This paper presents comprehensive and analytical methodologies of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in identifying geographic access to health service provision. It compares some alternative measures of geographic access to health care facility using spatial analysis. ArcGIS based network analysis (Origin and Destination Cost Matrix) was used to denote Output areas as the origin (demand) and hospital as the destination (supply). Raster based straight line distances (Euclidean) for same area was measured to identify this access. The accessibility of people within 60 km, 100 km, 200 km, 250 km and distances i 300 km were assessed for both methods. The results for OD matrix stood at 29.77% (60 km), 42.48% (100 km), 53.78% (200 km), 72.99% (250 km) and 30.38% (i 300 km) whereas, for the straight line distance, 39.99% (60 km), 57.35% (100 km), 75.52% (200 km), 83.67% (250 km) and 0.0% (i 300 km) were recorded. The distance measurements were statistically not very strong (p- 0.07) between the methods. Moreover, travel time was also modelled at speed limit 50 km per hour using OD Matrix. The result indicates that only 33.35% are within drive time of 80 minutes (1 hr. 20 min.) and over 30% are within drive time i 2 hrs. 45 min. Thus, the study encourages the use of OD Matrix in facility location analysis being more promising than the Euclidean model. The paper also strongly recommend to policy makers in the health service to embrace GIS to incorporate the technology of how service areas of health servers can be used as a basis for better use of population health service ratios to ensure equitable distribution of resources and effective health care delivery.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the analysis of the postural stability and leg stiffness according to the ankle instability types and bilateral legs during drop landing. Methods: Total 14 male athletes (n=7: mechanical ankle instability, n=7: functional ankle instability) Participants in the experiment. The leg stiffness, leg length, peak vertical force, loading rate, as well as the DPSI (medial-lateral [ML], anterior-posterior [AP], vertical [V], dynamic postural stability index) during drop landing were calculated. To analyze the variables measured in this study, SPSS version 21.0 was used to calculate the mean and standard deviation, while a two-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the ankle instability types (MAI, FAI) with landing leg (left: dominant, right: non-dominant leg) results. Dimensionless leg stiffness and change of leg lengths showed increased with significantly in non-dominant leg and MAI type than in dominant leg and FAI type. This resulted from decrease in the leg lengths with leg stiff. MLSI showed increased with significantly in dominant leg than in non-dominant leg during drop landing. Mechanically unstable individuals demonstrated increased leg stiffness, which may increase risk of musculoskeletal. Also, mechanically unstable participants demonstrated greater loading rate variability, which may indicate difficulty mitigating landing forces with lax ligaments.


The moment redistribution behaviour of continuous cold-formed profiled steel deck and concrete composite slab was studied both experimentally and numerically. An experimental programme consisting of three two-span continuous composite slabs was performed. The experimental results indicated that the composite slabs have adequate ductility for redistributing moments, and the ultimate capacity of continuous composite slabs can be increased significantly. The short-term deflection at the increased service load satisfies the serviceability criteria. A numerical procedure to determine the negative to positive moment redistribution capacity and the corresponding deflection at serviceability for profiled steel–concrete composite slab was validated using the experimental results.


In this paper, we propose a collaborative spectrum sharing protocol which aims to maximize the sum transmission rate while the quality-of-service (QoS) of both primary and secondary systems' can be supported. Specifically, the primary system authorizes the secondary system to access its spectrum band with a fraction of transmission time only when it can help the primary system achieve the target rate. During the accessing time, the secondary system assigns half power to help primary system reach the target rate and utilizes the remaining half power to transmit its own signal. We determine an optimal time allocation by analyzing the sum transmission rate of primary and secondary systems with both of their QoS can be ensured. Simulation results show that the efficiency of the proposed spectrum sharing protocol and both primary and secondary systems can benefit from it.


We study the interaction between the inert Higgs doublet (IDM) dark matter and a vector-like $SU(2)$ triplet lepton (VLL), both of which are $Z_2$-odd. The vector current of the VLL with the $Z$-boson rules out a fermionic or two-component dark matter scenario. However, a compressed mass spectrum and a sufficiently small Yukawa coupling allows co-annihilation and late decay of the VLL into the IDM sector, affecting the relic density of the pseudoscalar dark matter. The same two factors enable displaced decay of the VLL states, providing novel signatures involving hadronically quiet displaced multi-lepton final states. Such signatures to probe the model are studied at the 14 and 27 TeV LHC, as well as the 100 TeV FCC-hh. In addition to being detectable at the CMS/ATLAS experiments, if the new particles have sub-100 GeV masses, signals can also be seen at the proposed MATHUSLA detector.


[Objective]To learn the new born babies hepatitis B, BCG vaccine.[Methods]To analyze the HB,BCG vaccines of new born babies monthly reports from September to December.[Results]There are totally 5 140 babies,5 091 babies had HB vaccines,of coverage rate 99.05%,5 038 in time,of coverage rate 98.02%;BCG vaccines 4 881,of coverage rate 94.96%,3 967 in time,of rate coverage 77.18%.Of those 49 without HB vaccine babies,premature or giviven birth in difficult 25,12 having acute disease,refused or other causes 12.Of those 259 babies that without BCG vaccine,premature and given birth in difficult 111,short of vaccine supply 37,vaccine nurse absence 33,28 leave hospital in 24 hours after born,delay vaccine 23,having acute disease 12,parents refused or other causes 15.[Conclusion]The new born babies HB,BCG vaccine rate and vaccine in time rate are higher,while BCG vaccine rate and vaccine in time rate are moderately lower.


Bone is a complex tissue consisting of cells and matrix. Mass and thick bone mass has a dynamic addition and subtraction through the process of remodeling (bone matrix absorbed and formed again). Bone is formatted by osteoblast cell and resorption by osteoclast cell. Osteoblasts produce a matrix of osteoid, which is composed mainly of type I collagen, and osteoclast removes bone tissue by removing its mineralized matrix and breaking up the organic bone. Bone remodeling purpose to defend shape and structure of bone. the purpose of this study is to prove that submaximal-intensity exercise and salmon calcitonin improve bone density in growing rat this research method uses design of the randomize posttest only control group design. We compered femur bone density in 24 male norvegicus rats aged 6 weeks that were divided into 4 groups: controls, calcitonin, exercise, combine. Exercise group swam 3 times a week in submaximal intensity, calcitonin group injected synthetic salmon calcitonin 2 iu /100 gram of rat weight every day and combine group did both of it. After 8 weeks, rat femur bone density measured using ultrasound. the result: there are significant differences in bone density between group 1 (control) and group 4 (combine) with p = 0.001, thus the p value <0.05 indicates that there is a significant difference to the average density in both groups. While comparisons to other groups found no significant difference because the value of p> 0.05. the benefits of this research are calcitonin salmon and submaximal-intensity exercise increase the density bone in the growth period. High bone density is mean the bone is strong and health, not porous and fragile so decrease bone fracture risk. increase the bone density in of growth period make the bone get the best mass, and avoid from early osteoporosis.


Let $F$ be a probability measure on $\mathbb{R}$ in the domain of attraction of a stable law with exponent $\alpha\in (0, 1)$. We establish integral criteria on $F$ that significantly expand the probabilistic approach to Strong Renewal Theorems (SRTs). The criterion for $\alpha \in (0,1/2]$ is much weaker than currently available ones and in some cases provides sufficient and necessary conditions for the SRT. The criterion for $\alpha \in (1/2, 1)$ establishes the SRT in full generality and in a unified way, barring the Limit Local Theorems employed. As an application, for infinitely divisible $F$, an integral criterion on its L\'evy measure is established for the SRT. As another application, for $F$ in the domain of attraction of a stable law without centering, an integral criterion on $F$ is established for the SRT for the ladder height process of a random walk with step distribution $F$.


Objective:To assess the effect of different alimentary reconstruction on blood glucose in gastric cancer patients complicated with type 2 diabetes. Methods:The retrograde analysis was made in 55 cases of gastric cancer with type 2 diabetes from 2006 to 2008. These patients were divided into three groups,distal gastrectomy with BillrothⅡanastomosis (n = 25), total gastrectomy with esophagojejunum Roux-en-Y anastomosis (n = 19) and distal gastrectomy with BillrothⅠ anastomosis (n = 11). The levels of fast blood glucose and 2 h postprandial blood glucose were detected in patients before,after 2 weeks and 6months operation in three groups. Results:Comparing to the third group, the level of blood glucose showed a steady and sustained descent in patients after 2 weeks and 6 months surgery in the other two groups (P 0.05). The effective rates were 72.00% and 73.68% for the Billroth Ⅱ and Roux -en -Y groups respectively. However, there was no difference between them (P 0.05). Conclusion:It is an effective method for blood glucose control using surgery of BillrothⅡ and Rouxen-Y anastomosis in gastric cancer patients with type 2 diabetes.


n the last two decades in particular, Plato's Phaedrus has received a variety of comprehensive interpretations, many of which have attempted to assess the contribution of the dialogue's dramatic or literary elements to a proper understanding of its philosophical value. In some of them, the exploration of the broader and much debated issue of dialogic unity has taken precedence over a painstaking study of the drama, while in others, the emphasis on Phaedrus' integration of drama and philosophy has to some extent displaced the problem of the dialogue's unity. The overall aim of this article is to join the relatively few studies that have married these two approaches. For it is, I believe, both possible and fruitful to demonstrate that the dialogue's drama, as observed in its first half, far from being ornamental or merely a convenient device of transition from one speech to the next, is philosophically potent and, if carefully studied, a still largely untapped repository of subtle thematic allusions to the second half. The material for my investigation will be gleaned from the brief conversational interludes surrounding each one of the three speeches in the first half of the dialogue (227a1–230e5, 234c6–237b6, 241d2–244a4) and will be dealt with in the three parts of the article. In each part, I shall point up the reflexive interplay between dramatic character and philosophical ideas by showing how the dramatic treatment of the participants' identity in these brief dialogic encounters anticipates important philosophical preoccupations of the second half.1 More specifically, I shall show that the inherent mutability of the characters' erotic identities in the first half is philosophically charged and prefigures ideas discursively explored in the dialectical investigation of the second half, such as the defects of writing and the psychic makeup of those exposed to rhetorical and dialectical discourse.2 If my con-


In this paper, our current understanding of calorimetry is discussed, in view of the challenges offered by future applications in experiments at the LHC and the ILC/CLIC. Calorimetry is likely to become an even more crucial component of the detector complex than in the present generation of experiments. And the demands on performance will increase, in particular concerning the detection of fragmenting quarks and gluons. The (underlying reasons for the) obstacles one faces in trying to meet these demands are discussed in some detail, emphasizing the difficulties encountered in calibrating a longitudinally segmented calorimeter system. Generic R&D efforts that are being carried out in this context are described, and recent results of these projects are presented.


