We present a parallel MPEG-2 video encoder on the Intel Paragon parallel computer. Given a video sequence or a set of sequences, the aim of the encoder is to achieve the maximum possible encoding rate. To achieve this aim, the parallel encoder works by a combined scheduling of processors, I/O nodes, and disks, enabling the system to work in a highly balanced fashion through matching of the encoding and I/O rates. An efficient data layout scheme for video frames is also proposed in order for I/O to sustain the desired data transfer rates. Using a small percentage of processors as the I/O nodes, the utilization of the system is also high. More importantly, our encoder is scalable and with an increase in the number of processors will result in a proportional increase in the encoding rate. Given any machine configuration (that is, the number of compute processors, I/O processors, and disks), our propose strategy can logically partition the system and match the I/O and encoding rates to reach the ideal encoding rate. The experimental results indicate about two-fold gain in performance compared to the previous studies. Our approach is useful for compressing a large video sequence or batches of sequences.


Different ETS allowance distribution method may vary the effeteness of the ETS on the regulated firm's performance. This paper uses the Propensity Score Matching Difference-in-Differences method found that the China ETS could increase its regulated firm competitiveness from different aspects. Furthermore, we have tested the impact of the carbon price and its volatility on firm financial performance. Different from the traditional view on the impact of the carbon price, this paper has found that growing the carbon price would benefit regulated firm financial performance, but higher volatility is harmful to the performance.


In this article,the author emphatically describes the construction of concrete road during winter time and its quality control,and puts forward some prevention measures and suggestions with regard to problems occurred during the construction.


Transient response testing has developed over the last few years from a benchtop characterisation technique into a very powerful production test technique for all types of analogue components in mixed-signal electronic systems. The author reviews recent progress in this area, summarising results from both simulations and work on real circuits, then briefly describes the directions in which current research work is progressing.


The invention provides pre-dispersing rubber accelerator master batch and a preparation method thereof in order to overcome the defects in the prior art. The pre-dispersing rubber accelerator master batch is characterized in that styrene thermoplastic polymer is adopted as main binder, rubber is used as modifier, and pre-dispersing rubber accelerator master batch comprises, by weight, 10-90% of accelerant, 10-90% of main binder, 0-30% of modifier, preferably 60-90% of accelerator, 10-30% of main binder, 0-20% of modifier and 0-20% of processing oil. The preparation method includes: at the processing temperature of 60-120 DEG C, mixing the accelerator with the main binder and the modifier, adding auxiliaries such as processing oil, and mixing on an open mill or an internal mixer to obtain the pre-dispersing rubber accelerator master batch; and then extruding granules on a single-screw or double-screw extruder to obtain the pre-dispersing rubber accelerator master batch. The pre-dispersing rubber accelerator master batch is good in vulcanization performance and processability and capable of achieving continuous operation and reducing production cost.


Bandwidth restrictions are considered on several NP-Complete problems, including the following problems:
 (1) 3-Satisfiability,
 (2) Independent Set and Vertex Cover,
 (3) Simple Max Cut
 (4) Partition into Triangles,
 (5) 3-Dimensional Matching,
 (6) Exact Cover by 3 Sets,
 (7) Dominating Set,
 (8) Graph Grundy Numbering (for graphs of finite degree),
 (9) 3-Colorability,
 (10) Directed and Undirected Hamiltonian Circuit,
 (11) Bandwidth Minimization, and
 (12) Feedback Vertex Set and Feedback Arc Set.
 It is shown that each of the problems (1)-(12) when restricted to graphs (formulas, triples, or sets) of bandwidth bounded by a function f is log space hard for the complexity class NTISP (poly,f(n)). (NTISP(poly,f(n)) denotes the family of problems solvable nondeterministically in polynomial time and simultaneous f(n) space, e.g., NTISP(poly,poly) &equil; NP and NTISP(poly, log n) &equil; NSPACE(log n).). In fact, (1)-(9) are log space complete for NTISP(poly,f(n)) when the bandwidth is bounded by the function f. This means, for example, that (1)-(9) provide several new examples of problems complete for NSPACE(log n), and hence solvable in polynomial time deterministically, when restricted to bandwidth log2n. In general, for a function f, if any of the problems (1)-(12), when restricted to bandwidth f(n), could be solved deterministically in polynomial time, then NTISP(poly, f(n)) @@@@ P. (This does not seem particularly likely even when f(n) &equil; log2n.) This indicates that several NP-Complete problems become easier with diminishing bandwidth. However, they remain intractable unless the bandwidth is restricted to c-log2n, for some c>0.


Rubber material is non-linear, hyper-elastic and incompressible. Its complex mechanical properties increase the difficulties of the theoretical calculation in large deformation. As the development of computing capacity and optical sensors, DIC (Digital Image Correlation) method has become an important method in measuring large deformation of rubber material. In this paper, DIC method was used to measure different depth of burial defective rubber in tensile test, the result, however, failed to test the burial defects of rubber sheet. In order to explore the failure mechanism, the finite element simulation test is completed using Mooney-Rivlin material model of two parameters. The undetected phenomenon is caused by rubber's hyper elasticity and low-rigidity. The results show that DIC method can be effectively applied to the measurement and evaluation of mechanical properties of rubber-like material's surface defects, but not its burial defects. The fact that DIC method is unable to detect the burial defects of rubber sheet should be paid more attention.


The Goods/Services Procurement Section of Temanggung Regency Regional Secretariat is a government agency whose main task is to facilitate and assist all Regional Apparatus Organizations or Organisasi Perangkat Daerah (OPD) in Temanggung Regency. in the implementation of electronic Procurement Services at the Regional Secretariat of Temanggung Regency through e-purchasing are still not up to the planned target. The lack of willingness to conduct procurement through e-purchasing because they are still used to carry out procurement manually, the lack of human resources, there are also employees who feel that using e-purchasing still takes a lot of time since they also have to work in other units per the assignment letter given by superiors and the reason of inefficient implementation in e- Purchasing is shopping prices are becoming more expensive than the conventional ones, that is the problem that researchers found in this study. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors that impede employee performance in implementing e-purchasing in Temanggung Regency and to formulate strategies that need to be developed to optimize employee performance in implementing e-purchasing in Temanggung Regency. this study uses descriptive qualitative research carried out at LPSE Temanggung Regency. Researchers wish that this research can be useful theoretically, namely knowing the factors in employee performance in the implementation of Electronic Procurement in Temanggung Regency and can be some input for officials or officers at the Procurement Service Unit or Unit Layanan Pengadaan (ULP) in the scope of Temanggung Regency and will be practically useful for Regional Government, also can be a reference for government agencies in optimizing employee performance in the implementation of Electronic Procurement and can be a reference in the form of theoretical knowledge and concepts for further research related to Performance Improvement in the implementation of Electronic Procurement in other government agencies.


The transport sector in Croatia is one of the most significant consumers of energy nowadays and it is obvious that in the near future a fastest-growing trend in consumption can be expected in this sector. It has a significant influence on Croatian environment, economy and society and therefore it is from crucial significance that its sustainable development is considered on the national level. In order to harmonize with the European Transport Policy, basically through the security of supply improvement by diversification of the energy sources, environmental protection and building up foundation for further bio fuels utilization, respectively bio methane, based on the initiative derived from the Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar, Croatian Ministry of Transport, Sea and Infrastructure has established the milestone for wider commercial development of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure as one of the most available alternative fuel in Croatia by adopting a Strategy for Utilization of the Compressed Natural Gas Consumption in Croatian Road Transport Until Year 2020. With respect to proposed guidelines delivered from the Strategy, some of the energy companies present at domestic market has recognized market potential and they brought short and long term CNG refuelling stations network development plans along the Croatian roads. Public transportation fleet operators, waste collecting and management companies, bigger logistic companies, but even though smaller entrepreneurs and particular private customers has expressed great interest for partially switching their fleets to this more convenient fuel, primarily due to the fact that CNG can guarantee lowest expenditures, especially in this period of highly volatile market oil prices. The article aims to present chronology of the successful holistic approach as well as to announce forthcoming activities dedicated to the broader development of the natural gas vehicle market in Croatia as a national contribution to the integration into existing and planned European network of "blue corridors".


Abstract The ruling of the German Federal Constitutional Court in the Right to be forgotten II case is an example of constitutional pluralism in action. It demonstrates how a pluralist-minded court can elevate itself from and above the constitutional confines of its own legal order. By integrating the material standards of another legal order in its own review of constitutionality a national constitutional court contributes directly to the strengthening of the fundamental rights of individuals against the national authorities within the overall system of European legal order.


The topic announced in the title is a spinoff of a problem recently solved, more or less, in (Foster and Johnson, 2012): Given an alphabet S = {s1, . . . , sm}, an integer k > 1, and a k-dimensional array [ f ] = [ f (i1, . . . , ik); 1 ≤ i1, . . . , ik ≤ m] of non-negative numbers, under what conditions on the array does there exist a "statistically stable source" producing text over S (a hypothetically endless stream of letters in S ) such that whenever 1 ≤ i1, . . . , ik ≤ m, f (i1, . . . , ik) is the relative frequency of si1 . . . sik among blocks of k consecutive letters in the source text; in other words, f (i1, . . . , ik) is the probability that a block of k consecutive letters chosen at random from the source text will be si1 . . . sik . From elementary probability comes a necessary condition on [ f ] for the existence of such a source, sometimes called the consistency condition: for any i1, . . . , ik−1 ∈ {1, . . . ,m},


This paper approaches the different uses of rhetorical strategies in academic research articles. The English language dominates the scientific discourse community, including the field of Economics. ...


