A novel active nanocomposite packaging based on low-density polyethylene (LDPE), Cloisite® 15 A (C15A), and α -tocopherol (α-TOC) was prepared. The effects of C15A (0-4 wt. %) and α-TOC (1-3 wt. %) on optical, mechanical and barrier properties of polyethylene were analyzed using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Regression models were developed for mechanical characteristics (tensile strength and elongation at break), water vapor permeability (WVP) and optical properties (L*, a*, b*, OP) as a function of α-TOC and C15A concentrations. For all cases, the quadratic terms of the model were significant (P< 0.05). In order to maximize TS and EL and minimize WVP, the desirability function (DF) was used to determine the regression model equations. The optimized factors were found to be 2.93 wt. % α-TOC and 4 wt.% Cloisite®15A for a maximal desirability of 0.903.


Current state-of-the-art NMT systems use large neural networks that are not only slow to train, but also often require many heuristics and optimization tricks, such as specialized learning rate schedules and large batch sizes. This is undesirable as it requires extensive hyperparameter tuning. In this paper, we propose a curriculum learning framework for NMT that reduces training time, reduces the need for specialized heuristics or large batch sizes, and results in overall better performance. Our framework consists of a principled way of deciding which training samples are shown to the model at different times during training, based on the estimated difficulty of a sample and the current competence of the model. Filtering training samples in this manner prevents the model from getting stuck in bad local optima, making it converge faster and reach a better solution than the common approach of uniformly sampling training examples. Furthermore, the proposed method can be easily applied to existing NMT models by simply modifying their input data pipelines. We show that our framework can help improve the training time and the performance of both recurrent neural network models and Transformers, achieving up to a 70% decrease in training time, while at the same time obtaining accuracy improvements of up to 2.2 BLEU.


We report results of first-principles density-functional studies of the atomic and electronic structure of Co/Al 2 O 3 /Co and Co/SrTiO 3 /Co magnetic tunnel junctions ~ MTJs ! . The atomic structure has been studied for different interface terminations and the interfacial energetics was quantified based on the work of separation. Based on energetics of cohesion, the O-terminated and TiO 2 -terminated interfaces were identified as the most stable structures for Co/Al 2 O 3 /Co and Co/SrTiO 3 /Co MTJs, respectively. The electronic structure was analyzed using local densities of states. We found that the electronic structure of the O-terminated Co/Al 2 O 3 /Co tunnel junction exhibits negative spin polarization at the Fermi energy within the first few monolayers of alumina but it eventually becomes positive for distances beyond 10 Å. Calculated electronic structure of the TiO 2 -terminated Co/SrTiO 3 /Co MTJ shows an exchange coupling between the interface Co and Ti atoms mediated by oxygen. This coupling induces a magnetic moment of 0.25 m B on the interface Ti atom, which is aligned antiparallel to the magnetic moment of the Co layer. This is a possible cause of inversion of the spin polarization of tunneling across the SrTiO 3 barrier that was found in recent experiments.


Acid secretion inhibitors are usually prescribed to promote the healing of artificial ulcers caused by endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) to reduce the risk of gastric perforation and delayed bleeding. Vonoprazan is a newer agent that has been shown to be more potent than a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI). However, it remains unclear whether vonoprazan is more effective than PPI in promoting healing of ulcers caused by ESD. Medline and Embase databases were searched through January 2018 for studies that compared the rate of complete healing of ulcers caused by ESD and post-ESD delayed bleeding in patients who received vonoprazan versus those who received PPI after ESD. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect model, generic inverse variance method. The between-study heterogeneity was quantified using the Q-statistic and I2. A total of six studies consisting of 461 patients were identified. The likelihood that ulcers caused by ESD were completely healed at 4–8 weeks after the procedure was significantly higher among patients who received vonoprazan compared with those who received PPI, with a pooled OR of 2.27 (95% CI=1.38–3.73; I2=0%). The risk of developing post-ESD delayed bleeding was also numerically lower among those who received vonoprazan, with a pooled OR of 0.79, although the result did not reach statistical significance (95% CI=0.18–3.49; I2=29%). This study found that patients who received vonoprazan after ESD had a significantly higher rate of completely healed ulcers compared with those who received PPI.


Get to grips with Kibana and its advanced functions to create interactive visualizations and dashboards
Key Features
Explore visualizations and perform histograms, stats, and map analytics

Unleash X-Pack and Timelion, and learn alerting, monitoring, and reporting features

Manage dashboards with Beats and create machine learning jobs for faster analytics

Book Description
Kibana is one of the popular tools among data enthusiasts for slicing and dicing large datasets and uncovering Business Intelligence (BI) with the help of its rich and powerful visualizations.

To begin with, Mastering Kibana 6.x quickly introduces you to the features of Kibana 6.x, before teaching you how to create smart dashboards in no time. You will explore metric analytics and graph exploration, followed by understanding how to quickly customize Kibana dashboards. In addition to this, you will learn advanced analytics such as maps, hits, and list analytics. All this will help you enhance your skills in running and comparing multiple queries and filters, influencing your data visualization skills at scale.

With Kibana's Timelion feature, you can analyze time series data with histograms and stats analytics. By the end of this book, you will have created a speedy machine learning job using X-Pack capabilities.

What you will learn
Create unique dashboards with various intuitive data visualizations

Visualize Timelion expressions with added histograms and stats analytics

Integrate X-Pack with your Elastic Stack in simple steps

Extract data from Elasticsearch for advanced analysis and anomaly detection using dashboards

Build dashboards from web applications for application logs

Create monitoring and alerting dashboards using Beats
Who this book is for
Mastering Kibana 6.x is for you if you are a big data engineer, DevOps engineer, or data scientist aspiring to go beyond data visualization at scale and gain maximum insights from their large datasets. Basic knowledge of Elasticstack will be an added advantage, although not mandatory.


The vacuum energy density of free scalar quantum field Φ in a Rindler distributional space-time with distributional Levi-Cività connection is considered. It has been widely believed that, except in very extreme situations, the influence of acceleration on quantum fields should amount to just small, sub-dominant contributions. Here we argue that this belief is wrong by showing that in a Rindler distributional background space-time with distributional Levi-Cività connection the vacuum energy of free quantum fields is forced, by the very same background distributional space-time such a Rindler distributional background space-time, to become dominant over any classical energy density component. This semiclassical gravity effect finds its roots in the singular behavior of quantum fields on a Rindler distributional space-times with distributional Levi-Cività connection. In particular we obtain that the vacuum fluctuations 〈Φ 〉 has a singular behavior on a Rindler horizon. Therefore sufficiently strongly accelerated observer burns up near the Rindler horizon. Thus Polchinski's account doesn't violate of the Einstein equivalence principle.


This study examined the intent of federal policy and the actual implementation within local school districts. Specifically, the focus is on the Federal School to Work Opportunities Act of 1994 and its implementation in 47 school districts in upstate New York as part of a consortium during the 1995-96 school year. The purpose of the study was to determine 1) the extent to which an agreement to participate in a consortium arrangement designed to facilitate the implementation of a specific Federal or state policy resulted in the active implementation efforts by individual consortium members, and 2) how a high school setting where School to Work activities were perceived by local stakeholders as having great specific and important effects differed from a high school setting where School to Work activities were perceived by local stakeholders as having some or no effect. A bottom-up backward mapping policy analysis model was used for the purposes of this study. Local level data was used to create performance, environment, technology implementation, and School to Work implementation profiles of local high schools. Regression and correlation analyses were used to determine the relationship between stakeholder perceptions and local high school characteristics. Results of the study were reported and interpreted with the aim of furthering research and knowledge of policy analysis and the use of local level data to determine the success of policy implementation. This study found that variation between federal intent and local adaptation is explained by characteristics of the high school and perceptions of stakeholders. School to Work policy implementation, perceived by the high school administrator as a stakeholder, varied significantly by high school student performance, environment in which the high school operates, and level of technology implementation in the high school. Results indicated that the backward mapping policy analysis model is effective in determining the actual levels of policy implementation. Backward mapping results in a definitive explanation of the role of the local actor and the use of discretion in decision making. The final analysis as a result of backward mapping goes beyond the measurement of policy objectives being met and explains the meaning of local level participation.


: Visual evoked potentials in response to checkerboard reversal pattern were evaluated in 160 patients: 24 with isolated retrobulbar optic neuritis, 100 with unquestionable and probable multiple sclerosis, 36 with paraparesis or with disseminated changes of unestablished aetiology (degenerative or inflammatory) and in 80 healthy controls. Normal visual evoked potentials were obtained in all controls. In all cases of present or past optic neuritis abnormal potentials were observed, usually unilateral. In multiple sclerosis patients with unquestionable diagnosis abnormal potentials were present in 92% of cases, and in patients with probable multiple sclerosis they were found in 58%, and in cases without retrobulbar neuritis they were present in 71% and 48% of cases respectively. The abnormalities were found most frequently in both optic nerves. It was tried to find out other correlations making possible partial differentiation of the axonal and demyelinating type of damage to the anterior part of the visual pathways.


