When Omicron, the now ubiquitous COVID-19 variant, first emerged in South Africa in November, scientists were immediately worried. Genetic sequencing showed that Omicron boasted dozens of mutations in key regions of its genetic code—about four times as many as previous variants. Still, they did not know how much Omicron differed physically, not just genetically, from previous variants. That's crucial information in the fight against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It's the physical changes—alterations in how a virus looks and functions—that enable such a pathogen to cause infections by evading the immune systems of people vaccinated or infected with prior strains.


Abstract Fouling mitigation in underground reservoirs enhances the permeability and the flow capacity of production or injection wells and is carried out by reservoir stimulation methods such as matrix acidizing. This process is known as the most significant method used to improve the production or injection indices of oil and gas wells as well as water and steam wells. Here, different aspects of this process, its chemical advances and novel high-technologies are compared and discussed in order to reveal their advantages and determine under what conditions they are applicable. Knowledge for adapting the proper acid treatment with the well characteristics is another issue that has been considered in this paper. The final goal is to present the state-of-the-art fouling mitigation methods based on novel experiments, simulations and investigations in order to emphasize the engineering aspects of fouling mitigation in oil and gas wells by matrix acidizing.


The acetylcholine receptor content of intercostal muscle biopsies from patients with myasthenia gravis is reduced, and many of the remaining receptors have antibodies bound to them. Decreased receptor content and inhibition of receptor activity by bound antibodies can account for the reduced amplitude of the miniature endplate potential in these patients. Patients with Eaton-Lambert syndrome, who release reduced numbers of acetylcholine quanta, have normal receptor content and miniature endplate potential amplitude, and do not have antibodies bound to their receptors. As the severity of myasthenia gravis increases, the content of receptor remaining unbound by antibody decreases, as does miniature endplate potential amplitude. Similar decreases in receptor content and similar concentrations of antibody-labeled receptor are found in rats with experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis. Regardless of the severity of their myasthenia, receptor content in rats does not decrease much below 40 percent of normal, and increasing weakness is associated with the binding of antibodies to an increasing fraction of the remaining receptors. In both myasthenia gravis and its animal model, a decrease in the content of fully active receptor is probably the most important factor impairing neuromuscular transmission. Pathologic mechanisms responsible for decreased receptor content and alteration of postsynaptic membrane morphology are discussed.


Airborne meteorological radars typically operate at attenuating wavelengths. The path integrated attenuation (PIA) can be estimated using the surface reference technique (SRT). In this method, an initial value is determined for the radar cross section of the earth surface in a rain-free area in relatively close proximity to the rain cloud. During subsequent observations of precipitation any decrease 'in the observed surface cross section from the reference value s assumed to be a result of the two-way attenuation along the propagation path. In this paper we present selected instances of high PIA observed over land by an airborne radar. The observations were taken in Brazil and Florida during TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission) field campaigns. We compared these observations with collocated and nearly simultaneous ground-based radar observations by an S-band radar that is not subject to significant attenuation. In this preliminary evaluation, a systematic difference in the attenuation in the two storms is attributed to a difference in the raindrop size distributions; this is supported by observations of ZDR (differential reflectivity).


Epoxy resin(EP)are known as brittle thermosetting polymers which need to be toughened for various applications. Many new studies on the toughness of EP have been reported in recent years, so some of them are introduced in detail in this paper for further studies of EP.


This description of one of the enterprises carried on by small groups of children illustrates a teaching procedure which has proved very effective in our kindergarten. New experiences, offered when interest in activities then culminating was beginning to wane, and followed by the provision of suggestive materials, stimulated the children to new forms of project activity. Further opportunity for indirect guidance of these activities is found in the teacher's participation in the children's dramatic play, and, of course, in the conference period. This procedure is less limiting to the children's spontaneity in developing their ideas than the more direct conference type.


The net real rate of return on the corporate capital stock dominates Q, the tax-adjusted ratio of the market value of capital to its replacement cost, in explaining variations in investment. The relationship between Q and the components of the net rate of return reveals some of the reasons for its unsatisfactory performance.


This study aims at investigating the disagreement strategies that are usually used by Jordanian Arabic speakers. A discourse completion task (DCT) was used to collect data. The DCT is a written questionnaire that includes 10 imaginary situations. Two thousand three hundred and twenty-two expressions of disagreement were collected from the responses of 217 Jordanian respondents from Yarmouk University in Irbid Governorate. The researcher developed a taxonomy of disagreement strategies to classify the collected data. The findings revealed that Jordanian Arabic speakers employed 11 strategies which fall into two types: softened strategies and strong strategies. In general, Jordanian Arabic speakers prefer to use softened disagreement strategies more than strong strategies. The findings indicated that giving explanations was the most frequently used disagreement strategy, while giving advice was the least used strategy.


The conventional pixel-oriented classification is the most commonly used approach in remote sensing for land use product extraction. The object-oriented classification based on the image segmentation is an alternative, which uses the pixel context, texture and shapes, in addition to their spectral characteristics. This paper reports on a comparative study between supervised pixel-oriented and object-oriented classifications in a precision agriculture context using three hyperspectral images. The images were acquired with the Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) sensor at three different altitudes, providing three different spatial resolutions: 1, 2 and 4 m. Pixel-oriented classifications were carried out using the maximum likelihood algorithm, and object-oriented classifications with a hierarchical segmentation and nearest neighbor classifier. The raw CASI data were transformed to absolute ground reflectance using calibration coefficients determined in the laboratory and the CAM5S radiative transfer code for atmospheric corrections. After segmentation, statistical comparison on the mean difference to neighbor objects confirmed that the segments had minimum mixing effects in respect to other segmentation levels and neighboring ground entities. After accuracy analysis on the classifications, the segmentation process allowed for the use of a spatially coarser hyperspectral image (4 m with kappa of 0.8268) to achieve better results than pixel oriented classification of spatially finer hyperspectral image (1 m with kappa of 0.7730), in the task of delineating agricultural classes.


Summary

Bewick's Swans were identified individually at Slimbridge from 1968-69 to 1975-76, both within one winter and from one winter to the next, by bill markings or large numbered leg rings. Units, rather than individuals, were used for analysis, each unit being placed into one of two categories (New, Experienced), and into one of four classes (family, pair, single, yearling).

The Experienced category arrived proportionally earlier, had fewer one-day attendances, stayed longer, were absent less, and departed later than the New category. Experienced families were absent more than the other Experienced classes and, in the early part of the winter, left proportionally ahead of them. Arrivals of the New classes were at different rates: yearlings built up quickest, followed by singles, pairs and families. Families had more one-day attendance than yearlings and singles, and pairs were absent more than the other classes. The departures of the New classes, except of families, were closely synchronised.

The different behaviours of the classes which determine length of stay are discussed. The birds most likely to return were those with a long attendance in a previous season.


The application of a high purity Germanium (HPGe) γ spectrometer in determining the fuel element burnup in a future reactor is studied. The HPGe detector is exposed by a 60Co source with varying irradiation rate from 10×103 s−1 to 150×103 s−1 to simulate the input counting rate in real reactor environment. A 137Cs and a 152Eu source are positioned at given distances to generate a certain event rate in the detector with the former being proposed as a labeling nuclide to measure the burnup of a fuel element. It is shown that both the energy resolution slightly increasing with the irradiation rate and the passthrough rate at high irradiation level match the requirement of the real application. The influence of the background is studied in the different parameter sets used in the specially developed procedure of background subtraction. It is demonstrated that with the typical input irradiation rate and 137Cs intensity relevant to a deep burnup situation, the precision of the 137Cs counting rate in the current experiment is consistently below 2.8%, indicating a promising feasibility of utilizing an HPGe detector in the burnup measurement in future bed-like reactors.


[Objective] The aim was to breed new good onion varieties with high yield by using laser mutation.[Method] With Japanese yellow-peel onion "96203" as breeding materials,the wet seeds of "96203" were exposed to CO2 laser at five different dosages of 2,5,8,11,13 s,resp.A new yellow-peel onion variety "Changji 07-9" with high yield,high quality,multi-resistance and stronger adaptability was bred out from the variation progenies of "96203" irradiated by laser,and regional tests and production tests were carried out.[Result] The growth period of the yellow onion "Changji 07-9" was 197 d and the early bolting rate was 8.9%."Changji 07-9" had the characteristics of strong growth potential,spicy tasteless,good quality,larger bulb,high yield,strong resistance and long storage without bulb separation.It got the yield of 176 437.5 kg/hm2 through acceptance on the spot by the expert team,which was the highest yield of yellow-peel onion accepted formally by experts in China.[Conclusion] The yellow onion "Changji 07-9" had the characteristics of high yield,strong resistance and long storage,which was suitable to be extended in large area in places such as Xichang.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional efficiency of phosphorus in physic nut ( Jatropha curcas L . ) genotypes, under controlled conditions. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design, in a factorial scheme 10 x 2, using ten physic nut genotypes, two levels of phosphorus available in the soil (10 and 60 mg dm -3 ), and four replications. Cultivation consisted of a period of 100 days, with vegetative growth being evaluated in each experimental plot, with the dry matter mass values, phosphorus contents in the vegetative parts, nutritional efficiency indices, and alpha parameter also being obtained. The results show that the physic nut genotypes present greater vegetative growth, dry matter mass accumulation, P content, absorption efficiency and translocation at the high level of phosphorus available in the soil. Genotype CNPAE-C2 is the most efficient and responsive to phosphoric fertilization.