2 ABSTRACT This paper analyses the importance of regulatory credibility to support non-redeployable investments. It shows the impact of regulatory credibility in Europe and in the U.S. on the perceived transaction of obtaining ISO 14001 certification. ISO 14001 provides the basic framework for the establishment of an Environmental Management System (EMS) that can be audited and can lead to certification. However, firms might identify regulatory violations during the implementation of the environmental certification. The adoption of the standard might thus be associated with high transaction costs if regulatory agencies were to use such information against firms. Firms seem reluctant to engage in such a transaction when there is uncertainty on regulatory agencies behavior in such matter. In addition, this paper describes the importance of the institutional environment to facilitate the development of resources that will help firms to transform ISO 14001 into a competitive advantage. Since ISO 14001 is a voluntary standard, firms will implement ISO 14001 if they believe that the potential transaction costs of acquiring certification will be offset by the advantages the certification will ultimately provide to the firm. The Institutional Environment can impact both the cost of acquiring certification as well as the ability of firms to reap the full benefits from certification. Building on the New Institutional Economics and on the resource-based view of the firm, this paper proposes a conceptual framework to explain the factors that either hamper or facilitate the adoption of an EMS standard in a specific institutional setting. The analysis is supported by primary data collected from a phone questionnaire to 140 firms in Europe and a questionnaire mailed to 55 firms in the U.S.


The deoxyribose ring in the title compound adopts the twist conformation ( 3 2 T) with a glycosyl torsion angle of 231.0 (6)°. The pseudo-rotation parameters are P = 180.29 (5)° and τ m = 38.3 (5)°. The exocyclic side chain at C5' has the t conformation [γ = 174.8(11)°]. The ethyl group at C5 is on the same side of the pyrimidine plane as the O4' atom of the furanose ring


Abstract We present the results obtained from unfiltered photometric CCD observations of the newly discovered cataclysmic variable SDSS J040714.78–064425.1 made during seven nights in 2003 November. We establish the dwarf nova nature of the object as it was in outburst during our observations. We also confirm the presence of deep eclipses with a period of 0.17017 ± 0.00003 d in the optical light curve of the star. In addition, we found periods of 0.166 ± 0.001 d and possibly also 5.3 ± 0.7 d in the data. The 0.17017 d periodicity is consistent within the errors with the proposed orbital period of 0.165 and 0.1700 d. Using the known relation between the orbital and superhump periods, we interpret the 0.166 and 5.3 d periods as the negative superhump and the nodal precession period respectively. SDSS J040714.78–064425.1 is then classified as a negative superhump system with one of the largest orbital periods.


An isoparametric shell element has been developed capable of linear response to the imposed loads. The original formulation, which was written for static and dynamic analyses, was extended to embrace linear buckling problems. A variety of numerical examples were attempted in order to assess the adaptability of the element to different geometrical representations. Despite serious size limitations of the computer, the accuracy of the predicted buckling loads was found to be satisfactory.


The stable CdS quantum dots dispersed in cyclohexane were obtained by the interphase reaction of cadmium oleate dissolved in cyclohexane and CH 3CSNH 2 dispersed in water,respectively. Effects of the reaction time,pH,the starting concentration ratio of [Cd 2+ ]/[S 2-] and stirring speed on the properties of the products were also investigated. Meanwhile,the resultants were characterized by transmission electron microscopy(TEM) ,X-ray diffraction(XRD) ,ultraviolet spectroscopy(UV-VIS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy(PL) . CdS quantum dots exhibited a narrow size distribution ranged in 1.8~2.2nm and a cubic crystal structure. Additionally,this method displays advantages in producing the better dispersed quantum dots with large quantities in comparison to reverse micellar preparation and aqueous preparation.


Multi-source data fusion is being actively explored in the remote sensing community for robust automatic target recognition (ATR) and other similar applications. Such an approach exploits multiple, independent observations of a phenomenon and performs a feature level or a decision level fusion for ATR, scene classification, land cover mapping, etc. In this paper, we present a method that utilizes such fusion techniques to exploit hyperspectral data, which otherwise typically suffers from the small sample size problem, (i.e., there are typically not as many ground truth pixels as the dimensionality of the data). In this work, we study the efficacy of using higher order statistical information (using average mutual information) for a bottom up band grouping in a multi- classifier setup. The band grouping procedure is employed to partition the hyperspectral space into approximately independent subspaces. A classifier is assigned to each subspace in the partition. Final classification decisions are made by fusing local decisions from each subspace. The goal of this paper is to (1) perform subspace identification using the proposed mutual information based metric, (2) explore the effect of the design parameters on the fusion performance and, (3) compare the performance of decision level fusion with feature level fusion over the partitioned subspace.


A major investigation of magnetic exchange and supertransferred hyperfine field effects in perovskite solid solutions has been carried out using 57Fe, 119Sn, and 151Eu Mossbauer resonances. The primary result has been to establish that the Fe3+–O–Cr3+ superexchange coupling in orthoferrite and orthochromite solid solutions is antiferromagnetic, and earlier contradictions have been resolved. Ferromagnetic coupling can only occur in oxides where the bond angle is close to 180°. Exchange interactions involving Mn3+ and Ni3+ have also been observed in the 119Sn and 151Eu resonances.


A semiconductor device, including: a P-type substrate; an N-type region, contacting with the P-type substrate; a N+-type doped region, disposed in the N-type region; a first P+-type doped region, disposed in the N-type region; a second P+-type doped region, disposed in the N-type region; a P-type buried layer, disposed in the P-type substrate under the N-type region and contacting with the N-type region; and a N-type doped region, disposed in the P-type substrate under a contact surface between the P-type buried layer and the N-type region.


To assess the antimicrobial susceptibility of Brucella melitensis strains in our region. Brucellosis is a common disease in Turkey. Moreover, difficulties are encountered in the treatment process, such as long-lasting therapy, relapses, and side effects of drugs. Hence, novel treatment approaches and the susceptibility of current antibiotics are vital. Materials and methods: Thirty-four Brucella spp. isolated from blood samples of patients with brucellosis were included. Minimal inhibitory concentrations for tetracycline, rifampicin, streptomycin, ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, ceftriaxone, and levofloxacin were detected by broth microdilution. Results: Tetracycline had the lowest and streptomycin the highest MIC50 and MIC90 values, respectively. A total of 5 strains were intermediate-susceptible and 1 strain was resistant to rifampicin. Conclusion: Doxycycline and tetracycline seem to be quite effective antibiotics against Brucella melitensis strains. Although streptomycin and rifampicin have high MIC levels against Brucella melitensis strains in our region, inconsistencies between in vitro susceptibility and in vivo activity should be considered.


The carbomonoxy derivatives of hemoglobin A and S showed a different optical activity in the Soret region of the spectrum as measured by circular dichroism. Different optical activity was also measured in the carbomonoxy derivatives of the p subunits of hemoglobin A and S, the respective deoxy derivatives showed different circular dichroism spectra only in the presence of inositol hexaphosphate. Sedimentation velocity experiments showed that the differences in optical activity are not due to a different state of aggregation of the subunits. Modification of the tertiary structure of the p subunits seems to be responsible for the phenomenon. Speculation based on the work of Hsu and Woody (Hsu, M. C., and Woody, R. W. (1971) J. Am. Chem. Sot. 93, 35153525) suggests the involvement of the j315 tryptophan in the conformational changes produced by the PS Glu-Val mutation in hemoglobin S.


ABSTRACT Three new devices for collecting and maintaining mosquitoes and other small insects are described. A suction tube, composed of two pieces of plastic transparent tube, the narrower fitted in the wider, with the mouth protected by the use of voile, is cheap and practical and can be transported around the neck. A 900-ml plastic transparent box is utilized for the restraint of sucked insects and, with the adaptation of two pieces of plastic tube, as a suction chamber.


