A set-point sequence optimization method based on ILC is proposed to solve the problems of long adjusting time and overshoot when controller's set-point changes in VAV air-conditioning system.The methodology is demonstrated feasible through the variable frequency fan-static pressure control loop.The dynamic model of static pressure loop is acquired with Recursive Least Square method(RLS).A novel trajectory is also proposed.The dynamic response of the process is analyzed with PD-ILC theme through simulation and experiment.The results show that ILC can improve the dynamic characteristics of subsystems,which lays the foundation of full steady-state optimization of VAV air-conditioning system.


Initially, relational database is for both operational and decision support system, as the information society experiences exponential growth in the amount of data/information to be stored in a database, a line has been drown between transactional database and decision support database. Unlike traditional database, data warehouse aims to come from a number of preexisting databases (developed from relational schemas). This conceptual paper discusses traditional database schema design and that of data warehouse schema architectural designs strategies that could be a guiding principles for both learners and beginners in database management system. It has explored the stages in development processes of the two. Subject orientation, data integration, non-volatility of data, and time variations are the key issues under consideration that could differentiate between traditional databases and data warehouse schema designs. It has also presented Design Modelling Techniques as well as addressing logical data models for data warehouse schema and traditional relational database.


Most organizations realize that "knowledge" is a strategic resource that gives them sustainable competitive advantage. With the realization that knowledge is a key resource, organizations are now attempting to manage knowledge in an effective way. However, although some examples exist, the use of KM in vocational education is the exception rather than the rule. Knowledge management is a new field, and experiments are just beginning in vocational education. This paper explores how KM practices might be useful in a vocational education setting


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of calorie restriction on serum concentrations of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) in women with normal or polycystic ovaries (PCO) and to examine the possible role of insulin and insulin‐like growth factor‐I (IGF‐I) in mediating changes in SHBG levels. Six normal subjects with mean (SD) body mass index (BMI) 25.5 (2.2) and five subjects with PCO (BMI 36.1 (3.7)) were studied before and after 2 or (PCO only) 4 weeks of a very low calorie diet (330 kcal/day; Cambridge Diet). In both normal women and patients with PCO there was a twofold increase in SHBG concentrations after 2 weeks and this was sustained in the PCO subjects for a further 2 weeks. The rise in SHBG was accompanied by a fall in free testosterone concentrations. There were parallel changes in serum insulin and IGF‐I concentrations which decreased during the diet and there were significant negative correlations of SHBG with insulin in both normal subjects (r =−0.62) and women with PCO (r =−0.60). In addition, serum concentrations of an insulin‐dependent small molecular weight (34 kDa) binding protein for IGF‐I (IGF‐BPI) increased significantly during dieting in both groups and were negatively correlated with serum insulin (controls, r =−0.56; PCO, r =−0.68) and positively correlated with serum SHBG levels (controls, r = 0.69; PCO, r = 0.63).


The present invention discloses a kind of an optical touch sensing method, and adapted to provide sensing of the sensing beam through at least optical sensing module. The optical touch sensing method includes the following steps. Selecting a plurality of sensing pixel areas on the optical sensing module, and according to the sensing pixel regions of each selected sensed light intensity distribution, selected mainly incident angle from the incident angle range, which is incident from the primary incident angle to sensing beam optical sensing module having a maximum light intensity. Based on these selected angle of incidence of the sensing pixel region corresponding to the calculated angle of incidence of the main sensing pixel region corresponding to the non-selected. The present invention has the touch sensing rapid rate.


Background and Aims In recent decades in our country, were deployed care programs and child health by facilitating the identification of external injuries. Among others, the disease control immunopreventable contributed to external causes was put among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to identify pediatric hospitalizations for injuries in external Teaching Hospital, Maternal Child Health Reference of the city of Petrópolis, mountainous region of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Methods Cross-sectional study of pediatric hospitalizations with a diagnosis of Injury in the period 2004 to 2010 in Teaching Hospital is not referenced to childhood trauma. Results 7397 children were hospitalized during the study period, 311 being distributed by external causes: TBI: 23.8%, 17.4% Burns; Mistreatment 17%, 13.5% exogenous poisoning; Multiple Trauma 8%; Presence of foreign bodies in orifices natural 7.7%, 1.5% Semi-drowning; Miscellaneous 11.1%. The number cases/year in 2004 was 2.6% and 8.2% in 2010. The gender distribution was 57.6% male, mean age of 5.2 years and duration of hospitalization was 7.3 days. Conclusion The data analysis shows a relative increase of hospitalization for injuries in our hospital we attach to implementation and effectiveness of control programs for primary health care of the child.


English title: On studies "Mongolia and Great Powers at first half of the XXth century" - about Stalin, Chang K'ai Shih and independence of Mongolia


Multiparameter Patient Monitors measure vital signs and use isolated modules for achieving the patient safety. These modules are small in size as they are inserted into the main monitor and support up to 5kV isolation. The data and power both are isolated using digital isolators and isolated power supplies, respectively. This application report talks about different topologies for isolated power and data. It dwells deeper into the critical design challenges associated with isolated power and data such as output regulation, feedback mechanism, input voltage range, output power and size considerations along with suitable power architectures. Finally, it compares the topologies on the basis of all these different parameters.


Purpose – The paper aims to answer the central question: to what extent does the Better Business Bureau (BBB)'s policy of providing a third-party seal inculcate consumer trust from consumers to BBB-accredited business members? Design/methodology/approach – For this mixed-methods study, the qualitative section used a phenomenological approach with three focus groups of consumers and business owners. The quantitative section utilized binary logistic regression from consumer survey data conducted in Colorado. Additionally, document analysis was conducted to understand BBB history and policy details. Findings – Consumers who notice the BBB logo are 4.7 times more likely to trust a real estate sales business than if they do not notice the BBB logo. Furthermore, consumers who notice the BBB logo are 17 times more likely to trust an auto and boat sales business when they notice the BBB logo. Research limitations/implications – A main limitation of the study was the inconclusive data that appeared between the qua...


Crystalline coordination complexes of actinides, especially in atypical oxidation states, are not only fundamentally important for expanding the notably limited knowledge on the bonding nature of a...


Statisticians and econometricians developing new methods are keen for their methods to be adopted, and releasing user-friendly software plays an important role in uptake. Methods that were not initially applied much, and became so after software implementations, include Cox's proportional-hazards model, multiple imputation and propensity score matching. It is easy to release packages to the Stata community via the Boston College Statistical Software Components (SSC) archive, but gauging the uptake can be difficult. Stata's ssc hot command lists the number of hits for a recent month for packages available on SSC. The new ssccount command goes further, obtaining monthly files of hits (from July 2007 when records began) for specified authors and packages, and optionally plots the number of hits over time. This can give authors an impression of how well their commands are being used. Funders are increasingly asking for evidence of impact, and thus ssccount provides a useful soft measure.


Language attitude studies in Sub-Saharan Africa have often relied on qualitative methods to determine societal attitudes towards prestigious forms of speech. This book departs from tradition by utilizing empirical methods to analyze attitudes towards heavily- and weakly-accented varieties of African Englishes. Cognizant of the inherent sociolinguistic complexities in densely multilingual African societies, the author holds dialectal factors as homogeneous as possible, tailors traditional tools of attitudinal research to suit an African context, and measures responses towards East, West,and Southern African Englishes. Sampling and analytical techniques such as matched guise technique and factor analysis are outlined meticulously in an effort to tease out underlying attitudes. The findings show a diversity of attitudes based on regional affiliations and accentedness. Illustrated with several figures and tables, this book will be stimulating and valuable to readers interested in Africa, sociolinguistics, language contact, language variation, and the linguistic complexities of multilingual societies.


This paper presents the numerical investigation on the formability of the sheet hydroforming by a finite element method. The finite element method code for sheet hydroforming simulation was developed based on the static‐explicit finite‐element method code STAMP3D. Experiments and Simulations of ellipse deep drawings were performed. The simulated thickness strain distribution which has two local thinnings at the punch shoulder and at the upper part of the side wall well agreed with the experimental one, thus demonstrating the validity of the developed code. Moreover, the effects of the friction increasing effect which is one of the main features in the sheet hydroforming on the formability were examined by comparing the results between the simulations with the friction coefficient μ=0 and those with μ=0.15. When μ=0 was employed, the local thinning at the upper part of the side wall disappeared. This showed that the occurring the two local thinnings in the sheet hydroforming was originated in the friction ...


Nur is one of tens of thousands of Rohingya people who have been 'repatriated' back to Arakan in Burma (Myanmar) 1 after lengthy periods languishing under the harsh conditions of refugee camp life in Bangladesh. The fact that almost 250,000 Rohingyas have returned to their homeland since their initial exodus in 1991-92 is in itself a sign of success for the Bangladeshi and United Nations (UN) authorities overseeing the repatriation scheme. Unfortunately, there are reasons to doubt the durability of peace in Arakan province which is necessary for the security of Rohingyas living there. There are also questions to be raised regarding the future of refugees remaining in Bangladesh and concerning the manner in which some of their community members have been sent back to Arakan.


