Russian has a family of reflexive constructions that have non-canonical syntax and express a variety of meanings that range from disposition ('I feel like working') to ability ('I cannot work here') and generic assessment of quality ('I work well here'). Previous analyses assume that these constructions are derived by a regular syntactic rule and postulate a null modal in the structure to account for their semantics (Benedicto 1995, Franks 1995, Rivero & Arregui 2012). Focusing on the 'feel like' construction, I show that derivational analyses have difficulty explaining its idiosyncratic properties, including non-canonical agreement (independent of the structural subject), as well as the interpretation of aspect. Moreover, derivational analyses overgeneralize, since only a subset of predicates occur in the 'feel like' construction in Russian, as the data from the Russian National Corpus indicate. In order to account for their idiosyncratic properties and semi-productivity, I propose that the 'feel like' construction and its kin are stored in the lexicon as constructions (Goldberg 1995; Jackendoff 1997, 2008). The proposed analysis clarifies the status of reflexive constructions in Russian and establishes the scope of cross-linguistic semantic variation by comparing reflexives in Russian to that in other Slavic languages.


In this paper, we propose an effective data communication scheme for wireless sensor networks. The data communication approach makes efficient use of data compression to achieve energy efficiency. The main contribution of the proposed approach is, it makes use of the simple but efficient representation of value pairs to attain the compression. It is also novelty of our approach that, proposed scheme employs cluster coordinators for balancing energy consumption by assigning the inter cluster communications to the cluster heads and the intra cluster communications to cluster coordinators. Since, providing flexible service using wireless sensor network is challenging because they usually contain a large number of resource constraint sensing nodes with small memory, lower processing capability and extremely limited battery life, the scheme is considered to be simple, computationally feasible and overall resource requirement is minimum. It is also a mentionable feature of our research that, besides consideration of resource constraints of individual sensor nodes into concern, the proposed compression based compression scheme takes the overall routing scheme into consideration which ensures efficient and minimum energy consumption of WSNs.


The formation, turnover and stabilization of microbial residues, in particular cell envelope fragments, in soil and their impact on soil surface properties was investigated. Fragments were turned over more slowly than intact bacterial cells. Co-precipitation with Fe and Al oxyhydroxides decreased the mineralization of intact cells and fragments to a large extent, indicating a strong protection of biomass by incrustation and occlusion. Furthermore, a significant impact of microorganisms and their residues on the wettability of soil minerals was shown.


We present an application of multiple scattering theory with "muffin-tin" potentials to the calculation of X-ray absorption cross section. We have measured and calculated the zinc K-edge spectra of ZnS in either zincblende or rocksalt structures. We show that some spectral features can be precisely related to the local environnement around the absorbing atom.


This report is concerned with determining the effect of elevated temperatures on the behavior of concrete. Emphasis is placed on quantifying the degree of potential degradation of the physical properties of concrete in high-level waste storage tanks. The range in the temperature elevation of interest covers from ambient to 315{degrees}C (600{degrees}F). The literature has been reviewed to examine the applicable experimental data and quantify the degradation in the concrete and reinforcing steel. Since many variables and test conditions control the results in the data base, upper and lower bounds of the degraded properties at temperatures applicable to the environments of the storage tanks are summarized and presented in explicit forms. Such results are useful in assessing the effect of elevated temperatures on the structural behavior of the tanks. Also, they provide the technical basis for a parametric study that may be necessary to investigate the thermal aspects of the structural integrity of the tanks.


This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Throughout my life and academic journey, I have been truly blessed by the presence of wonderful people in my life. I would like to give a special thanks to just a few of the people without whom this accomplishment would not have been possible. First and foremost, I extend my sincerest gratitude to my dissertation chair and mentor, Dr. Elizabeth Vera, for her consistent guidance, patience, and support. I could not have asked for a better mentor. Her wisdom, experience, and encouragement have been invaluable throughout my graduate education, and it has been a privilege to be her student. In addition, I would like to thank the other members of my committee, Dr. To the fellow members of my cohort, thank you for supporting me throughout our graduate studies. We are a strong group of women! In particular, words cannot express how much I appreciate my classmate and dear friend, Laura Coyle. She encouraged me at times when I began to lose faith in myself, and her strength, support, and relentless humor were instrumental in my progress. I am forever indebted to my parents who provided me with support and encouragement to accomplish my goals in life, and they always taught me that I could achieve whatever I dreamed if I put my mind to it. Because of my father, I developed a love for reading at an early age, which has served me well. My mother is an absolutely iv amazing woman whose work ethic is beyond compare, and I am not entirely sure that she realizes what an inspiration she has been to me. Last but certainly not least, I am forever indebted to my husband, Jeff. He has supported me in many ways and served as a voice of reason during some of the most demanding times in my life. One of the things I appreciate most about him is how passionate he is about his beliefs, and he has always believed in me.


The field desorption mass spectra of nine quinone antibiotics of various kinds have been studied at different emitter current. All antibiotics give intense molecular or protonated molecular ions at emitter currents above the best anode temperature. Fragment ions which are diagnostic to chemical structures are observed in some antibiotics.


Background

Several models predict the progression from smouldering multiple myeloma (SMM) to therapy requiring multiple myeloma (MM). Three models comprise the assessment of tumour mass by different clinical parameters to stratify in risk groups: 1) the Mayo Clinic model uses bone marrow plasma cells percentage (BMPC) and serum monoclonal protein (M-protein), 2) the PETHEMA model uses immunoparesis and the percentage of abnormal plasma cells by flow cytometry, 3) the Heidelberg group assesses tumour mass by either the percentage of malignant plasma using iFISH or the Mayo assessment depicted above, and the presence of chromosomal aberrations associated with adverse prognosis. Besides tumor mass, they find the number of focal lesions in whole body MRI (>1) as strong prognostic factor.

Aim

To assess a combination of easily accessible clinical factors identifying patients at ≥ 80% risk of progression to MM requiring treatment within two years from the diagnosis of SMM.

Methods

Data for this study were obtained from the Registry of Monoclonal Gammopathies (RMG) acquired from hematologic centers of the Czech Republic for 287 SMM patients enrolled from May 2007 to June 2013. A cohort comprising 240 SMM patients from Heidelberg, Germany was used for validation (Neben et al. JCO 2013).

Results

During the follow up period (median 2.4 years; range 0.6 - 18.0) progression to MM was observed in 51.9% (149/287) patients in the study cohort, representing 16% risk of progression at 1 year, 31.2% at 2 years, 54.8% at 5 years and 73.4% at 10 years. In univariate analysis factors significantly associated with progression were as follows: serum free light chain (iFLC/uFLC) ratio > 30 (HR 2.4 [95% CI: 1.4 - 4.1]; p 30). Combining these factors, we proposed a new risk model for SMM patients (CMG model). The risk of progression from SMM to MM at 2 years was 18.5%, 20.9%, 41.9% and 78.7% if 0 (reference group), 1, 2 or 3 risk factors are present (p< 0.001) ([Figure 1][1]) with HR of 1.5 [0.7-2.9]; p=0.283, 2.5 [1.3-5.0]; p= 0.008, 6.8 [3.0-15.2]; p<0.001, n=139), respectively. The CMG model was validated on 240 SMM patients from Heidelberg published in 2013. The risk of progression from SMM to MM at 2 years was 5.3%, 7.5%, 44.8% and 81.3% if 0, 1, 2 or 3 risk factors were present, respectively (p< 0.001) ([Figure 1][1]) with HR of 4.2 ([0.5-36.1]; p=0.189), 21.5 ([2.9-159.1]; p= 0.003, HR 38.6 [4.7- 317.7]; p<0.001, n=113).

Conclusion

We propose and validate a new risk model for SMM patients with prediction of 80% (78.7% on our CMG model; 81.3% on data from Heidelberg) risk of progression to therapy requiring myeloma within two years based on easily accessible clinical parameters (CMG model). The model could especially be used to identify high-risk patients to be included in early treatment clinical trials.

Acknowledgments: This work was supported by grants NT13492-4, NT14575-3 and by EU FP7/2007-2013; grant n°278570 and "OverMyR", as well as the Deutsche Forschungs-Gemeinschaft (DFG) SFB/TRR79.

![Figure 1:][2]

Figure 1:
CMG risk model: CMG cohort of patients and validation cohort of Heidelberg patients

Disclosures Seckinger: Novartis: Research Funding.

 [1]: #F1
 [2]: pending:yes


Abstract Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness double cervical cerclage in reducing antenatal complications and improve perinatal outcomes. Methods: We searched Medline, Scopus, Clinicaltrials.org, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Google Scholar search engines. Results: Six studies were included that involved 880 women. Double cerclage was significantly superior to single cerclage in reducing preterm births <34 weeks (734 cases, OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.40, 0.86) and preterm births <28 weeks (645 cases, OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.26–0.73). It also significantly increased the gestational age (380 cases, MD 2.63, 95% CI 0.87, 4.39). However, as a technique, it failed to improve the rates of preterm births <37 weeks (740 cases, OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.72, 1.34) the incidence of chorioamnionitis (740 cases, OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.51, 1.36) and the occurrence of preterm premature rupture of the membranes (796 cases, OR 1.32, 95% CI 0.95, 1.82). Conclusions: It seems that double cerclage effectively increases the gestational age at delivery and decreases the rates of extremely premature births. However, as a procedure, it does not reduce the incidence of antenatal morbidity or the neonatal death rates. Further research is needed in the field as our meta-analysis is limited by the small number of enrolled studies.


