This paper discusses how the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics can provide for a natural account of the emergence of spacetime events from a quantum substratum. In this account, spacetime is not a substantive manifold that becomes occupied with events; rather, spacetime itself exists only in virtue of specific actualized events. This implies that spacetime is discrete rather than continuous, and that properties attributed to spacetime based on the notion of a continuum are idealizations that do not apply to the real physical world. It is further noted that the transactional picture of the emergence of spacetime can provide the quantum dynamics that underlie the causal set approach as proposed by Sorkin and others.


In this chapter, we review time synchronization and calibration for wireless sensor networks. We will first consider time synchronization in Sections 1.1–1.6, before turning to calibration in Section 1.7. We will show that time synchronization can be considered as a calibration problem and many observations about time synchronization can be transferred to calibration. In Section 1.1, we discuss applications of synchronized time in sensor networks, present challenges of sensor networks, and discuss why traditional synchronization approaches fail to meet these challenges. Section 1.2 presents models of sensor nodes, of hardware clocks, and of communication. Section 1.3 gives an overview of the various classes of synchronization. In Section 1.4, we present common synchronization techniques. Section 1.5 examines current synchronization algorithms. Section 1.6 presents common techniques for evaluating synchronization algorithms and selected evaluation results.


Benger links the rise in emergency department attendances to the 2003 General Practitioner Contract.1 2 However, GPs were not able to opt out of out of …


Cutting the Cost of Parking Requirements DONALD SHOUP A city can be friendly to people or it can be friendly to cars, but it can't be both. Enrique Penalosa A t the dawn of the automobile age, suppose Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller had hired you to devise policies to increase the demand for cars and gasoline. What planning regulations would make a car the obvious choice for most travel? First, segregate land uses (housing here, jobs there, shopping somewhere else) to increase travel demand. Second, limit density at every site to spread the city, further increasing travel demand. Third, require ample off-street parking everywhere, making cars the default way to travel. American cities have unwisely embraced each of these car-friendly policies, luring people into cars for 87 percent of their daily trips. Zoning ordinances that segregate land uses, limit density, and require lots of parking create drivable cities but prevent walkable neighborhoods. Urban historians often say that cars have changed cities, but planning policies have also changed cities to favor cars over other forms of transportation. Minimum parking requirements create especially severe problems. In The High Cost of Free Parking, I argued that parking requirements subsidize cars, increase traffic congestion and carbon emissions, pollute the air and water, encourage sprawl, raise housing costs, degrade urban design, reduce walkability, damage the economy, and exclude poor people. To my knowledge, no city planner has argued that parking requirements do not have these harmful effects. Instead, a flood of recent research has shown they do have these effects. We are poisoning our cities with too much parking. Minimum parking requirements are almost an established religion in the planning profession. One shouldn't criticize anyone else's religion but, when it comes to parking requirements, I'm a protestant and I think the profession needs a reformation. Donald Shoup is Editor of ACCESS and Distinguished Research Professor of Urban Planning in UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs (email@example.com). A C C E S S


Based on explanation on relative theory of working performance, investigation on professional competence, organization citizenship behavior and task performance of special teachers show that, the core professional competence of specialty teachers include conduction style, quality of dual-qualification teachers, specialty knowledge and skills, self-imago, pursuing excellence and communication abilities. The six competent abilities have positive correlation with other tasks and performance, and most correlations are marked. Furthermore, the four kinds of organization citizenship behavior of altruism, line of duty, establishing school image and courtesy of specialty teachers have positive correlation with other task performance.


FIELD: transport. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to railway automatic brakes. Coupled trains traction and braking parameters are controlled via radio channel 4 from head locomotive 1 by unloading engineman brake valve equalising reservoir. Additionally, unloaded is control (equalising) chamber of engineman brake valve of second locomotive 2 at the rate of 1-4 kgf/cm 2 /s so that said unloading exceeds that of the first train tail car brake main line by preset value, for example, 0.1-0.4 kgf/cm 2 depending upon braking efficiency of trains. EFFECT: higher safety. 2 dwg


Lysogenic cells of Escherichia coli K12 (λ+) and Escherichia coli M3 (λ59) were held in atmospheres having relative humidities (R.H.) from 30% to 80% and irradiated with 2537 A ultraviolet light (u...


The phytochemical screening of n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Ficus mucoso leaves confirmed the presence of alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, anthraquinones, tannins, glycosides, carbohydrates and fats and oils. The ethyl acetate extract of the leaves had minimal antioxidant activity, exhibiting DPPH free radical scavenging property with IC50 of 701.6 μM, using DPPH antioxidant assay. Six bacteria strains namely; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomona aeruginosa, Salmonella typhii and Klebsiellae pneumonae and four fungal strains namely; Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, penicillium notatum and Rhizopus stolonifer were tested against the three extracts and they showed good inhibitory activities against the tested strains. Gas chromatography-Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) characterization of the extracts revealed the presence of sixteen (16), fifteen (15) and fifteen (15) compounds in n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Ficus mucoso leaves respectively. The principal constituent in the n-hexane extract was phytol with a relative abundance of 29.7% while the main constituents of the ethyl acetate and methanol extracts were phytol acetate and Naphthalene-1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-1,8a-dimethyl-7-(1-methylethenyl) with relative abundance of 29.1% and 24.48% respectively. Keywords: GC-MS analysis, antimicrobial, antioxidant, phytol, Naphthalene, 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-1,8a- dimethyl-7-(1-methylethenyl


ABSTRACT This paper looks at the implications for teamwork and school management of the research findings from a two year funded research study of senior management teams (SMTs) in secondary schools in England. Using a dual theoretical perspective encompassing both power and culture, it proposes a number of lessons to be learned from an analysis of the gains and strains of teamwork. It shows how the conflict between hierarchy and equal contribution, which is a fundamental norm of teamwork, influences the team's behaviour and outcomes of team processes. It ends by concluding that SMTs can make a difference, but only if members are willing and able to work in this way.


Abstract : A systematic approach is developed as a means of characterizing optimal and conventional space-time detection of a Gaussian signal in colored Gaussian flow noise with line arrays. Discrete arrays of sensors, as well as continuous finite observation intervals, are considered. Using the likelihood ratio as a starting point, exact solutions are formulated, specifying the optimal instrumentation for a rational noise model. These solutions provide the theoretical framework to determine upperbound detection performance and permit examination of the role played by the noise spectra in influencing the optimal instrumentation and its performance. The study describes potential gains achievable with optimal processing over conventional processing. Flow noise spectral parameters are identified, for which either the detection gains with optimal processing are significant or conventional processing is sufficiently close to optimal. The best narrowband robust performance is nearly achieved with conventional processing alone, especially if the spatial bandwidth-length product is large. A simple modification is examined of basic Eckart frequency filtering at a conventional beamformer output. This modification recovers a substantial part of the detection loss incurred with basic Eckart filtering and conventional beamforming. Wideband performance with conventional beamforming followed by modified Eckart filtering remains essentially invariant as the noise model ranges over a large class of rational spectra, including a simple Butterworth spectrum at one extreme and a Gaussian spectrum at the other.


A control apparatus (200) calculates transition in the estimated amount of power to be stored in a storage battery (120), when power is to be supplied continuously from a power-distribution grid (300) to the storage battery (120), on the basis of transition in the estimated amount of power to be generated by a power generation unit (160), transition in the estimated amount of power to be supplied by a power supplying unit (110), and the current amount of power stored in the storage battery (120). When existence of a first point of time, which is the point of time when the estimated amount of power stored starts to exceed a first reference capacity, is indicated in the transition of the estimated amount of power to be stored in the storage battery (120), the control apparatus (200) sets a power-reduction time slot, which is a time slot during which power is not supplied from the power-distribution grid (300) to the storage battery (120), and sets the point of time when the power-reduction time slot ends as the first point of time.


Faced with the internal contradictions of the "modernity" discourses, the Beijing epic school as Yang lian and Jianghe, first had an attempt to seek for the solution of the contradictions with the aid of "cultural response", the modern epics of whom only were the relied carriers and value-attached divinity contexts for their "broadest narration" without surpassing the history. Sichuan "wholeness" school as Shi Guang-hua had attained the enlightenment from the ancient oriental intelligence and modem "Quitted Universe Biological Theory" restricted from the historical images for the sake of the development and surpass of the epics. And Li Jing-guang, and the Neo-traditionahism as Liao Yi-wu and Ouyan Jiang-he, had indeed transferred the infatuations of cultural materials to the attentions of present existing experience of the poetry, while with heavy desires, as a result, the coming poetic schools as "Denying School" and "Enfant School" all got rid of the "Neo-traditionalism".


This paper aims to empirically investigate whether the cost of equity and debt capital is related to the extent of voluntary disclosure in the Egyptian stock market. Following the previous research, a disclosure index relevant to the Egyptian environment was developed and applied in OLS regressions, using information provided in the annual reports of 73 Egyptian listed companies. The results, however, indicate that there is no significant association between the level of voluntary disclosure, on the one hand, and the cost of equity capital and debt capital, on the other. This implies that Egyptian companies do not benefit from extensive voluntary disclosure in reducing the cost of equity or debt capital. Hence, the findings of this paper may be of interest to those academic researchers, practitioners and regulators who are interested in discovering the implications of extensive voluntary disclosure in the annual reports of an emerging market such as Egypt.


