Summary Objectives : We reintroduce an exact Mantel-Haenszel (MH) procedure for meta-analysis with binary endpoints which is expected to workespeciallywell i sparse data, e.g., in meta-analyses of safety or adverse events. Methods : The performance of the exact MH procedure in terms of empirical size and power is compared to the asymptotic MH and to the two standard procedures (fixed effects and random effects model) in a simulation study. We illustrate the methods with a metaanalysis of postoperative stroke occurrence after offpump or on-pump surgery in coronary artery bypass grafting. Results : We find that in almost all situations the asymptotic MH procedure outperforms its competitors; especially the standard methods yield poor results in terms of power and size. Conclusions : There is no need to use the reintroduced exact MH procedure; the asymptotic MH procedure will be sufficient in most practical situations. The standard methods (fixed effects and random effects model) should not be used in the sparse data situation.


We present a spectral analysis of the Northern and Southwestern rim of the RCW86 X-ray shell, pointing out the remarkable differences between these two parts of the same object. In the North, a single temperature Non Equilibrium of Ionization emission model describes the data well, and the derived abundances of O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar and Fe are in agreement with expected metal depletion behind a fast shock moving in the interstellar medium. If the initial explosion energy was $\sim 10^{51}$ erg, the derived distance and age are $1.18^{+0.17}_{-0.16}$ kpc and $1630^{+440}_{-360}$ yr, fully consistent with the association to the historical supernova SN185. The X-ray emission from the SW is described by a two-temperature emission model with kT$_{\rm h}=5.7$ keV and kT$_{\rm l}=1.0$ keV. There is evidence of overabundant metals in the high-temperature component, thus indicating the presence of ejecta. In this case, a Type Ia SN is to be preferred over a more energetic Type II event, which would imply a more distant and older remnant fully in its Sedov phase.


In continuation of previous studies on substituted acetonitriles, the chloroacetonitriles CH235ClCN and CH237ClCN are investigated. Substituted acetonitriles have earlier been studied in our laboratory [1]. The rotational spectra of the 35Cl- and 37Cl-species of chloroacetonitrile were investigated by Graybeal [2] and by Wada, Kikuchi, Matsumura, Hirota and Morino [3], with some controversy. The latter authors investigated also the deuterated species CD235ClCN and CD237ClCN. The main object of the present investigation was the analysis of the nitrogen hyperfine structure (hfs), which had not been analyzed before.


Failures in coordination and information sharing between relief agencies have increased the number of calls for innovative information system (IS) designs. While both the academic and the industrial communities have proposed many IS designs, methodologies for the ex-ante evaluation of such IS designs are scarce. Consequently, disaster IS architects are offered little guidance in the ex-ante evaluation process. Not only is it difficult to evaluate IS designs in practice, it is also difficult to include the conditions of disaster situations in the evaluation process. This paper explores the difficulties of ex-ante evaluation and discusses the suitability of the gaming-simulation methodology for the evaluation of principle-based IS designs. Gaming-simulation entails the use of professionals, scenarios and prototypes and can be adapted to a quasi-experimental form enabling researchers to control contextual interferences and rule out alternative explanations. This paper concludes with some discussions on the advantages and pitfalls of employing gaming-simulation for IS evaluation.


Evaluation of growth is an essential element in the detection and management of morbidities in the pediatric area. The decrease of the growth rate is conside...


Nanoimprinting lithography was initiated as an alternative way to achieve nanoscale structures with high throughput and low cost. We have developed a UVnanoimprint process to fabricate 34u34 crossbar circuits with a half-pitch of 50 nm (equivalent to a bit density of 10 Gbit/cm 2 ). Our resist was of a single layer, which required fewer processing steps than any bi-layer process, but yielded high quality results. We devised a technique that exploits the opposite free energies of the mold and substrate surfaces to produce a very uniform resist film without any trap air. Sixty-six by sixty-six crossbar structures with a half-pitch of 30 nm were produced recently by improving the resist adhesion to the substrate with a surface linker.


Thank you very much for downloading something more than human biographies of leaders in american methodist higher education. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look numerous times for their chosen books like this something more than human biographies of leaders in american methodist higher education, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some harmful virus inside their laptop.


Coal is not just economic goods, but also political "stuff". As economic goods, coal is one form of naturalwealth of Indonesia which became the object of business because it has a high selling value. In a number ofareas in Kalimantan and Sumatra, investment activities are based on natural resources, in general coal. Thisstudy attempts to answer three questions. Firstly, is the regional authority in mining business licensingconsistent in formal procedures or are there also informal procedures? Secondly, whose interests areprimary in coal-based investment activities in Tanah Bumbu? Thirdly, how is the involvement of coal mineoperators in the political process, especially the 2005 and 2010 elections in Tanah Bumbu District followingthe implications in the context of local power?


With the intensification of the reform and with the setting?up and progressive perfection of the socialist market economy system,our society is in a great changing period from economic base to superstructure.This scial change is all unprecedented both in its degree of depth or scope.So,this change will inevitably cause the deep change of the inner world of people.A deep study and cognition of these changes will mean much in distinguishing mainstream from tributary,correcting from falsehood,strengthening and improving the ideological and political work.


Is defined as the operator evaluates the quality of the control object; use performance data of the whole man-machine system. Specially developed a method of quantifying the characteristics of the object. The relevance of the study is the ability to use the results for adjustment of parameters of training complexes for the preparation of system operators (flight simulators, simulator ground, surface and other vehicles). In the methodology used analytical parameters of the object depending on the invariants of the matrix system of equations of motion. Is given a classification of objects of management; counted elastic and damping characteristics of the system, including the control system parameters. Indicate approximate evaluation methods (longitudinal motion equations are reduced to short-period component). The method was tested repeatedly in the development of simulators of different vehicles.


How to determine a reasonable ingredient of Al and Cu is a key to develop a new Zn-Al-Cu-Mg mould alloy with high performance. The effect of Al and Cu content on mechanical properties and fluidity of Zn-Al-Cu-Mg mould alloy is studied. The experimental results show that the mechanical properties of the alloy increases significantly with increasing the contents of Al and Cu from 3% to 14% and 3% to 9% respectively. but the fluidity of the alloy decreases. It is suggested that the reasonable composition is 9~11wt%Al, 7~9wt%Cu and 0.04~0.05wt%Mg.


Beam test results for MSGC's with thick metal strips. Abstract Micro Strip Gas Counters with robust gold strips have been developed at IMEC, the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center at Leuven, in Belgium. The electroless plating technology was used, allowing to achieve a strip thickness of up to 1.6 m on 10x10 cm 2 substrates. Results on signal to noise ratio, spark rate, resulting damages and detector occupancy are presented for counters exposed to various intensities of heavily ionizing particles.


Introduction: The rehabilitation of the dental arch with osseointegrated implants makes it possible to improve the quality of life of patients. Guided bone regeneration (GBR) has been applied to replace lost bone to allow the implant to be fully integrated and maintained during functional loading. GBR is considered one of the most commonly applied methods to reconstruct alveolar bone and to treat peri-implant bone deficiencies. Objective: It was to develop a systematic review to highlight the main approaches of guided surgery to promote bone regeneration in implant dentistry. Methods: The systematic review rules of the PRISMA Platform were followed. The search was carried out from March to May 2023 in the Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo, and Google Scholar databases, using articles from 1977 (Golden pattern - Bra°nemark et al. ) to 2023. Results and Conclusion: A total of 117 articles were found, 38 articles were evaluated and 28 were included and developed in this systematic review study. Considering the Cochrane tool for risk of bias, the overall assessment resulted in 22 studies with a high risk of bias and 15 studies that did not meet GRADE. It was concluded that the application of a membrane to prevent nonosteogenic tissues from interfering with bone regeneration is a fundamental principle. Membrane properties and biological outcomes drive bone regeneration in membrane-covered defects. Barrier membranes play the role of preventing the invasion of soft tissue by exiting the mucosa and creating an underlying space to support bone growth. Collagen membranes have excellent biological properties and bone regeneration results. While collagen membranes do not provide sufficient mechanical protection of the covered bone defect, titanium-reinforced membranes, and non-resorbable membranes need to be removed in a second surgery.


Rapid growth in automobiles has caused an upsurge of accidents per day, which leads to the loss of lives and incurable disabilities to the victims. Therefore, the severity of the accident must be analyzed in real-time to save the injured and enhance emergency services. Accordingly, the accident image is considered as significant data in this work. From the accident image, essential features such as shape, texture and intensity gradient features are extracted using Hu moments, Local Binary Pattern (LBP) and Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HoG) respectively. The extracted image features are combined to form a hybrid feature vector. With an objective to recognize the severity of the accident, the hybrid feature is employed to train the machine learning classifier models such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), Logistic Regression (LR), Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), AdaBoost (AB) and Gradient Boosting (GB). The performance of the classifiers is evaluated in terms of Area under the curve (AUC), precision, recall and F1-score. The results show the Random Forest performs better with AUC 0.75 compared to other models. Moreover, the result also reveals that hybrid features improve the recognition rate compared to the single feature.


This paper proposes a virtual inertia control scheme for variable speed wind turbine. Two suboptimal operating curves (SOOC) which are the kinetic energy stored (KES) curve and the kinetic energy released (KER) curve are defined and employed as the basis of the scheme. Under normal condition, the wind turbine (WT) operates at the KES curve. When grid frequency drops, by shifting the WT operating curve from the KES curve towards the KER curve according to the deviation of grid frequency, the rotor kinetic energy can be efficiently injected into the grid. The additional df/dt feed-forward loop is applied in the virtual inertia control scheme to accelerate the inertia response. As verified by the paper, the SOOC shifting mechanism can significantly reduce the conflict between the df/dt loop and the original WT control loops. Simulations on the IEEE 39-bus system verify that the proposed method can reduce the rate of change of frequency (RoCoF) and improve the grid frequency nadir.