ABSTRACT Patrolling behavior plays an important role in resource defense and in shaping social interactions in territorial species. However, it is not clear whether and how resource deterioration affects patrolling and interactions between territorial males. We addressed this issue by studying the territorial patrolling of damselfly Calopteryx splendens males, which use riverine vegetation patches composed of floating rafts of Potamogeton natans as territories. Males can hold single territories established on one vegetation patch (solitary residents) or hold adjacent territories established on shared vegetation patch (contiguous residents). The study predicted that solitary males engage more in patrolling than contiguous residents and that patrolling intensity is proportional to patch quality. Two types of semi-natural vegetation patches were sunk: of high and low quality measured on the basis of the patch size (range 2–5 m2) and its attractiveness to damselflies (measured as number of residents, non-territorial males and contests observed at a given patch). Changes in number of patrolling flights were monitored for solitary and two contiguous residents: first which hold territory situated closer to the patch centre and secondary holding territory nearer to the edge of a patch. Results indicated that solitary residents patrolled more often than either of the two contiguous residents. Habitat deterioration significantly reduced the patrolling intensity of both single and first contiguous resident, however, their patrolling activity was not resumed at the same intensity after the original patch had been restored. The secondary resident of a contiguous pair did not respond to habitat deterioration, but increased its patrolling activity following restoration. Patch quality was found to have no impact on patrolling, which implies that social context can be more important in predicting changes in patrolling behavior in response to resource deterioration.


Objective To discuss the possibility of using endometrial sampling device as a screening tool to detect cancer or precancerous lesion of endometrium.Methods Endometrial sampling device was used before the hysteroscopy examination, to examine the endometrium of 131 patients from April to November, 2012.The results w ere compared with the histological results by hysteroscopy sampling.Results The qualified rate for the sampling was 83.2%(109/131).The cancer or precancerous lesions of endometrium were found in 14 of 109 cases. The sensitivity and specificity of cytology were 92.9% and 100.00%, respectively, and its accuracy rate was 99.1%. We did not get qualified tissues in twenty-two patients. The reasons were the limited amount of tissue in 6 cases, unable to sample the whole cavity in 11 cases, and unable to get through the cervix in 5 cases.Conclusions The endometrial sampling device can be used in detecting the cancer or precancerous lesion of endometrium although not good enough in submucous myoma or polyps. It still needs some improvement in design and much amount of following verify.


Preface Acknowledgments 1. Introduction Part I. Poetics: 2. Correspondences versus beauty 3. Spleen and evil Part II. Psychopoetics: 4. Romantic temperament and 'Spleen and Ideal' 5. Modernist imagination and the 'Tableaux Parisiens' Part III. Sociopoetics: 6. Decoding and recoding in the prose poems 7. The prose poem narrator 8. Conclusion Notes Select bibliography Index.


Many communities have trouble funding all of the road improvements needed to keep pace with development. Some of these communities use traffic impact fees to raise at least part of the required funding. Such fees help raise required revenue, but they are typically set to collect only part of the total cost. In addition to the revenue generated, they may somewhat reduce the incentive for development in new areas relative to redevelopment of existing areas where capacity is already in place. Further, the availability of funds can improve efficiency of infrastructure provision by allowing it to be provided in a timely manner. While impact fees are becoming more popular, a community must address a number of concerns before attempting to implement one. This paper is meant to provide a brief discussion of the major issues which typically must be addressed before implementing a traffic impact fee. Key points of the paper are as follows: (A) Traffic impact fees are used in Oregon, as in other states, to partially fund the construction of roads. The roads must be required because of development, off-site relative to the development, and function as collectors or arterials. The major purpose of the fees is to raise revenue to help provide increased capacity required because of new development. Fees are seldom set to recover the full cost of developing off-site road capacity to accommodate new development. Communities in Oregon which use such fees collect a lower percentage of the cost than communities in some other states. The most common method used to levy such fees is based on standard estimates of the number of trips each unit of property development will generate. Some communities allow reductions in fees for property design or other characteristics that result in fewer trips than indicated by standard models. No evidence was found of communities using traffic impact fees to try to affect the type or density of development. (B) Traffic impact is likely to occur beyond the community in which development takes place, so coordination of traffic impact fees among governments in the affected region can lead to a more effective program of road funding. A coordinated approach also reduces the competitive pressure which may arise when some jurisdictions have such fees and others do not.


This paper presents new empirical results on the macroeconomic impact of sovereign debt restructurings with official-sector creditors. Using a novel dataset on Paris Club restructurings and Local Projection methods, we find that Paris Club treatments can have a significant impact on economic growth -- 2% higher GDP growth two years after the restructuring -- when a nominal haircut is provided. At the same time, the countries that had received nominal debt relief tend to be less prudent in conducting their fiscal policy than those benefiting from a restructuring in NPV terms. Furthermore, as regards the external sector adjustment after debt restructuring, we observe an improvement in the net foreign asset position, due to the combination of less external debt and higher foreign reserves. Our study suggests that the official sector faces some short-term trade-offs between the objectives of stimulating economic growth, promoting fiscal prudence and improving a country's position in international capital markets when designing a debt restructuring.


"Nous education"aims to mold student's thought,soul and spirit,ultimately inspire their constantly creation and innovation ability by using intellectually education method.The biggest difference between it and the traditional higher education lies in focusing on intellectual inspiration instead of technical training,its purpose is quite similar with general education.Most medical college has set up the course of medical psychology,but it has faced with many embarrassing troubles in actual process.As a general educational course,its curriculum design should stand on intellectually care and then reform the teaching method and evaluation system in order to agree with the general education spirit,meanwhile integrate teacher resources and try to promote the general quality of teachers.


Inductor design is investigated for battery charger used in plug-in hybrid vehicles. The inductor is designed to be implemented at the input and output parts of prototype charger (operation at 250 kHz) under development. Circuit simulations revealed inductor resistances at DC, 60 Hz and 500 kHz are the most dominant factors determining inductor efficiency. To reduce DC resistance, high density winding structure based on planar busbar stacking is proposed. To reduce AC resistance, quasi-distributed gap core configuration is investigated. A conventional concentrated gap configuration with E-E core pair and a custom-assembled quasi-distributed gap core set are compared. Each prototype was fabricated and characterized with impedance analyzer. Our new prototype made by a combination of busbar winding and quasi-distributed gap configuration demonstrates the best performance at DC and 500 kHz, and thus, the best structure for the application herein.


IPS CEMDI is a center of experience that seeks to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases, especially diabetes. On a daily basis, they treat a large number of patients, who are mostly elderly. The IPS CEMDI, has the In-house call center service, which means that the company invests in its own call center, with employees of its own payroll. In the beginning, the call center was inside the customer service department; however, it is currently a separate entity. Located in the same facilities of the IPS and has four workers, one of them is in charge of the call center. According to several comments from patients and an observation work, it should be noted that the call center service has problems regarding the delay in receiving calls and distant dates in the appointment allocation, so the proposal is to be created of an internal protocol for the IPS CEMDI call center.


The invention discloses a method for repeatedly using the bearing of a Un interface in a long-term evolution strengthening technology, comprising the following steps: receiving bearing characteristicparameters which provide the service to a relay RN, is transmitted by a movable management entity, and is corresponding to a pointed service quality mark, by a base station NB, and memorizing, whereinthe bearing corresponding to the pointed service quality mark is the bearing on the Un interface, wherein the bearing is at least used for transmitting a control plane signal of an user terminal UE;building the bearing which is corresponding to the pointed service quality mark on the Un interface between the NB and the RN; and transmitting the control plane signal of the UE on the bearing builton the NB and the RN. The method can transmit the control plane signal of the UE on the Un interface between the NB and the RN.


Hydrochloric acid doped polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers were synthesized by an interfacial polymerization with tetrachloride as the organic solvent and with a relatively higher aniline concentration. The doped PANI nanofibers were dispersed in cyclohexanone and the dispersion was mixed with solution of polyacrylate to prepare PANI nanofibers composite coatings. It was found that the yield of the doped PANI nanofibers can be as high as 23%, though a small amount of irregular shaped PANI particles and PANI nanofibers with relatively larger diameter were also obtained. The conductivity of the PANI nanofibers based composite coatings increased with the PANI nanofibers contents and a percolation threshold of 0.2 was demonstrated. The shielding effectiveness of the PANI nanofibers based coatings increased with PANI nanofibers loadings and shielding effectiveness as high as 63 dB can be achieved with PANI nanofibers loadings of 45%. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2008. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers


The HPV genome is divided into three regions: the long control region (LCR), which regulates viral gene expression and replication; the early (E) region, which encodes proteins required for viral gene expression, replication and survival; and the late (L) region, which encodes the viral structural proteins. The designations E and L refer to the phase in the viral life cycle when these proteins are first expressed.


Minimum Wage has a broad implementation in the number of countries, and is one of the main of the policies against the discrimination in labor market. Minimum wages are usually established by the government or they may come as part of collective bargaining contract. Minimum wages try to protect employees in receiving the compensation in order to be able to meet the expense of basic needs in living. According to the ILO Minimum Wage Convention No. 131 it is emphasized that elements in determining the level of minimum wages conditions should take in consideration basic needs of workers and their families, taking into account the general level of wages in the country, the cost of living, social security benefits, and the relative living standards of other social groups. Mainly this way Minimum Wages should be determined and implemented when there is a possibility and depending on the relation to each countries national practices. Minimum wages have different dimensions and the comparison of some of South Eastern European countries which will be the main subject of this paper, with the main emphasis of implementation of Minimum Wages in countries that are still in transition. We found that there are some improvements regarding labor protection since the introduction of the minimal wages.