The advent of programming languages for children (i.e., Scratch) combined with accessible programmable hardware platforms (i.e., Arduino) makes it possible for teenagers to engage in creative development of digital enriched artifacts, like robots and interactive installations. But what are the important factors that characterize these development activities? And more specifically, what motivates children to participate in such software and hardware intensive activities? In this paper we present the results of an empirical investigation regarding the key aspects of a creative learning context. The goal is to understand what motivates children to participate in these development activities. In our empirical evaluation, a group of researchers and artists designed, implemented, and evaluated three workshop programs of 66 children total, with the final goal of exploring children's attitudes software and hardware-intensive activities. The workshops were based on the Reggio Emilia education principles, open source software Scratch and Arduino and were conducted in centers that use recycled materials for creative purposes. For the first phase of the evaluation, qualitative data was collected from 11 interviews and was analyzed using content analysis. For the second phase, we designed a survey grounded in motivational factors for technology. 37 survey responses were collected. For both evaluation phases, photos and observations were recorded and used to triangulate our data. The results showed that: (a) software and hardware intensive activities raise awareness of technology, intensify the experience, and invite students to explore boundaries and increase collaboration and the exchange of views and ideas, and (b) the activity's easiness and usefulness significantly affect children's intention to participate. These results have implications for those programming languages and hardware platforms for children, as well as for those setting up creative learning frameworks around such technology.


Materials with structure realized statistically at diverse scales show interesting mechanical properties that can be tailored to different applications. In addition to being able to tailor their mechanical properties, their strength reliability can be adjusted and in certain cases near perfect strength reliability can be achieved. The key is that spatial scales interact with each other and this interaction offers unique and extensive possibilities for mechanical properties and strength reliability. In certain cases, a certain scale or a tight range of scales dominate the material properties. For such cases where also the heterogeneity is statistically homogeneous, a spatial correlation distance can be identified that is closely relevant to the length scales appearing in gradient theories developed by Aifantis.


*Correspondence: Amarnath Challapalli, Department of Oncology, University Hospital Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, Horfield Road, Bristol, BS28ED, UK, Tel: +44 1173422418; E-mail: amarnath.challapalli@uhbristol. nhs.uk Received Date: 19 Feb 2019 Accepted Date: 20 Mar 2019 Published Date: 22 Mar 2019 Citation: Casswell G, Bhatt N, Challapalli A. Primary Cutaneous Adnexal Carcinoma of the Axilla: A Diagnostic Dilemma and Review of Literature. Clin Oncol. 2019; 4: 1599. Copyright © 2019 Challapalli A. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Review Article Published: 22 Mar, 2019


The period from the 1950s to the present is stated as a period in which capitalism changes with new forms of production, thus the importance of urban renewal-oriented research grows. The effects that occur due to global changes have largely been reflected in modern people, the city, and public life. Throughout this process, the changes consisted in urban space have affected both the physical and social dimensions. The social and sociological structure of people has also started to transform, especially as the urban landscape that created the public space begins to change the cities. This study examines the changes in the urban renewal process that are caused by social and spatial effects through the concept of "habitus" by Bourdieu, which includes the social meaning of the city system, and which can handle the behaviors and habits of the people living in the city as a whole. It aimed to evaluate the habitus by associating the sense of place through the physical and social dimension. In this context, scrutinizing the impacts of the built environment with spatial and social meaning has been seen as important in terms of ensuring both physical and social sustainability.


Standard operating procedures (SOPs) form the backbone of any pharmaceutical industry. It states the procedure to be followed for each and every activity that is carried out in the pharmaceutical industry. All the staffs are trained on each SOP. SOPs state the procedure to be followed, dos and don'ts etc. However most of the times, deviations do occur knowingly or unknowingly. A deviation needs to be addressed and investigated with proper corrective actions and preventive actions (CAPA) to avoid recurrence. This is a regulatory requirement too. Deviation can result from malfunctioning of equipment, non-conforming materials and human errors as well. In this article, we have tried to outline various types, with few examples and a brief handling procedure for handling deviations efficiently.


We present a silicon photonic architecture for accelerating collective communications in distributed deep learning. We demonstrate a 22% job completion time improvement in a small-scale testbed and 1.4 to 5.9× improvement in large-scale simulations.


In 1964, Dr. William Bridges of Hughes Aircraft Company discovered the noble gas ion laser family. Thir-teen years later, this type of laser - principally argon and krypton ion systems - has beL.ome a commonplace laboratory instrument used to generate many types of scientific data. Some new applications, which are taking the ion laser out of the laboratory and into industry, include platemakers, graphic systems, holo-graphic testers, blood analyzers, and photocoagulators. More than 1,000 ion laser systems are in use in these applications.


In Africa, various development visions have been propounded during the last fifty years by both Africans and externals. Not only, these visions had important differences whether they were from Africans or externals, they had not also emanated from the people. Then, they resulted in insufficient achievements concerning the development of the continent. Fifty years after the implementation of such visions, there was a need to revise them and plan a new continental development vision that takes into account the needs of the African population for the coming fifty years. This was achieved through the definition and promulgation of the AU Agenda 2063. However, in order to avoid past errors, it is necessary to look back and learn lessons that can guide the successful implementation of the new agenda. Hence, the analysis of the outcomes guided the recommendation of policies towards African leaders through "what to do" and "what not to do" for succeeding in AU Agenda 2063 implementation. This case study is worth sharing with African leaders to help them confront current challenges Africa is facing. Also, it inspires African capacity building institutions like the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), in assisting African countries in designing and monitoring relevant policies that fall in what to do by African leaders to succeed in AU Agenda 2063 implementation. Finally, such institutions will help promote a results-based culture that is recommended for ensuring an effective transformation of the continent.


This study explored the association between lifestyle and bowel movement frequency among students. A cross-sectional study was employed using a structured questionnaire that was administrated via an online platform. A total of 363 participants were involved in this study, where 77.4% (n=281) were female while 72.2% (n=262) of them did not experience constipation. Further investigation found that calories, dietary fibre, drink consumption, and physical activity level were associated with bowel movement frequency. This study showed that a good nutrient intake and adequate physical activity would improve bowel movement frequency even though restricted movement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: bowel movement; dietary intake; physical activity; COVID-19
eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i21.3696


Nitric oxide synthases belong to a family of dual‐flavin enzymes that transfer electrons from NAD(P)H to a variety of heme protein acceptors. During catalysis, their FMN subdomain plays a central role by acting as both an electron acceptor (receiving electrons from FAD) and an electron donor, and is thought to undergo large conformational movements and engage in two distinct protein–protein interactions in the process. This minireview summarizes what we know about the many factors regulating niric oxide synthase flavoprotein domain function, primarily from the viewpoint of how they impact electron input/output and conformational behaviors of the FMN subdomain.


There is a striking change in women's consciousness concerning their status and the relationship between the sexes. While previous explanations ascribe this to changes in technology, ideology, and the division of labor, recent demographic trends indicate a shift in the parental and marital roles of both men and women. At the same time, institutional arrangements emerge by which family functions are regulated. The nature of the family is being transformed as the worlds of women and men increasingly overlap.


In using of fuzzy logic supervisor an hybrid controller is proposed, it based on Sliding Mode (SM) and Proportional Integral (PI) control and applied in the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) of Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS). The WECS based on doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) was controlled via a three phase Matrix Converter to ensure reliability and good energy conversion management. Simulation results of the WECS are proven and compared for each mode. Very attractive results in terms of reference tracking and oscillations around Optimal Power Points (OPP) are achieved especially when using this proposed hybrid control which provide a quick and smooth energy conversion. In addition to that a unified power factor and a good conditioning to the electrical injected power are enhanced.


Spectra across the infrared K band are presented for a flux-limited sample of powerful, bright, "infrared" galaxies. The sample in the present paper, consisting of 43 systems (47 individual galaxies) with infrared luminosities LIR in the range 11.2 ≲ log (LIR/L☉) ≲ 11.9, was chosen from the IRAS Bright Galaxy Catalogue. The spectra have resolving powers of ~340-680. When combined with the 13 spectra we have already published for the "ultraluminous" galaxies, those with log (LIR/L☉) ≳ 12.0, this constitutes the largest database of high-quality infrared spectra yet assembled for a well-defined sample of galaxies. The spectra are, in general, dominated by emission lines, which are due to the Brγ hydrogen recombination line and to several quadrupole transitions of excited molecular hydrogen. Emission from He I also appears frequently. Deep absorption bands from CO are present in virtually all the spectra, as are a variety of weaker stellar absorption features. The data are analyzed in a companion paper (Paper III).


Let L be a family of lattice-free polyhedra in Rm containing the splits. Given a polyhedron P in Rm + n, we characterize when a valid inequality for P ∩ (Zm × Rn) can be obtained with a finite number of disjunctive cuts corresponding to the polyhedra in L. We also characterize the lattice-free polyhedra M such that all the disjunctive cuts corresponding to M can be obtained with a finite number of disjunctive cuts corresponding to the polyhedra in L for every polyhedron P. Our results imply interesting consequences, related to split rank and to integral lattice-free polyhedra, that extend recent research findings.


Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy, or stress cardiomyopathy, is a relatively rare and in most cases a reversible disease of the myocardium, with early signs being similar to an acute coronary syndrome. The pathophysiology isn't known to this day, the most accepted theory being an excess of catecholamines that probably plays a key role in stunning the myocardium. Excretion of catecholamines is mostly preceded by physical or emotional stress. In the fi rst case report, we present a typical patient


The granite industry generates a large quantity of wastes that pollute and damage the environment. This work aim to characterize and evaluate the possibilities of the use of granite sawing wastes, generated by the industries from Northeast region, as alternative ceramic raw materials for production of ceramic bricks and tiles. Samples of granite sawing wastes were collected from industries located at Paraiba, Ceara and Pernambuco states, and afterwards were characterized for the determination of their particle size distribution, specific mass, surface area (BET) and chemical analyses, differential thermal analysis, GTA, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. After characterization, technological tests were performed in ceramic compositions with the objective of evaluation of the possibilities of the addition of wastes in ceramic masses for the production of ceramic bricks and tiles. The main results show that the wastes have physical and mineralogical characteristics similar to the conventional ceramic raw materials and ceramic bodies. Moreover, the ceramic pieces prepared using the wastes have technical characteristics according to the Brazilian standards for ceramic bricks and tiles.


Oil reservoirs comprise layers of sandstone with oil and gas held in the spaces between the grains that make up the rock. Allowing an oil reservoir to produce oil through declining natural pressure results in relatively low recoveries (10 to 30%), therefore most fields inject water (waterflooding sweeps oil towards the producing wells) into the oil-bearing rocks which typically increase the oil recovery by 5 to 10%. This means only 30 to 40 % of the oil in place is extracted and to further increase recovery various enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques are required including: gas-lift, polymer flood, steam injection depending on the reservoir and oil characteristics. In some reservoirs membranes are already used for low sulphate seawater injection to minimizes potential scaling or souring issues due to interactions with the formation rocks or water, however, this is for production maintenance rather than EOR.
 Waterflooding was first practiced for the purposes of pressure maintenance after primary depletion and displacing oil by taking advantage of viscous forces and has become the most widely adopted improved oil recovery (IOR) technique. Its high availability and simple injection, as well as lower cost and capital investment, are the other key operational and economical features of water flooding.
 Historically, little attention has been given to the role of injected water chemistry on the displacement efficiency or its recovery. However, over the past decade, many studies have shown that injecting brine with a salinity in the range of 1000–2000 ppm can affect crude oil/brine/rock (COBR) interactions in a favorable manner to reduce the remaining oil saturation.


GeophysicalFlows.jl is a Julia (Bezanson et al., 2017) package that contains partial differential equations solvers for a collection of geophysical fluid systems in periodic domains. All modules use Fourier-based pseudospectral numerical methods and leverage the framework provided by the FourierFlows.jl (Constantinou et al., 2021) Julia package for time-stepping, custom diagnostics, and saving output.


The present paper is one of a series from this laboratory in which the results of studies of insect antennal sense organs with the electron microscope, as well as with other techniques, are being reported.


The relationship between atomic mean-square atomic displacement in crystalline lattices of semiconducting compounds of aluminum, gallium, and indium arsenides and their linear expansion coefficients was investigated. It was found that at 200 to 650 deg K the mean-square dynamic displacements are in direct proportion to the linear expansion coefficient squares. (R.V.J.)


The present study investigated the effect of severity of mental challenge on the sibling relationship of normal children with their mentally challenged siblings. For the present study, 150 families with mentally challenged children were selected from 3 different rehabilitation centres of Delhi by randomly drawing 50 children from each degree of mental challenge, viz. mild, moderate and severe. The respondents for the present study comprised of one (any) of the parents and one (any) normal sibling of mentally challenged children making a total of 300. Sibling Relationship Scale was administered on respondents to arrive at meaningful inferences about sibling relationship between mentally challenged children and their normal siblings. Findings of the present study revealed that higher the severity of mental challenge significantly higher was warmth/closeness and relative status/power and significantly less was conflict and rivalry between mentally challenged children and their normal siblings. Address for correspondence:


The terrain of what this essay calls geopoetics is limned by the encounter between two epistemologically independent but insistently cross-pollinating strands of enquiry. The first concerns the textuality of geography, and focuses on the semiotic, rhetorical and ideological energies that inform the domain of geographical knowledge and representation. The second addresses the reverse problematic of the geography of textuality, and takes stock of the representational and narrative uses of spatial form, or delves into the geographies underlying the distribution, consumption or reception of imaginative texts. The focus of geopoetics therefore encompasses both the diachronic and the synchronic, historicity and spatiality: as a hermeneutic practice, it represents both an effort to account for those aspects of spatial 'knowledge' that are dynamically made and remade in the process of social and cultural change, and an attempt to ground representation on the set of localizing and particularizing constraints that act upon it. In this hybrid economy of what Diana Loxley, evoking Edward Said, calls 'world as text and text as world', it is the very division between geographical and textual topoi that is exposed as epistemologically volatile and unsafe. And it is precisely by highlighting the problematic state of this distinction that geopoetics can help us challenge the frequently inert and undialectical divisions of subject and object, of representation and referent, on which traditional understandings of geography*and in some cases, poetics*have rested. There are a number of reasons why the discursive production of insularity*what this essay calls nesology*constitutes a particularly fertile ground for the exploration of the critical potentialities of geopoetics. It is important to recall, for one, that island form has traditionally oscillated between geographical and aesthetic registers. To put it otherwise, insularity has long served as a means of foregrounding the simultaneously geographical and aesthetic import of form itself. Hence, to take one example, Christian Jacob's The Sovereign Map refers to the island as 'a minimal unit of cartographical space, a space reduced to the singularity of a form'*a definition that highlights the function of the insular figure as an elemental graphic component of cartographical semiosis. Indeed, islands have been at the centre of a quasi-writerly emphasis on forms of graphic play (singularization, replication, mutation, inversion, symmetry, dispersion), often at the expense of navigational and practical utility. In his discussion of the representation of islands in sixteenthand seventeenth-century portolan


The solubilities of benzoic acid in aqueous solutions of sodium formate, acetate, propionate, n-butyrate and n-valerate have been determined at 25℃. The results show that all these salts have the effect of increasing the solubility of benzoic acid in water. The weaker the acid from which the sodium salt is derived, the greater is the salting-in effect of the sodium salt on benzoic acid. The salting-in order is:
C_3C_5C_4C_2C_1 It agrees with the reversed order of the ionization constants of fatty acids. The reason for salting-in is due to the displacement of the salt by benzoic acid with the formation of a fatty acid.


By help of four differently virulent strains of pycocyanic pseudomonas standardized infections were induced, which may be the basis for further immunologic investigations.


A method for quantitative analysis of pectin in lozenges is reported. The separation was achieved using size exclusion chromatography. While pectin has no chromophore, to detect the separated pectins, an on-column derivatization with phenylboronic added as an additive in the mobile phase followed by indirect photometric detection was employed. The mobile phase, pH, and concentration of the additive were investigated to develop the optimal method with good linearity (R2 = 0.999). The method was applied to the determination of quantity of pectins in commercial lozenges.


Population balance models (PBM) describe a wide array of physical, chemical, and biological processes having a distribution over some intrinsic property, and are used to model cells, viruses, aggregates, bubbles, and crystals. The ubiquity of PBMs motivates generalizable and accurate approaches for their nu- merical solution. Typically, high-order finite difference or finite volume methods are used. We propose a finite difference scheme at the limit of numerical stability that results in discretization error that is zero for certain classes of PBMs and low enough to be acceptable in other applications. The scheme em-ploys specially constructed meshes and, in some cases, variable transformations. The scheme has very low computational cost – sometimes as low as memory reallocation with no floating point operations. Case studies are presented throughout that demonstrate the scheme's performance in relation to other commonly employed schemes.


The reform policy in China since 1980 has opened for migration from the countryside to the cities. Between 100 and 200 million peasants are believed to work in urban areas and they suffer discrimination and harassment from employers and city people. Due to a household registration system their legal status is different from urban residents. The system in itself constitutes discrimination and due to their low status migrants and their families are suffering from infringements of their rights to decent working conditions, an adequate standard of living, family life and primary education. The central government has stepped in with new policies regulating the labour market, but effective implementation has yet to be seen.


Activated carbon was produced from Canakkale-Can lignite using potassium hydroxide (KOH) and zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as activating agent. The influence of carbonization temperatures (500-900 0C) and different chemical reagents (KOH and ZnCl2) on the pore development and the yield of the prepared activated carbon were investigated. The resultant activated carbons were characterized in terms of the yield, BET surface area, pore volumes, micropore and mesopore fraction. Results showed that increasing the carbonization temperature, the yield decreased, while surface area and micro-porosity increased. Maximum surface area was about 1092 m2/g at 900 0C with KOH activation and carbonization duration of 1 h. The surface area of char obtained from carbonization of lignite sample without impregnation by chemical reagent was 157 m2/g at 900 0C. From these data, it has been showed that in order to produce activated carbons with high surface area and porosity, thermal activation (without impregnation) itself is not sufficient. The prepared activated carbon was compared with commercial activated carbon. Surface area and micropore fraction of activated carbons obtained from both KOH and ZnCl2 activation much larger than those of the commercial activated carbon.


What are the ontology's of improvisation? Is it possible to 'document' improvisation? How might the nature of improvisation enable us to challenge the notion of 'the archive' and historiography? What are the politics of documentation? What are the implications of in/exclusion?

