Even in the world of 2016, inequities of access and provision of healthcare persist, and where in the world a child is born continues to be an important determinant of survival through childhood and life expectancy. In places where poverty prevails and access to health remains seriously compromised, young children remain the most vulnerable population, susceptible to preventable causes of premature mortality. Additionally, in our increasingly interconnected world, population movements continue facilitating the spread of many communicable diseases. The 'tropical'origin of many of these infections, a historically useful geographical classification, is therefore less and less valid in front of the gradual globalization of many of these pathogens. In its 61styear, the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics aims to address the health problems of children from all over the world, and particularly for those from the most underprivileged settings. The Journal of Tropical Pediatrics aims to publish original research, review articles, correspondence and commentaries and situational analyses or country or regional case studies that support links between theory and practice in the field and subsequent policy-making. The journal is also interested in the socio-anthropological determinants of child health, and the increasing importance of community involvement to foster healthier childhoods. We want to be part of the solution to the 'information problem' [1] that has historically affected resource-constrained settings, and so we welcome manuscripts from authors from these countries, facilitating the dissemination of national data, particularly when this has international implications. Communicable diseases have traditionally been the essence of tropical pediatrics. However, it is now clear that many countries are progressively transitioning toward a new scenario where child mortality is decreasing, and infectious morbidity is increasingly being replaced by non-communicable disease. The journal will continue to reflect the realities of countries, often comfortably occupying middle positions in the human development classifications, but typically neglected in terms of the dissemination of their particular problems in child health and communicable and non-communicable diseases. We believe there is an important place for specific 'tropical pediatrics' journals. It is true that pediatric clinical assistance or research in the developed world still remains far too distant from the pediatric reality in settings where the quality of care and services remains challenging and necessarily constrained by limited resources. However, it is also true that the work of clinicians in poor settings, fully qualified as pediatricians or acting as such after many years of experience, deserves to be publicized for the global scientific community to benefit from their experience. This is the Journal of Tropical Pediatrics that we would like to see in the next decade. Accessible, scientifically robust and reliable, with a modern layout, a quick turnaround for authors and offering an updated state-of-the-art viewpoint on the world of tropical pediatrics, so different from the world of adult medicine and from the routine pediatrics of the richer settings, but much more representative of the everyday reality of pediatrics at a global scale. Let us


With high pressure spraying refinement technology of explosive, we obtain ultrafine powder of TATB and HMX. The middle diameter of them is 746 and 242 , that is to say those two kinds explosives belong to ultrafine explosive. Impact test indicate that the impact sensitivity of ultrafine TATB and HMX is decreasing in some degree. However the shock sensitivity is increased and the increased range is big. The end, we analyze this phenomenon and explain the reason that the ultrafine explosives` sensitivity is different form usual explosive in theory.


This study aims to review and reinterpret Taiwanese citizens' trust in the police, with a focus on taking its social changes, political transitions, and historical background into consideration. Modern Taiwan inherits both Chinese and Japanese cultures, and the urbanization on the island has generated substantial differences between rural areas and metropolitans. The political system has also successfully transformed from authoritarianism to democracy since late 1980s and subsequently leads to paradigm shift in policing. All of the contemporary empirical studies regarding public assessments of the police are based on survey data, however, they either poorly measure the multi-dimensional nature of trust as a social construct or understudy social-historical context when interpreting survey findings. This review attempts to fill the gap and points out the demand of qualitative insights in future research.


(57) ABSTRACT Silanes comprising phenothiazine S-oxide or phenothiazine S.S.-dioxide groups, organic light-emitting diodes comprising the inventive silanes, a light-emitting layer comprising at least one inventive silane and at least one triplet emitter, a process for preparing the inventive silanes and the use of the inventive silanes in organic light-emitting diodes, preferably as matrix materials and/or blocker materials for triplet emit ters.


The authors present their own observation of a patient suffering from drug-induced agranulocytosis, cured with filgastrim-neupogen, a recombinant colony-stimulating human granulocyte factor.


The paper presents examples of the application of the generalised stochastic Petri net (GSPN) modeling paradigm to the performance analysis of ATM networks, illustrating modular GSPN models of two well-known ATM switch architectures: the Knockout and the Gauss switches. The approach is based on the use of many immediate transitions, and only one timed transition, whose firing time distribution is irrelevant for the computation of several performance indices. The analysis of the two example ATM switch architectures allows the limited complexity of the approach to be demonstrated, and interesting insights into the switch behavior to be obtained.


Network games are truncated coalitional games whose values are only defined for a subset of coalitions. This paper first provides three equivalent conditions for a non-empty old TU core: sub-balancedness, minimum no-blocking payoff (mnbp) ≤ v(N), and maximal payoff (mp) ≤ v(N). It then shows that players will achieve the mp by forming optimal and minimal sub-balanced collections according to the unique balancing vector, and they will split mp within the old core if old core is non-empty and within the optimal set of mnbp if old core is empty. Finally, it obtains analogous results for NTU network games.


This study compared the efficacy of a low dose of formoterol Turbuhaler'@ 6,~~g b.i.d. (F) with that of terbutaline 0.5 mg q.i.d. (T), and placebo (P) from Turbuhalerm. After a 2-week run-in, 397 adults with mild to moderate asthma were randomly allocated to one of the treatments for 12 weeks. During run-in, the mean morning peak expiratory flow (PEF) was 360 (F), 368 (T) and 367 1 min i (P). F was better than T (P=O.O14) and P (P=O.OOOl) in improving morning PEF [mean changes from run-in: 20 (F), 9 (T), and 2 1 min ~ ' (P)]. F was statistically significantly more effective than either T or P in reducing asthma symptoms. F gave also statistically significantly higher evening PEF and less use of rescue medication than P. Bronchodilator response to study drugs and additional 1.25 mg terbutaline was similar before and after the 12-week treatment period. There were no adverse effects of clinical relevance. In conclusion, formoterol Turbuhaler, 6 pg b.i.d. was more effective in improving PEF and offered better asthma control than either terbutaline Turbuhaler, 0.5 mg q.i.d. or placebo. Regular use of formoterol did not reduce the bronchodilator response to additional terbutaline. There were no clinically relevant adverse effects.


The main purpose of this paper is to prove the uniqueness of a graph attaining the maximum of the number of independent sets over all $k$-regular graphs on $n$ vertices for $2k|n$.


The literature has consistently demonstrated that consumers' perception of online stores' service quality is influenced by several factors such as technology use skills, knowledge, income, gender, age, and marital status. This study seeks to determine the differences of perceived service quality (PSQ) in online shopping based on consumers' six demographic factors: age, gender, monthly income (MI), occupation, educational qualification (EQ) and marital status (MS) within four dimensions: access, reliability, ease of use and attentiveness (EoU&A), and Security and Credibility (S&C) adopted from SERVIQUAL scale with modifications. Using snowball method and an online questionnaire, 400 participants comprising students, public servants and private organisations' employees drawn from three Nigerian cities: Abuja, Kano, and Lagos were surveyed. The hypotheses were tested using the scale. Factor analysis yielded the above-mentioned dimensions. Kruskal-Wallis (H test), Mann-Whitney test and Post Hoc test were used to determine the difference of PSQ in online shopping based on the six demographic factors involving each of those dimensions. The results indicate a significant difference of PSQ in age, educational qualification and occupation consistently exists within S&C dimension and variously within the rest of the dimensions. However, no significant difference of PSQ in MI was found in all the four dimensions. Furthermore, gender and MS indicate a significant difference Adamkolo, M. I., Hassan, M. S. and Pate, A. U. 1336 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 26 (3): 1335 1369 (2018) of PSQ within access and EoU&A; only difference based on gender is significant within reliability; while both differences based on gender and MS are not significant within S&C dimension.


The performance characteristics of planar InP-based PIN-MODFET front-end photoreceivers realized by molecular beam epitaxial regrowth are discussed. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the temporal response to photoexcitation for the full circuit is shown to be 60 ps, which translates to a bandwidth of approximately 6.5 GHz. The measured electrical 3-dB frequency response of the circuit with an effective input load resistance of 33 Omega is 15.0 GHz.<<ETX>>


Purpose. The purpose of the study is ecological-geographical analysis of nature management in Ivanichi district of Volyn region.

Method. During the scientific work the following methods of socio-geographical research were used: cartographic, comparative, observation, generalization, analysis and synthesis. The statistical method calculates the indicators of transformational changes by types of natural resources. The method of geoinformation modeling of the state of the processes of nature management and their development made it possible to reveal the relationship of transformed resources with the factors of influence.

Results. An ecological-geographical assessment of nature management in the Ivanichi district of Volyn region has been carried out. The basis of the economic complex of the district is agriculture and processing industry. On the other hand, mining and machine-building industry prevail in the structure of Novovolynsk city economy. The influence of both natural and technogenic processes and factors on the formation of ecological and geographical situation in the territory of the district is substantiated. The specific combination of environmental management has led to the spatial differentiation of environmental stress and the varying degree of its implementation in the form of a spectrum of hazardous processes.

The scientific novelty is the ecological and geographical determination of the types of economic nature management in the Ivanichi district of Volyn region. The analysis of the impact on the formation of the ecological situation in the area and the proposed measures for its optimization are carried out.