Our long-term study on the quantitative at-sea distribution of the upper trophic levels - seabirds and marine mammals - in polar ecosystems aims at quantifying the factors influencing their distribution as well as detecting possible spatial and temporal changes, with special attention to hydrography and global climate changes. During the ANT- XXVI/3 expedition of icebreaking RV Polarstern in February-March 2010, a total of 8,270 seabirds belonging to 15 identified species were recorded in the Amundsen Sea during 1,070 half-hour transect counts, with a mean of eight birds per count. The most numerous species were by far Antarctic petrel, Adélie penguin and snow petrel, which together accounted for more than 80% of all individuals of these species recorded. Substantial hotspots of seabirds perched on three icebergs, representing 44% of all observations: 85% of the Antarctic petrels and 40% of the snow petrels [1]. Without taking into account these data, the mean seabird number becomes five individuals per count, representing the lowest value registered in Antarctic seas. The most numerous pinniped was crabeater seal contributing 98% of the total of 2,350 individuals of four pinniped species [2]. Among cetaceans, the most abundant species were Antarctic Minke whale and fin whale (60% and 25% of the total of 170 individuals, four species). The maps allow for a visual comparison that is sufficient for the purposes of this article, reflecting the influence of hydrological features such as water masses and fronts, pack ice and ice edge, free drifting icebergs.


Banks provide a substantial proportion of external finance to corporations around the globe. Non-Performing Loans (NPL) occur if the bank's confidence through a credit breaker, which is institutional in nature, is not realized that (prospective) debtors are able to repay loans and interest, after the loan or when loan is given. Type of the research is a normative legal research (doctrinal research). The results of the research show that in terms of analyzing credit applications from prospective debtors, Bank Officials must always apply the Directors' Decree regarding the Credit Guidebook. As it turns out in practice, however, it has certain weaknesses, particularly in view of the accountability and legitimacy aspects of its establishment. Hence, widespread expansion in credit, causing banks to provide convenience and caution in the process of granting credit to debtors, by not applying strictly the prudential banking principles when analyzing the credit requested. The effort that must be made by government banks in lending is by applying the prudent principle and the principles of good governance to avoid risks in returning credit from creditors. Immediately resolve and enforce statutory provisions concerning restrictions on currency transactions, to avoid misuse of the authority of bank officials in lending to debtors. Keywords: Bank; Corruption Crime; Criminal Law; Credit


Abstract  In A Metaphysics for Freedom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), Helen Steward develops a distinctive account of agency designed to support her argument for 'Agency Incompatibilism'. I argue that Steward's account of agency has two main shortcomings. First, the extension of the agency concept Steward is committed to is problematic. Second, Steward's account of agency turns out on inspection to have significant structural affinities to the accounts it is meant to oppose, and thus faces similar potential problems. One of these problems has to do with Steward's conception of bodily control.


FROM THE "WAR ON POVERTY" TO REAGAN'S "NEW RIGHT," WHAT'S IN A NAME? THE SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE "WELFARE QUEEN" IN POLITICS AND PUBLIC DISCOURSE. Kern Roper November 16,2012 This dissertation is a rhetorical analysis of the political discourse surrounding the role of poor African American women within the American social and political economy beginning in 1965 with Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty initiatives and extending to the early 1980s with Ronald Reagan and the "religious right." I argue that an ideology of whiteness permeates both the Johnson and Reagan administrations even though each worked towards different ends. In Chapter 1, I begin by discussing how America's establishment as a capitalist society made it a nation ill-fitted for government-funded social programs. In particular, I discuss the impact of distinctions between the "worthy" and "unworthy" poor on African Americans and I outline the three theoretical frameworks within which I position the public and political discourse surrounding welfare, welfare reform and welfare recipients: (1) Narrative and Rhetoric, (2) Feminism, and (3) Whiteness. In Chapter 2, I analyze Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1965 report, The Negro Family: The Case for National Action which was intended to rally government officials to approve programs specifically targeting black communities. However, because of the pervasiveness of a whiteness ideology, the report sparked controversy and political backlash instead. In Chapter 3, I focus on the rhetorical devices and narrative strategies that contributed to Reagan's political successes from the beginning of his vi political career in the 1960s until the beginning of his own presidential term in 1980. ] argue that the significance of Reagan's use of The Welfare Queen trope is his reliance on an inherently racist ideology. In Chapter 4, I discuss how race, gender and class work in political discourse, and I argue that The Welfare Queen is a "site of political struggle;' in that she represents a convergence of these contending forces. In Chapter 5, I propose that rhetoric and composition scholars enact a "trickster" rhetoric that exposes the multiplicity of a name such as The Welfare Queen. By inserting new meanings into such names, ] argue that scholars have an opportunity to shift popular discourse from dominating whiteness ideologies to a more empowering otherness ideology.


The effect of shock resistance and isolation mounts on marine pumps and the loop was modeled using the finite element method. The modes of pump with and without the isolators were computed, respectively. Increases in the stiffness of the isolation mounts increased the isolation with the isolator's damping reducing the resonance hump in the system. The results of the influence of isolation on the shock response of the pump and flow loop show that the pump isolation improved the shock resistance and reduced accelerations of the loop components. The stresses of the system with the isolators meet the requirements of the American Societg of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) code.


Photonic metasurfaces have been proposed to create on-chip solutions for optical trapping applications. We present a metasurface-enabled on-chip system capable of trapping extended objects with performance comparable to a system using high numerical aperture objectives.


Tugboat shipbuilding design drawings are currently prepared with insufficient and untimely information of material/equipment availability, resulting in drawing changes and errors, increased labor and material costs, and lengthening of ship completion time. It is proposed that the design drawings are only prepared after confirmation of material/equipment availability from vendors to deal with the problem. The concept of concurrent engineering is introduced by integrating design and vendor activities through adequate and timely vendor-furnished information (VFI) to deal with the problem. The PERT (program evaluation and review technique) computer simulation models were employed through the use of a simulation package AweSim to analyze the work activity networks of piping drawings. A cost savings of about $1,389,700 would be possible through a 10% reduction in total design and including piping drawings and development labor costs and construction labor and material costs. The completion time for preparing design drawings and ship construction can be reduced by about 186 days or 19.5% of the total throughput time for a tugboat shipbuilding process.


In this study, it is a purpose to grasp the effect of natural ventilation in the apartment house. This study targeted the apartment house of 14 floors. First, we did the wind tunnel experiment that used the reproduction model, and measured the wind pressure coefficient. Next, we did CFD analysis that used k-ε model and Durbin model. We understood utility and problem of the CFD analysis by comparing the wind tunnel experiment. Consequently, analysis in windward was similar to the experiment. However, in leeward, the error margin was large. In addition, it has been understood that Durbin model is similar to the wind tunnel experiment than standard k-ε model.


Distributed digital infrastructures for computation and analytics are now evolving towards an interconnected ecosystem allowing complex applications to be executed from IoT Edge devices to the HPC Cloud (aka the Computing Continuum, the Digital Continuum, or the Transcontinuum). Understanding end-to-end performance in such a complex continuum is challenging. This breaks down to reconciling many, typically contradicting application requirements and constraints with low-level infrastructure design choices. One important challenge is to accurately reproduce relevant behaviors of a given application workflow and representative settings of the physical infrastructure underlying this complex continuum. In this paper we introduce a rigorous methodology for such a process and validate it through E2Clab. It is the first platform to support the complete analysis cycle of an application on the Computing Continuum: (i) the configuration of the experimental environment, libraries and frameworks; (ii) the mapping between the application parts and machines on the Edge, Fog and Cloud; (iii) the deployment of the application on the infrastructure; (iv) the automated execution; and (v) the gathering of experiment metrics. We illustrate its usage with a real-life application deployed on the Grid'5000 testbed, showing that our framework allows one to understand and improve performance, by correlating it to the parameter settings, the resource usage and the specifics of the underlying infrastructure.


At the risk of oversimplifying a complex question, it can be assumed that among several possible approaches to the history of international law, two stand out: international law as an essentially European law that emerged at the beginning of the Early Modern Age, more or less around the times the Twelve Years Truce was made; and international law as a law deeply rooted in Antiquity, going back even to the 3rd millennium BC. Early modern European writers unquestionably used past historical examples, opinions and concepts and drew from them a legal discourse on international law, thereby operating as a bridge between Antiquity and Modernity. The international law is made up of various rules: a specific rule, such as the one concerning diplomatic inviolability, may well be traceable to Antiquity but this does not imply that international law as such, that is, as a coherent body of rules. Keywords: Antiquity; diplomatic inviolability; European writers; international law; Modernity


Investigations on the effect of the bentonite, fly ash and silica fume on the initial and final setting time of cement-based grouts are reported here. Three additives (bentonite, fly ash and silica fume) were used in the grout mixes to improve the setting time of the grouts. Taguchi method was employed for the experiments and standard L16 orthogonal array with 3 parameters and 4 levels were chosen. Experimental results show that the most efficient materials for the initial and final setting time are silica fume and bentonite, respectively. The initial and final setting times have been found to decrease rapidly with the increase in silica fume and bentonite ratio, while they rapidly increase with the increase of fly ash ratio. The Taguchi method has been found to be suitable for such studies.


