Pentraxin‐3 (PTX3) is an acute phase reactant produced by a variety of cell types at sites of local inflammation. We examined by immunohistochemistry renal biopsies from patients with acute rejection (n = 10), protocol biopsies without rejection (n = 37), and peri‐operative donor biopsies of the same transplant patients (n = 94) for intra‐renal expression of PTX3, and its correlation with clinical, laboratory, and histopathologic parameters. PTX3 was mainly expressed in the interstitium of renal allograft. In the non‐rejection biopsies (pre‐ and post‐reperfusion and protocol biopsies), PTX3 expression area (PTX3%) was equally maintained at a low level, whereas in the rejection biopsies, PTX3% was significantly higher (p < 0.0001). Treatment of acute rejection resulted in a significant reduction of PTX3% (p < 0.0001). PTX3% positively correlated with the degree of allograft dysfunction and acute rejection scores of Banff classification (2009). This study suggests that PTX3% may be an available histological marker of acute renal allograft rejection.


New York City Transit�s (NYCT�s) subway car fleet of more than 6,400 cars serves as one of the agencies major capital investments for this massive 656 track mile, 468 station system that has a daily ridership in excess of 4.6 million people. As with all significant investments, there must be a commitment to maintain the rolling stock to provide for a long and capable future. In the early 1990s NYCT�s subway rail car fleet was comprised of 16 �car classes�, with 8 classes in the A-Division (former IRT) and 8 classes in the B-Division (former BMT/IND). These car classes had been manufactured by seven different carbuilders. The average age of the entire fleet at that time was about 18 years of age; the oldest car classes, the ADivision�s R29, R33 and R36 cars, or the Redbirds as they were called since being painted Tuscan Red in the arly 1908s, were as old as 45 years. In the mid-1990s, the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), NYCT�s parent organization, took a fresh look at long-range needs for rail cars and included in their 1995-1999 Capital Program replacement of the entire Redbird class of 1,408 cars. Thus was born the �R142� rail car procurement, so designated from the NYCT�s tradition of designating car classes based on the sequential contract numbers assigned by the NYCT�s Department of Capital Program Management (CPM), in this case Contract �R34142�. The R142 procurement became the first of five NYCT rail car procurements initiated over the next five years. These five procurements total more than 3,412 new cars, significantly rejuvenating NYCT�s aging rail car fleet. MTA�s and NYCT�s planning, plus financial support from the State of New York, The City of New York, and the U. S. Federal Government have made this extensive and critically needed program possible, and to date successful.


A student within a university's Ed.D. program is encouraged by her director to narrow her research focus; however, her interests in Curriculum Studies, Arts-Based Educational Research, and Composition Studies led her to design a practitioner action research study examining intersections between the fields. As she collected participants' data, she experienced poststructural disruptions within all stages of the dissertation process, from designing and collecting data to formatting and identity as a researcher. This narrative, exploratory article showcases how dissertations in practice can follow nonlinear pathways to knowledge when researchers are open to possibilities.


LANDSAT imagery and NASA high altitude color infrared (CIR) photography were used to select suitable sites for sanitary landfill in Volusia County, Florida and to develop techniques for preventing sand deposits in the Clearwater inlet. Activities described include the acquisition of imagery, its analysis by the IMAGE 100 system, conventional photointerpretation, evaluation of existing data sources (vegetation, soil, and ground water maps), site investigations for ground truth, and preparation of displays for reports.


The effects of benzo[α]pyrene(B[α]P)on livability,reactive oxygen species(ROS)content,lysosomal membrane and DNA damage as well as apoptosis index of haemocyte in scallop Chlamys farreri were studied.The results indicated that B\P had no effect on haemocyte livability,which was as high as 97.42%~98.82%.However B[α]P had significant effects on ROS content,lysosomal membrane stability,DNA damage and apoptosis index,while there was no notably change in control groups.The ROS content increased significantly in each B[α]P treated groups,and showed positive correlaction with the exposure time,and the ROS content was "1 mg/L4 mg/L16 mg/L0.25 mg/L" at 12 h and 24 h.Except of the lysosomal membrane stability,comet ratio and arbitrary value in 0.25 mg/L treatments within 12 h and 6 h,as well as lysosomal membrane stability,comet ratio in 1 mg/L treatments within 6 h had no significant change compared to control groups,the other treatment groups including lysosomal membrane stability as well as comet ratio,arbitrary value and apoptosis index decreased or increased during the experiment time,and which had negative or positive relationship with the exposure concentration and time of B[α]P.Therefore,the authors considered that the B[α]P had significant damage effects on haemocyte of scallop C.farreri,which had direct relationship with exposure extent of B[α]P.Meanwhile,the authors considered that the generation of ROS and the intermediate metabolite during the metabolism of B[α]P in haemocyte was one of the important reasons to cause the damage and apoptosis of haemocyte.


We carried out this research to assess and compare post‐stapedotomy hearing results of Matrix titanium prosthesis with a Teflon piston prosthesis, specifically the fluoroplastic (Teflon) Causse loop piston prosthesis in patients who suffered from otosclerosis.


A set of rotations and Lorentz boosts is presented for studying the three-parameter little groups of the Poincaré group. This set constitutes a Lorentz generalization of the Euler angles for the description of classical rigid bodies. The concept of Lorentz-generalized Euler rotations is then extended to the parameterization of the E(2)-like little group and the O(2, 1)-like little group for massless and imaginary-mass particles respectively. It is shown that the E(2)-like little group for massless particles is a limiting case of the O(3)-like or O(2, 1)-like little group. A detailed analysis is carried out for the two-component SL(2, c) spinors. It is shown that the gauge degrees of freedom associated with the translation-like transformation of the E(2)-like little group can be traced to the SL(2, c) spins which fail to align themselves to their respective momenta in the limit of large momentum


Although increasingly associated with rational and objective scientific processes, sports coaching is nonetheless a social activity. More specifically, sports coaching always involves a relationship between a coach and athlete / participant (Cronin & Armour, 2017; Jowett, 2007). This chapter aims to explore the perspective that coaching relationships are essentially caring relationships, and that the care facet of these relationships has hitherto been taken for granted and undervalued (Cronin & Armour, 2018; Jones, Bailey, & Santos, 2013; Jones, 2009). In doing so, the chapter argues that both community sports coaching policy and practice are implicitly concerned with care. Yet, to date, care has largely been under theorised and marginalised in coaching policy and practice. Indeed, to a large extent, coaching discourse is dominated by a concern for what performers do (i.e., sport and physical activity) rather than performers themselves (Harthill & Lang, 2014). This does not mean that coaching policy is not well intentioned, nor that coaching is wholly without caring practice. On the contrary, good caring practice does exist, but it is perhaps not as widespread and explicit as it should be. To address this challenge, the later section of the chapter details examples of care in coaching from across international contexts. This is a valuable resource that will prompt coaches, coach educators, employers, and policy makers to consider how they can ensure that care is not peripheral to, but rather at the heart of the coaching process. After all, caring about communities and their inhabitants is essential to community sports coaching.


The invention provides a regeneration-type filter aid regeneration and transferring method based on a disc-type beer filtering machine. The method comprises an alkaline regeneration step and a transferring step in sequence, and also comprises an enzyme regeneration step. Based on the disc-type beer filtering device, an effect for cleaning the regeneration-type filter aid is achieved by virtue of an alkaline washing, enzyme processing and regeneration-type filter aid transferring process. By virtue of the transferring step based on the disc-type beer filter device, the regeneration-type filter aid is transferred into a regeneration-type filter aid storage tank, so that the loss rate is minimized, and the economic cost is minimized.


Introduction: Many strides have been made over recent years in the reduction of mortality among children aged under-five years though disparities still exist between and within countries. Main causes of morbidity and mortality in Kenya among this age group are attributed to acute respiratory infections and pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, anaemia, and malnutrition. Over time Nyanza region has been posting the highest under-five mortality rate compared to the rest of the country. Reduction of under-five mortality can be achieved through linkages between households, communities, and health care facilities. The aim of this study was to determine the role of community health volunteers (CHVs) who are key players in these linkages, in an area where the under-five mortality rate has remained the highest in the country. Methods: Cross sectional descriptive research design was used in this study. Qualitative data was collected through focus group discussions conducted with CHVs attached to programs and health facilities providing under-five care. Findings: Community health volunteers' role in under-five care includes health education, assessment, follow up of HIV exposed infants, ARV, and immunization defaulter tracing, dispensing of drugs and referral. Conclusion and Recommendations: The CHVs are a link between households, communities and health facilities cannot be underestimated particularly in health education, health assessment, defaulter tracing, referral and community drug dispensing. It is recommended that this role should be strengthened through continuous training and close supervision by health care workers in the health facilities and under-five health programs where CHVs are attached.


