The Solis clear sky model is a spectral scheme based on radiative transfer calculations and the Lambert–Beer relation. Its broadband version is a simplified fast analytical version; it is limited to broadband aerosol optical depths at 700nm lower than 0.45, which is a weakness when applied in countries with very high turbidity such as China or India. This paper aims to extend the validity of the model to higher aerosol optical depth values. In 2014, Zhang published a modification of the scheme to extend its validity to aerosol optical depth values up to 6.5, but this extension is only applicable for the beam irradiance component and presents some weakness for very high turbidity values. In a first step, we tried to apply a correction to the Zhang adaptation. In order to extend the use of the original simplified version of Solis for high turbidity, we developed a new version of the broadband Solis, valid for the three components, global, beam and diffuse, and for the four aerosol types defined by Shettle and Fenn.


Doping is one of the most important ways to tailor the performance of energy materials. However, the crystal structure of doped materials is usually oversimplified as a simple substitution of dopants. Here, we characterized the doped α-Fe2O3 with different Cu cations using synchrotron X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemically evaluated it as an anode in lithium batteries. The results suggest that doping is not the simple replacement of Fe3+ sites by Cu2+ or Cu+ but induces a complex local structure change, which may be a characteristic of this class of materials. In Cu+-doped samples, Cu+ not only replaces the Fe3+ site and distorts the FeO6 octahedra, but also gives rise to oxygen vacancies in CuO6 octahedra in the bulk structure and peroxides at the surface, leading to uniform precipitation of Cu as a conductive and buffering agent. These CuO6 octahedra also facilitate homogeneous reactions (electrochemical reduction of Cu+ and Fe3+ together) and th...


This paper provides a framework for addressing the issue of balance of payments adjustments when there are quantitative restrictions on imports. A major objective is to contribute to an understanding of how two key government policy instruments—domestic credit and import restrictions—interact in the determination of the balance of payments in developing countries. The government's decision making on the supply of domestic credit and imports is described by a reaction function derived from minimization of a loss function. An important feature of the model is the symmetric treatment of the demand and supply functions in the imports market. The estimation technique makes it possible to estimate a model for data in which some of the observations for consumer imports are on the domestic authorities' import supply function and some observations are on the private sector's demand function for imports.


Calorie restriction (CR) is known to extend the lifespan of a number of organisms including yeast, worms, flies, rodents and perhaps non‐human primates. The mechanisms through which occurs have been unclear. CR during gestation led to growth retardation at birth. If CR was prolonged throughout lactation, adult body weight was permanently reduced. There is also evidence that the intrauterine environment of the fetus may be of greater importance in the etiology of chronic diseases in adult fetus.


The effects of hardystonite (Ca2ZnSi2O7, CSZn) and tricalcium phosphate (b-TCP) on the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were compared by directly culturing MSCs on ceramic disks (contact mode) or separately culturing cells with ceramic disks (non-contact mode). In non-contact mode, the CSZn ceramic supported MSC proliferation more strongly than did the b-TCP ceramic. However, in contact mode, the MSCs proliferated more quickly on the b-TCP ceramic than they did on the CSZn ceramic. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) *Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com; firstname.lastname@example.com Figure 5 appears in color online: http://jba.sagepub.com JOURNAL OF BIOMATERIALS APPLICATIONS Volume 00 — 2009 1 0885-3282/09/00 0001–18 $10.00/0 DOI: 10.1177/0885328209342469 The Author(s), 2009. Reprints and permissions: http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav J Biomater Appl OnlineFirst, published on September 2, 2009 as doi:10.1177/0885328209342469 at National Dong Hwa University on April 6, 2014 jba.sagepub.com Downloaded from staining and osteogenic gene expression analysis showed that the CSZn and b-TCP ceramics had significant effects on the promotion of the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs in both non-contact and contact mode. Furthermore, in contact mode, the CSZn disk promoted the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs more strongly than did the b-TCP disks. Even without the induction of dexamethasone and b-glycerophosphate, CSZn stimulated the osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. These results suggest that CSZn ceramic would be a useful candidate material for bone regeneration and hard tissue engineering.


The peculiar tectonic structure called "boudinage" by Lohest (5, pp. 471–2), has recently been found in Unst, Shetland Islands, by Professor H. H. Read (8, pp. 134–8), who has also noted its occurrence in tie Durn Hill quartzites of Banffshire (9, p. 471).What would now be termed boudinage-structure was seen by Ramsay in North Wales, and was described in 1866 in these words (6, and. fig. 18): "In the great quarry west of the Ffestiniog and Trawsfynydd fault the cleavage dips from 45° to 50° north-west, the inclination of the beds being about 35° in the same direction, and a greenstone dyke runs through them between the cleavage-planes…, bulging and thinning off in a rapid succession of oval-shaped masses of 3 or 4 feet in length. Associated with it are quartz veins ccurring principally at the points between the separate bulgings of the greenstone."


Objective
To summarize ROSA robot's preliminary application experience in neurosurgery.

Methods
A retrospective analysis was made of 14 patients who underwent ROSA robotic surgery in Department of Neurosurgery, Affiliated Qianfoshan Hospital of Shandong University from September 2018 to October 2018. The types of diseases include cerebral hemorrhage, brainstem hemorrhage, Parkinson's disease, intracranial tumors and hydrocephalus, which all have the need for precise targets. ROSA robotic assisted surgery was used to evaluate the feasibility, registration method and final outcome of ROSA robotic surgery.

Results
Three cases of cerebral hemorrhage puncture drainage were registered by facial laser scanning with an average error of 0.8 mm; 1 case of brainstem hemorrhage puncture drainage was registered by scalp Mark with an error of 1.0 mm; 2 cases of recurrent glioma undergoing radiofrequency thermocoagulation and 3 cases of deep cerebral cavernous hemangioma resection were registered by facial laser scanning with an average error of 0.7 mm; 2 cases of intracranial lesion biopsy and 2 cases of ventricular abdominal cavity were registered by bone mark with an average error of 0.3 mm; 1 case of Parkinson's disease undergoing deep brain stimulation was registered with skeletal Mark with an error of 0.3 mm. All patients achieved the expected therapeutic effect after operation, and no serious complications occurred.

Conclusion
ROSA can significantly improve the precision and safety of neurosurgery, has a wide range of indications, and is easy to operate, so it has a broad prospect of application in neurosurgery.

Key words:
ROSA robot; Neurosurgery; Precision medicine


The specific history consciousness of the West not only has constructed the self-identification,but also has deeply penetrated the minds of other axial civilizations.Therefore,it is necessary to explore the origin,formation of the history consciousness,and inner contradiction of the self-identification of the West.The exploration will help us ascend to the perspective of comparative civilizations,through which we can beyond the self-determination logic of modern West obtain the ability of understanding and constructing our own self-identification.


Abstract. A set of numerical simulations of the interactional dynamics of the pilot-rotorcraft system is performed. The aim of the numerical analysis is to evaluate the stability of the closed-loop system in hovering conditions, focusing on the influence of the first airframe flexible mode, the one with the most participation in relative motion between the main rotor and the pilot's seat and closest in frequency to pilot-vehicle interaction. Two approaches are employed. First, a linear analysis, in which the modal representation of the airframe flexible mode is added to a linearized model of the helicopter vertical motion and the helicopter dynamics is coupled with a single degree of freedom linearized model of the pilot biomechanics. Subsequently, a multibody model of the helicopter is coupled with the same linear model of the pilot, trimmed in hover and perturbed by a vertical gust. A sensitivity analysis shows that such mode has a significant influence on the stability of the closed loop system, especially if its frequency is close to the natural frequency of the pilot's biomechanics, as one might expect.


The results of orbit parameters calculations for satellites METEOR-2/20, 2/21 (h equals 950 km) and METEOR-3/5, 3/7 (h equals 1200 km) are analyzed. The accuracy of orbit approximation and extrapolation (prediction) for different initial data assimilation techniques is evaluated using analytical navigation model. Mean 14 day orbit prediction error during 1991-1994 amounted to 9.5 km for METEOR-2/20 and 5.6 km for METEOR-3/5. The same value for METEOR-2/21 (start 31 Aug 1993) was 2.9 km, for METEOR-3/7 (start 25 Jan 1994) was 1.3 km. The accuracy of satellite orbit prediction as well as orbit approximation is changing for the worse under high solar activity conditions. The estimates of real pixel location and estimates of deflections of axes positions for IR- radiometers << Klimat >> (10.5-12.0 mkm, 12 X 12 km2) of METEOR-3/5 and 3/7 and ScaRaBlaunched on METEOR-3/7 for Earth radiation budget measurements have been obtained. No essential systematic axes deflections and pixel location errors were detected except systematic roll angle bias of -29' for << Klimat >> on METEOR-3/5. Estimates of ground control points positions using MWDB-II database demonstrate pixel location accuracy of about 0.5 pixel size.


