Objective: The aim of this study is determine to university students' internet addiction, internet use behavior and change during university life. Methods: The study was conducted on students who were studying at Erciyes University between the years 2013 and 2016. A medical (pharmacy), a social (theology) and a science (computer engineering) programs has been chosen to represent the university student profile. The Internet Dependency Scale (SCL) was used to determine internet addiction. Normal distribution fitness of the data was tested by the Shapiro-Wilk test. The Mann-Whitney U test, unpaired t test, and Pearson chi-square test was used. Results: The number of students who think that they are addicted to internet has increased about two fold during university life. Despite the fact that no student is in the dependent category according to the IA score, the number of students with limited symptoms decreased about three fold over the years. Time spent in the face of the TV decreased for the years, 1.27±1.32, 0.85±1.20 hours between 2013 and 2016, respectively. However, the use of the daily internet has increased over time, 2.27±1.75 and 2.94±1.84 hours for the years 2013 and 2016, respectively. The first three lines
of internet using purpose are social media, watching video and surfing on internet. Over the years, social media, which remark most attention to the changes in students' internet use, has increased from 39.3% to 61.6%. Conclusion: Despite the increase in students' access, internet and internet use time their university life, their rate of addiction was decreased. This study suggests that students use internet more intensively with their level of education increases but use more consciously. None of student was internet addiction, this may be due to fact that using this scale is inadequate to determine internet addiction. The use of more comprehensive methods to identify addicted individuals, particularly those with limited symptoms with clinical observation can guide treatment planning with clearer outcomes.


Background: This study aimed to identify the public preference in health services, the principles that Iranian people consider important, and the aspects of tradeoffs between different values in resource allocation practices. Methods: This quantitative study was conducted to investigate public preferences on Health Insurance Benefit Package (HIBP) in 2017. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection, including the preferences of the people who live in Tehran, were above 18 year, and were covered by basic insurance for the HIBP contents and premium. The sample size was calculated 430 subjects and SPSS Statistics was used for data analyzing. Results: 81.6% of the sample population agreed with government allocating more money to the health sector compared to other sectors and organizations and 55% were willing to pay higher premiums for expanding the HIBP coverage. The highest and lowest score regarding prioritization of budget allocation between health services was related to hospitalization services (28.6%) and rehabilitation services (1.6%), respectively. The first priority of respondents regarding health care and life cycle, was "prevention in newborns" (15.9%), the second priority was "prevention in children" (14.6%), the third priority was "prevention in adults" (9.5%), and the last priority was "short-term care in newborns" (0.9%). Conclusion: Iranian people believe that not only the principle of health maximization but also equal opportunities to access health care and a fair allocation of resources should be considered by authorities for effective health insurance policymaking. In this case, given the scarcity of resources, setting priorities for alternative resources is inevitable.


Upper and lower bounds on the capacity and minimum energy-per-bit for general additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and frequency-division AWGN (FD-AWGN) relay channel models are established. First, the max-flow min-cut bound and the generalized block-Markov coding scheme are used to derive upper and lower bounds on capacity. These bounds are never tight for the general AWGN model and are tight only under certain conditions for the FD-AWGN model. Two coding schemes that do not require the relay to decode any part of the message are then investigated. First, it is shown that the "side-information coding scheme" can outperform the block-Markov coding scheme. It is also shown that the achievable rate of the side-information coding scheme can be improved via time sharing. In the second scheme, the relaying functions are restricted to be linear. The problem is reduced to a "single-letter" nonconvex optimization problem for the FD-AWGN model. The paper also establishes a relationship between the minimum energy-per-bit and capacity of the AWGN relay channel. This relationship together with the lower and upper bounds on capacity are used to establish corresponding lower and upper bounds on the minimum energy-per-bit that do not differ by more than a factor of 1.45 for the FD-AWGN relay channel model and 1.7 for the general AWGN model.


This article addresses theoretical and methodological explanations of miscalculations of costs and benefits in large infrastructure projects. In particular the focus is on the most influential theoretical contribution in this area, labeled 'the theory of strategic misrepresentation', a theory strongly associated with the work of Bent Flyvbjerg. The theory's major explanation of cost overruns is that the registration and representation of data and the calculations of costs and benefits are made by planners in organisations that have economic interests in the results. They work in a context were they compete for scarce public resources, and in which lying pays off in the end. The result is, as Flyvbjerg expresses it, the 'survival of the unfittest'. It is not the best projects that are built, but the most misrepresented ones. This theory, with its focus on the institutional context and incentive structures, represents a major step forward compared to the solely methodological explanations. However, it has several shortcomings both in theoretical and methodological terms. Methodologically, the research has not the design necessary for validating the conclusion of 'the survival of the unfittest'. Theoretically, the framework does not offer any variation on the institutional variable nor when it comes to variation in planners (actors) motives and rationality. Hence, there is a need for a broader theoretical framework. We conclude our article by sketching such a framework, an institutional approach grounded in sociological theory, as well as applying it to Norwegian transport planning. The Norwegian research in this area does not support the thesis that project approval is a result of planners' strategic actions. More often it is an outcome of institutions where politicians play a key role at all levels and stages of the planning process, often neglecting planners' analyses and recommendations.


Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers have sought maximum publicity for their policies of decentralisation. But LSE emeritus professor George Jones finds that the steps taken and proposed will in fact encourage a creeping centralization of many more policy areas away from local authority control. Ministers are essentially promoting sub-localism, taking powers from councils allegedly to give to 'Big Society' actors below the local- authority level, but ineluctably sucking up key control functions to Whitehall at the same time. A new agreement is now needed between central and local government to prevent these repeated squeezes of local powers and competencies by successive governments


The work in this thesis is focused on testing the accuracy of the gas sorption and NMR cryoporometry characterization techniques to estimate the key pore descriptors which affect the activity of porous materials used as catalyst supports and drug delivery systems. Both techniques, though, assume independent pores, neglecting advanced adsorption and melting phenomena that can specifically skew the pore size distribution and subsequently lead to inaccurate predictions of catalytic or therapeutic efficiency of the porous system. Firstly, the independent domain theory for both processes was studied by breaking down the pore-filling process of a mesoporous catalyst support, into steps. The system was partially saturated with water or cyclohexane at different pressures, via adsorption and desorption, followed by a cryoporometry experiment at each saturation fraction. Moreover, scanning curves and loops, together with PFG NMR and relaxometry were employed to ascertain the spatial arrangement of the liquid ganglia at each partial saturation and for certain molten fractions. It was shown that the configuration of the liquid condensates varied with position around the hysteresis loop, deviating from the single pore hysteresis mechanism for both adsorbates. Advanced melting of water was associated with a percolation-type transition in the connectivity of the ganglia, which could be curtailed to some extent by sample fragmentation. Also, some pores filled via advanced adsorption at lower pressures. On the contrary, advanced melting of cyclohexane arose from the liquid bridging the pore cross-sections of the partially filled pores. Secondly, an integrated nitrogen-water-nitrogen experiment was employed to test the source of sorption hysteresis and to compare the extent of advanced adsorption phenomena for nitrogen and water sorption, by isolating a subset of pores. It was found that the Kelvin-Cohan equations and the DFT algorithm overestimate the width of the sorption hysteresis in independent pores of the catalyst support studied in this work. Moreover, the adsorption mechanism of nitrogen differs to that of water, and advanced adsorption of nitrogen is less severe than that of water. Thirdly, cryodiffusometry and gas sorption techniques were used to estimate the pore space descriptors (surface area, pore size, tortuosity, porosity) of two different types of mesoporous silicas, candidates for drug delivery. The structure-transport relationships in these materials were investigated to interpret the drug release profiles obtained for release studies carried out in simulated gastrointestinal fluids. It was found that the release rate was mainly controlled by the size of the silica particles and the silica solubility itself in the environment present. Also, different synthesis routes were tested to optimize the drug loaded PLGA nanoparticles, for convection-enhanced drug delivery into the brain. Various model and real hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs were tested. In-vitro and in-vivo studies showed that the dialysis method led to production of particles with the desirable characteristics, which were successfully distributed in the mice brain. The sensitivity of the cryoporometry melting, gas sorption and imaging techniques was found inadequate to resolve the inner structure of the polymer matrix. Last, the experimental time for the cryodiffusometry experiments in this work was long due to the high recycle delay times required to maximise the signal to noise ratio. It is though found that high delay times are unnecessary when BBP-LED pulse sequence is used, even when the fluid is imbibed in a mesoporous systems.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between beliefs about filial piety, implicit theories of romantic relationships, and relational intimacy in romantic relationships among Chinese youth. We surveyed 205 youths in Taiwan who were in romantic relationships to learn their beliefs about filial piety, implicit beliefs about romantic relationships, and relational intimacy. The results of our structural equation modeling showed that beliefs about reciprocal filial piety are positively associated with relational intimacy and beliefs about the growth of romantic relationships are negatively associated with beliefs about destiny. In addition, authoritarian parenting can lessen relational intimacy by instilling stronger beliefs about destiny in romantic relationships. However, beliefs about growth in romantic relationships are not associated with relational intimacy.


