Chris S. Stacy* I. Introduction: The Troubled Landscape of the Tripartite Relationship ... [I]t is important to put aside any preconceived notions one may have about policyholders, insurers, and lawyers. There are no bad guys here. There are only lawyers and clients, each possessing important interests, obligations, and rights and each participating in relationships with others.1 One would not get the impression that there are "no bad guys" from the level of public discourse over the past few years surrounding the tripartite relationship between the attorney, the insurance company, and the insured. The use of independent auditors to review the legal bills incurred by large-scale consumers of legal services, such as insurance companies, has been a prime source of contention between insurance carriers and the insurance defense bar for some time now. The legal bill auditing industry arose in the wake of several years of highly publicized (and many contend merely anecdotal) instances of abusive and downright fraudulent billing by attorneys. Since its inception, the industry has been a key factor in the dramatically successful campaign to reduce the costs of certain legal services.2 However, while the use of auditors - regardless of whether or not the company felt that it was being overcharged - was born as a response to abuses, it has now become routine practice among insurance carriers.3 The upshot has been the creation of an adversarial relationship between insurers and defense counsel.4 The widespread depression of market rates for insurance defense work that has resulted from the rise of the auditing industry has predictably led to outcry from the insurance defense bar.5 The brunt of this outcry has resulted in attempts to curtail the influence that third-party billing auditors have on the relationship between an insurance company, its insured, and the attorneys who are hired to defend the insured. One of the most logical arguments against using auditors in general is that they are simply not impartial enough to serve as reliable watchdogs against fraudulent attorney billing practices. Auditors are paid to slash invoices; the failure to do so, whether the bills are legitimate or not, risks losing the business of the insurance company.6 But the mere logic of an argument can do little to insulate defense firms from the realities of a market in which failure to play ball with insurance companies that use auditors severely limits the opportunities for insurance defense work. As a result, defense firms have tried to take the argument out of the market and into the realm of ethics. The thrust of ethical objections against using third-party auditors is that attorneys are violating their ethical obligation to protect a client's confidential information by disclosing sensitive client information through the submission of detailed invoices to third-party auditors. Of course, the auditing industry has trumpeted the ulterior motives of the insurance defense bar.7 Although issues of confidentiality may largely represent red herrings in the insurance defense bar's attempts to loosen the yoke of third-party auditors, a great deal of genuine confusion exists, nonetheless, about when an attorney's ethical duties should in fact preclude the disclosure of information to insurance carriers.8 This Note aims to identify those situations and suggest a solution to the problem. The propriety of divulging information depends on a series of factors: whether the party receiving the information is a client or an agent of the client; whether the information is privileged or merely confidential; and finally, whether there is a conflict of interest between the parties sharing information. In order to understand the impact of the rules of professional responsibility on communications within the tripartite relationship, one must first classify the roles that each party plays in the relationship. With that prerequisite in mind, the following discussion proceeds down three separate avenues. …


BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to construct a clinical prognostic model of primary rectal adenocarcinoma (RAC) to assist in clinical diagnosis and treatment. MethodsPrimary RAC patients from 2010 to 2015 were selected from the surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER). The relevant significant variables were used to develop the prognosis model. A score was determined for each prognostic factor in the model. The Kaplan–Meier method and the log-rank test were used to establish and distinguish the survival curves. The accuracy of predictive model was assessed by receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) curve, concordance index (C-index), and decision curve analysis (DCA). ResultsA total of 8069 primary RAC were retrieved in this study. The overall survival(OS)model was established based on 14 variables. The CSS nomogram were constructed using 12 variables. The C-indexes for the training set of OS and CSS were 0.769 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.761–0.777) and 0.793 (95% CI 0.784–0.802) respectively. The C-indexes for the validation set of OS and CSS were 0.776 (95% CI 0.768–0.784) and 0.794 (95% CI 0.785–0.803) respectively. High-quality calibration plots were observed and the model displayed a favorable outcome compared with (TNM) stage and SEER stage of primary RAC based on DCA curve. We then divided the patients into low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk groups, showing that patients with primary RAC in the high-risk group had a poor prognosis. A primary RAC prognosis prediction model has been shown by a predicted nomogram for 3 or 5 years and a real-time web-based calculator. ConclusionsIn conclusion, we established a clinical prognosis model for primary RAC for the first time based on a variety of risk factors including individual differences, tumor-related factors, and diagnostic and therapeutic factors, which is more effective than TNM stage in predicting the prognosis of patients. The clinical prediction model visualized by the nomogram for 3 and 5 years and the web-based real-time calculator are helpful to optimize clinical work, facilitate patient consultation and clinical individualized treatment.


The increasing feasibility of developing applications spanning nationwide supercomputing resources makes possible the creation of simulations composed of multiple interdisciplinary components and capable of modeling natural and social phenomena of national importance with unprecedented speed and accuracy. However, the potential offered by hardware technology often fails to be fully realized due to the lack of software environments supporting such efforts. Furthermore, the complexity of combining within one application components with different performance characteristics often prevents such applications from achieving required performance levels. The Ligature project at Los Alamos National Laboratory addresses the issue of designing a software infrastructure enabling fast and efficient development of multicomponent applications and that of providing performance guidance to the programmer using this infrastructure. Ligature allows the programmer to define component interfaces specifying how heterogeneous, distributed components can interact within a larger system and provides a reusable infrastructure capable of connecting these components. These interfaces, as well as information about component performance, are accessible through a database. Within this framework, we are trying to understand how information about the performance of individual components and information about performance of the framework can be combined to develop a performance-aware multicomponent application.


Being a kind of intelligent method, Neural Network Predictive Control (NNPC) has been used widely to control nonlinear systems. However if traditional gradient decent algorithm (GDA) is employed to generate control signals, the computational cost is relatively too large, so that NNPC seems not to be acceptable for systems with rapid dynamics. To make NNPC be more efficient to general control signals for rapid dynamics, such as mobile robots, this paper proposes an improved optimization technique, particle swarm optimization with controllable random exploration velocity (PSO- CREV), to take place of GDA in NNPC. Moreover from theoretical analysis, it is observed that PSO-CREV has higher search ability than the conventional PSO. Therefore for one time of optimization, PSO- CREV needs small iterations than GDA, and less population size than conventional PSO. Hence the computational cost of NNPC is reduced by using PSO-CREV, therefore NNPC using PSO-CREV is more feasible for control of rapid processes. NNPC for trajectory tracking of mobile robots is chosen as a test to compare performance of PSO- CREV with other algorithms to show its advantages, especially in computational time. Index Terms—Predictive control, PSO with controllable random exploration velocity (PSO-CREV), stochastic approximation, mobile robot, trajectory tracking


Thermostable composite materials based on solid magnesium phosphate and calcium phosphate, as well as hybrid calcium magnesium phosphate binders have been developed and investigated. Thermal and phase transformations of the phosphate composites have been studied. Strength characteristics of composite materials have been determined in the temperature range of 20–1000 °C. It is shown that the obtained phosphate composites have high strength properties (compressive strength reaches 120–130 MPa) and are characterised by high thermal stability in the temperature range up to 1000 °С. The low weight loss of the studied composites (no more than 10 %) and the absence of significant thermal effects indicate that they are promising for use as a thermostable matrix for obtaining functional composite materials.


A criticai review of the study methods on the fox diet is reported. Severa1 problems exkt about the identification of the food remains in scats, stomachs, intestine, and about the estimate of the ingested buik of diiferent foods. In order to interpretate correctly the use of food categories of the diet, the assessment o€ the availability and of the dispersion of food resources are needed. AU the anaiysis methods o€ the diet are unsatisfactory.


Yergason described the case of a woman with bicipital pain that was confirmed with isolated forearm supination. Since publication of this respective case report in 1931, orthopedic assessment textb...


Published data on the impact ionization of rarefied gases by electrons are analysed where from a simple explanation of the Langmuir paradox follows. This approach gives likewise an opportunity to explain some other anomalous phenomena observed when ionizing gas atoms or molecules by an electron impact.


Abstract : The report gives the steady-state drag coefficients of various cavitating head forms. These coefficients were obtained by numerically integrating the pressure distributions measured experimentally on the bodies in steady-state water-tunnel tests. (Author)


The energetics of the OH(X 2Π, 0≤ν'≤4) product arising from the reaction of O(1D2) with the hydrocarbons CH4, C2H6, C3H8, and C(CH3)4 was fully characterized using laser‐induced fluorescence (LIF). The product distribution is in sensible accord with earlier more limited LIF and infrared chemiluminescence studies, and the overall yield of OH decreases dramatically in the case of the heavier hydrocarbons as would be expected if dissociation of the collision intermediate was dominated by rupture of the relatively weak C–C bond. The energetics of the O(1D2)/CH4 reaction suggest that it proceeds via an insertion/elimination reaction, while that of O(1D2) with the heavier hydrocarbons appears to involve two parallel mechanisms. The major channel yields vibrationally and rotationally cool OH; by comparison with abstraction of hydrogen by O(3PJ) which preferentially yields vibrationally excited OH, this channel is associated with dissociation of a long‐lived complex. The highly excited component of OH population ...


ABSTRACr. We consider only completely regular, Hausdorff spaces. Responding to a question of R. Levy and R. H. McDowell [Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 49 (1975), 426-4301 we show that for w W and X0 and X, denote copies of the discrete space of cardinality a +, then the disjoint union X XO U X, admits a topology (making each X, a topological subspace) such that d(X) < a.


