Establishment of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is challenging, and failure in establishment may expose growers to considerable economic risk. The objectives of this research were to (i) evaluate whether management practices are variety-specific for the establishment of switchgrass and (ii) assess the effectiveness of cover crops as preceding crops on 'Shawnee' switchgrass establishment. Therefore, two studies were conducted at the University of Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station in Deerfield, MA, USA, in the 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 growing seasons. In Experiment 1, cover crop treatments (fallow, oat (Avena sativa L.) and rye (Secale cereale L.)) were the main plots, the two seeding methods (no-till drill and a cultipacker seeder (Brillion)) were the sub-plots, and the two varieties ('Cave-in-Rock' (CIR) and Shawnee)) were the sub-sub-plots. The second study was conducted using Shawnee switchgrass and involved the three cover crop treatments used in Experiment 1 using a cultipacker seeder with seed firming prior to planting but not afterwards (consistent in both experiments). The results indicated that a combination of oat and no-till resulted in higher tiller density (493%), lower weed biomass (77%), increased switchgrass biomass (SGB) (283%) and SGB to weed biomass (WB) ratio. Compared with Shawnee, CIR planted into a winter-killed oat residue had higher tiller density (93%), lower weed biomass (18%), higher switchgrass yield (128%) and thus a greater SGB:WB ratio (507%). Trends of switchgrass response to management practices, however, were similar between the two varieties, indicating that seed quality rather than management practices could influence switchgrass's response to management practices. In Experiment 2, Shawnee tiller density was suppressed by rye as the preceding crop, possibly due to late termination of rye. Shawnee switchgrass yields were below 1000 kg ha−1 under all management practices; thus, harvesting should happen in the year following establishment. Future research should focus on comparing no-till drilling with cultipacker seeder with rolling not only before but after seeding to increase seed–soil contact.


As organisations depend more and more on ICT services to meet their missions, ICT disruptions constitute an important risk to their resilience. Therefore, a systematic approach to prevent, predict and manage ICT services disruptions along their life cycle is needed. Simulation and visualisation techniques have been suggested as a means to explore "what-if" scenarios that allow organisations to prepare for different outcomes and consequently help them to improve their resilience. The research discussed in this paper explores how visual analysis of simula ted scenarios can be used as a decision support mechanism to evaluate ICT readiness for organisational resilience. In particular, it presents how this can be supported by our extension of xArchiMate, a tool for simulating and visualising enterprise architecture models. This approach is evaluated by conducting experiments using the tool, analysing the results, and discussing how other extensions can be made to model additional scenarios.


This study proposes a generalized Darcy's law with considering phase lags in both the water flux and drawdown gradient to develop a lagging flow model for describing drawdown induced by constant‐rate pumping (CRP) in a leaky confined aquifer. The present model has a mathematical formulation similar to the dual‐porosity model. The Laplace‐domain solution of the model with the effect of wellbore storage is derived by the Laplace transform method. The time‐domain solution for the case of neglecting the wellbore storage and well radius is developed by the use of Laplace transform and Weber transform. The results of sensitivity analysis based on the solution indicate that the drawdown is very sensitive to the change in each of the transmissivity and storativity. Also, a study for the lagging effect on the drawdown indicates that its influence is significant associated with the lag times. The present solution is also employed to analyze a data set taken from a CRP test conducted in a fractured aquifer in South Dakota, USA. The results show the prediction of this new solution with considering the phase lags has very good fit to the field data, especially at early pumping time. In addition, the phase lags seem to have a scale effect as indicated in the results. In other words, the lagging behavior is positively correlated with the observed distance in the Madison aquifer.


Abs Act: Dry-eye syndrome (DES) is a multifactorial disease affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Various factors, including age, hormonal status, genetics, sex, immune status, innervation status, nutrition, pathogens, and environmental stress, can alter the cellular and molecular structure or function of components of the ocular surface system. The resulting imbalance increases susceptibility to desiccation and epithelial damage, leading to a vicious circle in which inflammation amplifies and sustains further damage by chronic deregulation of the system. Lubricating agents and steroids have been used as treatment options. However, as the causes of the disease become better elucidated, the more chemically complex cyclosporine A has become an increasingly useful treatment option and in the United States is currently the only Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved prescription drug for the treatment of dry eye. The safety and efficacy of cyclosporine have been shown in numerous studies.


Actor-critic methods have achieved significant success in many challenging applications. However, its finite-time convergence is still poorly understood in the most practical single-timescale form. Existing works on analyzing single-timescale actor-critic have been limited to i.i.d. sampling or tabular setting for simplicity. We investigate the more practical online single-timescale actor-critic algorithm on continuous state space, where the critic assumes linear function approximation and updates with a single Markovian sample per actor step. Previous analysis has been unable to establish the convergence for such a challenging scenario. We demonstrate that the online single-timescale actor-critic method provably finds an $\epsilon$-approximate stationary point with $\widetilde{\mathcal{O}}(\epsilon^{-2})$ sample complexity under standard assumptions, which can be further improved to $\mathcal{O}(\epsilon^{-2})$ under the i.i.d. sampling. Our novel framework systematically evaluates and controls the error propagation between the actor and critic. It offers a promising approach for analyzing other single-timescale reinforcement learning algorithms as well.


Herein, four new H-shaped triphenylene discotic liquid crystal tetramers have been designed and synthesized using a copper-free [3+2] cycloaddition reaction between the triphenylene dimer and diazide compounds. To probe the molecular self-assembly and mesophase properties, the length and rigid spacers in diazide have been tailored. The tetramers 7 with a soft spacer display a room-temperature enantiotropic DLC mesophase, and X-ray diffraction confirms that they exhibit an unusual mesophase of a lamellar–hexagonal columnar phase (Colhl). The results of the photophysical tests show that all the new H-shaped DLC tetramers display relatively high intensity photoluminescence properties.


Purpose
Many initiatives are seeking to engage children in learning to code. However, few studies have examined how children's engagement in learning and using coding develops over time. This study aims to seek young people's perspectives on what they viewed as important in their long-term participation in a coding community.

Design/methodology/approach
This study identified youth with a high level of participation and who demonstrated emergent leadership in the Scratch online community. Using methods from qualitative research on youth development, individual interviews were conducted in which these youth were asked about memorable moments in their participation and how these experiences influenced them.

Findings
While each young person described a unique pathway and perspective, this study identified key experiences that motivated their participation, influenced their development and inspired their emergent leadership. These experiences included opportunities to learn through exploration, to receive feedback from peers, to engage in creative collaboration and to contribute to the community.

Practical implications
This study discussed these findings in light of previous research on youth development, and it suggests that building on practices and principles from research on youth programs can help more young people become engaged in developing broader skills with coding.

Originality/value
Youth highlighted experiences that enabled them to express their ideas, to build relationships, to help others and to see themselves in new ways. Their perspectives expand beyond the predominant focus of coding initiatives on computational thinking and problem-solving skills to also support social, leadership and identity development.


The stiffness coefficients of different types of limestone were determined using the through thickness ultrasonic test and measurements of size and weight, and the results obtained verified using aluminium specimens of known mechanical properties. The values of density and stiffness coefficients obtained for the various types of limestone were consistent with their different formation processes. The stiffness coefficients for each specimen were different, exhibited directional properties and were significantly lower in one of the three mutually orthogonal directions in which tests were conducted, a clear confirmation of the heterogeneous and layered nature of limestone. Clearly, therefore, while the through thickness ultrasonic test easily yielded through thickness values of stiffness coefficient, complete characterisation of limestone, would require the use of more complex ultrasonic testing equipment and methods.
(Journal of Civil Engineering, JKUAT: 2002 8: 99-110)


The first half of this introductory essay illustrates, with reference to the five subsequent articles in this issue of Style, how topics presented in SIF (Leech and Short, Style in Fiction: An Introduction to English Fictional Prose) have been explored in new and fruitful ways since its original publication in 1981. The second half examines the opening of Chapter 1 of Dickens' Great Expectations, in particular the third paragraph, providing an example of the practical stylistic analysis of short prose passages, typical of SIF, and showing the interconnections between the main topics to be elaborated in this issue.


The learning preferences of Greek students attending a two-semester undergraduate economics course at a Greek university were investigated. The course was taught by two instructors who initially used a studentcentred teaching style combined with relaxed classroom management and teaching methods intended to help establish rapport with students. Near the end of the first semester, students were asked to assess their instructors' performance. Most students evaluated their instructors positively in regard to preparation, enthusiasm, and organization; however, most also rated the instructors negatively in regard to their ability to maintain control and discipline in the classroom, and the degree of respect the students had for them. Students' comments suggested disapproval of the teachers' relaxed teaching methods. Based on these results, the instructors decided to alter their teaching methods during the second semester to take into account the students' criticisms. In the second evaluation, students rated the instructors mostly positively in regard to strictness, discipline, and respect. These results suggest that Greek students expect their instructors to maintain a considerable degree of psychological distance, and that when they do not, the students perceive the instructors as lacking control in the classroom. The results further suggest that national culture plays an important role in shaping learning preferences, and unintended results can occur when instructors employ teaching methods which violate the cultural expectations of students. It is suggested that in Greek higher education, a gradual progression to a more student-centred teaching method be promulgated.


