The1 period noise typically results from electrical or motor disturbances in the image acquisition process, resulting in degraded image quality. In order to reduce the influence of period noise effectively, de-noising algorithm of bilateral linear operators is proposed in this paper. In the presented method, according to the image can be represented by a matrix and the matrix is full-rank, the least-squares regression is used to find the transformation matrix between the noise image and the original image, and then use the linear operators to de-noise noise image which have the same noise intensity with the training image. The proposed method is compared with other traditional methods to evaluate the effectiveness of the method, the results under different conditions shows that the proposed algorithm has a better de-noising effect both visually and quantitatively with lower computational cost.


TCRDV1‐positive lymphocytes, which infiltrate colon carcinomas, were recently shown to be cytolytic for tumour cells. However, the immune compartment from which these cells originate is unknown. The aim of the present studies was to determine the origin of TCRDV1‐positive cells in colonic neoplasia. Biopsies were obtained from normal colon, polyps or carcinomas, concurrently with a sample from the peripheral blood. RNA was extracted and a TCRDV1‐specific reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) was performed. Amplification products were analysed by a CDR3 display and sequence analysis. In five out of six patients, the TCRDV1 CDR3 display of the whole cell population within the neoplastic tissue was distinct from that in the normal mucosa and the peripheral blood. The nucleotide sequences of CDR3 domains from the three compartments were distinct as well. In one patient, a pattern similar to the CDR3 display was detected in neoplastic and normal intestinal tissues. However, using junction‐specific RT‐PCR of CDR3 sequences derived from the neoplastic cells, such sequences could be detected in all three compartments. These findings suggest that in contrast to the current paradigm, a unique TCRDV1 cell population circulates in the peripheral blood and normal intestinal tissue and infiltrates colon neoplasia rather than being restricted to a single compartment as previously thought.


A new threshold time series model is proposed whose submodels are extended from AR to SARIMA and whose domains having thresholds are extended to two. By these two extensions, the newly proposed models offer more flexibility to piecewisely approximate nonstationary time series by a finite number of local stationary models. A genetic algorithm is applied to simultaneously search for appropriate model structures, estimate the optimal model coefficients, as well as partition space by finding appropriate thresholds. The resulting model is applied to a synthetic multi-frequency sine wave and two financial time series with improved modeling quality. The proposed model is also applied to seismogram analysis in order to recognize earthquake wave pattern related to locate arrival time of different waves.


By presenting two research experiences conducted with in-service teachers, this work aims at demonstrating how the participation to a research project leading to the narrative and analysis of one's own practices constitutes a worthwhile opportunity for teachers' education. The crucial factor is that of being able to hold fruitfully together two instances that may seem opposite: the rigor required by a qualitative research process, and the sustainability needed within a continuous training path which is meant to be taken up by professionals during their job activity.


Hundreds of years before her time, and a century before Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Astell wrote impassioned treatises on women's position in the world, a woman's right to education, male-female relations, all written in a marvellously fluid style. Undoubtedly, one of her masterpieces is A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of their True and Greatest Interest: By a Lover of Her Sex (1694). She was a brilliant mind in an era when it was socially unacceptable for women to have minds and voices to speak them—she saw an iniquity and she had to speak against it.


This paper presents a secondary voltage control scheme with a distributed event-triggered mechanism for multiple distributed generators in droop-controlled microgrids. First, considering the issue of limited bandwidth of a communication network in a practical application, two types of distributed event-triggered mechanisms are proposed to reduce the information transmission pressure, while preserving the desired control performance. Then, based on the proposed triggering schemes, distributed secondary controllers are designed for distributed generators. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that by using the control strategy, the voltages of distributed generators are synchronised to their nominal values.


Cisapride‐3H, labeled at the fluorophenyl moiety or at the piperidine ring, was incubated with the supernatant and microsomal fractions of various animal livers and an NADPH‐generating system. The major metabolites were identified by co‐chromatography with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and by mass spectrometry. A mass balance of the major metabolites in incubates was made up by radio‐HPLC. The rate of metabolism of the drug decreased in the following order: rabbit ≥ male rat ≥ dog ≥ female rat. The major in vitro metabolic pathways in the animal species were rather similar. Main biotransformation routes were oxidative N‐dealkylation at the piperidine nitrogen and aromatic hydroxylation occurring either at the fluorophenyl or at the benzamide moiety. Hydroxylation was relatively more abundant in female compared to male rats, whereas oxidative O‐dealkylation was important in incubates with rabbit subcellular fractions only. Furthermore, the formation of at least four sulfate conjugates could be demonstrated. Metabolism experiments with phenobarbital‐induced or 3‐methylcholanthrene‐induced microsomes indicated that phenobarbital inducible cytochrome P‐450 isoenzyme(s) are involved in the in vitro metabolism of cisapride.


This paper discusses a multi-agent simulation theory which is serving as a formal specification to guide the development of a multi-agent simulation platform. We have extended an existing simulation language: GLIDER, with abstractions to model systems where autonomous entities (agents) perceive and act upon their environments. Thus far, we have completed the development of the platform that implements the theory and we are now applying it to the study of multi-agent systems. In particular, an Implementation on Biocomplexity is briefly discussed in the paper.


Introduction: Access to and the cost of induction treatment for cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is rapidly changing. The newly-announced price for flucytosine ($0.75 per 500 mg pill) and possibly lower prices for liposomal amphotericin B (AmB-L) create opportunities to reduce CM treatment costs compared to the current standard treatment in low- and Results: A 14-day induction-phase of seven days of inpatient AmB-D with flucytosine, followed by seven days of high-dose fluconazole as an outpatient, will cost health systems less than a 14-day hospital stay with AmB-D and fluconazole. If daily AmB-L replaces AmB-D for those with baseline renal dysfunction, with a cost of $50 or less per 50 mg vial, incremental costs would still be less than the AmB-D with fluconazole regimen. Simple oral combinations (e.g., seven days of flucytosine with fluconazole as an inpatient) are practical when AmB-D is not available, and treatment costs would remain less than the current standard treatment. Conclusions : Improved access to, and lower prices for flucytosine and AmB-L create opportunities for improving CM treatment regimens. An induction regimen of flucytosine and AmB-D for seven days is less costly than standard care in the settings studied here. As this regimen has also been shown to be more effective than current standard care, countries should prioritize scaling up flucytosine access. The cost of AmB-L based regimens is highly dependent on the price of AmB-L, which currently remains unclear. Summary This is a well written paper on the costs of cryptococcal meningitis treatment in African countries. New drug prices have been announced with may lower the costs of treatment compared to current front-line drugs. The analysis is methodologically sound and straightforward for the reader. Additional data could be included in the manuscript itself, but it also easily accessible in the Excel files. Given some uncertainty in drug prices, the primary value of this work may be subsequent analyses undertaken with the tools presented here.


An Investigation Into the Factors That Contribute to Excellence in Reading Between Two Standard One Students at a Co-Educational Primary School in the Caroni Educational District in Central Trinidad Shelley-Ann Kesia K. Housand-Joseph This case study investigated the factors that contribute to excellence in reading in two Standard 1 students at a co-educational primary school in the Caroni Educational District in Central Trinidad. Data were collected through interviews with two students, one principal, and one teacher, as well as through observations. The themes established during the study were parental factors, home literacy environment/activities, perceptions of self and self-efficacy, and school culture. Findings indicated that significant relationships exist between students' literacy skills and parental and teacher involvement, as well as student-related factors. The research also showed that the contribution from the school's culture was almost non-existent in the development of these skills, and that there is need for the institution to adopt a more formal approach to literacy development.


F. Baldini et al. (eds.), Sensors: Proceedings of the First National Conference on Sensors, Rome 15–17 February, 2012, Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 162, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-3860-1_2, © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract On-chip fl uorescence microscopy is an emerging platform that enables high-throughput screening of bio-chips over a wide fi eld-of-view without the use of any lenses, thin-fi lm fi lters or mechanical scanners. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in lensfree fl uorescence microscopy and also discuss some of its unique capabilities toward high-throughput screening applications, including rare-cell imaging, on-chip cytometry as well as micro-array research.


When it comes to extending the lifespan of Wireless Sensor Networks, the concept of clustering is quite useful because it lowers the energy consumption required for their operation as well as the message overhead, extending the network lifetime. Wireless sensor networks have unique routing protocol requirements because of the dispersed network and architecture. In this paper, a decentralised hierarchical cluster-based WSN routing algorithm is discussed. This method reduces the amount of control packets by running the clustering and multi hop routing algorithms simultaneously. The findings of this study, when compared to the LEACH protocol, which is a well-known and popular protocol in this category, confirm the notion that energy conservation will increase network longevity.


Motivated by the search for type-II multiferroics, we present a comprehensive optical study of a complex oxide family of type-II multiferroic candidates: $\mathrm{RbFe}{(\mathrm{Mo}{\mathrm{O}}_{4})}_{2}, \mathrm{RbFe}{(\mathrm{Se}{\mathrm{O}}_{4})}_{2}$, and $\mathrm{RbFe}{(\mathrm{S}{\mathrm{O}}_{4})}_{2}$. We employ rotational-anisotropy second harmonic generation spectroscopy (RA SHG), a technique sensitive to point symmetries, to address discrepancies in literature-assigned point/space groups and to identify the correct crystal structures. At room temperature we find that our RA SHG patterns rotate away from the crystal axes in $\mathrm{RbFe}{(A{\mathrm{O}}_{4})}_{2}$ ($A=\mathrm{Se},\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{S}$), which identifies the lack of mirror symmetry and in-plane two-fold rotational symmetry. Also, the SHG efficiency of $\mathrm{RbFe}{(\mathrm{Se}{\mathrm{O}}_{4})}_{2}$ is two orders of magnitude stronger than $\mathrm{RbFe}{(A{\mathrm{O}}_{4})}_{2}$ ($A=\mathrm{Mo},\mathrm{S}$), which suggests broken inversion symmetry. Additionally, we present temperature-dependent linear optical characterizations near the band edge of this family of materials using ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy. Included is experimental evidence of the band gap energy and band gap transition type for this family. Subband gap absorption is also presented, which reveals prominent optical transitions, some with an unusual central energy temperature dependence. Furthermore, we find that by substituting the $A$ site in $\mathrm{RbFe}{(A{\mathrm{O}}_{4})}_{2}$ ($A=\mathrm{Mo},\mathrm{Se},\mathrm{S}$), the aforementioned transitions are spectrally tunable. Finally, we discuss the potential origin and impact of these tunable transitions.