The fundamental results from this investigation have shown that switching off the engine during periods when a vehicle is stationary should lead to an improvement in fuel consumption and in the emission of Co. The improvement for CO is on average 11% and for fuel consumption 11.5%. The reduction in pb-emission is directly proportional to the reduction in fuel consumption. The test results do not provide any expectation of an improvement in ch emission by switching off the engine. In this case, however, as was established in previous investigations, the introduction of an electro-magnetic slow running jet was shown to have a positive influence. It was also shown that no improvement could be expected by this measure in the emission of no. It must however be taken into consideration that the absolute emission of no in these operating conditions is very small due to the low combustion temperatures. With reference to diesel engines the tests show that on the basis of the europa-tests, only an improvement in fuel consumption is possible: correspondingly a reduction results in the emission of so2. In judging these results consideration must also be given to certain related questions such as increased noise when starting, maintenance of traffic flow by reliable starting, increased stress on the part of drivers due to switching off and re-starting and legal details. Furthermore account must be taken of the increased wear and tear on the electrical components and on the engine itself due to the repeated starting. Since the results described here were based on idling- and starting-times in the Kaiserslautern region, only a qualified transfer of the results for use in other large towns and conurbations is possible. (TRRL)


Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been described as a "next development of networked learning", and they have the potential to mediate sensory learning. To understand this phenomenon, the present systematic review examines the research techniques, subjects, and trends of MOOC research on sensory learning, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the MOOC relevant to sensory (olfactory) learning phenomena by evaluating 65 (four studies are about multisensorial learning and 61 are about multisensorial empirical MOOCs researches) empirical MOOC studies published between 2008 and 2021 by searching through databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The results indicated that most studies were based on quantitative research methods followed by mixed research methods and the qualitative research approaches; most of the studies were surveys, followed by platform databases and interviews; almost half of the studies were conducted using at least two methods for data collection: survey and interviews; most were replicated. The most highlighted subjects included student retention, learning experience, social learning, and engagement. Implications and studies into the future have been considered in order to obtain a more evolved understanding of the acquisition of knowledge through the senses.


The Siam Photon Source (SPS) is the 1.2 GeV second generation light source in Thailand. It is managed by the Synchrotron Light Research Institute (SLRI). The institute is located inside the campus of Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), which is approximately 20 km from the city of Nakhon Ratchasima (or normally called Korat). Korat is 250 km north-east of Bangkok. Two insertion devices (IDs) have been installed in the SPS storage ring during June to August 2013. These IDs require additional electrical field energy from RF cavity to compensate electron energy loss in the storage ring. The existing RF cavity has been pushed to its maximum capability and the new RF cavity is in the procurement process. The design and study of the new RF cavity will be presented. Electromagnetic fields of the cavity are studied together with the effects to electron beam instabilities.


DNA fingerprints have been generated for thirty cultivars of Capsicum annum L. using six AFLP and four ISSR primers. Six AFLP primer pairs and four ISSR primers generated 353 and 53 markers respectively. The AFLP technique showed significantly higher power of genotype discrimination (Marker Index=14.62) compared to that of ISSR (MI=3.72). Whereas each of the AFLP primer pairs could individually distinguish all the 30 accessions, a combination of three ISSR primers, (GATA)4, (CCTA)4, (ACTG)4 was required to discriminate all the 30 Capsicum accessions. The high level of heterozygosity detected by the ISSR markers indicates that this technique may be used effectively for diversity analysis and DNA fingerprinting of Capsicum.


Surfactin, a highly powerful biosurfactant produced by various strains of the genus Bacillus, exhibits antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor and hemolytic action. This anionic cyclic lipopeptide is constituted by a heptapeptide interlinked with a β-hydroxy fatty acid. Due to its amhipathic nature surfactin incorporates into the phospholipid bilayer and induces permeabilization and perturbation of target cells. The rising antibiotic resistance as well as a number of remarkable surfactin activities shows that it deserves special interest and is considered as a candidate compound for combating several health related issues. In this review, the current state of knowledge of surfactin properties, biomedical potential and limitations for its application is presented.


Accurately mapping and monitoring the urban impervious surface area (ISA) is crucial for understanding the impact of urbanization on heat islands and sustainable development. However, less is known about ISA spectra heterogeneity and their similarity to bare land, wetland, and high-rise-building shadows. This study proposes a feature-based approach using decision tree classification (FDTC) to map ISAs and their spatio-temporal changes in a coastal city in southeast China using Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS, and Sentinel-2 images from 2009 to 2021. Atmospheric correction using simplified dark object subtraction (DOS) was applied to Landsat imagery, which enabled faster computation. FDTC's performance was evaluated with three sensors with different spectral and spatial resolutions, with parameter thresholds held constant across remote-sensing images. FDTC produces a high average overall accuracy (OA) of 94.53%, a kappa coefficient (KC) of 0.855, and a map-level image classification efficacy (MICE) of 0.851 for ISA mapping over the studied period. In comparison with other indices such as BCI (biophysical composition index), PISI (automated built-up extraction index), and ABEI (perpendicular impervious surface index), the FDTC demonstrated higher accuracy and separability for extracting ISA and bare land as well as wetland and high-rise buildings. The results of FDTC were also consistent with those of two open-source ISA products and other remote sensing indices. The study found that the ISA in Xiamen City increased from 16.33% to 26.17% over the past 13 years due to vegetation occupation, encroachment onto bare land, and reclamation of coastal areas. While the expansion significantly reduced urban vegetation in rapidly urbanizing areas of Xiamen, ambitious park greening programs and massive redevelopment of urban villages resulted in a modest but continuous increase in urban green space.


A Hingebeak sfuinp (Rhychocinetes uritei) is a beautiful coral reef cleaner shrimp. Plenty of them were caught for omamental marinefish bussiness. Feeding regime of each development of cleaner shrimp was investigated for 14 days. The experimental design was CRD (Completely Randomized Design) which was including 5 treatments as the followingsi chaetocercs calcitrans, chaetoceros calcitruns and rctrter (Brachionus rotundiformis), chaetoceros calcitans and nauplius artemia, chaetoceros calcitrans rotifer and nuaplius artemia, chaetocercs calcitrans rotifer and supplemented nuaplius artemia at ? days old Hingebeak shrimp. Rate the survival by counting cleaner shrimp at s days, z days and r+ days. The results showed that the survival rate of Hingebeak shrimp was different significandy (P<o.os). Hingebeak shrimp r-l days old, before the first molting, consumcd on ch aetocercs calcitrxns, a- tl days old consumed more rotifer than nauplius artemia.


A reconfigurable THz Yagi antenna based on hybrid model combining graphene and metal is proposed. Based on this hybrid model, we designed a Yagi antenna whose radiation pattern can be reconfigured by changing the applied voltage on the parasite graphene elements.


The increasing interest in collecting and publishing large amounts of individuals' data as public for purposes such as medical research, market analysis, and economical measures has created major privacy concerns about individual's sensitive information. To deal with these concerns, many Privacy-Preserving Data Publishing (PPDP) techniques have been proposed in literature. However, they lack a proper privacy characterization and measurement. In this paper, we first present a novel multi-variable privacy characterization and quantification model. Based on this model, we are able to analyze the prior and posterior adversarial belief about attribute values of individuals. We can also analyze the sensitivity of any identifier in privacy characterization. Then, we show that privacy should not be measured based on one metric. We demonstrate how this could result in privacy misjudgment. We propose two different metrics for quantification of privacy leakage, distribution leakage, and entropy leakage. Using these metrics, we analyzed some of the most well-known PPDP techniques such as <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$k$</tex-math> <alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="ibrahim-ieq1-2797092.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>-anonymity, <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$l$</tex-math><alternatives> <inline-graphic xlink:href="ibrahim-ieq2-2797092.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>-diversity, and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$t$</tex-math><alternatives><inline-graphic xlink:href="ibrahim-ieq3-2797092.gif"/> </alternatives></inline-formula>-closeness. Based on our framework and the proposed metrics, we can determine that all the existing PPDP schemes have limitations in privacy characterization. Our proposed privacy characterization and measurement framework contributes to better understanding and evaluation of these techniques. Thus, this paper provides a foundation for design and analysis of PPDP schemes.


In this paper we report the fabrication and initial testing of a low voltage force-balanced surface micromachined barometric pressure sensor. In this device, the force and deformation of a diaphragm induced by an external pressure are balanced using electrostatic forces. The design described here has a full scale pressure range of 1 atmosphere, a nominal capacitance of 0.34 pF and a full scale range of 70 fF. The pressure is balanced by voltages in the range of 15-25 volts, which proves the feasibility of developing a closed-loop pressure sensor using low-voltage electronics.


An unsteady one-dimensional MHD model is developed to study (1) the essential physical processes involved in the development of the forward-reverse shock pair at large heliocentric distances, (2) the interaction of the shock pair with the rarefaction regions of the stream structure, and (3) the merging of two forward or reverse shocks. We use a method of solution which is quite different from the finite difference methods: MHD shocks (or contact surfaces) are treated as boundary surfaces. The presence of moving shocks divides the domain of interest in the r-t plane into several flow regions. The jump conditions of MHD shocks describe the flow conditions across the moving boundaries between flow regions. The method of characteristics describes the variation of flow conditions in each region. The solutions explain the formation of the shock pair in the leading edge region as resulting from the merging of fast waves. The strong MHD disturbances generated in the corotating interaction region (CIR) propagate at a fast speed relative to the moving material. The wave propagation speed is greater in CIR than in its surroundings. This causes the disturbances in CIR to pile up to form a shock pair. During the formation process the shocks continuously grow into a fully developed state. The newly formed shock pair will then propagate outward from the leading edge to interact with the ambient rarefaction regions. The double-sawtooth configuration of the velocity profile is a result of this interaction. We also obtain solutions to demonstrate that the merging of two shocks produces a stronger shock and a contact surface on its backside.


