Reasoning about military situations requires a scientifically sound and computationally robust uncertainty calculus, a supporting inference engine that procedurally encodes the axioms of the calculus, the capability to fuse information at multiple levels of abstraction, and the ability to respond to dynamic situations. The inference engine also needs to be able to encapsulate expert knowledge, including deep human doctrinal and domain knowledge. At Information Extraction & Transport, Inc. (IET), we have developed techniques to encode domain and doctrinal expertise in reusable knowledge chunks, based on the technology of Bayesian network fragments, and the capability to automatically construct situation specific Bayesian Networks based on a combination of top down control and bottom up evidence-driven processes. These techniques have been used to prototype fusion systems capable of reasoning about uncertain numbers of uncertain hierarchically organized entities based on incomplete observations. These systems have demonstrated success in generating force level situation hypotheses from vehicle tracks and other evidence generated by level 1 fusion systems. This paper presents an overview of our technical approach with applications from recent projects.


Growth hormone (GH) stimulates linear growth and improves nitrogen balance in many catabolic states, including sepsis, and in malnutrition associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In children with cystic fibrosis (CF), these anabolic effects could aid survival and enhance suitability for transplantation. We assessed response to 0.49 IU/kg/week of recombinant human growth hormone (hGH) for 6–12 months in seven children with cystic fibrosis. All showed an initial increase in height velocity (0.33-4.14 cm/year) and height standard deviation score (P<0.01). Knemometry also demonstrated a significant improvement in lower leg growth [P < 0.05). Weight velocity increased in five patients but there was no change in body mass index or skinfold thickness. The number of respiratory exacerbations decreased during therapy, although there was no measurable improvement in respiratory function. Growth hormone may be a useful adjunct therapy in cystic fibrosis.


The presence of intrinsic inter-carrier interference (ICI) and inter-symbol interference (ISI) at the output of the matched filter receiver in filter bank multi-carrier with offset quadrature amplitude modulation (FBMC-OQAM) systems complicates the task of channel estimation (CE). The conventional approach is to use a pilot symbol preamble structure, such as in the interference approximation/cancellation methods (IAM/ICM), together with a simple virtual symbol (VS) based CE scheme. However, this virtual symbol approach ignores the residual interference from the data portion of the FMBC burst as well as the correlation of the noise across the sub-carriers; both of these factors ultimately limit the performance. In this paper, we propose a generalized least squares (GLS) based CE scheme which, when applied to the IAM/ICM pilot structures, takes into account both the correlated noise and data interference effects. Closed-form expressions are derived for the channel estimation mean-squared error (CE-MSE) of the proposed GLS method and for the conventional VS method, and it is shown that the proposed method leads to a significant reduction of the CE-MSE by up to 6 dB when compared with the VS based method. This is demonstrated to result in improved bit error rate (BER) performance, especially when higher-order modulation is employed, making it an attractive channel estimation method for many modern deployment scenarios. The proposed GLS-based channel estimation scheme is parameterized allowing a flexible trade-off between channel frequency selectivity, estimation complexity and CE-MSE gain. Finally, symmetry properties of the intrinsic interference coefficients for a general FBMC-OQAM system are also proved, which facilitate the computation of the noise and interference autocorrelation matrices required by the proposed algorithm.


The article deals with the history of establishing the Association, information about firms, organizations and enterprises which comprise it, results of joint activity in the educational and scientific fields of agricultural branches. There is also a list of practical training bases of the Academy Departments established with the help of scientific research and commercial institutions. It is also noted that the results of basic and exploratory research fulfilled by organizations and institutions which are parts of the Association are in great demand in scientific research institutes and higher educational organizations of veterinarian and biological profile. The article also states what events are necessary to be held for more effective implementation of joint research and educational work.


In this study four shading levels were studied at nursery level on four tree species to determine the effect of different shading intensities on their growth performance. The results indicated that all the four species are. not shade, tolerant at nursery stage. However, light shade may be provided during initial stage of seedling development to achieve higher survival percentage.


Recently published data on the variation with applied bias and temperature of steady-state photoluminescence and photoconductivity from a series of GaAs/AlGaAs single quantum well p-i-n structures are subjected to detailed theoretical analysis, using phenomenological variables introduced in connection with these results. The data are interpreted as revealing the presence in the well of a space charge, which causes band bending and hence indirectly modifies carrier escape lifetimes. It is shown that the thermionic escape of holes can affect the electron tunneling escape lifetime so that the latter displays a thermal activation energy which is quantitatively similar to the hole well depth.


This is the third in a series of editorials written by
Alison Prowle and Janet Harvell from
the Centre for Early Childhood, University of Worcester, UK, on their experiences in the
Dunkirk Refugee Camp in France. (Sadly, the camp burned down in April.) The authors
explore how children in camps are being encouraged to play and through this, how they
are developing resilience, learning new skills, making friends and enjoying a respite from
the harsh realities of their lives.


To investigate the relationship between superconductivity and low-energy spin fluctuations in the iron-based superconductor FeSe 0.5 Te 0.5 , we have conducted 125 Te NMR measurements at ambient pressure and 2 GPa. As the superconducting transition temperature T c is increased by applying pressure, the nuclear spin–lattice relaxation rate divided by temperature, 1/ T 1 T , shows the development of antiferromagnetic fluctuations upon lowering temperature toward T c . This supports the scenario that spin fluctuations promote superconducting pairing. The depressed Knight shift 125 K and the absence of a coherence peak in 1/ T 1 below T c are consistent with spin-singlet superconducting pairing with an anisotropic order parameter. In the normal metallic state, the comparison between the uniform and dynamic spin susceptibilities suggests the existence of a Fermi level located near the singularity of the band structure.


In this research,a full-length cDNA sequence of 4CL related to flax lignin synthesis is cloned by RACE-PCR technique on the basis of the segment of this gene cloned freviously.The complete cDNA sequence of 4CL is 1 957 bp in length,with a complete open reading frame of 1 650 bp.The encoded protein contains 549 amino acids,with a molecular mass of 60 kD and a pI of 5.3.Random coil andα-helix are the main secondary structure of the protein.Phylogenetic analysis indicated that there is high similarity between flax 4CL gene and that of Thellungiella halophila.The full-length cDNA sequence has been registered in GenBank,with an accession number of KC832864.A 413 bp CDS fragment of 4CL is amplified by PCR to construct the RNA interference vector p1301M-4CL,which is transformed to flax by agrobacterium-mediated method.Seven transgenic seedlings selected randomly are detected by GUS and PCR.The results showed that the RNAi vector construction has been integrated into flax genome,which leads to evidently depression of the expression of 4CL gene in flax.


I don't know if writing about the past helps me to get over it. What I do know is that there is no grown-up way to talk, tell, or think about the things that happened to me. I have to remember them as if I were still a boy, with all the strange details—some funny, some moving—that childhood memories have and that children have no problem with. As a grown-up, I can't imagine my own children living through what I did. I can't even begin to think about it without cutting off the thought. It's like walking very carefully on a frozen lake. If I were to take a sudden step—I mean, if I were to think of what happened then as the 65-year-old man I am today—the ice would break and I would tumble through it without being able to climb back. (The Sandgame 55–56)


Objective To study the clinical treatment of the type Ⅲ chronic prostatitis (CP-Ⅲ). Methods Based on National Institute Health (NIH) classification, 205 cases of the type Ⅲ chronic prostatitis were surveyed by analysis of their laboratory results and clinical history. In addition, the type Ⅲ chronic prostatitis symptom index (CPSI) of each patient was evaluated. 77 cases were type Ⅲa and 128 cases were type Ⅲb. All patients were comprehensively treated for 8 to 12 weeks. Thiamphenicol or Sulfamethoxazole tablet compound and Nitrofurantion suppositorum were given to type Ⅲa for 8 weeks.Thiamphenicol or Sulfamethoxazole tablet compound for 4 weeks, and with Indomethacin suppositorum for 8 to 12 weeks were given to type Ⅲb. All patients were additionally treated by psychological and physical therapies. Traditional Chinese Medicine was also used in all patients. Results 155 patients (75.6%) were significantly improved, 36(17.6 %) slightly improved and only 14 (6.8%) did not respond to the therapy. Conclusion Comprehensive treatment is an effective method for the patients with type Ⅲ chronic prostatitis.


It's been said that forecasting is the second-oldest profession. From the Greek oracles to computer models, the new book by David Orrell – The Future of Everything: The Science of Prediction – offers a thorough recounting of forecasting past and some intriguing forecasts for the rest of this century. Reviewer Paul Fields praises the author's examination of the interconnections among physical, biological, and economic systems, showing how events in one area are inextricably linked to events in the other two. Copyright International Institute of Forecasters, 2008


This monograph offers insights into what actually works in developing school-community connections. Topics include: school-linked service programmes; school-business partnerships; and schools and communities working together to implement youth behavioural health programmes.


The electricity generations of photo voltaic (PV) panels are strongly related with insolation and temperature. The insolation and temperature are not stable, since the electricity generations of the PV panels are not stable. In PV systems, insolation and temperature continuous vary. Therefore, the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) techniques are used to give the highest power to the loads/batteries. The MPPT process is performed with a power electronic circuit and it overcomes the problem of voltage mismatch between the PV panels and the batteries/loads. In this study, a microcontroller is employed to develop battery charge control system for PV panels. The system is composed of a microcontroller (Microchip PIC18F2550), a buck-boost type DC-DC converter, a resistive load, and lead acid battery. In the system, MPPT, charge control, and discharge algorithms are executed by a program embedded within the microcontroller. The program also has ability to perform some data acquisition process and acquired data are sent to the personal computer (PC) through the USB communication port. In addition the system has able to be followed and controlled by the graphical user interface (GUI).