A centralized approach to solve optimal operation of a practical sized distribution grid with a large number of electric vehicles (EVs) is a computationally challenging task. This work proposes a bi-level hierarchical optimization framework to solve the problem. In the hierarchy, optimal operation of the distribution grid is considered in one level, while the optimal operation of EVs is carried out in another level. The hierarchical optimization framework is based on information exchange among distribution grid control center, EV aggregators, individual EVs, and market operator. The proposed framework consists of detailed mathematical modelling of distribution system components, EVs, and operational constraints. The proposed framework is applied to coordinate charging of hundreds of EVs in the IEEE 34-node three-phase unbalanced distribution system. Case studies demonstrate that the proposed hierarchical optimization framework provides benefits to the distribution grid operations as well as to the individual EV customers.


This study analyzes the relation between national identity and the appreciation of the characters and events of Peruvian history in a sample of public school teachers from the city of Lima (N = 99). Adapted versions of the NATID Scale (Keillor et al., 1996) and the CSES Scale (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) are used as measures of national identity. National pride and interest in knowing about Peruvian history are variables also included in this study. The study shows that appreciation of historical characters is more positive than appreciation of historical events. There is a positive association between national identity and appreciation of Peruvian historical characters. A multiple linear regression model is proposed; this model shows that appreciation of cultural heritage and national pride has a positive impact on the appreciation of characters of Peruvian history. Keywords: appreciation of history, national identity, collective self-esteem, national pride. Este estudio analiza la relacion entre la identidad nacional y la valoracion de los personajes y eventos de la historia del Peru, en una muestra de profesores de escuelas publicas de Lima (N = 99). Como medidas de identidad nacional se utilizan versiones adaptadas de las escalas NATID (Keillor et al., 1996) y CSES de autoestima colectiva (Luhtanen y Crocker, 1992). Tambien se incluye el orgullo nacional y el interes por conocer sobre la historia del Peru como variables de estudio. Se encuentra que la valoracion de los personajes historicos es mas positiva que la de los eventos historicos. La identidad nacional esta asociada positivamente a la valoracion de los personajes historicos. Se propone un modelo de regresion lineal multiple en el que la valoracion de la herencia cultural y el sentimiento de orgullo nacional ejercen un efecto positivo sobre la valoracion de los personajes de la historia del Peru. Palabras clave: valoracion de la historia, identidad nacional, autoestima colectiva, orgullo nacional. Social Identity Regarding the concept of identity one can mention two attempts, amongst others, to bring together the different definitions of the term. First of all, Fearon (1999) claims that the underlying concepts common to the different definitions of identity are: self-definition, differentiation with respect to others, and creation and conservation of an image or representation of oneself. In second place, Vignoles, Regalia, Manzi, Golledge, and Scabini (2006) define identity as the subjective concept of himself that an individual possesses. According to these authors, identity belongs to the realm of subjective experience and does not refer to an objective essence. The importance of belonging to a group in the conformation of identity has been made explicit by the theory of social identity (Tajfel, 1984; Tajfel & Turner, 1986). In so far as belonging to a determinate social group is an important part of the self-concept, individuals will seek to maintain or raise a positive social identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). In this context, social identity is defined as that part of the self-concept of an individual that derives from the knowledge of his belonging to a social group. Brewer (1991) argues that social identification is the result of two different processes: in-group identification, that is, the need for inclusion, the need to feel as a member of some definite group; and intergroup differentiation which is the need to establish differences with other groups to which we don't belong. The need for a feeling of belonging to a group, for a collective identification, may be considered as a universal motivation of the human species (Perez, 1999; Vignoles et al., 2006). Social identity, understood as a subjective construction, is built through the interaction of cognitive, affective and social processes, within a certain cultural and local context (Vignoles et al., 2006). National Identity According to Perez (1999), the feeling of national identity would be only one of the multiple forms of collective identification generated by humanity throughout history. …


This article elaborates the vital significance of constructing the sports resources integration of Changjiang Delta. Based on the summary of former experience, it propounds some implementation plans like sharing information resources, constructing the sports circle around Tai Lake, etc. Finally, the writer points out some problems that should be paid attention to in the process of integration.


Different models reported on specialized literature have been proposed for cuntifying concrete drying shrinkage at the design stage of co ncrete structures. However, questions have been Revista Ingeniería de Construcción Volumen 16 No1 Enero Junio de 2001 2 raised regarding their applicability to conditions different to those used in their derivation, particularly with respect to differences in cement a d aggregate characteristics from country to country. Therefore, this paper evaluates and highli ghts the need for updating proposed concrete shrinkage prediction models to local conditions. Th e experimental program was carried out on 8 concrete mixtures of similar strength, manufactured with Portland and Blended Portland Cement which represent the most commonly used local concr etes. Tests were conducted on 72 specimens and drying shrinkage strains were measured up to 44 8 days of drying to investigate the effect of cement type, slump, aggregate maximum size and spec imen dimension on concrete shrinkage. It was concluded that the type of cement had a signifi ca t effect on drying shrinkage time development and magnitude. Shrinkage exhibited by c oncrete mixtures made with Portland Pozzolan cement was approximately 25 % higher than t ose of similar strength mixtures made with Portland cement. Furthermore, shrinkage of Portland Pozzolan cement concretes increased initially at a much faster rate and then slowed down earlier than Portland cement concretes probably due to the increased in impermeability of Portland Pozzola n cement concretes. Test results were compared with strain predictions from ACI, CEB, B3, GZ, GL a nd Sakata models. It was concluded that all analyzed shrinkage models highly underestimated shr inkage strains observed in this study, particularly for Portland Pozzolan cement concrete and do not adequately represent the observed shrinkage behavior of concretes made with locally a vail ble materials. Therefore, prediction models were calibrated for their use at the design stage a nd correction factors are suggested for Chilean conditions and for concretes with characteristic co mpressive cube strengths in the range of 30 to 40 MPa. For model calibration to concrete of a specifi c project, a minimum testing time of 100 days is recommended to estimate shrinkage within normally a ccepted accuracy limits.


The present study was carried out to investigate the in vivo betalain content in bract and leaf of some bougainvillea cultivars and to develop a reliable, rapid and efficient callus induction protocol. The maximum betacyanin content in bracts was recorded in the cv. Bhabha (2.68 mg/g FW) followed by cv. Rao (2.40 mg/g FW). The maximum betaxanthin content in bracts was recorded in the cv. Lady Mary Baring (1.27 mg/g FW). The maximum betacyanin content in leaf was recorded in the cv. Dr H B Singh (0.58 mg/g FW), while the maximum betaxanthin content in leaf was recorded in the cv. Bhabha (0.73 mg/g FW). The total betalain content in bract was estimated to be maximum in the cv. Bhabha (3.60 mg/g FW) followed by cv. Rao (3.36 mg/g FW). The total betalain content in leaf was highest in cv. Bhabha followed by cv. Dr R R Pal. Of the different treatments employed for callus induction on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium using leaf explants in bougainvillea cv. Bhabha, the treatment comprising 6 mg/l 2,4-D recorded maximum induction coefficient (98.75%) and minimum days (8.50) was required for callus initiation. In case of internodal explants the induction coefficient was lower and more number of days was required for callus initiation. No callus induction was recorded on bract. Absolutely no callus induction was noted on the MS basal medium devoid of plant hormones (control). The maximum gain in callus biomass accumulation, in both the explants, in terms of fresh and dry cell weight was recorded in the callus cultured on MS medium supplemented with 6 mg/l 2,4-D. This treatment also resulted in lowest fresh and dry cell weight ratio in leaf and internodal explants. Wounding of leaf explants was found to be beneficial for accelerating the callogenesis process. The multiplication of callus was satisfactory on MS medium supplemented with doubled quantity of vitamins and 6 mg/l 2,4-D.


This study examines the appropriateness of the involvement of tribal leaders by investigating the influence of tribal leaders on agricultural development. Contrary to popular opinion and other findings on this often controversial subject, the findings indicate that tribal leaders, namely chiefs and tinduna, can potentially make a significant contribution to agricultural development. Supportive evidence is based on significant relationships between the level of agricultural development and tribal leaders' needs and perception, their credibility, and particularly their involvement. This influence, although less than that of the front-line extension workers, should be exploited once follow-up research has been conducted into the relevance of these findings in other parts ofthe country and under changing political and sociocultural.


To improve the efficiency of symbolic recognition and enhance the robustness of identification methods,a symbol recognition method based on the characteristics of the centroid is presented.This method uses progressive methods of marking tags on the images to produce black and white connected domain queue.Then the symbol domain can be extracted.According to the number of connected regions in the symbol domain,the connected components of the heart-shaped distribution,the position and orientation of the largest connected domain,symbol recognition can be achieved.The recognition process needed scanning the whole images once and connected domain queue twice.