1002 www.ccmjournal.org July 2019 • Volume 47 • Number 7 MSCs. Although it is not powered for efficacy endpoints and precludes any substantial considerations, patient-specific and dose-dependent response seen in this cohort of septic shock patients ultimately merits the compulsion of bigger sample size. For, a major advantage of MSC therapy is deterrence from any immune allogeneic reactions due to the absence of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class-II surface expression. Additionally, MSCs have the ability to suppress "graft vs host" reaction, elevating their suitability for potential MSC transplantation in septic shock patients. Multiple sources of MSCs (bone marrow, umbilical cord, the adipose, the placenta, and the pancreas) make it even more attractive for therapeutic use, except that it demands caution to scrutinize any discrepancies in their properties with more detailed mechanistic studies.


This paper reports the results of a two-dimensional finite element simulation of the motion of a circular particle in a Couette and a Poiseuille flow. The size of the particle and the Reynolds number are large enough to include fully nonlinear inertial effects and wall effects. Both neutrally buoyant and non-neutrally buoyant particles are studied, and the results are compared with pertinent experimental data and perturbation theories. A neutrally buoyant particle is shown to migrate to the centreline in a Couette flow, and exhibits the Segré-Silberberg effect in a Poiseuille flow. Non-neutrally buoyant particles have more complicated patterns of migration, depending upon the density difference between the fluid and the particle. The driving forces of the migration have been identified as a wall repulsion due to lubrication, an inertial lift related to shear slip, a lift due to particle rotation and, in the case of Poiseuille flow, a lift caused by the velocity profile curvature. These forces are analysed by examining the distributions of pressure and shear stress on the particle. The stagnation pressure on the particle surface are particularly important in determining the direction of migration.


Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic diseases characterized with hiperglikemia happens because aberration secretion insulin, insulin work or both. Diabetes mellitus often caused many complications, one of which was stroke. With the cases number of diabetes, to be sure the number of stroke events will also be increased. Installation in the In a patient disease in dr H. Moh Anwar Sumenep Hospital. Diabetes mellitus was a disease with the highest visits increasing from year to year. Knowledge about the stroke incidence risk factors in people with diabetes mellitus is very important as a precaution against the occurrence stroke incident in people with diabetes mellitus. The objective of this research was to study the influence risk factors of stroke on diabetes mellitus. The research used method with a case control comparison of 1:1. Number of cases as many as 40 people (people with diabetes mellitus with stroke complications) and control as many as 40 people (people with diabetes mellitus without stroke complications). Data collected with the medical record and the laboratory examination results. Variables examined included age, sex, total cholesterol level, HDL level, LDL level, Trigliserida level, and hypertension history. Data analyzed using logistic regression test to see which factors affect the stroke incidence in people with diabetes mellitus. The result obtained that there were not influence of gender, HDL and LDL level and hypertension history to stroke occurrence in people with diabetes mellitus. The significant influence variables obtained age, total cholesterol level and Trigliserida level. the model if regression is = 1,103 - 0,564 (age) + 0,490 (total cholesterol level) + 0,258 (Trigliserida level). Based on the results of this study, patients needed counseling on diabetes mellitus on the efforts of the diabetes mellitus management that do not cause complications, one of which was stroke complication. Key words : diabetes mellitus, stroke, risk factors, dr. H Moh Anwar Sumenep Hospital


Extreme weather events are demonstrating their effects more and more increasingly in Hungary due to global climate change. To be able to lessen damages and implement effective preventive measures, or eventually perform defense and a fast, complete relief project, we need to study these phenomena and explore their effects. Another important task is the scientific investigation of direct impact on environmental factors and humans, analysis of the results, using gained experience for preventative or if needed, remedial activities. With this article our aim is to draw attention to the importance of being aware of the extreme weather events and its effects. With this comprehensive knowledge, disaster management can elaborate appropriate responses for preventive and rescue challenges.


In this article the author finds out significant relationship between positive accounting reputation, negative accounting reputation and cost-efficiency in ten activities of the Bulgarian non-financial sector (during the 1999–2005). This relationship is considered as an indirect indicator for imperfect competition.


Now that long distance digital telephony is well established we are apt to forget that there was an earlier digital technology, albeit operating at a significantly lower bit rate. The laying of the first Atlantic telegraph caught the public imagination; the failures and the successes were the soap operas of the day. The continuity of digital development was interrupted by a long period of analogue telephony which effectively ended with the installation of TAT-8. Now that we are well established in the long-haul optical cable generation we should be better able to reassess the impact of telegraphy. The aim of this paper is to look behind the glamour and razzmatazz of the big events of the early days, to look at the pioneers and at the pioneering technological developments in Atlantic telegraphy. The media men and the promoters at the time ensured that Cyrus Field, Charles Bright and other prominent individuals were foremost in the public mind. But who were the real pioneers and what were their achievements? The author contends that they were the cable financiers, the cable manufacturers, the cable layers, the cable operators and of course the cable users. He discusses the importance of each group and indicate how they contributed to the development of high-speed international telecommunications. (4 pages)


All through the preceding years, the use of molecular markers, for genotyping and revealing polymorphism at the DNA level, is one of the most significant developments in the field of plant biotechnology and their molecular genetic studies. There are different types of markers such as morphological, biochemical and DNA based molecular markers. These DNA based markers are differentiated in two types first non PCR based (RFLP) and second is PCR based markers (RAPD, AFLP, SSR, SNP etc.) amongst others, the microsatellite DNA marker has been the most widely used, due to its easy use by simple PCR, followed by a denaturing gel electrophoresis for allele size determination and to the high degree of information provided by its large number of alleles per locus. Despite this, SNPs CCMPs and DArT are now on the scene and has gained high popularity. Now days, a variety of different genetic markers has been proposed to assess genetic variability as a complementary strategy to more traditional approaches in genetic resources management, in understanding the genomic variability and the diversity between the same as well as different species of the plants. In this review, we will discuss about various types of molecular markers.


A precise correction of segmentations within an acceptable amount of interaction time is a demanding task. In this paper we present a method offering an intuitive way to correct the segmentation surface by user interaction, while including image information at the same time. An efficient segmentation of follow-up images is achieved by an automatic transfer of the segmentation results to a second point in time. Additionally, this leads to a more consistent follow-up assessment, since independent segmentations for both images might otherwise independently suffer from small deformations and image noise. We apply this method on pleural thickenings in follow-up CT scans. The thickenings are located at the pleura and typically have a relatively low resolution. The objective is a consistent segmentation and growth rate estimation of thickenings for the early diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma.


The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze the effect of service quality variables on patient satisfaction at RSIA Bunda Aisyah Tasikmalaya City. This study is a survey research with a quantitative approach, with 84 respondents who were inpatients at RSIA Bunda Aisyah Tasikmalaya City from January to June 2022. This study used a closed questionnaire with five alternative answers. Based on data processing, it is known that service quality has a positive and significant influence on customer satisfaction at RSIA Bunda Aisyah with a contribution of 78.6%.


For micro-propulsion applications, a capacitively coupled RF (13.56 MHz) micro-discharge thruster is proposed by Charles et al. which is known as Pocket-Rocket. To date, the performance of Pocket Rocket has been experimentally studied using standard optical and electrical methods and using a global plasma model based on power balance. However, the detailed plasma motion and physics are not studied yet due to the lack of physical model to describe a RF micro-thruster. In this study, we develop a physical model of a RF micro-thruster to investigate neutral heating and propulsive performances.


BACKGROUND AND AIMS Intestinal epithelial cell derived antimicrobial peptides of the defensin family may play a major role in host defence against microorganisms. Our aims were to (i) isolate, characterise, and investigate the processing of human defensin 5 (HD-5) in normal Paneth cells and (ii) investigate expression of HD-5 in active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS Antiserum raised against chemically synthesised putative mature HD-5 was used for immunohistochemistry and purification of HD-5 from extracts of normal terminal ileal crypts. RESULTS In normal and Crohn's disease terminal ileum, HD-5 immunoreactivity was seen in Paneth cells and in some villous epithelial cells. Normal colonic mucosa did not express HD-5 but HD-5 immunoreactivity was seen in cells in the colonic crypt region of many IBD samples.N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis of HD-5 purified from normal terminal ileal Paneth cells consistently showed the predicted sequence of the precursor form of the peptide. Following stimulation of isolated intact normal terminal ileal crypts, a truncated form of HD-5, with theN-terminal sequence GEDNQLAIS, was detected in the supernatant. CONCLUSIONS (i) HD-5 is present only in the precursor form in normal terminal ileal Paneth cells and is processed to the mature form during and/or after secretion, (ii) some villous epithelial cells express HD-5, and (iii) HD-5 is expressed by metaplastic Paneth cells in the colon in IBD.


Çreat interest has been shown by astronomers ever since the early days of the telescope in the question of the rotation periods of the satellites. The fact that our moon rotates on its axis once in a revolution about the earth has encouraged investigations to determine whether the law holds with the other satellites of the solar system. As early as 1665, Cassini* observed that when the satellites of Jupiter were in transit across the face of the planet, ' ' he could see markings in exaqtly the positions where he knew the satellites to be, which proved that the markings were on the satellites themselves." Since these markings could not always be seen he inferred that the satellites rotated on their axis, but published no estimate of their periods. We now know that any attempt to see these markings by means of such rude telescopes as were at Cassini's disposal would prove futile. Sir William HERSCHELf noticed that considerable changes occurred in the brightness of the satellites. During the years 794-5-6 he made a number of estimates of their brightness when they were in different parts of their orbits, and found that the periodic variations of brightness were explained best by the theory that they rotate on their axes once in a revolution. In 1796 SchroeterJ saw a dark marking on satellite III on three nights when the satellite was in the same part of its orbit,


The purok system in the Philippines is promoted as a voluntary self-organization at the sub-village level which strengthens community resilience to natural hazards. In 2011, the system received the UN Sasakawa Award and gained prominence among the practitioner community. Based on a qualitative study in the municipality of San Francisco (Cebu province) from December 2014 to March 2015, the article elaborates on the achievements and challenges of the purok system. Striking merits encompass efficient and effective information dissemination and evacuation measurements between all levels of political administration that stem from the system's remarkable enforcement of human and social capital. This is underpinned by a clear determination of roles and responsibility that is subsumed under the concept of accountability. However, the purok system faces internal challenges of maintenance and implies profound conceptual ambiguities regarding the notion of voluntarism and capabilities that favor clientelism. Nevertheless, the purok system clearly distinguishes itself from conventional community-based disaster risk management practices and implies potentials that are highly beneficial for strengthening resilience in disaster prone areas.