A half diallel cross between nine yellow inbred lines of maize (Zea mays L.) was evaluated under two environments, viz. borer artificial infestation conditions and normal conditions in RCBD with three replications in 2015 to estimate general and specific combining ability effects and identify superior genotypes resistant to Sesamia cretica. Highly significant cross mean squares were detected for all the studied traits indicating the wide diversity in the parental materials used in this study. General and specific combining ability (GCA and SCA) were significant for all the studied traits except SCA for number of rows/ear in normal condition revealing that both additive and non-additive gene effects were involved in determining the performance of the single cross progeny. The parental inbred line P6, P8 and P9 can be considered as good combiners for grain yield and some of its component traits under infestation and non-infestation conditions as well as the combined over them. Six crosses (P1×P6, P1×P7, P2×P4, P3×P5, P5×P7, and P8×P9) selected based on desirable SCA effects also had high mean performance for grain yield and out-yielded the check hybrid SC 166. Therefore, these crosses could be utilized for future breeding work as well as for direct release after confirming the stability of their performance across different environments. The information from this study may be useful for researchers who would like to develop high yielding hybrids of maize tolerant to borer attack.


To solve the problem of management and maintenance of existing arbitrary vehicle, to the present invention provides a vehicle data collected by the smart card and the vehicle diagnostic system and method, and vehicle comfort automatic setting device. The system of the present invention is connected to the smart card, the electronic control device, the mechanical control unit and sensors in the vehicle including a vehicle-specific data having a basic information data and vehicle maintenance vehicle information data and gather information in a vehicle, the smart card reading out the vehicle-related data from or to the information in the collected vehicle smartcard control unit (SCU), a vehicle-related data to be written to the smart card carried the diagnosis is read from the smart card, and to store the result in the smart card and a terminal device. Using a system of the present invention to collect data in a vehicle and by using this, and systematically manage the vehicle By diagnose problems of the vehicle, it is the best state for convenience device set according to each of the drivers to enable maintenance.


The article deals with the problems and tasks of cognitive linguistics. The purpose of the work is to reveal the essence of cognitive linguistics and the concept as its basic concept, as well as the study of linguistic processes, linguistic units and categories, etc. in their correlation with memory, imagination, perception, and thinking.


The local flexibility market models have emerged as a market-based solution to respond to the challenges that the increase in distributed energy resources caused in the power and energy systems. Using Smart Grid enabling technologies, consumers and prosumers are prepared to respond to any possible demand-side flexibility event. In this scope, this work presents an advanced bidding model for the prosumers/consumers' participation in a local flexibility market to solve existing issues in the local grid. The proposed advanced model consists of a single-sided auction-based clearing method where prosumer offers are ranked and chosen according to the price and other characteristics, such as their location and distance to the problem to be solved. The aim is to prioritize and select the offers that have a more positive impact on the situation to solve at the lowest possible cost.


The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women has been historically underestimated due to a misperception that females are protected against CVD [1]. Nowadays it is known that CVD is the No 1 killer of women in the United States and worldwide. According to WHO data from 2004, CVD is responsible for 43% of deaths in men and 55% of deaths in women [2]. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention Report attributes 38% of deaths in women to coronary artery disease, compared with only 22% to cancer [3]. The onset of disease is about ten years later in women than in men, however in women the incidence of the disease increases rapidly after menopause [2]. Women are under-diagnosed, less likely to undergo invasive procedures and they less often receive guidelines in terms of recommended therapy. Women are still under-represented in clinical trials. In clinical studies in acute coronary syndromes (ACS), the percentage of women increased from 20% in 1966–1990 to 25% in 1991–2000 [2].


Whenever mixing autonomous operations with those of a manual nature, concepts concerning the boundary of operations and responsibility become clouded. The Space Station Module Power Management and Distribution (SSM/PMAD) automation testbed at the NASA, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama possesses the need for such mixed-mode capabilities. Martin Marietta, under contract to NASA/MSFC since 1985, is continuing the development of technologies and methodologies for use in the SSM/PMAD automation. Enabling manual seizure of system elements which are currently under automated or autonomous control is a complex problem. Element relations may exist in some systems which do not lend themselves to isolated autonomous management, forcing an unaided manual control user into managing elements beyond the user's capabilities. Also, termination of manual NASA activities within an environment originally intended for autonomous management does not necessarily reinstate the system into its intended autonomous mode. Issues which are surfaced by this manual seizure of autonomously managed elements are: 1) system resource allocation, 2) managing the system component priorities, 3) aiding the user in lessening impacts on any remaining autonomous elements, 4) planning the proper course of events, 5) maintaining an operational system configuration, 6) maintaining any special autonomous capabilities, such as fault recovery, and 7) striving to minimize impacts to any scheduling activities. Here the concept of managing the SSM/PMAD testbed in the presence of changing levels of autonomy is examined. A knowledge-based approach to implementing autonomy management in the distributed SSM/PMAD utilizing a centralized planning system is presented. Its knowledge relations and system-wide interactions are discussed along with the operational nature of the currently functioning SSM/PMAD knowledge-based systems.


Managerial reengineering is obviously the most important and complex approaches of changing at organizational level, with direct impact on its managerial and economical performances. The success of such an initiative is conditioned by the accuracy and exactness of approached reengineering methodology. Two types of such methodologies are presented in a comparative approach of our paperwork. Regardless of variant which will be chosen, what is important is its effective implementation in the practice of the companies and even of the public institutions from Romania. Only a effective management is able to put good use from the opportunities and to answer the challenges of the integration into the European Union, generating competitiveness, efficiency and effectiveness.


Motivation. Several compounds used in fragrance are suspected to be allergens and thus has to be extracted and analyzed. Cyclodextrins are well known to form inclusion complexes with a wide range of organic compounds. This is why we investigated, by a theoretical study, the interactions that occur between two modified cyclodextrins and 21 compounds suspected to be allergens. Method. The computed complexation energies,�˚ E, have been calculated for the inclusion of 21 allergens with hydroxyl–propyl–�� –cyclodextrin (HPBCD) and partially methylated crystallized�� –cyclodextrin (CRYSMEB). Our docking strategy involves three dummy atoms, two variable parameters and two regiochemical ways using MM3 method. Results. The �˚ E energies measured for the formation and stabilization of the inclusion complexes and the salvation energies calculated by AM1 (COSMO solvent field) allows the definition of the most probable structure in each pair of regioconformers, even if both forms may exist in solution in most cases. The complexation behaviors of HPBCD and CRYSMEB are analogous, but a notable greater stabilization is generally obtained with HPBCD. A better recognition is also generally observed for cyclic allergens than for acyclic ones. Conclusions. The computed complexation energies �˚ E calculated by the MM3 method could be considered as a measure of the inclusion ability of allergens in CRYSMEB and HPBCD. The filling of the inner cyclodextrin cavity with allergens could be taken into consideration with complexation energy. The solvation energy in water permits the choice of the most stable regioconformer in each pair of conformers. In respect to �� –cyclodextrin, the hydroxypropyl�� –cyclodextrin (HPBCD) seems to be the most interesting in the fixation of allergens. The specific affinities cyclodextrin–allergen could be explored from experimental point of view.


PURPOSE: A diagonal flow air jet fan is provided to reduce friction of the indoor air and minimize noises, while allowing the indoor air to flow a further distance. CONSTITUTION: A diagonal flow air jet fan(100) comprises a housing(110) including a connection housing(112) having a connector(112a) to be fixed at an end of a hanger(102), an inlet housing(114) having an inlet port and which is connected to an end of the connection housing, and an outlet housing(116) having an outlet port(116a) and which is connected to the other end of the connection housing; a fixed unit arranged within the connection housing, and which includes a motor and a plurality of blades having curved portions to be fixed at the inner surface of the connection housing, wherein the blades are inclined with respect to the air outlet direction in such a manner that rotation speed of the blades is reduced so as to increase a pressure; and a rotatable unit having an end connected to a driving shaft of the driving motor and the other end formed into a tapered shape, wherein the rotatable unit includes a plurality of rotating blades arranged along the outer surface of the rotatable unit. Each of rotating blades is inclined with respect to the air outlet direction, and has a wavy cross section so as to allow for ingress of indoor air.


Binary data classiication is to recognize positive data from unlabeled test data that may contain both positive and negative data. In this paper we propose a two-level approach to recognize E. Coli promoters in unlabeled DNA containing both promoter and non-promoter sequences. The rst-level classiiers include three Bayesian neural networks which learn from three diierent feature sets. The outputs of the rst-level classiiers are combined in the second-level to give the nal result. Empirical study shows an excellent performance of the proposed approach.


