This TFG is about the design and implementation of a multiagent system whose goal is to identify events in traffic videos. To achieve this, H264 motion vectors that appear in compressed video signal are taken as input and they are analyzed statistically in each zone of a concrete frame of the video. To integrate the components of this system, agent systems technology is used. The input of the system has been obtain by means of an algorithm of video analysis which produces as output the motion vectors for each zone defined in a particular frame for a later on prosecution. Aftwerwards, an agent platform has been defined by means of an organizate and cooperative structure which allows parallel data analysis by agents. This way of implementation raises the performance and efficiency of the process. This analysis will be done applying statistical parameters to the different areas of the video signal. Then, information about the data in this signal can be extracted. The obtained results allow to identify events which can be tagged and characterized for a subsequent use in traffic monitoring applications.


One of the major contributing factors to the Black-White achievement gap is school context. While many factors can affect academic achievement amongst Black youth, school climate and inter-racial relations are among the root causes which impact Black students' development. In this qualitative study, we conducted secondary analysis of existing data consisting of interview transcripts and focus group discussions held in 2013 with 21 Black students who attended a public charter high school in Michigan. Open access data were downloaded from the University of Michigan Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) database. We analyzed qualitative data for themes and constructs related to school context and such influences on Black youth development. The following three constructs were identified: racial identity of Black youth, the impact of teachers on Black students' racial identity and development, and lastly, exploring the dominant culture of the U.S. education system. For researchers, this data highlights a need for more studies on the intersection of race, school environment, and youth development. For administrators and policy makers, the results emphasize the need for investment and engagement in the daily experiences of Black students, reducing racism, and increasing diversity of curriculum. Teachers and school administrators may benefit from specialized training to better address cultural, educational, and developmental needs of Black youth in the context of their role in school.


FIELD: industrial inorganic synthesis. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to production of chlorine dioxide, in particular for bleaching pulp, and, more specifically, to controlling this process. In a continuous chlorine dioxide production process with specified productivity, computer-mediated control is provided based on specified productivity regarding chlorine dioxide as a single parameter entered by operator into process-governing computer program. Computer control comprises: (i) continuously following up variations in specified productivity regarding chlorine dioxide aqueous solution, continuously monitoring process streams of sodium chlorate, reducing agent, sulfuric acid, steam flowing into boiler, cooled water, and modifying starting control points of all indicated streams in accordance with varied specified productivity; (ii) continuously monitoring productivity regarding chlorine dioxide aqueous solution to find out deviations from specified value thereof and modifying reducing agent stream velocity to maintain specified productivity value; (iii) continuously monitoring technical conditions for material streams and modifying corresponding control points of stream velocities for streams of raw materials supplied to reaction zone using specified productivity and responding to variations in technical conditions of materials; (iv) continuously monitoring physical properties of sodium chlorate solution, i.e., temperature and density, and, basing thereon, creating virtual continuous sodium chlorate analyzer, which would determine volume concentration of sodium chlorate solution. As a result, proposed control means ensure achievement and maintenance of high productivity concerning target chlorine dioxide, stable operation conditions under optimum conditions, computerized monitoring and operation control, diminished need to use manual laboratory analyses involving participation of operator, and realizing optimum operation conditions and saving of reagents. EFFECT: enhanced process efficiency. 25 cl, 14 dwg, 1 tbl


Objective To discusis microsurgcal treatment of petroclival meningiomas through analysis of 60 patients.Methods Clinical and neuroimaging features, operative approaches and postoperative management.Results Total resection was achieved in 43 cases, and subtotal resection in 10 cases. Rate of postoperative complications is 51 7%, two patients (3 3%) died due to postoperative hematoma. Conclusions Petroclival meningiomas can be resected by transpetrosal presgimoid approach. The rate of total resection is higher in presigmoid approach . The rate of total resection is higher in precigmoid approach than in others. Rates of postoperative mortality and complications are more reduced after using microsurgical technique and understanding mcranatomy of skull base. Outcomes are satisfied in most of total section cases.


This paper analyzes the design of macroeconomic policies for Slovenia during the process of integration into the EU. For this purpose, we develop and use the model SLOPOL4, a macroeconometric model for Slovenia. We determine "optimal" monetary and fiscal policies for Slovenia as solutions of optimum control problems with a quadratic objective function and the model SLOPOL4 as constraint. Several optimization experiments under different assumptions about the set of economic policy instruments available under a fixed exchange rate, a flexible exchange rate, a crawling peg regime and a scenario approximating Slovenia's entry into the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) are carried out. We show that the best policy results are obtained when the average tax rate on labor is available as an active policy instrument. In this case, the optimization results do not differ significantly between the exchange rate regimes. If, on the other hand, the labor tax rate is held constant, the nature of the exchange rate system is more important for the policy design and outcomes. JEL Classification: E5, E6, C5, O5. Corresponding Author: Klaus Weyerstrass, Institute for Advanced Studies Carinthia, Domgasse 3, A-9020 Klagenfurt. Ph. +43-463-592-150-19; fax: +43-463-592-150-23; email: firstname.lastname@example.com


In the present investigation, integrated farming system (IFS) adopted by a progressive farmer in 1.0 ha area, in village Chalthi, situated in Champawat district of Uttarakhand was analyzed as a model for its economics, benefit to cost ratio and extent to overcome food and nutritional security. The main components of IFS were fish, dairy, poultry, vegetables, orchard, bee keeping and mushroom production. A total of Rs. 6,94,000.00 was earned with B:C ratio of 3.08 from this IFS model. The composite fish farming of common carp, silver carp and grass carp was undertaken in a fish pond and 40 kg of fish was harvested over a period of 6-8 months realizing net income of Rs.5800.00. The pond dyke and adjacent fields were used for cultivation of aerial vegetables, fruit trees (mango, litchi, lemon, plum, guava and mulberry) and fodder crops (maize and oats). Two cows (breed Gir) and 200 No. poultry birds (breed Kadaknath, RIR, Guinea fowl, Uttra fowl) were included in the IFS. Pink oyster mushroom (Pleurotus djamor) was also promoted as a component of IFS for income generation. The mushroom yield was 2.28 quintals accounting gross income of Rs.1,82,400.00. Bee keeping (Indian honey bee Apis cerana indica) also made contribution of Rs. 2,00,000.00 over a period of 6 months from 80 boxes. Poultry (Rs 1,20,000.00), fruit crops (Rs 1,00,000.00) and vegetables production (Rs 18,000) also contributed significantly to the gross income in present IFS. The farmer reported that he did not buy any food commodity from outside for 8 months in a year except rice and wheat flour. As a result, it can be argued that IFS has been found to be most profitable and suitable enterprise for hill farmers to achieve sustainable livelihood, family food and nutritional security. Key words Integrated farming system; Food security; Nutrition security; Fish; Mushroom; Poultry


The summary of current achievements of mechanical ablation in many correlation fields is presented.Published experimental evidence and proposed models are reviewed and critically summarized.Although the accurate mechanism causing mechanical ablation is currently not clear,fundamentally three distinguishable models(particles,lamella,and block)can be responsible for the mechanical ablation.Generally,the research can be carried out in two approaches:a criterion of mechanical ablation under the extreme formidable conditions should be presented in the first instance,then investigation on the nonlinear dynamic attributes of the burning particles and simulation of the trajectories can be carried out subsequently,according to the numerical results,the phase space can be reconstructed and relative characters such as the maximum Lyapunov index and fractal dimension can be thus obtained,which implies whether a chaotic attractor exists or not.


The factors influencing the teacher's professional development are complicated and interacted. They come from society, school and individual. The social factors mainly include occupational prestige, economical treatment, qualification certificates, evaluation method and systematic procedure of in-service training etc. School factors mainly include principal, management style and teacher culture etc. The individual factors mainly include family, educational belief, knowledge, teaching expertise, occupation motive and need on professional etc.


A novel Ruthenium complex RuCl2(BDPX)(S,S-DPEN)(BDPX=1,2-bis(diphenylphosphinomethy1)benzen,S,S-DPEN=S,S-1,2-diphenyl ethylenediamine) was synthesized and it was used as an effective catalyst in the asymmetric hydrogenation of a diverse range of simple aromatic ketones.The enfluence of various factors on the asymmetric hydrogenation of acetophenone was studied.Results revealed that this complex was an effective and highly enantioselective catalyst.The hydrogenation of acetophenone with S/C=20 000 in optimized conditions gave 100% conversion and 59.0% ee.Highly enantionselectivities were achieved in the hydrogenation for other simple aromatic ketones.


An expert system operated in a personal computer is employed to simulate chemistry and sorption phenomena of radionuclides in the geosphere. The system handles both qualitative and quantitative analyses primarily for the actinides and fission products. The system also incorporates data bases of several groundwater and rock types with mineral and chemical compositions, the distribution coefficients of nuclides for minerals, etc. The decision rule base facilitates this system to carry out the reasoning procedures to predict the solubility-limiting phase, solute species, oxidation states and possible complex formations of radionuclides, as well as to calculate the distribution coefficients and retardation factors in a geological formation, provided that the essential groundwater and host rock information are available. It is concluded that this device of artificial intelligence provides a vehicle to accumulate developed human knowledge and serves as a tool not only for simulating the complicated radionuclide behaviour in the geosphere, but also for instructional or educational purpose in this field.