Simulation models which reproduce physical behavior have been proposed to make tuning robot motion for a task such as pick-and-place (P&P) easy. This paper presents a practical simulation method for P&P with vacuum gripper using suction-cups. The method is composed of two elements, a model to estimate the quality of P&P motion and a procedure for model identification. An advantage of this method is adaptability for various workpieces and suction-cups, achieved by fusion of a simple model and a simple procedure. The simple model is composed of transfer function model for viscoelasticity of system and wrench space representation for grasp stability. We also verify the model by applying to two actual systems.


Objective Develop and test a stigma awareness and education curriculum targeted to non-medical staff of a local Alzheimer's Association chapter. Methods The curriculum, developed in collaboration with leadership and educational staff from the Cleveland Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, included a definition, types, and domains of stigma; effects of stigma on individuals with dementia and their families; stigma evaluation studies; tips to address the topic of dementia-related stigma with individuals and families. Lastly, an interactive discussion of real-life scenarios facilitated stigma recognition and management. Results Most staff felt the training improved their ability to identify Alzheimer's disease stigma, made them more comfortable talking about stigma, and would change the way they interacted with people and families impacted by Alzheimer's disease. Conclusions This brief, practical educational curriculum has potential to improve awareness of dementia stigma in Alzheimer's Association staff. Research is needed to expand stigma awareness in individuals and groups with varying levels of dementia knowledge.


The mechanisms leading to thrombocytopenia include (1) decreased platelet production; (2) splenic sequestration due to splenomegaly; and (3) increased peripheral consumption and/or destruction. VEGF, physiologically secreted by endothelial cells, is also produced in the alpha-granules of platelets. VEGF measured in plasma will presumably reflect its level in in vivo circulation, released from both endothelial cells and platelets. We hypothesized that thrombocytopenic disorders characterized by increased platelet destruction would manifest with increased plasma VEGF level; whereas disorders characterized by decreased platelet production or platelet sequestration would show low or normal plasma VEGF level.
 Methods: This is a prospective study approved by IRB. Patients were eligible if they had platelet counts less than 150,000/ul at diagnosis. Plasma and serum specimens were collected at baseline and multiple time points towards recovery, and VEGF levels were determined using commercial ELISA kit from RayBiotech and BioRad according to manufacturer's instructions. We enrolled 69 patients and 50 were included in the analysis. Nineteen patients were excluded from the analysis due to the following: the specimen was yielding non detectable serum VEGF value, or higher plasma VEGF level than serum level (both of above were used as internal controls for the validity of the experiment), or platelet count more than 150,000/ul. Five healthy controls were also enrolled.
 Results: Among the patients, the diagnoses were (A) 18 with ITP, (B) 13 with sepsis, (C) 4 with TTP, (D) 6 with MDS or AML (E) 6 with splenomegaly and (G) 3 with gestational thrombocytopenia. There was wide inter-patient variation in each group. The inter-experiment variation on the same specimen was less than 30% in most of the cases. The mean plasma VEGF value in the ITP, sepsis, TTP and groups were 49.2 ± 36.1 ng/ml, 158.9± 380.5 ng/ml, 204.5±222.6 ng/ml respectively, and were statistically higher than that of the control group 9.1±18.1 ng/ml, (p= 0.032, 0.029 and 0.022 respectively, Mann-Whitney test). On the other hand, the mean plasma VEGF value in the MDS, splenomegaly and gestational thrombocytopenia groups were 29.8±49.1 ng/ml, 13.2±21.3ng/ml and 3.0±1.8 ng/ml respectively, similar to that of the control group (p> 0.05 in all three groups, Mann-Whitney test). One patient in the sepsis group showed an extremely high plasma VEGF value (1447 ng/ml).
 Conclusion: Plasma VEGF value is a potential biomarker which can aide in the differential diagnosis of thrombocytopenia of various etiologies. Plasma VEGF levels were increased in most patients with thrombocytopenia from ITP, sepsis and TTP, but not in patients who have thrombocytopenia from MDS, splenomegaly or gestational thrombocytopenia. The elevation of plasma VEGF in those conditions could be due to increased epithelial production or release from platelet activation or destruction, the differentiation of which will need further study. A larger scale study is warranted to confirm the above result.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


In 1817 an 11-year-old boy, Páll Pálsson (1806–1877), left his childhood home in eastern Iceland, to be fostered and educated by a friend of the family in another part of the country. Immediately a correspondence started between him and his family. Most of these letters have been preserved and give invaluable insight into the literacy practices of Páll Pálsson's family and friends over 60 years. Pálsson's grandmother, mother, and two younger sisters played a central role in this correspondence during the time that they were all alive. This article focuses on the 104 preserved letters written by these four women in the period of 1817 to 1829. Grounding its argument in theories on correspondence and literacy practices this article addresses the complicated nature of letter writing, such as the indistinct lines between individual and collective letter writing. The article shows how the skill of writing was disseminated within the family and how it was utilised, not only to keep in touch but also to strengthen networks and power relations. Furthermore, special attention is paid to gendered aspects of learning to write, and of the writing of letters, in the 1820s.


This paper discusses some of the features and advantages of aluminium vehicle parapets for bridges and other road structures. Aluminium parapets were first introduced in the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s, and they have been continually developed for both home and overseas markets ever since. Engineers throughout the world are now specifying aluminium parapets for their major bridge works and highway structural requirements. Although other materials including steel and concrete are used, aluminium has distinct advantages over them in terms of road safety, lower maintenance requirements, durability, aesthetic value, and cost-effectiveness. Bridge parapets provide a controlled deflection of erratic vehicles hitting the sides of bridge roads, while containing and redirecting the vehicles safely. In the United Kingdom, the Department of Transport has specified the design requirements for parapets in its technical memorandum on the design of highway bridge parapets (be5), which covers all aspects of bridge parapet design. The new British standard BS 6779, part 1, 'specifications for parapets of metal construction', (see IRRD 809233) will soon supersede be5. For a parapet to be acceptable to these standards, it must be dynamically tested and approved to meet at least seven criteria, mainly concerned with safety. Extensive tests in the United Kingdom have shown that aluminium parapets perform well according to these criteria. (TRRL)


Revised papers originally delivered at an international Conference on Globalization and National Security held in Ankara, Turkey, June 2002 and sponsored by the Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies (ASAM).


A printer includes a print head configured to eject high viscosity material and to fill a manifold in the printhead with high-viscosity material. The print head comprising a layer having an opening to form a reservoir to contain a volume of a high-viscosity material, and at least one component which is positioned within the container, which is formed by the opening in the layer. The at least one component comprises an electro-active element that is mounted on the component, and an electrical signal generator electrically connected to the electro-active element. A controller operates the electrical signal generator to activate the electro-active element having a first electric signal selectively to move said at least one component and at the high viscosity material in addition to the diluting at least one member, to allow the diluted material from the at least one component removed.


With a view to strategic competition during the Cold War period, Latin America had the pivotal geopolitical importance for the Soviet Union and the U.S.A. Not only did the Soviet Union infiltrate Latin America, but also preached revolutionary tenets there. Pro-USSR regime was urged by the Soviet Union as a means to counteract U.S. influence with reference to the viewpoints of strategic balance. After the Soviet Union toppled in 1991, Russian government took to pro-western attitude in terms of foreign policy. Meanwhile, Russia faced the problems of its economic transformation and reconstruction, which meant it needed economic assistance from western countries pressingly. For this reason, Russia foreign policy zeroed in on the domestic economy and the application of economic assistance so that the foreign policy towards Latin American countries was for a time marginalized. Not until the Putin's second inauguration of 2004 did the Russian government begin multifaceted foreign policy--- a practical replacement for the ideological conflict in the past--- and delineate the framework of multi-polar international system. Putin also pointed out that Russian government was reassessing Russian-Latin relationship in the elevation to centrifugal link in frail fellowship. Unlike the past two decades ago, Russian government had expanded the sphere of influence in Latin America as a result of frequent visits to Latin American countries via superior officialdom, mutual cooperation on political affairs, military exchange on technical services, and reciprocal contact on economic basis. While Putin served his second term, there was tremendous change in his foreign policy. At the same time, Russia underwent through a great number of difficulties such as NATO and EU expansion, and color revolutions in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Under the threat of security space and fervent surge on anti-terrorist issue, Putin found it essential to reshape its relationship with U.S.A. and to strengthen the sphere of influence in the western hemisphere. It goes without saying that developing mutual relationship with Latin American countries of paramount importance to Russia's national interest. On the other hand, the unremitting rise in anti-American sentiment in Latin America along with left-wing regimes which came to power provided a golden opportunity for Russia to balance American influence. Quite a few Latin American countries welcomed Russia's return such as Venezuela, Cuba, and Mexico as well. A further and possibly more compelling point is that geopolitically speaking, Latin America is of much strategic interest to Russia. Therefore, Russia must reinforce political and economic interaction with Latin American countries.


The bucket-handle meniscal tear is a specific type of meniscal injuries which has specific signs on MRI. An attached fragment displaced away from the meniscus with any type of tear causes bucket-handle tear of the meniscus. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most commonly used diagnostic tool for meniscal injuries. We present a case of free medial meniscal fragment which mimics the dislocated bucket-handle tear on MRI. The presence of "fragment within the intercondylar notch sign" and "the absence of the bow tie sign" may be an indication of a free meniscal fragment. This should be considered during diagnosis.