THE MAJOR DIFFICULTY IN ATTEMPTING TO CALCULATE STRESSES AND DISPLACEMENTS CAUSED BY UNDERGROUND EXCAVATIONS IS THAT THE MATERIALS CHARACTERISTICS AND DETAILED GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE ROCK MASS USUALLY ARE UNKNOWN. CONSEQUENTLY, IT IS NECESSARY TO INTRODUCE SOME SIMPLIFYING ASSUMPTIONS IN ORDER TO DEVELOP ROUGH GUIDELINES FOR EXCAVATION DESIGN. THE IDEAS PRESENTED IN THIS PAPER ARE BASED ON THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT THE ROCK MASS CAN BE CHARACTERIZED AS A LINEARLY ELASTIC MATERIAL AND THAT ANY NONLINEAR BEHAVIOR IS CONFINED TO THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF THE EXCAVATIONS OR TO ANY KNOWN MAJOR STRUCTURAL FEATURES WITHIN THE MASS. UNDER THESE CONDITIONS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO MODEL THE EXCAVATIONS AND CERTAIN TYPES OF GEOLOGICAL FEATURES--SUCH AS FAULTS--AS "BOUNDARIES" WITHIN THE MASS, AND TO DETERMINE THE COMPLETE ELASTIC SOLUTION IN TERMS OF THE BOUNDARY VALUES OF STRESSES AND DISPLACEMENTS. THIS PROCEDURE HAS THE CONSIDERABLE COMPUTATIONAL ADVANTAGE OF REDUCING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL PROBLEM TO A TWO-DIMENSIONAL ONE, AND CAN BE USED TO ANALYZE A WIDE VARIETY OF PRACTICAL PROBLEMS INVOLVING UNDERGROUND EXCAVATIONS IN ROCK. /AUTHOR/


Today we attend to complex changes both in economic and social field. The transition through an information society to knowledge based society, where intangible resources are more important, affects all areas of life: business, education, culture etc. In these circumstances, the information becomes a very important element, because who controls the information owns the power, especially when competition intensifies. The appearance of modern ways of communications facilitates the access to information and, in the same time, eliminates the distances. The telecommunications sector is a very dynamic one and its development is very fast. That determines us to make a short analysis of this field in Romania.


Gravity-induced quantum interference is an experiment that exhibits how a gravitational effect appears in quantum mechanics.1 In this famous experiment, gravity was added to the system just classically. In our study, we will do the related calculations on a gravitational wave background. We will argue that the effect of gravitational wave would be detectable in this quantum mechanical effect.


Based on the analysis of the difficulties in geographic conditions outside investigation of Guizhou province unique climate conditions,proposes to use panoramic acquisition technology to improve operation efficiency.Using fish eye camera"Gopro",grab catch good weather to shoot all the highway on both sides of the image,by using a self-designed grouping software and EPS calling program,realized the human eye can see the content reproduction,through the practice of this technology can improve the investigation progress,and can ensure the quality of annotation.


This paper summarises work in progress and reports on preliminary results on fault-service modelling. A clustering of faults is used to model real faults logged by a cellular communications company through its operations support system. The model provides the impact of a fault on services and network. Currently we are modelling faults obtained from OSS and using them to identify the degree of revenue leakage and impact on QoS and Service level agreements. This provides a basis for an extended study of the requirements for a distributed OSS.


Objective To evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of an inactivated split influenza A(H1N1) vaccine manufactured in Shanghai.Methods A total of 148 subjects were enrolled in the study.The adverse events were recorded and analyzed descriptively.Antibody titers were measured by hemagglutinin-inhibition assay at baseline,7 d and 21 d after vaccination.Results The vaccine was well tolerated and all the adverse events were mild to moderate in degree and no serious adverse event was observed.The incidences of local and systemic reactions were 19.1% and 22.1%,respectively.Injection-site pain and fatigue were the most commonly seen adverse events.By day 21 after vaccination,a hemagglutinin-inhibition antibody titers of 1:40 or more were achieved in 101 of 123(82.1%) subjects;the geometric mean titer(GMT) reached to 95.27(95%CI,74.94 to 121.12),and 74.0% of subjects were turned to seropositive.Conclusions The inactivated split influenza A(H1N1) vaccine manufactured in Shanghai is safe and effective for adults,with mild to moderate adverse events and had a high seropositivity rate.


An analysis of environmental factors bearing on medical education in developing countries focuses on the demographic-disease pattern of overl y traditional societies and the capability of biomedical science and technology in their control. The fertility to disease relationship make s 3 points: 1) high sustained fertility determines childhood diseases; 2) many childhood diseases are without prevention or cure; and 3) high infant and preschool childhood mortality prevents the successful lowering of fertility. The case of the pneumonia-diarrhea complex in New York City in 1900 is presented. During this same period there was intense community development which lead to the aleviation of this problem without decisive tools in the hands of doctors. The question of whether this case can be applied to nations developing now is discussed. The disease in this case would be protein-calorie malnutrition of the weanling and preschool child. Health programs are sometimes thought unimportant in labor-rich capital poor countries. However technological development must contain a substantial effort in health in order to create the preconditions making high fertility a disadvantage and to remove obstacles from successful primary school education (malnutrition). There are also ethical considerations for biomedical individuals to be the collective of biomedical science and technology information. Disease patterns must be examined to determine at what point technology can be helpful and the most appropriate delivery system must be determined: 1) clinical physicians and surgeons; 2) managerial physicians; and 3) scientists and professions solving medical problems. Biomedicine can effect change through fertility control indoor environmental control and nutritional control. It is suggested however that the greatest area for potential change comes from the nonmedical delivery system. It should be the goal of medical education to learn to apply science and technology for mass benefits without losing what has been gained for the individual.


The use of time-lapse and normal speed photography as a tool in evaluating the effect of cage size on physical activity in the beagle dog was examined. Normal speed motion pictures also served to demonstrate the degree of physical activity possible within specific sized cages, and the effect of changes in external activity on the dogs' activity within the cage. Viewing of these films showed that specific activity measurements can be made, providing a feasible scientific method for evaluating cage activity in a wide range of cage sizes. Physiological data collected over the course of this experiment from dogs housed in 2 different sized cages failed to show a cause-and-effect relationship.


Assuming that domain walls are straight and infinitely thin, it is possible to derive a system of equations of motion for any number of domain walls in thin film strips with in-plane magnetization. Considering the influence of the demagnetizing fields, the "pulsed motion' of domains in a field with constant field gradient is analysed analytically and numerically by these equations that hold true for any position- and time-dependent fields. The theoretically expected dependence of the domain velocity on pulse frequency and amplitude is discussed. If there are several domains, one must take into consideration additional interactions between each other. Those interactions appear in form of an effective internal field difference ΔH w in case of two neighboring domains. The criteria for moving as under during the pulsation are discussed. In comparison with a single domain neighbouring domains change the H w -dependence on domain width. Smaller remanent domain width and a reduced collapse field for domains result from this.


ABSTRACT Chalinula nematifera is an encrusting sponge (Porifera: Haplosclerida), which can overgrow live corals. Originally described from the central Pacific (Marshall Islands), this coral-killing sponge is raising concerns due to its rapid range expansion in the Pacific. Its ability to overgrow various coral species was documented at Komodo National Park in October 2016. It was observed at six sites out of ten, where it was overgrowing and/or peripherally interacting with living corals belonging to 13 species, some of which represent new host records. It was also found on dead coral colonies previously covered by algae or sediment, and on encrusting coralline algae. Its habitat choice showed no obvious preferences regarding host corals and depth range.


Gentrification, or the class-based restructuring of cities, is a process that has accrued a considerable historical depth and a wide geographical compass. But despite the existence of what is otherwise an increasingly rich literature, little has been written about connections between schools and the middle class makeover of inner city districts. This paper addresses that lacuna. It does so in the specific context of the search by well-off middle class parents for places for their children in leading state schools in the inner city of Nanjing, one of China's largest urban centres, and it examines a process that we call here jiaoyufication. Jiaoyufication involves the purchase of an apartment in the catchment zone of a leading elementary school at an inflated price. Gentrifying parents generally spend nine years (covering the period of elementary and junior middle schooling) in their apartment before selling it on to a new gentrifying family at a virtually guaranteed good price without even any need for refurbishment. Jiaoyufication is made possible as a result of the commodification of housing alongside the increasingly strict application of a catchment zone policy for school enrolment. We show in this paper how jiaoyufication has led to the displacement of an earlier generation of mainly working class residents. We argue that the result has been a shift from an education system based on hierarchy and connections to one based on territory and wealth, but at the same time a strangely atypical sclerosis in the physical structure of inner city neighbourhoods. We see this as a variant form of gentrification.


Simple Summary Although heart failure is a long-term chronic disease, it can also lead to arrhythmia, triggering cardiac arrest, and eventually death. Our study is a randomized and blinded preclinical assessment of the efficacy of the Mn porphyrin compound, MnTnBuOE-2-PyP5+ (BMX-001), commonly known as a superoxide dismutase mimic, in both mouse and rat models of cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Our study indicates that MnTnBuOE-2-PyP5+ improves survival, neurologic function recovery, and behavioral performance in animals suffering from cardiac arrest. The results support the development of Mn Porphyrin-based therapeutics for the treatment of heart failure and cardiac arrest. Abstract Introduction Cardiac arrest (CA) and resuscitation induces global cerebral ischemia and reperfusion, causing neurologic deficits or death. Manganese porphyrins, superoxide dismutase mimics, are reportedly able to effectively reduce ischemic injury in brain, kidney, and other tissues. This study evaluates the efficacy of a third generation lipophilic Mn porphyrin, MnTnBuOE-2-PyP5+, Mn(III) ortho meso-tetrakis (N-n-butoxyethylpyridinium-2-yl)porphyrin (MnBuOE, BMX-001), in both mouse and rat models of CA. Methods Forty-eight animals were subjected to 8 min of CA and resuscitated subsequently by chest compression and epinephrine infusion. Vehicle or MnBuOE was given immediately after resuscitation followed by daily subcutaneous injections. Body weight, spontaneous activity, neurologic deficits, rotarod performance, and neuronal death were assessed. Kidney tubular injury was assessed in CA mice. Data were collected by the investigators who were blinded to the treatment groups. Results Vehicle mice had a mortality of 20%, which was reduced by 50% by MnBuOE. All CA mice had body weight loss, spontaneous activity decline, neurologic deficits, and decreased rotarod performance that were significantly improved at three days post MnBuOE daily treatment. MnBuOE treatment reduced cortical neuronal death and kidney tubular injury in mice (p < 0.05) but not hippocampus neuronal death (23% MnBuOE vs. 34% vehicle group, p = 0.49). In rats, they had a better body-weight recovery and increased rotarod latency after MnBuOE treatment when compared to vehicle group (p < 0.01 vs. vehicle). MnBuOE-treated rats had a low percentage of hippocampus neuronal death (39% MnBuOE vs. 49% vehicle group, p = 0.21) and less tubular injury (p < 0.05) relative to vehicle group. Conclusions We demonstrated the ability of MnBuOE to improve post-CA survival, as well as functional outcomes in both mice and rats, which jointly account for the improvement not only of brain function but also of the overall wellbeing of the animals. While MnBuOE bears therapeutic potential for treating CA patients, the females and the animals with comorbidities must be further evaluated before advancing toward clinical trials.