This paper will first discuss characteristics of the different laser sources with particular emphasis on the display output power needs. There are a number of nonlinear optical effects that appear useful to display systems; of particular interest for displays are the effects related to the controllable change of the wavelength of coherent radiation incident on the nonlinear media. The nonlinear techniques to be discussed are those related to harmonic generation, Raman laser action, and optical parametric amplification and oscillation. Calculations on the parametric oscillation effect show that a one watt blue or UV laser can effectively provide the optical pumping which would result in a very appreciable tunable optical output over the visible spectrum.


Highly siderophile elements (HSEs), including Re and Os, are used extensively as geochemical tracers and geochronometers to investigate the formation and evolution of Earth's crust and mantle. Mantle rocks are commonly serpentinized, but the effect of serpentinization on the distribution of HSEs is controversial because HSEs are commonly hosted by rare, micrometer- to sub-micrometer-scale grains of platinum group minerals (PGMs) of ambiguous origin that are challenging to identify, characterize, and interpret. In this study, atom probe tomography (APT) is used to characterize two spatially close PGM grains hosted by a partially serpentinized harzburgite from Macquarie Island, Australia. The APT data reveal an extraordinary level of detail that provides insights into the origin of a complex Cu−Pt alloy grain (average composition ∼Cu4Pt). The grain hosts Fe-, Ni-, and Pt-rich sub-grains associated with Rh, variably overlapping networks of Pd- and Cd-enrichment, and OH-rich volumes identified as fluid inclusions. Osmium and Ru are hosted by an idioblastic laurite (RuS2) grain. Compositional, textural, and phase-diagram constraints are consistent with a modified pre-serpentinization origin for the PGMs, and a comparison between observed and calculated grain distributions indicate that while Os isotope ratios were probably unaffected by serpentinization, whole-rock and grain-scale HSE and isotopic ratios may have been decoupled during serpentinization.


The invention relates to a method for preparing a heat-resistant polyimide-diamond combined grinding wheel, belongs to the technical field of combined grinding wheel preparation. The method comprises the following steps: mixing diamond powder and sodium hydroxide solution; heating the solution, filtering and gathering the filter cake; washing the filter cake and drying to obtain alkali-treated diamond powder; mixing the diamond powder with some substances such as dichloromethane; heating the mixture, filtering and gathering the filter cake; washing the filter cake and drying to obtain modified coupled diamond powder; grinding the powder just obtained together with some substances such as silicon carbide, stirring, mixing and filtering to obtain a powder mixture; filling an aluminium mould with the powder mixture, and heating and pressurizing the aluminium mould; then demoulding while the aluminium mould is still hot, curing and standing for cooling down to obtain the product. Compared with prior art, the method provided by the invention has the advantages that the heat resistance property of the polyimide-diamond combined grinding wheel is improved by 15-17%, the wear rate is reduced, and service life is prolonged.


We consider issues of equity in stochastic facility location models for healthcare applications. We explore how uncertainty exacerbates inequity and examine several equity measures that can be used for stochastic healthcare location modeling. We analyze the limited literature on this subject and highlight areas of opportunity for developing tractable, reliable, and data-driven approaches that might be applicable within and outside healthcare operations. Our primary focus is on exploring various ways to model uncertainty, equity, and facility location, including modeling aspects (e.g., tractability and accuracy) and outcomes (e.g., equity/fairness/access performance metrics vs. traditional metrics like cost and service levels).


Islamic inheritance in Counter Legal Draft of Islamic Law Compilation (CLD-KHI) is still an unfinished discussion. Legal reconstruction and contextualization in the modern era have made CLDK interesting to be raised to the surface. Reformulation of Islamic law in various legal constructs seems to be reviewed. This can be seen in several courts, even in jurisprudence that has provided opportunities for an inheritance to non-Muslims. This study is classified as a literature study, which focuses on legal epistemology based on Islamic inheritance in CLDK. This study found that religious differences as a barrier to the inheritance process have maqashid al-shariah in Islam and the value of justice and humanity. Correspondingly, critical and in-depth elaboration of the study of the epistemology of the inheritance law of different religions needs to continue to be developed towards a more comprehensive and constructive paradigm and renewal. Thus, the direction and purpose of Islamic law do not release the essential values that have become the spirit of Islam. This study implies that in the formation of human souls. They are able to portray themselves ideally as the caliph of Allah, on the face of the earth, which always has a sensitivity to every gap and structural and cultural injustice and to realize Islam as rahmatan li al-'alamin (mercy to the worlds). That needs to be realized in the nine priorities ( nawacita ) of inheritance law in the establishment of inheritance law in Indonesia. Keywords: Legal Epistemology, Inheritance with different religion, CLD-KHI.


The Oregon State University (OSU) High Temperature Test Facility (HTTF) is an integral experimental facility that will be constructed on the OSU campus in Corvallis, Oregon. The HTTF project was initiated, by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), on September 5, 2008 as Task 4 of the 5-year High Temperature Gas Reactor Cooperative Agreement via NRC Contract 04-08-138. Until August, 2010, when a DOE contract was initiated to fund additional capabilities for the HTTF project, all of the funding support for the HTTF was provided by the NRC via their cooperative agreement. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) began their involvement with the HTTF project in late 2009 via the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project. Because the NRC's interests in HTTF experiments were only centered on the depressurized conduction cooldown (DCC) scenario, NGNP involvement focused on expanding the experimental envelope of the HTTF to include steady-state operations and also the pressurized conduction cooldown (PCC).


In North America, Gremmeniella abietina, European race (GaEU), was reported in 1975. Our objec - tive was to follow the spread of GaEU on red pines growing on flat land and on slope. Annual height infection varied significantly on flat land, ranging from 60 to 110 cm in 1991 to 0 to 50 cm in 1992. On the slope, pines in the bottom were killed by the disease, but survived on the top. Favorable conditions follow a horizontal line about 10 m over the lower elevation and are probably related to fog or mist. The horizontal disease spread over a 3-year period was only 20 m and this is mainly explained by the absence of ascospores in North America.


The California History Center invites you to participate in the twelfth annual De Anza College Day of Remembrance. Join with Japanese American communities throughout the country who annually commemorate the date, February 19, 1942, during World War II on which an executive order was signed that led to the imprisonment of over 120,000 Japanese Americans without due process and with no regard for their constitutional rights. The community now uses this date to encourage active participation in defending the basic civil liberties of all Americans.


Statistical tolerance intervals for discrete distributions are widely employed for assessing the magnitude of discrete characteristics of interest in applications like quality control, environmental monitoring, and the validation of medical devices. For such data problems, characterizing extreme counts or outliers is also of considerable interest. These applications typically use traditional discrete distributions, like the Poisson, binomial, and negative binomial. The discrete Pareto distribution is an alternative yet flexible model for count data that are heavily right‐skewed. Our contribution is the development of statistical tolerance limits for the discrete Pareto distribution as a strategy for characterizing the extremeness of observed counts in the tail. We discuss the coverage probabilities of our procedure in the broader context of known coverage issues for statistical intervals for discrete distributions. We address this issue by applying a bootstrap calibration to the confidence level of the asymptotic confidence interval for the discrete Pareto distribution's parameter. We illustrate our procedure on a dataset involving cyst formation in mice kidneys.


This study was conducted to determine infection with nematode parasite Philometra sp. in gonads of Serranus cabrilla recorded in Izmir Gulf between October 2016 and July 2017. The overall prevalence was 14.46% and the mean intensity of infection 1.2 parasites per fish. The occurrence of philometrid infection on comber hosts was assessed according to several risk factors (fish length class, sex and season). Our findings suggest that the highest rates of parasite infection occur in larger sized fish, hermaphrodite individuals and during April month. The present report also revealed marked hyperemia was the major findings of infected gonads of S. cabrilla , where parasitic nematodes caused a marked inflammatory reaction at the histopathological examination. As far as we know, this paper represents the first mention of genus Philometra in S. cabrilla from Turkey and the first presence of philometrid parasites in Aegean coast of Turkey. Furthermore, the present work is the first record of the effects of Philometra sp. parasitism on a serranid species in Izmir Gulf.


Objectives
To investigate the efficacy of laparoscopic excision of urachal cyst.

Methods
Five patients with urachal cyst underwent laparoscopic excision from October 2011 to October 2015. The data and operation results were retrospectively analysed.

Results
All five operations had no serious immediate complications and minimal blood loss. One case with signs of peritonitis was converted to open operation. The average operation time was 108 min (60~150 min), the average blood loss was 37 mL(20~65 mL), the postoperative hospital stay and the mean recovery time of daily activities was 8 days and 2 weeks respectively. Four cases were confirmed urachal cyst by pathological examination, one case of biopsy showed granulomatous inflammation was considered to be tuberculosis. The case was healed after continuing anti-tuberculosis therapy for 6 months. All patients were followed up for 6 months to 1 year without gross hematuria, postoperative infection and recurrence and malignant change.

Conclusions
Laparoscopic excision of urachal cyst is safe and effective, which can be used as the preferred surgical treatment of urachal cyst. For the patient without vesico-urachal fistula, the excision of bladder cuff is not necessary.