This study aimed to establish the relationship between teaching strategies and teacher Creativity areas of Social Sciences Media General Educational Institutions San Francisco 1 Municipality, Zulia state; be categorized for quantitative positivistic paradigm approach, basis on the theories of Cormack (2013), Gouveia and Atencio (2012), Diaz and Hernandez (2010), Correa (2010), Cormack (2009), De Bono (2009) Lopez (2008), among others. It is located in the positivist paradigm; in turn, the type of research was descriptive and correlational; with a non-experimental, cross-sectional design field. The population consisted of three directors, teachers and ninety-three and seventy-five students. A questionnaire with 45 items for both, which was validated by 7 experts in the field of management and research methodology was developed. For reliability Cronbach's alpha was used, yielding results in 0.84 and 0.81 for teachers students. It was concluded that for students the strategies used in the school are acceptable, while for those strategies teachers are very poor, these differences indicate a felt need for improvement of the strategies used by the teachers. It is also recommended to train teachers in general secondary institutions in the use and proper handling, about teaching strategies, forming the way for achieving meaningful learning. In addition, active listening work of teams that allow the solution of conflict situations, improve decision making, respecting the opinions of others.


The paper considers the problems associated with comprehension and translation of idioms within the framework of the theory of linguistic relativity and the translation theories. The main statements of these theories used for explaining the difficulties of idioms' translation from/into the English or Lithuanian language are presented. The considered problems are analysed from various perspectives. Case studies, demonstrating different nomination principles used in English and Lithuanian due to different approaches of the native speakers of these languages to the same objects or 'pieces' of reality are provided. The comparative analysis of English and Lithuanian idioms as the most interesting and peculiar expressions of a language, showing its unique character, is performed and the arising difficulties and the available techniques of idioms' translation are demonstrated, taking into account the main statements of the theories of linguistic relativity and translation. Special attention is paid to idioms, whose main ideas are expressed differently in the considered languages and, therefore, present many difficulties to non-native speakers. The influence of traditions, culture, the environment and other factors on the form and contents of the idioms in each of the considered languages is also shown. The analysis performed demonstrates the effectiveness of the theory of linguistic relativity in explaining the nature and causes of the arising comprehension and translation problems, as well as its possibilities to give a translator a native speaker's insight and help him\her avoid some typical errors. The recommendations of how to make a translation of idioms more accurate and authentic by using the appropriate translation techniques are also given.


Lithium metal anodes are an attractive option for next-generation batteries because of high gravimetric and volumetric energy densities. The formation of dendritic morphology of electrodeposition d...


The submicron via-hole filling using a two-step Al sputtering process which consists of an Al low-pressure seed (ALPS) process and physical vapor deposition (PVD) Al, is described in this paper. The effect of the type of intermetal dielectric (IMD) material used, such as hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), high-density plasma (HDP) oxide, and siloxane silicon-on-glass (SOG), on the via esistance and via-hole filling capability was evaluated and discussed. The Al film behavior after ALPS deposition, preheating, and PVD Al were investigated and it was determined that the out-gassing of moisture from siloxane SOG IMD significantly affects the via resistance and the key-hole formation in the via. A comparison of the via resistances of the Al-plug and W-plug was made. On the basis of the results, Al plugging with IMD materials such as HSQ or HDP oxide is considered to be superior to W plugging because of the lower via resistance and cost.


Endowing specificity and controllability with the electrochemiluminescence (ECL) thermosensitive hydrogels is vitally crucial to expand their sensing applications. Herein, a novel photo-controlled thermosensitive electrochemiluminescence hydrogel (PT-ECL hydrogel) sensing platform with sufficient simplicity, specificity and precise controllability, for the first time, is proposed, by the integration of Ru(bpy)32+ derivatives (signal reporter), split aptamers (recognition unites), and Au nanorods (AuNRs) (photothermal energy converter) into the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) matrix. In the presence of the model target isocarbophos (ICP), the conjugation of two split-aptamers initiated the ECL-Resonance Energy Transfer (ECL-RET) between the Au nanorods and the Ru(bpy)32+ centers. Surprisingly, under the irradiation of near-infrared (NIR) light, the photothermal effect of AuNRs prompted the shrinkage of the hydrogel, resulting in the enhancement of the ECL-RET and further ~7 times signal amplification. Consequently, the PT-ECL hydrogel sensing platform performed well for ICP detection with a low detection limit of 20 pM (S/N=3) and wide linear range from 50 pM to 4 μM, with great stability and repeatability. Obviously, the results showed that AuNRs utilized in this paper served the role as not only the ECL-RET acceptor, but also the photothermal converter to prompt the phase change of the PT-ECL hydrogel precisely and simply controlled by NIR light. Use of the proposed PT-ECL hydrogel detection scheme is a first step toward enabling a newly upgraded highly sensitive, selective hydrogel-based assays and also paving way for the application of smart photothermal reagents.


The purpose of wastewater (WW) treatment is to prevent water pollution and thereby protect public health and preserve the value of the receiving water (RW) as a resource. This chapter talks about evaluation of the overall performance of the entire wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and not with the performance of individual unit processes. The emphasis of the chapter is on an overall evaluation of WWTP treatment efficiency. The objectives of WW treatment, the concepts of efficiency and effectiveness of WW treatment, and the difference between WW treatment processes and sludge treatment processes are reviewed to establish a context for the discussion. Limits for the parameters discussed in the chapter are often conditions of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The study was designed to find how new ways of measuring water pollution at bathing beaches can be effectively used to protect swimmer's health. A method for predicting the rate of consumption of dissolved oxygen (DO) by microorganisms in the RW body is essential for assessment of the potential of a final effluent (FE) to cause pollution. Mathematical models are used to extrapolate biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)5 results both to deoxygenation of the receiving water (RW) and to substrate concentration in WW. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) test was developed because the BOD5 test requires 5 days for completion and therefore is not suitable either for operational control of treatment processes or for real-time evaluation of the efficiency of WWTP performance.


Suicide is now the leading cause of maternal death and midwives have a large part to play in addressing this problem. There are exciting opportunities for midwives to work in new ways: as key stakeholders in multiagency collaborations. Public health and psychiatric issues have never been more relevant. In Nottingham, this teamwork approach to perinatal mental health has created a direction for future service(s). Educational needs, aimed at these objectives, have also been clearly identified. An antenatal screening tool for mental illness has also been devised. In this, the first of a series of two articles, the local response to service needs is described. The second article will explore some of the issues in more depth (Raynor et al, 2003).


Someone reads the announcement above in the newspaper, and our phone rings. The person at the other end usually begins "I need something in my life-a job or college or-but I'm not sure I can handle it. I've never done much .. ." The caller realizes I'm listening closely, and she says, "I've never told anyone this before" and rushes into the story of her situation, relieved. She often concludes with the questions asked in our publicity announcement. And then, "Do you have room for one more in your group?" I assure her she has a place and tell her where and when.


Late Devensian and Flandrian vegetational history is describedfrom a site in an area of lowland immediately adjacent to the North York Moors. Pollen stratigraphy accompanied by a radiocarbon date of 13,000 B.P. indicates that Late Devensian vegetational changes included an interstadial characterized by two periods of Betula-dominated woodland, which were separated by one when more open conditions prevailed. The early Flandrian, in which firstly a Betulaand later a Quercus-dominated closed forest cover developed has similar vegetational characteristics to those of the adjacent North York Moors. Later Flandrian time, while reflecting the general pattern of forest reduction in adjoining regions, presents some peculiar local changes which seem to have occurred over a relatively limited area in response to the influence of successive cultural groups.


On the basis of analyzing drawbacks of current intrusion detection systems(IDS), an alert correlation systems based on data mining is proposed. The experiment results show that the method can correlate and fuse the alerts effiensienly, can reduce the number of alerts to 72.4% at least, and can reduce false negative to 21.2% at least.


ABSTRACT.Inadequate and improperly built infrastructure may impede investment. This is a serious issue for Bangladesh. An exploratory study tried to identify the nature and severity of infrastructural and other problems affecting investment decisions of entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. The sample investors identified 48 different factors affecting investment. These involve Infrastructure, Governance, Tax/fiscal policy, Finance/monetary policy, Labor and Employment Policy, and Enterprise. This paper focuses on infrastructural problems. The sample investors offered many suggestions to overcome those problems. They proposed the creation of an investor council as an institutional apparatus to facilitate public private partnership, and the formulation of more informed policies.JEL Classification: H5, N7Keywords: Bangladesh, infrastructure problem, investment climate, investment council1. IntroductionInfrastructure is a vital component of the investment climate. An adequate and efficient infrastructure supports productivity growth. In Bangladesh, inadequate and inefficient infrastructure impedes productivity growth and reduces the productivity of investments. In this matter, the perceptions of the business leaders do affect their investment decisions. The policymakers wish to learn how the investors think. This knowledge may help them make policies to induce businesses to invest more. Hence the rationale of this study was to learn from a sample of business leaders in Bangladesh what they perceive as the major problems confronting investors. It wanted to find what they suggest the government should do. These could help identify problems and discover solutions for a more conducive investment climate.1.1 Key Research QuestionsThe key research questions were the following:* Nature and severity of problems affecting investment, and* General and specific suggestions to solve those problems.1.1.1 Nature and Severity of Problems Affecting InvestmentStructured and unstructured questionnaires were used to learn about the identification of the general and specific nature of the problems, and their level of importance or severity. The unstructured questionnaire asked respondents to make a list of problems affecting their investment decisions in a descending order of importance. The structured questionnaire used a set of pre-identified problems as found in the studies on Kenya and Tanzania, and the respondents were asked to grade them in order of importance. The answers from the two sets were cross-checked.The sample investor identified the following as the most important problems:* Inadequate physical infrastructure, especially power supply;* Unfriendly governance;* Lack of a bridge between investors and government.The high priority areas involve building infrastructure, especially power supply, improved roads, and shipping and portage facilities. The high priority governance issues concern the rampant corruption and uncertain policy environment and the lack of sense of commitment to the improvement of the investment climate. The captains of industry desperately want an institutional bridge between the government and the investor community.1.1.2 General and Specific Suggestions to Solve Those ProblemsThe structured and unstructured questions included columns to present suggestions to the problems the respondents identified. These were supplemented by a page for open discussion. Combining all three, the suggestions fell into general and specific categories. The key suggestions were as follows:* Improve physical infrastructure;* Improve governance;* Create confidence through a friendly working relation.2. Review of LiteratureEmpirical studies on investor perceptions, investor preparedness, investor responsiveness to policy changes and readiness to participate in public private partnership and on related issues are rare. …