This British study evaluated the effectiveness of use of individual portable computers by seven students (from elementary through college age) having severe specific learning difficulties or dyslexia. The study also examined the impact of the machines on pupils' levels of independence and the practicalities of using the machines. This report describes the project's objectives and management, criteria for selection of students, and student preparation and machine set-up. Use of the computers was analyzed in terms of frequency of use and diversity of use. Emphasized throughout the project was student control of machine use. Frequency of use was sometimes limited by the machines' weight, as well as by individual student personality and group dynamics. Diversity of use was somewhat dependent upon the student age and type of written work expected at different stages in the educational setting. The study found that students improved substantially in their notetaking skills, attitudes toward work, attitudes toward spelling, writing skills, and keyboarding skills. Other changes included increased independence in learning style. Minimal organizational accommodations were required of the schools involved. Factors determining success of such a project are noted, along with implications of the project in terms of the relationship of computers to teaching style, handwriting in the National Curriculum, and requirements for "written" assessment. (Contains 22 references.) (DB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON OCCASIONAL PAPERS, 26 THE USE OF PORTABLE COMPUTERS WITH DYSLEXIC STUDENTS


Consider a Markov chain X0, X1, X2 . . . , with transition probability matrix P and set of states S. A state j is said to be accessible from i if for some n ≥ 0 the probability of going from i to j in n steps is positive, that is, p ij ≥ 0. We write i → j to represent this. If i → j and j → i, we say that i and j communicate and denote it by i ↔ j. The definition of communicating states introduces an equivalence relation on the set of states. This means, by definition, that ↔ satisfies the following properties:


A test has been devised to check the validity of conventional distorted-wave impulse approximation (DWIA) treatment of knockout reactions. The conventional DWIA formalism separates the three-body final state Schroedinger equation for a knockout reaction into two two-body Schroedinger equations by assuming an asymptotic constant value for the three-body coupling term commonly known as the kinematic coupling approximation (KCA). In the test case, which consists of an extreme asymmetric situation where one of the distorting optical potentials is assumed to vanish, the three-body final state Schroedinger equation can be solved exactly as a product of two two-body solutions using one particular set of relative coordinates. Large influence of the three-body coupling term is seen in the comparison of the exact and KCA results for ({alpha},2{alpha}) and ({ital p},{ital p}{alpha}) knockout reactions when the distorting optical potentials are weakly absorbing.


The present invention relates to a double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) for inhibiting the expression of GCR gene. The present invention is also a pharmaceutical composition comprising a nucleic acid molecule or vector dsRNA or encode it with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier; a disease caused by the expression of GCR gene, by using the pharmaceutical composition relates to a method for inhibiting the expression of GCR in and cells; methods for treating.


Allium cepa (onion) has a beneficial effect on disease treatment worldwide and has been used since ancient times as a medicinal and food source. Recently several reports have shown that onion has high antioxidant activity. The aim of present study was to evaluation of androgenic activity of onion on spermatogenesis process. In this experiment, 162 mature male rats


This article describes the theoretical and practical aspects of the formation of the morale of hardworking people, including students, in the context of the establishment of New Uzbekistan. In particular, the article expresses the essence of the concept of spirituality from the point of view of philosophy, sociology, and pedagogy, and gives definitions and explanations for this phrase. In order to shed light on the methodological foundations of the problem, the relationships expressed by the scholars of the past, pedagogues, philosophers, and sociologists of the present period were analyzed and sense of responsibility and obligation, religious tolerance, functions of international harmony were described from a scientific and theoretical point of view. In order to express the practical direction of the issue, the article reflects the research work conducted on the formation of the spirituality of students-youth on the example of pilgrimage tourism. In particular, modern methods of forming the spirituality of students were researched through the "Seven spiritual saints" shrines in Bukhara.


The electrochemical characteristics of polycrystalline Au in LiClO4 electrolyte solutions containing 3mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) or meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) were studied with linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) over a wide range of positive potentials vs. Ag/AgCl. The EIS data exhibited linear capacitive behaviour at 0.0 V with either MPA or DMSA added directly to the electrolyte suggesting the formation of an adsorbed layer of the alkylthiol on the electrode surface. Above this potential, a single well-defined impedance loop appeared for electrolyte solutions containing DMSA or MPA, an observation indicative of a charge transfer reaction that could be related to several processes including oxidative desorption, oxidation of the alkylthiol, or Au oxidation/dissolution. To test for Au dissolution, the electrode was held at 0.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl for 12 h in electrolytes containing MPA or DMSA followed by surface analysis with Atomic Force Microscopy and solution analysis with Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. When the electrolyte contained MPA, the extended potential holding procedure resulted in significant roughening of the electrode with no detectable quantities of Au in the electrolyte. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the Au surface revealed an additional species in the Au 4f7/2 spectrum indicating the presence of an insoluble electrochemically generated Au(I)–MPA species. When the electrolyte contained DMSA, the Au electrode appeared smoother, 56.6 ± 9.6 ppb of Au was detected in the electrolyte and the XPS analysis displayed a single species in the Au 4f7/2 spectrum indicative of metallic Au after the potential holding procedure. Both observations with MPA and DMSA support the charge transfer resistance to be at least partially related to the corrosion of Au, but also suggest that an electrochemically generated Au–DMSA species is soluble and of potential industrial relevance.


Abstract:The Periplus of Hanno is a short Greek description of Hanno's voyage from Carthage along the west coast of Africa. In this article, I turn attention to Pomponius Mela, Pliny the Elder, and Athenaeus' reception of its final, infamous scene, in which Hanno kills and flays female "Gorillai" and brings their hairy skins back to Carthage. The Gorillai are called human beings (anthrōpoi) but also marked as nonhuman. Contrary to modern expectation, Roman writers did not interpret the Gorillai as monkeys or great apes. Rather, Mela, Pliny, and Athenaeus look to myth and other animal species to understand them. They also reinterpret Hanno, first as a marvel-collector and hero and then as a Roman general. Yet even in an age of poena post mortem and summa supplicia, these writers are hesitant to depict Romans flaying human women. Hanno the barbarian can skin a human being, but Hanno in his Roman guise only skins animals. In the Periplus of Hanno and its Imperial receptions, we see the interdependence of ethnicity, humanity, and animality.


A borehole was drilled at Zhoulao Town in Jianghan plain,and then ten gravel layers in core sediments were analyzed in order to study heavy mineral components and distribution characteristics of the fillings.The results show that the ten gravel layers can be divided into three mineral stages from bottom to top.A comparative study of the stable and unstable heavy minerals of the three stages has revealed that the variation characteristics are as follows:sediments of stage 1 and 2 are composed mainly of distal materials with a small amount of proximal materials,whereas the major sediments of stage 3 are distal materials mixed with a certain amount of proximal materials.Based on core lithology and gravel contents as well as Quaternary lithofacies features of Jianghan plain,the authors hold that at the depth of 112.30~109.05 m in the borehole(1.17-1.12 Ma.B.P.,namely stage 3),the sedimentary environment changed remarkably,and the water system of the Jianghan plain underwent considerable variation,which finally led to the formation of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River.


The Mechanics of a viscoelastic collision between a solid body and a semi-space at impact at an arbitrary angle of attack have been examined in this paper. The radius of the contact area has been determined, using a geometry of mutual approach between two spherical bodies. It was proposed that the forces of viscosity and the forces of elasticity can be found by integration of the specific forces acting inside an elementary volume of the contact zone, and on this basis the principally new method of defining the viscoelastic forces has been developed. In this method, the volume of deformation is considered as a system comprising an infinitely large number of infinitesimal discrete elements connected to each other in a definite way. It is shown here that this method allows finding the viscoelastic forces for any theoretical or experimental dependencies between the distance of mutual approach of two solid bodies and the diameter of the contact area. Also the differential equations of the displacement (the movement) of the centre of mass of the body have been obtained. Equations for the calculation of work and energy in the compression and in the restitution phases, and also in the rolling shear phase have been derived. Approximate solutions for the differential equations of movement (displacement) by using the method of equivalent work have been derived. Equations for the normal contact stresses have been obtained. Also, equations for kinematic and dynamic parameters of the viscoelastic collision have been derived in this article. Examples of the comparison of theoretical results and conclusions have been given in the paper.


Self-management can be used to live a more effective and efficient daily life. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of self-management educational program on improving the asthmatic older adults' behaviors. Design: A quasi experimental design was used. Setting: This study was conducted at chest outpatient clinics in Benha University Hospital and Benha Health Insurance Hospital. Sample: A purposive sample of 53 asthmatic older adults was chosen from total 229. Tool: A structured interviewing questionnaire to assess asthmatic older adults' socio-demographic characteristics, history of asthma, characteristics of asthma, and their knowledge related to asthma, also their self- management behaviors to manage asthma. Results: Findings of this study revealed that less than three quarters of the studied subjects were females and had asthma duration more than 10 years, their knowledge and self- management behaviors regarding asthma were improved post program with highly statistically significant differences between total knowledge and total self- management behaviors pre and post program implementation (p<0.001). Conclusions: This study concluded that the asthma self- management program is effective for improving older adults' self- management behaviors regarding asthma. Recommendation: Continues of self-management program for asthmatic older adults focusing on management behaviors especially asthmatic triggers prevention, and asthma attack management. Also, the study recommended that, periodic refreshing course and training for nurses in chest outpatient clinics about chest diseases especially asthma is needed to take active role in educating asthmatic older adults how to manage and control asthma.