Objective: To describe the best evidence on the effectiveness of technology-based learning tools designed to improve knowledge of health care providers about clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). Methods: We conducted a systematic review, searching MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL from inception to July 2018. Included studies investigated the effectiveness of any technology-based learning tools developed to improve knowledge of health care providers about CPGs. We used a 2-phase screening process to determine eligibility. Pairs of reviewers critically appraised relevant studies using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network checklist for randomized controlled trials or the National Institutes of Health checklist for pre- and postintervention trials. Evidence from internally valid studies was described using a best-evidence summary. We conducted a sensitivity analysis to determine whether results varied according to methodological quality. Results: Twenty-five of 8321 articles met our selection criteria. Six studies had a low risk of bias and were included in this review. Spaced education was associated with improvement in knowledge; however, its effectiveness relative to other interventions is unknown. Module-based online educational interventions were associated with improvement in knowledge of CPGs; however, they may not be more effective than paper-based self-learning or in-person workshops. The sensitivity analysis determined that the evidence was similar between the high and low risk of bias studies. Conclusion: Module-based- and spaced-education interventions may be beneficial for improving health care providers' knowledge of CPGs; however, much of the evidence toward their use is preliminary.


The limnological characteristics and the phytoplankton community of the pelagic region of the São João River, tributary of the Iguaçu River, Iguaçu National Park were analyzed from August 2008 to July 2009. 221 taxa were identified and the Bacillariophyceae class was the most representative. Bacillariophyceae and Chrysophyceae were the dominant classes in density and Bacillariophyceae in biovolume. According to the DCA carried out for phytoplankton density and biovolume, significant differences were identified between the periods, and between the sites and study periods, respectively. The highest richness of species reached 40 taxa in September 2008 at station 1. The Shannon-Wiener diversity indexes and evenness, calculated from the density of phytoplankton, were temporally heterogeneous and spatially similar. In general, the significant temporal variations in the composition of the phytoplankton community were due to variations in limnological conditions, mainly temperature, transparency and nutrients. Spatially the structure was more similar due to the proximity among the stations. Moreover, the similarity of the distribution of communities in lotic environments were due to the unidirectional flow.


We experimentally investigate phase synchronization between two electronically coupled diode laser pumped Nd:YAG lasers. As the coupling strength increases, the phase of the two chaotic laser outputs develops from a nonsynchronous state to a phase synchronous one through a phase jump state. We find that there are 2pi phase jumps and a pi/2 phase shift between the two laser outputs unlike in optically coupled Nd:YAG lasers. To clarify the transition to phase synchronization with a pi/2 phase shift, we analyze the phenomenon of phase synchronization by using a phase portrait, phase difference dynamics, and frequency variation depending on the coupling strength and obtain the scaling rule of the average phase locking time in the intermittent phase jump state.


Background A variety of cardiovascular abnormalities have been found to be responsible for sudden cardiac death(SCD) in competitive athletes. The lesions responsible for athletic field deaths differ with regard to age and vast majority of SCD occur in athletes aged <18 yrs. Appropriate pre-participation screening (PPS) of young competitive athletes can reduce their risk for SCD. Objective To analyse cardiovascular findings obtained in the pre-participation screening of elite Georgian adolescent athletes. Design Observational follow-up study. Setting Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinical Centre. Patients 227 asymptomatic elite adolescent athletes (83% males), age 15,4±1,6 years, representatives of national teams of 9 sporting disciplines. Interventions The participants underwent cardiovascular(CV) evaluation with medical history, physical examination, 12-lead resting and exercise ECG, and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in 2013–2015. Main Outcome Measurements The participants were followed prospectively until July 2015 with respect to clinically significant cardiovascular abnormalities, and until July 2016 with respect to safe return to sport. Results Resting ECG revealed common/training–related ECG alterations in 70 (31%) athletes, as well as uncommon/training-unrelated changes in 5 (2,2%). TTE revealed mitral valve prolapse in 8(3,5%) athletes, bicuspid aortic valve in 1(0,4%), and signs consistent with anomalous origin of left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery(ALCAPA) in 1 (0,4%) athlete. Stress test revealed decreased exercise tolerance and negative T-waves in V4-V6 in this athlete. Athlete was directed to further CV investigation and CT angiography led to the diagnosis of ALCAPA. Coronary artery bypass grafting was performed. After treatment athlete underwent cardiac rehabilitation program and risk-stratification before entering sports activity. As subendocardial ischemic pattern still existed, the athlete was advised against current participation in competitive sports. Follow-up over a longer period has been planned. Conclusions PPS is significant tool to identify adolescent athletes at risk for exercise-induced SCD. As coronary anomalies are among the common reasons for SCD in young athletes, timely identification and appropriate clinical management, including considerations regarding safe return to sport are necessary.


Large carnivores often impact human livelihoods and well‐being. Previous research has mostly focused on the negative impacts of large carnivores on human well‐being but has rarely considered the positive aspects of living with large carnivores. In particular, we know very little on people's direct experiences with large carnivores like personal encounters and on people's awareness and tolerance toward their exposure to large carnivores. Here, we focus on the wolf (Canis lupus), and report on a phone survey in Germany. We examined whether encounters with wolves were positive or negative experiences and quantified people's awareness and tolerance related to their exposure to wolves. We found that the majority of people reported positive experiences when encountering wolves, regardless of whether wolves were encountered in the wild within Germany, in the wild abroad, or in captivity. The frequency of encounters did not affect the probability to report positive, neutral, or negative experiences. Moreover, people in Germany expressed a high tolerance of living in close vicinity to wolves. These findings are novel and important because they highlight the positive aspects of living in proximity with large carnivores in human‐dominated landscapes.


In drug discovery, there is a clear and urgent need for detection of cell-membrane ion-channel operation with wide-field capability. Existing techniques are generally invasive or require specialized nanostructures. We show that quantum nanotechnology could provide a solution. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in nanodiamond is of great interest as a single-atom quantum probe for nanoscale processes. However, until now nothing was known about the quantum behavior of a NV probe in a complex biological environment. We explore the quantum dynamics of a NV probe in proximity to the ion channel, lipid bilayer, and surrounding aqueous environment. Our theoretical results indicate that real-time detection of ion-channel operation at millisecond resolution is possible by directly monitoring the quantum decoherence of the NV probe. With the potential to scan and scale up to an array-based system, this conclusion may have wide-ranging implications for nanoscale biology and drug discovery.


Dr. Laura Bottomley, ASEE Fellow, is the Director of Women in Engineering and The Engineering Place for K-20 Outreach and a Teaching Associate Professor in the Colleges of Engineering and Education at NC State University. She teaches an Introduction to Engineering class for incoming freshmen in the College and Children Design, Invent, Create, a course for elementary education students that introduces them to engineering design and technology as well as various electrical engineering classes.


We compared the tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha), interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) serum levels in 87 patients with malaria from the Brazilian Amazon. They included asymptomatic infected individuals and symptomatic patients with mild disease or severe malaria with or without cerebral involvement. As controls we examined individuals living in endemic areas without past history of malaria. The TNF-alpha serum levels were increased in patients with malaria and progressively decreased in those with severe disease 7 days after specific treatment. We found correlation between parasitaemia, TNF-alpha levels and severity of the disease. The correlation between high TNF-alpha levels and severe malaria was independent of cerebral involvement. The increase in both IFN-gamma and GM-CSF levels among malarious patients was not related to the degree of severity or mortality. IFN-gamma concentration, however, was associated with high parasitaemia at admission.


A hard disk drive (HDD) failure may cause serious data loss and catastrophic consequences. Online health monitoring provides information about the degradation trend of the HDD, and hence the early warning of failures, which gives us a chance to save the data. This paper developed an approach for HDD anomaly detection using Mahalanobis distance (MD). Critical parameters were selected using failure modes, mechanisms, and effects analysis (FMMEA), and the minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR) method. A self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology (SMART) data set is used to evaluate the performance of the developed approach. The result shows that about 67% of the anomalies of failed drives can be detected with zero false alarm rate, and most of them can provide users with at least 20 hours during which to backup the data.


We present DroidCap, a retrofitting of Android's central Binder IPC mechanism to change the way how permissions are being represented and managed in the system. In DroidCap, permissions are per-process Binder object capabilities. DroidCap's design removes Android's UID-based ambient authority and allows the delegation of capabilities between processes to create least-privileged protection domains efficiently. With DroidCap, we show that object capabilities as underlying access control model integrates naturally and backward-compatible into Android's stock permission model and application management. Thus, our Binder capabilities provide app developers with a new path to gradually adopting app compartmentalization, which we showcase at two favorite examples from the literature, privilege separated advertisement libraries and least privileged app components.