Introduction Leather and leather products produced in India contribute to 10% of global production on volume terms; the value it could fetch is only around 2.4% of global business. One of the main reasons for India's low share is poor raw material quality (30% from fallen or dead animals). Quality of raw material is affected either due to ante-mortem defects (scratches, rub marks or horn rake, yoke mark, scabies, pox brand marks etc.) or postmortem defects (flay cuts, fleshing cuts, grain crack, etc.). While post-mortem defects are controllable to a certain extent, ante-mortem defects pose serious challenges to the tanner:. Finishing of leather significantly increases aesthetic appeal and sale value of the product. Generally, using pigments in finishing operations cover deep defects in grain on full grain leathers. Although, this approach provides good covering, it reduces aniline characteristics or natural look of leather, which in turn reduces its potential value and returns to the tanner. Earlier, there had been attempts in using chitosan as an auxiliary in dyeing process to enhance the depth of leather shade, which can also facilitate covering of defects to some extent. However, recent developments in dyeing process, through special application of pigments, which are compatible with selected dyes, offer an alternative approach. Advantages of careful blending of pigment and dyestuff may be summarized as follows: opaque, uniform shade with level coloration; masking of grain damage; increase in the depth of shade; upgradation of leathers with moderate grain damage; full retention of aniline character; and possibility of lighter finishing for comfort leathers. Slaats et al reported need for the use of cationic auxiliary based on polyethylene-polyamide to change surface charge and subsequent addition of a weak cationic polymer or chrome syntan to create uniform charge over the entire grain surface and cross section. Use of these products was necessary to obtain uniform deposition of pigments on leather matrix, especially on defects. This study presents use of pigments for covering defects in wet finishing in combination with wet or dry milling.


The paper presents a risk analysis that was conducted in order to estimate the adverse health effects anticipated from the potential collapse of a historically contaminated building. Towards this direction several dust dispersion scenarios were simulated, and the resulting concentrations of the contaminants of concern were compared to appropriate emergency exposure limits. The results indicate that irreversible or other serious health effects could occur, especially among the most vulnerable groups of the population. However, these worrying findings were helpful towards accelerating the approval process of the proposed remedial measures, which are expected to start shortly.


Emotional and social diversity are as clearly manifest in gifted persons as is intellectual exceptionality. In this regard, we recognize three gradients within the gifted range: gifted, from 130–145 IQ; highly gifted, 140–160 IQ; and exceptionally gifted, above 160 IQ. Parents of highly and exceptionally gifted persons have found it useful to retain a family psychologist or counselor to develop relationships in a preventive function. In this article, five facets of critical development are highlighted: (a) interpersonal relationships; (b) acknowledgement of uniqueness; (c) school adjustment; (d) creative self‐expression; and (e) user‐friendly environment. In each area, several interventive strategies are suggested.


The first ruthenium olefin metathesis catalyst bearing a four-membered N-heterocyclic carbene (5) was synthesized and characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The synthesis of a (carbene)carbonylrhodium complex (6) was also reported, allowing the study of the electronic properties of this new carbene ligand. The complex 5 was screened toward different olefin metathesis reactions, and it showed a slow reactivity.


MOOSE (multimodel object oriented simulation environment) is an enabling environment for modeling and simulation, under construction at University of Florida, based on OOPM (object oriented physical modeling). OOPM extends object-oriented program design with visualization and a definition of system modeling that reinforces the relation of model to program. OOPM is a natural mechanism for modeling large-scale systems, and facilitates effective integration of disparate pieces of code into one simulation. Components of MOOSE are modeler, translator, engine, and scenario: (1) Modeler interacts with model author via GUI to capture model design; (2) Translator is a bridge between model design and model execution, reading Modeler output, building structures representing model, and emitting C++ (or potentially other) code for model; (3) Engine is a C++ program, composed of translator output plus runtime support, compiled and linked once, then repeatedly activated for model execution; (4) Scenario is a visualization-enabling GUI which activates and interacts with engine, and displays engine output in a form meaningful to user. Dynamic model types supported include finite state machine, functional block model, and equational constraint models; alternatively, model authors may create their own C++ 'code models;' model types may be freely combined; class libraries facilitate reuse. MOOSE emphasizes multimodeling, which glues together models of the same or different types, produced during model refinement, reflecting various abstraction perspectives, to adjust model fidelity, during development and during model execution. Underlying multimodeling is 'block' as fundamental object. Every model is built from blocks, expressed in a modeling assembly language.


Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a policy of standard antenatal care which included plotting fundal height measurements on customised antenatal charts in the community.


The off-shell behavior of the differential cross section in (d,p) reactions is described within the R-matrix theory assuming a direct 'stripping into continuum' process. In particular, with the inc...


[Objective]To understand the prevalence of endemic fluorosis among rural school-age children in Ji'ning city,and provide a scientific basis for making prevention and control countermeasures.[Methods]Investigation was conducted in primary school students in grade 5 and 6 selected from 1 town central primary school each from Jiaxiang and Jinxiang county where the content of fluoride in drinking water exceeded the limited value based on National Hygienic Standard for Drinking water.[Results]Of the 486 children investigated,the positive rate of dental fluorosis and dental fluorosis index were 52.06% and 1.02.The positive rate of dental fluorosis in Jiaxiang and Jinxiang county was 62.74% and 43.80% respectively(P0.01),54.58% and 49.36% in male and female children respectively(P0.05).Of the 97 children tested,the fluoride value in urine(geometric mean ± standard deviation) was(0.93±0.77) mg/L,46.39% of the children aged from 8-12 exceeded the fluorine mean value in urine.The fluoride value in urinary in Jiaxiang(37 children) and Jinxiang(60 children) was(0.97±0.48) mg/L and(0.91±0.90) mg/L respectively(P0.05).[Conclusion]The positive rate of dental fluorosis of rural school-age children was higher in Jiaxiang and Jinxiang counties,the prevalence of endemic fluorosis was not effectively controlled.


Using the methods such as literature material,questionnaire investigation and mathematical statistics,the developing status of Hunan college student's physical education for entertainment are investigated and studied,the factors of influencing and restricting this kind of physical education are analyzed and the suggestion on developing physical education for entertainment is raised in order to provide certain reference basis for the policy decision of relevant departments of colleges and universities.


Based on the new economic geography's classic wage equation,we use 30 provinces'panel data from 2000 to 2009 to test the relations between various types of market potential(financial externalities),employment density(technical externalities) and the area of the salary.Analysis finds that:market potential has significant effect on wage;employment density externality of the region has "threshold" effect on wage;except for middle and west areas,the foreign market potential(export openness) and the domestic market potential have obvious alternative relationship.


"bottom dwellers of the academic food chain"

One of the challenges for us as medical students making our way on to the wards is to determine our role. Our agenda is to learn. However, we face many different styles of teaching, and at one point or another we must endure the sensation of standing idly against the wall, looking on to a session of rounds with a mixture of genuine interest and selfconscious alienation. We find ourselves asking, "Do they know we are here?"

This first question leads naturally on to a second, "What difference does it make to anyone that we are here?" We are …


Analyzed frequency, topic, journal, and publication year of articles about uses of transactional analysis in organizations. Computer searches of TA references in management/administration journals ...


This chapter contains sections titled: 1.1 History, 1.2 Basic concepts, 1.3 Cell reference formats, 1.4 Formulas, functions, and arrays, 1.5 Other spreadsheet features, 1.6 Dependency, support, and cycles, 1.7 Recalculation, 1.8 Aside: Formal semantics of spreadsheets, 1.9 Related work, 1.10 Online resources and implementations, 1.11 Spreadsheet implementation patents


An intelligent space is constructed with various types of distributed sensors including networked laser range sensors. Geometrical position estimation of distributed sensors under an unified world coordinate system is required for construction of the intelligent space. When many sensors are distributed in wide area, it generally becomes complicated tasks to estimate all sensor positions. In order to solve these problems, we consider a new method based on map information sharing with a SLAM module of a mobile robot. In this study, we propose an intelligent space construction system which automatically performs position estimation of distributed networked laser range sensors fixed in an environment as an intelligent space. This system aims to achieve position estimation of distributed sensors in the intelligent space and improvement of SLAM accuracy by using map sharing with distributed sensors. Some experimental results show that the proposed system can achieve both of them.


The major purpose of the study was to find out the relationship between the level of attention and academic achievement. The tool designed to carry out this study was questionnaire. A sample of 420 students was taken from six secondary schools of district chakwal. The data was collected personally by visiting the concerned schools. The collected data was properly tabulated and analyzed with the help of ANOVA. The major findings of the study were: students' level of attention directly effects their academic achievement. Those students who have high level of attention their academic achievement is also higher. As the level of attention decreases academic achievement also decreases student with moderate attention level have average academic achievement while the student with low level of attention are failed. The main factors that distract student attention are noise, home environment, financial problems, health problems and lack of interest. The study concludes that attention should be considered an important psychological phenomenon that effects the students' academic achievement. As the individuals are different in their capabilities, skills, intelligence and aptitude their level of attention is also different.