Background: The knee is the body's largest joint, and it can be affected by a variety of conditions including meniscal tears, ligament and bone damage, ulcerations, ruptures, and dislocations. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is defined as a screening tool for identifying Knee Pathologies without the need for arthroscopy. Objective: To determine the frequency of knee joint pathologies on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Lahore, Pakistan. Material and Methods: Data was collected following inclusion criteria using convenient sampling technique. A total of 140 Patients undergone Knee MRI scans on MRI Machine 1.5T Phillips. Data was collected from Radiology Department of Sharif Medical city and analyzed on SPSS version 22. Frequencies of Knee pathologies were mentioned. For Categorical Data like Age Groups and Gender Mean, Median and Standard Deviation was applied. Results: Results were based on 140 Participants who had Knee Scan. In which the Male Patients were 57.1% and 42.9% Females. The highest frequency was in 36-45 among four Age groups having 54.3%. In Knee Pathologies the common Meniscal Injuries in Medial & Lateral have Longitudinal Tear as 18.6% & Horizontal tear as 12.9%. In Collateral Ligaments MCL have 7% Mesniscofemoral and LCL has 5.7% Mesniscofemoral Ligament Injuries. In ACL injuries 21.4% have complete rupture and 10% Partial Rupture in PCL. Patella has 27.1% chondromalacia while popliteal tendon has complete rupture of 8.6%. 15.7 Patients have Irregular Cartilage and 12.9% Ulceration. General and Local Synovitis in Synovia was 8.6%. Conclusion: In conclusion MRI diagnosis will enable patients to avoid arthroscopic interventional contrast procedures. The finding of this research supports the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of internal knee diseases.


The Al-amin Science And Industrial Park area is projected to become a center for field laboratories and workshops that accommodate all study programs at UNPAB. In addition, the Al-amin Science And Industrial Park area is also planned to be the location of Ecoedutourism (Ecoedutourism) based on agriculture and processing of agricultural products. Eco-education is expected to attract visitors to enjoy the location of the Al-amin Science And Industrial Park Area with attractions based on field activities from study programs at UNPAB such as horticultural gardens, nurseries, animal husbandry, waste management for the use of renewable energy to processing packaging of garden and livestock products. The construction of the Al-amin Science And Industrial Park Area Mosque is expected to become a center of Islamic activities consisting of worship activities, mu'amalah and da'wah education, as well as Islamic information centers, not only for the Al-amin Science And Industrial Park area but also for the surrounding community and visitors to the area.


Although various robot behaviour learning methods have been available for some time they generally are too slow to be of much practical use. This paper provides a brief introduction to a novel robot behaviour learning method called Trajectory Velocity Learning and provides some details on implementing Trajectory Velocity Learning on sonar robots with differential drive wheels. The main advantage of Trajectory Velocity Learning is that it enables a mobile robot equipped with range sensing devices to automatically acquire multiple adjustable behaviours quickly and simultaneously.


In the absence of continuously traded, deep and securitised markets, commercial property valuations perform a vital function in the property market by acting as a surrogate for transaction prices. As with asset prices in the equity and bond markets, property asset valuations are central to the inter-related processes of performance measurement, acquisition bids and disposal decisions. However, within both the professional and academic communities there is considerable scepticism about their ability to fulfil this role in a reliable manner. Recent questions about valuations of German open-ended funds have served to focus attention even more on this issue. There has been a considerable amount of research into the operation of the valuation process in various parts of the world, especially in the US and the UK. Early research tended to concentrate on the methods used by valuers. More recent research, including an important survey recently completed at the University of Reading (Baum, Crosby, McAllister, Gallimore and Gray, 2003) has concentrated on procedural aspects and the way that valuation information is processed, dealing in particular with the following questions: how accurate are valuations? What is the probable margin of error and what is the impact of smoothing? How does the client/valuer relationship operate? Is there evidence of client influence or other external influences on valuations?


A new type of distillation improver FT-101 has been developed and applied in a 0.5Mt·a~(-1)at- mospheric and vacuum unit has been increased by 1.2 percent point.It also has been used in a 0.14Mt·a~(-1)FCC unit as well and the light oil yield increased by 0.83 percent point.Not only the distillate yield has been increased but also the oil products quality was improved by adding the improver.Content of gum and sulfur in gasoline and diesel have been evidently reduced.In addition,little modification has been made in the unit and good economic benefits have been obtained.


The invention provides a transmission terminal, a receiving terminal, a multi-channel video optical fiber transmission system and a multi-channel video optical fiber transmission method. The method comprises the following steps that: the receiving terminal encodes a control flow to obtain M-bit parallel control data, performs N-times data copy on the M-bit parallel control data, and performs parallel/serial conversion to obtain N*M-bit serial control data; the receiving terminal converts the electrical signal of the N*M-bit serial control data into an optical signal, and transmits the optical signal to the transmission terminal; the transmission terminal converts the optical signal of the N*M-bit serial control data into the electrical signal, and performs serial/parallel conversion to obtain N*M-bit parallel control data; and the transmission terminal performs shift on the N*M-bit parallel control data and positions data boundary, recovers the N*M-bit parallel control data according to the data boundary, cleanses the recovered control data to obtain M-bit control data and decodes the M-bit control data, and obtains and outputs the control flow. By the method and devices, the hardware cost can be reduced and the transmission rate of the control data can be dynamically switched.


Blockchain is a technology that was proposed to enable the decentralized digital currency, Bitcoin. Since its inception, blockchain has been widely used in many other areas, including tracing sensor data and mitigating its duplication in IoT applications, the healthcare industry, and e-voting. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review and analysis of the major security and privacy issues of Bitcoin and blockchain, the major challenges, and opportunities in utilizing the technology. First, we present a comprehensive background of Bitcoin and the preliminary on security. Second, the major security threats and countermeasures of Bitcoin are investigated. We analyze the risk of double-spending attacks, evaluate the probability of success in performing the attacks, and derive the profitability for the attacker to perform such attacks. Third, we analyze the underlying Bitcoin peer-to-peer network security risks and Bitcoin storage security. We compare three types of Bitcoin wallets in terms of security, types of services, and their tradeoffs. Finally, we discuss the security and privacy features of alternative cryptocurrencies and present an overview of emerging technologies today. Our results can help Bitcoin users to determine a tradeoff between the risk of double-spending attempts and the transaction time delay or confidence before accepting transactions. These results can also assist miners to develop suitable strategies to get involved in the mining process and maximize their profits.


Background: The etiology of stroke remains unknown over 25% of cases. Stroke with Large Vessel Occlusion (LVO) treated with endovascular treatment (EVT) and complete recanalization are a good group...


This paper focuses on the semiglobal stabilization for a class of nonlinear systems with nonstrict feedback form. Based on a generalized scaling technique, an adaptive control algorithm with dynamic high gain is developed for a class of nonstrict feedback nonlinear systems. It can be proved that, under some appropriate design parameters, all signals of the resulting closed-loop system are bounded semiglobally, and the system state will be convergent to origin exponentially. Finally, a numerical simulation is provided to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.


The GINI coefficient is an important equal footing degree to measure the income allotment. It is higher, the income allotment is not equal .The coefficient is lower, then income the allotment nears to more equally; It is between 0 and 1 .The market economy nation's coefficient is between 0.3 and 0.4 More than 0.4 means that the margin is partial to greatly. China can calculate two coefficients. The one is the coefficient of the city; the other is the coefficient the village. According to calculating, our country's GINI coefficient is 0.32-0.35.


The chemical components from benzene/ethanol extractives of fresh Chinese-fir wood were separated and identified by GC/MS after enriched. Relative content of each component was determined by area normalization. 18 compounds representing 94.96% of the extractives were identified. The main and abundant constituents were octadecanoic acid, methyl ester(16.95%), nonadecanoic acid, methyl ester (cas) (15.23%), hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (cas) (7.12%), hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester (cas) (6.83%), dibutyl phthalate(6.09%), cholest-5-en-3-ol (3a)- ,carbonochloridate(5.45%), isopropyl myristate(4.52%), hexadecane (cas) (4.31%), benzene (cas) (4.09%), 3,7,11,15- tetramethyl- 2-hexadecen-l-ol(4.01%), tetradecanal (cas) (3.62%), 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2-ethylhexyl) ester (cas) (3.57%), a-cedrene (3.30%), nonadecane(3.14%), 1- tridecanol (2.96%), 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, bis(2- methylpropyl) ester (cas) (2.21%), and so on. The most components of benzene/ethanol extractives of fresh Chinese-fir wood are not only abundant and healthy to human, but also used as bioenergy.


The kinetic behavior of the catalytic ring-opening polymerization (cROP) of a range of macrolactones, including ω-pentadecalaconte (PDL), ambrettolide (Amb), and butylene adipate (BA), and small-ring lactones, including l-lactide (LLA), e-caprolactone (e-CL), e-decalactone (e-DL), and β-butyrolactone (B-BL), using various aluminum salen complexes was investigated. The cROP rates were shown to be first order both in catalyst and in monomer. The activation energies of the polymerization of PDL and LLA in combination with aluminum salen complexes, with and without tert-butyl groups, were determined, showing that the increase in steric hindrance is negatively affecting the polymerization rate of LLA more than of PDL. Interestingly, an increase of the salen diimine bridge from ethylene to 2,2-dimethyl propylene leads to a dramatic increase in rate for the polymerization of small-ring lactones, while it leaves the rate of polymerization of macrolactones practically unchanged. In order to exploit this difference...


