This paper presents a new fast encoding algorithm for image vector quantization that incorporates the partial distances of multiple features with a multidimensional look-up table (LUT). Although the methods which were proposed earlier use the multiple features, they handles the multiple features step by step in terms of searching order and calculating process. On the other hand, the proposed algorithm utilizes these features simultaneously with the LUT. This paper completely describes how to build the LUT with considering the boundary effect for feasible memory cost and how to terminate the current search by utilizing partial distances of the LUT Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. When the codebook size is 256, the computational complexity of the proposed algorithm can be reduced by up to the of the operations required by the recently proposed alternatives such as the ordered Hadamard transform partial distance search (OHTPDS), the modified pyramid (), etc. With feasible preprocessing time and memory cost, the proposed algorithm reduces the computational complexity to below the of those required for the exhaustive full search (EFS) algorithm while preserving the same encoding quality as that of the EFS algorithm.


There are two opposed views on the proper relationship between academic research and political activism. The first argues that academics who study politics must remain objective, hence precluding activism. The second argues that academics can and should also be political activists, hence precluding scholarly objectivity. This article argues against an assumption shared by these otherwise opposing positions: that activism and objectivity are incompatible. It conceptually identifies and then normatively defends a form of objectivity characterized by active engagement with evidence that is what Max Weber calls "inconvenient" for one's existing beliefs and commitments. Far from being incompatible with political activism, this form of objectivity is essential to its success. Since scholars, activists, and scholar-activists alike would all benefit from active engagement with inconvenient evidence, I conclude that academic institutions should promote this form of objectivity among both activist and non-activist scholars, while political organizations should promote the same virtue among both academic and non-academic activists.


The fibrinogens of all vertebrates studied to date are comprised of three pairs of non-identical polypeptide chains.Moreover, in all of these cases--whether the molecule is isolated from a primitive fish or an advanced mammal--polymerization is induced by the thrombin-cata-lyzed removal of polar peptide material from the ami no-terminal segments of two of the three chains. Amino acid sequence studies on mammalian fibrinogen molecules have provided convincing support, however, for the notion that the three non-identical polypeptide chains have evolved from a common ancestor and also that the present chains have been elongated by a series of internal duplications.Thus, we are now in a position to speculate on the structure of the primordial fibrinogen molecule and how it could be gelled by a proteolytic event. The molecule must have been comprised of (two) bundles of three identical polypeptide chains, all of which must have been sensitive to the action of thrombin.Furthermore, symmetry arguments suggest that the way the three identical chains would have been bundled together is best approximated by a (disulfide-linked) three stranded rod. Given the multiple restraints on such a molecule, a reasonable scheme can be advanced for polymerization based on the removal of polar material from one end of the rod. The differences in amino acid sequences for the three chains comprising the present day fibrinogen molecules are such that the duplicative events leading to their divergence must have occurred more than 600 million years ago, or long before the origin of vertebrates. It will be of great interest if a primitive molecule can be found in some extant creature which approximates the prototype structure.


This paper analyses forms of religious mobilisation and the resultant Islamisation in Indonesia and Malaysia after independence against the backdrop of interactions in and among three different spheres: the state, political society, and civil society. Islamisation in Indonesia has been propelled by different actors, and only from the mid-1980s until the fall of Suharto did the state apparatus control and direct its dynamics with growing intensity. Since then, the process has preponderantly been driven by civil society forces. Whereas there has been a blossoming of a diverse, yet mostly conservative Islam across the society, in the party system the Islamisation of politics has been moderate. In Malaysia, Islamisation has been much more actively planned and stimulated by the central bureaucracy. Religion in political society has been strongly politicised, while Islamic civil society organisations and groupings had a strong impact only briefly. Whereas in Indonesia civil society mass organisations have structured the discourse on Islam to a large extent and have therefore limited the ability of the state and political parties to set the agenda and mobilise Islam, in Malaysia the state and Islamic political parties have acted more independently. Authoritarian rule in Indonesia previously obstructed religious mobilisation by Islamic and Islamist parties. The brittle electoral democracy since the fall of Suharto has fuelled mobilisation efforts, but the role of the Islamic and Islamist parties has still been limited. Electoral authoritarianism in Malaysia, in contrast, has been conducive to a form of religious mobilisation that is centred upon the activities of parties.


This paper has twofolds. The first is to prove that there are at most two meromorphic functions sharing a small function with multiplicities truncated by 2 and other three small functions regardless of multiplicities, where all zeros with multiplicities more than a certain number are not counted. This result is an improvement of the four-value theorems of Nevanlinna, Gundersen, Fujimito, Thai–Tan and others. The second purpose of this paper is to prove that there are at most three meromorphic functions sharing four small functions ignoring multiplicity, where all zeros with multiplicities more than a certain number are omitted.


Taken at approximately 10am on the Saturday morning (January 19th 1929) that Gladys de Havilland arrived in New Plymouth. A line of Baby Austin cars stretches up Gover Street, past Gilbert Street which can be seen in the midground. Gladys de Havilland is standing at the drivers side of the front car, Miss Stevens standing at the other side. Seat...


Ray‐tracing techniques have been used to investigate numerical effects on the propagation of acoustic and gravity waves in a non‐hydrostatic dynamical core discretized using an Arakawa C‐grid horizontal staggering of variables and a Charney–Phillips vertical staggering of variables with a semi‐implicit timestepping scheme. The space discretization places limits on resolvable wavenumbers, and redirects the group velocity and the propagation of wave energy towards the vertical. The time discretization slows the wave propagation while maintaining the group velocity direction. Wave amplitudes grow exponentially with height due to the decrease in the background density, which can cause instabilities in whole‐atmosphere models. Although molecular viscosity effectively damps the exponential growth of waves above about 150 km, additional numerical damping might be needed to prevent instabilities in the lowermost thermosphere. These results are relevant to the Met Office Unified Model, and provide insight into how the stability of the model may be improved as the model's upper boundary is raised into the thermosphere.


Agrobacterium vitis-induced crown gall disease (tumor) is the greatest problem in vineyards. Much proceed has not been achieved in fight against crown gall disease. Producers either totally stub out the vines from already established vineyards or keep viticulture activities with palliative measures. This study was conducted for two years to investigate the effects of shoot regeneration on yield, quality and development of A. vitis-infected grapevines. Initially the grapevines with morphologic A. vitis symptoms were determined in experimental vineyard. Then, deep pruning (cutting) was performed 10-15 cm below the tumorous sections of the stems in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and shoot regeneration was stimulated. Data were gathered about yield, quality (number of clusters, cluster weight, berry weight, must TSS content, TA, maturation index) and vine growth parameters (number of buds, number of shoots, burst ratio, pruning weight). About 15% less development was observed in grapevines with shoot regeneration treatments in 2012, 25% in grapevines with shoot regeneration treatments in 2011 and 37% in grapevines with shoot regeneration treatments in 2010. With shoot regenerations in 2012, 2011 and 2010, yields decreased respectively by 49, 58 and 66%; cluster weights decreased respectively by 32, 37 and 47% and berry weights decreased respectively by 14, 19 and 21%.


A method for approximation of cumulative joint probabilities is presented in its multivariate generalization. The technique utilizes joint moments, through fourth order, of the distribution to be approximated to determine Pearson-type differential equation constants and associated conditional moments. Nonstandard Gaussian quadrature techniques are employed for integral evaluation, yielding an expression involving only univariate Pearson distribution function values. Under stated conditions, this method produces mathematically exact evaluations of distribution functions that are of the Pearson class. Illustrations are given for the trivariate case.


You San-jie,the last "comet" of varius female figwres in Dreams of the Red Chamber,is a lady notable for her "peculiarity" and "Staunchness".She is clever,bold and peculiar.This thesis illustrates the literary value of this tragic figure and some new factors contained in the future society from such aspects as virginity standard and marriage standard.


This paper discusses a single-machine scheduling problem with uncertain processing times, which are described by scenario approach. A new robust optimization model is built based on the concept of bad-scenario set. The optimization objective aims to minimize the performance deviation compared to the corresponding optimal solution. To obtain the optimal solution of the robust model problem, a branch and bound algorithm is developed, and a pruning rule and a method of getting the upper bound and lower bound values are designed. A large number of instances were tested, and the computational results are reported to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed robust optimization model and the effectiveness of the developed algorithm.


A complete inhibition of the biosynthesis of DNA in unirradiated E. coli B as well as a total inhibition of its breakdown in gamma -irradiated bacteria was observed if the cells were incubated in acetate buffer in the presence of ATP. In the presence of ADP or of AMP-3- and AMP-5', the breakdown of DNA in the irradiated cells is only partially inhibited. If inorganic pyrophosphate is added to the acetate buffer, both the biosynthesis of DNA in the controls and its breakdown in the irradiated suspension are somewhat accelerated. The effects of the above compounds on the colony-forming ability of E. coli B were also studied. The results of these experiments are compared with those obtained in the previous work, and their meaning is discussed.


