Resonant excitation analysis on asymmetrical lateral leakage of light in the finite zero-contrast grating (ZCG) mirror is demonstrated, and the size effect of the excited source is investigated. The dispersion equation of slab waveguide for the TM mode is proposed to evaluate the resonant condition of the ZCG mirror, and it is shown that the mirror effect of the infinite ZCG is resulted from the overlapping of order-mode resonance pairs. However, two leaky channels are excited in spectra of the finite ZCG mirror for the normal-incident Gaussian source, where bound states in the continuums (BICs) turn into quasi-BICs as the angular component is nonzero. The leaky channels are confined in the grating layer and the sublayer, and they are all transferred from the symmetrical mode to the asymmetrical mode along the lateral direction from the center of the ZCG. The asymmetrical loss of the lateral leakage of light relative to incidence direction, in principle, can break reflection reciprocity of the symmetrical system of the finite ZCG mirror. By changing the excited source from the grating side to the sublayer side, the lateral leakage of light of the finite ZCG mirror can be efficiently reduced.


The author of classical works can present the character in a more profound way and deepen the theme of the novel by using a context.This paper divides the growth of the protagonist Scarlett in "Gone with the Wind" into five stages.Through an analysis of the contexts adopted in these five stages,the paper intends to make an in-depth inquiry into Scarlett's inner world and try to explore the author's technique of shaping the image based on the contexts which consequently enhance the artistic effect of the novel.


Isolated transitions, recorded with a thin-film inductivc head on isotropic film media and read with a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor can exhibit waveform distortions, characterized by a shift of the base line between readback pulses. The amount of this base-line shift (BLS) increases with increasing write current, decreasing trackwidth and decreasing medium coercivity. The source of the DLS is shown experimentally to be localized at the track edges. A model, based on the creation of magnetic dipoles along each cdge of a data track is proposed to explain the observed waveform deformation. Quantitative measurcments of the BLS as well as the dipole-width estimation will be presented. A typical BLS in the readback signal from an isotropic (:o-alloy lilrn disk is depicted in Fig. 1. Transitions were recorded with a thin-film inductivc hcad on the disk and read with an MR element at 0.2 pm flying hcight. The read and write trackwidths were about 10 pm, Figure 2 shows the elimination of the BLS after side crasure of that recorded track. This was accomplished by dc erasing approximately 12% of each side ofthis track. The result indicates that the BLS is neither caused by the read element nor by the vertical magnetization component ofthe medium. It suggests, howcver, that thc cll'cct ip localized at the track edge. A plausible mechanism causing the BLS is illustratcd in Fig. 3. Figure 3a shows that in the track center the gap field ofa write head has predominantly an X component, which curves at the track edges, resulting in a %-field component ncar the edges of P2. This, in turn, magnetizes the unoriented film media in the Z direction, crcating a line of dipoles along each edge of the track. The BLS observed is a rcsult of the MR sensing on part of these dipole charges shown in Fig. 3b. The dc characteristic as well as the polarity of the BLS after each transition expected from this model are in good agrecrncnt with the observed readback waveform shown in Fig. 3c where the DLS is enhanced by using a narrower track-width (5 prn) head. The hypothesis presented here is consistent with the obscrvation on recorded bit patterns using Lorentz electron microscopy.'


The strategy that the position and the circuit are designed together is proposed based on the interruption problem of coupling mathematical model of servo system with the voltage vector decreasing the position,speed,and circuit error.Moreover,the fuzzy control is applied to the choice of voltage vectors.The purpose is to soften the control effort and decrease the chattering near the sliding mode line.The designed system has strong robustness,and the quick response.It is simulated to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method by Matlab6.5.


The design properties and preliminary tests of a deformable mirror with a shape controlled by adjusting the pressure of the cooling medium are presented in the paper. The mirror, used as a rear mirror of a stable cavity, was tested under conditions of a transverse flow cw CO2 laser operation. The tests proved that the use of the variable focal length mirror in the laser cavity allows the dynamic changes in the resonator configuration and thus the dynamic and controllable changes in the laser output characteristics.


The nature and magnitude of heterosis for plant yield, seed oil percent and a number of other variables related to fitness and productivity in cultivated safflower were assessed in the F1 generation of 8 x 8 full diallel in 1978 and 10 x 10 in 1979. Hybrids displayed substantial differences in their heterotic responses for various characters. Averaged over 146 crosses from both the diallels, heterosis was very high for yield per plant (55%), high for capitulum weight (26%), moderate for capitula number (19.5%) and number of primary branches/plant (13.5%), low for capitulum diameter (6 8%) and negligible or absent for plant height, flowering time, seed weight and percent oil. Hybrids outyielded their superior parents in 76 cases and the best adapted check in 28 cases out of 146 examined. The highest yielding hybrid in the material excelled its superior parent by 119% and the bast standard check by 70% across reciprocal crosses. Hybrids between genetically diverse parents manifested more hybrid vigour than those from closely related ones. A number of top yielding crosses involved either one or both the parents otherwise low or medocire in yield potential. Ranking of crosses based on their heterotic effects over mid or superior parents showed relatively poor agreement with the actual per se performance of crosses. Heterosis for yield in the material was mostly associated with hybrid vigour in number and/or weight of capitula. Reciprocal differences were, in general, low or absent in safflower. No undesirable heterotic responses in maturity duration, plant height and oil percent were detected in crosses that manifested significant positive heterosis for yields. The results suggest tremendous potential of hybrids in safflower for raising per hectare yields and oil out-turn


We focus on the problem on security, and to an extent, privacy in optical networks, under the assumption that the wiretap attacker either gains knowledge about secret key and encryption algorithm, or is able to decipher the identity of source and destination, and thus infer the user's privacy of communication. We propose two combined features to address this: (1) to parallelize the transmission between source and destination, i.e., split serial optical flows into multiple flows, and (2) to randomize the traffic forwarding along the parallel paths. To this end, we compare two forwarding methods for parallel transmission: i) explicit forwarding (PAR-EXP), akin to WDM networks with mulitpath routing, ii) random forwarding (PAR-RND), akin to either an optical packet switched network, or a multilayer optical network with Ethernet-based forwarding. The study shows that parallel transmission always increases security compared with serial transmission, whereby random forwarding is potentially more secure than explicit forwarding. We define the \emph{security degree} of the network and show that it depends on various factors, such as the number of wiretap edges, network topology and number of disjoint paths available, and link capacity.


Abstract : Smith Hempstone, at the time U. S. Ambassador to Kenya, remarked when asked by the State Department to comment about getting involved in Somalia, If you liked Beruit, you'll love Mogadishu. The international intervention into Somalia has gone through three distinct and separate phases: UNOSOM, UNITAF and UNOSOM II. Each phase involved new and expanded objectives, escalating from the purely humanitarian to a manhunt for Somalia's most recalcitrant warlord, General Mohammed Farah Aidid. In each instance, the achievements fell short of the objectives, at least from the U.N. perspective. The intervention into Somalia has revealed a unique story of a homogeneous people historically torn by a culture that prides itself on its contentiousness. As such, it has defied, and will continue to do so, the efforts of the United States and its Islamic and African sister nations to help as well as the efforts of the United Nations to rebuild Somalia into a modern state.


I explored young children's abilities to use behavioural strategies to handle ambiguity, and whether two subcomponent skills, monitoring (un)certainty and identifying disambiguating information, caused them difficulty. Despite success revising interpretations based on ambiguous input (Experiments 1 and 2), 5- to 6- year old children failed to seek disambiguating information appropriately (Experiment 3). Although children treated their interpretations as if they were tentative, their failure to perform a simple seeking response suggested that they did not know they were tentative at the time of making them. Their difficulties were unlikely to result from an inability to resist making an immediate interpretation, as they were unable to select appropriate strategies with hindsight (Experiments 4 and 5). Children performed relatively well when they had only to monitor their (un)certainty (Experiments 6 and 7). However, they did not choose disambiguating information in preference to ambiguous information that narrowed their choice of referents (Experiment 8). I argue that although children experience uncertainty when confronted by ambiguity, they are unable to plan what to do to remove it. Until the age of around 7, children do not know why ambiguous input gives rise to uncertainty and hence, cannot select appropriate strategies to resolve the problem.


Equipment engineering supervision will be built in our county.It is a new developing field.Based on forecast technique the time control models are built in the equipment engineering supervision.Then a novel method is proposed for the time control boundary.


In September 1982, the flexibility of the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium balcony allowed spectator-generated vibrations and movements that were disturbing to occupants. Both horizontal and vertical deflections were reported by spectators. An investigation was undertaken to assess the safety of the stadium, to determine the cause of the reported movements, and to make recommendations for any necessary corrective work. Inspections revealed corrosion of structural steel and deterioration of concrete, but these were not significant enough to influence the deflections. Measurements of the vertical and horizontal response verified the flexible nature of the steel structure. The investigation also determined that the character of the live load probably generated the disturbing vibrations and deflections. Balcony girders were strengthened and stiffened. A bracing system was installed to reduce the vibrations felt and observed by spectators. This rehabilitation reduced the natural vertical frequency and the maximum peak-to-peak displacement of the structure. In addition, the rehabilitation eliminated spectator reports of discomfort due to the deflections. Throughout this investigation and rehabilitation, it was recognized that the dynamic characteristics of structures must be such that magnitudes of deflection are not disturbing to occupants.