Practical importance. The results of the study can be used in the educational process of the East National University named after Lesya Ukrainka in teaching a number of geographic and tourism disciplines. The results will find their application in the legislative and executive work of local governments in the development of programs for socio-economic development of the territory. The research materials will facilitate the rational use of economically transformed natural and anthropogenic territories and objects of the Ivanichi district of Volyn, which will increase the profitability and competitiveness of the exploitation of the objects of land and industrial fund. A number of provisions can be used in similar studies in other regions of Ukraine.


The geometry and fabrication of polyimide-based flexible neural microelectrodes were optimized. Aiming at retinal prosthesis,several thru-holes were designed in the flexible neural microelectrode for fixating the electrode during implantation. And a plasma treatment was employed in the fabrication procedure to improve the adhesion of metal layer on the polymer for a long-term implantation. The optimized flexible microelectrode shows stronger adhesion,25.4% lower interface impedance(43 kΩ),and a four fifths reduction of error.


Fitriningrum R, Sugiyarto, Susilowati A. 2013. Analysis of carbohydrate content of various maturity levels of Mountain Papaya (Carica pubescens) fruit from Kejajar and Sembungan Villages, Dieng Plateau, Central Java. Bioteknologi 10: 6-14. Mountain papayas (Carica pubescens Lenne & K. Koch) at Dieng Plateau, Central Java were distributed narrowly (+1400 m.asl until +2400 m.asl). Different altitude could determine the climatic environment factors as well as plant metabolism processes. The aim of this research was to compare the carbohydrates content on various maturity levels of mountain papaya fruit from Kejajar and Sembungan Village, Dieng Plateau. Samples of mountain papaya fruit on various maturity levels i.e: upper part, middle part and lower part, were taken from Kejajar Village (+1400 m.asl) and Sembungan Village (+2400 m.asl). Each sample was analyzed it's rough fibre part, reducing sugar and total of carbohydrate from it's seed salute and pericarp. The data was analyzed descriptive-comparatively. Result showed that there was tendency more mature of fruit, it's total carbohydrates content increased, except the total carbohydrate content of pericarp of mountain papaya fruit from Sembungan Village. More mature of mountain papaya fruit, it's rough fibre part decreased. Highest of reducing sugar was observed on middle fruit. The total carbohydrates content of mountain papaya from Kejajar Village were higher than from Sembungan Village.


The present study focusses on the development of a new human Type I ANF model. The ANF model is developed in three phases. This chapter deals with the first phase, namely the development of the human Ranvier node model. Its objective is to determine whether the Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) model for unmyelinated nerve fibres can be modified to describe action potential dynamics at Ranvier nodes using recorded ionic membrane current data from single human myelinated peripheral nerve fibres (Reid et al., 1993; Scholz et al., 1993; Schwarz et al., 1995; Reid et al., 1999) together with the temperature dependency of all parameters. Only the model parameters are modified to those of human, with the equations left unaltered. This model is developed as part of a larger model to describe excitation behaviour in a generalised human peripheral sensory nerve fibre.


Results are presented for the standard deviation of fiber diameter in sale lots of merino and crossbred fleece wools and skirtings. There is a strong positive association between standard deviation and average fiber diameter in all cases. In merino fleece wools, there are smaller increases associated with wools of poorer style and shorter length.


Abstract Low friction silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic seals were prepared by combining liquid phase sintering (LPS) with pore creation, the effects of polyethylene oxide (PEO) as pore former on the sintering and mechanical properties, microstructure, and friction properties of LPS–SiC ceramic seals were investigated. The PEO firstly forms cross-linking aggregates with loose structure in SiC granules, which uniformly creates macropores on the surface and inside of LPS–SiC ceramic seals during the sintering. The addition of PEO decreases the sintering and mechanical properties of LPS–SiC ceramic seals obviously, while significantly reduces the dry friction coefficient of LPS–SiC ceramic seals. When the PEO content increases from 0 to 15 wt-%, the dry friction coefficient drops from 0·403 to 0·126. The pore creation of PEO improves the friction performances of SiC ceramic seals in sliding wear applications.


The materials of sociological investigation of the under-age pupils from Krasnodar's average secondary school and from the prison from under-age people are showed in this paper. The very high level of involving to drug using (psychoactive substances) was revealed among the pupils of secondary school. It was determined the constant and temporary methods for preventive measures which helped to decrease the level of drug addictive behavior. The helpful measures were supposed to improve the preventive measures among the under-age people to


The explicit finite difference scheme for solving an intermediate coupled ocean-atmosphere equations has been proposed and discussed. The discrete Fourier analysis within Gerschgorin circle theorem is applied to the stability analysis of this numerical model. The stability criterion that we obtained includes advection, rotation, dissipation, and friction terms, without any assumptions, which is also including the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) condition as a special case. Numerical sensitivity experiments are also carried out by varying the model parameters.


With the unceasing development of network technology,Storage Area Network is valued by more and more people.In this paper,the concept,topology structure,constitution and security technology of SAN are analyzed in details.


To cope with the rapidly increasing volume and complexity of data being generated by ESO's public optical/infrared imaging surveys a highperformance, end-to-end survey software system has been developed. Its main aim is to provide a robust framework to efficiently transform raw data into science-grade survey products. The system consists of several tasks wrapped together into an integrated framework. These tasks include: the un-supervised reduction of optical/infrared images generated by different imagers, the astrometric and photometric calibration of the data, the creation of image stacks and mosaics, the preparation of catalogs and the selection of different targets of potential interest for spectroscopic follow-up. Since the data are meant to be public, the system also provides an extensive description of the products and the required information for users to assess their quality. The system has been designed to enable a small group to monitor the un-supervised reduction and analysis of data from multiple surveys in their entirety – from survey definition all the way through to the release of comprehensively documented survey products (stacked images, mosaics and catalogs) – all done by one operator from a single desktop. While originally designed for handling survey data, the system can also be used as a general front-end to ESO's raw data archive, and as such serve as a site-specific interface to the general VO infra-structure. In this contribution the system is briefly described.


Objective To detect the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the Tg737 gene in side population (SP) cells of bepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and investigate their association with the clinicopathological characteristics of HCC. Methods HCC cell and normal liver cell suspensions of 95 patients were prepared by collagenase and mechanical digestion method. SP cells were sorted by flow cytometry from suspensions of hepatocarcinoma or normal liver cells dyed by Hoechst33342. DNA was extracted from the two groups of SP cells and peripheral blood specimens. LOH of 5 microsatellite markers on the Tg737 gene was detected in the two groups of SP cells. Then the correlation between LOH status and clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. Results The mean frequency of LOH in 5 markers was 71.24%. The highest frequency of LOH was observed with the G64212 marker (78.75%). Twenty-four (25.30%) tumor samples had a large deletion in mote than three microsatellite markers. LOH of SHGC-57879 and G64212 were closely associated with metastasis and TNM stage (P<0.01). Conclnsion The high frequency LOH of Tg737 is associated with TNM stage and metastasis of HCC, which indicates that genomic instability of liver cancer stem cells may play an important role during pathologic development of HCC.

Key words:
Carcinoma,hepatocellular; Tg737 gene; Loss of heterozygosity


The article discusses the impact of the digital transformation of loyalty systems on the success rates of the telecommunications business. The specifics of the telecommunications industry are particularly high rates of customer churn, averaging from 10 to 67% per year. As a result, the cost of attracting a new client is 4-10 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. So digital transformation of customer loyalty systems becomes a tool for predicting customer behavior and delivering timely and relevant offers, improving the user experience. The purpose of the study is to propose the approach to managing of the digital transformation of customer loyalty systems of telecommunications companies by the measures of the business process management improving based on e-TOM model. The paper defines criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of customer loyalty systems digital transformation for telecommunications companies. The essence of the assessment method is to compare two blocks of indicators: economic efficiency coefficients (before and after digital transformation) and a group of indicators of effects accompanying digital transformation (indicators of strategic, client, operational, cultural, technological effects). The information base of this study was modern literature and statistical about digital transformation of telecommunications companies, as well as data of business processes of telecommunications sector organizations (from America, Europe, Asia, Russia) and the results of interviews with industry experts. Also, we used data from the report of the customer loyalty system's digital transformation results of the telecommunications company, conducted with the participation of the authors. The results of assess the effectiveness of the digital transformation of the telecom provider's customer loyalty system show an increase in the efficiency coefficient from 0.62 to 1.08, as well as an increase in all groups of effects except of personnel culture in the company. In particular, the customer satisfaction index (CSI) increases from 21% to 79% and the outflow of customers decrease from 37.5% to 25%. Finally, there was a discussion of the results of our study, and the conclusions were summarized.


propose a free-space implementation of optical permutation stages with holographicoptical elements. The holographic elements used are space-variant prism (or planegrating) arrays. Each light beam (or data channel) is incident on its own gratingand gets deflected by a corresponding individual angle.Such space-variant holographic prism arrays can easily be produced with an adequatestep-and-repeat recording setup. This technique is flexible in that it allows therealization of arbitrary permutation patterns. And it is light efficient if one usesa high quality holographic recording material like dichromated gelatin.


Mutation rates vary hugely across viruses and strongly determine their evolution. In addition, viral mutation and evolution are biomedically relevant because they can determine pathogenesis, vaccine efficacy and antiviral resistance. We review experimental methods for estimating viral mutation rates and how these estimates vary across viral groups, paying special attention to the more general trends. Recent advances positing a direct association between viral mutation rates and virulence, or the use of high-fidelity variants as attenuated vaccines, are also discussed. Finally, we review the implications of viral mutation and evolution for the design of rational antiviral therapies and for efficient epidemiological surveillance.