Oxidative electron-transfer quenching of the lowest ligand-centered /sup 3/..pi pi..* of ruthenium (RU) phthalocyanines (pc)L/sub 2/, L = dimethylformamide (dmf) or pyridine (py), by a series of nitroaromatic compounds, viologen salts, and metal complexes has been investigated by laser and conventional flash photolysis. The quenching rate constants, treated according to Marcus-Hush and Rehm-Weller equations, gave self-exchange rate constants, k/sub exch/ approx. 10/sup 7/ M/sup -1/ s/sup -1/, for the electron exchange between the /sup 3/..pi pi..* and the ruthenium(II) ligand radical. The excited states of a number of phthalocyanines, e.g. Ru(pc)(dimethyl sulfoxide(Me/sub 2/SO)/sub 2/), Ru(pc)(dmf)CO, Ru(pc)(py)CO, and Rh(pc)(methanol(CH/sub 3/OH)chloride), undergo quenching mediated by exciplex formation. The formation of exciplexes is discussed in terms of the related exciplexes of the porphyrins.


Conventional attitude views inter-cultural communication as submission of one culture to another. This model,however,is in fact unilateral and statistic in that it cannot adapt to the trend of globalization and multi-cultural backgrounds. In order to realize inter-cultural interaction,this paper,based on the study of the relationship between inter-culture cognitive competence and inter-cultural communicative competence,proposes that foreign language teachers should focus on cultivatiing their students' cultural qualities and establish a dynamic and mutual-adaptation model for inter-cultural communication under the background of globalization.


The public scrutiny of major corporations has never been greater than it is today. A wide range of external stakeholders are holding global companies to account for the impact of their operations on society-at-large and on the environment. In many cases, energy companies are at the centre of this scrutiny, with media headlines and internet blogs buzzing with news of the latest incident or controversy, writes Peter Watt.


We have developed coherent two-dimensional (2D) fluorescence micro-spectroscopy which probes the nonlinear optical response at surfaces via fluorescence detection with sub-micron spatial resolution. This enables the investigation of microscopic variations in laterally heterogeneous film samples which are of interests for sub-wavelength opto-electronic devices.


Sjogren's syndrome(SS)is a kind of characterized by dry eye and mouth,it's a chronic autoimmune disease mainly involving the exocrine glands.Significant dry eye and mouth,recurrent parotid gland swelling and joint pain as the main clinical manifestations.Modern medicine on the etiology and pathogenesis of this disease is not clear,the main adoptions are replace,and symptomatic treatment(corticosteroids and immune modulation),but exist many side effects and the effects were not sure.It's belongs to Traditional Chinese Medicine,"dry impediment"category,Treatment by Chinese medicine,to relieve symptoms,improve quality of life is of great significance.I follow Professor JIN Ming-xiu engaged in Sjogren's syndrome in Chinese medicine treatment,clinical to nourishing yin for moistening dryness,together with the benefiting qi for promoting production of fluid,promoting blood circulation for removing blood stasis patterns identified,achieved better results.


We report on Tell Sufan, Nablus, Palestine, a low hill 1.5 km to the west of the city (area 15 donum). The first known reference to the site was made in the 1880 Survey of Western Palestine under the name of Saffin and, in 1931, Böhl carried out the first survey. There has been no previous research on the site. Our results so far show settlement occurred from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age, followed by a gap during the Persian and Hellenistic eras. Major finds include Roman, Byzantine and early Islamic structures, numerous pottery vessels, and six coins. Our report is based on discoveries from 2016–2017 An-Najah National University (ANNU) summer research and training excavation campaigns. ANNU first explored the site in 1998; dating of storage jars and a pit found there then was not supported by stratigraphic information. The site has been divided into 625 squares and each square was initially shovel tested. We then carried out excavations in Area A, (south east slope) and Area B (high ground). We used square and loci numbers to record the pottery we found. We excavated three squares in 2016 and three in 2017. In 2016, finds from two squares excavated in Area A included an olive oil press, a stone screw weight, a circular silo and a pottery storeroom containing a number of broken earthenware jars. In the third square in Area B we found over 3,000 potsherds belonging to storage jars used for agriculture and olive oil. These originate from the local factory at Bisan/Scythopolis and are red, grey or black in colour with white decoration and ribbing at the neck; they date to the late Byzantine era. We also found one row of stones from two silos, indicating intensive agriculture. In 2017, in the three squares excavated in Area A, structural remains were found of walls, a silo, a gate and a floor, and, in addition, over 6,000 potsherds. Those identified were from late Byzantine/early Islamic pottery. We based our dating of the majority of our pottery finds, mainly consisting of tableware and storage jars, to the late Byzantine and early Islamic periods, on archaeological data, comparison with similar pottery, there being close similarity in pottery found at sites in Palestine and Jordan, and related literature. A coin we found was identified by its legend; it was struck in Wasit, Iraq, in 124 AH/741 AD and is from the reign of Ummayad Caliph Hisham Ibn Abd Al Malik (105–125 AH/724–743 AD). The pottery functions suggest the site was used for olive oil production as well as agriculture; the pottery was used either for storage or transport. The olive oil press located near


in the near future smallholder production may once again prove more efficient than plantation production seems overly speculative. Koning's paper, finally, examines recent developments in the relationship between plantation and peasant production in the South West Province of Cameroon. He shows why the introduction of smallholder schemes under pressure from the World Bank have, for the most part, been a failure. The three fine case studies that constitute the third part of the volume by Goheen (on the Nso region), Holtedahl (on Ngaoundere) and Van Santen (on Mokolo) focus on a topic vital to future economic development in Cameroon: women's opportunities for accumulation. All three papers emphasise that changes in women's access to new modes of accumulation seem to be closely related to processes of state formation and to their impact on local patterns. These contributions constitute an extremely important addition to the other articles. Of particular interest, in this context, is the fact that they stress the crucial role of old and new marriage strategies in relation to accumulation. The final chapters of the volume, written by the most eloquent 'big men' of Cameroon studies, provide, respectively, a kind of summary and a discussion of the present political situation. Bayart draws some conclusions about the relationship between the post-colonial state and accumulation in Cameroon. In his epilogue, Mbembe provides a—perhaps somewhat rough—analysis of the effects of the state's present legitimation crisis on the political system of Cameroon. All in all, the volume is a successful and stimulating effort to discuss the complex relationship between state and accumulation in Cameroon. Bur further research is needed both to analyse more fully the considerable regional variations and to study other important entrepreneurial groups in Cameroon. Itineraries a"accumulation au Cameroun lays important theoretical and empirical grounds for related studies of Cameroon as well as of other African countries.


Recently we read with great interest the paper by Wang et al. [1]. The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 13 studies containing 7328 cases and 8455 controls to estimate the association of R521K polymorphism in EGFR gene with risk of cancer. This meta-analysis suggested that the EGFR R521K polymorphism is not associated with risk of cancer except a statistical difference between A and G allele frequencies in gastric cancer. It is a valuable study. Nevertheless, we would like to raise several concerns related to this article.

First, the authors made some mistakes about counting the P value for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) in control groups. According to the original data (the numbers reported by Rebai et al. [2] and Hong et al. [3] for GG/GA/AA in controls were 174/98/30 and 630/1516/770, in Table 1 in the original text), the authors calculated the P values through the De Finetti program (http://ihg.gsf.de/cgi-bin/hw/hwa1.pl) as 0.06 and 0.19. However, using the same program, we obtained much different results; the P values were equal to 0.005 and 0.02, respectively. These results significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P < 0.05), and thus publication bias may be present, distorting the meta-analysis. To avoid this, the authors should reject these studies in this analysis.

Second, the racial categories of the original studies were not always clear in this paper (Table 2 in the original text). The authors pegged the Egyptians of the original study by Wang et al. as Caucasian [4]. After careful examination of the original study, we found no available data on the ethnic/racial background. Therefore, it is confusing why the authors used the country of publication as a surrogate for the ethnic background.

Finally, there are some problems of the method of stratified analyses. The authors simply categorized types into the same cancer with all races and the same race with all types of cancer (Table 2 in the original text). It is worth considering that the R521K SNP exhibits differences in allele frequencies between ethnic groups under normal conditions. Therefore, this kind of classification method only based on cancer types and ignoring differences between populations is not reliable.

In conclusion, the results of the study by Wang et al. [1] should be considered carefully. It would be valuable if the authors could provide a new, more accurate calculation after taking into account these observations.


Due to the pull of applications and the push of advanced technologies, energy storage will be important in future electric power systems. This paper presents the functions that energy storage can perform along the electricity value chain, overviews various energy storage technologies and provides the best storage technologies for individual and bundled applications.