Thoughts on User's Cognitive Factors for Information Design on Web-based Media Websites have passed through several developmental progressions, from simple textual information to more sophisticated interactive communication that engages a larger and more diverse audience. As an alternative channel to communicate, access information, perform a task or fulfill personal interest, more usability problems become apparent. Studying and solving these problems is increasingly essential. This study attempts to analyze and understand search problems based on user search behavior. To understand this behavior more profoundly, focus shifts to the user's cognitive factors that underlie and regulate behavior while searching though a website. These cognitive factors include generic goals, user modes of searching, user search strategies and methods, as well as different types of models to identify user characteristics. The study discusses classification of these cognitive factors and provides an analytic framework that helps systematically analyze and synthesize these factors in order to better anticipate user search behavior with the goal to eventually be able to determine the kinds of information and functions needed to include in different types of website design. BACKGROUND As web-based media has already begun to dominate our everyday life, it has passed through several progressions-the earlier simple model refashioned only textual communication available to those in academia or research to the far more sophisticated visual-animated interactive medium which now engages much larger and diverse audiences. The development in communication and information technology enables content to evolve from the electronic version of a simple letter or textual report to the interactive version of newspaper, magazine, graphic advertising and merchandising catalog, consequently web-based media has become more prevalent than ever. It has transformed the ways we live by presenting us with alternative channels to communicate, access information, perform tasks or fulfill personal interest. These opportunities extend to the general technically literate population. However, as more audiences engage, more usability problems are uncovered. These problems can't be solved by the development of technically sophisticated systems alone. User behaviors need to be deeply understood in order to design systems that allow users to perform their tasks easily, without struggle and frustration. PREVIOUS RESEARCH FINDINGS A previous research paper "User Purposes and Information-seeking Behaviors in Web-based Media: A User-centered Approach to Information Design on Websites" (Sawasdichai, 2002) provides a new perspective on design considerations for a website by incorporating requirements from both website (client) intentions and user purposes. In this study, user purposes and their modes of searching were investigated simultaneously with website goals to reveal common search patterns associated with each case and to identify the primary problems that occur in each pattern. The results show that the patterns of user search behaviors are uniquely different depending on their purposes and current modes of searching. Even though each user (subject) performed his/her task in isolation and in her/his own way, similar search patterns appeared based on a shared purpose and/or the same mode of searching. Different search patterns were associated with different user purposes and website intentions. Ten cases were investigated ranging from very specific to open-ended purposes and searches. The research findings also show that user purposes and modes of searching are the main mechanisms that play an important role in determining user behavior and the resulting search pattern (see figure 1). User purpose is the main factor regulating their task description, while user mode of searching provides the major impact on their search strategies and search methods. …


Sponsorship is a major marketing communication tool, with global spending estimated to exceed $60.2 billion (USD) in 2016, nearly double the $37.7 billion spent in 2006 (IEG, [2007][1], [2016][2]). By paying for the opportunity to be associated with a given event, marketers hope that the event's


Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the value of phosphorylated tau with epitopes threonine 181(p-tau181) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease typed dementia from other type of dementia. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed to identify studies on p-tau181. Two evaluators independently evaluated the quality of the ten studies using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) tool. The literature review covered from October 27, 1946 to October 22, 2013, and eight domestic databases including KoreaMed and international data- bases including Ovid-MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were used. Tau concentrations were compared to healthy controls and to subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) using random effect meta- analysis. Outcome measures were Cohen's delta, sensitivity and specificity. Results: Finally, 8 studies (8 diagnostic evaluation studies) were identified to evaluate CSF p-tau181. The effectiveness of this test was evaluated based on diagnostic accuracy. The diagnostic accuracy for identifying AD by ELISA was high which revealed pooled sensitivity as 0.843 (95% CI 0.818-0.867), pooled specificity as 0.799(95% CI 0.768-0.828) and summary receiver operating characteristic area under the curve 0.9082 ± 0.0236. Con- clusions: CSF p-tau181 concentrations in other type of dementia are intermediate between controls and AD patients. Overlap between both controls and AD patients results in insufficient diagnostic accuracy, and the development of more specific biomarkers for these disorders is needed.


As a continuation of our previous considerations about the operator order among quasi-arithmetic means [Linear Algebra Appl. 434 (2011), 1228-1237], we study this order with a di erent condition on the spectra. As an application we gave the order among some means. Also, we give similar results for F-order.


The operation principle and technical features of a sampling phase-locked synthesizes are described in this paper.The low phase-noise and spurious features are especially analyzed, and the contribution of loop filter and loop capturing to stabilization of loop is emphasized.Finally the typical specification and performance of the X-band sampling phase-looked synthesizer is provided.


John Loxley's article "Public-Private Partnerships After the Global Financial Crisis: Ideology Trumping Economic Reality" provides an overall assessment of public-private partnerships (PPPs), with a particular emphasis on their use in Canada and the issues that have emerged in the initial phases of the crisis. The paper summarizes the dimensions of PPP funding, their mechanics, and offers an insightful critique of their effects on public finances.


In the field of grid-connected photovoltaic power generation, because the output PWM carrier of the inverter circuit is relatively low and the inverter circuit contains a large number of non-linear switching semiconductor devices, the three-phase grid-connected current is prone to distortion, which seriously affects the safe and reliable operation of the power system. The traditional PI current loop control is mostly used in the control system of the photovoltaic inverter circuit, although the control strategy can track quickly. Instruction current, but the ability to suppress harmonics is weak. Based on this, in order to suppress harmonic current and ensure good dynamic response, this paper proposes a harmonic suppression scheme of photovoltaic grid-connected inverters based on PI + proportional resonance control (MPR). By means of MATLAB/Simulink and experiments, it is proved that the scheme can not only improve the dynamic response performance of the system, but also reduce the specific sub-harmonics in the grid-connected current.


Choanal atresia is an uncommon and poorly recognized cause of unilateral nasal obstruction in adults. We discuss here two cases of unilateral choanal atresia, one adult and a child. Both of them had nasal obstruction as their chief complaint. Both patients underwent a Trans nasal endoscopic excision of choanal atresia with assistance of powered instrument and repair of the choana with stent. Both the patients were followed up regularly for a period of one year and were found to be symptom free with a well healed and patent choana. These case reports highlight the possibility of considering choanal atresia as a differential diagnosis in all patients presenting with unilateral nasal obstruction. CT scan and Nasal endoscopy are the investigations of choice. Trans nasal endoscopic approach with stenting provides an excellent method of management.


WL-CSP is a low profile, true chip size package that is entirely built on a wafer using front-end and back end processing. The wafers can be batch-processed in a fab, which reduces the number of materials and packaging steps, reduces inventory, and allows for wafer level burn in and test. This technology is driven by cost, size, and ease of testing and is ideal for low to mid I/O devices. Peripheral bondpads from the die are redistributed into an area array using a photodielectric and a redistribution metal, eliminating the need for a substrate or interposer. Solder balls are placed onto the redistributed metal bondpads and reflowed, creating a large standoff which improves reliability. The bump structure and pad geometry of the test vehicle was optimized using simulation and validated by experimentation. This WL-CSP technology was evaluated using a 5 x 5 mm 2


Gastrointestinal stromal tumors in interstitial Cajal cells of myenteric plexus of the muscularis propria are the commonest gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumors, not exclusively, appearing in the stomach. This case report documents management of a giant gastric stromal tumor of a 75 year-old female patient presented with generalized, vague, constant abdominal pain and melena, both of a week's duration. She had early satiety with dizziness, feeling weak, and fatigue. She had a good appetite and no weight loss, hematemesis, or vomiting. She was apyrexial, with normal vital signs. The abdomen was soft, with a palpable large mass in epigastrium and central abdomen; an abdominal CT showed a heterogeneous mass lesion of antrum of stomach. Subtotal gastrectomy with roux-en-y gastrojejunostomy was performed. Histopathology showed epithelioid high grade gastrointestinal stromal tumor. The cornerstone therapy is a full operative removal of the tumor, with adjuvant therapy with selective receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors.


System and method for improving the use of radio spectrum in transmission of data, according to which the payload information of any known line interface is divided into a plurality of data portions of smaller which are then grouped into packets so as to be subsequently radio transmitted. For transmission of such packets, suitable radio channels are selected. The invention also relates to reception of such radio channels having such packets incorporated therein, wherein the received packets are then transformed into payload information for inputting into corresponding line interfaces.


During 1994 -1999 several hundred thousands of Harmonia axyridis adults were released at various cultivations infested by aphids (citrus, vegetable and bean crops, maize, etc.) or in urban places on ornamental plants in central and southern Greece (mainly Attica and Peloponnessos region) as well as on several islands. During 1995-2007, samplings were conducted in some areas, in spring just before any new releases, in order to determine if H. axyridis overwintered in the field. In spring 1995 (the year that followed the first releases) as well in spring 1996-97 and 2000-07, no presence of H. axyridis was recorded in any of the orchards where the predator had been released. Only in spring 1998 and 1999 small colonies (<50 individuals) of overwintered H. axyridis adults were observed in Attica region. The above results indicate an inability of the H. axyridis released populations to establish in Greece, although in some areas this species became an important biocontrol agent during the season. In addition, some data collected regarding the composition of native coccinelid species pre- and post- release of H. axyridis could be an indication of no adverse effects imposed by H. axyridis on the native coccinellid fauna in Greece. Despite that, any re-initiation of releases of H. axyridis would not be wise because of its multiple negative effects observed in other countries of Europe and the USA. Contrary to this, the application of a survey and monitoring programme that will allow us to be prepared in case of a possible invasion of H. axyridis from northern Europe is suggested.


Buildings located in seismically-active regions may experience ground shaking from multiple earthquakes, such as mainshock-aftershock sequences. In mainshock-aftershock sequences, the seismic events generally occur in close succession, leaving insufficient time for repair or retrofit between the events. In such cases, seismic performance of a building during an aftershock may depend on the level of damage sustained by the building in mainshock. This study evaluates the aftershock collapse vulnerability of a non-ductile reinforced concrete moment frame building designed according to the 1967 Uniform Building Code. This type of reinforced concrete moment frames is relatively weak, and susceptible to shear and axial column failure (among other failure modes) due to inadequate reinforcement detailing and lack of capacity design requirements. Here, the reinforced concrete frame is modeled in two dimensions with zero-length springs on top of columns capable of capturing shear and axial failure modes. Incremental dynamic analysis on nonlinear analytical building models is used to generate damage and collapse fragility curves for intact and mainshock damaged buildings. The results show that the structure's ability to withstand collapse and further damage are decreased as the extent of damage after the mainshock increases. This trend is similar to what has been observed for ductile RC frames. However, a modern ductile RC frame can undergo higher levels of damage before its aftershock collapse capacity is seriously compromised. In addition, the drop in collapse capacity, as a function of mainshock damage, is more precipitous for the non-ductile RC frame building.