Knowledge about a correct topology model is required for monitoring, control and analyses of a power system. There are many papers which deal with the examination of correctness of the mentioned model. Among approaches to solving a problem of examination of that correctness there is one assuming utilization of raw analogue measurement data. That approach does not require complex numerical computations. It is utilized in the paper. In the paper, a next stage of investigation on topology verification based on utilization of so-called unbalance indices is presented. In that stage, the original idea of reduced unbalance indices, being a modification of the earlier-mentioned unbalance indices, is introduced. Utilization of the new unbalance indices increases possibility of taking verification decision when there are multiple topology errors and decreases sensitivity of topology verification to a lack of a full set of measurement data. The topology verification can be performed locally (e.g. in a substation what is often now considered) as it is in the case of earlier-defined unbalance indices. Utilization of the proposed method is shown on an example of topology verification of the IEEE 14-bus test system. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eee.20.9.8708


In this paper, I explore the relationship of democracy to educational leadership; more specifically, to the notion of distributed leadership as it unfolds within policy-mandated multi-site school collaboratives, with particular reference to practices in Malta. Under the policy framework 'For All Children To Succeed' introduced in Malta in 2005, Maltese primary and secondary state schools embarked on the process of being organized into networks, legally termed 'colleges'. I explore leadership distribution among the leaders constituting the college and the subsequent inherent tensions within this educational scenario. The notion of distributed leadership as perceived by the leaders is examined, and especially the leaders' reception of its presentation in the policy document as the leadership discourse; and its eventual (non-)enactment at both school and college level. A Foucauldian theoretical framework, specifically Foucault's concepts of power relations, governmentality, discourse, and subjectification, is used to carry out a case study of a Maltese college, collecting data via semi-structured, in-depth interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis. Narrative is both the phenomenon under study and the method of analysis. The policy discourse does not unfold in a participatory democratic manner in practice, resulting in an organizational paradox where leadership enactment in a Maltese college is 'directed' from above, rather than 'distributed'. These findings may be significant for educational practice, policy and theory in terms of the generation of problematization which may lead to further research on this contested topic.


Background Injury prevention professionals are part of a complicated system that works collectively to address injury prevention through development, implementation, participation in and evaluation of an injury prevention program. While the responsibilities of an Injury Prevention Manager (IPM) are vast, and often accompanied by minimal support or funding - the need for extensive reach of injury prevention programs remain. Understanding the causes for injury and prevention frameworks, theories, curriculum development, evaluation, research and program implementation are critical for both the departments success in addressing injury prevention and safety campus-wide. Methods We conducted a gap analysis of safety and injury prevention measures in the hospital to include internal/external outreach and educational needs, programmatic capacity and staffing deficits. We determined the parameters of injury prevention manager's and safety officer's roles in cross fertilisation and involvement in activities based on a review of national norms, focus groups and key informant interviews. We also convened hospital-based taskforce and community stakeholders to refine the roles and scope of injury prevention priorities for the hospital. Results Based on these findings, program priorities were set to reflect the following: Develop innovative approaches utilising non-traditional partnerships and networks; Engage Office of Safety and Security to participate in related trainings and obtain required certifications in injury prevention; Collaborate with the Office of Safety and Security on injury prevention internal activities to include patient safety measures (child passenger safety), staff safety, (seat belt and pedestrian safety) and environmental modifications/enhancements to improve safety/injury prevention capacity (resources, trainings) Develop new systems to provide childhood safety information to patients and families; Develop creative strategies and partnerships to address resource gaps that will provide program support externally Conclusions While the Injury Prevention Manager is responsible for developing, implementing and identifying injury prevention programming for patients, families and community; we believe that enhancing injury prevention occurs through sharing best practices and programs and building meaningful partnerships to sustain programmatic reach, establish policy and practice and improve patient and community education. Unfortunately, the impact/reach of these internal partnerships are often limited to hospital-based initiatives if external/community-based priorities unsupported. Elevating the magnitude and critical nature of injury prevention through interdepartmental engagement to secure ongoing support are among the highest priorities for injury prevention managers, particularly trauma centres. The unique partnership with the Injury Prevention Department and Office of Safety and Security yielded significant outcomes for both the hospital and community-at-large. As a result, more than 8 members from both departments have successfully completed reciprocal trainings to work in concert as Child Passenger Safety Technicians and in disaster training and response to improve the health and safety of patients and families in the community. This interdepartmental collaboration has yielded more than 25 community-based events, 3 internal hospital policies, 6 certification courses and more than 60,000 contacts. Both areas have fully immersed activities and policies to support this partnership long-term.


The island of Crete is the principal landmass in the Aegean arc system. Collision of the Euroasian plate in the north and the African plate in the south gives rise to the subduction related deformation along the Hellenic arc. As a result of the complex deformation, the area is characterized by high seismic activity. Paleoseismic investigations performed along the Kera fault scarp, which is part of a N-S oriented fault system along the Spatha peninsula (NW-Crete), show clear evidence of repeated normal faulting events. Five distinct episodes of faulting are observed. The first two are probably of Middle-Miocene or younger age representing older tectonic episodes, whereas the last three indicate co-seismic displacements most likely during the Pleistocene and Holocene. This is in good agreement with the previous estimates of Holocene average slip rate and the recur rence time estimate of large earthquakes in the order of ca. lmm/yr and 3000yrs, respectively. The Kera fault represents a NE-SW oriented bend in a N-S fault system and therefore has a minor left-lateral strike-slip com ponent. During the 1980's at least three earthquakes could be associated with the Kera fault. More recently, in 1999, there were three small (with magnitudes between 3.0-4.5) offshore events that are probably associated with the same fault system in the offshore extension (to the north) of the N-S oriented faults along the Spatha peninsula. The existence of these earthquakes as well as the recent paleoseismic results clearly demonstrates the need of revising the seismic hazard assessment of the area. The length of the N-S oriented fault system, where the Kera fault represents the middle segment, reaches to a total of 30 km., and is capable of generating an earthquake of magnitude in the range 6.0-6.7. Such a (shallow) earthquake occurring at a short distance to the densely populated north-western coast of Crete is likely to have significant consequences.


Adaptive random testing (ART) is an enhancement of random testing (RT). It can detect failures more effectively than RT when failure-causing inputs are clustered. Having test cases both randomly selected and evenly spread is the key to the success of ART. Recently, it has been found that the dimensionality of the input domain could have an impact on the effectiveness of ART. The effectiveness of some ART methods may deteriorate when the dimension is high. In this paper, we work on one particular ART method, namely Fixed-Sized-Candidate-Set ART (FSCS-ART) and show how it can be enhanced for high dimensional domains. Since the cause of the problems for FSCS-ART may also be valid for some other ART methods, our solutions to the high dimension problems of FSCS-ART may be applicable for improving other ART methods.


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This study examines the impact of product market competition and corporate governance on productivity growth in German manufacturing. Using a panel of almost 500 firms over the years 1986--94, we find that firms experience higher productivity growth when operating in markets with intense competition. Similarly, productivity growth is higher for firms under control of a strong ultimate owner, but not when the ultimate owner is a financial institution (a group that consisted almost exclusively of German banks and insurance firms in our sample period). Our results also indicate that competition and tight control are complements: The positive effect of competition is enhanced by the presence of a strong ultimate owner.


Cues have been identified as important precursors to successful diagnoses among expert practitioners. However, current approaches to the identification of expert cues typically rely on subjective methods, making the validity of cues difficult to establish. The present research examined the utility of a Paired-Concept Association Task (P-CAT) as a basis for discriminating expert and novice cue activation in the context of offender profiling. Three studies are reported: 1A employed a cognitive interview for the acquisition of cue-based concepts used by experts and novices; 1B presented pairs of concepts as part of the P-CAT, which recorded response latency; and, 1C employed a survey to further gauge participants' perceptions of the concepts. The results revealed differences between experts and novices in the cue-based associations activated, and in the response latencies associated with the P-CAT, across expertise. The P-CAT accurately discriminated expert from novice cue activation and consequently offers a new method for objectively validating expert cue use.


Cases of ringworm of the eyebrow are rare and are worth reporting. A white boy, aged 9 years, presented what looked like a patch of tinea circinata over the left eyebrow. The lesion was annular, about 3 cm. in diameter, with a slightly raised erythematous and scaly border and a center of almost normal skin. The hairs of the eyebrow seemed normal under ordinary light. Under Wood light, however, many of them showed yellowish-greenish fluorescence along their entire length. In addition, there were several erythematous and scaly lesions on the left nuchal area and a large focus on the left occipital area of the scalp, all with long fluorescent hairs. The patch on the scalp was visible only under Wood light and was unnoticeable under ordinary light, because there was neither erythema nor scaling and the hairs were not broken off short. Microscopic examination of hairs from the eyebrow


Deep learning (DL) is one of the most prominent branches of machine learning. Due to the immense computational cost of DL workloads, industry and academia have developed DL libraries with highly-specialized kernels for each workload/architecture, leading to numerous, complex code-bases that strive for performance, yet they are hard to maintain and do not generalize. In this work, we introduce the batch-reduce GEMM kernel and show how the most popular DL algorithms can be formulated with this kernel as the basic building-block. Consequently, the DL library-development degenerates to mere (potentially automatic) tuning of loops around this sole optimized kernel. By exploiting our new kernel we implement Recurrent Neural Networks, Convolution Neural Networks and Multilayer Perceptron training and inference primitives in just 3K lines of high-level code. Our primitives outperform vendor-optimized libraries on multi-node CPU clusters, and we also provide proof-of-concept CNN kernels targeting GPUs. Finally, we demonstrate that the batch-reduce GEMM kernel within a tensor compiler yields high-performance CNN primitives, further amplifying the viability of our approach.