Through this presentation the inherent slipperiness of improvisation combine with processes of documentation to create a complex nexus – a nexus in which elements often resist each other and in which there is no easy coherence. Yet whilst improvisation is an illusive art of erasure, by foregrounding the play of memory (whether physical, visual, visceral, emotional) it becomes evident that improvisation is a site in which there can be no tabula rasa, only palimpsestous play and emergence, for improvisation is an act of embodied remembering and (purposeful) forgetting.


Presence or absence of inhibition of pigment dispersion due to the deviation of the distance measurement object stably accurately measure the distance to the object, and with a clear image of high image quality was observed. An endoscope apparatus (1), comprising: an optical system (7) which converges light from a subject while forming the same characteristics, only two different focus optical image; an imaging device (8,9), two photographing optical image formed by the optical system (7) to acquire two images; and a computing unit, which together with the range of contrast in the two images acquired by the imaging element (8,9) to which, according to the two the image contrast ratio is obtained and the distance information corresponding to the distance to the object.


Based on a comprehensive study on faciology, petrology and petrogeochemistry, the ignimbrites widely distributed in Mesozoic volcanic basin in South Jiangxi are divisible into three types namely the clastic flow, the surge flow, and the subvolcanic types, of which the genetic mechanism has been discussed in this paper.


There has been a renewed interest among some prison policy makers to hold inmates more accountable for their actions. The belief is that inmates require more structure and discipline in their daily activities and must demonstrate that they have earned privileges that can lead to their early release. A meta-analysis and narrative review was undertaken to determine the utility of contingency management (CM) programs for improving inmates' performance (e.g., prison adjustment, educational/work skills) and to generate a list of program principles for managing CM programs effectively. The study finds that CM programs produce robust gains in a variety of behaviors (e.g., pro-social behaviors, education, work assignments, etc.) in prison settings. As a result, the authors provide a list of "what works" principles, categorized into implementation and treatment strategies for administering effective CM programs in prison.


AbstractFifty-eight subjects were tested with Sarason's and others Test Anxiety Scale for Children and one of two forms of an achievement test. One form of the achievement test (Selectivity High) contained no irrelevant information and the other form contained irrelevant information in each item (Selectivity Low). Analysis of variance indicated a significant effect for selectivity forms of the test (P. .05).


Introduction/Overview • There are numerous choices in essential fatty acid (EFA) supplementation • EFAs are critical components of health and wellness • Our current intake of EFAs is considered out of balance as omega-6 from processed food choices predominate, leading to an increased propensity for inflammation. • EFAs support health and function in a number of ways and are important considerations for inflammatory management, women's health, skin care and vegetarians/vegans. • This paper is intended to provide a better understanding of the importance of a specific EFA derivative–GLA and its role in wellness—and of the comparative benefits of Ahiflower oil, the newest and most balanced dietary GLA source.


A seven year old male child was referred to the Radiology department of Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Thandalam, Kanchipuram, India in January 2014, for evaluation of abnormal facies and gradually increasing bilateral nasal block for the last two years. According to parents, perinatal period was uneventful. The child was normal till six months of age, after which facial deformity started appearing. Examination showed prominent forehead, wide set eyes and broad nasal root (Fig. 1A). X-rays and computed tomography (CT) of skull showed marked thickening and sclerosis of all craniofacial bones (Figs (Figs1B,1B, ,1C,1C, ,2)2) with dolichocephalic shape of skull. Marked compromise of bilateral nasal cavities was noted due to thickening of nasal bones, nasal septum and wall of paranasal sinuses (Fig. 2). X-rays of bilateral femur showed widened metaphysis with Erlenmeyer flask deformity (Fig. 3). All laboratory investigations were within normal limits except for increase in serum alkaline phosphatase (399 IU/l). Diagnosis of craniometaphyseal dysplasia was made. Surgical correction for bilateral nasal block was advised, however, his parents refused. The patient is being managed conservatively with low calcium diet and calcitriol. There has been no progression of his symptoms till six months of follow up.

Fig. 1

(A). Clinical picture of the patient showing prominent forehead, broad nasal root (black arrow) and wide set eyes. 1. (B) Anteroposterior and (C) lateral views of skull radiograph showing thickened craniofacial bones with dolichocephalic shape of skull. ...

Fig. 2

(A). Oblique axial CT showing markedly thickened bilateral nasal bones (black asterisks), nasal septum (white arrow), and nasal turbinates (black arrows) causing significant compromise of both nasal cavities. Thickened skull bones are also seen (curved ...

Fig. 3

X-rays of bilateral femur (anteroposterior view) showing widening of metaphysis (black arrows) with narrow diaphysis (white arrows) giving Erlenmeyer-flask appearance.


Strategic Management is a concept that concerns with making decisions and taking corrective actions to achieve long term targets and goals of an organization. The importance of strategic management in a firm can be answered by analyzing relationship between strategic management and organizational performance. Generally strategic management practices can improve efficiency in various organizations. The objective of this paper is to study the practice of strategic management in construction companies in Malaysia. Questionnaires were distributed to 300 large construction companies listed under G7 groups classified by Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). The response rate of the survey is 26% or that 78 construction companies replied. The findings of the research showed that most of the firms practicing strategic management have a clear objective, a winning strategy to achieve the objective and a sound mission statement to guide the organization towards success.


In this article, the bit error rate(BER) analysis of channel correlation on differential spatial modulation(DSM) and spatial modulation(SM) have been studied. There is a vital role of channel correlation in differential spatial modulation(DSM) and spatial modulation(SM), as it is alternative of spatial multiplexing especially for higher spectral efficiency. We have considered three transmit and two receive antenna deployed in Rayleigh fading channel in which only one active transmit antenna at transmitter side. The reason behind the study of differential spatial modulation(DSM) is, it do not require channel state information at transmitter as well as receiver which is quite intuitive for practical scenario of wireless communication. For this investigation, we have considered diverse transmit antenna spacing values of dt = 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 hold up dr = 0.1 and diverse receive antenna spacing values of dr = 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 hold up dt = 0.1. The investigation shows that the BER of DSM with QPSK is 3dB improved compare to SM with BPSK which implies that DSM-BER improved with one step higher modulation scheme. From the simulation result, the effect of antenna spacing or spatial correlation is more on the side of the receiving antenna compared to the side of the transmitting antenna. Moreover, antenna spacing or spatial correlation has more effect in spatial modulation than differential spatial modulation.


Pyrites and poor Mn ore can self oxidize and reduce, and soak out in sulphuric acid system. MnO is reduced and found in the solution, pyrites is oxidized and decomposed, thus the coated gold will emerge and be left in the sediment. In this way, both the coated gold in pyrites and the Mn in the poor Mn ore are recovered. This paper stndies the technological process and obtains the following results: soaking ratio of gold cyaniding to that in iron pyrites is 99 98%, and the soaking rate for Mn is 92 68%. Satisfactory MnSO 4 solution is obtained after purification and crystalization.


Good morning and welcome to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. I am especially happy to welcome this group, with its focus on the finances of state and local governments. We at the New York Fed are committed to playing a role in ensuring the stability of this important sector. To this end, we supported the outstanding work of the Volcker-Ravitch state fiscal crisis taskforce. In addition, we conduct ongoing outreach activities with local officials and produce research on the subject of local fiscal conditions. We do these things because we recognize the critical role of state and local governments and their fiscal health to the overall well-being of the economy and its citizens.


Finally, a book has been written about Hispanics by Hispanic authors, most with backgrounds in social work, sociology, or psychology. The 16 contributors, familiar with the many issues plaguing Hispanics, are members of the three largest Hispanic groups in this country: Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American. They provide challenging and insightful discussions of prejudice, acculturation, the demographic characteristics of the Hispanics in the United States, and issues concerning social service delivery. Recognizing the diversity within and among Hispanic groups, the authors examine variations in patterns of immigration, socioeconomic and educational status, and differences in skin color. Moreover, they explain how these variables are important in understanding Hispanics' perceptions of human services as well as how these services are delivered by persons not familiar at all with Hispanic cultural dimensions. This is a timely book. Changes in the size and demographic characteristics of the Hispanic population in this country suggest the need for changes in social policy, health and mental health service delivery, and educational systems to respond more adequately to the needs of Hispanic people. In Juan Ramos's words, "Discourse about the service needs of the Hispanic population is long overdue and should be conducted in a spirit of openness, justice , and understanding." In the introduction, Marta Sotomayor delineates the content of the book in a clear and precise manner, emphasizing the necessity of discussing issues that have confronted Hispanics in the past decade. Using a framework in which the family is viewed as part of a larger system, comprising community, school, and government, Sotomayor convincingly argues that families must be empowered in order to mobilize their capacities in coping with the environment. In this way, Hispanic families can asert their cultural values and "gain mastery over their lives." Comprising 1 1 chapters, the book analyzes the multiple variables that need to be addressed to empower Hispanic families, who differ from other ethnic immigrant groups in certain ways. As Sotomayor states, "This immigrant group is different from others in that strong cultural and linguistic, and thus emotional, bonds transcend geographical and political boundaries." Genaro Gonzales, in chapter 1, reviews the history of Mexican migration beginning in 1920 and considers the future of new immigrants. Of particular importance, he examines some of the historical realities in a search for solutions to improve the immigrants' experience and to shape a new future. In chapter 2, Alejandro Garcia analyzes the relationship among specific demographic variables in order to describe the present and future status of Hispanics in the United States. The problems of poverty, substance abuse, AIDS, and discrimination based on gender, age, and skin color are discussed in relation to how they weaken society's fundamental institutions regardless of cultural background or place of origin. Among other issues examined in this book are the educational problems encountered by Hispanic children and their families. Given the impact of bilingual education on children's development and on their families, it is considered important in fostering mutual cultural respect and in strengthening the bonds between school and community systems. In a chapter on mental health services for low-income Puerto Rican families, Amkrica Facundo deals with the multidimensional variables found in Puerto Rican families and the importance of incorporating these variables in practice intervention. Manuel Miranda examines the mental health of the Hispanic elderly and concludes that the healthacare system needs to be restructured in order to provide services that utilize more social support systems, specifically networks in the community helping the families or caretakers of the elderly. Research on elderly Hispanic women is reviewed by Elena Bastida and Rumaldo Ju6rez., who find that most studies report the demographic characteristics of Hispanics in general but do not speci-


The purpose of this paper is to establish bounds on the rate of convergence of the conjugate gradient algorithm when the underlying matrix is a random positive definite perturbation of a deterministic positive definite matrix. We estimate all finite moments of a natural halting time when the random perturbation is drawn from the Laguerre unitary ensemble in a critical scaling regime explored in Deift et al. (2016). These estimates are used to analyze the expected iteration count in the framework of smoothed analysis, introduced by Spielman and Teng (2001). The rigorous results are compared with numerical calculations in several cases of interest.