NOTICE OF PATENT DESCRIBE MASSES OF MOLD BASED ON biodegradable aliphatic polyesters, INCLUDING polycaprolactone, WHICH CAN NOT BE PREPARED AS SUCH OR JUST IN FACILITIES OF PLATES OF BLOWN CONVENTIONAL, characterized in such a way that the following composition having: i: ALIPHATIC POLYESTER 50 to 94.99% BY WEIGHT II: ANCILLARIES POLYMERIC 50-05% BY WEIGHT III: ADDITIVES 1 to 0.01% BY WEIGHT well as substances AUXILIARY USUAL eventual form. AUXILIARY COMPONENTS ARE POLYMERIC II POLAR POLYMERS WITH GROUPS SUCH AS polyamide, polyurethane, copolymer of ethylene with vinyl alcohol, vinyl acetate or acrylic acid or functionalized polyolefin. ADDITIVES III are selected from MEDIA GROUP POLAR GLIDE or means of washing or silicic acid. In a preferred process for the manufacture of the mixture is first mixed components II, III and eventually a small part of the mixture I, THEN polyester or the principal amount corresponding ADICIONA. THE MASSES OF MOLD CAN BE DEVELOPED ESPECIALLY FOR PRODUCING PLATES BLOW WITH OTHER REQUIRED USES, SUCH AS FIBERS, FABRICS, PRINTS GLUE, wood coatings, foam material melt glue, BINDER FOR PAPER OR NATURAL FIBER ASI AS COMPONENTS OF GLUE OR OTHER MATERIALS fissionable.


Definition §1.1 DEFINITION. A C∗-algebra A is a (complex) Banach algebra together with an involution (·)∗ satisfying the following equations. t∗∗ = t (t +u)∗ = t∗+u∗ (λt )∗ = λ̄t∗ (tu)∗ = u∗t∗ ‖t∗‖ = ‖t‖ ‖t∗t‖ = ‖t‖2 (λ ∈ C, t ,u ∈ A) The last equation is called the C∗-identity. §1.2 If A is non-unital, we can define its unitarisation A+ as the algebra A × C where scalar multiplications and sums are defined by λ(a,μ)+ (b,ν) = (λa +b,λμ+ν), and multiplication is defined as (a,λ)(b,μ) = (ab +λb +μa,λμ). We can define on A+ the norm ‖(a,λ)‖ = ‖a‖+ |λ|; A+ is complete w.r.t. this norm, and the involution


We present a simple model of how a monopolistic search engine optimally determines the average relevance of firms in its search pool. In our model, there is a continuum of consumers, who use the search engine's pool, and there is a continuum of firms, whose entry to the pool is restricted by a price‐per‐click set by the search engine. We show that a monopolistic search engine may have an incentive to set a relatively low price‐per‐click that encourages low‐relevance advertisers to enter the search pool. In general, the ratio between the marginal and average relevance in the search pool induced by the search engine's policy is equal to the ratio between the search engine's profit per consumer and the equilibrium product price. These conclusions do not change if the search engine charges a fixed access fee rather than a price‐per‐click.


School Bullying combined with social withdrawals and passivity has negative long-term effects on depressive tendencies and self-esteem of students that directly affect their attitude towards school and education. Teacher through school system and parents at home are the active agent in this phenomenon. A neglected behavior of teacher and inter-parental relationship can result in relational aggression in the child. To explore this phenomenon, this study is focused on assessing the school bullying and its contributing factors in the province Punjab. A quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of 300 10 th grade students from 12 public and private schools of two cities of the Punjab (Lahore &Sargodha). Results showed significant association between gender and school bullying. More boys than girls were found significantly involve in school bullying (Bullied: t=-4.064*** & Bully: t=-4.129***). ANOVA results demonstrated mother's education as the significant factor for school bullying{bullied: F(5, 262)=2.9* &bully : F(5, 249)=2.9* respectively}. Regression analysis demonstrated father's discipline and inter-parental relation as the significant predictors of being bullied. While for bully, an additional contributing factor of mother's upbringing styles was found significant. Evolutionary perspective can be applied to reduce the incidence of bulling after exploring the facts.


Transit bus maintenance practices as used by thirteen small and medium-sized transit systems in Virginia were cataloged. Different approaches to maintenance were investigated and the current condition of transit bus maintenance was determined. Factors affecting the performance of transit bus maintenance were identified and recommendations were developed that address the current problems in the maintenance operations of the transit systems studied.


In safety-critical cyber-physical systems, the usage of multicore platforms has been hampered by problems due to interactions across cores through shared hardware. The inability to precisely characterize such interactions can lead to worst-case execution time pessimism that is so great, the extra processing capacity of additional cores is entirely negated. In this paper, several techniques are proposed and analyzed for dealing with such interactions in the context of shared caches. These techniques are applied in a mixed-criticality scheduling framework motivated by the needs of next-generation unmanned air vehicles.


The aim of this paper is to propose a design procedure for predicting the buckling strength of built-up, cold-formed steel columns based on the two well known methods; the effective width method and the Direct Strength Method. Several design approaches, based on different elastic buckling solutions, were considered in this investigation. Traditional hand methods, without interaction effects between the different modes, and a new numerical spline finite strip method were used to predict the buckling stresses. All of the proposed methods were compared with experimental data on plain and lipped, built-up columns. Results have shown that the effective width approaches are more accurate than the Direct Strength Method. However, both methods can be investigated using more experimental data to assess a practical design method for built-up columns.


Purpose

Because mobile phones offer a new, affordable and easy-to-use portal to reading material, mobile reading is emerging as the most ultra-modern reading approach. From the perspective of mobile reading service providers, knowledge of customer purchase, and consumption behaviour is critical for their survival and success. This paper aims to provide insights into the factors that influence the purchase e-books.

Design/methodology/approach

Following means-end chain theory, the prospect theory and elaboration likelihood model, a structural equation model is proposed to investigate and identify key factors that drive the purchase intention of experienced mobile readers. In the theoretical model, utilitarian value (UV) and hedonic value (HV) are supposed as formative second-order constructs formed by related payoff.

Findings

Both UV and HV are positively associated with readers' purchase intention. However, there are no big differences between these two path coefficients. People seem to perceive relatively low payment risk although perceived risk could still negatively affect purchase intention. As a predictor of purchase intention, UV is less important when risk perception increases or when involvement (IV) decreases. Furthermore, this study illustrates that uniqueness and convenience (CV) are significant components of UV, whereas curiosity and flow are components of HV.

Practical implications

Mobile reading providers should highlight the professional and specificity of app such as beautiful cover, page setup that similar to real books and so on. Readers should be allowed to post real-time reviews and communicate with others to improve their sense of satisfaction, participation and belonging. The payment process should be concise and simple through which readers can save their purchase time and effort. Mobile reading service providers should provide trustworthy payment approaches, especially third-party platform and guarantee the CV and safety of payment activity.

Originality value

By focusing on the impacts of relationships among UV, HV, perceived risk and IV to purchase intention, this paper not only provides a theoretical understanding of mobile reading purchase behaviour but also offers practical insights to reading material manufactures and app developers for promoting such a process.


Significance Parkinson's disease is characterized by a set of motor features that depend on a loss of dopamine-producing cells in the midbrain. The most common pharmacotherapy for Parkinson's disease is dopamine replacement with levodopa administration. The majority of patients receiving this treatment develop debilitating abnormal involuntary movements, termed "levodopa-induced dyskinesia." It is known that striatal projection neurons (SPNs) are involved in the genesis of levodopa-induced dyskinesia, but the genes involved in this process are not fully understood. We reveal the gene-expression profiles of different classes of SPNs during chronic levodopa administration. We correlate gene expression to mouse behavior, predicting which genes are most likely involved in the emergence of levodopa-induced dyskinesia, and which are thus potential targets for new antidyskinetic treatments. Levodopa treatment is the major pharmacotherapy for Parkinson's disease. However, almost all patients receiving levodopa eventually develop debilitating involuntary movements (dyskinesia). Although it is known that striatal spiny projection neurons (SPNs) are involved in the genesis of this movement disorder, the molecular basis of dyskinesia is not understood. In this study, we identify distinct cell-type–specific gene-expression changes that occur in subclasses of SPNs upon induction of a parkinsonian lesion followed by chronic levodopa treatment. We identify several hundred genes, the expression of which is correlated with levodopa dose, many of which are under the control of activator protein-1 and ERK signaling. Despite homeostatic adaptations involving several signaling modulators, activator protein-1–dependent gene expression remains highly dysregulated in direct pathway SPNs upon chronic levodopa treatment. We also discuss which molecular pathways are most likely to dampen abnormal dopaminoceptive signaling in spiny projection neurons, hence providing potential targets for antidyskinetic treatments in Parkinson's disease.


The invention discloses a device and a method for testing a PEPS system and belongs to the technical field of automobiles. The device for testing the PEPS system comprises a door knob antenna monitoring module for checking whether a door knob antenna works normally or not, a door lock state generating module for generating a door lock state signal after the door knob antenna monitoring module ensures that the door knob antenna works normally, and then sending the door lock state signal to a vehicle body controller, the vehicle body controller for converting the received door lock state signal into a CAN signal and sending the CAN signal to a CAN but, a CAN signal monitoring module for monitoring the CAN bus and accordingly judging whether the PEPS system works normally or not. The device and the method for testing the PEPS system can very conveniently test whether the PEPS system works normally or not and can accurately and rapidly lock the positions where faults are located after the faults are found in testing.


. The research objectives: 1) Dissect on the improvement of students' numerical metacognition skills through LKPD with Open Ended learning; 2) Knowing the nature of LKPD with a quality Open Ended approach. The subjects of this study were students of class VIII SMP Bina Satria Mulia Medan, totaling 32 students. The research instrument was a test of students' numerical metacognition abilities. Data analysis was carried out using the Tessmer model of developmental assessment. In the results of experiment I and experiment II, there are: 1) LKPD that uses the Open Ended learning strategy to achieve indicators of validity, practicality and effectiveness; and 2) The test results of increasing the capacity of numerical metacognition using LKPD with Open Ended learning have been developed in terms of the typical N-gain value in the first experiment as much as 0.43 increased to 0.49 in the second experiment, meaning the "medium" category.