This study evaluates the filtrate flow rate using capillary suction time apparatus both the 14.5 mm and 20 mm internal diameters cylinders were used to assess the filterability of synthetic sludge. Sludge conditioning facilitates the separation of the solids from the liquid portion by dosing with inorganic salts (CaCl2). Experimental results indicate that the filtrate flow rate increases with increase in the concentration of inorganic salt (CaCl2) and CST decreases with increase between the circles for 15.1 mm and 21.1mm external diameters cylinders. The change in the internal diameter of cylinders 14.5 mm and 20 mm shows consistent increase in flow rate with increase in the external cylinder diameter as CST increases and reduced the slope of the graphs from 15.242 to 12.949. CST was found to reduce as the concentration of CaCl2 increases due to the presence of coagulant in synthetic sludge. The results showed that the water front movement from the centre of the cylinder of larger diameter was faster than that of the smaller diameter.


Section 1. Neurotransmitter and Signal Transduction / Eric Nestler, Ronald Duman Section 2. Emerging Methods in Molecular Biology and Genetics / Samuel H. Barondes Section 3. Emerging Imaging Technologies and Their Application to Psychiatric Research Section 4. Drug Discovery and Evaluation / Herbert Meltzer Section 5. Disorders of Development / Joseph Coyle Section 6. Schizophrenia and Related Disorders / Daniel Weinberger Section 7. Anxiety and Stress Disorders / Dennis Charney Section 8. Affective Disorders / Charles Nemeroff Section 9. Alzheimers and Other Dementias / Kenneth L. Davis Section 10. Substance Use Disorders / Charles O'Brien, Marian Fischman Section 11. Impulsive and Compulsive Disorders / Eric Hollander Section 12. Movement Disorders and Paroxysmal Disorders / Carol Tamminga INDEX


Starting from the outbreak of a new type of Corona virus (SARS-CoV-2), which is called Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), in the mainland of China to be precise in the


A reinforcing apparatus for reinforcing a thin object (101) to be reinforced which needs to be temporarily reinforced during a treatment process. The reinforcing apparatus includes a reinforcing material body (110) having a thin-plate-like electrostatic holding part having an electrode part (112) embedded inside an electric insulative layer (113), and a voltage control part (120) structured to be capable of separating from the reinforcing material body (110) by including a first connection terminal (121) capable of grounding the object (101) and a second connection terminal (122) capable of grounding the electrode part (112) or conducting to high voltage. The voltage control part (120) includes a suction process part for causing the electrostatic holding part to exhibit suction force by supplying electric charge of reverse polarity to that of charge supplied from the ground to the electrode part (112) for the object (101) to suck the object (101) and causing the reinforcing material body (110) to serve as a reinforcing material; and a suction release process part for discharging the charge accumulated in the object (101) and the electrode part (112) to extinguish electrostatic suction ability.


The article studied the correlation between microspore culture donator and character of DH population of Brassica oleracea L.var. italica Plench. The results showed that character of parents donor decided the separated types in the DH populations. The more variation of the parents differences,the more segregation of the DH population。So if you want to get all kinds of fine DH population, it is very important to select the microspore culture donor of Brassica oleracea L.var. italica Plench.


Based on horizon of literary anthropology,Iser re-describes the interaction between fiction and imagination in the textual game,mapping their historic development,constituting communication poetics of inter-subjectivity,for the purpose of answering the end of theory and the decay of drama by post-modernism,Through the change in the form of proposing questions,Iser attained two goals.Firstly,it interprets the problems concerning the essence and the meaning of drama.Secondly,it presents aesthetic communication of body and mind in public space.


Abstract This article gives an overview on the T-310 encryption machine, which was widely used by East German state authorities in the 1980s. The T-310 was based on a U880 processor and it encrypted 5 bit words as used by the teleprinters of the time. The encryption algorithm the T-310 used is a stream cipher working on 5 bit units. A complete description of this previously unpublished algorithm is given in this article. Although most of the content of this publication is based on information found by Bernd Lippmann in a state-owned archive (Birthler authority archive), additional input came from the former military technician Jörg Drobick, who maintained several T-310 copies in the 1980s.


Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) is a digital computer for automation of process such as control of instruments in industries. It uses a programmable memory to store instructions and specific functions that include ON/OFF control, timing, counting, sequencing, arithmetic, and data handling. The basic parts include processor, input/output devices, memory unit, programming panel and power supply. Static Application Panels are designed to produce input and output from the PLC. Early electrical control systems were composed of mainly relays and switches. A relay, or contactor, is an electromagnetic device composed of a frame (or core) with an electromagnet coil and contacts with some movable and some fixed parts. Due to its disadvantages like chattering, complicated wiring and less flexibility relays are replaced by PLC. The SAP panels and ladder programmes were developed for automatic bottle filling machine, water level controller, logic gates and counter and comparator. Ladder programme is downloaded into PLC and verified with SAP model. According to the condition and comments provided in the ladder programme the SAP model works, if any deviation in the comments provided and this can be modified in the ladder diagram. This paper explain about the PLC, SAP model and ladder diagram designed for bottle filling machine, water level controller, logic gates and counter and comparator. General Terms Static Application Panel, SAP, Solenoids, Simulation, Programmable Logic Controller, PLC, Modules, Patch Cards, Ladder programme.


Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA)is a method for measuring efficiency of a Decision Making Unit(DMU).One feature emphasized in DEA is the capability of providing an improvement plan.It is assumed that al evaluation items can change independently in the calculation of an improvement plan.However,this assumption may not be realistic.In this study,a method for calculating improvements in a plan that alows interactions,including equilibrium conditions that are difficult to denote by closed forms,between evaluation items is proposed.If the interactions are expressed by linear functions,a problem that calculates an improvement plan is formulated as a nonlinear optimization problem with some constraints.In addition,a standard algorithm for solving nonlinear optimization problems can be applied to calculate the improvement plan due to convexity of an objective function and the constraints formulated.On the other hand,if the interactions are not expressed by linear functions or are expressed by equilibrium conditions,a problem for calculating an improvement plan is formulated as a fixed point problem.An algorithm for the fixed point problem is developed based on Kuhn-Tucker conditions.Lastly,two simple numerical examples are presented in this paper. JEL Classification:C61,C67


We present a set of low resolution empirical SED templates for AGNs and galaxies in the wavelength range from 0.03 to 30 microns. These templates form a non-negative basis of the color space of such objects and have been derived from a combination 14448 galaxies and 5347 likely AGNs in the NDWFS Bootes field. We briefly describe how the templates are derived and discuss some applications of them. In particular, we discuss biases in commonly used AGN mid-IR color selection criteria and the expected distribution of sources in the current WISE satellite mission.


We design a core language of principals running distributed programs over a public network. Our language is a variant of the pi calculus, with secure communications, mobile names, and high-level certificates, but without any ex- plicit cryptography. Within this language, security properties can be conveniently studied using trace properties and observational equivalences, even in the pres- ence of an arbitrary (abstract) adversary. With some care, these security properties can be achieved in a concrete setting, re- lying on standard cryptographic primitives and computational assumptions, even in the presence of an adversary modeled as an arbitrary probabilistic polynomial- time algorithm. To this end, we develop a cryptographic implementation that pre- serves all properties for all safe programs. We give a series of soundness and completeness results that precisely relate the language to its implementation. 1 Secure Implementations of Communications Abstractions When designing and verifying security protocols, some level of idealization is needed to provide manageable mathematical treatment. Accordingly, two views of cryptog- raphy have been developed over the years. In the first view, cryptographic protocols are expressed algebraically, within simple languages. This formal view is suitable for automated computer tools, but is also arguably too abstract. In the second view, cryp- tographic primitives are probabilistic algorithms that operate on bitstrings. This view involves probabilities and limits in computing power; it is harder to handle formally, especially when dealing with large protocols. Getting the best of both views is appeal- ing, and is the subject of active research that aims at building security abstractions with formal semantics and sound computational implementations. In this work, we develop a first sound and complete implementation of a distributed process calculus. Our calculus is a variant of the pi calculus; it provides name mobility, reliable messaging and authentication primitives, but neither explicit cryptography nor probabilistic behaviors. Taking advantage of concurrency theory, it supports simple rea- soning, based on labeled transitions and observational equivalence. We precisely define its concrete implementation in a computational setting. We establish general soundness and completeness results in the presence of active adversaries, for both trace properties and observational equivalences, essentially showing that high level reasoning accounts ? Partially supported by FCT grant SFRH/BD/8148/2002, FEDER/FCT project Fiblog


The seismic analysis of ASME Section VIII Div 1 [1] industrial pressure vessels has typically been accomplished using rather simplified "equivalent static force" procedures. As detailed by Bardia et al [2], the equivalent static force from an earthquake event is developed from tabular data in building codes. In general, these procedures have proven to be safe and effective. However, this method assumes that deformation may occur but containment will be maintained. A similar assumption of deformation is contained in the modification factor used in building codes. If the vessel is expected to function after a specific earthquake event, such methods are not adequate for design. This paper addresses a more detailed procedure of seismic analysis that involves a finite element analysis of the vessel incorporating the interaction of the piping and the vessel. This methodology provides a better understanding of the localized stresses, such those as at vessel nozzles with pipe attached. This methodology may be used to analyze a vessel for a design that can be subjected to a specific earthquake response spectrum with minimal deformation and probable return to operation status.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