As an "Advanced Nation in terms of Issues to be solved," Japan has tackled various problems in advance of the rest of the world, including shortage of energy and environmental contaminations. Education is a key factor for Japan to lead the world as an "Advanced Country of Solutions" with its sophisticated high technology. On the other hand, the amount of knowledge explosively increased during the 20th Century, and science has incessantly been subdivided into numerous specialties, which in turn, has made it difficult to grasp the entirety of the accumulated knowledge. Therefore, we now need to achieve the "Structuring of Knowledge" to invent solution models in advance of other countries.


ABSTRACT Gaps persist in the literature on resident support for tourism in relation to protected area sustainability and resident satisfaction. This study extends Prism of Sustainability research to analyze these linkages, focusing on four communities of China's newly established Shennongjia National Park. An 'interpretation' mixed methods research design focuses primarily on SEM and bootstrap analyses of surveys (n = 403) from 2018–19 fieldwork, augmented by qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews (n = 151) conducted during that time. Results suggest satisfaction fully mediates the economic dimension-to-support relationship, but partially suppresses the institutional dimension-to-support relationship. These findings hold implications for rural and protected area tourism more broadly, underscoring with empirical data the importance of considering resident satisfaction as a possible mediator between support and certain sustainability dimensions.


The invention relates to a method for creating and modifying a computer listing of a motor vehicle mounting and the associated data record. The motor vehicle includes mounting sheet on the display, in the same visual information window, the superposition of a photographic illustration of a motor vehicle element and at least one mounting instruction associated therewith. The superimposition is carried out by displaying an image (3) single or inseparably integrating the assembly instructions (1) in the photographic illustration (4) respectively in the form of one or more icons without text.


In the present work, a sectional model of the exhaust manifold has been studied to reduce the heat loss by insulating the pipe with different insulating materials. Four different insulating materials were used to increase the thermal resistance of the exhaust manifold so that there would be less heat loss in the manifold. The model with the insulating materials was modeled and discretized. The thermal and structural properties have been assigned to the discretized model and processed for analysis. The heat flux from the exhaust gas is taken as input to the analysis model. Heat loss and temperature difference were taken as output. From the present analysis, it can be said that by using these four materials, the heat loss through the exhaust manifold will be reduced.


Section headings and selected papers: Foreword. Principles. The need for hydrophyte-based systems in the treatment of wastewater from small communities, N R Lowe. Chemical and microbiological processes in gravel-bed hydroponic (GBH) systems for sewage treatment, E May et al . Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removal. Use of aeration to promote nitrification in reed beds treating wastewater, T H Davies & B T Hart. A total evaporative constructed wetland treatment system, R Kadlec et al . Case Histories and Performance - Sewage Treatment. Domestic wastewater treatment with emergent hydrophyte beds in France, A Lienard et al . Reed bed treatment systems in Anglian Water, C Coombes. Sludge Treatment. Use of phragmites in sewage sludge treatment, K Hofman. Case Histories. Performance data of a wastewater and sludge treatment plant derived from the root zone method set against the background of detention times, U Pauly. Agricultural Waste Treatment. The use of reed beds for the treatment of agricultural effluents, K R Gray et al . Treatment For Small Populations. Artificial wetlands for treating wastewaters from single households and small communities, D S Mitchell et al . Industrial Waste Treatment. Constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment at Amoco Oil Company's Mandan, North Dakota, Refinery, D K Litchfield. Mining Waste Treatment. Iron and manganese fractionation in constructed wetlands receiving acid mine drainage, S P Faulkner & C J Richa dson. Design Guidelines. Treatment of domestic sewage in emergent helophyte beds, German experiences and ATV-Guidelines H262, K Bucksteeg. Posters. Keyword Index. 700 lit. refs. approx., 350 illus. approx.


This paper examines the politics of change and the politics of identity evident in the recent history of Australian rural women's organizations, including the blurring of the categories 'farm women' and 'rural women.' Drawing on various sources, including our own current research, we identify several different ways in which rural women's identities are being constructed in feminist scholarship, in rural women's own (various) discourses and in the mass media. Rural women's diverse activities and identities are seen to cross boundaries. Contradictions and paradoxes inherent in these constructions and their implications for the politics of gendered social change are discussed. We argue that while a less urban-centred approach to feminist theory is needed, rural women would benefit from a greater understanding of feminism. Online conversations involving rural and urban women are seen as a useful means of developing such new understandings.


The invention discloses a USB device monitoring method and a device based on USB interface granularity, and relates to the technical field of information safety. In the method, terminal points corresponding to all USB interfaces of a to-be-monitored USB device are determined according to configuration of a USB request block. When the USB interface corresponding to the terminal point which is transmitting data belongs to a preset type USB interface, data transmission of the terminal point is cut off. The method uses an underlying technology, effectively monitors operation of all USB devices, and has no progress and is not easy to unload, and has good security. The method can ensure independence of each sub-device of a USB compound device, and effectively cuts off, but not cuts off all sub-devices, and prevents to cause side effects out of expectation.


The invention discloses a digital ultrasonic transcranial Doppler digital demodulation signal processing method and device. The method comprises the following steps: performing the A/D (analog/digital) sampling on an input frequency-modulated wave which is a non-demodulated ultrasonic echo signal, and then performing the amplitude limiting through a digital comparator; detecting a modulation signal reflected on the frequency conversion in a frequency-modulated save subjected to the amplitude limiting; and taking the absolute value of the modulation signal, responding the changes of the amplitude of the modulation signal to an envelope line, and acquiring a low-frequency modulation signal through a down-sampling low-pass filter. The device comprises an AD converter, at least two large-capacity high-speed caches FIFO (first in first out), a DSP digital signal processor), and an FPGA (field programmable gate array). According to the invention, the wide frequency band scanning and the full-depth scanning can be realized, the timeliness and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the system are improved, a blood flow dynamic parameter is accurately extracted, the SNR of a detecting signal is improved, and the quality of a frequency spectrum image is improved.


An algorithm for controlling the technological process of microrelief guides formation by the method of thin surface plastic deformation on flat surfaces of printing equipment parts has been developed. The proposed technology allows to increase the wear resistance of flat guides and improve the positioning of printed products when passing on the surface of the microguides of printed products. The algorithm takes into account a set of indicators related to the material, geometric and physic-mechanical parameters of the surface of the flat guide, the modes of surface plastic deformation. Depending on the hardness of the material and the geometry of the regular microrelief in the algorithm, the geometry and parameters of the molding tool are selected. The hardness of the material is used to calculate the indentation force of the tool. The influence of regular microrelief on the operational properties of the microrail and on the positioning of paper and cardboard is consistently determined. When implementing the technological process on the surface form a partially regular microrelief of a curved shape. The following geometrical parameters of the microrelief are introduced into the algorithm: depth, width and height of the microguide inflows, and its area. The calculation of the area of the microrelief guide is offered. The geometrical parameters of the partially regular microrelief are taken into account at each combined stage of the technological process. The implementation of the algorithm allows to accelerate the preparatory and final work, purposefully in the automated mode to form a combined microrelief on a flat surface, to improve the positioning of printed products, as well as to assign optimal modes of guides and determine the geometric parameters of regular microrelief.


Boiler drum pressure control system has the characteristics such as non-linear,multi-coupling and uncertainty of mathematical model in the boiler combustion system.Traditional PID controller achieves the good results with difficulty.Based on the above situation,this article combined the fuzzy control theory and the traditional PID theory,and then proposed the fuzzy self-adjusted PID control algorithm.Adaptive turning of this algorithm is applied in the drum pressure control system to carry out the simulation research.The results show that this algorithm has small overshoot,short transition time,and good stability and adaptability.So this algorithm has achieved the desired control effect and is of value for engineering applications.


Historically, the cognitive consequences of stroke have received limited research attention. Yet, neuropsychological issues are common after stroke and stroke survivors consistently state that cognitive decline is their biggest concern. For this Clinical Synopsis, I have selected articles themed around vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). These articles are not trials—there have been depressingly few intervention trials in this field. Rather, I have chosen articles with a methodological flavor. I think, if we get the methods correct in VCI trials, then positive results will follow.

One of the fundamental barriers to progressing VCI research is that we have no agreed definition of the condition. Many classification systems are available but the content of each differs, and the resulting diagnoses can be contradictory. To try and bring some consistency, the VICCS group (Vascular Impairment of Cognition Classification Consensus Study) propose a novel VCI classification system. ( Skrobot OA, O'Brien J, Black S, Chen C, DeCarli C, Erkinjuntti T, et al. The Vascular Impairment of Cognition Classification Consensus Study. Alzheimers Dement . 2017;13:624–633. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2016.10.007 ).

Rather than create a classification from scratch, the VICCS …


ABSTRACT The photoconductivity and dark conductivity of cadmium sulphide crystals grown by the Frerichs technique can be increased by heat treatment in vacuum or in air. Free cadmium is present on the surface and at internal cracks of a crystal as grown. Heating at 100–300°c in the presence of the free cadmium leads to a non-stoichiometric excess of cadmium in the lattice, and considerable activation is achieved. At temperatures in excess of 300°c thermal dissociation occurs, sulphur is lost and a further non-stoichiometric excess of cadmium is formed. The application of an electric field assists dissociation by electrolytic processes. The activation of cadmium sulphide crystals resulting from dielectric breakdown previously reported by the author (Woods 1056) can now be understood. Heat treatment in vacuum produces a high surface conductivity accompanied by a high photosensitivity to blue light. Both are reduced by exposure to oxygen at room temperature. Heat treatment in air produces electron trapping l...