According to alumina powder flow to demand on-line measurement,the analysis of high cost and the measuring instrument lag,presents a kernel principal component analysis(KPCA)and least squares support vector machine(LSSVM)hybrid soft-sensing modeling method of combining two methods,the kernel principal component analysis(KPCA)extracted data nonlinear principal element, using the least square support vector machine(LSSVM)to construct prediction models of alumina powder flow,the predicted results show that models has abetter nonlinear data processing ability,faster operation speed,good tracking performance and strong generalization ability,and can meet the requirement of on-line measurement of alumina powder flow.


Abstract The paper contains a simple solution of Stratton and Webb's problem related to the so-called absolute annihilators of abelian groups researched also by Feigelstock. Namely, there are provided constructions of indecomposable torsion-free abelian groups G of any finite rank greater than two for which the quotient group modulo the subgroup generated by squares of all possible rings on G supports a non-zero associative ring structure. They are much less complicated than those obtained before and show that groups satisfying the mentioned condition are not as rare phenomena as might be supposed. Moreover, most of these constructions led to new examples of CR- and AR-groups, i.e. abelian groups supporting only commutative and only associative rings, respectively. In particular, the first examples of indecomposable as well as decomposable AR-groups which do not satisfy the condition CR are presented. The first example of an indecomposable torsion-free group satisfying the condition CR only in the class of associative rings is also obtained.


This chapter critiques two arguments for a reasons impartiality constraint. Christensen's "restaurant argument" presents a case of disagreement where it is intuitively clear that the disputants cannot legitimately rely on their contested reasoning and that they should give equal weight to their competing views. Christensen argues that to explain these verdicts, one must appeal to a demanding epistemic impartiality requirement he calls "independence." Against this, it is argued that the intuitive verdicts in the example can be explained by weaker principles, including an internal reason constraint and an agent impartiality constraint. Schellenberg's "doxastic minimalism argument" holds that genuine investigators will extend default trust to all and only those doxastic practices that are universal and humanly unavoidable. It is argued that Schellenberg relies on an overly restrictive conception of the aims of inquiry, and that even given this conception, his criteria of universality and unavoidability lack a principled basis.


The invention discloses a splicing method for panoramic images of fish-eye lenses. The method comprises: unit images shot by a plurality of fish-eye lenses are mapped to a three-dimensional spherical surface respectively to determine a polynomial fitting model; a matching feature point in an overlapped area of each image in a plurality of to-be-registered unit images is mapped to the three-dimensional spherical surface by the polynomial fitting model, the multiple unit images are calculated on the three-dimensional spherical surface to obtain registered model matrixes of all unit images, and according to the registered model matrixes, the multiple unit images are registered on the three-dimensional spherical surface to form a spherical panoramic image; the spherical panoramic image is unfolded to form a cylindrical panoramic image; the cylindrical panoramic image is processed, and a parameter mapping table of a correspondence position relation between each pixel point in the cylindrical panoramic image and each pixel point in the multiple unit images is established; and the parameter mapping table is invoked and fish-eye images shot by the multiple fish-eye lenses are fused to obtain a panoramic image. According to the invention, a splicing error in a spliced overlapped area of the fish-eye panoramic image can be eliminated.


The traditional economic approach for appraising the costs and benefits of construction project net present values involves the calculation of net returns for each investment option under different discount rates. An alternative approach consists of multiple-project discount rates based on risk modelling. The example of a portfolio of microgeneration renewable energy technology is presented to demonstrate that risks and future available budget for re-investment can be taken into account when setting discount rates for construction project specifications in the presence of uncertainty. A formal demonstration is carried out through a reversed intertemporal approach of applied general equilibrium. It is demonstrated that risk and the estimated available budget for future re-investment can be included in the simultaneous assessment of the costs and benefits of multiple projects.


Osteoporosis is characterised by uncoupled balance of bone formation and resorption with persisting predominant advantage of the later,resulting in reduced bone mass,deteriorated bone microarchitecture and increased risk for fragility fractures. RNA interference,a techonology by silencing gene expression in post-transcriptional level,is widely used in the study of treating diseases such as virus infection and cancers,and may play potential role in the area of antiosteoporosis therapy. This review summarizes the related research on some targeted genes expressed in osteoclast and osteoblast,which could be silenced by RNA interference,and some facing problems are also discussed.


Ultrasonic testing is a nondestructive technique commonly used for in situ condition assessment of wood poles. A transmitter and a receiver are used in a transillumination configuration to measure the first arrival of compressional waves (P-waves). The P-wave velocity is computed using the distance between the transducers and the travel time. The condition assessment of wood poles is inferred from the comparison of the measured wave velocity and a reference velocity that depends on the wood species. A wave velocity smaller than the reference value indicates a reduction in the strength of the wood. The elastic and mechanical properties of wood (elastic moduli, mass density, and Poisson's ratios) are random variables that vary significantly for the same wood species; consequently, the P-wave velocity in wood poles is also a random variable. A better understanding of wave propagation in an orthotropic material, including the uncertainty in the mechanical properties of wood poles, is required to improve the r...


Global change and coastal eutrophication are affecting macroalgae worldwide. We analyzed the effects of increased water temperature (25, 28 and 32 °C) and eutrophication on the growth of Bostrychia binderi and Bostrychia montagnei in a range of salinities (18, 24, 30, 36 and 42 PSU) through three independent multifactorial experiments. Both species had higher growth at 25 °C than at 28 and 32 °C (warming scenario projected by IPCC), suggesting a negative effect of ocean warming. The species showed a broad tolerance to the range of salinities tested, with higher growth at 36 and 42 PSU, as a local adaptation strategy. Oligotrophic seawater significantly affected the growth of both species because the lowest growth was found in this condition, whereas highest growth was found with increased availability of nutrients, which is probably because estuaries are nutrient-rich environments due to continental runoff. High temperatures, low salinities and few nutrients had negative interactive effects on the growth of both species. Our results show that ocean warming can be detrimental to the studied macroalgae, and that both species are tolerant to eutrophication, with B. montagnei being more sensitive than B. binderi. Our results also reinforce the euryhaline characteristic of the genus Bostrychia.


[Objective] To compare the value of severity evaluation of patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) between CADILLAC and TIMI risk score. [Methods] Data of 86 patients with AMI were gleaned, analyzed and scored with CADILLAC and TIMI risk scores respectively. Difference of mortality and morbidity of MACE among the different score segments were compared in CADILLAC and TIMI risk score respectively. Difference of Calibration and Discrimination of CADILLAC and TIMI risk scores for mortality and morbidity of MACE of patients were compared respectively too. [Results] There had significant difference in mortality and morbidity of MACE among the different score segments(0-2; 3-5; ≥6 score)and different time points (the 14 day; the 30 day) of CADILLAC and TIMI risk scores for AMI patients (P 0.05). Value of P for hosmer-lemeshow of CADILLAC risk score in mortality of AMI patients was superior to that of TIMI risk score. The mortality predicted with CADILLAC risk score was more closely to actual mortality than that of TIMI risk score. AUROCC of CADILLAC risk score in mortality of AMI patients was higher than that of TIMI risk score too. In the 14 day point of patients in hosptial, Value of P for hosmer-lemeshow and AUROCC for severity evaluation to AMI patients were proximity between CADILLAC and TIMI risk scores, but CADILLAC risk score was superior to that of TIMI risk score in the 30 day point. [Conclusion] CADILLAC risk score was superior to TIMI risk score in evaluating severity and predicting outcome of AMI patients.


Directed graph techniques are introduced, serving as an expert system rule generator by classifying selections of tested wafers into groups based on similarities of the spatial distributions of their parametric test structure measurements. A self-normalizing equivalent vector inner product is devised to accommodate the ternary nature of the DC parametric test. It provides for test results that do not definitively pass a self-validation test. An algorithmic feature for avoiding special cases of nonoptimum search termination is conceived and implemented. The rules can be used to supplement those derived by other means of diagnostic process analysis, work-in-process wafer screening, and yield and reliability management.<<ETX>>


In cities, subway noise is often cited as a major contributor to noise pollution that impacts millions of people every day. Previous studies on this topic have shown that peak subway noise levels in some cities can be as high as 110 dB, which greatly exceeds the 70 dB level set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and EPA for safe environmental noise levels. This work aims to characterize the subway noise in Hong Kong, analyze potential source features, and make technical recommendations for consideration by government and metro companies. First, the overall noise data on all nine subway lines in the city are presented and compared with published data of other subway lines around the world. Spectra of the loudest segments are analyzed to show the effects of tunnel modes, track curvature, and other features that may play a significant role in noise radiation and reverberation. A detailed correlation study is conducted for the short-time noise level and vehicle speed. A new train speed profile that optimizes noise exposure reduction is proposed for consideration of a future auto-drive system. Finally, a study of vibroacoustic exposure by passengers is also conducted to examine the impacts beyond the audible frequency range. In cities, subway noise is often cited as a major contributor to noise pollution that impacts millions of people every day. Previous studies on this topic have shown that peak subway noise levels in some cities can be as high as 110 dB, which greatly exceeds the 70 dB level set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and EPA for safe environmental noise levels. This work aims to characterize the subway noise in Hong Kong, analyze potential source features, and make technical recommendations for consideration by government and metro companies. First, the overall noise data on all nine subway lines in the city are presented and compared with published data of other subway lines around the world. Spectra of the loudest segments are analyzed to show the effects of tunnel modes, track curvature, and other features that may play a significant role in noise radiation and reverberation. A detailed correlation study is conducted for the short-time noise level and vehicle speed. A new train speed profile that optim...


It is proposed that a measuring device (10, 10 ', 10' '), in particular a hand-held instrument (10'), preferably a measuring instrument (10, 10 ', 10' ') having a housing (12), with at least one magnetic resonance supplied sensor (32), a control device (28) for controlling the measuring device (10, 10 ', 10' '), an evaluation device (30) for evaluating one of the nuclear magnetic resonance sensor (32) measuring signal, an output device (16, 16 ') (for outputting determined information as well as to a power supply device (22), for the investigation of fuel (42a) and / or oil 42b) and / or hydraulic fluid (42c) to be used.