Based on documents,this paper analyzes the actuality of the national fitness programs progect.It has pointed that the resource collocation,investment system,project distribution,management system needed to be improved and exaltated.


Reporting to the Conference Dr. C. D. L. Lycett, Chairman of the Public Health Committee, referred to the many problems currently facing local authority doctors. He warned particularly of the difficulties of representation which the Industrial Relations Bill might cause for public health doctors. Approaches were to be made to local authority organizations, after publication of the Government's proposals on N.H.S. reorganization, about including public health doctors in the new Review Body. He expressed conicern, later echoed in the debate, about the dangers of separating the school health service from the Health Service. Among the maniy resolutions approved by the Conference was one calling for moves to reduce smoking in schoolchildren, another requesting greater priority for preventive health services, and one expressing concern about communication of confidential medical information between doctors and lay people. A plea was made to exempt the mentally ill from prescription charges, and the Conference also wanted a study of the problems of the medical fitness of drivers.


We have investigated the self-assembly behavior of an amphiphilic diblock copolymer, polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-PEO), in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)/water and DMF/acetonitrile. In...


The research of oil/air two-phase flow and heat transfer is the fundamental work of the design of lubrication and heat transfer in aero-engine bearing chamber. The determination of impact state criterion of the moving oil droplets with the wall and the analysis of oil droplet deposition characteristics are important components. In this paper, the numerical analysis model of the impact between the moving oil droplet and the wall is established by using the finite volume method, and the simulation of oil droplet impingement on the wall is carried out. Then the effects of oil droplet diameter, impact velocity, and incident angle on the characteristic parameters of impact state are discussed. The characteristic parameters include the maximum spreading length, the maximum spreading width, and the number of splashing oil droplets. Lastly the calculation results are verified through comparing with the experimental results in the literature. The results show as follows: (1) The maximum spreading width of oil droplet firstly increases and then slows down with the incident angle and the oil droplet diameter increasing; (2) when the oil droplet diameter becomes small, the influence of the incident angle on the maximum spreading length of oil droplet is obvious and vice versa; (3) with the impact velocity and diameter of oil droplet increasing, the maximum spreading width of oil droplet increases firstly and then slows down, and the maximum spreading length increased gradually; (4) the number of splashing oil droplets increases with the incident angle and impact velocity increasing; and (5) compared with the experimental data in literature, the critical dimensionless splashing coefficient K c proposed in this paper can better distinguish the impact state of oil droplet.


The authors consider key concepts in the system of language education in both Russia and the USA and analyze the language education programmes for secondary school students. In our research, we identify the factors that caused the reforms in the system of school education in the United States. These factors include the process of globalization associated with the change to the information society; the demography of the country; social demand; as well as variety of university associations, which set standards for professional teachers training programmes in higher educational institutions. These factors become popular in other countries as well as in Russia. The research reveals the main issues of effective implementation of bilingual and multilingual programmes in US schools from different perspectives. At a personal level, we do agree with the point of view of prominent American educators, that the activity, and, as a result, academic success vary from student to student. In a class, groups of students can differ significantly from each other, despite the existence of a single multilingual programme. In a school, the effectiveness of some schools in training multilingual and multicultural students with almost the same cultural background in identical learning environment is worth studying. Finally, in a broader sense, the effectiveness of the implementation of the bilingual and multilingual program is measured at the level of the municipal administrative body of education. Researchers are also interested in the content of the language studied. It is obvious that the basis of the content of education in the multilingual class is the study of language and culture. The main problem is the interaction of these two basic concepts in education.


An editorial perspective on Barbieri and Capri article: Is vaccination good value for money? A review of cost-utility analyses of vaccination strategies in eight European countries


In this paper, the results for the CEC 2010 Competition and Special Session on Constrained Real-Parameter Optimization using the multiobjective differential evolution algorithm with spherical pruning (sp-MODE) are presented. According to the obtained results, the sp-MODE shows to be able to find feasible solutions in highly constrained search spaces.


Based on the grassland primary production data obtained from Xilinguole League and Hulunbier League,the paper introduced the calculation method for herbage yield monthly dynamic coefficient.Herbage production dynamic changing patterns in different types of grasslands and in different regions were compared.The changing patterns under different grazing pressures were also examined.It was showed that herbage yield monthly changing patterns were similar in different situations.In most cases,the highest herbage yield occurred in August.In considering the similarity of climatic features in different pastoral regions in northern China,it was recommended that the method of calculating herbage yield dynamic coefficient introduced in this paper could be applied to more widespread regions in northern China.Some coefficients deduced from this paper could even be directly adopted by other regions with similar climate feature.


Extreme climatic events such as droughts threaten forests and their climate mitigation potential globally. Stability, the ability of forests to maintain functioning in periods of stress, is therefore expected to be a primary focus of forest management in the 21st century. A key management strategy suggested for enhancing stability may be to increase tree species richness in secondary and plantation forests. Here, we aim to understand the drivers that may promote forest stability in mixed-species tree communities. We use structural equation models to explain how tree species richness, asynchronous species dynamics and diversity in hydraulic traits affect the stability of yearly forest productivity along an experimentally manipulated biodiversity gradient ranging from monocultures up to mixtures of 24 tree species. Tree species richness improved stability by increasing species asynchrony. That is, at higher species richness, inter-annual variation in productivity among tree species buffered the community against stress-related productivity declines. This effect was mediated by diversity in species’ hydraulic traits in relation to drought tolerance and stomatal control within the community, but not by the community-weighted means of these hydraulic traits. The examined hydraulic traits may be used to select suitable tree species and design mixtures that stabilize productivity in an increasingly variable climate through diverse response strategies, while excluding those that would succumb to drought or competition. The identified mechanisms by which tree species richness stabilizes forest productivity emphasize the importance of hydraulically diverse, mixed-species forests to adapt to climate change.


Purpose

How do you teach the future when it has not happened yet? The purpose of this paper is to delve into the teaching and learning philosophies of Futurist Dr Ian Yeoman of Victoria University of Wellington who emphasises authenticity, problem-based learning, visuals as creative tools and students' negotiating problems.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a reflective account of the Author Dr Ian Yeoman as a human instrument.

Findings

The paper overviews three papers taught by the Author Dr Ian Yeoman – TOUR104 is a first-year introductory course addressing how the drivers and trends in the macro environment influence tourism from a political, economic, social, technology and environment perspective. TOUR301 is a third-year course as part of the bachelor of tourism management degree. The course aims to help students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to understand and critically analyse tourism public policy, planning and processes within New Zealand and a wider context. TOUR413 is a scenario planning paper, applied in a tourism context and taught to students in postgraduate programs.

Originality/value

The paper examines different learning tools and strategies in order to deliver the philosophy with scaffolding and incremental learning featuring predominantly in this approach.


Mixed transition metal oxides are central to the development of materials for oxygen evolution reaction, oxygen redn. reaction, and energy storage. Discreet clusters contg. mixed transition metal-oxido moiety were targeted. A series of heterometallic trimanganese-tetraoxido cubanes (M'Mn_3O_4) supported by a trisalkoxy-hexapyridyl ligand with a 1, 3,5-triarylbenzene spacer were previously reported where M' is a redox-inactive metal. Transmetallation of the Ca^2+ center of [CaMn_3O_4] with M^2+ salts (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) yielded the mixed transition metal manganese-oxido cubanes (MMn_3O_4). The series of complexes was characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, dispersive difference diffraction anal., cyclic voltammetry, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Dispersive difference diffraction anal. confirmed that the Mn centers remain at their original sites within the cubane moiety upon transmetallation of the Ca by other metals. Cyclic voltammetry studies show significant changes in the Mn^(IV)_3/Mn^(III)Mn^(IV)_2 redox potentials as a function of metal M. Through Mossbauer spectroscopy, XANES, and X-ray diffraction studies, it was detd. that redox reactions occur at Mn centers instead of M. These well-defined complexes have been employed as precursors for heterogeneous water oxidn. electrocatalysts.


Background: The role of RHTC set up under MCI requirement of medical colleges is rising in implementation of NRHM phase 2 programme (2012 onwards); as private medical colleges are expanding in India and they can be an important supporter in public-private partnership for national health programmes. Objective of current study was to assess the role of rural health training centre as a supporting component to a primary health care system for NRHM programme. Methods: The present study was carried out by comparative evaluation of the rural health and training centre of a private medical college with a sub-centre (Muzaffarnagar) on key RCH services of NRHM: a) Family planning materials distribution, b) ANC services and c) Immunization services. Inclusion criteria: Proper ethical approval from both primary health care system and private medical college authorities were obtained for the study. Study design: Prospective evaluation based study on ANM in SC & SN in RHTC in NRHM programme for 1 year duration from 1 st January 2013 to 31 st December 2013. Data analysis: The statistical data was analysed by Epi-info version 7.1.3. Results: The ANC services, family planning services and immunization services delivered under NRHM programme was found to statistically significantly contributed (P <0.05) by SN of RHTC as compared to ANM of SC in area of Bilaspur, Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh). Conclusion: RHTC of a private medical college in Muzaffarnagar (UP) is significantly contributing and supporting in RCH services of NRHM programme for primary health care system. RHTC of medical colleges can be an asset for public private partnership in NRHM programme.