DATA HIDING IN DIGITAL VIDEO Abdullah Cay Old Dominion University, 2011 Director: Dr. Dimitrie C. Popescu With the rapid development of digital multimedia technologies, an old method which is called steganography has been sought to be a solution for data hiding applications such as digital watermarking and covert communication. Steganography is the art of secret communication using a cover signal, e.g., video, audio, image etc., whereas the counter-technique, detecting the existence of such as a channel through a statistically trained classifier, is called steganalysis. The state-of-the art data hiding algorithms utilize features, such as Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficients, pixel values, motion vectors etc., of the cover signal to convey the message to the receiver side. The goal of embedding algorithm is to maximize the number of bits sent to the decoder side (embedding capacity) with maximum robustness against attacks while keeping the perceptual and statistical distortions (security) low. Data Hiding schemes are characterized by these three conflicting requirements: security against steganalysis, robustness against channel associated and/or intentional distortions, and the capacity in terms of the embedded payload. Depending upon the application it is the designer's task to find an optimum solution amongst them. The goal of this thesis is to develop a novel data hiding scheme to establish a covert channel satisfying statistical and perceptual invisibility with moderate rate capacity and robustness to combat steganalysis based detection. The idea behind the proposed method is the alteration of Video Object (VO) trajectory coordinates to convey the message to the receiver side by perturbing the centroid coordinates of the VO. Firstly, the VO is selected by the user and tracked through the frames by using a simple region based search strategy and morphological operations. After the trajectory coordinates are obtained, the perturbation of the coordinates implemented through the usage of a non-linear embedding function, such as a polar quantizer where both the magnitude and phase of the motion is used. However, the perturbations made to the motion magnitude and phase were kept small to preserve the semantic meaning of the object motion trajectory. The proposed method is well suited to the video sequences in which VOs have smooth motion trajectories. Examples of these types could be found in sports videos in which the ball is the focus of attention and exhibits various motion types, e.g., rolling on the ground, flying in the air, being possessed by a player, etc. Different sports video sequences have been tested by using the proposed method. Through the experimental results, it is shown that the proposed method achieved the goal of both statistical and perceptual invisibility with moderate rate embedding capacity under AWGN channel with varying noise variances. This achievement is important as the first step for both active and passive steganalysis is the detection of the existence of covert channel. This work has multiple contributions in the field of data hiding. Firstly, it is the first example of a data hiding method in which the trajectory of a VO is used. Secondly, this work has contributed towards improving steganographic security by providing new features: the coordinate location and semantic meaning of the object.


Abstract We describe a prototype detection framework that automatically clusters events in real time from a rapidly unfolding aftershock sequence. We use the fact that many aftershocks are repetitive, producing similar waveforms. By clustering events based on correlation measures of waveform similarity, the number of independent event instances that must be examined in detail by analysts may be reduced. Our system processes array data and acquires waveform templates with a short-term average (STA)/long-term average (LTA) detector operating on a beam directed at the P phases of the aftershock sequence. The templates are used to create correlation-type (subspace) detectors that sweep the subsequent data stream for occurrences of the same waveform pattern. Events are clustered by association with a particular detector. Hundreds of subspace detectors can run in this framework a hundred times faster than in real time. Nonetheless, to check the growth in the number of detectors, the framework pauses periodically and reclusters detections to reduce the number of event groups. These groups define new subspace detectors that replace the older generation of detectors. Because low-magnitude occurrences of a particular signal template may be missed by the STA/LTA detector, we advocate restarting the framework from the beginning of the sequence periodically to reprocess the entire data stream with the existing detectors. We tested the framework on 10 days of data from the Nevada Seismic Array (NVAR) covering the 2003 San Simeon earthquake. One hundred eighty-four automatically generated detectors produced 676 detections resulting in a potential reduction in analyst workload of up to 73%.


: Using convential mechanical and electromyographic recording methods 2 distinct types of neurogenically elicited activity can be observed in the penis retractor muslce (PRM) of Helix pomatia: (1) rhythmic, phasic contractions correlated with single or a few compound action potentials and (2) intervening, strong, prolonged contractions accompanied by sustained, high frequency electrical muscle activity. The 2 distinct types of muscle activity which seem to play a part in the normal behaviour of the PRM in the intact animal are mediated by both the central nervous system and peripheral neurons. While central neuronal structures are involved in causing the strong, prolonged contractions, the phasic activity is initiated by peripheral neuronal structures located at the proximal end of the PRM. There is evidence that the transmission of the excitation at the neuromuscular level of central and peripheral origin is mediated by ACh.


This dissertation studies empirical problems in retail operations management and dynamic pricing through three essays. The first essay studies the financial impact of offering faster delivery in online retail. Using econometric policy analysis framework, we study a quasi-experimental setting in which a group of U.S. customers for a large apparel retailer experienced a reduction in delivery time due to the opening of a new distribution center (DC). We show that faster delivery increased sales growth by 0.58% per week following the opening of the new DC, with the effect varying inversely with respect to distance from the new DC. The second essay studies the design of free shipping threshold policy in online retail using transaction data from a major online apparel retailer. We develop models of customer demand and product return behavior that are consistent with empirical data to determine the optimal level of free shipping threshold. In particular, we incorporate a behavior called order padding, in which customers deliberately inflate their orders to qualify for free shipping, and its effect on product return. We analyze the model to show that a free shipping threshold policy is most effective when the retailer faces high product margin, low shipping revenue, low product return probability, and when order padding does not cause customers to delay future purchase. The third essay studies practical issues in large-scale multiproduct dynamic pricing. We partner with a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise to develop a demand model for its single-game tickets. The demand model is then used to evaluate the effectiveness of dynamic pricing policies. The demand model indicates that due to various practical constraints in pricing, the franchise was unable to benefit from the use of dynamic pricing. We address these issues and use simulation to show that revenue improvement of up to 15% can be achieved through the effective use of dynamic pricing. We also show that a properly calibrated fixed pricing policy based on a detailed demand model can achieve similar levels of revenue improvement as the optimal dynamic pricing policy. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Operations & Information Management First Advisor Marshall L. Fisher


Psychological research has demonstrated that an apology can contribute to the well-being of the receiver of the apology. However, the legal community has only cautiously embraced the idea of claiming and ordering apologies in a legal procedure. The conventional wisdom is that apologies that are claimed or ordered do not serve a purpose because they lack sincerity and violate the right to freedom of expression. This article challenges conventional wisdom by demonstrating that apologies do not need to be sincere in order for them to serve a purpose. Based on available empirical research, case law, and scholarly research on apologies, this article identifies the purposes of coerced apologies and uses these purposes to draft criteria for determining when ordered apologies are appropriate. It is concluded that an ordered apology is a fulfillment of a legal requirement rather than a statement of genuinely held feelings. A proportionality test is proposed and developed in order to determine the permissibility of ordered apologies. The findings refute the sincerity myth, offer suggestions as to how to overcome freedom of expression concerns, and call for a more welcoming approach towards the ordered apology.


Purpose: To develop a robust 3D lungtumor tracking method based on a single x‐ray projection using maximum likelihood estimation. Methods: 4DCT images at different phases are registered to yield motion vector fields and a PCA based lung motion model is built. An acquired CBCT projection is compared with the simulated projections under different metrics to yield the correct PCA coefficients and hence the corresponding motion vector fields, which can be used to derive the 3D tumor location at this projection. The metrics we considered include normalized cross correlation and normalized mutual information between the gradient images of the acquired CBCT and that of the simulated 4DCT projection, and the position of diaphragm. A maximum likelihood estimation method is developed to combine the tracking results from all the metrics and integrate the constraints regarding tumor motion smoothness and wave form, leading to robust tumor locations. The method is tested on real patient data. Results: It is found that normalized cross correlation, normalized mutual information, and diaphragm location can be used to determine the PCA coefficients and the tumor position, although the efficacy of any single metric depends on the gantry angles and breathing phases. However, with the combination of different metrics, the tumor tracking accuracy is greatly improved. The resulting mean 3D error is found to be 1.3mm. Conclusions: A robust 3D tumor tracking method is developed based on maximum likelihood estimation to derive tumor location corresponding to an x‐ray projection for lungcancer patient. This work is supported by Varian Medical Systems through a Master Research Agreement.


HerdersFarmers conflict in Nigeria happens to be one of the major challenges that have threatened the security and unity of Nigeria. This conflict has persisted unresolved for years. It has even taken an ethno-religious dimension. This dimension of the conflict has created an impasse with respect to the conflict resolution. Sequels to this, the following questions are raised: Why farmers-herders conflicts? Or, what is the fundamental cause of herdersfarmers' conflict in Nigeria? What are the propelling causes of farmers-herders conflicts in Nigeria? Are these conflicts politically or religiously motivated? Consequent to the above, this research adopted Martin Buber's dialogic approach as a panacea to the malady. The concept of dialogic according to Buber is a philosophy of interpersonal relationship which he calls "IThou" (Ich-Du) relationship. Buber argued that I-Thou relation is a relationship of genuine dialogue, active listening, active responses, responsibility, reciprocity and inclusiveness. It is also a relationship for open-minded persons for the sake of peaceful coexistence. Accordingly, his concept of I-Thou relation saw human person as an end in itself and not as a means to an end through genuine dialogue and concrete encounter. In fact, Buber maintained that the concept of dialogic is a relational phenomenon thus it is a subject-to-subject relation. Using the philosophical tools of analysis and hermeneutics, this research hence concludes that Buber's dialogic presents a leeway towards addressing herders-farmers crisis in Nigeria.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of environmental temperature, humidity and methods to dry the etched enamel surface on the adhesive strength of dental adhesive resin Panavia EX '. The findings were as follows 1. Though temperature and humidity in oral cavity were higher than 30•Ž and 81% respectively, they were significantly different from site to site. 2. By rubber dam application, temperature and humidity in oral cavity decreased markedly. By sucking air with vacuum in addition to rubber dam application, both decreased still more. 3. When vacuum was used, there were no statistically significant differences in temperature and humidity among applications of rubber dum, mini-dam, and cotton roll with clamp. 4. The higher were both of environmental temperature and humidity, the more was the tensile adhesive strength reduced. However, since the adhesive strength was not influenced singly by temperature or by humidity, it is suggested that the adhesive strength is influenced by absolute moisture volume. 5. Drying time on the etched-enamel surface influenced the adhesive strength significantly whatever environmental temperature and humidity are. It seems that at least 15 seconds are needed to dry the etched-enamel surface sufficiently with air syringe. 6. It was hardly effective for increasing the adhesive strength to dry the etched-enamel surface with alcohol and to increase the temperature and pressure of compressed air.