The invention relates to catalysts which are prepared by reacting Orthoestern or condensed Orthoestern of titanium and / or zirconium with one or more polyalcohols. As the polyol component find compounds having at least two hydroxyl groups and a number average molecular weight of at least 180 · g-mol -1 · Application. DOLLAR A The invention further relates to a method for preparing the catalysts according to the invention and their use for the preparation of esters or polyesters with low color, which can be used for the production of polyurethane foams.


With the help of the Graffiti system, Fajtlowicz conjectured around 1992 that the average distance between two vertices of a connected graph G is at most half the maximum order of an induced bipartite subgraph of G, denoted α2(G). We prove a strengthening of this conjecture by showing that the average distance between two vertices of a connected graph G is at most half the maximum order of an induced forest, denoted F(G). Moreover, we characterize the graphs maximizing the average distance among all graphs G having a fixed number of vertices and a fixed value of F(G) or α2(G). Finally, we conjecture that the average distance between two vertices of a connected graph is at most half the maximum order of an induced linear forest (where a linear forest is a union of paths). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 60: 31–54, 2009


The Alladi-Gordon identity $\sum_{k=0}^{j}(q^{i-k+1};q)_k\, {j \brack k} q^{(i-k)(j-k)}=1$ plays an important role for the Alladi-Gordon generalization of Schur's partition theorem. By using Joichi-Stanton's insertion algorithm, we present an overpartition interpretation for the Alladi-Gordon key identity. Based on this interpretation, we further obtain a combinatorial proof of the Alladi-Gordon key identity by establishing an involution on the underlying set of overpartitions.


In front of the risks and terrorist threats or crisis caused by natural disasters, authorities' conventional means of intervention appear to be limited in managing vulnerabilities, especially in the communities affected directly or indirectly. Thus, population's resilience, defined as that set of characteristics or factors, which expresses the response capacity of individuals to face and to recover after a traumatic event or a crisis situation, seems to be a concept designed to complement the traditional ways of action to maintain an optimal level of population's security. In this article, will be reviewed some of the main elements of resilience and will be analysed those of its characteristics, which recommend it to be adopted in national security policies and strategies, especially due to possible preventive action and remedial intervention at social level, in significant risks.


Background and Objectives:We evaluated the efficacy of embolic protection using the PercuSurge GuardWire (PSG) system during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on lesions with angiographic features suggesting large thrombus burden of the infarct-related artery (IRA). Subjects and Methods:Between June 2002 and May 2003, we enrolled 30 patients who underwent primary PCI with angiographic features suggesting large IRA thrombus burden (abrupt end occlusive pattern, persistent dye stasis, reference diameter >4 mm, floating thrombus, accumulated thrombus >5 mm). Fourteen patients received primary PCI with the PSG system (PSG group) and 16 received primary PCI without the PSG system (control group). We compared angiographic results (TIMI flow, myocardial blush grade) and ≥50% resolution of ST segment elevation at 2 hours after reperfusion. Results:Baseline clinical and angiographic characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups. Primary PCI with the PSG system was performed successfully in all patients. Post PCI TIMI grade 3 flow and myocardial blush grade 3 were achieved significantly more often in the PSG group (100% vs. 69%, p=0.022;57% vs. 6%, p=0.004, respectively). Resolution of ST-segment elevation ≥50% was observed significantly more often in the PSG group (79% vs. 31%, p=0.01). Conclusion:Primary PCI with the PercuSurge GuardWire system might improve coronary blood flow and micro-vascular circulation in patients with angiographic features suggesting large thrombus burden. (Korean Circulation J 2003;33 (12):1103-1109)


The purpose of this paper is to develop a mathematical description of cargo transport in the entrance regions of axons and dendrites. The model accounts for the difference in microtubule (MT) orientation between axons and dendrites: axons have a uniform MT polarity orientation while dendrites have a mixed MT polarity orientation. Because of that, cargos pulled by dynein motors can enter dendrites but cannot enter axons. It is thus assumed that cargos are targeted to axons by associating them with kinesin motors and cargos are targeted to dendrites by associating them with dynein motors. Analytical solutions of the developed equations describing cargo concentrations in the entrance regions of axons and dendrites are obtained.


Sheep farming in Iceland has historically been the main agricultural occupation and the basic mean for sustenance and is still of great importance to the rural population and the culture of the country. This paper aims to review the current situation and prospects of organic sheep farming in the country, as part of a sustainable varied sheep production. This review has been based on interviews to several agents involved in agricultural production and organic farming, visits to the farmers currently producing under the organic certification and a thorough revision of the literature. Organic sheep production in Iceland is very small (in 2013 there are 9 organic sheep farmers of the 1826 sheep farmers in the country), has a very limited market and gathers little interest from the producers and the institutions. There are a few technical problems to overcome, especially that of securing good fodder of quality and in quantity without artificial fertilizer, and there is no research being done on organic management techniques and cultivation methods. There are nonetheless great possibilities for developing a healthy organic sheep production based on the Icelandic traditional system. The Icelandic sheep breed is strong and well adapted, the country's breeding system and database is very good and well developed and the improvement of the national flock is constant. Iceland's isolation and strict disease prevention programs have been very successful in ensuring a very secure country with little disease risk. All this factors make a great scenario for breeding sheep organically with minimal inputs and costs. Also, the fact that lamb rearing is already based on grazing natural pastures, and there is no usage of pesticides or herbicides in fodder production, makes the steps to transition to organic minimal.


In Bill Bryson's collection of essays, "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," he recounts the many differences between his 20-year adopted life in the United Kingdom and his return to his birth country, the United States. A recurring theme in Bryson's observations is convenience: The United States is a society whose marketplace is built around convenience, from drive-through food and pharmacies to 24-hour supermarkets. These are now commonplace. A visit to towns where local grocers may close at six or eight p.m. on a weekday comes as a rude shock. Convenience also drives the exploding market for computer-driven products designed to perform only one or two tasks.


OBJECTIVE
To detect and verify USF1 mRNA expression in odontoblasts.

METHODS
T-USF1 clone prepared previously was used as template and the desired USF1 cDNA segment was amplified by PCR with specific primers. The segment was labeled with digoxin as a probe and in situ hybridization was performed on the mounting of odontoblasts.

RESULTS
Evidently positive staining was shown in the cytoplasm of odontoblasts.

CONCLUSION
We verified the expression of USF1 mRNA in odontoblasts for the first time and provided evidence for further research.


This paper presents a numerical method developed to find propagation constants of planar waveguide localized modes. The method is based on both the Fourier transform application and the wave equation solution in a frequency domain. As a result, integral equation is obtained where integral is replaced by sum. Finally, a task to find propagation constants and field Fourier transforms in a discrete form is led to the eigenvalue/eigenvector problem. This method provides high accuracy subject to the conditions of the Whittaker-Shannon sampling theorem, and it is characterized by high numerical stability. The method is tested on many examples. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.20.3.4841


Engineering design deficiencies reported during Board of Inspection and Survey Trials involving the P-3 and S-3 aircraft were examined to determine deficiencies of a human engineering nature. The critical incident technique was used to catalogue, describe, and analyze these human engineering design deficiencies in both aircraft. From the 231 P-3 and 540 S-3 recorded deficiencies, 104 P-3 and 224 S-3 human engineering deficiencies emerged. These human engineering deficiencies were categorized according to (a) related system components, (b) design principle infractions, and (c) related operator errors. This categorization procedure provided a relative comparison of the most prevalent types of system component deficiencies, violations of human engineering design principles, and design induced operator errors. The system related deficiencies were sorted into 10 system component categories. Display and control components accounted for 78 percent and 75 percent of the P-3 and S-3 total human engineering design deficiencies, respectively. The results of this investigation suggest that, although the airframes of the two aircraft are dissimilar, there is a basic similarity in their number and types of human engineering design deficiencies. Also, design induced operator errors were different in relative frequency than was found by earlier investigators.


Three new sesquiterpenes were isolated from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces sp. and their structures were determined as caryolane-1,7α-diol (1), 1,6,11-eudesmanetriol; (1α,6β)-form (2), 11-eudesmene-1,6-diol; (1α,6β)-form (3), together with nine known compounds as caryolane-1,9α-diol (4), 2-methyl-5-nonanol (5), soyasaponin I (6), cyclo (Ala-Leu) (7), homononatinic acid (8), β-sitosteryl glucoside-3'-O-heptadecoicate (9), 2'-deoxythymidine (10), 2'-deoxyuridine (11), trehalose (12). The structures were elucidated by spectral analysis.


Geographic circumstances: I responded as a volunteer to Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast and subsequently returned frequently to provide on-site clinical services and administrative organizational activities.