Superoxide production by the phagocyte NADPH oxidase is essential for innate immunity as shown in chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), an immunodeficiency disease due to mutations in one of its genes. The NADPH oxidase is composed of two membrane proteins (gp91phox/NOX2 and p22phox) and four cytosolic proteins (p47phox, p67phox, p40phox, and Rac1/2). The phosphorylation of p47phox is required for NADPH oxidase activation in cells. As p47phox and p67phox can form a tight complex in cells, we hypothesized that p67phox could regulate p47phox phosphorylation. To investigate this hypothesis, we used phospho-specific antibodies against five major p47phox-phosphorylated sites (Ser304, Ser315, Ser320, Ser328 and Ser345) and neutrophils from healthy donors and from p67phox-/--CGD patients. Results showed that fMLF and PMA induced the time- and concentration-dependent phosphorylation of p47phox on Ser304, Ser315, Ser320 and Ser328 in healthy human neutrophils. Interestingly, in neutrophils and Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B-lymphocytes from p67phox-/--CGD patients, phosphorylation of p47phox on serine residues was dramatically reduced. In COSphox cells, the presence of p67phox led to increased phosphorylation of p47phox. In vitro studies showed that recombinant p47phox was phosphorylated on Ser304, Ser315, Ser320 and Ser328 by different PKC isoforms and the addition of recombinant p67phox alone or in combination with p40phox potentiated this process. Thus, p67phox and p40phox are required for optimal p47phox phosphorylation on Ser304, Ser315, Ser320 and Ser328 in intact cells. Therefore, p67phox and p40phox are novel regulators of p47phox-phosphorylation.


There are only two three-piece inflatable penile prostheses (IPP) available to patients in the American market: the AMS (American Medical Systems) 700 TM series (Boston Scientific, Massachusetts) and the Coloplast Titan® series (Coloplast, Minnesota), and data comparing the two are scant. The aim of our study was to summarize the current scientific evidence comparing the two. A systematic literature review was conducted on PubMed. A 10-year filter was placed to include only studies published after Coloplast launched the Titan Touch® release pump. Eligibility criteria included articles discussing specifically the AMS 700 TM and Coloplast Titan® models. Further searches for studies on patient/partner satisfaction were conducted. Abstracts were reviewed to include studies focusing specifically on the models we are studying and studies on patient satisfaction using the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS) questionnaire. The Coloplast device demonstrated slightly greater resistance to the stimulated forces of penetration and gravity. Coloplast implants coated with vancomycin/gentamicin had the highest infection rate followed by the AMS penile prosthesis and the rifampin/gentamicin coating had the lowest infection rate. Prosthesis durability and survival were similar between both brands. Overall satisfaction was high but comparisons are inconsistent. The literature is inconclusive about which device is superior. We suggest randomized, multicenter, prospective studies to help further elucidate the highlights of each product.


In A Treatise of Human Nature , David Hume presents an argument according to which all knowledge reduces to probability, and all probability reduces to nothing. Many have criticized this argument, while others find nothing wrong with it. In this paper we explain that the argument is invalid as it stands, but for different reasons than have been hitherto acknowledged. Once the argument is repaired, it becomes clear that there is indeed something that reduces to nothing, but it is something other than what, according to many, Hume had in mind. Thus two views emerge of what exactly it is that reduces. We surmise that Hume failed to distinguish the two, because he lacked the formal means to differentiate between a rendering of his argument that is in accordance with the probability calculus, and one that is not.


This paper addresses the problem of blind channel equalization in the context of digital communications. Recent results have shown that certain operations applied to the source signal at the transmitter help in the blind identification and equalization of the channel at the receiver. For example, cyclostationarity is induced by multiplying the baseband data signal with a periodic sequence. Here, the baseband data signal is multiplied with a chirp sequence. Exploiting certain structural properties arising from this operation, a simple and fast converging algorithm is obtained for estimating the equalizer coefficients. The algorithm is deterministic, i.e. it provides optimal equalizer settings using finite data in the noiseless case.


At least three major trends in surgical intervention have emerged over the last decade: a move toward more minimally invasive (or non-invasive) approach to the surgical target; the development of high-precision treatment delivery techniques; and the increasing role of multi-modality intraoperative imaging in support of such procedures. This symposium includes invited presentations on recent advances in each of these areas and the emerging role for medical physics research in the development and translation of high-precision interventional techniques. The four speakers are: (1) Keyvan Farahani, "Image-guided focused ultrasound surgery and therapy" (2) Jeffrey H. Siewerdsen, "Advances in image registration and reconstruction for image-guided neurosurgery" (3) Tina Kapur, "Image-guided surgery and interventions in the advanced multimodality image-guided operating (AMIGO) suite" (4) Raj Shekhar, "Multimodality image-guided interventions: Multimodality for the rest of us" Learning Objectives: 1. Understand the principles and applications of HIFU in surgical ablation. 2. Learn about recent advances in 3D-2D and 3D deformable image registration in support of surgical safety and precision. 3. Learn about recent advances in model-based 3D image reconstruction in application to intraoperative 3D imaging. 4. Understand the multi-modality imaging technologies and clinical applications investigated in the AMIGO suite. 5. Understand the emerging need and techniques to implement multi-modality image guidance in surgical applications such as neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, vascular surgery, and interventional radiology. Research supported by the NIH and Siemens Healthcare.; J. Siewerdsen; Grant Support - National Institutes of Health; Grant Support - Siemens Healthcare; Grant Support - Carestream Health; Advisory Board - Carestream Health; Licensing Agreement - Carestream Health; Licensing Agreement - Elekta Oncology.; T. Kapur, P41EB015898; R. Shekhar, Funding: R42CA137886 and R41CA192504 Disclosure and CoI: IGI Technologies, small-business partner on the grants.


Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a poorly understood disorder. It is primarily autosomal recessive and is prevalent in tribal communities of the United Arab Emirates due to consanguineous marriages. This retrospective study aimed to assess the pathogenicity of the genetic variants of PCD in indigenous patients with significant clinical respiratory problems. Pathogenicity scores of variants obtained from the chart review were consolidated using the Ensembl Variant Effect Predictor. The multidimensional dataset of scores was clustered into three groups based on their pathogenicity. Sequence alignment and the Jensen–Shannon Divergence (JSD) were generated to evaluate the amino acid conservation at the site of the variation. One-hundred and twelve variants of 28 genes linked to PCD were identified in 66 patients. Twenty-two variants were double heterozygous, two triple heterozygous, and seven homozygous. Of the thirteen novel variants, two, c.11839 + 1G > A in dynein, axonemal, heavy chain 11 (DNAH11) and p.Lys92Trpfs in dynein, axonemal, intermediate chain 1 (DNAI1) were associated with dextrocardia with situs inversus, and one, p.Gly21Val in coiled-coil domain-containing protein 40 (CCDC40), with absent inner dynein arms. Homozygous C1orf127:p.Arg113Ter (rs558323413) was also associated with laterality defects in two related patients. The majority of variants were missense involving conserved residues with a median JSD score of 0.747. Homology models of two deleterious variants in the stalk of DNAH11, p.Gly3102Asp and p.Leu3127Arg, revealed structural importance of the conserved glycine and leucine. These results define potentially damaging PCD variants in the region. Future studies, however, are needed to fully comprehend the genetic underpinnings of PCD.


A growing number of devices carried by users are equipped with wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi which allow the seamless exchange of information between devices and the network infrastructure. Because they routinely emit wireless messages carrying identifiers and other technical artifacts in cleartext, these technologies expose users to privacy issues. Focusing on the data included in advertising messages, we identify and analyze the leakage of personal data, and study potential and existing countermeasures. More specifically, we try to answer the following questions: what are the privacy threats associated with wireless networks? Which solutions can be deployed to protect users against these threats? How efficient are current privacy protection implementations? We start by an analysis of privacy features of the two major wireless network standards: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-Low-Energy. We focus our study on address randomization mechanisms, a recently adopted anti-tracking measure, and identify several issues related to implementation as well as standard specifications. To illustrate the diversity and complexity of the issues affecting these technologies, we present two representative cases of personal data leakage in wireless networks. First, leveraging the reverse-engineering of Continuity, a BLE-based protocol developed by Apple, we uncover a collection of personal data leakages affecting billions of devices worldwide. Finally, we present an abuse of Android Wi-Fi permission that can be used to bypass permissions and to infer personal data such as the location of the device. When confronted with those privacy issues, it becomes necessary to increase user protection by developing privacy-preserving mechanisms but most importantly by correctly implementing existing ones. Furthermore, it appears that standard specifications are key elements of a better protection, and it is thus of utmost importance to promote the integration of privacy protection in these standards.


Two novel acceptor–donor–acceptor type small molecules based on a two-dimensional conjugated naphtho[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene (NDT) unit containing alkylthienyl or alkylphenyl side chains, named as NDTT-CNCOO and NDTP-CNCOO, respectively, were designed and synthesized. Compared with NDTT-CNCOO, NDTP-CNCOO-based bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells exhibited higher fill factors, higher short current density, and higher power conversion efficiencies. Such performance benefitted from highly ordered structures, excellent charge transport property, and good film formation capability. The fill factors of BHJ solar cells using NDTP-CNCOO as a donor and [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) as an acceptor were all above 70% with thicknesses of active layers ranging from 100 to 300 nm. In particular, the optimal power conversion efficiency of the solar cell devices reached 7.20% with an active layer thickness of 300 nm, which is the best result reported for NDT-based small molecule solar cells.