Key words:
Urachal Cyst; Laparoscopes


Research Highlights: Protected natural areas are a reservoir of Phytophthora species and represent the most suitable sites to study their ecology, being less disturbed by human activities than other environments. Background and Objectives: The specific objective of this study was to correlate the diversity and distribution of Phytophthora species with the vegetation in aquatic, riparian and terrestrial habitats within a protected area in Eastern Sicily, Southern Italy. Materials and Methods: Environmental samples (water and soil) were sourced from two streams running through the reserve and six different types of vegetation, including Platano-Salicetum pedicellatae, the Sarcopoterium spinosum community, Myrto communis-Pistacietum lentisci, Pistacio-Quercetum ilicis,Oleo-Quercetum virgilianae and a gallery forest dominated by Nerium oleander (Natura 2000 classification of habitats). Phytophthora species were recovered from samples using leaf baiting and were classified on the basis of morphological characteristics and sequencing of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Results: As many as 11 Phytophthora species, within five different ITS clades, were identified, including P. asparagi, P. bilorbang, P. cryptogea, P. gonapodyides, P. lacustris, P. multivora, P. nicotianae, P. oleae, P. parvispora, P. plurivora and P. syringae. No Phytophthora species were found in the Sarcopoterium spinosum comm. Phytophthora asparagi, P. lacustris and P. plurivora were the prevalent species in the other five plant communities, but only P. plurivora was present in all of them. Overall aquatic species from clade 6 (100 out of 228 isolates) were the most common; they were recovered from all five types of vegetation, streams and riparian habitats. Phytophthora populations found in the Platano-Salicetum pedicellatae and Oleo-Quercetum virgilianae show the highest diversity, while no correlation was found with the physicochemical characteristics of the soil. Conclusions: The vegetation type and the aquatic or terrestrial habitat were identified as major environmental factors correlated with the diversity of Phytophthora communities in this reserve.


One of the most important components of childbearing population and among the topics of the field of social issues, because of the importance of demographic developments in Iran in the past four decades and childbearing influence of socio-economic factors, etc. Much attention has been focused on his. The main objective of this study sociological factors related to women's reproductive tend to be 49-15 years old Masjed Soleiman city. The research, survey and study population, including women Masjed Soleiman city of 52,129 people is that using a sample of 384 samples were selected. A questionnaire was used to measure the statistics for data analysis percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation and multivariate regression analysis were used. Between the variables of nationality, the religious, demographic factors and socio - economic wanting to get pregnant women there is a significant relationship. Stepwise multiple regression analysis also shows that social - fertility tend to have the greatest impact on economic. And the independent variables have been able, 45.62 percent variable changes tend to explain fertility


Direct current frequency conversion air source heat pump water heater was brought forward according to the discharges of ordinary fixed frequency air source heat pump water heater,such as it can not run in the condition of wide road and wide temperature.Rules such as heating capacity,power,COP,inlet-temperature and outlet-temperature of compressor varies with frequency of compressor are derived by experiment on the model machine.The results indicate that current frequency conversion air source heat pump water heater can run stably in the condition of wide load and wide temperature.


An enormous number of papers on high Tc superconductors have been reported since the discovery of Ba-La-Cu-O superconductor in 1986. It becomes difficult for many researchers to read out the papers related to their field. In this article we report the explanation of numerical database for high-Tc superconductors "SUPERCON" which has been constructed in NRIM. The crystal structures of high-Tc superconductors are classified using the common name used in many papers. The references are represented by a newly developed reference number. Numerical data on superconducting properties, Hall coefficient, thermal conductivity, thermoelectric power and specific heat are collected from the published papers. Metadata and the usage of "SUPERCON" are described.


EUTHANASIA Here is an uncomfortable word that in neonatal medicine we prefer not to use. We commonly use the term 'withdraw care'—a terrible thing to say when we actually mean moving from intensive to palliative care. While some of us commonly use the term 'palliative care', we all accept that discontinuing intensive therapy usually—but not always—leads relatively soon to death. We smooth the path of palliation with medication to alleviate suffering—but we don't kill, or at least we don't intend to do so. Probably. Now Cuttini et al have grasped the nettle of euthanasia as a legalised entity, and explored how medical and nursing attitudes vary across 10 European countries to this possibility. They found very large differences in attitudes between different countries, with the Netherlands and France being outliers in the direction of active euthanasia, while the UK sits much closer to those countries like Germany and Lithuania, where there seems little enthusiasm either for active euthanasia or for changes in the law. I don't know whether to regard their findings as positive or negative, reassuring or frightening, and maybe these rather emotive words are the wrong way to describe the data. What I am certain about is that any debate on euthanasia is inescapably emotive, and I am also sure that both the article itself, and the two commentaries on it, will stimulate a lot of electronic responses. However, some of the electronic responses will probably quote the well known lines from Clough's 'The Latest Decalogue', and since many people do not know the context of the lines, or appreciate the sardonic irony with which the poem was written, I reproduce it in full below. See page 19


Abstract An analysis is presented of a new correlation experiment where two self-focusing soft pulses are applied simultaneously to two coupled spins I and S. It is shown that for a certain pulse duration, antiphase dispersion-mode doublets are observed at both sites, although the corresponding single-excitation experiment displays only in-phase absorption. At longer pulse durations appreciable amounts of multiple-quantum coherence are created. Simulations of this behavior are presented in the form of magnetization trajectories during a pair of soft E-BURP-2 pulses, and these predictions are compared with experiments on heteronuclear two-spin systems. The effect (called "TSETSE") shows promise as a one-dimensional correlation experiment and as a practical method of determining scalar coupling constants. An application to the determination of long-range C-H couplings in brucine is reported.


A test structure combined with a ring oscillator, an inverter chain and an embedded monitor inverter, which allows accurate internal node access, is proposed. V/sub dd/ and well-bias dependence of gate delay and supply current measured by both ring oscillator and inverter chain scheme. V/sub T/ control method by well biasing, particularly to forward direction, is effective for high speed operation under low supply voltage. The new test structure can be utilized to evaluate optimum conditions for high-speed/low-power operations as well as high-reliability operations.


It is anticipated that in the case of mining of marine minerals, sea floor sediments will be brought up along with the mineral ores and discharged on she surface. These nutrient rich sediments would create a set of different physicochemical conditions at the point of discharge thus altering the regimes of productivity in the water column. In order to assess the effects of deep sea sediment discharge on the oceanic surface water-layers (0–50M) after nodule mining, a Sediment Dispersal Experiment (SEDEX) was conducted in Central Indian Basin (CIB). A total of 675 liters of slurry prepared from 225 kg of wet sediment (330 g · l−1) was discharged on the surface during the experiment. Water samples were collected before and after the discharge to monitor the changes in different environmental parameters. There was a general increase in bacterial abundance and primary producers along with suspended particulate matter. Migration of Zooplankton is artificially induced by the stimulatory effect of the sediment and high load of phytoplankton. An increase in diversity, both at the primary and secondary level is noticeable. Within the spatial and temporal frame of observation, waters become net-nitrifying. The influence of the dispersal is apparently more beneficial than harmful on the experimental scale. The results are interesting and warrant more intense effort with long-term observations to evolve predictive models.


This book brings together feminist academics and lawyers to present an impressive collection of alternative judgments in a series of Australian legal cases.


Since modes of the attribute of thought are ideas of the modes of all the other attributes in Spinoza, the scope of thought appears to be equal to that of all the other attributes combined. This suggests that thought is exceptional, and threatens to upset Spinoza's doctrine of parallelism, according to which thought is just one among an infinity of attributes each expressing the divine essence in its own unique way. After providing an overview of attempts to solve the problem of thought's scope in the literature, I outline two reasons why the problem is not the problem it has been taken to be: (1) quantitative comparisons have no place between attributes, and (2) with knowledge of only two attributes, it is impossible to speak of norms and anomalies. I also explain how my view undercuts debate about where Spinoza lies on the idealism–dualism–materialism spectrum, and refocuses attention on the identity of the order and connection of causes regardless of the attribute under consideration. There is a well-known and long-standing problem in Spinoza's metaphysics about the attribute of thought. It can be summarized as follows: according to Spinoza's doctrine of "parallelism" (the prime statements of which occur in Ethics 2p7, c, and s), the attribute of thought is one among an infinity of divine attributes each expressing the divine essence in its own unique way. But the attribute of thought's particular way of expressing the divine essence appears to consist in having ideas of how a mode is expressed in every other attribute. This seems to imply that, in at least one sense, the scope of the attribute of thought is equal to all the other attributes combined. Furthermore, it seems to imply that the attribute of thought is not merely infinite in its own kind, as is characteristic of attributes, but rather infinitely infinite, or even absolutely infinite, a characteristic exclusive to God, and thus indicating a parity between God and the attribute of thought, or, at least, a disparity between thought and the other attributes. Even worse, if thought is more like God than the other attributes, then it would seem that thought is a better expression of the divine essence, and thus, the other attributes express God's essence relatively poorly, and perhaps even only partially. In sum, the exceptional nature of thought threatens to upset the parallelism of the attributes—a doctrine central to Spinoza's system—and ultimately, to render the system incoherent. Journal of Philosophical Research, Volume 41 pp. 1–16 © 2016 Philosophy Documentation Center. ISSN: 1053-8364 doi: 10.5840/jpr201662766


Although regional planning has been common in the United States, implementation of these plans has often been challenging. This article discusses how a new interagency initiative may help give regional planning a boost. The Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities is implemented by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, but coordinated with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The program addresses two critical tasks in regional planning: defining the region and organizing it by common interests. Part of this initiative is a grant program to support more livable and sustainable communities. One grantee is the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium, which received $3.5 million in planning grants in 2011. The consortium is coordinating 16 interrelated projects in the region, many centered around the commuter rail network.


The experimental technique in the photocurrent-capacitance method of estimating minority diffusion lengths, as applied to CuInSe 2 -based photovoltaic cells, has been improved, principally by replacing the earlier chopped light and monochromator technique by one employing a steady strong stable light source and a long pass optical filter. The filter requires an absorption edge at an appropriate wavelength to provide the penetrating light at sufficient intensity, which has been found to be 1.1 μm for CuInSe 2 cells and 1.0 μ for Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 cells. In addition, the parallel capacitance is determined with reverse bias under the same illumination as that during the photocurrent measurements and at a suitable frequency, such as 10 kHz. With these changes, the technique has been found to be more tolerant to cell imperfections and reproducible estimates of diffusion length have been obtained on CuInSe 2 and Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 cells.