The physical and physicochemical fundamentals of three-dimensional (3D) micro- and nanoprinting are presented. 3D printing (or additive manufacturing technology) is a process which fabricates structures and devices by depositing material (usually layer by layer) according to a 3D digital model. The methods and results reviewed here are limited to those from micro- and nanoscale fields, which are in demand in the fields of electronics, photonics, and bionics. Special attention is given to methods for fabricating sub-100-nm structures, including single- and two-photon polymerization stereolithography, electrohydrodynamic inkjet printing, and laser-induced forward transfer. The advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing methods are discussed, together with prospects for their development and application.


A laser-light sheet method using an argon-ion laser and high-speed photography was applied to visualize soot clouds formed during combustion in a direct-injection diesel engine. Soot clouds at a cross section on the scattered-light images were not observed until the middle parts of the combustion process, and were distributed on the outer edges of the luminous flames and in the clearance space. This suggests that soot does not exist within the hot flaming zone but is formed by cooling the fuel rich spots in the flame. In addition, from the effects of fuel quantities, injection timings and chamber geometries on soot clouds, it might be concluded that soot in the clearance space was significant in exhaust smoke.


In this article the high Ge content SiGe alloys are investigated using Raman spectra. With Mooney's methods, the composition and strain relaxation in the epilayer are demonstrated. The results are recalibrated by HRXRD measurements. The influence of thermal stress on the epilayer is also studied using the results above.


Objective: To investigate the inhibitory effect of TIMP-3 on endothelial cell(EC) proliferation.Methods: The inhibition of EC proliferation was analyzed by light microscopy,MTT,-TdR up-take,and flow cytometry et al.Results: A concentration-dependent and time-dependent proliferation inhibition and survival were demonstrated in the HUVEC incubated for 1~7days in the presence of TIMP-3.The proliferation inhibition was shown as the lessened cell growth,decreased counting of mitotic cells.TIMP-3 could also aggravate the increase of apoptotic cells and cell ratio in G2/M phase.Conclusion: TIMP-3 has significant inhibitory influence on EC proliferation,migration and can promote apoptosis of cells.


The deepening process of European integration has had asymmetrical effects at the domestic level of EU member states. In particular it has strengthened the role of the executive to the detriment of that of the legislature in EU affairs. How has the legislature reacted to this process? This paper considers the Italian experience of the late 1990s through an analysis of the legge comunitaria , a yearly statute introduced in 1989 to achieve two aims: First, to reduce the Italian deficit in the transposition of EU directives; Second, to give the parliament an instrument to scrutinise the government's activity in EU affairs. The first aim has been achieved, but the second not at all. This conclusion is based upon qualitative interviews of crucial public officials strategically positioned in the making of the legge comunitaria . However, if, at the policy level, the government appears to be the most prominent actor in EU affairs, at the politics level the parliament regained an important role in conditioning government composition and stability in the period 1998-2001. Thus, at least in Italy, the 'deparliamentarisation' of the governmental system is of a contradictory nature.


AbstractThe dispersion-strengthening of lead has been discussed as a means of improving the properties of lead and conventional lead alloys.Techniques are described for the production of dispersion-strengthened lead using lead oxide dispersions. Remarkable improvements in properties have been observed, notably tensile strength of up to 5 times that of lead and greater than that of any conventional lead alloy, superior strength at elevated temperature, high thermal stability and resistance to grain growth, the development of "springiness" and the retention of the corrosion-resistance characteristic of lead. It is suggested that a re-appraisal of the applications of lead may now be opportune and some possible uses of dispersion-strengthened lead are discussed.


Many articles related to text recognition has been published in a few years. Most of them aim at achieving the highest recognition accuracy though never consider computational cost. While computational cost is highly important for wide use we will aim at low computational cost and minimum loss in recognition accuracy at the same time which can make real-time text recognition possible. We will describe several classical computer vision techniques which help reduce the computational cost, real-world dataset gathering, preprocessing and annotation, the process of architecture optimization and a few model quantization techniques. We will start with basic convolutional neural network architecture introduced in one of articles and step by step optimize it with quantization to be able to operate at real-time on central processing unit. Intermediate results will be compared on wide real-world dataset and different hardware setups. The result of the process described in the paper is model available to operate in real-time on low-end or mobile hardware and described image pre-processing algorithms.


Achieving and sustaining global food security will become increasingly difficult as a changing climate increases crop loss due to greater pest and pathogen activity. Nanoenabled agrichemical delivery platforms offer a unique potential to manage pathogens and increase productivity with reduced negative environmental consequences. Two greenhouse experiments were conducted to assess the potential of in-house synthesized Cu3(PO4)2·3H2O nanosheets and commercial CuO nanoparticles (NPs) to increase plant growth of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and suppress Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici infection. The particles were foliarly applied once (500 mg/L; 1–2 mL dose) to seedlings prior to 30 days of growth. In control plants not treated by nanomaterials, Fusarium infection reduced plant growth by 62% across both experiments. Amendment with Cu3(PO4)2·3H2O nanosheets or CuO nanoparticles significantly reduced disease presence by an average of 31%, resulting in greater plant biomass. The time-dependent expression...


China's social insurance faces the great pressure of unemployment and old age as well as many other problems such as incomplete legal system .Much work has to be done to its full function.


The availability of a set of homogeneously processed GPS satellite orbits, clocks and Earth Rotation Parameters (ERP) covering a period of more than a decade (the so-called PotsdamDresden reprocessing) motivated MUT (Military University of Technology, Poland) to the all-inone processing of the EPN stations for the same period. The applied strategy thereby followed the guidelines for EPN processing.


The present report describes a child with Down's syndrome and male pseudohermaphroditism in whom we found a 47, XY,+21/46, X,+21 mosaic chromosome complement. Necropsy revealed both Mullerian and Wolffian structures and bilateral testes.


Abstract Conservation heating has become the main method of controlling relative humidity in historic houses of the National Trust and many other organizations. In recent years the Trust has begun to focus on its carbon footprint and ways that it can use energy more efficiently in all its activities. This article describes work the Trust is undertaking to evaluate energy use of its conservation heating systems. The research focuses on three case study properties to understand their conservation heating energy use in terms of the spaces controlled and to compare their efficiencies with external benchmarks. The article further describes the development, testing and application of 'conservation heating degree days' as a method for estimating the energy demand of conservation heating systems from simple environmental data.


Th e paper aims to analyze the ideology of two most notable fascist orga-nizations in the fi rst Czechoslovak Republic – the National Fascist Community and Slovak Rodobrana. Th e paper focuses on the possibilities of using the methodology of so-called "the New Consensus" platform on in-terpreting the concept of generic fascism. Author, on the basis of "palingenetic myth" as a defi nitional core of fascist organization, tries to check the functionality of the core motive of this relatively new theoretical approach towards fascism in the Anglophone historiography. In the end he points out on the strengths and weaknesses of the infl uential concept defi ned by British historian Roger Griffi n. Th e study off ers new suggestions for the discussion on the fi eld of fascist studies as well. Th e paper is one of the fi rst ever contributions to the issue of revealing faces of fascism in interwar Czechoslovakia with a help of a new theoretical approach defi ned by "the New Consensus" platform. It uses a broad heuristic basis and on the "Case Czechoslovakia" tries to discuss strengths and weaknesses of Roger Griffi n's methodological tool. Author refl ects the international debates on fascism within past decades and brings inspirational remarks on further redefi ning of the radical political stream born in the 20th century. of y the he pays attention


Container 10 has a first reservoir and a second reservoir 11 and 14 for containing the product to be mixed. Each first reservoir and the second reservoir 11 and 14, has an opening, the opening of the first reservoir 11 is threaded is closed by a lid 12. The second reservoir 14, a storage position, the product was placed in a second reservoir 14 to release the first reservoir 11, there is a release position to mix with the product of the first reservoir 11. To switch to the release position from the storage position to a second reservoir 14, the lid 12, it is necessary to turn in a direction to open the opening portion of the first reservoir 11, simply releasing the second reservoir 14 from the storage position by rotating can do.