In this paper, we study a fundamental and crucial problem of building timing-driven over-the-block rectilinear Steiner tree (TOB-RST) with pre-buffering and slew constraints. We pre-characterize the tree topology and buffer distribution to provide accurate timing information for our final RST construction. In most previous work, the routing resources over the IP blocks were simply treated as routing blockages. Our TOB-RST could reclaim the ``wasted'' over-the-block routing resources while meeting user-specified timing (slack and slew) constraints. Before fixing topology, a topology-tuning is performed based on location of buffers to improve timing without increasing buffering cost. Experiments demonstrate that TOB-RST can significantly improve the worst negative slack (WNS) with even less buffering and wirelength compared with other slack-driven obstacle-avoiding rectilinear Steiner tree (SD-OARST) algorithms.


At the start of the nineteenth century . . . it became possible for a clergyman's daughter who spent her life in a few confined spaces to realize her immense talents by seeing that she had, within those spaces, materials rich enough to challenge her. Particular place was all, and Austen herself knew this, if only instinctively. (Sales 63) JANE AUSTEN had both an instinctive notion of place and a good education in spatial aesthetics as well. Both her instinctive notions concerning landscape and her education in aesthetics are revealed early and clearly in her juvenilia where the landscape is heavily influenced by her reading of Charlotte Smith's novels, as well as Gilpin's travel guides. Women die and become one with the landscape; men can appropriate landscape fairly easily, seeding it with traps, choosing the most convenient hollow oak, or simply asking for the most unimaginatively bland and pretty estate they stumble upon--and promptly getting it. And if a man finds himself threatened by a scary scene, he just closes his eyes until any unpleasantness passes. The young woman successfully surviving the landscape must at least work herself into a fine kind of madness, as in "Love and Freindship," or like Kitty, in "Catharine or, The Bower," she might just construct her own Landscape--a fine place to hide from the annoyances of society and a saf e place to seek her future identity. In two of her later juvenile pieces, "Evelyn" and "Catharine or, The Bower," Jane Austen shows early in her writing career that she perceives a real difference in how men and women respond to their landscape. "Evelyn," written when she was fifteen, illustrates Jane Austen's consciousness of landscape aesthetics and the ways artists manipulate their landscapes. The main character, Mr. Gower, readily appropriates the landscape around him, and, if he finds it problematic, he simply closes his eyes as he rides through the dark. Evelyn is a village described by the story's narrator as "perhaps one of the most beautiful Spots in the south of England" (180). Mr. Gower immediately comes upon a small estate directly out of a picturesque landscape painting, with everything neatly and symmetrically arranged down to the last cow: As he approached the House, he was delighted with its situation. It was in the exact centre of a small circular paddock, which was enclosed by a regular paling, & bordered with a plantation of Lombardy poplars, & Spruce firs alternatively placed in three rows. A gravel walk ran through this beautiful Shrubbery, and as the remainder of the paddock was unincumbered with any other Timber, the surface of it perfectly even & smooth, and grazed by four white Cows which were disposed at equal distances from each other. . . . (181) Charlotte Bronte, in a letter to G. H. Lewes, criticizes Austen for her manicured, formulaic settings: "A carefully-fenced, highly-cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of bright, vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck" (12 January 1848). However, Brian Southam explains the description of the Webb family home in "Evelyn" as a "regular and meticulous enumeration, a satire upon the layout of the formal garden, by then outmoded, and also upon the elaboration of inconsequential detail" (37). Here we see a fifteen-year-old girl illustrating what landscape the typical English gentleman saw as a "picture of perfection" (and probably one, which made Jane, feel "sick and wicked"). Even as a very young writer, Jane Austen was capable of recognizing and satirizing the stereotypical set piece of the landscape artists of the time, one of the most famous being Gainsborough's "Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrews" (1750), with its proud male proprietor, family behind him, gazing across his land. Mr. Gower's relationship to the landscape seems not to be based upon past memories or instinct but upon his formulaic knowledge of landscape aesthetics. …


In this paper, a memristor with structure of Cu/ PEDOT:PSS/ Ta was fabricated at room temperature. The conductance could be modulated incrementally by pulse sequences. The amplitude, width, frequency and quantity of the pulse sequence play important roles in conductance variation, which is similar to the weight of synapses. Several important synaptic learning behaviors such as short-term potentiation (STP), long-term potentiation (LTP) and spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) were emulated by this memristor, respectively. It is found that the movement of Cu ions is critical for this device.


By comparing two images, which are captured with the same scene at different time, we can detect a set of outliers, such as occluding objects due to moving vehicles. To reduce the influence from the different intensity properties of the images, an intensity compensation scheme, which is based on the polynomial regression model, is employed. For an accurate detection of outliers alleviating the influence from a set of outliers, a simple technique that reruns the regression is employed. In this paper, an algorithm that iteratively reruns the regression is theoretically analyzed by observing the convergence property of the estimates of the noise variance. Using a correction constant for the estimate of the noise variance is proposed. The correction enables the detection algorithm robust to the choice of thresholds for selecting outliers. Numerical analysis using both synthetic and Teal images are also shown in this paper to show the robust performance of the detection algorithm.


Sunflower breeding programs in the Republic of Croatia have over 30-year tradition, and they be realized through different scientific projects and programs in frame of the Agricultural Institute Osijek (Mijic et al., 2004 ; Krizmanic et al., 2005). Main goal of this program is creation of new superior hybrid with high grain yield (above 5 t/ha), oil content (above 50%) and high and stabile oil yield. Special attention is given to creation of lines with emphasized tolerance to dominant pathogens. Sunflower breeding on resistance/tolerance to main diseases is the best way to control them and environmentally friendly as well (Fick and Miller, 1997 ; Miller and Fick, 1997 ; Skoric et al., 2002 ; Vrataric and Sudaric, 2004). This field inbred lines testing as well as the later investigation in biotechnological laboratory will contribute to higher efficiency of sunflower breeding program by choosing more tolerant lines to creation of new hybrids. Investigation was conducted during 2005 at the Agricultural Institute Osijek experimental fields on 30 trial members. Twelve cytoplasmatic male sterile (CMS) inbred lines (L-97 A, L-193 A, L-115 A, G/04 A, L-301 A, L-189/II A, L-101 A, L-13 A, L-205/II A, L-205 A, L-81 A, L-83 A), seven sterile single-crosses (possible mother component for three-way hybrids) (G/03 A x L-104 B, G/03 A x L-14 B, G/03 A x L-282 B, G/03 A x L-272 B, G/03 A x L-102 B, G/03 A x L-190 B, G/03 A x L-302 B), five male fertile lines (L-14 B, L-272 B, L-16 B, L-302 B, L-190 B), four restorer-fertility lines (PI 12/99 R, O3G R, RFS-89 R, O3 MR) as well as two recently recognized hybrids (Favorit and Apolon), all selected at the Agricultural Institute Osijek, Croatia, were used in this study. Each line was sown in two 5 meter long rows and 3 replications. One row of each line was control and the other served for artificial infection. In each replication 7 plants of each line was artificial inoculated in a button stage (R2 according to Schnieter and Miller, 1981). Sunflower stems were inoculated on 7th July by parts of sclerotia originated from sunflower and collected year 2004 at the location around Osijek. Peaces of sclerotia (around 0.5 cm in diameter) were incorporated into holes on stems made by penetration of wooden sharp pencil. After we put sclerotia into a hole, wound was closed by peace of wet cotton and aluminium foil (Vasic et al., 2004). The infection is evaluated three times after inoculation by measuring length of lesions on stems. First evaluation is done one week after inoculation, second two, and a third and final measurement three weeks after inoculation. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and LSD test were processed by Statistical Analysis System Version 8.2 (SAS Institute). Data were previously tested for a normal distribution. The smallest lesion was recorded for cytoplasmatic male sterile line L-83 A. Also, L-190 B (male fertile line) and O3 MR (restorer-fertility line) according to measurements belong to group of more tolerant lines in comparison to other 24 trial members including recognized hybrids Apolon and Favorit. These three lines could be possible parental lines for creation of one a new hybrid which will be possibly more tolerant to white mold, at least in comparison with these two recognized hybrids used in trial. This could be further investigated in some new trials. However, it is important to point-out that this hybrid maybe could not have desirable other important agronomic traits such as high and stabile grain and oil yield, 1000 seed weight, plant height, head diameter, etc.


This paper reports corn grain yields obtained at Oakes, using good cultural techniques along with irrigation. The yields of the single, three-way and
double cross hybrids are compared. In conclusion, the data indicate that the increased yields of specific single cross hybrids with irrigation at Oakes justify their production in preference to the three-way and double cross hybrids tested despite higher seed cost of single cross seed.