Four ethanol consuming microorganisms(GR13,GW13,GT17,and GY22) were isolated from the contaminated culture of genetically engineered Synechocystis sp.and were utilized to evaluate the effects of these microorganisms on the ethanol consuming capabilities and ethanol productions of Synechocystis sp.Based on the morphological characteristics and 16S rDNA and 26S rDNA gene sequence,the four strains were identified as Rhodotorula sp.,Meyerozyma sp.,Brevundimonas sp.,and Microbacterium sp.,respectively.We observed that strain GR13(Rhodotorula sp.) had the highest level of specific ethanol consumption rate [391 g/(1015 cfu?d)],followed by strain GW13(Meyerozyma sp.,[ 80.1 g/(1015 cfu?d)].While strains GT17(Brevundimonas sp.) and GY22(Microbacterium sp.) had much lower ethanol consumption rate.All four strains did not significantly affect the growth of Synechocystis sp.,however,they remarkably decreased the ethanol production of Synechocystis sp.The results of the co-culture experiment demonstrated that strains GR13,GW13,GT17,and GY22 diminished ethanol production of the genetically engineered Synechocystis sp.by 53.8%,23.6%,40.7% and 27.3%,respectively.


Cross sections for the displacement of lattice atoms by gamma rays for energies up to 5 Mev have been calculated. The principal contribution is found to come from the Compton effect, in which the atoms are displaced by electrons produced by the incident gamma rays. The calculations have been based on the assumption of a sharp threshold energy for displacement, but cross sections have been computed as a function of the assumed threshold energy. Thus, from the present work it is relatively easy to obtain cross sections based upon other displacement functions.


This article aims to shed light on the resolution of conflicts that arise as the result of disharmony in many aspects of life espesially the problem of diversity (heterogeneity), religiousity, as well as nationality (Nationalism) which infects not only in Indonesia but also in various parts of the world, which to this day has not yet found concrete and effective efforts to overcome them. As matter to the fact, these proplems will have a devastating impact on the existence of the humankind for the foreseeable future, directly or indirectly.In this context, the author wishes to offer an alternative solution on the attempt to solve such problems through the articulation of the teachings and practices of tasawuf kebninnekaan (sufism of diversity) which was once practiced by the nine prominent Sufi leaders of Indonesian archipelago (Hadratus Sheikh Hasyim Asy'ari, Sheikh Ihsan, K.H. Mukhtar Syafaat, K.H. Abdul Hamid, K.H. Hamim Djazuli, K.H. Achmad Siddiq, K.H. Abdurrahman Wahid, K.H. Husaini Ilyas, and K.H. Sholeh Bahrudin) in unraveling the tangled yarn of diversity, religiousity, and nationality. The approach used in this study is historicalsociological; data analysis using analytical and descriptive method. The conclusion of this article is that the teachings, practices, and experiences of the nine Sufi of the archipelago which have ever beenpracticed in the matter of diversity, religiousity, and nationality can inspire and implicate the formation of the character of the Indonesian nation towards a fair, prosperous and civilized nation, and to remain accept and love NKRI, Pancasila ideology, 1945 Constitution, and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika ideology. As well as reject all ideology which oppose it.


Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA) cause 5,900 deaths in the United States each year. Surgical intervention is clinically studied by non-invasive techniques such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. However, three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging has become an inexpensive alternative and useful tool to characterize aneurysms, allowing for reconstruction of the vessel, quantification of wall stress through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, and possible prediction of aortic expansion and rupture. However, current analysis techniques for these images require the use of multiple software for either modeling or simulation, prompting the need for alternatives to improve data processing. This study monitors the development of AAAs in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice infused with Angiotensin II using 3D ultrasound imaging with the purpose of evaluating the accuracy of SimVascular a semi-automated specialized open source simulation software, for image reconstruction. The total volume to length ratio of the suprarenal aorta was obtained for 7 mice and compared to software that allows only segmentation and volume quantification (VevoLAB; FUJIFILM VisualSonics). We found that the volume per length measurements obtained with SimVascular (1.58 ± 1.17 mm2) were not significantly different from those obtained by VevoLAB (1.56 ± 1.14 mm2, p=0.47). In conclusion, SimVascular is an optimal tool for reconstructing vessel geometries from 3D ultrasound data due to its robust accuracy, efficiency, and semiautomatic computational processing capabilities used for modeling that will allow for future CFD simulation.


This randomized trial compared the first online parent training program for an evidence-supported executive function intervention for autism to in-person parent training with the same dose and content. Parents of autistic children (8–12 years-old; Full Scale IQ above 70) were randomized to in-person (n = 51) or online (n = 46) training. Training acceptability and feasibility were rated highly by parents, without significant differences between groups. The completion rate was lower for parents in the online versus the in-person training condition, but neither the total time spent with training materials, nor parent and child outcomes differed by condition. Parents reported that training resulted in a reduction in caregiver strain (Cohen's d = 0.66) and modest improvements in child flexibility, emotional control and global EF, but not planning and organization. Dose of parent training had a significant positive effect on child planning and organization problems. These findings did not support the hypothesized superiority of online to in-person training, but they did indicate online is as effective as in-person training at helping parents learn to improve their autistic children's EF abilities and reduce their own experience of parenting strain. Implications included increased access to training for parents who experience barriers to receiving in-person care. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02708069 Lay Abstract This study compared the first online parent training program for executive function intervention for autism to in-person parent training on the same content. Participants were parents of autistic children, who were between 8 and 12 years of age and did not have intellectual disability. Parents were randomized to the in-person (n = 51) or online (n = 46) training conditions. Both trainings were developed with stakeholder (parents and autistic people) guidance. In this trial, most parents reported that they liked both trainings and that they were able to implement what they learned with their children. Parents in both groups spent equivalent amounts of time (about 8 hours) with the training materials, but while 94% of parents in the in-person training attended both parent trainings, only 59% of parents in the online group completed all 10 online modules. Parents reported that it was difficult to stay motivated to complete the online trainings over the 10-week trial. Parent and child outcomes did not differ significantly between the groups. Overall, parents reported that the trainings resulted in a reduction in their own parenting strain and improvements in their child's flexibility, emotional control, and global executive function, but not planning and organization. These findings indicated brief in-person and online training can help parents learn to support and improve their autistic children's executive function abilities, reducing their own experience of parenting strain. The finding that the online training was equivalent to the in-person trainings is important because it is accessible to parents who encounter barriers to in-person care.


This paper presents a review of recent modelling work by the author and his group devoted to a study of the solidification and melting of a weak binary alloy in a Bridgman furnace. The work has been undertaken in connection with the MEPHISTO-4 program, which is a study of the solidification and melting of an alloy of bismuth with 1 at% tin in a microgravity environment. The enthalpy method is used. The effects of thermal and solutal convection and (in some of the results presented) of the dependence of melting temperature on solute concentration are included. Two approaches are being employed. In the first, the primitive variable equations are solved by a finite volume discretization, using a commercial flow code CFX 4.1. In the second, a finite difference/finite volume discretization of the vorticity-stream function formulation of the equations is solved by an in-house code SOLCON (from SOLidification and CONvection). Validation of the codes has been obtained by a comparison of CFX calculations with an experiment in earth gravity using the material succinonitrile, and by comparison of SOLCON with CFX.


Kajkavian literature of the pre-Illyrian movement was often seen as a less valuable segment of national literature and for that reason was already placed in a peripheral literary phenomenon. That literature often was underestimated because of religious character, utilitarianism and didactics. In the 20th century, when the dialectical literature emerged, Kajkavian literature was recognised as equal in Croatian literature. The main purpose of the paper is the analysis of peripheral literary characters who were appearing in the Enlightenment period in Kajkavian literature at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. In that period secular topics were included in the Kajkavian literature and reached its culmination, especially in the drama. The paper will explore which literature types are represented by these literary characters and which civic values they represent. The analysis will cover several titles from the secular Kajkavian prose and drama from the late 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, a work entitled Adolf iliti kakvi su ljudi by Jakob Lovrenčić and Kajkavian drama adaptations performed on the stage of the school theatre at Kaptol Roman-Catholic Preparatory. The Illyrian movement forcefully and deliberately stopped Kajkavian literary production. Immediately after the Illyrian movement Kajkavian language was used to characterize a type of literary character whose purpose was mocking and creating a comic effect. The work will explore at which moment the literary characters of Kajkavian peripheries become inspirational to Croatian writers as representatives of a certain milieu and worldview. Particularly interesting will be the analysis of literary characters from the collection of stories Croatian God Mars by Miroslav Krleža and the paper will answer the question on the universal values of the literary characters of Kajkavian periphery and their purpose in the national literature.


These are the opening lines of a short, three-page text called the "Melian Dialogue," adapted by Suresht Bald of Willamette University from Thucydides' great classical epic, The Peloponnesian War.1 The text goes on to describe the plight of the inhabitants of the tiny island of Melos, an independent city-state for 700 years until caught in the crossfire of the fifth century B.C. struggle between Athens and Sparta. The text contains Thucydides' reconstructions of the actual dialogue between the two parties, in which the disadvantaged Melians make a case to remain neutral in the conflict, appealing to "what is our common protection, the privilege of being allowed in danger to invoke what is fair and right." The Melians point out that one day the Athenians might need to make such an appeal to a more powerful party themselves. The Athenian answer draws on an early version of realpolitik: For them to withdraw would be a sign of weakness, and "As far as right goes ... one has as much of it as the other, and if any maintain their independence it is because they are strong, and that if we do not molest them it is because we are afraid." When the Melians insist they have the right to remain neutral, the Athenians reply:


One approach to improve the affinity of anionic dyes for cotton is to add cationic dye sites to the fibre. The dyeing behaviour of cotton that had been rendered cationic by reaction with 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride was examined. Dye yields and fastness properties are reported for a number of direct, reactive and acid dyes with the modified fibre. Excellent dye yields and colour fastness properties were obtained without the use of electrolytes, multiple rinsings or fixation agents which are normally employed in cotton dyeing.