Clinical students have more stressor than medical students. It has been predicted that clinical students are more vulnerable to suffer depression. Most of the clinical students have a low quality of life and sleep because of their schedules and activities. Over continuous working or excessive schedule has a bad impact for health, and it can develop some diseases or disorders. This study was conducted to determine an association between clinical students' working shift with depression in RSUD Abdul Wahab Sjahranie Samarinda. This study used analytic observational with cross – sectional approach. Samples were clinical students in RSUD Abdul Wahab Sjahranie Samarinda. This study was done in July 2019 to August 2019, with a questioner filled by clinical students as primary datas sources. Data were analyzed by Likelihood Ratio test with IBM SPSS Statistic. From 68 clinical students in this study, 70,59% (n = 48) had depression, and the most excessive schedule was shift twice in a week shifts 69,12% (n = 47). This result showed there was no association between clinical students' working shift with depression in RSUD Abdul Wahab Sjahranie Samarinda (p = 0,384).
Keywords: clinical students, working shift, depression


This paper comments on the two-pronged approach for redress of the eagerly anticipated Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on liability and redress (the NSP) to the Cartagena Protocol in the event of damage resulting from trans-boundary movements of living modified organisms (LMOs). State parties to the NSP will be required to set up a domestic administrative mechanism with a national authority to investigate such damage and enable immediate response measures as well as to ensure that civil liability rules and procedures are provided for domestically. This will enable redress for such damage to biological diversity. This paper discusses the limited scope of the LMO-related damage addressed by the NSP and highlights the limitations of these two approaches when compared to a strong international civil liability regime.


ABSTRACT Research Findings: Low-socioeconomic status (SES) (intervention group, n = 31; control group, n = 32) and middle/high-SES (reference group, n = 33) 5-year-old Chinese kindergartners were screened through SES and IQ test. Their number sense was examined over five time points. The pretest was conducted at the beginning of the fall semester, followed by three immediate posttests monthly. Math play training was administrated to the intervention group and story reading to the other two groups during this time. Lastly, a delayed posttest was conducted two months later after the last immediate posttest. All the interventions were carried out in small groups, 15–30 minutes sessions, 2 days per week for 12 weeks. The promotion effect of math play training was monitored based on response to intervention (RtI) paradigm. Utilizing latent growth modeling, we found that the intervention group got significant improvement in number sense and almost caught up with the middle/high-SES group after training, and the intervention effects persisted for two months. The control group had the slowest rate of progress and significantly lower scores than the other two groups. Practice or Policy: RtI-based mathematical game intervention could improve the number sense level and growth rate of preschoolers in rural areas.


Adipose tissue‐resident F4/80hi macrophages (ATMs) are the main leukocyte population found in the visceral adipose tissue (VAT). These macrophages comprise several phenotypically distinct subpopulations that rapidly shift in abundance during obesity‐induced tissue remodeling. Here we used a fate‐mapping approach in mouse models to determine the developmental origins and the differential turnover kinetics of ATMs in lean and obese adipose tissue. We found that in lean, murine VAT the majority of ATMs express T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain containing 4 receptor (Tim‐4), lack the expression of CCR2 and can be further subdivided based on their expression of MHC class II and CD11c. We showed that both embryonic‐derived Tim‐4+MHCIIlow and Tim‐4+MHCII+ ATM subsets are long‐lived and only slowly replenished by monocytes over time. Only a minor Tim‐4−MHCII+CD11c+ ATM fraction expresses CCR2 and is short‐lived. In response to high‐fat induced VAT remodeling, the majority of Tim‐4+MHCIIlow ATMs maintain their fetal identity as they are moderately displaced by monocytes. Conversely, Tim‐4+MHCII+ ATMs are quickly replaced in a CCR2‐dependent manner by bone marrow‐derived Tim‐4−MHCII+ ATMs that have significantly higher turnover rates than those in lean mice. In addition, during high‐fat diet, the subpopulation of CD11c+ macrophages invade the VAT with the fastest turnover kinetics of all three ATM subpopulations. Our results suggest that ATM subpopulation frequency is controlled by the VAT microenvironment and that obesity‐induced tissue remodeling renders some of the ATM niches accessible and available for rapid monocyte replenishment. Specialized monocyte‐derived macrophages, which are rapidly recruited may be contributing to control the excess of adipocyte‐released lipids produced during obesity.


While the studies linking the germ line mtDNA mutations to cancer raise many ambiguities because of its high genetic variability, the study of somatic mutations of this one, is proved to be decisive in the identifying of mutations involved in the genesis and evolution of tumors. In the present study, we determined the implication of the Cytochrome b mutations in the evolution of breast benign tumors among Senegalese women. This one is about, with the sequencing-PCR, to research mutations of Cytochrome b, to evaluate their importance among a benign tissues group compared to another healthy tissues group; and thence, to determine the effect of the natural selection on the observed variability. The analysis of mutations profiles of Cytochrome b in benign tissues allowed seeing that 50% of them have led to a change in amino acid and 12.5% to a shift in the reading frame. Moreover, the analysis of selection signature indicated that these mutations were subjected to a positive selection. The results also revealed that the population of benign cells was growing rapidly from an ancestral population sparse. These observations have enabled to accept the hypothesis that Cytochrome b mutations would be involved in the evolution of breast benign tumors among Senegalese women.


In this investigation, the effect of golden berry puree process on the bioactive compounds (vitamin C, total phenolic compounds and total carotenoides) and ...


Simple Summary Red pandas are a threatened species, and zoos worldwide are working to conserve the species through international captive breeding programs. However, information on the physiology of captive red pandas is limited, which is hampering efforts to increase reproductive success and meet captive breeding goals. This study measured concentrations of fecal glucocorticoid (fGCM), progestagen (fPM), and androgen (fAM) metabolites in relation to environmental and biological factors among captive red pandas housed at three Indian zoos. Data revealed that fGCM concentrations were influenced by social time together (−), visitor numbers (+), number of nests (+), frequency of feedings (−), log density (−), and enclosure area (+). The fPM results suggested that enclosure area negatively affected concentrations in females. By contrast, fAM in males was not affected by these factors. This study suggests that employing more frequent feeding schedules and controlling the number of visitors may have positive effects on the welfare of red pandas, while higher fGCM and lower fPM in larger enclosures might be related to the limited enrichment and hiding spaces in those areas. Abstract Animals in human care are affected by stressors that can ultimately reduce fitness. When reproduction is affected, endangered species conservation programs can be severely compromised. Thus, understanding factors related to stress and reproduction, and related hormones, is important to ensure captive breeding success. Red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) are endangered, and populations in the wild are threatened with extinction. A global captive breeding program has been launched to conserve the species with the goal of reintroduction. However, there is little information on how stressors impact physiological aspects of the species. This study measured fecal glucocorticoid (fGCM), progestagen (fPM), and androgen (fAM) metabolite concentrations in 12 female and 8 male red pandas at 3 zoos in India to determine predictors of adrenal and gonadal steroid activity, and the influence of fGCM on reproduction. Based on the generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), fGCM concentrations were positively correlated with the number of visitors, number of nests and enclosure areas, and negatively related to frequency of feedings, log density, and social time, while fPM concentrations were negatively associated with enclosure areas. A confounder for enclosure areas and number of nests was the fact that these spaces were relatively barren, with limited hiding spaces, compared to the smaller enclosures. By contrast, no significant relationships were found for fAM, perhaps due to the smaller sample size. A negative relationship between fGCM and fPM was observed, indicating increasing adrenal hormones may decrease reproductive function among female red pandas. Results suggest that zoo management should consider increasing feeding frequency, providing larger enclosures with more enrichment and more nests in larger spaces, and regulating visitor numbers to support good welfare and potentially improve reproductive fitness of red pandas in captivity.


Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI, IEEE/ANSI Std 1596-1992) (SCI1, SCI2) is a high performance interconnect for shared memory multiprocessor systems. In this project we investigate an SCI Real Time Protocols (RTSCI1) using Directed Flow Control Symbols. We studied the issues of efficient generation of control symbols, and created a simulation model of the protocol on a ring-based SCI system. This report presents the results of the study. The project has been implemented using SES/Workbench. The details that follow encompass aspects of both SCI and Flow Control Protocols, as well as the effect of realistic client/server processing delay. The report is organized as follows. Section 2 provides a description of the simulation model. Section 3 describes the protocol implementation details. The next three sections of the report elaborate on the workload, results and conclusions. Appended to the report is a description of the tool, SES/Workbench, used in our simulation, and internal details of our implementation of the protocol.