The treatment given here closely follows Sections 2.2 and 2.3 of 1]. We revisit the functional integral formalism in holomorphic quantization used to describe the harmonic oscillator. We make use of operators ^ a and ^ a satisfying ^ a; ^ a ] = 1. States are represented by analytic functions (a) of one complex variable a ; operators are represented by integral kernels A(a 00 ; a 0) depending on two independent complex variables ^ a 00 and a 0. The operator whose integral kernel is A may equivalently be represented by its normal symbol K(a 00 ; a 0) = e ?a 00 a 0 A(a 00 ; a 0): (1) We compose operators by writing the integral kernel of the composition of the operators with integral kernels A and B as AB(a 00 ; a 0) = Z R 2 A(a 00 ; a)e ?a a B(a ; a 0) da da 2i : (2) The operator corresponding to the normal symbol is written as K = K(^ a ; ^ a) (3) where the ordering of the variables has been changed in such a way that all starred variables appear to the left of all unstarred variables. The evolution operator U 4 = e ?iH4 was written U 4 (a 00 ; a 0) = exp(?a 00 a 0 ? ih(a 00 ; a 0)4): We pause to point out that we have been regarding (a) (which represents a state) as an analytic function of one complex variable. In geometric quantization it is actually a section of a line bundle L over the phase space R 2. We denote the section of the line bundle as ~ (a ; a) = e ? 1 2 a a (a); (4) the object ~ (the \dressed" analytic function) is a section of a line bundle L over the phase space R 2. The dressed kernel ~ A(a 00 ; a 0) is a section of the pullback of two copies of L over


Introduction. Part I: a In the Wilderness of North Americaa :. 1. The Birth of an American Religion. 2. The Three Lives of Malcolm X. 3. Farrakhan in the Looking--Glass of America. Part II: The Britannic Verses:. 4. Return to the Empire. 5. a Britishnessa and Identity. 6. The Rushdie Affair. Part III: France, Land of Islam:. 7. The FIS Versus the a Sons of Francea . 8. Behind the Veil. 9. The Communalist Challenge. Conclusion. Notes. Index.


In this study we address the question of temporal ozone trends on isentropic surfaces within the Arctic polar vortex during EASOE. We have combined ozone sonde data from twelve campaign stations distributed throughout the European sector of the Arctic. The development of ozone at the 425, 475, 550 and 700K levels is presented, using analysed fields of isentropic potential vorticity and isentropic back-trajectories to separate inner vortex air from air staying outside the vortex. Vertical N2O profiles measured in Kiruna have been used to obtain information on the vertical movement of the polar air mass. Elimination of effects due to diabatic descent leads to a weak, yet significant, chemically induced loss of ozone at 475 K. At 425 K we observe a negative trend in the ozone mixing ratio, but for this level it has not been possible to assess the influence of subsidence. Heterogeneous chemistry on aerosols of volcanic origin from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo might have contributed to the negative ozone trends.


Water quality assessment programs for the management of water resources require the collection of water samples for physical, chemical, and biological analyses. Lack of personnel, accessibility of water bodies, and time constraints, especially after natural disasters and emergencies, are some of the challenges of water sampling. To overcome these challenges, a custom-made thief-style water sampling mechanism was developed and mounted on a multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for autonomous water sampling. The payload capacity and endurance of the UAV were determined using an indoor test station. The UAV was equipped with floatation, and electronic components were coated to prevent water damage in the event of a forced landing or for sample collection. Water samples from a 1.1 ha pond were collected with the developed UAV-assisted water sampling system and traditional manual methods. Dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, temperature and chloride measurements were made on samples collected with both UAV-assisted and manual methods and compared. Percent differences between the two sampling methods for DO, EC, pH, and temperature were minimal except for chloride level. Percent differences between the two sampling methods for DO, EC, pH, and temperature measurements were 3.6%, 2.3%, 0.76%, and 0.03%, respectively. Measured chloride levels for the manual and UAV-assisted sampling methods were 3.97 and 5.46 mg/L. UAV-assisted water sampling may prove faster and safer than manual water sampling from large surface waters and from difficult to access water bodies.


The traditional dual manipulator control systems have not only complex motion coupling problems, but also larger computational burden, and hence it is difficult to meet the requirements of intelligent assembly. In this paper, based on multi-agent reinforcement learning theory, Multi-Agent Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (MADDPG) algorithm is investigated in the collaborative assembly shaft slot assembly via dual manipulator system. For the collaborative shaft slot assembly in the dual manipulator system, sparse rewards in traditional multi-agent reinforcement learning often exist because of the long sequence decision-making problem. For the above problems, this paper considers the influence of the decision-making of a single manipulator on the overall task rewards when the overall rewards of multi -agent reinforcement learning are designed. In the proposed algorithm, by calculating the difference before and after the state of each manipulator, and applying the difference as the internal state excitation to the overall task rewards, the traditional reward function of multi-agent reinforcement learning is improved. In order to verify the designed algorithm, the dual manipulator shaft slot assembly system and test scenario are established on the CoppeliaSim simulation platform. Simulation results show that the success rate of the shaft slot assembly via the improved MADDPG algorithm is about 83 % *


Ionic liquid ions sources (ILIS) are under investigation for their application in micro-propulsion for small spacecraft as well as their potential bene?ts for mass spectrometry. Micro-fabricated ILIS based thrusters have been under investigation at the Ecole Politechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University in academia and Busek in industry for their potential to provide highly propellant ef?cient, low mass and small size propulsion systems for small satellites such as Cube-Sats. There is a need for more capable propulsion systems for such satellites in order to increase their capabilities such that more can be achieved with less expensive space crafts. However, electrochemical degradation of the ionic liquid propellant causes detrimental performance decreases. Although effective mitigation techniques have been proposed the assessment of their ef?cacy is hampered by a lack in suitable metrology that can detect and quantify any present electrochemical effects. A possible solution would be the detection of the decomposition products by means of mass spectrometry. Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry is a mass spectrometry methods that is used is ?elds such as biology, medicine and chemistry and physics. It is one of the main diagnostic tools in ILIS development. Commonly ion sources used in mass spectrometry operate under atmospheric conditions. Their emission has to pass through vacuum stages to reach the test area which is at high vacuum. In this process much of the emitted current is lost leaving a sensor current on the order of a few to a few tens of nano Amperes. ILIS operate under vacuum and can have emission currents of tens to hundreds of nano Amperes. There is thus a possibility of signi?cantly increasing the signal strength, and thereby resolution, of Time-of-?ight mass spectrometers. A master thesis project has been conducted at EPFL's Microsystems for Space Technology Laboratory (EPFL-LMTS) investigating the possibility of effectively usingTime-of-?ight mass spectrometry to detect and quantify electrochemical reaction products in ILIS emission. To avoid the complication of the actual electrochemical effects and the associated performance decreases of the ion source the addition of decomposition products to the ionic liquid propellant has been modelled by preparing mixtures of different ionic liquids with ionic liquid additive at different concentrations. In this way it is possible to study the effect of changing concentrations of additive on the resulting relative quantities of particles in the mass spectra. Moreover ion transport effects that transport the additives along with the main ionic liquid propellant to the emission site can be investigated. For this purpose the ionic liquids 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMI?BF4), 1-ethyl- 3-methylimidazolium bis(tri?uoromethylsulfonyl)imide (EMI ?Im) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium di- cyanamide (EMI?N(CN)2) have been mixed in the combinations EMI?Im & EMI?N(CN)2 and EMI?BF4 & EMI?N(CN)2 in the ratios 80%-20%, 50%-50% and 20%-80% by mass. The density, surface tension and conductivity of these mixtures have been measured to provide the necessary characteristics for analysis. Time-of-?ight mass spectra were measured of the emission of these liquids using EPFL-LMTS's porous ILIS devicesatemissioncurrentsof2200V,2400Vand2600V. From the results it was observed that there is a clear response of the emission mass spectra to the con- centrations of the ionic liquid mixtures. The exact nature of this response and the possible in?uences of ion transport and association effects could not be established. Due to this unclear nature and due to the fact that electrochemical reactions are expected to produce decomposition products at a very slow rate time-of-?ight mass spectrometry can currently not be effectively applied to quantify electrochemical effects occurring in ILIS devices. Although detection is theoretically possible it is not achievable with the current setup in an useful manner and will likely not be achievable with any Time-of-Flight mass spectrometry setup optimised for ILIS based thruster diagnostics without decreasing its effectiveness as a diagnostic tool for thruster perfor- mance. In the context of general mass spectrometry it is concluded that EPFL-LMTS's porous ILIS devices are of interest as they are able to emit combinations of ionic liquids with a relatively high emission current in vacuum. Currently knowledge of the composition of the liquid to be sprayed is required for identi?cation of the detected particles. For the identi?cation of unknown particles reference mass spectra would have to be established for known substances to facilitate identi?cation by comparison.


With big data and advanced tools becoming available to scientific communities, geographical research is constantly addressing new issues and questions [...]