Nonintrusive load monitoring (NILM) enables the disaggregation of the global power consumption of multiple loads, taken from a single smart electrical meter, into appliance-level details. State-of-the-art approaches are based on machine learning methods and exploit the fusion of time- and frequency-domain features from current and voltage sensors. Unfortunately, these methods are compute-demanding and memory-intensive. Therefore, running low-latency NILM on low-cost resource-constrained microcontroller unit (MCU)-based meters is currently an open challenge. This article addresses the optimization of the feature spaces as well as the computational and storage cost reduction needed for executing state-of-the-art (SoA) NILM algorithms on memory- and compute-limited MCUs. We compare four supervised learning techniques on different classification scenarios and characterize the overall NILM pipeline's implementation on an MCU-based Smart Measurement Node. Experimental results demonstrate that optimizing the feature space enables edge MCU-based NILM with 95.15% accuracy, resulting in a small drop compared to the most accurate feature vector deployment (96.19%) while achieving up to 5.45× speedup and 80.56% storage reduction. Furthermore, we show that low-latency NILM relying only on current measurements reaches almost 80% accuracy, allowing a major cost reduction by removing voltage sensors from the hardware (HW) design.


Tachistoscopic recognition of bilaterally presented single letters and vertically spelled words as a function of the lateral visual-half-field placement of the stimuli was examined. Right visual-field recognition superiority obtained for both types of stimuli, but the percentage of Ss showing right-field superiority was much lower than obtained in earlier experiments using horizontally spelled words as stimuli. Data from this aggregate of experiments were discussed in terms of compatibility with the view that reading habits play at least some role in producing right-field superiority with horizontal words. It was suggested that reading habits are not fundamental to the results and that all the data can be encompassed within a lateral dominance and visual masking-temporal registration sequence model in which the temporal patterning of inputs from differing retinal locations plays a major role in producing left-right differences for horizontally displayed words.


Author: Hanna Hansson
Title: A problem in alteration - A study of the construction of men's violence against women as a social problem [Translated title]
Supervisor: Stig Linde
Assessor: Ingrid Sahlin

The purpose of this study was to examine the constrution of men's violence against women. More specific, the aim was to look at the consequenses of these changes in the construction of victims and perpetrators and the understanding of this social problem in relation to gender.The theoretical framework for this study was based on a social constructionism approach together with the concept of "doing gender" and Losekes theory of claims-making strategies regarding social work. The empirical material was based upon nine documents focusing men´s violence against women published by the Swedish parliament and government during two periods of time: 1989-1995 and 2006-2012. The study shows that the construction of men´s violence against women has changed between the two periods. In the first period the problem is located within a gender-power perspective, where gender and power is important factors for understanding the violence. During the second period intimate relationships is at the center of the construction which is a gender-neutral construction of the problem. Violence that is performed by an unknown person is no longer part of the construction as opposed to the first period. But, when the core of the understanding violence is intimate relationships instead of gender, both men and women can be seen as victims, as well as perpetrators. This shift makes some violence, for example in homosexual relationships, visible and part of the construction. Thus, the construction of victim and perpetrator is expanded and more heterogenic and complex. However, the discription of both victims and perpertrators is stable over both periods and is linked to constructions of masculinity and femininity. Despite the expanded, gender-neutral, understanding of violence victims is constructed as women and perpetrators as men. But, in the second period not all men and women are seen as potential victims or perpetrators, as they were during the first period. In the second period these groups are increasingly understood as exposed to other social problems, such as poverty or criminality, and seen as more deviant compared to the first period. As a result men's violence is seen as more of a social problem which is located in these exposed groups.


The reactivity of a number of Ir(I) complexes towards CO2 is explored using [Ir(NHC)(OH)] as a key synthon. CO2 insertion into Ir-O and Ir-N bonds proved facile, yielding a number of Ir(I)-carbonates and -carbamates. Most importantly, reaction between CO2 and Ir(I)-OH led to isolation of the novel [{Ir(I)}2-(μ-κ(1):κ(2)-CO3)] complex.


Wire ropes are widely used in vibration isolators.A general formulation of cross-sectional moment of inertia of multi-wire cable is given.Furthermore,the approximate formula of equivalent static stiffness of the wire-rope isolator in compression is derived.Experimental results show that this formula is of high accuracy.


There is a fastidious saying that "Customer is a king". Mahatma Gandhiji has also quoted that "Customer is the most important visitor on our premises". Marketers and firms had understood that desire of the customers is very important for their brands. Customer passion is the drive of any brands. Brand equity refers the brand value. Methodology: Undoubtedly brands are the asset of the company. Customer based brand equity is to determine the customer attitude towards a brand. CBBE model was proposed by Aaker(1991) and K.L Keller(1992). Based on the model, the researcher has proposed a questionnaire construct which is administered to the young student's community of Chennai city regarding the apparel brands which they patronize in their everyday life. 273 samples were collected from the young college students of Chennai. 10 samples were taken for pilot study to check the validity of the questionnaire and the responses. Research Gap: Earlier studies have proved that Brand Awareness, Brand Associations, Perceived quality and Brand loyalty are the dimensions of brand equity. In this study the researcher has slightly made an alteration by adding additional constructs namely Brand relevance and Brand differentiation (Brand Asset Valuator Model of brand equity) and attempted to prove all the 5 dimensions are having impact on brand loyalty. Author proved, perceived quality is the mediation construct to achieve the brand loyalty (outcome) using Structural equation modelling. Findings: Findings proved that Brand Awareness, Brand Associations, Perceived quality, Brand relevance and brand differentiation is having an impact on loyalty among young students of Chennai city.


The combined method of integral equation - finite elements (IEM-FEM) has been developed for calculation of optical dielectric waveguide properties. The method is applicable for optical dielectric waveguides with arbitrary core geometry and arbitrary distribution of core index of refraction and the constant cladding index. The cutoff frequencies are obtained for rectangular, elliptical, "rounded rectangle" waveguides and waveguides with concave core shape for aspect ratio from 1.0 to 100.0.


Cloud computing provides computing resources as utility services. It offers clients with several usage scenarios. These scenarios fulfill the services requested by the clients with a lower cost as compared with deploying them locally. This paper introduces an intelligent resource selection framework that provides the client with the best set of resources in terms of computing cost and the fulfillment of client's requests. It is assumed that the requested resources can be provided to the client from multiple data centers. Additionally, cloud resources are allocated in units determined according to client's request. The client submits his resource requirements in terms of units of computing power, storage, networking, software … etc. Then, the proposed framework finds the best set of resources that satisfies the client's request. Moreover, it takes into consideration the inter-dependencies among resources that lead to mutually allocating certain resources together. Additionally, it considers the overhead incurred in acquiring and using the requested resources. This problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem and has been tackled in this paper using genetic algorithms. Simulation studies show that the proposed framework provides a near-optimal solution for the studied cases.


Information safety is a forward-looking concern in the mocess of globalization. Globalization has positive as well as negative influence upon information safety. So the author holds that,in the process of globalization,it is a matter of epochal and overall importance to take advantage of globalization so as to unceasingly strengthen a country's capacity to prevent and resolve all sorts of threats to the information safety of caused by globalization.


PURPOSE: A memory management device and a method thereof are provided to quickly perform read processing by calculating requested data based on a parity bit and other stripe data even though a disk including the requested data is inaccessible. CONSTITUTION: A data input/output control unit(110) applies a stripe method to a memory including disks to read and write data and determines the performance of read processing through an RAID(Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) method according to accessibility to a target disk including read-requested data. If access to the target disk cannot be performed, a request data operation processing unit(140) calculates the requested data according to the RAID method using parity data and stripe data obtained from other striped disks and the target disk. A garbage collection processing unit(130) performs garbage collection processing for the disks. [Reference numerals] (110) Data input/output control unit; (120) Memory; (130) Garbage collection processing unit; (140) Request data operation processing unit;


Universal health coverage (UHC) has been identified as a means of addressing health inequalities to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).1 As defined by the World Health Organizati...


Large size high quality Li7La3Zr2O12 single crystals were grown successfully by floating zone (FZ) technique. The grown crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction, etch pits density measurement, Impedance analysis, Vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and UV-Visible spectrometry. The investigation of structural, electrical, optical properties and defect density of the Li7La3Zr2O12 single crystals revealed that the crystals were high quality and free from defects. The chemical analysis showed that the grown crystals have uniform composition along cross-section and growth direction. The floating zone grown single crystals contain no low-angle grain boundaries, indicating that they can be used for high efficiency Li-ion batteries.


The application of automated systems is widely used in information management process in this era. This paper observes on the application of automated system in managing information by using a case study. The case study has been conducted at Sekolah Menengah Sains Dungun (SMSD), specifically within their hostel management system. The school management currently use manual process in order to collect and record information on outing. E-Outing System (EOS) is proposed to facilitate the school outing record management. EOS is developed using adapted Prototype Model that includes requirement gathering phase, quick design phase, prototype development phase, user evaluation phase, refining prototype and engineer product phase. Based on the final product, user acceptance test is conducted where the result showed that the system enables the school management to improve their management process. Respondents are mostly satisfied with user interface as it scores the highest mean with 4.33 (SD=0.61) out of 5. Overall result concludes that EOS improves the current process.