Dentistry has become so exciting and challenging since predictability has been recognised for long-term dental implant and restoration success (Adell et al, 1981, Cox and Zarb, 1987, Albrektsson et al, 1981). As the number of patients selecting dental implants as a treatment option continues to grow, the dental team must accept the challenges of maintaining these sometimes complex restorations. The value of using conventional periodontal parameters to determine peri-implant health is not clearly evident in the literature (Orton et al, 1989). Therefore, it is paramount that the dental implant team understands the similarities and distinctions between the dental implant and the natural tooth. Subsequently, by examining the similarities and differences between a natural tooth and a dental implant, basic guidelines can be provided for maintaining the long-term health of the dental implant. Direct anchorage of alveolar bone to a dental implant body provides a foundation to support a prosthesis and transmits occlusal forces to the alveolar bone. This is the definition of osseointegration (Rateischak and Wolf, 1995). With the increased acceptance of dental implants as a viable treatment option for the restoration of a partially edentulous or edentulous mouth, the dental team is faced with maintaining and educating those patients. Recently, the focus of implant dentistry has changed from obtaining osseointegration, which is highly predictable, to the log-term maintenance health of the peri-implant hard and soft tissues. This can be achieved through appropriate professional care, patient cooperation, and effective home care (Meffert et al 1992). Patients must accept the responsibility for being co-therapists in maintenance therapy, so the dental team essentially must screen the potential implant patient. Diagnosis and treatment planning based on a risk-benefit analysis should be performed subsequent to a thorough medical, dental, head-and-neck, psychological, tempromandibular disorder and radiographic examination (Meffert 1993). There is convincing evidence that bacterial plaque not only leads to gingivitis and periodontitis (Warrer et al, 1995), but also can induce the development of peri-implantitis (Lang and Karring, 1994). Thus, personal oral hygiene must begin at the time of dental implant placement and should be modified using various adjuctive aids for oral hygiene to effectively clean the altered morphology of the peri-implant region before, during, and after implant placement. For instance, interproximal brushes can penetrate up to 3mm into a gingival sulcus or pocket and may effectively clean the peri-implant sulcus (Balshi, 1986). In addition to mechanical plaque control, daily rinses using 0.1% chlorhexidine


Public secondary schools continue to be uninspiring and often disorganized, unsafe places. This article looks specifically at the issue of Brazil´s secondary school education, which is showing clear signs of stagnation in terms of coverage and quality. Only half of Brazil´s young people aged 15 to 17 attend secondary school and the proportion of students dropping out of school has doubled over the last ten years. Those who neither work nor study account for 24 % of 18 year-olds and 25 % of 20 year-olds. Furthermore, the majority of those who neither study nor work come from households with incomes of under 2 minimum wages. Addressing this issue involves inter alia revising of the curriculum, integrating secondary with vocational education and introducing policies to diversify secondary education.


ABSTRACT This article describes an approach to the clinical use of attachment theory and research that is rooted in the cyclical psychodynamic perspective. Cyclical psychodynamics is a version of relational thought that emphasizes the way that early patterns of interpersonal transaction and subjective experience are perpetuated in the present via the occurrence of vicious and virtuous circles. It traces the feedback loops that create self-perpetuating patterns both between people and in the subjective world of each individual and shows how the induction of others as accomplices in maintaining these patterns plays a critical role. Attachment phenomena are understood from this vantage point as maintained via the continuing transactions that both result from and re-create each individual's attachment status. This approach to attachment highlights attachment dynamics more than attachment categories. Two clinical cases are presented to illuminate how this way of thinking about attachment can guide clinical work.


How to supply electric power meeting the requirements to users is the important content of power distribution network planning; how to realize distribution network losses reduction and to ensure power quality at the same time is now the study direction of distribution network planning. Synthetic description was carried out for distribution network planning, and related models and algorithms were summarized and analyzed. Some assumes were raised for distribution network planning. Combined with the present development of power network, this paper looked forward to the trends of further study.


Flow duration curves (FDC) showing exceedance probabilities across flow value frequencies at a specific time can be used for determining flow values having certain exceedance probability. But FDC has not been obtained at the place where flow measurements are not existed or insufficient, so discharges having certain exceedance probabilities have been estimated by different methods. In this study, drainage area ratio (DAR) method was considered due to obtaining discharge values at ungauged sites for feasibility studies. Three basins having similar hydrologic characteristics were chosen for this purpose. Discharges having %3, %20, %30, %50 and %90 exceedance probabilities were selected for the estimation. Three basins are 2251 streamflow gauging station (SGS), 22-88 SGS, and 22-61 SGS in the Black Sea Basin, Turkey. The 22-88 and 22-61 SGSs are included in the area of 2251 SGS. If discharges having special exceedance probabilities need to be determined, firstly it is considered to investigate whether the DAR method can be used. DAR method is mainly depended on a regression analysis between the project site and the other basins/subbasins which have long-term data. %3, %20, %30, %50 and %90 exceedance probabilities on yearly scale discharges were obtained from 10 years of data from each SGS. Regression analysis was applied between flow records and drainage areas of the SGSs. Flows having exceedance probabilities of 3, 20, 30, 50 or 90 percent and their regression equations were analyzed and absolute relative error of them were investigated. After analysis, determination coefficients of discharges having %3, %20, %30, %50 and %90 exceedance probabilities were obtained as 0.898, 0.807, 0.834, 0.782 and 0.892, respectively. Mean absolute relative errors were 18.88, 7.28, 5.83, 2.14 and 1.53, respectively. According to discharges for the considered exceedance probabilities, errors can be dangerous level for %3 exceedance probability, but the other exceedance probabilities , DAR method can be useful for feasibility studies. Consequently, it has been found that errors of the DAR method can't be convenient for all percent values of exceedance probabilities. Using for higher discharges having smaller exceedance probabilities can cause more errors.


This paper proposes a new criterion for choosing the optimal state variables from the stages of the weighted least squares algorithm in power systems state estimation. Accordingly, it is shown that by reduction changes of the state variables, sum of the weighted square errors will not be decreased. In other words, it is possible that the minimum amount of the sum of weighted square errors is created in the earlier stage before the final stage. This means that the estimation amounts of the system state variables might be closer to the measured values in the stage before the final stage, and instead of the choosing the state variables corresponding to the final stage, the stage in which the sum of weighted square errors has the minimum amount should be chosen. Proposed method is tested on a hypothetical 7 bus system and IEEE 14 bus test system.


According to an analysis of the compound electro-cyclone's dust collection principle,it is opined that centrifugal operation,electro-static precipitation,electric field restraining effect and agglutination simultaneously play a certain role within a limited space.All active factors that appear during the dust collection process are related either with Stokes' forces,centrifugal forces or electrostatic forces,and all of them depend on the separator's structure and the electrodes' positions.A method of calculating,accompanied by relevant formulae,tangentially entering,back cycling electro-cyclones is being presented.Various design calculation results compared with actual test data show that the presented method has a practical significance.Figs 7,table 1 and refs 15.


The article explains how Guilin Department Store Stock Co.,Ltd.to find out a clear way to scientifically develop in the future,after the promotion of the deep learning on Scientific Outlook on Development,which also lay a solid foundation for further development of every work in the company.


An input-adaptive and regulated power management unit with multiple outputs is presented for multi-unit implantable medical devices (IMDs), which are powered wirelessly. In such systems, the main controller unit receives the wireless power and provides supply voltages for its own circuits and the circuits in the connected sub-units. Automatic conversion ratio reconfiguration, according to the input voltage level, achieves high conversion efficiency over a wide input voltage range. In addition, the load selection switches provide more reconfigurability by selecting the most suitable converter for each output voltage, reducing the number of flying capacitors required for the reconfigurable conversion ratios to cover a wide input range. These selection switches are reused for regulating output voltages at desired levels, minimizing the overhead for regulation. The implemented IC achieves a conversion efficiency of 51% to 79% over a wide input range of 1.1 V to 4 V with 3-mV output ripple for a load current of 60 mA while providing multiple outputs (2 regulated, 2 unregulated) for multi-unit operation and the peak efficiency is 95.7% for unregulated outputs.


Two properties of foam connected with their use in oil recovery ware reviewed.The topic covered were foaming,stability and means of enhancing stability of foam.


A filter with a specified stepped transmittance spectrum spanning three orders of magnitude from 400 nm to 1100 nm is selected for the OIC 2022 Manufacturing Problem. The results of the contest, as evaluated on submitted samples from participants, will be presented at the OIC conference in Whistler BC in June 2022 and a winner will be declared.


The article presents justifications that law and religion are social regulators which aim is to create rules of human behavior in a socially heterogeneous society. Their functions are, to some extent, similar and, consequently, mutual influence of law on religion and religion on law is inevitable (however, it is felt less and less in Europe in 21st century). In the middle of the 18th century the influence of religion on law was especially noticeable and, as a result, Christian values became the basis of normative acts. Thus, we have tried to identify some Christian values implemented as a basis for 1743 Code, the most perfect and general law codification of Hetmanate. Detailed studying of the legal document under analysis allowed us to conclude that provisions of canon law with Christian values in it were included into the 1743 Code not by accident. The combination of two states in the Hetmanate, Cossack-noble and clerical, could have led to the fact that secular commission members' views were formed under a significant influence of Christianity, whereas church representatives' views were less conservative. Most of them were knowledgeable at current state and canonical law. Thus, there is the evidence of direct influence of Christianity on the Hetmanate right (in spite no references to the sources of canon law in 1743 Code). The composition of the committee and Cossacks' worldviews indicate preservation of traditional inclination of contemporary law to strengthen Christianity (Orthodox rite) as a dominant religion in the state. It has been proved that, taking into consideration historical period, composition of the committee and traditional contemporary ideas, values mentioned in the article were Christian ones for Cossacks officers and clergy of the Hetmanate (including authors of the Code). It has been revealed that 1743 Code equally protected the oldest Christian values contained in Moses Pentateuch as well as their additions and modifications whose source was the New Testament. It has been noted that medieval cruelty and intolerance confronted New Age humanism in the Code. The topic under study needs both further investigation and comprehension of the Christian legal tradition in general. Its further exploration will allow to characterize and understand the whole complex of possible impacts of Christianity on law, namely law of the Hetmanate.