Scholars often call for research on the public's involvement in crisis and risk mitigation. Yet, before the public can be persuaded to become involved in new mitigation initiatives, risk managers must first understand how members of the public perceive such initiatives. Grounded in diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory, this study presents insights from 70 adult residents of a US urban metro area through focus group research. Findings yield insights about public perceptions of risk management innovations including that 'greater good' incentives can motivate interest in innovations (more so than financial incentives), thereby extending DOI theory. In addition, participants suggested mechanisms for facilitating government transparency to encourage program participation, along with additional insights about involving the public in government-sponsored risk management innovations.


How does a fashion design practice that takes responsibility for what it brings into being, operate? Is it enough to use 'environmentally friendly' materials and processes and instigate an ethical supply chain in the production of ever-increasing amounts of clothing? When a fashion practice asks of itself: "what will my designs design?" it invites a response that cannot do other than fundamentally redirect that fashion practice away from the accepted modes of practice towards one that prioritises sustain-ability. This paper outlines the work to date of the fashion practice research project: The Living Wardrobe. Responding to Tony Fry's Design Futuring (2009), Doug McKenzie-Mohr's Fostering Sustainable Behaviour (2011) and Jonathan Chapman's Emotionally Durable Design (2005), the research explores the idea of 'enduring product experience' as a means to create fashion products with sustain-ability.


A vast number of planetary systems are found close to young stellar objets, revolving at distances less than 1 AU. These planetary systems are yet inaccessible to the new generations of instruments. Investigating the origin and the evolution of these systems is the goal of the Star-PlanetInner Disk Interactions (SPIDI) project. The project's strategy includes synergies between observational techniques and numerical modeling of planetary systems embedded in the accretion disk of their hosting star. Radiative transfer simulations of the formation of strong emission lines (Na D, helium, hydrogen lines...) will shorten the gap between the models and the observations hence between what is known and what's remain.


Green ship using LNG for fuel has emerged as new trend recently due to increasing environmental regulations in the world. This is the reason for continuous active research of LNG Tank. IMO type 'B' independent LNG cargo tank has received attention in order to get over limitation of membrane type LNG cargo tank. In this paper, global FE analysis was carried out in order to find out structural considerations of IMO type 'B' LNG cargo tank.


ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of cash conversion cycle (CCC) on cost of equity (COE). A CCC measures the time it takes for a firm to convert its inventory into cash flows from sales. A CCC is one of several metrics that evaluates a firm's operational risk, and this paper investigates whether CCC affects COE. Using 29,248 firm-year observations that span 1984–2018, we find that firms with longer CCC have higher equity financing costs. Furthermore, we observe significant moderating effects of product market conditions and information asymmetry. The positive relationship becomes weaker (stronger) with greater competition and demand uncertainty (information asymmetry). Our findings provide useful insights for managers as our results reveal that investors recognize CCC as a value-relevant signal in determining COE.


The ejector design is defined by the operational conditions and by the system/application the ejector will be used for. By changing the geometrical design of the ejector, the characteristics of the ejector will change and the operational area where the ejector is more efficient will also change. Different system designs will have different requirements and will require/benefit most from ejector designs that are adapted to the unique characteristics of each system type. The present paper is briefly describing an investigation of typical ejector systems along with the characteristics of an ejector dedicated for these systems. Experimental studies were conducted by SINTEF with a multi ejector and different geometrical ejector designs where investigated. Almost 1000 experiments have been performed mapping the various ejectors at different operational conditions.


The net neutrality debate has continued to develop at European level, particularly regarding the significance and use of the provisions in the "telecom package". This paper concentrates on the important activity of BEREC in this area. Four pieces of related work were included in its 2011 Work Programme, following its response to the Commission's 2010 Open Internet consultation, and in addition to an upcoming investigation designed to provide market evidence by early 2012. BEREC experts have been looking at Quality of Service (relating to the new discretionary power under the Framework to set minimum requirements); the IP interconnection market situation; Competition and discrimination issues (assessing the impact of differentiated traffic management on competition, innovation and consumer welfare). Furthermore, the first public consultation was recently launched on draft Guidelines on Net neutrality and Transparency, which aim at ensuring that users benefit from effective transparency.


An instrumentation system or a control system does not have to exist at one specific location, nor does a system have to exist in a specific cabinet. Nowadays, the idea of centralised systems is being replaced by the concept of distributed systems. Control engineers long ago discovered the frailty of centralised control rooms and took the advent of the microprocessor to distribute control actions to the point of application. Instrumentation engineers working in the same epoch seized the opportunity to incorporate intelligence into the point of measurement, and computer engineers developed the technique of distributed computing by means of networking. This chapter investigates the means of communication between instruments and controllers using digital computers. It deals first with the ideas of distributed systems and discusses serial interfaces. Later, the modern techniques of local and wide area networking are applied, but not in detail.


The Aeromonas hydrophila were selectd for challenge test on Carassius auratus.The blood physiological and biochemical indices were monitored.The results were showed as follows: The Hb,α-amylase,TP,TG,ALP,UK,Ca,P and Cl showed no significantly differneces between the control group and experimental group(P0.05).The monocyte,GPT,CHO and K showed significantly differneces between the control group and experimental group(P0.05).But the RBC,lymphocyte,neutrophil,AST/GOT and CHE showed significantly serious differneces between the control group and experimental group(P0.01).


: Modified starches play an important role in producing the texture of processed foods. Main modified starches for food are divided in starch to prevent retrogradation and crosslinking starch to improve stability of viscosity. To add "mochimochi (glutinous, sticky)" texture to food, low-amylose starch or tapioca starch are main choices. Furthermore, to add "sakusaku" (crisp) texture to food, degradable starch is effective. To make fish products more "puripuri" (gelatinous, springiness), oil coated starch can be selected. To keep "funwari" (Soft) texture in bread or cake, pregelatinized starch which contains vegetable oil is preferable. Selecting proper kinds of basic starches or modified starches is important to make the special texture of processed foods.


A possible approach to raise the efficiency of single-junction solar cells is to couple them with thermoelectric generators (TEGs). It was shown that TEG contribution to the output power is basically ruled by the characteristics of the photovoltaic (PV) material. In this study, we present a quantitative model that correlates the efficiency of the hybrid thermoelectric–photovoltaic (HTEPV) device with the energy gap and the working temperature of the solar cell. Two HTEPV structures are discussed, one capable only to recover the heat released by relaxation of hot electron–hole pairs; and a second one also capturing the low–energy part of the solar spectrum. We show that in the second case the increase of the conversion efficiency could justify the effort needed to add a TEG stage to the PV device. HTEPV constructions are also shown to enable the use of wide-gap materials that are not currently considered in PV applications.


Paper presents the results of research in order to determine the impact of selected new filtration methods on roughness results of standard surfaces – sinusoidal (C type) and random (D type). Three filtering methods were chosen: robust Gaussian filter, spline filter, morphological filters. Studies with use contact method and confocal profiling method (optical) were made. Results of selected height roughness profile and surface parameters were analysed.


The feeding behavior and constriction pattern of adults and juveniles Oxyrhopus guibei Hoge & Romano, 1978 preying on rodents and lizards are described. An analysis of stomach contents of snakes preserved in collections was made to study its diet. The results indicate that this snake constricts prey with right to left side movements, horizontal position and with the dorsal portion of its body. Rodents were constricted by adult snakes whereas lizard were swallowed alive. The diet is composed of lizards and rodents, with an ontogenetic shift from lizards to rodents.


The progress of history is brought about by the constant innovation of knowledge.Knowledge management has become a kind of management innovation,with the changing of environment,the progress of society,the accumulation of mankind′s material wealth and important role of knowledge in modern society.One important destiny of library is to support,facilitate and promote knowledge updating,fasten the process of information and knowledge innovation in a broader sense,thus it can benefit the mankind.


Objective: Passive exposure to cigarette smoke is an important public health problem and is considered to be one of the most important external factors negatively affecting the health of infants and children. Cars are an important environment for exposure to cigarette smoke. This study aimed to determine passive smoking with cigarette smoke in private cars in children of smoker and non-smoker families. Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on parents who had children at the Antalya Ataturk Governmental Hospital (n = 524). The sample of the study consisted of 113 parents, whose children were 0-11 years of age, who voluntarily participated in the study and who had a private car. In the collection of the research data, the literature on the subject was searched and a form consisting of the descriptive characteristics of the families and questions related to the research topic was developed by the researchers. Results: Smoking frequency was found to be 31.0% for the mothers and 45.1% for the fathers. Most families (72.6%) declared that they did not give permission to smoke in the car when the children were present. According to their declaration, the percentage of smoker mothers who smoked in the car was 31.4 % and the percentage for the fathers was also 31.4%. The smoking mothers gave permission to other people to smoke in the car at higher rates than the smoker fathers (54.3% and 19.6%) (p<0.005). The less educated mothers and fathers smoked more in cars than the higher educated ones (p<0.05). Conclusion: Smoking mothers and fathers also smoked in the car and other people in the car were also more likely to smoke (p<0.005). The awareness of the families, especially smoker families, on exposure to tobacco smoke in cars with children should be increased. The families should develop rules banning smoking for themselves and the other adults traveling in their car with and without children.


