algorithm is superior to the traditional one both in the number of processed images and the number of processing, and the mosaic image gained has high quality.


: -Ethiopia is one of the second populated countries in Africa. The highest percentage of the population lives in remote rural areas without having access to clean energy. Energy is one of the power full tools to change the populations' lifestyle. Either extending from the grid or using a standalone system is options to energize the area. The Dubetu and Rarati Kebeles which are found at Minjar-Shenkora woreda in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia at Latitude: 8.598565, Longitude: 38.433785 with an elevation of 2312. The woreda is located at the southern end of the Semien Shewa Zone, bordered on the east, south, and west by Oromia Region, on the northwest by Hagere Miriamna Kesem, and on the northeast by Berehet. The total number of population and householder respectively is 14088 and 2499. The rural villages are far away from grid (mojo substation of Ethiopia) with a distance of more than 64km. Due to its geographical location and distance from the grid, the area has not been electrified yet, and the population is still living in dark. So, a standalone system is a way to electrify this remote village. The energy demand of the two towns Residential and Differential load respectively is 5898.605kWh/day and 3611.25KWh/day. In Minjar-Shenkora woreda attractive renewable energy resource are available with a huge potential like good solar insolation, unwanted waste and water. Considering minimum solar insolation of G min 4600 Wh/m 2 /day, the Average Biomass input of 8.15t/h, and minimum water flow 3.497m 3 /s of a river, a hybrid model has been designed and evaluated using HOMER and MATLAB Simulink Software. The best feasible generation system is determined for the selected site from optimization process; which can supply the whole load in reliable way despite the variation of radiation and water flow. The selected system contains PV, Biogas, Mini Hydro, Battery and Converter with a COE of $0.1718/kWh and a total net present cost (NPC) of $9.203604 million. This system has excess electricity generation of 63.5%, capacity shortage of 1.92%, and unmet electric load 1.92%. The COE of the feasible setups is in the range of 0.1718 to 0.7620 $ per kilowatt-hour, with a relatively low COE than the national tariff.


Abstract Abdominally implanted radiotransmitters with percutaneous antennas are increasingly used to monitor movements, survival, and reproduction of waterbirds. However, there has been relatively little assessment of the effects of such radios on avian demographic parameters or migration. We implanted either a 26- or 35-g abdominal transmitter with percutaneous antenna in 198 adult female lesser Canada geese (Branta canadensis parvipes) in Anchorage, Alaska during 2000 and 2001. We compared migration chronology, reproductive effort, and survival of radiomarked females to 118 control females marked with leg bands. Arrival dates following spring migration were similar among females in different treatments in 2001. However, in 2002, wind direction during late migration was less favorable, and arrival of females with 35-g radiotransmitters lagged 1–2 days behind that of control females. Nest initiation dates, clutch size, and mean egg volume were similar for 152 nests of females that lacked radios and 62 nests of radiomarked females. Estimated nesting propensity for females with operable radiotransmitters was 61% and 72% in 2001 and 2002, respectively. Apparent annual survival (φ = 0.82, 95% confidence interval: 0.76 to 0.87) was similar among treatments in the first year after geese were marked. In the second and third years after marking, model-averaged estimates for survival of females with large radiotransmitters were 10% lower than estimates for control females. However, the effect of large radios on long-term survival was equivocal because of uncertainty surrounding treatment estimates. We conclude that abdominally implanted radiotransmitters with percutaneous antennas had small effects on migration chronology but no apparent effects on fecundity. Abdominal transmitters can provide unbiased estimates of anserine survival in the first year after deployment. Because of the potentially greater effects of larger transmitters on migration and long-term survival, we recommend that biologists minimize the size of implanted transmitters and deploy radios with caution if long-term survival of marked birds is a concern.