Lake Toba is one of the super priority tourism destinations declared by the Indonesian government in 2021, intended to revitalize Indonesian tourism that was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, a different strategy to promote Lake Toba and other tourism destinations in Indonesia is required, not only depending on natural beauty, but also by providing additional value, particularly by making use of local culture for marketing purposes. This study intends to analyze the utilization of the Sigale-gale storynomics based on storytelling for promoting Toba tourism. This study uses the qualitative approach, with the phenomenology method, because the Sigale-gale storynomics is tightly related to the stories and experiences of the surrounding public, particularly in understanding the meaning of Sigale-gale. The tale of Sigale-gale is closely entwined to Batak culture, especially regarding patriarchal family values and also the importance of the eldest son in the family. This is especially interesting to introduce this cultural value to tourists visiting Lake Toba. The findings from this study show that the use of the Sigale-gale storynomic through storytelling is interesting and can encourage Indonesian tourism. Storynomic packaging can create interesting story content, especially by paying attention to several important elements, namely: conflict, character, plot and message. Interesting storynomic story content supported by delivery through storytelling will be a different tourism marketing communication tool that is expected to encourage growth in the number of visiting tourists. However, the Sigale-gale tale needs also to be standardized into a single version, as there are various versions, with corresponding varied perceptions, among the Toba people. © 2023 WITPress. All rights reserved.


The freshwater gastropod genus Cincinnatia (Hydrobiidae: Nymphophilinae) contains a single species, C. integra (Say, 1821), which is distributed across much of eastern North America from the Great Lakes region to the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain. Here we use morphological and molecular evidence to evaluate the taxonomic status of a Cincinnatia population that was recently discovered in an upper reach of the Rio Panuco basin (northeastern Mexico) c. 700 km distant from its most closely proximal congeners. The Panuco basin population cannot be consistently differentiated from C. integra by its shells, although it differs from previously reported material of this species in several details of reproductive anatomy. The Panuco basin population differs from specimens from the type locality area and five other populations of C. integra by 1.5–2.6% mtCOI sequence divergence, but was no more differentiated than most of the other populations and was not consistently resolved as a monophyletic subunit of Cincinnatia using these molecular data. Based on this evidence we treat this population as belonging to C. integra pending a more comprehensive study of morphological and genetic variation across the broad geographic range of this species. This new record represents a large range extension not only for Cincinnatia, but also for the entire North American nymphophiline radiation, whose previously recorded southern limit was the Cuatro Cienegas basin in Coahuila.


We demonstrate the low-pump-power operation of a self-mode-locked Ti:sapphirelaser without hard apertures.The pump power was reduced owing to the tight focusing geometryin our design. Stable sub-25-fs duration pulses for pump powers in the range 2.8–3.0 W for the10 mm long Ti:sapphire crystal, and sub-15-fs duration pulses for pump powers in the range0.5–0.6 W for the 2 mm crystal were obtained. PACS No.: 42.60


The utter confusion in the Forensic and criminal identification in China has prompted the reform of therelative systems and rules appiled in the identification. Thus, the writer in the aritcle probes into the present exisiting prob-lems and puts forward suggestions as for building up a system for the forensic and criminal identification.


Gushi chickens at the age of 1 day were selected and divided randomly into four groups. The boron (to make use of boric acid as source of boron) of 0,100,200 and 400mg/L were supplemented to drinking water, respectively. The content of boron in muscle,bone and brain of chicken were determined by curcuma colorimetry at the age of 7,14,21,28,35 and 42 days. The results showed that there was no notable difference in comparison with control group as content of boron in drinking water is less than 200 mg/L,but there was significant increase in content of boron in tissue in four groups, in which content of muscle, bone and brain was increased by 47.1%~154.4%,39.8%~115.9% and 83.3%~149.2%,respectively.


Based on the rules and theory of law,combining the medical practice,the author puts forward suggestions on the difficult issues of informed consent. Medical personnel should firstly take the patient's authority of informed consent into consideration rather than his family numbers or relations.If the guardian chooses the medical plans to the disadvantage of the patient,the medical personnel should try to make the other guardians' attitudes known.medical personnel should communicate with the patient with non-professional words to guarantee the patient's full authority of informed consent.


The best course for the regulator should be to ensure compliance of the law while evoking caution, but not fear, while dealing with the realities of the economy. KK Sharma (KK Sharma Law Offices)


178 PRACTICAL DIABETES VOL. 35 NO. 5 COPYRIGHT © 2018 JOHN WILEY & SONS As part of a wider programme at a recent conference on 'Modern Approaches to Diabetes SelfManagement and Prevention', the authors of the following report designed a workshop for health care professionals, based on the theory of the autobiographical approach. They here present the results of the workshop that focused on participants' presentation and practice of different narrative methods and tools – all aimed at improving the patient–clinician relationship.


BACKGROUND
Mammary tumors are the most common neoplasms in female dogs. Malignant tumors may carry a poor prognosis and necessitate surgery. Few data are available on the value of cytologic examination as a diagnostic or prognostic tool for mammary tumors in dogs.

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study were to determine whether cytologic findings in fine-needle aspirate specimens of canine mammary tumors correlate with histopathologic results and whether the cytologic diagnosis is associated with postoperative outcome.

METHODS
In this prospective study, fine-needle aspirate samples were obtained from 50 mammary tumors in 50 dogs. Results of cytologic and histopathologic examination were compared, using the histologic diagnosis as the reference method. Kaplan-Meier log rank analysis was used to evaluate univariate association of the cytologic diagnosis with duration of survival, local control, and metastasis-free interval.

RESULTS
Adequate cytologic samples were obtained in 43/50 (86%) cases. The cytologic diagnosis correlated with the histologic diagnosis for benign and malignant tumors in 40/43 (93%) and 35/43 (81%) cases, respectively. Cytologic examination had a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 96% for the diagnosis of malignancy. The cytologic diagnosis had significant univariate association with duration of survival (P=.016), recurrence-free interval (P=.003), and metastasis-free interval (P=.014).

CONCLUSIONS
Cytologic examination of mammary tumors in the dog has satisfactory accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity for the diagnosis of malignancy and is associated with postoperative outcome. Further studies on the diagnostic accuracy of cytology as well as multivariate analysis of its preoperative prognostic value in mammary tumors in the dog are warranted.


Control apparatus for a linear compressor according to the present invention, a detector for detecting an operating state of the linear compressor; A controller for referring to at least output a correction signal for correcting the operating frequency of the linear motor to the operating state; And according to the correction signal containing additional generates a drive signal in the linear motor generates a drive signal for output to the linear motor, the controller, the standard driving frequency determining unit for determining based on the operating frequency of the linear motor to be operated .; And it is included as an arbitrary value that is included in the numerical width of the predetermined in the vertical direction about the standard operating frequency addition actual operation frequency determination unit determining the actual driving frequency, the correction signal is determined by the actual operating frequency. According to the invention, it is possible to increase the operating efficiency of the linear compressor, it is possible to reduce the generation of noise and vibration, may implement a premium product.


Background Sleep disturbances and poor sleep quality are a known phenomenon in patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Habitual physical activity (HPA) plays an important role in the treatment of CF patients due to its positive influence on progression of disease and quality of life. The aim of this work is to create a home-based sleep and activity profile and to investigate the influence of habitual physical activity (HPA) on sleep quality of children, adolescents and adults with CF. Methods One hundred and nine CF patients (64 male, mean age 22.7±12.0 years; mean ppFEV1 63.0±26.7) were equipped with an actigraph (Actigraph Corp., Pensacola, FL, United States) for home-based collection of activity and sleep data for a total of 4 weeks. Evaluation of recorded raw data was performed by ActiLife software, Version 6.11.9 (Actigraph Corp., Pensacola, FL, United States). Results CF patients under the age of 18 show the best sleep efficiency (92%±3%), the longest time in bed (TIB) (545±71 min) and Total Sleep Time (504±72 min) and the lowest Wake after sleep Onset (WASO) (39±15 min). With increasing age there is a decrease in Sleep efficiency (SE) (P<0.01), TST (P<0.01) and TIB (P<0.01) and an increase in WASO (P>0.05). In terms of lung function, CF patients with FEV1 values > 70%pred. have the best SE (92%±3%), the highest TST (490±72 min) and TIB (531±71 min) and the lowest WASO (39±13 min). As FEV1 deteriorates, a change in sleeping behavior can be detected. SE (P<0.05), TST (P<0.05) and TIB (P>0.05) decrease, whereas WASO (P>0.05) increases. Interestingly, there is no difference in the number of awakenings between the different age and FEV1 groups (all P>0.05). Statistical analysis was performed using version 25 of the SPSS statistics package (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). Conclusions Besides younger age and higher FEV1, daily activity in higher intensities influences sleep of CF patients in a positive way. Patients with poor quality and disturbances of sleep possibly benefit from an intensification of physical activity in the home environment.


The high C-field concept for a Cesium resonator is based on the idea that a true two level system can be obtained, without having to observe excessive field stabilities, if the C-field is set at the turning point of the frequency of a Zeeman component. This is due to the fact that the reference transition has no linear Zeeman effect at that field. Nevertheless, because of the second order Zeeman coefficient, a 5.10-7 field accuracy must be realised for a Zeeman bias effect smaller than 10-14. Therefore the C-field must be under closed loop control based on frequency measurements on a field dependent transition. In this paper a synthesis scheme is proposed, which can provide two frequencies with the necessary resolution: two different frequency lock loops are used to measure the v -1 and v 0 transitions. The former controls a high stability quarts oscillator with a relatively long time constant. The latter is used to measure C-field and can be faster, if needed to enact a tight control of the magnet's current power supply.


There are many approaches to non-dominated sorting, but they are computationally expensive when the number of objectives or the number of fronts becomes relatively large. This paper proposes an efficient non-dominated sorting approach based on a dominance ranking graph created in this paper. The approach takes advantages of both the dominated and non-dominated relationships, it is able to efficiently handle the case of large number of objectives/fronts. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms its several popular variants in most of the tests.