About the author: I am a community pediatrician and since January 2006 have served as chief medical officer of Children's Health Fund (CHF), a national not-for-profit organization based in New York that supports a national network of 24 programs that provide comprehensive health care services to medically high-risk children and families. Patients served include the homeless, those who live in rural and urban pockets of the country that lack pediatric providers, and immigrant and postdisaster populations, who face significant barriers to health care. Previously, I served for more than 11 years as medical director of the South Florida Children's Health Project, a CHF program in Miami-Dade County. My move from south Florida to New York was directly linked to Hurricane Katrina.

Before Hurricane Katrina, most of my days were spent on a 38-ft-long mobile clinic providing a medical home to a largely immigrant and low-income population in south Florida. A dedicated team of nurses, mental health providers, and case managers addressed the medical, mental, and social complexities of our patient population. We delivered well-coordinated and integrated health care services between primary and subspecialty providers as well as related community programs, such as food pantries and domestic violence shelters. Medical students and pediatric/family practice residents worked with us, learning the importance of community pediatrics.

Then, Hurricane Katrina struck. I quickly volunteered to go to the Gulf Coast to provide care to needy children and families in crisis. In fact, 13 of 17 Children's Health Fund (CHF) programs at the time sent staff and/or mobile clinics to the region, beginning just days after Katrina made landfall. My experience in southern Mississippi left me with these …

Address correspondence to Arturo Brito, MD, MPH, Children's Health Fund, Executive Office, 215 W 125th St, Suite 301, New York, NY 10027. E-mail: abrito{at}chfund.org


The research aims to analyze the role of guidance and counseling teachers in minimizing bullying in schools. The research method used a systematic literature review with a qualitative approach. The data source of this research were obtained from articles and books that discussed bullying and the role of teachers. Data analysis techniques in this study used content or content analysis. The results of this study indicated that teacher guidance and counseling played a central role in preventing bullying behavior in schools. This role is clearly stated in the implementation of the independent curriculum. In addition, guidance and counseling teachers must actively provide services to students in preventive and curative efforts to prevent bullying.


A description of the implementation of a language training programme in the UK subsidiary, Rowntree Mackintosh, of a large multinational company, Nestle, is given.


The present invention relates to a negative electrode (2b), both electrodes (2a), an electrochemical cell (1) including an aluminum current collector (3a) and an electrolyte (4) which is connected to the positive electrode (2a) and conductivity. The electrolyte is a ratio of less than 1.0% by weight of the entire electrolyte has an ionic organic compound, and a solvent having at least 80 wt% of the total electrolyte containing an ionic liquid. In this case, the ionic liquid comprises an anion of the general formula (A) cationic and formula (B) of the. In addition, the ionic liquid has a conductivity salt comprising an anion of a lithium cation and a general formula (C). The electrolyte of the electrochemical cell is less than 0.5% by weight of the PF Aluminum current collector of the electrochemical cell has a protective film comprising an A1F


Introduction Modern infrastructure of the communication provider implies data center availability that allows simultaneous maintenance of a large number of subscribers with applications of different kind. However, the assistance as well as modernization of the infrastructure is rather cost-intensive for communication provider. Meanwhile the cloud computing resources can be flexibly enabled or disabled at the specific time, thus paying only for the utilized resource. Today the communication providers encounter two main realities that affect the processes of effective operation. The first is related to the effective usage of infrastructure, for instance, by applying the cloud technologies that allow increasing capabilities of own data centers with the use of leased ones. The second reality includes the significant increase in range and variety of provided services, the maintenance of which enlarges the load on the data centers of the operator. Thus, the operator should optimize the resources of the infrastructure in order to ensure the required quality of service (QoS) of subscribers' maintenance. Currently, all the more and more widespread became hybrid Cloud infrastructure. A hybrid Cloud [1, 2, 3] is the integration and utilization of services from both public and private Clouds. The hybrid Cloud platform will help scientists and businesses to leverage the scalability and cost effectiveness of the public Cloud by paying only for IT resources consumed (server, connectivity, storage) while delivering the levels of performance and control available in private Cloud environments without changing their underlying IT setup. As a result, hybrid Cloud computing has received increasing attention recently. While using the hybrid clouds, the different solutions of stream management in the datacenter can be used. For this purpose, the part of streams is maintained by using the leased resources provided according to the IaaS technology (Infrastructure as


SLC26A3 or Down Regulated in Adenoma (DRA) is the key anion transporter involved in electroneutral NaCl absorption in the mammalian intestine. DRA knockout (KO) mice exhibit diarrheal phenotype and greater susceptibility to experimental colitis. A recent genome wide association study (GWAS) identified SLC26A3 polymorphism leading to lower DRA expression as a risk factor for ulcerative colitis. Additionally, we have shown that genetic deficiency of DRA in mice results in compromised barrier integrity and increased gut permeability. These studies render DRA to have a more complex involvement in IBD, beyond its transporter function. Enhanced intestinal permeability is associated with activation of mucosal immune system and may contribute to alterations in lamina propria lymphocytes consisting of innate (innate lymphoid cells ILC1, ILC2, ILC3) and adaptive immune system (Th1, Th2, Tregs and Th17). Thus, we sought to determine the total levels of lamina propria lymphocytes both innate and adaptive, to decipher their involvement in intestinal pathology observed in DRA KO mice. Ileal and colonic lamina propria lymphocytes were isolated from Wild type (WT) and DRA KO mice (n=7). Fluorescence Assisted Cell Sorting (FACS) analysis was carried out in these mice to determine the various subtypes of CD127+ ILCs and TCRb+/CD4+ Th Cells. Isolated lymphocytes were also stimulated to secrete cytokines using phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate/PMA (50 ng/mL) and ionomycin (500 ng/mL) and were further analyzed with FACS. Our results demonstrated that GATA3+ colonic Th2 cells were significantly increased along with the corresponding CD127+/GATA3+ ILC2 in DRAKO mice compared to WT mice. These cells partake in mediating intestinal fibrosis and collagen deposition which are highly upregulated in DRAKO mice colons. However, tuft cell hyperplasia which may contribute to increased ILC2 was not observed in DRA KO mice. Similarly, the anti‐inflammatory CD127+/RORgt+ ILC3, which are important in maintaining intestinal epithelial integrity and intestinal cell homeostasis were significantly down‐regulated showing lower secretion of the important cytokine IL‐22 in DRAKO mice colons. However, the FOXP3+ Treg levels increased in colon of KO mice. The differences in lymphoid cells were mainly detected in the colon (where DRA expression is higher) and were less evident in the ileum. Overall, our data indicate that loss of DRA transporter results in altered intestinal lamina propria lymphocytes in the colon which may in part contribute to the higher susceptibility of DRA KO mice to inflammatory and infectious insults.


Using a hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber as a nonlinear optical gas cell, we study amplification of ns-laser pulses by backward rotational Raman scattering. We find that the amplification process has two characteristic stages. Initially, the pulse energy grows and its duration shortens due to gain saturation at the trailing edge of the pulse. This phase is followed by formation of a symmetric pulse with a duration significantly shorter than the phase relaxation time of the Raman transition. Stabilization of the Stokes pulse profile to a solitonlike hyperbolic secant shape occurs as a result of nonlinear amplification at its front edge and nonlinear absorption at its trailing edge (caused by energy conversion back to the pump field), leading to a reshaped pulse envelope that travels at superluminal velocity.


One of the main problems of the research area of network coding is to compute good lower and upper bounds of the achievable cardinality of so-called subspace codes in <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${ \mathcal {P}_{q}(n)}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, i.e., the set of subspaces of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mathbb {F}_{q}^{n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, for a given minimal distance. Here we generalize a construction of Etzion and Silberstein to a wide range of parameters. This construction, named <italic>coset construction</italic>, improves or attains several of the previously best-known subspace code sizes and attains the maximum-rank distance bound for an infinite family of parameters.


This article reviews an exhibition of paintings and films by Maria Lassnig at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio through January 11, 2009.


The utility model discloses a clean combined flowerpot, which is composed of an inner pot and an outer pot. The utility model is characterized in that the inner pot is embedded in the outer pot or the inner pot integrates the outer pot; a gap is arranged between the inner pot and the outer pot; the bottom and the side face of the inner pot are provided with a plurality of ventilation micro holes; the side face parts which are on the bottom of the inner pot raised by the outer pot are respectively provided with a plurality of ventilation micro holes. The utility model has the advantages that excess water can be leaked to the bottom of the outer pot for storing when the utility model is watered for flowers; the excess water can not outwards leak because the excess water can dirty environment. The utility model can be used for household flower cultivation and as flowerpots for various potted flowers.


An object of the present invention to the wiring distance of the conductor circuits short, high degree of freedom in design of a conductor circuit, In addition, because almost no cracks are generated in the interlaminar resin insulating layers in the vicinity of the via-hole provides a multilayer printed circuit board is reliably excellent. The present invention provides a multilayer printed circuit board according to repeatedly provided with a conductor circuit and an interlaminar resin insulating layer are alternately formed in series on the substrate, the connection of the conductor circuits through the interlaminar resin insulating layer being performed by a via-hole, a layer among the via-holes that is characterized in that another via-holes have the stack-via is formed to form a structure, at least one of the land diameters layers having the stack-via structure are of the land diameters of other above-mentioned via-holes are different from the land diameters of other via-holes.


Objective
To understand the risks and consequences of varicella in pregnancy or perinatal period.

Methods
The clinical information from 71 cases of varicella in pregnancy or perinatal period were collected and analyzed from the literatures reported in Chinese from 1994 to Jun. 2015.