The theorems of Pappus and Desargues are two theorems in advanced geometry.This paper gives some simple proofs of the theorems.


The 'babyboom generation' born right after WWII is on the verge of retirement or already retired, while the working population stays the same or even shrinks. The government, aiming to keep the cost of the elderly healthcare law down, 'marketed' the biggest part via health insurers. Recent research showed that this transition does not do good for the elderly care in the Netherlands: more elderly fall prey to illness and social isolation than before, while the has costs has not become less. This new system expect elderly to care for themselves, helped by family and friends if needs be. Unfortunately not all elderly live in a dwelling or neighbourhood that provides all these needs. If fragile elderly do not live in close proximity to friends, shops, healthcare or public transport or live in a home that is not suitable anymore (stairs or high sills) problems are inevitable. Luckily new ways of elderly housing are being developed to resolve these problems. This research paper is one of them. It proposes a intermediary between the elderly in their private home and the all to often 'not elderly friendly' environment they dwell in: the collective. In this collective the inhabitants have a common passion; a passion of nature. Taking care of our natural enviroment has become ever more important as resent research showed a great decrease in insect life, problematic for our ecological system and food production. The inhabitants of this project will by the activity of gardening and beekeeping not only start to create a ecologically stronger city environment in Amsterdam but will generate the social activity and the sense of purpose needed for a community to flourish. In this looking out for each other and helping each other out becomes second nature.


Salt stress is one of the most important environmental factors that affect agricultural lands and causes product loss. Today, the application of various natural or synthetic molecules exogenously to plants and efforts to increase plant tolerance against environmental stresses as a result of these applications have been widely investigated by scientists. In this study, a Schiff base molecule (0, 3, 6, and 9 µM), which has shown in vitro antioxidant properties, was applied to barley seeds under salt stress (0, 50, 150, and 250 mM NaCl). In order to evaluate the effects of this molecule on barley under salt stress, seed germination, growth parameters, lipid peroxidation, proline content, histochemical detection of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide radicals, and mitotic index analysis were conducted. According to the results, salt stress decreased germination parameters, plumule and radicle lengths, and mitotic index while it increased proline content, lipid peroxidation, and radical contents. Schiff base treatment clearly reduced lipid peroxidation and radical content in all groups. However, it also decreased germination and growth parameters and mitotic index. The obtained results showed that the antioxidant property of this molecule was also preserved in plants under stress, but it was also determined that the molecule had negative effects, primarily on cell division. If necessary modifications can be made to the molecule, the negative effects on cell division can be eliminated, and this molecule, which is very easy and cheap to obtain, may be widely used to increase the tolerance of plants against environmental stress.


Based on three comparing experiments in which the WRF model is coupled without any urban canopy model, denoted as W-NUR, or is coupled with a single-layer urban canopy model, W-UCM, or is coupled with a multilayer urban canopy model, W-BEP, a process of afternoon heavy precipitation on June 21, 2011 over Pearl River Delta metropolitan area is simulated through the WRF model and the results show that the W-UCM simulation is better than the other experiments, though its simulated locations of precipitation are deviated from the observation. Therefore, the simulations of the early ten days(from June 11 to 20 in 2011) are applied to investigate the difference of simulated experiments between the W-NUR and the W-UCM through estimating the essential factors of six meteorological stations over Pearl River Delta metropolitan area. The assessment results indicate that wind speeds simulated by both the W-NUR and the W-UCM at 2 m height are stronger than the observed but the mean bias is reduced using the W-UCM(1.61 m/s for the W-NUR versus 1.58 m/s for the W-UCM). The simulated temperature at 2 m height with the W-NUR is colder while that of the W-UCM is warmer than the observed. However, the mean bias is significantly reduced using the W-UCM(-1.28 ℃ for the W-NUR versus 0.14 ℃ for the W-UCM). From the simulated dew-point depression at 2m height of both experiments, the mean bias of the W-NUR is smaller than that of the W-UCM(-1.39 ℃ for the W-NUR versus 1.12 ℃ for the W-UCM). Comparisons of the mean biases and correlation coefficients of wind speed, temperature and the dew-point temperature between the simulation and the observation show that the mean biases and the correlation coefficients of the 2 m temperature are the smallest and largest of the three elements, respectively, while those of the wind speed are the largest and smallest, respectively. Overall, although the forecast of surface elements is much improved after using the WRF coupled with the urban canopy model, the simulated wind speed at 10 m height is stronger than the observed. For the simulation of heavy precipitation on June 21, a strong northward wind induces a shear line to move southward, which is one of the reasons resulting in the simulated precipitation area shifting southward.


Platinization of ionic-polymer Nafion has been achieved by using tetraaquaplatinum(II) complex. Surface deposition of platinum has been characterized by AMF studies. A micro-actuator has been developed with this ionic-polymer-metal-composite material which actuates under operating voltage of +3.0 V. The results of actuation and force/displacement studies are discussed.


Indigenous and rural area residents are groups at high risk for tuberculosis. The strategies ofhealth promotion and disease prevention must be based on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice(CAP) that communities have on this topic. Objective: to describe the CAP about tuberculosisand its association with socio-demographic aspects in Indigenous and rural area residents ofCordoba, Colombia, 2012, and assess the validity and reliability of the scale CAP. Materials andmethods: cross sectional study in 300 individuals, 100 Zenu indigenous and 200 peasants. Datawere collected through primary source, analyzes were performed using summary measures, frequencyand nonparametric statistics tests in SPSS 20. Results: CAP showed good reliability andvalidity of appearance, content and construct. In knowledge 76% presented a satisfactory level,the attitudes 77% were unsatisfactory and the 48% had good practices. There was no statisticalassociation of CAP with sex or religious beliefs, the ethnicity were statistically significant differencesin knowledge and practices. The age was statistically associated with knowledge, educationshowed association with the practices. Conclusion: there was an adequate level of knowledge abouttuberculosis, while attitudes and practices were unsatisfactory; the main factors associated withCAP were ethnicity, age and education.


In a two years field study on effect of irrigation at vegetative and flowering stages occurring at 40 and 60 days after sowing, respectively alongwith straw mulch ca. 5 t/ha were found to have beneficial effect on growth, yield attributes and seed yield of horsegram (Dolichos biflorus Roxb.). Application of mulches significantly increased pods/plants, seeds/pod, test weight and seed yield and maintained better soil moisture during crop growth in semi-arid lateritic region of Indian sub-tropics. Mulches proved useful to conserve more moisture in soil profile and thereby increased the water use efficiency of the crop; straw mulch was found superior to leaf mulch.


Nowadays the uncertainty risk of reserving is being emphasized in actuarial practice in China,and the necessity to quantify the uncertainty has come up.In the previous studies of the uncertainty risk of reserving,more attention is focused on the mean square error of prediction(MSEP).On the other hand,from the viewpoint of numerical solution, if we can obtain the complete predictive distribution for the total reserves using simulation, then the percentiles of the distribution and other measures can be obtained directly,which provide with important reference for the accuracy and sufficiency of the reserve liability. The lognormal model discussed in this paper is one of the distributional models in the area of outstanding claims reserves.It is assumed that the individual development factors for the cumulative payments have lognormal distributions.In the lognormal model,the MSEP for the reserves with respect to the individual accident years has been obtained.However in some cases the MSEP of the total reserves of all the accident years is not available.In this paper,it is shown how the bootstrap method(and simulation) is applied to the lognormal model,in order to obtain the predictive distribution of the total reserve.Numerical illustrations are provided,which are implemented with R language.R is being widely adopted nowadays in implementing new methods and models of statistics by international academicians.


This paper presents different forecasting functional link artificial neural network (FLANN) models to investigate and compare various time series stock data. The architecture of several FLANN models like CFLANN, LFLANN, LeF-LANN, and CEFLANN are discussed. The processing technique and experimental results are provided to investigate the prediction of stocks. This piece of work presents the training and testing of all the models by analysing and forecasting different Indian stocks like IBM, RIL and DWSG. All the forecasting models have been tested using same duration time of time series data. The experimental results illustrate that the trigonometric polynomial-based CEFLANN model outperforms the forecasting time series stock data in terms of percentage average error than the polynomial-based FLANN models. Lastly, the percentage of average error is further improved by optimising the free parameters of the trigonometric polynomial-based CEFLANN model with differential evolution algorithm (DEA).


Professional baking can increase the proportion of first and middle class tobacco leaves,quality greatly.At the same time,professional baking can reduce the cost of labor,coal and electricity.Under the social and economic condition of Lian Zhou in Guangdong,the tobacco grower need to pay at least 2.6 yuan for each kilograms draw tobacco leaf so that the professional-baking become market-oriented.