A case study is presented of building a map showing the probability that the concentration in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exceeds a critical threshold. This assessment is based on existing PAH sample data (direct information) and on an electrical resistivity survey (indirect information). Simulated annealing is used to build a model of the range of possible values for PAH concentrations and of the bivariate relationship between PAH concentrations and electrical resistivity. The geostatistical technique of simple indicator kriging is then used, together with the probabilistic model, to infer, at each node of a grid, the range of possible values which the PAH concentration can take. The risk map is then extracted for this characterization of the local uncertainty. The difference between this risk map and a traditional iso-concentration map is then discussed in terms of decision-making.


We have recently developed an open-chest sheep model to monitor and study the effects of major orthopedic procedures on pulmonary physiology. In this pilot study, we focused on reamed intramedullary femoral nailing in animals without pulmonary injury. Details of the model are described herein. The control group consisted of sheep that underwent thoracotomy and invasive monitoring only, while the study group also underwent femoral osteotomy, reaming, and intramedullary nailing. Baseline, postthoracotomy, and post-reaming/nailing values were recorded for mean pulmonary arterial pressure, central venous pressure, left arterial pressure, dynamic compliance, arterial blood gas, mixed venous O2, cardiac index, and mean arterial pressure so that hemodynamic and oxygen transport data could be calculated. Postprocedure values were recorded at hourly intervals for 4 h. A physiologically stable, reproducible model was created. No statistically significant differences were found between the control and experimental groups, indicating no adverse effect of femoral reaming/nailing. In one animal, using echocardiography, pulmonary embolization was documented while reaming and inserting the intramedullary nail. Reamed femoral intramedullary nailing is not detrimental to sheep with otherwise normal lungs. This finding suggests that femoral reaming and nailing in trauma patients without associated pulmonary injuries and otherwise normal lungs may be carried out without risk of inducing significant respiratory complications.


Objective: Cancer is one of the four leading causes of death in children. Its courses of diagnosis and treatment can cause physiologic symptoms and psychological distress that secondarily affect children's quality of life and participation in daily activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of play-based occupational therapy on pain, anxiety, and fatigue in hospitalized children with cancer who were receiving chemotherapy. Methods: Two hospitalized children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at least 4 months after diagnoses who received two courses of chemotherapy participated in this pilot study. Takata Play History and Iranian Children Participation Assessment Scale were used to develop intervention protocol. Nine, 30–45 min play-based occupational therapy sessions took place for each child. Children filled out the Faces Pain Scale, Visual Fatigue Scale, and Faces Anxiety Scale before and after each intervention session. Results: Pain, anxiety, and fatigue levels decreased in both participants. Furthermore, the results showed a relationship between pain, anxiety, and fatigue variables in these children. Conclusions: Play-based occupational therapy can be effective in improving pain, anxiety, and fatigue levels in hospitalized children with cancer receiving chemotherapy.


The mechanism of Si pillar thermal oxidation is considered. The Si emission is discussed in the oxidation of three-dimensional structures, which must be fundamentally important to understand the oxidation mechanism. It is confirmed that the Si emission is enhanced in the three-dimensional structures by the geometrical and stress effects. The larger effect is expected for Si spheres rather than for Si pillars. More enhanced Si emission can be expected for the smaller spheres. Then the mechanism of Si missing and the effect of Si emission are also discussed. The oxide viscous flow mechanism is the promising candidate to explain the Si missing, because the oxide viscosity could be reduced by the SiO incorporation and the compressive stress. The geometrical effect induces the viscosity gradient, which is important to induce the Si missing. Interplay of the emitted SiO and the accumulated stress is the key in Si pillar oxidation. Careful approaches are suggested for the oxidation of three-dimensional structures.


The film Parasites by Bong Jon-Hoo (2019) has raised numerous criticisms of the economic and social model that predatory capitalism has made in recent decades, especially in Asian countries. It is not just the conditions of employment or the exploitation of work, but the personal, familiar and social consequences that shape new behaviours and attitudes in this postmodern society. In fact, if the platonic cave myth serves us for the distinction between truth and falsehood, for the distinction between reality and fiction, Parasites poses an even greater challenge because it alerts us to the existence of multiples caves, to a certain underground that it is more real than that described by Dostoevsky in Notebooks of the underground. The human condition gains visibility in this dialectic movement between the visible and the invisible, between the seen and the unseen, between the known and the ignored; the hard reality, unlike the platonic model, is not on the surface, the place of hyper-modern fiction, but it is in the (at the level of the) underground, a place without fiction, where the fight and the survival strategies are designed to face the real. This essay seeks to make a critical reflection on the underground man and his circumstances through Parasites.


A novel thermal treatment, rapid transformation annealing (RTA), has been applied to six different cold rolled low-carbon (LC) steel sheets with the aim of refining their microstructure. The process involves rapid heating to just above the austenite (g) to ferrite (a) transformation temperature and subsequent rapid cooling to room temperature. Grain sizes around 2 µm in two different Nb-Ti HSLA steels, 5 µm in a Ti-LC steel and 6 µm in a plain LC (0.037%C) steel have been produced using fast cooling rates (200°C/s). Non-equiaxed structures are obtained in a Nb-Ti HSIF steel and in a plain LC (0.135%C) (CM) steel due to their higher Mn content. However, very fine equiaxed grains (2 µm) are obtained by rapid intercritical annealing (RIA) in the CM steel. Irrespective of the microalloying concept, the grain growth of recrystallized a grains before their transformation was inhibited in CM and in both HSLA steels. This inhibition is connected with the overlapping of a recrystallization and a-g transformation processes which is essential in order to achieve extreme grain refinement either by RTA or RIA.


This dissertation investigates the creation, adaptation, and demise of international regimes. Specifically, I ask why international regimes sometimes fail to fulfill their original purpose. Empirically, I examine the evolution and eventual failure of the Energy Charter (ECH), a multilateral regime that governs the Eurasian energy economy. Modeled after the European Steel and Coal Community, the original goal of the regime was to capitalize on economic complementarities in energy to integrate Gorbachev's reforming USSR (later Russia) with Europe and promote pan-European cooperation and peace. By 2010, integration had failed, and the regime itself had become a source of conflict. To understand this outcome, I focus on the foreign energy policy of Russia, a central state within the ECH, which actively participated in designing the regime in the 1990s but two decades later decided that it was no longer in its interest.Using data collected from interviews and archival searches during field research in Russia, Brussels, and Paris, I find that under President Yeltsin, low domestic sovereignty meant the state could not integrate key domestic players into ECH policy-making. This led Russia to conclude a bargain that it could not implement domestically. Under President Putin, high domestic sovereignty meant the state had sufficient capacity to corral these recalcitrant actors. However, the new policy that emerged compelled Russia to attempt to modify the ECH in ways that violated previously accepted norms, thereby alienating its European partners and undermining the regime. This study supports Hegemonic Stability theory which suggests that we can expect regime failure after major shifts in the distribution of power produce changes in the interests and policies of key states. I extend this finding by showing that Russian state power increased due to changes in elite conceptions about the legitimacy of state power. I demonstrate this by using over time comparisons between most similar cases, tracing the process through which ECH policy evolved, and examining intervening variables - state building strategies and elite identities vis-a-vis the state - that changed over time in unexpected ways. The shift in elite beliefs had a transformative effect on the structure of domestic politics, generating new patterns of authority, a higher level of state domestic sovereignty, and enhanced state power. Finally, state domestic sovereignty was associated with state capacity to organize domestic groups, behave as a unitary actor, and follow through on international commitments. To capture these developments, I use the concept of state identity which combines the level of domestic sovereignty (high or low) with elite beliefs about the state's role in the international system (regime maker or regime taker). This generates a typology of four state identities - master, pretender, disciple, and apprentice - that can be used to understand regime outcomes more generally. In political economy, I use the term mercantilist instead of master to connect my research with realist insights about the role of power in international political economy. I propose the term mercantilist development which refers to a state that attempts to fundamentally change the structure of the international economy in order to accumulate capital. Thus, mercantilist development helps us understand the micro-mechanisms through which the structure of the international system changes. Finally, I explore the factors associated with successful regime adaptation to accommodate rising powers, an especially pressing contemporary concern given that the balance of power is expected to shift considerably in the twenty-first century.