Objective: Abnormal uterine bleeding is any deviation from a normal menstrual pattern. Transvaginal ultrasonography is useful in determining endometrial thickness but cannot conclusively exclude sessile and pedunculated lesions. Hysteroscopy is an invasive procedure that detects discrete lesions. This study was aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of 2-dimensional transvaginal ultrasonography and hysteroscopy in evaluating endometrial lesions in women with abnormal uterine bleeding, by determining the sensitivity and specificity of the two methods in diagnosing the lesions. Methods: Eighty-four cases of abnormal uterine bleeding were chosen based on inclusion criteria. The patients were subjected to routine investigations. The findings of transvaginal ultrasonography, hysteroscopy, and dilatation and curettage were compared and analyzed. Results: Maximum incidence of abnormal uterine bleeding was observed in women between 41 and 50 years of age (73.8%). The most common presenting complaint was menorrhagia (76.1%). 76% of patients experienced symptoms for less than six months. The sensitivity and specificity of transvaginal ultrasonography were 60% and 96.3%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of hysteroscopy were 80.4% and 93.1%, respectively. The accuracy of transvaginal ultrasonography was 60.3%, and that of hysteroscopy was 83.3%. Conclusion: Transvaginal ultrasonography and hysteroscopy can be used as first-line diagnostic modalities to rule out and find the causes of abnormal uterine bleeding, which can aid in instituting prompt and appropriate medical treatment.


It has been proposed that exposure to infections and microbes protects against atopic diseases, but epidemiological data has so far been conflicting. We hypothesized that maternal exposure to infections and microbes before or during pregnancy would be of particular importance. To test this hypothesis, we studied the incidence of wheezing and atopic dermatitis (AD) in infants of mothers employed in child‐care institutions – and thus presumably being highly exposed to infections and microbes – compared with infants of mothers not so employed. A total of 31471 mother‐child pairs enroled in the Danish National Birth Cohort were followed prospectively. Information on wheezing episodes, AD, maternal employment, and other variables were collected by interview at 12 and 30 wk of gestation, and 6 and 18 months of age, and by linkage to the Danish Medical Birth Register and the Child‐care Database. The relative risk was estimated in Cox proportional hazard models. Analyses were stratified by sibling status (first born or not), as older siblings are likely to be a significant source of infectious agents. The adjusted relative risks of wheeze, recurrent wheeze and AD was 1.14 (95% CI: 0.96–1.37), 1.37 (95% CI: 1.05–1.77), and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.81–1.31), respectively, for first‐born infants of mothers employed in child‐care institutions compared with infants of mothers not so employed. There was no effect of maternal employment in child‐care institutions among infants with older siblings. In conclusion, the results did not support the hypothesis that maternal microbial exposure before or during pregnancy as reflected by maternal employment in child‐care institutions protects the offspring against infant wheeze and AD.


Autohaemotherapy, involving bland treatment ex vivo of blood with ozone and prompt reinfusion into the donor, is a procedure mainly performed in central Europe, which is claimed to have therapeutic value in circulatory disorders, viral diseases and cancer. This practice is mostly performed in private clinics, and good clinical trials have not been published, which has understandably given rise to prejudice and scepticism. By analysing possible mechanisms of action and current hypotheses, this report attempts to explain how this procedure can be useful in such disparate diseases. The current state of the art is presented objectively, the lack of toxicity is documented, and the rationale and therapeutic advantages are discussed, with the aim of eliciting interest in carrying out controlled clinical trials.


The pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis, the common denominator responsible for the widespread dysfunction of so many or perhaps all exocrine glands, is not known. The basis defect, whatever its nature, is genetically transmitted and there is suggestive evidence that it may be present in varying degrees and so affect the variety and severity of clinical manifestations in different individuals. There are accumulating data to indicate that the heterozygous state may be identified by biochemical or physiologic tests. The abnormal chemical structure of mucoproteins in duodenal contents of patients with cystic fibrosis tends to decrease the solubility, while the abnormal physicochemical behavior shows that these mucoproteins are easily denatured and rendered insoluble. If this were true of mucous secretions throughout the body it would be possible for a change in the physicochemical environment of these mucous secretions to cause irreversible precipitation of mucoproteins in organs such as the pancreas, liver and others, thus initiating the chain of clinical events and leading to many of the symptoms manifested by patients with the disease. Despite the almost constant and striking association of Staphylococcus aureus and the respiratory involvement in cystic fibrosis, the distribution of bacteriophage types of this microorganism resembles that found in other hospitalized patients.


Contextual plasticity (CP) is a short-term adaptation effect in sound localization (Kopco et al., 2007). CP is exhibited by biases in localization of click stimuli in target-alone trials when, on interleaved contextual trials, a distractor-target click pair is presented. In previous CP studies, a gradual drift in localization responses towards the front was observed. The drift was not attributable to CP but can potentially confound its analysis. Here, we analyze several CP data sets with various distributions of contextual and target-alone stimuli in order to test whether the drift is related to asymmetry in the distribution of the stimuli relative to the subject's midline. The results show that the drift tends to have a steeper slope when the stimulus distribution mean is more lateral, confirming that it is likely related to the distribution asymmetry.


Objectives : This paper examines the relationship between World Heritage and Tourism on Curacao focusing on the interests involved on a local and global level.  Methodology : A case study has been conducted on the island of Curacao using a qualitative method through indepth interviews and observations. Findings : General tourism in the Caribbean area grows every day, but heritage tourism is still under developed. The four historical districts of the capital of Curacao - Willemstad - were listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997, became a tourist attraction. It started to suffer of commercialization and commodification, as many WH sites. Most of the tourism development projects have been initiated by the Curacao Tourist Board, by the government or by the private sector - such as developers and investors. Besides these three stakeholders, the local community is a major stakeholder as well. At the moment the interest of the three major stakeholders and the interest of the local community are not in sync with each other. Moreover, all the stakeholders operate on their own without collaboration between them.  Research limits: Future quantitative research could be carried out to quantify the economic impact of the UNESCO status on Curacao covering a year wide sample size - including high and low season. Research and practical implications : It is of great importance that all of the stakeholders work together to create the best sustainable tourism plan. But either the lack of political power or financial assets will slow this process down. Moreover, all the stakeholders operate on their own without any collaboration between them. Originality of the study : There has been no - or not published yet - research into the development of the product Willemstad as a UNESCO World Heritage City. This research will try to fill this gap in the existing literature.


Most traits introduced into genetically engineered crops result from the expression of new proteins. As the first step toward assessing the allergenic potential of genetically modified organism (GMO) food, immunologic and physicochemical characterizations are needed. We prepared crude extract from GMO soybeans, wild soybeans, curd, and soy milk and then performed sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). After acidification with HCl, the samples were separated to globulin and whey. To evaluate changes in protein composition, either the samples were heated or pepsin was added. Polymerase chain reaction with primer encoding the 35S-promotor and the 3-enol-pyruvyl-shikimat-5-phosphat-synthase gene were performed, respectively, to detect the GMO component. SDS-PAGE results showed definite protein bands at 80 kDa in GMO soybean, 50 kDa in wild soybean, and a similar distribution of protein bands was noticed below 40 kDa. It was difficult to observe protein distribution because of modifications that occurred during processing in soybean-processed products. After heating, proteins of GMO and wild soybeans showed similar distributions and no distinct bands were detected at 50 and 80 kDa. Although SDS-PAGE analyses of raw GMO and wild soybeans differed, the same protein bands of 68, 37, and 20 kDa were observed in the globulin fraction after acidification. After adding pepsin, 20- and 68-kDa bands were found preserved in GMO and wild soybeans. The polymerase chain reaction procedures with primers specific to GMO soybeans showed that GMO soybeans and some curd samples included a GMO component. The skin test results of 49 patients showed 13 positive results to wild soybeans and 8 positive results to GMO soybeans. One patient had a positive skin test result to GMO soybeans only. Sera from nine patients with positive skin tests to the crude extract and a positive capsulated allergen product test to the soybean antigen were used for the immunoblotting of GMO and wild soybeans. GMO soybeans revealed a unique strong immunoglobulin E binding band at 25 kDa in some patients and wild soybeans showed a strong immunoglobulin E binding band at 30-36 kDa. To assess the allergenicity of GMO food, more research, including a selection of controlled sample materials and immunoassays of qualified sera, is needed.


Cluster analysis is an unsupervised technique of grouping related objects without considering their label or class. The objects belonging to the same cluster are relatively more homogeneous in comparison with other clusters. The application of cluster analysis is in areas like gene expression analysis, galaxy formation, natural language processing and image segmentation etc. The clustering problem can be formulated as a graph cut problem where a suitable objective function has to be optimized. This study uses different graph cluster formulations based on graph cut and partitioning problems. A special class of graph clustering algorithm known as spectral clustering algorithms is used for the study. Two widely used spectral clustering algorithms are applied to explaining solution to these problems. These algorithms are generally based on the Eigen-decomposition of Laplacian matrices of either weighted or non-weighted graphs.


The aim of the present study was to investigate the in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of aqueous and methanol extracts of Momordica charantia leaves. In preliminary phytochemical analysis we observed glycosides, alkaloids, phytosterols, saponins, phenolic compounds, proteins, fats and fixed oils and flavonoids, and thin layer chromatography was also performed. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated for Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacillus subtilis by using stokes disc diffusion and well diffusion methods. Methanolic plant extract showed a maximum zone of inhibition in E.coli by disc method but in well diffusion method Bacilli and Klebsiella showed maximum inhibitory activity. The antioxidant activity of the plant extract was also determined by DPPH and ABTS methods using ascorbic acid and gallic acid as standards respectively. IC50 values were also calculated.