Abstract B4H10 reacts with mercaptans by splitting off H2 to form H2B(μ2-SR)2B3H6 III. An unstable adduct B4H10 RSH I was identified as a precursor of III. The 11B NMR spectra of III showed that the B1,3 signals coalesce at 70°C indicating a rapid inversion. On cooling however, the exo-exo, endo-endo and exoendo invertomers were detected.


Communication is something important within a group or organization, since it is used to control, motivation, emotional expression and information, both internal processes through the integration of employees, such as the improvement of the working environment. Thus, this research aimed to analyze the process of communication in secretarial positions and their implications on the internal environment of a company located in the city of Piracicaba-SP. To collect the data in the study, a semi-structured questionnaire was used in the study sample Before the results could be noted that the communication does not always happen in a clear and objective manner, due to locks and barriers present in the information transmission process which generates a degree of disatisfaction in employees committing interpersonal relationships and organizational productivity. Concluding that there is need to implement appropriate channels so that information veicule clear, transparent and facilitates the processes of development of work activities and interpersonal relationships form.


Acute renal failure (ARF) is a fatal disease and attributed to many reasons including sepsis; septic ARF is characterized by high mortality rate; nevertheless, an efficient therapy for improving septic ARF remains unavailable. Excessive tumor necrosis factor-alpha and apoptosis play pathogenic roles in endotoxemia-induced ARF. A lot of studies have shown that glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3) promotes inflammation such as TNF-alpha release and enhances apoptosis. Since GSK-3 plays an emergency role in inflammation and apoptosis, we hypothesize that inhibiting GSK-3 may improve septic ARF. By histology and serology analyses, GSK-3 inhibitors inhibited renal tubular dilatation, vacuolization and sloughing and caused down-regulation in blood urea nitrogen in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated C3H/HeN mice. ELISA analysis further showed that inhibiting GSK-3 decreased systemic TNF-alpha and regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted but increased anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 (IL-10) in LPS-treated mice and murine kidney cortical collecting duct epithelial M1 cells. Further in vitro studies demonstrated that LPS-induced NF-kappaB nuclear translocation was blocked by GSK-3 inhibition. Additionally, inhibiting GSK-3 efficiently decreased TNF-alpha-induced inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in rat kidney proximal tubular epithelial NRK52E cells. Thus, the inflammatory activation of LPS and TNF-alpha is GSK-3-dependent. Notably, treating mice with GSK-3 inhibitor showed a decrease in LPS-induced renal cell apoptosis in vivo. We further demonstrated that TNF-alpha but not LPS, caused cytotoxicity in NRK52E cells time- and dose-dependently. However, inhibiting GSK-3 slightly decreased TNF-alpha-induced cell apoptosis. Taken together, these results suggest that inhibiting GSK-3 confers anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis reactions to prevent septic ARF mainly by down-regulating LPS-induced TNF-alpha.


abstract: this paper argues that two factors of the situation being modeled are critically important in predicting potential coalition formation and payoff distribution. these factors are: (1) whether coalitions form from the self-interest of their players or are pre-specified by the situation (this determines the appropriate choice of feasible space) and (2) the nature of bargaining which can be expected in the given situation (this determines the appropriate choice of solution concept on the given feasible space).;


In this paper, we describe our submission to the BabyLM Challenge 2023 shared task on data-efficient language model (LM) pretraining (Warstadt et al., 2023). We train transformer-based masked language models that incorporate unsupervised predictions about hierarchical sentence structure into the model architecture. Concretely, we use the Structformer architecture (Shen et al., 2021) and variants thereof. StructFormer models have been shown to perform well on unsupervised syntactic induction based on limited pretraining data, and to yield performance improvements over a vanilla transformer architecture (Shen et al., 2021). Evaluation of our models on 39 tasks provided by the BabyLM challenge shows promising improvements of models that integrate a hierarchical bias into the architecture at some particular tasks, even though they fail to consistently outperform the RoBERTa baseline model provided by the shared task organizers on all tasks.


This paper seeks to offer guidance to the Chicago City Council and awareness to other communities with regards to the constitutionality and harmful effects of the current Chicago Municipal Code Chapter 8-20. While this paper argues in support of gun control legislation, it questions whether current legislation effectuates its public goals, and attempts to shed light on its irrational consequences. This article will argue that while the current Chicago Municipal Code, Chapter 8-20, is facially neutral, it contains provsions that are unreasonable and unnecessary in effectuating its goals while maintaining white privilege and control. Further, the implimentation and effects of the Code infringe upon citizens' fundamental right to bear arms, and result in various forms of discrimination to Chicagoans on the basis of race, class, and gender. For these reasons, the Chicago City Council should reform the language of the Code and impliment additional strategies, programs, and community services so not to infringe upon the fundamental right to bear arms and minimize the ensuing gender, racial, and class discrimination created by Chicago Municipal Code, Chapter 8-20.


Noise in 3D computer tomography (CT) images is close to white and becomes large when patient radiation doses are reduced. We propose two methods for noise reduction in CT images: 3D extension of fast rank algorithms (Rank-2.5D) and 3D extension of a non-local means algorithm (NLM-2.5D). We call both our algorithms "2.5D" because the 3-dimensional NLM algorithm is slightly asymmetric by slice axes, while our Rank algorithms, being fully symmetric mathematically and by results, have some implementation asymmetry. A comparison of the methods is presented. It is shown that NLM-2.5D method has the best quality, but is very computationally expensive: its complexity quickly rises as a function of the neighborhood size, while Rank-2.5D only shows a linear growth. Artificial test sequences are used for signal-to-noise performance measurements, while real CT scans are used for visual assessment of results.


The paper describes the design of a uniplanar 180° hybrid with an ultra wideband (UWB) performance. The device uses a single substrate and all its four ports are of microstripline type. Its construction is accomplished by first designing separately the out-of-phase and in-phase dividers. To merge the two devices into the hybrid, the input port of the in-phase power divider is split into two lines to overpass a ground slot in the out-of-phase divider. The proposed design strategy results in the 180° hybrid exhibiting a well-balanced power division between the output ports and good quality return losses of the out-of-phase (difference) and in-phase (summation) ports across the band from 3 to 11GHz. The isolation between the difference and signal ports is excellent and the differential phase shift is also close to the ideal case of 180º and 0º across this band.


Objective: To assess the use of irrigation fluid containers with visible fluid level tubes for TURP (transurethral resection of prostate gland). Design: Prospective, descriptive study Materials and methods: The irrigation fluid container with a visible fluid level tube for TURP was used in TURP procedures. Data were analysed from questionnaires completed by operation nurses regarding the convenience and satisfaction with the use of the irrigation fluid container. Results: All the questionnaire answers showed a good response in convenience and satisfaction with the use of the irrigation fluid container with a visible fluid level tube for TURP. Conclusion: The irrigation fluid container with a visible fluid level tube was found to be convenient and provided satisfaction for operative nurses managing TURP procedure. It is economic, is easy to produce and appropriate for general hospital use.


Field data from 83 environmental monitoring stations across Labrador, 17 with permafrost, were used to analyze the interrelationships of key variables considered in the temperature at the top of permafrost model. Snow depth, not mean annual air temperature, was the strongest climatic determinant of mean temperatures at the ground surface and at the base of the annual freeze–thaw layer, and its variability was most closely related to land cover class. A critical late‐winter snow depth of 70 cm or more was inferred to be sufficient to prevent the formation of permafrost at the monitoring sites, which meant that permafrost was absent beneath forest but present in some tundra, peatland and bedrock locations. Analyses showed no statistically significant relations identified between topographic indices and various station parameters, challenging their utility for regional modeling. Testing of several different land cover datasets for model parameterization gave errors in ground surface temperature ranging from ± 0.9 to 2.1°C. These results highlight the importance of local field data and emphasize the necessity of high‐quality national‐scale land cover datasets suitable for permafrost modeling.


We determined the compressional velocity of hcp‐Fe using high‐resolution inelastic X‐ray scattering combined with in situ X‐ray powder diffraction: Our measurements extend up to 174 GPa at room temperature, to 88 GPa at 700 K, and to 61.5 GPa at 1000 K. Our data, including those obtained at high temperature, are well described by a linear relation to density, extending the range of verification of Birch's law and suggesting only small temperature dependence up to 1000 K. This result, once compared to the preliminary reference Earth model seismologically based model, indicates that there is either a strong temperature effect on Birch's law above 1000 K or the composition of the core is rather different than expected, containing, e.g., heavy impurities. Noting that both recent theoretical calculations and shock wave velocity measurements are consistent with modification of Birch's law at high temperature, we favor the former explanation.


Modern heating system consisting of air based transcritical heat pump and domestic hot water storage tank is considered in the low energy building designed to be located in Oslo. However, the system optimization has to be performed for the passive house, thus the house has to be retrofitted. Furthermore, due to the lack of files containing the building project and analyzed heating system designed previously in EnergyPlus, they have to be first designed again and only afterwards heating and cooling system (created separately from the beginning, because there was no cooling system designed for low energy building) can be optimized. After evaluation of various simulation tools, IDA ICE is assumed as the program for creation of desired passive building and hot storage tank 108 , while Dymola with TIL library package and DaVE extension is utilized for the heat pump design. Heat source of the heat pump (working with CO2 as refrigerant) is finally modified from air into ground and optimization of the heat pump is performed using Dymola, while the cooling system and DHW 109 storage tank are optimized in IDA ICE.