The present study has been out to examine macroscopic structure of the primary bronchi and lung in Bee-eaters bird ( Merops orientalis) observed exist within the rib cage, the distal part of the trachea are divided into two primary bronchi (left and right) and the macroscopic appearance of the primary bronchi consists of a short tube extend caudally from syrinx to enter the proximal third of the visceral surface of the lungs through the hilus. The basic unit consisting of the primary bronchi are cartilaginous rings which takes C shape. The mean total length of left and right primary bronchi are (1.025 ± 0.15 cm) and (1.075 ± 0.14 cm); and the number of cartilaginous rings in left and right primary bronchi are ( 18.5 ± 0.50) and (18.5 ± 1.50). The lungs are small, pyramidal-shaped, unlobed, bright pink color, and surrounded by thin colorless membrane the pleura and the air sacs. The lung contains two surfaces (dorsal and ventral), two borders ( medial and lateral) and two extremities ( proximal and distal ). The mean total length, width and thickness of the right lung are (1.77 ± 0.17 cm), (0.95 ± 0.15 cm) and (0.4 ± 0.10 cm) while the mean total length, width and thickness of the left lung are (1.6 ± 0.15 cm ), ( 0.9 ± 0.14 cm ) and (0.37 ± 0.02 cm ).


D ISTINGUISHED, revered, and well-loved fish ecologist ROSEMARY HELEN LOWE-MCCONNELL (Fig. 1) died in Ditchling, England on 22 December 2014, at the age of 93. The response worldwide to her death was swift and heartfelt: obituaries in major London newspapers, The Guardian (Greenwood, 2015), The Telegraph (Anonymous, 2015a), and The Times (Anonymous, 2015b), recounted details of her long and rich life with overwhelming admiration and respect as did tributes by ichthyologist colleagues (Reid, 2015; Stiassny and Kaufman, 2015). She was remembered as generous and gregarious and engaged fully in the work and lives of students and professionals whose friendships she cultivated and whose careers she nurtured. The extraordinary life of Ro, as she was almost universally known, was chronicled in three articles by Bruton (1994a, 1994b, 1994c), including a bibliography and an interview, and a celebration of her life was held at the Linnean Society of London in July 2015. There her generosity was confirmed, if it was ever in doubt, with the announcement that Ro had bequeathed some £1 million to various biological societies. Ro's research on tropical fishes took her to Africa, which she visited for the first time in 1945, at the age of 24, and South and Central America. She was independent and fearless in the field, with focused study of the fisheries of Lake Nyasa (now Malawi) and pioneering work in many other African lakes, fishes of Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and Uganda, and later, inshore marine fishes in British Guiana (now Guyana), freshwater fishes in Mato Grosso, Brazil, and cichlids in Panama. She had a keen eye and could synthesize vast amounts of information on fishes and their interactions, with each other and with their habitats, and also interpret how those data could be applied to fisheries. She received her B.Sc. from the University of Liverpool (the city where she was born on 24 June 1921), and then worked for three years, 1942–1945, at the Freshwater Biological Association on the shores of Lake Windermere in England's bucolic Lake District. She was awarded M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees also from Liverpool based on her outstanding research on the African tilapiine fishes. Her three books on the ecology of tropical fishes became standards in the field (Lowe-McConnell, 1975, 1977, 1987). The last, Ecological Studies in Tropical Fish Communities, has been cited over 1,000 times, as tabulated by Google Scholar, and was translated into Portuguese, an edition (Lowe-McConnell, 1999) that has been cited over 800 times. Already in 1994 ichthyologist Mike Bruton summed up her scientific legacy: ''. . .rarely is a paper on tropical freshwater fishes published without citing her work.'' (1994a:79–80). And we are both forever grateful that we had the privilege to spend time with Ro and her (and our) legendary mentor, Ethelwynn Trewavas, at the Natural History Museum in London in the early 1980s (Fig. 2). Ro developed enduring relationships with colleagues worldwide and was a natural organizer of meetings and symposia on the developing field of tropical biology. She initiated a joint British Ecological Society/Linnean Society of London conference on ''Speciation in Tropical Environments'' and edited the proceedings (Lowe-McConnell, 1969). She was sought after to speak at scientific meetings and readily accepted invitations, such as to present her research at a workshop on ''Community Structure and Function in Temperate and Tropical Streams'' held at the Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana, in April 1987. She co-authored a paper published as part of the conference proceedings (Benke et al., 1988). In 1993 she was invited to speak at a symposium on great lakes of the world held at the University of Guelph. She then traveled to Austin, Texas, to attend the annual meetings of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists held at the University of Texas, 27 May through 2 June. Here students and faculty who had learned much of their fish ecology from her writings surrounded her. A Society symposium on ''Fish Ecology in Latin America'' including


New regularization embedded nonlinear control designs are proposed for the temperature control of an ill-conditioned thermal process. A classic nonlinear controller applied to such a process is shown to provide good temperature tracking but generates physically unreasonable actuator solutions. Tikhonov and truncated singular value decomposition (TSVD) methods, embedded in the design of feedback linearizing controllers (FBL) and sliding mode controllers (SMC), also provide good temperature tracking and generate physically reasonable and actuator-constraint-satisfying solutions for the ill-conditioned system, in spite of the modeling errors inherent in applying regularization. These nonlinear controllers are also robust to changes in process parameters of the ill-conditioned process.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


Introduced The correspondence principle of I2C bus and the frame and work principle of 8 bit I/O PCF 8574 expanding componentd. Through using them, a sort of new 4×4 keyboard scan mode is constructed, the scan mode need scan only twice to determine key-press value. I2C bus is serial transmit bus of philips corpration, which implement full duplex synonronous data transmit by SDA and SCL. I2C bus can be made upof multi-machine system and periphery expand system, which soives lots of practical problems.


Tissue engineering has established itself as a promising field which involves in the regeneration or modification of damaged tissue or organ in the human body. In almost all the cases, a scaffold material is required upon which the cells can attach, proliferate and differentiate into a tissue equivalent, structurally and functionally similar to native tissue. Many synthetic and natural polymers have found applications in engineering tissues due to their desirable properties. Chitosan, a deacetylated form of chitin, is one of the natural polymers which has been used for such applications. The present review is an effort to analyse the wide applications of chitosan/modified chitosan as a scaffold material for regenerating various tissues.


A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association linked vasectomies to a 66% elevated risk of prostate cancer among men 15-20 years after the surgery although a causal relationship between vasectomy and prostate cancer was not proven. Although 2 previous studies found no linkage the study by Edward Giovannucci of Boston drew broad attention in the medical community. Prostate cancer in the industrial world is quite high: about 1 in 11 males in the US will develop prostate cancer for unexplained reasons. But the US-based Association for Voluntary Surgical Contraception (AVSC) warns that the public or medical professionals should not overreact to this new information. In 1991 a group of experts convened by WHO concluded that based on existing biological and epidemiological evidence any causal relationship between vasectomy and the risk of prostate or testicular cancer was unlikely and changing policies concerning vasectomy was unjustified. In contrast to the authors conjecture experts at AVSC pointed out that models of cancer development suggest that a decrease in prostatic secretions following a vasectomy actually would reduce cancer risks. The cases of prostate cancer are unknown and vasectomy is not associated with any increase in mortality. Family Health International (FHI) is concerned about the effect of perceptions in developed countries on policy in developing countries. However the risks associated with vasectomy are still less than the risks of pregnancy. In India health risks linked to pregnancy and childbearing are 400 times greater than those linked to contraception. Further research the continuation of vasectomy policies and annual examinations for prostate cancer among men who have undergone vasectomies and for all men aged 50-70 years are recommended. The American Urological Association urges men who have had vasectomies not to have them reversed to try to prevent cancer.


Background : Osteoporosis is associated with cirrhosis of the liver, but the effects of therapy for osteoporosis associated with cirrhosis are still controversial.