The aorta was exposed by a standard "nephrectomy" incision through the eleventh interspace in 53 patients with aneurysmal or occlusive disease. The plane posterior to the kidney and ureter was developed easily, enabling exposure of the aorta above the level of the celiac axis to its bifurcation by dividing only the crus of the diaphragm and the lumbar branch of the left renal vein. Twenty-five patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms were treated in this fashion. In all but four there were significant risk factors, including extension of the aneurysm to or above the level of the renal arteries in eight and coexisting renal artery stenosis with hypertension in two. Twenty-eight patients with occlusive vascular disease were treated surgically. In eight, this was the second operation on the aorta while in 11, major occlusive disease involved the aorta as well as the renal/visceral arteries. The operative mortality rate was 8%. Eighty-nine percent of the patients were alive at this writing. Of 18 hypertensive patients, 9 were not taking medication and only 3 have not improved significantly. We recommend this approach for reoperations on the aorta and for patients who have extensive aneurysmal and/or occlusive disease of the aorta, renal, and visceral arteries.


Problem statement: Country Song was related to history, society, culture and economic. The objectives of this study were: (1) the historical background in composing the Isan Country Song, (2) the current situation and problem of composing style of Isan Country Song and (3) the development of composing pattern the Isan Country Song for elevating the economic value. Approach: The research area consisted of Isan Region including Chiaya Phume, Ubon Rachatani, Amnat Charoen and Sri-Sa-ket Provinces. The samples providing information included 170 persons. The instruments using for collecting data included: The Survey Form, Interview Form, Focus Group Discussion and Participatory Workshop. The data were classified into groups. Qualitative data were analyzed according to the specified objectives. The research findings were presented in descriptive analysis. Results: The research findings found that the historical background of Isan Country Song, reflected lifestyle, social situation, ideal, and Thai Culture with the rhyme developed from traditional Country Song blending with Big Brand Music Band mixing with the local singing words and rhythm. The current situation and problem after listening to the Country Song was more increasing popular since there were many song composers and chords. There were advertisements through the media as radio, television, mobile phone and internet network. Therefore, the buying and selling of song were easier and quicker. For the song composing, the text of a song didn't focus on the rhyme and lacked of morality enhancement. The supplementary music sometimes lacked of beauty based on aesthetic principle. For the commercial problems, there were many violations of right. Consequently, the entrepreneur sometimes faced with the lost. For development, the god points of Isan Country Song were analyzed both of the text and rhyme. The composed song model was created by bringing Pentatonic scale mixing with message of Dorian Mode. The musical instrument using for playing consisted of Isan Country Song and Western Music. Conclusion/Recommendations: Isan Country Song was still necessary for opposing the entertainment like the villager representatives. Besides, it could be developed for beauty based on music principle. In some viewpoints, it could be used as commercial usefulness. Therefore, in order to maintain the identity of Country Song which needed to be studied for knowing the development of song work, it would be good. This research could be able to be a model for new style Country Song.


Clinical follow-up covered 40 patients with paroxysmal progressive schizophrenia with a history of 52 affective, anxiety-affective and affective-hallucinatory attacks at the age of 0-10 years and of 70 hallucinatory-delusional attacks at the age of 11-17 years and older. Over one-third of the examined patients were under the authors' personal observation in early childhood. The follow-up lasted for 5 to 22 years. The authors have established a definite stereotype of the development of anxiety-affective, affective-hallucinatory and hallucinatory-delusional attacks. Remissions in this group of patients are characterized by atypical affective disturbances and changes of the personality. The authors have specified clinical characteristics of so-called "premanifest" episodes, attacks, and "premorbid" pseudopsychopathic conditions with manifestations of retardation of personality development and atypical affective disorders.


Cross-ISA (Instruction Set Architecture) system-level virtual machine has a significant research and practical value. For example, several recently announced virtual smart phones for iOS which run smart phone applications on x86 based PCs are deployed on cross-ISA system level virtual machines. Also, for mobile device application development, by emulating the Android/ARM environment on the more powerful x86-64 platform, application development and debugging become more convenient and productive. However, the virtualization layer often incurs high performance overhead. The key overhead comes from memory virtualization where a guest virtual address (GVA) must go through multi-level address translation to become a host physical address (HPA). The Embedded Shadow Page Table (ESPT) approach has been proposed to effectively decrease this address translation cost. ESPT directly maps GVA to HPA, thus avoid the lengthy guest virtual to guest physical, guest physical to host virtual, and host virtual to host physical address translation. However, the original ESPT work has a few drawbacks. For example, its implementation relies on a loadable kernel module (LKM) to manage the shadow page table. Using LKMs is less desirable for system virtual machines due to portability, security and maintainability concerns. Our work proposes a different, yet more practical, implementation to address the shortcomings. Instead of relying on using LKMs, our approach adopts a shared memory mapping scheme to maintain the shadow page table (SPT) using only ''mmap'' system call. Furthermore, this work studies the support of SPT for multi-processing in greater details. It devices three different SPT organizations and evaluates their strength and weakness with standard and real Android applications on the system virtual machine which emulates the Android/ARM platform on x86-64 systems.


Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen in domestic ruminants, an agent of food poisoning and is considered as an indicateur of hygienic-sanitary quality of foodstuffs like cheese. The objectives of this study were to verify if the genetic homogeneity of S. Aureus isolates was associated to the hosts of origin (bovine, ovine and caprine) or to the site of colonization/infection (nares and udder) and if the agr (accessory gene regulator) group and cap (capsular) type of these isolates were correlated with a given host or with the locus of isolation. The resistance profile of these isolates to oxacillin and to the most commnly used antibiotics in the treatment of mastitis in ruminants also was studied. Moreover, the objectives of this work were to determine the possible S. Aureus contamination sources involved in the Minas Canastra cheese productin and the persistence of the contaminating strains during the process. By pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, 7 major clusters were identified amoung 153 isolates recovered from different geographic regions and years of isolation. Typing of agr and cap serotype was carried out on all the isolates and revealed the predominance of agrI and of cap8 regardless the ruminant host species. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed resistance to ampicillin in 34 % of strains. A very low prevalence of resistance was found for the other antimicrobial agents tested (kanamycin, tetracycline and oxacillin).


Cell cycle progression in the presence of damaged DNA can lead to accumulation of mutations and pose a risk for tumour development. In response to DNA damage in G2 phase, human cells can be forced to exit the cell cycle in a p53-p21- and APC/CCdh1-dependent manner. Cells that exit the cell cycle in G2 phase become senescent, but it is unclear what determines this commitment and whether other cell fates occur. We find that a subset of immortalised RPE-1 cells and primary human fibroblasts spontaneously initiate DNA re-replication several days after forced cell cycle exit in G2 phase. By combining single cell tracking for more than a week with quantitative immunofluorescence, we find that the resulting polyploid cells contain increased levels of damaged DNA and frequently exit the cell cycle again in the next G2 phase. Subsequently, these cells either enter senescence or commit to another round of DNA re-replication, further increasing the ploidy. At least a subset of the polyploid cells show abnormal centrosome numbers or localisation. In conclusion, cells that are forced to exit the cell cycle in G2 phase face multiple choices that lead to various phenotypes, including propagation of cells with different ploidies. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which p53-positive cells can evade senescence that risks genome integrity. Main points -Cell cycle exit from G2 phase does not necessarily lead to senescence -Resumption of proliferation after G2 phase cell cycle exit starts with DNA replication -Successive cell cycle exits lead to propagation of cells with different ploidies -A p53-dependent mechanism allows eventual proliferation after DNA damage


The composite nanofibers of Aluminum nanoparticles (AlNPs) and carboxymethyl cellulose nitrate (CMCN) have been successfully fabricated by electro-spinning, the fibers combined good mechanical properties of the fibers and high burning rates of AlNPs have valuable applications in the propellant. TEM images showed that AlNPs distributed evenly into the composite nanofibers. The morphology and diameters of AlNPs/CMCN nanofibers were strongly influenced by the solution concentrations and electrostatic field strength. By optimizing the solution concentrations and electro-static field strength, the smooth AlNPs/CMCN nanofibers were prepared.


This paper first reviews least mean modulus-Newton (LMM-Newton) algorithm for complex-domain adaptive filters. The LMM-Newton algorithm is effective in making the convergence of an adaptive filter with a highly correlated input as fast as that for the LMM algorithm with a White & Gaussian filter input. However, the filter convergence for the LMM-Newton algorithm is still much slower than for the LMS algorithm. Then, the paper introduces a generalized error modulus ("p-modulus") and proposes a new adaptive step-size (ASS) control algorithm to be combined with the LMM-Newton algorithm to further improve the convergence speed. Analysis of the ASS-LMM-Newton algorithm is developed for calculating transient and steady-state behavior. Through experiment with simulations and theoretical calculations of filter convergence, we find that the filter convergence is almost the same for any value of p of "p-modulus." We demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed ASS-LMM-Newton algorithm, while preserving the robustness of the LMM algorithm against impulsive observation noise. Good agreement between simulated and theoretical convergence validates the analysis.


Alterations in content of phospholipids as well as dynamics of lipid free-radical oxidation were studied in the hepatocytes of the rats poisoned with various doses of the toxic agent ucrinol within 1.3 and 6 months. Low concentrations of the toxin (1.5 mg/kg) did not cause any detectable alterations of the patterns studied. However, higher concentrations of ucrinol (15-150 mg/kg) produced markedly pronounced destructions which were dose- and time-dependent.