To improve the efficiency, accuracy, and intelligence of target detection and recognition, multi-sensor information fusion technology has broad application prospects in many aspects. Compared with single sensor, multi-sensor data contains more target information and effective fusion of multi-source information can improve the accuracy of target recognition. However, the recognition capabilities of different sensors are different during target recognition, and the complementarity between sensors needs to be analyzed during information fusion. This paper proposes a multi-sensor fusion recognition method based on complementarity analysis and neutrosophic set. The proposed method mainly has two parts: complementarity analysis and data fusion. Complementarity analysis applies the trained multi-sensor to extract the features of the verification set into the sensor, and obtain the recognition result of the verification set. Based on recognition result, the multi-sensor complementarity vector is obtained. Then the sensor output the recognition probability and the complementarity vector are used to generate multiple neutrosophic sets. Next, the generated neutrosophic sets are merged within the group through the simplified neutrosophic weighted average (SNWA) operator. Finally, the neutrosophic set is converted into crisp number, and the maximum value is the recognition result. The practicality and effectiveness of the proposed method in this paper are demonstrated through examples.


In the present paper, the influences of nitriding on the fatigue strength and the fracture mechanism of maraging steel were investigated under rotating bending. Nitridings were carried out at 753K and 843K for 1h. The fatigue strength was increased by nitriding due to hardening and formation of compressive residual stress in the surface layer. However, the increase in fatigue strength and the fracture mechanism were markedly influenced by nitriding temperature. That is, the fatigue strength was markedly increased in the specimen nitrided at 753K, and the increase in fatigue strength was very small in the specimen nitrided at 843K. Moreover, fracturing of the specimens nitrided at 753K occurred from internal inclusions in the long life region, though the surface fracture occurred in the short life region of the specimens nitrided at 753K and in the whole life region of the specimens nitrided at 843K. Consequently, S-N curve in the specimen nitrided at 753K showed a two-step shape. These results were discussed from viewpoints of hardening and brittleness due to nitriding. Introduction Recently, applications of high strength metals have been increasing, because service conditions of machines and structures have become sever and sever. Maraging steel is an ultra-high strength steel which has both high strength and high ductility [1,2]. However, fatigue strength is relatively low in comparison with the high static strength. This is mainly caused by its high notch sensitivity [3]. Therefore, many studies on improvement of fatigue strength of this steel have been carried out from the points of view of controlling the microstructure and surface modification [4-8]. For example, nitriding is an effective treatment for wear, corrosion and fatigue, however, the effect of nitriding on the fatigue strength is different depending on the nitriding condition, material, stress level and so on [9-11]. On the other hand, in high strength steels and surface modified steels, fracture mechanism changes from surface fracture to internal fracture with the decrease in stress level in super long fatigue region and the presence of fatigue limit for internal fracture is not clarified [12-14]. In the present study, rotating bending fatigue tests were carried out for maraging steels nitrided at different temperatures in order to investigate the influence of nitriding condition on the fatigue strength. Material and Experimental Procedures Material used was a 300 grade maraging steel whose chemical composition in mass percent was 0.005C, 0.03Si, 0.04Mn, 0.002S, 18.69Ni, 4.89Mo, 8.92Co, 0.10Al, 0.91Ti and remainder Fe. Specimens were machined after solution treatment of 1093K for 1h. Figure 1 shows the shape and dimensions of specimen. Prior to aging or nitriding, all the specimens were electro-polished about 20 m from the surface layer to remove the scratch and work-hardened layer. Aging was carried out for 2h at 753K or 843K to achieve the maximum strengths in both of tensile and fatigue or form the reversion austenite [6], Key Engineering Materials Online: 2003-10-15 ISSN: 1662-9795, Vols. 251-252, pp 33-40 doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.251-252.33 © 2003 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Trans Tech Publications Ltd, www.scientific.net. (Semanticscholar.org-13/03/20,20:05:39) respectively. Radical nitriding [15] was performed by heating the specimens at 753K or 843K for 1h in H2 gas and then nitriding at the same temperature for 1h in NH3 gas followed by furnace cooling. (a) For tensile test (b) For fatigue test Fig.1 Shape and dimensions of specimen These nitriding conditions were selected to correspond with aging conditions having the same hardness at the core of material, because the materials were aged simultaneously with nitriding. These materials were noted as 480-A, 570-A, 480-N and 570-N corresponding to their temperature and atmosphere of the heat treatments, hereinafter. Figure 2 shows microstructures of nitrided specimens. Diffusion layer and compound layer are confirmed in both specimens and these depths are larger in 570-N than in 480-N. (a) 480-N (b) 570-N Fig.2 Microstructures Measurements of hardness and residual stress were performed using Vickers hardness tester and X ray diffract-meter, respectively. Fatigue tests were carried out at room temperature using the Ono type rotating bending fatigue testing machine with capacity of 15 Nm operating at 50Hz. Experimental Results and Discussion Figures 3 and 4 show distributions of hardness and residual stress in the nitrided specimens. The hardening and the formation of compressive residual stress are observed in the surface layer. The marked hardening of the surface is observed in both specimens because of the formation of compound layer. The compounds were identified as Fe2.5-N and Fe3-NiN by X ray diffract-meter [16]. The depth of affected layer, case depth, are about 60 m in 480-N and about 100 m in 570-N, respectively. However the difference in the distributions of hardness and residual stress is not so large between 480-N and 570-N, 34 Advances in Fracture and Damage Mechanics III


Treatment of Bacillus cereus T spores with trichloroacetic acid delayed their germination. The extent of retardation depended on the concentration of trichloroacetic acid, and the temperature, pH and duration of treatment. The effect was completely reversed by subsequent heating, and this restoration of germination also depended on the temperature and duration of heat treatment. Fourteen compounds were examined for their ability to suppress germination of spores. The halogenated fatty acids tested, such as trifluoro‐, tribromo‐, and dichloroacetic acid, caused suppression of germination, whereas other compounds, i.e., free fatty acids and amino acids, did not. It is concluded that the charge distribution of fatty acid molecules is important for their effect in suppressing germination of spores.


Does the relationship between the Arab Gulf and Africa hold the promise of greatly enhanced and mutually beneficial trade and investment? Can increased collaboration between the two regions increase the economic and political power and influence of each? Are there lessons to be learned from the comparative development of the two regions? This paper and the papers in this volume will present the case that in many instances the answers to the above questions are in the affirmative.


The mutual coupling correction factor is used in ANSI C63.4-1991 site attenuation procedures to correct the antenna factors of resonant dipoles at a distance of three meters and arrive at values of measured normalized site attenuation. The correction factor accounts for nonlinearities of attenuation versus distance for resonant dipoles in close proximity. A derivation of the correction factor is given here in which it is shown that the factor is composed of effects due to mutual impedance, changes in aperture, and changes in effective height. The insights gained from this derivation lead to improved methods of deterniining resonant dipole antenna factors through the elimination of two approximations which are used in the present ANSI C63.5-1988 procedures.


An Inconvenient Truth has inspired a wave of public concern about global warming. The film's environmental rhetoric invokes a millennial apocalypticism inherited from canonical works like Silent Spring. However, Truth moderates its apocalyptic tendencies with scientific rationalism and constructions of audience agency. In so doing, Truth offers a tempered apocalypticism that embraces the affect of a more fiery tradition while maintaining an authoritative voice, thereby appealing to a broader audience. Truth makes clear that there can be no singular environmental rhetoric, but a mixture of rhetorics that mirrors the contentious climate of environmental politics.


Sufism teaching of Naqshbandi Order had the evolution of three times from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century in Central Asia.The Order offered the teaching which connected the religious action with the political action through the evolution of three times.It provided an excuse for Naqshandi Order to interfere in the military affairs and the political affairs of the Central Asian countries. And then it had the positive and the negative effect on Central Asia as well as the areas around.


The China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over the years has developed a rapid surveillance system that covers chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD), injuries and other areas. The system has expanded to 605 disease surveillance data collection points (locations) throughout China, covering 24.3% of the national population of China. This presentation focuses on the development of the NCD and risk factor component of the surveillance system. This NCD experience will be useful for looking into similar ways for development of a communicable disease surveillance system for other countries.