Welding is one of the fundamental processes for metal joining in automotive industries and there is an increasing concern over occupational lung disease among welder due to exposure towards welding fumes. A lung disease questionnaire (ATS-DLD-78) was used to record the presence of respiratory symptoms among welders and in assessing lung function assessment, FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC are considered for identifying the lung condition; normal, obstructive or restrictive. The data were tabulated and subjected to logistic and multivariate analyses. Meanwhile, in order to trace metal in welders' body, this study utilized a non-invasive approach of toenail as a biomarker. Lung functions decrement was established in linear regression for FEV1 and FEV1/FVC respectively although not statistically significant. Analysis conducted revealed the presence of the following trace elements concentration in ascending sequence: As < Al < Cu < Mn < Cr < Ni < Co < Fe (in the toenail) and Co < Al < Cu < Ni < As < Cr < Fe < Mn (in the cassette), respectively. The results validated the postulation that toenail metals composition shared a similar route of exposure with an anthropogenic source of activity. It is suggested a longer follow-up study is required to assess individual effects on lung function systems and the incidence of respiratory diseases among welders and this study indicates that toenail is a reliable biomarker of metal-workplace pollution and suitable for acquiring chronological information of welding fumes exposure.


Self‐fertility in diploid potato is independent of self‐compatibility SNP genotyping may be confounded by copy number variation Genomic regions of a highly heterozygous species resist homozygosity during inbreeding


A tight, transparent, and portable integration between C++ and LISP is desirable and feasible. This paper describes the C++ interface supplied with, a modern LISP dialect which extends the proposed ISLisp standard with a module system, a metaobject protocol, and an extensive set of libraries. The interface parses C++ header files and generates C++ stub interface files, as well as TALK modules which implement proxy classes and TALK foreign function definitions for C++ functions. The programmer then has nearly complete access to the functionality of a C++ library.


Cycling lithiated metal oxides to high potential (>4.5 V vs Li) is of significant interest for the next generation of lithium ion batteries. However, cells cycled to high potential suffer from rapid capacity fade due to a combination of thickening of the anode solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and impedance growth on the cathode. While transition metal catalysed degradation of the anode SEI has been widely proposed as a primary source of capacity loss, a related acid induced degradation of the anode SEI is proposed. A systematic investigation of LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2, and LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cathodes cycled to 4.2 and 4.6 V has been conducted and the oxidative generation of the strong acid difluorophosphoric acid (F2PO2H) has been quantified by solution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Ex-situ surface analysis of the electrodes with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggests that the generation of F2PO2H correlates with a thickening of the anode SEI and an increase in the fluorophosphate content of the SEI. Changes to the LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 surface for cells cycled to 4.6 V are also consistent with the generation of acidic species. There is good correlation between the concentration F2PO2H, anode SEI degradation and the capacity loss of the cells


This study investigates transport and electrostatic behavior of quasi 1D nanowires adopting a relatively simple planar fabrication technique. The confined conduction channel is created by etching an oxide trench, realizing a T-gate structure. Since multiple channels are normally needed to realize sufficient current drive in practical applications, the behavior of single and coupled adjacent silicon nanowires is characterized using a 3D quantum corrected Monte Carlo approach. Results indicate that a single T-gate structure provides over 27% increase in current drive compared to conventional MOSFET at a drain voltage of 1V. In addition, design consideration and recommendation is presented. Cross section of a T-gate MOSFET. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


With the rapid development of advanced technology and the wide application in the production , manufacturing technologies and management concept in the enterprises are changing. So in the developed countries, management theories and practices have been innovated correspondingly, which is mainly represented is Activity based Cost Management of Europe and America and Cost Design of Japan.Activity based Cost Management is a way with the activities as its core,Activity based Costing as the medium, and product design, just in time production and total quanlity management as the emphases, and uniting the procedure of Activity based Costing and that of activity analysis. Cost design is a way of cost management , which is based on the stage of product design, which makes economical cost deeply built in the technologically manufacturing plan with production cost in circulation. Though the introduction and the comparison between Activity based Cost Management and Cost Design, it will help to reform of enterprises' cost management and the improvement of their performance in our country.


a dilemma, and did not know what to do. I again examined her teeth very carefully and found every one apparently sound. I happened to remember a case I had many years ago, where all the teeth in the patient's mouth were sound, bur that one molar had a peculiar sound different from the rest when tapping it. I extracted this molar and found, after splitting it, that the nerve was dead and the odor from it was anything but pleasant. I now determined to drill into the


Hegerfeldt's (1974) concept of T-positivity in Euclidean random fields is generalised to non-commutative probability theory, that is, to Euclidean Fermi fields and to current algebra with possible Schwinger terms. The axioms imply the Wightman axioms. A non-Abelian form of Markovicity is introduced, and is shown to imply T-positivity if a reflection property holds. The investigation suggests a generalization of Nelson-Symanzik positivity, which might be valid in cases when the extension of the Schwinger functions to coinciding arguments is not expected to maintain both commutativity and positivity (or anti-commutativity and positivity).


Postmodern criminology promotes successful crime control through fulfillment of basic human rights of citizens. For Indonesia, the legal framework to realize and fulfill civil rights are already guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution and supported by the state philosophy of Pancasila. However, despite such framework, structural adjustments are still necessary to ensure Indonesian society achieves full protection of these constitutionally recognized civil and political rights. This paper analyzes the constitutive criminology tradition which discourse attempts to ensure social structures are developed and institutionalized to create conditions to deter illegal acts and breach of laws. It posits that in this respect, crime should be seen as a result of the workings of Indonesian society which must be enabled to ensure equal opportunities for all Indonesians to freely and socially interact without harming others.


We explore the role of the dilaton field on higher-derivative supergravity within the framework of Double Field Theory and use it to fix the Lorentz-noncovariant field redefinitions connecting the metric and dilaton fields with the duality multiplets.


SMEs play an important role and have been major contributors to the socio-economic development of Malaysia. However, due to increasing number of competition, many organisations, either in the public or private sector, are instigating their own competitive intelligence (CI) services to guide their decision makers. However, most companies still do not establish a formal department of CI even though it is apparent that CI is becoming increasingly vital to a company?s survival in today?s dynamic economies. In addition, in studies of internet adoption by Malaysian SMEs in a developing country, it is found that although access to social media has improved, engagement and use of the Internet is still at low levels in small companies. Thus, this study was conducted to identify the mediating effect of social media marketing adoption between competitive intelligence and SME performance. Theoretical framework of this study was derived from Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) that figure out whether the user were able to adopt the new technologies. The study was carried out in East Coast Region of Malaysia using 339 respondents and analysed using Smart PLS 3.0. Overall, the study provides supportive evidence that social media marketing adoption mediates the relationship between competitive intelligence and SME performance. Competitive intelligence also found to be significantly affect the SME performance.


Species of Tetrancistrum from New Caledonian and Australian fishes are studied. Three new species are described. T. nasonis sp. n. from Naso annulatus differs from other species in the genus by the presence of an ejaculatory bulb, muscular projections in the wall of the copulation canal, and a copulatory organ consisting of a curved penis stylet with a curved accessory piece within the curve of the stylet. T. nebulosi sp. n. from Siganus nebulosus, Siganus oramin, and Siganus sp. differs from other species in the genus by the single rod-shaped accessory piece to the copulatory organ and the shape of the copulation canal. T. oraminii sp. n. from Siganus oramin differs from other species in the genus by the boomerang-shaped accessory piece to the copulatory organ with a recurved spine. T. fusiforme comb. n. is placed into this genus and a new record is made of its occurrence in Australia on Siganus lineatus and Acanthurus xanthopterus. Pseudohaliotrema longiphallus (MacCallum, 1915) comb. n. is removed into Pseudohaliotrema Yamaguti, 1953 and the genus Tetrancistrum is reviewed and its generic diagnosis emended. During an investigation into the monogenoid fauna of Australian fishes several species of Tetrancistrum Goto and Kikuchi, 1917 were found on the gills of members of the families Acanthuridae and Siganidae. Three of these were subsequently found to be new and the fourth was a new host and locality record. The present paper incorporates descriptions of these species together with a review and rediagnosis of the genus. All valid species so far described in Tetrancistrum are reported only from the Indo-Australasian fish fauna. Members of the Siganidae are the most numerous hosts and all species in this family except one are restricted to the Indo-Australasian area. Members of the Acanthuridae are the only other hosts reported to date, but the species concerned-Naso annulatus and Acanthurus xanthopterus-are restricted to the Indo-Pacific region. The only species of Tetrancistrum reported from a host not belonging to either of the above-mentioned families is T. lutiani Tubangui, 1931. This species was described on Lutjanus lioglossus from an aquarium which also contained species of the Acanthuridae and Siganidae and it is therefore unlikely that L. lioglossus was the natural host. The fish examined were collected by spearing or cast net. The specimens of Tetrancistrum were fixed flattened and unflattened in an AFA mixture and stained with hemalum. Received for publication 3 April 1967. * Present address. The addition of three new species to this genus has allowed a more explicit interpretation of the scope of the genus and the generic diagnosis is therefore emended accordingly. All measurements are in microns unless otherwise mentioned. Tetrancistrum generic diagnosis emend. Ancyrocephalinae Bychowsky, 1937 with characters of subfamily. Larval hooks all of same size; opisthaptoral transverse bars two, unarticulated, ventral bar smaller than dorsal. Hamuli two dissimilar pairs, roots with longitudinal striations, blades narrow, curved, much smaller than roots; dorsal hamuli with small ventral roots, large dorsal roots; ventral hamuli with almost equal roots, each root broad, massive, with nearly parallel sides. Gut bifurcate, crura united posteriorly, sometimes diverticulate laterally or ramified posteriorly. Testis circular, postovarian, perforated dorsoventrally; sperm duct not looping around gut crus; copulatory organ with sclerotized tubular penis stylet and one or more accessory pieces. Ovary dorsoventrally perforated, not looping around gut crus; copulation canal pore dextral. Type species: Tetrancistrum sigani Goto and Kikuchi, 1917. Included species: T. fusiforme (Yamaguti, 1953) comb. n., T. lutiani Tubangui, 1931, T. nasonis sp. n., T. nebulosi sp. n., T. oraminii sp. n.