Two crosses between different races of Phytophthora sojae were established using one race as a common parent in both crosses. F2 populations comprising over 200 individuals were generated for each cross. A subset of 53 F2 individuals from each cross was selected at random for genetic analysis of virulence/avirulence and molecular markers, and finally the construction of a detailed genetic linkage map. The linkage map developed for P. sojae is based on a total of 257 markers (22 RFLP, 228 RAPD, and 7 avirulence genes). The linkage map comprises 10 major and 12 minor linkage groups covering a total of 830.5 cM. Close linkage was observed between Avr4 and Avr6 (0.0 cM), Avr1b and Avr1k (0.0 cM), and Avr3a and Avr5 (4.6 cM). Coupling phase linkage of RFLP and RAPD markers to all seven avirulence genes was identified at the minimum and maximum distances of 0.0 and 14.7 cM, respectively.


Rapid urbanization in China is embedded in a modernization process with profound implications for every aspect of its social development. Rising real incomes in urban areas have triggered a sea change in Chinese meat consumption with impacts on human health and obesity via the nutritional transition, on animal welfare and disease as China develops its livestock-handling and slaughter infrastructure, and on the environmental impact of growing numbers of food animals on the landscape. The urban transformation of both coastal China and the western interior is clearly polynuclear, creating a complex urban fringe with a lengthy interface between urban and agricultural land uses. There is enormous potential for residential-agricultural land use conflict in the dynamic ruralurban fringe within the administrative boundaries of expanding cities. Expanding cities encounter a growing peri-urban zone of large-scale intensive livestock feeding operations that are drawn to fast-growing urban markets. This exploratory paper is based on secondary source materials. The FAOSTAT database published by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations was used to provide global context. The National Household Survey of the National Bureau of Statistics of China as published in the China Statistical Yearbook is used to describe the growth of meat consumption in rural and urban areas. Meat production and livestock counts are broken out by province, SAR and shi to illustrate the rural-urban and coastalinterior dichotomies in a regionalized development process divided sharply by the AihuiTengchong Line. The principal achievement of this paper is the description of the magnitude and relative suddenness of China's livestock transition as it is manifest in different regions. To show the significance of the livestock transition as a component of China's urban transformation, the paper will conclude with an evaluation of the role of public policy on animal agriculture, the influence of the "dragon head" agribusiness companies over the livestock value-chain and the influence of the urbanization process on meat consumption and livestock production.


While the human agent has the capacity for consciousness, intentionality and reflexivity, the same agent must also be affected by the social and political world in which she lives: herein lies the essence of the structure and agency debate. This thesis argues that while realists are in principle committed to a dialectical relationship between structure and agency, there is much dissonance between this commitment and the concepts of agency that they develop. I highlight the exclusion of the unconscious from realist notions of agency and argue that this oversight serves to unbalance the dialectic between structure and agency. The concepts of agency developed by Margaret Archer and Colin Hay are examined and, in varying degrees, both are shown to neglect the unconscious within a dialectical approach. Anthony Giddens is shown to develop a much improved concept of agency, which includes a notion of the unconscious, however, his rejection of the independent causal powers of structure and agency problematises his commitment to the dialectic. A novel approach to theorising agency is offered and draws on insights from Pierre Bourdieu and his notion of habitus. It is suggested that this re-conceptualisation will provide realist social scientist's with a much improved ontological account of agency and a broader conception of the nature and scope of sociopolitical motivations which inform agential behaviour. A novel methodological framework for researching habitus and its unconscious platform is also explored.


Arabella of Charlotte Lennox's The Female Quixote and Marianne Dashwood of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility are headstrong, independent female characters who are unwilling to submit to the husbands that their families have chosen for them. These women pose a threat to the patriarchal order of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by rejecting their appropriate social roles as physically weak and intellectually inferior females in need of male protection and guidance, gender distinctions propagated by a culture of sensibility through medical, philosophical, and literary discourse. Utilizing reformation narratives common in domestic novels, Lennox and Austen divest Arabella and Marianne of their autonomous lifestyles and quickly place them into marriages authorized by their families. However, the restrained tones of these marital conclusions, in which Arabella and Marianne are objectified and stripped of their vibrant personalities, subvert the convention of reforming insubordinate women and placing them under male control. Therefore, the hurried and disappointing denouements of the novels indicate Austen's and Lennox's critiques of this gendering of sensibility.
GRUBBS, ELIZABETH MARIE, M.A. Melville's Bartleby: A Perfectly-Crafted Anomaly. Herman Melville's short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" has puzzled readers for years and provoked hundreds of scholars to explain Bartleby's strange behavior in a multitude of ways using a variety of critical methodologies. An examination of scholars' compulsion and frustration with classifying this odd character along with a close analysis of the narrator's obsession with understanding Bartleby reveals society's determination to reduce humans into known identity types. Thus by creating a personification of ambiguity through the character of Bartleby that resists simplification, Melville critiques the social drive to classify people using these normalized identity roles. In particular, Melville reveals the limitations and paradoxes existing within the appropriate role of the mid-nineteenth-century male through a representation of the problematic aspects of capitalism and Jacksonian freedom in antebellum America.


Our research explores the context of water management in Scotland as it existed in late 2003. We took as a key question: Is the Scottish policy context conducive to the emergence of "social learning" as a purposeful policy option in the future management of water, and in the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive in particular? Data generated by several means, including semistructured interviews with key stakeholders, tested the explanatory potential of a SLIM (Social Learning for the Integrated Management and sustainable use of water) heuristic concerned with how changes in understanding and practices can transform situations to produce social learning. Our research demonstrates how the historical context, including initial starting conditions; conducive institutions, especially political devolution, and policies; facilitation; building stakeholding; and the use of learning processes together can create the possibilities for social learning. The processes that went on through the development of the Scottish Water Bill exemplify how social learning as concerted action emerged, but it did not do so from any overall purposeful design. A major challenge is to create purposefully the conditions for social learning as a deliberate policy or governance mechanism.


We used a multivariate data analysis approach to identify motifs associated with HIV hypermutation by different APOBEC3 enzymes. The analysis showed that APOBEC3G targets G mainly within GG, TG, TGG, GGG, TGGG and also GGGT. The G nucleotides flanked by a C at the 3′ end (in +1 and +2 positions) were indicated as disfavoured targets by APOBEC3G. The G nucleotides within GGGG were found to be targeted at a frequency much less than what is expected. We found that the infrequent G-to-A mutation within GGGG is not limited to the inaccessibility, to APOBEC3, of poly Gs in the central and 3′polypurine tracts (PPTs) which remain double stranded during the HIV reverse transcription. GGGG motifs outside the PPTs were also disfavoured. The motifs GGAG and GAGG were also found to be disfavoured targets for APOBEC3. The motif-dependent mutation of G within the HIV genome by members of the APOBEC3 family other than APOBEC3G was limited to GA→AA changes. The results did not show evidence of other types of context dependent G-to-A changes in the HIV genome.


Ganterite, [Ba 0.5 (Na,K) 0.5 ]Al 2 (Si 2.5 Al 1.5 O 10 )(OH) 2 , the barium-dominant analogue of muscovite, was discovered in the crystalline basement rocks of the Berisal Complex, Simplon Region, Switzerland. Examples of this new rock-forming mica are found in bands and lenses of white-mica schist, and in a leucocratic zoisite–celsian gneiss. Samples of the schist, and especially of the celsian-bearing gneiss, are characterized by high whole-rock Ba contents of up to 15 wt.% BaO. The mineral paragenesis consists of zoisite, quartz, plagioclase, apatite, zircon and amphibole in the schist, and zoisite, celsian, quartz, margarite ± armenite in the gneiss. Ganterite is light grey to silver, has a vitreous luster, a perfect {001} cleavage, a laminated fracture, and a flexible tenacity. Mohs hardness, determined from micro-hardness indentations, is 4–4½. The mica is biaxial (−), α 1.600 (calc.), β 1.619, γ 1.622, and 2 V (meas.) equal to 42.5 ± 2°. The calculated density of the most Ba-rich ganterite is 3.11 g/cm 3 . Single crystals typically are 0.5 by 0.15 mm (or less), and occur in small bands, lenses or clusters 0.5 to 10 cm in thickness. Ganterite is monoclinic, space group C2/ c , Z = 4, a 5.212(1), b 9.046(2), c 19.978(4) A, β 95°48′, V 937.6 A 3 , corresponding to a 2 M 1 polytype. The strongest seven powder-diffraction lines [ d in A(I)( hkl )] are: 2.571(100)(131,202), 2.602(95)(130,131), 1.5054(91)(060,2010), 3.737(77)(023), 3.887(76)(113), 4.481(71)(110), and 3.495(71)(114). The new mineral species is named after the geographical region in which it was found.


A twenty-year review of the economics of dental practice indicates a relatively stable financial picture except for a down-town during the period of the recession in the early 1980s. While dental employee economics tend to mirror these changes, in the early 1990s general salaries (except for dental hygienists) have not maintained parity with the rate of inflation. Potential future shortages of dental auxiliaries may require changes in dental employee economics.


Yellow baboons are sexually size dimorphic mammals living in permanent stable mixed-sex troops: Puzzling in the context of our current theory on group living, sexual dimorphism and sexual segregation! This study is the first to investigate how male and female baboons live together despite body size differences. It hypothesizes they use subtle differences in diet and behaviour predicting that Subadult males will be more similar to adult females than larger bodied adult males. Testing this required looking at the behaviour of baboons in new ways by building on long-term research in an area high in abundance and diversity of baboon food species and habitats in Mikumi National Park (Tanzania)
Data on dietary profile, space use and activity budgets from three-age-sex classes were collected using focal follows with instantaneous and one-zero recording: 70 individuals in 2 troops, over 270 days across 2 years.
Findings demonstrate that baboon diets are diverse not just in terms of species. A range of plant parts and types (including sap and forbs) were eaten plus vertebrates and, especially, invertebrates. Food was packaged in a variety of ways with different processing requirements. Exotic food from a highway was also eaten although only made a very minor contribution to overall diet. Subadult males were more similar to adult females than adult males in their dietary profile (particularly in terms of parts and packages) and activity budgets (particularly in terms of relative allocation of time and number of activities but not synchrony). There were differences between age-sex classes in space use but no consistent patterns emerged.
These findings suggest that adult male and female baboons are able to live together and avoid "classic" sexual segregation despite large difference in body size by subtle differences in what they eat but not in where and how they allocate their time for feeding.