One of rational principles of the organisation of manufacture and ways of increase of its efficiency in economy of 21 centuries is optimisation of industrial and administrative structures in the business companies.


3122 Multiple Myeloma (MM) remains fatal despite all available therapies, and novel approaches which target mechanisms regulating MM cell growth, survival, and apoptosis are urgently needed. Protea...


The shaping up of silk industrial prefecture and towns was an important social and economic phenomenon in Ming and Qing Dynasties in Huzhou. Its emergence and boom was closely related to the historical background and economic basis. Huzhou silk industrial prefecture and towns were typical of south China types, which helped to accelerate Huzhou's agricultural commercialization and rural economic reform, and helped to establish Huzhou's central status in the silk trade of the whole country, which had far-reaching significance.


Standardised geriatric assessment amply proves its value in the elderly by reducing the rates of mortality and hospital admission through the interven- tional measures that it generates. It also improves the survival of the elderly with metastatic cancer. Its everyday use by untrained teams remains problematic and time- consuming. Screening tools are currently being validated. Model- ling of standardised geriatric assessment might help to define the features, which are predictive of the toxicity of chemotherapy. The use of these tools poses the problem of coordination among the variety of personnel who are essential to ensure that the care pathway is optimal. To cite this journal: Oncologie 13 (2011).


Objective To investigate the value of testing the serum t-PSA,free PSA(f-PSA)?PSA density(PSAD)as well as the radio of f-PSA/t-PSA in diagnosing prostatic cancer(PCa) and benign prostate hyperplasia(BPH).Methods The t-PSA and f-PSA in the serum of 62 cases with BPH and 24 cases with untreated PCa were measured with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Then the ratio of f-PSA/t-PSA and PSAD were figured out.All the data were statistically analyzed.Results The f-PSA and t-PSA were remarkably higher in PCa and BPH group than in the control group(P0.01).However,the f-PSA/t-PSA of PCa was remarkably lower than that of the BPH and the contrlo group(P0.01).The PSAD of PCa group was remarkably higher than that of BPH and control group(P0.01).Conclusion The combinative examination of f-PSA/t-PSA and PSAD can dramatically increase the specificity and accuracy in diagnosis of PCa,compared with single testing of f-PSA or t-PSA.The examination of PSAD is especially important in BPH and PCa with a large volume.


The protein concrete foaming agent was prepared by adding a certain amount of different surfactants to the base fluids of rapeseed proteins,which were extracted by sodium hydroxide,ethanol and the ammonium sulfate aqueous solution from the rapeseed meal as the raw material,and mixed with distilled water at the volume ratio of 2∶1.The combination scheme was optimized by determining the foaming height and the time of foam stabilization for the compounded systems.The surface tensions and viscosities of the systems with optimal foam properties before and after the combination were also determined.Results showed that if 3.0 g/L SDS,0.5 g/L CTAB and 2.0 g/L SDBS were added to the protein solution extracted by ethanol,the synergistic effect exhibited significantly,when the foaming height was 110 mm and the time of foam stabilization was 47 h.Its surface tension decreased to 25.75 mN/m after the combination from 43.47 mN/m,and its viscosity increased to 4.50 mPa·s from 4.20 mPa·s.Some properties of the modified foaming agent,such as the foaming ability and the stability of foam,were significantly improved as compared to some commercial foaming agents.


Eclipsing of received signals is analyzed for Interrupted Continuous Wave (ICW) radars. A probability density for the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) at the Doppler filter output is derived which incorporates eclipsing effects and a fluctuating target cross section model. The probability of detection as a function of SNR is calculated for typical ICW parameters and the magnitude of the detection loss due to eclipsing is assessed


Although interest in the effects of the intestinal flora on health dates from the beginning of the 20th century, controlled clinical trials did not begin until its end. Oral administration of probiotic lactobacilli has been shown to alleviate and prevent atopic eczema. Similar effects were accomplished by administering fructose and glucose oligosaccharides (prebiotics) which encouraged the proliferation of endogenous lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. Nonpathogenic Escherichia coli has been shown to protect premature infants from infection. Twenty years later, infants given this E. coli were still found to be less allergic. Meta-analyses have confirmed that Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG prevents and treats rotavirus diarrhoea. By reversing the changes in bowel flora which occur with age comes the prospect of rejuvenating ageing immune systems, preventing Clostridium difficile infections and bowel cancer, thereby fulfilling the early promise of prolongation of life.


Currently, a lot of ramps adopted continuous box girder with single column pier structure in a bridge design. If the structure is mishandled, the box girder is likely to cause overall overturn under overloaded vehicles. The cause of overturn is analyzed and calculated, and through comparing the anti-overturning ability of different substructures, the key design points are put foreword to provide some experience for the design.


Zero-knowledge proofs are a cryptographic technique that allows one entity, the prover, to convince another, the verifier, of the truth of a statement without revealing any information other than that the statement is true. Neither the verifier nor any observer of the interaction between the two parties will have any information they did not have before. The zero-knowledge property provides some desirable characteristics for an authentication protocol. Since a zero-knowledge authentication process provides no new information to an eavesdropper, the protocol is immune to replay attacks. Further, since the verifier never learns anything about the user's credentials, even an attacker that completely compromises the server still can't get information that would allow them to impersonate a user.


ABSTRACT The City Park Lake and the University Lakes complex have long been a source of pride to the citizens of Baton Rouge. This five-lake system comprises 300 acres. Over the past 50 years all aspects of the lakes have deteriorated with massive fishkills occurring on a regular basis during the warm summer months. In 1977 the City–Parish Government of East Baton Rouge asked the Institute for Environmental Studies at Louisiana State University to draft an Environmental Impact Statement and a Section 314 grant application to the Environmental Protection Agency to correct the hypereutrophic conditions in the five lakes. Then followed 2 years of negotiations gaining public support for the dredging project and obtaining areas for dredge spoil deposition. In September 1980 the project went out for bidding to the contractors, but because of the distance the spoil had to be pumped, bids far exceeded the $3 million available for the project. After several new dredging plans were presented, a large majority of pe...


This paper presents the stability analysis of a fuzzy proportional-derivative (PD) controller. The proposed fuzzy PD controller has the same simple linear structure as the conventional PD controller in the proportional and derivative parts, but the two fuzzy control gains are nonlinear functions of the input error signals and they both have self-tuning control capability. The fuzzy PD controller has the same performance as the conventional PD controller for linear processes, yet improves the control capability for nonlinear and uncertain processes. We employ the "small gain theorem" to analyze the bounded-input/bounded-output stability of a general nonlinear fuzzy PD control system, deriving a simple and realistic sufficient condition for the stability of the system.<<ETX>>


This book is based on materials developed over a period of years for a one-semester course for general students who are envisioned by the authors as "intellectually curious but not professionally driven to develop technical competence in chemistry".


A quick hemostat in a uterine cavity belongs to the technical field of medical appliances. The utility model adopts the technical scheme that the quick hemostat in the uterine cavity comprises an elastic capsule, a conduit, a switching valve, and a pressure liquid capsule, and is characterized in that a heating arm is arranged in the liquid capsule, and a thermometer is arranged on the surface of the pressure liquid capsule. The quick hemostat in the uterine cavity has a simple structure, is simple and convenient to operate when the hemostasis by compression in the uterine cavity is performed to a patient, and is time-saving and labor-saving; and the work difficulty of medical staff is reduced.


This paper investigates a fast-tracking controller with prescribed performance for flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicles subject to uncertain parameters, external disturbances, actuator faults and backlash non-linearity. For the velocity and altitude dynamics, a prescribed performance control scheme is respectively utilized to provide preselected bounds on the transient and steady characteristics of tracking errors, also it can effectively relieve the constraint of scramjet on the angle of attack. A sliding mode exact observer is introduced to estimate the lumped disturbance, meanwhile the analytic differential computation on virtual controllers is avoided in the back-stepping design for altitude tracking. Based on prescribed performance control and sliding mode exact observer, the non-singular fast terminal sliding mode technology is introduced to design a control law, which is capable of ensuring both velocity and altitude tracking errors converge into the prescribed sets in finite-time. Simulations on the high-fidelity air-breathing hypersonic vehicle mode are implemented to highlight the effectiveness of the developed controller.


Aphids are a large family of phloem-sap feeders. They typically rely on a single bacterial endosymbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, to supply them with essential nutrients lacking in their diet. This association with Buchnera was described in model aphid species from the Aphidinae subfamily and has been assumed to be representative of most aphids. However, in two lineages, Buchnera has lost some essential symbiotic functions and is now complemented by additional symbionts. Though these cases break our view of aphids harbouring a single obligate endosymbiont, we know little about the extent, nature, and evolution of these associations across aphid subfamilies. Here, using metagenomics on 25 aphid species from nine subfamilies, re-assembly and re-annotation of 20 aphid symbionts previously sequenced, and 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing on 223 aphid samples (147 species from 12 subfamilies), we show that dual symbioses have evolved anew at least six times. We also show that these secondary co-obligate symbionts have typically evolved from facultative symbiotic taxa. Genome-based metabolic inference confirms interdependencies between Buchnera and its partners for the production of essential nutrients but shows contributions vary across pairs of co-obligate associates. Fluorescent in situ hybridisation microscopy shows a common bacteriocyte localisation of two newly acquired symbionts. Lastly, patterns of Buchnera genome evolution reveal that small losses affecting a few key genes can be the onset of these dual systems, while large gene losses can occur without any co-obligate symbiont acquisition. Hence, the Buchnera-aphid association, often thought of as exclusive, seems more flexible, with a few metabolic losses having recurrently promoted the establishment of a new co-obligate symbiotic partner.