Silicon feature length scaling has been shrinking exponentially since the early 1970's to improve the performance, integration density and the price of the electronic integrated circuits. However, the conventional transistor on bulk shows its limits in term of miniaturization. To further improve the trade-off between the power dissipation and the gate switch delay of the integrated circuits, several avenues are pursuing : new materials and new transistors structures. The multiple gate architecture is one of the most promising solutions to extend CMOS down to the 22 nm node and beyond. In this context, this work concerns the study, the fabrication and the electrical properties of 3D Multiple Channel CMOS transistors (MCFET). Thanks to their 3D GAA configuration, it is shown that such architectures can meet both the high performance and low power consumption requirements. However, our in-depth electrical characterization and the development of an analytical model, highlight several parameters to cause a deterioration of the MCFET performance. In particular, the series resistances and the parasitic side capacitances are pointed out as the major players of this degradation. Numerical simulations are then used to minimize those two components and maximize the static and dynamic performance of such archietctures. These optimizations are then implemented on silicon thanks to innovation integrations (including internal spacers). Transistors characteristics of the optimized transistors are analysed and discussed down to 50 nm gate length. The performance is compared directly to the high performance and low power consumption state of the art. Finally, a propective study is carried out to-integrate N+ like and P+ like materials in CMCFET architectures for applications necessitating low threshold voltages (RF and low voltage applications)


In the near future, wind and solar generation are projected to play an increasingly important role in Europe's energy sector. With such fast-growing renewable energy development, the presence of simultaneous calm wind and overcast conditions could cause significant shortfalls in production with potentially serious consequences for system operators. Such events are sometimes dubbed "Dunkelflaute" events and have occurred several times in recent history. The capabilities of contemporary mesoscale models to reliably simulate and/or forecast a Dunkelflaute event are not known in the literature. In this paper, a Dunkelflaute event near the coast of Belgium is simulated utilizing the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Comprehensive validation using measured power production data and diverse sets of meteorological data (e.g., floating lidars, radiosondes, and weather stations) indicates the potential of WRF to reproduce and forecast the boundary layer evolution during the event. Extensive sensitivity experiments with respect to grid-size, wind farm parameterization, and forcing datasets provide further insights on the reliability of the WRF model in capturing the Dunkelflaute event.


Sensors add intelligence to systems which represent a broad class of devices incorporating functionalities like sensing, actuation, and control. They are the core of smart components and subsystems; then, the challenge in the realization of such smart systems goes beyond the design of the individual components and subsystems and consists of accommodating a multitude of functionalities, technologies, and materials to play a key role to augment our daily life.


When the brain or spinal cord is injured, glial cells in the damaged area undergo complex morphological and physiological changes resulting in the formation of the glial scar. This scar contains reactive astrocytes, activated microglia, macrophages and other myeloid cells, meningeal cells, proliferating oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), and a dense extracellular matrix. Whether the scar is beneficial or detrimental to recovery remains controversial. In the acute phase of recovery, scar-forming astrocytes limit the invasion of leukocytes and macrophages, but in the subacute and chronic phases of injury the glial scar is a physical and biochemical barrier to axonal regrowth. The signals that initiate the formation of the glial scar are unknown. Both canonical and noncanonical signaling Wnts are increased after spinal cord injury (SCI). Because Wnts are important regulators of OPC and oligodendrocyte development, we examined the role of canonical Wnt signaling in the glial reactions to CNS injury. In adult female mice carrying an OPC-specific conditionally deleted β-catenin gene, there is reduced proliferation of OPCs after SCI, reduced accumulation of activated microglia/macrophages, and reduced astrocyte hypertrophy. Using an infraorbital optic nerve crush injury, we show that reducing β-catenin-dependent signaling in OPCs creates an environment that is permissive to axonal regeneration. Viral-induced expression of Wnt3a in the normal adult mouse spinal cord induces an injury-like response in glia. Thus canonical Wnt signaling is both necessary and sufficient to induce injury responses among glial cells. These data suggest that targeting Wnt expression after SCI may have therapeutic potential in promoting axon regeneration.


Leadership studies concentrate on large-scale societies and organizations with formal hierarchies, large power differences, and diverse membership. Much less is known about leadership in small-scale, homogeneous, and relatively egalitarian societies in which humans have spent most of their existence. We summarize the anthropological literature on leadership from traditional, small-scale societies in terms of (1) the functions and roles of leaders; (2) the traits and behaviors conducive to leader emergence and effectiveness; and (3) the motivations and incentives to assume leadership positions. We address how studies of leadership in small-scale societies inform theory development. By viewing leadership and followership in light of our evolutionary history in small-scale societies, we shed new light on outstanding questions in leadership research and on challenges for leadership practice.


Given the increase in public demands for socio-economic and developmental services, along several plans and resources committed to public services by Nigerian government, poor service delivery has continued to bedevilled development in post-independence Nigeria. Extant studies have linked factors such as lack of accountability, political instability, governance constraints, corruption, bad-governance and Western penetration among others to developmental failure in Nigeria. However, this study argues that poor service delivery attitudes have impacted negatively on developmental programmes in Nigeria. Thus, for Nigeria to achieve speedy development, there must be a positive change in the attitudes of government and its officials towards service delivery particularly, to ensure fairness, responsiveness, equity, accountability and justifiable profit maximization which are necessary ingredients for boosting peoples' confidence in the government and its institutions, which would help the government to garner peoples support required for developmental programmes and discourage or minimize other anti-developmental pathologies in Nigeria.

 Key words: Service delivery, developmental failure, post-independence.


We construct and analyze a model for a disordered linear spring network with anisotropy. The modeling is motivated by, for example, granular systems, nematic elastomers, and ultimately cytoskeletal networks exhibiting some underlying anisotropy. The model consists of a triangular lattice with two different bond occupation probabilities, p(x) and p(y), for the linear springs. We develop an effective medium theory (EMT) to describe the network elasticity as a function of p(x) and p(y). We find that the onset of rigidity in the EMT agrees with Maxwell constraint counting. We also find beyond linear behavior in the shear and bulk modulus as a function of occupation probability in the rigid phase for small strains, which differs from the isotropic case. We compare our EMT with numerical simulations to find rather good agreement. Finally, we discuss the implications of extending the reach of effective medium theory as well as draw connections with prior work on both anisotropic and isotropic spring networks.


Abstract. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention for middle school students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as implemented by school mental health (SMH) providers using a randomized trial design. Seventeen SMH providers from five school districts implemented the HOPS intervention. Forty-seven middle school students with ADHD (Grades 6–8) were randomly assigned to receive the HOPS intervention or to a waitlist comparison group. Parent and teacher ratings of organizational skills and homework problems were collected pre- and postintervention and at a 3-month follow-up; school grades were also collected. Intervention participants demonstrated significant improvements relative to the waitlist comparison across parent-rated organized action (d = 0.88), planning (d = 1.05), and homework completion behaviors (d = 0.85). Intervention participants did not make significant improvements relative to the comparison group according to teacher ratings. SMH providers were able to implement the HOPS intervention with fidelity despite the fact that no formal ongoing consultation was provided.


A series of {(9,9-dioctylfluorene)(0.7-x)-(dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide)(0.3)-[4,7-bis(2-thienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole](x)} (PFS(30)-TBTx), where x represents the minor percentage of the red emitter 4,7-bis(2-thienyl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (TBT) randomly incorporated into the copolymer backbone, is investigated in order to follow the energy transfer from PFS(30) to TBT moieties. The emission of the donor poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorene)(0.7)-(dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide)(0.3) identified by PFS(30) and peaking at 450 nm, is clearly quenched by the presence of the red TBT chromophore emitting at 612 nm, with an isoemissive point observed when the spectra are collected as a function of temperature. A plot of the ratio between the TBT and PFS(30) emissions as a function of the reciprocal of temperature gives a clear linear trend between 290 and 200 K, with an activation energy of 20 meV and showing a turn over to a non-activated regime below 200 K. Picosecond time-resolved fluorescence decays collected at the PFS(30) and TBT emission wavelengths, show a decay of the PFS(30) emission and a fast build-in, followed by a decay, of the TBT emission, confirming that the population of the TBT excited state occurs during the PFS(30) lifetime (approximately 600 ps). The population of the TBT excited state occurs on a time regime around 150 ps at 290 K, showing an energy barrier of 20 meV that turns over to a non-activated regime below 200 K in clear agreement with the steady-state data. The origin of the activation barrier is attributed to the presence of physical and energetic disorder, affected by fast thermal fluctuations that dynamically change the energy landscape and control the exciton migration through the polymer density of states.


A spatial similarity join of two geospatial datasets finds pairs of records that are simultaneously similar on spatial and textual attributes. Such join is useful for a variety of applications, like data cleansing, record linkage, duplications detection and geocoding enhancement. Efficient techniques exist for the individual joins on either spatial or textual attributes. However, the combined problem has received much less research attention. This paper presents the SpSJoin (Spatial Similarity join) system to fill in this need. SpSJoin is a platform that merges geospatial and text processing techniques for efficiently performing spatial similarity joins. The platform leverages parallel computing with MapReduce to tackle scalability issues in joining large datasets. The efficiency of the proposed techniques are experimentally validated with a join case for improving the geolocation of entities in a real geospatial dataset with referential entities of another dataset.