We describe a simple Green's function model of interface mixing in quantum wells that provides exact quantitative solutions for real structures. Examples are given of several important low‐dimensional heterostructures. The model enables the energy of the band‐edge optical transition to be predicted as mixing proceeds, so that optical characterization techniques such as photoluminescence or absorption provide a powerful tool for studying mixing and obtaining interdiffusion constants.


One of the discussions in inheritance law is about the causes of inheritance and its barriers. Things that can hinder inheritance include religious differences between heirs and heirs. The underlying proposition is the hadith of Osama ibn Zaid according to the narration of Bukhari Muslim. In this case there must be a fairly sharp analysis of the hadith because it cannot be denied that there are many kinship relationships that have different beliefs and there will be many benefits.
Thus the formulation of the problem was born as follows: (1) What is the view of Islamic law regarding the giving and receiving of inheritance from non-Muslim relatives? and (2) What is the perspective of Ahmad ar-Raisuni's maqasid sharia regarding the giving and receiving of inheritance from non-Muslim relatives?. The purpose of this study is to describe the views of Islamic law regarding the giving and receiving of inheritance from non-Muslim relatives and to describe Ahmad ar-Raisuni's maqasid sharia perspective on the giving and receiving of inheritances from non-Muslim relatives.
To answer the formulation of the problem, this study uses a type of library research (library research). The object of this research is Ahmad ar-Raisuni's maqasid sharia perspective on the giving and receiving of inheritance from non-Muslim relatives. Analysis of the data in this study used a descriptive method, namely describing and then analyzing the giving and receiving of inheritance from non-Muslim relatives from the perspective of Ahmad ar-Raisuni's sharia maqasid.
The results of this study are: (1) The views of scholars regarding the giving and receiving of inheritance from non-Muslim relatives are divided into two. First, they only allow Muslims to receive inheritance from non-Muslim relatives. Second, they completely forbid either giving or receiving inheritance to non-Muslim relatives. (2) The issue of giving and receiving inheritance from non-Muslim relatives when it is associated with Ahmad ar-Raisuni's maqasid shari'a, will result in a law being allowed, taking into account the illat, arguments and benefits contained in the inheritance.


Open-cell
Silicon carbide foam ceramic consisting of a three-dimensional
networked ceramic structure of many interconnected webs
and between the webs lying open cells, wherein the webs
made of sintered silicon carbide consist of 5 to 30% pore volume
on closed pores with an average diameter of <20 μm.


The majority of the participants is unable to meet up with the role of providing emotional and psychological support for their families because of their busy schedules at work, which also affects their health adversely.


The article presents facts of mass arests of physicians by the organs of the All-Russian Special Commission for Combating Counter-revolution and Sabotage during years of the Civil war in Russia in conditions of large-scale epidemics and acute lacking of medical personnel. The article demonstrates the straggle for liberation of physicians led by the RSFSR Narkomzdrav under the direct leadership of N. A. Semashko.


AbstractHydraulic scour is one of the major causes of bridge and embankment failure during typhoon-induced or monsoon-induced floods in steep intermittent rivers in Taiwan. In this study, field data for sediment load and riverbed scour, measured in gravel-bed and sand-bed reaches between 2003 and 2013 are analyzed to determine their differences under nonequilibrium sediment-transport conditions. The riverbed scouring potential was extremely high during the fast-rising stage of a large flood in the bimodal gravel-bed reach. By contrast, the unimodal sand-bed reach with a higher suspended load typically demonstrated a lower scouring rate, although it was still higher than that of a perennial river. Existing bridge-scour formulas suitable for intermittent rivers were examined by separating short-term general scour and localized scour. A maximum general scour-depth formula is developed in this study for use as a potential tool for emergency evacuations and bridge closure purposes.


As international vocational rehabilitation (VR) standards are developed to promote the rights of people with disabilities (PWDs) in training, employment, and integration, instruments are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of VR centers according to international norms and based on the perceptions of PWDs. This study aimed to investigate PWDs and managers' perceptions regarding the extent of application of international standards issued by the Council of Europe (COE) and International Labour Organization (ILO) in VR centers in the Basque country, Spain. This study also described the current situation and examined the opinions of PWDs with regards to the VR services provided for them. Data were collected in two phases; the first phase includes two stages: (1) an open-ended face-to-face interview with the 11 Basque VR associations' managers; and (2) an interview questionnaire was administered to 136 PWDs. The second phase included creating a valid and reliable instrument to measure PWDs' perceptions regarding the extent of application of international standards. The instrument was translated from English to Spanish and the inter-rater reliability of an expert panel survey and interviews with VR managers were used to assess content validity. For the Spanish version of the instrument, internal consistency reliability and factor analysis were examined with 186 PWDs in five VR centers in the Basque country. Results showed that, although PWDs perceive VR and employment services as advanced and beneficial, there is a need to provide additional courses about work skills. Results also revealed four major themes to describe current situation of the VR program in the Basque region: (a) goals of the VR program, (b) vision and mission of VR centers, (c) eligibility conditions for VR services, and (d) VR services provided for PWDs. The instrument appears to have good validity and reliability but requires further validation. Support is provided for its use in both English and Spanish. In addition, results indicated the degree of application is high in whole research instrument or standards based on perceptions of managers and PWDs. The results also indicated there is a significant difference according to: (a) level of education of PWDs for all domains or standards; (b) status of disability in the degree of applicability of philosophy or aims of VR association (c) level of education of managers for all domains or standards, except for job related services; (d) gender of managers only in the degree of applicability of VR guidance standards; (e) work experience of managers only in job related services and vocational guidance standards; (f) the type of respondents (managers and PWDs) in the all standards. The implications for VR practice and suggestions for future research are provided.


In order to detect the edges of fabric defect precisely,an edge detection method based on wavelet transform and mathematical morphology is presented.The method utilizes the morphology to realize the defect detection,and decomposes the image using wavelet transform,then uses the modulus maximum of the wavelet transform and the algorithm based on mathematical morphology to extract the edges in high-frequency and low-frequency sub-image.Finally,the method adopts the reasonable fusion rule to fuse the two edge images.Experimental results show that the algorithm can effectively suppress noise,the edges are clear and accurate,and this method is effective than the classical edge detection algorithm.


Three dimensional rotation represented by quaternion has two advantages over that by matrix: first, the geometric meaning is definitude; second, computation is easy. The application of quaternion to mathematics, physics and computer graphics is significant. The definition, operation, properties, geometric meaning of quaternion and its three expressions are discussed. It is also demonstrated how to use quaternion to transform points.


Abstract. Pattiselanno F, Tokede MJ, Arobaya AYS, Mardiatmoko G, Pattiselanno AE. 2023. Hunting introduced species in Indonesia New Guinea. Biodiversitas 24: 3045-3050. Hunting in tropical forests is mostly performed to obtain animal protein sources, generate income, and enact cultural activities. However, it is acknowledged that hunting was conducted indiscriminately, killing both native and introduced species. This study aimed to describe hunting activities along the lowland coastal forests in Tambrauw Districts. Fieldwork was carried out between June 2011 and December 2012 in eleven villages across the Abun and Amberbaken sub districts of Tambrauw Districts, Papua Barat Province of Indonesia. Information about hunting was gathered through interviews with 220 hunters (focus respondents; 20 hunters in each village). Therefore, to gain an overall picture of hunting in the sampled villages, we distributed 100 questionnaires, not including those focal respondents, and 800 were returned from 11 villages. This study revealed hunting for trading (49%) compared to consumption (44%) and the rest (7%) hunting for others (festive, pest, and trophy). The hunting is classified as very frequent (2-3 days per week) by 10%, frequent (weekly and fortnightly) by 41%, and rarely (monthly) by 49% of hunters. Active techniques used were bows and arrows, spears and blades were primarily used by 38%, and hunting with dogs was 29% by inhabitants in the studied villages. On the other hand, passive hunting using snares and guns were used by 28% and 5% of hunters, respectively. Hunters reported nine main prey species had been hunted, and the prey consisted of six mammal and three bird species. Two of the nine species were introduced species, i.e., rusa deer and wild pig; they provided the largest amount of meat and fat and were economically profitable. Other native species were also hunted, although not much as introduced ones. The average catch per hunting trip was 2 individuals (2.42 ± SD 1.93). In this study, hunting introduced species is important because it is more profitable while protecting the native species or those of conservation concern.


The educational level of music teachers largely determines the interest of the population in the music art in general. It is noticed that if the music is taught by highly educated musicians who are able to perform stage concerts in public, they are interesting for pupils as a rule. As the result of their activity is the desire of students to be like their teachers. Where are such musicians being taught? Keywords—secondary musical education; higher musical education; information centre; reviewing; high schools-


ABSTRACT This study investigates the role that environmental marketing strategy plays in enhancing customer citizenship behavior (CCB) – directly, indirectly, and interactively with brand familiarity. Drawing on data collected from 439 Starbucks customers in Lebanon, the findings of the study support the exists of a positive relationship between environmental marketing strategy and two forms of CCB – namely, the policing of other customers and the helping of other customers. Evidence indicated that corporate reputation plays a mediating role in the relationship between environmental marketing strategy and CCB. Moreover, brand familiarity served as a moderator factor that positively influences the relationship between environmental marketing strategy and CCB. Further, the conditional indirect effect of brand familiarity on the relationship between environmental marketing strategy and CCB through corporate reputation indicated a significant positive impact.