Results
Varicella of the pregnant women occurred during pregnancy or perinatal period range from 7 weeks of pregnancy to a week postpartum. There were 9 cases associated with other conditions of the Varicella. Forty-two normal neonates (59.2%, 42/71) and twenty-eight Neonatal Varicellas (NV, 39.4%, 28/71), and a case of congenital varicella syndrome were identified. The medium time of NV occurred 10 days postpartum. Nearly 32.1% (9/28) of NV associated with serious complications and 10.7% (3/28) of NV suffered from life-threatening condition namely pneumonia, septicemia, hepatitis and death.

Conclusions
Pregnant women at their later pregnancy (Second and third trimesters) and perinatal period were found to be susceptibility to intrauterine transmission of VZV and lead to NV. NV mainly occurred in 2 weeks after birth. Especially, the cases with short latent period tend to be associated with serious complications.

Key words:
Varicella; Pregnancy; Neonate; Perinatal Period


The analysis of robustness of complex networks tries to find out the relation between the structure of a complex network and its robustness performance, which will be beneficial to some work such as network design. The robustness measurement of a complex network is defined at first to evaluate its robustness performance. Then a framework is put forward for robustness analysis of complex networks. The framework analyzes the impacts of structural parameters of a complex network on its robustness by comparing the network structures and its robustness performance before and after optimization. These network structural parameters include the degree distribution, the average clustering coefficient, the network efficiency and so on. An optimization method based on the variable neighborhood search method is developed to solve the network optimization problem appearing in the framework. Finally, through the application of this analytical framework, it is found that if the degree of nodes in a complex network tends to be consistent, then the upper bound of the robustness measurement of the network will increase. In addition, the regression relationships between the robustness measurement and some structural parameters of the network, such as the average clustering coefficient, the network efficiency and so on, will become evident.


The Non Nuclear Energy (NNE) programme is one of the seven specific research and technological development (RTD) programmes of the current Fourth Framework Programme (FP4). The NNE programme covers transnational, shared-cost, collaborative research and demonstration projects in four areas : energy and energy demonstration, rational use of energy, renewable energies and fossil fuels. The paper gives an overview of the RTD action already under way (FP3) on electrochemical energy storage, and reports or anticipates future developments (FP4), and, in particular, on the task force Car of Tomorrow.


In order to study the strain relaxation of high strength bolts in end-plate connections, the time-variation of pretension force of 31 high strength bolts in 8 specimens has been monitored for more than 45h.The time-dependent rule of pretension force of high strength bolts has been compared, and the final value of pretension force relaxation has been calculated.Proposals for the construction pretension force and the pretension force design value of high strength bolts in end-plate connections have been presented.


In this work, we address the task of phenotypic traits prediction using methods for semi- supervised learning. More specifically, we propose to use supervised and semi-supervised classification trees as well as supervised and semi-supervised random forests of classification trees. We consider 114 datasets for different phenotypic traits referring to 997 microbial species. These datasets present a challenge for the existing machine learning methods: they are not labelled/annotated entirely and their distribution is typically imbalanced. We investigate whether approaching the task of phenotype prediction as a semi-supervised learning task can yield improved predictive performance. The result suggest that the semi-supervised methodology considered here is helpful for phenotype prediction for which the amount of labeled data ranges from 20 to 40%. Furthermore, the semi-supervised classification trees exhibit good predictive performance for datasets where the presence of a given trait is not extremely imbalanced (i.e., less than 6%).


Objective: To observe and analyze Chinese medicine therapy without nerve injury thoracolumbar compression fracture kyphosis clinical efficacy. Methods; The study of December 2012 between June 2014 in our hospital for treatment of non-nerve injury thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures were 80 cases, according to the different treatment methods will be divided into a control group (n = 40 patients) and the observation group (n = 40 patients), the observation group were treated with combined therapy of traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine and western medicine control group and exercise therapy, two groups were compared using the incidence of delayed symptoms of different treatment methods and treatment changes in pain scores and spinal kyphosis Cobb's angle. Results; observation group after patients and control patients kyphosis Cobb's angle than treatment significantly improved P <0.05; observation group kyphosis Cobb's angle was significantly less than the control group, the difference was significant P <0.05; Observation 2 year follow-up group kyphosis Cobb's angle was significantly less than the control group, the difference was significant P <0.05. After the observation group and the control group of patients pain patients before treatment were significantly alleviated, P <0.05;; pain relief observation group than the control group, the difference was significant P <0.05. Conclusion; no nerve injury thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures were treated with combined therapy of traditional Chinese medicine, can effectively relieve the injured speedy pain state is conducive to correct vertebral kyphosis and effective restoration of vertebral height, a significant effect. Introduction Thoracolumbar compression fractures spine surgery is one of the more common diseases in clinical fracture, thoracolumbar fractures higher incidence of about 68%, of which the vast majority of patients with vertebral compression fractures are not associated with injury symptoms . In the clinical treatment of non-nerve injury thoracolumbar vertebral compression fracture patients were treated conservatively. The study of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine treatment of comprehensive treatment and no nerve injury thoracolumbar vertebral compression fracture patients, comparing the efficacy of two treatment methods, are summarized below. Subjects and Methods The study of December 2012 between June 2014 in our hospital for treatment of non-nerve injury thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures of 80 patients, all subjects are in line with the relevant literature no nerve injury thoracolumbar vertebral compression diagnose fractures standards; that is, patient trauma, have a more significant lower back pain, the pain was aggravated by hand pressure, accompanied by symptoms of kyphosis, lumbar dysfunction exists; after Imaging CT scan showed that trabecular bone disorder and bone fracture, after radiographic X-ray showed bone discontinuity and the wedge-like changes. Exclude younger than 18 years old, more than 70-year-old patient; excluded patients with kyphosis angle greater than 35 ° while spinal stenosis greater than 35% of patients and is not associated with nerve damage. Depending on the method of 7th International Conference on Mechatronics, Control and Materials (ICMCM 2016) Copyright © 2016, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Advances in Engineering Research, volume 104


The theory of analytic coarse alignment is investigated.And it is inferred that the method determined the direction cosine matrix(DCM) between two coordinates by two unparallel vectors.According to the way in which the reference vectors formed,the analytic coarse alignment methods are classified into two basic categories:traditional and swaying-based.The causes that traditional coarse alignment method is only suitable for quasi-stationary base environment were analyzed.In order to accomplish coarse alignment on a swaying base,the integrations of the gravity vector in the inertial coordinate of two different periods of time are selected as the reference vectors.Based on the analytic coarse alignment framework,the equations of a swaying-based coarse alignment method are deduced.At last the feasibility of the swaying-based coarse alignment method is demonstrated by a swaying-table test.


Some scholars are inexhaustible wells, forever nourishing the fruits of their past labour. Such an individual is Chris Rojek. When, in 1985, Capitalism and Leisure Theory detonated in a starbunt of sociological innovation and ingenuity, not only offering a penetrating critique of the dominant tradition of social formalism that had hitherto dominated the study of leisure, but also outlining some new rules of method for leisure studies, its young author fast became the name to consult when the discussion turned to what we do in our free time.


Scattering media, such as biological tissues and turbid liquids, scatter light randomly and introduce several challenges when imaging objects behind them. The transmission matrix (TM) describes the relation between the input and output of a beam transmitted through a medium, which can be used to reconstruct a target located behind a scattering medium. However, the current TM methods cannot easily retrieve the phase distribution of objects inside or behind a scattering medium. In this work, a compressive sensing (CS) method to identify the TM of a scatter contained in an imaging system was investigated. By calibrating the TM, the phase information of the object can be retrieved quantitatively. This method allows one to retrieve multilevel and dynamic phase objects behind different scatters. The influence of the calibration parameters on the reconstruction quality was investigated in detail. The proposed method, featuring noninterference measurements of the TM and exploiting a large field of view, can be used in phase imaging applications.


The objective of this paper is to cast light – relying on use of the subject-related literature and on personal field research over the past three decades – on the phenomenon of multiculturality of children's folklore practice found in some national/ethnic communities in Vojvodina: Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, and Romanians. Considerable attention is given to the (dis)continuity, changes, comparative research and the latest trends in the children's folklore on the cultural scene of this multicultural milieu.


Educational media is one of the aspects that determine the success of learning. Language learning uses specific learning media because it requires a unique approach. The purpose of this study was to determine the educational media used in language learning and their effectiveness. The research method used is a literature review; the article's source comes from the Scopus database. The number of articles used as data sources is 16 articles. The study results found that the learning media used in language learning were: social media, Facebook, website, mobile learning, and Android. The entire educational media utilizes technology. Only one educational medium was found that did not utilize technology, namely the use of musical instruments. The results showed that the educational media used was effective. The use of educational technology in learning provides opportunities for further development in its use strategy.


The indigenous and the Afro in Mexican society, and many mestizo people also experience racism to varying degrees, depending on their skin col Mexicans don't believe that racism exists in Mexico; instead they blame any discrimination that does exist on classism. In Mexico, racism is closely linked to classism. This means that indigenous and Afro-Mexican p are the darkest-skinned and the poorest people in Mexico. The discrimination these groups experience is based on skin color, socio class, and cultural background.