Stresses in rotating disks have been investigated by several workers in the past few years. Chree was one of the earliest investigators and his paper on stress in a rotating ellipsoid has become a classic. Stresses in thin rotating disks of hyperbolic profiles have been mentioned by Stodola2, Biezeno and Gramme. Stresses in a rotating disk of exponential variation of thickness have been investigated recently by Lee.


Poinsettia ( Euphorbia pulcherrima cv. 'Premium Red') as an ornamental pot plant is widely grown in peat-based substrates with high phosphorus (P) fertilization. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the P demand of poinsettia according to its P depletion ability during the growth stages by using a mechanistic simulation model. For this purpose, rooted poinsettia cuttings were grown in the medium with 80: 20 (V:V %) peat+mineral component (generally called as clay) and treated with different P levels of zero, 10, 35, 100, and 170 mg P [L substrate] -1 . The yield and quality performance of the plants were evaluated thoroughly. Also, depletion of P around the root surface and the effect of buffering power on the depletion profile were assessed by means of mechanistic simulation model. The results showed that, in peat-based substrates, P was transported to the root surface mainly by mass-flow. The simulation approach also revealed that the well supplied plants cultivated in the peat-substrates needed a higher concentration gradient (30-50 µM) to drive the necessary flux and that the amount of plant available P ( Cs) was limiting at later growth stages. The optimum yield and quality of poinsettia was obtained at the P application rate of 35 mg L -1 substrate, with Cs of 11-12 and 15-16 mg [L substrate] -1 at planting and 53 days after planting. It was concluded that, to ensure a sufficiently high concentration gradient, P had to be supplemented by frequent fertigation at later growth stages, but not at the early growing stage.


This study aims to provide an assessment of the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) sector finance in India. The chapters in the study highlight the key characteristics of the MSME sector, and assess the demand for, and the flow of credit into the sector. The study also evaluates the consequent gap in the financing needs of MSMEs. Finally, it explores potential interventions to boost the flow of formal credit to the sector.


ABSTRACT Three different Creoles spoken in Surinam are examined for their Creole origins. Saramaccan (SM) and Sranan (SN) are compared on basic vocabulary and other linguistic features and analyzed in conjunction with historical evidence. It is suggested that SN and SM speakers came to Surinam plantations with a basic knowledge of Portuguese-Creole. SN completely relexified in the direction of English, whereas SM only partly relexified toward English. Evidence suggests that Ndjuka (ND) is not a product of relexification, but developed from an eighteenth-century English pidgin. It is concluded that both 'normal' genetic developments and relexification may have similar results and that comparative evidence alone is not a sufficient basis for historical conclusions (comparative linguistics, creoles, relexification).


Vegetable drying is the concentration of dry matter through the reduction of free water to a level that prohibits water activity without destroying the tissue, edibility or aesthetic appearance of the fruit. Tomatoes are produced in Zimbabwe in abundance during the dry season but over 60% rots in the farms especially among the small scale farmers according to Odunfa. Cheaper drying technologies that use readily available, uninterrupted clean source of energy is hereby being offered to the farmers, hence a solar tunnel dryer was designed and constructed at Zimbabwe's Scientific Research and Development Centre (SIRDC) at a cost of US$500 recoverable in less than a single season, with a batch capacity of 50kg. Moisture content of sliced tomatoes was reduced from 94.09% to 20.50% on dry basis (93.70% to 6.29% wet basis) using air temperature in the range 32.6 to 56 0 C in a solar tunnel dryer over a period of 15 hours. The yield was 0.067 kg dry matter per kg of wet tomatoes which is 6.28%. The mean ambient conditions for wind speed, relative humidity and insolation were 0.77 m/s, 29% and 558.30 W/m 2 respectively. Results showed that the technology can be easily adopted for profitable use by the farming enterprise for both small and large scale farmers in Zimbabwe.


The nonzero interlayer Schottky barrier leads to a compromise between photodetectivity and photoresponsivity in photodiodes based on vdW heterojunctions. Seeking for the appropriate vdW heterojunction with Ohmic contact and a high tunneling barrier is of great significance to realize highperformance photodiodes. We built borophene/C4N4 (B/C4N4) vdW heterojunctions with a reduced interlayer Schottky barrier, by combining density functional theory and non-equilibrium Green's function. The adsorption of Li-ions can further tune its Schottky contact into n-type Ohmic contact. The electronic properties of the Li-ion-adsorbed B/C4N4 vdW heterojunction, including the separation of hole–electron pairs, the work function, as well as the effective mass of carrier, can be modulated by changing the adsorption site of Li-ions. B/C4N4/Li shows the most excellent absorbing capability of the infrared illumination and the strongest negative rectification, due to the highest interlayer tunneling barrier. The bottom surface of the C4N4 sublayer is the optimal adsorption site of Li-ions, for the potential application of B/C4N4 vdW heterojunctions in tunneling photodiodes. Our work unveils the great significance of Li-ion adsorption in modulating the interlayer Schottky and tunneling barriers in vdW heterojunctions, thus improving their device performance.


Trace-level organic compounds in drinking water can be removed effectively by biofilms. Co-metabolism plays an important role in biodegradation of trace-level organic compounds in drinking water.When natural organic matter supply carbon and energy for biofilms long-term growth and maintenance,trace-level organic compounds can be removed as secdonary substrate by biofilms.


Like English bare NPs, French du/des -NPs combine the features of indefiniteness and non-singularity (e.g. de l'eau 'water', des pommes 'apples'). Because of this similarity, the hypotheses accounting for the fact that bare nouns do not establish a stable discourse referent (the kind-denoting, the property-denoting and the nar-row-scope indefinite hypothesis) are assumed to be equally valid for du/des -NPs. On the basis of systematic comparison between French du/des -NPs and Spanish bare NPs, the present paper refutes this assumption. A distinction is made between the ability to establish a referent and the ability to specify the referent's spatial boundaries. With respect to the former feature, unlike Spanish bare NPs and like the indefinite singular un -NP, du/des -NPs can introduce a stable discourse referent. As a consequence, du/des -NPs can serve as an antecedent for an anaphoric pronoun or zero anaphor in the case of subject deletion, they can have wide-scope with respect to an intensional predicate or negation, and they are not restricted to internal argument positions and may be topical. However, contrary to the indefinite singular un -NP, which conceives its referent as spatially bounded, du/des- NPs do not specify the spatial limits of their referent, whether this referent is composed of individuals ( des ) or not ( du ). Therefore, like Spanish bare NPs, they do not induce telic aspect and they do not interact with quantifiers. The only quantitative indication they convey, by virtue of their partitive origin, is that their referent does not reach the limits of the category, but always represents a part of it.


In order to achieve high linear density recording, an SPT (single pole type) head must be used with a thin main pole film. We confirmed that high resolution in reproduction is obtained by using a head with a main pole 0.1 ¿m in thickness, but found that the reproduced properties become worse when the head is less than 0.1 ¿m thick. We also found that these properties are closely related to the cross-tie domain wall structure.


Aiming at the heat loss of the key components as generator increased with the unit capacity of offshore wind turbine continued to increase,and the nacelle must be sealed to prevent salt atmosphere at sea corroding the important parts in the nacelle,more requirements for cooling system design would be met,the relationship of the layout design of some megawatt-class double-fed wind turbine cooling system and the match of cooling system performance was established,the layout design of cooling system was optimized based on the features of the drive train and compact nacelle,Fluent software was applied for analyzing the drag of cooling passage corresponding different layout,the match of cooling system performance corresponding different layout was analyzed and compared based on Multi-Wing fan platform,and the optimum layout was selected. The results show that,the optimized cooling layout can improve the efficiency of cooling system,reduce the power loss of wind turbine. It can be referenced for the cooling system design of offshore wind turbine.


obliquely related to the needs of these decision makers. It may be that the current IHL lacunae need to be filled by a separate or supplementary "Red Cross" type of report. In any event, what is required in substance is a readily accessible, internationally authoritative checklist against which a country's compliance with the minimum international humanitarian standards can also be readily assessed. Just as such reports currently evaluate and classify by reference to human rights indices (e.g., freedom of assembly and expression), so reports are needed that can identify such matters as the type of armed conflict concerned by reference to the fivefold IHL classification. The need for regular updates, of course, would remain, particularly on those areas of the world involved in "strife" and turmoil.