312 through false memories that were induced by our history of colonization and servitude. To read Claudio's work whether as autobiography or history necessitates, too, that we understand the US as an empire. Yet, the book is silent on the US quest for global dominance and formation of rogue states, that have supported or even have caused the downfall of the likes of Marcos, Suharto, Karimov, and Niyazov. People Power remains untamed and should be since this revolution is definitely part of our long history and unceasing struggle for freedom. To tame it by reducing it to simple perpetrators and victims is unfortunately to be politically naïve.


This paper constructs a stochastic growth model that anchors on technology diffusion and improvement in social infrastructure to explain the growth of developing countries. The model is based on the technological diffusion model by Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1997) with two significant extensions: the (productivity) parameter in the model which represents social infrastructure is being endogenized and probability of adverse shocks is being incorporated. The stochastic technological diffusion model is able to explain the various economic growth and transition phases of developing economies. Technology diffusion is modeled as the determinant of conditional convergence, while technological progress and economic openness further strengthen the social infrastructure bringing about absolute convergence. The model is also able to explain why some developing economies experience economic take-off while others do not.


Creating a digital model and asset database that allows detailed interrogation of every component of the Docklands Light Railway has already delivered significant dividends, reports Tony Streeter.


Abstract Fundamental questions persist regarding the redox structure and trace metal content of the Mesoproterozoic oceans. Multiple lines of evidence suggest more widespread anoxia in the deep oceans compared to today, and iron speciation indicates that anoxia was largely accompanied by dissolved ferrous iron (ferruginous conditions) rather than free sulfide (euxinia). Still, exceptions exist—euxinic conditions have been reported from some ocean margin and epeiric sea settings, and oxic conditions were reported in one deeper water environment and are also known from shallow waters. Constraining the temporal evolution of Mesoproterozoic marine redox structure is critical because it likely governed redox-sensitive trace metal availability, which in turn played a significant role in marine diazotrophy and the evolution of early eukaryotes. Here, we present a new, multi-proxy geochemical dataset from the ~1.2 Ga Bijaygarh Shale (Kaimur Group, Vindhyan Basin, India) emphasizing total organic carbon, iron speciation, and trace metal concentrations, as well as sulfur, nitrogen, and molybdenum isotopes. This unit was deposited in an open shelf setting near or just below storm wave base. Taken together, our data provide a unique snapshot of a biologically important shallow shelf setting during the Mesoproterozoic Era, which includes: 1) locally ferruginous waters below the zone of wave mixing, 2) muted enrichment of trace metals sensitive to general anoxia (e.g., chromium) and variable enrichment of trace metals sensitive to euxinia (e.g., molybdenum and, to a lesser extent, vanadium), 3) general sulfate limitation, and 4) nitrogen fixation by molybdenum-nitrogenase and a dominantly anaerobic nitrogen cycle in offshore settings. Differential patterns of trace metal enrichment are consistent with data from other basins and suggest a largely anoxic ocean with limited euxinia during the Mesoproterozoic Era. Our new molybdenum isotope data—the first such data from unambiguously marine shales deposited between 1.4 and 0.75 Ga—record values up to +1.18 ± 0.12‰ that are analogous to data from other Mesoproterozoic shale units. Ultimately, this study provides a broad, multi-proxy perspective on the redox conditions that accompanied early eukaryotic evolution.


Abstract Objective: Elevated third trimester salivary estriol levels have been associated with preterm birth. We evaluated whether maternal estriol concentrations from second trimester serum correlated with preterm delivery. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 7767 patients evaluated with second trimester aneuploidy screening. Unconjugated serum estriol was measured by immunoassay, expressed as multiples of the median (MoM) for gestational age and evaluated for association with preterm (<37 week) birth. Results: Elevated maternal serum estriol was significantly associated with preterm birth (1.15 MoM versus 1.03 MoM for delivery at term, OR 1.69 CI 1.41 to 2.02). 9.95% of spontaneously laboring patients <34 weeks had estriol MoM > 2, as opposed to 6.23% of >34 week deliveries (p = 0.031). There was a direct correlation between level of estriol concentrations and gestational age at time of delivery. Conclusions: Elevated second trimester maternal serum unconjugated estriol is independently associated with a higher rate of spontaneous preterm birth.


Arrhythmias are common in adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD). Amiodarone is widely used as an antiarrhythmic agent. Thyroid dysfunction represents a serious complication of amiodarone treatment. Systematic data on the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction, risk factors for complications and treatment options are lacking.

 Based on data from one of the largest German Health Insurance Companies (BARMER GEK, approx. 9 million members), we performed a retrospective analysis investigating the rate of thyroid complications under active amiodarone therapy in ACHD patients and a comparison group of cardiac patients without congenital heart disease on amiodarone between 2005 and 2018.

 Overall, 910 ACHD (34% female; median age 66 y; CHD complexity mild, moderate, severe in 64.6%, 23.6%,11.8%, respectively) and 49,782 non-ACHD patients (37% female, median age 73.4 y) received prescriptions for amiodarone without documented pre-existing thyroid disease or use of thyroid medication. Over a treatment period of 184,770 patient-years, 10,874 incidents of thyroid dysfunction occurred in the non-ACHD and 201 in the ACHD cohort, corresponding to an event-rate of 6% and 5.3% per patient year, respectively. Overall, 23.5% of the ACHD patients developed thyroid dysfunction (56.71% hypothyroidism, 43.3% hyperthyroidism). Risk factors for developing thyroid dysfunction on time dependent Cox-analysis were female gender (hazard ratio [HR] 1.44, 95% CI: 1.39–1.50; p<0.001), lower patient age (HR: 0.96 per 10 years, 95% CI: 0.94–0.98, p<0.001) renal dysfunction (HR 1.24, 95% CI: 1.19–1.29, p<0.001), history of alcohol abuse (HR 1.17, 95% CI: 1.07–1.27, p,0.001) and smoking (HR 1.12, 95% CI: 1.06–1.19, p<0.001). Congenital heart disease itself was not associated with a higher risk of thyroid dysfunction (HR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.83–1.10, p=0.53). Within the ACHD group, patients with complex disease had a significantly higher risk of thyroid dysfunction (HR 1.5, 95% CI: 1.00–2.25, p=0.049) compared to patients with simple diagnoses. Once thyroid disease occurred, 48.5% of patients were continued on amiodarone therapy, 12.8% of patients underwent an electrophysiologic procedure and only 2.1% of patients received class I antiarrhythmics. Specific thyroid therapy included thyroxine (62.6% of hypothyroid patients) or thiamazole (22.6% of hyperthyroid patients). Only 2.3% of patients required surgery or radiotherapy within 6 months after thyroid dysfunction.

 Amiodarone-associated thyroid dysfunction is a frequent complication in ACHD patients. Overall, one in 4 ACHD patients on amiodarone developed thyroid dysfunction in our study. In itself, ACHD does not seem to increase the risk of thyroid dysfunction. However, female gender, complexity of disease, younger age and renal dysfunction emerged as independent risk factors. When amiodarone therapy can not be avoided, close follow-up and regular thyroid function tests are recommended.

 Type of funding source: None


Copper-based nanoparticle wood preservatives typically contain a mixture of nanoparticles. We test the effect of nanoparticle size on copper leaching, and if the leachate contains nanoparticles, by treating southern pine sapwood with copper oxide nanoparticles with uniform diameters of 10 and 50 nm. Significant numbers of nanoparticles are found in the leachate from the treated wood, and trends show that size is a major factor. The 50 nm nanoparticles leach slightly less than the control (ammonium copper salt), whereas 10 nm nanoparticles leach more. Effects of polymer stabilizers are also tested and they increase nanoparticle leaching compared to unstabilized nanoparticles.


• A relation is stable if it is closed by substitution. • A relation is monotone if it is closed by context. • A rewrite relation is a relation stable and monotone. • An interpretation of F in some set A is given by a function fI : A → A for each f ∈ Fn. Then, given a relation R on A, RI is the relation on terms such that tRIu iff, for all valuation ξ : V → A, tξRuξ, where tξ is the interpretation of t in A wrt the valuation ξ.


Modelling of failure under dynamic conditions in geomaterials with finite elements presents a series of complex problems, among which we can mention those of (i) volumetric locking, which results on higher failure loads, (ii) influence of mesh alignment, resulting to unrealistic failure surfaces, (iii) diffusion of the shear band over some element widths, (iv) nonoptimal propagation properties (numerical diffusion and dispersion), (v) fulfilling Babuska–Brezzi conditions when using the same order of interpolation for displacement and pressures in coupled problems and (vi) large deformation analysis.


In addition to flexible touch screens, organic flexible photoelectric films have broad application prospects. In this paper, a transparent and conductive composite film was prepared by embedding a conductive network of ultra-long silver nanowires with silk fibroin as the substrate material. The ultra-long length can help minimize the number of junctions between the nanowires on the conductive grid, which can reduce greatly the resistance and optical shielding effect of the conductive layer. To tune the flexibility of the film, an appropriate amount of calcium ions (Ca2+) could be added to the silk fibroin solution. The conductivity, light transmittance, and temperature, stress and humidity sensitivity of the composite films were characterized and proved satisfactory. Its capability of self-healing was also demonstrated. With the natural biocompatibility and self-healing ability, this silk fibroin film may be applied in biomedical science, such as an electronic skin that can detect multiple human health indicators.


The aim of this work is to solve object classification problem using Neural Networks. Two types of neural networks are used and compared, namely, classical Feed Forward Neural Networks and Deep Convolutional Networks. Success of the designed networks is investigated using CIFAR-10 dataset.