Family physicians, peadiatricians, chiropractors and physical therapists are among health professionals most likely to encounter and treat patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Research shows that there are gaps in musculoskeletal knowledge among professionals but no studies assess knowledge of scoliosis among professionals most likely to treat patients with scoliosis. Best current practice dictates that early detection of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis leads to better decision-making regarding optimal course of management. The objectives of our study were to evaluate basic knowledge and the management skills of professionals most likely to encounter adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. We developed a semi-structured questionnaire and interviewed 51 health professionals. Among these professionals, who were recruited through their professional regulatory board registries, were 21 family physicians, 10 peadiatricians, 10 chiropractors and 10 physical therapists. The interview assessed knowledge of clinical signs and risk factors, management options, including referral to specialized care. We also discussed preferences and acceptability of clinical guidelines in regard to scoliosis. Among interviewed professionals, 59 % were female, 43 % were under 40 and mean years of practice was 20.3. Our results demonstrated gaps in knowledge with respect to clinical signs and risk factors. Less than a third of professionals were able to mention at least 2 clinical signs and 31 % were unaware of any risk factors associated with scoliosis progression. Family physicians appeared least knowledgeable in these areas. When presented with a situation where urgent referral was indicated, 70 – 90 % said that they would refer the patient although only 38 – 60 % rated this case as urgent. Close to 40 % of professionals indicated that they would not be comfortable doing the follow-up of a patient with a scoliosis. Nevertheless, the majority felt that accessibility to specialized care was a problem. Almost all (98 %) mentioned that the development of clinical guidelines would positively affect their daily practice. In conclusion, our study shows that knowledge gaps exist among professionals regarding clinical signs and risk factors of curve progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Most professionals recognize the importance of referring urgent cases to


The history and mechanism of ANAMMOX technology was presented.Influencing factors of ANAMMOX reaction were summarized.Characteristics of ANAMMOX technology were analyzed.The application of this technology in wastewater treatment field and its development trend were discussed.


Dinuclear arene ruthenium complexes [(η6-arene)Ru(μ-Cl)Cl]2 (arene = C6H6; p iPrC6H4Me; C6Me6) and monomeric cyclopentadienyl complexes [(η5-Cp)Ru(PPh3)2Cl] (Cp = cyclopentadienyl) react with polypyridyl nitrogen ligands L1 (3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole) and L2 (1,3-bis(di-2-pyridylaminomethyl)benzene) in methanol to afford cationic mononuclear compounds [(η6-arene)Ru(L1)Cl]+ (arene = C6H6, 1; p iPrC6H4Me, 2; C6Me6, 3), [(η6arene)Ru(L2)Cl]+ (arene = C6H6, 4; p iPrC6H4Me, 5; C6Me6, 6), [(η5-Cp)Ru(L1)(PPh3)]+ (7), and [(η5Cp)Ru(L2)(PPh3)]+ (8). All cationic mononuclear compounds were isolated as their hexafluorophosphate salts and characterized by elemental analyses, NMR, and IR spectroscopic methods and some representative complexes by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The solid state structures of two derivatives, [6]PF6 and [7]PF6, have been determined by the X-ray structure analysis.


The application and effects of the wet plate-type dedusting technology in converter gas dedusting of the Gas Power Plant are described, and notable problems in use are raised.


Abstract: This article focuses on Sıdıka Avar, principal at the Elazığ Girls' Institute, a boarding school established to civilize "rebellious," non-Turkish, and non-Sunni daughters of Dersim as a part of genocidal military operations in 1937–38. Inspired by the American Protestant model, Avar presented herself as a Turkish missionary, devoting her life to being a proper mother to the "savage girls" of Dersim—whom she called "Mountain Flowers." By examining Sıdıka Avar's unique role in the articulation and implementation of a republican solution to the Dersim question, this article challenges the dichotomy of peaceful and passive homemaker women and mothers versus violent and state-making military men. This article, instead, demonstrates how she partook in this internal colonization project by claiming a gendered specific "women's work for the nation" over the forcefully removed girls and their mothers of Dersim. Sıdıka Avar was an archetype of now-forgotten "national heroines" who co-opted the premeditated, violence-ridden, disciplinary education policies for Dersim and transformed them into an "affectionately" carried out, gendered, and only "symbolically" violent project of maternal colonialism.


A definition of G is derived using the product of two Planck point masses and a definition of hbar based on the speed of light in vacuum and geometry. The theoretical value of G is found to be 6.74981057667161 x 10^-11 m^3 kg^-1 s^-2 yielding a relative accuracy error of the CODATA 2010 G-value of -1.1255%. One experiment resulted in a value with a smaller relative accuracy error than the CODATA 2010 G-value of -0.5098%. Both rest and relativistic mass product equations are derived. These equations relate the relative spacetime spin frequency w_s, the relative orbital frequency w_o and (relativistic equation only) the Lorentz factor y describing relative linear speed of two bodies to the mass product. The Planck mass is a special case mass with w_sw_o = w_planck^2 = 1 s^-2. The theoretical value of the Planck mass was found to be 2.16039211144077 x 10^-8 kg. The relative accuracy error of the CODATA 2010 Planck mass value is 0.7461%. This error is attributed to use of the different definition of hbar. When derived from both hbar and G constants as well as the rest mass product equation, three kilogram unit definition candidates are all inconsistent. The candidate derived from the rest mass product equation is the only candidate that has equal second and meter exponents suggesting a kind of symmetry. This definition is considered the nominal kilogram unit definition. The other two candidates are considered to be artifacts of the hbar and G constants.


Summary form only given. Clusters have emerged as a primary and cost-effective infrastructure for parallel applications, including communication-intensive applications that transfer a large amount of data among nodes of a cluster via the interconnection network. Conventional load balancers have been proven effective in increasing the utilization of CPU, memory, and disk I/O resources in a cluster. However, most of the existing load balancing schemes ignore network resources, leaving open the opportunity for significant performance bottleneck to form for communication-intensive parallel applications due to unevenly distributed communication load. To remedy this problem, we propose a communication-aware load balancing technique that is capable of improving the performance of communication-intensive applications by increasing the effective utilization of network resources in clusters. To facilitate the proposed load-balancing scheme, we introduce a behavior model for parallel applications with large requirements of CPU, memory, network, and disk 170 resources. The proposed load-balancing scheme can make full use of this model to quickly and accurately determine the load induced by a variety of parallel applications. Simulation results on executing a diverse set of both synthetic bulk synchronous and real parallel applications on a cluster show that the proposed scheme can significantly improve the performance both in slowdown and turn-around time over three existing schemes by up to 206% (with an average of 74%) and 235% (with an average of 82%), respectively.


AIM:To explore the inhibitory effects of tumor associated mitochondrial protein 12 (TAMP12) on tumor cell apoptosis. METHODS: (1) A retrovirus expression vector was recombinated and transfected into the packaging cell line PA317. The virus particles were obtained to infect the target cell line HepG2 low expressing of TAMP12. The expression of TAMP12 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR. The subcellular localization and quantification of TAMP12 protein labeled with double fluorescein were observed under confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). (2) Hoechst33258 staining and flow cytometry (FACS) were used to analysis the apoptosis of HepG2 cells treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). RESULTS: (1) The CLSM observation showed that TAMP12 protein was mainly expressed in mitochondria of HepG2 cells. The expressions of TAMP12 gene and protein were stable and high in transfected HepG2 cells. (2) Upon treatment with 5-FU, the transfected HepG2 cells showed a fairly integrated nucelus while the control HepG2 cells exhibited chromatin condensation, marginalization and karyorhexix. Moreover, the apoptosis rate of transfeced HepG2 cells was significantly lower than that in control HepG2 cells (P0.05 or P0.01) by FACS. CONCLUSION: TAMP 12 is an anti-apoptotic element in 5-FU induced HepG2 cell apoptosis.


In the early 1950's, a project was initiated at RCA Laboratories to determine how electronic techniques might best be applied to problems of highway vehicle control. From these studies an overall system concept has evolved. This paper describes some of the important basic elements of the system which have been built and demonstrated. The system is compatible in that control of "equipped" vehicles may be carried out with " unequipped" vehicles present.


Because the stone cultural properties located outdoors, they have been altered and deteriorated in external appearance due to environmental factors such as acid rain, extreme change in temperature, and salts. Damage to stone cultural properties is accelerated particularly due to recent industrial development and environmental pollution. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effect of environmental contaminants(sea water and air pollutants such as, , NO, ) on the weathering of granite. And as part of the developing of conservation method, catalyst was prepared and tested. After expose a granite to sea water and air pollutants, the mineral compositions of the tested granite surface were lower then that of the fresh granite. And absorption capacity of the weathered granite was steadily increased. From these results, it was expected that granite could be weathered by sea water and air pollutants. For the coated granite, absorption capacity was slightly enhanced compared to the non-coated granite. Therefore, the coating method tested in this study considered to be a viable method to assist in the conservation of granite from environmental contaminants.


We propose a constrained minimum method for converting a hypothesis test into a model selection criterion that pursues consistency and sparsity of the selected model explicitly. The method achieves consistency by letting the significance level of the test go to zero at a certain speed depending on the sample size. It maximizes the sparsity by choosing the most sparse model among models not rejected by the test. The method may be used for model selection whenever a hypothesis test on the model parameter vector is available. We illustrate this method through its application to the best subset selection of linear models. Numerical comparisons with existing methods show that it has excellent accuracy and its selected model converges to the true model faster than the model chosen by the Bayesian information criterion.