Adventure-physical education has been proposed to promote adolescents' physical development, but little is known about physical activity levels during such lessons. Using the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time, we observed students' (ages 11–14 years) physical activity levels in co-educational classes during 43 adventure-physical education lessons at seven public schools. The mean percentage (±SD) of time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was 28.3% (±16.3%). The greatest percentage of lesson time was spent in two activities—high elements (24.1% ± 36.5%) and initiatives (22.3% ± 32.4%). When data were aggregated across all lessons, 40.0% of the time in high elements and 13.7% of the time in initiatives was spent in MVPA. Of all MVPA time, 31.5% occurred in high elements and another 12.6% in initiatives. Compared with traditional physical education lessons, less time is spent in MVPA during adventure lessons. Efforts to increase MVPA should target high elements and initiative activities.


Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable disease with a anticipated overall survival (OS) ranging from months to decades. Modest improvements in OS have been made with high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT), but to date prognostic factors have a greater impact on OS than do individual therapies. Patients with adverse risk factors such as elevated beta-2 microglobulin (B2M), plasma cell labeling index, deletions of the long arm of chromosome 13 by metaphase cytogenetics (del 13q) require innovative new treatment strategies. Bortezomib has significant activity in patients with both newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory MM, but its specific role in patients with adverse features has not yet been defined.

Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed "high-risk" myeloma (B2M ≥ 5.5., PCLI ≥ 1, or del 13q) and adequate organ and functional status were eligible. Patients were treated with bortezomib 1.3 mg/m2 day 1, 4, 8, and 11 every 21 days for 8 cycles as induction. After induction, patients were scheduled to receive bortezomib 1.3 mg/m2 every other week indefinitely. Elective peripheral stem cell mobilization (growth factor alone) was allowed after 4 cycles of bortezomib. Patients relapsing on maintenance schedule were to have the full induction schedule resumed. Responses were by the EBMT criteria but a very good partial response category was included. The primary end-point was the response rate in these high-risk patients (90% power to detect a response rate of 50% or higher). The study decision rule requires that 16 or more responses, among 39 eligible patients, are seen in order to declare this treatment effective.

Results: Between March 15, 2004 and March 10, 2005, 44 patients enrolled on study. Among the 43 eligible patients, median age was 63; 51% were male. All patients had high risk disease: del 13q (6/41); plasma cell labeling index ≥1% (16/34); and B2M≥5.5 (34/43). Preliminary response data are available for 18 of the 44 cases enrolled, of which 7 had partial response, 1 had minimal response, 1 had no response, 2 had progressive disease, and 5 were unevaluable. Among those patients completing induction therapy and with response information, the median number of cycles of therapy administered is 5, range (0,8). The most common non-hematologic adverse events (AEs) of grade 3 or higher included hyponatremia (9 patients) and diarrhea (6 patients). Mild sensory peripheral neuropathy was common: grade 1, 16 patients; grade 2, 2 patients. Only 1 patient had grade 3 peripheral neuropathy. One patient died after receiving 2 doses bortezomib due to heart block and asystole. Two patients had a grade 4, 25 patients had grade 3, and 13 had grade 1 or 2 as the worst grade non-hematologic adverse event. Based on data received by August 1, 2005, 18 patients have gone off study: AEs (2); death (1); progressive disease (9); and other reasons (6). Updated results on the full study population along with FISH data for IgH translocations and deletions of 13q and 17p will be presented at the meeting.

Conclusions: Preliminary results suggest that upfront bortezomib has activity in patients with high-risk MM, but further follow-up is required.


The potential of positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F‐fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐glucose (FDG) to detect primary tumors after unsuccessful conventional diagnostic workup was assessed in patients with metastatic disease from an unknown primary tumor.


INTRODUCTION
Positron emission tomography (PET) with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) improves prostate cancer staging. Furthermore, the intensity of intraprostatic uptake of PSMA can predict clinically relevant oncologic outcomes. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the intensity of PSMA uptake is associated with clinically significant prostate cancer and to determine which value of PSMA uptake best discriminates this relationship.

METHODS
A cohort study of 40 patients with biopsy-proven prostate cancer prior to external radiotherapy was conducted. The correlation between intraprostatic PSMA uptake intensity and adverse pathological findings in prostate biopsy was evaluated. Which PSMA uptake value better discriminates clinically significant prostate cancer was assessed using ROC curves.

RESULTS
Forty percent of the patients had a clinically significant prostate cancer and the maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max) had a mean of 11.5 (SD ± 7). The sample showed a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.4 (p = 0.007). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.73 and a SUV max = 9.5 showed a sensitivity of 0.81 and a specificity of 0.71 in the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer.

CONCLUSION
Intraprostatic PSMA uptake intensity can be a new diagnostic tool in the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer. An uptake intensity equal or greater than 9.5 is correlated with clinically significant prostate cancer.


Deep learning has achieved impressive results on hyperspectral images (HSIs) classification. Among them, both convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and graph neural networks (GNNs) have great potential for hyperspectral image classification. Supervised CNNs can efficiently extract hierarchical spatial-spectral features of hyperspectral images, but these methods face the problem of high time complexity as the number of network layers increases. Semi-supervised GNNs can rapidly capture the structural information of HSIs, while they cannot be well extended to hyperspectral image applications because of the process of adjacency matrix consuming large amount of memory resources. In this paper, we propose a fast dynamic graph convolutional network (dynamic GCN) and CNN parallel network (FDGC) for HSI classification. We first obtain two classification features by flattening and pooling operations on the results of the convolution layers, which fully exploits the spatial-spectral information contained in the hyperspectral data cube. Then a dynamic graph convolution module is applied to extract the intrinsic structural information of each patch. Finally, we can obtain the HSI classification results based on these spatial, spectral and structural features. By using three branches, FDGC can parallel process multiple features of HSI in a supervised learning manner. In addition, regularization techniques such as DropBlock and label smoothing are applied to further improve the generalization capability of the model. Experimental results on three datasets show that our proposed algorithm is comparable with the state-of-the-art supervised learning models in terms of accuracy while also significantly outperforming in terms of training and inference time.


The modern, atypical antipsychotic quetiapine is increasingly being used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Here, we report a case of a 32-year-old male patient with schizoaffective disorder who reached a markedly increased plasma concentration of quetiapine upon co-administration of clarithromycin. As a consequence he developed severely impaired consciousness and respiratory depression requiring intensive care surveillance. We provide evidence for a potent inhibition of quetiapine metabolism mediated by clarithromycin leading to a markedly reduced apparent oral clearance and a substantially prolonged terminal elimination half-life. Hence, titration of a quetiapine maintenance dose guided by therapeutic drug monitoring is recommended whenever clarithromycin is co-administered.


An NMR-grade superconducting magnet has been constructed which operates in persistent mode at 14.25 T at reduced temperature. The stored energy is 840 kJ. The magnet incorporates niobium-titanium and niobium-tin multifilamentary conductors. In the persistent mode all windings are in series with superconducting joints between sections. Six of the joints are hybrids, niobium-tin joined to niobium-titanium. The niobium-titanium windings reached short sample without training. The niobium-tin sections suffered two training quenches before reaching 14.25 T. >


Received for publication 26 November 1982. cit.) and H. danilewskyi (Falhis and Bennett, 1961, op. cit.). Neither Culicoides edeni, C. hinmani nor C. arboricola have been previously implicated as vectors of hiaemosporidian parasites. Besides C. crepuscularis, none of the previously proven vectors are present in Florida. The Bennett trap collections of Culicoides attracted to bait turke 's are the first biting records for C. edeni and C. nanus and the first biting record of C. baueri for birds. Biting collections of the remaining species have been made from both birds and mammals (Blanton and Wirth, 1979, The Sandi Flies (Culicoides) of Florida, F!. Dept. Agric. Consumer Services, Gainesville, Florida, 204 pp.). Supported in part by grant number 1270-G from the Florida Game and Fresh Water Commission. A contribution of Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration, Florida Pittman-Robertson Project W-41. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series No. 4809. The cooperation of the Florida Department of Natural Resources and the personnel at Paynes Prairie State Preserve as well as the advice and assistance of Lovett E. Williams, Jr. are gratefully acknowledged.


Collaborative action between families and health professionals, in this case nurses, doctors, nutritionists, pharmacies in forming harmonious support is the philosophy of family centered nursing care which aims to involve families as the main focus in care. The aim of this literature review is to identify family-centered family member care: a literatu review. This language method uses literature reviews which are summaries of 10 articles in the publication years of 2020-2021 on search 4 databased electronic searches containing namely Scopus, ProQuest, Pubmed, and Scient Direct. This review used prisms. The eligibility of these studies were from its title, abstract, research methodology, results and discussion. The results of the review were presented in narrative form. The results of a review of 10 articles found that the form family centered care Conclusion: The family is considered a partner in the care of other family members. The concept of family centered care is a philosophy in nursing where the role of the family is very important in caring for family members who are sick.


Force feedback controller (haptic device) is the key part of a master-slave tele-operation system. It can transmit its position, orientation and velocity to remotely operate the controlled object; at the same time it can acquire information of force/torque from the remote object, and rebuild those to the operator by enabling a force sense telepresence. In this paper, a new type force feedback controller with a 6 DOF Delta parallel mechanism is presented considering the performance of easy operation and precise force feedback. Firstly, the structure and control system of the force feedback controller are introduced, then its kinematics and statics models are analyzed as well as the force feedback control scheme. Moreover, a combined simulation model is established based on "Adams" and "Simulink" to valid the performance of the force feedback controller. Simulation results demonstrate that the established kinematic model and force feedback control scheme are precise and effective, which can provide beneficial guidance for design and application of the tele-operation system.