Text of speech wherein Barbara Jordan eulogizes Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking of his accomplishments, his effect on the politics of the United States, and his death. Handwritten edits appear amid the typed text.


The purpose of this investigation is to look into the current status of OHS education in Australia to contribute to the improvement of the quality and effectiveness of its delivery. This study investigated the programs offered by Australian Universities in Occupational Health and Safety, and the extent to their course offerings by analysing the scope and depth of their programs and courses.


This paper develops a novel pseudo-measurement construct termed a Correlational Measurement (CM) to improve observability and state estimation accuracy. CMs utilize the correlation between similar classes of loads and DERs. The modifications required to accommodate CMs in traditional node voltage or branch current based state estimators are derived. Additionally, an observability analysis framework for distribution systems with DERs is presented to seamlessly integrate CMs. The framework assembles an observability test and an observable island identification procedure from the literature along with a novel observability metric. Finally, an on-line CM parameter estimation procedure is presented. Simulations on the IEEE 123 bus test system and real field data from Pecan Street demonstrate the utility of the proposed CMs and the observability analysis framework in improving observability and state estimation accuracy.


In order to investigate the physical origin of the perpendicular uniaxial anisotropy ( K u ) in the amorphous Gd–Co films, 4π M s and K u of the films prepared under some sputtering conditions were measured. It is found that K u is induced by the preferential resputtering effect of the amorphous Gd–Co films.


This paper reports on some preliminary results of a discourse analysis of "pacifism" and "nonviolence" primarily within the primary discursive sites of the discipline of politics and international relations (IR). Based on an examination of some of the leading IR journals, textbooks, conference programmes, and interviews with scholars, as well as some broader aspects of popular culture, the paper describes the primary silences, narratives, and discursive constructions of pacifist theory and practice in these texts. It finds that pacifism fits the definition of a "subjugated knowledge" within IR, and argues that the subjugation of pacifism is moreover, functional to the operation of current forms of hegemonic power and is maintained through a series of disciplinary practices, including scholarly self-censorship, silencing and exclusion mechanisms, and disciplining myths, assumptions, metaphors, and cultural repertoires. The paper concludes by discussing why this finding is so important, and makes some suggestions for de-subjugating pacifism within the discipline by, for example, contesting the naïve understanding of violence on which most normative IR theory rests and asserting the analytical, ethical, and practical superiority of nonviolence. 1 I gratefully acknowledge the support of the Marsden Fund in the preparation of this paper which was conducted under the Marsden Fund proposal, 14-UOO-075, "A new politics of peace? Investigations in contemporary Pacifism and Nonviolence". I am also grateful to my excellent research assistants who did much of the empirical research for the paper, in particular: Jock Phillips, Joseph Llewellyn, Smilja Jankovich, Chandima Daskon, Rula Talahma, Monica Carrer, Benjamin Durward, and Alvaro Perez.


A plethora of studies reveal that stakeholder engagement is critical in sustainability reporting. However, there is a paucity in the literature on how stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting may lead to more meaningful sustainability reports. This paper aims to conceptualise the role of stakeholder engagement in producing more meaningful sustainability reports. This conceptual paper offers avenues for future empirical research. This paper contributes to the literature and the theory by shedding light on the importance of institutional work in shifting the institutional logic of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting from a strategic management tool to an accountability mechanism so that more meaningful sustainability reports are produced. Stakeholder engagement allows the reporting companies to become more aware of sustainability issues that are informed by their stakeholders while the engaged stakeholders also benefit from the information provided by the reporting companies on the issues, agenda, and performance related to sustainability.
Keywords: stakeholder engagement, sustainability reporting, neo-institutional theory


With the development of increasing node numbers in High Performance Computing (HPC), i.e. strong-scaling, we get the problem that many HPC applications become communication-bound. Thus, there is a need for optimizing communication. Apart from improving the communication protocols, one can work on problem-specific communication patterns. A commonly used, efficient communication pattern for the simulation of homogeneously distributed particle systems is the Shift communication. Aiming to use the Shift for our own molecular dynamics simulation library, FMSolvr, we modeled it with timed Petri nets in order to get an estimation of the communication time. For the time analysis we use Max-Plus Algebra. We put our model's timing predictions up against an implementation of the Shift and found that our model is correct. However, our approach is over-modeling the problem.


This paper shows that some firm resources are more important than others for a successful SME exporter. We include six resources grouped into three categories: domestic resources (human and technological resources), experience-related resources (organisational and international experience) and foreign resources (subsidiaries abroad and foreign shareholders). The results show that the most important resources for a successful SME exporter are its human resources, its international experience and the existence of subsidiaries abroad. However, the deployment of Internet-based technology and SME organisational experience are revealed as important resources in those firms with low or medium export volume. The underlying premise and contribution of this study is that SMEs with different levels of exports benefit differentially from their resources.


Taking a cultivated variety of Pakchio(Brassica campestris ssp.Chinensis L.)named'Huaguan Qinggengcai'(for short'Qinggengcai')as experiment material.In the experiment field of Shangqiu Universtity,the numbers of leaves,the fresh weight and dry weight per plant of'Qinggengcai'treated with different consumption of nitrogen fertilizer and pest control methods were studied,besides,the differences of pest control effect between different methods were compared.The results showed that,the numbers of leaves per plant significantly increased as consumption of nitrogen fertilizer increased,while which treated with pesticides were significantly higher than under pests-preventing net and natural conditions(the latter two weren't significantly different with each other).Fresh and dry weight per plant were significantly increased as consumption of nitrogen fertilizer increased,while fresh weight per plant wasn't significantly affected by different pest control methods and the interaction of pest control methods and consumption of nitrogen fertilizer,but dry weight per plant treated with pesticides and under pests-preventing net were significantly higher than under natural conditions.The damage rates of pests weren't significantly affected by different consumption of nitrogen fertilizer,but they were significantly affected by pest-control-methods at the same consumption of nitrogen fertilizer,which concretely were the lowest in the pests-preventing net while were the highest under natural conditions;the relative efficiency of pest control was significantly lower when treated with pesticides than under pests-preventing net,and it was the highest when plants were treated with 15kg/667m2 nitrogen fertilizer.All above,covering with pests-preventing net and fertilizing with 15kg/667m2 nitrogen fertilizer was the best to improve the productions and qualities of plants.


Migration from sub-Saharan Africa is today a key issue in the political debate on immigration and a focus of media attention. This concern was recently translated into action with the adoption of a series of political, law-enforcement and diplomatic measures to regulate inflows considered to have reached massive, even invasive, proportions. Bringing together previously dispersed statistical data, this article assesses the true extent of sub-Saharan migration, from the standpoints of both receiving and sending countries, on the scale of France, but also of the European Union and the OECD. The overview of statistical data is combined with an analysis of irregular migration, generally held responsible for official under-estimation of flows. The commented figures speak for themselves: although sub-Saharan migrants are extremely visible in the political and media discourse, they represent only a minority of the migrant population. This paradox challenges the cogency of public policy in the field of international migration control.


In distance learning supported by LMS, it is extremely important to provide automated or partially automated feedback about learning outcomes to students as well as feedback about the efficiency and quality of teaching and learning to teachers and to management of the institution that provides web-based learning courses. In this article, we present the solutions implemented in the LMS eCampus that are theoretically grounded and have been proved in praxis.


A process for preparing 1,3-propenesultone is provided to simplify the reaction device and preparation procedures, and improve selectivity and yield of preparation being available industrially by performing the process under mild conditions, making no unstable intermediates and eliminating high temperature and high vacuum processes. A process for preparing 1,3-propenesultone represented by the formula(1) comprises the steps of: (i) performing halogenation of 1,3-propanesultone by using a radical initiator and a halogenization reagent to prepare halogen-substituted 1,3-propanesultone; and (ii) performing dehydrohalogenation of the halogen-substituted 1,3-propanesultone with a base, wherein the radical initiator is azo-based compound or peroxide; the halogenation reagent is fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodide, sulfuryl chloride(SO2Cl2), thionyl chloride, oxalyl chloride, sulfuryl fluoride, thionyl bromide or oxalyl bromide; and the base is NR^1R^2R^3 or pyridine in which R^1 to R^3 are each independently C1-12 aliphatic hydrocarbon or H.


In recent years there is a growing interest around minimax probability machine (MPM) whose performance depends on its kernel function. Considering that the Euclidean distance has a natural generalization in form of the Minkovsky's distance, we replace the Euclidean distance in the Gaussian kernel with a more generalized Minkovsky's distance. This paper presents an empirical study for MPM prediction on Minkovsky's norm. The performance of this method is evaluated with the prediction of network traffic data for MPEG4, at the same timescale. Experimental results demonstrate that the best prediction accuracy is provided by kernels with Minkovsky's distance and .the MPM using Gaussian kernels with Minkovsky's distance can achieve better prediction accuracy than the Euclidean distance.


Translation is a cognitive activity to process the exchange of information between two languages.Perceptual point of view plays a direct effect in the cognitive process in which translator deals with the arrangement of information,which will affect the arrangement and express of language served as information carrier and converter.Through the comparative analyses upon differences of the use of perceptual point of view between Chinese and western thinking models,this papers aims to explore how translator changes his perceptual point of view to pass the inform in a appropriate and natural way.