Rats were treated for 12 months with L‐dopa (191.4–210.4 mg/kg/day) plus carbidopa (23.9–26.2 mg/kg/day), or carbidopa (24.4–26.3 mg/kg/day) alone. Four days after drug withdrawal, animals received an acute challenge with either L‐dopa (50 mg/kg p.o.) alone or following acute carbidopa (25 mg/kg i.p.) pretreatment, and the uptake and metabolism of L‐dopa in muscle was studied. Following the acute bolus challenge, plasma levels of L‐dopa peaked between 0.5 and 3 h after L‐dopa alone and between 1.5 and 2 h after L‐dopa plus carbidopa. Peak levels in muscle were observed between 1.5 and 4 h after L‐dopa administration, and this accumulation was enhanced by the acute pretreatment with carbidopa. Chronic administration of L‐dopa plus carbidopa or carbidopa alone for 12 months had no effect on the accumulation of L‐dopa into muscle following the acute challenge with L‐dopa alone or after carbidopa pretreatment. 3‐O‐Methyldopa, dopamine, DOPAC, and HVA levels were elevated in both plasma and muscle following acute oral challenge with L‐dopa or L‐dopa plus carbidopa. Levels of these metabolites were unaffected by chronic administration of L‐dopa plus carbidopa or carbidopa alone. In conclusion, chronic administration of L‐dopa plus carbidopa did not alter the accumulation of L‐dopa into muscle following an acute oral challenge with the drug, with or without carbidopa pretreament.


This paper presents an experimental study on wrinkle reduction in a rectangular membrane structure with elliptical boundary cuts. The structure is subjected to a varying thermal load and wrinkling induced by the thermal expansion of the membrane is measured using a photogrammetry system and the root mean square of the membrane's surface above a plane of best t. An incremental PI controller is implemented to track a desired atness level when the membrane is subject to either application or removal of a thermal load. Experimental verication is conducted on a membrane structure test facility and the results show that the PI controller is able to track a desired atness level quite well.


Ferromanganese encrustation is reported from the central Lakshadweep area along the northern flank of Chetlat Island. It has comparatively high contents of Co, Ni, Ag and Pt and a MnlFe ratio of <1. This hydrogenous encrustation is similar in composition to those from the equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge.


Higher education in marketing benefits from strong underpinnings in terms of academic research as well as practical applications. This includes elaborating on applied problems based on theory, models and conceptual ideas as well as on discussing and developing solutions that contribute to marketing practice. In the following, we outline the idea of "Learning by Consulting", which is an innovative teaching concept providing added-value to high quality academic teaching.


To ensure safe handling and to prevent further damage, the lantern slide was sandwiched between two pieces of Vivak and secured together with a toned strip of Filmoplast R along the edges. The edges of the lantern slide were previously covered with a strip of Mylar to avoid any contact between the object and the adhesive of the Filmoplast R. The Vivak was cut to the same dimensions as the lantern slide. The Filmoplast R was toned with black acrylic paint. The lantern slide was then housed in a four flap enclosure and placed in an envelope.


Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA 2 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA; firstname.lastname@example.com * Correspondence: email@example.com


Biological functions governed by the circadian clock are the evident result of the entrainment operated by the earth's day and night cycle on living organisms. However, the circadian clock is not unique, and cells and organisms possess many other cyclic activities. These activities are difficult to observe if carried out by single cells and the cells are not coordinated but, if they can be detected, cell‐to‐cell cross‐talk and synchronization among cells must exist. Some of these cycles are metabolic and cell synchronization is due to small molecules acting as metabolic messengers. We propose a short survey of cellular cycles, paying special attention to metabolic cycles and cellular cross‐talking, particularly when the synchronization of metabolism or, more generally, cellular functions are concerned. Questions arising from the observation of phenomena based on cell communication and from basic cellular cycles are also proposed.


Objective To investigate and analysis the causes and treatment measures of the patients who occurred recurrent laryngeal nerve injury after thyroid surgery. Methods Select 215 thyroid disease patients who were treated in our hospital from March 2010 to December 2011. All the patients had surgical indications. The patients were divided into two groups using randomized methods: 105 cases of the control group and 110 cases of the study group. The control group was treated with traditional surgery methods which didn't reveal recurrent laryngeal nerve,while the study group patients revealed recurrent laryngeal nerve during surgery. All the patients acquired over 10 months' follow-up after surgery. Retrospective comparative analysis was conducted about the incidence rate of recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and recovery rate of recurrent laryngeal nerve between the two groups. Results The surgery of the two groups were successful,but the incidence rate of study group patients with postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve injury was significantly lower than the control group,and the difference was statistically significant( P 0. 01). Follow-up results showed that the recovery situations of the study group patients with postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve were significantly better than the control group,and the difference was statistically significant( P 0. 05). Conclusions The surgical method has important influence in patients undergoing thyroid surgery and occurring postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. Taking reasonable exposure to recurrent laryngeal nerve intraoperative can play a significant protective effect,reduce the incidence of injury and improve the patients' surgery quality and treatment effect.


Micro-meteorological data and data concerning post-irrigation heat and moisture transfer at shallow depths below the surface of a sandy soil were collected in the United Arab Emirates during September 1998. Direct measurement of the evaporation from the soil was carried out using a small removable soil column buried vertically in the ground. From this experiment, the time change of evaporation rate from bare sandy soil after irrigation was obtained. In addition, using the observed evaporation rate, the water vapor transfer coefficient, λ m was evaluated for the α-β bulk equation, and the correction coefficient for liquid-vapor interfacial area, ξ was evaluated from the diffusion equation. It is concluded that the proposed experimental techniques are appropriate for field measurements of post-irrigation drying phenomena in arid regions.


Within the scope of an important experimental program of research on piles behaviour, the LCPC (Laboratoire Central des Ponts & Chaussées, France) carried out static lateral loads on two 915 mm diameter steel tubular piles in order to analyze the load-transfer P-Y curves. Each pile was driven up to 5 m deep into a brown clayey layer of thickness 6.50 m overlying a blue stiff marl. The instrumentation of each pile comprised 12 pairs of strain gauges for the measurement of bending moments along the pile and LVDTs for pile deflections. Process of double differentiation and double integration led to derive lateral soil reaction and pile deflection respectively and therefore to construct P-Y curves along the pile. Lateral reaction modulus as well as ultimate soil reaction were derived and compared to some usual methods in the literature of laterally loaded piles.


This paper provides an in-depth analysis of a series of 3 large-scale quantitative data collection activities in Hungary. The data collection took place in November 2020, and in April and October-November 2021 with 14762, 26851 and 18451 respondents respectively. Survey questions were exploring parents personal experiences with the virus itself (having been infected, knowing somebody infected, etc.) and its impact on their views on school closures and other restrictions such as mask-wearing, ban of extracurricular activities, ban on parents entering schools, vaccination of teachers and children, their necessity and parents' views on associated risks. As data collection also provided demographic information on the age, profession and place of living of respondents, analysis could also focus on the impact of these factors on parents' views. It was especially interesting to analyse the impact of working in sectors bearing the burden of both infections and closures, namely health care, retail, public transport and education itself. The data collection was conducted through online surveys linked to the e-mail addresses of members of the Hungarian national parents association, ESZME. Since the respondents of the different surveys were different, this should be considered to be a series of cross-sectional survey research. Data analysis was conducted using the tool Tableau. There was an analysis of each survey separately, and a comparative analysis was also conducted, especially to see how more personal experiences with the virus impacted the views of parents.


The purpose of research is studying parameters of heart rhythm variability (VRH) at electric train's machineries of underground (ETM). Materials and methods. Two groups of persons are surveyed: 30 ETM (the basic group), 30 workers of a nonproduction link (control group). All surveyed persons of the basic and control groups are men. Distribution of the main group of persons over the age: 10 person till 29 years (27,61±0,63), 10 person 30-39 years (36,22±1,14), 10 person 40 years and older (51,17±1,88). Distribution of persons of control group on age is identical the basic. VRH it was estimated according to the uniform international standard [11]. Results. The analysis of histograms of distribution R-R of intervals in the evaluation of HRV IEP shown that in the majority surveyed histograms which distribution differs from normal are registered. 22% of the surveyed was asymmetric histogram which can testify to presence of several episodes of change of normal rhythmic which can be caused by emotional factors; at 41% ETM appeared excessive histograms. The last are characterized by very narrow basis and the pointed top and observed at stress [4]. In fact, during a labour shift organism ETM is influenced by psychological and emotional stressors and the nature of such interest excesses can be explained by the fact that the body can`t remain indifferent to the working conditions associated with significant sensory and emotional stress loading. In 37% of histograms distribution of intervals R-R is close to normal. In 100% ETM registered overactive sympathetic-adrenal system, which displays a certain emotional stress experienced by the ETM in the course of employment. Conclusions. Presence of a significant amount of histograms, which distribution differs from normal, testifies to negative reaction from side cardio-vascular system on psycho-emotional stress-factors the nature which accompany with activity at ETM.


Mutations in the substrate binding site of human heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) indicate specific interaction with HLA-DR outside the peptide binding groove Running title: Mutation of peptide binding site in human Hsp70 Authors: Karin M Rohrer, Markus Haug, Daniela Schwörer, Hubert Kalbacher, Ursula Holzer * Children's Hospital, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany † Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway ‡ Interfaculty Institute of Biochemistry (IFIB), University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany


The invention discloses a method of determining channel quality indicators (CQIs) in coordinative multiple point (COMP) transmission, and a base station. The method comprises: receiving a first CQI reported by user equipment (UE), wherein the first CQI is determined based on the downstream common reference signal (CRS) of a UE serving cell; obtaining the reference signal receive power (RSRP) corresponding to reference signals received by the UE; determining a compensation amount according to the RSRP, wherein the compensation amount is used for representing the difference between the quality of the channel transmitting the CRS, and the quality of a UE downstream data channel; and determining the second CQI of the UE downstream data channel according to the compensation amount and the first CQI. The method can compensate for the CQI reported by the UE, rapidly determine the CQI of the downstream data channel in COMP transmission, and thereby improve system performance.


Examines how social issues are translated into governmental action. Details actual social issues and governmental response. Suggests kind of response a citizen can expect, and how government can be sensitized to issues.