The question of the appearance of the body surges in a play of overwhelming forces, and its register in artworks assumes different shapes as their representation spreads towards other mediums. Firstly, following Aby Warburg's thought, this article will analyse the process of the survival of bodies as potential motion in images. Warburg proposed an Iconological approach where the analysis of potential movement in the image yielded a formula for its analytic recomposition. Furthermore, he captured the transition at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the body representation moved to media that allowed movement reproduction, such as animation and cinema. The bodies' survival or capture contained an animist belief that gained propulsion with the first apparatuses and optical toys that allowed movement and live-action recording. This movement allowed for the production of a simulacrum of the living body and the power to recompose it in space. Therefore, this article will focus on the evolution of body representation and its survival to understand how images from the early twentieth century shaped and traveled around the world.


The essay describes Carolee Schneemann's residence, a stone house constructed in 1750 by Huguenot settlers on land of the Munsee Lenape people, and its central role in her life and work from the early 1960s until her death in 2019. The essay gives particular attention to Schneemann's text "Parts of a Body House" (1957–67), a series of paragraphs composed over a decade that describe a network of biomorphic structures and multimedia environments. The essay argues that "Parts of a Body House" is a "nerve codex" by which to read the artist's life and work. The essay is derived in part from remarks the author delivered at the memorial service for Schneemann at Judson Memorial Church, New York, on 3 May 2019.


This paper investigates the relation between export behaviour and the exchange rate at firm level. We use a dataset of French manufacturing firms from 1994 to 2004, to study the sensitivity of firms' export intensity and probability of entering a foreign market, to the exchange rate. This large dataset allows us to differentiate among 21 manufacturing industries. We show that for most industries, the exchange rate has an influence on export entry, but that the effect of changes in the exchange rate on export intensity is fairly neutral. The probability of entering an export market is increased by depreciation. This supports the presence of export sunk costs, which are more easily incurred by firms in periods of exchange rate depreciation. We conclude that currency appreciation is a cause for concern because it increases import penetration implying higher levels of foreign competition for domestic firms.


Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate work-related asthma among health maintenance organization (HMO) members. Recent reports suggest that the incidence of work-related asthma may be much higher than Sentinel Event Notification Systems for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) data estimate. Methods: Using the HMO's electronic medical record, we identified 1747 persons with evidence of new or recurrent asthma. Interviews with 352 of them elicited information about workplace exposures, symptoms, and home environment. Industrial hygienists rated the potential asthmagenicity of the respondents' work environments. Results: Based on the industrial hygienist ratings and self-reported work-relatedness of asthma symptoms, we classified 33% of those interviewed as having potentially work-related asthma, suggesting an overall work-related asthma incidence/recurrence rate of 28 cases per 10,000. Conclusions: The contribution of occupation to the occurrence of adult onset asthma may be much higher than typically suggested in the literature.


We analyze an open quantum system under the influence of more than one environment: a dephasing bath and a probability-absorbing bath that represents a decay channel, as encountered in many models of quantum networks. In our case, dephasing is modeled by random fluctuations of the site energies, while the absorbing bath is modeled with an external lead attached to the system. We analyze under which conditions the effects of the two baths can enter additively the quantum master equation. When such additivity is legitimate, the reduced master equation corresponds to the evolution generated by an effective non-Hermitian Hamiltonian and a Haken-Strobl dephasing super-operator. We find that the additive decomposition is a good approximation when the strength of dephasing is small compared to the bandwidth of the probability-absorbing bath.


The application areas of wireless sensor networks (WSN) have attracted more number of researchers to add more functionality to these networks with the inclusion of internet access to the devices in a network. These devices create a network by utilization of internet to form Internet of Things (IoT).As the sensors and actuators are collecting various types of data in WSN, the need for storing and manipulating the heterogeneous sensor data is essential.The objective of the current work is to analyze the heterogeneous IoT data obtained from WSN by optimizing the routing path using greedy perimeter stateless routing (GPSR) protocol.Public sensing framework is deployed on large-scale network with low-cost by the utilization of currently available sensors where data already being shared among users.


The European Union is likely to introduce among the first, most stringent, and most comprehensive AI regulatory regimes of the world's major jurisdictions. In this report, we ask whether the EU's upcoming regulation for AI will diffuse globally, producing a so-called"Brussels Effect". Building on and extending Anu Bradford's work, we outline the mechanisms by which such regulatory diffusion may occur. We consider both the possibility that the EU's AI regulation will incentivise changes in products offered in non-EU countries (a de facto Brussels Effect) and the possibility it will influence regulation adopted by other jurisdictions (a de jure Brussels Effect). Focusing on the proposed EU AI Act, we tentatively conclude that both de facto and de jure Brussels effects are likely for parts of the EU regulatory regime. A de facto effect is particularly likely to arise in large US tech companies with AI systems that the AI Act terms"high-risk". We argue that the upcoming regulation might be particularly important in offering the first and most influential operationalisation of what it means to develop and deploy trustworthy or human-centred AI. If the EU regime is likely to see significant diffusion, ensuring it is well-designed becomes a matter of global importance.


Four new 2-(2-piperidinoethyl)benzocycloalkanone derivatives, 20-23, were prepared and evaluated as potential antipsychotic agents in receptor binding assays for dopamine (DA) and 5-HT2A receptors and in functional and behavioral screens. Their affinities for D2 receptors (Ki's in the nanomolar range: 46.7-70.7) and D1 receptors (Ki's in the micromolar range: 1.09-2.81) were slightly lower than that showed by haloperidol (Ki's in the nanomolar range: 5.01 and 97.72 for D2 and for D1 receptors, respectively). The ratio of pKi's values D1/D2 showed that the new molecules are more D2-selective than haloperidol. In contrast, in the [3H]-ketanserin binding assays the new compounds had greater affinity for 5-HT2A receptors (pKi's 7.89-8.60) than haloperidol (pKi 7.70) and in functional studies, endothelium-stripped aorta rings, the pA2 values (6.75-8.12) were slightly lower than that of ketanserin (8.87) in suppressing serotonin-induced contractions. The pKi's for D2 binding (and to a lesser extent pKi's for D1 binding) tend to be greater among typical (classical) than among atypical antipsychotics, while these two classes of antipsychotics exhibit no difference with regard to pKi's for 5-HT2A receptors. The ratios of pKi's for 5-HT2A/D2 receptors may be useful for rapid screening of new compounds, and its potential induction of extrapyramidal symptoms (ratio values > 1.12 were predictive of an atypical antipsychotic profile). The new molecules had a ratio value in the range 1.08-1.20, while haloperidol showed a ratio of 0.93. In the behavioral screening tests, the new molecules showed antagonist activity of amphetamine-inducing hyperactivity and apomorphine-induced climbing (predictive tests for antipsychotic activity). In the catalepsy test (predictive test for induction of extrapyramidal symptoms), the values obtained were in accordance with an atypical antipsychotic drugs profile.


Abstract While advocates argue that gentrification changes the neighborhood food environment critical to children's diet and health, we have little evidence documenting such changes or the consequences for their health outcomes. Using rich longitudinal, individual-level data on nearly 115,000 New York City children, including egocentric measures of their food environment and BMI, we examine the link between neighborhood demographic change ("gentrification"), children's access to restaurants and supermarkets, and their weight outcomes. We find that children in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods see increased access to fast food and wait-service restaurants and reduced access to corner stores and supermarkets compared to those in non-gentrifying areas. Boys and girls have higher BMI following gentrification, but only boys are more likely to be obese or overweight. We find public housing moderates the relationship between gentrification and weight, as children living in public housing are less likely to be obese or overweight.


This paper presents a method to ascertain related bioactivity mediums of silica-reduced pulmonary fibrosis in rats, to construct the regulator network of the material bioactivity and its genes, to evaluation network adjustment mechanism of silicosis fibrosis systematically. The adjustment network can be regarded as a context-sensitive knowledge graph (with fuzzy weighted edges among nodes). In order to model the fuzzy knowledge within the constructed adjustment network, we adopt Dimensional Ontology (DO), which is a context-sensitive knowledge framework based on Semantic Web technologies. The DO based Adjustment network can be used in related future research.


The aim of this thesis is to investigate the possible barriers to why the implementation of gender equality policies in the everyday activities on the ground of humanitarian action is not evident in practice. To investigate this arena, in-depth interviews were conducted with gender advisors of humanitarian organisations. The data was analysed using thematic analysis through the lens of the theoretical framework of systems theory and the concept of `knowledge into practice'.The findings indicate that there are three types of barriers on three dimensions for the implementation of gender equality policies on the ground of humanitarian action. The first barrier is the lack of external and internal pressure on the humanitarian community in form of accountability mechanisms. The second barrier is the internal structure of the humanitarian community with internal difficulties to integrate the gender community as well as fragmentation within it. The third barrier is the lack of a suitable semantic as well as operational understanding of the concept of gender within humanitarian action.This thesis highlights the importance of a common language and receptive attitudes between humanitarian actors for the practical implementation of gender equality policies.Key words: gender equality, gender equality policies, gender equality programming, knowledge transmission, knowledge implementation, barriers, humanitarian action.