The activation of pyridine by the dicationic yttrium methyl complex [YMe(THF)6]2+[BPh4]-2 to give the structurally characterized cationic rare-earth metal η2-pyridyl complex [Y{η2-(C,N)-C5H4N}(C5H5N)6]2+[BPh4]-2 is reported. The pyridyl complex adopts a pentagonal bipyramidal coordination geometry with the pyridyl ligand in the axial position; kinetic data demonstrate that this complex forms via the formation of the substitution product [YMe(C5H5N)6]2+[BPh4]-2.


In spite of the short timeframe, the PMO achieved a number of impo including some with potential longer term impact. It developed a 'cha encourage community-based innovation, it emphasised fostering link society and government, and building organisationally sustainable ap projects it commissioned, delivered by 39 partners and their network introduce and scale up approaches to harm reduction for injecting dr support for men having sex with men, people living with HIV and wom level and frontline acceptance of the harm reduction approach increa


This paper investigates the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) electroosmotic flow (EOF) of Newtonian fluid through a zeta potential modulated parallel plate microchannel with patterned hydrodynamic slippage. The driven mechanism of the flow originates from the Lorentz force generated by the interaction of externally imposed lateral electric field Ey and vertical magnetic field Bz and electric field force produced by an externally applied electric field Ex. It is assumed that the wall zeta potential and the slip length are periodic functions of axial coordinate x, an analytical solution of the stream function is achieved by utilizing the method of separation of variables and perturbation expansion. The pictures of streamlines are plotted and the vortex configurations produced in flow field due to patterned wall potential and hydrodynamic slippage are discussed. Based on the stream function, the velocity field and volume flow rate are obtained, which are greatly depend on some dimensionless parameters, such as slip length ls, electrokinetic width λ, the amplitude δ of the patterned slip length, the amplitude m of the modulated zeta potential and Hartmann number Ha. The variations of velocity and volume flow rate with these dimensionless parameters are discussed in details. These theoretical results may provide some guidance effectively operating micropump in practical nanofluidic applications.


Background : Antiseptics are essential part of infection control practices. Faith Innovations has launched Steri-Gen Disinfectant Generation System based on the novel Sterigen technology. The system generates neutral pH, stable Hypochlorous acid (HClO) along with a mixture of oxidants like hydroxyl anion, peroxide anion, oxonium ion etc. This mixture of oxidants and HClO is known as Sterigen Solution. Sterigen Solution is a high level disinfectant produced using water, Sterigen- C and electricity. Aim : To evaluate bactericidal&fungicidal action of Sterigen solution. Material & method : The solitary isolates of multi drug resistant test organisms Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA), K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis, Ps. aeruginosa, E. coli&C. albicans isolated from hospitalized patients were included in the study. The disinfectant was evaluated by Suspension test qualitatively with contact time-1,3&5 minutes. Tests were performed in duplicate to ascertain reproducibility. Pre-fumigation and Post-fumigation decrease in bacterial load was also assessed. Result : Sterigen solution was an effective anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent for hospital use in dilutions upto 1:3.


This study aims to identify the leadership practices in the management process that characterize the organizational culture of an institution and help to promote a quality school. Focused on an institution of secondary education in Aracaju city (SE), this research followed a qualitative and quantitative approach, characterized itself as a study which covered, in addition to the school principal, pedagogical coordinators and teachers. Structured interview and questionnaire were chosen as instruments of data collection. The collected data were grouped into categories relating to the types of leadership, which allowed us to perceive a trend towards a model of democratic management, adopted by the school principal. The study concluded that the leadership provided is satisfactory, contributing to a culture of quality throughout the educational process.


Diogenes Laertius 7.54 gives an account of the Stoic criterion of truth, sometimes thought to derive from Diocles of Magnesia (7.48, but see n. 46). The passage gives unusual prominence to unorthodox views: an alternative Chrysippean account, which made sensation and preconception (πρόληψις) the criteria, possibly qua faculties of judgment; the view of some older Stoics as reported by Posidonius, that right rea-


A study was undertaken to evaluate antihyperlipidemic activity of ethanolic extract of leaves of Mentha arvensis in Triton and high cholesterol diet induced hyperlipidemic male albino Wstar rats. Acute hyperlipidemia was induced by administration of Triton WR-1339 (100 mg / kg i.v.) to the male albino Wstar rats. In chronic models; the animals were fed with high cholesterol diet for a period of 10 days. EEMA leaves at a dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg of body weight were administered at a single dose per day to the hyperlipidemic induced rats for a period of 14 days. In hyperlipidemic rats there is significant increase in TC, TG, LDL, VLDL level and significant decrease in HDL level, but after post treatment with EEMA, there was a significant decrease in TC, TG, LDL, VLDL and increase in HDL level. Post treatment with EEMA leaves lowered levels of total protein and triglycerides.


Our paper analyzes the issue of managing structural and technological modernization of the Russian power utilities industry based on the basic criteria of sustainable development. We have chosen coal-fired generation and its defining technologies as the main subject for our analysis. Key points of the Russian power utilities development strategy that has been drawn up to 2030 are compared against the basic principles of sustainable development. Moreover, a mathematical economic model is proposed to justify the choice of coal-fired power plant technology from the standpoint of economic, social, and environmental efficiency.


The communication in brief "Appendiceal perforation by Copper 7 intrauterine device contraceptive" by Carson and associates (Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 141:586 1981) suggested that the case discussed was the first described appendiceal perforation by an IUD. 2 previous cases both also associated with the Copper-7 have been reported and widely circulated in the American literature. The 1st case described by Rubinoff was not associated with pregnancy; the 2nd case remarkably similar to the one presented was included in our article "Gastrointestinal complications of modern intrauterine devices." Bowel injuries are an infrequent but serious complication of IUD perforation and must be considered when a patient has ill-defined abdominal complaints (pain fever and/or diarrhea) associated with a missing IUD. (full text)


Author(s): Naqi, Seline | Abstract: Capstone Project submitted for English 184.3: Pornography and Politics of Sexual Representation (Professor Christopher Mott, Winter 2019).


Cyclic phonology is thought to require serial derivations, but serial derivations are cognitively implausible (see, for example, papers in Goldsmith 1993b). Proponents of nonderivational phonology have responded to this issue in two very different ways:


To the Editor, This is in reference to the article "Left cervical lymph node metastasis – An initial presentation of prostatic adenocarcinoma" published in Journal of Cytology volume 23,1. We wish to share our experience with a similar case. The most common sites of metastatic spread of prostatic carcinoma are the regional lymph nodes and bones of the pelvis and axial skeleton. Enlarged lymph nodes, usually pelvic but rarely left supraclavicular or axillary can sometimes be a presenting symptom. A fifty five year old male presented with a mass in the left side of neck present since 20 days. It measured 1.5 cm in diameter and was firm. Patient gave history of loss of weight and difficulty in evacuating bladder, which was present since 3 to 4 years. Fine needle aspiration cytology performed from the lymph node showed cellular smears showing epithelial cells in sheets, clusters and in acinar pattern (Fig 1). The nuclear chromatin was fine and the cytoplasm moderate in amount. A diagnosis of metastatic adenocarcinoma was offered. Per-rectal examination revealed nodular hard prostate. Ultrasonography showed a nodule in the prostate. No enlarged pelvic nodes were seen. PSA levels were 642 ng/ml. Prostatic biopsy showed features of adenocarcinoma of prostate (Fig 2). A final diagnosis of prostatic adenocarcinoma with distant metastasis was made. Patient underwent bilateral orchidectomy two weeks after the biopsy and was put on hormonal treatment. Cervical and supraclavicular lymph node involvement has been reported in 0.4% to 1% of all cases of metastatic prostate cancer. However cervical lymphadenopathy as the initial presentation of prostatic carcinoma is rare. In supradiaphragmatic spread of carcinoma prostate, it has been postulated that tumour cells lodge in the nodes, which are close to the entry of thoracic duct into left subclavian vein by retrograde spread. Fine needle aspiration is recommended to determine the diagnosis because it has high sensitivity and specificity and can be easily performed. Possibility of prostate carcinoma should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of elderly men with cervical lymphadenopathy, even in the absence of lower urinary tract symptom. Once the diagnosis is established hormone treatment has been shown to be of benefit even in patients in the advanced stages of the disease.


We construct photoelectrodes based on a conjugated organic network. The donor–acceptor interactions within the polymer structure narrow the optical bandgap and enable efficient excited charge transfer, leading to the marked improvement of the PEC activity of the electrode.


This paper discusses the effects of college library newspaper being as a professional news media widely spreaded among colleges and libraries,and probes into the important functions of college library newspaper in aspects of library-running concept,network communication platform,library science research,and professional personnel quality,etc.


We would point out that the chief aim of this article is to draw attention to the ease with which dried plasma may be prepared and to its obvious advantages over natural plasma in war surgery. In view of the possibilities of extensive demands being made on the resources of those who have to treat wound shock it is imperative that any line of treatment claiming to be of value should be tested as fully as possible and at the earliest opportunity. In the hope that the value of dried plasma will be submitted to this trial we have taken the step of publishing at this stage what is obviously an incomplete series of clinical observations. Summary


Purpose: A phenomenological study was conducted to investigate the experiences of infertile women who had an artificial insemination attempt and the...


Optical modulation bandwidth for a semiconductor diode laser is governed by the thermally limited spontaneous radiative recombination lifetime, τrec, photon lifetime, τp, and cavity photon density for stimulated recombination. Thus, temperature dependent recombination lifetime is a critical parameter for the limitation of photonic device operations. Here, we develop a microwave extraction method to accurately determine the radiative recombination and photon lifetimes over a temperature range up to 85 °C through the equivalent circuit modeling based on the measured microwave scattering-parameters. For an 850 nm oxide-vertical cavity surface emitting laser with error free data transmission capability over 50 Gb/s, the extracted lifetimes are τrec = 0.1778 ns and τp = 4.2 ps at 25 °C and τrec = 0.2445 ns and τp = 4.8 ps at 85 °C.