Mucus plugging and non‐resolving inflammation are inherent features of cystic fibrosis (CF) that may lead to progressive lung disease and exercise intolerance, which are the main causes of morbidity and mortality for people with CF. Therefore, understanding the influence of mucus on basic mechanisms underlying the inflammatory response and identifying strategies to resolve mucus‐driven airway inflammation and consequent morbidity in CF are of wide interest. Here, we investigated the effects of the proresolving lipid mediator resolvin (Rv) D1 on mucus‐related inflammation as a proof‐of‐concept to alleviate the burden of lung disease and restore exercise intolerance in CF. We tested the effects of RvD1 on inflammatory responses of human organotypic airways and leukocytes to CF mucus and of humanized mice expressing the epithelial Na + channel (βENaC‐Tg) having CF‐like mucus obstruction, lung disease, and physical exercise intolerance. RvD1 reduced pathogenic phenotypes of CF‐airway supernatant (ASN)‐stimulated human neutrophils, including loss of L‐selectin shedding and CD16. RNASeq analysis identified select transcripts and pathways regulated by RvD1 in ASN‐stimulated CF bronchial epithelial cells that are involved in sugar metabolism, NF‐κB activation and inflammation, and response to stress. In in vivo inflammation using βENaC TG mice, RvD1 reduced total leukocytes, PMN, and interstitial Siglec‐MΦ when given at 6–8 weeks of age, and in older mice at 10–12 weeks of age, along with the decrease of pro‐inflammatory chemokines and increase of anti‐inflammatory IL‐10. Furthermore, RvD1 treatment promoted the resolution of pulmonary exacerbation caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection and significantly enhanced physical activity and energy expenditure associated with mucus obstruction, which was impaired in βENaC‐Tg mice compared with wild‐type. These results demonstrate that RvD1 can rectify features of CF and offer proof‐of‐concept for its therapeutic application in this and other muco‐obstructive lung diseases.


Residential buildings in high population density areas are seismically vulnerable to the action of major seismic events. The high cost and technical difficulties related to the use of advanced seismic isolations systems precludes its installation to low-to-medium rise buildings in the developing world. The environmental issues attributed to the stockpiling of scrap tires and its use as tire derived fuel has led research to explore viable recycling solutions in civil engineering projects. Several authors have proposed a novel seismic isolation system by mixing recycled rubber tires with sand particles. However, research to date has been mainly focused on the dynamic properties of this mixture in the low-to-medium strain range at a specific loading cycle. This paper has studied the dynamic properties in the medium-to-large shear strain amplitude (0.05%-1%) of shredded rubber-soil mixtures (ShRm). The influence of the rubber percentage, size ratio, shear strain amplitude and number of cycles have been evaluated. The shear modulus decreases at larger rubber percentages and strain amplitudes. The damping ratio has been found to increase by adding 10% rubber but it decays at greater rubber percentages. The results show that the dynamic properties of ShRm are affected by the number of cycles at the strain amplitude assessed in this paper. However, the addition of up to 30% of shredded rubber particles increase significantly the resilience of sand particles against cyclic loading leading to a reduction in the stiffness and damping degradation.


"Pletharrays" are introduced, motivated, and presented for application to aeroacoustic phased array measurements. Pletharrays contain a plethora of arrays composed from a modest to high number of array elements to field a remarkably large number of high element count arrays for use in noise source imaging applications. Pletharrays that have been deployed for closed jet transonic wind tunnel, static engine ground, open jet wind tunnel, and flyover phased array tests are presented. Tremendous array element leverage to provide extensive measurement flexibility and fidelity are demonstrated.


The deep volcanic reservoirs are represented primarily by fracture porosity reservoirs,and the fracture plays an important role both in connecting the pores and enhancing seeping capability of the reservoir.Therefore,on the basis of the logging response mechanism of the fracture,and aimed at low-resistivity and high-resistivity reservoir respectively,the paper adopted the method combining the FMI imaging logging and the conventional logging to set up evaluation standards for fracture development extent in deep volcanic reservoir,performed single well interpretation and evaluation on several wells in Xushen Gas Field,and applied multi-attribute coherency analysis and characteristic parameter inversion to predict the plane distribution of the fracture.The comprehensive analysis of various data indicates the evaluation parameters and evaluation standard for fracture development extent built upon the properties of the volcanic reservoir are reasonable;the fracture development zones are controlled by the fracturing and structural actions,and fractures are distributed as strips in the plane.A set of evaluation techniques for fracture development extent in deep volcanic reservoir have been developed,which can be helpful for improving the accuracy of prediction on reservoir producing capacity,for increasing the producing reliability of new wells,and for enhancing the successful rate of deploying production wells with high productivity.


This paper attempts to model the forward problem in photoacoustic tomography (PAT) using discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method. Numerical experiments show that DG solutions are comparable with those obtained by finite element method (FEM).


Few studies have compared the mitigation and preparedness activities adopted by nonprofit, private, and public organizations. This study contributes to this important literature by comparing the adoption of mitigation and preparedness activities by nonprofit, private, and public organizations in Memphis, Tennessee. The findings show that although nonprofit organizations may be more resource-constrained compared with private corporations, they adopt more mitigation and preparedness activities than private corporations. In addition, public organizations adopt more mitigation and preparedness activities than private organizations. The results are inconclusive on the comparison between nonprofits and public agencies.


A general mathematical model is established to describe the geometries and geometric characteristics of tooth surfaces of straight noncircular bevel gears. One of the direction angles of the normal vector of the tooth surfaces is taken as a function of the angular position of its origin, called the direction angle function (DAF). The normal vector and DAF are introduced to characterize this model. The normal vector including its direction angles and modulus is solved first and then the corresponding tooth surfaces and their geometric properties, such as major curvatures and slide coefficients, could be generated and calculated directly, logically and systematically by using this model and defining various DAFs. This method is applicable to many types of straight noncircular bevel gears with different tooth surfaces including tooth surfaces cut by the crown rack cutter or others. In addition, by using this method, it is relatively easy to realize the desired geometrical and mechanical properties into the design.


Plant traits and patterns of herbivory are influenced by environmental conditions and annual variability in climatic parameters is thus of great importance for plant-herbivore interactions in arcti ...


The recrystallization behavior of Nb microalloyed steels was studied using hot torsion testing with the aim of modeling the recrystallization processes taking place during hot rolling. Continuous and interrupted torsion tests were performed in the temperature range 850 to 1050°C at strain rates of 0.05 to 5/s on selected low carbon steels containing Cr, Mo, Nb, Ni and Ti. The kinetics of static and metadynamic recrystallization were characterized and appropriate expressions were formulated for the recrystallization kinetics. These are shown to depend on steel composition and the processing conditions. The rate of metadynamic recrystallization increases with strain rate and temperature and is observed to be independent of strain, in contrast to the observations for static recrystallization. By means of extrapolations to mill strain rates, it is shown that metadynamic recrystallization will always be more rapid than static recrystallization, even at the largest possible accumulated strains. These calculations support the view that the unexpected load drops occasionally observed in industrial mills (particularly in the final few passes) are probably due to strain accumulation leading to the initiation of dynamic recrystallization, followed by metadynamic recrystallization.


The increasing demand for manufacturing systems' flexibility and adaptability enlarges the complexity in engineering. Engineering efficiency must be increased by reusing existing components. However, large component libraries complicate a modular approach as identifying and selecting components can be time consuming and inefficient. To overcome this challenge, the vision of an automatic synthesis of manufacturing system designs is illustrated. It is shown how this vision can be mapped to checking the compatibility of components from a library and how coalition formation of software agents can provide possible means towards realizing this vision.


A new type of ethoxylated double-tail trisiloxane surfactants containing a propanetrioxy spacer of the general formula ROCH2CH(OR)CH2O(CH2CH2O)xCH3 [R = Me3SiOSiMe(CH2)3OSiMe3, x = 8.4, 12.9, 22] has been synthesized. Their structures were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and 29Si-NMR spectroscopy. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of these double-tail trisiloxane surfactants were at the level of 10−5 mol l−1, and the surface tension values of their aqueous solutions at CMC were in the range of 21-24.9 mN m−1. Only the double-tail trisiloxane surfactant with average ethoxy units of 8.4 (1P) possesseda good spreading ability (SA) value. Its SA values of aqueous solutions (5.0 × 10−3 mol l−1) on parafilm and Ficus microcarpa leaf surfaces were more than 15 (within 10 min) and 13 (within 3 min), respectively. The trisiloxane surfactant 1P was also found to have the strongest hydrolysis resistant ability among all of the double-tail trisiloxane surfactants prepared. Its aqueous solutions were stable for 130 days in an acidic environment (pH 4.0) and 59 days in an alkaline environment (pH 10.0) with surface tension values less than 23 mN m−1. It is suggested that this surfactant can be used as a wetting agent or spreading agent in certain extreme pH environments. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


RUSSIA'S ANNEXATION of the Crimea on 18 March 2014 has caught India on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, New Delhi's decision not to back the sanctions levied by the United States and the European Union against Russia is in line with its policy of only supporting sanctions approved by the United Nations. This stance, however, could have adverse effects on India's relations with the US and EU.


Session participants will experience a collaborative learning activity where interactive technology takes part in student conversations, as we highlight activities introduced in first-year chemistry. After a debrief on the unique dynamics of this interaction, participants will reflect together on the impacts and complexities of these types of student experiences.