Abstract. Ni-Mo alloy phase formed in TiCN-based functionally graded cermets was fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technology. Mo and Ni powders were originally added as metal binders in in varying amounts between 10 and 40 mass% from surface to center. The specimens were prepared from high-purity and super-fine TiCN powders, sintered at various temperatures from 1500 or 1600°C for 0.5 or 1.5 minutes. It was discovered that an alloy phase formed in the layers containing about 15mass% metal binder. The alloys appeared as nearly spheric particles and their diameters were about 2~15μm, which were far larger than that of cermet grains. There were obvious factures near the alloy. The major XRD peaks of the alloys agreed with those of Ni(C) and MoNi4. TiCN-based cermets containing homogeneous metal binders were fabricated in the same process. The same alloy phase was found in TiCN-(Mo, Ni)0.135 at 1500°C and 1600 o C.


This study uses the relational turbulence model and dyadic data analysis to examine how marital relationship characteristics affect emotional and cognitive reactions to sex. We surveyed both spouses from 220 married couples about their sexual relationship. Results indicated that: (i) relational uncertainty and interference from partners were negatively associated with sexual satisfaction and positively associated with negative cognitive and emotional reactions to sex; (ii) an actor's sexual satisfaction was negatively associated with the partner's relational uncertainty and interference from actors; and (iii) an actor's negative emotion and negative cognition following sex were positively associated with the partner's relational uncertainty and interference from partners. These findings highlight dyadic interdependence between spouses' perceptions of sexual intimacy.


Objective To discuss the effect of TV laparoscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic hemopneumothorax.Methods 76 patients with traumatic hemopneumothorax were randomly and evenly divided into two groups.The control group were given the traditional thoracotomy treatment,and the study group were treated with TV laparoscopy.The trauma,duration of operation and hospital stay,intraoperative blood loss,postoperative pain,flow of thoracic duct,and postoperative complications were observed.Results The level of C reactive protein was lower in the study group than in the control group with significant difference after the treatment(P0.05).The duration of hospital stay and operation was significantly shorter in the study group than in the control group(P0.05).The intraoperative blood loss,postoperative analgesia drug dosage and thoracic duct flow were significantly lower in the study group than in the control group(P0.05).There was no no significant difference in postoperative complications between the two groups(P0.05).Conclusion Compared with traditional thoracotomy treatment,TV laparoscopy has the same clinical curative effect and the advantages of mini trauma,less blood loss and lower rate of adverse effects,which is worth to be promoted in clinical practice.


Lionel Opie's informative book is a guide to long-term health and the maximum functioning of the heart and mind. It is a rare example of a book that will appeal to health-conscious individuals and health professionals.


Tablet PC with interactive display device which is operable by the touch screen is functional enhanced to provide excellent usability and efficiency to the user. Touch screen device is configured to receive a touch screen contact for multiple and simultaneous. Multiple and concurrent touchscreen contact attributes are mapped to operations performed on the computing device. As a result, the user can trigger the execution of the accessibility switching aid operation and the screen rotational operation very easily. Further, the tablet PC can be mapped to the gesture or input hand operation.


Abstract Interactions of ammonia and water with the oxygen-containing functional groups of graphite oxide have been studied by ab initio density functional theory method. The results show that ammonia can dissociate on the carboxyl, epoxy and hydroxyl groups. The dissociation on the epoxy group is an exothermic reaction with a small activation energy barrier. Water is found to form a hydrogen bond with the carboxyl, epoxy and hydroxyl groups, and thus will block ammonia from interacting with those functional groups. The results in this work provide a fundamental understand of previous experiments about ammonia adsorption on graphene oxide materials.


After the picture sensor of CCD as basic flakes is completely improved, it is applied for the holographic follows and contral system of guided missile, which enables holographic follows to the target and controls the jet direction that amount of direction launch machine to deflect the direction with the tail department. The author analyzes its probe into the physics principle of the infrared ray signal, radar signal, laser pulse signal, establishes mathematics model, designs control electric circuit, and studies the stability of its work with the dependable.


We established that for anisotropic Bragg light diffraction on holographic phase gratings for significant perturbation amplitudes of the refractive index of the medium, in the transmitted diffraction orders there is a significant rotation of the polarization plane of the diffracted wave, which is absent in the reflected diffraction orders. It is shown that periodic changes in the transmission coefficients of diffracted waves with a change in the azimuth of polarization of incident light are due to a significant difference in the Fresnel reflection coefficients at the layer boundaries for s- and p-components of incident light; these periodic changes are absent in the reflected diffraction orders.


Abstract. Construction of intensity-duration (ID) curves and early warning systems for landslides (EWSL) are hampered by the paucity of temporal and spatial archival data. We developed methodologies that could be used for the construction of an ID curve that could be used for the construction of an EWSL over the Faifa Mountains in the Red Sea Hills. The developed methodologies relies on temporal, readily available, archival Google Earth and Sentinel-1 imagery, precipitation measurements, and limited field data. These methodologies accurately distinguished landslide-producing storms from non–landslide producing ones and identified the locations of these landslides with an accuracy of 60 %.


An adaptive target error registration method based on neural networks(NN) and unscented Kalman filter(UKF) was proposed.The method applied UKF training neural Networks.In the case of prior model of bias unknown,the method learned the difference between unregistered target measurements and registered track and estimated the registered error and target state real time.The simulation results showed the effectiveness of this method.


In India, the school and its curriculum (what knowledge is included), teaching (ways of communicating, relating and valuing) and evaluating often do not represent the child focused teaching. The knowledge of the child's information processing style is very essential. In today high technologically driven & complex world. Therefore, it is essential to identify the style of learning and thinking of children, in order to facilitate the process of teaching. It has now become essential to change our approach to teaching. The teaching techniques of school can be undertaken in consonance with the student's style of learning and thinking. Differences between rural and urban area are generally seen everywhere .It is a major public issue present in modern day society. In the rural areas fields are everything. There are few schools, which are run by government. The condition of these schools is also not good. If anyone wants to pursue college or any higher degree then he/she have to leave village and move to big cities. These differences also affect the psychological factors like cognition, learning, perception, personality, memory, attitude etc. This research comprehensively examines differences in personality between students in rural and in urban schools. Whilst the primary purpose is to offer further research to add to the body of knowledge, there is also the opportunity to find evidence connecting the level of rural scholastic achievement with the resources available to rural children elsewhere. Joshi (2000) found the difference between boys and girls of urban and rural area on neuroticism, extroversion and academic achievement. Khan (2000) studied about gifted achievers and underachievers on personality, and found that low achieving gifted children were more likely to show behavioural immaturity, emotional instability, feeling of inadequacy and certain nervous symptoms than gifted high achieving students; high achievers had greater feeling of individual worth, greater ability to persist and cope with their Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to compare the rural and urban high school students on personality traits. The degree of fit between children's developmental and personality needs and positive school climate afforded by the school can affect student outcomes in a better way. The study was therefore conducted on two groups comprising of cognitive factors of Rural and Urban students (N=400). The tools used was: Ten item personality Inventory. TIPI (Gosling, Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003). The results indicated a significant difference between the scores of the two groups on some variables of personality. Urban students were found significantly more emotional stable and have a broad range of interests. On the trait of Extraversion, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness rural & urban students got almost equal scores that mean both are extrovert in nature. Both are thoughtful, with good impulse control and goal-directed behaviors. They also have attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection, and other prosaically behaviors. But no significant differences were found on male and female students. The findings thus suggest that government should take special measures to create positive school environment in rural schools fostering all round development of the students. This study also helps in checking out the suitable education program for students in developing their skills according to the abilities and resources available.


The Editor

Current Oncology

November 12, 2012

Human papilloma viruses (hpvs) are causally linked to cervical, head-and-neck, and oral cancers. Vaccines against hpv are successful at preventing the development of those neoplasms. The principles of most religions provide sound guidance for personal behavior, but some religious leaders advise against acceptance of hpv vaccinations, claiming that their use promotes promiscuity and, specifically, that it encourages sexual activity before marriage.

In this letter, we highlight various hpv species, indicate methods of hpv transmission other than sexual intercourse, and reason that hpv vaccinations are essential because religious prohibitions are contrary to global control of hpv morbidity.


Background The ANGIOCAT trial showed a clinical benefit of direct to angiography suite (DTAS) for patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke admitted within 6 hours after symptom onset in decreased hospital workflow time and improved clinical outcome. However, the impact of DTAS implementation on hospital costs is unknown. This economic evaluation aims to assess the cost-utility of DTAS from the provider (hospital) perspective. Methods A cost-utility analysis was applied to compare DTAS with the standard direct to CT (DTCT) suite approach using direct cost and health outcomes data. The time horizon was 90 days. One-way sensitivity analysis as well as probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed, varying the model parameters by ±25%. Measures included costs, quality-adjusted life years, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. Health outcomes, classified according to the modified Rankin Scale, were obtained from the ANGIOCAT trial. Respective utilities were obtained from the literature. Results DTAS is the dominant strategy. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio is −€89 110 (−$97 600) with cost saving per patient of –€2848 (–$3120). The improved clinical outcome is directly related with a decrease in costs for the hospital, mainly due to the decrease in costs of hospital stay, improved clinical outcome and fewer complications. Conclusions For patients with LVO admitted within 6 hours after symptom onset, the DTAS not only improves clinical outcome but also decreases the costs (dominant option) compared with the standard DTCT. Multicentric international randomized clinical trials are ongoing to determine the replicability of our findings.