This paper addresses a new boundary element method (BEM) for the numerical analysis of mechanical properties in 3D particle-reinforced composites. The BEM is accelerated by a new version fast multipole method (FMM) in order to perform large scale simulation of a representative volume element (RVE) containing up to several hundred randomly distributed elastic spherical particles on only one personal computer. The maximum number of degrees of freedom (DOF) reaches more than 300,000. Efficiency of the developed new version fast multipole BEM code is evaluated compared with other conventional solutions for BEM. The effects of micro-structural parameters, namely the particle size, particle/matrix moduli ratio and particle volume fraction on the effective elastic moduli and interfacial stress fields are studied. The numerical results show that fast multipole BEM is a promising tool for large scale analysis of overall mechanical properties and micro-structural details in such kind of composites, when the particles and matrix are assumed to be elastic. Based on the present work, future investigations could be extended to simulation on brittle fracture process. keyword: Boundary element method, particlereinforced composites, interfacial stress, fast multipole method.


In recent years, AC and DC microgrids have been extensively studied. By constructing microgrids, it is possible to promote installing renewable energy resources. Most of components (renewable energy sources, storage devices, load, and so on) are connected to the microgrids through power converters. Therefore, due to spread of microgrids, the importance and the use of power converters have been increasing. As a practical solution to build microgrids, our group has proposed a concept of "plug-and-play" converter. The concept means that the plug-and-play converter is flexibly applied to various components with a unified circuit topology in three-phase AC, single-phase AC, and DC microgrids. As one of the essential functions for development of the plug-and-play converter, this paper realizes universal grid interconnection control method. The proposed control method enables to transmit and receive desired active power in three-phase AC, single-phase AC, and DC microgrids, without changing the control system and circuit topology. Simulation studies verify the validity of the universal grid interconnection control method.


This study aimed to isolate microbe indiegenous. Samples will takes of soil that has been contaminated by pesticides in Bedugul area. In addition, experiments conduct to determine resistance isolates at high concentrations profenofos. The result of the research showed 6 isolates. Isolates with IPP 02 code, was good growth on Mineral Salt Peptone Yeast medium with 200 ppm concentration profenofos. Keywords : isolation, screening, idiegenous


The augmentation of ethnic conflicts worldwide after the cold war has made the scientists of various fields two draw their attention to this phenomenon. In Sri Lanka, GoSL has achieved unilateral military victory defeating the rebel group LTTE, the state became normal and able to secure the lives of its people and mobilize the wealth of the state for development. The multi ethnic and multi religious state now is being developed and importantly in peace. This book has not only assessed the post war ethnic harmony but also measured the tolerance and degree of accepting coexistence in the then rivals societies. The book has significant forecast on inter-religious race and possible religious conflict and crisis on the Island in the days to come.


Type 1 or pediatric diabetes (T1D) manifests when the insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells are destroyed as a consequence of an inflammatory process initiated by lymphocytes of the immune system. IL-4 and IL-13 cytokines which utilize a shared heteroreceptor (HR) comprising IL-4Rα and IL-13Rα1 are viewed as anti-inflammatory. The mechanism by which these cytokines drive suppression of T1D remains undefined. In this study, we used non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice, which develop the disease spontaneously to determine how the cytokines and the shared HR drive modulatory functions. The findings indicate that NOD mice in which the shared HR is made non-functional by ablation of IL-13Rα1 gene resist the disease relative to wild type mice with intact heteroreceptor. In addition, their lymphocytes could not transfer the disease into NOD.Scid mice effectively. This was due to an increase in the frequency of membrane-bound TGF-β T cells expressing intermediate levels of FoxP3 marker (mTGFβ+FoxP3int). Also, there was relocation to the pancreas of anti-inflammatory macrophage (MΦ) expressing the mannose receptor, a marker of M2 phenotype. Thus, the HR modulates both arms of adaptive and innate immune suppressors including Tregs and MΦ. These insights on the role of HR in modulation of T1D will likely inform on the development of therapeutic approaches against the disease.


We examine five important asset pricing anomalies, namely, size, value, momentum, profitability, and investment rate to evaluate their efficacy in major West European economies, that is, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. We employ four prominent asset pricing models, namely Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Fama–French three-factor (FF3) model, Carhart model and Fama–French five-factor (FF5) model to evaluate whether portfolio managers can create trading strategies to generate risk-adjusted extra normal returns for their investors. We also examine the prominent anomalies which pass the test of asset pricing in our sample countries and evaluate the best performing asset pricing model in explaining returns in each of these countries. We find that in spite of being matured markets, these countries provide portfolio managers with opportunities to exploit these strategies to generate extra normal returns for their investors. Momentum anomaly for Germany and profitability anomaly for Italy can be exploited by fund managers for generating risk-adjusted returns. For France, except for net investment rate anomaly, all the other anomalies remained unexplained by asset pricing models. We also find CAPM to be the better model in explaining returns of Italy and Spain. While FF3 factor and FF5 factor models explain returns in Germany, our sample asset pricing models failed to work for France. Our study has implications for portfolio managers, academia, and policymakers.


Strain and Stress. General Principles. Yield Criteria. Classical Theory of Plasticity. Recent Developments in Plasticity. Finite Plastic Deformation. Strain Space Formulations for Plastic Deformation. Introduction to Dislocation Theory. Plastic Deformation of Single Crystals. Polycrystal Plasticity Theory. Index.


We study a number of graph exploration problems in the following natural scenario: an algorithm starts exploring an undirected graph from some seed vertex; the algorithm, for an arbitrary vertex v that it is aware of, can ask an oracle to return the set of the neighbors of v. (In the case of social networks, a call to this oracle corresponds to downloading the profile page of user v.) The goal of the algorithm is to either learn something (e.g., average degree) about the graph, or to return some random function of the graph (e.g., a uniform-at-random vertex), while accessing/downloading as few vertices of the graph as possible.
Motivated by practical applications, we study the complexities of a variety of problems in terms of the graph's mixing time t_{mix} and average degree d_{avg} - two measures that are believed to be quite small in real-world social networks, and that have often been used in the applied literature to bound the performance of online exploration algorithms.
Our main result is that the algorithm has to access Omega (t_{mix} d_{avg} epsilon^{-2} ln delta^{-1}) vertices to obtain, with probability at least 1-delta, an epsilon additive approximation of the average of a bounded function on the vertices of a graph - this lower bound matches the performance of an algorithm that was proposed in the literature.
We also give tight bounds for the problem of returning a close-to-uniform-at-random vertex from the graph. Finally, we give lower bounds for the problems of estimating the average degree of the graph, and the number of vertices of the graph.


Selfish genetic elements (SGEs) increase their transmission efficiency relative to the rest of the individual genome, which is often deleterious to individual fitness. Theoretical studies have suggested that intragenomic conflict over the sex ratio distortion between SGEs and the rest of the genome should lead to the evolution of sex-determining systems. However, in insects, there are relatively few studies other than those on Dipterans, which makes it difficult to understand the role of SGEs in the evolution of insect sex determination. This is partially due to the difficulties in observing SGEs under field conditions. The effect of SGEs is often masked by the counter-evolution of the resistance genes. Interpopulation cross-breeding experiments are effective to detect the SGEs and their resistance genes. If these populations have different SGEs and resistance genes, cross-breeding experiments reveal their existence by collapsing the evolutionary antagonistic state. The Ryukyu drywood termites Neotermes sugioi, distributed in the Ryukyu Islands, show male-biased sex ratios in pseudergates, nymphs, alates and soldiers both in Okinawa and Ishigaki Islands, but different degrees of bias have been reported between the islands. Male-specific microsatellite alleles have been reported in this species, which allowed us to identify the sex of the eggs and young larvae. In this study, we used the microsatellite locus with male-specific alleles to investigate the primary sex ratio of field colonies on Okinawa and Ishigaki islands and the sex ratio of offspring obtained through cross-breeding experiments between the islands. The primary sex ratios of field colonies were male-biased in Okinawa but not in Ishigaki. Cross-breeding experiments showed that Okinawa males tend to have a male-biased sex ratio in their offspring, but Ishigaki males do not. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that the male bias in this species is caused by SGEs, even though termites are phylogenetically distant from Diptera. Accumulation of knowledge on genetic conflicts in a wide range of taxa might be an important step toward elucidating the mechanisms of diversification of sex determination systems in insects.


This study aims to investigate how academic engagement experienced by 307 students of University X is influenced by social support. Academic Engagement is a positive state of mind, fulfilment and feelings toward tasks related. characterized by three dimensions, namely vigor, dedication, and absorption. Previous studies exhibited that Social Support contributed significant impacts toward Academic Engagement. In this research, Social Support is measured by its 5 forms, namely emotional support, esteem support, instrumental support, information support, and network support as well as its 3 sources, namely friend, family, and significant others. Applying the non-experimental quantitative research method, data is collected by distributing questionnaires to the participants and analysed by using single regression and multiple regression analysis method. The result of the research shows that both forms of social support and sources of social support contributed 9,2% towards academic engagement (R = 0,092 and p = 0,000 < 0,01), forms of social support contributed 8,7% towards academic engagement (R = 0,087 and p = 0,000 < 0,01), and sources of social support contributed 3,7% towards academic engagement (R = 0,037 and p = 0,001 < 0,01).


There is an increasing body of work identifying and analyzing notions of resilience from indigenous perspectives. Notwithstanding the utility of this research for the Australian context (some parallels may be cautiously inferred for some Indigenous Australian groups), critical knowledge gaps exist in our understanding of how Australian Indigenous peoples, particularly Indigenous women, construct, perform and express resilience. This paper addresses this gap by presenting data from focus group discussions with 11 Indigenous Australian women, which highlights how the women confront the everyday challenges of 'being Indigenous'. The women spoke of not only of a strong sense of identity in the face of negative stereotypes but also demonstrated their ability to adapt to change, rebound from negative historical socio-cultural and political systemic changes and ways to keep their identities and cultures strong within contemporary Australia. We contend that a focus on Indigenous resilience is more significant for social change because it not only moves away from deficit-discourses about Indigenous Australian groups, it highlights their remarkable strengths in adapting, recovering and continuing in white-centric, antagonistic conditions.


