Abstract The Sneinton Formation occurs at the base of the Mercia Mudstone Group and consists of sandstones with interbedded siltstones and mudstones. The sample material was obtained from core from a 63 m deep borehole sunk near Epperstone some 10 km north of Nottingham. The petrographic characteristics, namely quartz content, clay size content, packing density and particle size distribution of the sandstones, were determined for a series of depths. In addition, the density, porosity, compressive and indirect tensile strengths, hardness, modulus of deformation, Poisson's ratio and slake durability index were determined for the same depth intervals. The petrographic characteristics then were correlated with the physical and mechanical properties and the significance of the relationships assessed by Student's t value. The individual physical and mechanical properties also were the correlated with each other and the significance of the relationships similarly assessed.


Introduction
The market of medical devices is increasingly challenging to operate in. Increasing competition and
decreasing healthcare budgets for providers of health care, lead to more pressure on the costeffectiveness
of medical device companies. Also, stricter regulations are making it harder to bring
new products to the market and to obtain reasonable prices once proven valuable. In these times it is
of more importance that high-risk developments actually result in reimbursement and the
technological- and financial performance of medical device companies are key to survival. To
improve their technological- and financial performance, companies employ strategies to stay
innovative and competitive. The choice in strategy is often reflected in the organization structure and
innovation activities of the company. Research on these topics is rarely conducted on medical device
companies.
Research goal
The goal of this research is to provide insights in how the organization structure and innovation
activities of a company in the field of medical devices affect their technological and commercial
performance. These insights will help medical device companies to determine which strategies are
most effective given the financial and dynamic challenges that they are faced with.
Theory
The commercial performance of a company provides insights in how well the company is performing
on the financial aspect. Past research provides evidence that an increasing technological
performance has a positive influence on the market value of a company.
How companies enact the innovations activities is partly reflected in whether companies apply for
patents that are explorative or exploitative. Explorative activities are seen as new developments of
ideas that are situated in a technological domain in which the company has not patented technology
during the past five years. Exploitative activities are seen as further development in technological
domains where the company has patented technology in the previous five years. Research indicates
that companies are often performing at their best ability when they have a balance between
exploration and exploitation, also called ambidexterity.
The organization structure of companies is often seen in structures such as matrix, vertical or
horizontal. Those structures define the relationships between different units of company. The units
of a company can also be divided by the subsidiaries a company has. The company can organize its
innovation activities between several subsidiaries or concentrate it at one location. Subsidiaries are
often seen as more flexible and better able to pursue exploration as they do not always rely on the
basic experiences, values and capabilities. Logical reasoning suggests that the degree of
differentiation of explorative activities influences the relationship of innovations activities has on
technological performance.
v
This study investigates what influence the different innovation activities have on technological
performance. Besides that, it will measure the effect of the organization structure as a moderating
variable between the relation of innovation activities and technological performance. In
consideration of those relationships the research indicates which different technological
performances are leading to different outcomes in commercial performance.
(theoretical framework)
Methodology
27 Large medical device companies are selected of which the suggested relations are examined. The
innovation activities are measured through the balance of exploration and exploitation
(ambidexterity), in the patent applications by the company. Organization structure is measured by
the degree of concentration of explorative patents in subsidiaries of the company. The technological
performance is measured by the number of patent applications by each company and the
commercial performance by sales with a lag of one and two years.
The patent data on the innovation activities, organization structure and technological performance is
extracted from the dataset EPO. Data on the commercial performance, measured through the annual
sales, was obtained from financial year reports. To be able to do the statistical analyses and make a
benchmark of the best practices, a longitudinal database is created over the years 2002-2008.
Results
The results of the statistical analysis suggest that the large medical device companies who want to
increase their performance on sales, in short term and number of patent applications should not
invest in exploration. It suggests that it is better to invest in improving existing technologies and
apply for new exploitative patents.
Contrasting to these previous results is that the best performing company, Johnson & Johnson, does
do some exploration. This seems to suggest that it is necessary to have some degree of exploration
to be able to stay competitive. Further results on organization structure indicate that if companies do
invest in explorative activities it is better to differentiate.
Innovation
activities
Technological
performance
Commercial
performance
Organization
structure
vi
Discussion
It could be that sales is not a good dependent variable as it often takes much longer than one or two
years before a patent is transformed to a product and the item is allowed on the market. A value of
like the Tobin's Q, which includes stock values, would be more sufficient. However this was not
possible for this research as only the data of the segment of medical devices is used. Also the
negative impact of exploration on the technological performance could imply that this group of the
largest medical device companies has already passed the top of the inverted u-shape. Meaning that
the more medium and small sized companies should explore more and the larger should invest more
in exploitation.
Conclusion
Within the scope of this research the explorative innovation activities have negative effect on the
number of patent applications of the medical device companies. It does not provide support for the
moderating effect on the relation of the exploration share and number of patent applications;
instead it indicates a negative main effect to the number of patent applications. A significant positive
influence is found on the relation between the number of patent applications and the sales. The
study also suggests a different theoretical framework for companies who produce medical devices.
Further research into why these results are different than expected is necessary. For example by
taking a larger group of medical device companies with also small and medium sized companies
and/or taking the performances of sales with a much bigger lag.


In this paper, a secure scheme for underwater telecommunication networks has been proposed. The main idea stems from the fact that all telecommunication networks, including underwater networks, have been basically prepared to transfer speech and voice. In our proposed scheme, the input voice is transformed to the bit stream using a low bit rate encoder. Then, the whole bits are mapped to the predefined symbols, which have been originally designed using hi-fi speech records. Symbols are stored in a lookup table in the both sides of channel. At transmitter side, the prepared signal is windowed, filtered and shaped to transfer over underwater link. The overall bit error rates are as low as that have not any significant effect on quality of speech while, on the other hand, the output noises are quite unintelligible for intruders who try to access to the conversations through the channel of telecommunication network. Produced noises are signals including random scrambled speech-based symbols in which make no any sense to the listener. The simulated system was considered to transfer speech to obtain results in an experimental state. The results show that the proposed scheme for underwater telecommunication is reliable.


A lot of work exists on notions of equivalence and soundness relations of different workflow models, which are used in different domains like e.g. business process modeling, software and service engineering. These definitions are based on different models, including Petri nets and different versions of finite state automata, having different expressiveness and computational complexity classes. The aim of this paper is to compare the equivalence and soundness relations of the Petri net and annotated finite state automaton models in the context of Service Oriented Architectures. It turns out that up to a certain expressiveness the relations are comparable and computable with reasonable effort. For these cases also mappings between the different models and relations are presented.


Tractable Boolean and arithmetic circuits have been studied extensively in AI for over two decades now. These circuits were initially proposed as "compiled objects," meant to facilitate logical and probabilistic reasoning, as they permit various types of inference to be performed in linear time and a feed-forward fashion like neural networks. In more recent years, the role of tractable circuits has significantly expanded as they became a computational and semantical backbone for some approaches that aim to integrate knowledge, reasoning and learning. In this chapter, we review the foundations of tractable circuits and some associated milestones, while focusing on their core properties and techniques that make them particularly useful for the broad aims of neuro-symbolic AI.


Indonesia introduced some curriculum with a constructivist approach since 1984. Every ten years, the curriculum documents developed according to the needs of learners and contemporary. This study aimed to analyze the cognitive and knowledge domain according the curriculum in Indonesia. Curriculum documents analyzed were 1984, 1994, 2006, and 2013 particularly subjects Biology. Knowledge and cognitive domains based on the revised Bloom's Taxonomy.  Knowledge aspect consists of factual knowledge, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive.  Cognitive aspect consists of remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The analysis showed 2013 curriculum want to develop higher order thinking than other curriculum. Keywords: knowledge, cognitive, curriculum, Indonesia


In this investigation, the types of bacteria present in the blood of HIV-1 positive individuals attending the Antiretroviral Therapy clinic at a tertiary healthcare centre in Southwest, Nigeria and their antibiogram profile were assessed. A total number of Five Hundred confirmed HIV-1 Positive Patients were recruited for this study. Their blood was collected and subjected to standard microbiological techniques to isolate and identify the types of bacteria present and also determine the antibiogram profile of the isolates. The bacterial species identified are Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus lentus, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, O103:H2, Escherichia coli O26:H11, Shigella flexneri, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella sonnei and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium were isolated from the control group of apparently healthy individuals consisting of fifty respondents. Approximately, 4% of the patients were found to have more than one type of bacterial species in their blood. The antibiogram profile of isolates revealed Ofloxacin as the most effective antibiotic against most isolated bacterial species. Only two isolates were resistant to each of Streptomycin and Chloramphenicol. Proteus mirabilis displayed the highest level of resistance while other bacterial isolates exhibited resistance to Cotrimoxazole, Augmentin, Amoxycillin, Cloxacillin and Erythromycin.