Background Determination of predictive factors and specific values of olfactory function after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) using objective diagnostic methods may support consultation of respective patients. This study was designed to assess the longitudinal olfactory functional outcome after ESS in patients with severe chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with nasal polyposis, to evaluate associated clinical factors and to provide statistical models for prediction of olfactory recovery. Methods One hundred sixteen patients with nasal polyposis refractory to medical treatment underwent ESS. Olfactory testing was performed preoperatively and 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery using "Sniffin' Sticks" (Burghardt, Wedel, Germany). Using multivariate linear and logistic regression analysis, statistical models were generated to predict (i) the 6th-month composite threshold-discrimination-identification (TDI) score and (ii) the probability of attaining normal olfaction at 6 months. Results A significant stepwise increment of all olfactory function indices was found over time. Factors influencing final olfactory recovery were patients' age, duration of olfactory deficit, previous paranasal sinus surgery, and aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease. The first model explained 70% of the observed variation in postoperative TDI scores. The second model correctly classified 76% of the patients. Conclusion A significant progressive improvement of olfaction for at least 6 months was observed after ESS. The statistical models developed may be useful for consultation of ESS candidates in clinical practice.


We have recently developed a model of the optics of the underwater environment that includes the effects of scattering and absorption. The model is used to predict the image degradation that occurs in water. The model is applicable to standard light source illumination, range- gated illumination and laser line scan illumination. The model takes as input standard pictures and produces an output degraded images with the effect of scattering, absorption and detector noise added in. The model allows us to test against realistic images the performance of various image recovery and enhancement techniques and to compare the various active imaging systems that could be used in underwater identification systems. Using a previously developed sea surface and sky irradiance model developed at DREV, we are currently extending the model to handle underwater imaging from airborne platforms by a multi-pulse laser bathymetry system and by a range gated laser-imaging system.


This work is concerned with studying possible reactions in the ilmenite furnace which may control the product quality of both slag and metal. Two different approaches were followed: comparing actual furnace slag compositions with the calculated equilibrium values and using commercial oxygen probes to measure the effective partial oxygen pressure in the slag and metal. It appears from a comparison of actual furnace slag compositions (in terms of the distribution coefficient of vanadium) with equilibrium values, that the TiO1.5-TiO2 reaction may fix the effective partial oxygen pressure for the vanadium reaction. This possibility was tested using commercial oxygen probes (traditionally applied during steelmaking) to measure the effective oxygen partial pressure of both the slag and liquid iron in Iscori?½s 3MVA pilot plant ilmenite furnace. From these measurements, it appears that commercial oxygen probes containing zirconia solid electrolytes can be used to measure the effective oxygen potential of both the slag and liquid iron. This oxygen activity correlates well with the FeO content of the slag. The results, furthermore, clearly illustrate that equilibrium conditions are not attained in the ilmenite furnace during the production of high titania slags, since the effective oxygen potential of slag and metal differ substantially.


Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) exhibit problems in planning and providing information and systems technology (IST) facilities in the context of third party provision. To explore this problem, the research methodology utilizes a case study strategy, with data collected primarily via face-to-face semi-structured interviews with key IT decision makers in four SMEs in the north west of England. Improvisation theory is used as a theoretical lens to both guide the data collection and interpret the research. Based on the analysis of one example case study called Mercury there is precious little in the literature that reflects the reality of this SME; Mercury follows a strategy of improvisation in accessing and using third party IT services. The findings capture the process through which Mercury goes about providing their IST facilities.


The area between Khanozai and Muslimbagh towns have variation in altitude, topography and vegetation but no study of the area has been carried out so far. This study was conducted to find out the impact of human activities (dust, grazing, urbanization and defecation) and environmental factors (underground water table, altitude and temperature) on the growth of wild flora. Initiating from vegetative profiling, 20 stands were taken at different points based on which 3 most dominant species of the area, Artemisia longifolia (Vernacular name: Tharkha), Peganum hermala (Vernacular name: spaanda) and Sophora mollis (Vernacular Name: Ghuraiza) were identified. For analyzing the impact of human factors, samples were taken near and away from chromite crushing plants, routes of herds, settlements and open defecation points in towns for dust, grazing, urbanization and defecation respectively. Findings revealed dust to be most lethal for plants. Dust from chromite refineries in the outskirts of Muslimbagh town causes thick layers of soil on surrounding plants and reduces the plant growth by 50%, at average. Smoke of automobiles was found to be least effective growth but has major role on plant distribution along the roadside. Samples taken from herds' route, defecation places and urban areas showed higher growth values due to lesser competition for resources among the plants. Moisture, sunlight and altitude found to pose mix effect on growth parameters and plants. Detailed phytosociological study of the area, transferring chromite plants away from human settlements and plantation of trees along the roadside are the steps recommended after the study.


The modulation characteristics such as the power response and the chirp (dynamic line broadening) of single-frequency coupled-cavity semiconductor lasers are analyzed theoretically. The model is based on the small-signal analysis of a set of generalized rate equations and neglects the lateral variations of the optical field and the carrier density in the two cavity sections. When the controller section is biased below threshold in a three-terminal device the modulation response is not significantly affected by the intercavity coupling. By contrast, new features arise when both sections are biased above threshold. It is found that the chirp can be significantly reduced by a proper combination of the bias levels and the modulation splitting between the two sections. The chirp reduction also depends on the strength of the intercavity coupling and its phase, and the best performance is achieved for the case of in-phase coupling. The calculated results are in qualitative agreement with the reported experimental data and are useful as a guide to optimize the performance of a coupled-cavity device.


Broadband RF and Microwave Amplifiers provides extensive coverage of broadband radio frequency (RF) and microwave power amplifier design, including well-known historical and recent novel schematic configurations, theoretical approaches, circuit simulation results, and practical implementation strategies. The text begins by introducing two-port networks to illustrate the behavior of linear and nonlinear circuits, explaining the basic principles of power amplifier design, and discussing impedance matching and broadband power amplifier design using lumped and distributed parameters. The book then: Shows how dissipative or lossy gain-compensation-matching circuits can offer an important trade-off between power gain, reflection coefficient, and operating frequency bandwidth Describes the design of broadband RF and microwave amplifiers using real frequency techniques (RFTs), supplying numerous examples based on the MATLAB programming process Examines Class-E power amplifiers, Doherty amplifiers, low-noise amplifiers, microwave gallium arsenide field-effect transistor (GaAs FET)-distributed amplifiers, and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) amplifiers for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications Broadband RF and Microwave Amplifiers combines theoretical analysis with practical design to create a solid foundation for innovative ideas and circuit design techniques.


Long-term eutrophication data collected by the South Florida Water Management District at eight stations in the pelagic region of Lake Okeechobee since 1980 were combined with those from littoral region stations collected since 1986. These data were supplemented by those collected by the University of Florida in conjunction with the Lake Okeechobee Ecosystem Study. Generalized additive models (GAM) were fit to the chlorophyll a response for each of five previously documented'ecological zones', each using the same predictor variables for comparison between zones. Significant nonlinear increasing relationships between log10 TP and log10 chlorophyll a were found for littoral and near littoral regions of the lake, which change to decreasing at certain (high) levels of log10 TP. This change to a decreasing function suggests light limitation associated with high TP levels due to particle resuspension. The error distribution of the GAM compare favourably to those of linear models. The relationship of the chlorophyll a response to the predictors used in the GAM appear similar for littoral and near littoral regions, as they do for north pelagic and central pelagic ecological zones, with intermediate shapes of these functions found in the transition zone between these two groups.


The present study examined the effects of predatory odor (cat urine) on social novelty preference in Long-Evans rats. Adult male subjects encountered a juvenile conspecific at training, were exposed to either clean cat litter (control) or litter soiled with cat urine (predatory odor), and were tested for social novelty preference. While the predatory odor and control groups did not differ in exploration of the initial conspecific at training or in the investigation of both the novel and familiar conspecifics at test, animals exposed to predatory odor prior to test spent a smaller percentage of their exploration time investigating the novel conspecifics than did controls, suggesting that predator odor is capable of disrupting social novelty preference.


The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for milk and fat yields in Khuzestan buffaloes of Iran. A total of 5 258 production records of the first three lactations of the Khuzestan buffaloes obtained from the Animal Breeding Centre of Iran between 1993 and 2009 were used for the analysis. Genetic parameters were estimated by the multivariate restricted maximum-likelihood (REML) procedure in the Wombat program. The averages of milk and fat production were 2 220.0 kg and 137.6 kg for first lactation; 2 236.8 kg and 137.9 kg for second lactation; and 2 303.6 kg and 143.3 kg for third lactation, respectively. Heritability estimates for milk and fat yields were 0.06 and 0.24 for the first; 0.06 and 0.28 for the second and 0.26 and 0.47 for the third lactation, respectively. Genetic correlation estimates between first and second, first and third, and second and third lactations were 0.77, 0.67 and 0.79 for milk and −0.61, −0.21 and −0.25 for fat yields. These estimates for milk yield are consistent with previous estimates obtained from animal models. Milk production of different lactations is essentially the same trait genetically and combining all lactation records as a single trait is appropriate. On the other hand, negative genetic correlations for fat yield in different lactations indicated that fat yields in all lactations were determined by different genes.


In this paper we analyse the human capital endowment of migration flows across Italian regions during the period from 1980 to 2002. Our aim it to quantify the human capital embodied into migrants in order to assess how much of it has been moving from one region to another. Among the main results we have found that interregional mobility slowed down up to 1995 but has been increasing from then onwards, in addition we have also discovered that during the whole time period emigration rates are higher for graduate students, followed by higher secondary school and lower secondary school students. The main finding, however, is that we have detected evidence of human capital losses for almost all southern regions. Putting it differently these regions have suffered from a brain drain that, presumably, has reduced their growth potentials.