We would like to thank the editor for the opportunity to revise our manuscript, and thank the reviewers for their helpful comments. We have made several revisions along the lines suggested by referees and the manuscript has improved as a result. To address R1's comment about the overlap between violence targeting dissidents and violence against ethnic minorities, we have added to the manuscript several examples of violence with no clear political motive from various Amnesty reports, including violence against ethnic minority groups. R1 was also concerned about our argument that the public is willing to tolerate abuse of minorities, in light of Inglehart's argument about post-materialist values. We have conducted a brief analysis, which we summarize below, to address this point. We have also conducted additional regression analyses using variables that account for the varying quality of information across countries, as suggested by R1. In addition, we have added figures comparing out-of-sample fit for our regression models, which we did not include in the previous version of the manuscript. We respond to the reviewer comments in more detail, as needed, below.


Objective
To investigate the efficacy and safety of exenatide versus biphasic insulin aspart 30(BIAsp30) in patients with inadequately glycemic controlled and obese type 2 diabetes with oral antidiabetes agents.

Methods
A single center, randomized, open-label, parallel-group study was conducted. Four weeks run-in period and 16 weeks treatment period were included. Eighty subjects were enrolled((>35 years old, BMI>25 kg/m2), waist circumference(male>90 cm and female>85 cm), HbA1c 7.5%-10.5%). All subjects which received metformin (at least 1000 mg/d) or sulfonylurea (at least half the maximal dose) for at least 12 months were randomly assigned to exenatide group(n=40) or BIAsp30 group(n=40) twice or thrice daily.The t and χ2 test was used in the data analysis.

Results
Compared to the baseline, the HbA1c values decreased in exenatide group(7.6%±0.9%)and in BIAsp30 group(7.2%±1.0%)after 16 weeks treatment(t=-3.6, P 0.05). Weight gain was observed for the BIAsp30 group (2.7±1.4) kg while weight loss was reported for the exenatide group (3.4±1.7) kg. The amount of subjects reporting hypoglycemic events was significantly greater in BIAsp30 group than in exenatide group (4.88 vs 1.95 events/subject per year). The reductions of systolic blood pressure, and the improvement of lipid profile in exenatide group were superior to that of BIAsp30 group. However, There was no significant difference on diastolic blood pressure and homocysteic acid between the two groups (P>0.05).

Conclusions
Eexenatide is superior on reduction of hypoglycemic events, control weight, and improvement of lipid parameters to BIAsp30.

Key words:
Diabetes mellitus, type 2; Obesity; Exenatide; Biphasic insulin aspart 30


Purpose: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) is the most widely used test to assess the functional capacity of cancer patients. However, it is reported that the actual equations cannot accurately predict oxygen uptake (VO2 value) or walk distance (6MWD) in cancer survivors. Because of the importance for clinicians and physiologists to have a validated VO2 or 6MWD equation from the 6MWT to observe the predicted survivors' value, we focused on the validation of a standard and specific equation to predict VO2 peak and 6MWD. Methods: A total of 200 survivors were enrolled in this study, among whom 168 participants underwent a cardiopulmonary exercise test and a 6MWT. They also completed a physical activity questionnaire. Participants were randomly divided in two groups to predict the equations (n=118 (70%)) and to validate them (n=50 (30%)). Multiple linear regression analyses were used to determine a new prediction equation for VO2 peak and 6MWD from 6MWT. Bland and Altman methods were used to assess the accuracy. Results: Our findings showed that without specific variables in the VO2 peak equation, the mean bias was of 2.67 mL.kg-1.min-1 and of 2.51 mL.kg-1.min-1 with specific variables. We observed a better accuracy compared to previously published equations, which reported a mean bias of 12.09 mL.kg-1.min-1. The same results were observed for the 6MWD. Conclusion: This was the first study to predict VO2 peak and 6MWD using clinical and specific variables related to the disease. Every health care professional and exercise physiologist should use both our validated equations to provide a better adapted physical training. Our findings strengthen the need to evaluate survivors' cardiorespiratory fitness in the care process. Citation Format: Maxime Caru, Jennifer Labonte, Valerie Lemay, Simon Drouin, Laurence Bertout, Gregor Andelfinger, Nathalie Alos, Maja Krajinovic, Caroline Laverdiere, Daniel Sinnett, Daniel Curnier. Improvement of physical activity training in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors: New specific equation to predict the peak oxygen uptake from the six-minute walk test [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Advances in Pediatric Cancer Research; 2019 Sep 17-20; Montreal, QC, Canada. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(14 Suppl):Abstract nr B61.


— We report a double buffer of Eu 2 CuO 4 (ECO)/YSZ to improve the growth of YBa 2 Cu 3 O (YBCO) on Si wafer. The ECO buffer material possesses a very stable 214-T' structure. It has excellent structural and chemical compatibilities with YBCO and YSZ. Our study showed that the epitaxy and crystallinity of YBCO deposited on Si could be considerably enhanced by using such a double buffer of ECO/YSZ. The grown films were charac- terized by grazing incidence X-ray reflection, rocking curve, SEM, TEM, and surface profiler. It was also found that such a double buffer could lead to a very smooth surface in the YBCO layer.


This study analyzed the crack-healing behavior of Si 3 N 4 composite ceramics based on variations in heat-treatment temperature. All semi-elliptical cracks of about 100 ㎛ were obtained from Vickers indenter using a load of 24.5 N. The results showed thai the coating of SiO 2 colloidal on cracks could significantly increase the bending strength. Meanwhile, the heat-treatment temperature has a profound influence on the extent of crack healing and the degree of strength recovery. The bending strength of the cracked specimen not coated with the SiO 2 colloidal recovered to the same extent as the smooth specimen at the optimum healing temperature of 1,273 K. However, the bending strength of the cracked specimen to which the SiO 2 colloidal was coated increased by up to 140 %. The crack healed specimen coated with the SiO 2 colloidal showed high-heat resistance up to 1273 K, its bending strength increased by up to 137 % greater than that of the smooth specimen.


In order to biodegrade camphorcontaining organic wastewater,there strains of microorganism with highly-effective degrading capability were isolated from the actived sludge.And they wre identified as Zoogloea sp.,Pseudomonas sp.,Brevibacterium sp.The lab compared the degradation result of using the mixed highly-effective degrading microorganism verses the individual ones.The conclusion was that the mixed highly-effective degrading microorganism was more efficient to degrade the above type of wastewater.Its degradation rate was 75.23%.


A new type of Fe-Cr-Ni-Co overlaying alloy was prepared by argon tungsten-arc welding (TIG) on 304stainless steel,after cooling to room temperature,the weld cladding layer was remelted by TIG.The effect of remelting on the resistance to cavitation erosion property was investigated and the result was compared with that of 304 stainless steel and weld-cladding layer.The alloy layer was analyzed by weight loss analysis,scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and X-ray diffractometer(XRD). Results indicating that the grain size in remelting layer was smaller.The resistance to cavitation erosion property of overlaying and remelting layer was better than that of 304 stainless steel and remelting layer is even better than that of overlaying.Phase transformation from austenite to martensite happened in the cavitation erosion process,which absorbed the energy of cavitation erosion and delayed the process of cavitation erosion.The refined grains by TIG remelting process in the overlaying alloy prevented the development of cracks and enhanced the cavitation erosion resistance property effectively.


We use experimental methods to study product di¤erentiation and price competition in a discretised version of the Hotelling (1929) game. The subjects' attitude towards risk is found to play an important role in the framework considered here. Beyond the standard arguments in favour of the principle of minimum product di¤erentiation, we identify further factors inducing variety clustering associated with strong risk aversion. Collective players' strategies are found to exhibit a stronger tendency towards agglomeration in the middle. J.E.L: L13, C91.


There is still debate on whether voters can detect malicious changes in their printed ballot after making their selections on a Ballot Marking Device (BMD). In this study, we altered votes on a voter's ballot after they had made their selections on a BMD. We then required them to examine their ballots for any changes from the slate they used to vote. Overall accuracy was exceptionally high. Participants saw 1440 total contests, and of those 1440, there were a total of 4 errors, so total accuracy was 99.8%. Participants were able to perform with near-perfect accuracy regardless of ballot length, ballot type, number of altered races, and location of altered races. Detection performance was extremely robust. We conclude that with proper direction and resources, voters can be near-perfect detectors of ballot changes on printed paper ballots after voting with a BMD. This finding has significant implications for the voting community as BMD use continues to grow. Research should now focus on identifying administrative and behavioral methods that will prompt and encourage voters to check their BMD-generated ballots before they drop them in the ballot box.


hese epigraphs from two opposite ends of the historical spectrum provide points of entry for a discussion of the origins and the ends (dissolution implied) of the aesthetics of colonial violence. Homer's passage manifests an aesthetic that addresses an audience that would derive pleasure from or be fascinated by represen tations of horror?a perspective presumably initiated in Western literature with the Iliad. Rigoberta Menchu's voice invades the space of the long-standing epic of Western colonialism with a radical questioning of the historical horizon of Moder nity. Menchu's appropriation of non-Indian forms of political organization (the formation of a trade union, the Comit? de Unidad Campesina) and artistic expression (the horror film, pel?cula negra) voices a curse of the "vanquished" that the epic tradition has evoked only to erase. Gaspar de Villagr?'s epic poem, Historia de la