submission is open until May 15. If you'd like to present or organize a session of your own, contact Robin at firstname.lastname@example.com. Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) [http://www.amcis2009.org] is the major meeting for IS Faculty members and students in business schools. It is organized by the Association of Information Systems [http://www. aisnet.org], whose founders include many from the INFORMS IS community. AMCIS 2009 will be held in San Francisco August 6–9, 2009. The meeting includes organizational as well as technical IS research. The General co-Chair is Ramesh Sharda, Former Chair of the Computer Science Technical Section (predecessor to ICS). He invites you to actively participate in the meeting by proposing to chair a minitrack or by submitting papers. Calls for Nominations ICS Prize (Deadline: June 1). This is an annual award for the best English language paper or group of related papers dealing with the Operations Research/Computer Science interface. The award is accompanied by a certificate and a $1,000 honorarium. If you are aware of paper(s) or a book that may be deserving of the ICS prize, we encourage you to submit a nomination package. The prize will be announced prior to the INFORMS 2008 Meeting in Washington DC, and will be awarded at that meeting. The 2008 committee members are: James Orlin (Chair), MIT, Michael Trick, Carnegie Mellon University, and Pascal Van Hentenryck, Brown University. Submit your nomination to email@example.com. For information on submissions, see http://computing.society.informs.org/prize.php. ICS Student Paper Award (Deadline: June 30). This is given annually to the best paper on computing and operations research by a student author, as judged by a panel of ICS members. The award is sponsored by the Mica Foundation of Denmark and is accompanied by a plaque and a $500 honorarium. ICS News B Spring 2008 Page 5 The winner will be invited to present his or her paper in an ICS-sponsored session at the INFORMS Annual Meeting held in the fall. All students working on topics relating to the interface of OR and computing are encouraged to submit a paper. The 2008 panel consists of David Morton (Chair), The University of Texas at Austin, Alper Atamturk, University of California-Berkeley, and Nick Sahinidis, Carnegie Mellon University. Submit your nomination to icsStudentAward@mail. informs.org. For full award rules and application procedures, see http://computing.society.informs.org/prizeStudent.php. Harvey J. Greenberg Award for Service to ICS (Deadline: September 8). This is a new award to be given at the ICS Biennial Meeting. We are calling for nominations for the first one to be presented at the 2009 ICS Meeting in Charleston. The award is for a lifetime of service to ICS that has led to demonstrable achievements that have made ICS a better organization. The inaugural panel consists of Fred Murphy (Chair), Temple University, Robin Lougee-Heimer, IBM, and David Woodruff, University of California at Davis. Submit your nomination to firstname.lastname@example.com. For full award rules and application procedures, see http://computing.society. informs.org/service.php. An Interview with Dick Karp Richard M. Karp ("Dick") is University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences with additional appointments in Mathematics, Bioengineering, and Operations Research at the University of California at Berkeley. Among his many awards, he received the ACM Turing Award (1985), the ORSA Lanchester Prize (1977), the ORSA/TIMS John von Neumann Theory Prize (1990), and the Mathematical Programming Society Fulkerson Prize (1979). The NSF bestowed upon him the U.S. National Medal of Science (1996), sometimes called America's version of the Nobel Prize, "For his pioneering research in theoretical computer science and the development of NP-Completeness, a concept having an important role in the theory and the practice of computation." I interviewed Dick April 18 by phone. Q. Getting your Ph.D. in 1959 must have been especially exciting because both computer science and operations research were still very young fields. Did that make an impression on you at the time? A. Very much so. OR more than CS because of the potential of model-based decision-making. Q. Who influenced your research in those early years? A. At Harvard I took a course (in 1957) from Ken Iverson on Mathematical Methods in Operations Research, and a probability course from Harley Rogers. Both were very inspirational. As a fellow graduate student, Bill Eastman introduced me to the Hungarian Algorithm for the TSP, which I found very exciting. Q. How did being at IBM for most of the 1960's, a time of rapid growth in both OR and CS, influence your subsequent developments? A. This was optimal. I was surrounded by very smart people and was afforded a great deal of freedom to read and study a lot of things. My main mentors were Alan Hoffman and Michael Rabin. Alan taught me many facets of linear programming, while Michael deepened my understanding of computational complexity. Both gave me insights for cross-fertilization. My collaborations with Mike Held and Ray Miller were very important to my growth. (See [3, 4, 7]). During those years I taught part-time at nearby universities, such as NYU and Columbia. I first taught "Computability" in 1967 at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and that helped me to gain insight into connections between computability and complexity. Q. You received the UC-Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award (1986), and many of your Ph.D. students have gone on to distinguish themselves. Are you especially proud of your mentorship? A. Yes, but "pleased" is more accurate than "proud" because they distinguished themselves. I feel blessed to have worked with talented students who in some cases outdid me. Q. I raise that question because there are academics who focus so much on their research that they have little interest in making an effort to teach. Did you actively develop your teaching skills, such as going to a workshop, or does teaching come naturally to you? A. My father was a schoolteacher, and that left an imprint on me. I prepare extensively for each class, which I thoroughly enjoy. That gives me freedom to depart from the script in class, confident that I can respond to spontaneous changes in direction. Q. Is it fair to say that your collaboration with Jack Edmonds got you into complexity analysis? A. No, I had already gotten into complexity (from automata theory) when I met Jack. However, he was a major influence on my development. Our joint network flows paper [2] was one outcome of a rich interaction about polynomial-time algorithms for the max-flow and min-cost flow problems. More broadly, Jack's passion and brilliance gave me a deep understanding of such gems as his algorithms for matching and matroid intersection. Q. Perhaps one of your most celebrated papers, Reducibility Among Combinatorial Problems [5], appears in a proceedings, rather than a journal. Is there any significance to that? A. I was certain that I had a bombshell (something really big), so I wanted to present it to the audience that Ray Miller had attracted to the IBM conference. Combined with Steve Cook's invention of NP-completeness, my OR knowledge gave me the insights to put them together in a novel way, and I wanted a reaction from the leading researchers. ICS News B Spring 2008 Page 6 Q. You were an early entrant into computational biology [1]. How did that start? A. Gene Lawler and Dan Gusfield got into it first and alerted me to the interesting prospects. I also met Gene Myers at Berkeley Livermore Lab, and Mike Waterman was another influence in my finding out more about this field. As I learned about the challenges, I began to address some. Q. Did your 1972 paper on pattern recognition [7] influence your later work in computational biology? A. Yes. That proved to be a good background for some of my work in computational biology. Q. What is your current research in applying OR/CS in computational biology? A. I've been working on two themes: (1) Protein-interaction networks [9, 10], and (2) Statistical genetics, notably SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) and haplotypes [8]. I very much value my ongoing collaborations with Ron Shamir, Trey Ideker, Roded Sharan, Eran Halperin, and with my students. Q. What advice would you like to give to other researchers who are considering a career in the OR/CS interface? A. Be alert to the wide variety of potential applications, often arising in fields not traditionally associated with OR or CS. Q. What do you like to do when you are not working? A. Walk my dog, play chess, read, see movies, and dine with friends at restaurants. I am also an avid sports fan. In fact, baseball influenced my early interest in OR — how does a player or coach decide when to steal a base, bunt, and make other decisions? Q. Is there anything else you wish to add? A. I am very pleased with how OR at Berkeley has moved with the times.


The characters of Chang(长) and Duan(短) in the phrase Changting(长亭)and Duanting(短亭) apparently mean the long and short distance respectively,as a matter of fact,the meaning of these two characters indicate the height of the Ting(亭),a traditional architecture in ancient China.


This paper proposes novel single event upset (SEU) failure probability evaluation and periodic scrubbing techniques for hierarchical parallel vision processors. To automatically evaluate the SEU failure probability and identify all the critical elements in a processor, complementary fault injection methods based on logic circuit simulator and Perl script are proposed. These methods can be used to randomly inject faults into D flip-flops (DFFs) and various types of memory at the register transfer level (RTL) as well as to evaluate the vision processor performance. Based on the evaluation results, an accurate periodic scrubbing technique is proposed to increase the processor availability. The results denote that the peak availability of the processor over a period of one year can be improved from 18% to 99.9% after scrubbing the RISC programmemory for a period of 104 s. Therefore, we can improve the fault-tolerance performance of a vision processor while avoiding unnecessary area and power costs using techniques ranging from evaluation to mitigation. key words: single event upset, vision processor, fault injection, periodic scrubbing, availability Classification: Integrated circuits


A projection tube dual-beam electron gun for a cathode assembly, a modulation electrode, a focusing electrode, an anode sequentially arranged, characterized in that, after a single cathode common, two modulation electrodes disposed G1, constituting a cathode lens groups; in the focusing electrode G2 disposed between the first anode G3 and the correction electrodes G2 ', form a pre-focus lens and prism refractive lens combination; dual-beam is shared by the first anode G3, the focusing electrode G4, G5, and an anode consisting of the main lens; adjusting the potential of each electrode , the electron beams intersect at a predetermined point in an electron gun, the electron gun beam current value increase, thereby obtaining high luminance, but also to maintain a small beam spot spacing, the high brightness solve the contradiction between the usually high resolution projection tubes.


The authors have performed a lateral canthotomy and canthoplasty for correction of palpebral phimosis and enlargement of eyelid fissure at an initial stage.[1] However, the lateral canthotomy done to open up the palpebral aperture is not preferred as it leads to loss of definition of natural canthus with tendency for erythematous conjunctiva to creep over the newly created sector of lid margin. The lid stretches in time after medial canthopexy, obviating the need for lateral canthotomy altogether.[4]


An educational model for ABET-accredited baccalaureate programs in Engineering (E) and in Engineering Technology (ET) is proposed whereby all students inclined to pursue an engineering career would first complete two years of a 4-year ET program. By the end of the sophomore year, those students interested and skilled enough to follow a more theoretical or conceive-and-design side of an engineering career would go on to complete a degree in perhaps two to four additional years in a department that offered E degrees. The 4-year option would satisfy the Department of Education definition of a 6-year first professional degree. On the other hand, those students interested and skilled enough to follow a more applied or implement-and-operate side of an engineering career would opt to complete a degree in two additional years in a department that offered ET degrees. The model offers clearly defined options to students interested in an industry-based engineering profession two to four years after graduation where conceive-, design-, implement- and operate-tasks are assigned. If adopted, the model will result in several benefits including: (1) improved program marketing; (2) increased enrollment and retention rates; and (3) improved human and facility resource utilization at both undergraduate and graduate E and ET education. ing, which opened in fall 2002 to an inaugural freshman class that follows a hands-on, interdisciplinary and rigorous curriculum that is claimed to better reflect ac tual engineering practice. In general, though the 4-year window leading to a B.S. in an engineering specialty has been densely packed with technical and non-technical courses, a de-emphasis of laboratory instruction, an increase in lecture hours and theoretical content, and, paradoxically, a decrease in total hours required to obtain the degree while the pressure continues to mount to also have business, project management, ethics, communication, and other "soft" skill development courses.