"Most companies that are interested in working in the poorest places don't know how to do it right now,... don't know how we fit in the broader scheme. This provides a framework where all of this makes sense. The private initiative can get this process going. I am counting not only on financing, but technology and ideas. There's going to be a tremendous amount of learning about best approaches." J.D. Sachs


This study investigated the types of questions that are asked in 1st-grade addition and subtraction lessons in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States. Some researchers have argued that knowledge is, in part, constructed through questions and that these may be used differently in U.S. than in Asian classrooms. Thus, each question about addition or subtraction in 311 observed lessons was coded as 1 of 6 types of questions. Analyses revealed that the Asian teachers asked significantly more questions about conceptual knowledge and about problem-solving strategies than did U.S. teachers. In addition, Chinese teachers asked significantly more questions that were embedded in a concrete context than did U.S. teachers


Storage of agricultural residues and energy crops is essential for preserving and maintaining its economic value, and year‐round continuous delivery to a biorefinery. In this study, a dynamic cost model was developed for three storage methods (Indoor, Outdoor‐tarped, and Outdoor‐open) with two biomass bale types (rectangular and round) to estimate the storage cost of corn stover and switchgrass. The effects of storage time and multiple‐use of a storage facility on the storage cost were also evaluated to develop effective storage strategies. The cost of bale storage systems comprised of capital expenses for infrastructures, bale handling, dry matter loss (DML) and quality loss costs. Among storage methods, the outdoor‐tarped storage with rectangular bales was the least expensive options for corn stover ($14.6 dry Mg−1) and switchgrass ($16 dry Mg−1). Indoor storage of round bales was costly due to the large storage footprint requirement and high infrastructure investment. However, the indoor storage cost could be reduced, if the storage facility could be used more than once a year. The sensitivity analysis study illustrated that the DML, biomass cost, loading/unloading time and bale density were the most sensitive parameters influencing the storage cost. An example storage strategy developed for a typical biorefinery could reduce the average annual storage cost (up to $10 dry Mg−1) along with an annual cost saving ranging from 10 to 100% compared with any single storage option. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A door check link apparatus includes a check link formed by molding a synthetic resin on a surface of a core plate, and including a full open stopper including a projecting portion located at a tip end portion of the core plate, and having a width larger than a width of a detent surface, a bending piece formed at a first end portion of the projecting portion, and having a stopper surface confronting the stopper receiving surface, and a protruding portion formed on the projecting portion at a position farther apart from the stopper receiving surface relative to the stopper surface, and protruding in a direction substantially parallel to the stopper receiving surface, the full open stopper being formed by molding the synthetic resin on the tip end portion of the core plate including the projecting portion, the bending piece, and the protruding portion.


Purpose: This study investigates the possible effect and central mechanism of novel antidiabetic medication sodium glucose transporter-2 (SGLT-2i) on the cardiovascular activity. Material and Methods: Thirty-four normal male C57BL/6 mice were randomly assigned to 2 groups to receive single Dapagli fl ozin (1.52mg/kg) dose via intragastric gavage or a comparable dose of saline. Glycemic level (BG), blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured 2 hours after administration of the respective treatments. Immunohistochemical tests were performed to determine the effect of SGLT-2i on neural localization of SGLT-2 and c-Fos, a neural activator. The distributional relationships of SGLT-2 and c-Fos were examined by immuno fl uorescence. Results: Administration of SGLT-2i signi fi cantly decreased BP but did not affect the HR. There was no difference in BG between the two groups. Results showed that SGLT-2 was localized to speci fi c regions involved in autonomic control. Expression of c-Fos was signi fi cantly higher in major critical nuclei in the aforementioned regions in groups treated with Dapagli fl ozin. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that SGLT-2 is expressed in CNS tissues involved in autonomic control and possibly in fl uence cardiovascular function. Dapagli fl ozin in fl uences central autonomic activity via unidenti fi ed pathways by inhibiting central or peripheral SGLT-2. These results provide a new concept that sympathetic inhibition by SGLT-2i can be mediated by central autonomic system, a mechanism that explains how SGLT-2i improves the cardiovascular function.


The invention relates to a method for operating a means of an actuator (102, 104) operated valve (100), in particular an injection valve (100) of an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle, in which the actuator (102, 104) having a a control duration (ET) is driven control variable (I). According to the invention the control duration (ET) is formed in dependence on a target value (T


Social participatory sensing is a newly proposed paradigm that tries to address the limitations of participatory sensing by leveraging online social networks as an infrastructure. A critical issue in the success of this paradigm is to assure the trustworthiness of contributions provided by participants. In this paper, we propose an application-agnostic reputation framework for social participatory sensing systems. Our framework considers both the quality of contribution and the trustworthiness level of participant within the social network. These two aspects are then combined via a fuzzy inference system to arrive at a final trust rating for a contribution. A reputation score is also calculated for each participant as a resultant of the trust ratings assigned to him. We adopt the utilization of PageRank algorithm as the building block for our reputation module. Extensive simulations demonstrate the efficacy of our framework in achieving high overall trust and assigning accurate reputation scores.


Concentrations of SO2–4 and HSO–4 anions in aqueous solutions of ammonium sulphate and sulphuric acid have been determined by means of Raman spectroscopy. The molar ratio P0=mH2SO4/m(NH4)2SO4 and the total molality mT were in the range 1.0–2.5 and 3.38–18.21 mol kg–1, respectively. The results obtained have been used to establish the dependences of the stoichiometric dissociation quotient Qm=mH+mSO–4/mHSO–4 and of the fraction α of total sulphate on the molar ratio P0 and the total molality mT of the solution at 20 °C.


Provided are a warning generating device for providing a warning service to prevent disasters, a user terminal to receive a service, a warning generating system, and a method for providing a warning service to prevent disasters. In particular, the warning generating device for providing a warning service to prevent disasters comprises: a transceiving unit to receive sensing information from one or more sensors which are installed in the warning generating device or at a remote site, and transmit warning information associated with an event to a terminal to receive a warning when the event occurs; a data collecting unit to collect device information including location information of a user terminal according to time conditions set by the user terminal; and a data processing unit to determine whether there is the event based on the sensing information and determine whether the user terminal corresponds to the terminal to receive the warning based on the location information.


matic contentions. Third, in his chapter on the power of women Hezel discusses the gendered division of labour (something widespread in human societies and by no means limited to Micronesia), and toward the end of that chapter he asks, 'What makes us think that this sacred principle governing division of roles will not erode, as so many other cultural patterns do, in the course of modernization?' (p. 126). There is nothing 'sacred' about the division of labour, and aspects of gender roles have been altered for most Micronesians for many decades now as a consequence of religious conversion and the imposition of colonialism. Fourth, in the chapter on love and its expression Hezel states that 'I know of no Micronesian, however difficult his childhood might have been, who has left his family and struck out on his own without so much as a glance over his shoulder' (p. 131). Referring only to the Mortlockese community in which I have conducted research for more than 40 years I know of four examples of this cutting of family ties, so my guess is that it is much more widespread if we consider Micronesia writ large. Finally, Hezel, an historian, attributes great power to culture to 'dictate', 'shape', 'determine', 'pattern', and 'control' a variety of phenomena (see especially pp. 133– 135). Such cultural determinist views have long since been rejected in anthropology. A considerable portion of this book has been published previously (see especially chapters 6, 8, 9, and 11). It is generally well written in a lively, conversational style, and is an easy read. That Micronesian migrants to the United States face a variety of challenges and may pose challenges to teachers, employers, doctors and nurses, law enforcement officers, and other representatives of officialdom is well understood. I agree with the author that a comprehension of islanders' cultural backgrounds on the part of the American officials who interact with them might alleviate some of the inevitable problems that arise. That said, I am positive that the reactions to authority figures, to expressions of interpersonal hostility, to being 'put on the spot' in a public setting, and the like will not be uniform among people hailing from the different island societies Hezel has lumped together. Still, if some officials read the author's reflections on what he's learned of life in the islands, and if that reading ameliorates some of the challenges they face when dealing with islanders, then this book can be counted a modest success.


The Changsha,Zhuzhou and Xiangtan Urban Agglomeration area is approved to be the National Resource-saving and Environmental-friendly Society-building Integrated Reform Experimental Area. The development of the Hunan Urban Agglomeration is facing new opportunities and challenges. Changing the development model,taking a new road to industrialization,and promoting industrial restructuring are strategic tasks which Hunan is facing. This paper introduced the Core and Periphery Theory; analyzed the present situation of the development of the Hunan Urban Agglomeration,the opportunities and challenges that the Two-oriented Society brings to the Urban Agglomeration,and the circle development model design of the '3+5' Urban Agglomeration.


These two issues are addressed in this paper: 1) the formal definitions of the concepts relevant to program faults, and 2) the comparison and classification of program faulttolerant abilities. We firstly analyze the subtle differences among these basic concepts: faults, errors and failures, and represent their formal definitions by using the state-based theory of program behavior; and then we propose a hierarchy for software fault-tolerant abilities from the aspect of satisfaction of safety and liveness properties. The main purpose of this work is to facilitate an accurate understanding of basic concepts and classifying of fault-tolerant abilities of different approaches in a systematic way.