This paper revisits a topic introduced very widely and thoroughly in Transformational Grammar, namely, Empty Category in the Korean language. In discussing this phenomena, we will expand the Empty Category to other syntactic concepts which are ellipsis and gapping. And we propose the way how to account for the unified these three categories - ellipsis, gapping, and PRO/pro - and how to analysis without the transformational mechanism. The solution to the untransformational theory, proposed here, is to use the constraints, as introduced into the field of HPSG by Sag and Wassow(1999). We will introduce lexical information - a bundle of Syntactic, Semantic, Situational Grammatical Information - which are mapping from lexical information and structure representations to phrase structure presentation that can explain the control and government as well as agreement and other syntactic phenomena.


Digital testing in the last three decades has taught us the value of design for testability (DFT). Disciplines such as scan and built-in self-test (BIST) have emerged as standard practices because they allow logic testing of arbitrarily large systems. This has been one of the greatest achievements in testing thus far. These past decades have also produced significant advances in semiconductor technology, which make extremely fine features and larger scales of integration possible. The beginning of the new millennium is an era of the system-on-a-chip (SOC). Today's specialized SOCs will soon become large-volume production chips and there will lie our testing challenge of the new millennium.


Objective To study the biosynthesis of the second metabolites in Aquilaria sinensis.Methods Chromones of agarwood were elicited by tissue culture and the inducer contents were determined by HPLC.Results 2-(2-Phenylethyl) chromones could be elicited in excised lateral roots suspension culture of A.sinensis.Conclusion Fungal extracts of Menanotus flavolives could induce the production of characteristic components of agarwood in A.sinensis.


A participatory research was carried out to investigate the patterns of consumption and utilization of cowpea in four regions (Singida, Dodoma, Iringa and Njombe) of Tanzania. While the crop is used for a few varieties of dishes to smallholder farmers, the use of unimproved processing and utilization technologies is a constraint to frequent and optimal utilization of cowpea as food. Reasons for the infrequent preparation and utilization of cowpea foods were said to be attributed to factors such as; pest infestation of the grain during storage, heavy flavors, extended cooking times, and presence of antinutritional factors that cause low digestibility and abdominal upsets. Methods to reduce these constraints to cowpea utilization may involve various processing techniques such as, soaking de-hulling, milling, , germination, fermentation and heat treatment. The popular ones were discussed and the possible means for improvement were made clear to farmers. The possible role and ways of preparing inexpensive locally cowpea dishes were as well discussed. Thus, utilization of cowpea in both infants and adult foods is recommended in order to avert the existing problems of malnutrition in most low-income communities. Introduction Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an important source of protein for low-income consumers in semi-arid areas of Tanzania. Despite its potential as an inexpensive source of protein and energy, cowpea is underutilized in many regions including those of central and southern Highlands of Tanzania. This study therefore, focuses on investigating patterns of consumption and utilization of cowpea with the long-term aim of finding ways of maximizing its production and consumption. Methodology A participatory research method of working with organized farmer groups was adopted. Three hundred and sixteen (316) farmers from 17 farmer groups of Singida, Dodoma, Iringa and Njombe regions comprising of 139 males and 177 females were purposely selected and involved in the investigation of the patterns of consumption and utilization of cowpea. Information was collected, analyzed and summarized. Findings Cowpea handling and processing Methods of cowpea handling and processing in place at farmers' level were found to be predominantly indigenous, performed in a large extent by women. It was also discovered that the methods are laborious, time consuming, inefficient (contamination is high), products many carry a characteristic odors and products are made in small quantities, just for home consumption. Despite of nutritional importance of the crop to human diet, there are certain constraints to optimal utilization of cowpea for food as pointed out by farmers. These are factors such as, pest infestation of the grains during storage, heavy flavors, extended cooking times (time and fuel consuming), negative attitude of consumers towards the crop, community feeding habits(traditions), presence of anti-nutritional factors which cause low digestibility and abdominal upsets. Different methods to alleviate these constraints to cowpea utilization were found to base on various processing techniques such as milling, de-hulling, soaking, germination, fermentation and heat treatment. However, farmers reported that, cowpeas if not eaten green, is usually left to mature in the field, harvested, dried on bare ground, threshed, winnowed and stored in different traditional storage McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crops Research Project No: 09 1206 2011 31 equipments like pots, tins, baskets, sucks and many others. Dhal making involved de-hulling of grain by using grinding stones or pounding using motor, winnowing, soaking for some time and washing prior to utilization. But dhal is made in small quantities, just for home consumption. It was also learnt that, different cowpea dishes were made from fresh tender green leaves, dried tender green leaves, whole mature green seeds, whole mature dried seed and de-hulled grain. According to information gathered it was found that common appearance, taste of the food, palatability, softness, colour and the taste attribute were the most considered aspects than the nutritional part of it. Only 20 percent of farmers in the study area were able to explain some cowpea preparation methods in an improved way. Improvements of cowpea processing: Suggestion for improved Cowpea handling and processing procedures: Not to use bicarbonate of soda (magadi) in vegetable and cowpea seed cooking, Harvested cowpea seeds should be dried on mat or clean ground Products to be made in large quantities for sale beyond the household Form of stored product to be changed from cowpea seeds to dhal or flour, this will make it easy for immediate or future use. De-hulling of cowpea grains to be done by machines instead of using grinding stone or motor Traditional Vs Improved cowpea handling and processing methods. Product Traditional method Improved method Blanching of cowpea fresh tender leaves for storage Remove tender cowpea leaves from hard stalk Sort, cut into small pieces, wash boil over night till water dries up, squeeze out the remaining water, spread out on a clean ground/some few cases mat to dry, store in a container Remove tender cowpea leaves from the hard stalk, sort, wash thoroughly and put in the blanching bag, boil water, add 3 pinches of salt, dip/immerse the bag in the hot water and leave for 510 minutes keep turning the bag remove as soon as they wilt, drain water thoroughly, spread on the clean mat to dry, store in an air tight container and air it from time to time Fresh tender cowpeas leaves Remove young tender leaves from hard stalk, sort, cut into small pieces, wash add bicarbonate of soda boil till cooked, squeeze out water and add other ingredients Remove young tender leaves from hard stalk, sort, wash thoroughly, cut into small pieces, add a small amount of water, boil till cooked and dry, add other ingredients Dhal and flour making Crush/grind cowpeas seeds with stones, winnow, dhal is obtained for immediate use only., crush/grind dhal by stones to get flour or Wash and soak cowpeas for 2-3 hours, pound by using motor and pestle, grind by stones to get paste/flour Soak cowpeas seeds over night, remove/drain water, spread out on the clean mat to dry, de-hull by using machine, winnow and sort, mill to get flour or store for future use Cowpea snack "bagia" making Grind cowpea seeds by stones, winnow, wash and soak for 2-3 hours, Take a required amount of cowpea flour from store, crush garlic and chilly or prepare the required McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crops Research Project No: 09 1206 2011 32 pound by motor and pestle, grind by stones to get thick paste/flour "dida/madida", crush garlic and chilly if needed, mix into "dida/madida" and leave for 56 hours, heat the cooking oil, cook by cutting dida using ladle or spoon or hand and drop in the hot cooking oil, leave to fry till golden brown and cooked. ingredients(e.g. onions, eggs, fresh boiled milk, etc), mix with flour, add yeast and little by little warm water, make the whole mixture into thick paste, heat the cooking oil, drop by table spoon full in hot oil, fry till golden brown and cooked. or Dhal is soaked for 3-5 hours, pounded, then cooked in a normal way of "bagia" making


The development of a country can be known by the expansion of its transportation facilities. Looking at the importance of roads for a region, there are many improvements and additions to these facilities and infrastructure. In the process of repairing the roads, some risks could be possibly causing failures such as time delay and cost overrun. The purpose of this study is to determine the important and the dominant factors that lead to the overrun cost to the road projects in Sragen Regency in 2017 and 2018. The data were obtained by distributing the questionnaires to the contractors who had handled the road projects in Sragen Regency. The results of the questionnaires survey collected 98 questionnaires of 55 contractors. The data analysis is using the program SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) Ver 25.0. The results of this study are the factors that cause overrun cost to the road projects in Sragen Regency in 2017 and 2018, are the implementation and the relationship of work and equipment, and the dominant factors that cause overrun cost to road projects in Sragen Regency in 2017 and 2018 is the implementation and the relationship of work.


This review explores the relationship between children's television use and childhood overweight. Though much has been written over the decades about the deleterious effects of television viewing on children's imagination, academic performance and aggressive behaviour, only recently have researchers in the social and medical sciences begun to explore the physical consequences of children's viewing. Concern over obesity and its relationship with food marketing has led an estimated 85 per cent of 73 countries surveyed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to establish some sort of regulation for television advertising to children (Hawkes, 2004). Sweden, Norway, Austria, Ireland, Australia, Greece and Denmark, for example, all have restrictions on television advertising to young children (Institute of Medicine [IOM] of the National Academies, 2006), though there is currently no published data on the impact of these restrictions (Swinburn & Egger, 2002). In the US, where there are time but not content restrictions for advertisements during children's programming, a recent survey found that more than three quarters (77 per cent) of parents were in favour of restricting fast food and ''less healthy'' food advertisements during children's TV programs (Evans, Renaud, Finkelstein, Kamerow & Brown, 2006). One challenge facing scholars understanding the link between television exposure and childhood obesity lies in the multidisciplinary nature of the problem. Research on the topic tends to span numerous academic disciplines, including paediatrics, public health, nursing, communication, psychology, sociology and nutrition education. Moreover, children's media use patterns and statistics on childhood obesity change so rapidly that much of the most current research takes the form of non-peer reviewed reports, such as those that are released as web based reports (for example, those found on www.kff.org). Though excellent, reports such as these often do not show up in academic database searches. This article therefore offers a cross-disciplinary snapshot of current knowledge about the relationship between television and children's weight status. Though this is certainly a global issue, this review relies most heavily on recent studies, most of which have been conducted with US population. Much can be learned from the problems of American obesity, but the relative lack of research on TV viewing and childhood obesity in other countries is a limitation of the review.