We report a large electrostrictive strain in electron irradiated poly (cid:126) vinylidene fluoride– trifluoroethylene (cid:33) copolymer at a composition with 65 mol % vinylidene fluoride, which also exhibits a large ratio of strain to applied field (cid:126)(cid:59) 275 pm/V (cid:33) . The strain response is nearly independent of the external driving condition (cid:126) unipolar or bipolar field (cid:33) and does not change with temperature in about 20 °C temperature range near room temperature. Moreover, near room temperature, the material can reach a relatively high quasistatic longitudinal electromechanical coupling factor k 33 (cid:59) 0.33. © 1998 American Institute of Physics. (cid:64) S0003-6951 (cid:126) 98 (cid:33) 03040-X (cid:35) Electroactive polymers with high electrostrictive strain and elastic energy density are very attractive for a broad range of actuator and transducer applications. Recently, we reported a massive electrostriction in electron irradiated poly (cid:126) vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene (cid:33) (cid:64) P (cid:126) VDF–TrFE (cid:33)(cid:35) copolymers. 1 In addition, we also showed that the new material exhibits many features resembling those of relaxor ferroelectrics, that is, the slim polarization hysteresis


In this paper, the flexible job shop scheduling problem with the objective of optimization three objective functions simultaneously has studied. Due to the complexity of this problem exact methods cannot be used to find the optimum solution and therefore, heuristic and meta-heuristic approaches are suitable. In this research, Biogeography-based optimization (BBO) and Genetic Algorithms have been chosen among the population-based optimization algorithms. These algorithms were provided in the MATLAB programming language. Finally, the computational results obtained from the algorithms of this research were analyzed and several research fields have been suggested for the future studies.


Module partition is the key part of product modular design. The existing methods have the shortcoming of relying on functional structure and complex algorithm. In this paper, the product module partition method is put forward based on the edge betweenness agglomeration characteristic of complex network. The network reflecting the product assembly structure is constructed by taking the parts as nodes and the connection between any two parts as edge. The definition and agglomeration characteristic of complex network edge betweenness is introduced. The edge betweenness search algorithm of undirected acyclic network is given. The proposed method is illustrated and validated by taking the automobile engine as an example.


It is known (1) that nitrogen bombarded with deuterons yields several homogeneous groups of alpha particles, and at least two groups of protons. The reactions are probably N14+H2→C12+He4 (1), N14+H2→N15+H1. (2)


A national maintenance company outsources maintenance to numerous enterprises all over South Africa. Because their customer base is so large, the focus of this paper is only on the branch in the Gauteng region. Their technicians perform scheduled maintenance on variety of electronic devices, travelling to multiple customer locations in a day. Unscheduled jobs pop up and instead of re-planning routes, these jobs are simply added on top of the pile. Employees find themselves travelling back to areas they have already visited which is a waste of time and petrol. Workloads of employees are also unbalanced and so the company has both high overtime and idle time costs. The company requires a scheduling system which plans staffing in such a way as to reduce travel distances, balance the workloads of employees and satisfy customer demand. This problem was addressed by viewing and modelling it as a Travelling Salesman Problem. An initial solution was developed and thereafter a Genetic Algorithm is used to improve on this initial solution.


Mesoporous TiO2 whiskers(MTiO2_ws)were chemically modified with 3-aminopropyltriethyloxy silane(APTES).As a result,the point of zero charge(pzc)for the modified material(MTiO2_ws-APTES)rose from 5.3 to 6.8.Also the specific surface area of MTiO2_ws-APTES slightly increased,but the pore structure had little change compared to that of MTiO2_ws.Then,MTiO2_ws-APTES was used as the support for γ-glutamyltranspeptidase(GGT)immobilization.MTiO2_ws-APTES showed better loading capacity than MTiO2_ws.While the enzyme concentration was less than 150 U·g-1,the recovery of activity was above 99% and the highest specific activity for immobilized GGT(MTiO2_ws-APTES-GGT)was 184.0 U·g-1.Although both optimal temperature and thermal stability of MTiO2_ws-APTES-GGT slightly decreased compared with the native enzyme,pH stability was greatly improved.The affinity constant(Km)of MTiO2_ws-APTES-GGT toward γ-glutamyl-p-nitroaniline(GpNA)was also determined to be 0.889 mmol·L-1,which was higher than that of the native enzyme,but less than that of MTiO2_ws-GGT.After storage at 4℃ for 60 days and reused for 21 batches,MTiO2_ws-APTES-GGT maintained 80.07% of its initial activity.


The ALIA Sydney Group held a public discussion on 24 May 2006 of the issues facing the profession, led by a group of panellists that included Maxine Brodie, Francis Sims and Kay Harris as speakers. The importance of understanding, defining and communicating the advanced skills required by prevailing professionals was one of the themes that strongly came to the fore.


Two molecular defects have been described in parathyroid adenomas: rearrangement and overexpression of the PRADI/cyclin DI oncogene and allelic loss of chromosome II DNA, often including the multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (MENI) putative tumor suppressor gene region. In an effort to identify additional parathyroid tumor suppressor genes, we examined 25 parathyroid adenomas for tumor‐specific allelic loss of polymorphic DNA loci located near known or candidate tumor suppressor genes. Control leukocyte DNA from all 25 patients was heterozygous for I or more of the 9 chromosome I markers examined. Allelic loss at I or more of these informative loci on chromosome I was observed in 10 of 25 (40%) adenomas. Although many tumors lost extensive regions on chromosome I, all but one of these tumors had allelic loss of distal I p (I p32‐pter); four tumors also lost loci on Iq. Allelic loss at IIqI3, the site of the MEN I gene, was detected in 5 of 2I (24%) informative cases, including 3 with Ip loss. In contrast, allelic loss was rarely observed at loci on 99 and Iop and was not observed at loci on 3p, 3q. 4p, 5q, I2q, I4q, I8q, 22q, or Xp. In summary, clonal allelic loss of loci on chromosome arm Ip is a frequent feature of parathyroid adenomas, implying that inactivation of a tumor suppressor gene(s) on Ip commonly contributes to their pathogenesis. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Abstract : Eight subjects performed a probabilistic information integration task in which multiple cues, and their diagnostic value in choosing between the hypotheses. Primary interest focussed on the comparison of digital and analog-graphical displays, and upon sources of non-optimality in the information integration process. Generally the analog displays proved superior to the digital, and performance was better when information was presented at a more rapid rate. Subjects appeared to be non-optimal in their treatment of reliability vs. diagnosticity. However, departures from optimality related to serial position effects and to the use of the appropriate model of information integration were not observed. (Author)


In recent years, an increasing number of database applications deal with continuously changing data objects (CCDOs). In these applications, the underlying data management system must support new types of spatiotemporal queries that refer to CCDOs. The expressive power of the supported query language and the query processing algorithms determine the quality and the efficiency of the query system. In contrast to traditional data objects, CCDOs change continuously. Therefore, the relation between two CCDOs may change over time. We define a motion relation as a sequence of one or more distinct topological relations. This paper surveys existing spatiotemporal query types and proposes a powerful spatiotemporal database query language by defining a complete set of motion predicates that can fill the gap between space and time. In addition, the paper discusses how to efficiently process the proposed queries by utilizing existing indexing schemes.


This paper presents a method to analyze the feedback from various users and thus determine the cyber criminal. The cyber criminals are effectively identified by applying the various clustering techniques for different number of users with different attributes (characters). The purpose of clustering is to identify natural groupings of data from a large data set to represent the system's behavior. The clustering is done using the various techniques like the Gaussian technique, K Means Clustering, Fuzzy C Means Clustering and Fuzzy Clustering. Clustering of numerical data forms the basis of many classification and system modeling algorithms. The data that true without any false information is take as the called the genuine data and the data that contains false information is taken the crime data. By clustering, the genuine data (Cluster 0) is eliminated and only the crime data (Cluster 1) is taken. From the genuine data the false positive is taken as the crime data. From the criminal data the true negative is also eliminated. The criminal data is further analyzed using the various classes and then the criminal is detected. Many of the researchers used minimum number of attributes to identify the criminal. In order to increase the crime identification rate, this paper uses 25 various attributes which are collected from 25 users in different scenarios. In this paper, the profile of the person involved in cyber crime is analyzed for further calculations. By identification of the profile of the cyber criminal, the detection of the crime can be done. In this paper 25 users along with 25 attributes is taken as experimental investigation.


This paper examines how pitch range declination and reset contribute to turn-taking organisation. This is part of a broader study of voice prosody, i.e., how pitch, voice quality and temporal features combine for various prosodic functions, both linguistic and paralinguistic. The present study first investigates the effect of the speech unit position in a turn on its pitch range. We also test the effect of the number of speech units in a turn as well as the turn duration on the turn-initial f 0 peak height at the beginning of the turn. Our results suggest a pitch range declination trend between the Initial and Median speech units of a turn but a violation of this declination for the Final units of the turn. They also demonstrate that the higher the number of speech units in a turn or the longer the turn, the higher the turn-initial f 0 peak height. We discuss our findings along the debate on Projection and Reaction theories and that of Hard vs. Soft pre-planning of speech production. We address how these findings may be useful to formulate a holistic model of prosody and to enhance human-machine interactions.