A rapid disintegration pharmaceutical composition comprising a poorly soluble medicament such as a solid dispersion in a water-soluble polymer that forms a gel that includes a surfactant, and at least one salt substance selected from the group consisting of sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, sulfate of potassium, potassium chloride, and potassium dihydrogen phosphate.


An extracellular lipase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 has been purified and its enzymatic characteristics were determined. According to SDS‐PAGE and gel filtration molecular mass estimated to be 30 kDa, what classified the lipase in group I.1. Although 14 lipases from P. aeruginosa with similar molecular mass are referred to date, their basic enzymatic properties have not been reported yet. To address the gap we found: the optimal temperature and pH in water solution being 50 °C and 9.3, respectively; the lipase was inhibited with Hg2+ ions and sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS), while non‐ionic detergent Triton X‐100 activated the enzyme; the lipase hydrolyzed more rapidly middle chain triglycerides and it was not regiospecific; the lipase demonstrated naturally occurring stability in different organic solvents with concentrations ranging from 30 to 70%, including good thermal stability in 30% organic solvent solution. Even though strain P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 was not isolated from extreme environment it showed activity in organic solvent suggesting that this lipase is suitable for variety of applications, including reactions in water restricted medium and bioremediation of contaminations by organic solvents. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


This is a discussion of a paper of the abve title by E.C. Sullivan published in Vol. 116, No. 2 (March 1990) issue of this Journal. The discusser comments on problems with the statistical analysis as presented in the original paper. These problems relate to the analysis being referred to as 'disaggregate analysis,' whereas it approaches that of aggregate analysis. Other problems relate to the regression models, the use of cross-classification, the variables used in cross-classification, and conclusions related to autocorrelation. The discussion is followed by a closure by the author.


According to the production of more than 90% of saffron in Iran, any study in order to progress in the field of mechanical harvesting and increase the quality of this product, seems to be logical and economical. Mechanical harvesting of saffron is needed to determine the required force for picking. Therefore, picking force of flowers was carried out in three different fields. In each field, the measurement was performed for 10 flowers by appropriateequipment. The results showed that the average force required for picking the flowers which was around 0.8N. Picking force for saffron leaves were performed in three replications in the fields for 2 and 6 years. The results showed that the force depended on several factors: the type of irrigation water, soil type and saffron farm life. Average tensile force in the second year and in the sixth year was about of 3N and 8N.


Purpose: This study describes the specific use and sealing ability of Hemopatch® in patients undergoing routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Methods: A multicenter, prospective, open-label, non-randomized, control-group comparison was performed to compare the effects of adjunct Hemopatch® in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The primary endpoint was the reduction of post-operative hospitalization. Secondary endpoints were the amount of post-operative drainage within the initial 6 hours, the total volume of drainage during 72 hours post-operatively, the need for re-operative/re-admission, and reported complications. Results: one hundred and fifty two consecutive patients were enrolled between March 2016 and May 2018. In 78 (51.3%) of these patients, Hemopatch® was used as an adjunct to surgical hemostasis to obtain hemostasis of the resected areas in the gallbladder bed. The remaining 74 patients (48.7%, the control-group) underwent a standard laparoscopic cholecystectomy using only L-shaped monopolar electrode and clip. No difference was observed between the groups in post-operative hospitalization course and most endpoints, including no surgical re-operations or re-admission in any patient. However, a substantially higher proportion of those in the adjunct Hemopatch® than the control group had no drainage after 6 hours (48.7% [38/78] and 16.2% [12/74], respectively; p < 0.001). In an analysis of drained volume, 30.7% (24/78) Hemopatch® cases and 13.5% (10/74) control cases had empty drains (p = 0.011). Reported complications occurred in 13.2% of cases, with 11.8% in the Hemopatch® cases and 1.4% in the control group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the adjunctive use of Hemopatch® in patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy is safe and easy to utilize and that its sealing ability reduces the amount of post-operative site drainage. *Correspondence to: Tatiana Di Cesare, Department of General Surgery, Regina Apostolorum Hospital, Albano Laziale, Rome, Italy, Tel: 06932989; Fax: 0693298342; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


Structure safety and construction schedule of Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) gravity dam are influenced significantly by dynamic temperature of dam during construction process and group effect of the whole dam sections is difficult to be taken into account by structure safety simulation of single dam section. By establishing the dynamic mapping relationship between the set of construction state and the set of simulation state of the three dimension and full-scale numerical simulation model, a method of three dimension and full-scale dynamic simulation for structure safety and schedule coupling during construction process is built, taking into account mutual influence between schedule and structure safety during construction process of dam section groups. The method is used to dynamically analyze structure safety under any construction schedule status of dam. Meanwhile, VTK is utilized to realize three dimension and full-scale dynamic visualization for structure safety and schedule status coupling of RCC gravity dam during construction process. Finally, a three dimension and full-scale dynamic simulation and visualization system for structure safety and schedule coupling of RCC gravity dam is developed with C#.Net and APDL. The case study shows that the system can quickly and conveniently provide a dynamic and continuous change process of visage and information for structure safety and schedule and a visual tracking analysis for information of temperature control indexes of dam section groups under proposed construction scheme for decision makers.


The conduction mechanism of the quasibreakdown (QB) mode for thin gate oxide has been studied in a dual-gate CMOSFET with a 3.7 nm thick gate oxide. Systematic carrier separation experiments were conducted to investigate the evolutions of gate, source/drain, and substrate currents before and after gate oxide quasibreakdown (QB). Our experimental results clearly show that QB is due to the formation of a local physically-damaged-region (LPDR) at Si-SiO/sub 2/ interface. At this region, the effective oxide thickness is reduced to the direct tunneling (DT) regime. The observed high gate leakage current is due to DT electron or hole currents through the region where the LPDR is generated. Twelve V/sub g/, I/sub sub/, I/sub s/d/ versus time curves and forty eight I-V curves of carrier separation measurements have been demonstrated. All the curves can be explained in a unified way by the LPDR QB model and the proper interpretation of the carrier separation measurements. Particularly, under substrate injection stress condition, there is several orders of magnitude increase of I/sub sub/(I/sub s/d/) at the onset point of QB for n(p)-MOSFET, which mainly corresponds to valence electrons DT from the substrate to the gate, consequently, cold holes are left in the substrate and measured as substrate current. These cold holes have no contribution to the oxide breakdown and thus the lifetime of oxide after QB is very long. Under the gate injection stress condition, there is sudden drop and even change of sign of I/sub sub/(I/sub s/d/) at the onset point of QB for n(p)-MOSFET, which corresponds to the disappearance of impact ionization and the appearance of hole DT current from the substrate to the gate.


As consensus grows regarding the unprecedented global environmental challenges we currently face, so too does the notion that publicly funded science has a duty to dedicate resources toward overcoming these challenges. In order for scientists to shift attention and resources to the most pressing global problems, we must first enumerate these issues and establish consensus across academia as to the importance and feasibility of solving them. To this end, we have applied concept mapping to a large and diverse pool of disciplinary experts – the entire faculty of Cornell University – to empirically assess their opinions on what our most pressing global crises are, how they relate to one another, and how feasible it would be to solve them. We (1) define what Cornell University faculty see as the most pressing problems of our day, (2) sort them into relevant, modern "disciplines", and (3) rate them according to both their importance and the feasibility of solving them. This study reveals broad consensus across ...


Building construction companies placed on the top three, the most significant business field contributes to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in Indonesia, with an annual average of 12 percent. This study aims to determine the effect of internal factors and macroeconomics simultaneously and partially on stock return at building construction companies. Variables of internal factors are EPS (Earning Per Share), DER (Debt to Equity Ratio), and ROE (Return on Equity), while variables of macroeconomics are BI Rate, inflation, and economic growth. This research purpose is to help investor's decision making of stock return. The data type used are secondary data, time series, and cross- section by using data panel regression with a linear output regression. The sample used is seven-building construction companies listed in IDX (Indonesia Stock Exchange) during the period 2014-2019. This research found inflation is a variable that has simultaneously and partially affected on the stock return. Decision-makers should consider inflation toward improves the performance of building construction companies.


This paper reports our results on the properties of gate-quality silicon nitride thin films produced by the jet vapor deposition (JVD) technique at room temperature. It will be shown that the electrical properties and reliability of the metal-nitride-silicon (MNS) capacitors, in terms of their densities of interface traps, leakage current, and resistance against hot-carrier or radiation damage, are significantly better than similar devices made by any other deposited nitrides previously reported.


The performance of a swarm of robots depends on the hardware quality of the robots in the swarm. A swarm of robots with high-quality sensors and actuators is expected to out-perform a swarm of robots with low-quality sensors and actuators. This paper directly investigates the relationship between hardware quality and swarm performance. We take three common components of swarm algorithms (trail following, swarm expansion, and shape formation) and measure how they are affected by two common types of hardware inaccuracy (communication bearing reception error, and movement error) both in simulation and with E-Puck robots. We find that large amounts of both types of hardware error are required before performance appreciably decreases.


To evaluate various surface treatment processes for apparatus, we carried out field exposure tests on electroplated deposits and painted films under the conditions of fertilizer, soda and other chemical plants, covering the period of 2.5 years from August, 1959. Concurrently we also carried out experiments on protective behavior of coatings by electroplating and painting in corrosive gases in our laboratory. Results obtained are summarized as follows: 1) Coatings of zinc, chromium and silver are effective for corrosion prevention in sulfur dioxide gas, and chromium is effective in hydrogen sulfide gas. 2) Coatings of paints of phenolic resin, vinyl resin and high solid lacquer type are effective against sulfur dioxide gas, and each paint of lacquer, vinyl and vinyl alkyd type against hydrogen sulfide gas. 3) From the results obtained at a laboratory,. the adequacy and effective life of surface treatmentt in actual exposure state may be estimated to a certain extent.