We explore the determinants of the relative probabilities of labor force participation for British and Spanish married (or cohabiting) mothers. We further decompose these probabilities and ...nd a substantial crossnational gap in participation rates which can be predominantly explained by higher wages and greater child care use in Britain.


In patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure, potassium supplementation to achieve serum potassium levels above 4.0 mEq/L is common


During the present age, the system of family is bei ng weak and the teenager children in the families are more prone to the influences of ne ighbors, society and friends. Friends or peers can create both positive and negative effects on the behavior of adolescents as adolescence is a stage which is full of doubts and confusions. The present study deals with the positive and negat ive effects of the peer pressure on the development of adolescents.


The errors introduced by asynchronous time stepping are analyzed. It is shown that asynchronous time stepping distorts the structure and the speed of the lowest mode. For typical time step ratios used in climate simulations, the lowest mode is no longer a strictly barotropic mode, and the associated wave is much slower than the barotropic Rossby waves in the oceans. As a result, seasonal cycles simulated in model runs based on asynchronous time stepping are severely contaminated. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


The authors consider the dynamics of the n-component Ginzburg-Landau model with nonconserved order parameter (model A) following a quench from a high-temperature equilibrium state to zero temperature. The two-time correlation function of the order-parameter field is found in the 1/n expansion to have the asymptotic scaling form Ck(t,t')=t'd2/(t/t')lambda 2/f (k2t,k2t') for t>>t', with f(0,0)=constant. The form of the new exponent lambda (which is a non-trivial function of n and d) was given explicitly to O(1/n) in a recent letter. The purpose of this study is to present a more detailed account of the calculation leading to the O(1/n) form for lambda . They also examine the role of thermal fluctuations in the ordered phase and the effect of long-range initial correlations on the ordering process.


Abstract Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), is an invasive citrus pest in California that vectors a bacterium that causes the deadly citrus disease huanglongbing. From 2014–2015, 116 experimental D. citri cohorts were monitored to determine survivorship, life table parameters, and marginal rates of mortality of immature D. citri at three sites in Riverside County, CA. D. citri cohorts of ∼200 eggs were established on potted Citrus volkameriana (Rutaceae) plants. Field deployed cohorts were protected with fine or coarse mesh enclosures, sticky barriers, or left unprotected. Egg through adult emergence rates were used to assess the relative importance of biotic and abiotic factors on psyllid survivorship rates by life stage. Predation of immature D. citri by larvae of Allograpta sp. (Diptera: Syrphidae) and Chrysoperla sp. (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) comprised 86% of all observed predation mortality. When protected from all other arthropods, parasitism by Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) comprised 21% of the total marginal rate of immature D. citri mortality from September to November in 2014 and 2015. Overall, D. citri net reproductive rates were reduced by 55–95% when exposed to natural enemies, indicating the importance of the classical biological control agent, T. radiata, and generalist predators in reducing D. citri densities in urban areas of southern California.


Amongst the many spiraling effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic has been an intense interest in finding historical frames of reference for our current predicament. Past epidemics, from the Plague to the Spanish Flu, have been brought back to the public consciousness, both to search for instructive patterns and lessons, and perhaps also as a way to cope with uncertainties and anxieties; a reminder that we have been here before, facing down an unknown disease. This paper unfolds two examples of such narratives of epidemic disease before the advent of microbiology, both in Copenhagen, Denmark: The plague in 1711 and cholera in 1853. It does so in order to query how past societies inquired into the origins epidemic disease and how they used their medical and other knowledge tools to construct theories of the disease and its patterns. Ultimately, these two histories serve as reminders that any history of epidemic disease is also a history of societies.


The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the Chinese accounting standards and its possible effects on the accounting q ...


The shallow water system is a fundamental work-piece for tsunami or flooding simulations. One of the major difficulties is the correct location of the dry/wet interface to evaluate accurate approximations of the velocity and kinetic energy. On the other hand, the MOOD method has been recently proposed to provide more efficient schemes in the framework of the Euler system. We propose to compare two second-order methods, namely the MUSCL and the MOOD techniques, and draw comparisons on accuracy shock capturing and dry/wet interface.


In this article we are concerned with the study of the existence and uniqueness of pathwise mild solutions to evolutions equations driven by a H\"older continuous function with H\"older exponent in $(1/3,1/2)$. Our stochastic integral is a generalization of the well-known Young integral. To be more precise, the integral is defined by using a fractional integration by parts formula and it involves a tensor for which we need to formulate a new equation. From this it turns out that we have to solve a system consisting in a path and an area equations. In this paper we prove the existence of a unique local solution of the system of equations. The results can be applied to stochastic evolution equations with a non-linear diffusion coefficient driven by a fractional Brownian motion with Hurst parameter in $(1/3,1/2]$, which is particular includes white noise.


MANETs are self-organizing networks composed of mobile wireless nodes with often scarce resources. Distributed applications based on the P2P paradigm are the best candidates to run over such networks. To profit from the service provided by a P2P overlay (e.g. file sharing using BitTorrent), a node needs to be permanently informed about the other members of the overlay (e.g. other peers interested in the same file as currently provided by the BitTorrent central tracker). This P2P membership management is a costly and difficult task in such dynamic and resource limited environment. We focus on this problem and we propose a robust, network friendly and decentralized membership management protocol allowing peer discovery and update. Compared to flooding, client-server or multicast based approaches, our protocol achieves significantly lower network overhead and lower pollution of caches caused by peers who have left. Moreover, as network splits are very frequent in MANETs, our protocol is designed to be partition-aware. Namely, it allows separate overlays providing the same service to efficiently merge together when communication opportunities occur. The efficiency of our solution is validated through extensive NS-2 simulations.


Abstract: Primary astrocytes were cultured from the forebrains of 1‐day‐old rats. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that approximately 80% of the cells were positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and >80% were stained with an antiserum to the molecular weight 58,000 fibroblast intermediate filament protein (vimentin). Gel electrophoresis of Triton‐insoluble cytoskeleton preparations from these cultures revealed three major bands having molecular weights of 58,000, 51,000, and 42,000, together with some prominent lower‐molecular‐weight species. The protein of molecular weight 51,000 was not present in preparations from fibroblasts. Each of the three major astrocyte proteins was subjected to limited proteolysis, while two of the proteins were cleaved by cyanogen bromide. The electrophoretic peptide patterns of the 58,000 protein were similar to those of vimentin isolated from NIL‐8 fibroblasts, and the patterns of the 51,000 protein were similar to those of GFAP isolated from rat spinal cord. The patterns of the protein of molecular weight 42,000 resembled those of muscle actin. Rocket immunoelectrophoresis showed that the 51,000 astrocyte protein reacted with an antiserum to bovine GFAP, but the 58,000 and 42,000 proteins failed to react. We conclude that the major proteins of cytoskeleton preparations from cultured primary astrocytes are vimentin (58,000), GFAP (51,000), and actin (42,000), and that our data show no obvious structural relationship among them.


Oxidative coupling of methane was carried out under UV-irradiation at temperatures below 500 K. C2+ hydrocarbons were formed over TiO2 catalysts prepared from Ti(i-OPr)4 by hydrolysis. Correlation between C2+ selectivity and anatase fraction (%-anatase) of the catalysts was observed.


Different studies have observed a significant correlation between frailty, morbidity and mortality in elderly patients with cardiovascular diseases.Several scores have been developed to assess frailty in elderly patients. The FRAIL scale is a bed-side and easy tool that evaluates 5 items: fatigue, resistance, ambulation, concomitant diseases and weight loss. However, the evaluation of frailty status in AF patients with ACS is scarce.

 The aim of this study was to analyze the management of elderly patients with AF and ACS and the predictive value of frailty for adverse events.

 The prospective multicentre LONGEVO-SCA enrolled unselected elderly patients hospitalized after non-STACS. In this substudy, we divided patients according to rhythm status (AF or sinus rhythm [SR]) and to frail status. We validated the predictive performance of FRAIL scores for adverse events at 6 months follow-up.

 We analyzed 531 patients (mean age 84.4±3.6 years; 322 (60.6%) male). 128 (24.1%) had AF diagnosis and 145 (27.3%) patients were frail. Frail AF patients had higher risk of global mortality [HR 2.61, (95% CI 1.28–5.31; p=0.008)], readmissions [HR 2.28, (95% CI 1.37–3.80); p=0.002)] and the composite endpoint [HR 2.28, (95% CI 1.44–3.60); p<0.001)] compared with non-frail SR patients. After multivariate adjustment, Frail score [HR 1.41; 95% CI (1.02–1.97); p=0.040] was independently associated with mortality. Kaplan Meier analysis showed that frail AF patients had significantly worse prognosis during the follow-up with high risk of global mortality (log rank p=0.024) and readmission (log rank p<0.001) followed closely by those frail SR patients.
 Event Free Survival according Frailty

 In the LONGEVO-SCA registry, frail AF patients have 2-fold risk of adverse events compared to non-frail SR patients. Frailty status was an independent condition associated with high risk of adverse events at 6 months of follow-up.