Bilingual education is the key project of the Ministry of Education and the universities. The international business curriculum is the first bilingual teaching course in universities. Through my experience as a visiting-scholar of international business in Washing State University, I have some new ideas to bilingual teaching model reform of international business. KEYWORD: bilingual teaching; teaching model; teaching effectiveness International Conference on Social Science, Education Management and Sports Education (SSEMSE 2015) © 2015. The authors Published by Atlantis Press 2099 2.2.2 The discussion stage between teachers and students Students' performance is over, the teacher and the students begin discussion. Professor Jerman chooses the case of company selected by the students to begin his explanation, and teach the knowledge points, while showing the slides. Students raise their hands at any time to interrupt the teacher's lecture and ask all kinds of questions. The teacher will also ask students questions, the students compete to answer. Meanwhile the professor writes down some key points on the blackboard from time to time in order to emphasize. In such a question and answer process, the students will not feel bored and tired, but have high interest and high gains. 2.2.3 After class communication Professor Jerman, communicates with his students after class for each course he teaches. He gives a specified time to allow his students to go to his office to communicate with him. The teacher will know how about the students' learning and the students will benefit from it. 2.3 Practical teaching contents The teaching contents are all specific cases, but not separated from the knowledge points of textbooks. Textbooks that the students use are adapted by Professor Jerman. The adaptation is around some specific cases of company to discuss and explain knowledge points. The cases in the presentations and papers done by the students are all collected by themselves before classes. While they must complete the wonderful PPT, including pictures and sound in it, to express perfectly the company's business. This teaching content make students not only know the professional knowledge points but also know how to use them. 3 THE BILINGUAL TEACHING REFORM IDEAS OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS From my experience and inspiration as a visitingscholar of international business class in Washington State University, I have some bilingual teaching reform ideas as follows. 3.1 Determination of international business bilingual materials To have a feasible new model of bilingual teaching, first of all we should select the appropriate bilingual materials. English originally textbooks are very expensive, such as the textbook of international management in Washington State University, is up to $150, equivalent to nearly RMB1000, far beyond the students' ability to pay. Professor Jerman Rose adapted the original textbook to make it more suitable for their students both in contents and in price, which received a warm reception with students. Our bilingual teaching materials for international business course can be taken a similar approach. First, purchase of English original textbook of international business. Then, according to the specific circumstances of the university students, make the adaptation of teaching textbook. When adapting the bilingual materials, we should note two points: one is the language should be English; the other is the content is sure to attract the readers, to break the rules of the original Chinese language materials. International business course teach many theories including international trade theory and international finance theory, to permeate these theories into the development and management of multinational enterprises and big companies, such as selecting large companies more concerned by people: Nokia, SUMSUNG, P&G, Wal-mart, Google, Baidu and so on. This will not only facilitate teachers teaching of specific cases, but also help students have good topics to discuss. Determination model of bilingual materialssee Figure 1 as follows. Figure 1: Determination model of bilingual materials Purchase of English original textbooks adaptation of suitable bilingual teaching materials language: English content: cases of large firms


The rapid development of global technology makes massive technological opportunity.Enterprises must identify and seize the possible technical development opportunity,and improve the enterprise's technological innovation capacity and international competitiveness.In this paper,we make an MDS-based technology opportunity analysis method on the basis of analyzing the association model and multidimensional scaling,in order to discriminate this field of deep-seated structural, which as a kind of technical analysis is fundamental to of technology opportunity analysis.


Female roe deer tend to live in mixed-sex groups in winter but in solitary manner on reduced home ranges in spring. This tendency is commonly related in the literature to the rearing of hiding fawns. We studied the socio-spatial relationships between six female roe deer, introduced at 1 year of age into a partly wooded 14.2-ha enclosure. Animals were monitored with GPS telemetry collars for a period of 3 years, a male being added at the end of the 2nd year. Females did not share large overlapping home ranges. In the absence of any male and offspring, they spread out in May–June (birthing season) and in July-August (rutting season). During these seasons, the size and overlap of their home ranges were minimal, while the mean distance between the arithmetic centres of their respective locations reached its maximum value and was greater than expected under the hypothesis that the females positioned their ranges independently of one another. Related females were not preferentially associated beyond 2 years of age. Moreover, the introduction of a male affected this spatial organisation only slightly. Overall, the socio-spatial organisation of female roe deer appears to be almost independent of their reproductive status, and very similar to that of males, as is the case in a number of other small-bodied ruminants.


expressing his view about the problem of Kosovo. Furthermore, there are articles about poets, followers of Jovan Dučić in the refugee camp Eboli, necrologies about friends, and Alexander Petrov's article about Matejić's book of poems—Hilandarski rukopis. The book is joined by a complete bibliography of Matejić's writings. It is not easy to single out essays in this book, but a few of them deserve to be underscored. In the introductory article the author states that besides bodily lepers there are also spiritual ones. No matter how difficult bodily leprosy can be, the spiritual can be even more difficult. Let the Lord heal some spiritual lepers, because through their cure this world, infected by spiritual leprosy, would be much more beautiful and happy. In the article about Serbian Orthodoxy, Matejić examines in detail the history of the Serbs in America and their relationship toward the church. He prays that we and our descendants will preserve the religion of our ancestors. Calling Hilandar our priceless heritage, Matejić reminds us that the Serbs have preserved it for eight centuries. The situation in Kosovo is similar, according to Matejić. He calls the volunteers in the struggle against the communists in World War II the crossbearers. The youth born in America will read in this book about their heritage and about the suffering of a brave and proud people. Even though Down the Stream of the River of Life represents only a small part of Matejić's entire work, it offers a testament to his contribution to Serbian culture, in addition to his work in church life including the building of three churches in America and his other work, that no historian should ignore.


I. The Presenting Patient: Ocular Symptoms and Signs II. The Ophthalmic Examination III. Refractive Errors IV. Ocular Trauma V. Diseases of the Lacrimal and Orbital System VI. Eyelid and Eyelid Skin Diseases VII. Cornea and External Disease VIII. Intraocular Inflammatory Diseases IX. Cataract and Lens Disorders X. Glaucoma XI. Diseases of the Retina and Vitreous XII. Intraocular Tumors XIII. Neuro-ophthalmological Diseases XIV. Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus XV. Common Medical Conditions: Current Concepts in Diagnosis and Management XVI. Practice Management XVII. Risk Management XVIII. Managed Care Contracting XIX. Total Quality Management


As one of the most representative theorem-proving techniques used to analyze eryptographic protocols,the strand space theory has been successfully applied to verify a plenty of typical cryptographic protocols.Furthermore the proposition of the two concepts of honest and ideal simplifies the process of verification of some kind of cryptographic protocols.For the first time, based on the theory of strand space, the Lowes modified version of Yahalom protocol was analysed from the aspects of both confidentiality and authentication.The analysis proved the correctness of the protocol.


The rapid development and commercial achievements in new technologies have exerted significant impacts on social living,producing mode,economic system and international business relationship of 20st century.Meanwhile,trade conflicts or revenges temporarily break out,and cause inflexible circumstances. Therefore,the establishment of Trips turns out to be a crucial point. Trips,as a highly restrictive and demanding protocol,has not only promoted further development of world intellectual property system,but also generates more resources into scientific researchs and their industrial and been of advantage to technological advancement.


Machado A.S.D., Le Bas A., Miglino M.A., Leiser R. & Papa P.C. 2012. Genital morphology of the male South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) and biological implications. Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira 32(Supl.1):67-78. Setor de Anatomia do Departamento de Cirurgia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Dr. Orlando Marques de Paiva 87, São Paulo, SP 05508-270, Brazil. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Male capacity for spreading genes to a great number of descendents and to determine population dynamics depend directly on the genital organs. Morphological studies in pinnipeds are scarce and the functional meaning of some characteristics has never been discussed. We hypothesized that Arctocephalus australis (A. australis) shows morphophysiological adaptations in order to guarantee the perpetuation of the species in the unique annual mating season. Seven males, dead from natural causes, had their genital organs collected and fixed for morphological description. Some features differ from other described mammalian males and are closely related to the biology and reproductive cycle of this species, as the scrotal epidermis, absence of glandular portion in the ductus deferens and spermatogenic epithelium suggest a recrudescent testis period. The corona glandis exhibits a singular arrangement: its erectile border looks like a formation of petals and its association with the os penis gives a "lily-flower" form to this region. We propose the name margo petaliformis to this particular erectile border of the corona glandis because of its similarity to a flower corola. The male genital organs of A. australis show morphological features compatible with adaptation to environment requirements and reproductive efficiency.


We give examples of how mathematical modelling is used to model processes in sport. We start by giving a general overview of areas currently employing mathematical tools to analyze the processes involved. We then go onto look in more detail at the use of mathematics to model the physiological response to exercise. It should also be noted that this area is not only fundamental to the science of technique and training methodology in sport but are also fundamental areas of medicine. As a result improvements in the mathematical analysis of such problems will have far reaching benefits.


This paper reports on undocumented Korean data, dubbed as KE compounds and analyzes the structure thereof syntactically by alluding to detailed nominal structure and previous (re)analyses of compounding in the syntax, especially addressing the debate between Lexicalism and Anti-lexicalism. Korean KE compounds cannot be analyzed as typical CPs, despite surficial similarities, and they require an analysis with finer nominal structure and compounding in the syntax. Therefore, Korean KE compounding advocates the idea of finer nominal structure and syntactic operations substituting for lexical processes. The paper goes as follows. Firstly, I will outline the ongoing question in linguistic architecture around the lexicon, by addressing the major points and analysis on compounding that Lexicalism and Anti-lexicalism provide, respectively. Secondly, I will report Korean KE compounds data and show how they differ from typical Korean CP constructions. Lastly, I will analyze Korean KE compounding using finer nominal structure and the ideas of forming compounds using syntactic operations. That is, Korean KE compounding is an AspP-to-nP nominalization.


Recently a new process known as the magnetic fluid grinding has been developed, which can remove material from the surface of ceramic balls by fifty to one hundred times more rapidly than the conventional lapping process. In this study, the ceramic balls with various compositions are made and ground by using the magnetic fluid grinding technique with various machining parameters. In order to make well-round shaped balls by using the magnetic fluid grinding technique, the fundamental research to find out the machining factors has been carried out. Developing an equipment with higher efficiency and reliability in the machining could certainly lead to the higher productivity with excellent quality of ceramic balls.