Background It is important to examine how a usual drug dose is established in Japan and other countries, and to evaluate that on the basis of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. In the present study, we examined the contributions of area under the curve (AUC) ratio and other factors on differences of usual dose between Japan and the United States. Methods We examined drugs approved from January 2008 to January 2011 in Japan and collected related information. For the usual dose set for the same indication in both countries, we compared the maintenance dose values between the countries. We also examined the relationships of AUC ratio and difference of usual dose in both countries. Results Our results clarified that the usual dose for the same indication is comparable between Japan and the United States for 68.75% of the examined drugs, while that for 31.25% is different. Moreover, among products with different approved doses, the dosage was set higher in the United States for 18.75% and higher in Japan for 12.50%. Our findings indicate that the difference in dose between the countries is associated with AUC ratio for 82.1% and by factors other than AUC ratio for 17.9% of the examined medications. Conclusions The approved dose varies between the countries for about one-third of products commonly used. Additionally, it was clarified that not only AUC ratio but also other factors are involved in dosage differences. The present results provide useful information for analysis of factors related to the different usual doses between countries.


Municipal solid waste management (MSWM), mostly an urban phenomenon, is undoubtedly an important issue of global concern today that invites attention of engineers, activists, academicians, researchers, students and citizens interested in and working on environment. Disposal of waste in an eco-friendly and sustainable way stands as a big problem even in small towns nowadays. Ceaseless migration of people to urban centres from neighbouring rural and semi urban areas has resulted in exponential growth of population in towns and cities. There is a continuous shift of economic activity from agrarian to industrial and service sector as well. Most people have sought for the so-called modern 'made-easy' lifestyle with the abandonment of rural traditional life and adopted the 'throw-away' culture. Plastics have replaced traditional cotton and jute culture in day today life from market to kitchen and garden to bedroom. It has inevitably led to the generation of huge amount of municipal solid waste (MSW). Small cities and towns are also no exception. The present study is an attempt to examine the status of MSWM in Nagaon, a class I town in Assam. Both primary and secondary data were used. For collection of primary data, 5 separate questionnaires were specifically designed for households, ragpickers, commercial establishments, hospitals, and Municipal Board. It was found that the status of MSWM in the town is not satisfactory from collection to disposal, the main causes being the inefficiency of the municipality and the absence of community participation.


We study a simple extension of Linde's hybrid inflation model, with the inflaton mass term replaced by the most general renormalizable potential for [phi]. The unprocessed power spectrum of density perturbations can have two minima and one maximum, roughly corresponding to two steep regions separated by a somewhat flat region in [ital V]([phi]). In the examples studied here, a sufficient amount of inflation and normalization to COBE requires a vacuum scale of 10[sup 16] GeV and a [phi] mass of 10[sup 13] GeV. Depending on the initial value of [phi], our model can give either less ([similar to][ital n][lt]1) or more ([similar to][ital n][gt]1) power on small scales compared to the scale-invariant spectrum ([ital n]=1), given the normalization to COBE. Given the same power on small scales, our power spectra can give more power on intermediate scales, compared to simple tilted'' power spectra.


The second-order adaptive-bandwidth all-digital phase-locked loop (ADB-ADPLL) is designed and analyzed by using a new design procedure. Based on a discrete-time analogy of a continuous-time PLL (CTPLL) with the z-transform, the design criterion of the ADB-ADPLL is derived and a design procedure is developed. Following the design criterion, the ADB-ADPLL can adapt its system parameters to balance the loop noise bandwidth and lock-in time. According to the design criterion, the ratio of the loop bandwidth to the reference input frequency can be maintained as a constant if the sampling frequency is a fixed multiplier of the input frequency. An example is given to illustrate the design procedure and simulation results are presented to validate the adaptive characteristics with respect to the phase noise and varying bands of input frequency.


The problem of professional formation of the teacher is considered: modern approaches to definition and characteristics of stages (phases) of professional formation are reflected; results of research of professional selfdetermination of the teacher that allows to reveal factors of decrease in the social status and prestige of a pedagogical profession are presented.


In this paper we will extend the input-to-state stability (ISS) framework to continuous-time discontinuous dynamical systems (DDS) adopting non-smooth ISS Lyapunov functions. The main motivation for investigating non-smooth ISS Lyapunov functions is the success of "multiple Lyapunov functions" in the stability analysis of hybrid systems. This paper proposes an extension of the well-known Filippov solution concept, that is appropriate for 'open' systems so as to allow interconnections of DDS. It is proven that the existence of a non-smooth ISS Lyapunov function for a DDS implies ISS. In addition, a (small gain) ISS interconnection theorem is derived for two DDS that both admit a non-smooth ISS Lyapunov function. This result is constructive in the sense that an explicit ISS Lyapunov function for the interconnected system is given. It is shown how these results can be applied to construct piecewise quadratic ISS Lyapunov functions for piecewise linear systems (including sliding motions) via linear matrix inequalities.


The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) Muon 6 2 Experiment has measured the positive muon magnetic anomaly 0` ⌘ (6` 2)/2 with a precision of 0.46 parts per million, with data collected during its first physics run in 2018. The experimental result combined with the measurement from the former experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory increases the tension with the Standard Model expectation to 4.2f, thus strengthening evidence for new physics. The magnetic anomaly is determined from the precision measurements of the muon spin precession frequency, relative to the muon momentum, and the average magnetic field seen by the beam. In an ideal case with muons orbiting in a horizontal plane with a uniform vertical magnetic field, the anomalous precession frequency l0 is given by the di erence between the spin (B) and cyclotron (2) frequencies, l0 = lB l2. The observable l0 is proportional to 0`. This proceeding presents the beam dynamics systematic corrections that are required to adjust the measured muon precession frequency l< 0 to its true physical value l0.


Introduction: A high intake of sugar, in particular from sugar-sweetened soft drinks, increases the risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and dental caries. Germany has pursued a national strategy for sugar reduction in soft drinks based on voluntary commitments by industry since 2015, but its effects are unclear. Methods: We use aggregated annual sales data from Euromonitor International to assess trends in mean sales-weighted sugar content of soft drinks and per capita sugar sales from soft drinks in Germany from 2015 to 2021. We compare these trends to the reduction path set by Germany's national sugar reduction strategy and to data for the United Kingdom, which adopted a soft drinks tax in 2017 and which we selected as best practice comparison country based on pre-defined criteria. Results: Between 2015 and 2021, the mean sales-weighted sugar content of soft drinks sold in Germany decreased by 2% from 5.3 to 5.2 g/100 mL, falling short of an interim 9% reduction target and a 29% reduction observed in the United Kingdom over the same period. Sugar sales from soft drinks in Germany decreased from 22.4 to 21.6 g/capita/day (−4%) between 2015 and 2021 but remain high from a public health perspective. Conclusions: Reductions observed under Germany's sugar reduction strategy fall short of stated targets and trends observed internationally under best practice conditions. Additional policy measures may be needed to support sugar reduction in soft drinks in Germany.


We propose a method for fusing a LIDAR point cloud to camera data in real time, which will also backfill the myriad of data holes LIDAR creates. This is done in a way that also leverages the images features to weight how point clouds are filled. Multithreaded programing and GP-GPU methods allow us to obtain 10 fps with a Velodyne 64E LIDAR completely fused in 360o using a Ladybug panoramic camera. The method also generalizes to other kinds of point clouds such as those obtained by aerial vehicles. The primary advantage of our approach is it combines 360o fusion with upsampling in real time without mode smoothing.


RUDOLF BULTMANN is a rather unusual figure in a day of growing specialization in the various fields of Christian scholarship. He has held professorial chairs in both theology and New Testament studies. He is best known for his biblical work, all of which, of course, is intended to have considerable significance for the conception, method, and content of Christian theology. In addition, he has published a number of essays which are primarily philosophical and theological in orientation, and some of these essays present his major themes with clarity. It is characteristic of Bultmann that he has only one thing to say, but that he is prepared to say it from any number of perspectives. That one thing has, to my mind, been best summarized by Friedrich Gogarten in his little book on the demythologization controversy. He writes that demy thologization (and I should like to add, the whole of Bultmann's work) "aims at enabling modern thought simply to know once again what Christian faith involves. If this is the single aim of Bultmann's work, then the validity of that work hinges upon one question over all others. Is Bultmann right when in his attempt to make clear the meaning of Christian faith he makes exclusive use of the erga nos, pro me (towards us, for me) theme in the thought of the Reformers? Melanchthon's classic statement of this theme appears on numerous occasions in Bultmann's theological writings: "Christum cognoscere hoc est: beneficia eius cognoscere, non eius naturas, modos incarnationis intueri" "This is to know Christ, to know his


The majority of public libraries in Zimbabwe remain legacies of the colonial era. Their stock is composed largely of donations which are frequently out-of-date or irrelevant. However, a number of initiatives are attempting to provide an appropriate service to both urban and rural communities. Emphasis is on books in the vernacular, follow-up materials for new literates and encouraging both children and adults to read for pleasure. The projects discussed highlight the importance of providing library services in appropriate locations, of talking to communities to discover their true book and information needs and the value of volunteers. These successful initiatives are set against the difficulties of the National Library and Documentation Service plans and its problems in reaching the less privileged members of society.


Abstract Owing to highly developed industries and the use of fossil fuels, environmental problems becoming becoming pressing issues globally. Therefore, a study of automobile exhaust is urgently needed. Generally, air is sucked into the engine through the intake manifold. The aims of this study were to reduce the exhaust from usedcars and increase the output by removing carbon deposits, which are considered a reason for the increasing exhaustand reduction of output, and the reduction of exhaust, variation of output and stability of idle speed were analyzed. The formation of carbon deposits within the suction manifold was investigated through a test device (KD147). In theintake manifold, the exhaust cleaning effect was confirmed. Key Words : Exhaust gas, Intake manifold, Cleaning, Cleaning the intake manifold, KD147 mode * Corresponding Author : Tae-Jung Kim(Chosun Univ.)Tel: +82-62-230-7769 email: email@example.com Received July 3, 2014 Revised (1st July 31, 2014, 2nd August 6, 2014) Accepted October 10, 2014


The objective of accounting undergraduate education is to train the graduate accounting human resource with high quality and competence.Accounting in undergraduate education is the major corresponding with professional accounting in practice.Therefore,the accounting teaching should meet the practical demands.Accounting education modification like improvement of teaching contents and methods is to achieve the teaching objectives for nurturing professional accounting human resource with high quality in order to satisfy the development of professional Accounting.