Station Blackout, the loss of all ac power in a nuclear power plant, is a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) unresolved safety issue. This paper summarizes the work done to resolve this issue. The analysis can be conveniently divided into three parts: (1) loss of offsite power-the results covered include generic initiating event frequency and duration of loss of offsite power and a summary of important factors affecting the initiating event frequencies and restoration probabilities; (2) loss of onsite ac power - the results covered include the unavailability of different diesel generator configurations, dominant factors affecting their unavailabilities, examples of sensitivities performed on the dominant factors, and examples of system undependability for these diesel generator configurations; and (3) accident sequence analysis - the results covered include dominant accident frequencies for the different generic classes of plants identified, dominant factors affecting sequence frequencies, examples of sensitivities done on the dominant factors, and a discussion of some of the most important features.


We study a new complex continuum quantity Qth (t; x, z) and its applications for efficient particle system simulation. Function Qh (t; x, z) is constructed using both velocities and positions of particles. It carries more information than the standard quantities density, linear momentum, and kinetic energy, and, therefore, it can give better results in various applications. The standard quantities can be derived from Qth (t; x, z).
The proposed quantity and its derivatives are bounded independently of the number of particles, and can be used for numerical modeling. Several 1D particle systems are studied using Qth (t; x, z), and an approximate closure is presented based on the examples.
Research of Qth (t; x, z) can be continued on a 2D example presented in the last chapter. The model in the example describes a so called bistable material. Bistable material is represented by a two-dimensional triangular lattice made of bistable rods. Each rod has two equilibrium lengths, and thus its energy has two equal minima. A rod undergoes a phase transition when its elongation exceeds a critical value. The lattice is subject to a homogeneous strain and is periodic with a sufficiently large period. The effective strain of a periodic element is defined. After phase transitions, the lattice rods are in two different states and lattice strain is inhomogeneous, the Cauchy-Born rule is not applicable. We show that the lattice has a number of deformed still states that carry no stresses. These states densely cover a neutral region in the space of entries of effective strains. In this region, the minimal energy of the periodic lattice is asymptotically close to zero. The compatibility of the partially transited lattice is studied. We derive compatibility conditions for lattices and demonstrate a family of compatible lattices (strips) that densely covers the flat bottom region. Under an additional assumption of the small difference of two equilibrium lengths, we demonstrate that the still structures continuously vary with the effective strain and prove a linear dependence of the average strain on the concentration of transited rods.


One searches in vain for the proper aphorism to describe the mental journey one embarks upon in reading Durkheim, Bernard, and Epistemology. It has always seemed to me a good idea to bring the insights of conceptual analysis developed in the natural sciences to bear upon the logic and methodology of the social sciences. But that is not the task of this book. Indeed, Durkheim, Bernard, and Epistemology defies all the categories and expectations that might go with a book of that title. What we have is 'two studies', and the objective is not to compare the nature of conceptual thought found in Bernard's physiology with Durkheim's sociology. At best, as the author tells us, we can say that these 'studies are complementary, certain themes and concepts in the analysis of Bernard illuminate the discussion of Durkheim's work' (p. 1; italics mine). In brief, the reader must abandon the notion that this book might be 'a scholarly monograph in the history of ideas', for 'no claim can be made that the reader will find here a full examination of the work of Bernard and Durkheim, nor can it be claimed that this work is an introduction to the concepts and methods' which those works employ (p. 1). Given all these possibilities which this book is not, some may find it difficult to understand how this study could seek 'to question and to challenge the dominant conceptions of epistemology in sociology'. The study of Bernard is actually a 'preparation' for the 'reading' of Durkheim which follows, and which restricts itself to an examination of The Rules of Sociological Method (New York 1938). But assuming that the author's restriction of his study to The Rules would be adequate to the task, are we to assume that most sociologists are Durkheimians? Paul Q. Hirst answers: 'far from it'. It is easily seen that even the first page of this book is riddled with perplexities that are not easy to overcome. The only 'thread' that holds this work together is a 'common approach to the reading and analysis of theoretical and philosophical texts' which has been given life by such French philosophers of history as Louis Althusser and Gaston Bachelard. It is best, therefore, to view Durkheim, Bernard, and Epistemology as a trial run of certain conceptions in the philosophy of history and literature which Althusser and Bachelard use. Little


Tamm Horsfall Protein or Uromodulin is the most abundant urinary glycoprotein that has a protective function in the bladder mucosal layer. THP is also the primary constituent of renal tubular casts and THP aggregation has been implicated as a factor in the pathogenesis of acute renal failure by causing tubular obstruction. Using ELISA, the autoantibody level of Tamm Horsfall Protein in serum was determined in Hypertensive Patients and control subjects. A significant percentage of hypertensive subjectshave a greater risk of renal stone formation, with high autoantibodies level to Tamm Horsfall Protein in serum when compared to control subjects. Hence THP acts as a potential biomarker for nephrolithiasis in Hypertensive patients.


Summary A purified brucella protein, subjected to further purification and presented in a soluble lyophilized form, has been described. Weighed amounts are placed in glass vials, which, after the addition of a measured quantity of sterile saline buffered solution, produces a product ready for use. This procedure facilitates the use of the product in epidemiological investigation and as a routine diagnostic test.


Memory hierarchy is a useful mechanism for improving the memory access speed and making the program space larger by layering the memories and separating program spaces from memory spaces. However, it needs at least two memory accesses for each data reference : a TLB(Translation Lookaside Buffer) access for the address translation and a data cache access for the desired data. If the cache size increases to the multiplication of page size and the cache associativity, it is difficult to access the TLB with the cache in parallel, thereby making longer the critical timing path in the processor. To achieve such parallel accesses, we present the hybrid mapped TLB which combines a direct mapped TLB with a very small fully-associative mapped TLB. The former can reduce the TLB access time. while the latter removes the conflict misses from the former. The trace-driven simulation shows that under given workloads the proposed TLB is effective even when a fully-associative mapped TLB with only four entries is added because the effects of its increased misses are offset by its speed benefits.


Closed-form analytical formulas for a tooth of paraboloidal shape under the orthodontic force are presented. These formulas are based on both the approximation of strains according to the displacement of the tooth and the tooth equilibrium of the thin surrounding periodontal membrane. The proposed formulas are capable of determining the most important quantities involved the distribution of strain and stress tensors in the membrane, as well as the location of the center of resistance. It was found that the proposed formulas involve not only the root diameter but also the root length. The theory is consistence with three-dimensional finite element results for an upper central incisor.


History of science and technology proves that the biggest advances come not from doing more and bigger and faster of what is already being done, but from new ideas, discoveries, and starting points. Hence this special issue concerns new ideas, discoveries, and metaphors in computer science. It is not about incremental improvements, but rather it presents the opportunities opened by these related notions: super-recursive algorithms and hypercomputation. Together these new ideas, discoveries, constructions, and metaphors form a new computer science %eld, the theory of super-recursive algorithms and hypercomputation. It is a part of such established domain as the theory of algorithms, automata, and computation. One main achievement of 20th century scienti%c thought is the theory of algorithms and computation. This theory studies abstract and real automata, computers and networks, computation and communication. In many ways, this theory is the central cornerstone for computer science. Many key accomplishments in the theory of algorithms and computation converge to the famous Church–Turing thesis, a statement determining the boundaries of algorithmic computations. The Church–Turing thesis has long been considered as the most fundamental law within computing. However, recent developments in the theory of algorithms allow overcoming limitations in the Church– Turing thesis. New mathematical models for algorithms and computation have appeared that extend prior theory in a manner similar to the way relativity theory and quantum mechanics went beyond Newtonian mechanics. These new models are more powerful than the classical recursive algorithm models, i.e., Turing machines, partial recursive functions, Lambda-calculus, and cellular automata. Algorithms and automata that are more powerful than Turing machines are called super-recursive. Computations that cannot be realized or simulated by Turing machines are called hypercomputations. The new area of computer science called the theory of super-recursive algorithms and hypercomputation consists of several directions. The most important ones are


Objective:To investigate the effect of the health education on insight recovering,drug therapy compliance and recurrence in first-episode-schizophrenic patients. Methods:One hundred and twelve first-episode schizophrenic inpatients were randomly assigned into two groups : chlorpromazine therapy group (n=56) and health education combining with chlorpromazine therapy group (n=56) .The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Insight and Treatment Attitude Questionnaire(ITAQ) and drug therapy compliance were used to assess the patients in the two groups when they were admitted in and discharged from hospital. These patients were followed up for two years.Results:It was found that the scores of BPRS in the two groups didn't show significant difference (P0.05) .The scores of the ITAQ were similar at the beginning of hospitalization in the two groups ,but the score in the combined therapy group was significant higher than that in the chlorpromazine therapy group when they were discharged (P0.01) .The compliance of drug therapy in the combined therapy group was significantly better than that in the chlorpromazine therapy group (P0.05) . The rate of recurrence in the combined therapy group was significant lower than that in chlorpromazine therapy group within two years(P0.01). Conclusions:The health education not only is beneficial to the treatment for first-episode schizophrenic patients,but also can lower of these patients the rate of recurrence.


It has been found that the following properties of flocculated suspensions of bentonite are dependent upon initial degree of dis persion : (a) the shape and form of the floc produced; and conse quently, (b). the rate of settling of the dispersed phase through a given distance; (c) the extent to which the particle charge is low ered by a fixed amount of coagulating agent; (d) the adsorbability and solubility effect. A general equation has been developed for the type of "com pression settling" observed here, which has been shown to be ap plicable to these data. Some of the physical properties of the suspending media have been studied, and it has been suggested that still other variable factors (possibly changes of surface phase), which should be in vestigated, have an integral part in the flooculation process. The various factors studied are discussed as to their influence on flocculation, and previously observed sedimentation behavior of similar suspensions is explainable on the basis of the conclusions drawn.