The initial timing of extension during the Cenozoic around the northeastern margin of the Ordos Block, western North China Craton (NCC), is still poorly constrained. Apatite (U-Th)/He low-temperature thermochronology was thus applied on eight pre-Cenozoic granitic and gneissic samples transecting the eastern Daqingshan Mountains, northeastern margin of the Ordos Block, to investigate the denudation and cooling event related to the onset of extension therein. Four mean corrected AHe ages in the southern part are overlapped within the standard deviations of 50.0 ± 0.4 to 45.0 ± 8.0 Ma. However, three mean corrected AHe ages in the northern part are prominently older of 99.2 ± 11.0 to 86.6 ± 17.1 Ma, with the rest one of 56.1 ± 8.6 Ma. Altogether, they show a younger-older-younger-older pattern along the transect correlated with the normal faults. AHe thermal history modeling results further demonstrate extensive cooling during the Late Cretaceous but differential cooling during the Late Paleocene–Eocene. The Late Cretaceous extensive cooling in the eastern Daqingshan Mountains, as well as the contemporaneous deposition hiatus in both the eastern Daqingshan Mountains and the Hohhot Depression, together indicates overall denudation in the northeastern margin of the Ordos Block at that time. The Late Paleocene–Eocene differential cooling is probably induced by the tilting of the eastern Daqingshan Mountains as a result of the extension suggested by the distribution of AHe ages. It corresponds to the syn-tectonic subsidence in the Hohhot Depression, indicating a basin-mountain coupling. Regional comparative analysis manifests similar extension around the Ordos Block and more widely across the NCC during the Late Paleocene–Eocene. Temporally, kinematically, and dynamically coupled with this regional extension event, the subduction of the Izanagi-Pacific plate probably plays a major role. However, the contribution of the India-Asia collision could not be ignored.


Web 2.0 and Social Media (SoMe) provide new opportunities for collaboration and co-value creation which supports a customer-centric management. Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) addresses these opportunities and aims at a high stakeholder engagement as a means to establish mutually beneficial relationships. At present, scholars attempt to comprehend what constitutes SCRM. This paper reviews state-of-the-art scholarly literature to provide a consolidated view on the current SCRM knowledge base. It reveals concurrent opinions, diverging perceptions and future directions for research along the dimensions SCRM definitions, objectives and approaches. We conclude that SCRM as a novel concept requires transformational efforts among all organizational parts. Approaches towards SCRM align on organizational determinants, CRM processes, the customer relationship lifecycle or develop conceptual models. We propose that research further explore this domain to progress the understanding of SCRM as basis for corresponding frameworks.


Subject. This article discusses the issues of food security of China.
Objectives. The article aims to analyze China's various agricultural and environmental policies.
Methods. For the study, we used a statistical analysis.
Results. The results of the analysis of various economic indicators confirm that land reform in China has contributed to significant progress in rural economic development. The article also identifies the factors hindering the development of agriculture in China.
Conclusions. It is necessary to implement a number of measures that will contribute to solving the main social and environmental problems of rural areas in China.


To reach its potential, the Internet of Things (IoT) must break down the silos that limit applications' interoperability and hinder their manageability. Doing so leads to the building of ultra-large-scale systems (ULSS) in several areas, including autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and smart grids. The scope of ULSS is both large and complex. Thus, the authors propose Hierarchical Emergent Behaviors (HEB), a paradigm that builds on the concepts of emergent behavior and hierarchical organization. Rather than explicitly programming all possible decisions in the vast space of ULSS scenarios, HEB relies on the emergent behaviors induced by local rules at each level of the hierarchy. The authors discuss the modifications to classical IoT architectures required by HEB, as well as the new challenges. They also illustrate the HEB concepts in reference to autonomous vehicles. This use case paves the way to the discussion of new lines of research.


In recent years,with the significant advances in 3D of acquisition and modeling,3D model retrieval has gained significant success.For the efficiency of improving 3D model retrieval,the other two subordiantion planes are proposed based on single principal plane,and the solution process of the coefficient of three planes is also given.Since the three projected pictures can be more exactly to show the feature of 3D model,get better feature extraction than that of the single principle plane.Using the algorithm,it can extend the retrieval algorithm from 2D to 3D.The experimental results show the retrieval efficiency of the principal and two subordiantion planes is better than the single principal plane.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the effects of a 4-week group class specifically created for dogs ≥ 8 years old (senior dogs) on the development and progression of signs consistent with cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS).

ANIMALS
86 dogs with or without signs of CDS at the time of study enrollment.

PROCEDURES
Dog owners completed a proprietary CDS survey at baseline and then 3, 6, and 12 months after completion of the baseline survey. Twenty owners with their dogs attended 4 weekly 50-minute classes that were specifically developed for senior dogs, addressed common behavior problems for these dogs, and included training and enrichment activities. Survey results were compared between class and nonclass groups and within groups at 3, 6, and 12 months.

RESULTS
The association between age and CDS score was significant, such that older dogs had signs consistent with a higher degree of impairment. Cognitive dysfunction syndrome scores for dogs that attended the class did not significantly differ at 12 months, compared with scores at 3 months, whereas the CDS scores for dogs that did not attend the class were significantly increased at 12 months, compared with scores at 3 months.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Signs of CDS developed or worsened as dogs aged. Participation in the senior dog class mitigated the progression of signs of CDS and may improve a senior dog's quality of life.


In the dispersive regime of qubit-cavity coupling, classical cavity drive populates the cavity, but leaves the qubit state unaffected. However, the dispersive Hamiltonian is derived after both a frame transformation and an approximation. Therefore, to connect to external experimental devices, the inverse frame transformation from the dispersive frame back to the lab frame is necessary. In this work, we show that in the lab frame the system is best described by an entangled state known as the dressed coherent state, and thus even in the dispersive regime, entanglement is generated between the qubit and the cavity. Also, we show that further qubit evolution depends on both the amplitude and phase of the dressed coherent state, and use the dressed coherent state to calculate the measurement contrast of a recently developed dispersive readout protocol.


In this article the question is reviewed whether two by the EU Commission proposed financial instruments to stimulate 'green' ship scrapping, (i) a Ship Recycling Fund (SRF) and (ii) a Ship Recycling License (SRL), might be qualified as a 'tax' under Article 192(2) TFEU. Qualification as such a "tax" would mean that the EU Commission can only introduce such a financial instrument with unanimity voting. The authors first explore the concept of 'tax' in the TFEU in general and in Article 192(2) TFEU in particular. Based on this analysis, the authors conclude that levies paid to an SRF might be qualified as an 'earmarked tax' falling within the definition of a 'fiscal provision' in the meaning of Article 192(2) TFEU, which means that levies to such a fund can only be introduced by unanimity voting. The SRL fee consists of two elements: (i) a fee to cover administrative expenses and (ii) a contribution to a savings account. The fee to cover administrative expenses is qualified by the authors as a retribution that should not be qualified as a fiscal provision in the meaning of Article 192(2) TFEU. The contribution to a blocked savings account can neither be qualified as a tax nor as a retribution. Therefore, the SRL fee can be introduced without unanimity voting by the EU Council.


At the time of writing, one of the trends in academic writing has been linking past events to present philosophies, either as a means to interpreting cultural beliefs in new ways, showing continuity in attitudes previously seen as disconnected, or reflecting biases so ingrained in disciplines that we have difficulty imagining anyway out of them. Relatively recently have these issues surfaced with regularity in published discourse across the humanities. In the politically fractured twenty-firstcentury United States, tensions often rise when bringing the past forward, as two of the books under review here do. One deliberately stokes the fires of disagreement, and one gently nudges toward change. In all of them, politics of one sort or another looms large, and the authors' roles in addressing the interrelation of music and policies, principles, and law make for fascinating


The study reviews 24 patients with 27 total hip arthroplasties in which an acetabular reinforcement ring with hook was used for primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) due to underlying hip dysplasia. There were 19 female and 5 male patients with a mean age of 50.6 years (31 to 70) at the time of surgery. A bulk autograft for acetabular reconstruction was used in four cases with Crowe Type III and IV dysplasia. In eight cases cancellous bone alone was used to fill the gap between the reinforcement ring and the acetabulum. All patients had a polyethylene cup cemented into the ring and 22 cases had a straight Muller CDH stem cemented into the shaft. Mean follow-up was 10.7 years (range: 8.1 to 12.7). No clinical or radiographic signs of loosening of the reinforcement ring were found in 24 (88.9 %) of the 27 THAs. Two revisions (7.4%) were performed for aseptic loosening and one acetabular component had radiographic signs of loosening. The Merle D`Aubigne score had increased from 7 to 15 points. The acetabular reinforcement ring continues to have favourable results in this specific patient group and may also prevent graft resorption and cup migration.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the acceptance of the 'On-dol' in the official residences during the japanese colonial period. Since Korea is colder than Japan, the japanese-style house built in Korea needed to take measures for the harsher winter. Therefore the official residences built during the japanese colonial period, as the japanese-style house, accepted the On-dol as one of the heating system for their houses. Over forty years the official residences were constructed in large quantities, and many of the official residences also installed the On-dol. Some important changes were discovered about the acceptance of the On-dol. During the early stage of the japanese colonial period the official residences adopted the unfamiliar On-dol for heating. At the latter stage of the japanese colonial period the On-dol had been assimilated into the official residences and the room using the On-dol floor system had become main space for living in the official residences. These results demonstrate that this element of traditional korean architecture affected the development of foreign houses built in Korea.


Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a common cardiovascular disease and puerarin (Pue) is an active compound from Pueraria lobate with cardio‐protective potential. In the current study, the mechanism underlying the cardio‐protective effects of Pue was explored by focusing miR‐130a‐5p/HMGB2 pathway. MiR expression profile was determined and myocardial infarction was induced in cardiomyocytes and rats, which was treated with Pue. The role of miR‐130a‐5p and downstream HMGB2/NF‐κB axis in the cardio‐protective effects of Pue was also explored. Pue increased viability and suppressed inflammation in OGD cardiomyocytes, which was associated with the deactivation of HMGB2/NF‐κB pathway. After the suppression of miR‐130a‐5p, the cardio‐protective effects of Pue were compromised. In rat models, Pue attenuated structure deterioration and inflammatory response in heart. At the molecular level, miR‐130a‐5p was up‐regulated, and HMGB2 were down‐regulated. It was demonstrated that Pue induced the expression of miR‐130a‐5p, which suppressed the activity of HMGB2/NF‐κB, contributing to the attenuation of infarct heart tissues.


Neps and white specks are imperfections that severely decrease textile quality at the consumer level and, therefore, have immense economic consequences. Fibre properties, such as immaturity, staple length, fineness, and moisture content have been linked to the formation of neps. Variety, growing conditions, harvesting, ginning and processing contribute to the formation of neps. The goal should be to use HVI and AFIS data to recommend appropriate processing to improve yarn realization and fabric defects. When the ginner has fibre to process with a low micronaire for it's particular variety he should hold processing to a minimum. Nearly all range of cottons from 18-35mm are grown in India with maximum demand and cultivation is of hirsutum 28-30mm range. Roller gins are considered more suitable for ginning superior/medium long staple cotton. Different ginning systems were evaluated for neppiness in ginned cotton lint. AFIS results for fibre nep count in case of Indian double roller ginned cotton was found to be minimum around 150 with rotary knife ginning around 250 and for saw gins around 450. It was observed that ginning of conditioned seedcotton with 6 to 7 per cent moisture gives lowers nep count. Double roller gin is a gentle ginning technology where the fibre is separated by stretching method and fibre comes out in a blanket shape in straightened position, resulting in lower neps. Also, comparative trails shows that double roller gin gives higher fibre length leading to 2 per cent extra outturn, at the same time it retains natural luster of the cotton. This gin is usable for all type of cotton i.e. short staple not very light cottons, medium, long to extra long staples by simple adjustments of settings and retains maximum fibre length as well as natural fibre parameters.


We propose a concurrent procedure for dynamic Huffman (1952) encoding. The concurrent procedure performs the tree update and code generation processes in parallel and therefore reduces by over 45% the number of steps required by the Knuth's (1985) sequential scheme as shown from our experimental results.


Marginalized communities globally encounter grand challenges such as lack of access to education, healthcare, and sustained livelihoods. Several initiatives to address these complex, global problems have resulted in fragmented solutions. Recognizing this, there have been several calls for the study of responsible innovation (RI) to address grand challenges. Digital platforms such as AirBnB, Uber and so forth have now become commonplace and are known to generate economic value but also face criticism for being exploitative and exclusive. Only a handful of studies show how similar platforms can innovate responsibly to serve marginalized communities by generating simultaneous economic and social value. To address this gap, our study examines the cases of two platforms that orchestrated ecosystems consisting of individuals from marginalized communities, government agencies, and other entities to provide physical, digital and societal solutions based on principles of RI. We contribute to the RI and IS literatures to show how RI solutions can be fostered through digital platforms to address grand challenges. The article provides empirical evidence of all four dimensions of the RI framework—anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness ‐ and their operationalization through digital platforms. This research lays the foundation for future studies at the intersection of RI and digital platforms literature. The study also provides practice insights on developing digital platform solutions for marginalized communities to address grand challenges and is useful to policymakers to formulate appropriate interventions. It pushes the theoretical and practice boundaries of our understanding of RI and digital platforms.


Normally, the determination of equilibrium constants (kd) in batch experiments uses a high solution to soil ratio, which does not represent field conditions. In this study we present an alternative method to evaluate adsorption constants, using micro-columns of soil at higher soil to solution ratios. The centrifugation force and equilibration time were investigated. The triadimenol distribution along the column profile is controlled by diffusion and equilibration times greater than 24 h are needed to achieve reproducibility. The centrifugation force must be superior to 670 g in order to guarantee enough extraction of the liquid solution from the soil columns.


BACKGROUND
The processes involved in this study were 2-fold. First, we analyzed the levels of resilience and internalized problems (defined as group of emotional symptoms) in children aged 9 to 12 years. Second, we examined whether the relationship between them varies according to the low or high vulnerability of school communities.

METHODS
About 1460 students from schools in northern Chile participated. A total of 52.6% were girls, and 47.4% were boys. The scales of internalizing problems of the System of Evaluation of Children and Adolescents (SENA) and the short scale of resilience (CYRM-12) were applied. Correlations in each group and differences between groups were analyzed using a MANOVA. A 2-level path analysis was also performed.

RESULTS
Resilience was higher in the context of low vulnerability while depression, social anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptomatology were greater in the context of high vulnerability. A 2-level path analysis showed that the slope of gender, anxiety, and depression symptomatology varies between schools and an interaction effect between vulnerability and anxiety symptomatology.

CONCLUSION
There are differences in the relationship between internalized problems and resilience according to whether the students belong to low or high vulnerability establishments. This study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between internalizing problems and resilience.


A novel approach of multi-perspective panorama (route panorama) auto-generating is presented, which is based on the integration of pushbroom model and perspective projection model. This method can avoid objects distortion and information loss caused by the rate change of the moving camera and/or the camera carrier. Further more, this method has overcome various unstabilizing factors through stability analysis and processing. Therefore, we can generate smooth MPP more easily. The experiment shows that our approach has lower demand for video/image capturing device and capturing environment, and has some advantages in imaging characteristics compared with other available approaches.


The identification of vibration properties for individual structural members of tabletop-type turbine-generator foundations is discussed. A procedure is outlined for the accurate determination of local natural frequencies using the harmonic analysis technique. Case studies are presented which involve applications of the proposed approach to the design of large steam-turbine-generator foundations.


This paper investigates feature selection methods based on hybrid architecture using feature selection algorithm called Adapted Fast Correlation Based Feature selection and Support Vector Machine Recursive Feature Elimination (AFCBF-SVMRFE). The AFCBF-SVMRFE has three stages and composed of SVMRFE embedded method with Correlation based Features Selection. The first stage is the relevance analysis, the second one is a redundancy analysis, and the third stage is a performance evaluation and features restoration stage. Experiments show that the proposed method tested on different classifiers: Support Vector Machine SVM and K nearest neighbors KNN provide a best accuracy on various dataset. The SVM classifier outperforms KNN classifier on these data. The AFCBF-SVMRFE outperforms FCBF multivariate filter, SVMRFE, Particle swarm optimization PSO and Artificial bees colony ABC.


The incidence of breast tumors has increasing trend year by year recently.Ultrasound has become a main means of screening and diagnosis in breast tumors for its lack of radiation,harmlessness to op- erator and patient,convenience and repeatrbility.Grey-scale uhrasonography,color doppler flow imaging,col- or doppler energy contrast enhanced ultrasonogrphy,3-D ultrasonography,elastomography,ultrasound-guided biopsy are main methods for both detection and differentiation in breast tumors.The purpose of this paper is to review the applications of these techniques in breast tumors diagnosis.


Nobody can argue that language does not undergo changes. The only languages that are not prone to linguistic changes are dead languages. The scope of this survey is to emphasize the various changes in morphology found in the primary material, i.e. five different translations from the Bible written in different time intervals: Ælfric, Wycliffe, Tyndale, King James Bible and New American Standard Bible. The investigation aims to shed some light upon the inflectional modifications of pronouns, verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs that the English language has undergone during the last thousand years. The results of the study show that the English language has moved from being a highly inflective, synthetic language with many endings and cases, few prepositions and no real articles, to developing into a more analytic language with fewer inflectional markers and cases, and more grammatical words that substitute the old endings.


Semiconductor optical amplifiers acting as slow light elements offer large phase shifts provided that their output spectra are filtered prior to detection. The filtering affects their noise properties which are described in this paper.


When designing products made of composite materials intended for use in difficult conditions of inhomogeneous deformations and temperatures, it is important to take into account viscoelastic, including spectral and dynamic, properties of the binder and fillers. The article considers dynamic characteristics (complex modulus, complex malleability, their real and imaginary parts, loss angle tangent) and spectral characteristics of relaxation and creep and their dependence on each other. The abovementioned characteristics were found for all known types of creep kernel and relaxation kernel. To find the spectral characteristics, one of the numerical methods of reversing the Laplace transformation was used - the method of quadrature formulas. Algorithms and computer programs have been compiled to implement this method.


CAS-Lock [1], is an advanced logic locking technique that harnesses the concept of single-point function in providing SAT-attack resiliency. It is claimed to be powerful and efficient enough in mitigating state-of-the-art attacks against logic locking techniques. Despite the security robustness of CAS-Lock as claimed by the authors, we expose a serious vulnerability by exploiting the same and device a novel attack algorithm. The proposed attack can reveal the correct key by extracting the Distinguishing Input Patterns (DIPs) pertaining to a carefully chosen key simulation of the locked design. The correct key is obtained from the combination of elements from the set of extracted DIPs. Our attack is successful against various AND/OR cascaded-chain configurations of CAS-Lock and reports a 100% success rate in recovering the correct key.


Observation of crustal deformation using Global Positioning System (GPS) has been conducted in Shikoku region, Southwest Japan, to monitor the interaction between the Eurasian and the Philippine Sea plates along the Nankai trough. Four repeated surveys conducted in 1990 to 1994 have revealed that the stations located at the coast line are displaced to the northwest to west-northwest direction relative to the inland station. This direction is parallel to the moving direction of the Philippine Sea plate and opposite to the coseismic displacement at the time of the 1946 Nankai earthquake (M=8.0). During the period of four years, the maximum rate of 35mm/yr is obtained at Muroto, the station nearest to the Nankai trough and located in the source region of the 1946 earthquake. This displacement rate amounts to three quarters of the relative velocity between two plates estimated from seismological data. This implies that the present interplate coupling along the Nankai trough off Shikoku region is strong and causes considerable deformation of the plate-convergence region. As a whole the southeastern part of Shikoku is contracted with a constant rate of about 3x10-7/yr. Strain pattern obtained in this study is very similar to the long-term triangulation and trilateration results.