In this paper the relationships between the GTAP database and a global social accounting matrix (SAM) are explored. The analyses demonstrate that, with one apparent exception, the GTAP database can be easily reorganised into a global SAM that is a truncated form of the SAM described in the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA).
The representation of the GTAP database as a global SAM makes it easy to identify the relationships between national accounting data and the GTAP database, this is particularly so for the relationships between national and GTAP input-output tables and between consolidated national (T) accounts and the implicit national accounts in the GTAP database. The implications of these relationships for the GTAP database are discussed.
The global SAM highlights the nature of the price relations that are built into the GTAP database and model. Using the accounting relationships from the global SAM a transparent, intuitive and simple representation of the price definitions in the GTAP model is developed. It is then shown that the price relations in the GTAP database are consistent with those in an SNA SAM with one exception; specifically purchases by sectors and institutions within a region are valued at producer/market pries rather than purchaser/agent prices. This appears to imply that the GTAP database does not conform to the 'law of one price' in a SAM; namely that all purchasers of each 'separate' commodity pay the same (purchaser) price. However, it is shown that the GTAP model does in fact embody the 'law of one price' since it contains the (implicit) assumption that commodities are differentiated both by commodity and purchaser. An alternative treatment of consumption taxes is used to illustrate some of the implications of the price relationships in the GTAP database.
The global SAM is used to further explore the nature of transactions between regions. A version of the global SAM is developed to explore some of the implications of the current treatment of inter-regional transactions; these explorations demonstrate that for certain policy scenarios it may be desirable to augment the GTAP database. Circumstances under which such data augmentation may be relevant are identified.
The second last section of the paper demonstrates that the regional household formulation of the global SAM is a reduced form of a more general SAM structure. It is demonstrated that it is easier for users to augment the GTAP database using a more general SAM structure, and that subsequent conversion of the revised database to the reduced form is simple. A comparison between the databases in a general SAM form and a reduced form is used to explore some of the implications for the GTAP model of using the concept of a regional household.
The concluding section discusses some of the ways in which the identified relationships between the GTAP database and national accounts can be exploited to further the development of the GTAP database.


In this study, ZnO-loaded PA6 nanocomposite preparation and its antibacterial activity are investigated. This work aims to study the effect of the sizes and amount of the ZnO nanofiller on the antibacterial, mechanical, and thermal properties of the PA6/ZnO nanocomposites. The melt intercalation method is applied to prepare polyamide 6 (PA6) nanocomposite fibers, including 0, 0.5, 1, 3, 5 wt % zinc oxide (ZnO), using a laboratory-scale compounder. The antibacterial activity of the fibers against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538) as a gram positive bacterium and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 4352) as a gram negative bacterium is determined according to ASTM E 2149-0. Mechanical and thermal characterization tests are performed according to relevant standards (ASTM D7426-08, ASTM E1131-08, ASTM D3822-07; DSC, TGA, tensile tests). It is found that the dispersion of the ZnO particles within the PA6 matrix is homogenous according to scanning electron microscopy results. Antibacterial activity tests show that PA6/ZnO nanocomposite fibers exhibit antibacterial efficiency related to their nanoparticle contents. An increase in the amount of nanoparticles causes an increase of the antibacterial activity of the fibers. On the other hand, mechanical and thermal characterization tests show that the addition of ZnO nanoparticles does not affect the strength and thermal properties of the nanocomposites for these loadings.


Abstract : There is an increasing body of knowledge on the microbial flora of captive and wild marine mammals. The expense and practically, however, of isolation and identification of pathogens indicate that sero-surveys may be a viable alternative. In the present study, Salmonella sp., Past. multocida, Ery. rhusiopathiae, and Vibrio alginolyticus (all marine mammal isolates) were used as antigens in the ELISA to measure antibodies in 343 captive and wild pinnipeds and cetaceans. The IgG levels in newborn, stranded, and wild pinnipeds were significantly lower to all pathogens compared with captive animals; lower in wild cetaceans versus captive; and absent in a newborn killer whale. The usefulness of ELISA in disease diagnosis will be discussed. Reprints.


The electric field integral equation is discretized by using the method of moments (MoM) to solve EM scattering problems such as RCS prediction, and antenna radiation with complex objects. The MoM where the complexity is O(N/sup 2/) operations has limitations on electrically large objects so fast algorithms have been proposed in recent years. The fast multipole method (FMM) can reduce the complexity to O(N/sup 1.5/) and the multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) up to O(N log N) operations. In this paper, the RCS of a sphere is analyzed using FMM and MLFMA. Furthermore, the monostatic RCS of a double ogive is compared with measured data for the accuracy of the MLFMA.


This is a quantitative sampling research held within the scope of the Brazil-China Agreement. It compares the Brazilian college youth with the Chinese, in the 17 to 24 year-old age bracket. The data was obtained in 2012, by means of a same questionnaire in both countries. The paper will privilege the data related to values and visions about the best and the worst aspects of being a youngster. It will analyze the differences between young men and women. There will also be some reflections about the research conduction process. With regard to the results, the peculiarities of each group are being identified. Notwithstanding the singularities observed between the youths of each society, it can be observed that there are some transverse points of contact that allow us to go ahead in drawing up the contemporary juvenile condition, incorporating the differences of genders as a fundamental aspect.


A comprehensive analytical method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of seventeen glucocorticoid residues in eggs and milk. The mass spectrometer parameters, the composition of the mobile phase and the sample preparation method were firstly optimized to obtain maximum sensitivity. The samples were deconjugated with beta-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase enzyme and concentrated using an Oasis HLB solid-phase extraction cartridge, followed by cleanup with a dual Sep-pak silica and aminopropyl cartridge. The analytes were quantified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (using a C18 column)/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-MS/MS) operating in the negative ion mode. The assay for the 17 glucocorticoids was linear over the range of 1-200 microg/L for milk and egg samples with a high correlation coefficient (>0.99). The limits of quantification (LOQs) for the target analytes were 0.04-1.27 microg/kg for the egg samples and 0.03-0.73 microg/kg for the milk samples. The average extraction recoveries of the glucocorticoids from eggs and milk at two concentration levels (spiked at 0.40 and 2.00 microg/kg) were 65.6-118.7% and 61.5-119.6%, respectively, with relative standard deviations between 1.8-17.0% and 2.4-18.4%, respectively. Because of its high sensitivity, good precision and specificity, the method was found to be suitable for trace analysis of synthetic and natural glucocorticoids in complex biosamples such as eggs and milk.


Abstract This paper describes flood embankment breaches on the Tay and Earn river systems, Scotland, during a 100-year return period flood in January 1993. The location of flood embankment breaches are compared with failures mapped during another large flood event in February 1990 and other historical information on flood embankment instability. Breaches were identified using colour aerial photography taken 10 days after the January 1993 flood event and a detailed field survey of every flood embankment breach was subsequently undertaken. In total, 116 breaches resulted from the 1993 flood event, most as a result of overtopping, and extensive floodplain damage was associated with a number of the failures. Specific sections of the Tay and Earn river systems demonstrated a high incidence of flood embankment breaching. Along these sections, embankments on the outside of bends and overlying old river courses are highly vulnerable to failure. Embankments bordering tributary streams are also vulnerable to failure as a result of being perpendicular to the direction of flow across the floodplain during inundation. A number of failures, however, cannot be attributed directly to their position relative to the river or former river courses. In these cases local factors, such as scour around fence-posts or poor flood embankment construction are probably dominant. Given the repeated breaching of embankments during flood events, changing agricultural land-use practices, and possible changes in flood magnitudes and frequencies, a number of recommendations concerning flood embankment management on the Tay and Earn river systems are proposed.


This paper proposes a simple and efficient detection framework that uses reduced-set kernels. We first describe our approach which reduces the number of kernels. A convex optimization method is used for calculating the reduced sets. Following this, we propose a method that optimally designs the cascade. Our experimental results indicate that our method minimizes complexity regarding the number of kernels in the cascaded structure while preserving the low error rates. Our algorithm generates the optimal weight of kernels for each cascade stage. This proposed algorithm achieves high detection-rates at low computational cost.


Based on the bribery judgment of first instance that was published by the Chinese court in 2014, we conduct the first empirical study of the relationships among the ranks of corrupt officials, legal institutional design and corruption punishment. When analyzing only the relationship between the ranks of corrupt officials and the severity of punishment, there is a distorted representation that the corruption punishment of higher-level corrupt officials is lighter. However, by considering the legal system design and controlling for the diminishing marginal effect of corruption punishment, the influences of high-ranking corrupt officials on corruption punishment change, the sentence lengths of the high-ranking corrupt officials are not shorter but longer, and the introduction of the discretionary factor of the judge also proves that judges tend to punish high-ranking corrupt officials more heavily. Thus, the cause of corruption punishment distortion is mainly due to the lag in the adjustment of the criminal law.


Catalytic coal gasification has attracted much attention in both academic and industrial circles due to that it is considered as a key technology for coal efficient utilization, in terms of lower reaction temperature and higher heat efficiency as compared to the conventional coal gasification. In this paper, the development and the research on catalytic coal gasification are reviewed, including the mechanism, catalysts and applications. Four categories of intensively used catalysts, including alkali metal catalysts (i.e. K, Na), alkaline earth metal catalysts (i.e. Ca), transition metal catalysts (i.e. Fe), and compound metal catalysts as well as their composites are summarized in detail. Furthermore, process conditions, such as coal feed composition, gasification operating conditions, and amount of catalyst are also reviewed. Although catalytic coal gasification as a promising technology can overcome some operation difficulties for efficiently converting coal to target products (H2, CH4), there are still many unsolved problems remained, such as, how to find catalysts more effective, recyclable and cheaper, and how to balance the efficiency and economic cost of gasification process.