Abstract Considerable progress has been made in the last few years toward a solution to an old micropaleontological problem, namely, that of the "biological affinities of hystrichospheres." Today it can be said with some certainty that hystrichospheres (sensu stricto) as well as "typical" fossil dinoflagellates are homologous with the resting cysts or spores of living peridinealean dinoflagellates, but this does not completely resolve the original problem. Several important aspects of the biology of modern dinoflagellate cysts are very poorly understood or documented. These biological matters include the causes and mode of cyst formation and the genetic and physiological functions they perform. This contribution is devoted firstly to a review of recently acquired knowledge of modern dinoflagellate cysts that have micropaleontological interest and, secondly to a brief discussion of some of the biological problems that concern them.


For its inner unhydrophilic and outer unhydrophilic hydrophilic character, β Cyclodextrin formed an especial inclusion complex with the rammish materials. We did four experiments with different also content of β Cyclodextrin. We compared the sensory evaluation and the content of water . We compared the finished product rates at the same time. It was found that the rammish in the duck meat could be removed by using β Cyclodextrin when making duck sausage. The best content of β Cyclodextrin found in the duck sausage test, was 0.1% of the weight of duck's meat. The sausage went to bad when the content of β Cyclodextrin was more than 0.1%, and the rammash could not be removed when the content of β Cyclodextrin was less than 0.1%.


Activity of GSH-Px,SOD and content of MDA was examined in the mycelium of two varieties of Pleurotus ostreatus after adding selenium. The results showed that the activity of GSH-Px and SOD obviously increased(P0.01)and the content of MDA reduced(P0.05)in two group of 30 mg/L,60 mg/L of selenium. The activity of GSH-Px and SOD submited the tendency of drop and the content of MDA obviously increased(P0.05)with the promoting of selenium. The consistence of selenium should be considered in bringing up the mycelium of Pleurotus ostreatus in selenium enrichment.


Lossless compression of images is important in fields like medical imaging and remote sensing. There are only a small number of good algorithms known to date for lossless image compression. We present a lossless image compression scheme which uses the concepts of logic coding and auto-adaptive block coding to obtain a scheme which performs comparable to the JPEG standard. The scheme reaches the best possible value of compression automatically, unlike the case of JPEG which gives a range of compression, based on available predictors.


The number of instars of pear sawfly larvae (Janus piri Okamoto) collected front field pear trees, were determined by measuring the width of head capsule, and the growth ratio in each instar was also studied. 1. The larval head width had six distinct peaks, which suggests that the larva of this insect passes six instars. 2. The head width tended to increase as the instars avdance, except in tile first and second instars. The coeffieient of variation decressed as the instars advanced. The growth ratio, which was similarly great in the first and second instars, decreased as the instars advanced. 3. Gains' and Campbell's formulae seemed to be more suitable than Dyer's for the determination of larval instars of this insect by the measurement of headwidth. 4. The larval instars could be inferred from the extent of damage to pear tree by this insect; that is the larvae in the second to fourth instars usually gave slight and invissible damage, while those in the fifth to sixth instars gave rapid and severe damage.


The fixed element of plane projective transformation are fixed point and fixed line.In this paper we use algebraic method to get the distributive situation and features of fixed element for plane projective transformation,In terms of theory completely solve the problem about the structure of fixed element for plane projective transformation.


Beijing's efforts to engineer a strong stock rally and the recent Shanghai market collapse have had quite limited effects on Western markets, but going forward the fallout from Chinese market meddling will likely be less benign.


The mechanical properties and thermal stability of sev-eral grades of poly(aryletherketone)s (PAEKs) wereinvestigated using thermal, rheological, and dynamicmechanical characterization. Detailed rheological char-acterization revealed that several grades of poly(ether-etherketone) (PEEK) exhibit relaxation behavior charac-teristic of a long-chain branched structure. The poten-tially branched PEEKs showed greater mechanicaldamping behavior than the linear-chain PEEKs. Themolecular weight dependence on zero-shear viscosityfor several linear-chain polymers indicates that thePEEKs behave as rigid chains in the melt. Differencesin chain structure do not significantly influencedynamic mechanical behavior in the solid state butaffect stability at elevated temperatures. The poten-tially branched PEEKs are most susceptible to oxida-tion in air, but exhibit much greater stability in nitrogen.Poly(etherketone) is highly susceptible to degradationin both air and nitrogen environments. Implications ofthis study for development of high-performance PAEKsare discussed.


E.H., female, aged 56 years. History. In May 1984, she was referred to the Dermatology Department at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and complained of blisters on the neck, arms and buttocks and had severe ulceration of the mouth and painful eyes. In 1975 seropositive rheumatoid arthritis had been diagnosed and D-penici!lamine therapy was introduced in December 1982 because of a deterioration in joint function. She received a maximum daily dose of 500 mg, but from August 1983 this was reduced to 375 mg daily due to a fall in her platelet count. Examination. She was a thin, frail women with numerous erosions and haemorrhagic bullae on the neck, arms and buttocks. There were several tense bullae in the mouth. There was severe bilateral conjunctivitis with evidence of scarring and symblepharon formation (Fig. i). Her


The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the experiences of nurses in general and long-term care hospitals in infection management related to COVID-19. The participants were 10 nurses working at general and long-term care hospitals located in G province. Data were collected through interviews with three focus groups conducted from June to July 2021. All interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The collected data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. As a result, 62 codes, 9 subcategories, and 4 categories were extracted. The four themes were as follows: (1) the sudden emergence of COVID-19 and the unending uncertainty, (2) various efforts to prevent and manage COVID-19, (3) facilitators and barriers in managing COVID-19, and (4) suggestions for strengthening infection management. Based on the results, an educational program to enhance the infection management competency of nurses should be developed and applied considering the characteristics of general and long-term hospitals. Moreover, practical policies such as preparing a network for infection management should be prepared.


The increasing demands in MEMS fabrication in the past led to new requirements in production technology for these devices. Especially the packaging and assembly of optical devices like high power diode lasers require high accuracy in positioning and high reproducibility in combination with low production costs. Conventional assembly technology and mechanical adjustment methods are time consuming and exspensive. Therefore a need of new assembly procedures arose. Each component of the system has to be positioned and fixed. The equipment for manipulating is very expensive. Also adjustment of the parts after joining requires additional mechanical devices that need to be accessible after joining. The decreasing dimensions of the microsystems cause problems in assembly and increase dramatically the tolerance conditions The laser beam micro forming as a non-contact tool offers the possibility of active adjusment after the assembly is completed. This paper describes this new technology pointing out the used mechanisms of laser induces deformation: From the basic mechanisms dedicated structures are derived to achieve the desired degrees of freedom for the adjustment process. Based on the upsetting mechanism the positioning of a cylindrical lens in front of a high power diode laser is shown. The adjustment in two degrees of freedom can be realized by irradiating the actuating structure from one direction. The achieved accuracy is in the micron range. The knowledge transfer to a tube-like actuator will be demonstrated. The tilting of a mirror in two rotational movements will be shown. The results to be presented have partially been achieved within the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 440 "Assembly of Hybrid Microsystems" which was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG.


A novel space signal diversity (SSD) based quadrature spatial modulation (QSM) scheme is proposed in this paper, which can enhance the QSM system performance via the transmit diversity and modulation diversity brought by SSD. The design principle of the SSD based QSM scheme is illustrated first. Then, the corresponding signal processing of the proposed scheme has been given. Simulation results about the average bit error rate (BER) performance show that the proposed SSD based QSM system outperforms the other conventional spatial modulation (SM) schemes, such as typical SM, QSM, and diversity-enhanced SM schemes. Meanwhile, we also investigate the influence of the rotation angle of the proposed SSD based QSM scheme on the system performance.


Like its famous predecessor the drawings in particular will assure its appeal to the student microscopist. The biggest single improvement over the original book and its revised editions is the much increased coverage given to sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, which together now account for approximately half the text. The first twenty chapters deal with igneous rocks, very much in the traditional Harker fashion though the organization is improved and tables of chemical analyses are a welcome addition. There is a minor degree of modernization, for example, komatiites get a brief mention, but as before the text is very largely concerned with the naming of rocks, and the brief description of a large number of specific varieties of broader categories. I f you like your igneous petrography old-fashioned you will like this section. Many will rightly argue that straight petrographic description is important, and that to have the information in a readily available textbook is highly desirable. On the other hand the almost complete absence of petrogenetic commentary will be seen by some as an important omission. It is perhaps a pity that those aspects of petrography that can be put to immediate petrogenetic use are barely mentioned, perhaps the most obvious case being the scanty treatment of the textures of cumulate rocks. Pyroclastic rocks, which are a rich source of petrographic interest, are also given much less attention than they deserve. Nevertheless the igneous section is a very useful source of information, even though it is not likely to fire many with an enthusiasm for igneous petrology. The second section of the book consists of twelve chapters on sedimentary rocks and is an enormous improvement on the Harker original. The coverage is much fuller and a large number of rock types are dealt with in some detail. The nature of the subject is also such that a good deal of genetic comment is inserted in the descriptive sections. It is regrettable, however, that chemical analyses are not also included here. There are many simple petrographic features of sedimentary rocks whose impact is reinforced by a consideration of bulk compositional factors. It is also unfortunate that a fuller account of the classificatory problems of sedimentary rocks is not given. A simple system of nomenclature is adopted throughout but a comparison of some of the more specialized systems would have been useful. This is a point on which the would-be petrologist can become considerably confused. The final seven chapters face up to the substantial problem of dealing with both the genetic and the descriptive aspects of the metamorphic rocks in eighty pages. Indeed in the present state of the art anything less ambitious would not have been very REVIEWS


Raymond Williams developed a vocabulary and framework for analyzing the ideological forces at work in literature and art, as objects, but also in terms of their production and distribution. This article looks back at his elaboration of cultural materialism and its relationship to film in Preface to Film (1954), written with Michael Orrin, as a way of understanding the media traces of the lost film Children of Loneliness (dir. Richard C. Kahn). The film was an early sex education about homosexuality and this article explores its connections to early exploitation films as a cinematic form, and the dominant and emergent discourses that were used to promote it, as a well as at structures of feeling that these discourses reflect.