Abstract A statistical intensity adjustment is utilized to extract information from tropical cyclone simulations in a 50-km-resolution global model. A simple adjustment based on the modeled and observed probability distribution of storm lifetime maximum wind speed allows the model to capture the differences between observed intensity distributions in active/inactive year composites from the 1981–2008 period in the North Atlantic. This intensity adjustment is then used to examine the atmospheric model's responses to different sea surface temperature anomalies generated by coupled models for the late twenty-first century. In the North Atlantic all simulations produce a reduction in the total number of cyclones, but with large intermodel spread in the magnitude of the reduction. The intensity response is positively correlated with changes in frequency across the ensemble. However, there is, on average, an increase in intensity in these simulations despite the mean reduction in frequency. The authors argue th...


Billions of dollars are being spent each year in North America alone on the treatment and compensation of low back disorders (LBD) related to work processes. Nursing characterizes one of those professions at high risk for the development of LBD. Previous research has identified that patient handling has been the leading cause of occupationally-related LBD for nurses. In response to a need for ergonomic intervention, the Back Injury Prevention Program (BIPP) was introduced in Newfoundland in 1989. While there was some anecdotal evidence that this macro-ergonomic approach was successful in reducing risk of injury, there has been no reported biomechanical evidence that the patient transfer techniques prescribed by BIPP were related to these reductions. The purpose of this study was to examine whether instruction in BIPP transfer techniques is related to beneficial changes in biomechanics metrics thought to be associated with risk for developing LPB. Two comparisons were considered in this model. First, novice subjects were compared prior to and following a standardized BIPP training session, specific to three patient transfer techniques. Secondly, an experienced group of active institutional nurses were measured while performing the same tasks. These transfers were selected based on their history of high incidence of injury and included repositioning a patient to the head of the bed from a side-on position and a position superior to the patient's head and a transfer from a sitting bed position to a wheelchair. Bilateral electromyography (EMG) and a Lumbar Motion Monitor (LMM) were employed to monitor each subject during the execution of a task. Results suggest that BIPP principles for patient transfers reflect sound biomechanical principle, as participant experience increased, the biomechanical demands decreased. Further investigations should consider the administrative controls involved in the implementation of this program in the workplace.


Introduction: Obesity, or adiposity-based chronic disease (ABCD), is one of the most common health risk factors nowadays. Regular exercise—part of complex lifestyle medicine program—is effective treatment for obesity but is still underestimated. Monitoring andindividualization by an exercise professional is needed to define the accurate dose effect. Materials and Methods: The 30-week lifestyle change program of a 65-year-old male patient (body mass index (BMI) 43.8 kg/m2) was followed by a medical doctor, exercise physiologist, and nutritionist. Over regular controls and blood tests, each training activity was measured with a heart rate monitor watch, and a diet diary was written. Results: Bodyweight decreased by 24.1 kg (18.4%) and BMI to 35.8 kg/m2. Decreased resting heart rate (from 72 bpm to 63 bpm), diastolic blood pressure (from 72 mmHg to 67 mmHg), and increased systolic blood pressure (from 126 mmHg to 135 mmHg) were reported, besides the reduction in antihypertensive and antidiabetic medicines. Blood test results and fitness level improved, and daily steps and time spent training increased. Conclusions: Lifestyle medicine with professional support is an effective and long-term treatment for ABCD. Individualized exercise and nutritional therapy are essential, and wearable technology with telemedicine consultation also has an important role.


managers. For many purposes, management education is best conceived of as a central element in an organisational change process-an element with particular emphasis on socio-cultural elements and on the internal pattern of power and influence within the organisation as a whole. To take this same point a little further: Lawrence and Lorsch (1969) have demonstrated the profound implications, for the effective working of any organisation, of adapting internal structure and procedures to meet the complexity of the relevant environment. Some of their general points about organisational change cannot be without significance for the development of optimal relations between a management teaching research and consultancy unit to each of the external organisations to which it seeks to relate itself, in one way or another. Rules of thumb on some of these points were obvious in the early practice of the Tavistock Institute. We used to say that &dquo;it takes a group to relate to a group&dquo; and that &dquo;levels and functions in the client organisation need to be reflected in the pattern of roles within the research team.&dquo;


This study compared mental health service utilization by treatment modality and determined predictive factors of use among younger‐adult (18–35 years), middle‐aged adult (36–64 years), and older‐adult veterans (65+ years) with a newly recognized diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety disorder.


Employees are a very important asset in achieving organizational goals that have been set, therefore it is important to manage human resources in order to create good coordination between each work unit and department. The quality of human resources can be seen from how well individual employees perform in a company. There are several factors that can affect employee performance, including locus of control and self-efficacy. This study aims to examine the effect of locus of control on employee performance , examine the effect of self-efficacy on employee performance. Population in the Study This is intact employee Serve Environment and Fisheries in Purworejo Regency as many as 334 employees. The sampling technique in this study used a purposive technique sampling with the criteria of employees with civil servant status, namely 114 employees. Data collection using a questionnaire with alternative answer choices using a Likert scale that has been tested and has met the requirements of validity and reliability. Analysis tools used ie multiple linear regression. The results of data analysis show that locus of control has a positive effect And important for employee performance, self-efficacy influential positive And important to employee show.


This article discusses the main findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission's 2009 inquiry into unequal pay and sex discrimination in the financial services sector and the Treasury Select Committee's 2010 report 'Women in the City', which examined the under-representation of women directors, with reference to literature on organizational culture and women's career progression. The article considers whether a masculine workplace culture exists in the financial sector (and more generally) and what effect it can have on women's career choices and opportunities for promotion. Under-representation occurs because many women are either choosing not to apply for directorships of FTSE 100 companies or being overlooked. The article considers the current legal framework in relation to sex discrimination and flexible working and whether the changes made by the Equality Act 2010 go far enough. Policy options to improve the current situation are considered, with particular focus on the possibility of quotas for women directors and other measures to address under-representation.


A three-dimensional numerical simulation is used to predict the exhaust gas diffusion from a tunnel portal under different wind velocity and direction.The results show that the higher the wind velocity is,the faster the concentration of the pollutants will attenuate after the pollutants leave the tunnel portal;while the transversal wind will result in the higher concentration of pollutants in a large range around the tunnel portal.So effective methods should be taken to control the diffusion of the pollutants from the tunnel portal.


central Mexico, specifically the "good province" of Xochimilco (p. 181) and the "nearby garden" of Chapultepec (p. 182). From some of his references it is clear that Chimalpahin was also well-read. He claims that the Chichimeca were "courageous like the Arabs" (p. 145); he references the "god of Bacchus" in ancient Spain (p. 158); and he says that Cortés was "another Alexander the Great in his munificence" (p. 307). Other additions focus on indigenous customs. Chimalpahin details the artisanship of the Mexica (p. 184), and he provides an explanation of the "texamatl leaves" used to make paper (p. 126). But a significant amount of his insertions deal with indigenous nobility, the most interesting example being the extended list he includes of Indian nobles who were taken to Spain with Cortés (p. 420). Chimalpahin's Conquest places all of Chimalpahin's deletions in brackets and his additions in bold letters. The hybrid nature of his transcription is easily followed, and the translation reads smoothly. Although Lesley Byrd Simpson had already translated López de Gómara's history into English in 1964, he edited out all of the chapters in La conquista de México that deal with indigenous customs. This important section forms part of Chimalpahin's Conquest, but it is unfortunate that the final 23 chapters of López de Gómara's history were not included, even though they are missing from the Browning Manuscript. Despite the fact that there are helpful footnotes, a glossary, and a bibliography, it is a shame that a map indicating the plethora of place names in the text was not included to guide the reader through the itinerary of "conquest." Notwithstanding these minor criticisms, Schroeder, Cruz, Roa-de-la-Carrera, and Tavárez have produced a fine piece of scholarship that further complicates the Spanish narrative of the "conquest" of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Chimalpahin's Conquest highlights the multi-ethnic voices of the colonial era in one text, forcing one to move beyond the "vision of the vanquished" and some of the other "myths of the conquest" to see indigenous people as conquerors in their own right.


BACKGROUND
Over-accommodation, a tendency to focus at a distance closer than the desired distance, has been previously shown to occur when using a head-up display (HUD).

METHODS
A simple system was developed as a warning of an inappropriate visual accommodative response (WIVAR) during flight training. Two lines, which are seen as four low-contrast lines (physiological diplopia) if the user is focused in the distance due to the link between convergence and accommodation, are projected onto the pilot's HUD combiner.

RESULTS
The results show that by using the WIVAR system the accommodative response can be kept more distant when viewing forward-looking infra-red imagery (by 0.12 +/- 0.04 D; p < 0.05), performing a high cognitive workload task (by 0.07 +/- 0.03 D; p < 0.05) and especially when viewing in a Ganzfeld (by 0.41 +/- 0.12 D; p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
While collimated HUD imagery stimulates the user to a more distant focus, the use of the WIVAR lines can cause additional relaxation of accommodation.


Social safety in this article is considered, as possibility of the person to satisfy the requirements, to combine individual and public interests. It is achieved when it is provided the normal standard of living of the population reflecting degree of satisfaction of material and spiritual needs of the person, consisting of several components: size of real per capita incomes; the volume of the consumed benefits and the used services; the established goods prices and service; security with housing; availability of education, medical, cultural care, ecological safety, etc. A subject of author´s research was the system of public safety of the city of Tyumen. In the article are given the results of poll of the population and interview of experts about a condition of system of public safety of the city. The conducted research allowed to reveal negative and positive aspects of process of formation and development of a complete security system of citizens and on this basis to develop recommendations about its further perfecting.