Abstract : Solar activity refers to a variety of non-thermal phenomena seated in the Sun's outer layers. Many aspects of solar activity exhibit pronounced, and sometimes explosive, temporal variability. The aim of this task has been to explore the basic physics of the sun that leads to the ultimate production of activity. We have investigated processes occurring below the visible surface of the sun, those seen at the visible surface (the photosphere) the variation of processes with height in the photosphere, processes seen in the middle atmosphere (chromosphere), the variation up to and into the upper atmosphere (the corona) and effects on the interplanetary medium that lead to terrestrial and near-terrestrial effects (space weather). We have sought explanations for how these physical processes affect the production of solar activity, both on short and long time scales.


This paper presents the FPGA-based implementation of compact montgomery modular multiplier (MMM). MMM serves as a building block commonly required in security protocols relying on public key encryption.  The proposed design is intended for hardware applications of lightweight cryptographic modules that is utilized for the system on chip (SoC) and internet of things (IoT) devices. The proposed design is a modification in the structure of MMM without any multiplication or subtraction processes. The main target of the new modification is enhancing the performance and reducing the area of the MMM hardware module. The operands and internal variables of the proposed hardware circuit is optimized to be bounded to the smallest efficient size to minimize the area and the critical path delay.   The proposed design was coded in VHDL, implemented in the Virtex-6 FPGA, and its performance was analyzed utilizing XILINX ISE tools. Our design occupies the smallest area comparing with other implementations on the same FPGA type. The proposed design saves in a range between 60.0 and 99.0% of the resources compared with other relevant designs.


SUMMARY
The U. S. Naval Shipyards are a tremendous industrial capability, of irreplaceable value to the Fleet. Their specific capabilities have been tailored to meet the needs of a changing mix of ship types that make up the Fleet today, and the modernization program now underway is keyed to the needs of the Fleet of the future.

The workforce in the naval shipyards contains skills and expertise necessary to the maintenance of the complex weapons systems essential to a modern Navy. There are programs to keep the workforce current in an everchanging technology, and also to insure a constant input of trained personnel.

The continuation of the Naval Shipyard system, ready and capable to support the fleet, is as important an ingredient of National Defense as the continuation of the Fleet itself.


This article describes the main types of surgery on the small and large intestine with a detailed description of topographic anatomy, techniques of surgery and possible complications.


Acute lung injury (ALI) is a life‐threatening form of hypoxemic respiratory failure, characterized by inflammation, damage to the alveolar‐capillary barrier, and accumulation of fluid in the lung resulting in pulmonary edema. In order for the pulmonary barrier to recover, endothelial cells at the injury site must migrate to reseal the inter‐endothelial gaps formed in the injury phase. Phospholipase D (PLD)‐mediated generation of phosphatidic acid (PA) plays an important role in cell migration; therefore, we hypothesize that PLD/PA signaling contributes to the pulmonary endothelial barrier recovery process in ALI resolution.


This thesis will examine the correlation regarding the existence of aircraft carriers and security in Great Britain. The thesis will assume that Kenneth Waltz anarchy from the neorealist school of thought exist in the international sphere. At the same time the thesis will investigate whether Great Britain can call itself a great power today. Combining these arguments might indicate that a lack of aircraft carriers is a security concern for the state and therefor justifies the constructions of new aircraft carriers regardless of the cost and risk. This will be investigated through the securitization theory with the aim to see if aircraft carriers has been securitized. A case study into Great Britain's new aircraft carrier program, including the new carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will provide the empirical data to support this thesis. The case study will also include empirical studies into conflicts were British aircraft carriers have contributed to achieving the goals of the operation, including among others the Falklands war which couldn't have been won without carrier support. (Less)


This project, funded under Call 1 of CARDI's Grants Programme and led by Dr Aoife Ahern, University College Dublin, examines the transport needs of vulnerable older people, especially in rural areas. The aim of the project was to establish the current transport needs of older people in rural areas, and how these needs are being addressed. It found that insufficient or inappropriate transport was a key concern for older people in rural areas. Accessing services was identified as a core challenge since, for the most part, public transport only serves village centres and not surrounding rural areas. It also found that inadequate transport systems may lead to a decrease in social activities and increase the potential for isolation and disconnection since – without transport – travel to family and friends was limited.


The search for agents to promote hair growth has a long and sometimes jaded history. Only in the last 15 years has the medical community seriously investigated this therapeutic area. This paper will review the story of minoxidil and update the reader on newer clinical trials. Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) occurs in both men and women. The pattern of hair loss varies by individual and gender, but in men it usually begins with a receding hairline with further loss at the vertex. As hair loss continues the areas of baldness merge leaving only a ring of hair around the scalp (Eig. 1). In women the pattern is slightly different sparing the anterior hairline and affecting predominantly the crown (Fig. 2).


For adults, electrocardiogram (ECG) has been used for over a century as the method to diagnose the heart's performance as well as one of the key indicators in vital-sign monitoring. Nevertheless, there has been no such a device to monitor fetal ECG (fECG) in spite of high fetus mortality rate due to heart diseases. In this work, we present a novel patch using non-contact electrodes (NCEs) to acquire the abdominal ECG (aECG) of the mother which comprises both fECG and maternal ECG (mECG) and a reference patch on mother's chest to extract mECG. The device is based on a polyimide film with NCEs and circuits, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication and a flexible Li-polymer battery. A MATLAB algorithm was developed to precisely extract the fECG and mECG using Linear Mean Square (LMS) adaptive filter. The system was characterized and validated using recorded ECG signals and an online database with zero error between R-peaks of stabilized filter outputs and required signals. Therefore, our aECG and mECG patch hold promise to monitor the wellbeing states of both the fetus and mother in the home setting as well as provide data for early diagnoses of heart diseases even before the baby is born.


Besides the pendulum action developed by the suspended deck, the restoring force exerted by a cable during lateral displacements is expressed by the horizontal component of the cable tension, times the curvature of the cable in the horizontal plane. Some authors consider an additional term linked to a pendulum effect of the cable itself, caused by the uplift movement which accompanies the lateral displacements. In the present note, the mathematical model is reviewed to show that, in the usual assumption of small amplitude vibrations, the presence of this second term is due to a sign error in the expression of the strain energy of the cable. Some evaluation of the first vibration modes period is reported.


ATP, by activating the P2 receptor on group III and IV afferents, is thought to evoke part of the exercise pressor reflex. PPADS, (P2 receptor antagonist) when injected into the arterial supply of skeletal muscle attenuated the reflex pressor response to contraction. In decerebrated cats we tested the hypothesis that injection of PPADS (10mg/kg) into the popliteal artery attenuated the responses of both group III (13) and group IV afferents (9) to contraction both with and without circulatory occlusion. Specifically, contraction with circulatory occlusion before PPADS increased the discharge of the group III afferents from 0.4 ± 0.1 to 1.2 ± 0.2 imp/s, whereas contraction afterwards increased the discharge from 0.4 ± 0.1 to only 0.9 ± 0.3 imp/s (P = .015). Likewise, contraction with circulatory occlusion before PPADS increased the discharge of the group IV afferents from 0.1 ± 0.06 to 0.4 ± 0.1 imp/s; afterwards PPADS abolished the response to contraction from 0.1 ± 0.06 to 0.1 ± 0.05 imp/s (P = 0.007). Similarly, contraction while the muscles were freely perfused before PPADS increased the discharge of the group III afferents from 0.1 ± 0.06 to 1.7 ± 0.5 imp/s. PPADS reduced this effect, discharge increasing from 0.2 ± 0.1 to only 1.1 ± 0.6 imp/s after PPADS (P = 0.002). Contraction under freely perfused conditions before PPADS increased the discharge of the group IV afferents from 0.09 ± 0.02 to 0.3 ± 0.09 imp/s, whereas after it had no effect on the discharge of these afferents (from 0.08 ± 0.04 to 0.1 ± 0.06 imp/s; P = 0.042). Our findings suggest that both group III and IV afferents are responsible for evoking the purinergic component of the exercise pressor reflex.


The efficacy of transdermal methimazole in 16 cats with hyperthyroidism was evaluated. During the 2-year study period, 15 of the 16 treated cats exhibited a significant decrease in serum T4 value, and in 1 cat the serum T4 level increased. The mean total dose, which was administered once or twice daily, was 6.53 mg/day (range, 5 to 12.5 mg). An initial recheck of the T4 level was conducted after an average of 7.4 weeks (range, 4 to 38 wk) of treatment with transdermal methimazole. The cats that responded to therapy showed a mean reduction in the T4 level from 10.82 mg/dL (range, 4.2 to 24 mg/dL) to 2.76 mg/dL (range, 0.3 to 5.2 mg/dL). The only adverse effect of treatment (an increase in the blood urea nitrogen [BUN] level) developed in only one cat (6%) within 30 days of the initiation of therapy; that patient was scheduled to undergo reevaluation of the BUN level after 2 months. The increase in the BUN level in that cat, which was 16 years of age, was probably due to an unmasking of preexisting senile renal dysfunction rather than treatment-induced toxicity. The most common symptoms of the 16 cats studied before they underwent treatment with transdermal methimazole were weight loss, which was associated with increased appetite in some cats, and heart murmur. Other symptoms included vomiting, vocalization, and lethargy. The results of the study indicate that transdermal methimazole is effective in blocking excess thyroid hormone secretion in most cats and that it is a relatively safe antithyroid medication therapy for use in cats.