Dynamic estimation in signal processing and target tracking often involves non-linear models. These non-linear models are usually linearised through the first-order Taylor approximation in estimation process. However, the error generated by the first-order Taylor approximation is not negligible when the non-linearity of a model is high or the input error is large. This study proposes a new linearisation method through minimising the error between a non-linear function and its linear approximation. A weighted least squares (WLS) algorithm is developed to estimate a linear fitting (LF) function based on the sigma points of the random variable in non-linear transformation. A linear fitting Kalman filter (LKF) is developed based on this principle. The accuracy of the LF transform is analysed using the Kullback–Leibler (KL) distance. The results show that the LF transform has less KL distance to the true distribution compared with the first-order Taylor approximation. To evaluate the estimation performance, simulations are conducted and the results are compared with those of extended Kalman filter (EKF) and unscented Kalman filter (UKF). The results demonstrate that the LKF provides better accuracy than the EKF, and has similar accuracy to the UKF with lower computational cost.


Abstract Rainfall is an important natural source of water, which is the most essential component of living organisms. The study of rainfall modeling and forecasting are critically important for an agrarian based country like India. Whereas, the fluctuations of economy and security of food depends on the timely availability of rainfall. The current study adopts time series modeling schemes to model the rainfall pattern of the Southwest monsoon using data from 1901 to 2015 in the North-West India. The univariate time series multiplicative SARIMA models were implemented for forecasting. The diagnostic checks showed that the seasonal model SARIMA (1, 0, 1) × (1, 1, 1)[4], with AIC score of 4373.97, fits the series well, and realistic forecasts were obtained. The accuracy level of each model is computed by various performance measures. The identified SARIMA model was found to be an appropriate tool for forecasting of the Southwest monsoon rainfall patterns.


As editors of international journals, we are always challenged with picking the most relevant, available and highly skilled peer reviewers and receiving their comments on time. When relevant reviewers are selected, no-one can guarantee that the reviews will be submitted on time. One way to encourage the reviewers submit their comments and evaluations on time, or with minimal delays, is to implement 'spiritual' privileges. That option can be particularly helpful for traditional subscription journals, where authors do not pay any submission, processing, or publishing fees. In response to timely submission of reviews by responsible referees, journal editors can do a favor and process the referees' own manuscripts as high priority items. Of course, such a favorable attitude does not mean that mistakes in the study design, statistical analyses and interpretation of the results, ethical misconduct, or poor language can be tolerated and overlooked. Editors can use their reserves, add more rigor and invest more time for speeding up proper reviewing and editing of the most responsible reviewers' submissions.

In such a favorable scenario, timeline of manuscript processing can be shortened by limiting periods before and after the acceptance of external reviewers' comments. In other words, the duration of 'with editor' status of the manuscripts can be decreased to a few hours-days (instead of few weeks-month for lower priority items). Furthermore, timeframe for external review itself can be diminished to 7-14 days for priority items (instead of 3-4 weeks for regular submissions).

As an official recognition of the best reviewers' quality and timely contributions, editors should publicize their names in the annual acknowledgments on the journal websites and in print issues. Fortunately, more and more journal editors pay attention to these gestures of courtesy and specify the number of times their best referees contribute annually. Of course, frequent contributors (more than four reviews a year) deserve special attention and a range of rewards.

To encourage the best reviewers further, publishers of online journals can waive or discount their publication fees. The same waivers and discounts are applicable to registration fees of conferences and seminars which are organized by the publishers. Last but not least importantly, financial rewards of varying degree can be arranged for the best reviewers annually.


Considering how power relations govern the construction of race and gender, this article looks at the ambivalent relationship between the Magistrate and the "barbarian" girl in J. M. Coetzee's novel Waiting for the Barbarians (1980), exploring intersections between imperialism and gender and negotiating how issues of representation are implicated in questions of identity construction. It highlights how identities inflicted by gender are constructed in imperial discourse: first by the colonizer who speaks the language of power and inscribes on the colonized meanings serving imperialism; second by the humanist colonizer who fails to relate to the other on equal terms except for a position of "feminized" weakness; and third by the resistant colonial subject eluding imperial constructions yet still manipulated in language. Between the discourses of pain and humanism, the colonized body remains a malleable yet impenetrable object of colonial discourses. Coetzee subverts dominant gender boundaries, aligning oppressive patriarchal practices with imperialism while undermining hegemonic ideologies that construct gender through the figure of the enigmatic other.


Productivity, proficiency, and volume performance." These are watchwords we hear with increasing frequency as more and more primary care is delivered through prepaid insurance plans and discounted, fee-for-service arrangements. Because the value of primary care is increasingly recognized by patients, payers, and our subspecialist colleagues, it is critical that we continuously evaluate the marginal value of our interventions in promoting the health of our patients. Fortunately, quality, access, and patient satisfaction are also watchwords of these evolving health care delivery models.

In this issue of JGIM, Wenrich and colleagues describe an excellent observational study documenting the frequency and comprehensiveness with which practicing primary care physicians question standardized patients about common HIV risk behaviors during episodic office encounters for common complaints.1 Their study analyzes clinical encounters by 134 volunteer primary care physicians with nine standardized patients trained to offer at least one significant risk behavior for HIV infection, if questioned, or to exhibit a physical finding consistent with advanced HIV infection. The primary care physicians included at least one question about HIV risk behavior in 59% of all encounters, and in 49% of encounters their questions elicited the specific behavior for HIV risk. The authors concluded that their findings ". . . document the need for improvement in HIV risk screening by primary care providers."

When HIV infection may be related to the presenting complaint, it is clear that better efforts are needed to assess risk behaviors for HIV infection. More problematic, however, is the question whether to pursue HIV case finding and counseling about risk reduction during office visits when the presenting complaint is not likely to be related to HIV infection. The episodic office visit is an opportunity to promote health maintenance and screen for occult disease, especially in otherwise healthy young people who may come for care only when they think they are sick.

The time required to elicit a sexual history and a substance-abuse history, to counsel the patient about HIV risk reduction, and to provide counseling before HIV testing is nontrivial and must be considered a part of the cost of case finding. For example, the time required might prevent full consideration of the patient's presenting problem, adequate counseling about other health maintenance activities, and complete screening for occult disease. The time required should not be dismissed, as time is the most important resource of the primary care provider and must be apportioned carefully to deliver adequate care. A primary care physician could easily exhaust the entire office visit on the presenting complaint and on HIV issues, especially if only 15 minutes are scheduled. Further, it is important to remember that patients expect their presenting symptom to receive foremost attention. Health promotion and disease prevention, even for such important issues as HIV infection, are likely secondary in their minds to the presenting problem.

So, what is the right approach? Should counseling about smoking cessation, asking about physical abuse, updating immunizations, and screening for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, occult cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases all be pursued during every episodic office visit? Clearly, the principles of evidence-based medicine should apply. The limited time available must be utilized to produce the best health outcome. Primary care physicians should consider this question in much the same way as they approach other technologies. For example, baseline population prevalence, specific patient factors, the positive and negative predictive values of screening maneuvers, and the likelihood of improvement all need to be considered. It is unlikely we will ever have consensus opinion, but these issues are so important that more effort should be devoted to understanding them, using these principles to drive decision making.

While a 15-minute appointment may allow barely enough time for evaluating an episodic complaint, explaining the diagnostic or treatment plan, and writing or dictating a note in the chart, it is appropriate to use this type of encounter to promote health maintenance and provide appropriate screening. The use of patient questionnaires, educational materials, and even interactive computer programs, may increase efficiency and help physicians identify risk factors that will direct health maintenance and screening activity. It is unlikely, however, that the future will permit us to spend more time on each encounter or to encounter patients more frequently. Therefore, it is imperative that interventions with the greatest marginal value be considered ahead of those with less benefit. Patient expectations should also be considered, because patient satisfaction is an important outcome.


The history of Haiku translation in Iran goes back to thirties in which neither form nor content were of concern. Gradually the translators became familiar with the principles and theories of Haiku and began to translate Haiku more precisely. Haiku has a special form and structure in translation. The translator has to follow that form and structure. In case of any negligence in its translation, the product would be a poetry other than Haiku. Translation of Haiku is neither easy nor difficult. Only by having the knowledge of theories and principles of Haiku, a translator can render Haiku appropriately. Haiku translation in Iran is of different kinds as far as form and content is concerned, but only one form and one content is deemed appropriate which is introduced as the perfect translation of Haiku in the present article. The current study aims at investigating the translation of Haiku in Iran with regard to its internal and external form and structure.


The invention provides a task scheduling method and device and a data downloading method and device. The task scheduling method includes the steps that a task is transmitted in; whether a task the same as the currently-transmitted-in task exists in a waiting queue or not is judged, and the queue is composed of previously-transmitted-in tasks; if the task the same as the currently-transmitted-in task exists in the waiting queue, the priority of the same task is increased. By means of the task scheduling method and device and the data downloading method and device, the priority of all the tasks in the waiting queue can be set according to the situation of the tasks submitted by users, the purpose of scheduling the tasks according to the actual user requirements is achieved, and the user experience is improved.


This article traces the roots and evolution of my pathway to becoming a psychotherapist and my still evolving professional interests and horizons. It discusses the journey taken, influences felt, and experiences encountered that have contributed to my expanding perspective and modus operandi. It travels from past to present, articulates my current thinking, and describes some of my major involvements in the early 21st century. The words "que sera, sera" (what will be, will be) are also prophetic of the future.