THE ASSOCIATION between pancreatitis and hyperlipaemia has been recognized for many years (Poulsen, 1950; Wang, Adlersberg & Feldman, 1959). In the more common variety, hyperlipaemia accompanies the attack of acute pancreatitis and may persist for days, weeks and rarely months before subsiding. Occasionally a basic abnormality in serum lipids is uncovered by lipoprotein electrophoresis in a non-lipaemic phase in between attacks, although the quantitative lipid values are normal (Greenberger et al., 1966). Less commonly the pancreatitis appears to be directly due to the overt underlying lipid abnormality as in the familial or persistent lipoproteinaemias of Fredrickson's type I and V (Fredrickson, Levy & Lees, 1967). The mechanism of the pancreatitis is not understood in these latter cases; even more confusing is the reason why only a small percentage of these patients develop abdominal pain or pancreatitis. Alcohol or gallstones may occasionally precipitate attacks but in the vast majority the attacks are spontaneous. This report presents two patients with hyperlipaemia in whom the attacks of pancreatitis appeared to be related to the administration of oral contraceptive pills.


Introduction
The Masjed- Daghi gold deposit lies in an area of widespread Cenozoic volcanic and plutonic rocks at the intersection of the Alborz- Azarbaijan and Urumieh- Dokhtar belts. The area was covered by a detailed exploration program, including geological maps at 1:1,000 scales (~8 km²), several hundred meters of trenches and systematic sampling for Au, Ag, Pb, Zn, Cu, As, Hg analysis, and 16 diamond drill holes at a total of 1200 meters (Mohammadi et al, 2005). The vein type gold deposit in Masjed- Daghi is closely associated with a porphyry type Cu-Au deposit.
Our study focuses on the gold bearing veins system in an attempt to understand the characteristics of ore fluids and mechanisms of ore formation, and to develop exploration criteria for Masjed Daghi and similar occurrences in Alborz and other Cenozoic magmatic assemblages in Iran.

Materials and methods
Various rock types, alteration assemblages and mineral parageneses were characterized by transmitting and reflected light microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron microprobe analysis. Microprobe analyses were performed using a JEOL 8600 Superprobe electron microprobe at Saskatchewan University. Operating conditions were an accelerating voltage of 15 kV and a beam current of 50 nA.
Representative samples from drill holes were selected for fluid inclusion studies. Fluid inclusion data were obtained using a fluid Inc. adapted USGS gas flow heating and freezing system at the Department of Geological Science at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
 To investigate the source of ore fluids, representative sulfidic samples from drill holes were selected for sulfur isotope studies. Isotopic analyses were performed using a Thermo Finnigan DeltaPlus at the G.G. Hatch Stable Isotope Laboratories, University of Ottawa. The standard error of analyses is less than ±0.1 per mil.

Results
Auriferous quartz veins in Masjed- Daghi are associated with porphyry style mineralization. Various alteration assemblages including argillic, silicic, potassic, phyllic, and propylitic occur in the district (Emamalipour et al., 2010). The auriferous quartz veins are hosted by silicified and kaolinitized volcanic rocks, dominated by trachyandesite. The mean grade of Cu is 0.15% the gold assay varies from <2 to 30 ppm. The veins were covered by 16 diamond drill holes, and the drill cores were analyzed for Au, Ag, Mo, Cu, Hg, As, Pb, Zn and Sb (Mohammadi et al, 2005). The V3 vein, about 700 m long, and on the average 5 m wide, is the largest vein in the district. Two types of quartz occur in the veins: an early medium to coarse grained grey quartz joined by milky quartz in later stages. Ore minerals include chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite.
Fluid inclusion data from the ore stage quartz and sphalerite yielded Th values in the range 123-298 and 112-218 oC, and salinities in the range 1.9-12.8 and 1.9-11.2wt% NaCl equivalent. The wide range in salinity can be explained by mixing of two fluids with different salinities, and/or condensation of vapor. The δ34S values for pyrite, galena and sphalerite from the main mineralization stage, fall in a narrow range around (-0.2 to -1.1 per mil) around 0.0 permil, implying a magmatic source for sulfur.

Discussion
Hydrothermal activity in the Masjed Daghi epithermal veins can be divided into two stages: an early stage of acid leaching that is responsible for vuggy silica and advanced argillic alteration, and a later stage when gold and sulfide minerals were deposited. Considering the ore mineralogy and hydrothermal alteration products (the occurrence of barite in the veins, low Pb and Zn contents, lack of carbonates), the Masjed Daghi can be classified as a high- sulfidation epithermal vein system.
In most high sulfidation systems, ore fluid is considered to be of a mixed magmatic- meteoric origin, resulting from the adsorption of magmatic vapors or brines by shallow meteoric water (Hedenquist et al, 2000). The involvement of a magmatic fluid component in Masjed Daghi is supported by the sulfur isotope ratios, the relatively high salinity and oxidizing nature of ore fluids, as well as the large variation in salinity, 1.9- 12.8 wt% NaCl equivalent, that can be explained by concurrent boiling and condensation of vapor, fluid mixing.

Acknowledgments
We thank J. Fan, and T. Bonli of the University of Saskatchewan for assistance with electron microprobe analysis, and colleagues at GG-Hatch stable isotope laboratories, University of Ottawa, for sulfur isotope analysis. Financial support for the work was supplied by Geological Survey of Iran, and NSRC grant to Y.P.

References
Emamalipour, A., Abdoli Eslami, H. and Hajalilou, B., 2010. Geochemistry investigation of hydrothermal alteration related to gold epithermal mineralization in the Masjed Daghi area, west Julfa, northwest Iran. Journal of Economic Geology, 3(2): 199-213. (in Persian with English abstract)
Hedenquist, J.W., Arribas, A. and Gozales-Urien, E., 2000. Exploration for epithermal gold deposits. In: S.G. Hagemann and P.E. Brown (Editors), Reviews in Economic Geology. Society of Economic Geologists, Special Publication 13, Littleton, pp. 245- 277.
Mohammadi, B., Aliakbari, H., Fard., M. and Samaee, A., 2005. Geology and drilling report of Masjed Daghi area (scale 1:1000). Geological Survey of Iran, Tehran, Report 340, 130 pp. (in Persian)


This paper evaluated surface water resoues,underwater resources,water resources amount,surface underwater and water resources utilization amount and the scattered characteristic in Jiamusi.That posed the scientific basis for water resources management,protection and development in Jiamusi City.


[2] Download the Brief in PDF [2] [3] Download the Excel Version of the Table: "Childhood Poverty [3]" The number of poor children has been on the rise for the past 10 years, although those increases vary across state and racial and ethnic lines. Higher childhood poverty rates mean bigger costs to states, including future health and criminal justice expenses. Childhood poverty rates declined throughout most of the 1990s, but have been rising again since 2000. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University,1 more than 15 ●


Abstract Drag reduction is the reduction in energy loss in turbulent flows caused by high polymer or other additives. Although the phenomenon was first observed independently by Mysels and by Toms over three decades ago, the complex interactions of the polymer molecules and the turbulent flow are still not well understood. This paper reviews some of the unusual flow characteristics of drag-reducing solutions, discusses potential applications, and points out the limitations posed by mechanical degradation. The effect of polymer molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, concentration, and solvency on drag reduction are shown for narrow molecular weight polystyrene samples and their mixtures. Various hypotheses for predicting the onset of drag reduction are discussed and compared with measured onset values. The data are best fit by a time-scale hypothesis which depends on the ratio of a molecular relaxation time to a characteristic time of the flow (Deborah number). Two measures of the relative effect...


Sweden is facing problems with housing shortages in several cities, this calls for new solutions to solve the housing shortages, and temporary housing could be seen as one. In the new proposal of l ...


Japan is in a seismically active area and experiences many damaging earthquakes with loss of life. In 1995, the Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake caused major destruction in Kobe City and in 2011 the Great Eastern Japan earthquake and tsunami caused major destruction in the Pacific coast areas of northeastern Japan. Additionally, recent relatively less destructive earthquakes include the 2003 Tokachi-Oki earthquake, the 2004 Niigataken Chuetsu earthquake, the 2005 Miyagiken-Oki earthquake, the 2007 Noto-Hanto earthquake, and the 2007 Niigataken Chuetsu-Oki earthquake. In particular, the Great Eastern Japan, Noto-Hanto, Miyagiken-Oki, and NiigatakenChuetsu-Oki earthquakes occurred near nuclear power facilities and have been accompanied by enhanced public concern for seismic safety of nuclear plants. Within the Japanese national government, the Nuclear Safety Commission revised the Regulatory Guide for Reviewing Seismic Design of Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities (Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, 2006) in 2006. This revised Regulatory Guide required seismic safety design of buildings, structures and equipment for larger seismic motions. In addition, seismic probabilistic safety assessment (seismic PSA) (American Nuclear Society, 2007; Atomic Energy Society of Japan, 2007) was urged, for which accurate evaluation techniques for seismic response of equipment installed in the nuclear power plants were needed. Large cylindrical liquid storage tanks in nuclear power plants are classified as equipment requiring high seismic safety because many are containers storing cooling water used in normal plant operation and in accidents. Their seismic evaluation is done on the basis of the Technical Codes for Aseismic Design of Nuclear Power Plants (Japan Electric Association [JEA], 2008) published by the Japan Electric Association. The seismic evaluation methods used in the conventional seismic design of the tanks (Kanagawa Prefecture, 2002; High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan [KHK], 2003; Architectural Institute of Japan [AIJ], 2010) such as the Technical Codes examine the bending vibration mode (beam-type vibration) which mainly affects the seismic resistance of the tanks, but they do not consider high order vibration modes (oval-type vibration) which are excited in the tank wall by large vibrations and cause oscillation patterns that look like petals of a flower. Therefore, it is necessary to reveal the influence of oval-type vibration on vibration characteristics and seismic safety and to consider the vibration in the seismic design of


Gout can occur in an unusual location without hyperuricemia and with heterogeneous T1 and T2 hyposignal.