We introduce a measure of customer franchise value for subscription–based companies — a fast growing and vital sector of the economy. This measure is based on information voluntarily disclosed by some, but not all, firms. Controlling for self-selection, we examine the measure's information content and find that customer value is significantly positively associated with stock price and this association is incremental to both GAAP and a set of non-GAAP variables typically considered in valuation tests. Furthermore, we show that the customer value measure is positively associated with future earnings and analysts' forecast errors. Importantly, we find that the documented results are robust to controlling for the individual inputs used to derive the measure, highlighting the need to consider the interaction between stand-alone value drivers in assessing a firm's performance. These findings indicate that the proposed measure of customer value is an important valuation tool that quantifies and summarizes the main trends and factors underlying the performance of subscription-based enterprises. This study informs researchers and investors, as well as accounting policymakers, about a major value–generating asset currently missing from corporate financial reports.


Background: Although nurses recognize the importance of evidence-based practice (EBP) to improve health outcomes, they still find its implementation complex. Successful EBP requires nurses to have the knowledge and expertise to appraise and critically apply evidence into practice. Objectives: The study sought to identify Central Vietnam nurses' knowledge, skills, and attitudes to implementing EBP. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive research design was implemented to identify nurses' ability to conduct EBP in two large hospitals in Central Vietnam. A total of 234 nurses returned completed surveys. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Nurses in Central Vietnam were not prepared for undertaking EBP. Only 29.5% of the respondents said they were familiar with the term EBP. Although they embraced a positive attitude toward EBP, they felt less confident to implement this innovation. Many failed to engage with research and still relied most heavily on informal information to guide their practice. Implications: The evidence obtained from this study supports the need for an education intervention to develop nurses' knowledge and skills of research and research usage.


Native type II collagen is tolerogenic when given orally or i.p. to DBA/1J mice and induces autoimmune arthritis when given s.c. in CFA. The tolerogenic epitope is contained in cyanogen bromide fragment 11 (CB11) and is structurally mimicked by PGEQGPK within the platelet aggregation-associated protein (PAAP) on Streptococcus sanguis. To learn whether S. sanguis modulates transmucosally the Ag-specific development of autoimmune arthritis, DBA/1J pups were given live S. sanguis, CB11, or type II collagen intragastrically. Feeding S. sanguis at 6 days postpartum delayed the onset of arthritis, and reduced the rate, final severity, and percentage of affected limbs. Next, PAAP+ S. sanguis and type II collagen were tested for T cell cross-reactivity. T cells primed with the tolerogenic epitope of type II collagen proliferated more when incubated with PAAP+ S. sanguis than with PAAP− Streptococcus gordonii or type II collagen, suggesting an Ag-specific transmucosal tolerogenic effect. In neonatal mice, therefore, bacterial surface Ags that mimic self can transmucosally stimulate Ag-specific inhibitory T cells. In adult mice immunized with type II collagen, these Ag-specific inhibitory T cells manifest later as attenuated arthritis. The PAAP+ S. sanguis appear to activate adult memory, rather than naive, type II collagen-specific T cells, suggesting that systemic challenge with commensal self-mimicking microorganisms may perpetuate existing autoimmunity, but not initiate autorecognition.


Electrochromic effect and molecularly imprinted technology have been used to develop a sensitive and selective electrochromic sensor. The polymeric matrices obtained using the imprinting technology are robust molecular recognition elements and have the potential to mimic natural recognition entities with very high selectivity. The electrochromic behavior of iridium oxide nanoparticles (IrOx NPs) as physicochemical transducer together with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as recognition layer resulted in a fast and efficient translation of the detection event. The sensor was fabricated using screen-printing technology with indium tin oxide as a transparent working electrode; IrOx NPs where electrodeposited onto the electrode followed by thermal polymerization of polypyrrole in the presence of the analyte (chlorpyrifos). Two different approaches were used to detect and quantify the pesticide: direct visual detection and smartphone imaging. Application of different oxidation potentials for 10 s resulted in color changes directly related to the concentration of the analyte. For smartphone imaging, at fixed potential, the concentration of the analyte was dependent on the color intensity of the electrode. The electrochromic sensor detects a highly toxic compound (chlorpyrifos) with a 100 fM and 1 mM dynamic range. So far, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first work where an electrochromic MIP sensor uses the electrochromic properties of IrOx to detect a certain analyte with high selectivity and sensitivity.


Contract Net Protocol (CNP) is a high level communication protocol. It is one of the most widely used protocols in multi-agent system (MAS) to resolve decentralized task allocation problem. The main aim of the protocol is to facilitate contract negotiation between a manager agent and many contractor agents. A lot of work has been done for the verification of the protocol and its extensions, but there still a lack of a formalism for representing temporal interaction aspects which are an essential parameter in modeling the protocol . This paper proposes to use Timed Colored Petri Nets (TCPN) to model correctly and formally this temporal dimension often defined as interaction duration and message deadlines. We will use simulation techniques and state space analysis to verify important properties namely model correctness, deadline respect, absence of deadlocks and livelocks, absence of dead code, agent terminal states consistency, concurrency and validity.


Potato clones from five different breeding populations were evaluated for their relative resistance and susceptibility to Pratylenchus penetrans. Resistance and susceptibility were distinguished by an index of susceptibility (SI) calculated from the numbers ofP . penetrans (including eggs) per g of root of individual clones in relation to that of a susceptible control at 30 or 70 days after inoculation. Evaluations were carried out using 7.5-cm clay pots in a growth chamber at 24 C with 15-hour day length. In the initial evaluation, 70 days after inoculation, the SI of individual clones ranged from 0.01 to 0.75. Clones that supported the least P. penetrans were from a breeding population derived from Solanum tuberosum ssp. andigena that was originally selected for its resistance to the potato cyst nematode, Globodera pallida. In succeeding tests, these clones had a significantly low SI than did susceptible controls or cuhivars that were previously reported to possess resistance to P. penetrans, except cv. Hudson. Resistance to P. penetrans from the Pallida-resistant breeding population was incorporated into potato germplasm better adapted to North American growing conditions.


Information security is an important and urgent priority in computer systems of corporations, government, and private users. The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of digital information is constantly threatened by malevolent software, such as computer viruses and worms. Virus detection software announces the presence of a virus in a program by issuing a virus alert. A virus alert presents two conflicting legal issues. A virus alert, as a statement on an issue of great public concern, merits protection under the First Amendment. The reputational interest of a plaintiff disparaged by a virus alert, on the other hand, merits protection under the law of defamation. The United States Supreme Court has struck a balance by constitutionalizing the common law of defamation in a series of influential decisions. The article focuses on two implications of these decisions, namely (i) the plaintiff must show that the defamatory statement is objectively verifiable as true or false, and (ii) the plaintiff must prove its falsity with convincing clarity. The defendant may prove the truthfulness of the statement as a defense. The crucial issues in these implications are truth, falsity, and verifiability. The article analyzes the balance between the conflicting legal rights associated with a virus alert. It focuses on the legal meanings of truth, falsity and verifiability of a virus alert, and resolution of these issues in the context of the technology involved in a virus alert. The analysis merges perspectives from constitutional law, the law of defamation and information technology. Insights from theoretical computer science demonstrate, for instance, that the truth of a virus alert may be unverifiable. In such a case the alert would receive full constitutional protection under the Supreme Court's First Amendment defamation jurisprudence.


To the Editor.— In our modern climate of increased awareness of health and personal appearance, a seemingly endless number of special diets have been developed to foster weight loss. Recently, a patient with previously untreated dermatitis herpetiformis had the good fortune of being placed on such a diet to treat coexistent morbid obesity. As the exclusively protein diet contained no gluten, his skin disease resolved rapidly, before dapsone therapy could be initiated. Report of a Case.— A 42-year-old man was referred for evaluation of an asymptomatic elbow rash of several months' duration. The patient weighed 135 kg (296 pounds) but was otherwise in good health and taking no oral medications. Examination of the skin revealed plaques of clustered vesicles on an erythematous base covering both elbows. The clinical diagnosis of dermatitis herpetiformis was confirmed histopathologically with the presence of granular IgA and C3 at the basement membrane zone on immunofluorescent


This paper details a research project aimed at developing a robust and practical method for recovery of non-MSW waste streams, focusing particularly on C&I wastes from the SME sector. This will be achieved by raising awareness of the resource recovery potential of the waste, using self-assessment audit tools and on-line information on matching locally-based waste and recycling services that will facilitate recovery of materials. Use of an interactive IT-based system will also allow collection of the data needed as basis for integrated facilities planning by the commercial, public and voluntary sectors. The research will thus form a key element in the move towards implementation of a materials resource strategy. It will provide a reliable method of capturing both location and composition data of waste streams essential for integrating service facilities on a local/regional basis. Widespread use of the tools and methodology will be facilitated by developing frameworks that can be populated with geographically-distinct information, and protocols for the engagement of the SME business community at a local level.