LTE has been developed for low latencies, high data rates and greater spectral efficiency. In downlink space diversity is used to provide better quality of service to the user. In space diversity schemes transmit diversity is preferred over the receiver diversity schemes. In this paper data is generated and transmitted by employing both transmit diversity and receiver diversity and the performance is examined with respect to the data received.


Multi-access edge computing (MEC) has emerged as a promising paradigm because of its good performance for computation-intensive and latency-critical applications. However, the enormous computing requests from computation service subscribers (CSSs) still cannot be satisfied by pre-existing edge computation nodes (ECNs). To fully utilize the advantage of the MEC network, a hierarchical computation offloading framework is developed under network virtualization (NV) scenario. Accordingly, a two-step sequential process is designed to stimulate the proposed framework. In the first step, an incentive mechanism is proposed in which more temporary ECNs can be motivated by MEC operator and then join the MEC network. Without perfect ECN information, the optimal contract items (the ECN's CPU contribution and reward) between the MEC operator and ECNs can be achieved by taking account of individual rationality (IR) and incentive compatible (IC) constraints. After acquiring the ECNs' CPU contributions, the computing resource allocation problem between the ECNs and CSSs is then considered in the second step. Since the CSSs have private information, a Bayesian matching game with externality is leveraged to model the problem. Whereas, the conventional resident-oriented Gale-Shapley (RGS) algorithm cannot ensure the stability. Hence, an iterative matching algorithm that can always converge to stable results is developed. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that our proposed two-step sequential decision process can significantly improve social welfare considering the practical scenarios, with reasonable computational complexity.


Thank you very much for downloading elements of computer aided design and manufacturing. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have search hundreds times for their chosen books like this elements of computer aided design and manufacturing, but end up in malicious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they cope with some malicious virus inside their computer.


Present paper shows that even seemingly acceptable linearization of the mathematical model of harmonically excited nonlinear magnetic circuit may lead to appreciable errors.


As part of a study devoted to the high temperature behaviour of SG cast irons, the ferritic transformation during isothermal holding after austenitising has been previously investigated by dilatometry. At the beginning of the holding, it was observed that the material undergoes a contraction, which could be experimentally related to the carbon desaturation of austenite. This initial step was found to delay the growth of ferrite by a time similar to the so-called incubation time. In an attempt to better understand the various processes occurring during temperature cycling of SG cast irons, this paper reports results concerned with experiments carried out in the austenite Held. Experiments consisted to follow the length change of samples during temperature cycling above the eutectoid reaction. Three well-inoculated SG cast irons with various levels of Mn and Cu have been investigated. It was found that cycling does not affect significantly the overall dimension of the samples, and that alloying additions do not have any effect. However, as in the previous work, predictions assuming purely diffusive transfer of carbon do not agree with the measured times for dimensional changes. Additional considerations assuming coupling between diffusion and stresses and interfacial reaction limiting the transfer of carbon will be considered.


In the present article we revise the influence of models from Murillo in the work of the Sevilian painter Bernardo Lorente German, we analyze his contribution to the genre of portrait and present some unpublished paintings here attributed to Lorente.


The major portion of health care dollars is spent on illness care and yet the health outcomes of the United States are poorer than many countries that spend much less. A shift must occur in spending to place more emphasis on prevention. Increasing health promotion and wellness programs in industries is one prevention strategy for decreasing health care costs and improving health outcomes. Although the workplace is a logical site for health promotion, few small employers offer programs and few understand how to balance program costs against benefits. Yet, while at work, the employees are a captive audience and are more likely to engage in wellness activities.


To identify subjects by classifying motor imagery EEG signal. Second-order blind identification (SOBI), a blind source separation (BSS) algorithm was applied to preprocess EEG data in for higher signal-to-noise ratio. Subsequently, Fisher distance was used to extract features. Finally, classification of extracted features was performed by back-propagation neural networks. Four types motor imagery EEG of three subjects was classified respectively. The results showed that the average classification accuracy achieved over 80%, and the highest was 88.1% on tongue movement imagery EEG.


Hydrous iron sulfates, which form as alteration products of sulfides, are rare on Earth. On Mars, the low temperature and pH found in the martian permafrost create ideal conditions for the formation of this group of minerals [1], which includes such phases as coquimbite (Fe2(SO4) 9H2O) and amarantite (FeSO4(OH) 3H2O). Viking, Mars Pathfinder, MER and OMEGA data [e.g., [2]] have all indicated the presence of high sulfur contents on the surface of Mars, but the mineralogy of the sulfur-rich phases has not been well constrained. Recent work by [3] suggests that hydrous iron sulfates might satisfy the Martian thermal emission, vis-near IR, and M ssbauer spectra. These data suggest that sulfide and sulfate minerals might be significant contributors to all types of spectra acquired on the Martian surface.


Israel Joshua Singer and his younger brother Isaac Bashevis are well-known writers in Italy. Their sister Hinde Esther (1891-1954), - Kreitman is her marriage name-is still relatively unknown, according to S. S. Prawer. She is described as a sorrowful and odd girl in their brothers' autobiographical works and, as it happens to many sisters of geniuses, she inspired many female characters in their fiction. The most famous of them is Yentl in Isaac Bashevis' short story by the same name, a girl who disguises herself as a man in order to acquire knowledge, which at the time was forbidden to women. In Esther Kreitman's works life is always viewed from a female's perspective - thereby differentiating her work from her brothers' masterpieces. Her writings show the patriarchal oppression of the chassidic world in a lively and original language. Her brother Isaac said in a posthumous recognition of her literary works: «I do not know a single woman in Yiddish literature who wrote better than she did». Of the three siblings she was not the least talented.


Asymptotic properties of electromagnetic waves are studied within the context of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmology. Electromagnetic fields are considered as small perturbations on the background spacetime and Maxwell's equations are solved for all three cases of flat, closed and open FRW universes. The asymptotic character of these solutions are investigated and their relevance to the problem of cosmological tails of electromagnetic waves is discussed.


Nitrogen-functionalized carbon nanotubes are promising materials in catalysis due to their versatile surface properties involving nitrogen groups, oxygen groups, surface defects and metal impurities. These factors can be used to tune the dispersion, morphology, crystal structure, electronic structure, mobility/stability and finally the catalytic performance of supported metal nanoparticles. This review focuses on selected examples aiming at understanding the interactions between surface groups, defects, and metal species and their impact on the catalytic properties in electrocatalysis and gas-phase redox catalysis.


This paper aims to describe the design of a robot dolphin with a voluntary movement function. First, a motion mechanism is described based on 3D motion analysis to determine the length of each link and the swing angle of each joint in the robot dolphin. Two microchips are used to control the swing angle of the actuator in each joint. In order to understand the motion characteristics of the robot dolphin, a microcomputer is installed in order to obtain various motion data. The experimental data for three-axis accelerations and three-axis angles are found to be the same as the oscillatory frequency of the robot dolphin in the swing forward motion. The robot dolphin is designed to possess an avoidable collision function and artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence consists of the preprocessing image and back-propagation learning to implement specific motion identification.


A boundary condition which models locally reacting boundaries is derived for the generalized parabolic equation. This formulation is valid over nonhorizontal boundary surfaces. The derived condition is discretized using Lagrange polynomials. Particular implementation schemes are discussed for nonhorizontal boundaries. Numerical results compare the accuracy of this approach with other methods that have been used with the PE. Comparison with experimental results may also be presented. [Work supported by ONR and USACECOM.]


Abstract : For any route clearance company or maneuver unit that will partner with a foreign army unit, we offer our strategy and lessons learned, build a relationship of trust, create consistency, and demand progress toward self-sufficiency. This article describes how A Company, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, built on these pillars to form what was called the most successful partnership in Afghanistan. The roads in Paktika Province are mostly unpaved, unimproved, and laden with improvised explosive devices (IEDs). These devices serve as a powerful deterrent to travel by military vehicles. This explains the need for route clearance packages, specially equipped combat engineer platoons trained to find and neutralize these explosive obstacles. After 5 months of route clearance operations in Paktika, our company mission changed to one of partnership. The primary task was to train the route clearance company (RCC) of the 2d Brigade, 203d Corps of the Afghan National Army (ANA). With little more information than an address in Kabul where By Captain Mark D. Gillman the ANA unit basic course was underway and the simple guidance to train the ANA, we began our preparations. We first conducted a leader s reconnaissance that included the commander, first sergeant, squad leaders from our two route clearance packages, and an interpreter. We visited the soldiers of the RCC two weeks before their graduation, observed their training, met with their commander, inspected their equipment, and quizzed the contracted trainers on their curriculum. We learned that there is already a decent draft field manual (also available in the Dari language) that describes the training methodology, task organization, equipment, and primary duties of an RCC. It provides the trainers, partners, and ANA leaders a common understanding of what to expect.