The utility model discloses a twin-tower dust-removing and desulfurizing device which includes a main tower; a smoke gas inlet is arranged on the main tower, a sparger is arranged at the top side of the main tower, the upper end of the main tower is obturated, the lower end of the main tower is provided with a liquid discharging hole, a twin tower is inserted into the inner bottom of the main tower from the upper end of the main tower and is provided with a communicating hole for communicating with the main tower, the upper end of the twin tower is communication with a top tower, a subordinate-tower sparger and a subordinate demister are arranged in the twin tower, a top-tower sparger and a top-tower demister are arranged in the top tower, the top tower is provided with a smoke gas outlet. With the structure of the twin-tower, the desulfurizing device can conduct dust-removing and desulfurizing treatment on the smoke gas discharged by large coal-fired boiler with high efficiencies of dust removal and desulfurization, the treated coal-fired smoke gas can meet the emission requirement for environment protection; in addition, the desulfurizing device has simple structure and low operation cost as well as good environment-protecting benefit.


In this paper, the return loss of a 20-turn axial-mode polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-pipe helical antenna, having the diameter of 34 mm and the axial length of 47 cm, is experimentally investigated across 2.4-GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) frequency range. A section of helical wire near the feed point is replaced by a thin triangular copper strip having the height of 20 mm, performing impedance matching to 50-ohm coaxial cable. For the return loss of −17 dB being as the threshold, the strip length of 30−50 mm satisfies that condition with the optimum at 35 mm. At that optimum, return loss is found to be below −20 dB. Wide allowable range of strip length makes this technique attractive since precise strip length is not crucial in practical implementation.


Introduction: Complication rates following cranioplasty (CP) approach 37% in both the plastic surgery and neurosurgery literature. With significant heterogeneity regarding the risk and complications of cranial reconstructive surgery, a single-institution, single-surgeon outcome review and systematic analysis was conducted to identify clinical predictors of significance and to evaluate association with patient-specific risk factors.


Multivariate morphometries and image analysis were used to determine the number of well-delineated generic and infrageneric taxa of the Compsopogonaceae (Compsopogonales, Rhodophyta) in North Ameri...


Phytophthora spp. causes the most important soil and water-borne diseases of citrus these pathogens are worldwide in distribution and cause significant citrus production losses in the high rainfall subtropics, including the first and second largest citrus production areas in the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Losses due to Phytophthora spp. may occur in seedbeds from damping-off; in nurseries from foot rot and root rot; in groves from foot rot, fibrous root rot, brown rot of fruit, and from further spread of the pathogen to adjacent fruit in packing boxes. This is one of several well-known gumming diseases of citrus. Gum formation on the trunk or branches is a characteristic symptom. Gum exudes from blisters containing gum pockets, usually located on the trunk. The main symptom of citrus gummosis is oozing of gum from the affected parts on the trunk. Infected bark remains firm with small, longitudinal cracks through which abundant amber-colored gum is exuded. During the summer, gum deposits dry and stick to the International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 6 Number 7 (2017) pp. 2395-2400 Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com


Surface topography and overburden variation are encountered during Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) device manufacturing processes and have a significant impact on device performance and yield. A planarization process, CONTACT planarization, is presented to locally and globally planarize GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) wafers coated with polyimide material. This planarization process involves physically forcing the flowable material from the raised into the recessed areas to create a planar surface. As a result, the surface topography and overburden variation are significantly reduced, and broader processing latitudes are secured for downstream processes. Consequently, easier process control, more consistent device performance, and higher yield can be achieved.


Beer brewing referred to pure microbial fermentation. Accordingly, sundry microbial contamination and propagation should be inhibited. Microbial contamination was mainly induced by air condensation,water sources, dona yeast, facility pipes, containers and tubing sanitary etc. and the contaminated microbial species mainly included lactobacillus, tetracoccus, pectin bacillus and micrococci. In view of such case, small breweries should form adequate wort cooling procedures, barm expand propagation system and proper fermentation procedures, and establish microbial control monitoring system, which could realize thorough sterilization and washing of facilities and achieve aseptic production to improve beer quality. (Tran. by YUE Yang)


When asked to review this book I hoped that here at last was a collection of papers that would give a deŽnitive account of homosexuality from the perspective of several different theoretical orientations. It does 'address some of the incoherence in this Želd' but it also introduces a healthy dose of post-modern incertitude, leaving more questions than answers. Can we speak of just one paradigm of homosexuality? Is it an illness, a deŽcit, or a construction and what other psychological, social, or political issues might cut across this debate? How is homosexuality comparable with other forms of marginalization such as racism or disability? And how many models of psychotherapy are there anyway? These are some of the issues which the various authors in the book introduce and I realized my naïve desire for 'straight' answers was unrealistic. Shelley's introduction presents a brief review of homosexuality and its historical and cultural backdrop. This contextualization leads him to suggest 'that instead of pursuing monolithic representations of homosexuality, why not abandon the dogma associated with this word of contention and, pursue a concept of homosexualities?' (p. 1). He argues that this term could then embrace a whole range of sexual behaviour from the culturally sanctioned same-sex rituals of some New Guinea tribes to the practices of the bi-sexual, gay and lesbian communities of the Western world. This review, although interesting and clearly an attempt to contextualize the 'illness model' of homosexuality, led me to wonder what the rest of the book was about. This is quickly addressed by Shelley: 'The purpose of this book is to address some of the incoherence which has resulted from this shift towards afŽrmative therapy, which has been a "reaction to" rather than a "working through" of the preceding illness models' (p. 8). He argues that the demise of the illness model in most psychotherapies has resulted in a 'theoretical vacuum' of understanding about homosexuality that has been 'sustained' by the shift to an afŽrmative position. He believes that many schools of psychotherapy are 'duplicitous' in espousing such an afŽrmative position without the revision of theory that would support such a shift. This 'incoherence' is exacerbated by a profession in which 250 different schools of counselling and psychotherapy have been identiŽed (p. 7, Corsini 1981); although I think Karasu (1986) made it over 400. From these he has chosen BOOK REVIEWS


Agreement between the government of the federal republic of germany and the government of the union of soviet socialist republics concerning cultural cooperation. Bonn, 19 May 1973 [United Nations, treaty series, vol. 994, i-14545.]


Silicon carbide (SiC) porous substrates are prepared by pressureless sintering of SiC powders under an inert atmosphere of argon. The porous SiC substrates were characterized by measuring their porosity, pore size distribution, surface characteristics, and structure. Their transport characteristics were investigated using N2 and He as the test gases. Three different starting powders and four different sintering aids, Al2O3, B4C, carbon black, and phenolic resin, either by themselves or in combination, were investigated in terms of their ability to prepare good quality substrates. It was found that the porosity, pore size distribution, and transport characteristics of the resulting SiC-sintered bodies depend on the nature of the original powder, the particle size in the green SiC samples, and the type and molar ratio of the sintering aid utilized. Depending on the preparation technique, both mesoporous and macroporous materials could be prepared. These supports are currently utilized for the preparation of...


Real-time depth extraction from stereo images is an important process in computer vision. This paper proposes a new implementation of the dynamic programming algorithm to calculate dense depth maps using the CUDA architecture achieving real-time performance with consumer graphics cards. We compare the running time of the algorithm against CPU implementation and demonstrate the scalability property of the algorithm by testing it on different graphics cards.


A common feature of several pole placement techniques is discussed and the use of a dyadic feedback matrix is presented. The limitation of this design is examined and a design involving output feedback matrices of Rank greater than one is developed as a logical extension of the dyadic feedback design. An example is presented to illustrate the design procedure.


Abstract : The principle object of the research is the correlation of the magnetic and structural properties of thin ferromagnetic films. Described in detail are the instrumentation, the film preparation and the first results obtained with 77:23 permalloy films. The structural investigation was carried out by using electron microscopy and electron diffraction techniques. Replicas of the surface of the films indicated the presence of foof a roughness which, at present however, has not been correlated to the magnetic uniaxial anisotropy h is the correlation of the magnetic and structural properties of thin ferromagnetic films. Described in detail are the instrumentation, the film preparation and the first results obtained with 77:23 permalloy films. The structural investigation was carried out by using electron microscopy and electron diffraction techniques. Replicas of the surface of the films indicated the presence omeasurement of the angular dependence of the torque with a sensitive torque magnetometer. The magnetic data are discussed in terms of the behavior of single domain and multi domain magnetic particles. (Author)


School of Electrical and Information Engineering Engineering and the Build Environment Master of Science in Engineering A Machine Learning Approach to DNA Shotgun Sequence Assembly by Radu-Ionut Constantinescu DNA sequencing and assembly is becoming increasingly prevalent in the field of bioinformatics. It is used in a variety of fields such as forensics and genetic engineering in order to sequence DNA of a species or specific individuals. The high computational complexity associated with DNA sequencing and assembly makes the process expensive to implement. In order to help reduce this complexity, a read grouping machine learning approach, which breaks the problem of assembly into multiple smaller sub-problems, is proposed. The shotgun sequencing process was performed on a 50456 base pair portion of the Drosophila Melanogaster (fruit fly) genome. The sequencing and assembly process was simulated under varying conditions of read size, coverage depth and sequencing error rates. The greedy and de Bruijn algorithms were first implemented as stand-alone assemblers and their performance was compared. Thereafter, a neural network system was implemented together with each of the two assemblers in order to investigate the effects a read grouping approach has on assembly performance. The performance of each of the four assemblers was then compared in terms of computational complexity and assembly accuracy using information theoretic principles along with a proposed coverage metric. It was found that the simulation time of the stand-alone greedy assembler was significantly improved when combined with the neural network read grouping approach. However, due to the higher relative complexity associated with the neural network training and grouping process, the same can not be said about the de Bruijn assembler. In order for the de Bruin assembler to benefit from this "divide and conquer" approach, faster grouping techniques need to be implemented.