Mitochondria-dependent apoptosis plays an important role in the embryonic development of the midbrain dopaminergic system as well as in Parkinson's disease. Central to mitochondria-dependent apoptosis is the Bcl2 family of apoptosis-regulating proteins. However, it was unclear which Bcl2 proteins are important for the survival of dopaminergic neurons. Here, we identify Mcl1 as a critical Bcl2 pro-survival factor in midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Using a chemical biology approach to inhibit various components of the apoptotic machinery in the dopaminergic MN9D cell line or the control neuroblastoma N2A cell line, we find that functional inhibition of Mcl1 with the high affinity small molecule inhibitor UMI-77 results in a rapid and dose-dependent loss of viability, selectively in dopaminergic cells. In-depth analysis of the apoptotic signaling pathway reveals that chemical inhibition of Mcl1 results in the activation of Bax, activation of cleaved caspase-3 and finally cell death. The dependence of mouse dopaminergic midbrain neurons on Mcl1 was confirmed using ex vivo slice cultures from Pitx3GFP/+ and wildtype mice. In mouse dopaminergic midbrain neurons positive for the midbrain dopaminergic marker Pitx3, or tyrosine hydroxylase, UMI-77 treatment caused a dramatic increase in cleaved caspase 3, indicating that Mcl1 activity is required for basal neuronal survival. Overall, our results suggest that Mcl1 is of critical importance to dopaminergic neurons and is a weak link in the chain controlling cellular survival. Boosting the pro-survival function of Mcl1 should be pursued as a therapeutic approach to augment the resilience of midbrain dopaminergic neurons to apoptotic stress in Parkinson's disease.


Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are capable of multilineage differentiation into cells like osteoblasts, chondrocytes or adipocytes. MSCs can be isolated from bone marrow and expanded ex vivo for up to 25-40 population doublings while maintaining genetic stability and differentiation potential. MSCs have great potential in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine where cartilage and bone conditions which are non-treatable or show very slow improvement can be effectively handled. Several clinical trials have been performed using MSC and show very promising results.


We prove a categorified version of the Poincaré lemma. The natural setting for our result is that of ∞-local systems. More precisely, we show that any smooth homotopy between maps f and g induces an A∞-natural transformation between the corresponding pullback functors. This transformation is explicitly defined in terms of Chen's iterated integrals. In particular, we show that a homotopy equivalence induces a quasi-equivalence on the DG categories of ∞-local system.


With increasing water reuse applications and possible stringent regulations of phosphorus content in secondary and tertiary effluent discharge in Florida, USA, alternative technologies beyond conventional treatment processes require implementation to achieve low phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) concentrations. A pilot scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) system, operated in Florida, adopted the University of Cape Town (UCT) biological process for the treatment of domestic wastewater. The system operated for 280 days at a wastewater treatment facility with total hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 7 h and sludge retention time (SRT) of 20 days. Operating conditions were controlled to maintain specific dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations in the reactors, operate at suitable return activated sludge (RAS) rates and to waste from the appropriate reactor. This process favored biological phosphorus removal and achieved 94.1% removal efficiency. Additionally, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and N removal were achieved at 93.9% and 86.6%, respectively. Membrane operation and maintenance did not affect the biological P removal performance but enhanced the process given the different operating requirements compared to that required with the conventional UCT process alone. Conclusively, the result of the pilot study demonstrated improvement in biological phosphorus removal. The UCT-MBR process tested achieved average effluent nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of 5 mg/L as N and 0.3 mg/L as P.


Estimation of unmeasured states plays an essential role in the design of control systems as well as for monitoring of hydropower plants. The standard Kalman filter gives the optimum state estimates for linear systems. However, this optimality is not relevant for nonlinear models and a choice between stochastic and deterministic approaches is not so obvious in this case. Thus the application of a nonlinear observer in a hydropower system is of interest here as an alternative to the widely used extended Kalman filter. This paper provides a study and design of a reduced order nonlinear observer to estimate the states of a hydropower system. Implementation of the nonlinear observer is done in OpenModelica and added to our in-house hydropower Modelica library — OpenHPL, where different models for hydropower systems are assembled. Simulations and analysis of the designed observer are done in Python using a Python API for operating OpenModelica simulations.


Thermogravimetric analyzer has been employed in this paper to test the combustion properties of four kinds of mixed biomass fuel with sludge, domestic waste, swill, coal and grass as major components. Combustion characteristic parameters were obtained through series of experiments, and burning activation energy was got by kinetic analysis. Research results show that ignition temperature of mixed biomass fuel was relatively low and the mixed biomass fuel could be burned easily. The calculated burnout characteristics index and combustion characteristic index showed that combustibility of sample A is the worst while sample D is the best among four materials. Combustion kinetics calculations about the four samples showed that average activation energies for A, B, C and D under the low and the high combustion temperature are 47.02 kJ/mol and 50.51 kJ/mol, 28.10 kJ/mol and 26.98 kJ/mol, 27.93 kJ/mol and 26.72 kJ/mol, and 23.26 kJ/mol and10.73 kJ/mol, respectively, which present the order of activity: D>C>B>A. Results indicated that sample D has the best component proportion which could easily break down and burn out. Furthermore, combustion characteristic index of mixed biomass depends on the proportion of components, where the lower proportion of domestic waste in mixture, the better combustion characteristic index of mixed biomass fuel.


Objectives To evaluate how involvement in life situations (participation) in children with cerebral palsy varies with type and severity of impairment and to investigate geographical variation in participation. Design Cross sectional study. Trained interviewers visited parents of children with cerebral palsy; multilevel multivariable regression related participation to impairments, pain, and sociodemographic characteristics. Setting Eight European regions with population registers of children with cerebral palsy; one further region recruited children from multiple sources. Participants 1174 children aged 8-12 with cerebral palsy randomly selected from the population registers, 743 (63%) joined in the study; the further region recruited 75 children. Main outcome measure Children's participation assessed by the Life-H questionnaire covering 10 main areas of daily life. Scoring ignored adaptations or assistance required for participation. Results Children with pain and those with more severely impaired walking, fine motor skills, communication, and intellectual abilities had lower participation across most domains. Type of cerebral palsy and problems with feeding and vision were associated with lower participation for specific domains, but the sociodemographic factors examined were not. Impairment and pain accounted for up to a sixth of the variation in participation. Participation on all domains varied substantially between regions: children in east Denmark had consistently higher participation than children in other regions. For most participation domains, about a third of the unexplained variation could be ascribed to variation between regions and about two thirds to variation between individuals. Conclusions Participation in children with cerebral palsy should be assessed in clinical practice to guide intervention and assess its effect. Pain should be carefully assessed. Some European countries facilitate participation better than others, implying some countries could make better provision. Legislation and regulation should be directed to ensuring this happens.


The academic world today welcomes a generation of students who grew up with internet. They use this tool everyday for any kind of use, finding information, sharing or communication distraction. On the one hand, social networks, they are among the most commonly used applications and they occupy about 2 hours time per day for 15-24 and about 8 hours per week for 18-35. They are thus over 7 million in this age group to use the internet daily. On the other hand, digital learning environments, more or less personalized, they are made available to students by universities. They are more or less open and customizable but they can not exclude the specific uses (hyper-connections, high sociality based on weak links,…) of the new student populations.This new landscape constantly changing regarding new generations of practices, just ask us about their impact on learning since they spend a large part of their day in the University and therefore as learners. The objective of this analysis is to enable a better understanding of students everyday use to provide recommendations for teachers to help them to adapt their teaching practices, but also to be able to suggest improvements and developments in Personal Learning Environments Learning ergonomy and functionalities i.e. improving tools, building applications enabling interaction between the different actors of the learning platform (learner-teacher support services) and interoperability of such applications with those most widely used everyday (social networks, wiki, community platform and social bookmarking, recommendation system, etc. ..); ergonomics of the platform to facilitate navigation; supports, resources and teaching screenwriting best suited to their usual practices, etc ... To achieve these goals, we will use a SWOT analysis. The originality of our approach is to combine a vision outcome from Human and Social Sciences, Science of Education and mathematical modeling technics of the online uses.


In the fact, time for teaching and learning is not enough so much in the class, so the teacher only teach to achieve the target and completeness material teaching whereas completeness or students' comprehension is less attention. Moreover, the students don't exercise to do the test
items which one of the causes of why the mathematic mark is lower than other subjects. Therefore, the teacher seldom gives test items and discusses them because of time limitation. He needs to expand the various teaching method and sets of teaching toll for supporting the teaching
learning activity. So, the teaching target and students'comprehension is achieved. Mobile learning is one of the learning medias that mostly is developed. And WAPsite is one of the mobile learning for learning alternative. WAPsite is a web developed and adapted for mobile so it can be accessed with handphone which has WAP facility exactly. Through this facility, we can access the various information. Furthermore, it can be developed for mathematic learning base on the WAPsite. The purpose of this research was to know how to make learning media of mathematic online with WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) for senior high school. And the descriptive method
was used in this research by explaining the steps of learning medias online through WAP and supporting software that is used in making process.
Kesimpulan dalam penulisan skripsi ini adalah bahwa pembuatan media pembelajaran matematika melalui WAP menggunakan bahasa pemorgraman WML dan PHP serta MySQL
sebagai penyimpanan data dan Photoshop 7.0 sebagai pengolah gambar. Selain itu pembuatan media pembelajaran ini melalui lima tahapan, yaitu Merancang desain alur aplikasi, merancang database dan tabel-tabel yang diperlukan dalam sistem, membuat program koneksi, membuat tampilan dari setiap halaman, tahap terakhir adalah Output atau hasil berupa media belajar matematika online melalui WAP.
Finally, the conclusion is the making of mathematic learning medias through WAP used WML program, PHP and MySQL as the data saving and photoshop 7.0 as the picture design.
Therefore, it is through 5 steps as follows designing application stream,designing the database and tables needed on system, making the conection program, making each of the page display, the last step is output or result of the mathematic learning media online through WAP.