The present invention describes a multilayer film suitable for use in packaging applications comprising at least a polymeric first layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface wherein the polymeric first layer comprises a heat-sealable, water-insoluble polyester; a polymeric second layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface and comprising a pressure-sensitive adhesive, wherein the second surface of the polymeric second layer is in contact with the first surface of the polymeric first layer and forms a peelable/resealable bond therebetween; and a third layer in contact with the first surface of the polymeric second layer.


An expert-system advisor consultant to assist a coal-mine section foreman is described in the report. The system is designed for an underground continuous-miner section specifically used for longwall development. The system provides three methods of operation that include normal operational mode for use underground, a training mode for use in training section foremen under controlled classroom conditions, and a demonstration mode that is free running. The Face Decision Support System or FDSS, is designed to interface with section environmental-monitoring equipment and section production-monitoring equipment that may appear in the future. This provides automated reprioritization of the section foreman's job list from the system. The system is written in LASER which is written in C and is operated under the UNIX operating system. The objective of the entire FDSS system is to ensure that no job or piece of information important to safety or to production is forgotten because of the immediate problems confronting the section foreman.


Background The 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which include antibodies to citrullinated peptide (ACPA) have good sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing of AR in advanced stages. However, early diagnosis is a challenge not resolved. Recent studies shown the existence of a preclinical stage before development of RA, characterized by arthralgia or a few symtoms that can be detected by special techniques such as High Power Doppler resolution ultrasound (PDRUS) or the presence of these autoantibodies. Objectives To assess the usefulness of PDRUS and the presence of ACPA in subclinical stage of RA and evaluate the response to treatment with methotrexate in this phase. Methods We evaluated a cohort of patients ACPA(+) with inflamatory arthralgias who not fulfilled criteria for diagnosis of RA. We performed PDRUS and instaured treatment with methotrexate and low oral dose of prednisone (5 mgr/day) that was subsequently withdrawn. Laboratory test including rheumathoid factor, CPR, ESR and ACPA; PDRUS attending to power doppler signal (PDS) on a scale from 0 to 3 of bilateral wrists, metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal; HAQ, VAS and DAS 28 (ultrasound synovitis) were collected at months 0, 1, 3, 6 and 12. Results Twenty patients ACPA positive with inflammatory arthralgia and PDS were included, 90% women. The mean age was 42.2±12.4 years. The 30% had PDS grade 1, 55% grade 2 and 15% grade 3. Both ESR and CRP remained within normal values. After 1 month of treatment, the PDS was reduced in 55% of patients. In the patients with grade 1, no PDS was observed; the 2 patients with grade 2 improved to grade 1 and 3 with grade 3 upgraded to grade 2. After 6 months of treatment, only 6 patients showed PDS (4 of grade 1, and 2 grade 2); and one year later, only 1 patient had PDS signal grade 1. The HAQ and VAS decreased at one year from 2.325±0234 to 0550±0.250 (p Conclusions The patient with inflammatory arthralgia ACPA positive and the presence of ultrasound synovitis without diagnostic criteria for RA, respond satisfactorily to early treatment with methotrexate, achieving clinical remission in a high percentage after the first year. We can concluded that the presence of ACPA and PDS evaluated by PDRUS are very important tools for the diagnosis of patients with subclinical inflammatory arthralgia related to RA. The presence of synovitis evaluated by PDUS should be considered as a posible diagnostic criteria in very early stages of the disease. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5667


A novel method of suppressing range-Doppler ambiguities and investigating properties of echoes involving high radial velocities and/or substantial ranges is presented. This is a recurring problem with radar, lidar, and other surface, airborne, and satellite sensors. The simplest problem is that of range-Doppler ambiguity resolution of quasi-point targets. Here, a dual-wavelength signal can be transmitted and processed to decouple the range/velocity ambiguity. For range-spread targets (such as clutter or precipitation), the difference wavelength must be chosen with regard to the decorrelation properties of the echo. A nonlinear operation is discussed which allows separating difference-frequencies that are comparable to the spectral expanse of the signal. Laboratory results are discussed along with the information available from returns involving extended, or continuum returns, using dual-frequency autocorrelation methods.<<ETX>>


Amicus curiae brief by two law of war experts in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Donald Rumsfeld v.Jose Padilla, an American citizen arrested in Chicago on suspicion of planning terrorist acts in solidarity with Al Qaeda and detained by the U.S. military. The authors submitted a legal analysis of the minimum rights guaranteed to all detained persons under the law of war.


Cellular networks have become an essential part of our lives. With increasing demands on its available bandwidth, we are seeing failures and performance degradations for data and voice traffic on the rise. In this paper, we propose the view that fog computing, integrated in the edge components of cellular networks, can partially alleviate this situation. In our vision, some data gathering and data analytics capability will be developed at the edge of the cellular network and client devices and the network using this edge capability will coordinate to reduce failures and performance degradations. We also envisage proactive management of disruptions including prediction of impending events of interest (such as, congestion or call drop) and deployment of appropriate mitigation actions. We show that a simple streaming media pre-caching service built using such device-fog cooperation significantly expands the number of streaming video users that can be supported in a nominal cellular network of today.


The occultation of background stellar sources by foreground Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) can be used to survey physical properties of the KBO population. We discuss statistics related to a KBO occultation survey, such as the event duration distribution, and suggest that occultation searches can be effectively used to probe the KBO size distribution below 10 km. In particular, we suggest that occultation surveys may be best suited to search for a turnover radius in the KBO size distribution because of collisions between small-size objects. For occultation surveys that monitor stellar sources near the ecliptic over a few square degrees, with time sampling intervals of the order of 0.1 s and sensitivity to flux variations of a few percent or more, a turnover radius between 0.1 and 1.0 km can be probed. While occultation surveys will probe the low-radius limit and imaging surveys will detect KBOs of size 100 km or more, statistics of objects with sizes in the intermediate range of around 1-100 km will likely remain unattainable.


A self-cleaning transparent structure is described herein having dust resistant qualities and improved optical qualities. A transparent surface (10) is provided with randomly positioned protrusions (12) attached to a transparent surface. The protrusions act upon particles (18) that settle on the protrusions, by diminishing the particles surface adhesion. Furthermore, the transparent features of the transparent surface are no diminished, since the period between each protrusion is less than the wavelength of visible light.


Abstract Innovative finance is now considered essential to mobilize the trillions projected as required to meet the sustainable development goals. The International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), which issues vaccine bonds, is an emblematic example of innovative finance in global health and development. Since its launch in 2006, IFFIm has played a leading role in developing social bonds and funding global health, securing over $8 billion in donor commitments, and disbursing over $3 billion to date to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Adopting a follow the money approach, we set out a significant, evidence-based challenge to some of the dominant development claims around innovative development finance more widely and IFFIm in particular. We find evidence of nontrivial private profit making, hiding in plain sight, at the expense of beneficiaries and donors. Through advanced critical financial analysis, we reveal precisely who benefits and by how much. Furthermore, our analysis shows in detail how financialization reduces political control over aid, and the uneven spatial distribution of material rewards and political power. While IFFIm delivers on its claim to front-load aid commitments and makes a significant contribution to global health, the article asks whether the economic and political costs of innovative financing mechanisms are worth it. We finish by showing that alternative models for vaccine finance are possible. A postscript provides a brief account of how IFFIm has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.


A basic question of Diophantine approximation, which is the first issue we discuss, is to investigate the rational approximations to a single real number. Next, we consider the algebraic or polynomial approximations to a single complex number, as well as the simultaneous approximation of powers of a real number by rational numbers with the same denominator. Finally we study generalisations of these questions to higher dimensions. Several recent advances have been made by B. Adamczewski, Y. Bugeaud, S. Fischler, M. Laurent, T. Rivoal, D. Roy and W.M. Schmidt, among others. We review some of these works.


An existing geometrical pore‐scale model for flow through isotropic spongelike media is adapted to predict flow through anisotropic non‐woven glass fibre filters. Model predictions are compared to experimental results for the permeability obtained for a filter under different stages of compression to demonstrate the capability of the model to adjust to changes in porosity. The experimental data used are for a glass fibre paper with a uniform fibre diameter. The input parameters of the pore‐scale model are the porosity, fibre diameter and some measure of the anisotropy between the in‐plane and normal directions to the paper. Correlation between the predictions and the experimental results is satisfactory and provides confidence in the modelling procedure. It is shown that the permeability is very sensitive to changes in the level of anisotropy, i.e. the level of compression of the nonwoven material.


Parallel and distributed computing infrastructure is increasingly being embraced in the context of manufacturing applications, including real-time scheduling. The paper present the design and implementation of one such framework than can work on the Internet, with applications in automation (manufacturing). The architecture of distributed and parallel computing framework (DPAC) has the goal of harnessing the Internet's vast, growing computational capacity for ultra-large, coarse-grained parallel applications. DPAC idea is to bring together diverse, heterogeneous, geographically distributed computing environments in order to attack large-scale computing problems. In paper is describe an implementation and present case studies showing the effectiveness in solving complex combinatorial optimization problems in the context of manufacturing systems.


Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a common lower limb injury, with approximately 250,000 instances occurring annually in the United States [1]. Almost 100,000 of these patients undergo ACL reconstruction (ACLR) surgery each year, which is accompanied by a rehabilitation program lasting several months [2]. To assess recovery, clinicians look for abnormal movement patterns and asymmetries in range of motion, strength, power, and control while the patient performs a series of dynamic tasks [3]. However, since these assessments are not cost-effective for large groups or frequent sessions [4], they cannot be performed regularly throughout the course of a rehabilitation program. Automating these assessments by quantifying biomechanics during commonly used rehabilitation tasks can increase patient access to rehabilitative care. One such exercise, the leg press, is frequently used for developing lower-limb power, with the goal of improving athletic performance and safety [5]. This work describes camera, force, and encoder data collected from 16 ACLR patients performing a unilateral leg press exercise on 10 occasions throughout the rehabilitation period. We present preliminary power results for the patients and discuss our future analysis of the video data to quantify lower-limb joint angles and loading.


The paper presents the results of assessing general and elastic lung hysteresis in 21 healthy volunteers and 28 patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Negative elastic hysteresis was detected in 14 healthy volunteers and 18 patients with community-acquired pneumonia. For the first time ever, it was demonstrated that, under the conditions of an interrupted air flow, 4 healthy volunteers and 2 patients with community-acquired pneumonia were characterized with the inversion of not only elastic but also general lung hysteresis. In case of pneumonia, despite the increase in tissue friction resulting from the generalized escalation of the alveolar-capillary permeability, the inversion of both elastic and general lung hysteresis takes place as often as in healthy people. It can be explained with the intensification of the mechanical activity of the lungs as a compensatory reaction in the mechanical system of the external respiration organs in case of pneumonia.


Objective To understand the morbidity of breast cancer and conditions of the patients under treatment. Methods The data of discovery,diagnosis,treatment and follow-ups of 32 cases of breast cancer were colleted and summarized from 2004 to 2013. Results A total of 32 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer,and 30 patients had the data of full biopsy,surgical specimens of pathological diagnosis and follow up. The clinical manifestations of 28 patients showed "breast masses"as the first symptom,and 17 of these patients discovered"breast masses"through the individual health check,7 cases discovered this symptom through the faculty regular medical examinations and 4 cases were found through clinical diagnosis. After 2007,all the 21 cases were discovered through the individual health and physical examinations. Furthermore,there were 6 cases in clinical stage T1,24 in clinical stage T2,1 in clinical stage T3 and 1 in clinical stage T4. There were 22 cases of ER-positive,8 of ER-negative,and 2 of unknown. Fifteen patients underwent the radical resection( radical mastectomy,RM),10 underwent the modified resection( modified radical mastectomy,MRM),3 underwent the breast-conserving surgery( breast conserving therapy,BCT),3 underwent the extended radical mastectomy( extensive radical mastectomy,ERM),and 1 received the palliative resection treatment( palliative resection,PR). All the 32 cases were followed up from 7 months to 10 years. Five cases died( 15. 6%),and the average survival time was 4.6 years. There were 4 patients still in the endocrine therapy and 2 had not completed the endocrine therapy in their post-operative chemotherapy stages. Conclusions The college female teachers have high breast cancer potential,and show double menopausal and post-menopausal onset peaks accounting for 59. 38% of the patients. The regular individual health check,physical examination,and palpation of the clinician are the key of early detection. The early standardized comprehensive treatment is the key of incresing the cure rate.


In this paper, the ISIGHT software is used to decouple and optimize the powertrain mounting system (PMS) of a big mini passenger car and a six degrees of freedom (DOF) rigid body model of the PMS is established. The robust optimization model of the PMS is presented aiming at maximizing the decoupling ratios of the PMS, and the stiffness and the position parameters of each mount are selected as design variables. The statistic properties of the optimization objective and constraints are calculated using the first order Taylor series expansion. The robust optimization model is solved by combining the Modified Feasible Direction and Mixed Integer Optimization algorithms. Monte Carlo simulation is conducted to perform robustness analysis of the PMS by regarding the optimal variables as normal distribution random ones. The simulation results verify the robustness of the optimization results.


This paper makes an analysis of the restriction factors in the process of military technology transfer by the form of questionnaire survey.First,using the factor analysis method,18 restriction factors are extracted to 4 common factors which are the demand factor,the supply factor,the collective service factor and the market factor;further,using the regression analysis method,analyzes the influence of the 4 common factors on the technology transfer effect.The result indicates that the demand factor,the collective service factor and the market factor are the remarkable factors to the successful transfer of military technology,while the influence of the supply factor is not remarkable.


Ernest Hemingway wrote about the 1922 loss of his early Paris manuscripts in four major published works—A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream, The Garden of Eden, and True at First Light—although Hemingway's editors have not always included the episode in the published versions. His repeated writing about this loss might have served as a sort of creative flashback, allowing him to face and deal with the trauma. When these works are read in order of composition and in light of modern trauma theory, a pattern of forgiveness and psychological healing emerges.


Mauriac syndrome is rarely noted complication of type-1 diabetic children, which is typically associated with growth failure and delayed pubertal maturation. We have presented a case report of 13 years male adolescent who had multiple hospital admissions for diabetic ketoacidosis.


The present invention relates to a data reading method, an electronic device and a storage medium. The data reading method comprises the following steps: receiving a reading request, using the feedback data of a polymerization process in response to the reading request, and getting the result of the response; according to the result of the response, determining to obtain the feedback data of the reading request from the polymerization process or a business process. An electronic device and a storage medium are also provided. The data reading method, electronic device and storage medium of the present invention shunt the data of the business process with high loads, so as to reduce the loads of the corresponding business process.


Objective To develop an RP-HPLC method for determination of D-Chiro-Inositol(DCI) in Xuanqiao 1.Methods The analysis was carried out at 30 ℃ on a NH2 column eluted with a mobile phase consisting of a mixture of acetonitrile-water(70:30).The flow rate was 1.0 ml/min.Results The calibration curve was linear within the concentration ranges of 1.340~8.040 μg(r=0.999 5),the average recovery was 97.42%,and the DCI in Xuanqiao 1 was 2.9 mg/g.Conclusion This method is simple,accurate,replicate and suitable for determination of DCI in Xuanqiao 1.


Sustainable tourism emerges as more responsible form of tourism seeks to minimize the undesirable impacts of tourism development at destination level. Specifically, its presence in nature-based tourism destinations provides financial revenue for nature conservation through maintaining high quality visitor experience. Kinabalu Park is the first World Heritage Site of Malaysia. Since its establishment in 1964, the park has been a popular tourism destination in the country and in the region. The significant and increasing inflow of visitors to the park has raised the concern over its management in meeting the visitor expectation without compromising with its conservation objective, which is the key role of a protected area. This paper intends to highlight the park management in responding to its dual roles in conserving nature and meeting visitor satisfaction, thereby meeting some principles of sustainable tourism.


Early in 1992, Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm computed a symmetric partial Boolean function with a single quantum query, and thus achieved the best separation between classical deterministic and exact quantum query complexity. Until recent years, it was clarified that all symmetric partial Boolean functions with a single quantum query can be computed exactly by Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm. For the general partial Boolean functions with a single quantum query, the latest characterizations is complex and not very satisfactory. Based on this, this paper proves and discovers three new results: (1) Establishing a new equivalence, each partial Boolean function with a single quantum query can be transformed to a simple partial Boolean function whose polynomial degree is just one; (2) For partial Boolean functions up to four bits, there are only 10 non-trivial partial Boolean functions with a single quantum query; (3) For each quantum 1-query algorithm with undefined measurement, there exists a constructive method for finding out all partial Boolean functions that can be computed exactly by the algorithm. Essentially, the first discovery represent a step forward for a fundamental conclusion that the polynomial degree of partial Boolean functions with a single quantum query is one or two, and the last two results contribute a way for searching more nontrival partial Boolean functions that have quantum advantages.


A random sample of general practitioners was surveyed by postal questionnaire to determine their knowledge of wheelchairs and wheelchair prescribing, and their opinion of the usefulness of the A0F5G for wheelchair prescribing. Seventy-four per cent considered their knowledge of wheelchairs to be 'not very good' or worse, and one-third found the A0F5G to be inadequate for prescribing and difficult to complete. Inadequacy of training was identified as the likely cause of these findings. Improved educational programmes for doctors at both an undergraduate and a postgraduate level would raise the standards of wheelchair prescribing.


We investigate the polarization of opinions in a social network. We suggest a model of polarization which is based on game theory. Every agent has a goal and chooses his strategy to make a function of aggregated opinion to be close to his goal as possible. We found that such a system tends to polarize and suggested a model control this. Our approach is suitable for scalar, vector and more general opinions. We provide results of mathematical modelling.


Description: The Measure of Audiologic Rehabilitation Self-Efficacy for Hearing Aids (MARS-HA) Questionnaire is a 24 item self-assessment of a patient's ability to do certain activities with a hearing aid as well as the patient's abilities to hear in certain situations. In particular, the MARS-HA measures four factors: 1) Basic Handling, 2) Advanced Handling, 3) Adjustment, and 4) Aided Listening. As self efficacy is domain-specific, assessing the patient's own perceptions of how confident he/she is within these areas can help the clinician target specific areas of audiologic rehabilitation for hearing aids in which the patient needs to be helped.


This article is a contribution to the understanding of the Farey diagrams, their combinatorial aspects, and their applications to the (m,n)-cubes in Computer Sciences.