The growth of the number of automobiles on the roads in China has put higher demands on the traffic control system that needs to efficiently reduce the level of congestion occurrence, which increases travel delay, fuel consumption, and air pollution. The traffic control system, urban real-time traffic control system based on multi-agent (MA-URTC) is presented in this thesis. According to the present situation and the traffic's future development in China, the researches on intelligent traffic control strategy and simulation based on agent lays a foundation for the realization of the system. The thesis is organized as follows: The first part focuses on the intersection' real-time signal control strategy. It contains the limitations of current traffic control systems, application of artificial intelligence in the research, how to bring the dynamic traffic flow forecast into effect by combining the neural network with the genetic arithmetic, and traffic signal real-time control strategy based on fuzzy control. The author uses sorne simple simulation results to testify its superiority. We adopt the latest agent technology in designing the logical structure of the MA-URTC system. By exchanging traffic flows information among the relative agents, MA-URTC provides a new concept in urban traffic control. With a global coordination and cooperation on autonomy-based view of the traffic in cities, MA-URTC anticipates the congestion and control traffic flows. It is designed to support the real-time dynamic selection of intelligent traffic control strategy and the real-time communication requirements, together with a sufficient level of fault-tolerance. Due to the complexity and levity of urban traffic, none strategy can be universally applicable. The agent can independently choose the best scheme according to the real-time situation. To develop an advanced traffic simulation system it can be helpful for us to find the best scheme and the best switch-point of different schemes. Thus we can better deal with the different real-time traffic situations. The second part discusses the architecture and function of the intelligent traffic control simulation based on agent. Meanwhile the author discusses the design model of the vehicle-agent, road agent in traffic network and the intersection-agent so that we can better simulate the real-time environment. The vehicle-agent carries out the intelligent simulation based on the characteristics of the drivers in the actual traffic condition to avoid the disadvantage of the traditional traffic simulation system, simple-functioned algorithm of the vehicles model and unfeasible forecasting hypothesis. It improves the practicability of the whole simulation system greatly. The road agent's significance lies in its guidance of the traffic participants. It avoids the urban traffic control that depends on only the traffic signal control at intersection. It gives the traffic participants the most comfortable and direct guidance in traveling. It can also make a real-time and dynamic adjustment on the urban traffic flow, thus greatly lighten the pressure of signal control in intersection area. To sorne extent, the road agent is equal to the pre-caution mechanism. In the future, the construction of urban roads tends to be more intelligent. Therefore, the research on road agent is very important. All kinds of agents in MA-URTC are interconnected through a computer network. In the end, the author discusses the direction of future research. As the whole system is a multi-agent system, the intersection, the road and the vehicle belongs to multi-agent system respectively. So the emphasis should be put on the structure design and communication of all kinds of traffic agents in the system. Meanwhile, as an open and flexible real-time traffic control system, it is also concerned with how to collaborate with other related systems effectively, how to conform the resources and how to make the traffic participants anywhere throughout the city be in the best traffic guidance at all times and places. To actualize the genuine ITS will be our final goal.
______________________________________________________________________________
MOTS-CLES DE L'AUTEUR : Artificial Intelligence, Computer simulation, Fuzzy control, Genetic Algorithm, Intelligent traffic control, ITS, Multi-agent, Neural Network, Real-time.


The lattice structures of epitaxial Fe3O4 films deposited on MgO were studied systematically using polarized Raman spectroscopy as a function of film thickness, where interesting phenomena were observed. Firstly, the spectral conflict to the Raman selection rules (RSRs) was observed under cross-sectional configuration, which can be attributed to the tetragonal deformation in the growth direction due to the lattice mismatch between Fe3O4 and MgO. Secondly, the blue shift and broadening of Raman peaks evidenced the decrease of the tensile strain in Fe3O4 films with decreasing thickness. Thirdly, distinct from the other Raman modes, the lowest T2g mode exhibited asymmetric lineshape, which can be interpreted using the spatial correlation model. The increased correlation length introduced in the model can well explain the enhanced peak asymmetry feature with decreasing thickness. These results provide useful information for understanding the lattice structure of epitaxial Fe3O4 film.


Integrins containing the b3 subunit are key players in tumor growth and metastasis. A functional Leu33Pro polymorphism (rs5918) in the b3 subunit of the integrin gene (ITGB3) has previously been suggested to act as a modifier of ovarian cancer risk in Polish BRCA1 mutation carriers. To investigate the association further, we genotyped 9,998 BRCA1 and 5,544 BRCA2 mutation carriers from 34 studies from the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 for the ITGB3 Leu33Pro polymorphism. Data were analysed within a Cox-proportional hazards framework using a retrospective likelihood approach. There was marginal evidence that the ITGB3 polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer for BRCA1 mutation carriers (per-allele Hazard Ratio (HR) 1.11, 95% CI 1.00–1.23, p-trend 0.05). However, when the original Polish study was excluded from the analysis, the polymorphism was no longer significantly associated with ovarian cancer risk (HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.96–1.19, p-trend 0.25). There was no evidence of an association with ovarian cancer risk for BRCA2 mutation carriers (HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.89–1.32). The polymorphism was not associated with breast cancer risk for either BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers. The ITGB3 Leu33Pro polymorphism does not modify breast or ovarian cancer risk in BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers.


OBJECTIVE
The research provides an understanding of pandemic information needs and informs professional development initiatives for librarians in disaster medicine.

METHODS
Utilizing a multisite, comparative case series design, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews and examined supplementary materials in the form of organizational documents, correspondence, and websites to create a complete picture of each case. The rigor of the case series was ensured through data and investigator triangulation. Interview transcripts were coded using NVivo to identify common themes and points of comparison.

RESULTS
Comparison of the four cases revealed a distinct difference between "client-initiated" and "librarian-initiated" provision of pandemic information. Librarian-initiated projects utilized social software to "push" information, whereas client-initiated projects operated within patron-determined parameters to deliver information. Health care administrators were identified as a key audience for pandemic information, and news agencies were utilized as essential information sources. Librarians' skills at evaluating available information proved crucial for selecting best-quality evidence to support administrative decision making.

CONCLUSIONS
Qualitative analysis resulted in increased understanding of pandemic information needs and identified best practices for disseminating information during periods of high organizational stress caused by an influx of new cases of an unknown infectious disease.


Four agents, thalidomide, oxpentifylline, dexamethasone and a polyclonal anti-TNF-alpha antibody, were all shown by specific Elisa to block endogenous TNF-alpha production by Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG)-infected human monocyte-derived macrophages in in vitro culture. There was however no significant enhancement of intracellular BCG growth, over a 7-day incubation, in human monocyte-derived macrophages in the presence of any of the TNF-alpha-blocking agents, as determined by both radiometric and CFU counting methods of assessing bacterial viability and growth. The result suggests that the action of TNF-alpha alone is unlikely to be an important effector mechanism in antimycobacterial immunity within human cells.


For 70 years of the development of concept of the natural nidality of human diseases many its initial postulates undergo considerable changes, while its essence remain the same. Many "new" infections with natural foci were discovered and their geographic distribution was investigated in detail, classification of natural foci was developed. It was established, that epidemic features of transmissive infections depend mainly on the types of parasitism of their insect, tick and mite vectors.


Background Accelerated rehabilitation has been advocated after Achilles tendon repair, but it produces significant forces at the repair site. Hypothesis Stresses applied to the repaired Achilles tendon simulating postoperative forces may exceed the strength of some repairs. Study Design Controlled laboratory study. Methods Fifteen Achilles tendons were incised 4 cm proximal to the calcaneal insertion, then were repaired using either a percutaneous, 4-strand Krackow, or an epitendinous augmented 4-strand Krackow technique. Tendons were cyclically loaded to 1000 cycles each at 100, 190, and 369 N. The number of cycles to initial gapping, 5-mm gapping, and total failure were compared using Mann-Whitney U tests with adjustments for multiple comparisons. Results Gap resistance was significantly greater for augmented Krackow repairs (2208 cycles to initial gapping) versus nonaugmented repairs (502 cycles, P = .024) and for nonaugmented Krackow repairs versus percutaneous repairs (5 cycles, P = .024). All percutaneous repairs failed during the 100-N cycling (102 ± 135 cycles). All nonaugmented Krackow repairs failed during the 190-N cycles (total cycles to failure: 1268 ± 345). All augmented Krackow repairs were intact (no gapping) after the 190-N cycles. Four failed during 369-N cycling (total cycles to failure, 2017 ± 11), and 1 remained intact for 3000 cycles. Conclusion Epitendinous cross-stitch weave augmentation of Achilles tendon repairs significantly increased repair strength and gap resistance. Clinical Relevance Epitendinous cross-stitch weave augmentation of Achilles tendon repairs may better allow for early stretching and ambulation after Achilles tendon repair.


I stand floating in space, my eyes seeing only a vast expanse in the nothingness in which my body is suspended. Even as I feel my feet firmly planted on solid ground, a rush of strobing lights encompasses my field of vision, creating a sense of being un-stuck, a loss of physical placement that feels perfectly clear, perfectly safe, as if being held tightly by nothing at all. In January 2018, I stepped through the entrance into James Turrell's Perfectly Clear, an immersive art installation at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, MA. Using personal narrative and scholarly accounts, this article examines experiences disembodiment and touch within Turrell's Perfectly Clear. Using Maurice Merleau-Ponty's theories of the embodied subject as an active co-creator of their situated reality, Brian Massumi's writings on visual perception and the co-functioning of the senses, and James Elkins' theory of sight as a transactional act of metamorphosis, I examine Perfectly Clear as a form of what I describe as disembodiment-embodiment, allowing the audience-participant to experience a sense of intimate embrace that challenges commonly held preconceptions of touch, sight, and the feeling of ones' physical body in space.