Summary
Antisera to the M
r 32000 (32K) capsid and M
r 16500 (16.5K) major non-capsid proteins were used for immunological analyses of extracts from maize stripe virus (MStpV)-infected maize (Zea mays) plants and from inoculative Peregrinus maidis, the MStpV planthopper vector. The 32K protein was easily detected in extracts of both MStpV-infected plants and inoculative P. maidis by ELISA and by immunological analysis of Western blots. In a time course study, no 32K protein was detected in P. maidis until 8 days after the beginning of a 5 day acquisition access period on MStpV-infected plants. The percentage of MStpV-positive P. maidis increased with time indicating multiplication of MStpV in P. maidis. The 32K protein was detected only in individual P. maidis that also transmitted MStpV to plant hosts. The 16.5K protein was also detected in MStpV-infected plant hosts but not in extracts of groups or of individual MStpV-inoculative P. maidis. In vitro translation of MStpV virion RNAs in rabbit reticulocyte lysates showed that both the 32K and 16.5K proteins were present in the translation products. The ready detection of the MStpV-coded 32K protein in both plant and insects and detection of the 16.5K protein in only plant hosts is discussed.


In 45 patients with biliary calculous disease the relieving-dietetic therapy course was performed. The fragmentation or lysis of echopermeable echononsolid, echononpermeable echononsolid, echopermeable echosolid calculi was established. There was not noted fragmentation of echononpermeable echosolid calculi.


Novel benzimidazolium bromides salts having (4-methoxyphenyl)ethyl, (phthalimide-2-yl)methyl, 4-nitro- benzyl, 2-phenylethyl, penthyl, or allyl groups were synthesized and their characterizations were conducted by $^{1}$H and $^{13}$C NMR and IR spectroscopic methods, and microanalysis. In vitro antitumor activities of the novel benzimidazole compounds (1-7) were determined by using ovarian (A2780) and prostate (PC-3) cancer cell lines. Antitumor properties of all compounds were determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. A time-dependent cell viability assay for the tested benzimidazole compounds was performed and the IC$_{50}$ values of the compounds were calculated after treatment for 24 and 48 h. Our results indicate that the tested benzimidazole compounds show antitumor activity against A2780 and PC-3 cell lines (P $


Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is started in 4000 victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Sweden each year and the survival rate is approximately 10%. The subsequent development of a global ischemic brain injury is the major determinant of the neurological prognosis for those patients who reach the hospital alive. Induced hypothermia is a recommended treatment after cardiac arrest and has been implemented in most Swedish centres. Recent studies indicate that induced hypothermia may affect several methods for neurological prognostication and previous international recommendations are therefore no longer valid when hypothermia is applied. An expert group from the Swedish Resuscitation Council has reviewed the literature and made recommendations taking into account the effects of induced hypothermia and concomitant sedation. A delayed neurological evaluation at 72 hours after rewarming is recommended for hypothermia treated patients. This evaluation should be based on several independent methods and the possibility of lingering pharmacological effects should be considered.


Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) is a statistical approach for topic modeling with a wide range of applications. Attracted by the exceptional computing and memory throughput capabilities, this work introduces ezLDA which achieves efficient and scalable LDA training on GPUs with the following three contributions: First, ezLDA introduces three-branch sampling method which takes advantage of the convergence heterogeneity of various tokens to reduce the redundant sampling task. Second, to enable sparsity-aware format for both D and W on GPUs with fast sampling and updating, we introduce hybrid format for W along with corresponding token partition to T and inverted index designs. Third, we design a hierarchical workload balancing solution to address the extremely skewed workload imbalance problem on GPU and scale ezLDA across multiple GPUs. Taken together, ezLDA achieves superior performance over the state-of-the-art attempts with lower memory consumption.


In this paper the complex phenomenon of pain is discussed and analysed along different theoretical paths: cognitivism, hermeneutics, phenomenology. The neuro-cognitive approach is exemplified through Paul and Patricia Churchland's writings; then H.-G. Gadamer's hermeneutical approach is evaluated. While apparently opposite, they share a common assumption, namely that the body is basically to be conceived of as not really different from the Cartesian Res extensa. Some problems thus arise: in particular, the aspect of reflexivity implied in any experience of pain is overlooked. Accordingly, an adequate approach to feeling pain must take the phenomenological path. This means to discuss Husserl's but also Scheler's and Heidegger's contributions, in order to bring to the fore the complexity of the phenomenon of pain, which shows a particular and paradoxical structure: exposing the subject feeling pain to its own internal exteriority.


Surface sensible heat flux (SHF) is a critical indicator for understanding heat exchange at the land-atmosphere interface. A common method for estimating regional SHF is to use ground observations with approaches such as eddy correlation (EC) or the use of a large aperture scintillometer (LAS). However, data observed by these different methods might have an issue with different spatial supports for cross-validation and comparison. This letter utilizes a geostatistical method called area-to-area regression kriging (ATARK) to solve this problem. The approach is illustrated by upscaling SHF from EC to LAS supports in the Heihe River basin, China. To construct a point support variogram, a likelihood function of four parameters (nugget, sill, range, and shape parameters) conditioned by EC observations is used. The results testify to the applicability of ATARK as a solution for upscaling SHF from EC support to LAS support.


Background: Childhood constipation is a common problem, accounting for 3% of visits to pediatric clinics and up to 25% of visits to pediatric gastroenterologists. Howev- er, little is known about the prevalence of childhood constipation in developing countries and the frequency of its causes. We proposed to determine the frequency and causes of constipation in children presented to a gastroenterology clinic of a teaching pediatric hos- pital located in Tehran, Iran. Methods: All five hundred and fifty six children referred to a pediatric gastroenterolo- gy clinic were evaluated for gastrointestinal problems including difficulties in defecation. After the detection of constipated children, a questionnare was completed including base- line characteristics, physical examination, paraclinic laboratory data and determination of the cause of constipation (organic or non-organic). Results: Out of all 556 children, constipation was diagnosed in 87 individuals (15.64%). Among children with constipation, 53% were girls and 47% were boys and on- ly in 13% organ problems was the main cause. Urinary incontinence and encopresis were detected in 16.2% and 27% of constipated children, respectively. The prevalence of uri- nary tract infection in children with constipation was significantly higher in girls than boys (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of our study show that the prevalence of constipation among Iranian children is high enough to emphasize it's importance


A new signal-detection approach for detecting brain activations from PET or fMRI images in a two-state ("on-off") neuroimaging study is proposed. The activation pattern is modeled as a superposition of an unknown number of circular spatial basis functions of unknown position, size, and amplitude. Also, the number of these functions and their parameters is determined by maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation. To maximize the posterior distribution, a reversible-jump Markov-chain Monte-Carlo (RJMCMC) algorithm is used. The main advantage of RJMCMC is that it can estimate parameter vectors of unknown length. Thus, in the model used, the number of activation sites does not need to be known. Using a phantom derived from a neuroimaging study, it is demonstrated that the proposed method can estimate more accurately the activation pattern from traditional approaches. Results obtained from real fMRI data are also shown.


Humates have nitrogen-binding qualities that could prove to be beneficial in the retention of ammonia nitrogen in the rumen of Holstein steers fed a high-concentrate finishing diet. Therefore, four ruminally fistulated Holstein steers were used in a 4 x 4 Latin Square design to determine the effects of humates (HA) on serum urea nitrogen, rumen pH, rumen ammonia nitrogen and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production. Steers were randomly assigned one of four treatments; a control (0), 5.0, 10.0 or 15.0 g/kg HA (DM basis). The steers were fed ad libitum for 21 days prior to sample collection with dry matter intake (DMI) determined from days 14 to 21. For DMI, a quadratic response was observed; lowest for 5.0 and 10.0 g/kg HA and highest for 15.0 g/kg HA compared to control. Treatment by time interactions was not observed. No treatment differences were observed for total VFA concentrations (mM), or molar proportions of acetate, propionate, butyrate or valerate, but there was a quadratic response observed for butyrate. It was determined that HA do not alter rumen fermentation of Holstein steers fed high-concentrate diets. Keywords: Humic acid, volatile fatty acids, high-concentrate diets, serum urea nitrogen, intake


Dynamic load cycling method is often used to simulate both dynamic driving load and start-stop cycle. However, utilisation of this method to simulate start-stop cycle is considered to be very conservative and moreover irrelevant to certain energy supplying system for electric vehicle where the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) produces constant load and dynamic driving load is taken over by energy storage systems. Consequently, this research is conducted by focusing on the effect of start-stop cycle under various constant loads on PEMFC performance using electrochemical characterisation. The findings emphasise the carbon corrosion resulted from start-stop cycling as the major effect. In addition, it was found that the phenomena occurring due to start-stop cycling are competitive diffusion, water electrolysis, water electro-osmosis, and water back diffusion, as summarised in the matrix provided in this paper. According to the findings, it is finally recommended to operate PEMFC at high load in order to diminish the mass transfer resistance due to start-stop cycle.


Ti-6Al-4V was successfully jointed by linear friction welding (LFW). A sound weld of thickness of 65-115 $m was obtained under the present conditions. The weld consisted of the superfine α+β structure, which is associated with the rapid heating and cooling processes involved in LFW. The thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) was limited and comprised of the severely deformed α and β grains. In the flash, a gradual microstructure was formed from the weld edge to the flash edge. A martensite structure (α') was formed besides the acicular α+β in the flash edge owing to the fast cooling rate.