Abstract. Modern ground-based digital auroral All-Sky Imager (ASI) networks capture millions of images annually. Machine vision techniques are widely utilised in the retrieval of images from large data bases. Clearly, they can play an important scientific role in dealing with data from auroral ASI networks, facilitating both efficient searches and statistical studies. Furthermore, the development of automated techniques for identifying specific types of aurora opens up the potential of ASI control software that would change instrument operation in response to evolving geophysical conditions. In this paper, we describe machine vision techniques that we have developed for use on large auroral image data sets. We present the results of application of these techniques to a 350000 image subset of the CANOPUS Gillam ASI in the years 1993–1998. In particular, we obtain occurrence statistics for auroral arcs, patches, and Omega-bands. These results agree with those of previous manual auroral surveys. Key words. Ionosphere (Instruments and techniques) General (new fields)


Densification of alumina has been studied in the present work in presence of yttria. Yttria as dopant has been added to the extent of 0.5, 1 and 2 weight % to pure alumina and studied for pressure-less sintering. Pellets of without and with yttria containing compositions were sintered at 15500C 16000C, 16500C and then characterized for densification, phase analysis and SEM & EDAX studies. A new phase, Y3Al5O12, has been observed in the sintered samples indicating reactions between alumina and dopant phase. Results reveal that yttria is a beneficial sintering additive for alumina on sintering at 16500C, at lower temperatures it has a hindering effect on sintering. Microstructural study indicates the improvement and EDAX study confirm the presence of yttrium and aluminium containing oxide phases, observed as brighter grains.


A coupling kinetics model is developed to simulate the release and transport of landfill leachate pollutants in a deformable municipal solid waste landfill by taking into account of landfill settlement, seepage of leachate water, hydrolyse of insoluble and degradable organic pollutants in solid phase, biodegradation of soluble and degradable organic pollutants in solid phase and aqueous one, growth of aerobic and anaerobic microorganism, and consumption of dissolved oxygen. The release and transport of organic pollutants and microorganisms in landfills in the process of landfill settlement was simulated by considering no hydraulic effect. Simulation results demonstrated that the interaction between landfill settlement and the release, transport and biodegradation of landfill leachate pollutants was significant. Porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity were not constants because of the landfill settlement, which affected the release, transport and biodegradation of landfill leachate pollutants, and furthermore acted on the landfill settlement. The simulation results accorded with the practical situation, which preliminarily verified the reliability of the mathematical model and the numerical program in this paper.


A series of fluorescein-encapsulated zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (fluorescein@ZIF-8) luminescent nanoparticles with a scalable guest loading has been fabricated and characterized. The successful encapsulation of the organic dye (fluorescein) is supported by both experimental evidence and theoretical simulations. The measured optical band gap is found to be comparable with the computed values of a hypothetical guest-host system. Isolated monomers and aggregates species of fluorescein confined in ZIF-8 nanocrystals have been systematically investigated through fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy. The quantum yield (QY) of the obtained solid-state materials is particularly high (QY~98%), especially when the concentration of the fluorescein guest is low. Combining a blue LED chip and a thin photoactive film of fluorescein@ZIF-8, we demonstrate a device with good optical tunability for multicolor and white light emissions. Additionally, we show that the fluorescein@ZIF-8 nanoparticles exhibit an improved photostability due to the shielding effect conferred by the nanoconfinement of host framework, making them promising candidates for practical applications such as solid-state lighting, photonics, and optical communications.


Poor sanitation practices pollute the environment and exact undue toll on health, productivity and human life, hence the increasing global call for the maintenance of acceptable sanitation standards in all communities. Although maintaining proper sanitation standards in any community is a function of several factors, the stakeholder participation dimension is one of the most critical. However, unlike the household stakeholders, the non-household stakeholder dimension has not received adequate attention in terms of studies regarding its role and participation in environmental sanitation management. Employing the qualitative design, this study examined the role and participation of key non-household stakeholders in sanitation management in the catchment area of Benya Lagoon, Ghana. Data were gathered from identifiable key non-household sanitation actors who were purposively selected from relevant government agencies, private sector organisations, community-based organisations and opinion leaders and analysed thematically guided by the most significant stories technique. It became evident from the study that the non-household stakeholders were playing useful roles in sanitation management, but their participation and the level of interaction in the enterprise were too limited to enable them to make a substantial impact on improving sanitation in the area. Key non-household sanitation actors, spearheaded by the central government through the sector ministry and municipal authority, need to increase their participation in sanitation management and collaborate more intensively through higher order interactions to ensure the maintenance of acceptable sanitation standards for sustainable local level development and, by extension, national development.


"The whole in a nutshell!" That is Frontiers of management research abroad. To expose Indian readers to management research abroad we present in this feature jargon free summaries of recent research published in some of the world's leading management journals. These capsule summaries would, we hope, lead the enthusiastic readers to still wider reading. And also to contribute to this feature themselves. Readers are requested to send condensed articles and their publication details to Professor Samir Barua.


Introduction Advances in the immunopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) coupled with bolder definitions of disease control have led to increasing reliance on imaging to characterise inflammation beyond the reach of the endoscope. Clinical activity indices underestimate biologic activity and cannot detect transmural disease. We aimed to assess the role of CT enterography (CTE) in assessing Crohn's disease (CD). Methods A retrospective review of 406 consecutive CTE studies was performed between January 2009 and December 2012 at our institution. Clinical data including demographics, disease characteristics and therapy were obtained from electronic patient record review. Inflammatory markers, radiological investigations and ileocolonoscopy when performed within 90 days of CTE were recorded. CTE reports were recorded using accepted activity criteria- small bowel dilatation, stenosis, wall thickening, enhancement, mucosal irregularity, mesenteric inflammation, hypervascularity, lymph node enlargement, abscesses, fistulation and extraintestinal features. Results Of 175 patients with IBD at time of CTE, 154 had CD. Ninety-four of 154 patients were female, mean age 52 (range 16–87) and median term of follow up of 5 years (range 0–35). Abnormalities were noted in 100 scans; 56 had active non-stricturing, 42 active stricturing and 2 fibrostenotic disease. Within active groups, there were 10 fistulae and 3 abscesses in 11 patients. Ileo-colonoscopy was performed in 42 patients with 27 showing active inflammation and raised CRP in 38/96. Treatment was increased in 52% of the active non-stricturing group, 6/29 to azathioprine, 4/29 to biologics, 4/29 to methotrexate, 7/29 to steroids, 5/29 to surgery with no change in the remaining 48%, of whom 8/12 had inactive disease at ileo-colonoscopy and 16/24 normal CRP. In 57% of active stricturing patient treatment was increased in 1 to azathioprine, 11 to biologics, 5 to surgery. Twelve of 26 patients in this group had an elevated CRP and 10/13 had active colitis at ileo-colonoscopy. Of 53 normal CTE, treatment was escalated in 3 to methotrexate or azathioprine with colitis at colonoscopy and unchanged in 92%. Conclusion Concerns regarding potential cumulative effects of ionising radiation are valid but likely to be offset by changing technology and reduction in average doses of radiation. CTE has a role in well-selected patients with CD (e.g. age > 50, very sick patients) identifying active disease and influencing meaningful therapeutic decisions. Disclosure of Interest None Declared.


Hollow-fibre liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) was introduced in 1999 as a miniaturised version of liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) in order to reduce the consumption of organic solvents and offer an environmentally-friendly approach to extraction procedures. Since then, several studies have been published in the field of forensic and clinical toxicology applying the technique to a broad range of analytes; however more studies are necessary regarding its applicability to bioanalyses. The principle of HF-LPME is the extraction of analytes across a thin supported liquid membrane within the walls of a hollow fibre from a donor phase (DP) into an acceptor phase (AP). It is an extraction technique that encompasses several parameters that require optimisation for an efficient method; this is most effectively achieved by utilising a design of experiment (DoE) approach rather than the conventional one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) approach.
The main aim of this work is to further investigate the applicability of HF-LPME to the fields of forensic and clinical toxicology by developing and validating methods to extract various drugs from different biological matrices.
Complex matrices, such as whole blood, are commonly used in forensic toxicology. Considering that not many studies have been performed on the application of HF-LPME to whole blood (only 10 up to the present day), this is an aspect that requires further investigation. For this, a fast, accurate and precise 3-phase HF-LPME method followed by LC-MS/MS analysis was developed and validated to simultaneously quantify 5 NBOMe drugs in human whole blood. NBOMe drugs are a group of substances part of the so-called "novel psychoactive substances" (NPS); drugs that have been emerging with increasing frequency over the last few years. NBOMes are associated to deaths as the causa mortis, and due to their high potency, these drugs are normally abused in micrograms. For that reason, the HF-LPME method developed had to present high sensitivity (LOD of pg/mL).
The aim of the second part of this project was to challenge HF-LPME further by developing and validating methods to assess the potential application of HF-LPME in multi-drug analyses. Urine was selected as biological matrix, and the group of chosen analytes were 14 anti-hypertensive drugs and their metabolites with very different physical-chemical properties. HF-LPME has never been applied to such a broad spectrum of substances in previous bioanalytical studies. These drugs were divided into two groups (acidic and basic/neutral), and a total of four extraction methods (two for each group of analytes) were developed and optimised using chemometrics (DoE) then analysed by LC-MS/MS. Two of these methods were liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) methods that were developed and validated to be used as reference to which the two HF-LPME methods were compared. The LLE methods were sensitive, accurate, precise, and valid for application to real case samples. The HF-LPME methods presented some limitations due to the lack of isotopically-labelled analogues of each specific analyte as internal standards (IS); for non-exhaustive methods the use of these IS should be adopted as standard practise. Real urine samples from genuine patients were extracted using all 4 methods followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. By applying the methods to real case samples, it was possible to define that the HF-LPME methods were suitable for qualitative screening of urine to determine the level of compliance of patients under anti-hypertensive pharmacotherapy. However, for quantification of the drugs applying HF-LPME, further development is required to incorporate the use of isotopically labelled analogues.
This study proved that HF-LPME is a potential asset not only for forensic but also for clinical toxicology. It can be a very powerful tool which, mainly due to its green-chemistry approach and pre-concentration capabilities, which allows direct injection into the analytical instrument, could potentially become a more used technique in the future. However, the analyst should be careful when developing HF-LPME methods, to bear in mind its limitations so that methods that are fit-for-purpose can be developed.