An experimental analysis of a packed bed liquid desiccant dehumidifier has been conducted. Calcium chloride was used as desiccant in the experiment. PVC packing with density of 150m/m used to facilitate the interaction of liquid desiccant with air. The performance of the dehumidifier was measured in terms of moisture evaporation rate, specific humidity, change in humidity ratio, air outlet temperature under different air and desiccant parameters i.e air flow rate, air inlet temperature, desiccant solution flow rate, desiccant solution inlet


The interaction between a rarefied flowing plasma and an externally imposed nonhomogeneous magnetic field is studied experimentally in a collisionless plasma wind tunnel, where a collisionless plasma beam is directed through a current loop. The collisionless plasma is generated by an electron bombardment engine. Nominal values of ion flow speed, number density, electron temperature and magnetic induction of the loop are U ~10^4 m/s, N ~5 x 10^7/cc, kT_e ~0.2 eV and B ~10 Gauss, respectively. Due to lack of probe theories in the presence of nonhomogeneous magnetic fields and failure of conventional Langmuir probe methods, a new, simple method of diagnostics is developed. This method employs two probes of different geometry and obtains information on the ion density and flow speed from the ion-saturation region of the probe characteristic. Radial density profiles in the wake of the current loop mapped by the "two-probe" method indicate annular density "peaks" at certain radial positions. In order to understand this non-uniform "pinching" process, a theoretical analysis is attempted. It is found that the experimentally observed phenomenon can be qualitatively described by the collision-less two-fluid equations, but turbulent "friction" is required to improve the two-fluid model. A heuristic turbulent model is used, and evidence of turbulence in the flow field is also obtained through measurements of the fluctuating probe currents.


The application of ferroelectric thin-film capacitors as connection element "synapses" in artificial neural network (ANN) integrated circuits (IC's) is described. A review of basic neural network structure, with an emphasis on electrical implementation in IC form is given. A binary (on/off efficacy) connection scheme of very high density is then described and analyzed. A continuous-valued synapse (analog memory) where the efficacy is controlled by the polarization of a ferroelectric capacitor element is then described. This analog synapse utilizes non-destructive readout and requires very infrequent refresh.


Objective: To investigate the value of combined blockade Ras and mTOR signaling in the therapy of HCC. Methods: Specific Ras and/or mTOR inhibitors were used to inhibit Ras and mTOR relatively. Cell proliferation was assessed by using the MTT assay. Early apoptosis was detected by Annexin-V-FITC/propidium iodide double staining assay. The effects of the two drugs on HCC were also assessed in xenograft models. Results: Ras inhibitor FTS and mTOR inhibitor all inhibited HepG2 and Huh-7 cell growth, induced cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Con-target Ras and mTOR could markedly inhibited HCC cell growth in vitro and in vivo.


This essay reviews the following works: Dreaming of Dry Land: Environmental Transformation in Colonial Mexico City. By Vera S. Candiani. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2014. Pp. xxix + 376. $60.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780804788052. Return to Aztlan: Indians, Spaniards, and the Invention of Nuevo Mexico. By Danna A. Levin Rojo. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014. Pp. xii + 307. $34.95 cloth. ISBN: 9780806144344. Conquest and Survival in Colonial Guatemala: A Historical Geography of the Cuchumatan Highlands, 1500–1821. By W. George Lovell. 4th ed. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015. Pp. xviii + 306. $34.95 paper. ISBN: 9780773545274. The Death of Aztec Tenochtitlan, the Life of Mexico City. By Barbara E. Mundy. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015. Pp. ix + 246. $75.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780292766563. Maya Ideologies of the Sacred: The Transfiguration of Space in Colonial Yucatan. By Amara Solari. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2013. Pp. xi + 212. $55.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780292744943.


Introduction Depression is an illness characterised by low mood and lack of motivation with other symptoms including feelings of worthlessness or guilt. Patients may also be socially withdrawn and agitated (DSM-IV). Differences in emotional face processing have been observed in depression compared with healthy control volunteers. Elevated amygdala activation has been reported, which normalises with antidepressant treatment (Sheline et al., 2001). Studying depressed volunteers is confounded by mood and motivation, and also any medication the patients may have been prescribed. One approach to avoiding these confounds is to study remitted patients, as some of the abnormalities associated with depression persist into remission (Bhagwagar and Cowen, 2008). By studying this group it may be possible to identify trait risk factors for depression. We therefore studied a group of healthy control and remitted depressed volunteers performing an fMRI emotional face processing paradigm in order to identify whether the abnormal amygdala response persists into remission. In order to identify risk factors in regional coupling we also applied an effective connectivity analysis, using Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM). Methods 37 right-handed healthy volunteers (12 males) aged 19-52 were recruited. Volunteers had no personal or family history of psychiatric illness and no contraindications to MR scanning. 30 right-handed remitted depressed volunteers (8 males) aged 19-54 were recruited. These volunteers were required to meet major depression in full remission criteria from SCID interview, to have been remitted from depression for a minimum of 3 months and also to satisfy a diagnostic interview supporting classification to remitted depressed group. A series of faces were presented to the volunteer while they were in the scanner. Each face was presented for 3 seconds with a 1 second gap. There were four conditions: neutral faces (N), happy faces (H), sad faces (S), fearful faces (F) and rest (R) where a fixation cross was displayed. Each block was 21 seconds long and we had an NHNSNFNRSNHNFNRFNSNHNR order in a session that lasted 462 seconds in total. Subjects were asked to distinguish whether the face was male or female via a button box. Images were acquired on a 1.5T Philips Intera scanner using a single-shot echo-planar (EPI) pulse sequence. Each volume comprised 29 contiguous axial slices (TR/TE=2100/40ms, 3.5mm by 3.5mm in-plane resolution, slice thickness 4.5mm with a 0.5mm gap). A T1-weighted structural image was also collected for each volunteer. Having carried out a first level fixed effects analysis for each individual, we carried out a second level random effects analysis. For the DCM analysis maxima were found in each region of interest in the random effects analysis. In our sample 21 healthy control and 22 remitted depressed volunteers exhibited amygdala activation and were included in the analysis. The areas chosen were the primary visual cortex (V1), the fusiform gyrus (F), the amygdala (A) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Local maxima within 14mm of the group activation were located for each individual and data extracted from a 6mm radius sphere region of interest. We then specified the DCM models using the toolbox in SPM5, using the slice timing correction tool. Only the right hemisphere was modelled with all faces as input, all connections present and all connections apart from the input connection modulated by viewing each type of emotional face (Fig 1). We therefore specified three models, one with happy faces modulating all connections, one with sad faces and one with fearful faces. In order to test for differences between groups we carried out t-tests on the data for all parameters. We also carried out two repeated measures ANOVAs separately for connections and modulations. The factors were parameter (connections/modulation), emotion, direction (feed-forward or feed-back) and group (healthy control or remitted depressed – an independent factor). We also carried out ANOVAs for each emotion individually and for each direction of connection individually. Results fMRI Unlike currently depressed individuals, remitted depressed volunteers exhibited lower amygdala activation in response to viewing faces than healthy control volunteers (t=3.29, p<0.001). In all other regions of interest, activation was higher in healthy control volunteers than in remitted depressed volunteers. DCM-ANOVAs The first 4 factor ANOVA on the connections revealed a main effect of direction (F=36.597, p<0.001) and a parameter*direction interaction (F=16.683, p<0.001). The same was found when restricting to happy and sad emotions. When restricting to the fear condition an additional main effect of connection was revealed (F=2.703, p=0.048). When restricting the directions to both feed-forward and feed-back a main effect of connection was revealed (F=7.189, p<0.001 and F=5.298, p=0.002). The first 4 factor ANOVA for the modulations revealed a main effect of direction (F=5.008, p=0.031) and a parameter*direction interaction (F=6.34, p=0.003). No significant main effects or interactions were found when restricting emotions to happy and sad. A main effect of direction was observed when the fear data were analysed (F=5.23, p=0.027) separately. No significant main effects or interactions were observed in the ANOVA restricted to feed-forward parameters. The ANOVA restricted to feed-back parameters revealed a main effect of connection (F=3.745, p=0.028) and a main effect of emotion (F=4.198, p=0.018). DCM-T-tests In the happy model, a significant difference was observed in the connection from the fusiform gyrus to the amygdala (p=0.0384). In the sad model a significant difference was observed in the same connection (p=0.0317) with a significant difference in the modulation of this connection also observed (p=0.0317). The sad model also resulted in a significant difference in the modulation from the orbitofrontal cortex to the fusiform gyrus (p=0.0445). In the fear model no significant differences between the groups were observed. Discussion These results demonstrate a difference in feed-forward and feed-back processing of emotional faces in healthy control and remitted depressed individuals. There were no abnormalities in effective connectivity associated with fearful faces in remitted patients, however for happy and sad faces a difference was found in the connection from the fusiform gyrus to amygdala. This may indicate a difference in the way that visual information is projected to the amygdala for a response to be generated. Abnormal responses to happy and sad stimuli are consistent with a hypothesis of disrupted emotional processing in depression. Our findings in a remitted group suggest either that these abnormalities persist after clinical recovery, potentially representing a trait vulnerability, or that they represent a compensatory mechanism in previously depressed patients in order to maintain remission. The additional modulations observed during sad face processing may also reflect this persistent emotional abnormalities. These results indicate that effective connectivity is a valuable tool for exploring subtle abnormalties within neural circuitry in psychiatric disorders.