IN 1824 Calmeil first described "grand mal" status epilepticus in his thesis, De l'Epilepsie.1 He had observed patients who had repeated tonic-clonic seizures and did not recover consciousness between attacks. Fifty-two years later, Bourneville referred to status epilepticus as "etat de mal" in his book published in 1876.2 The full meaning of "status epilepticus," however, was not fully appreciated until 1962, when it was defined as "epileptic seizures that are so frequently repeated or so prolonged as to create a fixed and lasting epileptic condition."3 The term was applied to continuous seizures lasting at least 30 minutes, even when . . .


In this letter, a novel localization scheme is reported to improve WiFi fingerprint-based localization via dimensionality reduction and an adaptive fingerprint matching algorithm. Specifically, an experimental analysis is firstly carried out to investigate the quality of radio maps. Then, the advanced uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) algorithm is applied to refine the mapping relations from a fingerprint space to a location space in a supervised dimensionality reduction approach, which significantly improves the quality of radio maps. In addition, to further enhance the localization accuracy, boundary aware KNN (B-KNN) is proposed to adaptively deal with fingerprint matching according to inner area or boundary area. Extensive experiments are conducted in a real scenario with the area of nearly $1000~m^{2}$ , and a thorough comparison with several existing popular methods illustrates that the proposed scheme can significantly improve the localization accuracy on average by 33.3%.


Dostalek M., J. Pistovaakova, V. Minafiikova, J. Jufiica, J T omandl, E. Hada‰ova: Effect of Acute and Repeated Administration of Methamphetamine on the Activity of CYP2D in Isolated Perfused Rat Liver. Acta Vet. Brno 2005, 74: 339-345. The aim of this study was to ascertain the influence of acute and repeated methamphetamine administration on metabolic activity of CYP2D2. The study was performed in the model of isolated perfused rat liver using dextromethorphan as a specific marker of CYP2D2 activity. Acute administration of methamphetamine (10, 20 or 40 mg/kg, i.p., once daily for two days) significantly increased dextrorphan O-formation in the isolated liver mediated by CYP2D2 at all investigated doses in the 120th min of liver perfusion. Repeated administration of methamphetamine (10, 20 or 40 mg/kg, i.p., once daily for six days) significantly stimulated dextromethorphan Odemethylation via CYP2D2 dose-dependently. Thus, an induction of CYP2D2 metabolic activity was proved in these experiments. With regard to a high level of homology between human and rat CYP isoform studied, the results may have clinical impact in pharmacotherapy of methamphetamine abusers. Methamphetamine, Dextromethorphan, CYP2D, liver, isolated perfused, rat


Virtual simulations have become a part of design and marketing from personal use to professional designs and provide virtual realism to a great extent. With rapidly developing technology, nowadays it has attracted much more attentions especially in textile processes. The 3D virtual garment simulation provides the textile producers and fashion designers with benefits in terms of product development, customization of garments and speed to market. While most of the software focuses just on visual design, some major software manufacturers (Lectra, Optitex, Gerber, etc.) try to develop programs to accurately simulate fabric behavior as well as visual modeling. When the literature studies are examined, it is seen that the simulations in which the fabric mechanical and physical properties are defined, provide virtual realism to a large extent. But this is just regarding to the ergonomic comfort of the garment and virtually no garment simulations exist for the realistic prediction of thermal comfort. The estimation of clothing thermal comfort is very helpful for designing garments, especially sports and works garments where thermal comfort plays an crucial role for the status of the wearer. To make a method to realistic solution to virtualize the thermal comfort of clothing: virtual body properties, garment design, clothing drapability, thermal characteristics of fabric and the thermoregulation of the human body according to different conditions should be considered all together.


Fourteen citizen advisory boards (CABs) in one Nevada community were assessed over a three-year period to determine their efficacy at influencing local decision-makers. Efficacy was measured regarding actual influence over decisions as well as perception of effectiveness among advisory board members. Using a mixed methods approach that included board member surveys, analyzing meeting minutes and interviews with staff planners; results indicate CABs are highly effective at influencing local decision-makers. However, factors that influence local decision-makers are more aligned with the reasonableness and scope of the CAB comments, rather than issues of low controversy or neighborhood level concerns as past research has indicated.


This paper compares the differences of powersystem stability before and after an offshore wind farm is connected to Taiwan Power System. A commercial power-system simulation software of DIgSILENT is properly utilized to establish the system model of simplified Taiwan Power System connected with the studied offshore wind farm. The operating points, eigenvalues, and time-domain simulations of the studied system are performed under full power-generation condition of the studied offshore wind farm. According to the steady-state and dynamic simulation results of the studied system, it is found the simplified Taiwan Power System connected with the studied offshore wind farm can be stably operated.


Living in a racial segregated country, I understand the premise to enlarge and to deepen those debates about inequalities resulted of racial prejudice and discrimination. This paper theme is a proposition to criticize territory of money as consequence of Brazilian geopolitical intervention thru public bank fomentation to large companies interested in accumulation of capital. The objective presupposes to analyses relations of power linked to Brazilian geopolitical of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) financing to Odebrecht in Angola.


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Many animals use the sense of smell as a guide through life, dividing the world into what is good and what is harmful. Olfaction distinguishes nutritional foods from toxic ones, helps identify appropriate mates, and allows the detection of predators. A lot of effort has gone


In light of the problems existing in the over-current protection for the motor of ship′s air compressor ,a digital over-current protection method combined with current dissymmetry protecting and phase sensitive protecting is introduced . Double single -chip is used to control GTO to realize protection in order to raise the reliability of protection .


abstract:The argument of Judith Fetterley's The Resisting Reader focuses on the centrality of "power" to feminist criticism, and how a critique of gendered power relations leads to an unmasking of what she terms "immasculation." This names a process in which women readers (and critics) are compelled to identify with male perspectives and patriarchal values in fiction written by men. In contrast she posits the power of women-centered reading practices and resistance to homophobic interpretive and scholarly conventions.


Density gradients have been a common approach when estimating decentralisation processes with monocentric models. In this study the gradient approach is applied to measure the traditional pattern of commuting to the centre from surrounding areas. Availability of empirical origin–destination data on commuting enables comparisons between increasing numbers of different urban areas. Empirical data on commuting patterns in nine cities from Finland and the United Kingdom are used. In the model the probability of commuting depends on the distance to the centre. The result is the parameterisation of the distance-decay curve of commuting. The estimated parameter values enable identification of different urban structures.


Health and work safety (K3, Re: Kesehatan dan Keselamatan Kerja ) is one of the requirements to improve employee performance, in that K3 is right of each worker and to win free competition. Where health and work safety become one of requirements that should be fulfilled by every company in Indonesia. Therefore effort to improve health and work safety should be priority and commitment for every part either government or private part, from stake holder level to all employees in company management. Ergonomics is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach that seeks to harmonize tools, techniques and work environments against the capabilities and limitations of the workforce so as to create healthy, comfortable, safe and safe working conditions.In this case ergonomics also seeks to create health and safety for the workforce so that it can increase work productivity. The goal of K3 and ergonomics is almost same that is to create health and safetywork. Therefore K3 and ergonomics need to be applied in the workplace to improve health and safety work for employee in order to increase employee's productivity.However, the implementation of K3 and ergonomics in companies, especially in small and medium- companies is still far from what is expected. K3 and ergonomic programs often have low and final priorities for company management. Health and work safety is not everything, but it cannot be denied that without health and safety everything does not mean anything to a company.In that health and work safety is the main principal for employees at work which will certainly affect their performance in the company. Keywords : Management, K3, Ergonomicsand work productivity


Patents embody both fundamental researches and technologies, while patent analysis can reflect the technological development trend, grasp the competitive situation of technical subjects effectively, and track technical competitions among countries rapidly. In this paper, a patent data mining method is designed, covering five parts, including the data acquisition, data pre-processing, core dataset construction, network construction and visualization analysis. Besides, technological development trend can be analyzed. Finally, the patent data of soybean breeding techniques is selected for instance analysis.


Plasma arc technology is a novel method that widely applied in industry for the hazardous waste vitrification. After the plasma arc process, the wastes are transformed into inert and glassy materials ready for storage or other applications.
The aim of this project is to characterise a plasma arc processed waste product. Two types of samples were characterised in this study, Sample A is sodium-free and Sample B is sodium-contained. The microstructure of the samples was characterised using XRD, SEM and TEM; mechanical properties of the samples were measured including Vickers hardness and compressive strength; dissolution of the samples in alkaline solution was measured to test the chemical stability. XRD results show that both of the samples are amorphous, which is confirmed by the TEM electron diffraction study. The sodium-free sample contains areas in green color and areas in white color, while the sodium-contained sample is all in green. SEM results show that the green area in sodium-free sample has homogenous structure and the white area has a dendrite-like structure. The bright part in the dendrite-like structure contains more Al, Si, Ce but less Mg than the dark part. A black fiber-like structure can be found in the sodium-contained sample. The fiber-like structure contains more O, Mg, Al but less Si than the rest of the sample. A detail study of electron diffraction in TEM was performed by transforming the electron diffraction patterns into reduced density function G(r) (RDF). The results show that the nearest-neighbor distance in sodium-contained sample is larger than the sodium-free sample.
Mechanical property measurements show that the sodium-free sample has higher Vickers hardness and compressive strength values than the sodium-contained sample. The sodium-free sample also has a higher dissolution rate than the sodium-contained sample as indicated in the chemical stability study.