The epoxy/matrix composites incorporating with dispersed and agglomerated nano-BaTiO3 fillers were investigated. The relative dielectric constants of the composites with the agglomerated particles were significantly improved, compared to those of the composites with the well-dispersed particles. In addition, the experimental data were in better agreement with the values calculated by the Lichteneker's model than with those of the conventional Maxwell-Garnett's model which has been widely employed for the calculation of the dielectric constant of polymer/filler composites. In order to promote an agglomeration by interlocking between the nanoparticles, the BaTiO3 powders were heat-treated at various temperatures. An epoxy composite with 40 vol% BaTiO3 heat-treated at 800°C for 1 h exhibited an excellent relative dielectric constant of 67, along with high polarizability, low dielectric loss, and low leakage current. Similarly, the epoxy composites with agglomerated SrTiO3 fillers provided a higher dielectric constant than that of their dispersed counterparts. The origin of the increase in the relative dielectric constant achieved by the agglomeration effect is also suggested.


Identifying pancreatic islet cells that acquire a beta-cell like phenotype is important for developing new diabetes therapies. Our studies have revealed a novel serpinB13 protease inhibitor antibody, that augments cathepsin L protease activity, resulting in Notch1 receptor cleavage and mobilization of endocrine progenitor cells to become beta cells in the embryonic pancreas. It is unclear, however, whether a similar induction of additional beta cells occurs with exposure to serpinB13 monoclonal antibody (mAb) in later life.
 To explore the exact source (s) of new beta cells in response to serpinB13 mAb after birth we developed a novel, multicolor flow cytometry analysis approach to study pancreatic islets. Five-week old normal Balb/c mice were injected with serpinB13 mAb (or control IgG) , and sacrificed at 8 weeks for islet isolation. Islet cell suspensions were stained with a viability dye, and a panel of antibodies to CD31, CD45, cytokeratin 19, EpCAM, insulin (Ins) , glucagon (Glu) , somatostatin (SS) , c-peptide, and four transcription factors, Maf-A, Nkx6.1, NeuroD1, and Pdx-1.
 Exposure to the serpinB13 mAb caused a significant increase in the number of hormonal-negative (e.g., Ins-Glu-SS-c-peptide-) cells (p=0.0011) , and hormonal negative, but c-peptide positive, cells (p=0.002) . At least one of four transcription factors examined were positive in 5-10% and 10-30% of these populations, respectively. At the same time, there was a trend in the drop of Glu+ and SS+ cells. The average number of pancreatic islets, and the total islet cellularity per mouse, was augmented in animals receiving serpinB13 mAb.
 Although additional studies are necessary to characterize the hormonal negative cells and assess whether Glu+ and SS+ cells transdifferentiate to beta cells, these findings demonstrate that enhanced tissue plasticity and beta-cell output can be achieved in the pancreas following treatment with antibodies to protease inhibitors.

 Y.Kryvalap: None. S.Z.Meng: None. J.Czyzyk: None.


Matrix-Assisted Laser
Desorption/Ionization (MALDI) Imaging Mass Spectrometry (IMS) allows
simultaneous mapping of thousands of molecules distributed in tissues. However,
unambiguous identification of specific types or functional states of cells and
correlation of such features to molecular localization are key challenges in
the field. We report here the development of advances based on identity marking
using a genetically encoded fluorophore. The fluorescence emission (Fem)
data were integrated with IMS outputs through multimodal image processing with
advanced registration techniques and data-driven image fusion. In an unbiased
analysis of spleens, this approach enabled identification of new lipid species
previously not identified in germinal centers (GC), such as the enrichment of ether
lipids. We propose that this use of genetic marking of microanatomical regions
of interest can be paired with molecular information from IMS for any tissue,
cell type, or activity state for which fluorescence is driven by a
gene-tracking allele.


Chickpeas are low glycaemic index foods with delayed digestion and reduced postprandial glycaemic responses (PPGR). However, in vitro studies suggest that mechanical processing of chickpeas, that result in cell wall disruption, significantly increase both the rate and extent of starch digestion. There is little evidence on the impact of processing on the acute glycaemic response elicited after chickpea intake in vivo. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of mechanical processing on PPGR in humans. Thirteen healthy adults (4 males and 9 females) with mean (±SD) age 28.7 ± 6.6 years and, BMI 23.2 ± 2.5 kg/m, attended 4 separate laboratory visits following an overnight fast. Participants were randomly allocated to consume a meal made of three different physical forms of chickpeas: whole chickpeas (CW), pureed chickpeas (CP), and pasta made of chickpea flour (CF); and control instant mashed potatoes (CT). All meals were matched for carbohydrate (50g) and fat (8g) content. Baseline and postprandial interstitial glucose responses were captured by continuous glucose monitoring (FreeStyle Libre pro) for a total of 24 hours. Here we report the acute postprandial responses during a 180 min observation window. Incremental area under the curve (iAUC) was calculated by the trapezoidal method, and data analysed using repeated measures ANOVAwith post hoc tests using Bonferroni correction. Data are presented as mean (±SD) and statistical significance was set at p< 0.05. All participants had significantly lower PPGR in response to each chickpea meal as demonstrated by iAUC values (180min period) which were significantly higher for CT visit (146.7 ± 63.5 mmol.min/L) compared to CW (62.2 ± 67.9 mmol.min/L), CF (59.6 ± 45.2 mmol.min/L), and CP (45.7 ± 45.4 mmol.min/L) with (p< 0.001) identified by ANOVA. Similarly, incremental peak postprandial glucose (after 45 min) was highest in CT (2.0 ± 1.3 mmol/L) in comparison to CF (0.8 ± 1.0 mmol/L), CW (0.6 ± 1.1 mmol/L), and CP (0.5 ± 0.4 mmol/L) with (p= 0.008). Due to high individual variations following chickpea product consumption, no differences between different processing methods could be established. These results suggest that the postprandial glycaemic response to chickpeas is not impacted by mechanical processing. This may relate to higher protein content and presence of dietary fibre.


Sexual expression and intimacyis frequently disrupted by serious illness such as cancer and can challenge the way people see themselves and those with whom they have relationships. Recent statistics (CRUK 2014) suggest that over 50% of people treated for cancer today are predicted to survive for longer than 10 years, yet research and clinical experience suggest that the sexualrehabilitation needs of individuals and couples affected by cancer remain unmet. Furthermore, while oncology professionals find the emotional and relationship impact of cancer difficult to address, psychological therapists often find it challenging to address the complex physical changes and organic sexual difficulties arising from today's multi-modal cancer treatment. Isabel White and Josie Butcher invite empirical or review papers (maximum 6000 words) and commentaries, clinical case reports or opinion pieces (maximum 1200 words) on the sexual and relationship consequences of cancer and its treatment. Commentaries and opinion pieces will be reviewed by the editor(s), papers will also be sent for external peer review. The deadline for abstract submissions is December 31st 2014 and full papers byMay 31st 2015. We are particularly interested to receive papers that highlight the role of the psychosexual therapist in enabling integration of the biomedical, psychological and relational dimensions of organic sexual difficulties in this patient group. Appropriate topics include:


Knowledge intensive applications require an intelligent environment, which can perform deductions in response to user queries or events that occur inside or outside of the applications. For that, we propose a fuzzy active object-oriented database for modeling knowledge intensive applications. In that, we incorporate fuzziness within the event, condition and action parts of an active rule. We consider deductive rules as special cases of active rules so that deductive queries are handled using abstract kind of events. We also introduce a model for fuzzy inferencing of fuzzy active rules where we develop a model for scenario concept. We use a Fuzzy Petri Net model for fuzzy rule-based inference.


The importance of financial resources input into health improving goes without saying, and economic analysis can only contribute to the search and allocation of funds. The specific economic loss (SEL) seems to be a most informative index of the damage caused to economy by occupational diseases. This index includes the total sum of economic damage of the society through all the life of the worker after an occupational disease was diagnosed. The limits of SEL vary from 6.8 to 30 thousand roubles. A further elaboration of technical and legislative bases is needed to define the economic responsibility of enterprises for violating hygienic norms and regulations.


The conversion of Christians to Islam caused significant anxiety in the Crown of Aragón in the later middle ages. Some of this fear was caused by genuine concern over the eternal salvation of the convert, but there were other reasons as well. This article looks at three distinct causes that served to foster and maintain this fear of conversion. First, Christian authorities sometimes purposefully used the spectre of Christians converting to Islam to galvanise support for some of their political, diplomatic, and military initiatives. Secondly, apostates posed a significant spiritual danger to those Christians who lived as minorities in Muslim regions. Finally, converts presented a danger to the Crown of Aragón from a practical and military point of view.