The past few years has concentrated research on OCR for Chinese, Japanese and many language scripts. A lot of work has been also reported on OCR for various Indian scripts, which are Devanagari, Malayalam, Bangla, Kannada, Gurumukhi, Gujarati, Oriya, Tamil, and Telugu etc. In this paper, we present our work using OCR on Indian scripts, mainly on Devanagari, the most popular script in India. Our work deals with the recognition of only the offline handwritten compound characters. In this work handwritten compound character recognition in scanned documents is introduced. There are many research paper presented a new perspective which improve the current system along with experimental results. The proper selection of the technique is most probable for achieving high performance with a better accuracy.


: Fractures of the cervical spine associated with ankylosing spondylitis are rare. Relatively minor injury can cause a fracture of the vertebral body or through the ossified intervertebral space, because of the loss of normal flexibility, mobility, and elasticity in the rigid spine. Sixty-six per cent of the fracture subluxations of the ankylosed spine are associated with injury to the spinal cord, and the mortality rate is 40%. Because of the complete nature of fracture and instability, there is a high risk of neurologic deterioration. Immobilization of the cervical spine in a Halo cast appears to be the treatment of choice. If skull traction is applied the cervical spine should be immobilized in the neutral position, and overzealous traction exceeding 10 pounds should be avoided. Callus formation and fracture healing following immobilization is rapid. Four new cases are described and 44 previously reported cases in the literature have been reviewed.


'Corporate memory' is the body of information that an organization needs to keep for re-use. It is the active and historical information that an organization has that is worth sharing, managing and preserving to enable it to function effectively. This book is aimed at records managers and archivists, who are responsible for maintaining and managing information within an organization. It describes fully the most up-to-date methods and approaches to this essential function. In addition, it also discusses the adoption of an international standard for record management.


Name: Dr Niranjan Desai Qualifications: Ph.D Civil Engineering University of Louisville, USA MES (Master of Engineering Studies) Civil Engineering University of Sydney, Australia BTECH (Bachelor of Technology) Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India. Work Experience: Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, Purdue University North Central (2013 Present) Engineering Intern, Watrous Associates Architects, (2011 2013) Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Louisville, (2006 2011) Tata Bluescope Steel Ltd Designation: Design Manager Publications: Desai, N., & McGinley, W.M. "A study of the out-of-plane performance of brick veneer wall systems in medium rise buildings under seismic loads." Engineering Structures 48 (2013) 683 694. Desai, N., & McGinley, W.M. "Effects of brick veneer wall systems loaded in-plane on the seismic response of medium rise buildings." Proc. The 12th Canadian Masonry Symposium, Vancouver, Canada, June 2013. Awards: Alan H. Yorkdale Memorial Award, 2014.


This research paper have examine the progress of short & long term direct institutional credit to supplying agricultural sector in India & bank branches expansion post economic reform period. The institutional credit has considered playing a key role in the agricultural development of India A large number of institutional agencies are involved in the payment of credit to agriculture. The relevant data have taken from Handbook of Statistics on the Indian economy (2014) and Report on state of Indian agriculture (2014). Research period is 1990-91 to 2013-2014. Total Number of bank branches have increased after 2003 more rapidly, it show in fig 1 percentage of change line upwards.


Since 1994 important supermarket chains in Switzerland successfully sell apples from verified organic production. However, in supermarkets customers often ask whether there are, apart from a more environmentally friendly production, objective arguments of inner fruit quality that justify the higher prices of organic apples.

In a field study with the 'Golden Delicious' cultivar, we harvested fruits of 5 pairs of organic/integrated fruit farms. The orchards within the pairs were less than 1 km from each other and were similar in micro climate, soil conditions and planting system. Maximum distance between the pairs was 180 km. To measure inner fruit quality we investigated at the beginning and at the end of cold storage (i) standard parameters (firmness, sugar, malic acid, mineral elements etc.); (ii) taste parameters by repeated panel tests; (iii) components that are good for human health (phenols, selenium, fibres, vitamin C and E) and (iv) fruit «vitality quality» by holistic approaches using image forming technique (crystallisation in copper chloride, and chromatography after Pfeiffer), degradation tests and feeding preference tests with laboratory rats.

All fruit samples of organic orchards had significantly firmer fruit flesh (14%) and had 15% higher taste marks than conventional ones. P-content was 31% higher (p < 0.01) in organic apples and was closely correlated with technical quality (r2 = 0.93) and sensory score (r2 = 0.69). Content of phenols (mainly flavanols) was 19% and image forming quality 60% higher in organic apples. The picture producing method distinguished 100% correctly the organic and integrated samples and was closely in line with technical quality (r2 = 0.68).

The results show that organically grown apples can have an outstanding inner quality. However, for generalizable conclusions more extensive studies are necessary.


In this article I describe aspects of an ethnographic inquiry in which I investigated the challenges faced by some New Zealand teachers when teaching about culturally different dances, an expectation of the Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2000, 2007). Until relatively recently dance education in New Zealand emphasised Eurocentric creative dance, and teaching about culturally different dances presented new challenges for teachers. Some of the teachers, for instance, were challenged by their lack of skills in cultural dances other than creative dance. Transformative learning and developing a reflexive view of dances from different cultures are pedagogical concepts that underpin the ANZC and I position them as key to exploring some transformations that could inform teaching about dances contextually, in theory and practice, for both learners and teachers. My main aim in this article is to inform and support the development of an ethical and sustainable culturally pluralist pedagogy in which our responsibilities to the people whose dances we study are an important and timely concern (Ashley, 2012b). I also depict this topic as providing substantial potential for further research.


We experimentally investigate the effects of noise on the adiabatic and cyclic geometric phase, also termed the Berry phase. By introducing artificial fluctuations in the path of the control field, we measure the geometric contribution to dephasing of an effective two-level system for a variety of noise powers and different paths. Our results, measured using a microwave-driven superconducting qubit, clearly show that only fluctuations which distort the path lead to geometric dephasing. In a direct comparison with the dynamic phase, which is path independent, we observe that the Berry phase is less affected by noise-induced dephasing. This observation directly points towards the potential of geometric phases for quantum gates or metrological applications.


The increased integration due to cross-listing leads to the volatility spillover effect on the domestic market posing from the cross-listed global indices viz., Nifty 50 from India, Luxx 100 from Luxembourg, NASDAQ from the US, and FTSE_Aim 100 from the UK. Johansen Co-integration test is applied to check the level of integration, which is further checked by multivariate granger causality showing the causality pattern among the indices. GARCH (1,1) model is applied to examine the volatility spillover effect on the Indian Stock Market. The findings suggest that the series are co-integrated with one vector 'v,' which is confirmed by the Trace and Max-Eigen Test. The Multivariate Granger Causality test confirms the bivariate causal pattern between India and US markets, implying the dual effect. In contrast, the Luxembourg market is relatively exogenous, which gives investors an opportunity for portfolio diversification. ARCH term is significant in the GARCH (1,1) model showing that the past innovation in the time series leads to the present fluctuation in the Indian stock market. Also, the results show a significant spillover effect from the US and UK markets. Thus, this will assist the investors that by concentrating on the movement of these markets, they can take specific actions regarding portfolio management.


The electronics industry is very important in the world economy, because is one of more dynamic activities, due to a great quantity and different electronic products manufactured and used in a lot quotidian operations. This type of industry has strongly attracted attention to the environmental authorities in the recent 10 years, due to the deterioration that causes to the ecosystems. The electronics industry generates a lot liquid chemical waste, which are thrown into soils and aquifers that are close to companies. The interest of the relation of environmental problems and the electronics industry has manifested with more frequency, from 20 years ago, especially in countries that regulate strictly to care the ecosystems, being some countries of Europe, United States and Japan. The lack of control in certain liquid wastes from activities of the electronics industry, that are discharged into areas next to companies or by the drainage systems has caused a great deterioration of the ecosystems. This occurs with some companies installed in the Mexicali city dedicated to manufacture electronic products. This city is located in the northwest of Mexico that is a border city with the United States of America (USA), where some soils and aquifers are been damaged for some years. This has negative effects in the population too, by the generation and proliferation of respiratory diseases (RD), being a beginning of some environmental and health crisis, particularly in areas adjacent to these companies. This study examined the environmental problems of the industry electronics in Mexicali, and the increase of persons that suffer of RD, being principally in the winter periods. The analysis was made based in two steps, being the first to evaluate the pollution of soil and water levels with the principal climatic factors as relative humidity (RH) and temperature variations around two companies of the electronics sector to be correlated with the RD levels. The second step was to analyze the pH of soil and water, around the three companies evaluated in this city and to elaborate an evaluation of soils with the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technique to know their level of deterioration. The study was made from 2018 to 2019.


Diffusion models have achieved state-of-the-art performance in generative modeling tasks across various domains. Prior works on time series diffusion models have primarily focused on developing conditional models tailored to specific forecasting or imputation tasks. In this work, we explore the potential of task-agnostic, unconditional diffusion models for several time series applications. We propose TSDiff, an unconditionally trained diffusion model for time series. Our proposed self-guidance mechanism enables conditioning TSDiff for downstream tasks during inference, without requiring auxiliary networks or altering the training procedure. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on three different time series tasks: forecasting, refinement, and synthetic data generation. First, we show that TSDiff is competitive with several task-specific conditional forecasting methods (predict). Second, we leverage the learned implicit probability density of TSDiff to iteratively refine the predictions of base forecasters with reduced computational overhead over reverse diffusion (refine). Notably, the generative performance of the model remains intact -- downstream forecasters trained on synthetic samples from TSDiff outperform forecasters that are trained on samples from other state-of-the-art generative time series models, occasionally even outperforming models trained on real data (synthesize).