Abstract The relation between stereotypes and social distance towards The Netherlands' minority groups is analysed in a survey of 204 secondary school and university students. Two aspects of social distance are distinguished. One is the amount of social distance towards minority groups, and the other is an ethnic hierarchy of minority groups in social distance. This ethnic hierarchy was shared by a majority of the students. Forty‐eight stereotypes scored for seven ethnic groups were found to converge into six latent dimensions common to all groups. The association between stereotypes, social distance and the ethnic hierarchy depended on the domain of contact. Stereotypes appear to anchor the ethnic hierarchy into Dutch institutions and values, rather than classical racism.


Diamond Blackfan Anemia (DBA) is a rare congenital red cell aplasia due to a selective defect of erythroid progenitor cell maturation. DBA patients exhibit a wide array of developmental abnormalities and can be predisposed to cancer. Heterozygous mutations in the gene encoding Rps19, a ribosomal protein of the small subunit, have been identified in 25% of DBA cases. By using human cell lines (TF-1) containing small interfering RNA (siRNA) designed to silence RPS19 we have shown that Rps19 deficient cells present an altered ribosomal profile which conveys a decrease in the 40S subunit population. This decrease is due to faulty maturation of the 21S precursor to functional 18S rRNA as illustrated by pulse chase and northern blot analysis of total RNA extracts from the cell lines. Analysis of these intermediates in CD34− cells from the bone marrow of DBA patients harboring mutations in RPS19 revealed a pre-rRNA processing defect similar to that observed in TF-1 cells where RPS19 expression was reduced. This defect was observed to a lesser extent in CD34+ cells from DBA patients with mutations in RPS19 . Thus, our data reveal that rRNA processing is disrupted in cells from DBA patients with mutated RPS19 .


Objective  Accelerated early growth prior to childhood type 1 diabetes onset is associated with an increased risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D). We aimed to study early growth, correcting for the previously neglected confounder of familial effects.


The review investigates the latest developments in the field of application of nanotechnologies in the transportation of therapeutic agents, features and the advantages of using nanoscale drug delivery systems for the treatment of diseases, as well as further prospects of using this field in medicine. Modern drug delivery systems are characterized by target orientation, rapid response to the environment and the use of biocompatible and biodegradable nanomaterials which allow for the development of the next generation of more effective drugs. Interdisciplinary research in this fast-growing field provides opportunities to design and develop multifunctional devices that can accurately target and successfully administer the release and distribution of active ingredients in the body.


Object of the present invention to provide a method of operating a short period of time can be simple and efficient extraction of nucleic acids purified nucleic acid. The method of purifying nucleic acids according to the present invention comprises the step of adsorbing resin 10 containing sample nucleic acid containing the substance with an ion exchange resin and a cation exchange resin, anion exchange. A first cation exchange resin may be used and the exclusion limit molecular weight less than a second first cation exchange resin, cation exchange resin as the cation exchange resin.


Structure and long-range hyperfine interaction in 2-adamantyl, 5,7-dimethyl-2-adamantyl, and the various 2-substituted radicals (substituent = CH{sub 3}, CH{sub 2}SiMe{sub 3}, OSiMe{sub 3}, SSiMe{sub 3}, CH{sub 2}GeMe{sub 3}, etc.) were studied by ESR. The origin of the long-range hyperfine interaction is discussed on the basis of the comparison between experimental and theoretical hfs values. The analyses of hfs values for persistent 2-bis(trimethylsilyl)methyl-2-adamantyl radical and the 5,7-dimethyl derivative were made by the assistance of the ENDOR spectrum.


The method involves applying a moisture absorbent material on or around an end of a stem bundle. A fluid-tight closure in the form of a shrink tube is provided around the stem bundle. The closure closes a head end of a flower stalk bundle. The closure extends to a tube open end in sealing contact with the flower stalk bundle under supply of heat at a part of the tube open end for shrinking, at downstream of the moisture absorbent material.


Background: Neonatal weight loss in the first few days of life is a common phenomenon yet limited information about weight loss after birth is available. Objectives: The present study aimed at determining associated factors with neonatal weight loss after birth in newborns. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the sample included 982 healthy, term and singleton newborns that had referred to health centers of Ilam. The mother and neonate's demographic characteristics, and the mother's pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum data were collected by a questionnaire. The data was analyzed using univariate and multivariate statistical analysis using the SPSS software. Results: The mean NWL 3 to 5 days after birth was 129 ± 92 grams. Infants had lost 4.04 ± 3.19% of their birthweight. The results of multivariate analysis (logistic regression) showed that breastfeeding (OR = 7.228, CI: 4.707 - 11.099), cesarean section (OR = 4.429, CI: 3.166 - 6.196), female gender (OR = 3.080, CI: 2.201 - 4.309), mother's no experience of breast feeding (OR = 2.831, CI: 1.817 - 4.409), weighting more than 4000 grams (OR = 2.464, CI: 1.034 - 5.870) and jaundice (OR = 1.486, CI: 1.035 - 2.133) were amongst risk factors for neonatal weight loss (NWL) of more than 5%, while risk factors for NWL of more than 7% included only breastfeeding (OR = 2.904, CI: 1.759 - 4.796), cesarean section (OR = 2.073, CI: 1.423 - 3.019), and female gender (OR = 1.850, CI: 1.254 - 2.730). Conclusions: The study findings revealed that breastfeeding and cesarean section are the strongest predictors of NWL. Therefore, it is necessary for infant-friendly hospitals to come up with strategies to reduce the rate of cesarean section and establish successful breastfeeding before mothers are discharged.


This work is motivated by the problem of error correction in bit-shift channels with the so-called <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${(d,k)} $ </tex-math></inline-formula> input constraints (where successive 1's are required to be separated by at least <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${d} $ </tex-math></inline-formula> and at most <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k} $ </tex-math></inline-formula> zeros, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${0 \leq d < k \leq \infty } $ </tex-math></inline-formula>). Bounds on the size of optimal <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${(d,k)} $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-constrained codes correcting a fixed number of bit-shifts are derived, with a focus on their asymptotic behavior in the large block-length limit. The upper bound is obtained by a packing argument, while the lower bound follows from a construction based on a family of integer lattices. Several properties of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${(d, k)} $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-constrained sequences that may be of independent interest are established as well; in particular, the exponential growth rate of the number of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${(d, k)} $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-constrained constant-weight sequences is characterized. The results are relevant for magnetic and optical information storage systems, reader-to-tag RFID channels, and other communication models where bit-shift errors are dominant and where <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${(d, k)} $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-constrained sequences are used for modulation.


How much the credit risk of listed companies, and how to carry on the effective measure to it, have been puzzling the various benefits related main body. In order to accurately solve the issue of credit risk evaluation in the listed companies, In this article, the choice of Gray Relational model conducts the empirical study to the credit risks analysis appraisal of listed companies in our country. The introduction of related financial indicators build credit risk evaluation index system, which can realize the appraisal and comparison of credit risk to the listed companies.


The present invention relates to a display device, which comprises a lighting device (3) and a liquid crystal display (2).


This paper presents a spectrum optimization algorithm for community detection of the complex networks. An edge cutting model is proposed for selecting edges to be removed from candidates by minimizing algebraic connectivity function. In this model a greedy heuristic method is used to get the lower bound of optimal value, which makes it applicable to large-scale networks. Additionally, by weighting every edge based on Fielder vector, this model can effectively reduce the disadvantage influence of periphery edges of a graph on the result. The experiments on the simulated and the real complex networks show that this algorithm can reduce the time complexity of Newman-Girvan algorithm while preserving the performance of community detection.


This paper examines policies to increase the number of environmentally-friendly consumers using models of Arora and Gangopadhyay (1995) and Bansal and S. Gangopadhyay (2003). In our model it is assumed that consumers' enrironmentally awareness or willingness to pay for eco-products depend on their income. The market can be segmented by income levels of consumers. To increase the proportion of green consumers, policymakers should provide support for lower income consumers and encourage consumer preferences for green products.


In order to generate the funds needed for preserving highway infrastructure, highway agencies impose various types of fees on road users. For purposes of efficiency and equity, user fees must reflect appropriately the share of pavement damage occasioned by each vehicle class. This paper presents a review of the state of practice of pavement damage cost estimation, identifies the drawbacks in past approaches and makes suggestions for enhancement. The paper explains how past highway pavement damage cost estimation studies were plagued with a number of debilitating limitations, ranging from the lack of appropriate data or unrealistic or impractical assumptions, to inadequate consideration of criteria that influence such costs. The paper demonstrates that, for the equitable and efficient estimation of pavement damage cost, the methodology used should be comprehensive. In other words, it should clearly distinguish between strength-driven and capacity-driven expenditures; make use of relevant historical agency ...


Objective By using conventional chromosome aberration analysis, the radiosensitivity of Hela cells by silencing ATM gene (Hela cell) using siRNA technology was


Connecting the courtroom workgroup model with attributions and stereotyping based on the focal concerns perspective and gender sentencing literature, the present study investigates the extent to which probation officer recommendations influence judicial sentencing, and whether the gender of the offender further conditions this relationship. Results from logistic and ordinary least squares regression indicate that there is concordance between probation officer recommendations and sentencing by judges. Offender gender has both direct and indirect effects on judicial sentencing through its relationship with probation officer recommendations, and Black males tend to receive lengthier sentences than other race/gender counterparts. These findings provide evidence that probation officer recommendations are an important part of the sentencing process and offer additional insight on how extralegal factors such as gender and race impact criminal justice decision making.