There is a broad consensus that assessment is an important influence on learning. In higher education, Biggs' idea of assessment 'backwash' has lead to concerns about negative effects of assessment on learning and learners. Assessment for learning is often proposed as the answer to the problem and there is good evidence of its positive effects. But assessment in higher education has certainly not been transformed – as yet. This presentation will explore some of the barriers to transformation and propose some ways in which we can use AfL approaches to make a difference.


The next generation of communication will be driven by the technology called Cognitive Radio that can adapt the environment around it. It adjusts to the changes in the communication medium, modulation schemes, coding method etc. Design of the radio on the reconfigurable platform makes it more flexible in adapting the demand of communication system. The paper covers the design of transmitter and receiver on the reconfigurable platform like FPGA, so that the modulation scheme can be dynamically adapted depending on the noise in the communication medium. The FPGAs can be configured partially when in use. This advantage makes it more useful in the SDR applications. Paper discusses the design and development of SDR on virtex 5 FPGA. The results are obtained and compare at simulation level.


We study the role of liquidity management tools (LMTs) in mitigating financial fragility in investment funds during the COVID-19 market distress. We employ a unique dataset that reports the availability of different types of LMTs in a sample of Irish-domiciled corporate bond funds. We find that funds with access to price-based tools such as redemption fees or anti-dilution levies experienced lower net outflows in March 2020, as compared to funds with only quantity-based tools such as redemption gates, temporary suspensions, or redemptions in kind. This difference is stronger among funds with a high sensitivity of flows to past performance and reflects both higher gross inflows ∗ Views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect views of the Central Bank of Ireland, Deutsche Bundesbank, or the European Central Bank. We would like to thank Vasileios Madouros, Cian Murphy, Andrew Metrick (discussant), Karl Whelan, Nima Fazeli (discussant), Kitty Moloney, Catharine Dwyer, Naoise Metadjer, Ashley Nanton, James Leen, Barbara Casu, Ana-Maria Fuertes, Francesc Rodriguez-Tous, participants to the Financial Stability Board conference on "Systemic risks in non-bank financial intermediation (NBFI) and policies to address them", IFABS 2022 Naples Conference, the Irish Academy of Finance / MU Business School' Joint Workshop on Systemic Risk and Financial Fragility, the 36 th Irish Economic Association Annual Conference and 1 st PSB Workshop on Banks and Financial Markets, as well as seminar participants at the University of Vienna, WHU Vallendar, Bayes Business School, Smurfit Business School, Bank of England, European Central Bank, Central Bank of Ireland, University College Dublin and Maynooth University for useful comments. †


In this paper, we report that NiFe2O4 nanoparticles can be directly grown on a flexible carbon cloth substrate by a facile surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method. The produced carbon cloth/NiFe2O4 (CC/NiFe2O4) electrodes with a loading density of 1.55 mg cm−2 exhibited excellent electrochemical performances in both 6 M KOH and 1 M H2SO4 aqueous electrolytes in a two-electrode system. The carbon cloth substrate provided the conductive three-dimensional network, efficient ion diffusion path, and high surface area for NiFe2O4 nanoparticles, resulting in the enhancement in the specific capacitances of CC/NiFe2O4. The specific capacitances of CC/NiFe2O4 (based on the mass of NiFe2O4) were as high as 1135.5 F g−1 (in H2SO4) and 922.6 F g−1 (in KOH) at a current density of 2 mA cm−2. After the current density was increased to 100 mA cm−2, the rate retentions in both electrolytes were greater than 80%, which exceeded most of the reported electrode materials. The assembled all-solid-state symmetric supercapacitor cell showed a voltage window of 2 V using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)–H2SO4 as the gel electrolyte, offering a high energy density of 2.07 mW h cm−3 at a current density of 2 mA cm−2. These remarkable results have demonstrated that the CC/NiFe2O4 electrodes may provide us a new opportunity for designing high performance flexible supercapacitors.


Using interview data from thirty-one grassfed ranchers across Oklahoma, we adapt a culturally focused social movement framework to explore a regional grassfed livestock movement. Drawing on social movement and agrifood literature, we examine how grassfed actors forge a cohesive grassfed collective identity and how collective identity processes inspire engagement in forms of individualized, cultural protest. We address how collective identity politicizes movement actors, moving them to prioritize cultural issues of the grassfed movement and development of a grassfed activist identity, sometimes above other tangible, economic rewards. We also consider how grassfed ranchers are restricting the boundaries of movement membership in response to increased interest in alternative agricultural practices by new producers and by agrifood elites, and how they use market-oriented tactics to enforce those boundaries. In doing so we draw parallels to conventionalization processes in the organic sector. By emphasizing the identity work of grassfed producer-activists, we provide new perspectives on an emerging agricultural movement gaining traction in the US and abroad.


In order to evaluate the performance of standard time remote reproduction, this paper implements a low-cost standard time frequency reproduction device, which can provide a time signal with a deviation of less than 10ns (3σ) from the standard time under the conditions of zero baseline and long baseline. This article using the standard time reproduction system that has been built so far, the standard time remote reproduction experiment was carried out at the National Time Service Center (NTSC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Astronomical Observatory Tianjin Monitoring Station. The experiments show that under the condition of zero baseline, the synchronization accuracy (std) between the reproduced signal and the standard time is 1.36ns, and the maximum deviation from the standard time for 24 hours is 3.46ns. Under long baseline conditions, the synchronization accuracy (std) between the reproduced signal and the standard time is 1.65ns, and the maximum deviation from the standard time for 24 hours is 4.58ns.


In this review article the author argues that the complete presentation of Stress is relied through neither for Possible of Music in Ragaas as inevitable part of physical and mental health for stress busted leg.


Role‐based access control (RBAC) has been widely used based on its good applicability and high flexibility in recent years. However, the RBAC system needs to be updated to meet the changes in access control policies during its run time. As the complexity of modifying role‐permission assignments, new roles are continuously added to the system without considering the business processes and the user demands. Therefore, the RBAC system needs to be reconfigured over time to optimize the RBAC configuration and keep as close as possible to the original at the same time. Although there have several RBAC reconfiguration schemes by generating roles that are similar to the deployed ones, most of them neglect the difference between roles (meaningful or meaningless, frequently used, or infrequently used, etc) and generate more roles than needed, which in turn increases the system management burden. In this paper, we first propose a method to evaluate the quality of roles based on two indicators and formally define the problem of RBAC reconfiguration with minimal roles and perturbation. Then, we present a log‐based RBAC reconfiguration approach that handles the motivation problem and its detail algorithm process. The effectiveness and stability of our approach is demonstrated by experiments at last.


Guan Ge Style represents a broad and complicated concept which originated from the Imperial Examination System in the feudal times and peaked at Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1912). This paper analyzes the characteristics of Guan Ge Style writing on Chinese curved name tablets and look into its artistic features and cultural connotations in depth by studying the tablets from Hancheng Museum. It is found that characters on tablets are all written in Guan Ge Style and written in different period of time vary subtly. After digging deeper into the specific time when the characters were written, it can be concluded that the writings are profoundly influenced by the ruler at that time. The subtle changes took place due to the variation of different rulers' preferences. People preferred to write name tablets with official and pragmatic writing style, namely, the Guan Ge Style in Ming and Qing Dynasties. But writings in different times, though written in the same style, are different from each other due to the changes in rulers' preference, making the writings unified as a whole yet unique as one. This paper will be beneficial to highlight the academic value of the tablets in the collection of Hancheng Museum, as well as the cultural research of Guan Ge Style.


This paper addresses the issue of sorting rough errors of remote measurements. Available programs for processing and evaluation of incoming telemetry data do not provide a full capacity to identify the simplest, but often rough telemetry data errors with due regard to its binding to the circuit diagram. That is a main cause of unreliable results at condition estimation and related further calculations. The paper proposes to combine a simple check of measurement conformity at certain time sections with analysis of statistical remote measurement data for the time interval specified. Functional relations to be checked include: power balance control based on raw telemetry data, power loss analysis calculated with various measurements on the line as well as control of interconnected measurements. Measurement reliability is estimated by means of statistical and correlation analysis of telemetry data.