Being, A Thesis Submitted to the Postgraduate
School, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in
Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
the award of the M.Sc. (Master of Science)
Degree in Sociology
BY
DANIEL RIKICHI KAJANG
FASS/PG./4175/91 -92
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY
ZARIA NIGERIA
November, 1999


The case is described of anorexia nervosa arising in a 62 year old woman with symptoms persisting over the following 5 years.


Concise equations for the tangential, radial, and axial velocities as well as the water surface profile of air-core vortices at hydraulic intakes have been derived. The equations were developed by modifying the equation for tangential velocity originally proposed by Rosenhead in 1930. Laboratory experiments were conducted on strong air-core vortices near a water intake. The results indicate the equations agree with experimental measurements and are applicable to vortex motion in general. The equations for radial and axial vortex velocities contain an eddy-viscosity term, which should be proportional to vortex circulation. Dimensionless parameters describing the circulation and intake Froude numbers and the intake submergence are also used in the analysis. Using these equations, the depth and three velocity components of an air-core vortex at certain hydraulic intakes can be predicted. This information may be helpful to the practicing engineer in determining the submergence required to avoid air-entraining vortices at intakes.


The invention relates to a diagnostic device for checking a control signal line (10) between a control unit (4) of a motor vehicle (1) and a charging connection (5) for a battery (3) of the motor vehicle (1) located on the motor vehicle side, wherein on the charging connection side, a first resistor (14) in the control unit (4) connecting the control signal line (10) to chassis ground (11), and a second resistor (15) connected in parallel to the first resistor (14) are provided. An evaluation device of the control unit (4) has a power source and/or a voltage source (18) for supplying an electric current and/or a voltage independent of a charging process, and is configured to measure an electric current indicating a defect in the control signal line, or a voltage indicating a defect in the control signal line, utilizing the first and the second resistor (14, 15).


The objective is to investigate the social function of archives as a place of memories, functional actions of information professionals in dealing with archival documentation and the relations between the institutions and the surrounding society, exposing interviews as oral documents. Archival aspects, their evolution, tasks, models, governmental functions in the preservation of oral memories of professionals were emphasized. We sought to clarify the importance that the institution should give to the place of memories in the professional context of archives and the importance of oral interviews as enabling the policies of integration of the Brazilian state for the history of the country. It was based on a case study that contributed to the research of the master and the bibliography written by the military, composed by speeches, documents, magazines, memoirs, interviews and monographs for the elaboration of this article. To support the theoretical foundation, we resorted to authors who perform an analysis of the various archival aspects. This research is justified by defending the importance of the archives in the oral preservation of interviews of professionals who worked in Brazilian aviation, because the memory of their work acts should be preserved and stimulated by the institution. The unprecedentedness of this interview research is explained by the extent of the original research, showing basic technique used to collect oral information.


Objective To explore the value of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in diagnosis and treatment of wheezing cases in children.Methods Clinical data of 42 wheezing cases in children were retrospectived from our department,Oct.2011 to May.2012.Fiberoptic bronchoscopy was used to identify the pathogeny,perform therapy with bronchoalveolar lavage and medicine injection.Results Diagnosed by fiberoptic bronchoscopy,there were 16 cased with inflammation(38%),12 cases with bronchomalacia(28.6%),7 cases with bronchial foreign bodies(16.7%),4 cases with tracheal stenosis(9.5%),3 cases with congenital malformation(7.1%).Optimal effect was acquired after bronchoalveolar lavage and medicine injection in cases with obvious inflammation,bronchomalacia,tracheal stenosis.Bronchial foreign bodies of 7 cases were removed successfully.Complications observed were transient.Conclusion Bronchus inflammation,bronchomalacia,foreign bodies were main reasons in these cases,fiberoptic bronchoscopy is of significant value in the etiologic identification and treatment of wheezing cases in children.


Learning a spatial location induces remodeling of the mossy fiber terminal field (MFTF) in the CA3 subfield of the dorsal hippocampus (Ramirez‐Amaya et al. ( 2001 ) J Neurosci 21:7340–7348; Holahan et al. ( 2006 ) Hippocampus 16:560–570; Rekart et al. ( 2007a ) Learn Mem 14:416–421). These fibers appear to grow from the stratum lucidum into distal stratum oriens. Is this axonal growth dependent on "repeated and persistent" neural activity in the CA3 region during training? To address this issue, we targeted local inactivation of the MFTF region in a post‐training, consolidation paradigm. Male Wistar rats, bilaterally implanted with chronic indwelling cannulae aimed at the MFTF CA3 region, were trained on a hidden platform water maze task (10 trials per day for 5 days). Immediately after the 10th trial on each training day, rats were injected with lidocaine (4% w/v; 171 mM; n =7) or phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS; n = 7). Behavioral measures of latency, path length, and thigmotaxis were recorded, as was directional heading. A retention test (probe trial) was given 7 days after the last training day, and brains were subsequently processed for MFTF distribution (Timm's stain) and cannula location. Lidocaine treatment was found to block the learning‐associated structural remodeling of the MFTF that was reported previously and observed in the PBS‐injected controls. During training, the lidocaine group showed elevated latencies and a misdirected heading to locate the platform on the first trial of each training day. On the 7‐day retention probe trial, the lidocaine‐injected group showed poor retention indicated by the absence of a search bias in the area where the platform had been located during training. These data suggest that the reduction of neuronal activity in the CA3 region impairs long‐term storage of spatial information. As this was associated with reduced MFTF structural remodeling, it provides initial anatomical and behavioral evidence for an activity—dependent, presynaptic growth model of memory. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Abstract. Accurate weather forecast information has the potential to improve water resources management, energy, and agriculture. This study evaluates the accuracy of medium-range (1–15 d) precipitation forecasts from the Global Forecast System (GFS) over watersheds of eight major dams (Selingue Dam, Markala Dam, Goronyo Dam, Bakolori Dam, Kainji Dam, Jebba Dam, Dadin Kowa Dam, and Lagdo Dam) in the Niger river basin using NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals (IMERG) Final Run merged satellite gauge rainfall observations. The results indicate that the accuracy of GFS forecast varies depending on climatic regime, lead time, accumulation timescale, and spatial scale. The GFS forecast has large overestimation bias in the Guinea region of the basin (wet climatic regime), moderate overestimation bias in the Savannah region (moderately wet climatic regime), but has no bias in the Sahel region (dry climate). Averaging the forecasts at coarser spatial scales leads to increased forecast accuracy. For daily rainfall forecasts, the performance of GFS is very low for almost all watersheds, except for Markala and Kainji dams, both of which have much larger watershed areas compared to the other watersheds. Averaging the forecasts at longer timescales also leads to increased forecast accuracy. The GFS forecasts, at 15 d accumulation timescale, have better performance but tend to overestimate high rain rates. Additionally, the performance assessment of two other satellite products was conducted using IMERG Final estimates as reference. The Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) merged satellite gauge product has similar rainfall characteristics to IMERG Final, indicating the robustness of IMERG Final. The IMERG Early Run satellite-only rainfall product is biased in the dry Sahel region; however, in the wet Guinea and Savannah regions, IMERG Early Run outperforms GFS in terms of bias.


In this study, fuel properties, engine performance, and emission characteristics of diesel fuel, false flax biodiesel, and their blends with butanol have been evaluated. Blend ratios used in this study were diesel–biodiesel–butanol (70% diesel–20% biodiesel–10% butanol and 60% diesel–20% biodiesel–20% butanol by volume) and biodiesel–diesel (20% biodiesel–80% diesel and 100% biodiesel by volume). Experiments showed that 10% alcohol addition to diesel and biodiesel fuels caused a decrease in torque value up to 8.57%. When butanol ratio raised to 20%, torque value decreased to an average of 12.7% and power values decreased to an average of 13.57%. Specific fuel consumption increased to an average of 10.63% and 12.80% with 10% and 20% butanol addition, respectively. Alcohol addiction into conventional diesel and biodiesel fuel slightly increased NOX emissions. Supplement of alcohol decreased CO and CO2 emissions when it was entrained to diesel and increased it when it was added to biodiesel. It means that addition of alcohol to diesel changed CO and CO2 emissions.


We study the texture of helical currents in metallic planar strips in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) on the lattice at zero temperature. In the noninteracting case, and in the absence of external electromagnetic sources, we determine by exact numerical diagonalization of the single-particle Hamiltonian, the distribution across the strip section of these Rashba helical currents (RHC) as well as their sign oscillation, as a function of the RSOC strength, strip width, electron filling, and strip boundary conditions. Then, we study the effects of charge currents introduced into the system by an Aharonov-Bohm flux for the case of rings or by a voltage bias in the case of open strips. The former setup is studied by variational Monte Carlo, and the later, by the time-dependent density-matrix-renormalization group technique. Particularly for strips formed by two, three and four coupled chains, we show how these RHC vary in the presence of such induced charge current, and how their differences between spin-up and spin-down electron currents on each chain, help to explain the distribution across the strip of charge currents, both of the spin conserving and the spin flipping types. We also predict the appearance of polarized charge currents on each chain. Finally, we show that these Rashba helical currents and their derived features remain in the presence of an on-site Hubbard repulsion as long as the system remains metallic, at quarter filling, and even at half-filling where a Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transition occurs for large Hubbard repulsion.