President Bushs refusal to release $34 million in aid to the United Nations Population Fund -- which assists women in 140 nations -- reflects his determination to win a majority in both houses of Congress by mobilizing his partys anti-abortion wing. Political pandering by the Bush administration to its anti-choice supporters once again threatens the health and lives of women and children around the globe. President Bush decided Monday [7/22/02] not to approve $34 million in aid for the United Nations Population Fund which provides voluntary family planning assistance in more than 140 nations worldwide. A bipartisan Congress appropriated the money in the fiscal 2002 budget but Bush withheld these funds after accusations were made that the U.N. agency supports or participates in programs of coerced abortion and sterilization in China. The Presidents own fact-finding team came back from China with a report that clears the U.N. agency of involvement in these activities but Bush denied the funds anyway. (excerpt)


Since a few decades back, the uncontrolled growing heterogeneous population of Malaysian elderly drives this country to be recognised as an aged nation by the year 2030. This situation is, therefore, pressures the government to concentrate entirely on the well-being dimensions of the elderly including on economic dimension that promotes them to be productive through employment. The involvement of the elderly in employment can be a good remark for high social inclusivity practice by the government. Hence, this paper highlighted on late-life employment particularly the socio-demographic characteristics of the elderly workers. This paper believes the identification of the socio-demographic characteristics of working elderly is crucial in understanding the unique background so that better improvement regarding the late-life employment in Malaysia can be implemented. This paper presents the qualitative research findings of the doctoral degree of one of the authors involving 12 working elderly in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The respondents were selected and interviewed using both purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The findings of this study prove the elderly involved in late-life employment are heterogeneous by possessing various socio-demographic characteristics including: (i) age group, (ii) gender, (iii) race, (iv) education level, (v) marital status, (vi) living arrangement, and (vii) occupation level. While the elderly involved in late-life employment comes from various socio-demographic characteristics, therefore, the availability of job opportunity as the survival gateways (in terms of: financial, physical, mental, and emotional) for themselves and their family; should be open extensively. As proves by the significant findings of this study, the identification of socio-demographic characteristics of the elderly workers brings significant understanding as regards their unique background and additional improvement on the late-life employment equality in Malaysia. Equal job opportunity for all people at all working-age including the elderly through the revocability of ageism, sexism, racism, and good practice of social inclusion is truly necessary. Most importantly, the economic dimension of the elderly can be optimised and their good well-being can be preserved. This excellent practice is definitely will turn Malaysia into a lively age-friendly country by this coming ageing wave in 2030.


Smart card are often the target of software or hardware attacks. For instance the most recent attacks are based on fault injection which can modify the behavior of applications loaded in the card, changing them as mutant application. In this paper, we propose a new protection mechanism which makes application to be less prone to mutant generation. This countermeasure requires a transformation of the original program byte codes which remains semantically equivalent. It requires a modification of the Java Virtual Machine which remains backward compatible and a dedicated framework to deploy the applications. Hence, our proposition improves the ability of the platform to resist to Fault Enabled Mutant.


This paper presents the analysis of exergy according to second law of thermodynamics for a double concentric tube heat exchanger experimentally. For this purpose to study the heat exchange process between two fluid mediums separated by a solid partition for parallel flow arrangement, an experimental setup was fabricated as per designed considered to measured data. In this considered double concentric tube heat exchanger, hot water and cold water flowing through inner and outer tube respectively and heat exchange takes place from hot fluid medium to cold fluid medium. Here the wall tube conductive resistance is assumed as negligible. The investigation was performed for mass flow rate of cold water ranging from 0.0326 kg/s to 0.572 kg/s and mass flow rate of hot water ranging from 0.016 kg/s to 0.479 kg/s. The effects of various parameters such as rate of entropy generation, number of entropy generation, effectiveness of heat exchanger, and losses of exergy are observed by exergy analysis. The governing equations have been employed to solve analytically for obtaining the energy and exergy analysis parameters. It is expected that this study might be helpful for further related work.


Objective To explore the clinical manifestations and diagnostic methods of aortic dissection.Methods Selectet 46 cases of aortic dissection which was diagnosed by two or more of CT,MRI and synthetical ultrasonograghy or proved by surgical operation,CT scanning was performed in all the patients,of which 41 cases were underwent contrast-enhanced CT scanning.Then analysed the clinical manifestations and CT features. Results 43 patients were diagnosed by CT(93.4%) and the typical aortic dissection and the atypical one were distinguished. Conclusion CT is of great value in the diagnosis of aortic dissection especially its early stage.The treatments need change according to the types of the disease.


With new practice guidelines, it is important to understand how liver transplant (LT) centers have incorporated direct‐acting antivirals (DAAs) into the management of hepatitis C virus‐infected (HCV+) candidates and recipients. To explore how DAAs have affected LT centers' willingness to treat HCV+ candidates and recipients and to use HCV+ donors, we surveyed high volume US LT centers (11/2014‐12/2015) regarding practices for HCV+ candidates, recipients, and donors, before vs after DAAs. We used the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients to compare centers' number of LTs, HCV+ recipients, and HCV+ donors in the years before (1/1/2012‐12/31/2013) and after (1/1/2016‐12/31/2017) survey administration. Of 80 centers contacted, 57 (71.3%) responded, representing 69.0% of the total volume of LTs in 2013. After DAAs, most centers increased treating candidates with low (≤15) model for end‐stage liver disease (MELD) (85.2%), intermediate/high (>15) MELD (92.6%), and hepatocellular carcinoma (79.6%). There was consensus to treat low MELD candidates (90.8% "most of the time/always"), but less certainty for intermediate/high MELD candidates (48.2% "sometimes"). Universal post‐LT HCV treatment increased (7.4% vs 57.4%). After DAAs, 42.6% were more willing to use HCV+ donors for HCV+ candidates, and 38.9% were willing to consider using HCV+ donors for HCV− candidates. Overall, with DAAs, centers were more willing to treat HCV+ candidates and recipients and to use HCV+ donors; recent recommendations may help to guide treatment decisions for intermediate/high MELD candidates.


The impact of tourism generated by the celebration of major sporting events has led to the creation of a research field called event tourism, focused on the study of tourist impacts arising from their organization. In particular, the objective of this research is to analyse the tourist impact of the Spanish Motorcycling Grand Prix over both Jerez de la Frontera and Andalusia, world reference world in the celebration of this type of events.


A dynamic system, which is observed (and influenced) by two players simulta neously at discrete points in time, is considered. Both players receive re wards depending on the time path of the system and on the actions taken. The game is played noncooperatively. At an observation point a player can base his decision on the state of the system at that moment (memoryless strategy) or on the entire history of the system (history-dependent strategy). Some examples are given of games in which there exists an equilibrium point in history-dependent strategies, which gives both players a greater reward than any equilibrium point in memoryless strategies does. When the players play according to such a history-dependent equilibrium point, they make implicit ag.reements and hence cooperate implicitly. These implicit agreements attain stability by the use of threats. Although only some examples are given, it will become clear that the phenomenon is present in a wide class of dynamic games.


The process of degradation was studied by using an HPLC-DAD method. Two degradation products were identified with a hybrid ESI-Q-TOF mass spectrometer. The influence of temperature and relative air humidity (RH) on the stability of cefozopran hydrochloride was investigated. In the solid state the degradation of cefozopran hydrochloride was a first-order reaction depending on the substrate concentration. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of degradation were calculated.


With the rapid development of automated production lines, machine vision inspection has been widely used in parts inspection and target sorting. In this paper, based on LabVIEW machine vision, a part detection system based on automated production line is proposed. First, the calibration of the target detection area, in order to detect the parts in the image more quickly, to track the target of the part, to pre-process the image to reduce the influence of noise, light source and other external environment, in order to obtain the actual part on the production line The coordinate position is used to establish the two-dimensional coordinates and the pixel coordinates are converted to the actual coordinates. The feature of the object is extracted for extracting the contour information of the part, the matching template is set to perform template matching on the part, and the qualified number is displayed on the front panel in real time. Eligibility, pass rate, real-time image acquisition and other data. By selecting different tracking templates and matching templates, this system can quickly trace the target parts and perform template matching to detect those unqualified parts.


AbstractWater main breaks disrupt water services and impact traffic flow along congested city roads. Dispatching water pipe repair crews needs to consider several factors that include: 1) the priority of repair site; 2) the suitability and efficiency of the construction crew in repairing a particular break type; and 3) the time required for crews to travel between break sites. This paper presents a simulation-based multi-objective optimization model to schedule repair crews across water network break sites in an urban setting. Discrete-event simulation models for the water pipe repair process are developed to account for various repair methods. These models are subsequently integrated within a GA-based multi-objective optimization model that considers the following objectives: 1) minimizing the total repair time required to complete all breaks; 2) minimizing the total cost to complete the breaks; and 3) minimizing the cumulative impact of all breaks incident on road users and water customers. A case study...


The standard frequency response analysis (FRA) is not fully efficient for diagnostics of mechanical failures in power transformers. The article recommends that physical electrical parameters of the transformers should be analyzed in addition to support the current FRA assessment.


A wide range energy focused ion beam system with post objective lens retarding and accelerating field optics has been developed. This system employs two objective lens elements in tandem. The first objective lens element (OL1) is a conventional einzel lens, the second one (OL2) is a retarding and accelerating mode immersion lens. The post objective lens retarding optics is very effective to obtain a low energy fine focused beam. While the post objective lens acceleration optics is not optically attractive, it has other merits. A very high energy ion beam, more than 100 keV, can be obtained by relatively small apparatus. It is also possible to change the landing energy without adjustments of ion beam alignment. The optimized deflector system has been designed for the above mentioned optics. Stitching accuracies of the system were evaluated, and the measured stitching errors are 0.115 μm (2δ) on the X axis and 0.088 μm (2δ) on the Y axis.