A 44-year-old male patient consulted for an isolated and firm swelling of the pretragal region. A 72-year-old female patient presented with left pretragal tenderness and limited mouth opening. Both patients presented with multiple temporomandibular joint (TMJ) calcifications on computed tomography (CT), and heterogeneous T1 …


This chapter contains sections titled: History, SUBSAFE Goals and Requirements, SUBSAFE Risk Management Fundamentals, Separation of Powers, Certification, Audit Procedures and Approach, Problem Reporting and Critiques, Challenges, Continual Training and Education, Execution and Compliance over the Life of a Submarine, Lessons to Be Learned from SUBSAFE


The permanganate oxidation product of annotinine is shown to be an amide that contains the ether ring of annotinine still intact. The Clemmensen reduction of this compound to the saturated base, C16H23O2N, was re-examined. A number of intermediates were isolated from the system and these were also prepared from the oxidation product by other methods. Analogous reactions of annotinine chlorohydrin were also studied. From these results suggestions are presented regarding the size of the ether ring and its position relative to the nitrogen atom.


Transferring an evolved control system from a simulated environment to the physical world poses a number of challenges. The difficulty in accomplishing such a task increases the complexity of the system that is being simulated and controlled increases. One of the most challenging control tasks is to generate a stable walking gait for a bipedal robot. This article describes a method in which a simulated control system for a small humanoid robot is evolved and transferred to robot hardware.


While variational autoencoders have been successful in several tasks, the use of conventional priors are limited in their ability to encode the underlying structure of input data. We introduce an Encoded Prior Sliced Wasserstein AutoEncoder wherein an additional prior-encoder network learns an embedding of the data manifold which preserves topological and geometric properties of the data, thus improving the structure of latent space. The autoencoder and prior-encoder networks are iteratively trained using the Sliced Wasserstein distance. The effectiveness of the learned manifold encoding is explored by traversing latent space through interpolations along geodesics which generate samples that lie on the data manifold and hence are more realistic compared to Euclidean interpolation. To this end, we introduce a graph-based algorithm for exploring the data manifold and interpolating along network-geodesics in latent space by maximizing the density of samples along the path while minimizing total energy. We use the 3D-spiral data to show that the prior encodes the geometry underlying the data unlike conventional autoencoders, and to demonstrate the exploration of the embedded data manifold through the network algorithm. We apply our framework to benchmarked image datasets to demonstrate the advantages of learning data representations in outlier generation, latent structure, and geodesic interpolation.


Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between resilience, academic burnout and psychological health in a sample of nursing students. Method/Design: A descriptive and cross-sectional design was applied, with questionnaires as tools. Participants: The convenience sample consisted of 113 nursing students in their final academic year, who voluntarily participated in the study. Results: The results indicated a statistically significant relationship between resilience and both emotional exhaustion (r = −.55; p < .01) and psychological health (r = −.62; p < .01), as well as between all three dimensions of burnout and psychological health. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that high scores for resilience and low scores for emotional exhaustion predict better perceived psychological health [F(2.96) = 17.75; p < .001]. Conclusions: Resilience was associated with lower levels of psychological discomfort and academic burnout. These findings highlight the importance of developing resilience and integrating it as an element in the nursing educational programme.


The concepts of "stretching transformation" or "ordering" or "scale" are discussed. A set of definitions and decisions are formulated which must complement a problem—posed, for example, in terms of differential equations and boundary conditions—to determine all significant stretching transformations that could be consistent with the problem.It is further shown that those definitions furnish precisely a set of hypotheses on which a systematic distinction between "important" and comparatively "negligible" terms in differential equations can be founded, and the structure of the distinction mechanism is then formulated mathematically.


We could recognize that MP is complicated in multi-levels,multi-faceted contents,extensive roles and diverse materials through analyzing its theory of TCM.Further analysis of such theory,we might get a conclusion that MP material is the key problem of the modern research on TCM theory.Besides,we firstly proposed that TCM bioactive components might be determined by systemic analysis of syndrome-effect-serum medicine chemistry,and MP material could be deduced by the academic viewpoint of homologous origin between property and effect.Finally,we pointed out basic thoughts of investigating MP material of TCM for the first time.


This article will discuss the importance of hybrid coexistence of sub-lambda grooming with wavelength-based services for driving down costs and maximizing the use of metro bandwidth, as well as enabling next-generation lambda-based services. The article will also address migration to all optical metro networks.


Your CECH Library guide to resources in support of the study of literacy and teaching English as a second or foreign language. Databases and ETD Help


This study was performed to find the relationship between Hemoglobin A 1 c (HbA 1 c ) and Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) in order to evaluate Diabetic Control and to find risk factors of Atherosclerosis of DM patients in DM Clinic, at Makarak Hospital. 105 DM Patients were selected by simple random sampling. History taking, physical examination, Fasting plasma glucose, Hemoglobin Am, Cholesterol and history of DM treatment were done. All data were analyzed by SPSS computer program. Result 1. There was simple linear correlation between Hemoglobin A 1c and Fasting plasma glucose. r 2 = 0.4217 (P value = 0.01) 2. 39% of DM patients who were considered good control indicated by Fasting Plama Glucose had poor level of Hemoglobin A 1c . 3. Risk factors of Atherosclerosis were found as the follow: a) Cigarette smoking 16.19%            b) Hypertension 38.1% c) Hypercholesterolemia 42.86%        d) Overweight or obesity 42.86%


Undersampling biases are common in the optimal stopping literature, especially for economic full choice problems. Among these kinds of number-based studies, the moments of the distribution of values that generates the options (i.e., the generating distribution) seem to influence participants' sampling rate. However, a recent study reported an oversampling bias on a different kind of optimal stopping task: where participants chose potential romantic partners from images of faces (Furl et al., 2019). The authors hypothesised that this oversampling bias might be specific to mate choice. We preregistered this hypothesis and so, here, we test whether sampling rates across different image-based decision-making domains a) reflect different over- or undersampling biases, or b) depend on the moments of the generating distributions (as shown for economic number-based tasks). In two studies (N = 208 and N = 96), we found evidence against the preregistered hypothesis. Participants oversampled to the same degree across domains (compared to a Bayesian ideal observer model), while their sampling rates depended on the generating distribution mean and skewness in a similar way as number-based paradigms. Moreover, optimality model sampling to some extent depended on the the skewness of the generating distribution in a similar way to participants. We conclude that oversampling is not instigated by the mate choice domain and that sampling rate in image-based paradigms, like number-based paradigms, depends on the generating distribution.


ABSTRACT Information asymmetry between online financial lenders and borrowers may lead to a high risk of overdue repayment. To identify the influencing factors of the default rate in Chinese online lending, the presented study was conducted using a dataset constructed by 5108 borrowers in an online lending platform between July 1 and September 30 in the year of 2019. This research adopted a logistic regression approach to investigate the influencing factors of borrowers' defaults based on loan application time and borrowers' mobile phone usage. The results show that the default rate is relatively low when the loan application is made during the daytime. Meanwhile, the study indicates that the default rate is negatively correlated with the most of the investigated parameters, which include the number of loan applications, the number of contacts, the duration of the mobile phone using the internet, and the number of one person's multiple phone numbers. Based on observations of the presented research, it could be found that mobile phone usage data possesses a significant impact on the default prediction, which is capable of providing constructive guidance to effectively reduce default risk for the borrowers and the online lending platform.


The growth of parties' web-based activities over the last decade has led to a more sophisticated use of websites, and Web campaigns are increasingly embedded in a general political marketing strategy. This study investigates the extent to which political parties use the Internet to attract different target groups of voters. The online audience can be seen as one mass or as carefully defined target segments, for example relating to party affiliation, age or gender. The paper analyzes the occurrence of online targeting on political parties websites during the most recent Austrian and German National Elections (2008/2009). Comparison within and between countries reveals similarities between parties that are more striking than differences at a general level, but it also identifies that catch-all parties and client parties apply different targeting patterns. Client parties address the general public just as much as different target groups, whereas catch-all parties tailor their websites to a greater extent to specific target segments.


The crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) concept describing cleavage embrittlement failure proposed by Wells is an important technology supporting the reliability of steel structures around the world. In 2002, ASTM E1290, Standard Test Method for Crack-Tip Opening Displacement (CTOD) Fracture Toughness Measurement, proposed a CTOD calculation formula based on a J-integral different from the previous integral that reflected the work-hardening characteristics and was triggered by the appearance of a case where evaluation values significantly different from the conventional British Standard (BS) formula are given. The authors attempted to construct an accurate CTOD calculation formula by performing actual measurements in CTOD experiments and systematic numerical analyses. Detailed observation of the plastic deformation mode in the ligament demonstrates the validity of the plastic hinge model that BS has adopted to date. In 2016, it was possible to propose a highly accurate formula that considers the work-hardening characteristics for edge-cracked bending test piece specimens and is adopted into the Japanese and ISO standard. Here, the outline of the CTOD calculation formula for the compact specimen (denoted as C(T)) constructed in the same manner will be described. The authors also suggested that the CTOD and J-integral conversion factor can be expressed in a simpler form than the form indicated by ASTM E1820, Test Method for Measurement of Fracture Toughness. In this study, we discovered that the same conversion factor can be applied to a compact specimen, which is quite reasonable considering the energy release rate of the J value.