A total of 519 cases of viral hepatitis were admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital from June to October 1982 during an epidemic in Rangoon; 399 cases were found to be hepatitis non-A non-B, 84 cases were hepatitis B and 36 cases were hepatitis A. A clinical study was done of the 399 non-A non-B hepatitis cases. Also a prospective study of 434 households made up of 217 non-A non-B hepatitis cases with their families, together with 217 matched control families were followed up for a period of seven months to detect secondary cases among the family members. Non-A non-B hepatitis was found to occur most in adults of 20-40 years. Non-A non-B hepatitis is indistinguishable from the other two types of viral hepatitis. Case fatality rate was the highest in pregnant women with non-A non-B hepatitis. The field study suggested non-A non-B hepatitis can be transmitted by intrafamily spread. No evidence of sexual or syringe transmission of non-A non-B hepatitis was found.


A limited number of cases of anesthetic management of Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome (RTS) have been reported since this syndrome was first diagnosed in 1963. After some well-publicized complications following anesthesia for patients with RTS, there has been great interest in avoiding all precipitant factors and careful monitoring during intraoperative and postoperative periods. This case series examines the cases of three pediatric patients with RTS who presented to the Children's Hospital of Michigan for different surgeries. We aim in this study to share information about this rare syndrome and to emphasize how this case series allowed us to improve our anesthetic management. In each case, we adjusted our techniques using information from preceding cases to avoid complications in the following encounter.


This study investigates the effect of the marketing mix on purchase intention in spa at Bandar Hilir, Melaka. The marketing mix that are used is 4P's that is product, promotion, place and price. Purchase behavior is an important key for consumers during considering and evaluating of certain product. Problem that faces is Malaysian spa industry experiences a shortage of skilled labor, many people are still unclear as to what kind of services that a spa offers, and spa industry in Malaysia lack of the National Signature Treatment. The method of data collection that used is questionnaire. The questionnaire were distribute among the tourist in Bandar Hilir, Melaka. The techniques that are used to interpret the data is by using SPSS, Mean, Standard Deviation and also Pearson Correlation. In objective 1, the result indicated that the attitude of the customer were based on their free will and the word of mouth from their members, family or other that can influenced them. While, objective 2 found that, the most preferred marketing mix tools is the strategic location (place) of the Malaysia Spa Industry that can influence the purchasing behavior of customer. However, objective 3 establish that there is moderate relationship between the how the marketing mix are well plan to the attitude of the consumer in purchased the spa services/product maybe the respondents does not clearly understand the spa services.


The EU Water Framework Directive dictates an integrated approach to surface water and groundwater resource assessment and management. The adequacy of existing groundwater models and surface process models for resource management purposes is reviewed, and is found wanting in areas where both surface water and groundwater flow processes are important. Thus there is a need for appropriate modelling tools to simulate near-surface processes and interface with groundwater models. The basic processes operating between precipitation and groundwater recharge are discussed, with particular consideration of rapid runoff, interflow and 'runoff recharge', which can result in delay and translocation of recharge. These processes are translated into an algorithmic scheme defined by only a small number of parameters, based on ideas current in the literature. The resulting scheme is sufficiently flexible to model both outcrop aquifers and those where rapid runoff, interflow and runoff recharge are also important. Calculations can be carried out for simple lumped catchments or on model grids so that the tool can be applied throughout model development as understanding improves, from initial lumped water balances to the generation of distributed stream flow and recharge input files for the MODFLOW groundwater flow code. An important consequence of this approach is that modelled river flows can be compared directly with gauged flows without the need for baseflow separation. The success of the algorithmic scheme is demonstrated by two examples: reproducing the results of an existing model of a limestone aquifer with perforated cover (where runoff recharge is particularly important); and by constructing a new model of a sandstone aquifer with complex top boundary conditions.


This monograph analyses how well the Australian media perform in their role of supporting democracy. The central section of this study is part of the Media for Democracy Monitor project, which was developed for mature democracies, and has been carried out in nine European countries and Australia. The study uses a methodology developed by Trappel (2011) which examines how well a country's media and media framework fulfil the core principles of freedom, equality and control. Areas examined include the free flow of information, patterns of media use, media ownership concentration, levels of self-regulation, independence of news media from owners and/or those in power, internal media democracy, and the importance of the watchdog role. This study concludes that, in comparison to the European countries, Australia performs moderately well and that its legal framework and media ownership structure are the two most significant factors impeding its democratic functioning. Despite the legal hurdles, Australia stands out for its commitment to watchdog journalism. This is evidenced by the fact that nine out of ten journalists in Australia see the watchdog function as their most important role, that professional education assigns high importance to it and that media allocate some resources to investigative teams or sections.


As the degree of dependency and application of component increases, the need to strengthen security of component is also increased as well. The component gives an advantage to improve development productivity through its reusable software. Even with this advantage, vulnerability of component security limits its reuse. When the security level of a component is raised in order to improve this problem, the most problematic issue will be that it may extend its limitation on reusability. Therefore, a component model concerning its reusability and security at the same time should be supplied. We suggest a Separation of Concerns Security Model for Extension of Component Reuse which is integrated with a wrapper model and an aspect model and combined with a reuse model in order to extend its security and reusability by supplying information hiding and easy modification, and an appropriate application system to verify the model's compatibility is even constructed. This application model gives the extension of component function and easy modification through the separation of concerns, and it raise its security as well as extends its reusability.


Target tracking using distributed sensor network is in general a challenging problem because it always needs to deal with real-time processing of noisy information. In this paper the problem of using nonlinear sensors such as distance and direction sensors for estimating a moving target is studied. The problem is formulated as a prudent design of nonlinear filters for a linear system subject to noisy nonlinear measurements and partially unknown input, which is generated by an exogenous system. In the worst case where the input is completely unknown, the exogenous dynamics is reduced to the random walk model. It can be shown that the nonlinear filter will have optimal convergence if the number of the sensors are large enough and the convergence rate will be highly improved if the sensors are deployed appropriately. This actually raises an interesting issue on active sensing: how to optimally move the sensors if they are considered as mobile multi-agent systems? Finally, a simulation example is given to illustrate and validate the construction of our filter.


PURPOSE
The benefit of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and digital rectal examination (DRE) screening for prostate cancer is under evaluation in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial. Followup of positive screens in PLCO is done by subject personal physicians and it is outside of trial control. We describe the pattern of prostate biopsy in men with positive screens in PLCO.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We examined all men with positive baseline PSA or DRE screens and men with positive post-baseline screens occurring by December 2000.

RESULTS
Of 2,717 men with positive PSA (greater than 4 ng/ml) at baseline 41% and 64% underwent biopsy within 1 and 3 years, respectively. A screening PSA of 7 to 10 and greater than 10 ng/ml at baseline was associated with significantly higher biopsy rates (HR 1.9 and 2.6, respectively) compared to PSA 4 to 7 ng/ml. The 1,793 in men whom the first positive PSA was after baseline had a lower overall biopsy rate (50% within 3 years). Furthermore, PSA above 7 ng/ml were not associated with higher biopsy rates in this group. The 4,449 men with positive DRE screens and negative PSA had a 3-year biopsy rate of 27%. Men with positive DRE at diagnostic followup had a biopsy rate of around 90%. However, few men, even of those with positive DRE screens, had positive diagnostic DREs.

CONCLUSIONS
: These biopsy rates following positive PSA and DRE screens are likely to be representative of national rates. These results suggest that PLCO is evaluating the effects of screening in a contemporary and robust manner.


The article aims to raise reflections about the necropolitics directed to HIV/AIDS in Brazil from a set of rationalities that permeate the processes of configuration of the governmental agenda, treatment of the disease, and the policies and technologies involved. For this purpose, a non-systematic theoretical review was carried out from a threefold aspect: the stigma of AIDS, necropolitics, and life politics. We concluded that life politics, as opposed to necropolitics, contributes to the defense of human rights and health, above all, to the demystification of stigma and the politics of enmity historicized in AIDS.


Monocular 3D reconstruction of deformable objects, such as human body parts, has been typically approached by predicting parameters of heavyweight linear models. In this paper, we demonstrate an alternative solution that is based on the idea of encoding images into a latent non-linear representation of meshes. The prior on 3D hand shapes is learned by training an autoencoder with intrinsic graph convolutions performed in the spectral domain. The pre-trained decoder acts as a non-linear statistical deformable model. The latent parameters that reconstruct the shape and articulated pose of hands in the image are predicted using an image encoder. We show that our system reconstructs plausible meshes and operates in real-time. We evaluate the quality of the mesh reconstructions produced by the decoder on a new dataset and show latent space interpolation results. Our code, data, and models will be made publicly available.