Abstract Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) expressing F4 fimbria is the major pathogenic bacteria causing diarrhoea in neonatal and post-weaned piglets. Based on our previous GWAS results from 301 pigs in a two generation family-based population, two promising candidate genes (HEG1 and ITGB5) from a 0.65 Mb region on pig chromosome 13 for susceptibility to ETEC F4ac infection were investigated for the presence of possible causative mutations. A total of 23 polymorphisms in their coding regions were identified, and two previous uppermost GWAS significant SNPs (ALGA0072075; GenBank NC_010455.4:g.145009857 A > G) were also chosen for genotyping in the three pig breeds. The genotyping data and association analysis results showed that a C to T polymorphism in exon7, and a G to T polymorphism in exon14 of the HEG1 gene significant increased the effects on the ETEC F4ac adhesion traits (p = 2.853E − 11; p = 1.410E − 09). Although the identified polymorphisms were not causal mutations, these results indicate that the HEG1 gene is an important adhesion molecule, and it could serve as a genetic marker for selecting ETEC F4ac-resistant pigs in breeding programmes.


Automatic Web service composition has received much interest in the last decades. Data-intensive concepts have provided a promising computing paradigm for data-intensive Web service composition. Due to the complexity of the problem, metaheuristics in particular Evolutionary Computing (EC) techniques have been used for solving this composition problem. However, most of the current works neglected the distributed nature of data-intensive Web services. In this paper, we study the problem of distributed data-intensive service composition and propose a model which integrates attributes of constituent data-intensive Web services and attributes of the network. The core idea is to propose a communication cost and time model of a composed Web service considering communication delay and cost. We therefore propose a novel method based on Genetic Algorithm (GA) which uses a variation of K-means clustering algorithm.


The performance of two related tasks, object detection and object amplitude estimation, is investigated. These tasks are related because the best amplitude estimate is the appropriate decision variable for the detection task. Different results have been observed for these two tasks as a function of lambda (a scalar which controls the strength of regularization) in a study restricted to images containing a mixture of high- and low-contrast nonoverlapping disks on a zero background. It has been found that in maximum a posteriori reconstructions the contrast of the low-contrast disks relative to the background decreases steadily as lambda increases. Thus the estimates for the amplitude of these disks deviate from their actual values. On the other hand, the detectability index does not change as quickly. The reason for this is that detectability is based on the separation of the estimate of the amplitude of the object relative to the estimate of the background value compared to their RMS deviations. The choice of lambda obviously becomes an important issue as it affects the bias in the estimated amplitude. It is postulated that the same behavior holds for many other types of Tikhonov regularization.<<ETX>>


This is a descriptive-comparative study which aimed to measure the level of work engagement and psychological distress of faculty members. Just as students need support to continue learning, teachers need support to continue teaching. With teachers engaging in a multitude of tasks and their responsibilities not limited to preparing and discussing lessons alone, they are becoming more prone to experiencing higher levels of psychological distress. This can then impact their work engagement and their ability to function effectively. In consideration of this, this study attempted to assess the psychological distress and work engagement of selected faculty members at the University of Batangas (UB) Main Campus. Specifically, this study measured gender differences in terms of psychological distress and work engagement. In addition, the focus of this study also included determining whether a significant relationship exists between teachers' psychological distress and work engagement through the adapted and self-constructed questionnaire. Results showed that selected teachers from the UB exhibited mild forms of psychological distress but high levels of work engagement. No significant differences in psychological distress and work engagement were found between male and female teachers. A mental health program was also proposed as an output of the study to help combat psychological distress and improve work engagement among teachers.


Mobile users are served with over-the-top (OTT) services through their cellular networks. To ensure the privacy of users and confidentiality of content, most OTT service providers encrypt their traffic. When a cellular network has no information about the type of service, a default bearer may be created. However, the default bearer may not guarantee bandwidth to a service. Therefore, users may experience degraded service due to packet loss, delay, and reduced data rates. This article proposes a novel quality-of-service (QoS) management scheme for encrypted traffic in software-defined cellular networks. We introduce a deep-learning-enabled intelligent gateway to predict the service types of encrypted flows by considering statistical and QoS features. A QoS control manager maps the bearers to ongoing flows satisfying their QoS requirements. As a proof of concept, we implement a testbed considering encrypted traffic from the Tor network. Results indicate that the proposed scheme improves the network throughput by 41%, decreases packet loss, delay, and QoS violations by 51%, 21%, and 52%, respectively, and reduces the length and size of the queue at the base station compared to those of the conventional scheme. Moreover, the convolutional-neural-network-based classifier achieves higher accuracy, precision, recall, and $F1$-score, as well as lower loss values, compared to the multilayer perceptron classifier.


Given the current focus on assessment, funding decisions, and increased demands for faculty accountability, many institutions of higher education and academic departments must demonstrate evidence of student learning. Beginning with a curriculum map, we operationally defined how our learning objectives were met for each course. Using this curriculum map, we then developed a common syllabus for each course, which in turn allowed us to more specifically define course learning objectives and a basic outline of content. This process informed and faciltiated the development of embedded assessments and rubrics for each course. Once data is collected from these assessments, we will refine our assessment battery and determine which learning objectives are being met as well as what courses or curricular modifications are needed. This is an account of one department's assessment process.


The spontaneous copolymerization of isobutoxyallene (1) with 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (2) was carried out to afford a copolymer with a number-average molecular weight of 5900–10,300. The copolymer consisted of a 2,3-polymerization unit of 1 and a NN polymerization unit of 2, maintaining an alternating character regardless of the monomer feed ratio. The corresponding copolymerization of 1 with 2 in the presence of methanol afforded the adduct of the compounds without the polymer, indicating the generation of a zwitterion of 1 and 2. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 1564–1571, 2001


Installation is the key technology of the deepwater vertical collet connectors. Based on thorough analysis of the existing installation technology and construction resources, combined with the technical features of installation used to connect different types of jumpers, new designs of vertical collet connectors installation for rigid jumpers and flexible jumpers are proposed in detail in this paper.


This paper outlines recent research in the area of belt conveying highlighting the research being conducted in Australia. A review of design trends associated with long overland conveyors is presented indicating the influence of economic and technical considerations in the design methodology. Aspects of conveyor dynamics are discussed and research and development work concerned with specific subjects including belt drum friction, rolling resistance and bulk solid and conveyor belt interaction. A test rig for examining stability between bulk solids and conveyor belts during transportation is described.


This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of dried mixture from seeds of four herbal plants as natural additives on milk yield and its constituents in Egyptian dairy goats. The herbal plants are Cumin (Cuminum cyminum), Trigonella foenum graecum seeds, Carum carvi and Nigella sativa in equal ratio. Eight lactating goats after two weeks of kidding were divided into 2 groups (four animals each) using complete random block design to evaluate the effect of herbal mixture supplement on the productivity of lactating goats, the 1st group (G1) was supplemented with polyherbal combination at the rate of 250 mg/kg-1 body weight, the 2nd group (G2) was served as Control. Animals in each group were fed on 40% concentrate feed mixture and green fodder ad libitum. Individually, milk, serum and blood samples were collected weakly along the experimental period (12 weeks). Results obtained indicated that. Milk composition showed milk protein, TS and SNF contents were higher (p>0.05) in animals fed experimental additives than control. Milk yield in the present study was slightly higher (p<0.05) in supplemented group compared to control group, animals fed supplemented rations had higher (p<0.05) glucose concentrations than control. Most of blood parameters are within the normal range that means the addition of such additive had no adverse effect on blood components.


The study aims to analyze the effect of CAR, NPF, FDR to mura > bah } ah financing on Islamic commercial banks simultaneously and partially. The dependent variable in this study is mura > bah } ah financing. The independent variables are CAR, NPF, FDR. The research of mura > bah } ah financing using a quantitative approach. The research population includes all registered Islamic banking in the Bank Indonesia period 2015-2019. The sample was determined by purposive sampling technique. The data used in this study are quarterly financial statement data three Islamic banks in Indonesia period 2015-2019. The method of analyzing data used multiple linear regression. The results of this study indicate that the partially capital adequacy ratio (CAR) variable significantly negative effect on mura > bah } ah financing with value sig. 0,0000 bah } ah financing with value sig. 0,003 bah } ah financing with value sig. 0,0000 bah } ah financing variable with value sig. 0,0000 bah}ah financing


Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a transgender woman was scheduled for gender-affirming surgery (GAS) in the form of facial feminization surgery (FFS), including rhinoplasty, frontal sinus reduction, and laryngeal chondroplasty. In response to the international medical crisis, a shelter-in-place order was implemented, and her surgeon was mandated to postpone elective surgical procedures indefinitely. Now, the shelter-in-place order has expired, and surgeons around the globe are preparing for transition back toward more widespread health care delivery. The patient's surgeon has begun performing medically necessary, nonurgent procedures. The surgeon's hospital has a low COVID-19 census, has adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), and is testing all preoperative patients for COVID-19. The patient calls to inquire about her FFS. She is informed that GAS was recently categorized as ''routine priority'' by professional guidelines and therefore will be rescheduled later. She disagrees with this determination, arguing that FFS should be prioritized over other elective procedures due to severe gender dysphoria (GD) and its effects on her overall health. She is also concerned her insurance authorization for the procedures will be jeopardized. This case is hypothetical. Point: It is reasonable to deprioritize GAS procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. GAS procedures are an important part of genderaffirming care (GAC) but do not in themselves represent a cure for GD or guarantee symptomatic relief. GD, the psychological distress that results from incongruence between gender identity and natally assigned gender, causes clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, and other important areas of functioning. Furthermore, the stigma and discrimination from which transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals suffer results in adverse physical and mental health outcomes through resource and opportunity limitations at the individual, interpersonal, and structural levels. Stigma has additionally been linked to significant anti-transgender violence. These complex and multifactorial problems cannot be adequately treated by any single modality (eg, surgery). Gender affirmation improves health outcomes by relieving GD and the effects of stigma. Described as a multidimensional, holistic process that continues throughout the life course and attends to the physical, mental, and social health needs and well-being of TGNC people, gender affirmation consists of a combination of social, psychological, medical, and legal actions that facilitate appropriate recognition of gender identity. GAC frequently involves medical and surgical interventions designed to increase alignment between one's gender identity and their self-image, appearance, emotions, and social functioning, thereby decreasing GD. Medical affirmation includes hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and mental health treatment, whereas surgery involves modifications of primary (eg, genitals and/or internal reproductive organs) and secondary (eg, breasts, fat distribution, and testosterone-related skeletal growth, hair distribution, and facial changes) sex characteristics. Prior to surgery on primary sex characteristics, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) recommends 12 continuous months of HRT and 2 referrals from a qualified mental health professional. This international multidisciplinary group publishes standards of care for TGNC patients, requires 1 referral before breast or chest surgery, and recommends a minimum of 12 months of HRT in transfeminine patients. Therefore, most patients undergoing GAS have already waited at least 1 year, and it is not


By used the literature data method, the paper analyzed four aspects which included setting mode of credit system of college sport curriculum, teaching model reform, credit system reform status in each province, and the reform problems. It summed up the current situation and development of credit system re-form research in universities' sport curriculums.


Trace metal ions such as , , and in a highly saline sample were subjected to on-line complexation with 4-(2-thiazolylazo) resorcinol (TAR) dissolved in a background electrolyte (BGE) under transient isotachophoresis (TITP) conditions. A long plug of the saline sample, containing the trace metal ions but devoid of TAR, was injected into a coated capillary filled with a BGE composed of 150 mM 2-(cyclohexylamino) ethanesulfonic acid (CHES) and 110 mM triethylamine (TEA) at pH 9.7. Since the electrophoretic mobility of TAR fell between the mobilities of the anionic leading electrolyte ( in the sample) and the anionic terminating background electrolyte (), a highly concentrated zone of TAR from the BGE was formed at the rear of the sample matrix and then the metal cations toward the cathode were swept by isotachophoretically assisted on-line complexation (IAOC) between the metal ions and the isotachophoretically stacked TAR. As a result, anionic metal-TAR complexes were formed efficiently, which satisfy the TITP conditions between and . The enrichment factors of metal ions including were up to 780-fold compared to a conventional CZE mode using absorbance detection. The detection limits were 17 nM, 15 nM, and 27 nM for , , and in a 250 mM NaCl matrix, respectively. Our method was successfully applied to the analysis of urine samples without desalting.


With beginning of 21C, North Korea is no longer a prohibited land. South Korean people can go on a trip to Mt. Kŭmgang by their cars or go to work at Gaesong Industrial Complex. Before long, we can see some climbing clubs will upload their special plans of climbing Mt. Paecdu at their personal site in the Internet. As North Korea becomes closer to us, it is possible that N.K's judicial system can have an direct effect on South citizens, for example when they visit North Korea. In this regards, the necessity of the study on the North Korea criminal investigation structure get increased as much.
These kinds of studies have been rare because of the shortage of useful materials and the limit of outer viewpoint. I studied North Korean criminal investigation procedure and structure by reading original books from N.K and interviewing with the escaped people.
North Korean criminal investigation system is composed of investigation and preliminary investigation. Investigation is to find crimes and criminals before preliminary investigation and preliminary investigation is to collect evidences. Public prosecutors can indict criminals on basis of those investigations. Especially, prosecutors' duties and rights in surveillance are checking the law enforcement of investigative unit, preliminary investigation, and trial.
When public prosecutors find the violation of law in the way of investigation or preliminary investigation, they can correct it by means of the decision and instruction. The decision means the acceptance or rejection about investigators or preliminary judges' conclusions. It has the written form and plays a role as the post controlling measure to those conclusions. And also the instruction is almost same with the decision. It is just different from the decision in the point of the participation in (preliminary) investigation.
In conclusion, (preliminary)investigation of N.K is independent function. Public prosecutor cannot command (preliminary)investigators and must guarantee their independent actions at law. Also (preliminary)investigators can protest against prosecutor's decision and instruction. This point is very suggestive to us preparing the period of union of the Korean Peninsula.


Description of the software, which is intelligent, allowing to obtain a qualitatively new scientific and practical in significantly accelerates and facilitates the work of medical personnel in assessing the adaptive capacity of developing system


A new type of solar pumped laser system that has features of high-efficiency and low cost due to the use of a Fresnel lens and a Cr codoped Nd:YAG ceramic laser medium is reported in this paper. Slope efficiencies of 7 to 9% have been achieved. The laser output of about 80 W was achieved with the combination of a 4-m2 Fresnel lens and solar light chamber as a secondary power concentrator. The maximum output from a unit area of the Fresnel lens was 20 W/m2, which is 2.8 times larger than the previous results with a mirror type concentrator.


The work contains the results of a nano-structural modification of sulfur that prevents polymorphic transformations from influencing the properties of sulfur composites where sulfur is present in a thermodynamic stable condition that precludes destruction when operated. It has been established that the properties of sulfur-based composite materials can be significantly improved by modifying sulfur and structuring sulfur binder by nano-dispersed fiber particles and ultra-dispersed state filler. The paper shows the possibility of modifying Tengiz sulfur by its fragmenting which ensures that the structured sulfur is structurally changed and stabilized through reinforcement by ultra-dispersed fiber particles allowing the phase contact area to be multiplied. Interaction between nano-dispersed fibers of chrysotile asbestos and sulfur ensures the implementation of the mechanical properties of chrysotile asbestos tubes in reinforced composite and its integrity provided that the surface of chrysotile asbestos tubes are highly moistened with molten sulfur and there is high adhesion between the tubes and the matrix that, in addition to sulfur, contains limestone microparticles. Ability to apply materials in severe operation conditions and possibility of exposure in both aggressive medium and mechanical loads makes produced sulfur composites required by the road construction industry.


Crystalline alloys were obtained by isothermal annealing on the basis of the DSC of Zr60Al15Ni25、Zr52.5Al10Ni10Cu15Be12.5 and Zr65Al10Ni10Cu15 bulk metallic glasses.The analysis of polarization curves of BMGs and its crystalline states,combining SEM and EDS observation,SEM and EDS indicated that in 0.5mol/L H2SO4,both the BMGs and their crystalline alloys have a very good corrosion resistance.Compared with crystalline alloys,the BMGs have a better performance,it is due to the lack of grain boundaries,dislocations and other defects,and the higher active elements in the BMGs,the faster the alloys to passive state.


In seismic data processing one of the challenges is to find a good mute for linear events like airwaves, ground rolls and direct arrivals prior to the stages like deconvloution. In this paper, the application of a fuzzy clustering algorithm based on statistical maximum likelihood estimator in finding the wanted signals in a synthetic shot gather is presented. The algorithm successfully found the signal parts out of unwanted linear and random noise. The added value of the method is in its adaptive accept/region area which can be defined for every shot gather independently.


Objective: Chronic periodontitis is an infection of the gingiva that causes damage to the soft tissues and tooth-supporting bones. Chronic periodontitis is usually a slowly progressive disease that does not cause the affected individual to feel pain. For most patients, gingival bleeding during oral cleansing procedures is a sign of reported disease. Odontoma is an odontogenic tumor, characterized by slow growth. The tumor consists of enamel, dentin, cementum and sometimes pulp tissue.Methods: A 38-year-old male patient complaints swollen gums on the right upper back region. Clinical examination showed the presence of gingiva swelling, fistula, and grade 3 teeth mobility. In the systemic condition of the patient, malaise, fever and lymphadenopathy were not found. The treatment plan includes subgingival scaling treatment as well as antibiotic therapy as initial therapy. Advanced treatment is then continued with curative therapy with surgical extirpation, periodontal surgery and bone graft.Results: The success of treatment is shown by controlled inflammatory as well as probing depth. The condition of the teeth and the dental-jaw relationship has been restored after treatment.Conclusions: Chronic periodontitis with odontoma indicates treatment options according to the severity of the disease, access to mechanical care, and the patient's systemic condition.Keywords: Bone grafting, Gingival overgrowth, Odontoma, Surgical flap.


Assuring a high quality of water and protecting it from chemical contamination is a major societal goal in the European Union and worldwide. Zinc is a metal, which when present in water in high concentrations, could cause adverse health effect with long-term exposure. Metal ion dispersion from abandoned mines is a global concern and one of the principle cause of metal pollution in water. Consequently, it is necessary to develop and deploy new sensing systems able to monitor continuously the water quality. In this work, the feasibility of using eight-pair interdigitated (IDE) sensors coated with bismuth oxide based film for continuous monitoring of zinc in water is assessed with microwave and electric techniques. The reaction between zinc in the concentration range 0–100 mg/l in deionised water and bismuth oxide based thick film screen-printed on planar IDE sensors starts after 30 seconds and the adsorption equilibrium was attained within 10 minutes; the response is faster during the initial stage and slows as equilibrium is reached. Furthermore, results show good linear correlations between C (capacitance) and S11 (reflected power) and zinc concentration, respectively about R2=0.99 and R2=0.97 at 5 and 10 minutes. In addition, the recovery time of sensors is evaluated to be 100–150 sec demonstrating the sensor reusability and potential for a continuous monitoring.