Prenatal exposure of a child to alcohol may cause Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FAS/FASD). As a result, the affected child may exhibit lower intellect, neurosensory disorders, hyperactivity, executive functions disorder, abstract thinking and behaviour disorders combined with growth disorders and facial dysmorphia. In addition, undiagnosed and untreated children may suffer from serious secondary and tertiary disabilities. The aim of this paper is to provide a research overview of practical information about FAS/FASD syndrome, a presentation of the 4-Digit Diagnostic Code method and a sample of the research results by the first Centre of Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention of FAS in Slovakia.


Are you spending hours grueling over diet preparation, scrubbing dirty AstroTurf®, and fiddling with cage setups? Where does the time go and how can you get it back? This article focuses on identifying inefficiencies in animal care and developing simple solutions to save time, money, and effort.


This paper introduces the different effects of each kinds of illuminant within stage area,and also the lighting installation construction technology.


The lipids from isolated human sebaceous glands have been studied by thin-layer chromatography. Lipids were present that corresponded to the reference standards of squalene, wax esters, and triglycerides. No thin-layer chromatographic spots were found that corresponded to the reference standards of hydrocarbon, sterol esters, free fatty acids, sterols, monoglycerides or diglycerides.


In recnet two years,triggered by the U.S.subprime mortgage crisis,the international financial crisis has had a major impact on the world economy,in the significant slowdown in U.S.economic growth caused by the same time,some developed countries and emerging economies,has also suffered from China as a global The fourthlargest economy,the financial sector has to a certain extent by the present financial crisis,its impact has far exceeded people's initial expectations.The crisis on China's financial sector development,is also a major opportunity to learn about the root causes of the global financial crisis and the impact on China of China's financial industry to tap the opportunities to realize the further development of a major inspiration.


The Java Data Objects (JDO) specification proposes a transparent and database-independent persistence abstraction layer for Java. Since JDO is designed as a lightweight persistence approach, it does not provide any authentication or authorization capabilities in order to restrict user access to persistent objects. The novel security approach, JDOSecure, introduces a role-based permission system to the JDO persistence layer, which is based on the Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS). However, using JAAS policy files to define appropriate permissions becomes more complex and, therefore, error-prone with an increasing number of different users and roles. Thus, JDOSecure comprises a management solution for users, roles, and permissions. It allows storing the information which is necessary for authentication and authorization in any arbitrary JDO resource. Furthermore, a Java-based administration utility with a graphical user interface simplifies the maintenance of security privileges and permissions.


: Analysis of how a literary text is written and what it conveys is, in most cases, a simultaneous activity as form and content are inseparable. Drama, which is as old as human history, has been a significant tool for social commentary in East Africa. Contemporary East African drama provides a fertile platform for exploration of formal uniqueness in literary art; the East African experience, particularly a renewed sense of political urgency, is canvassed through the deployment of distinctively dramatic techniques. It is against this background that the study proposes to undertake a formal analysis of Imbuga's Man of Kafira and The Green Cross of Kafira to determine how the art and/ or technique of dramatic composition and theatrical representation explored by in contemporary East African Drama This study relies on the tenets of Russian formalist literary theory. An analytical research design has been adopted in this study. Primary data for this literary analysis has been drawn from Imbuga's two plays. We have undertaken a close reading of the two selected plays for purposes of extracting primary data. To corroborate our findings, we have obtained secondary data from a review of relevant related literature on form and content in East African Drama. Using the principles of formalist literary theory, we have conducted a textual analysis will primary data we extracted from the trilogy. The formal uniqueness of the two plays analysed in this paper demonstrates that Imbuga has undoubtedly earned his place as one of the most celebrated writers in East Africa. He has prolifically experimented with drama as a genre of literature. The two plays we have critiqued in this paper have provided rich data for exploring the formal uniqueness of Imbuga's drama. The most dominating stylistic elements that generate the plot in Man of Kafira include: play within a play, foreshadow, satire and oral traditions such as songs. The dramaturgy of Imbuga's works facilitates calls for urgent political action in post-independence African societies. The two plays are action-packed; Imbuga deliberately structures in this manner to give prominence to his renewed call for political action. The results of this study enrich literary scholarship on East African dramaturgy, particularly the formal uniqueness through which meaning is brought out in African drama. To ensure that this research is conducted in strict compliance with ethical standards, we have duly acknowledged our data sources.


The infant's cry is an imperative signal which is related to the life‐sustaining functions of respiration and nutrition. The relatively new field of study of the infant cry is surveyed in this paper in order to demonstrate what has been accomplished so far, and to consider what future study might accomplish.


Abstract text. This paper considers several options for the architecture of convolutional neural networks for the recognition of isolated handwritten Ukrainian characters and numbers, which were trained using a synthetic dataset built on the basis of a set of handwritten and cursive fonts. Comparison of the results of recognition of several variants of images containing handwritten letters and numbers using neural networks with different architectures showed that an increase in the number of convolutional layers leads to a decrease in the frequency of erroneous character recognition. The size of the training dataset significantly affects the reliability of character recognition. The data sets used in the work contained from 192 to 2304 samples per class. The upper limit of the number of samples per class is close to the limit that provides acceptable recognition accuracy. Reducing the sample size by reducing the number of samples per class leads to a significant decrease in recognition accuracy (from 90% recognition accuracy of elements of real inscriptions to 40-60% with a 4-fold decrease in sample size).text. This paper considers several options for the architecture of convolutional neural networks for the recognition of isolated handwritten Ukrainian characters and numbers, which were trained using a synthetic dataset built on the basis of a set of handwritten and cursive fonts. Comparison of the results of recognition of several variants of images containing handwritten letters and numbers using neural networks with different architectures showed that an increase in the number of convolutional layers leads to a decrease in the frequency of erroneous character recognition. The size of the training dataset significantly affects the reliability of character recognition. The data sets used in the work contained from 192 to 2304 samples per class. The upper limit of the number of samples per class is close to the limit that provides acceptable recognition accuracy. Reducing the sample size by reducing the number of samples per class leads to a significant decrease in recognition accuracy (from 90% recognition accuracy of elements of real inscriptions to 40-60% with a 4-fold decrease in sample size).


Nonadiabatic transitions in state-selection experiments on beams of metastable hydrogen atoms (2S/sub 1/2/) display oscillations in the population of the F=1, m=-1 state (R. D. Hight and R. T. Robiscoe, Phys. Rev. A 17, 561 (1978)). In this paper, theoretical calculations using exact and model solenoid fields averaged over a velocity distribution show that the population oscillations arise from the presence of at least two nonadiabatic regions in the solenoid. No oscillations occur theoretically if only a single nonadiabatic region exists, unless the unlikely assumption of a coherent hydrogen-atom beam is invoked.


Abstract We counted Hesperopsis gracielae (MacNeill) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) eggs on Atriplex lentiformis (Torrey) S. Watson (Chenopodiaceae) plants on 3 dates during 2006-2007 next to the lower Colorado River in Cibola Valley, Arizona. The skipper has received conservation interest due to its restricted geographic range and apparent rarity. Atriplex lentiformis, the skipper's only known host species, is a large shrub capable of C4 photosynthesis and N2 fixation. We measured the size (canopy radius) and percent water of plants and the percent nitrogen of leaves. Percentages of water and nitrogen were partially correlated, whereas plant size was not partially correlated with the percentage of water or nitrogen. Skipper eggs were more likely to be present on shrubs with greater canopy radius, water content, or nitrogen concentration. Likelihood of egg presence also increased with plant size when percent nitrogen was controlled and increased with percent nitrogen when plant size was controlled. Numbers of eggs, adjusted for canopy radius, on shrubs with at least 1 egg were not related to the percentage of water or nitrogen. Ovipositing H. gracielae appear to select host plants when thresholds of plant size and water or nitrogen content are exceeded. These plant characteristics should be considered when surveying or restoring the skipper's habitat.


During the course of the program a microflash method was developed for recording photoelastic patterns and grid deformations simultaneously. A soft photoelastic material (Hysol 8705) was selected as the model material and its static and dynamic properties (physical and optical) were completely determined. By using the photoelastic pattern, the grid measurements, and the material properties it was possible to determine stress distributions resulting from completely determined. By using the photoelastic pattern, the grid measurements, and the material properties it was possible to determine stress distributions resulting from impact type loadings. As an indication of the procedure to be used, the principal stresses along the vertical diameter of a disk subjected to a diametrical-compressive impact loading were determined. In another phase of the program the use of the Fastax camera was continued and applied to the study of wave-propagation phenomena in large plates subjected to air-blast and explosive type loadings. This series of tests clearly showed that a shock tube can be used in conjunction with photoelastic models for air-blast studies. The fringe patterns obtained were satisfactory for studying the over-all wave-propagation phenomena. In regions where more detail was required than could be recorded on the 16mm Fastax film, the microflashmore » unit gave suitable records. The performance of barium titanate and diaphragm type pressure gages embedded in soil or soft rubber specimens and subjected to impact loadings was studied. Pendulums were used for this purpose. In general, the barium titanate gages recorded a pressure which compared favorably with an independently determined pressure when the loading rate was high. The diaphragm gages seemed to perform better when low loading rates were used. (auth)« less