Using waste glass as an aggregate in concrete can cause severe damage because of the alkali- silica reaction (ASR) between the alkali in the cement paste and the silica in the glass. Recent accelerated 2- week tests, conducted according to ASTM C 1260, revealed that the damage to concrete caused by expansion of the ASR gel, which is manifested by strength reduction, depends in these tests strongly on the size of the glass particles. As the particle size decreases, the tensile strength first also decreases, which is expected because of the surface-to-volume ratio of the particles, and thus their chemical reactivity increases. However, there exists a certain worst (pessimum) size below which any further decrease of particle size improves the strength, and the damage becomes virtually nonexistent if the particles are small enough. The volume dilatation due to ASR is maximum for the pessimum particle size and decreases with a further decrease of size. These experimental findings seem contrary to intuition. This paper proposes a micromechanical fracture theory that explains the reversal of particle size effect in the accelerated 2-week test by two opposing mechanisms: (1) The extent of chemical reaction as a function of surface area, which causes the strength to decrease with a decreasing particle size; and (2) the size effect of the cracks produced by expansion of the ASR gel, which causes the opposite. The pessimum size, which is about 1.5 mm, corresponds to the case where the effects of both mechanisms are balanced. For smaller sizes the second mechanism prevails, and for sizes <0.15 mm no adverse effects are detectable. Extrapolation of the accelerated test (ASTM C 1260) to real structures and full lifetimes will require coupling the present model with the modeling of the reaction kinetics and diffusion processes involved.


Normochromic normocytic anemia regularly develops in chronic renal failure when the glomerular filtration rate drops below 20-30 ml/min. The reasons include: 1) a moderately reduced red cell life span, 2) blood loss, and 3) an inadequate increase in erythropoiesis relative to the fall in hemoglobin (Hb). The life-span of red blood cells may be shortened by their reduced resistance to mechanical, osmotic or oxidative stress, as well as by extracorpuscular factors. Blood loss results from dialysis, diagnostic sampling and, in particular, occult gastrointestinal bleeding. The predominant cause of inadequate erythropoiesis is a failure to increase erythropoietin (EPO) production in response to the developing anemia. Experience with recombinant EPO has shown that relative EPO deficiency is the key cause of the anemia and that the response of hematopoietic progenitor cells is not usually diminished in renal failure. However, reduced iron availability, inadequate dialysis, infection and hyperparathyroidism can all impair the efficacy of EPO. Therapeutic use of EPO has also shown clearly for the first time that anemia is responsible for a significant proportion of morbidity in patients with chronic renal failure and probably also contributes to increased mortality through its cardiovascular complications.


This paper proposes a procedure based on statistical tools for diagnosis of PhotoVoltaic (PV) plants. As the data are acquired, statistical analyses are realized. At every new loop other data are added to the previous ones, implementing a cumulative statistical analysis. In this manner it is possible to follow the trend of some specific parameters and to understand the real operation of the PV plant as the environmental conditions change during the year. The proposed approach, based on ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests, is effective in detecting and locating abnormal operating conditions. The proposed algorithm has been applied to a real case and results are presented.


Objective To determine the feasibility of performing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCH) followed by radical surgery in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva. Methods Prospective and multicenter trial. Thirty-five patients with a diagnosis of previously untreated locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva were given 4 schemes of cisplatin-based NCH and 1 NCH regimen with single bleomycin. Then, they underwent radical surgery of the vulva if clinical response was 50% or more. Age, NCH schemes used, toxicity, response to treatment, type of radical surgery performed, and clinical outcome were evaluated. Results Thirty-three patients completed the proposed schemes, and 30 were assessed for radical surgery. Finally, 27 patients underwent radical surgery (radical vulvectomy or radical local excision plus bilateral inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy). In 2 cases of persistent rectal involvement, posterior pelvic exenteration was performed. Moreover, 24 of 27 patients remain with no evidence of disease to date. Toxicity was acceptable. Median age was 62 years (range, 54–72 years). Median follow-up was 49 months (range, 4–155 months). Conclusions The use of NCH in selected groups may increase surgical feasibility in initially inoperable patients, thus favoring organ preservation and less extensive resections. Adverse reactions were acceptable, and vulvoperineal deleterious effects that may occur after radiotherapy were consequently avoided.


A single-letter characterization is provided for the capacity region of finite-state multiple access channels, when the channel state is a Markov process, the transmitters have access to delayed state information, and channel state information is available at the receiver. The delays of the channel state information are assumed to be asymmetric at the transmitters. We apply the result to derive power control strategies to maximize the capacity region for finite-state addtive Gaussian multiple access channels.


Robust estimation of ground motions generated by scenario earthquakes is critical for many engineering applications. We leverage recent advances in Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) to develop a new framework for synthesizing earthquake acceleration time histories. Our approach extends the Wasserstein GAN formulation to allow for the generation of ground-motions conditioned on a set of continuous physical variables. Our model is trained to approximate the intrinsic probability distribution of a massive set of strong-motion recordings from Japan. We show that the trained generator model can synthesize realistic 3-Component accelerograms conditioned on magnitude, distance, and $V_{s30}$. Our model captures the expected statistical features of the acceleration spectra and waveform envelopes. The output seismograms display clear P and S-wave arrivals with the appropriate energy content and relative onset timing. The synthesized Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) estimates are also consistent with observations. We develop a set of metrics that allow us to assess the training process's stability and tune model hyperparameters. We further show that the trained generator network can interpolate to conditions where no earthquake ground motion recordings exist. Our approach allows the on-demand synthesis of accelerograms for engineering purposes.


In this paper, we consider the recovery of group sparse signals corrupted by impulsive noise. In some recent literature, researchers have utilized stable data fitting models, like l1-norm, Huber penalty function and Lorentzian-norm, to substitute the l2-norm data fidelity model to obtain more robust performance. In this paper, a stable model is developed, which exploits the generalized lp-norm as the measure for the error for sparse reconstruction. In order to address this model, we propose an efficient alternative direction method, which includes the proximity operator of lp-norm functions to the framework of Lagrangian methods. Besides, to guarantee the convergence of the algorithm in the case of 0 ≤ p < 1 (nonconvex case), we took advantage of a smoothing strategy. For both 0 ≤ p < 1 (nonconvex case) and 1 ≤ p ≤ 2 (convex case), we have derived the conditions of the convergence for the proposed algorithm. Moreover, under the block restricted isometry property with constant δτk0 < τ/(4 − τ) for 0 < τ < 4/3 and δτk0 < √ (τ − 1)/τ for τ ≥ 4/3, a sharp sufficient condition for group sparse recovery in the presence of impulsive noise and its associated error upper bound estimation are established. Numerical results based on the synthetic block sparse signals and the realworld FECG signals demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of new algorithm in highly impulsive noise.


The spiny lizard genus Sceloporus was described by Wiegmann in 1828, with S. torquatus posteriorly designated as the type species. The taxonomic history of S. torquatus is complicated, as it has been confused with other taxa by numerous authors. Many modern systematics works have been published on Sceloporus, but none have included all five recognized S. torquatus subspecies: S. t. torquatus, S. t. melanogaster, S. t. binocularis, S. t. mikeprestoni, and S. t. madrensis. Additionally, there is previous evidence for at least one unnamed taxon. The present study is the first taxonomic revision of the enigmatic S. torquatus based on molecular phylogenies using combined molecular data from 12S, ND4 and RAG1 genes, and Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inference phylogenetic methods. This work includes the most extensive sampling across the entire distribution, as well as divergence time estimates and environmental niche modelling, which combined offer a spatio-temporal framework for understanding the evolution of the species. Additionally, a series of morphological characters are analyzed to identify significant differences between lineages consistently recovered in the molecular phylogenies. Using this integrative approach, evidence is presented for eight lineages within the S. torquatus complex, five of which correspond to previously recognized subspecies and three represent unnamed taxa masked by morphological conservatism. Finally, to maintain taxonomic stability a lectotype and paralectoype are designated for S. torquatus, and certain taxonomic changes are suggested in order to reflect the phylogenetic relationships within the S. torquatus complex.


One of the quandaries faced by ecological researchers is whether they should continue to invest in ongoing projects or whether they should shift their attention to new species or systems that may have received less attention. While research on Tiritiri Matangi has touched on a wide range of species and topics, the long-term projects on the reintroduced robin population (20 years) and hihi population (17 years) have accounted for the bulk of the published research, with 57 papers featuring these populations published to the end of 2009. This literature has made contributions to several disciplines (wildlife management, population ecology, behavioural ecology, conservation genetics, ornithology and wildlife disease) at both the local and international level. However, most of these published papers use less than 5 years of data, so most of the results made possible from the long-term data sets have yet to be published. We illustrate how long-term monitoring has allowed us to continually improve our understanding of the dynamics of these populations, and how this has allowed us to interpret and predict the effects of management. This management includes the 1993 poison drop, follow-up translocations to both populations, food provisioning and mite control for hihi, and most importantly, the ongoing harvesting of both populations for reintroduction to other locations. We are now able to detect complex and subtle processes that required many years of data, and present information on the number of years required to obtain various results. These results are now allowing us to develop long-term models integrating factors such as density-dependent regulation, demographic and environmental stochasticity. These models are not only relevant to the long-term viability and management of Tiritiri Matangi populations, but to small populations worldwide.