U ntil the late 1990s, N ew foundland w as the only Canadian province w ith a public education system adm inistered and m onopolized by the churches. As a re sult, w hen 25-year-old Judy N orm an in 1972 refused to state her denom inational affiliation on the application form, she w as denied a teaching certificate. W ith the aid o f friends and colleagues, student com m ittees w ere form ed at M em orial U ni versity to debate the value o f a church-based education system, and supporters m arched through shopping m alls in St. John's, Gander, Grand Falls and Harbour Grace w ith petitions dem anding that N orm an be granted her certificate. In the House o f A ssem bly, the Liberal opposition's education critic, F.W. Rowe, echoed the dem ands o f the petitioners that "academic or professional qualification be the basis for recom m endation [for a teaching certificate]."1 Progressive Conservative Prem ier Frank M oores responded by announcing an im m ediate investigation into the m atter by a com m ittee o f the House. N ew spaper articles discussing the activi ties o f Judy N orm an and her colleagues w ere carried in at least 11 papers across the country. In dism issing accusations o f discrim ination, Rev. G eoffrey Shaw, head o f the Pentecostal exam ining board, argued that the existing system was ideal for a province w here 98 percent o f the population w as Christian. He also stressed the need for children not to "be subjected to a m ilitant atheistic Com m unist who m ight unteach Christian principles," though he had no evidence about N orm an's political view s.2 A potentially divisive social issue quickly died away. M oores's investiga tion never materialized, the m edia soon tired o f the case, and N orm an began teach ing for the Integrated School Board a few m onths later, having never declared her affiliation.


Thank you for downloading calculating the value of the union slavery property rights and the economic origins of the civil war. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look hundreds times for their chosen readings like this calculating the value of the union slavery property rights and the economic origins of the civil war, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some harmful virus inside their desktop computer.


This paper is concerned to map the phenomenon of filicide-suicide as it has been reported in academic research and the newspapers. It is focused on the findings of an exploratory investigation of newspaper reporting on these events in Britain and Eire between 1991 and 2011 and is concerned to address the potential relationship between this reporting behaviour and wider public understanding of these events. In so doing the paper falls into three parts. The first part presents an analysis of what is known about filicide-suicide: the academic narrative. The second part presents the findings of the empirical investigation referred to above: the media narrative. The third part explores the possible interconnection between these two narratives and the policy and professional context of responding to child abuse in the United Kingdom: the policy narrative. In the light of this analysis the paper considers what can be done about such family tragedies and the way in which we witness and make sense of them.


This paper studies the age of information (AoI) on an information updating system such that multiple sources share one server to process packets of updated information. In such systems, packets from different sources compete for the server, and thus they may suffer from being interrupted, being backlogged, and becoming stale. Therefore, in order to grasp structures of such systems, it is crucially important to study a metric indicating a correlation of different sources. In this paper, we aim to analyze the correlation of AoIs on a single-server queueing system with multiple sources. As our contribution, we provide the closed-form expression of the correlation coefficient of the AoIs. To this end, we first derive the Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the stationary distribution of each AoI for the multiple sources. Some nontrivial properties on the systems are revealed from our analysis results.


impact for buildings that were actively inducing-targeted by this plan. Third, impact on real estate agent perceptions: neither those who build the residences nor those who live in that houses are as conscious of the plan as location control system like regulation on location in agriculture promotion area.


SUBTITLE: THIS YEAR TRANSPORT 2000 RAN A SERIES OF SEMINARS ON WALKING POLICY. THE SESSIONS UNCOVERED A GREAT DEAL OF GOOD PRACTICE FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY AND UNDERLINED THE IMPORTANCE OF TAKING WALKING SERIOUSLY.


The present invention discloses a deformable mechanism comprises a moving hexahedron, the first to sixth assembly, the components are first to sixth # parallelogram-shaped, first lever and the third lever of the first assembly and the second the first lever and the third lever is connected by a ball sub-assembly. A first rod and a second assembly with the third bar and the third bar of the first bar of the sixth sub-assembly is connected by a ball. A first lever and third lever assembly with the sixth bar and the third bar of the first sub-assembly connected to the fifth through the ball. A first lever and third lever assembly with the fifth and the third bar of the first bar of the first sub-assembly is connected by a ball. End of the third groove eight sub-assembly are connected to the first ball, the second, sixth, second, fifth four ipsilateral end assembly through. Eight each end of the slot of the fourth sub-assembly is connected to the first ball, the second, the sixth, the second, the other end of the same side of the four components of the fifth through. Through the first to the sixth components deformable hexahedral moving mechanism.


Reverse osmosis (RO) is proved to be the most reliable, cost effective, and energy efficient in producing fresh water compared to other desalination technologies. Today's Reverse Osmosis plants are a widely used application of water treatment engineering all over the world, applied for water conservancy projects, emerged by the technology of automation control system is to ensure safe, continues, high quality water supply to municipal and for multi-purpose usage in Industries. This paper represents a locally developed customized monitoring and controlling system for a typical generalised Reverse Osmosis Desalination plant which mostly used in industries. This work illustrates an integrated automation system which can facilitate monitoring and controlling of entire Reverse Osmosis plant from one PC. This paper describes how automation of Industrial Reverse Osmosis plant is done using PLC & SCADA. Keywords— Reverse osmosis; PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers); SCADA; Automation


The objective was to examine fecal-egg-count (FEC) reduction in meat goats entered into the University of Maryland (2008 to 2016) or Eastern Oklahoma State College (2014 to 2017) buck test. Weaned-buck kids from private farms in 21 United States were entered into the Western Maryland Pasture-Based, Meat-Goat Performance Test in Keedysville (Maryland; 2008 to 2016), or the Oklahoma Forage-Based, MeatGoat Buck test at Eastern Oklahoma State College, Wilburton (Oklahoma; 2014 to 2017) in early summer. The buck tests examined growth and response to natural parasite infection on a pasture-based diet in a common environment. Between 18 and 84 goats were enrolled each year. All goats were dewormed upon arrival with moxidectin (0.4 mg/kg), albendazole (20 mg/kg) or fenbendazole (10 mg/kg), and levamisole (12 mg/kg). Feces were collected directly from the rectum to determine FEC on day of arrival (Day 0 or FEC1) and 10 days to 13 days later (FEC2). The FECR (1 – (FEC2/FEC1) × 100) was calculated for 300 observations and 137 observations for the Maryland and Oklahoma tests, respectively, and analyzed using PROC GLM of SAS. The range in FEC1 among years was between 813 eggs/g ± 519 eggs/g and 3014 eggs/g ± 454 eggs/g (year, P = 0.005), and 14 eggs/g ± 151 eggs/g and 1036 eggs/g ± 178 eggs/g (year, P < 0.001) for FEC2 in the Maryland test. The LS mean for FECR was 82.1% ± 4.7% and ranged between 60% and 96%. Year was significant, but not linear (P < 0.001). The highest FECR was in 2009 (99.2% ± 4.5%), but the lowest was in 2010 (48.2% ± 5.3%). In the Oklahoma test, FEC were 2311 ± 457 (year, P = 0.08) and 426 ± 142 (year, P < 0.001) eggs/g on Days 0 and 10 days to 13 days later, respectively. The FECR was 73.4% ± 5.8% (year, P < 0.001), and ranged between 47.6% and 98.6%. The highest FECR was in 2015 (91.4% ± 7.7%) and the lowest was in 2014 (48.9% ± 5.2%). In both buck tests, the FECR was as low as 48% indicating a dire problem for the goat industry.


A new method for significantly reducing the effect of nonlinear errors on the performance of an analogue multiplier is presented. The method is especially well suited for switched-capacitor devices where time-shared (multiplexing) techniques can be easily employed. However, the method is quite general in nature and can be applied to any type of analogue integrated multiplier. The effectiveness of the technique has been checked through extensive simulation studies.


A one-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) with termination by a metal film—a plasmonic photonic-crystal slab—has been theoretically analyzed for its optical response at a variation of the dielectric permittivity of an analyte and at a condition simulating the molecular binding event. Visualization of the Bloch surface wave resonance (SWR) was done with the aid of plasmon absorption in a dielectric/metal/dielectric sandwich terminating a PhC. An SWR peak in spectra of such a plasmonic photonic crystal (PPhC) slab comprising a noble or base metal layer was shown to be sensitive to a negligible variation of refractive index of a medium adjoining to the slab. As a consequence, the considered PPhC-based optical sensors exhibited an enhanced sensitivity and a good robustness in comparison with the conventional surface-plasmon and Bloch surface wave sensors. The PPhC biosensors can be of practical importance because the metal layer is protected by a capping dielectric layer from contact with analytes and, consequently, from deterioration.


(2000) Arch Dis Child 82, 41. Palafox M, Guiscafre H, Reyes H, et al. . Diagnostic value of tachypnoea in pneumonia defined radiologically. . Jan; . : . –5 .