A seriously ill, 13 month old boy is at the centre of a High Court battle between his parents over whether he should be allowed to die.

An NHS trust is seeking permission from the High Court in London to take the boy, known as RB, off the ventilator that is keeping him alive. His mother supports the move, arguing that her son's life is "intolerable," but his father maintains that RB can see, hear, feel, and recognise his parents and should be allowed to go on living.

RB, who has been in hospital since birth, has …


Airport runway defect detection is indispensable to guarantee the safety of aircraft landing and taking-off, automating the inspection process has been the focus of airport management department. Defects such as crack, seam-broken, and corner fracture, which are common to airport runway, are characterized by extremely small sizes, similar shapes, and low contrast with the background, making the automatic detection task challenging. Thus, we propose an algorithm based on bidirectional feature pyramid to perform the automatic detection. The proposed network applies VGG-16 as backbone to extract features, reducing the information loss during down sampling to retain more detailed features of small defects. A bidirectional feature pyramid module is designed to enhance feature fusion, which can balance the feature information of small defects in different scales. The module expands the receptive field on the basis of Feature Pyramid Network (FPN), which can obtain the global semantic information of the target, and achieve better classification and localization performance. Compared with five existing deep learning methods, experimental results show that our proposed algorithm outperforms all counterparts, making the automatic detection and monitoring of airport runway more efficient.


A neutral stannaaromatic compound, 9-stannaphenanthrene la bearing an efficient steric protection group, 2,4,6-tris[bis(tri-methylsilyl)methyl]phenyl (Tbt), was successfully generated by the reaction of the corresponding chlorostannane 2 with lithium 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide in THF at -78°C. The generaion of la was indicated by the trapping experiments using MeOD, Mes*CNO, and 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene at the same temperature. However, la was found to undergo ready dimerization at room temperature to give the cis-[2 + 2 dimer 3 stereoselectively.


Many finite populations targeted by sample surveys consist of homogenous subpopulations with respect to the variables being collected. In on-going survey operations, it is often of interest to be able to assess whether a new observation belongs to one of those subpopulations or should be flagged as not belonging to any of them. For this purpose, we propose a sample-based estimator for the subpopulation distribution functions of the distances between the elements and the subpopulation centers. We explore different ways to define the subpopulation centers and several distance metrics. We describe the theoretical properties of the estimator, and propose several approaches for design-based variance estimation. The practical properties of the procedures are evaluating in a simulation study.


Abstract The study material of Scots pine sample trees originated from five different forest site types (Cladonia, Calluna, Myrtillus, natural raised bog and drained raised bog) in Estonia. Altogether, 60 trees were sampled from 10 stands. From these, test disks and sample blocks (1.2 m in length) were cut at 1.3 m height, 1/2 of tree height and 3/4 of tree height. We analysed the effect of forest site type on the growth of tree ring width, proportion of late- and heartwood, oven-dry density, bending and compression strength and wood hardness. Wood properties in stands of the same age showed great variability. Significant differences were found in the wood properties between site types. Wood density and strength characteristics were higher in samples from heath site types than from the sites more optimal for pine (e.g., Myrtillus). The quality of the wood from peatland stands was lower than from trees grown on mineral soil. The decreasing trend in strength properties towards the top of trees was steeper in the wood formed under poor nutrient conditions. Latewood proportion increased with tree age. However, in the case of equal latewood percentages, heartwood density was higher than sapwood density.


Blister of Aluminum and its alloy has hitherto been considered to be caused by the influence of H→H2.After experiments in various respects on Blister, however, I wish to insist that it is influenced by Si→H(Silicon hidride), namely metallic silicon. I report hereunder about my experiments.(a) Surplus silicon in Aluminum and its alloy does not combine with Aluminum but exist as metallic silicon.(b) More metallic silicon is found in a part with blister than the other part that is free from blister.(c) The yields of blister is in proportion to the quantity of metallic silicon and those have a little silicon in them are of good yields.(e) When annealing the sheets which have been cold-rolled, it is only metallic silicon that moves within a molecule, and it is believed that this metallic silicon is conbined with hydrogen gas, that is silicon hydride and causes blisters.


(...) Humicola spp. were the predominant fungal taxa isolated from compost in this temperature zone, but they were unable to grow on potato-dextrose agar (PDA) at 25 C. Some isolates of Humicola significantly reduced efficacy but not population densities of T. hamatum in the medium. Bacteria isolated from the 40-50 C zone did not reduce efficacy of the biocontrol agent. Damping-off was suppressed by T. hamatum if the medium containing 40-50 C compost or compost fortified with Humicola spp. was incubated for three or more weeks at 25 C before bioassays were performed. We propose that some thermophilic fungi naturally present in 40-50 C compost temporarily interfered with the biocontrol activity of T. hamatum after compost-amended medium was first prepared


Ethnobotanical studies on traditional medicinal plants were conducted in Ba To district and documented different types of traditional medicinal plants used by the indigenous peoples. The study was focused on identifyingrnmedicinal plants, distribution, disease treated, part of the plant used, and methods of preparation… A total 45 species of medicinal plants (belonging to 26 families) were collected. Of them, 2 species of medicinal plants werernfound in the Red List medicines Vietnam, 6 species were assumed as precious ones, according to local knowledge of the people. Medicinal plants are mined primarily from nature (84.44 %). Based on indigenous knowledge, suchrnplants expressed to treat 12 different diseases, the most medicinal plants used to treat osteoarthritis, kidney, endocrine and liver.


Organizing phenomena into classes is a pervasive human activity. The ability to classify phenomena encountered in daily life in useful ways is essential to human survival and adaptation. Not surpri...


Aiming at the problem that the wave frequency amplitude and other characteristic parameters need to be obtained in real time during wave power generation, a real-time remote wave characteristic parameter monitoring system is designed by using STM32F4 series high performance single chip microcomputer, MEMS motion sensor and GPRS wireless transmission technology. This paper focuses on the hardware structure of the monitoring terminal and the attitude integration of the MEMS motion data, and the extraction of the ocean wave characteristic parameters by the time-frequency domain analysis algorithm. The effectiveness of the method is verified by practical applications.


Purpose The impact of academic publications is often characterized by the total number of future citations. However, this metric does not adequately characterize the true impact in terms of changing practices or paradigms. A new metric called the "disruption score" (DS) has been developed and validated in nonsurgical publications. This study aims to use the DS to identify the most disruptive publications in plastic surgery. The DS, a ratio of 2 numbers, varies between −1 and +1. Scores closer to −1 are developing papers that summarize the known literature while papers closer to +1 are disruptive—they result in a paradigm shift in the field of study. Methods A search was performed for all articles from 1954 to 2014 in the following journals: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; Aesthetic Surgery Journal; Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery; Annals of Plastic Surgery; Aesthetic Plastic Surgery; Clinics in Plastic Surgery; and Plastic Surgery. The disruptive score was calculated for each article. The top 100 papers ranked by DS were examined and any editorials/viewpoints, publications with less than 26 citations, or less than 3 references were excluded because of their subjective nature and smaller academic contribution. The remaining 64 publications were analyzed for topic, study type, and citation count. Results A total of 32,622 articles were found with a DS range from 0.385 to 0.923. The mean score of the top 64 articles was 0.539 with an average citation count of 195 and 9 references. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery had the most disruptive papers with 50. There were no randomized controlled trials with a majority of the studies being technical descriptions or case series. Conclusions There are many ways to measure academic success, but there are fewer ways to measure the impact of academic contributions. The DS is a novel measurement that can demonstrate when an article results in a paradigm shift as opposed to just total citation count. When applied to the plastic surgery literature, the DS demonstrates that technical innovation and creativity are the most academically impactful. Future evaluations of academic success should include the DS to measure the quality of academic contributions.


Global existence to the coupled Einstein-Maxwell system which rules the dynamics of a kind of charged matter with a pseudo-tensor of pressure is proved, in Bianchi I-VIII spacetimes. We study the geodesics completeness, the asymptotic behavior, the positivity conditions, and we prove that the problem is well-posed in the sense of Hadamard.


When the USA was debating healthcare reform and negotiating how to provide the best quality care for the lowest cost to all Americans, some looked to the UK's NICE, and thought that developing a similar organization might be a good idea. Americans were hesitant, however, to copy the British model due to fears that comparative effect iveness research (CER) would lock the US healthcare system into a 'one-size-fits-all' paradigm and restrict patient access to new treatments that may benefit many patients. By design, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) put in place by America's Affordable Care Act, included language intended to align CER with personalized medicine. Still a young organization, PCORI has already chosen an Executive Director, seated both its Board of Governors and its Methodology Committee, hired a few key staff, and asked the public for feedback on its definition of Patient Centered Outcomes Research, Draft Translation Framework Components, and Draft National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda. While PCORI has laid a foundation, thus far, its broad and vague research priorities leave the personalized medicine community uncertain about whether that foundation will support the continued development of personalized medicine. Amy Miller, Personalized Medicine Coalition's (PMC's) Vice President for Public Policy, noted in a letter the PMC sent to the Institute: "Broad drafting does not allow for an examination of individual research proposals, topics or research questions; thus, it is not possible to say whether PCORI's work will support personalized medicine or not." The challenges ahead for PCORI, however, do not stop with the drafting of specific research priorities. The Institute must also create an infrastructure that supports its mandate to align personalized medicine and CER. Congress required procedures to assure that alignment. But thus far the Institute has not fully developed the internal structure or expertise necessary to develop calls for research proposals, evaluate them, make awards, and do so through an open, transparent and focused process. In the PMC's letter to the Institute, the coalition offered five recommendations about how PCORI could better define its research agenda and build the infrastructure needed to execute its mission as congress intended.