At many hydrothermal vents and hydrocarbon seep locations vestimentiferans are an ecosystem structuring organism. The vestimentiferan Ridgeia piscesae Jones, 1985 is one of the most abundant macrofauna present at the vent sites of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and due to its endosymbiotic relationship with chemoautotrophic bacteria can be characterized as a primary producer. The tubeworms' tubes provide surface for colonization and the tubeworm aggregations provide refuge for other vent-endemic micro and macro fauna. The different R. piscesae morphotypes found on the Juan de Fuca Ridge were originally thought to represent up to five different species but further investigations using allozymes and morphological reassessments demonstrate that they all are one species (Southward et al., 1995). Preliminary observations suggest that the different morphotypes are a reflection of the different temperature and sulphide regimes that this species inhabits. The wide tolerance of habitat conditions seems to be the exception, rather than the rule, among vestimentiferan species. For example, in sharp contrast to R. piscesae, the East Pacific Rise vestimentiferan Riftia pachyptila Jones, 1981 is only found in areas of relatively strong and continuous diffuse hydrothermal flow, and high sulphide availability (Fisher et al., 1988). R. pachyptila not only requires a high level of diffuse flow for survival but it also demonstrates very fast growth. This species has been observed to increase its tube length by more than 1 metre over a 2 year period and has been referred to as the fastest growing invertebrate in the planet (Lutz et al., 1994). However, it should be noted that tube growth in this species is not equivalent to tissue growth, since R. pachyptila does not inhabit the entire length of its tube. At the other end of the environmental and growth spectrum, vestimentiferans from the Gulf of Mexico hydrocarbon seeps grow very slowly (< 1 cm/year) (Fisher et al., 1997). A primary objective of our ongoing studies on the main Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge is to measure the in situ growth rates of the different R. piscesae morphotypes living in a variety of different diffuse flow habitats. Here we report some preliminary results of a growth study on the longskinny morphotype.


AbstractRecently, there have been considerable developments regarding aesthetic restorative materials (composite resins). They were used for front teeth in the past and more recently used for posterior teeth. The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of implantation of composite resin filling material into the connective tissue of rabbits. For this purpose, in 7 rabbits before and 1 and 7 days after composite implantation, xanthine oxidase activities and malondialdehyde levels were measured. They significantly increased. One day and 7 days after implantation, total (enzymatic plus non-enzymatic) superoxide scavenger activity, and non-enzymatic superoxide scavenger activities in erythrocyte significantly increased. Additionally, both baseline and 7th day superoxide dismutase activity was higher than in the 1st day. 7th day catalase activities were increased when compared to both baseline and 1st day values.


This general issue is rich with diversity. In this issue you will find an article about the aging of Roman Catholic Priests as well as articles reflecting the concerns of Chinese Christians and African Americans. The common thread in these articles suggests relationships are critical to spirituality and aging. I have worked as a chaplain since 1976. While it is harder to talk with persons who are at that critical point of dying today, back then it was more common. I have always been struck by the fact that the people I talked with in their last hours, even minutes, talked about relationships. Nowhere in the discussion were the many stressful things from middle life, "Should I get a bigger house?" "Should I make more money?" "Should I run for election for. . . whatever?" Instead what people talk about are their relationships. While not all relationship memories are happy ones, it is people that folks at the end of life talk about. We the living should take note of that. It is our relationships, not our things that define us at the end of the day.


Aim. The aim is to test the validity of home breeders assumption that strong photosensitivity in winter bread wheat limits the possibility of breeding improvement for productivity. Methods. Estimation of photosensitivity levels in modern high-yielding foreign cultivars (mainly from Western Europe) and in the set of F5 hybrids with photosensitivity diversity, which were selected only for relatively high yields. Results. Among the modern high-yielding foreign cultivars recommended for cultivation in Ukraine, carriers of strong photosensitivity have been identified with a significantly high frequency (up to 33.3 ± 0.75 %). In contrast, almost all modern Ukrainian cultivars are weakly photosensitive. When selecting in Odessa environment only the best-yielding families and lines from hybrid combinations, in which parents clearly differed in photosensitivity levels, F5 did not show a shift towards reducing the frequency of highly photosensitive phenotypes. It was statistically consistent with random variation without selection. Conclusions. High photosensitivity does not limit the efforts of breeders to improve the productivity potential of winter bread wheat. And for certain growing regions of this crop, it can be a factor in better environmental adaptability to get a real yield.


It is expected that the availability of forage for animals in the tropics will fluctuate in the future due to climate change. Ensiling of tropical forages constitutes a strategy to cope with food scarcity during long dry seasons. Tithonia diversifolia (TD), is a plant belonging to family Asteraceae, with a wide adaptation in tropical areas. A Rostock Fermentation Test (RFT) was performed to compare the ensilabillity potential among four epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains isolated from TD . Further, two experiments were designed 1) to evaluate the acidification potential of the best strain from the preliminary test (T735), and 2) to determine the ensilability of different levels of inclusion in the TD / PP mixture . For the first experiment, T735 and a blend of lactic acid-fermenting bacteria (BLB) decreased the pH rapidly. In experiment 2, different PP/TD ratios (0/100; 33/67; 67/33; 100/0) were ensiling, all inoculated with T735, (BLB) and their mixture. Increasing of grass PP in the mixtures brought about a fast drop in pH, facilitating TD ensilabillity. The use of T735 improved acidification and fermentation parameters of TD/PP silage.


The aim of this paper is to evaluate the behavior of 50 historical pigments in the two spectrum ranges VIS and IR, by using transmitted light. For this study, pigments were bound with oil and were applied in several layers over underlying lines, drawn with different media. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavior of pigments in the two spectrum ranges, comparing visible and infrared photographs with the respective images taken with transmitted light. The main idea is to compare the optical properties of each pigment in visible (VIS), transmitted light (TL), infrared (IR) and infrared transmitted (IRT). This was achieved by assessing visible and infrared photographs in incident and in transmitted light. The ultimate goal is to understand aspects such as transparency and opacity as well as the ability to block light. Finally, the intention is to classify the pigments by their behavior noting their similarities and differences, considering the aforementioned factors. Since photographic techniques are very common in the study of painting, this study has been considered useful to classify patterns of behavior, which will allow greater systematization of these types of imaging.


Accurate measurement of high spinning projectiles' attitude is the basis of guidance and control. In order to reduce the attitude measurement error and improve the attitude update rate, a magnetometer-based phase shifting ratio method is proposed in this paper. This method does not introduce additional installation errors as the existing methods, simplifies the calibration of the extreme value ratio-pitch angle curve, and makes full use of the measurement data of the sensors. The attitude update is synchronized with the magnetometer output without using the local geomagnetic information. Simultaneously, the local geomagnetic errors are avoided. The results of numerical simulation and semi-physical simulation experiments show that compared with the three orthogonal ratio method and the crest and trough method, the proposed algorithm in this paper can increase the attitude update rate by more than 2 times and the attitude calculation accuracy can be enhanced by 30%.


Probability density function (pdf) for (weighted) sum of n correlated lognormal variables is deducted. The method uses joint pdf of multivariate correlated lognormal variables and an extended method of convolution. The formula contains (n-1)-fold integral, which can be evaluated by numerical integration or an alternative direct discrete computing method. As an example a 4 dimensional weighted case is provided, the deducted theoretical pdf is checked by Monte Carlo simulation.


We show that solutions of Einstein's field equations for static fluid spheres can be immediately generalized to slow differential rotation with a particular form for the rotation function, without solving any additional differential equations.


Warming of the global atmosphere by 2°‐5° C, and regional changes in precipitation by mid 21st century as greenhouse gases double, is expected. A composite model predicts the consequences on the geography of U.S. irrigation. Percentages of cultivated area irrigated are projected for each state. Predictions of actual area irrigated, which will depend on economic conditions and availability of new water supplies are not made. In all cases percentages irrigated rise, with the greatest impact of a warmer climate on the agricultural economy in the Western states. In the Western states this will occur because of decreases in total area cultivated due to a loss of rainfall agriculture. In the East, irrigation will increase, accompanied by some decrease in cultivated areas. Improved use of technologies could help meet increasing evapotranspiration needs, but large new surface supplies will generally be required to maintain or increase present levels of irrigation.


This study presents a novel approach for configuring the product assembly model in order to rapid design a product family of transportation equipment. The proposed methodology is divided into three phases: namely modular partition phase, product structure configuration phase, and parametric correlation phase. In the modular partition phase, building the incidence matrix through correlation analysis of components under functional, geometric and physical domains, and on this basis, building the similarity matrix and re-aggregating the components into modules by cluster method in fuzzy mathematics. In second phase, a family-oriented product design framework is proposed based on the modular partition results to help designers to concurrently create design solutions. In the last phase, communicating of the module and design framework based on the flow of design parameters information, three types of parameters association and transmission are clarified. The methodology proposed here is illustrated via the example of the design of a screw conveyor.


The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated methods to facilitate contactless evaluation of patients in hospital settings. By minimizing unnecessary in-person contact with individuals who may have COVID-19 disease, healthcare workers (HCW) can prevent disease transmission, and conserve personal protective equipment. Obtaining vital signs is a ubiquitous task that is commonly done in-person. To eliminate the need for in-person contact for vital signs measurement in the hospital setting, we developed Dr. Spot, an agile quadruped robotic system that comprises a set of contactless monitoring systems for measuring vital signs and a tablet computer to enable face-to-face medical interviewing. Dr. Spot is teleoperated by trained clinical staff to facilitate enhanced telemedicine. Specifically, it has the potential to simultaneously measure skin temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation simultaneously while maintaining social distancing from the patients. This is important because fluctuations in vital sign parameters are commonly used in algorithmic decisions to admit or discharge individuals with COVID-19 disease. Here, we deployed Dr. Spot in a hospital setting with the ability to measure the vital signs from healthy volunteers from which the measurements of elevated skin temperature screening, respiratory rate, heart rate, and SpO2 were carefully verified with ground-truth sensors.