[OpenUrl][1][Abstract/FREE Full Text][2]

 QUESTIONS: In children with acute respiratory infection, is tachypnea accurate for detecting pneumonia? Does disease duration, age of the child, or presence of malnutrition influence sensitivity and specificity?

Blinded comparison of respiratory rate with findings on chest radiography.

A state referral hospital in Tlaxcala, Mexico.

110 children who were 3 days to 5 years of age (55% were ≥1 y of age) and had acute respiratory infection. Children who were clinically diagnosed with pneumonia were matched to control children with acute respiratory infection. 30% of children were underweight. Exclusion criteria were chronic diseases, genetic abnormalities, neurological diseases, bronchial asthma, or septicaemia.

A paediatrician measured the respiratory rate by observing the child's chest movements for 1 minute while the child rested with no crying or fever. Tachypnea was defined as a respiratory rate >60 breaths/minute in children 50 breaths/minute in children 2 to 12 months of age, and >40 breaths/minute in children ≥1 year of age. The diagnostic standard was chest radiography (not clinical diagnosis).

Sensitivity and specificity for detecting pneumonia.

59 children (54%) had a …

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This text aims to defend Arendt against her devotees. The author argues that Arendt's sweeping reconceptualization of the nature and value of political action has been covered over and domesticated by admirers who had hoped to enlist her in their less radical philosophical/political projects. Against the prevailing "Aristotelian" interpretation of her work, Villa explores Arendt's modernity, and indeed her postmodernity, through the Heideggerian and Nietzschean theme of a break with tradition at the closure of metaphysics. The author makes a case for Arendt as the postmodern or post-metaphysical political theorist, the first political theorist to think through the nature of political action after Nietzsche'a exposition of the death of God. After giving an account of Arendt's theory of action and Heidegger's influence on it, the book shows how Arendt did justice to the Heideggerian and Nietzschean criticism of the metaphysical tradition while avoiding the political conclusions they drew from their critiques.


The current employment environment requires a new career path for graduating students and their new look at employment.This paper proses a few suggestions that will help graduating students choose their career.The government should give policy support,university should run the counseling service throughout students' university education,and students should better understand the employment environment and adapt themselves to this environment.


Self-harm is an increasing problem among children and young people and schools are on the front-line. Psychologist Dr Joanna Mitchell offers some advice on spotting the signs and how to respond


Significance Modern data analysis requires solving hard optimization problems with a large number of parameters and a large number of constraints. A successful approach is to replace these hard problems by surrogate problems that are convex and hence tractable. Semidefinite programming relaxations offer a powerful method to construct such relaxations. In many instances it was observed that a semidefinite relaxation becomes very accurate when the noise level in the data decreases below a certain threshold. We develop a new method to compute these noise thresholds (or phase transitions) using ideas from statistical physics. Statistical inference problems arising within signal processing, data mining, and machine learning naturally give rise to hard combinatorial optimization problems. These problems become intractable when the dimensionality of the data is large, as is often the case for modern datasets. A popular idea is to construct convex relaxations of these combinatorial problems, which can be solved efficiently for large-scale datasets. Semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxations are among the most powerful methods in this family and are surprisingly well suited for a broad range of problems where data take the form of matrices or graphs. It has been observed several times that when the statistical noise is small enough, SDP relaxations correctly detect the underlying combinatorial structures. In this paper we develop asymptotic predictions for several detection thresholds, as well as for the estimation error above these thresholds. We study some classical SDP relaxations for statistical problems motivated by graph synchronization and community detection in networks. We map these optimization problems to statistical mechanics models with vector spins and use nonrigorous techniques from statistical mechanics to characterize the corresponding phase transitions. Our results clarify the effectiveness of SDP relaxations in solving high-dimensional statistical problems.


The development and design of wearable AR products have gradually become a hot spot with the development of Augmented Reality (AR) technology, and the usability evaluation of AR human-computer interaction interface has also become an effective way to improve the user experience of products, so it has important research value. The current paper built a relatively complete usability evaluation index system of AR human-computer interface by carding the key node elements in the process of AR human-computer interaction based on three layers of emotional experience: instinct, behavior and psychology. Then the experimental evaluation was conducted by using the method of user experience method, and comparative analysis of subjective evaluation results of three typical AR model was conducted, based on which, the interface usability problems were found during AR usage by considering the ergonomics simultaneously. The usability problems were analyzed and summarized, the improvement suggestions of AR human-machine interface were put forward, and the product design criteria were formed. This method helps in AR simulation assessment in the process of product development and optimization, form product optimization design standards, design is more reasonable to meet the demand of the user experience of AR products.


A scalable process for the diastereoselective reduction of the prochiral enone intermediate 1 has been developed with DEANB/(R)-methyl CBS as reducing agent, to obtain the key intermediate alcohol 15R-isomer 2, used in a process for the manufacture of Travoprost (3). Various advantages of this process against the DMSB reduction assisted by (R)-methyl CBS have been studied. Specific comparison has been made to highlight the salient features of the chosen process on yield and optical purity with those of the DMSB reduction.


On the basis of preceding study, the authors put forward a new method and its procedure of computing the segment parameters of human body by optimization based on the actual measurement to make segment parameters more individually. The principles of computing by optimization were:(a)Objective function should reach optimization based on the computing value of Zheng Xiu-yuan's Model of Human Body;(b)Restricted term should regulate the feasible value of decision-making variable according to actual measurement.


Despite the rising potential of big data, a few studies have been conducted to examine it in the supply chain field. This article gives an overview of big data use in this field and underlines its potential role in the supply chain transformation by leading a systematic literature review. The results show that the big data analytics techniques can be categorized into three types: descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive and these in turn influence supply chain processes and creates value. We conclude by highlighting future research directions.


Previous studies of decisions from experience highlight four robust deviations from maximization. Decision makers tend to (1) underweight rare events; (2) explore too much when the number of alternatives is small )exhibit the payoff variability effect); (3) explore too little when the number of alternatives is large (converge to a local maximum), and (4( overreact to attractive forgone payoffs (exhibit the big eyes effect.( These results suggest that the processes that underlay decisions from experience are closer to basic learning processes than to the processes that underlay decisions from description (the focus of mainstream behavioral decision research). The main properties of decisions from experience can be captured with a simple model assuming that decision makers relay on small samples of experiences in similar situations.


CCD image usually has a huge amount of data with high-resolution, therefore it is difficult to capture and browse the image real-timely in real project. In the traditional capture and transportation systems, we usually first capture and store the image into storage medium, then read out the CCD data for browse later, but this method is not good for diagnosis and debugging real-timely. For eliminating the disadvantages, we advance a new platform of CCD image capture system, and based on the serial SRIO interface, the captured image data can be transported immediately at a line speed of 3.125Gb/s and displayed rapidly. Since its stability and portability has been tested, the platform can service as a reference model for such real-time, high-resolution image transport system designs.


The common leopard (Pantherapardus) is one of the highly threatened species of big cats in Pakistan. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is among the main distribution areas of these leopards but due to poaching, habitat fragmentation and other anthropogenic activities, there is a rapid decline of the population in the state. We carried out the study to analyze the genetic diversity of common leopard in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).We used skin samples that were collected from the killed leopards by farmers and local hunters from six different localities of AJK. We used phenol chloroform triton modified method to extract the DNA and used four SSR markers (FCA043, FCA026, FCA075 and FCA090) to analyze genetic diversity by using PCR-based simple sequence repeat (SSR) analysis. We also calculated Allelic frequencies, Nei's genetic diversities index(within and among populations) and Shannon information index with POPGENE 32 program which showed that highest genetic distance (0.4275) was established between the Kotli (Pop-6) and Hattian (Pop-3) populations, and lowest between Hattian (Pop-3) and Neelum (Pop-2) populations (0.0393) of common leopard. Mean gene flow (Nm) was found to be 0.8030 which showed low level of gene flow between different populations and higher level genetic differentiation between populations supported our hypothesis of habitat fragmentation.


Severe neurological adverse effects of metronidazole were recently correlated with brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities which normalise, along with neurological deficits, upon metronidazole suspension.1,2 We report the case of a diabetic 79-year-old woman, daily medicated with 1500 mg of metronidazole (for chronic foot ulcers), with progressive slurring of speech, gait unsteadiness and …


Institutions of private law are often justified on the grounds that they allow the widest possible scope for individual freedom. Similarly, constitutional principles organising and restricting the power of the state are thought to protect freedom of individuals from state coercion. These are only two examples of the many ways in which the protection of freedom provides a justification for institutional arrangements of political power and social interaction. The distinction between private rights and public powers, which runs through the structures of the liberal state, is itself based on the imperative to preserve freedom for individuals. It is often suggested by critics, however, that this justification of liberal institutions is not as convincing as its common use suggests. This is because the liberal account of freedom presupposes a controversial, or at least contestable, account of the constitution of the self and its relation to social structures. These criticisms suggest that any theory of freedom will have to be grounded on a more fundamental set of assumptions about the exercise of free will, the nature of individual identity and the importance of social contexts.1 Within the framework of this debate, liberals and critics agree that an undertaking of other fundamental philosophical tasks is closely related to the discussion of any political theory advocating the protection of freedom.