We present a method for direction-based multichannel speech enhancement with head-mounted microphone arrays. To target the task of direction-based enhancement of a single speaker, a direction-dependent feature extraction composed of matched filters and a maximum-directivity beamformer is employed. The extracted features are then first processed by a subband neural network with an inplace gated convolutional recurrent architecture. In a second stage, a fullband gated convolutional recurrent neural network processes the input features along with the output of the subband network. The proposed method outperforms subband-only and fullband-only approaches in PESQ and SI-SDR on the development datasets of the 2022/23 SPEAR challenge and was rated best among the submissions to the challenge in a paired-comparison listening experiment.


A technique is described wherein reflectivity data taken at two angles of incidence are used to obtain pertinent information on the optical fine structure of the rare-earth iron garnets. The complex index of refraction is determined for GdIG and TbIG over an energy range of 2 to 5 eV. From this data the absorption coefficient is calculated, and by approximating the absorption characteristic with a series of Lorentzian shaped lines detailed information such as transition oscillator strength and excited state lifetimes is obtained. In general the fine-structure oscillator strengths are found to be f \approx 10^{-2} and lifetimes are \tau \approx 10^{-6} . The data show some evidence of the presence of rare-earth ion transitions in the spectra, and the possibility of optical pumping to effect a change in Tb sublattice magnetization in TbIG is discussed.


A small microwatt fuel cell stack and system was designed, fabricated, and tested for passive operation with pure H2 and O2 to provide continuous power for multiple decades with uncontrolled fluctuating ambient conditions. The stack was designed to operate with dead ended gas flows with water removal via passive membrane diffusion to notches in the bipolar plates. Additional requirements for decades long operation is minimizing H2 and O2 consumption, specifically membrane cross-over; to minimize cross-over, stacks were built with layered membranes of 100 µm and 400 µm. The stack spatial water concentration level was monitored during operation by in situ neutron imaging to evaluate the passive water management design. Operation was verified by testing at temperatures ranging from -55 °C to 80 °C, including periodic pulses in power.


To show competence as an Industrial Designer at Bachelor's
level, a Bachelor assignment is executed. The Bachelor
assignment is commissioned by DeDutch, which is specialised
in foodpackaging and engineering, mainly for external partners.
For this Bachelor assignment a redesign of an existing sandwich
packaging has been made for a food company called Qizini.
The goal of the assignment was to improve the package of the
sandwich in order to promote this as a just-prepared sandwich.
This improvement is necessary to compete with the sandwiches
that are being prepared on site more often.
As a start to this assignment Qizini has been analysed and their
most important values were studied.
Also, the judgment of consumers on fresh products was
analysed and a market research was executed.
The information gained from all this, various ideas has been
generated. This ideas were elaborated on by creating three
concept directions. These directions were solid, minimalism and
a compromise between these two.
After choosing one of the concepts, the chosen concept was
elaborated on in further detail. For example, the form of the
package was further defined and different concepts were made
for the graphic appearance. These graphic appearance was
decided on by generate different concepts in two concept
directions, namely: "Hip & modern" and "Fresh and sustainable".
At the end a choice has been made from the concepts. The
chosen concept was further detailed and versions for the
different flavours were made.
Finally, a dimensional drawing and a prototype were made.


In this paper, we investigate the multiple attribute decision making problems based on the power aggregation operators with hesitant fuzzy uncertain linguistic information. Then, we have developed some power aggregation operators for aggregating hesitant fuzzy uncertain linguistic information: hesitant fuzzy uncertain linguistic power weighted average (HFULPWA) operator and hesitant fuzzy uncertain linguistic power weighted geometric (HFULPWG) operator. Then, we have utilized these operators to develop some approaches to solve the hesitant fuzzy uncertain linguistic multiple attribute decision making problems. Finally, a practical example for evaluating the transformation and upgrading ability of small and medium enterpries is given to verify the developed approach and to demonstrate its practicality and effectiveness.


The boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) features more distinctive and complex propagation characteristics than its wintertime counterpart, the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). While the relationship between the MJO and the Arctic stratosphere during boreal winter has been widely documented, the linkage between the BSISO and the Antarctic stratosphere during austral winter has not been extensively discussed. Here, after identifying the Southern Hemisphere (SH) stratospheric polar vortex warming (SPVW) events, we reveal the bidirectional connection between BSISO and SPVW. Before onset of the SPVW events, the occurrence frequency and amplitude of BSISO phase 5 (P5) shows a significant increase. The most significant responses of the SH polar stratospheric temperature to the BSISO are found about 10 days after BSISO P5. Thus, to some extent, BSISO P5 can be regarded as a precursor to the SH SPVW event, which is attributed to the enhanced upward propagation and dissipation of planetary waves in the SH stratosphere induced by the BSISO P5. After onset of the SPVW events, a significant increase in the occurrence and amplitude of BSISO P6 is observed, corresponding to the enhanced convection over the South China Sea and southern Philippine Sea. Tropical upwelling associated with the strengthened Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) induced by the SPVW tends to result in unstable circumstances in the tropical upper troposphere. Then the high correlation between static stability at 150 hPa and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) anomalies over the South China Sea and southern Philippine Sea provides robust evidence that the intensity of convective activity in the tropics can indeed be modulated by the variability in SH stratospheric polar vortex.

The relationship between the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) and the Southern Hemisphere (SH) polar stratosphere remains unclear. After selecting the stratospheric polar vortex warming (SPVW) events, we reveal the two-way connection between BSISO and SPVW. Before the SPVW, the significant increase in occurrence and amplitude of BSISO phase 5 (P5) suggests that BSISO P5 can be regarded as a precursor to the weakened polar vortex. After the SPVW, the significant increase in occurrence and amplitude of BSISO phase 6 (P6) establishes that environmental alteration in tropical upper troposphere induced by the SPVW provides a favorable condition for the growth of ensuing convective activity. The results here help us better understand the potential link between stratospheric polar vortex and tropical intraseasonal oscillation.


Melon fruit flies are economically important pests of cucurbit vegetables. The development and survival of melon fly was compared at six constant temperatures ranging from 16 to 36 °C and two carbon dioxide levels (380 and 570 ppm) under laboratory conditions. Temperature below 20 °C and above 32 °C proved less favourable for growth and development of melon fruit fly. It exhibited normal growth and development at 24 °C. Temperatures above 24 °C caused mortality of 19.07 % and up to 100 % at 36 °C. But, levels of elevated carbon dioxide did not elicit varied response to growth and development in four generations studied and confirmed.


Selection is one of the defining characteristics of an evolutionary algorithm, yet inherent in the selection process is the loss of some information from a population. Poor solutions may provide information about how to bias the search toward good solutions. Many estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) use truncation selection which discards all solutions below a certain fitness, thus losing this information. Our previous work on distribution estimation using Markov networks (DEUM) has described an EDA which constructs a model of the fitness function; a unique feature of this approach is that because selective pressure is built into the model itself selection becomes optional. This paper outlines a series of experiments which make use of this property to examine the effects of selection on the population. We look at the impact of selecting only highly fit solutions, only poor solutions, selecting a mixture of highly fit and poor solutions, and abandoning selection altogether. We show that in some circumstances, particularly where some information about the problem is already known, selection of the fittest only is suboptimal.


The efficient load‐carrying behaviour of thin‐walled shells is one of the reasons for the continuing popularity of these structural elements across several fields of engineering. Locking effects limit the applicability of traditional finite element analysis (FEA) and require significant user experience in this context. Thus, shell formulations that do not show the emergence of locking effects are still a research subject. Since modelling of plates using the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) showed no occurrence of locking effects the SBFEM seems to be a promising technique to avoid locking when modelling shell structures. This contribution presents the numerical analysis of thin‐walled shells using the SBFEM. Several benchmark problems for shell elements have been investigated and the results for the Scordelis‐Lo roof are presented in detail.


'If citizenship is invoked in the defence of rights, the corresponding duties of citizenship cannot be ignored.' T. H. Marshall, `Citizenship and Social Class', 1949


The first demonstration of quasi-phase-matched, non-reciprocal polarisation rotation in III-V waveguides, achieved through the incorporation of a periodically alternating magneto-optic and non magneto-optic upper cladding is reported.


Background: The prognostic significance of troponin elevation in the setting of hypertensive crisis is unclear. We sought to investigate the long-term prognostic significance of detectable levels o...


A new government of technocrats in 1957 and the stabilization and liberalization plan in 1959 introduced a simultaneous liberalization of domestic...