While the burgeoning fields of labor and industrial relations have produced on the one side the field of labor history, accompanied by a reasonably extensive literature describing and analyzing the evolution of the labor movement in the United States, no comparable study has been made of the evolution of management policies and philosophy towards labor. The policies of management are often brought in to show their influence on the character of trade unionism, but they have never occupied a separate position as a field of research comparable to the history of labor organization. It is no part of this essay to account for this void except to make clear that this gap is not a result of any considered judgment as to the importance of this field of research. It is obvious to any layman that there have been tremendous changes in the policies of management towards labor in the past thirty years, and even a superficial historical examination reveals that these changes in policy and philosophy are not simply a defensive reaction to the growth of trade unions. The changing image of the industrial structure has resulted, in part at least, from the extensive historical analysis of the changing character and attitudes of trade unions in America. There is convincing evidence that the structure and attitudes of management have undergone an equal, if not greater, transformation. The very concept of "management" (instead of capitalist, proprietor, or employer) is indicative of this change. Yet our knowledge of this change is impressionistic and consists in good part of normative prescriptions rather than precise information. The objective of a history of management policies towards labor is to fill in this important gap in our knowledge.


Effect of oxime HI-6 to rabbit miosis induced by the topical sarin and VX administration is presented. It has been found that effects of both toxins are better antagonized by parenteral than by topical HI-6 administration. The sarin antagonizing effect was found more effective. It has been also confirmed that there was no significant difference concerning the oxime HI-6 effect when topically administered either as 2.5% hypertonic or isotonic solution. Opposite to PAM-2, HI-6 effect was better in parenteral and topical administration of isotonic solutions, and less effective in local administration of hypertonic solutions.


Based on the brief introduction of the origin and essence of service confrontation,this article proposes the thought and method for grasping the "service confrontation" in the telecom business process combining with the analysis of the characteristics of the service confrontation in telecom business process and the relationship of its factors.Then,it expatiates on the contents and the relevant requirements of telecom service confrontation.


In this paper,we analyzed a multi-modulation source signal with second-order Cyclic Autocorrelation Function(CAF) and Spectrum Correlation Density(SCDF),then made its three-dimensional spectra of CAF,slice Spectrum of CAF and SCDF with MATLAB,The results show that the improved methods can extract the characteristic frequency from the modulated source signal successfully.The study of this paper can made theoretical basis for fault signal with cycle feature.


This paper introduces the design and implementation of a digital video surveillance system in Distributed Environment.It gives much emphasis on system design and implementation approaches of system logic structure and software functions of the system.In addition,this paper researches into the system's virtual technology.


This research provides a critical analysis of the available relevant theoretical and empirical literature regarding the key lessons about fiscal and monetary policy during the latest global crisis. The main contribution of this paper lies in offering a new redesigned framework for the key macroeconomic policies which can serve as a general guide to policymakers for designing these policies to respond to future financial and economic crises. Our critical analysis points out 15 lessons for monetary policy which the monetary authorities should take into account in the process of designing their future policies. The analysis also includes 14 lessons as a guide for governments to design their fiscal policy during future global imbalances, addressing the efficiency of fiscal policies during large-scale economic crises, the role and significance of fiscal space, the effectiveness of austerity programs, the coordination of fiscal policies on a global level, the coordination and mutual interactions with monetary policy etc.


The research status,present obtained research achievement and existing problems of rectangular steel pipe concrete column shear property were introduced and discussed,some suggestions about further research were proposed so as to complete Chinese related standard construction,promoted steel pipe concrete structure further development.


The Human Rights magazine organized a workshop on December 23-24,2010 to discuss the "Theoretical System and Development Model of Human Rights" in socialism with Chinese characteristics.


Numerous behavioral models assume individuals combine knowledge in the form of a prior distribution with current sample information using Bayesian updating to estimate the quality of environmental parameters. I examine this assumption by reviewing 11 empirical studies. Six studies compared observed behavior to predictions of Bayesian and non-Bayesian models, while five studies manipulated prior distributions directly and observed how such manipulations altered behavior. Eight species of birds, three mammals, one fish and one insect exhibited behavior consistent with Bayesian updating models; one studied bird species failed to show evidence of Bayesian updating. Most studies examined how individuals estimated food patch quality but two investigated mating decisions. These studies suggest a variety of animals in different ecological contexts behave in manners consistent with predictions of Bayesian updating models. Future work on decision-making should focus on understanding how animals learn prior distributions and on decision-making in additional ecological contexts.


Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, online learning has rapidly begun to replace in-person learning and demand for online tutoring has grown. The switch to remote learning has also exacerbated learning inequality, as shown by students' test scores. The paper examines the efficacy of ManhattanACE's mathematics online tutoring model to provide a template for creating a valuable online tutoring experience.
To understand the main aspects of online learning and its effects on students' learning outcomes, an electronic survey was created and sent to the students. The survey contained both Yes/No questions and scaled 1-5 questions. Analysis of the survey responses shows that through a combination of factors such as passionate tutors and a responsive learning environment that feels like a community, online learning can boost both students' grades in math class and the effectiveness of virtual learning, while fostering students' confidence in their skills and future career choices. These three outcomes can, in turn, work to minimize educational and resource inequality.


There are many teaching tools on the Internet, including homework and examination platforms, how to improve their accessibility and expedience so that help teachers increase their work efficiency and productivity is the major topic of this article. The article describes the essential thoughts of the research, system architecture and basic functions of the system, and shows the realization results and analyzes the practice data.


Karyotypic data are presented on four species of Peluisos and Pelomedusa. All specimens that were examined had the same diploid number (2N=34), and similar percentage arm lengths and morphology. These data are compared to that presented by other investigators on the other genus in this family, Podocnemis. Karyotypic trends are suggested based on these comparisons.


1. A wireless device soderzhascheeodin or more wireless communication channels enabling communication with at least one network, a secure element configured to store access control client; interface to the secure element comprising a cryptographic key and the associated first certificate; computing device; and a device storage, coupled with the ability to communicate with the computing device and comprising computer executable instructions, wherein at least a subset of computer-executable instructions further divided into one or more segments, wherein the instructions executed by a computer when the computing device: through an interface transmitting a request of one or greater number of components for the customer access control related to at least one network, taking by one or more of the requested certificate and second components; verifying the second certificate; and in response to successful verification of the certificate store of the second access control client in a safe elemente.2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the customer access control includes one or more electronic subscriber identification module (eSIM); secure electronic element includes a universal card with an integrated circuit (eUICC), and each of said one or more modules associated with eSIM international subscriber equipment identification number (IMSI); and each of the modules eSIM further provides the possibility of establishing safe


Background: Calotropis gigantea is a well documented traditional medicinal plant useful for many disease conditions. The present study deals with the effect of alcoholic extract of roots bark of Calotropis gigantean in some animal models. Methods: Acute anti-inflammatory activity of root extract was assessed on carrageenin induced paw edema and chronic antiinflammatory activity on cotton pellet granuloma formation in rats and compared with standard diclofenac sodium. Antiasthmatic activity was assessed in histamine and actylcholine induced bronchoconstriction in guinea pigs. Results: 100 and 200 mg/kg p.o. root extract of CG showed significant anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator activity. Antiinflammatory activity was higher than Diclofenac Sodium 50mg/kg. The combination of low dose diclofenac sodium 25mg/kg potentiated the effect. Inhibitory effect on synthesis and release of various inflammatory mediators might contribute to both of these actions. Steroid like phytoconstituents might be responsible for these effects. Further research is needed to understand the exact mechanism behind these effects. Conclusions: In the present study Calotropis gigantea root bark exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in animal models.


Simulation can present some dynamic models of the real world, thus is often used as a powerful decision-analyzing tool in various industries including logistics and supply chain systems. In this paper, based on the platform of Acme-Bolt Trucking game, different strategies are analyzed and compared when the transport route decision was faced. From the simulation results, we can see the impact of the risk upon the logistic process. Finally, the "cooperative" and "tit-to-tat" strategies are further discussed.


Case report of central giant cell lesion (CGCL) in a 32-year-old female patient, who exhibited asymptomatic increase in mandible volume and integrity of the adjacent alveolar mucosa, she was submitted to conservative treatment. The imaging exams showed radiolucent and multilocular lesion with displacement and discrete root resorption of the teeth 34 and 35. An incisional biopsy was performed and the final diagnosis of CGCL was established. The patient was submitted to biweekly applications of triamcinolone hexacetonide, showing no recurrence and exhibiting bone reintegration. Treatment of extensive lesions with intralesional corticosteroid injections has shown satisfactory effects.