The Electronic Systems Engineering Department of the Computing Sector at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has undertaken the effort of designing an AMC that meets the specifications within the MicroTCA framework. The application chosen to demonstrate the hardware is the real-time event assembly of data taken by a particle tracking pixel telescope. In the past, the telescope would push all of its data to a PC where the data was stored to disk. Then event assembly, geometry inference, and particle tracking were all done at a later time. This approach made it difficult to efficiently assess the quality of the data as it was being taken - at times, resulting in wasted test beam time. Now, we can insert in the data path, between the telescope and the PC, a commercial MicroTCA crate housing our AMC. The AMC receives, buffers, and processes the data from the tracking telescope and transmits complete, assembled events to the PC in real-time. In this paper, we report on the design approach and the results achieved when the MicroTCA hardware was employed for the first time during a test beam run at the Fermi Test Beam Facility in 2012.


Herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) associated aseptic meningitis is rarely seen in healthy individuals. Herein, we report a rare case of meningitis, associated with HSV-2, without the presence of genital lesions. A healthy, 40-year-old female was presented to the emergency service with unremitting headache, vomiting and nausea. Her cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) revealed elevated protein level of 308,2 mg/dL, high leukocyte cell count of 1,118,000 cells/µL with 98% lymphocytes and 2% polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs). The bacterial culture and gram staining of CSF were negative. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) CSF analysis indicated the presence of HSV-2. The cranial MRI revealed meningeal contrast enhancement. The patient was administered acyclovir for 10 days during her hospital stay and she was discharged without any neurological sequela. The patient has a history of herpes infection. This case report shows that HSV-2 meningitis can occur in immunocompetent individuals via re-activation and should always be considered by the clinicians even in the absence of genital lesions.


Introduction: Leishmaniasis is one of the six important tropical diseases, different aspects of which required to be studied, as recommended by World Health Organization. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a prevalent parasitological disease with diverse clinical manifestations in Iran. This study investigated the status of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Poledokhtar district, during 20012011. Methods and Materials: This descriptive survey was performed on all 310 cutaneous leishmaniasis patients recorded in the Poledokhtar health center during 2001-2011. Demographic information of patients including age, sex, habitat, number and sites of lesion,month and years of incidence were recorded.The data were described by SPSS16 software. Results: Out of 310 under care patients, 142 cases (45.81%) were males and the rest of patients (54.19%) were females. Totally 41 patients (13.23%) resided in urban areas, while 269 (86.77%) lived in rural areas. The most frequent age group was 20-29 years old (25.16%). Hands were the most common sites of lesions (44.84%). Out of 9.03% of the patients had two or more lesions (56.45%).The most frequent cases of the disease were observed in the fall. Conclusions: The incidence rate of cutaneous leishmaniasis in the years has been higher than expected rate in Poledokhtar district. This situation has been alarming and comprehensive planning for control and prevention of the disease is necessary.


Introduction Some things go. Pass on. Some things just stay ... Some things you forget. Other things you never do ... Places, places are still there. Beloved (1987)-Toni Morrison This paper adopts a multi-disciplinary approach in exploring how the kidnapping and selling of people, and especially the threats and violence of predation and enslavement, among the Bulsa and Kasena of Ghana during the latter part of the nineteenth century continues to linger in their cultural memory. The paper also discusses how these subaltern groups continue to survive the legacy of a traumatic remembrance, an experience associated with human kidnapping for enslavement. But more importantly, the paper pays particular attention to how these two communities adapted and resisted the threats of violence and enslavement through flight and the exploiting of their unique landscape and topography, and local architecture as strategies against the violence of predation and captivity from kidnapping for enslavement. Although African struggles against their enslavement were often varied and multifaceted, the role of Africans themselves in masterminding their resistance to human kidnapping has often been either deliberately overlooked or grossly misrepresented or even sometimes forgotten. And although historical sources have provided some useful accounts of African resistance strategies to enslavement, greater attention ought to be paid to the oral traditions of victims of the slave trade within the interior of Africa where people were abducted as slaves in order to better understand the internal dynamics of slave trafficking and indigenous community resistance. Indeed, scholars of the slave trade have shown that armed struggle though constituted significant means of resistance within Africa, was neither the best nor the only strategy. As Diouf (2003) has reminded us, "the acts-of fear of armed struggle may have seemed the most dreadful to the Europeans, but the African struggle encompasses more than a physical fight. This struggle Diouf has argued, "was based on strategies in which not only men who could bear arms, but women, children, the elderly, entire families, and communities had a role" (xii). And as this paper, attempts to show, other long term and innovative strategies were used to protect people from the predatory activities of enslavers. Earthworks were constructed to frustrate slave raiders and kidnappers while some communities surrounded their towns with thick walls. Better still, others often deserted vulnerable environments to inaccessible locations such as hills, caves and thick grooves. Taken together, these varied strategies offer another window into the inner world of cultures hitherto unexplored within the literature which is why attention to the experiences of the Bulsa and Kasena is relevant, especially how these social groups continue to relive their experiences of not only predation but also triumph. Thus, attempting to piece together a cultural space, a historical time and an experience that does not otherwise feature within conventional historical sources, I argue that oral tradition provides a promising approach that we can use to better understand the subtle nuances inherent in cultures that were devastated by the threats of violence and enslavement within their collective memories. Although oral tradition is limited in terms of how it negotiates and in what is passed on from generation to generation, because more often than not, the amount of data is circumscribed (Klein, 1989), nonetheless, it still provides some useful leads into communal memories of the past. Human kidnapping for enslavement and tribute paying were common practices in most parts of pre-colonial Africa. The Yoruba of Nigeria and the Sokoto Caliphate, for example, exacted tribute from their subjects. Perbi (2004) has for example, suggested that in Ghana, almost all the states the Asante conquered from 1700 to 1896, paid annual tributes with enslaved people and other goods to the Asante Kingdom. …


With the ICP-MS(inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry),the concentrations of eight kinds of heavy metals in reclaimed water irrigated soils in three different areas in Beijing were measured.And they were compared with those of groundwater irrigated soils of the corresponding area to research the impact of reclaimed water irrigation on heavy metals concentration in soils respectively.The results showed that: the three reclaimed water irrigated areas were contaminated by mercury to different degrees.The concentrations of Cd,Ni,Cu and As in soil were all in line with the primary grade of Environmental Quality Standard for Soils in China.The maximum concentration of Pb,Zn and Cr(39.90、103.1and 120.3 mg/kg) was even less than the second grade of Environmental Quality Standard for Soils.There was a tendency of Ni and Hg transporting to deep soil layers in most of the sampling points.There was no significant difference of the concentrations of Cd in soils between the reclaimed water irrigated areas and the corresponding groundwater irrigated areas.Only in Dabeiguan,Tongzhou district,the concentration of Hg in soils of groundwater irrigated areas was larger than reclaimed water irrigated areas.Additionally,the concentrations of other six kinds of heavy metals indicated that they were accumulated at varying degrees.Research showed that heavy metal pollution in soils of reclaimed water irrigated areas did not always come from reclaimed water irrigation,and early wastewater irrigation(sewage sludge),organic fertilizer application and the like should not be ignored.


Abstract  We present a high‐throughput cost‐effective method to extract DNA suitable for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from insect tissue. The method uses standard 200 μL‐deep 96‐well plates in which samples are ground, digested and subsequently purified. The test extraction using four different insect species and controlling for potential contamination showed that the method yields good‐quantity and quality DNA. PCR with mitochondrial and nuclear primers was reliable. The proposed extraction protocol combines the speed of commercial 96‐well plate methods with the economies associated with readily available and cheap laboratory chemicals, consumables and equipment. Therefore, this method is particularly suitable for low‐budget research projects and for laboratories with only basic equipment present.


The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale is widely used both in routine clinical practice and in research. However, its reliability has never been assessed when used to rate information in clinical records. The present study focuses on the development of a standardized method (an ongoing modelling process between raters) for establishing desired levels of inter‐rater reliability (IRR) in the application of the GAF to psychiatric case records. Fifty‐one patients at first‐ever contact with mental health services were included in the study. They were selected from a total sample of 662 first‐ever patients by using a systematic sampling. Three raters (resident psychiatrists at their third year of training) took part in a 12‐hour training programme, during which they were asked to assess the global psychological functioning of patients, taking into account information recorded in case records. The extent of agreement between raters was estimated by applying the 'limits of agreement' method and the 'concordance correlation coefficient'. The training programme proved to be feasible, easy to administer and acceptable to psychiatrists in training with limited previous experience of using rating scales. Very high levels of concordance (all greater than 0.95) emerged between the three raters. The GAF, completed using information from case records included in the initial assessment form, appeared to be a reliable instrument, even when used by clinical psychiatrists in training. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd.


Zooplankton often migrates within the water column for different purposes but mostly to find food and avoid predators. Vertical migration over 24 hours is called diel vertical migration (DVM). However, knowledge of DVM for different zooplankton species is limited. The present study analysized DVM based on species distribution in the water column at each different times of day at two stations on the central Vietnam shelf. One station was on the shelf (LT2) and another was on the shelf slope (FK002). The results showed that 69 zooplankton species, out of 191 recorded at the two stations, having strong DVM (dz > 15 m). Among them, 38 species were nocturnal and 36 species showed reverse DVM. Species with nocturnal DVM were less on the shelf station than on the shelf slope. Moreover, detailed analysis at LT2 showed 18 species having DVM at dawn and 13 species having DVM at sunrise. This study provides important data for zooplankton ecology in Vietnam and marine tropical waters.


When allowance is made for the influence of dissipative effects upon the perturbation dynamics in gravitationally stable gaseous subsystems of flat galaxies, one finds that the Jeans branch of perturbations will decay. Radial entropic perturbations (with an eigenfrequency ..omega.. = 0 in the dissipation-free limit) and nonaxisymmetric gradient perturbations in such models will be dissipatively unstable in a wavelength region comparable with the Jeans wavelength.