Preface vii PARTI: INTRODUCTION 1. Some Basic Ingredients, Orlando Fals-Borda 3 2. The Theoretical Standpoint of PAR, Muhammad Anisur Rahman 13 3. A Self-Review of PAR, Muhammad Anisur Rahman and Orlando Fals-Borda 24 PART II: VIVENCIAS 4. Together Against the Computer: PAR and the Struggle of Afro-Colombians for Public Service, Gustavo I. de Roux 37 5. Young Laborers in Bogota: Breaking Authoritarian Ramparts, Maria Cristina Salazar 54 6. Action and Participatory Research: A Case of Peasant Organization, Vera Gianotten and Ton de Wit 64 7. Glimpses of the "Other Africa," Muhammad Anisur Rahman 84 8. People's Power in Zimbabwe, Sithembiso Nyoni 109 vi Action and Knowledge 9. Toward a Knowledge Democracy: Viewpoints on Participatory Research in North America, JohnGaventa 121 PARTm: STEPS IN PRAXIOLOGY 10. Stimulation of Self-Reliant Initiatives by Sensitized Agents: Some Lessons from Practice, S. Tilakaratna 135 11. Remaking Knowledge, Orlando Fals-Borda 146 References and Further Reading 167 About the Co-authors 181


Abstract : Predicting critical wind thresholds for non-convective wind events is a challenge for today's operational forecasters. This study evaluates two different methods to forecasting non-convective wind gusts of 35 knots at five locations within the 15th Operational Weather Squadron's area of responsibility. In 2001, Olivier Brasseur developed the Wind Gust Estimate (WGE) as a physically based representation of the boundary layer parameters required to produce gusts at the surface. Previous research compared the WGE to the Air Force Weather Agency's non-convective wind gust algorithm. In this research, the WGE is statistically compared to the Rapid Update Cycle's (RUC) wind gust algorithm that is empirically derived to produce wind gusts forecasts in the RUC model. Utilizing a WRF ensemble data set, the statistical results show the RUC performed better overall at three of the five locations when evaluated with the 35 knot threshold. Case study analysis revealed that the WGE performed best on seven of the ten case studies. A best fit linear regression is applied to both algorithms and the performance is evaluated on ten independent case studies to analyze accuracy improvements and the potential use of such tuning to the algorithms for future applications. The results of this research suggest that integration of both non-convective wind gust forecast methods into operational forecasts at the 15th Operational Weather Squadron could prove valuable with further testing and evaluation against established rules of thumb and other accepted techniques.


Sport hunting is considered by some researchers as promoting wildlife conservation while others feel otherwise. It is pointed out that with proper regulation, enforcement and control sport or trophy hunting would be beneficial to wildlife populations. However, wanton and indiscriminate killing of certain wildlife species can have disastrous ecological consequences. This paper aims to contribute to the on-going debate by examining critically the relationship between sport hunting and wildlife management in Kenya. It is the thesis of this paper that well regulated sport hunting could benefit wildlife populations and may be the only way to ensure their very survival. Therefore, the paper reviews available literature on trophy hunting in Africa and the rest of the world with the objective of assessing both positive and negative impacts of hunting on conservation. Lessons learned can be used as basis for re-introducing sport hunting in Kenya. The main finding is that there is evidence that wildlife populations especially for elephants, rhinos and buffaloes are increasing in the countries where sport hunting is encouraged and the reverse is the case where it has been restricted or banned. Therefore, it is recommended that Kenya borrows a leaf from these success stories and re-introduces trophy hunting to save its wildlife.


We experimentally demonstrate the formation of a macroscopically occupied state (condensation) of exciton-polaritons in a tunable 3D open-access microcavity system under resonant excitation. We observe a high conversion efficiency of polaritons from the pumped state to the ground mode, leading to the population of the condensate 1.5 times greater than that of the driven state for a total number of polaritons of ∼110. Comparative numerical simulations show that coherent polariton-polariton scattering mechanisms alone cannot explain the observed experimental results and that other relaxation channels play an important role.We experimentally demonstrate the formation of a macroscopically occupied state (condensation) of exciton-polaritons in a tunable 3D open-access microcavity system under resonant excitation. We observe a high conversion efficiency of polaritons from the pumped state to the ground mode, leading to the population of the condensate 1.5 times greater than that of the driven state for a total number of polaritons of ∼110. Comparative numerical simulations show that coherent polariton-polariton scattering mechanisms alone cannot explain the observed experimental results and that other relaxation channels play an important role.


Cropping systems models have become an essential tool to simulate crop growth and yield at different scales to produce actionable information related to climate change, food security, land use and market dynamics (e.g. Waha et al., 2015; Wallach et al., 2016; Porwollik et al., 2017). Despite their increased usage and importance, various sources of uncertainty exist in the modelling process due to the "impossibility to model the cropping system with complete determinism" (Ramirez-Villegas et al. 2017). In this article, by uncertainty we mean "any departure from the unachievable ideal of complete determinism" (Walker et al., 2003). Uncertainty is prevalent in every step of crop modelling, starting from the field observations used for model development to value of inputs and parameters to the structure and design of model (Fig. 1).


Research was supported by grants from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT): SFRH/BD/25012/2005 (to R.V.), SFRH/BPD/26546/2006 (to A.P.), PTDC/BIA-BDE/74288/2006 (to D.J.H.) and PTDC/BIA-BEC/105327/2008 (to A.P.); from the Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia, Spain: CGL2009-11663/BOS, Grup de Recerca Emergent of the Generalitat de Catalunya: 2009SGR1462; and an Intramural Grant from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Spain: 2008301031 (to S.C.).


The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of the use of meat meal in growth
diets for pigs; also, identify the line of pigs that responds with greater efficiency to the use
of the meat meal; calculate the production and productivity of each line of pigs per treatment,
and determine the benefit-cost ratio of each treatment under study. Thirty six 60 day old pigs
from the Yorkshire - Camborough lines were evaluated, of which they were divided into
three treatments: T0 (Control), T1 (4% Meat Flour), T2 (6% Meat Flour); in order to evaluate
the parameters of initial live weight, final live weight, daily weight gain, daily feed intake,
feed conversion and benefit / cost. The results obtained show a significant difference
(P˂0.05) for the final weight gain in the three treatments. Differences in cumulative food
consumption were obtained in favor of T0 (85.5 kg), compared to treatments T1 (84.5 kg)
and T2 (84.5 kg). Numerical differences were also found in the feed conversion, for the T0
(1.7) compared to the other treatments T1 (1.8) and T2 (2.0). It is concluded that meat meal
can be included up to 4% in pig diets, in the growth stage, without affecting production.


Abstract:In this update on the activities of the Seminary of Medieval Spanish Studies, Kish notes developments in The Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies's publication of medieval Spanish texts via microfiche and volumes and lists the scholars involved.


Objective:Reduce birth defects and improve population quality in Duanzhou district,Zhaoqing City.Methods:234 disabled children in Duanzhou district identified by Zhaoqing disabled children identification of groups in 1998~2007 were analysed,combined with the situation of prevention,put forward reasonable prevention recommendations.Results: The top five congenital and hereditary disease among disabled children were congenital heart disease,mental retardation,congenital amblyopia,strabismus,refractive error,Mediterranean anemia,congenital hemangioma.Share were 13.68%,7.69%,5.56%,3.85%,3.42%.The top five non-genetic diseases were cerebral palsy,epilepsy,cerebral hypoplasia,autism,sequelae of neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy,disabling injury,nephrotic syndrome.Share were 10.68%,9.83%,6.48%,3.42%,2.99%.Conclusion: To reduce morbidity of disabled children in our district,prevention is the best way,perinatal health care can prevent preterm children,children with low birth weight and birth asphyxia,Improve recovery levels,reducing hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and intracranial hemorrhage.


The anionic propagation of living polystyryllithium shows a distinctly different behavior depending on the nature of the solvent used (polar or non-polar). To demonstrate the transition of one type of behavior to the other, studies have been earned out in the past in mixtures of benzene and tetrahydrofuran (THF) and mixtures of dioxane and THF. The results found in mixtures of benzene and THF could entirely be accounted for in terms of classical dielectric theory In contrast to this tile reactivity of the ion pair in dioxane -THF mixtures cannot be explained in these simple terms In order to elucidate this controversy, similar experiments were carried out in this work in mixtures of N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylene diamine (TMEDA) and THF and the results are compared with those previously found in the other mixtures. From this comparison it can be concluded that in all cases the specific solvation of Li' is of utmost importance and that it is the solvent-separated ion pairs, the concentration of which is always small compared to that of the externally solvated contact ion pairs, which are mainly responsible for the observed propagation. A direct comparison between dioxane and TMEDA does not seem to hold. Indeed, whereas the bidentate TMEDA replaces equally well two THF molecules in the externally solvated contact ion pairs as in the solvent-separated ion pairs, one must conclude from the comparison of the results that dioxane cannot enter the solvation shell of the solvent-separated ion pair without destroying it. On top of that, recent results show that unlike TMEDA. which can act as a bidentate ligand, dioxane, even in its boat-form, cannot do this, since the free electron pairs on the oxygen atoms remain too far away from the Li + -cation.


The primary trend in electronics industry is product miniaturization. Both design and manufacturing engineers are looking for ways to make products lighter, smaller, less expensive, and at the same time faster, more powerful, reliable, user-friendly, and functional. A partial list of today's "shrinking" products would include cellular phones, personal and sub-notebook computers, pagers, PCMCIA cards, camcorders, palmtop organizers, telecommunications equipment, and automotive components. With silicon chips continue integrating more functionality as per Moore's law, the packaging is challenged to integrate and shrink. Chips first or embedded chip packaging is a revolutionary way to overcome these recent packaging integration challenges. Packaging researchers have worked on embedded packaging and developed newer way of embedding the chip. The PBGA replaced the lead frame based peripheral array packages, in which the die is electrically connected to circuit board (PCB) substrate by wire bonding or flip chip technology, before covering with molding compound. Embedded Wafer level packaging takes the next step, eliminating the PCB, as well as the need to use wire bonding or flip-chip bumps to establish electrical connection. This paper deals with the development embedding multiple dies at wafer level. A detailed mechanical and structural analysis of the package in terms of the die thickness, wafer size and warpage is presented. The package format is suitable for stacking multiple die in 3D format and 2D format. The paper also deals with characterization of the materials and the process integration of the multidie wafer level packaging. Initial reliability results of the package are also presented.


Three-dimensional supersonic vortex-breakdown problems in bound and unbound domains are solved. The solutions are obtained using the time-accurate integration of the unsteady, compressible, full Navier-Stokes (NS) equations. The computational scheme is an implicit, upwind, flux-difference splitting, finite-volume scheme. Two vortex-breakdown applications are considered in the present paper. The first is for a supersonic swirling jet which is issued from a nozzle into a supersonic uniform flow at a lower Mach number than that of the swirling jet. The second is for a supersonic swirling flow in a configured circular duct. In the first application, an extensive study of the effects of grid fineness, shape and grid-point distribution on the vortex breakdown is presented. Four grids are used in this study and they show a substantial dependence of the breakdown bubble and shock wave on the grid used. In the second application, the bubble-type and helix-type vortex breakdown have been captured.