During the past year, well over twenty five hundred procedures have been carried out, employing the Trisorb resin sponge system. Roughly, half of these involved individual patient sera in standard techniques, as a diagnostic procedure. One quarter were concerned with developing a more reliable procedure and the remainder were equilibria studies designed to better understand the mechanisms involved. As a result of the first two, we are proposing a highly reproducible standard serum and a simple low temperature reaction system, which, in our hands, has also improved reliability materially. During this work, it became obvious to us, that the sponge containing a reactive, but mechanically firmly bound, anion exchange resin, potentially pro vided a new and unique tool for equilibria studies, formerly restricted to much more laborious dialysis experiments. A principal advantage stems from the fact that it is a fixed geometry column, of excellent porosity, onto which the substances may be placed, within the time span of a few minutes to a few hours and from which they may be eluted, at any convenient subsequent time, by a variety of agents. Using 1-131 labeled com pounds and T-3 and T-4 in particular, these changes can be quantitatively fol lowed, simply by rapidly washing the sponge and counting in a conventional well.


Ocean power is a promising source of renewable and alternative energy used to fuel human activities. Generated energy from ocean power devices can be converted into electrical or mechanical energy, which can in turn be used as a driving force together with the desalination and water treatment by reverse osmosis processes. In this article, applications of high pressure wave energy converters (WEC) and hydrokinetic turbine for current energy conversion (TEC), described in Estefen et al [1], are presented. Due to its conceptual design, these ocean energy converters (OEC) are able to transform the hydraulic energy available from the sea into mechanical energy and then in turn into electricity generation, reverse osmosis desalination or as the driving force for hydraulic machines. A theoretical production estimation of wave and currents devices was conducted, which considered their performance from laboratorial tests associated to ocean parameters. Results are promising and indicate that it is indeed possible to supply domestic, industrial and agricultural demands of electricity and/or water, respecting the corresponding standards required.


The continuing trend of burning coal for electricity that is being followed by Victoria is being criticized. However, in its defense, the government claims that it has a huge bounty of brown coal.


Objective:To make an interrelated study on diagnostic treatment of infant ARDS and ALF.Methods:To select twenty infant patients who have been diagnosed ARDS since 1996 as treatment group.To select twenty infant patients who had been diagnosed ARDS before 1996 as control group.Conventional treatment were used in both two groups.Treatment group was added HELS scheme to diagnostic treatment on infant ARDS and ALF.Results:The survival rates of treatment group and control group were remarkable difference(P0.01).The treatment group was made diagnostic treatment on infant ARDS and ALF while HELS scheme was used and the effect was remarkable.Conclusions:It gets remarkable effect when diagnostic treatment is used on infant ARDS and ALF by HELS scheme.


This paper presents a critical re-consideration of the problems in achieving a greater embrace of the praxis of open access (OA) to research publications within the UK academy. It offers an ideological critique of the underlying subversion of scholarly communication by an industrialised publishing sector. It also considers the ideological and financial drivers that have caused the emergence of an open access to research publications movement. Through examining this developing open access paradigm, it problematises aspects of the UK academy's reluctance to engage. While examining academics' imperative to disseminate research, through exploring the legacy publication model, it proposes that that the higher education policy landscape must also be accounted for, when considering engagement barriers. Hence, the paper concludes that the conditioning of academics by a neoliberal policy-saturated environment likely contributes to their reticence to embrace the praxis.


Snow is a vital environmental parameter and dynamically responsive to climate change, particularly in mountainous regions. Snow cover can be monitored at variable spatial scales using Earth Observation (EO) data. Long-lasting remote sensing missions enable the generation of multi-decadal time series and thus the detection of long-term trends. However, there have been few attempts to use these to model future snow cover dynamics. In this study, we, therefore, explore the potential of such time series to forecast the Snow Line Elevation (SLE) in the European Alps. We generate monthly SLE time series from the entire Landsat archive (1985–2021) in 43 Alpine catchments. Positive long-term SLE change rates are detected, with the highest rates (5–8 m/y) in the Western and Central Alps. We utilize this SLE dataset to implement and evaluate seven uni-variate time series modeling and forecasting approaches. The best results were achieved by Random Forests, with a Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) of 0.79 and a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 258 m, Telescope (0.76, 268 m), and seasonal ARIMA (0.75, 270 m). Since the model performance varies strongly with the input data, we developed a combined forecast based on the best-performing methods in each catchment. This approach was then used to forecast the SLE for the years 2022–2029. In the majority of the catchments, the shift of the forecast median SLE level retained the sign of the long-term trend. In cases where a deviating SLE dynamic is forecast, a discussion based on the unique properties of the catchment and past SLE dynamics is required. In the future, we expect major improvements in our SLE forecasting efforts by including external predictor variables in a multi-variate modeling approach.


Finding road intersections in advance is crucial for navigation and path planning of moving autonomous vehicles, especially when there is no position or geographic auxiliary information available. In this paper, we investigate the use of a 3D point cloud based solution for intersection and road segment classification in front of an autonomous vehicle. It is based on the analysis of the features from the designed beam model. First, we build a grid map of the point cloud and clear the cells which belong to other vehicles. Then, the proposed beam model is applied with a specified distance in front of autonomous vehicle. A feature set based on the length distribution of the beam is extracted from the current frame and combined with a trained classifier to solve the road-type classification problem, i.e., segment and intersection. In addition, we also make the distinction between +-shaped and T-shaped intersections. The results are reported over a series of real-world data. A performance of above 80% correct classification is reported at a real-time classification rate of 5 Hz.


The article contains a review of technologies for using the information provided by mobile operators in creating a transport survey and studying patterns of travel behavior. The literature review shows the widespread of using mobile communications as an effective source of information in terms of population coverage and data availability. In article described the domestic experience of using this information in custom information systems and presented the author's system of city transport survey.


The problem of imagery registration/conflation and change detection requires sophisticated and robust methods to produce better image fusion, target recognition, and tracking. Ideally these methods should be invariant to arbitrary image affine transformations. A new abstract algebraic structural invariant approach with area ratios can be used to identify corresponding features in two images and use them for registration/conflation. Area ratios of specific features do not change when an image is rescaled or skewed by an arbitrary affine transformation. Variations in area ratios can also be used to identify features that have moved and to provide measures of image registration/conflation quality. Under more general transformations, area ratios are not preserved exactly, but in practice can often still be effectively used. The theory of area ratios is described and three examples of registration/conflation and change detection are described.


In a recent article, Richard Green (2012) provided an excellent overview of the dragonfly motif and its importance to Plains Indians as a protective spirit. This article is written to highlight the use of the motif as shield heraldry - one area not extensively documented in Green's article - and to illustrate a Protohistoric period dragonfly shield at Writing-On-Stone, which demonstrates that the motif was in use prior to the time before the first Euro-Americans entered the Plains.


The Meetings, Incentive, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry has long been recognised as a sector that provides lucrative direct and indirect expenditure for host destinations. Within Australia, Federal and State governments have recognised the opportunity afforded by this sector and have put in place a number of marketing initiatives to attract MICE business to particular high profile destinations. The issue of how regional Australia might benefit from this highly attractive market is only now beginning to be addressed. This paper examines how an Australian regional university with an established reputation for the delivery of MICE‐related subjects introduced the issue of attracting MICE business to a regional area into its curriculum through the use of experiential learning. Students were given responsibility for the planning, management and delivery of a corporate‐style conference titled "Managing Conferences in Regional Areas", while local MICE industry representatives participated in its delivery.


Agriculture is the backbone of our motherland-India and it places a major contribution to our economy. Most of the people in our country are practicing agriculture for generating income but the environmental factors like temperature, humidity and nutrient levels are affect the crop growth and reduces the yield.This project aims to observe the status of the nutrient level in the soil, humidity in the moisture, temperature in the atmosphere by using IOT sensors and analyses the status of the crop growth with the help of image processing techniques. The environmental factors are recorded with sensors and the image of paddy is captured by the camera. Then the captured image is pre-processed to remove the noise by median filters, image segmentation done by Otsu's method, feature is extracted by SURF (Speeded-Up Robust Feature) and classification is carried out by SVM (Support Vector Machine).The proposed work classifies the paddy into well grown leaf with good yield and affected leaf with decreasing yield. The proposed algorithm classifies the leaf with 90% of accuracy.


It is shown that Newtonian mechanics is not appropriate to compute approximate individual trajectories with small velocities in chaotic scattering. However, some global properties of the dynamical system, such as the dimension of the non-attracting chaotic invariant set, are more robust and the Newtonian approximation provides reasonably accurate results for them in slow chaotic scattering.


Abstract Three methods are applied to study the decreasing production pattern of a complex sandstone reservoir with rolling exploitation and its annual output is ever increasing. Illustrated by Dawanqi Oilfield, the method of moving the start date of all producing wells to the same month has proved to be successful. This proposed method can also be used to study other sandstone reservoirs with similar situations.


With the development of UHV and long-distance power transmission technology in my country's power grid, the electromagnetic environment of 100kV UHV transmission lines will be one of the key issues affecting the feasibility of UHV transmission. The impact of low-frequency noise from UHV AC transmission lines on the lives of residents along the corridor should not be ignored. In particular, pure AC sound attenuates slowly along the line and spreads far away, which often has more serious impacts on the lives of nearby residents. In order to study the distribution law and influence degree of pure sound, this article mainly conducts a more in-depth study on the wiring method of UHV transmission lines through theoretical calculation and computer simulation.