To determine the frequency, age and sex patterns of non-Burkitt's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma among cases of lymphoma seen at the histopathology department of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The records of patients with histologically diagnosed non-Burkitt's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma seen over a period of five years were studied. The classification was based on the Working Formulation. The sex and the age at diagnosis as well as the sites of the lesions were noted. Of the fifty three cases of non-Burkitt's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma seen during the study period 54.7% had intermediate grade tumours; 24.5% has low grade and 20.8% had high grade tumours. 92.5% of the cases occurred in adults over the age of 20 years. There was also a male predominance. Nodal as well as extranodal sites were involved and peripheral lymph node involvement most often affected the cervical group of lymph nodes. The results showed that non-Burkitt's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is predominantly a disease of adults which more often affected males than females. The intermediate grade type with the possibility of cure is the type most often seen in this study. Therefore, early diagnosis and preventive measures against known risk factors in our environment, where possible, are strongly recommended.


Virtual machine (VM) technologies have made much progress in improving the efficiency of virtualizing CPU and memory. However, achieving high performance for I/O virtualization remains a challenge, especially for high speed networking devices such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) NICs, and commonly used software-based I/O virtualization approaches usually suffer significant performance degradation compared with native hardware. One promising approach to address the performance issue of I/O virtualization is to use single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) devices which have been standardized by the PCI-SIG. With SR-IOV, a PCI Express (PCIe) device can present itself as multiple virtual devices. By dedicating a virtual device to a single VM, it is possible for the VM to access the virtual device hardware directly, thus reducing overheads such as context/control switches and extra memory copies. However, SR-IOV comes with its limitations such as requiring special hardware support and increased complexity in achieving VM tasks such as checkpointing, migration, and record/reply. Therefore, it is very important for us to fully understand the performance benefit of SR-IOV before adopting it. Unfortunately, there exists little previous work which provides such information. In this paper, we present a detailed performance evaluation of a 10 GbE SR-IOV PCIe device from Neterion in the KVM (Kernelbased Virtual Machine) virtualization environment. Our focus is not just performance metrics such as bandwidth and latency, but also other aspects of the system such as CPU utilization, memory access, VM exits, and host/guest interrupts. We have also studied several important factors that affect networking performance in both virtualized and native systems. These include issues such as the MTU size, the use of a single processor versus multiple processors, IRQ affinity, and IRQ distribution. Our experiments show that the hardware-based SR-IOV approach provides superior performance to the software-based approach in KVM. SR-IOV can achieve close to line rate TCP communication (9.3 Gbps) for both transmitting (Tx) and receiving (Rx) with the standard 1500 byte Ethernet MTU, although it does consume more CPU cycles than the native (non-virtualized) case. Overall, our evaluation demonstrates that the SR-IOV approach has great potential to achieve high performance I/O in a virtualized environment.


A new control method is developed for position tracking control of a flexible, non-collocated system. The desired trajectory is specified for the free end of a flexible beam that moves along a horizontal track actuated by a linear motor. First, a system model is reformulated based on a pendulum with stiffness and dampening. Small angle approximations are used so that a linear model can be obtained. Next, variable structure control is chosen as the control method due to its seemingly robust nature. The sliding surface and feedback gains are designed using the developed model based on literature describing various variable structure control techniques. Simulations are then conducted to verify the control method and examine its robustness. Finally, the method is implemented on an actual system using a Kalman filter to estimate the states.© 2003 ASME


Current reinforcement learning automated curricu-lum approaches continual learning by updating the environment. The update is often treated as an optimisation problem - with the teacher agent updating the environment to optimise the student's learning. This work proposes an alternative framing of the problem using a game-theoretic formulation. The learning is defined by a leader - follower cooperative game. This formulation provides an approach for multi-agent curriculum learning that improves agent learning and provides more game equilibrium insights. We observed that under this framework, the agents converge faster to perform on the desired outcomes, compared to the reinforcement learning agent baseline.


In the late twentieth century the United Kingdom witnessed a number of developments that seemed to leave many British people with a profound sense of crisis about their identities. Externally, the United States of America replaced the political, economic and cultural hegemony previously enjoyed by the British Empire, and Britain was forced to turn to an integrating Europe for its future economic security. Additionally, the Empire provided a legacy of mass migration to the United Kingdom. In some quarters this added to the sense of disquiet over the crumbling of the apparently previous ethnic homogeneity of the British. Internally, serious demands for devolution, which had previously been confined to Ireland/Northern Ireland, emerged in Scotland and Wales. By the end of the century majorities in both countries had voted for constitutional change in the relationships between their nations and the Westminster parliament.
Such events have led many commentators to question the ability of the United Kingdom, Britishness and Englishness to survive. In the 1970s Tom Nairn, a Marxist Scottish nationalist, looked forward to The Break-up of Britain; at the very end of the century, John Redwood, one time contender for the leadership of the Conservative Party, warned of The Death of Britain.
This essay examines the history of British national identity in the twentieth century, arguing that Britishness was never as solid as many current commentators presume, but in turn that the variety and diversity of Britishness suggests a much greater ability to adapt than both Nairn and Redwood have suggested.


In the summer of 2000, the National Safe Skies Alliance awarded a project to the Applied Visualization Center at the University of Tennessee to develop a 3D computer tool to assist the US Federal Aviation Administration security group, now the Transportation Security Administration, in evaluating new equipment and procedures to improve airport checkpoint security. At the time of this writing, numerous detection equipment models, three specific airports, and a placement and passenger flow simulation tool for airport security planners have been developed. Similar tools have been constructed for simulating cargo/baggage inspection and other airport security operations. An extension of the original effort to consolidate the tools is currently underway.


This study investigated levels of knowledge of multicultural education and issues related to cultural diversity among student teachers and teacher educators. Participants included 45 predominantly white teacher educators and 78 predominantly white preservice teachers at a mid-sized southern university. The student teachers were enrolled in a Social Foundations of Education course. All participants completed the Multicultural Knowledge Test, which measured their knowledge of topics and issues central to general multicultural education. Data analysis indicated that preservice teachers' multicultural knowledge levels were significantly below average, and teacher educators' knowledge levels were nearly, but not quite, average. Although the differences between teacher educators' and preservice teachers' scores for their multicultural knowledge were significant, the narrowness of the differences made them unimpressive. (Contains 61 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.


In this paper, U‐Pb zircon, monazite and rutile data for crystalline rocks deposited as clasts in the Upper Viséan conglomerates at the eastern margin of the Bohemian Massif are reported. U‐Pb data of spherical zircon from three different granulite clasts yielded a mean age of 339.0 ± 0.7 Ma (±2σ), while oval and spherical grains of another granulite pebble define a slightly younger date of 337.1 ± 1.1 Ma. These ages are interpreted as dating granulite facies metamorphism. Thermochronology and the derived pressure–temperature (P–T) path of the granulite pebbles reflect two‐stage exhumation of the granulites. Near‐to‐isothermal decompression from at least 44 km to mid‐crustal depths of around 22 km was followed by a near‐isobaric cooling stage based on reaction textures and geothermobarometry. Minimum average exhumation rate corresponds to 2.8–4.3 mm year−1. The extensive medium‐pressure/high‐temperature overprint on granulite assemblages is dated by U‐Pb in monazite at c. 333 Ma. This thermal event probably has a close link to generation and emplacement of voluminous Moldanubian granites, including the cordierite granite present in clasts. This granite was emplaced at mid‐crustal levels at 331 ± 3 Ma (U‐Pb monazite), whereas the U‐Pb zircon ages record only a previous magmatic event at c. 378 Ma. Eclogites and garnet peridotites normally associated with high‐pressure granulites are absent in the clasts but exotic subvolcanic and volcanic members of the ultrapotassic igneous rock series (durbachites) of the Bohemian Massif have been found in the clasts. It is therefore assumed that the clasts deposited in the Upper Viséan conglomerates sampled a structurally higher tectonic unit than the one that corresponds to the present denudation level of the Moldanubicum of the Bohemian Massif. The strong medium‐temperature overprint on granulites dated at c. 333 Ma is attributed to the relatively small size of the entirely eroded bodies compared with the presently exposed granulites.


Hepatopathy is the most common feature in the Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG). More than 70 subtypes have been identified in this growing group of inborn errors. Most defects present as multisystem disease, whereas phosphomannose isomerase deficiency (MPI-CDG) presents with exclusive hepato-intestinal phenotype. MPI-CDG has been considered as one of the very few treatable disorders of glycosylation; several patients showed significant improvement of their life-threatening protein-losing enteropathy and coagulation disorder on oral mannose supplementation therapy. However, patients who have MPI-CDG develop progressive liver insufficiency during a later course of disease. A patient who had MPI-CDG developed progressive liver fibrosis, despite oral mannose supplementation and repeated fractionated heparin therapy. She showed mannose therapy-associated hemolytic jaundice. She developed severe dyspnea and exercise intolerance owing to pulmonary involvement, necessitating liver transplant. After transplantation her physical exercise tolerance, pulmonary functions, and metabolic parameters became fully restored. She is still doing well 2 years after transplantation now. In conclusion, we here report on the first successful liver transplantation in CDG.