In this paper, an omnidirectional photonic band gap realized by one-dimensional ternary unmagnetized plasma photonic crystals based on a new Fibonacci quasiperiodic structure, which is composed of homogeneous unmagnetized plasma and two kinds of isotropic dielectric, is theoretically studied by the transfer matrix method. It has been shown that such an omnidirectional photonic band gap originates from Bragg gap in contrast to zero-n¯ gap or single negative (negative permittivity or negative permeability) gap, and it is insensitive to the incidence angle and the polarization of electromagnetic wave. From the numerical results, the frequency range and central frequency of omnidirectional photonic band gap can be tuned by the thickness and density of the plasma but cease to change with increasing Fibonacci order. The bandwidth of omnidirectional photonic band gap can be notably enlarged. Moreover, the plasma collision frequency has no effect on the bandwidth of omnidirectional photonic band gap. It is shown ...


The potential renal toxicity of monosodium glutamate (MSG) following dietary administration for four weeks in Albino rats was preliminary investigated by the measurement of serum electrolytes, urea and creatinine levels. The rats were randomly divided into four (4) groups based on the proportion of MSG supplemented in their diets. Group A was fed with commercial chow (control) while groups B, C and D were placed on 0.5, 1.0 and 5.0% MSG supplemented diets respectively. The serum electrolytes, urea and creatinine were analyzed using TECO Diagnostic kits. The sodium and chloride concentrations in the experimental groups were not significantly (p > 0.05) different from the control group. Group fed 5% MSG supplemented diet had the highest potassium concentration (6.00±0.83 Mmol/L) while the group placed on 0.5% MSG supplemented diet had the Original Research Article Akanya et al.; JAMPS, 6(1): 1-8, 2016; Article no.JAMPS.19825 2 lowest concentration (4.68±0.16 Mmol/L). There was a significant (p < 0.05) difference in the potassium ion concentration between the experimental groups and the control group. The urea concentration ranged from 6.28±0.10 Mmol/L to 7.13±0.36 Mmol/L in the experimental groups whereas the creatinine concentration ranged from 1.38±0.48mmol/L to 1.4±0.11 Mmol/L. The urea concentration of rats in the experimental groups were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than the control group. The creatinine concentration of rats in the experimental groups were not significantly different (p > 0.05) from those in the control group. This work has shown that high supplementation of diet with MSG could induce hyperkalemia and hypouremia in rats.


We discuss the proposal of Hata and Kawano for the tachyon fluctuation around a solution of vacuum string field theory representing a D25-brane. We give a conformal field theory construction of their state --- a local insertion of a tachyon vertex operator on the sliver surface state, and explain why the on-shell momentum condition emerges correctly. We also show that a naive computation of the D25-brane tension using data for the three point coupling of this state gives an answer that is (π2/3)(16/27 ln 2)3 2.0558 times the expected answer. We demonstrate that this problem arises because the HK state does not satisfy the equations of motion in a strong sense required for the computation of D-brane tension from the on-shell 3-tachyon coupling.


Decision-making through artificial neural networks with minimal latency is critical for numerous applications such as navigation, tracking, and real-time machine action systems. This requires machine learning hardware to process multidimensional data at high throughput. Unfortunately, handling convolution operations, the primary computational tool for data classification tasks, obeys challenging runtime complexity scaling laws. However, homomorphically implementing the convolution theorem in a Fourier optics display light processor can achieve a non-iterative O(1) runtime complexity for data inputs beyond 1,000 × 1,000 large matrices. Following this approach, here we demonstrate data streaming multi-kernel image batching using a Fourier Convolutional Neural Network (FCNN) accelerator. We show image batch processing of large-scale matrices as 2 million dot product multiplications performed by a digital light processing module in the Fourier domain. Furthermore, we further parallelize this optical FCNN system by exploiting multiple spatially parallel diffraction orders, achieving a 98x throughput improvement over state-of-the-art FCNN accelerators. A comprehensive discussion of the practical challenges associated with working at the edge of system capabilities highlights the problem of crosstalk and resolution scaling laws in the Fourier domain. Accelerating convolution by exploiting massive parallelism in display technology brings non-Van Neumann-based machine learning acceleration.


This article describes an International Scanning Tour for Wildlife Habitat Connectivity across European highways in October 2001 to visit portions of five nations to determine which strategies might be adapted for use in the United States. During the period since the end of the tour, the participants have used the insights gained during the tour and applied them in the U.S. context. New techniques, training courses and workshops, print and online resources for practitioners, policy advocates and on the ground research are some of the efforts. The participants brought back from their European counterparts observations and ideas on wildlife issues that can be incorporated into transportation projects. Issues such as understanding habitat issues, early integration of wildlife impact mitigation into project planning, tools for mapping habitat, managerial support, and intreragency cooperation.


An effort toward realization of universal radios, i.e. radios able to tune a carrier frequency over a wide RF range and supporting high data rate modulations is underway [1–4]. This is a trend toward the integration of multiple functions (phone, video-game console, personal digital assistant, digital camera, web-browser, e-mail, etc.) into a wireless device that can be used anywhere in the world. Enabling factor of this evolution is the increasing availability of multi-standard terminals, integrated in low-cost silicon technologies that can communicate efficiently, using many different standards, for voice and data, depending on the availability and convenience. The ultimate solution for the radio of such a multi-functional terminal would be a multi-standard radio, built in a very low-cost CMOS technology, capable of being programmed to operate according to all major communications standards [1–5]. While progress has been made in DSP and base-band functions of such a terminal, the low voltage low power radio front-end has remained intangible. Hardware sharing between different applications and programmability are key to save silicon costs. Direct conversion architecture lends itself to a compact solution, with minimum number of external components and a simpler reconfigurable base-band [5–7]. However, several challenging issues including second order intermodulation (IM2) appears in this kind of receivers. Moreover, the dynamic range requirements set by cell-phones in particular make the RF radio front-end extremely challenging [8–10]. In this manuscript, we focus the attention on the down-conversion mixer, the major responsible one for the limited dynamic range in the RF front-end, investigating a high second order input intercept-point (IIP2) reconfigurable Gilbert type solution.


Java Agent Development Framework (JADE) is a software framework to make easy the development of Multi-Agent applications in compliance with the Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) specifications. JADE propose new infrastructure solutions to support the development of useful and convenient distributed applications. Security is one of the most important issues in implementing and deploying such applications. JADE-S security add-ons are one of the most popular security solutions in JADE platform. It provides several security services including authentication, authorization, signature and encryption services. Authorization service will give authorities to perform an action based on a set of permission objects attached to every authenticated user. This service has several drawbacks when implemented in a scalable distributed context aware applications. In this paper, an ontology-based access control model called (OJADEAC) is proposed to be applied in JADE platform by combining Semantic Web technologies with context-aware policy mechanism to overcome the shortcoming of this service. The access control model is represented by a semantic ontology, and a set of two level semantic rules representing platform and application specific policy rules. OJADEAC model is distributed, intelligent, dynamic, context-aware and use reasoning engine to infer access decisions based on ontology knowledge.


SUMMARY Bajra is the fourth most important crop, whose cultivation mainly confines to dry land regions. Gene manipulation using conventional and advanced approaches as well as genetic resource conservation and evaluation is an activity that supports the national crop improvement programme to cope with the biotic and abiotic stresses while maintaining high level of productivity, profitability and quality. It's wild species are tertiary gene pool species as reservoir of important genes such as apomixis, perenniality, fodder characteristics, stress tolerance thereby pearl millet improvement has potential of utilizing interspecific hybridization. Plant pathological research in pearl millet did not receive adequate attention until the F 1 hybrids, based on cytoplasmic male sterile line, released for commercial cultivation in India in the mid-1960's and become susceptible to downy mildew in early 1970's. The superiority of hybrids over open pollinated varieties for grain yield, uniform growth and shorter duration resulted in substantial increase in area under hybrid cultivation and this favoured incidence of diseases. The crop yield is adversely affected by several biotic factors which cause substantial yield losses and also adversely affected the quality of produce and thus reduced its market value. Among these, downy mildew (Sclerospora graminicola), smut (Tolyposporium penicillariae) and ergot (Claviceps fusiformis) are of economic importance in major pearl-millet growing areas of the country. Disease management using resistant cultivars is the most feasible way in pearl millet production. Attempts have been made in the past to identify sources of resistance to downy mildew in India based on resistant sources, several resistant hybrids and varieties were released for general cultivation in India. However, identification of new sources of resistance is required to find resistance against evolving virulence where pearl millet is widely cultivated. Plants use a wide range of mechanisms to resist infection and disease caused by pathogenic organisms. A common strategy of resistance breeding utilizing major genes involves : an effective screening method, availability of diverse germplasm, confirmed sources of resistance, knowledge of genetics of resistance, information on variability in virulence, effective utilization of resistance in breeding, and deployment and on-farm monitoring of performance of cultivar. Different breeding methods i. e. mutation, recombination/back cross and biotechnological tools are used for incorporation of resistance/ tolerance genes and obtained several interspecific crosses, identified genomic regions. In the light of past studies, it is proposed that future downy mildew and other disease management need-based strategy in pearl millet should be focussed.


Over the last few years, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been used successfully for modeling almost all aspects of geotechnical engineering problems. Whilst ANNs provide a great deal of promise, they suffer from a number of shortcomings such as knowledge extraction, extrapolation and uncertainty. This paper presents a state-of-the-art examination of ANNs in geotechnical engineering and provides insights into the modeling issues of ANNs. The paper also discusses current research directions of ANNs that need further attention in the future.