Chronic stress, by initiating changes in the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis and the immune system, acts as a trigger for anxiety and depression. There is experimental and clinical evidence that the rise in the concentration of pro‐inflammatory cytokines and glucocorticoids, which occurs in a chronically stressful situation and also in depression, contribute to the behavioural changes associated with depression. A defect in serotonergic function is associated with these hormonal and immune changes. Neurodegenerative changes in the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and amygdalae are the frequent outcome of the changes in the HPA axis and the immune system. Such changes may provide evidence for the link between chronic depression and dementia in later life. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper proposes a novel superpixel-based method for the classification of hyperspectral image. A superpixel segmentation algorithm called entropy rate superpixel is applied to extract the spatial contextual information in the hyperspectral image, which can change the size and shape of the superpixel adaptively according to spatial structures. Then, a joint sparse representation model is applied to approximate the pixels within each superpixel using a certain number of common samples from a given dictionary in the form of sparse linear combination. Here we use a greedy algorithm called simultaneous orthogonal matching pursuit to pursue the optimal sparse coefficients matrix and a new kind of classification criterion is tested and used to determine the classification results. Experimental results on the Indian Pines hyperspsectral image demonstrate that the proposed method can explore the spatial information effectively and give promising performance when compared with several state-of-art classification methods.


A COFDM modem designed for terrestrial broadcasting with a high degree of flexibility is under development. This equipment will make it possible to test different parameter values such as number of carriers, length of guard interval, position and width of spectral cut-outs etc. in laboratory tests and field trials. The result of such tests will hopefully give valuable input to the standardisation process in Europe.


The purpose of this study is to identify the cause of decrease in the number of private Taekwondo trainees and explore Taekwondo studio revitalization...


With sufficient resources, attackers might be able to intrude into multiple substation-level networks of the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system and send fabricated commands to the local field devices. In this paper, cyberattacks against the SCADA system in the substations of the power system are modeled by a modified semi-Markov process (SMP). The optimal allocation of offensive and defensive resources is modeled as a Colonel Blotto game, and the probabilities of successful cyberattacks on 24 substations are calculated. With the optimal allocated resources, the mean time-to-compromise (MTTCs) of cyberattacks on each substation are calculated, and the loss of load probabilities (LOLP) and expected energy not supplied (EENS) are estimated with the IEEE reliability test system 79 (RTS79). When more offensive or less defensive resources are allocated to the targets, the probabilities of breaker trips resulted by the cyber attacks are increased, less MTTCs are needed on each substation and the power system becomes less reliable.


This article develops and explores the 'Ergo-Brand' proposition, which posits that consumers may prefer to buy goods that are made under good working conditions (GWCs). This preference would enhance a differentiation strategy for companies, thereby fostering the application of ergonomics in production. This proposition is developed in the context of a narrative review of the literature on 'ethical consumerism'. This is supplemented with a survey study, conducted in both Canada and Sweden (n = 141) to explore this proposition. Results indicate that consumers would prefer goods made under GWCs, but not unconditionally as quality and price concerns were ranked higher. Access to information on the working conditions in production was seen as a barrier. Nevertheless, the Ergo-Brand concept may be a viable avenue in promoting attention towards ergonomics in companies – particularly if consumer habits are subject to intervention by advertising. Further research on this strategy is warranted. Practitioner Summary: The 'Ergo-Brand' proposition suggests that companies can gain competitive advantage because consumers prefer to buy goods made under good working condition – a goal of ergonomics. We relate this to the 'ethical consumer' research, and demonstrate in a survey that consumers report preferring goods made under good conditions.


A technique for enabling scenario files and image files for supply to a scenario generating device to be created easily is provided. The scenario creating device creates a scenario file supplied to a scenario reproducing device capable of reproducing only image files of a predetermined format. The scenario creating device comprises: an input section including a pointing device; a display section; and a scenario creating section for creating the scenario file. The scenario creating section provides a display of an execution icon on the display screen for causing the scenario creating section to execute a process. When a file icon for a source file of a predetermined format including pagewise scenario information and image information is dragged and dropped on the execution icon by means of operation of the pointing device, a scenario file is created on the basis of the scenario information, and an image file of the predetermined format is generated on the basis of the image information.


Detailed experimental investigations are presented on investigating mode instability and stimulated Raman scattering in 30μm core diameter fiber amplifier by varying the pumping light wavelength using 915/976nm LD sources. Results reveal that for 976nm pumping light, the highest power can reach to 3570W; and for 915nm pumping light, the highest power can reach to 3771W. Physical characteristics of mode instability do not perform in a traditional form both in output power and time domain traces, such as roll-over point in output power curve. However, the beam quality of output laser clearly reveals there are some more high-order modes which have an effect in mode instability characters. Compared to 976nm LD pumping source, laser of amplifier using 915nm LD pumping source shows stronger non-linear effect. When the output power is 3512W, the Raman light is 13dB below the signal light. By shortening the passive fiber before the endcap, when the output power is 3520W, the Raman light is 20dB.


Abstract
The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act address factors to consider in educating students with and without disabilities together to the maximum extent appropriate. This chapter is designed to examine the origins and evolving interpretations of the LRE concept in special education policy and practice. Discussion traces the evolution of the concept as a legal principle, and reviews its application to educational strategies for students with learning and behavioral disabilities in contemporary schools. In conclusion, the future of the LRE concept is addressed in light of competing policies promoting presumptive inclusive education, and publicly funded school choice programs promoting greater involvement of parents in choosing where their children with and without disabilities should be educated.


The wavelength-scaled array architecture use scaled elements to achieve ultra-wideband array aperture with fewer overall radiating elements, compared to traditional uniform dense array. As a consequence, the wavelength-scaled array reduces element count and associated T/R module, which will decrease the cost and weight of the electronic equipment. A nine elements linear E-Plane array based on WSA layout is designed and simulated. The simulation results show that the impedance bandwidth is 2.5~10GHz, with a simulation peak gain of 14.2 dBi at 7GHz. The proposed antenna array based on WSA architecture is a promising method for low cost UWB antenna array.


Levels of IgE are Exceptionally High in Dogs and do not appear to Correlate With Autoimmune or Dermatitis Status, but can still be Reduced with a New Therapeutic Vaccine


The relation between new culm production and the number of old culms was worked out for natural untreated forest of bamboo ( Dendrocalamus strictus ) and compared with the percentage of new culm production in bamboo forests under regular felling on a four year cycle. It was seen that production of new culms in the treated crop is about double that of the untreated crop. The observation is based on a single year's data and seems to indicate the wide difference in new culm production between a treated bamboo forest and an untreated one.


This study examines the U.S. shipbuilding industry and also contains a brief overview of the Soviet industry, allowing comparisons between the two. It is concluded that shipbuilding, due to the nature of its product, is an industry which survives in the U.S. only because of direct and indirect subsidization and naval work. Indications are that continuation of recent trends will lead to attrition of yards from the industry in the next decade. Increased profit margins on naval work and more stable yard workloads might reduce this risk. The physical facilities, labor force, and materials/components supplier base of the U.S. industry are examined with an eye towards those factors which might constrain shipbuilding output. It appears that sufficient facilities exist to accommodate a substantial surge in overall demand. Given time, enough labor is obtainable for a surge, although regional shortages could occur over the short-to-medium term. Priorities, incentives, or outright government production might be necessary to ensure provision of materials, components, and weapons systems. It confirms that the current U.S. industry is capable of effecting significant increases in Navy force levels, although such buildups would require at least 10-17 years. Large or rapid buildups would require re-entry of navy and many repair-only yards into new construction work due to a shortage of nuclear, complex combatant, and largehull capacity.


Historians include the Bāṇas among the important minor dynasties of South India. They are first mentioned as Bṛhadbāṇas in the Tāḷagunda inscription of the fifth century. Rulers with the Bāṇa name existed up to the sixteenth century in the Tamil country. During their history, they also married into major dynasties like the Cōḻas and claimed to be descendants of a lineage starting from Bali. Many historians have noted the semantic similarity between the term Bṛhadbāṇa and the earlier Tamil bardic Perumpāṇaṉ of the Caṅkam literature. The historians, however, have not explicitly addressed the issues of whether the Bāṇas originated from the Tamil Pāṇar and why they chose to claim Purāṇic Bali to be their progenitor. In the present essay, based on an analysis of Caṅkam texts, and epigraphic data, it is shown first that the Bāṇas must have originated from the Tamil bards. Later, the reasons for the Bāṇas choosing to have Bali as the progenitor of their lineage are explored. It looks like Tamil bardic age values might have played a role in this.


A model for the study of multihop mobile packet radio networks (PRNs) has been proposed by Kleinrock and Silvester (1978), and by Takagi and Klienrock (1984). Two transmission strategies, most forward with variable radius (MVR) and nearest with forward progress (NFP), were examined. In this paper, we introduce two, new strategies, minimal angular distortion (MAD) and angular deviation to transmission range ratio (ARR), and examine their performance analytically and by Monte-Carlo simulation. Results show that ARR is generally superior to the other three transmission strategies.<<ETX>>


This paper presents a hybrid modeling method combining the pseudo-rigid-body-model (PRBM) and Euler-Bernoulli beam theory for a composite bridge-type amplifier (CBTA) based nano-positioning stage. Considering the compliance of the input end, the tensile stiffness of the flexure hinge, as well as the effect of external load, the analytical model of the CBTA are established to predict the input stiffness and the input/output displacement amplification ratio based on the hybrid modeling method. The static model of the nano-positioning stage is also developed for the decoupling and guiding mechanisms as the external load of the CBTA. It is shown that the new analysis method can derive a more accurate model of the nano-positioning stage, which is further verified by the finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental results.