Computer aided Electronic Nose Sensor in a dairy farm office is designed to
detect odours, identify the chemical compounds associated with odours and help
to interpret odourant levels in live-stock buildings as well as laboratory tests and
results.
This piece of work will help designers and manufacturers to select and design
techniques and machines for sensing odours. The use of Technological
Inheritance technique has helped to determine optimum values, suppress
negative odour traits and also to design different models of computer aided
electronic nose odours in a dairy farm towards a sustainable development in
Agriculture.


Placement of infrastructure and other facilities underground brings superior opportunities for long-term improvements in terms of the environmental impact of urban areas and more efficient use of underground space. However, underground construction in urban areas is a high-risk activity and has been considered a challenging problem for geotechnical and structural designers. Therefore, the evaluation of the stability of underground structures plays a vital role in structural and construction design. This paper presents a case study on analyzing the stability of steel piles walls and tunnels excavated by shield machines in the urban area in Vietnam in terms of the change in internal forces in the structures. The research results show that the excavated stages of the basement influence on the values of internal force in the tunnel lining. In the case of study using composite lining in the tunnel, the thickness of lining concrete 35 cm, steel frame type I-W1000×883 are applied for tunnel excavated before construction of nearby basement, and 30 cm and W1000×350 steel ribs for the opposite side. This research could be applied to evaluate the effects of tunnel excavation near the existing structures in urban such as in the geological conditions in the Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City in the near future. However, this analysis also has the disadvantage that it does not consider the construction time as well as the construction sequence of the works during tunnel excavation. The shapes of the tunnel only are circular tunnels and the only type of steel piles in this research. Further study, total evaluation for other types of tunnels and walls of basements should be considered.

http://jmes.humg.edu.vn/images/paper/2022/63_3a/04. Tran Tuan Minh 29-40.pdf


This paper describes goals of research and some example of recent results on the dynamics and the statistical mechanics of an ensemble of real particles that dissipates due to collision, i.e. ball-wall and ball-ball collisions, studied in micro-gravity....


In his paper, "Towards a Map of the Current Critical Debate about Latin American Cultural Studies," Julio Ortega surveys the shifting disciplinary, critical, and methodological paradigms used to study Latin American culture in both the United States and Latin America. Describing the post-theoretical period as a moment when grand analytical models are abandoned in favor of microanalyses, Ortega sees great potential in this new paradigm shift. In his paper, Ortega pays particular attention to the ways that the field of cultural studies has emerged and transformed in Latin American academic inquiry and he considers the disavowal of master critical models to open up spaces for dialogue and critical exchange. Nevertheless, the practice of cultural studies in Latin America and the U.S. has not always indicated emancipatory politics or liberating critical readings. In order for cultural study to be heterogeneous, fluid and dialogic, scholarly work must take care to negotiate the prevailing discourses of power. Ultimately, Ortega points to the emerging field of Trans-Atlantic Studies as an exemplary case of new critical practice and he describes the field as a dynamic and open-ended area of study that does not require a traditional canon or disciplinary configuration. Julio Ortega, "Towards a Map of the Current Critical Debate about Latin American Cultural Studies" page 2 of 7 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 4.2 (2002):


We discuss the studies of light nuclei in ab initio No-core Full Configuration approach based on extrapolations to the infinite model space of large-scale No-core Shell Model calculations on supercomputers. The convergence at the end of p shell and beginning of the sd shell can be achieved if only reasonable soft enough NN interactions are used. In particular, good predictions are obtained with a realistic JISP16 NN interaction obtained in J-matrix inverse scattering approach and fitted to reproduce light nuclei observables without three-nucleon forces. We discuss the current status of this NN interaction and its recent development.


The generation of renewable electricity is variable, leading to periodic oversupply. Excess power can be converted to H2 via water electrolysis, but the conversion cost is currently too high. One way to decrease the cost of electrolysis is to increase the maximum productivity of electrolyzers. This study investigates how nano‐ and microstructured porous electrodes can improve the productivity of H2 generation in a zero‐gap, flow‐through alkaline water electrolyzer. Three nickel electrodes—foam, microfiber felt, and nanowire felt—are studied to examine the tradeoff between surface area and pore structure on the performance of alkaline electrolyzers. Although the nanowire felt with the highest surface area initially provides the highest performance, this performance quickly decreases as gas bubbles are trapped within the electrode. The open structure of the foam facilitates bubble removal, but its small surface area limits its maximum performance. The microfiber felt exhibits the best performance because it balances high surface area with the ability to remove bubbles. The microfiber felt maintains a maximum current density of 25 000 mA cm−2 over 100 h without degradation, which corresponds to a hydrogen production rate 12.5‐ and 50‐times greater than conventional proton‐exchange membrane and alkaline electrolyzers, respectively.


This paper describes the problems which require building railway connections to hub airports, especially to the networks of long distance railways and high-speed tracks that link large cities with airport terminals. Moreover, the paper underlines the necessary modifications of existing transport information systems so as to trace tickets sales for the new bimodal means of transport and provide better quality services to customers. It presents and analyzes some solutions that have been implemented in Europe and around the world, and focuses on a similar project, which is currently being realized in the Czech Republic at the dynamically growing international airport terminal in Prague.


The goal of the Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF) attitude support is twofold: to determine spacecraft attitude and to explain deviations from nominal attitude behavior. Attitude determination often requires resolving contradictions in the sensor observations. This may be accomplished by applying calibration corrections or by revising the observation models. After accounting for all known sources of error, solution accuracy should be limited only by observation and propagation noise. The second half of the goal is to explain why the attitude may not be as originally intended. Reasons for such deviations include sensor or actuator misalignments and control system performance. In these cases, the ability to explain the behavior should, in principle, be limited only by knowledge of the sensor and actuator data and external torques. Documented here are some results obtained to date in support of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). Advantages and shortcomings of the integrated attitude determination/sensor calibration software are discussed. Some preliminary attitude solutions using data from the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) instrument are presented and compared to solutions using Sun and Earth sensors. A dynamical model is constructed to illustrate the relative importance of the various sensor imprefections. This model also shows the connection between the high- and low-frequency attitude oscillations.


In this article I argue that the kind of ethical-metaphysical theory of the state that we broadly associate with idealist political philosophy provides us with a theoretical account of the state that is both sound and insightful and that, far from having been consigned to the dustbin of history by the hostile criticisms to which it has been subjected in the 20th century (from pluralism, behaviouralism and postmodernism), it still remains the most profound and powerful account of the state available to the political science community today. It is extremely important, I contend, in helping us to understand the state's vital function as the font of emancipatory political criticism. I also suggest that the ethical-metaphysical theory of the state has the distinct advantage of providing us with a genuine 'theory of the state', for it alone wholeheartedly subscribes to the view that the state is the inner core or substance of political life, whereas its critics generally hold that the state is a dangerous illusion.


In this work an adaptive Smoothed Particles Hydrodynamics (SPH) formulation is presented which is capable of adjusting the discretization level of a simulation at runtime. In order to increase and decrease the local resolution, the adaptive refinement and coarsening approach introduced in literature was extended to merge a userdefined number of particles at each simulation step. Depending on the simulation different coarsening strategies may be advantageous. Considering for example an SPH formulation for elastic solids, the particles discretizing the continuum experience considerably less disordering than in fluid simulations allowing for an advanced coarsening algorithm which takes each particles refinement history under consideration and preferably merges particles originating from one and the same particle, whereas in SPH for fluids such a strategy would not be reasonable since fluid particles usually experience great relative displacement. Hence different coarsening strategies may be recommended for different simulation scenarios. (© 2014 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


This article examines occupant behavior exhibited during evacuation conditions. This is based on a review of a wide range of published literature concerned with evacuation. Factors influencing evacuation performance can be categorized into four broad areas, namely, configurational, environmental, procedural, and, most importantly, behavioral. The contributory factors associated with each of the four influencing categories are examined in detail and it is suggested that these factors should be represented within evacuation models. Language: en


In view that helicopter plays a more and more important role in modern area conflict,considering operational features of army aviation,the main threat radar environment faced by helicopter on battle field and influence to radar EW system are analyzed and the development direction of helicopter-borne radar EW system in special threat environment is provided.


In this information age developments in the field of computers is very fast. It is encouraging people to do many things in ways that are practical and fully automated to save time, energy and mind, human Especially now it no longer wants the headache made things trivial, such as: whether the fence was locked? whether the lamp has been off the park? Is TV already turned off? That was the problems that arise in the community on issues arising again generally. Manufacturer of office, because companies nowadays do not want to have many employees who just do things that not necessary. They prefer to create automated systems for doing such trivial tasks. Therefore the author was inspired to create an automation system which is simple and can be monitored so that only one user needs just to control it.


INTRODUCTION
The aim of the present study was to establish if social inequalities in early childhood, particularly living in a socially and economically deprived neighbourhood, are predictive of later unemployment.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A cohort was established in 1987. It consists of 8-9 year-old children living in a socially deprived suburb who were followed in national registers for all categories of welfare benefits. The follow-up covered the period when participants were 21-27 years of age. A control group with the same age and gender distribution who were living in a neighbouring, relatively privileged middle class district were also followed for the purpose of comparison.