This review article outlines the major tenets of Relevance Theory as presented in the original book (1986) and in the second edition (1995). Each chapter summary is followed by a brief exploration of the points of contact between Sperber and Wilson's ideas and second language research. In some cases this leads to new predictions, in other cases it suffices to point out parallel discussions, which might profit from a Relevance Theory vantage point. It is concluded that Relevance Theory can be usefully exploited to understand second language comprehension and, perhaps, to understand second language acquisition.


Background: Quality of learning experience has been often seen as a vital element that influences the level of academic burnout among nursing students within the university to achieve the organizational objectives . Aim of the study: Assess the relation between quality of learning experience, academic burnout among nursing students at Technical Institute of Nursing Aldidamon,faquos. Subjects and Method: Research design: A Descriptive design was conducted to achieve the aim of study. Setting: This study was conducted at Technical Institute of Nursing Aldidamon, faquos , Elsharqia government. Subjects : All available nursing students were used in this study. Tools of data collection: two tools were used: College Student Experiences Questionnaire with personal and academic characteristics, Academic burnout scale. Results: indicated that 93% of nursing students had a negative perception of quality of learning experience. As well, the majority of nursing students had low level of academic burnout (92%). Conclusion: there was significant and inverse relation between Total qualities of learning experience score, Total academic burnout score. Recommendations: The University should prepare sufficient equipment and resources such equipped and updated environment such as libraries and computers sites. The staff educators should determine regular schedule, setting goal and assigning ordered tasks for students can be decrease academic burnout. Nursing students should improve their knowledge and skills like computers skill, communication skills.


. Organic aerosols generated from the smoldering combustion of wood critically impact air quality and health for billions of people worldwide; yet, the links between the chemical components and the optical or biological effects of 10 woodsmoke aerosols (WSA) are still poorly understood. In this work, an untargeted analysis of the molecular composition of smoldering WSA, generated in a controlled environment from nine types of heartwood fuels (African Mahogany, Birch, Cherry, Maple, Pine, Poplar, Red Oak, Redwood, and Walnut) identified several hundred compounds using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nano-electrospray high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) with tandem multistage mass spectrometry (MS n ). The effects of WSA on cell toxicity, aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)- and estrogen 15 receptor (ER)-dependent gene expression were characterized with cellular assays, and the visible mass absorption coefficients (MAC vis ) of WSA were measured with UV-visible spectroscopy. The WSA studied in this work have significant levels of biological and toxicological activity, with exposure levels in both an outdoor and indoor environment similar to or greater than those of other toxicants. A correlation between the HRMS molecular composition and aerosol properties found that phenolic compounds from the oxidative decomposition of lignin are the main drivers of aerosol effects, while the cellulose 20 decomposition products play a secondary role, e.g., levoglucosan is anti-correlated with multiple effects. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are not expected to form at the combustion temperature in this work, nor were observed above the


Acute epiglottitis in adults may follow an unpredictable clinical course, complicated by acute airway obstruction. Our experience with this disease was evaluated by looking at yearly incidence, seasonal occurrence, and clinical variables of both intubated and conservatively managed patients. In our series of 17 cases from 1987 through 1990, 16 occurred in 1988 and 1989. Ten of 17 cases occurred during the summer months. The two patients who developed stridor went on to require intubation and tracheotomy.


AbstractAssessing trends of sea surface wave, wind, and coastal wave setup is of considerable scientific and practical importance in view of recent and projected long-term sea level rise due to glo...


Water-resources data for the 1993 water year for Kansas consist of records of stage, discharge, and water quality of streams; elevation, contents, and water quality of lakes or reservoirs; and water levels and water quality of ground-water wells. This report contains records for water discharge at 134 gaging stations; elevation and contents at 24 lakes or reservoirs; water quality at 7 gaging stations; and water levels at 1,385 observation wells. Also included are data for 27 high-flow and 2 low-flow partial-record stations; and 2 chemical quality of precipitation stations. Miscellaneous onsite water-quality data were collected at 123 measured sites, and miscellaneous water-quality data were collected at 20 sampling sites.


Classical liberal theoryhas worked with a rationalistic conception of autonomy. S/he behaves autonomously who behaves in accordance with reason. The prominence of this conception of autonomy has contributed to the exploitation, by liberal political practice, of discourses of expertise which work to heteronomize citizens' choices and actions. A pluralisticconception of autonomy is developed, based on insights of Stanley Benn, which may provide a bulwark against the exploitation of citizens by experts. Some conditions for the protection of pluralistic autonomy are identified.


A fast and effective machine learning method, the broad learning system (BLS), has been successfully used for hyperspectral image (HSI) classification with good results. However, the original BLS cannot fully utilize the spatial information of HSI, and the linear sparse features of mapping nodes (MFs) have insufficient ability to characterize HSI. Thus, a broad graph convolutional neural network (BGCNN) is proposed for solving the aforementioned issues. In the BGCNN, the graph convolution operation is first used to capture the nonlinear spectral-spatial features, instead of only the linear sparse autoencoder in BLS. Then, the spectral-spatial features are expanded with a graph convolution operation, which further enhances the feature representation capability. Finally, the ridge regression theory is exploited to acquire the output weights. Experiments on four real HSI datasets show that our proposed BGCNN outperforms several state-of-the-art classification methods on the classification accuracy with a relatively less consumed time.


In recent years, working out in the gym has gotten increasingly more data-focused and many gym enthusiasts are recording their exercises to have a better overview of their historical gym activities and to make a better exercise plan for the future. As a side effect, this recording process has led to a lot of time spent painstakingly operating these apps by plugging in used types of equipment and repetitions. This project aims to automate this process using an Internet of Things (IoT) approach. Specifically, beacons with embedded ultra-low-power inertial measurement units (IMUs) are attached to the types of equipment to recognize the usage and transmit the information to gym-goers and managers. We have created a small ecosystem composed of beacons, a gateway, smartwatches, android/iPhone applications, a firebase cloud server, and a dashboard, all communicating over a mixture of Bluetooth and Wifi to distribute collected data from machines to users and gym managers in a compact and meaningful way. The system we have implemented is a working prototype of a bigger end goal and is supposed to initialize progress toward a smarter, more efficient, and still privacy-respect gym environment in the future. A small-scale real-life test shows 94.6% accuracy in user gym session recording, which can reach up to 100% easily with a more suitable assembling of the beacons. This promising result shows the potential of a fully automatic exercise recording system, which enables comprehensive monitoring and analysis of the exercise sessions and frees the user from manual recording. The estimated battery life of the beacon is 400 days with a 210 mAh coin battery. We also discussed the shortcoming of the current demonstration system and the future work for a reliable and ready-to-deploy automatic gym workout recording system.


I. IntroductionA litigant preparing for oral arguments before the Supreme Court has reached the final step in an expensive and time-consuming appellate process. Based on the ability of the attorneys to convince five Justices of the merits of a particular legal argument, one litigant's rights will be adjudicated and often a broad constitutional question will be answered. But what happens when one party becomes concerned that the Court's decision might be based not on the strength of the legal reasoning, but rather on some external interest of one or more of the Justices? To avoid the appearance of bias in those types of cases, a Supreme Court Justice is required to recuse himself from any case in which the Justice's participation would create a reasonable apprehension that he would not act impartially.1The difficulty lies in identifying what situations support that type of apprehension. For example, should a Supreme Court Justice be disqualified from a case argued by his former law partner? What about a case on a topic that the Justice has already discussed in Congressional testimony? Should a Justice participate in a case against a member of the executive branch with whom the Justice had recently vacationed? In these three situations-the most controversial recusai cases in the Supreme Court during the last sixty years-Justices Black, Rehnquist, and Scalia, respectively, held that recusai was not required.2The uproar that accompanied these decisions is indicative of public dissatisfaction with recusai policy in the Supreme Court.3 The widespread criticism of Justice Scalia's recent denial of a motion to recuse himself4 shows that, despite extensive academic and Congressional interest over the past sixty years,5 today's process is not successful at producing predictable results. Although development and adoption of a concrete mechanism for recusai is by no means a simple task, the vital role that disqualification plays in preserving the appearance of judicial impartiality requires that a solution to recusai in the Supreme Court be found. Using the facts of Justice Scalia's March 2004 decision as a convenient test case, this Note seeks to propose such a solution.The recusai challenge to Justice Scalia emerged from a suit filed by the Sierra Club in April 2002.6 The Sierra Club alleged that the National Energy Policy Development Group (NEPDG), an organization established by President Bush to develop a cohesive national energy policy and chaired by Vice President Cheney, had violated federal law by having nongovernment employees participating as de facto members.7 The district court entered a discovery order requiring Vice President Cheney and other senior Executive Branch officials to produce meeting minutes and other materials tending to show the structure and membership of the NEPDG.8 The circuit court denied the government defendants' subsequent appeal for mandamus relief from the discovery order, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari.9In March 2004, prior to oral arguments before the Court, the Sierra Club submitted a motion to disqualify Justice Scalia claiming that his recent duckhunting vacation with Vice President Cheney had created a reasonable apprehension of bias.10 The two men traveled aboard the Vice President's official aircraft to Louisiana where they joined a group of thirteen others for a week of hunting and fishing.11 According to Justice Scalia's description of the facts, his time in the hunting camp only overlapped with the Vice President for two days of the trip, and during that period, they had no private moments together.12 When details of the event came to light, however, newspapers nationwide were quick to assert that the hunting trip raised the specter of judicial bias and urged Justice Scalia to recuse himself from the matter.13 In fact, the Sierra Club cited the press outcry as primary evidence of how Justice Scalia's vacation had created an appearance of partiality. …