A simple HPLC-UV method was developed and validated for the analysis of lysergol, its stress degradation profile, and pH stability studies. Instrument used was Agilent HPLC 1120 autosampler with a C18 reversed phase column and a mobile phase comprised of methanol and water (1% acetic acid) with isocratic flow. Flow rate was kept constant at 1 mL/min throughout the experiment and elution was monitored at 225 nm using UV detector. The calibration plot showed good linear relationship with r 2 = 0.9997. A well resolved single peak was observed at retention time 2.577 minute with asymmetry <1.0. The limit of detection (1.3 µg/mL), limit of quantitation (4.0 µg/mL), RSD (%) (<2.0) and capacity factor (k' = 1.577) were found to be within the acceptable limits. The stress degradation studies revealed lysergol recovery of 99.0% (wet heat induced), 65.9% (base induced), 63.7% (acid induced), 69.7% (H 2 O 2 induced), and 41.7% (UV light induced); whereas, complete drug degradation occurred at dry heat and photochemical induced degradation. From the pH rate profile studies, pH of maximum stability for lysergol was found to be 2.0.


The Global Brain Consortium https://globalbrainconsortium.org/ promotes the goals of open science and serves as a clearinghouse to interface synergistically with other initiatives.


Technological development has placed pressure on Construction Industry (CI). Reviewing its activities due to increase in a globally competitive market has manifested from the changing need of the construction environment in meeting customer satisfaction. These pose challenges to many construction industries in the developing countries to improve on the quality of the product produced in meeting the customer need. The study aims to examine the impact of Information Technology (IT) application on Value Re-engineering (VRE) implementation that gives rise to customer Value Addition (VA), through enhanced profitability performance and cost reduction for the CI to offer benefit for customers to achieve satisfaction. The subjectivist methodology was utilised to establish critical success factors in forty purposefully sampled building construction operators within Abuja using purposive sampling techniques. The result further revealed that quality design and Collaborative Working (CW) among the VRE practitioners help the customer to derive the benefit of waste reduction by achieving value-added perspective through the use of high technology that influences both design and construction operations for the project. Early dissemination of information and design adequacy reduces pressure on both materials and labour scarcity. Finally, there is a significant need for the construction process to be re-engineered through the utility of change enablers, and the introduction of assistive technologies like IT as drivers of VRE implementation on VA that give rise to customer-derived benefits.


The importance of the recycling of vegetable oils that have been used for frying has led the scientific community to provide viable options; among them is the transesterification in biodiesel. Biodiesel is one of the most popular and accepted diesel-fuel alternatives. In this sense, to gain knowledge about the implications of its use, waste olive oil methyl ester was evaluated as a fuel for diesel engines during a 50-h short-term performance test in a diesel direct-injection Perkins engine. Engine-performance tests indicated a slight power loss and brake-specific fuel consumption increase, although statistical analysis showed no significant differences between biodiesel and No. 2 diesel fuel (EN 590) tests. In this sense, energy conversion efficiency remained constant or showed a slight increase when waste olive oil methyl ester was used instead of No. 2 diesel fuel. Carbon deposits and wear seemed normal. During the test, no difficulties were experienced, in regard to engine starting, and the engine perf...


I am now in Maui for Ebb & Flow Arts, to do works by Charles Wuorninen, Emil Awad, Robert Pollock and William Anderson. I am the token guitarist at Ebb & …


This paper refers to the understanding of the littoral spaces from the concepts of complexity and dailyness. Fundamentally, presents dailyness as base field which structure manifests that none of the communities is actually simple.


Long‐term acoustic shear‐wave buildup has been observed in the bulk of photoconducting CdS subjected to rf fields greater than 104 V/cm. Acoustic power was seen to grow for times as long as 5 msec in some samples. Short rf pulses applied within 1 msec after the long pulse generated much larger acoustic flux than if applied thereafter. At a given frequency the effect was a maximum in a certain conductivity region, this conductivity being higher the higher the frequency. A proposed explanation involves field quenching of the photoconductivity in narrow high‐resistivity bands.


The development of electronic skin (e‐skin) is of great importance in human‐like robotics, healthcare, wearable electronics, and medical applications. In this paper, a bioinspired e‐skin design of hierarchical micro‐ and nano‐structured ZnO nanowire (NW) arrays in an interlocked geometry is suggested for the sensitive detection of both static and dynamic tactile stimuli through piezoresistive and piezoelectric transduction modes, respectively. The interlocked hierarchical structures enable a stress‐sensitive variation in the contact area between the interlocked ZnO NWs and also the efficient bending of ZnO NWs, which allow the sensitive detection of both static and dynamic tactile stimuli. The flexible e‐skin in a piezoresistive mode shows a high pressure sensitivity (−6.8 kPa−1) and an ultrafast response time (<5 ms), which enables the detection of minute static pressure (0.6 Pa), vibration level (0.1 m s−2), and sound pressure (≈57 dB). The flexible e‐skin in a piezoelectric mode is also demonstrated to be able to detect fast dynamic stimuli such as high frequency vibrations (≈250 Hz). The flexible e‐skins with both piezoresistive and piezoelectric sensing capabilities may find applications requiring both static and dynamic tactile perceptions such as robotic hands for dexterous manipulations and various healthcare monitoring devices.


We derive the nilpotent (anti-)BRST and (anti-)co-BRST symmetry transfor- mations for the system of a rigid rotor by exploiting the (anti-)BRST and (anti-)co-BRST restrictions on the (anti-)chiral supervariables that are defined on the appropriately chosen (1, 1)-dimensional super-submanifolds of the general (1, 2)-dimensional supermanifold on which, our 1D system of a rigid rotor is considered within the framework of augmented su- pervariable approach. The general (1, 2)-dimensional supermanifold is parameterized by the superspace coordinates (t,�, ¯ �) where t is the bosonic evolution parameter and (�, ¯


WDM-PON is a new generation optical access network technology, it has the characteristics of large capacity, network security, and upgradability. This paper gives a brief introduction about the ONU realization method of wavelength-specified source and wavelength-tunable source, and points out their shortness; then in detail analyzes the realization method of broadband optical source and non-optical source, and gives the best solution-scalable colorless ONU to construct WDM- PON.


Mongols had been a constant problem for the Sultans of Delhi. During Alauddin Khalji's reign, there were in all six major invasions. The Sultan took strong action against them. His brae general, Zafar Khan, who had become a terror for them gave strong resistance to them. While fighting with them at Kili, Zafar Khan lost his life. This brave general displayed great sense of loyalty for the Sultan as well as for his country by rejecting a greater rank offered by the Mongol general in his country.


In spite of research on entrepreneurial intentions being a mature field of enquiry, little is known about the influence of experience on entrepreneurial intentions, especially among the youth and in developing contexts. This paper aims to investigate the impact of different types of experience – entrepreneurial early childhood experiences, prior start-up experiences, work experience, education and peer influence – on the entrepreneurial intentions of South African youth.,First, a quantitative survey of 827 secondary students was administered, and the results were analysed by means of hierarchical logistic regression. Second, two focus groups were conducted with secondary students representing two distinct segments of South African society to shed light on some of the unique survey findings.,The results revealed that the experiences of having attempted to start a business and having previously worked in a business, as well as entrepreneurship education, have a positive influence on youth entrepreneurial intentions, while peers' entrepreneurial intentions exert a negative influence. Peer influence and contextual factors such as family and community support, which are catalytic in other parts of the world, appear to dampen youth entrepreneurial intentions because of fear of failure and fear of competition.,This paper examines the influence of a broader taxonomy of experience types on youth entrepreneurial intentions than found in previous studies. It highlights the unique role played by specific types of experience and points to the need to include extra-curricular entrepreneurial experiences in interventions aimed at fostering youth entrepreneurial intentions in developing nations.


The SVNChecker is an Open Source framework for pre- and post-commit hooks in a number of version control systems (VCS). It allows tight integration of the VCS into existing development environments and to perform a variety of checks of the committed source code. The major use cases are the integration of VCS with issue and bug tracking systems and the check of source code against coding standards and unit tests.

The SVNChecker is designed and developed as an open extensible framework. By writing appropriate plug-ins it can be extended to almost any kind of "check". This can be used to enforce a variety of regulations of the software development process. By developing "handler" plug-ins the result of checks can be handled in almost all required ways (for example for sending mails, updating databases or running any given external software).

At the moment the SVNChecker is extended with a plug-in technology to allow the integration of any kind of VCS (for example git or Perforce). The programm and its plug-in API is written in pure Python.

This talk starts with a short overview of the process of software engineering and the tools which are typically involved. It describes how version control is used with subversion and how the SVNChecker fits into this to support the checking of source code.

After this general overview the talk will give detailed information about the design of the SVNChecker and will show how it can be extended to fulfil special needs.


The conditions for obtaining runaway electron (RE) current pulses with a minimum duration at a subnanosecond breakdown of centimeter gaps filled with air at atmospheric pressure were studied. It is shown that the RE current pulse duration depends on many parameters, such as the cathode form, the magnitude of the interelectrode distance, the diameter of the diaphragm, which is part of the anode, as well as on the size of the receiving part of the collector. It has been established that the use of cathodes with an extended edge having a small radius of curvature, RE current pulses consisting of two peaks of picosecond duration can be recorded. Keywords: runaway electrons, beam current, picosecond pulse duration, subnanosecond breakdown.