In this paper we analyze the effect of four possible alternatives regarding the prior distributions in a linear model with autoregressive errors to predict piped water consumption: Normal-Gamma, Normal-Scaled Beta two, Studentized-Gamma and Student's t-Scaled Beta two. We show the effects of these prior distributions on the posterior distributions under different assumptions associated with the coefficient of variation of prior hyperparameters in a context where there is a conflict between the sample information and the elicited hyperparameters. We show that the posterior parameters are less affected by the prior hyperparameters when the Studentized-Gamma and Student's t-Scaled Beta two models are used. We show that the Normal-Gamma model obtains sensible outcomes in predictions when there is a small sample size. However, this property is lost when the experts overestimate the certainty of their knowledge. In the case that the experts greatly trust their beliefs, it is a good idea to use Student's t distribution as the prior distribution, because we obtain small posterior predictive errors. In addition, we find that the posterior predictive distributions using one of the versions of Student's t as prior are robust to the coefficient of variation of the prior parameters. Finally, it is shown that the Normal-Gamma model has a posterior distribution of the variance concentrated near zero when there is a high level of confidence in the experts' knowledge: this implies a narrow posterior predictive credibility interval, especially using small sample sizes.


We study the network locality improvements that can be achieved by using co-packaged optics in data center and high-performance computing (HPC) networks. The increased escape bandwidth offered by co-packaged optics can enable switches with speeds of 51.2 Tb/s and beyond. From a network architecture perspective, the key advantages of introducing co-packaged optics at the switch points include the implementation of large-scale topologies of 12,000 end points with 4× higher bisection bandwidth and the reduction of the required number of switches by >40% compared with state-of-the-art approaches. From a network operation perspective, improved network locality and faster operation can be achieved since the higher-radix switches can mitigate the impact of network contention. Placing applications under fewer leaf switches reduces the number of packets that cross the spine switches in a leaf-spine topology. The proposed scheme is evaluated via discrete-event simulations: we initially evaluate the network locality properties of the system by using virtual-machine traces from a production data center, and we subsequently quantify the performance improvements by simulating an all-to-all pattern for a variety of message sizes over a number of nodes. The results suggest that co-packaged optics form a promising solution for keeping up with bandwidth scaling in future networks. The virtual-machine analysis shows that large-scale applications can be placed under up to 50% fewer first-level switches, while the network analysis shows speedups of up to 7.1, which translates to execution time reductions of up to 26% and 42.7% for applications with communication ratios of 0.3 and 0.5, respectively.


Project Evidencia [Evidence] intends to promote the use of scientific databases among nurses. This study aims to design educational interventions that facilitate nurses' access to these databases, to determine nurses' habits regarding the use of scientific databases, and to determine the impact that educational interventions on scientific databases have on Azorean nurses who volunteered for this project. An intervention project was conducted, and a quantitative descriptive survey was designed to evaluate the impact two and five months after the educational intervention. This impact was investigated considering certain aspects, namely, the nurses' knowledge, habits and reasons for using scientific databases. A total of 192 nurses participated in this study, and the primary results indicate that the educational intervention had a positive impact based not only on the increased frequency of using platforms or databases of scientific information (DSIs) s but also on the competence and self-awareness regarding its use and consideration of the reasons for accessing this information.


DISEASES OF THE EAR AND AGE OF PATIENT Each period of life—childhood, middle age and old age—has its own peculiar type of ear trouble. With few exceptions, the person who has passed the age of 50 has a greater or lesser defect in the upper tone ranges, the result of degeneration of the cochlear nerve. Such defects involve primarily the upper tone range and therefore interfere but little with the hearing of the voice; only exceptionally do they progress so far as to constitute a serious handicap. During middle life there is a different form of ear trouble, usually beginning in early adult life. Like the process which involves the eighth nerve in old age, this disease of the ear which occurs during adult life is produced by changes that are permanent. The alterations are primarily not of the nerve, but are such as to produce fixation or rigidity in


Interesting patterns often occur at varied levels of support. The classic association mining based on a uniform minimum support, such as Apriori, either misses interesting patterns of low support or suffers from the bottleneck of itemset generation caused by a low minimum support. A better solution lies in exploiting support constraints, which specify what minimum support is required for what itemsets, so that only the necessary itemsets are generated. We present a framework of frequent itemset mining in the presence of support constraints. Our approach is to "push" support constraints into the Apriori itemset generation so that the "best" minimum support is determined for each itemset at runtime to preserve the essence of Apriori. This strategy is called Adaptive Apriori. Experiments show that Adapative Apriori is highly effective in dealing with the bottleneck of itemset generation.


This paper presents a method for taking into account changes of solar wind parameters in the foreshock using global MHD simulations. We simulate four events with very distant subsolar magnetopause crossings that occurred during quasi‐radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) intervals lasting from one to several hours. Using previous statistical results, we suggest that the density and velocity in the foreshock cavity decrease to ∼60% and ∼94% of the ambient solar wind values when the IMF cone angle falls below 50°. This diminishes the solar wind dynamic pressure to 53% and causes a corresponding magnetospheric expansion. We change the upstream solar wind parameters in a global MHD model to take these foreshock effects into account. We demonstrate that the modified model predicts magnetopause distances during radial IMF intervals close to those observed by THEMIS. The strong total pressure decrease in the data seems to be a local, rather than a global, phenomenon. Although the simulations with decreased solar wind pressure generally reproduce the observed total pressure in the magnetosheath well, the total pressure in the magnetosphere often agrees better with results for nonmodified boundary conditions. The last result reveals a limitation of our method: we changed the boundary conditions along the whole inflow boundary, although a more correct approach would be to vary parameters only in the foreshock. A model with the suggested global modification of the boundary conditions better predicts the location of part of the magnetopause behind the foreshock but may fail in predicting the rest of the magnetopause.


Estimation of the density along with the tensile strength of wood within both the elastic and plastic deformation ranges, represented as modulus of elasticity (MOE) and ultimate tensile stress (UTS), respectively, were performed using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. A partial least squares (PLS) analysis was applied to the measurements of density, MOE, and UTS, and resulted in a high accuracy of prediction, independent of wood species. The correlation coefficient between the NIR spectra and criterion variables, and the regression vector resulting from the PLS analysis, suggested that the characteristic absorption bands were strongly related to the predictability of each property. In the case of softwood, absorption bands due to intra-molecular hydrogen-bonded OH groups in the crystalline regions of cellulose, which are oriented preferentially in a direction parallel to the cellulose chain, might strongly affect the tensile strength of softwood. Hardwoods have much more complex and variable structures than softwoods; therefore, it was supposed that the key factor governing the tensile strength in hardwood would be the interaction between the three principal constituents (i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) of wood.


Space confined catalysis has emerged as viable strategy for achieving potent and efficient catalysts in various important reactions. It offers a means of creating unique nanoscale chemical environments partitioned from the surrounding bulk space. This gives rise to the phenomena of nanoconfinement, where the energetics and kinetics of catalytic reactions can be modulated upon confining the catalysts in a particular site. Various scaffolds have been reported so far for confinement. Among these, void spaces under the cover of 2D materials, van der Waals (vdW) gaps of layered 2D materials, nanotubes, and porous surfaces have recently won copious attention. In this review, the concept of space confinement with respect to its effect on the electronic and structural properties of a catalyst is discussed. Emphasis is devoted to the catalysis of water splitting and CO2 reduction reactions. The progress in the design and applications of space confined catalysts is then traced. Finally, a discussion of emerging issues yet to be explored for this strategy to achieve a high efficiency, and future directions with the potential to become a new hotspots are presented.


This paper presents first steps towards a simple, robust computational model of automatic melody identification. Based on results from music psychology that indicate a relationship between melodic complexity and a listener's attention, we postulate a relationship between musical complexity and the probability of a musical line to be perceived as the melody. We introduce a simple measure of melodic complexity, present an algorithm for predicting the most likely melody note at any point in a piece, and show experimentally that this simple approach works surprisingly well in rather complex music.


We introduce a model of a totally asymmetric simple exclusion process (TASEP) on a tree network where the aggregate hopping rate is constant from level to level. With this choice for hopping rates the model shows the same phase diagram as the one-dimensional case. The potential applications of our model are in the area of distribution networks, where a single large source supplies material to a large number of small sinks via a hierarchical network. We show that mean-field theory (MFT) for our model is identical to that of the one-dimensional TASEP and that this MFT is exact for the TASEP on a tree in the limit of large branching ratio, b (or equivalently large coordination number). We then present an exact solution for the two level tree (or star network) that allows the computation of any correlation function and confirm how mean-field results are recovered as b → ∞. As an example we compute the steady-state current as a function of branching ratio. We present simulation results that confirm these results and indicate that the convergence to MFT with large branching ratio is quite rapid.


Due to the expansion of information systems and facing with a mass of data and information, the existing business intelligence systems are not capable of meeting the requirements of real-time business environments. On the other hand, expansion of different application system environments has hardened integration and interoperability between them. Adoption of service-oriented architecture is one way to face with these big challenges. In the proposed framework, different kinds of features and tools have been used to achieve the best real-time architecture, give the best performance and manage as best as possible in a real-time environment. By using these capabilities and features, integration of applications and distributed services has been provided. In the suggested framework, not only meeting all the requirements in real-time business intelligence environments have been considered, but also it has been provided the possibility of evaluation of interaction between systems and applications and improvement of these interactions by coordination network methodology.