L. Sprague de Camp. Lovecraft: A Biography. New York: Ballantine Books, 1976. 480 pp. (Abridgement of the first edition, Doubleday, 1975). Frank Belknap Long. Howard Philips Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside. Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1975. 237 + xiv pp. Barton Levi St. Armand. The Roots of Horror in the Fiction of H. P. Lovecraft. Elizabethtown, N.Y.: Dragon Press, 1977. 102 + viii pp. Psychological criticism, we can't get away from it, any more than we can avoid psychiatric ideas when we try to understand the people we know. Psycho- logical notions pervade our language and the assumptions beneath our views of the world. I think that one can hardly pick up a twentieth-century book about literature that is not psychological, although no great number set out to be so, and fewer still are well informed psychologically. A few literary scholars have troubled themselves to undertake disciplined psychological study, and to publish scholarly work that reflects the discipline. Yet such study in itself...


The paper focuses on phraseologisms in standard Serbian language with meanings related to emotional concepts of fear, surprise, amazement and confusion. The corpus includes 50 phrazeologisms with different lexical composition that cover various forms of expression of those emotions (остати без даха, бацити бомбу, испасти из равнотеже). The analysis is focused on morphosyntactical characteristics of these units, and they are classified according to their grammatical structure, with special emphasis on their syntactic function and combinability in context, while taking into account only those meanings that relate to those emotions.


ABSTRACT A 33-year-old patient had normal secondary sexual development, primary amenorrhea, and a blind vaginal pouch accompanied by cyclic pain and swelling in the right inguinal area. Physical examination and ultrasound suggested an incarcerated ovary in a right indirect hernia. This report describes laparoscopic reduction of the ovary and hernia repair. (J GYNECOL SURG 12:57, 1996)


We know that feedstock producers have accepted lower average prices for their material and we have also seen the divestment of TiO 2 business - with Rockwood selling its TiO 2 assets to Huntsman Corp. in September this year. Similarly, DuPont has gone on the record stating it is ready to sell or spin off its Performance Chemicals business as part of its transformation to a "higher growth, less cyclical company". DuPont's Performance Chemical products include TiO 2 technologies, fluorochemicals and fluoropolymers, and sulphuric acid.

DuPont, the world leader in TiO 2, said in its Q3 2013 results that it believes that its TiO 2 sales would improve in Q4 2013, adding that it expected TiO 2 industry fundamentals would improve. Volumes, it said, would increase. Despite this, it is "moving with a sense of urgency" to divest its TiO 2 sector, Ellen Kullen, CEO, said.

"Prior to the 1990s, much of the TiO 2 demand for papermakers was coming from North American papermakers using TiO 2 in paper-coating formulations. When alkaline technology took over from acid technology in papermaking, calcium carbonate (GCC and PCC) displaced TiO 2. This caused a long-term decline in TiO 2 consumption for paper throughout the 1990s and into the first half of the 2000s. Decorative laminate (especially with wood-grained or marble-type appearance for floors, wall panels, worktops, etc.) has become increasingly popular since the mid-2000s, especially in Asia and Europe," he added.


Abstract The regression line percentile (RLP) method for computing standard weight (Ws ) equations produces third-quartile estimates that tend to be biased downward for long fish as a result of extrapolation acting in concert with systematic variation in the distribution of length–weight relationships among fish populations. Parameter mismatch in the development and use of Ws equations (i.e., third quartile for development of Ws equations and use of mean relative weight Wr for application and testing) induces artifactual biases when testing equations and leads to the appearance of reduced fish condition when applied to longer fish. Consistent interpretation of mean Wr against a single standard (e.g., third quartile, median, or any other) is not usually possible due to nonconstant variation in the distributions of mean Wr among species and among length-classes for a given species. I recommend that future computations of Ws use quadratic equations for all three quartiles to enable consistent and more inform...


Fungi are one of the most common and important kinds of inhalant allergens.Fungi can induce to various allergic disorders,including allergic rhinitis,sinusitis,asthma,allergic conjunctivitis,allergic gastro- enteritis,atopic dermatitis,hypersensitivity pneumonia(allergic alveolitis),allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis(ABPA),and allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis(ABPM),etc.This article reviews the current knowleges on the field of fungal allergens and recombinant allergens,comparison of the allergenic potency of spores and mycelium,cross-reaction among the different kinds of fungi allergens,pathogenesis of fungi allergy,atmospheric biology,the efficacy and adverse reactions of immunotherapy,the pathogenesis.diagnosis,and treatment of ABPA.


In this paper, we establish coincidence fixed point and common fixed point theorems for two mapping in complete $C^*$-algebra-valued metric spaces which satisfy new contractive conditions. Some applications of our obtained results are given.


Heat sources whose characteristic dimension $R$ is comparable to phonon mean free paths display thermal resistances that exceed conventional diffusive predictions. This has direct implications to (opto)electronics thermal management and phonon spectroscopy. Theoretical analyses have so far limited themselves to particular experimental configurations. Here, we build upon the multidimensional Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) to derive universal expressions for the apparent conductivity suppression $S(R) = \kappa_{\text{eff}}(R)/\kappa_{\text{bulk}}$ experienced by radially symmetric 2D and 3D sources. In striking analogy to cross-plane heat conduction in thin films, a distinct quasiballistic regime emerges between ballistic ($\kappa_{\text{eff}} \sim R$) and diffusive ($\kappa_{\text{eff}} \simeq \kappa_{\text{bulk}}$) asymptotes that displays a logarithmic dependence $\kappa_{\text{eff}} \sim \ln(R)$ in single crystals and fractional power dependence $\kappa_{\text{eff}} \sim R^{2-\alpha}$ in alloys (with $\alpha$ the L\'evy superdiffusion exponent). Analytical solutions and Monte Carlo simulations for spherical and circular heat sources in Si, GaAs, Si$_{0.99}$Ge$_{0.01}$ and Si$_{0.82}$Ge$_{0.18}$, all carried out from first principles, confirm the predicted generic tendencies. Contrary to the thin film case, common approximations like kinetic theory estimates $\kappa_{\text{eff}} \simeq \sum S_{\omega}^{\text{grey}} \, \kappa_{\omega}$ and modified Fourier temperature curves perform relatively poorly. Up to threefold deviations from the BTE solutions for sub-100$\,$nm sources underline the need for rigorous treatment of multidimensional nondiffusive transport.


"Epigenetics" refers to changes in gene expression that occur through changes in DNA methylation, histone modification, small or micro-RNAs, or most inclusively, other mechanisms that alter how DNA sequences are translated into functional gene products. With the discovery that epigenetic modifications to gene expression can be inherited across cell lineages or even across organismal generations, enormous interest has been generated in the potential evolutionary consequences of epigenetic inheritance. This collection of articles addresses how epigenetic inheritance may influence adaptive evolution, focusing on epigenetic stability and inheritance itself as a potentially evolving trait. It has frequently been argued that epigenetic modifications that are stable across multiple generations can act as an important source of heritable phenotypic variation upon which natural selection can act, and that such variation, unlike random genetic mutation, may even be nonrandom with respect to environmental context and adaptive value. This bold hypothesis raises a number of compelling questions. First, when changes in gene expression are not caused by changes in DNA sequence, what sort of epigenetic changes are stochastic versus environmentally induced, and do they differ in their stability of inheritance? Second, what is the adaptive value of such random and environmentally induced epigenetic modifications in the wild? Third, is the stability of epigenetic alterations itself heritable and is it adaptive, and if so, under what conditions? Does natural selection actually favor epigenetic stability, or not, and does selection for or against stability determine how frequently we may observe adaptation via epigenetic inheritance? These articles begin to address these questions by reviewing recent advances in studies of epigenetics in natural populations. To start, Turck and Coupland explain the molecular basis of two major mechanisms of epigenetic regulation of gene expression: DNA methylation and histone modification. By reviewing case studies in plants, they argue that these two modes of epigenetic regulation can differ in stability and environmental sensitivity. DNA methylation has the potential to be mitotically and meiotically stable, and methylation states can even be passed to homologous alleles or orthologous genes in a genome. Histone modification, in contrast, is involved with environmentally induced epigenetic regulation that can be reversible. Using a case study, the authors show that interspecific differences in the reversibility of environmentally induced gene repression via histone modification are associated with the difference between annual and perennial life histories, and thus likely to have significant adaptive consequences. The authors also hypothesize that the degree of DNA methylation and the stability of environmentally induced changes in gene expression via histone modification may both be associated with changes in the DNA sequence, whether through transposon insertions, tandem duplications, or DNA sequence variation in promoter regions. Such alterations to DNA can cause heritable variation in epigenetic regulation, and thereby be the basis of the evolution of such regulation. Although Turck and Coupland show that differences in DNA methylation and stability of histone modifications can lead to distinct changes in plant life histories, Herman et al. directly address the adaptive value of epigenetic stability by reviewing theoretical


Thank you very much for reading toward a recognition of androgyny. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have search numerous times for their favorite books like this toward a recognition of androgyny, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some malicious bugs inside their computer. toward a recognition of androgyny is available in our book collection an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our book servers spans in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the toward a recognition of androgyny is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Abstract : Flight safety of orbiting resident space objects is critical to our national interest and defense. United States Strategic Command has assigned the responsibility for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) to its Joint Functional Component Command Space (JFCC SPACE) at Vandenberg Air Force Base. This paper will describe current SSA imperatives, new developments in SSA tools, and developments in Defensive Operations. Current SSA processes are being examined to capture, and possibly improve, tasking of SSN sensors and new space-based sensors, common conjunction assessment methodology, and SSA sharing due to the growth seen over the last two years. The stand-up of a Defensive Ops Branch will highlight the need for advanced analysis and collaboration across space, weather, intelligence, and cyber specialties. New developments in SSA tools will be a description of computing hardware/software upgrades planned as well as the use of User-Defined Operating Pictures and visualization applications.