As we outlined in our previous post, the United States lost close to sixmillion manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010 but since then has gained back almost one million. In this post, we take a closer look at the geographic dimension of this modest rebound in manufacturing jobs. While job losses during the 2000s were fairly widespread across the country, manufacturing employment gains since then have been concentrated in particular parts of the country. Indeed, these gains were especially large in ?auto alley??a narrow motor vehicle production corridor stretching from Michigan south to Alabama?while much of the Northeast continued to shed manufacturing jobs. Closer to home, many of the metropolitan areas in the New York-Northern New Jersey region have been left out of this rebound and are continuing to shed manufacturing jobs, though Albany has bucked this trend with one of the strongest performances in the country.


Objective (1) Explore the influence of age, sex on heart rate variability (HRV) in youth athletes; (2) Examine the relationship between baseline/pre-injury concussion symptom domains (physical, cognitive, emotional, fatigue) and HRV Design Cross-sectional. Setting Pre-injury/baseline data was obtained from youth athletes across various sports in the Greater Toronto Area. Participants Youth athletes between 13–18 years of age (N=294), in which females and males were equally represented across age groups. Inclusion criteria: between 13–18 years old, English speaking. Exclusion criteria: developmental and neurological diagnoses. Intervention Independent variables of interest included demographic factors such as age and sex as well as concussion symptoms. Concussion symptoms were measured using the Post Concussion Symptom Inventory and were stratified by physical, cognitive, fatigue and emotional domains. Outcome measures Heart rate variability, collected over 24 hours was the main outcome of interest and included time (e.g. SDNN, RMSSD) and frequency domain measures (e.g. HF, Total Power). Variables were logarithmically transformed to increase robustness of linear regression models. Main results Statistical threshold set at p ≤ 0.05. Significant age effects revealed that older participants displayed higher HRV compared to younger athletes. Significant interaction effect between concussion symptoms and sex on HRV. Cognitive and fatigue symptoms in healthy youth athletes had significant effect on HRV. Conclusions This study highlights the potential value of a novel neurophysiological indicator used in conjunction with the self-report of symptoms for clinical management. Prospective longitudinal research is needed to further explore the multi-faceted contextual influences of a youth athlete's environment. Competing interests None.


Surface Cracking of Laser Melted Ti-6Al-4V Alloy The characteristic features of surface cracking observed after laser melting with CO2 and Nd:YAG laser were described. The cracks were always present, their length approaching some part of melted zone and scarcely dependent on laser melting conditions. The appearance of cracks was attributed mainly to martensitic transformation within the surface layer. The possible contribution of developed thermal stresses cannot be also excluded. The existence of cracks may be utilized for the enhancement of bone - implant strength.


The paper investigates a new approach of leveraging Web services technologies to support systems integrations. The paper provides a literature review of the current practice of Web Services from both technical and business perspectives to highlight their strengths and weaknesses. A solution framework aiming at providing the current limitations of Web Services particularly on capability for integration and transactions is subsequently proposed to demonstrate how techniques from different computing disciplines may be deployed to answer the questions that have been raised. The solutions focus on a knowledge driven approach through a knowledge management component. The links between the various framework components and their responsibility in delivering Web Services are also discussed.


Heteroatom-doped two-dimensional (2D) carbon materials have been recognized as promising metal-free catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to their impressive surface activity. Suchmaterials are often achieved by conventional chemical vapour deposition (CVD) growth followed by post-treatment of heteroatom-doping or obtained by template-guided polymerization and carbonization of organic substances. In this contribution, we report a new strategy that allows a direct conversion of threedimensional (3D) aggregates of guanine into naturally N/O-doped ultrathin few-layer carbon nanosheets without the use of any template or guiding agent. Moreover, by pre-ionizing guanine with H2SO4/H3PO4, a group of multiple heteroatom-doped (N/O/S, N/O/P, and N/O/S/P) 2D carbons can also be readily realized. Considering the low cost of precursors and the simplicity of the synthetic procedure, largescale production of such heteroatom-doped 2D carbons is potentially available. The best catalytic performance is obtained from the N/O/S/P-doped carbons which show a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.84 V vs. RHE and a diffusion-limited current density (jL) of 5.40 mA cm 2 in 0.1 M KOH, better than those of most graphene-based catalysts and even the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Systematic studies indicate that the observed superior ORR performance arises from a combined effect of the multiple heteroatom-doping, high surface area and abundant structural defects of the electrocatalyst.


Background Liver cancer has caused a serious disease burden worldwide wherein prognostic risk factors may have had a significant role. However, previous studies have focused on liver cancer distributions and trend variations without analyzing the role of risk factors. Methods We assessed liver cancer burden attributable to five recognized risk factors as well as temporal trends from 1990 to 2019 based on the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study. The risk exposure levels and their contributed burden were estimated by cause, sex, age, and location. Furthermore, the relationship between the risks and social-demographic index (SDI) was investigated. Results The total liver cancer burden attributable to risk factors is still increasing year by year in terms of death and disability-adjusted life years. However, the burden attributable to alcohol use and smoking has shown a downward trend in recent years. Risk-related burden in males was more than three times as that in females, the burden among the middle-aged and elderly was the most serious, and Central Asia, high-income Asia Pacific and East Asia exhibited the highest burden worldwide. The exposure levels of the five recognized risk factors were generally positively correlated with SDI value. However, the risk-related liver cancer burden first increased and then decreased with the SDI value. Conclusion These findings could help in understanding the role of prognostic risk factors in liver cancer burden, in promoting the development of relevant studies, and in proposing better prevention and control policies tailored to local conditions.


In an earlier two-year study, color difference limens of three observers were determined separately for each of the Munsell analogs of hue, saturation, and lightness at each of a number of locations in the surface-color solid. The present paper makes these data available in terms of the standard I.C.I. system and so helps to make that system more visually meaningful. In addition to detailed tabulations of the x, y, and Y specifications, the means of the chromatic difference limens of the three observers are plotted in the I.C.I. chromaticity coordinates at three levels of reflectance. Absolute chroma limens for Munsell red, yellow, green, blue, and purple are tabulated at seven levels of reflectance. The general order of magnitude of all the liminal determinations may be indicated by the fact that the trichromatic coefficients and reflectance figures representing them are confined to the third and fourth decimal places. In terms of distances in the chromaticity diagram, the general mean hue and chroma limens were, respectively, 0.0023 and 0.0035; and the mean Fechner fraction from the value data turned out to be 0.0087.


Regional and catchment distributions of blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in southern Africa are presented and discussed relative to the biology and environmental preferences of the aquatic stages. Distribution data are based on all known records, both published and unpublished. Thirty nine blackfly species are recorded: 13 are widespread with no particular geographical affinities, 18 are restricted in distribution and eight are rare. Distributions are closely related to downstream changes in rivers, although eight species are endemic to parts of the southern and southwestern Cape, while eight are absent from the southern and southwestern Cape. The most common and widespread species are Simulium nigritarse s.l. Coquillett, S. medusaeforme Pomeroy, S. damnosum s.l, Theobald and S, adersi Pomeroy, all of which are associated with medium-sized rivers, and all of which are likely to be species complexes. Seven specles occur in large rivers, three of which are restricted to large rivers, A further six species were recorded in temporary streams, Some species, such as S, medusae forme, inhabit a wide range of water-quality conditions, but at least five species are restricted to excellent-quality water, and three species were typically found in polluted water: Temporal changes in blackfly distribution and abundance are related to long term drought/flood cycles, as well as increased river regulation and catchment development. The mammalophillc S, damnosum s.l. is recorded for the first time from the southwestern Cape, and S, lumbwanum de Meillon, a specles whose larvae and pupae are phoretic on certain mayfly nymphs, is recorded for the first time from South Africa and Swaziland,


We present a new concept of the microfluidic super-resolution near-field structure (MSRENS) based on a microfluidic structure and a super-resolution near-field structure. The near-field distance control, ``nano-probe'' and scanning can be realized simultaneously using the MSRENS, which is similar to a near-field scanning optical microscope. The design and simulation results are presented. Numerical simulation has demonstrated that the MSRENS with spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit could be applicable in chemistry, biologics, and many other fields.


The DA strain of Theiler's virus, a murine picornavirus, causes a persistent infection of glial cells of the white matter of the spinal cord, associated with chronic inflammation and primary demyelination. The GDVII strain causes an acute fatal grey matter encephalomyelitis. We characterized the target cells of GDVII and DA viruses 4 days following intracerebral inoculation, and we compared the levels of viral RNA within these cells. GDVII virus infected approximately 10 times more cells than DA virus. Whereas GDVII virus infected neurons exclusively, DA virus infected also astrocytes and possible macrophage-microglial cells. The levels of viral RNA in neurons infected with GDVII and DA viruses were of the same order. These results show that DA virus infects glial cells already at the beginning of the disease and that the more efficient spread of GDVII virus is probably not due to a higher level of RNA replication per cell.


Bayesian neural networks play an increasingly important role in modeling and predicting nonlinear phenomena in scientific computing. In this article, we propose to use the contour Monte Carlo algorithm to evaluate evidence for Bayesian neural networks. In the new method, the evidence is dynamically learned for each of the models. Our numerical results show that the new method works well for both the regression and classification multilayer perceptrons. It often leads to an improved estimate, in terms of overall accuracy, for the evidence of multiple MLPs in comparison with the reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo method and the gaussian approximation method. For the simulated data, it can identify the true models, and for the real data, it can produce results consistent with those published in the literature.