Fluvial processes strongly influence riparian forests through rapid and predictable shifts in dominant species, tree density and size that occur in the decades following large floods. Modelling riparian forest characteristics based on the age and evolution of floodplains is useful in predicting ecosystem functions that depend on the size and density of trees, including large wood delivered to river channels, forest biomass and habitat quality. We developed a dynamic model of riparian forest structure that predicts changes in tree size and density using floodplain age derived from air photos and historical maps. Using field data and a riparian forest chronosequence for the 160‐km middle reach of the Sacramento River (California, USA), we fit Weibull diameter distributions with time‐varying parameters to the empirical data. Species were stratified into early and late successional groups, each with time‐varying functions of tree density and diameter distributions. From these, we modelled how the number and size of trees in a stand changed throughout forest succession, and evaluated the goodness‐of‐fit of model predictions.


A novel high PSRR bandgap reference is presented in this paper. Neither operational amplifiers nor any filtering capacitor are used in this design. The circuit employs a self-regulating technique to significantly suppress the supply noise over a broad frequency range. And the problem of supply coupling noise caused by the traditional start-up circuit is also avoided by an improved design. The whole circuit has been implemented in 0.18μm standard CMOS process. Experimental results demonstrate that the PSRR of the voltage reference has achieved -115dB@DC and -90dB@10MHz. A temperature coefficient of 11.68 ppm/°C is obtained in the range of -40°C to 125°C. The current consumption for voltage self-regulating circuit proposed is only 42μA.


Fault tolerance features in the first three major subsystems of the satellite up-link resources are described. The critical processing subassemblies are the demultiplexer, demodulators, and forward error-correcting decoders. The extra checking resources needed for fault tolerance also serve as replacements for failed units during reconfiguration. The demultiplexer, an efficient multirate filter bank, containing a fast Fourier transform (FFT) section, is protected by a high rate real number convolutional code, and parity values are computed in parallel at a much reduced rate. The redundancies inherent in the binary convolutional code used to combat transmission noise afford protection for the Viterbi decoders. Selected invariant features of the Viterbi algorithm coupled with the code structure constantly monitor values within the decoder. The demodulators are protected by virtue of their location between two protected units, the demultiplexer and the decoders.<<ETX>>


Wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of limited energy resources, which reduce the processing capabilities and a radio frequency communication unit with limited transmission power. In wireless communication, Automatic Repeat request (ARQ) technique are used which has power loss in packet retransmission. Then Error correcting code(ECC) can be used to reduce the number of packet retransmission Turbo codes are error correcting codes with at least two dimensions (i.e. each datum is encoded at least twice).The decoding of turbo codes is based on an iterative procedure using the concept of extrinsic information. Highly parallel decoders for convolution turbo codes have been studied by proposing two parallel decoding architectures and a design approach of parallel interleaves. This paper analysis the parallel concatenation turbo encoder and error correction circuit. It detects the error in a given data, if the data should have error then it intimate the error to the user and recover that error.


To systematically address the increasing security threats of today's networked systems, one important step is to quantify the potential vulnerabilities a system may face. The concept of "attack surface" has emerged in recent years as a measure of such vulnerabilities. However given the high degrees of interdependencies among networked systems, it remains an open challenge of how to systematically identify and quantify the attack surface of a given system. In this work we use two real Internet systems, the X.509 CA verification system and DANE, a newly standardized alternative solution, as case studies to showcase a novel methodology that offers a repeatable way to systematically quantify their attack surfaces. We believe this work represents the first step towards systemically modeling dependencies of actual Internet-scale systems in order to formally quantify the often elusive notion of a system's attack surface.


The main purpose of this paper is to argue that there are no minority moral rights. Rights claimed to be minority moral rights, such as land rights and hunting rights of indigenous peoples, and the political and language rights of some minority cultures, turn out to be either collective moral rights which are not also minority moral rights, or else to be merely (possibly morally justified) legal minority rights which are not also minority moral rights.


The objective of this paper is to develop the tool of halal food control by applying Quality Function Deployment (QFD). The modification of House of Quality (HOQ) matrix in QFD model are necessary to be conducted in order to fit the proposed QFD model with halal food control in the company. The proposed QFD model is composed of three HOQ matrices. The matrix 1 describes the relationship between attributes of halal assurance system and product process. The matrix 2 represent the relationship between attributes of halal assurance system and the halal critical. Finally, matrix 3 explains the relationship between product process and halal critical. The case study in chicken meat processing company is used to test the applicability and how to work the proposed QFD model for halal food control.


This article focuses on the growing problem that has arisen with the procedural tool of summary judgment; it tempts judges to take over jury trials, a violation of the constitutional right to trial by jury. The summary judgment phenomenon has been described as the beginning of the "vanishing trial." Recent data from the Federal Judicial Center shows that summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff is granted in an estimated seventy percent of all federal civil rights and employment discrimination cases. However, the nature of a claim for these types of violations is unsuitable for summary judgment because a greater record is needed to develop a resolution to these complex issues.More specifically, civil rights cases that allege discrimination normally require an evaluation of the material facts of motive and intent. This article analyzes the case of Goring v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University, decided in the Middle District of Louisiana in 2010, to demonstrated the problems discussed above.


Uterine torsion can occur in all species, but is especially common in cattle, with occurrences reported in 1 to 12.5% of dystocias. However, most of the published work has been done on hospital referred cases and does not represent cases seen in the field by general practitioners. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe field cases of uterine torsion as well as examine a few risk factors for the condition.


The present study aimed to apply artificial neural networks to predict the breeding values of body weight in 6-month age of Kermani sheep. For this purpose, records of 867 lambs including lamb sex, dam age, birth weight, weaning weight, age at 3-month (3 months old), age at 6-month (6 months old) and body weight at 3 months of age were used. Firstly, genetic parameters of the animals were estimated using ASReml software. The data was then pre-processed for using in MATLAB software. After initial experiments on the appropriate neural network architecture for body weight at 6-month age, two networks were examined. A feed-forward backpropagation multilayer perceptron (MLP) algorithm was used and 70% of all data used as training data, 15% as testing data and 15% as validating data, to prevent over-fitting of the artificial neural network. Results showed that the both networks capable to predict breeding values for body weight at 6 month-age in Kermani sheep. It can be concluded that artificial neural network has a good ability to predict growth traits in Kermani sheep with an acceptable speed and accuracy. Therefore, this network, instead of commonly-used procedures can be used to estimate the breeding values for productive and reproductive traits in domestic animals.


JoAnne Boudreau came to Texas over 30 years ago to Mineral Wells and has become a local authority on organic herbs and herb farming. She has a unique ability to share her knowledge of herbs in concise detail. She has helped inform many through her regular radio show "The Herb Lady" Saturday mornings at 8:30am on KJSA 1120 AM. She also writes articles for Home and Garden magazine highlighting a specific herb and its health benefits. She has an internship program at her farm for those interested in growing herbs and an annual Wild and Weedy Herb Walk in April.


In our project we discuss the problem of channel allocation in cellular networks and analyze different channel allocation algorithms. Each cell can use any channel, subject to the interference constraints. The main criterion is to provide maximum number of network users with service capabilities in networks with limited transmission resources. Channel allocation algorithms are executed by network switch in a centralized way. We analyze three specific channel allocation policies, based on three different objective functions.


Highly accurate ground-state nonrelativistic variational calculations of Ps{sub 2}, {sup 1}HPs, and {sup {infinity}}HPs are reported. The calculations have been performed using 5000 explicitly correlated Gaussian basis functions and yielded the lowest variational energy upper bounds for these systems to date. The relative accuracies of the energies obtained are of the order of 4x10{sup -10} a.u. for Ps{sub 2} and 2x10{sup -9} a.u. for HP. Several expectation values have also been computed for each system, as well as electron-positron annihilation rates.


Since the birth of psychoanalysis, the analysis of dreams has been used as a means in psychological counseling. And the study of nightmare, a typical kind of dream, receives much attention for a long period of time and has produced fruitful achievements. These achievements provide beneficial proofs to the understanding of nightmare's psychological implications as well as the application of analysis of dreams for psychological counseling. In the paper, the history of study on nightmare in the west is reviewed and main theories are laid out, which may give some useful references to domestic research on nightmare.


We present an operator realization for the bosonization of fermions in 1+ 1 dimensions, at finite, non-zero temperature T . This is achieved in the framework of the real time formalism of Thermofield Dynamics. The well known two-dimensional Fermion-Boson correspondences at zero temperature are shown to hold also at finite temperature. In o rder to emphasize the usefulness of the operator realization for handling a large class of two -dimensional quantum field-theoretic problems, we contrast this global approach with the cumbersome calculation of the fermioncurrent two-point function in the imaginary-time formalism and real time formalisms.


A creative economy is about much more than culture and the arts. It embraces the nation's great writers, filmmakers and artists, but it's equally about the interaction designers who have contributed to the revolution in banking and finance, the technical writers who help make our export industry strong, and the legions of amateur bloggers and animators who are triggering the explosion of digital content. What sets creative industries apart in the economy is the fact that 'creativity' is their primary source of value, something that is increasingly recognised as important for growth in contemporary knowledge-based societies. It's time to rethink the view that creativity is a cost to the economy and pursue instead the sector's economic potential, making the creative industries the 'sparkplugs' of next-generation, post-industrial growth. What Price a Creative Economy? offers fresh reasons and evidence for renewing the case for public investment.

STUART CUNNINGHAM is Professor of Media and Communications, Queensland University of Technology, and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation. He is a key figure in cultural policy studies and is well known for his contributions to media, communications and cultural studies and their relevance to industry practice and government policy. His writings include Framing Culture (1992), a critique of the limits of cultural studies as applied to cultural policy. He has co-written or co-edited a number of studies of the global dimensions of audiovisual culture.