RESULTS
The annual unemployment rate during the seven years of follow-up was significantly higher in the deprived neighbourhood group than in the middle class neighbourhood group, whereas long-term unemployment lasting more than two years did not differ significantly between the groups. Childhood background including a mother receiving social benefit was an independent factor associated with increased risk of later unemployment, whereas gender and single parenthood were not.

CONCLUSION
The present findings suggest that socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood substantially increases the risk of unemployment in early adulthood, even during a follow-up period in the first decade of the 21st century when employment opportunities in Denmark were excellent.

FUNDING
not relevant.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
not relevant.


A convenient and highly stereoselective method to prepare 3-aminotetrahydroquinolines and 2-aminomethylene indolines starting from nitrostyrenes of type (I) is reported.


The present invention is a home audio or car etc. audio suppress echo in the interior of the output sound wave from the speaker, or speakers, a suitable sound-absorbing properties according to the purpose of suppressing the reflections in the enclosure, a flat properties while maintaining high heupeumyul the midrange with, and to be easy to use in general household, the structure is simple, and installation is easy, and a problem is to provide a sound-absorbing member is added in the water resistance and decorativeness possible. Providing a plurality of the porous material and, respectively, a three or more layer structure body bonded at a bonding layer having a predetermined thickness of the porous material having an air hole therein, and installing the one of the constituents in the sound source, the other of said constituent the porous material and the air layer by the concave-convex shape in an alternating arrangement with flatly and also as well as enhance the midrange heupeumyul, by the simple structure made it possible to secure a portion of the water resistance and decorativeness of the ease of construction.


The first extreme UV measurements of a grating mechanically ruled with smooth variations in the grating constant are presented. The grating characteristics are summarized and a schematic of the testing apparatus is shown and described. The procedure for obtaining the absolute grating efficiency is given. The results for that efficiency as a function of wavelengths of 68, 170, 256, 304, 584, and 1216 A are reported and discussed. Efficiency measurements were also made as a function of position across the ruled width at 256 A and 87 deg incident angle, and the results are discussed. Scattering measurements performed via computer acquisition of diffracted image profiles are reported.


Dunhuang Can Juan is not Shi Zu Zhi,not Xing Shi Lu,and it is not the strong evidence that the native place of Sun Tzu is not in Huimin.The original materials proved it reasonable and scientific that the native place of Sun Tzu is in Huimin.The stylistic rules in Yuanhe Xing Zuan are the main evidence of the theory of Huimin being hometown of Sun Tzu.


Nowadays in work, with the application of new technologies, imposes on the worker high demands on his information processing skills. Work often involves the collection and integration of a series of information in order to issue, at any time, the most appropriate response to the demands of the task. This project focuses on the creation of a platform that automatically manages and performs the offers based on the configuration that the commercials create individually and customized for each client. The goal of this project is to streamline and free workload to the Cisco department group of Ingram Micro by automating all possible tasks they perform during the day. There will be a temporary study of the tasks that the group of the department of Cisco realizes daily. Once the different tables have been obtained with all the tasks disaggregated and the time distribution, both the department and each commercial will be studied individually. Once the tool has been developed, a comparative study will be made between the manual tasks and the automated tasks, thus obtaining a comparative conclusion between the two. Finally, we will obtain some general conclusions and personal conclusions where we will relate the work done and the adversities encountered with all the knowledge obtained during the training period.


Blake Ridge is one of the pop regions to study hydrate, with a large array of background knowledge. It's a good example for correlation analysis about hydrate research. This article dissertates the geological conditions and geochemical characteristics of hydrate formation, and the history and development of hydrate research on the Blake Ridge area. Specially, it introduces the methods to estimate the amount of hydrate and concludes several authors' resource estimate.


South Africa is frequently subjected to severe droughts and dry spells during the rainy season. As such, rainfall is one of the most significant factors limiting dryland crop production in South Africa. The mid-summer period is particularly important for agriculture since a lack of rain during this period negatively affects crop yields. Dry spell frequency analyses are used to investigate the impacts of sub-seasonal rainfall variability on crop yield, since seasonal rainfall totals alone do not explain the relationship between rainfall and crop yields. This study investigated the spatial and temporal occurrences of the mid-summer dry spells based on magnitude, length and time of occurrence in the major maize growing areas of the summer rainfall region of South Africa. Three thresholds of 5 mm, 10 mm, and 15 mm total rainfall for a pentad were used for the analysis of dry spells.  Dry spell analysis showed that dry pentads occur during mid-summer with differing intensity, duration and frequency across the summer rainfall region. Annual frequency of dry pentads for the mid-summer period ranged between 0 and 4 pentads for the 5 mm threshold and 1 to 7 for the 10 mm and 15 mm thresholds.  The non-parametric Mann-Kendall trend analysis of the dry pentads indicates that there is no significant trend in the frequency of dry spells at a 95% confidence level. The initial and conditional probabilities of getting a dry spell using the Markov chain model also showed that there is a 32% to 80% probability that a single pentad will be dry using the 15 mm threshold. There is a 5% to 48% probability of experiencing two consecutive dry pentads and 1% to 29% probability of getting three consecutive dry pentads. The duration and intensity of dry spells, as well as the Markov chain probabilities, showed a decrease in dry spells from west to east of the maize-growing areas of the summer rainfall region of South Africa.


In this paper, an optimal design method for a CCD driving signal is proposed. Strict phase alignment of CCD driving signals is achieved. Through the analysis of FLEX 10K internal resources, the CCD driving pin voltage overshoots are eliminated on the basis of meeting the phase relationship. The experimental results show that the requirements for the phase of the CCD driving signals are satisfied, and the voltages on CCD pins become stabile. Therefore, CCD can be protected from damage.


Background: Cardiovascular disease burden is disproportionately high in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where resources to provide optimum care for cardiothoracic patients are still very limited. Previous reports of open-heart surgery from new centers in SSA have shown a preponderance of valvular heart disease in published series, with wide variations in reported morbidity and mortality. Objectives: We report on a series of patients who underwent open-heart surgery for acquired heart diseases to demonstrate pattern of disease, type of cardiac surgery done, and our results. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients who had open-heart surgery for acquired heart diseases between October 2013 and November 2016. Data collected included demographics, presenting symptoms, indication for surgery, preoperative evaluation and preparation, operative procedure, postoperative complications, and follow-up. Statistical analysis was carried out descriptively using frequencies and percentages. Results: A total of 35 patients have undergone open-heart surgery between October 2013 and November 2016. The patients who had surgery for acquired heart disease were 17 (48.6%). These included valvular heart disease in 13 patients while the remaining patients had coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for ischemic heart disease. The mean age of patients who had valve replacement and CABG were 39 and 60 years, respectively. Parsonnet risk scoring was used with an average score of 8.5. Three (17.6%) patients were in good risk category while 7 (41.2%) patients each were in fair and poor risk categories. Postoperative complications included paravalvular leaks in two patients. There was no hospital mortality. Conclusion: Early results of valvular and coronary artery bypass surgeries from our center show good outcome comparable to global standards with zero hospital mortality and low morbidity. The result is aided by good case selection, adequate preparation, and teamwork.


Ritonavir is a drug of the protease inhibitor class, marketed by Abbvie ™ - as of 1996 under the name of Norvir ® - for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients infected with HIV. Lopinavir is a protease inhibitor drug used in combination with ritonavir in therapy and prevention of HIV infection. Both drugs display polymorphism, which may lead to severe commercial implications for pharmaceutical manufacturing [1]. One way to overcome such problems is the development of amorphous formulations like Kaletra commercial medicine. In this work, we use a ball-mill system and an agate mortar and pestle to obtain individual amorphous ritonavir and lopinavir samples as well as their mixtures. First of all, we identify and characterize the crystal forms present in the raw samples of lopinavir and ritonavir, as well as quantify the mass concentrations of each crystal phase using X-ray powder diffraction and the Rietveld method. Ritonavir tends to recrystallize after some time. On the other hand, the mixture of an already amorphous lopinavir sample with ritonavir seems to facilitate its amorphization. The ball-mill processing of ritonavir and lopinavir together results in the production of unexpected crystalline forms of ritonavir. Pair distribution function (PDF) analysis shows the mixed samples reveal a higher r -dependence of ritonavir up to 2 Å (first two peaks). At the same time, the lopinavir dependence tends to increase for a higher- r signal.


These days we are hearing much of the African Renaissance. This article wrestles with the implications of an African Renaissance for African Fvangelical Theology. Rev . .lames Kombo read a paper in June 1999 at the International Reformed Theological Institute (!RTI) entitled, "Creativity and Critical Thinking: Some Suggestions for African Theology." That paper will be published as part of a book. The following article is a significant revision of that paper, greatly reworked and changed, in order to be published in AJET. The author challenges African evangelicals to engage the intelligentsia in the public arena instead of remaining in the confines of theological institutions.