Directed and scripted by Liliane Targownik, Rosenzweig's Freedom (Germany: Sudwestfunk, 1998) is a critically acclaimed German film concerning the wave of neo-Nazi attacks on foreign guest workers and asylum seekers in the years immediately following German reunification. It was broadcast on ARD, Germany's largest television network, in 1999. It won the Discovery Award from the Hollywood Film Festival Award and the German Unions' (DAG) Gold Prize for the best television movie Amidst a backdrop of news footage from real incidents in that turbulent period, Targownik tells the story of two sons of Holocaust survivors living in Germany. Michael Rosenzweig, a laborer engaged to a Vietnamese woman, randomly fires shots at a rampaging mob of skinheads when they attack and set fire to the refugee shelter where his fiancee lives. That night a prominent neo-Nazi leader is assassinated in the same neighborhood. The bullets in his body are traced to Michael's gun. Michael's brother Jacob reluctantly becomes his brother's lawyer when he suspects that the court-appointed public defender Ahrendt has the wrong strategy. Jacob tracks down a homeless man who witnessed a skinhead pick up Michael's gun after he tossed it away. Although Michael is cleared of homicide and marries, skinheads burn down his parents' apartment. Targownik admittedly "looks at German events from a Jewish perspective." While she plans to return to Germany to make other films, she resides in Israel, where she completed her Masters degree in Jewish Philosophy at Tel Aviv University. Rosenzweig's Freedom is distributed in the United States by the National Center for Jewish Film, firstname.lastname@example.com. LB: You were raised in Germany. When you were growing up, what films about Jewish life or the Holocaust had an impact on you? LT: I do not remember having seen a film about Jewish life or the Holocaust made by a German filmmaker when I was young. I think the first one I ever saw was The Sound of Music. I was about six years old and remember a nice and happy film that suddenly switched to the scene when the family has to flee across the mountains to evade being captured by the Nazis. It was very scary. The first film about Jewish life that I saw was Hester Street by Joan Micklin-Silver. I remember seeing it in Munich with my family and other people from the Jewish community. Everybody was very moved and proud that there was a film about "us." There were only 5,000 Jews in Munich out of a total population of 1.5 million. Everyone knew each other. I was confronted with the issue of the Holocaust through books rather than films. My parents gave me The Diary of Anne Frank and the books of Leon Uris. I saw the movie versions of The Diary and Exodus after I had read the books. I saw a stage production of Fiddler on the Roof before I watched the film. LB: I noticed that one of your first films was about Aktionsuhnenzeichen, a group of young Germans who undertake various projects to help the victims of Nazi Germany. What attracted you to this topic? LT: This documentary was my first work for Israeli TV. I did not speak Hebrew yet, but the head of the program Mabat Sheni, Michael Karpin, wanted me to do a film on this topic. I filmed young Germans working in Israel, trying to cope with the German past by helping Jews and Arabs there. LB: You are now studying in Israel. Have you made Aliyah or do you plan to return to Germany to make films about Jewish subjects? LT: I made Aliyah years ago. I make films both in Germany and Israel. This is a small world, you know. Of course, Rosenzweig's Freedom was shot and produced in Germany. I am now planning a feature film called H.O.M.E. that will be set in Jerusalem in 2000. It will be done in English. I am also planning a documentary in Israel. The next script I will write is on a German-Jewish subject, and I have been invited to teach a seminar at the Munich Film School where I got my education in cinema. …


The development of Changshan Islands needs an accurate grasp of the main tourism market and a rational marketing and development.By forming a gravity model,this paper makes a comprehensive analysis of the domestic and foreign tourist markets of Changshan Islands and classifies the tourist markets as four types according to the proportion of the tourist markets,i.e.,core market,crucial market,growing market and potential market.The majority of the potential visitors to Changshan Islands Tourism Resort would be from both core market and crucial market,which are the key points of the market exploitation.The core tourist market of Changshan Islands can be summarized as four domestic markets,including Liaoning,Shandong,Jiangsu and Beijing,one provincial core city-Dalian City,and one core overseas market-Japan.The six crucial tourism markets are Shanghai,Tianjin and Zhejiang,Hebei,Guangdong and Henan,with Shenyang and Anshan as the two major cities in this province and USA and Korea as the two overseas markets.The paper ends with suggestions for the development of Changshan Islands Tourism Resort,such as keeping eyes on the core and crucial markets,developing the growing market gradually and extending potential market at the right time.


A new species of Wardomyces, W. aggregatus, is described and compared with Gymnodochium fimicolum Massee and Salmon. Although Gymnodochium may well represent an earlier name for species of Wardomyces there is apparently no authentic material available to substantiate this hypothesis.


In networked control systems there are many network-induced imperfections and constraints: quantisation errors, packet dropouts, variable sampling periods, time-varying delays and communication constraints. The goal of this study is to provide a control design methodology that can assure the closed-loop performances of a network-controlled application, while compensating the time-varying delays introduced by the communication network. To this end, firstly, the error caused by the time-varying delays is modelled as a disturbance and a novel method of bounding the disturbances is proposed. Secondly, an one-step ahead predictive controller based on flexible control Lyapunov functions is designed, which explicitly takes into account the bounds of the disturbances caused by time-varying delays and guarantees also the input-to-state stability of the system. The methodology is then applied for a network-controlled direct current (DC) motor and the TrueTime simulations illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed delay modelling and control strategy.


Christopher Hampton has always insisted that his plays have little in common. In an interview after Savages he was asked whether he saw "any kind of development in [his] ... work — in retrospect," to which he firmly replied: "No. People have often asked, but I see no connection between my plays whatsoever, except for the fact that I wrote them. I try to approach each subject in a way appropriate to it." Even more forcefully, he told Oleg Kerensky: '''I have a violent urge not to repeat myself. "' Critical opinion has largely been content to accept the author's own description of his work, while at the same time drawing a rough distinction between his elegant comedies of manners, When Did You Last See My Mother?, The Philanthropist, and Treats, and the two plays which tackle more ambitious subjects in broader settings, Total Eclipse and Savages.


In order to solve the problem of serious influence of much noise in the phase fringe patterns of digital speckle pattern interferometry on the result and accuracy of phase unwrapping,an effective method of stripe sine / cosine decomposition combined with frequency domain low-pass filtering is introduced in this paper,and the high precision filter of phase fringe patterns of digital speckle pattern interferometry is realized. Basic idea of this method is that phase fringe patterns is mapped into two patterns by the sine / cosine function before the phase image filter processing,and then is synthesized into phase fringe patterns through frequency domain filter. This decomposition frequency domain filtering method can retention phase jump information effectively when filtering. Experimental results show that compared with the traditional image noise reduction method,this method can filter out the speckle noise in images better on the basis of reserving "rush"image information,and it is simple and effective,which solves the problem of loss from 10% to 40% for phase fringe patterns gray level information when traditional filtering methods are used in stripe phase fringe patterns.


Subject. Foreign economic and trade ties among countries are getting tighter and less predictable in the early 21st century. This directly stems from a growing disparity of partners, especially if it goes about their future cooperation as part of integration groups or international organizations. Communities of experts suggest using various approaches to locally adjusting integration phases, especially implementing the two-speed integration in the European Union.
Objectives. The study is an attempt to examine an improvement of foreign economic cooperation and suggest its implementation steps for the European Union. This all is due to considerable inner controversies and problems within the EU, which grow more serious year by year.
Methods. The methodological framework comprises the historical logic, dialectical principles, scientific abstraction method. The process and system approach was especially important for justifying the implementation of the above steps. It was used to examine foreign economic relations of partners in the European Union.
Results. The article sets forth the theoretical and methodological framework for the geostrategic economic bloc, including a conceptual structure model. I present steps to implement a foreign economic cooperation of partners in the EU in terms of its form.
Conclusions and Relevance. Should the form of the foreign economic relations among the EU countries be implemented, counties at the periphery of the EU will be able to become active parties to the integration group.


(UI) is a common and costly problem affecting middle-aged and older people. The International Continence Society has defined UI as " a condition where involuntary loss of urine is a social or hygienic problem and is objectively demonstrable " [1]. The prevalence of UI is known to be higher for women and increases with age, obesity and smoking [1]. Diet also plays an important role, with potatoes and carbonated drinks being linked to urinary problems [2,3], and higher meat consumption can increase the risk of lower urinary tract symptoms [4]. Dietary nutrients, such as total fat, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, zinc, and vitamin B12 are all positively associated with UI [5]. The development of UI symptoms can also be affected by caffeine intake. A recent cohort study of 65 176 women in the USA reported that the incidence of UI was positively associated with caffeine ingestion, and a high level of intake increased the risk of urge but not stress or mixed incontinence [6]. A case-control study of 259 women found an elevated risk of urge incontinence for those having 400 mg of caffeine per day when compared to minimal intake of less than 100 mg per day [7]. An intervention trial involving 135 American women showed that decreased caffeine intake by the treatment group led to a reduction in frequency of UI [8]. In the literature, focus has been directed to female UI whereas investigation on incontinent males is scant. The aim of this study was to ascertain the hypothesis of positive association between UI and caffeine intake among middle-aged and older Japanese adults. The finding may have important implications for the prevention and treatment of UI.


Optically pure (+) phenyl-2-pyridyl-m-tolylmethylmethacrylate is polymerized by the complexes of fluorenyllithium or N,N'-diphenylethylenediamine monolithium amide with 1-(2-pyrrolidinylmethyl) pyrrolidine or (+) and (−) 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-bis(dimethylamino) butane. The obtained (+) polymer is almost stable in solution but the (−) polymer slowly changes its optical activity from levorotatory to dextrorotator y


The Jinsha River runs across the Hengduanshan north‐south tectonic zone where neotectonism was relatively strong, accompanied by various geologic hazards. In this case, it seems necessary to make a quantitative assessment and grading of the engineering geological environment for the planning and development of hydropower projects on the Jinsha River.