Biometrics is totally based on contactable human body parts. But there is a need of such a biometric technique which is noncontactable, non-invasive and which should not be get hide by using some aspect. Gait is the pattern of movement and comes under the biometrics and it is the unique characteristic of individuals. The approach of this paper is to introduces the comparative study of various approaches of recognize the human by their gate. This paper represents the various gait recognition and human recognition techniques. Keywords: gait cycle, pattern recognition, biometrics


'There is,' Peter Hulme notes, 'almost no statuesque literature' (Hulme & Youngs, 2007, p. 3), and it is clear – much more widely than in literary production alone – that mobility is central to cultural creativity as well as to societal renewal. In 2010, the Renaissance scholar Stephen Greenblatt published a text entitled Cultural Mobility: A Manifesto, an intervention that pithily crystallises a number of ideas – developed most notably over the past two decades in the work of scholars such as Mimi Sheller, John Urry, James Clifford and Timothy Cresswell – around the place of travel, translation and movement more generally as phenomena constitutive of cultures and societies. Greenblatt develops these reflections further to posit at the centre of the condition of being human a 'vitally important dialectic of cultural persistence and change' (2010, p. 2). 'The apparent fixity and stability of cultures', he notes, 'is, in Montaigne's words, "nothing but a more languid motion". Even in places that at first glance are characterised more by homogeneity and stasis than by pluralism and change, cultural circuits facilitating motion are at work' (2010, p. 5). Shortly before Greenblatt produced his manifesto, Kevin Hannam with Sheller and Urry had already noted in the inaugural editorial of their journal Mobilities the urgency of engaging with the keyword in their title, associated with so many global challenges of the early twenty-first century, but a key driver for such renewal and change:


This report is a description of a part of 4Thought, a collection of software design tools and methods for assisting software designers. One of the tools in 4Thought is FlexOr, which combines literate programming and frame adaptation to create and document software designs. One of the fundamental methods in using 4Thought is the theory-model paradigm, in which are created a formal theory for a class of software design problems and then the designs that satisfy the formal theory are created. This report presents a formal theory using Z notation, entity-relationship diagrams, and GraphLog to specify the formal theory for the literate programming part of FlexOr frames.


Soil compaction associated with pastures degradation can decrease animal productivity, forage longevity and compromise environmental sustainability. To confront this serious issue, the loosening potential of forages should be recognized. We evaluated the least limiting water range as indicator of biological loosening potential in relation to cultivation of grasses the genus Brachiaria in crop-livestock integration. We also evaluated the water availability to soybean crop that succeeded these grasses. Our studies were performed in two stages. In the first stage, we divided 32 plots into four randomized blocks in which we cultivated corn combined with following treatments: 1 - Brachiaria brizantha cultivar Marandu; 2 - Xaraes; 3 - Piata; 4 - MG4; 5 - B. decumbens ; 6 - B. ruziziensis ; 7 - Invasive plants; and 8 - uncovered soil. We evaluated soil, to quantify the biological soil loosening, and also forages. In the second stage, we cultivated soybean and added: 9 - conventional tillage as a control treatment, increasing number of plots to 36. Our results suggest that it is possible to cultivate Brachiaria brizantha or Brachiaria decumbens as management strategy to aid edaphic recovery. Xaraes and Piata grasses provide greater soil loosening while increasing water availability to successive soybean crop.


In late 2020, the Government responded to the enormous crisis in the UK music industries, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, by initiating several legislative inquiries, aimed at reviewing the rules regulating the industry, including rules on commercialisation of intellectual property (IP). The aim of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) inquiries is purportedly to improve the fairness and viability of the sector, which was devastated by the pandemic. At the same time, the Covid-19 crisis served as a catalyst to expose the pre-existing inequalities and unfairness in the UK music industries.This article explores the path of the UK DCMS 2020-21 legislative inquiry into the Economics of Music Streaming as a case study to the current approach in UK regulation of the music industries. Informed by the feminist theory of relational legal feminism and embedded in the broader framework of IP Social Justice theory, the author argues that the current approach to legislative inquiries is incomplete, because it fails to take into account the systemic barriers faced by women (i.e., all who identify as women), including gender minority musicians in the sector. The evidence collected fails to investigate the lived experience of women, to the detriment of fairness of the overall proposal of future reform.


Malnutrition is a silent emergency. The prevalence of malnourished children in India is 43% which is nearly 2 fold higher than that of Sub-Saharan Africa. Malnutrition results from imbalance between the body's needs and the intake of nutrients. Objective: To assess the nutritional status of pre-school children (3-5 yrs) residing in the catchment area of Ram Nagar Urban Health Center.This study was undertaken in the urban slum area of Ramnagar UHC. Using formula n= 4pq/dthe calculated sample size was 275. The sample was selected by Simple Random Sampling. A pre-designed and pilot tested questionnaire was developed. Ethical clearance and informed consent was obtained. It was seen that nearly one third of the children were under weight, wasted and stunted. One third was also categorized as malnourished by MUAC criteria. The mean ±SD age of pre-school children was 47.63 10.42 months, the mean ±SD weight of pre-school children was 12.98 1.14 kg and the mean ±SD height of pre-school children was 98.49 2.86 cm. There was an immediate need for nutritional intervention by the government sectors to improve the nutritional status of the children. The running of ICDS program must be evaluated to know its effectiveness and efficiency.


The article considers the biochemical composition of green beans and seeds of common beans varieties, breeded in Omsk State Agrarian University named after P.A. Stolypin (OmSAU). The research was conducted in 2014–2016. Varieties of locally breeded beans, in comparison with the standards, have advantages in the content of protein, zinc, iodine, calcium, iron, sugar; green bean technological properties and tenderizing of seeds during cooking, which becomes an indispensable component of the diet.


Microseismic data is often used to locate fracture locations and their origin in time created by fracking. Although surface microseismic data can have large apertures and is easier to acquire than the borehole data, it often suffers from poor signal to noise ratio (S/R). Poor S/R poses a challenge in terms of estimating the correct location and source-time function of a microseismic source. In this work, we propose a denoising step in combination with a computationally cheap debiasing based approach to locate microseismic sources and to estimate their source-time functions with correct amplitude from extremely noisy data. Through numerical experiments, we demonstrate that our method can work with closely spaced microseismic sources with source-time functions of different peak amplitudes and frequencies. We have also shown the ability of our method with the smooth velocity model.


We propose a neural network solution to estimate the DOA of distributed sources. We characterize a distributed source by its center to which corresponds the incident angle and by a set of parameters including its frequency, amplitude, and width. We use an artificial neural network-based algorithm to determine the direction of arrival (DOA) of the source. The problem is mapped onto an artificial neural network by discretizing the parameter spaces to a specified granularity and representing each possible combination of the parameters by a single neuron.


INTRODUCTION The following is my personal view on what it is to be a European meat and wool farmer in the East Cape region. Many of my comments while applying in general to hill country in the whole of the Poverty Bay/East Coast region, are more specific to the area between Cape Runaway in the north, Gisborne City in the south, The Raukumara Range in the west, and the Coastline in the east. The total area is 830,000 hectares, and of this class 7 country (locally known as Category 2 and 3) makes up 45%. Class 8, or Category 4 land, has been excluded from the total area. I will refer to my own property as a typical example of this country, giving some of the pros and cons of farming this land. My property is in two blocks. The main block is 1,214 hectares of hill country running up to 630 metres above sea level, but the average ridge tops would be 360 metres to 450 metres above sea level. The smaller block where I live, is 156 hectares comprising 45% hill country, and 55% strong river flats. Both properties are situated 20 km by air from the coast (west of Ruatoria), and 135 km by road north of Gisborne. Interestingly enough, the main road (S.H. 35) roughly divides the region into strong productive land to the west, and lighter, harder country to the east, with some obviously mixed areas.


Abstract Atmospheric surface layer turbulent statistics measured during the Barbados Oceanographic and Meteorological Experiment 8 and 30 m above mean sea level are presented. The budget equations of turbulent kinetic energy, humility variance and temperature variance are examined. Within discussed limitations it is concluded that production equals dissipation in the case of turbulent kinetic energy and humidity variance. The analysis of the temperature variance budget revealed large differences between productions and dissipations computed assuming standard similarity functions derived from other data sets. Initial computation of fluxes revealed large systematic decreases with height in the shear stress and heat flux. Comparison with other results suggested corrections which would eliminate these differences. Comparison between profile fluxes and direct measurements suggests strong similarity of momentum and water vapor transfer.


Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a low molecular weight lysophospholipid (LPL), stored primarily in platelets. During inflammation, S1P is released from activating platelets. S1P is capable of regulating almost every aspect of angiogenesis and vessel maturation in vitro, including cell chemotaxis, differentiation, proliferation, migration, survival and capillary morphogenesis. The physiological functions of S1P are mediated by ligating with members of G-protein coupled receptors: S1P1 through 5, which could then activate more than three different heterotrimeric GTP proteins-including Gi、Gq and G(12/13). PECAM-1 (CD31) is a trans-membrane protein expressed on the surface of platelets, leukocytes, and junctions of endothelial cells. Previous studies in our laboratory had shown that S1P enhances phosphorylation of PECAM-1 in both human and bovine endothelial cells. In addition, S1P treatment would affect PECAM-1 localization on cell surface of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). However, the total PECAM-1 expression was not affected by these treatments. In this study, we showed that the tyrosine phosphorylation of PECAM-1 induced by S1P was inhibited by pretreatment with PP2, a Src family kinase inhibitor, in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs). These results indicated that Src family kinases might mediate these effects of S1P. We used c-Src reporter as a biosensor to detect c-Src activity in S1P-treated HUVECs and BAECs. Our results suggest that enzymatic activity of c-src increased within seconds after S1P treatment in HUVECs, but these inductions were not observed in S1Ptreated BAECs. S1P effects on c-Src phosphorylation were also confirmed in Western blots using specific antibodies against phosphorylated c-Src. These results suggest that c-Src may play an important role in mediating the effects of S1P to phosphorylate PECAM-1 in endothelial cells.