Metropolitan regions in India act as growth engines and propel conurbation processes. Within metropolitan regions, there are strong 'spatial juxtapositions' (that is, spatial and economic development processes moved to urban peripheries to create agglomeration economies, competing with the existing city). Using the concepts of 'second capability', that is, 'the formation of a state bureaucracy for extracting revenue' defined by Sassen (2006, p. 72) in a modified way of rent seeking (that are outside the 'standardized taxation' and includes politicians and not just state bureaucracy as outlined by Sassen), and 'regulatory fractures'—defined by Sassen as 'in-between spaces that do not comply with regulation and yet not in violation' (Sassen, 2006, p. 392)—the present article explains how spatial, legal, administrative, political, social and economic inequalities occur in the development process. The article shows that non-compliance to the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (74th CAA) in setting up Metropolitan Planning and District Planning Committees to manage the affairs of the periphery of the metropolitan cities have resulted in spatial inequalities in Indian cities. It reveals how the political economy equations within a state dictate the type of urban expansion that causes inequalities as evidenced through various case studies. This article analyzes such uneven spatial expansions and their consequences in terms of spatial, economic and social inequality, taking case studies of Hubli–Dharwad, Surat and Indore. It uses historical Google images and Survey of India maps along with land use surveys to study planned and unplanned development processes, relating this to state bureaucracy and regulatory fractures. It shows how a metropolitan government, if in place as per the 74th CAA, can reduce the spatial inequalities in metropolitan development.


The integration of the ethnic identity and the national identity in a multi-ethnic state is closely related to its ethnic unity and national unification as well as its ethnic and national prosperity.Ethnic identity is not simply cultural identity while national identity is not simply political identity because the former includes the pursuit of political interests of a given ethnic community and the latter comprises the original cultural and historical relations and connections within the members of a given ethic group or among different groups.Because the ethnic identity and the national identity are closely related,it is beneficial to promote their favorable interaction for realizing our national unity and prosperity.


This thesis presents a new measurement methodology especially designed to improve the performance of interactive systems as perceived by the user (user-perceived performance). Current performance measurement and tuning techniques suffer from a multitude of problems when applied to interactive systems. Our reliance on these techniques for interactive system performance tuning has caused the systems to be tuned in a suboptimal manner with systems often failing to provide predictable performance.
Current performance measurement techniques concentrate on improving through-put rather than latency. These techniques also tend to measure system behavior under tightly-controlled situations. This approach makes it highly unlikely to discover infrequent performance problems that occur as a result of unexpected interactions among several agents in the system, such as the operating system kernel, application programs, and various servers and daemons.
We have devised a methodology that addresses the weaknesses of current measurement techniques. Our methodology is designed to determine the causes of performance problems that occur in interactive systems under normal use and plague users. We accomplish this goal using continuous monitoring and postmortem analysis. Once the exact cause of a performance problem is determined, we verify our analysis by constructing microbenchmarks that recreate the load condition that causes the system to exhibit the problem. We then use these microbenchmarks to evaluate possible remedies in a reproducible manner.
Using the methodology devised, we have identified the exact causes of several problems with BSD/OS operating system kernel and common algorithms that would otherwise had gone undetected. In one instance, processing of a pagefault taken by the X server was delayed for several seconds because the system allowed the pageout daemon to monopolize a pre-allocated structure needed to initiate a page-in request. The CSCAN disk head scheduling algorithm further contributed to this problem by not favoring latency-critical, page-in requests over less timing-critical, pageout requests. In another instance, an oversight in the process priority calculation algorithm caused newly-created, compute-bound processes to starve interactive processes.


The volume does not claim to be exhaustive, but it does give a thoroughly representative range of Asian Christian theologies. This volume and the others to follow are precious because no other similar tool exists. Recent dictionaries of Asian or Third World theologies are excellent in places while leaving much to be desired in others. Now we finally have a book that is truly comprehensive in all areas a truly monumental achievement, a researcher's delight. The editors merit immense gratitude for their painstaking effort to provide us with such a veritable mine of information which otherwise would be unavailable. Undoubtedly, this is an obligatory volume for every theological library that caters to those interested in Asian and Austral Asian Christianity. It will be an important resource for many years to come.


(6) The small opening and thin ring keeps the size of the instrument such that it can be introduced between the faucial pillars of patients of any age, from early childhood upwards, and is still large enough for nearly 90 per cent. of the cases one meets with. (7) The square posterior end of the opening allows a little more -room at the angles without increasing the size of the instrument; and the straight edge so formed is parallel to the anterior pillar when the tonsillectome is properly in position, and acts as a guide for the insertion of the blade. (8) By having the upper margin around the opening square instead of bevelled, it is capable of raising a fold on a flat skin or mucous surface, and will therefore grip under the flat, friable tonsil whose lower pole is shelving. (9) The lever in the handle enables one to apply more force in thrusting home the blunt blade than is possible by thumb pressure. The use of this lever will present a little difficulty in the beginning to those operators who have always been accustomed to thumb pressure.


Objective - Geopark in Indonesia, especially in Belitong Island, has small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) engaged in various creative industries. The potential for the development of the creative industry for geoproducts is still open to enter the international market. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, its development still faces several obstacles, where most of the geoproducts are made by MSMEs with limited market access, technology and financial access which results in low quality of products produced, and the level of competition for the domestic market is getting higher, while entering the international market is difficult. This study aims to analyze the impact of Covid-19 on MSME geoproducts in Geopark tourist destinations, and analyze Business Continuity Management at these MSMEs.
Methodology/Technique – The research method used is quantitative and qualitative method, in which descriptive analysis are carried out through online survey and online FGD.
Findings – The results of this study show how MSMEs' in small island of Belitung were severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. There was a drastic decrease product sales volume, some MSMEs were forced to permanently close their businesses and 47% of MSMEs decided to temporarily close their businesses until conditions improved. The business income was severely impacted due to the absence of tourists (customer) to the island and the difficulty in obtaining raw materials as production input. MSMEs run business continuity by implementing a pivoting strategy and transformation to digital platform. The roles of the government, private sector, financial institution, academic and geopark managers are needed to help MSMEs survive in times of crisis.
Type of Paper: Empirical.
JEL Classification: M1, M10.
Keywords: Business Continuity; Geoproduct; Geopark; Covid-19 Pandemic; Belitong
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Yuliawati, A.K; Rofaida, R; Gautama, B.P; Aryanti, A.N. (2021). Business Continuity of MSMEs in Small Island Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic, GATR Global J. Bus. Soc. Sci. Review, 9(1): 90 – 98. https://doi.org/10.35609/gjbssr.2021.9.1(10)


Based on the general situation of the project,according to project survey,climate characteristic,operation requirements and water source condition,the paper presents the SWSHP system design of the gymnasium of Southern Yangtze University,including water system,device room and automatic control system,and states the critical technical points affecting the system.


The demography and life-history traits of a population of the lacertid lizard Podarcis bocagei in north-west Spain were investigated. Most of the conclusions presented are based on mark‐recapture studies carried out over a 2-year period. Reproductive characteristics are similar to those reported for other temperateclimate lacertids. Clutch size, egg size and hatchling size (snout‐vent length, SVL) are all positively correlated with the mother's SVL. Only large females lay more than one clutch per year. Growth rate is highest in young animals and declines gradually with age. In both sexes, sexual maturity is reached between the ages of 1 and 2 years. Again in both sexes, the probability of survival was fairly constant over the lifespan. Considering the study period as a whole, there was no significant between-sex difference in survival probability. Among adults, the probability of survival was higher in winter than during other periods, but the differences were not statistically significant. The individuals of the study population are sedentary, making only short movements even when periods of up to 2 years are considered (the mean distance moved between marking and recapturing 18‐24 months later was 15.7 m, maximum 45.6 m). On average, immature individuals move further than adults, and adult males move further than adult females. Estimated population density (all individuals) dropped from 1574 ha -1 during the winter of 1989/90 to 1327 ha -1 during the winter of 1990/91. The decline in population density over the study period was also reflected in the estimated net replacement rate for the population (0.85, i.e. considerably less than one), and is probably attributable to colonization of the study site by plants (reducing suitability as a habitat for P. bocagei ). Estimated mean generation time was 2.09 years.


The objects of primary concern to computer scientists are processes, programs, and algorithms. Many non-computer scientists are not clear about the differences between these objects and the precise relationships between these objects are not clear to anyone, computer scientist or not. Terms like abstraction (Colburn & Shute, 2007), instantiation (Abrial & Hallerstede, 2007), and implementation (Rapaport, 2005) are vaguely used to describe the relations among these objects. The nature of these relations, once put into proper context, has serious implications to the study of artificial intelligence, intellectual property, and computer ethics. In this paper, designed to be used in the context of an introduction to the philosophy of computing, a basic ontology is suggested and the importance of the ontology is described. It is then proposed that ontologies which treat implementation as a primitive are not sufficient and that implementation is better understood as a two-step process of abstraction and instantiation.


The paper states the government's opinion on the future of the chemical industry. The Government's Industry and Technology policies can be characterised by emphasising the removal of barrier protection and exposing Australia to international competition.


The field of interventional neuroradiology was developed originally in the early 1960s when Lussenhop, a neurosurgeon, described the technique of intravascular embolization of brain arteriovenous malformations by injecting silastic beads directly into the arteries of the neck for occlusion [(1)][1