The photon upconversion (UC) process assisted by the triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) mechanism has recently come into the spotlight. Given the rich collection of efforts in this area, theoretical explorations regarding TTA-UC are relatively limited and have proven to be challenging for its control in devices. In this contribution, the photophysical properties crucial for TTA-UC, such as triplet excited state energies and triplet-triplet energy transfer gaps of the essential ingredients involved in the process, namely sensitizers, annihilators and their pairs, have theoretically been investigated using optimally tuned range-separated hybrid functionals (OT-RSHs) and their screened exchange counterparts, OT-SRSHs. Taking a series of experimentally proven-to-work sensitizer/annihilator pairs as working models, we have constructed and validated several variants of OT-RSHs using both full time-dependent and Tamm-Dancoff formalisms for a reliable description of the TTA-UC photophysics. Given the bimolecular biphotonic nature of the TTA-UC process under study, particular attention is paid to the influence of the factors like the underlying density functional approximations and the tunable parameters such as short- and long-range exact-like exchanges as well as the range-separation parameter for both the sensitizers and annihilators separately. Dissecting all the aspects and relying on the appropriate choices from the tested models, we propose an OT-RSH with the correct asymptotic behavior as a cost-effective yet useful tool for this purpose. Not only against the standard RSHs but also in comparison to the conventional hybrids, the newly developed OT-RSH yields a more reliable description for the TTA-UC energetics in the gas phase and dielectric medium. Accountability of the proposed model has further been confirmed for several theoretically designed sensitizer/annihilator pairs prone to be used in the TTA-UC process. Summing up, in light of this study additional pieces of convincing evidence on the quality of OT-(S)RSHs for computational modeling and experimental verifications of the photophysics of the photon UC based on TTA and other possible technologies are showcased.


Hot saline thermoablation is effective and safe for hepatoma so its application to peripheral non-small cell lung cancer NSCLC may be beneficial. Aim: Assess the efficacy and safety of palliative transthoracic hot isotonic saline injection of peripheral inoperable NSCLC Patients and Methods: Randomized clinical trial done at Chest, Clinical Oncology departments and Oncology Center Mansoura, Egypt, 2013 to 2015. 23 patients with peripheral NSCLC randomly divided to 2 groups: group A, 11 patients subjected to transthoracic hot isotonic saline injection and group B, 12 patients subjected to transthoracic injection of isotonic saline at room temperature (immediately both groups were treated with chemotherapy). Primary endpoints were clinical, functional and radiological response and tumor tissue histopathology posttreatment. Secondary endpoint was survival. Results: Significant decrease in chest pain and dyspnea in group A versus group B, 3 and 6 months posttreatment. Hot saline braked deterioration in quality of life. After 6 months, there was statistically significant increase in FEV1 and FVC in group A versus before treatment. 8 patients in group A had partial response 72.7% and 3 patients had progression 27.3% and 7 patients in group B had stable course 58.3% and 5 patients had progression 41.7% after 6 months. 10 patients in group A had coagulative necrosis while 6 patients from group B had ischemic necrosis. There were few immediate controllable complications. Survival was better in group A than group B but statistically insignificant. Conclusion: Hot saline thermoablation is effective, safe palliative treatment for patients with inoperable peripheral NSCLC. PACTR201601001384408.


: Influence of two factors on distribution of embryos according to the sex is considered: genetic peculiarities of inbred mice and hybrid mice, as well as spontaneous embryonal death of the embryos of different sex. The work has been performed on C3H, CBA, C57BL strains of mice and on hybrid mice of CBA/C57BL and ICR/In(X)1H strains. The sex ratio in the mice studied is balanced. In the CBA/C57BL hybrid mice a certain shift in the sex ratio is noted towards female embryos. In the offspring of the ICR/In(X)1H hybrid mice the sex distribution of the embryos does not differ from the ratio 1:1. The results of the investigation confirm the opinion of the literature that genetic peculiarities of the inbred mice do not essentially influence the sex ratio in their offspring, while fluctuation in the sex ratio in the hybrid mice are evidently connected, in a greater degree, with their genetic peculiarities. As demonstrates the analysis of the sex relation and the embryonal death, there is no selective death in the embryos of any sex during embryogenesis in the mice investigated.


The aim of this work is to present our modified Elephant Trunk technique to reduce circulatory arrest time and consequently mortality and morbidity rates. According to Borst's technique the ascending aorta and aortic arch are replaced first, under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, while a graft segment is left in the descending thoracic aorta. In the second stage of the operation, the descending thoracic aorta is replaced through left thoracotomy using this graft segment. In our modified technique, after the flexion in the proximal segment of the graft, the descending thoracic aorta is replaced first through left thoracotomy in Bio-Pump protection, choosing the best aortic segment for proximal anastomosis. In the second stage we replace the ascending aorta and the aortic arch using the graft and applying Carrel patch anastamosis only to the epiaortic vessels, under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. It is our opinion that the mortality incidence of this technique is similar to that obtained with Borst's technique, though certainly inferior to the one stage procedure , while the morbidity results are better than those obtained with the Borst Elephant Trunk technique and with the one stage procedure. In fact there are fewer stroke incidents thanks to the reduced times of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, and fewer postoperative bleedings and respiratory failures thanks to the reduced times of the total cardiopulmonary bypass. At the beginning we used this technique to replace symptomatic aneurysms, covered ruptures, and hematomas of the wall of the descending thoracic aorta, which required replacement of the descending thoracic aorta first; we later extended the treatment to all types of thoracic aorta aneurysms.


Emotional reactivity of patients with endogenous depression and healthy test subjects towards classic and rock music was compared. According to the questionnaire data and EEG recording, it was established that in depressed patients, analysis and estimation of the emotionally significant information differ from those in healthy persons. In contrast to normals, the classic music exerts an activation effect on the patients whereas rock music evokes negative emotions. Analysis of the time-course of changes in the EEG points to alterations in the system of nonspecific activation in depressions.


PURPOSE
Every year, new radiotherapy techniques including stereotactic radiosurgery using linear accelerators give rise to new applications of Monte Carlo (MC) modeling. Accurate modeling requires knowing the size of the electron spot, one of the few parameters to tune in MC models. The resolution of integrated megavoltage imaging systems, such as the tomotherapy system, strongly depends on the photon spot size which is closely related to the electron spot. The aim of this article is to clarify the relationship between the electron spot size and the photon spot size (i.e., the focal spot size) for typical incident electron beam energies and target thicknesses.

METHODS
Three electron energies (3, 5.5, and 18 MeV), four electron spot sizes (FWHM = 0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mm), and two tungsten target thicknesses (0.15 and 1 cm) were considered. The formation of the photon beam within the target was analyzed through electron energy deposition with depth, as well as photon production at several phase-space planes placed perpendicular to the beam axis, where only photons recorded for the first time were accounted for. Photon production was considered for "newborn" photons intersecting a 45 x 45 cm2 plane at the isocenter (85 cm from source). Finally, virtual source position and "effective" focal spot size were computed by back-projecting all the photons from the bottom of the target intersecting a 45 x 45 cm2 plane. The virtual source position and focal spot size were estimated at the plane position where the latter is minimal.

RESULTS
In the relevant case of considering only photons intersecting the 45 x 45 cm2 plane, the results unambiguously showed that the effective photon spot is created within the first 0.25 mm of the target and that electron and focal spots may be assumed to be equal within 3-4%.

CONCLUSIONS
In a good approximation photon spot size equals electron spot size for high energy X-ray treatments delivered by linear accelerators.


Complex fluids have long posed a significant challenge in our ability to characterize and model fluid properties. Here, complex fluids are considered to be mixtures with many components that can differ significantly in polarity and polarizability. The penultimate complex fluid is crude oil, although many other fluids such as finished fuels are also highly complex. We have recently introduced a measurement strategy that can simplify these efforts and provides the added potential of linking chemical composition (i.e. analytical) information with physical property information. In addition to chemical characterization, the approach provides the ability to calculate thermodynamic and transport properties for such complex heterogeneous streams. The technique is based on the advanced distillation curve (ADC) metrology, which separates a complex fluid by distillation into fractions that are sampled, and for which thermodynamically consistent temperatures are measured at atmospheric pressure. The collected sample fractions can be analyzed by any method that is appropriate. Analytical methods we have applied include gas chromatography (with flame ionization, mass spectrometric and sulfur chemiluminescence detection), thin-layer chromatography, FTIR, Karl Fischer coulombic titrimetry, refractometry, corrosivity analysis, neutron activation analysis and cold neutron prompt gamma activation analysis. This method has been on product streams such as finished fuels (gasoline, diesel fuels, aviation fuels, rocket propellants), crude oils (including a crude oil made from swine manure) and waste oil streams (used automotive and transformer oils). In this review, we describe the essential features of the ADC metrology with illustrative examples.


This paper investigates cooperative estimation of averaged moving target object poses in three dimensions for visual sensor networks. In particular, we consider the situation where multiple vision cameras see a common target object but the poses consistent with visual measurements differ from camera to camera due to a variety of uncertainties. Under the situation, we try to estimate an average of the contaminated poses not only for static but also for moving target objects by using only local negotiations. For this purpose, we present a cooperative estimation mechanism called networked visual motion observer. We then derive an upper bound of the ultimate error between the actual average and the estimates produced by the present estimation mechanism for both static and moving target objects. Finally the effectiveness of the networked visual motion observer is demonstrated through simulation.