Automating the process of statistical modeling would be substantially beneficial for the fields that rely heavily on expert statisticians. In this paper, a perspective is briefly provided on how to automate statistical modeling processes for the prediction of battery lifetime, especially on automating the step of feature engineering, to alleviate the considerable time and human intervention required by the current data-driven lifetime prediction methods. An example related to overpotential concept for early prediction is discussed to show that teach machines concepts the same way as humans are taught may be a promising way to enable the machine to gain anthropomorphic intelligence that is beneficial for automated feature engineering.


Scrapie is a slow infection affecting the central nervous system (CNS) of sheep and goats (Dickinson, 1976). Experimentally the agent has been passaged in mice, hamsters and a number of other laboratory animal species. Kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are related diseases occurring in humans (Gajdusek, 1977). These diseases are caused by agents that have unconventional characteristics compared to those of known animal viruses (Gajdusek, 1977). The unusual physical, chemical and biological properties of the scrapie agent have led to an abundance of theories concerning its nature. Each of the major classes of macromolecules has been suggested as an important component of the scrapie agent. Hypotheses have suggested that scrapie agent is composed exclusively of protein (Griffith, 1967), exclusively of polysaccharide (Gibbons & Hunter, 1967), or exclusively of nucleic acid (Diener, 1972). Other hypotheses have suggested that it is a replicating membrane component (Gibbons & Hunter, 1967) or a filterable virus (Eklund et al., 1963). This is but a partial list of the theoretical constructs that have been proposed. It has been established that, regardless of its unusual characteristics, the agent behaves as an independent pathogen exerting control over a number of its characteristics (Kimberlin, 1982a). Evidence for this includes the existence of strains of agent whose characteristics, such as incubation period and the pathological changes induced, are highly reproducible and are presumably under genetic control (Dickinson & Fraser, 1979; Fraser, 1979). The nature of the informational molecule is unknown, but a model with nucleic acid as the controlling element of heritable characteristics clearly has precedence in that it applies to all viruses and, in fact, to all living organisms. Adherents of the hypothesis of a nucleic acid-containing agent leave open the question of whether the nucleic acid codes for agent protein, as with standard viruses, or whether the agent is composed of regulatory nucleic acid and a host-derived protein component. The latter is the virino model for the nature of the agent (Dickinson & Outram, 1979; Kimberlin, 1982b). In contrast, there is a recent proposal which places scrapie in a realm that has no precedent in modern molecular biology. This is the prion hypothesis (Prusiner, 1982), in which the heritable specificity is induced by an infectious unit composed solely of protein. In the following, we will review recent facts that bear upon the nature of the agent and relate them to the current hypothetical models of the agent.


A method is intended for processing distributed data of a chosen type in a data packet network comprising communi cation nodes (N1-N5). This method comprises the steps of: —receiving a plurality of packets, comprising data of the chosen type and sent at regular time intervals by a source communication node (N1), —assessing a packet delay varia tion of each of these received packets, —selecting a Subset of these received packets according to their respective assessed packet delay variations, and —synchronizing a destination communication node (N5) of the data packet network by means of timing information derived from the selected sub Set.


A comparison of the relative propensity of aryl-, vinyl-, and ethynyl-halides towards a SRN1 reaction is made possible by an investigation of some nucleophilic reactions with bromophenylethyne.


We present an accurate extension of the coupled spin and charge transport model used to compute the spin-transfer torques in nanovalves to enable the anlysis of ultra-scaled magnetic tunnel junctions. The charge current behavior is reproduced with low conductivity locally dependent on the angle between the magnetization vectors, while for the spin current proper boundary conditions at the tunnel barrier interfaces are introduced. We demonstrate that the experimentally measured voltage and angle dependencies of the torques acting on the free layer are accurately reproduced, and that using our extended approach is key to accurately capture the interplay of the Slonczewski and Zhang- Li torque contributions acting on a textured magnetization. The described approach is successfully employed for switching simulation of recently proposed ultra-scaled MRAM cells.


The 2013 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place in Warsaw from 11 – 23 November. Nikolas Scherer writes that while most proposals to address climate change have been based on economic solutions, the issue also involves important political and social factors. He argues that the discussion must shift away from economic arguments to a more comprehensive approach to our relationship with the natural environment.


Biomedical imaging has become an emerging and interesting field for the radiologistsdue to enhancement in technology to resolve the problems. Brain tumor is one of the most threatening diseases to diagnose because of variations in its size, type and location. So, segmentation plays an efficient role in medical field to get the important information from image and helps in better visualization. In this paper, chan-vese algorithm is performed for the segmentation of brain tumor image. Then, binary mask is applied to detect the actual location of tumor. Various features like FOS, FDTA, and GLDS are extracted to classify the tumor. Tumor is detected by this technique and it provides useful results.


The current study used the partially-baited radial-arm maze paradigm to study the effects of a single24 treatment high-dose exposure ('binge') to MDMA (±3,4-methylenedioxymethaphemtamine or 'Ecstasy')


The Community funds absorption constitutes itself an objective of the post-accession strategy. Their main role is to close the variances in the economic development level of the EU state members. What has been the significance of 12 years EU membership for Romania? Have we succeeded to increase the absorption degree of the European funds? In what fields? In 2017, was the the termination of the cooperation Protocol, regarding the setting up and the conduct of financial audit for European and other non-reimbursable funds, a beneficial measure? What is the actual role of the financial audit?


Brother Editors: It was your good pleasure to elect me your President for the year that closes with this session. It has been a year of anxiety and of work; a campaign year, and a year of achievement. I thank you all for the honor which your choice conferred, and for the support which accompanied that choice; yet I have greater satisfaction in remembering what you have done in 1887 to strengthen our National Association and to aid in the affairs of the last Medical Congress. Through the success which has crowned both of these enterprises, a new dignity has come to the profession of our country, and you, gentlemen, as watchful guardians of what is rightfully yours, will see that the prestige does not depart from those who have so richly earned it. Two things have been clearly demonstrated during the year that has gone. 1st, the power of


The focus of the assessment process was on developing and administering reliable and valid direct methods to assess student outcomes. The direct methods of assessment, based on the list of direct measures recognized at the 2008 TAC Commission Summit, developed by the Computer Engineering Technology (CET) faculty included tests, constructed with a test blueprint, and performance appraisals with scoring rubrics. These direct assessment measures provided evidence of student learning which subsequently guides faculty in identifying its program weaknesses. Furthermore, CET faculty found the interpretation of the data much easier with these measures of assessment. The assessment process developed for the program not only included the traditional summative approach, but also included formative assessment within the overall Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) model. The inclusion of formative assessment within the overall CQI model provides an opportunity for early intervention for program-level attrition. Specifically, this paper provides information regarding assessment planning, the assessment process, the development of assessment instruments, and the challenges encountered by the department and should provide information that will benefit other engineering and engineering technology programs seeking accreditation or re-accreditation.


Abstract In this paper, a compact ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna with triple notch bands is proposed. By etching out two ESRR of different dimensions in the radiating patch, two band-notched properties in the Wi-MAX (3–3.7 GHz), WLAN (5.125–5.825 GHz) are obtained. Furthermore, by placing SIR near the feed line–patch junction of the antenna, band notch property for the 7.9–8.4 GHz (X-band) frequencies is achieved. Design guidelines for implementing the notch-bands at the desired frequency regions are provided. The notched frequencies can be adjusted according to specification by altering the parameters of the ESRR and SIR. The effects of the key design parameters on band notch characteristics are also investigated. The realized antenna achieved an operating bandwidth (VSWR < 2) ranges from 2.94 to more than 11.3 GHz with triple notched bands of 3.0–3.7, 5.2–6.1, and 7.9–8.7 GHz. The proposed antenna is well designed and extensively investigated. The experimental results are given to verify that the proposed antenna with a wide bandwidth, three designated band-notched function which is suitable for modern high data rate UWB communication applications. The maximum simulated gain of the antenna is around 10.02 dBi with an average efficiency above 82.2% throughout the bandwidth.


A system has a common structure for the traction control and antilock braking (ABS) functions, and consists of feedforward (predictive) and feedback (reactive) contributions. The estimated values of the tyre-road friction coefficient and the vertical wheel force are used for saturating the torque demand Tdem, thus yielding the predictive torque value for the specific wheel Tpred. The reactive torque contribution Treact is activated only when specific conditions on the slip ratio are satisfied, i.e., is used to correct Tpred in the case of significant longitudinal slip of the individual tyre. Treact is the output of a feedback controller mainly based on the reference slip ratio, the estimated slip ratio, and vehicle velocity. For the ABS function the system splits the contribution for each vehicle corner into the torque shares to be generated by the electric motor and the friction brake. PATON | Patentmanagement Thüringer Hochschulen


A theoretical comparison analysis of management of modern office equipment in the weather bureau is made against the existing problems, based on which some suggestions for improving the management level and optimizing network resources are put forward.