Research was conducted on using agile methods in software engineering education. This paper explores the perceptions of students from five different academic levels of agile practices. Information has been gathered through the collection of quantitative and qualitative data over three academic years, and analysis reveals student experiences, mainly positive but also some negative. Student opinions indicate the preference to continue to use agile practices at the workplace if allowed. A way these findings may potentially be extrapolated to the industrial settings is discussed. Finally, this report should encourage other academics considering adoption of agile methods in their computer science or software engineering curricula.


The effect of reverse preferences, the trade preferences granted by developing to developed countries, is evaluated. Extensive tables focus on preferences for items common in international procurement for major infrastructure and heavy industry projects. The tables show expected values of macroeconomic variables and other structural characteristics derived from 20 years of data on 101 countries of more than one million in population. The expected values are considered the most probable predictions based on regression analysis. The tables are arranged so that the expected value of particular variable may be found once the GNP per capita, the population, and the ratio of foreign capital inflow to GDP are known. The tables are further separated into large and small countries.


1. The high percentage of fat, about 26–28% in the mature human female, may influence reproductive ability directly through two mechanisms: (a) fat converts androgens to oestrogens; (b) relative fatness influences the direction of metabolism of oestrogen to the most potent or least potent forms. The relative degree of fatness thus is directly related to both the quantity of circulating oestrogen and the biological effectiveness of the oestrogen. This is a neat mechanism for relating rates of growth, nutrition and energy outputs to the energy requirements for reproduction. Fat is the most labile body tissue; it therefore reflects environmental changes more rapidly than other tissues of the body.


Many signalized intersections are associated with vehicle crashes due to dilemma zone issues. Dilemma zones are defined in either time or space, as zones where some drivers may decide to proceed, and some may decide to stop at the onset of yellow. Dilemma zone can therefore lead to rear-end crashes, when a driver decides to stop while their follower decides to proceed, and/or right-angle crashes, when drivers end up violating the red-light, to crash with side street traffic. Many algorithms and real-time dilemma-zone protection systems were developed. In order to evaluate these algorithms, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) developed an advanced real-time intersection safety data collection system. This system monitors the intersection phase and detector actuations as well video captures of red-light-runners. This paper presents the data collection system and shows preliminary data collection results in two sites in Illinois. The system was used to collect traffic volume profile, number of vehicles captured in dilemma zone, and videos of red-light-runners.


Most robots involved in vertical movement against gravitation require actuators large enough to support their own weight. To improve the inherent safety of such robots against the large actuators and reduce their energy consumption, numerous gravity compensation mechanisms (GCMs) have been proposed. Our previous study proposed a variable GCM (VGCM) that uses two types of springs and can adjust the compensation force. In this paper, a VGCM-based scissor lift (pantograph lift) that uses three springs and a smaller actuator is proposed. A prototype is designed and fabricated, and the performance of the prototype is evaluated experimentally. The results demonstrate that the developed scissor lift meets the design specifications. In addition, a load estimator is established based on the dynamic model of the scissor lift. A real-time self-adjustment method that automatically changes the compensation force is proposed, and its effectiveness is verified. Graphical Abstract


In the Massachusetts Male Aging Study, the age-adjusted probability for complete impotence in men with treated hypertension was 14%, vs 9.6% in the entire sample of 1,290 men aged 40 to 70 (Feldman et al. N Engl J Med. 1994;151:54-61). Tadalafil, a selective and potent inhibitor of PDE5, is a new treatment for men with erectile dysfunction (ED). Tadalafil and other PDE5 inhibitors potentiate vascular smooth muscle relaxation; therefore, they may affect the cardiovascular (CV) system as well. PDE5 inhibitors have been shown to augment the hypotensive effects of nitrates; PDE5 inhibitors and nitrates both act through the nitric oxide-cGMP pathway. This report summarizes the CV profile of tadalafil based on clinical pharmacology and large-scale clinical trials. In healthy subjects receiving 20 mg of tadalafil, there was no signif-icant difference in standing systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to subjects receiving placebo (mean maximal decrease of 0.2 and 4.6 mm Hg, respectively). There was also no change in heart rate. Sadovsky et al determined an incidence rate of myocardial infarction (MI) of 0.6 per 100 patient-years in age-standardized men (Sadovsky et al. Int J Clin Pract. 2001;55:115-128). Across all clinical studies of tadalafil, the rate of MI in treated patients (N (cid:7) 4000) was 0.39, vs 1.1 in patients receiving placebo (N (cid:7) 1200). The phase 3 clinical trials included patients with a wide variety of stable CV conditions, including patients taking multiple antihypertensive agents. Overall, the incidence of CV adverse events (AEs) in these trials was low, and the rate of AEs reported by patients on tadalafil was similar to placebo. There were no reports of hypotension for tadalafil-treated patients and 1 report for a placebo-treated patient. (The table shows treatment-emergent CV AEs occurring in at least 0.5% of patients receiving placebo or tadalafil. The number of syncope reports was too small for calculation of significance.) In conclusion, tadalafil treatment has not been associated with an increased incidence of CV events. In addition, tadalafil has little effect on systemic arterial pressure. of antihypertensive medication. For tertiles of total dietary fiber intake, 47% vs. 44% of all adults 40 (cid:4) y had hypertension in the lowest vs. highest tertiles. Additionally, adults 55 (cid:4) y were twice as likely to have hypertension than those 40-54 y, across almost all tertiles of fiber intake, for both men and women. The findings were consistently significant for women 40-54 y, in that, 30 vs. 21 vs. 24% in the lowest, middle and highest tertiles of total fiber intake had hypertension, with similar findings for tertiles of insoluble and with men for soluble fiber intakes. As previously observed, we found that mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure increased with age. By tertiles of total fiber intake, mean diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the lowest versus middle tertiles for men 40-54 y. For adults 40 (cid:4) y, and the subgroup 40-54 y, mean systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the lowest vs. highest tertiles of insoluble fiber intake (Adults 40 (cid:4) y: 133 (cid:2) 0.7 vs. 131 (cid:2) 0.6 mm Hg), and for soluble fiber, similar patterns were observed but did not reach significance. These findings support new and emerging clinical data, suggesting that increased dietary fiber intakes may also help reduce blood pressure therefore, the impli-cations are relevant for education, prevention and management of hyper- tension. Furthermore, implementation of dietary modifications with a proven ability to lower blood pressure can have a notable impact on the prevalence of hypertension in the US. The aim of this study was to determine the role of CYP1A1 T6325C, p22phox C242T and ACE I/D genotypes in HD in postmenopausal (PM) women.Thestudied population consisted of 96 normotensive postmenopausal and 26 postmenopausal women with HD. CYP1A1 T6325C, p22phox C242T and ACE I/D were determined by PCR-RFLP and PCR. The C allele of CYP1A1 T6325C polymorphism is a risk factor for HD in postmenopausal women, either when this genotype is considered by itself or in association with the D allele of the ACE I/D polymorphism. Low-renin hypertension, representing roughly one quarter of all essential hypertension, is widely recognized by distinct physiologic features, in- cluding salt-sensitivity and a favorable natural history. We have reported the familial concordance for renin status, defining low-renin vigorously by plasma renin activity (cid:3) 0.69 ngAngI/L/sec, drawn with subjects up-right after seven days on a 10 mmol sodium diet. There were twice as many low-renin sibships as expected, in sharp contrast to the normal- renin state, where the observed and expected were similar (p (cid:1) 0.01). To pursue the implication that genetic determinants play a large role in low-renin status, we performed association studies on 8 polymorphisms in 5 candidate genes: aldosterone synthase promoter region CYP11B2 C-344T; angiotensinogen (AGT) M235T, AGT A-20C, AGT A-6G; the angiotensin II AT1 Receptor AT1R A1166C and T573C; angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion ACE I/D; and alpha adducin G460T. Four genes belong to the renin-angiotensin system, and adducin codes for a gene whose product has been associated with renin status. Significant association was found between low-renin status and the alpha Gly460Trp polymorphism. Genotype frequencies in the hyperten- sive population were consistent with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Genotype frequencies revealed 23% 460GG and 17% of the GT heterozygotes to be low-renin hypertensives, contrasted with 67% of the 460TT homozygotes (p (cid:1) 0.004). Genotype frequencies within low-renin were 39 for GG, 13 for GT, and 6 for TT; for normal renin the corresponding frequencies were 133, 62 and 3. The association was significant with whites alone; p (cid:1) 0.01. The alpha-adducin G460W association was highly significant among females (p (cid:1) 0.003) but not among men (p (cid:1) 0.8).Ofall the other genotypes, a trend toward significant association was seen among men only for the aldosterone synthase gene CYPC344T (p (cid:1) 0.08). On exploring the interaction between the two suspect genes, we observed a significant association among males (p (cid:1) 0.03) but not among females (p (cid:1) 0.2). Of 58 low-renin hypertensives genotyped at both the adducin 460 and CYP 344, 10% are homozygous at adducin 460; taking into account the heterozygotes for adducin, those who are also homozygous for the CYP344T represent an additional 30% of low-renin males. Familial determinants, probably genetic, contribute to the low-renin hypertension state. of hypertension among Chinese to the general US population, we collected data from participants at health screenings conducted by the NYU Downtown Hospital's Chinese Community Partnership for Health in the New York Metropolitan Chinese community and compared these findings with that of other race/ethnicities from the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III), 1988-1994. There were 911 Chinese who participated the health screenings. Among these, 752 had valid blood pressure (BP) measurements. Questions regarding knowledge of and treatment for hypertension were similar to those used in NHANES III. The comparison of BP level, awareness of hypertension, unknown increased BP (BP (cid:7)(cid:1) 140/90mm Hg), treatment and control BP among New York City Chinese, and US whites, blacks and Hispanics are in the Table. Although Chinese had a slightly lower percentage of hypertension than whites and blacks, they had the highest BP level. Comparing with US random sample, New York City Chinese had higher undetected hypertension, as well as higher uncontrolled hypertension. These data suggested that compared with other race/ethnicities in US, New York City Chinese hypertensive patients are less likely to be identified and are less likely to receive effective treatment.