When imaging through tissue, the optical inhomogeneities of the sample generate aberrations that can prevent effective Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) imaging. This is particularly problematic for 3D-enhanced STED. We present here an adaptive optics implementation that incorporates two adaptive optic elements to enable correction in all beam paths, allowing performance improvement in thick tissue samples. We use this to demonstrate 3D STED imaging of complex structures in Drosophila melanogaster brains.


A common argument is that international trade prevents conflict because the possible loss of trade reduces the willingness of both sides to fight. I examine the logic of this argument in the light of game theoretic models of conflict. In such models, crises are contests of relative resolve. Neither side, however, can observe the other side's resolve in totality; resolve has observable and unobservable components. Instead both sides try to judge the other's unobservable resolve from their actions in the crisis. Costly signals play a critical role in the communication of unobservable resolve in these models. If higher trade flows reduce both sides' resolve for war, then the effect of trade on the likelihood of conflict is indeterminate. Trade flows are observable ex ante, and a state contemplating conflict considers its effect on both sides' actions before beginning a dispute. The initiator is less willing to fight, reducing the chance that it initiates a dispute. At the same time, the target is also less willing to fight, increasing the chance that it makes concessions to the initiator to avoid war, and thus increasing the chance that the initiator begins a dispute. The net effect of these two changes is indeterminate. Trade flows could reduce the risk of escalation by increasing the range of costly signals of resolve in a crisis. A greater range of available costly signals increases the efficiency of signaling between the disputants, increasing the chance that they will reach a peaceful settlement.


To accelerate the bone growth around a metallic implant and to achieve the mechanical characteristics needed for biomedical applications, a HA/Ti composite coating was produced on NiTi alloy substrate by laser cladding. The chemical compositions, microstructures and surface morphology of the cladded layer were analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The experimental results showed that an excellent metallurgical bonding between the coating and the substrate was obtained. Owing to decomposition of HA under irradiation of high power laser, the microstructures in bioceramics coating were mainly composed of CaO, CaTiO3, Ti4P3, and HA phases. In vitro experimental result showed that HA/Ti composite coating made the bioactivity of NiTi alloy improve remarkably, which would promote the bone growth and could restrain Ni ion releasing from NiTi alloy.


In this paper, we propose an approach to effectively accelerating the computation of continuous normalizing flow (CNF), which has been proven to be a powerful tool for the tasks such as variational inference and density estimation. The training time cost of CNF can be extremely high because the required number of function evaluations (NFE) for solving corresponding ordinary differential equations (ODE) is very large. We think that the high NFE results from large truncation errors of solving ODEs. To address the problem, we propose to add a regularization. The regularization penalizes the difference between the trajectory of the ODE and its fitted polynomial regression. The trajectory of ODE will approximate a polynomial function, and thus the truncation error will be smaller. Furthermore, we provide two proofs and claim that the additional regularization does not harm training quality. Experimental results show that our proposed method can result in 42.3% to 71.3% reduction of NFE on the task of density estimation, and 19.3% to 32.1% reduction of NFE on variational auto-encoder, while the testing losses are not affected.


Dairy cattle, and Holsteins in particular, were the first major agricultural industry to fully embrace genomic selection (GS). Few of us had predicted that, by May 2019, the number of genotyped animals would exceed 3 million. Farmers are changing the frequency of individual alleles and making use of genomic information to select better bulls; identify elite embryo donors; determine if a cow should be bred with conventional, sexed or beef semen; become an embryo recipient or be culled. Our industry has traditionally been an open system, where top genetics are sourced from the general population and phenotypes are provided on a voluntary basis. Contractual agreements have allowed this system to continue and have been extended to access of data, differential pricing, international collaboration and more. Phenotypes no longer come from well designed, highly organized progeny testing programs but rather from paid contributors who provide data that are quality certified and representative of the population. Over time, we've improved our genome map, SNP chips, reference populations, statistical models, computing ability, data pipeline, and most importantly our knowledge of genetics. Combining different types of data from multiple sources continues to be a challenge. Interdisciplinary approach and collaboration with other scientists are now the norm. GS has caused a paradigm shift within the dairy industry. But, after 10 years, we are in a better position to more quickly integrate new scientific knowledge. Making our industry and the production of dairy products more efficient and sustainable.


The potential of polyhalite, a natural mineral consisting of K2O, SO3, MgO, and CaO at 14%, 48%, 6%, and 17%, respectively, to become a slow-release multi-nutrient fertilizer was the focus of the present study. Fertilizer solubility, and hence the potential availability of its various constituent minerals, was investigated in both a laboratory test and a field experiment. In the laboratory test, the potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) salts were completely dissolved, while the calcium (Ca) salts displayed significantly limited solubility. In the field experiment, under repeated cycles of wetting that simulate successive rainfall events, all polyhalite constituents were between 75-100% dissolved following 300 mm of accumulating water application, in the order of K>Mg>S>Ca. Significant differences in solubility occurred with the rising amounts of water application up to 800 mm. While K and Mg displayed no or negligible residues, S dissolution was very gradual, and Ca residues remained constant. Supported by previous studies, the present study demonstrates that polyhalite dissolution in water takes longer and requires larger water volumes compared to other soluble fertilizers. This advantage reduces possible risks Solubility of Granular Polyhalite under Laboratory and Field Conditions Yermiyahu, U.(1)*, I. Zipori(1), C. Omer(1), and Y. Beer(2) (1)Gilat Research Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Agricultural Research (GCASAR), Agricultural Research Organization, Mobile Post Negev 2, 85280, Israel (2)ICL Specialty Fertilizers, Israel *Corresponding author: email@example.com Polyhalite solubility field experiment. Photo by the authors.


Sustainable development in the knowledge economy faces new challenges. Sustainable development has its stakeholders and drivers; some of them are more important than the others. Financial cooperatives do not seem a substantial stakeholder of sustainable development, but only at the first sight. This paper deals with the evaluation of financial cooperatives as drivers for sustainable development in the knowledge economy through community empowerment. Cooperative banks are stakeholder-value institutions, when the traditional commercial institutions are referred to as shareholder-value ones. Members of cooperatives are their stakeholders at different levels. Small financial cooperatives, like credit unions exist to attain the economic and social goals of their members, and not maximizing profit and shareholder wealth. This enables credit unions to empower communities to pursue specific interests of their local communities. The analysis of statistical data in order to establish whether there is a correlation between the level of prevalence of credit unions in different countries and the level of development of the knowledge economy and the selected sustainable development indicators is presented in this paper. The analysis indicates for an increasing positive correlation depending on credit union industry development stage. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.66.4.5497


Neural abstractive summarization models have drastically improved in the recent years. However, the summaries generated by these models generally suffer from issues such as: not cap-turing the critical facts in source documents, and containing facts that are inconsistent with the source documents. In this work, we present a general framework to train abstractive summarization models to alleviate such issues. We first train a sequence-to-sequence model to summarize documents, and then further train this model in a Reinforcement Learning set-ting with question-answering based rewards. We evaluate the summaries generated by the this framework using multiple automatic measures and human judgements. The experimen-tal results show that the question-answering rewards can be used as a general framework to improve neural abstractive summarization. Particularly, the results from human evaluations show that the summaries generated by our approach are preferred over 30% of the time over the summaries generated by general abstractive summarization models.


Keratoconus is a bilateral, non-inflammatory and progredient corneal ectasia with an incidence of approximately 1 per 2,000 in the general population. Within the second decade of life the cornea develops a conical shape, due to thinning of the corneal stroma with subsequent irregular astigmatism and myopia leading to marked impairment of vision. The most common presentation of the keratoconus is as a sporadic disorder, but it has long been recognized that a significant minority of patients exhibit a family history as an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. Most investigators suggest complete penetrance of predisposing factors with variable phenotypic expression. In some patients heterozygous mutations in the VSX1 gene are described as the underlying gene defect. An association with Down syndrome, monosomia X (Turner syndrome), Leber's congenital amaurosis, mitral valve prolaps, collagenosis, retinitis pigmentosa and Marfan syndrome is described. The role of corneal cells in the pathogenesis of keratoconus is supported by the published reports of recurrence of keratoconus in eyes after penetrating keratoplasty due to graft repopulation by the recipient cells. Placido-based computeed videokeratographic corneal curvature mapping systems, linked with pachymetry, are useful for identifying overt and subclinical cases of keratoconus. Different indices may quantify the clinical features of keratoconus and may improve the classification. We compared videokeratometric data (Fourier series harmonic analysis and wavefront analysis) in eyes with keratoconus to answer the question of which parameters are useful for early diagnosis of keratoconus.


Novel view synthesis from a single image requires inferring occluded regions of objects and scenes whilst simultaneously maintaining semantic and physical consistency with the input. Existing approaches condition neural radiance fields (NeRF) on local image features, projecting points to the input image plane, and aggregating 2D features to perform volume rendering. However, under severe occlusion, this projection fails to resolve uncertainty, resulting in blurry renderings that lack details. In this work, we propose NerfDiff, which addresses this issue by distilling the knowledge of a 3D-aware conditional diffusion model (CDM) into NeRF through synthesizing and refining a set of virtual views at test time. We further propose a novel NeRF-guided distillation algorithm that simultaneously generates 3D consistent virtual views from the CDM samples, and finetunes the NeRF based on the improved virtual views. Our approach significantly outperforms existing NeRF-based and geometry-free approaches on challenging datasets, including ShapeNet, ABO, and Clevr3D.