In optimizing the design of cryogenic storage facilities for future in-orbit or on-surface applications the boil-off and the self-pressurization rates must be accurately predicted for different g-levels and for a variety of heat distributions and engineering design parameters. In this paper, a thermodynamic and a CFD model will be presented that describe the selfpressurization behavior of a flightweight partially filled LH2 experimental tank prototype in a normal gravity environment. Existing experimental data at different fill levels are used to assess the predictive capability of these models. Comparisons between the data and the model predictions indicate that the thermodynamic model can accurately predict the self-pressurization rate, but fails to capture the magnitude of the pressure rise. In contrast, the computational model captures both the self-pressurization rate and vapor pressure magnitude at lower fill levels. Slight deviations are observed for the higher fill level cases. Possible sources of this discrepancy are discussed.


This paper implements functions such as information query,map manipulation,map editor,traffic data statistics and road traffic safety evaluation by using COM technology based on Visual Studio2008 and ArcGIS Engine 9.3 on the purpose of implementing modernization,intelligence and platformization of expressway geographic information management.Also in order to meet the requirements of express road planning and traffic dispersion,path networking buffer analysis,spatial overlap analysis and optimal path analysis are implemented.This paper issues an approach to solve road planning,traffic dispersion and road safety evaluation problems,and thus enhance management performance and play a key role in expressway management and planning.


The authors adopt both indexes of the economic and social efficiency to evaluate comprehensively the performance of the tourist industry in China in this paper.


While many people enter residential care of their own free will and because it is their preference, the evidence tells us that there are also many who if they had the choice would remain in their own homes. Lack of appropriate community supports may provide some impetus to enter residential care. According to Care Alliance Ireland, an additional four million hours of homecare needs to be provided to cope with the successful ageing demographics, at a cost of €110 million.
 There is no statutory or common-law power to detain a patient in a Healthcare Facility outside of the application of the Mental Health Act 2001. This presents legal, ethical and moral dilemmas for Healthcare Providers when caring for a person who lacks capacity wishes to self - discharge. A duty of care obligates healthcare professionals to act in the best interest of the individual. Under the Health Act 2007 the requirement is to provide for a 'safe discharge'.
 Pending advancement of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015 which provides a statutory framework to assist and support individuals to make legally-binding agreements about their welfare, their property and affairs we are currently acting under the Lunacy Regulations (1871).

 We developed a 'Deprivation of Liberty' form which enable comprehensive Interdisciplinary Team discussion and direction of care. Presumption of capacity, respect for the resident's wishes and consideration of all possible supportive actions up to and including sourcing community support services were considered.

 This format has enabled comprehensive discussion and robust adherence to human rights for three residents thus far

 The situation remains that there is no legal framework to guide healthcare providers currently. Using a Human Rights based approach is imperative to guide us while awaiting advancement of the ADMA (2015) and Deprivation of Liberty legislation to be included in this act.


Objective: A study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of an online educational intervention to improve knowledge of the use and interpretation of EEG for seizure detection. Background: The electroencephalogram (EEG) is the most common tool used by physicians for the diagnosis of epilepsy. The greatest source of error associated with the EEG is physician misinterpretation. Design/Methods: The online continuing medical education (CME) activity consisted of a 30-minute video panel discussion with 3 faculty experts in EEG interpretation. Educational effect was determined by comparing responses to 4 identical pre- and post- assessment questions. A chi-square test identified differences between pre- and postassessment responses. Cramer's V was used to calculate the effect size of the education. Data from the participants in the educational intervention who answered all pre- and post-assessment questions were collected between June 23, 2017 and July 24, 2017. Results: Participation in the CME intervention improved knowledge as indicated by the medium educational effect size (n = 254; V =0.234; P P Conclusions: The results indicated that the CME-certified 30-minute video panel discussion was effective at improving knowledge of EEG among neurologists. Future educational efforts should continue to address the clinical use of EEG as a diagnostic tool for the recognition and diagnosis of seizure types in epilepsy. Study Supported by: The educational activity was supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Eisai, Inc Disclosure: Dr. Hughes has nothing to disclose. Dr. Finnegan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Benbadis has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Cyberonics (Livanova), Eisai, Lundbeck, Neuropace, Sunovion, UCB .


This report proposes the rubric use in financial courses' bilingual teaching, more specifically, the method lecturers apply to better understand teaching result. It describes the rubric design, explains mechanism of employing SME to analyze rubric results, reports the application on students of CTBU in year 2014 and identifies gaps for further improvement.


The rapid, full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia has left the country's defence and security forces, such as the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine, and the National Guard of Ukraine, in a state of focus, resilience, and need for clear leadership. Leaders have a key role to play in preventing staff from becoming deadapted and disoriented. They must ensure that the effort organisation is structured in such a way that positive results are achieved, and losses are minimised. The research aims to study the views and opinions of scholars and practitioners on the state of the managerial and organisational potential of heads of patrol police units whose main task is to ensure public safety and order. The study used scientific and empirical methods, in particular, the synergistic approach, graphical, comparison, analysis and synthesis, and questionnaires, based on which reasonable conclusions were drawn. Following the results obtained: the conclusion regarding gaps in the procedure for interaction between patrol police officers and some law enforcement agencies and the lack of special training for actions in extreme conditions were deducted. It is established that patrol police officers are guided by a sense of national patriotism, which is formed through persuasion, moral support, and the example of their superiors. The areas of cyber hygiene, first aid training and handling explosive devices are lacking. The analysis of the reports of the heads of the services showed a positive trend in reducing the number of offences and deaths on the country's roads. The practical value of this study is that it is in demand, as it reveals the actual problematic issues of the professional competence of a patrol police officer who is involved every day in ensuring public safety and order in different regions of the country with atypical levels of threats and dangers. It is the basis for further scientific study and solution of problematic aspects of patrol police service in the context of martial law and active hostilities by the aggressor country


Problem definition: We consider a revenue-generating call center with inbound and outbound calls, where service and sales activities are blended. For maximizing the call center's revenue, the call ...


In the truckload transportation industry in the United States, a number of indexes are published that attempt to measure changes in rates, but no single index has emerged as an industry standard. Industry participants, particularly those exposed to the spot-market, have found that existing indexes do not effectively represent their experiences in the marketplace. A widely-used and valid spot-market index could allow for more effective tactical decision-making, the development of freight derivatives, stronger analysis and negotiation of contract rates, and contracts with index-tied rates. This paper examines pricing indexes from other industries and expands upon a framework of characteristics that support successful indexes. Using this framework to evaluate existing industry indexes, it finds that two commonly used indexes are not designed appropriately for use by the spot-market. It also examines rates experienced by a large North American provider of non-asset based logistics services and finds that they differ significantly from rates measured by existing indexes. The analysis suggests that indexes of the spot market would be improved by disaggregating rate information based on geography and tender lead time. Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Chris Caplice Title: Executive Director, Center for Transportation and Logistics


Charge deposition as a function of depth in electron irradiated polymeric C6H9O is determined. Monoenergetic beams at 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2 and 1.4 MeV are used and results are compared to Monte Carlo simulation.


Examines the impact of the 1989 Finance Act, imposing VAT on the construction sector. Concludes that there will be major discouragement to many development projects. Concludes that the worst‐hit elements are: financial sector tenants, weaker local property markets, large complex projects and commercial but "subject to contract" agreements.


ABSTRACT A third space can be unlocked through collaborative efforts between out-of-school organisations (like museums) and schools. By bridging museum and school contexts, blurring boundaries between disciplines and shifting between multiple perspectives on a subject, a third space, can contribute to meaningful science education. However, resources that support collaboration between museum educators and teachers are required. The educational design of a third space between museums and schools can enable an experience informed by context-based, interdisciplinary, and value-centred teaching strategies. This study conceptualises and validates the Alma-Löv-Programme (ALP), a museum resource designed to support students' interdisciplinary, and value-centred learning in a third space. It applies an art-based teaching strategy that encourages student groups to address science issues depicted by contemporary art. Comparison of the Alma-Löv-Programme design guidelines to the design instantiations of the established Framework for Museum Practice showed that they are largely consistent. However, noted distinctions indicate several factors that may be important for preparation and exploration of a third space. The findings can inform the design of activities and programmes by educators in the out-of-school sector.


Introduction: Adolescents are young people said to be in a transitory stage of development between childhood and adulthood. This period is a sensitive one as habits and behaviors which will affect the life of the individual are cultivated at this time. It is therefore of utmost importance that these young people have guidance and the required health services at their disposal to help them make positive lifestyle choices to prevent ill health in the future. This study hopes to bring to the fore, the perceived health needs of adolescents and the context in which they would prefer to have health services provided to meet their needs. Methods: A self administered questionnaire was the data collection tool, administered to 326 students aged 10-19 years selected by stratified sampling and balloting at a vacation school in Lagos. Results: Acute health problems, sexual and reproductive health problems were considered the most important. Adolescents' expectations of health services mainly centered on health education and counseling, alongside the provision of general health care services. With respect to adolescents' experiences with existing health services, most preferred to use private hospitals and were satisfied with the services they received. Conclusion: Adolescent friendliness is a concept which if incorporated into the health system will have appreciable positive impact on the health of adolescents for the present and in the future. Key Words: Adolescents, health needs