Homocysteine is metabolically linked to methylation reactions through the methionine cycle and we have previously shown that hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) is accompanied by reduced tissue methylation capacity and altered DNA methylation. Phospholipids are substrates for methylation reactions with phosphatidylcholine (PC) produced following methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). PC and PE are integral membrane lipids in the liver and we hypothesize that some of the pathological effects of HHcy may be related to changes in PC and PE metabolism. The goal of the present study was to determine the effect of HHcy on liver phospholipids, phospholipid fatty acids and transcripts for Fads2, which functions to desaturate 18:2n‐6 and 18:3n‐3 to 20:4n‐6 and 22:6n‐3, respectively. Mice heterozygous for disruption of the gene for cystathionine‐β‐synthase (Cbs+/−) and C57BL/6 mice (Cbs+/+) were fed a control diet or a high methionine/low folate diet to induce HHcy (HH diet) for 8–12 months. We found a higher percentage of PE (32.0±0.6 vs 26.4±0.5, p<0.001) and lower percentage of PC (41.0±1.1 vs 45.6±0.3, p<0.01) in liver phospholipids of Cbs +/−mice fed the HH diet with HHcy (95±12μmol/L) than Cbs+/+ mice fed the control diet. This was accompanied by lower (p<0.01) 20:4n‐6 in PC and PE, higher (p<0.01) 22:6n‐3 in PE, and lower (p<0.05) levels of Fads2 transcripts in liver from Cbs+/− fed the HH diet than Cbs+/+ mice fed the control diet. These findings are the first to show altered liver phospholipid fatty acids and Fads2 transcripts in a mouse model of HHcy and suggest a role for changes in phospholipid fatty acid metabolism in the pathology of HHcy.


Facial paralysis refers to the anesthesia of facial nerves.In traditional Chinese medical studies,it is called "koubi",which results from blood and gas blockage,disfunction of musculature and wrap-lossing of muscle just because facial meridian was attacked by overburden of labor,insufficiency of Qi in the body,vacuity of Mai-luo,weakended defendsive Qi,intrusion of wind-cold or wind-heat.Peripheral facial paralysis includes symptoms of ocular region and bucca cavioris.Its treatment mainly includes two categories of western medicine and Chinese medicine.This article not only debates the acupuncture therapy among therapeutic methods of TCM for this disease,but also reviews acupuncture therapy about its opportunity,cave-taking,and therapeutic methods.


Face recognition is a potential technology to realize Person Occurrence Search (POS) application which retrieves all occurrences of a target person over multiple cameras. From the industry perspective, such a POS application requires a practice-oriented system that can respond to search requests in seconds, return search results nearly without false positives, and handle the variations of face angles and illumination in camera views. In this paper, we demonstrate a real-time person occurrence search system that adopts person re-identification for person occurrence tracking to achieve extremely low false positives. Our proposed system performs face detection and face clustering in an online manner to drastically reduce the response time of search requests from users. To retrieve person occurrence count and duration quickly, we design a process so-called Logical Occurrences that utilizes the maximum interval of detected time of faces to efficiently compute the occurrence count. Such a process can reduce the online computational complexity from O(M2) to O(M) by pre-computing elapsed time during the online face clustering. The proposed system is evaluated on a real data set which contains about 1 million of detected faces for search. In the experiments, our system responds to search requests within 2 seconds on average, and achieves 99.9% precision of search results over more than 200 actual search requests.


Accountability for formative practices rests with the multiple partners who are involved in religious leadership. Such responsibility for formative practices requires more than a "report in" or  "marking off from a checklist" of practices or disciplines; rather it requires a sustained and engaged conversation within the community abouthow best to enhance the formative practices of those in religious leadership. Co-creating formative practices is the gift of the community. In mutual accountability, we offer the world another model of thinking about what it means to be shaped and formed as human beings created in the image of God.


Opportunistic Routing (OR) is a new encouraging routing technique that is an efficient and enhanced routing scheme for wireless networks. It is an approach which takes a certain number of best forwarder nodes (i.e., candidate nodes) at each hop by taking the advantage of the broadcast nature of the wireless networks to reach the destination from the source node. When a lot of candidate nodes receive the package from the source node, they coordinate with each other to compute out which one node has to forward the packet toward the destination from the intermediate nodes. In our proposed approach, we deal with the node mobility means the dynamic nature of mobile nodes and a performance metric which considers the geographical location of the candidate nodes, at least one candidate node must be transfer the data packet, no candidate will receives the duplicate packet, the link delivery probability between the nodes, the number of the neighboring nodes of the candidate, and the predicted geographical position of nodes. Our simulation results show that proposed protocol improves the performance in terms of the packet delivery ratio, end-to-end delay, and expected number of data packet transmissions in terms of random waypoint mobility models. The computational complexity of the proposed scheme is in the order of O(n2).


Time consolidation flow properties of a commercial detergent powder were measured at elevated temperature of 27 °C, 37 °C and 47 °C with the Brookfield Powder Flow Tester (PFT). A substantial increase of powder cohesion was observed at elevated temperature and after time consolidation. The Jenike method for silo design was used to correlate the powder time consolidation flow properties at elevated temperature to critical outlet slot to attain arch‐free silo. The dependence of the critical diameter on temperature and time consolidation is successfully described by the model.


The dynamics of commodity prices has become a major field of analysis in the last 20 years. Standard econometric procedures to describe the behavior of prices have not been able to provide accurate description of the real dynamics. In this paper we apply filter banks to predict prices of specific energy commodities: crude oil, natural gas and electricity, which play a crucial role in the international economic and financial context. Given the high volatility of energy commodity prices, an accurate short term prediction allows to set adequate risk management strategies for producers, retailers and consumers. Filter banks for subband decompositions of the sequences to be predicted are proposed in the paper, allowing the implementation of a parallel computing system to get faster and more accurate implementation. The prediction system is based on a neural model trained on each subband according to specific training and prediction techniques.


It is usual for Parliamentary draftsmen to express rules of criminal law as directions to courts, laying down the necessary and sufficient conditions for a conviction.' Textbook writers and reform bodies have, in large part, followed that view.2 Rules of criminal law may also, of course, be treated as rules governing conductguidelines as to what behaviour is and what is not tolerable. Now although the problem whether laws should be perceived as being directed primarily towards courts or subjects is one which has been of concern to legal philosophers for many years,3 it has largely been assumed by criminal law scholars that the distinction has little or no significance for their discipline. That is, when the law says that anyone who is guilty of X shall be liable to this or that penalty, it may just as well be understood as saying that people ought not to do X, and conversely that when the law is that Y generates an acquittal that means that Y is permitted. It is assumed to follow from this that when a court finds a defendant guilty, that decision embodies and promulgates a norm that the conduct in question is forbidden (a proposition from which it is difficult to dissent) but also that when there is an acquittal the conduct in question is permitted." Two further factors serve to strengthen this view. First, there is the emphasis of academic study of law upon decided cases. Second, practising criminal lawyers deal almost exclusively with facts which have taken place. Whereas tax lawyers advise upon the consequences of 'acts in the law', so as to allow their clients to organize their affairs in such a way as to avoid or minimize liability, there are few if any criminal lawyers who advise upon just how close to the wind, for example, the would-be racketeer5


This paper presents the major achievements in our evaluation of SiGe technologies conducted during the past years. These include a 7-8 GHz receiver, a 7 GHz PLL and a 67-GHz bandwidth travelling-wave amplifier, all fully monolithic. Worldwide state-of-the-art results are also included to give, from an user's point of view, a relatively accurate picture on the potentials the technology has for deep microwave and MM-wave applications.


? University Paris Descartes, MAP5, UMR CNRS 8145. ?? Institute of Mathematics, Humboldt University Berlin. 1 ha l-0 07 12 35 1, v er si on 1 27 J un 2 01 2 Author manuscript, published in "Mathematical Methods for Signal and Image Analysis and Representation, Florack, L. and Duits, R. and Jongbloed, G. and van~Lieshout, M.-C. and Davies, L (Ed.) (2012) Chapter 12"


Objectives:During circulatory failure, the ultimate goal of treatments that increase cardiac output is to reduce tissue hypoxia. This can only occur if oxygen consumption depends on oxygen delivery. We compared the ability of central venous oxygen saturation and markers of anaerobic metabolism to predict whether a fluid-induced increase in oxygen delivery results in an increase in oxygen consumption. Design:Prospective study. Setting:ICU. Patients:Fifty-one patients with an acute circulatory failure (78% of septic origin). Measurements:Before and after a volume expansion (500mL of saline), we measured cardiac index, o2- and Co2-derived variables and lactate. Main Results:Volume expansion increased cardiac index ≥15% in 49% of patients ("volume-responders"). Oxygen delivery significantly increased in these 25 patients (+32% ± 16%, p < 0.0001). An increase in oxygen consumption ≥15% concomitantly occurred in 56% of these 25 volume-responders (+38% ± 28%). Compared with the volume-responders in whom oxygen consumption did not increase, the volume-responders in whom oxygen consumption increased ≥15% were characterized by a higher lactate (2.3 ± 1.1 mmol/L vs. 5.5 ± 4.0 mmol/L, respectively) and a higher ratio of the veno-arterial carbon dioxide tension difference (P(v − a)Co2) over the arteriovenous oxygen content difference (C(a − v)o2). A fluid-induced increase in oxygen consumption greater than or equal to 15% was not predicted by baseline central venous oxygen saturation but by high baseline lactate and (P(v − a)Co2/C(a − v)o2 ratio (areas under the receiving operating characteristics curves: 0.68 ± 0.11, 0.94 ± 0.05, and 0.91 ± 0.06). In volume-nonresponders, volume expansion did not significantly change cardiac index, but the oxygen delivery decreased due to a hemodilution-induced decrease in hematocrit. Conclusions:In volume-responders, unlike markers of anaerobic metabolism, central venous oxygen saturation did not allow the prediction of whether a fluid-induced increase in oxygen delivery would result in an increase in oxygen consumption. This suggests that along with indicators of volume-responsiveness, the indicators of anaerobic metabolism should be considered instead of central venous oxygen saturation for starting hemodynamic resuscitation.