Haemophilics bleed most frequently into the joints. However, not all haemarthroses will necessarily lead to permanent joint damage. An examination of the twelve large extremity joints of sixty bleeders showed that 23% of the joints were restituted. An example of a haemophilic arthropathy of the knee joints serves to illustrate the fact that even a joint showing roentgenologic changes over a period of many years can heal in the course of the growth of the affected juvenile. The chance of a restitution is the greater, the lesser the joint had been damaged, the lesser the haemarthrosis, and the shorter the period during which the blood remained in the joint.


s Section Topic Areas Mark Moon University of Tennessee Jesse N. Moore Clemson University William Murphy University of Wisconsin-Madison Kristy Ellis Reynolds University of Central Florida Gregory Rich Bowling Green State University Rick Ridnour Northern Illinois University Michael Tippins University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh The purpose of this section is to help readers keep abreast of current personal selling and sales management literature. We review more than sixty different academic and trade publications containing contemporary sales-related articles. Abstracts are classified according to their appropriate topic areas. The surname (in brackets) at the conclusion of each abstract identifies the staff member who prepared the summary. The topic areas used to categorize abstracts are:s are classified according to their appropriate topic areas. The surname (in brackets) at the conclusion of each abstract identifies the staff member who prepared the summary. The topic areas used to categorize abstracts are: • Allocation-Time and Territory ManagementOptimization Models-Customer/Account Analysis • Buyer/Customer Behavior-Perceptions-NegotiationsDecision Making • Buyer-Seller Relationships-Purshasing-Supplier Issues • Compensation and Incentives • E Commerce-Microcomputer Applications-Sales Technology-Information Systems-Sales Force Automation • Education Issues-Student Perspectives-Academic Issues • Ethics-Legal-Environmental-Social Issues • Evaluation and Control • Gender, Race and Age Issues (Image-Perceptions-Influences) • General Interest Selling and Sales Management Topics • Global Selling and Sales Management-Cross Cultural Issues-National Character • Management Functions (Analysis-Planning-StrategyImplementation-Decision Making)


Peatlands constitute extremely valuable areas because of their ability to store large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC). Investigating different key peat soil properties, such as the extent, thickness (or depth to mineral soil) and bulk density, is highly relevant for the precise calculation of the amount of stored SOC at the field scale. However, conventional peat coring surveys are both labor-intensive and time-consuming, and indirect mapping methods based on proximal sensors appear as a powerful supplement to traditional surveys. The aim of the present study was to assess the use of a non-invasive electromagnetic induction (EMI) technique as an augmentation to a traditional peat coring survey that provides localized and discrete measurements. In particular, a DUALEM-421S instrument was used to measure the apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) over a 10-ha field located in Jutland, Denmark. In the study area, the peat thickness varied notably from north to south, with a range from 3 to 730 cm. Simple and multiple linear regressions with soil observations from 110 sites were used to predict peat thickness from (a) raw ECa measurements (i.e., single and multiple-coil predictions), (b) true electrical conductivity (σ) estimates calculated using a quasi-three-dimensional inversion algorithm and (c) different combinations of ECa data with environmental covariates (i.e., light detection and ranging (LiDAR)-based elevation and derived terrain attributes). The results indicated that raw ECa data can already constitute relevant predictors for peat thickness in the study area, with single-coil predictions yielding substantial accuracies with coefficients of determination (R2) ranging from 0.63 to 0.86 and root mean square error (RMSE) values between 74 and 122 cm, depending on the measuring DUALEM-421S coil configuration. While the combinations of ECa data (both single and multiple-coil) with elevation generally provided slightly higher accuracies, the uncertainty estimates for single-coil predictions were smaller (i.e., smaller 95% confidence intervals). The present study demonstrates a high potential for EMI data to be used for peat thickness mapping.


We have developed a theory of time-dependent space-charge-limited conduction in recent years to understand a hysteresis-shift phenomenon of graded ferroelectric films. The theory is a generalization of the conventional steady-state space-charge-limited conduction model to include (i) two carrier types (p-type and n-type), (ii) intrinsic conductivity and (iii) time dependence. Later, the theory was also applied to understand the hysteresis behaviour of homogeneous ferroelectric films. In this paper, a full and updated version of the theory is presented. At the limit of zero intrinsic conductivity, the theory implies the dominance of either carrier type. Accordingly, the independent assumptions of (i) a single carrier type and (ii) a negligible intrinsic conductivity in the conventional steady-state conduction model are interrelated.


Background: neurocutaneous melanosis is a non-hereditary congenital disorder characterized by the association of multiple or large pigmented nevus and an excessive proliferation of melanocytes in the central nervous system. Neurological symptoms are usually of early onset in the infant stage with convulsions of difficult control, making the forecast reserved. Objective: to present a case with clinical diagnosis of neurocutaneous melanosis with neurological manifestations such as seizures from the infant stage. Clinical case: a male patient born with a giant melanoma stain that extends from the thorax to the abdomen, inguinal region, genital and lower limbs as a dressing. In the posterior region of the back, it begins in both flanks, sacral region until the misty of both legs, presenting convulsions at one month old. Continuing the appearance of hyperpigmented spots all over the body, which at the age of life are larger darker accompanied by thick hair, with epileptic seizures refractory to treatment. Conclusions: this disease that is produced by the increase of melanin to the skin and the central nervous system requires a monitoring of dermal lesions and a control of seizures, considering the importance of neurodevelopmental follow-up in a multidisciplinary way for timely intervention if necessary. DeCS: NEVUS, PIGMENTED; NEVI AND MELANOMAS; CONGENITAL ABNORMALITIES; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; CASE REPORTS.


When evaluating the Quality of Experience (QoE) of audio conferences the participants talking behaviour is critical for their quality judgement. A dominant person, for instance, who talks and interacts a lot is likely to be more disturbed by conversation-related impairments than a less active person. Social interaction analysis provides reliable nonverbal audio features to predict dominance in face-to-face meetings. However, little is known about pure audio conferences. This is why this study investigates common dominance features for audio-only conferences. In the first part, we look at different group sizes and whether prediction models exist that predict the leader for two-to six-party audio-only conversations. In a second step, we apply the best model to an unknown audio conferencing dataset. Finally, we tested if dominance features are associated to the assigned caller or a particular person in each group and how the callers talking behaviour is related to perceived quality.


Smartphones are not only becoming an inseparable part of our daily lives, but also a low-cost, powerful optical imaging tool for more and more scientific research applications. In this work, we hypothesized that some smartphones could be used as a low-cost, high-speed, photographic alternative to expensive equipment, such as those typically found in scientific research labs, to accurately perform motion tracking and analysis of fast-moving objects. This demonstrative experiment was done at home at very low cost by using a low-power green laser (<0.1 W) purchased from Amazon, an iPhone X, and a water spray bottle. The sprayed water droplets were illuminated by a divergent green laser beam and recorded with a smartphone using the Slow-Motion Video function (240 frames per second), which allows us to record high-speed events. The Slow-Motion Video was converted to a series of consecutive images taken every 1/240 second (or 4.16 ms), enabling tracking and motion analysis of the sprayed water droplets. By analyzing these consecutive images, the speed and flight trajectory of water droplets in the air were obtained, thereby enabling us to estimate the area of the water droplets landing on the ground.


To slow global warming down it is of utmost importance to develop alternatives to fossil fuels
that enable for a reduction of CO2 levels. One of the possibilities for that ambitious –but
absolutely necessary– goal is the use of fuel cells, devices that take energy from the
conversion of hydrogen and oxygen into water (Fig. A), being a zero emissions source of
energy. In particular, low temperature fuel cells would represent a non-polluting alternative
for both stationary and automotive applications [1], but development is slowed down by
difficulties in storing and transporting hydrogen. To overcome that challenge ammonia could
be used as hydrogen carrier, taking advantage of an already existing infrastructure and an
extensively studied synthesis [2]. However, any traces of ammonia on hydrogen derived
from NH3 will severely degrade the fuel cell performance to impractical levels [3].
Initial reports suggested that the cause of the performance decrease in the presence of
ammonia was a membrane resistance increase, but more recent work established that these
losses only account for a 10% of the total [3]. It remains as an open question whether the
performance loss could be related to poisoning of the reactions occurring at the catalysts.
We studied the effect of ammonia on the catalysis of the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR)
and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on a platinum catalyst using a rotating ring-disk
electrode setup. While HOR was not affected by ammonia, strong poisoning occurred in the
ORR (Fig. B), explaining the majority of the losses taking place in a fuel cell. On the basis of
these observations, a theoretical model to give a microscopic interpretation was developed
(Fig. C). The simulations revealed that the reason for the poisoning was ammonia blocking
the platinum catalyst, which consequently stopped the desired ORR. Using the theoretical
model, it was possible to screen through different catalysts and identify suitable candidates
not showing ammonia poisoning effects. Such a catalyst was successfully tested
experimentally, potentially leading to a patent. Additionally, we emphasized that the method
used to mitigate ammonia poisoning can be generalized to other poisoning effects.
[1] Gasteiger, H. et al. (2009). Just a dream – or future reality?. Science, 324, 48-49
[2] Klerke, A. et al. (2008). Ammonia for hydrogen storage: challenges and opportunities.
Energy and Environmental Science, 18, 2304-2318
[3] Halseid, R. et al. (2006). Effect of ammonia on the performance of polymer electrolyte
membrane fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 154, 343-350


This exploratory study of introductory pre- and in-service teachers' performance in object-oriented programming (OOP) assessments reveals important issues with regard to learning and teaching OOP, using java. The study is set against the backdrop of the country's transition of its national IT curriculum from a procedural to an object-oriented programming language. The effect of prior programming experience and performances in different types of questions are examined. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is used to analyse the data. The effect of prior programming experience of a procedural kind and the type of assessments given is shown to have a marked influence on the performance in programming assessments and teaching of OOP. Many introductory OOP courses are in effect taught procedurally as courses in the small. Therefore educating teachers how to teach programming is a significant educational challenge. Some implications for teaching are therefore suggested