The creep of monocrystals of alpha uranium above 550 un. Concent 85% C occurs essentially by slip. The heat of activation for the creep is higher than that found for polycrystals. An explanation is proposed with respect to the stability of the polygonization of crystals pre-existent to the creep. This was due to their mode of growth by BETA and up to st r alpha phase transformation. (tr-auth)


4~ dating is limited in accuracy by uncertainties in decay constants (~.~, and ~,13), K and 4~ concentrations in standards, and 4~ These uncertainties propagate through the age equation in such a way as to render the 4~ method accurate in an absolute sense to only + 1-2% (1 ~). Fortunately, the age equation may be written in a form that is dependent only on the total decay constant for 4~ obviating much of the (largely unacknowledged) systematic error that attends conventional formulations. Based on a standard whose age (to) is known a pr ior i , and using intercalibration factors R~ a, as appropriate, the age of any sample can be expressed (Remae et al., 1998) as:


Polycyclic indoles are important structural motifs found in numerous naturally occurring alkaloids and pharmaceutically active compounds with various therapeutic actions. The efficient construction of optically active polycyclic indoles with structural diversity and stereochemical complexity constitutes an important, but challenging task in chemical synthesis. In this regard, the asymmetric intramolecular Friedel–Crafts-type alkylation has emerged as a pre-eminent route to polycyclic indoles, such as indoloquinolizidines, tetrahydropyrano[3,4-b]indoles (THPIs), and tetrahydro-b-carbolines (THBCs). 6] However, catalytic asymmetric approaches to tetrahydrocarbazoles (THCs) are still rare and mostly involve intramolecular hydroarylation of w-indolyl alkenes or allenes catalyzed by chiral scandium(III) and platinum(II) complexes [Equation (1)] . 7, 8] Notably, Bandini et al. reported an elegant gold(I)-catalyzed allylic alkylation of indoles for the synthesis of 1-vinyland 4-vinyl-THCs in a highly enantioselective manner, which provided a new avenue for the functionalization of indoles.


Hard disk drive is one of the most important parts in the computer. A new type actuator with dual track system controlled by a multilayer piezoelectric actuator has been designed and fabricated. The time dependence and frequency response of the driver are measured by laser detecting system and the performance of the actuator with hard disk dual track system is discussed on the basis of the characterization of the piezoelectric actuator and finite element method.


In May-Thurner syndrome, or iliac vein compression syndrome, the left common iliac vein is compressed between the right common iliac artery and corresponding vertebral body, increasing patient risk for deep vein thrombosis. Iliac vein stenting for patients with symptomatic May-Thurner syndrome has become standard practice in many centers. This article describes a patient whose stent embolized completely to the right ventricle, destroying most structures in its path.


A Compact laser plasma accelerator (CLAPA) is being built in Peking University, which is based on RPA-PSA mechanism or other acceleration mechanisms. According to the beam parameters from preparatory experiments and theoretical simulations, the beam line is preliminarily designed. The beam line is mainly constituted by common transport elements to deliver proton beam with the energy of 1~50MeV, energy spread of 0~1% and current of 0~108 proton per pulse to satisfy the requirement of different experiments. The simulation result of 15MeV proton beam with an energy spread of 1%, current of 1x108 proton per pulse and final spot radius of 9mm is presented in this paper.


We present a method for the computation of the variance of cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature maps on azimuthally symmetric patches using a fast convolution approach. As an example of the application of the method, we show results for the search for concentric rings with unusual variance in the 7-year WMAP data. We re-analyse claims concerning the unusual variance profile of rings centred at two locations on the sky that have recently drawn special attention in the context of the conformal cyclic cosmology scenario proposed by Penrose (2009). We extend this analysis to rings with larger radii and centred on other points of the sky. Using the fast convolution technique enables us to perform this search with higher resolution and a wider range of radii than in previous studies. We show that for one of the two special points rings with radii larger than 10 degrees have systematically lower variance in comparison to the concordance LambdaCDM model predictions. However, we show that this deviation is caused by the multipoles up to order l=7. Therefore, the deficit of power for concentric rings with larger radii is yet another manifestation of the well-known anomalous CMB distribution on large angular scales. Furthermore, low variance rings can be easily found centred on other points in the sky. In addition, we show also the results of a search for extremely high variance rings. As for the low variance rings, some anomalies seem to be related to the anomalous distribution of the low-order multipoles of the WMAP CMB maps. As such our results are not consistent with the conformal cyclic cosmology scenario.


The time-averaged overall mean-square sound pressure created by statistically stationary traffic travelling a finite, straight road segment is determined explicitly. This result is extended to a system of roads by using digital simulation. Theoretical predictions for a typical urban conurbation show encouraging agreement with measured values. Therefore the technique appears to offer a practical means of evaluating community plans before the introduction of road systems and changes in trunk routes and traffic controls, etc, are realized.(a) /TRRL/


Introduction: The dental health care providers and their community service in any nation play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between the oral health care and social service system. Understanding that there is a shortage and disparity in the oral health services provided, a greater emphasis on its awareness and education is the present need; thus, the aim of the study is to assess the attitude toward community service among dental students. Methodology: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among undergraduate dental students who were present on the day of study, and their attitude toward community service was assessed using a standardized Community Service Attitude Scale which consists of eight domains. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and ANOVA. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The total participants included were 171. The levels of attitude toward community service among the study participants based on year (P = 0.0492), gender (P = 0.00482), and voluntary activity (P = 0.042) were found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: The attitude toward community service is influenced by gender and year of study. Hence, any practical training program with regard to service learning in their undergraduate curriculum would highly contribute to influence their attitude toward community service.


The growth of the security industry is sparking a significant interest in well-rounded security professionals. Regional and national competitions in the academic community have been developed to help identify qualified candidates to support this industry. A course has been built to allow students to improve their skills in this area. This paper describes the process used to administer events in the support of such a competitive environment, and the process by which appropriate infrastructures are developed. Keywords-cyber security education, security competition; information security


The use of wind-flow models to reduce land-based wind measurements to conditions over the sea is discussed. The reduction of wind speeds in practical cases is carried out in Cook Strait, an area in New Zealand with steep hills and pronounced wind channelling. The resulting data is compared with independent sets of anemometer data and wind reports from ships. The directional wind frequencies of the reduced data and mean speeds are examined at 2 reference points. The agreement at each point appears reasonable between the land stations and ship reports in the same areas. Deficiencies in the model which make its application inappropriate are noted.


Piper methysticum, also known as kava kava, is a highly esteemed medicinal herb that has been at the center of social and ceremonial life in the Pacific islands from before the time of written language. Recent scientific investigation indicates kava can be of value as an anxiolytic, myorelaxant, and analgesic. Unlike other substances used for these purposes, kava has been shown to have minimal negative effect, and possibly a positive effect, on reaction time and cognitive processing. Possible uses as an anticonvulsant, antimycotic, and neuroprotectant have also been described. Although kava has been found to be effective, well tolerated, and non-addictive at therapeutic dosages, potential side-effects can occur when very high doses are taken for extended periods. Use of extracts made from the whole plant have been found to be superior to the use of individual constituents. (Alt Med Rev 1997;2(5):355-364)


Like many other states, Maryland started using Performance Grade (PG) asphalt binders on all projects as of January 1997. With the full implementation of PG binders, the Maryland State Highway Administration's (MSHA) central lab was not able to keep up with the PG binder testing work load. The state acquired another set of PG test equipment for its Western Regional Lab. A new quality assurance (QA) procedure was developed, and a statewide team was formed, which meets monthly to discuss problem areas and concerns. The new QA procedure requires the PG binder to be sampled and tested at a minimum of one 2-quart (1.9-l) can per 6,000 tons (5,443 Mg) of continuing production per mix. Acceptance samples are witnessed by MSHA personnel and delivered no later than the next working day to one of the regional laboratories. The regional lab tests one sample for fingerprint tests and forwards the companion sample for MP-1 testing to the central or western lab. Test data of MP-1 testing are used for the final acceptance.


A simultaneous measurement system of temperature and strain is proposed using a long period fiber grating(LPFG) and a high-birefringence fiber(HBF) loop mirror,based on their resonant wavelengths corresponding to different temperatures and strain sensitivities.Based on the theoretical analysis,the resonant wavelength response sensitivities to temperature and strain for long-period fiber grating and high-birefringence fiber loop mirror are experimentally determined,respectively.And then,the correlation coefficient matrix is constructed,so temperature and strain are discriminated.In the system,the temperature and strain measurement accuracies are ± 0.36 ℃ and ± 13.7 μe,respectively.With the experimental data of temperature and the simultaneous measured experimental data of temperature and strain,the analytical curve of the strain is calculated to verify the validity of the system.The results show that this system can solve the cross-sensitivity problem in the measurement of strain and temperature,and can effectively improve the system accuracy.


Many types of research aimed at improving the efficiency of agriculture by measuring the temperature, the amount of sunshine, etc. using a sensor network have been conducted extensively. Since the management of many sensors installed in farmland is not easy, it is expected to use energy harvesting which does not require time-consuming operations such as battery replacement. Also, various LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) technologies have become widespread as a means for realizing long-distance communication at a low cost. Furthermore, in agriculture, not only environmental data for crop cultivation but also a collection of highly real-time data such as the detection of harmful animals and intruders is required. In this study, we proposed a system for collecting real-time data of sensing and communication EnOcean sensor in energy harvesting on the Arduino field server and storing it on a cloud by Sigfox and evaluated it in an outdoor environment. As a result, we show that low-cost sensor networks can be realized that do not require frequent management.