Abstract. The relationship between fishers (Pekania pennanti), fire, and fuel management in the Sierra Nevada region is complex and highly controversial, and the recent listing of southern Sierra Nevada fishers as endangered has brought this issue to the forefront for many land managers. While wildfire is a natural component of the historic disturbance regime in the dry, mixed conifer forests of California, it also has the capacity to destroy large swaths of suitable habitat and to fragment tenuous populations, particularly given recent shifts in wildfire scope and severity. Therefore, balancing fuel reduction with habitat conservation requires careful consideration of spatial and temporal context, cumulative effects, and management prescriptions. There are several unresolved questions pertaining to fishers, including how and when fishers begin to reuse postfire landscapes and whether this information can be applied to postfire efforts to restore habitat connectivity and limit negative impacts of population fragmentation. To better understand fisher response to postfire landscapes, and to provide land managers with guidance regarding habitat restoration efforts, we investigated fisher recolonization behavior in and around 2 recent Sierra Nevada wildfires. We hypothesized that fisher use of postfire landscapes would be driven by at least 1 of 4 primary variables: prefire habitat quality, fire severity, topography, and time since fire. We developed 5 hypotheses regarding how fishers would begin to explore postfire landscapes and tested them using a combination of fine- and coarse-scale analyses based on data collected using scat detection dogs. At fine scales, the strongest relationship we observed was the combination of fire severity and landscape curvature on fisher scat location. At coarser scales, fisher colonization rates reflected avoidance of areas dominated by higher-severity fire, and fishers had a higher probability of being found in areas with larger and more contiguous patches of low-severity fire. Our results suggest that fisher use of postfire landscapes may center on low-severity or unburned islands (i.e., fire refugia/fire skips) and on fine-scale topographic features associated with landscape concavity, such as ravines or topographic depressions. Efforts to promote a sustainable low- to mixed-severity fire regime that creates habitat heterogeneity and forest resiliency can support fisher conservation in this region, and restoration efforts that capitalize on connecting fire refugia using microtopography as a foundation may facilitate habitat connectivity for fishers more rapidly than traditional methods.


This paper reports the preliminary experiments on the cow identification via gait recognition of motion images. The eight cows walking under two different situations have been precisely identified by Cubic Higher-order Local Auto-Correlation (CHLAC). The cow gait recognition using CHLAC is expected to be a landmark achievement for realizing cost-effective dairy cattle breeding management systems which do not use any sensors and hormone in order to determine the timing of artificial insemination in dairy cattle.


In November 2001, member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) approved the proposal to admit China to the international trading body. After fifteen years of exhaustive negotiations, China finally became the 143rd member of the WTO on December 11, 2001. To reflect on this event, this panel brings together six China experts to explore the ramifications of China's accession to the WTO. Among the issues addressed are whether China is making progress in its compliance with the WTO requirements, whether China is suffering setbacks in the socio-economic arena, whether there are any prospects for democratic reforms and stronger human rights and environmental protection in the country, and what the WTO accession means to China's neighbors and the global community.


Magnetostrictive actuators featuring high energy densities, large strokes and fast responses appear poised to play an increasingly important role in the field of nano/micro positioning applications. However, the performance of the actuator, in terms of precision, is mainly limited by 1) inherent hysteretic behaviors resulting from the irreversible rotation of magnetic domains within the magnetostrictive material; and 2) dynamic responses caused by the inertia and flexibility of the magnetostrictive actuator and the applied external mechanical loads. Due to the presence of the above limitations, it will prevent the magnetostrictive actuator from providing the desired performance and cause the system inaccuracy.

This dissertation aims to develop a modeling and control methodology to improve the control performance of the magnetostrictive-actuated dynamic systems. Through thorough experimental investigations, a dynamic model based on the physical principle of the magnetostrictive actuator is proposed, in which the nonlinear hysteresis effect and the dynamic behaviors can both be represented. Furthermore, the hysteresis effect of the magnetostrictive actuator presents asymmetric characteristics. To capture these characteristics, an asymmetric shifted Prandtl-Ishlinskii (ASPI) model is proposed, being composed by three components: a Prandtl-Ishlinskii (PI) operator, a shift operator and an auxiliary function. The advantages of the proposed model are: 1) it is able to represent the asymmetric hysteresis behavior; 2) it facilitates the construction of the analytical inverse; 3) the analytical expression of the inverse compensation error can also be derived. The validity of the proposed ASPI model and the entire dynamic model was demonstrated through experimental tests on the magnetostrictive-actuated dynamic system.

According to the proposed hysteresis model, the inverse compensation approach is applied for the purpose of mitigating the hysteresis effect. However, in real systems, there always exists a modeling error between the hysteresis model and the true hysteresis. The use of an estimated hysteresis model in deriving the inverse compensator will yield some degree of hysteresis compensation error. This error will cause tracking error in the closed-loop control system. To accommodate such a compensation error, an analytical expression of the inverse compensation error is derived first. Then, a prescribed adaptive control method is developed to suppress the compensation error and simultaneously guaranteeing global stability of the closed loop system with a prescribed transient and steady-state performance of the tracking error. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is validated on the magnetostrictive-actuated experimental platform. The experimental results illustrate an excellent tracking performance by using the developed control scheme.


The manner in which mothers engage in emotional discussion, or reminisce, with their young children about past emotional experiences poses important ramifications for child socioemotional and cognitive development. Maltreating mothers may have difficulty engaging in emotionally supportive reminiscing. The current study examined the role of maternal sensitive guidance during reminiscing as a process variable that may explain associations between child maltreatment and 3 child self-regulatory dimensions: lability/negativity, emotion regulation, and inhibitory control. Participants included 111 maltreating and 65 demographically matched, nonmaltreating mothers and their 3- to 6-year-old children (N = 176). The dyads participated in a joint reminiscing task about 4 past emotional shared experiences. Mothers reported on their children's emotion regulation and lability/negativity while children participated in a behavioral assessment of inhibitory control. Results indicated that maltreating mothers engaged in less sensitive guidance when reminiscing compared with nonmaltreating mothers. In the main analysis, maternal sensitive guidance mediated relations between maltreatment and child emotion regulation and inhibitory control, respectively, but not lability/negativity.


Acute liver failure (ALF) remains a potentially devastating syndrome with a high mortality rate. Much interest continues to center upon the possibility of providing effective liver support through various artificial and bioartificial extracorporeal devices. The development of purpose-designed intensive care units for the treatment of ALF allowed a better understanding of the clinical syndrome and its best management, through the ability to conduct detailed clinical observation and clinical trials of new interventions. Survival rates are substantially improved today compared with the mortality rate that approximated 100% when the syndrome was first described nearly five decades ago. Nonetheless, these have plateaued in recent years, prompting one to consider whether major new advances in disease understanding are needed to further improve the overall outcome. A major challenge to a broader understanding of disease pathogenesis and the ability to direct appropriate therapy remains the substantial number of cases of ALF for which no specific etiology can be identified. Much is now known about the basic molecular mechanisms underlying hepatocyte cell death in ALF and an important issue is whether these cell death pathways can, in the future, be interrupted for therapeutic gain. Such considerations would seem most relevant in the early stages of the clinical course, when damage to the liver is not so severe but perhaps programmed to so evolve. A particular challenge will be to reduce hepatocellular death without inhibiting the liver's regenerative potential, given the pleiotropic functions of some of the molecules involved in both processes.


The term "Cyber-Physical Systems" (CPS) refers to those systems which seamlessly integrate sensing, computation, control, and networking into physical objects and infrastructure [1]. In these systems, computers and networks of physical entities interact with each other to bring new capabilities to traditional physical systems. Since its introduction, the field of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) has evolved with new and interesting advancements concerning its capability, adaptability, scalability, and usability [1]. One such advancement is the unification of the Internet of Things (IoT), a concept that enables real-world everyday objects to connect to the internet and interact with each other, with CPS [1]. This emerging technology (CPS/IoT), however, comes with its own set of challenges. One such challenge is the need for new technologies to enhance the usability of CPS/IoT systems in smart homes by making it easier for users to manage and develop the core operating logic these systems employ. This need arose as smart home CPS/IoT systems have become more ubiquitous, with broader environments and more complex architectures and yet, they still rely on handwritten rules or hard coding the operational logic into the system. In light of this challenge, we introduce the concept of "operational policy", a plan for the operation of a CPS/IoT system and frame the task of building the operational policy as a combinatorial optimization problem that algorithms can solve. We then introduce "Associative-Behavioral" rules, which constrain human input in the rule building process to selecting the actions they want their devices to take in a given scenario. From here, we introduce two algorithms for the generation of operational policy: an adaptation of the Differential Evolution algorithm and the A-Posteriori algorithm. These algorithms are compared with a brute force method of policy generation in a simulated CPS containing 60 devices with a focus on usability. We found that in a situation where there is previous information on the CPS, A-Posteriori performs the best. Whereas for the mid to large scale scenarios in our simulation without previous information, Differential Evolution performs the best. And finally, in small scale scenarios without previous information brute force was best.