347State immunity — Jurisdictional immunity — Implied waiver — Contract — Whether agreement by foreign State to contract governed by laws of another State constitutes implied waiver of immunity — Contract between Fiji and United States corporation to be construed according to laws of Virginia — Whether distinction between a contract "governed by" or a contract to be "construed according to" a particular law — The law of the United States


CCI opens investigation against Star India Pvt. Ltd. for alleged abuse of dominance / price discrimination* The Competition Commission of India (CCI) vide order dated December 29, 2017 has…


Research coproduction is advocated as an approach to produce more impactful evidence, by valuing a diversity of expertise and integrating knowledge users into research processes. Yet, extant literature finds that trying to bridge boundaries between different types of knowledge can also cause collaboration challenges and present barriers to success in coproduction.
To study how researchers understand and manage knowledge boundaries in coproduced health research, or 'integrated knowledge translation' (IKT) as it is referred to in Canada.
Data were collected from: 1) semi-structured interviews (n=20) with researchers leading different IKT projects across Canada; and 2) participant observation and document analysis for an in-depth case study of one IKT project. Data were combined and analysed using situational analysis, a modified grounded theory approach to visually map patterns of discourse along salient axes of controversy.
We describe four key discursive positions participants take concerning knowledge boundaries in IKT: to recognise and handle, respect and clarify, blur and integrate, or challenge and embrace. These are plotted relative to two salient axes: the degree to which participants viewed boundaries as a problem, and the degree to which they believed boundaries should (or could) be challenged.
The four discursive positions identified will help those doing coproduced research to critically reflect on their own position(s) regarding boundaries in collaborative research, and strategically discuss, select, or switch discourses as needed to support their goals.


This report discusses the extent of compliance of a higher education institution in Isabela, Philippines with the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System. An internal audit for clauses 4 to 9.1 of the QMS was conducted to determine the extent of QMS implementation and to identify areas of conformities, opportunities for improvement, and nonconformities. Out of the 215 findings, 177 are conformities (Cs); 25 are nonconformities (NCs); while 13 are opportunities for improvement (OFIs). The strengths of the organization include its understanding of its context, leadership of the top management, existence of planned actions to address risks and availability of almost all significant documents that support compliance and/or sustain the quality operations. Areas that need to be improved and complied include inadequate manpower for quality activities, unmet targets, and lack of control for externally provided products and services. Actions to address these findings are provided. Thus, the organization is highly recommended to carry out the corrective actions as soon as possible for continual improvement.


It deals with climate elements in loading curve prediction per day by adopting ambiguity theory,it makes different ambiguity handlings and mathematic models of climate elements according to different season and climate,builds up expert handling system and increases precision of short time loading prediction


This paper presents the findings of experiments that were performed on a VoWLAN (Voice over WLAN) cell using the IEEE 802.11b standard. The experiments were simulated using OPNET Modeler 14.0 software. The experiments were aimed at finding the maximum number of simultaneous Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) users the VoWLAN cell would support under the G.711 and G.729 codec standards with and without silence suppression. The packetization interval was 10 milliseconds (ms). To determine the capacity of the model under various experiments, we checked three metrics: jitter, delay and packets loss. The findings of the first experiment (without silence suppression) indicated that, the maximum number of simultaneous VoIP users the VoWLAN cell was able to support was 6, using the IEEE 802.11b mode under G.729A codec, which is consistent with recent research findings. The finding of the second experiment (with silence suppression) however, demonstrated that with codec's silence suppression enabled, the maximum number of VoIP users the VoWLAN cell was able to support was 13, using the IEEE 802.11b mode under G.729A codec.


Abstract. A 1-year inter-comparison of classical and modern radiation and sunshine duration (SD) instruments has been performed at Izana Atmospheric Observatory (IZO) located in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) starting on 17 July 2014. We compare daily global solar radiation (GSR H ) records measured with a Kipp & Zonen CM-21 pyranometer, taken in the framework of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network, with those measured with a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR), a bimetallic pyranometer (PYR) and GSR H estimated from sunshine duration performed by a Campbell–Stokes sunshine recorder (CS) and a Kipp & Zonen sunshine duration sensor (CSD). Given that the BSRN GSR H records passed strict quality controls (based on principles of physical limits and comparison with the LibRadtran model), they have been used as reference in the inter-comparison study. We obtain an overall root mean square error (RMSE) of  ∼  0.9 MJm −2 (4 %) for PYR and MFRSR GSR H , 1.9 (7 %) and 1.2 MJm −2 (5 %) for CS and CSD GSR H , respectively. Factors such as temperature, relative humidity (RH) and the solar zenith angle (SZA) have been shown to moderately affect the GSR H observations. As an application of the methodology developed in this work, we have re-evaluated the GSR H data time series obtained at IZO with two PYRs between 1977 and 1991. Their high consistency and temporal stability have been proved by comparing with GSR H estimates obtained from SD observations. These results demonstrate that (1) the continuous-basis inter-comparison of different GSR H techniques offers important diagnostics for identifying inconsistencies between GSR H data records, and (2) the GSR H measurements performed with classical and more simple instruments are consistent with more modern techniques and, thus, valid to recover GSR H data time series and complete worldwide distributed GSR H data. The inter-comparison and quality assessment of these different techniques have allowed us to obtain a complete and consistent long-term global solar radiation series (1977–2015) at Izana.


Introduction: There is ample evidence that Europa is currently geologically active [1-4]. Crater counts suggest that the surface is no more than 90 Myr old [5], and cryovolcanism may have played a role in resurfacing the satellite in recent geological times [610]. Europa's surface exhibits many putative cryovolcanic features [1,7-12], and previous investigations have suggested that a number of domes imaged by the Galileo spacecraft may be volcanic in origin [1,9] (Fig.1). Consequently, several Europa domes have been modeled as viscous effusions of cryolava [9,13]. However, previous models for the formation of silicic domes on the terrestrial planets contain fundamental shortcomings. Many of these shortcomings have been alleviated in our new modeling approach, which warrants a re-assessment of the possibility of cryovolcanic domes on Europa.


This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the application of different sensors for estimating the current position and orientation of the mobile robot. The paper also presents a new method for such navigation. This method is based on a laser scanner. This sensor determines straight edges of the obstacles (parts of walls), compares them with the previously memorised map of such edges, and estimates location and orientation of the robot. A new concept of gyroscope application is also presented.


Abstract— We tested the hypothesis that intravenous infusion of human bone marrow stromal cells (hMSCs) promotes vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion, VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) expression and angiogenesis in the ischemic boundary zone (IBZ) after stroke. hMSCs (1×106) were intravenously injected into rats 24 hours after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), immunohistochemistry and ELISA were performed to assay angiogenesis and levels of human and rat VEGF in the host brain, respectively. In addition, capillary-like tube formation was measured using mouse brain-derived endothelial cells (MBDECs). Morphological and three dimensional image analyses revealed significant (P <0.05) increases in numbers of enlarged and thin walled blood vessels and numbers of newly formed capillaries at the boundary of the ischemic lesion in rats (n=12) treated with hMSCs compared with numbers in rats (n=12) treated with PBS. ELISA measurements showed that treatment with hMSCs significantly (P <0.05) raised endogenous rat VEGF levels in the IBZ from 10.5±1.7 ng/mL in the control group to 17.5±1.6 ng/mL in the hMSC-treated group. In addition, treatment with hMSCs increased endogenous VEGFR2 immunoreactivity. In vitro, when MBDECs were incubated with the supernatant obtained from cultured hMSCs, capillary-like tube formation was significantly (P <0.01) induced. However, hMSC-induced capillary-like tube formation was significantly (P <0.01) inhibited when the endothelial cells were incubated with the supernatant from hMSCs in the presence of a neutralizing anti-VEGFR2. These data suggest that treatment of stroke with hMSCs enhances angiogenesis in the host brain and hMSC-enhanced angiogenesis is mediated by increases in levels of endogenous rat VEGF and VEGFR2.


The driving gear and driven gear in car rear axle have function of transmitting power. As important part of supporting driving gear, work life and situation of bearing have influence on power transmission. This paper improves system stiffness of gear and bearing, improves force situation of bearing by researching span between two bearings on driving gear. Work situation of main reducer can be improved through extending bearing life. The vibration and noise are reduced. Car market competition is improved.


Experiment and Results Experiments have been done both in simulation and in real world. The simulation tests the capability of the Case Base Reasoning module, and the real world experiment tests the movement pattern of the robot. The simulation has been done using the robotic software framework Player/Stage, and the real world experiment has been done using a FESTO Robotino robot platform equipped with a laser range finder and a camera for detecting persons. In the simulation an extra simulated robot was used to represent a person. Experiments were made with persons both interested and not interested in interaction.


The European methodological approach to chemical risk assessment in marine environments European legislation on chemicals mandates that risk assessments be performed to help protect both humans and the environ ment. The European Union has developed a common procedure for chemical risk assessments, available in a technical handbook (//Technical Guidance Document" or TGD). In 2003, a revised version replaced the initial document first published in 1996. This second version is approximately 900 pages long (http://ecb.jrc.it/tgdoc) and inc/udes a specifie chapter on procedures to assess risks to marine environments. The general procedure for chemical risk assessments compares levels of contamination measured or deduced by suitable models (predicted environmental concentrations) with environmental quality standards (predicted no-effect concentrations), determined by ecotoxicological tests of the survival, growth and reproduction of species deemed representative of the ecosystem. 5trictly speaking, this methodological approach was developed as a technical support to the European legislation on chemicals. However, the approach may also be seen as a reference and a useful tool for environmental managers, especially those responsible for marine coastal areas and faced with aquatic contamination.


Abstract. A new subgenus, Pacificophanes subgen. nov., of the genus Caenophanes Foerster with two new species C. (P.) baloghi sp. nov. (type species) and C. (P.) neocaledonicus sp. nov. are described from the New Caledonia. Additional new Austrolasian species of genus Caenophanes (Caenophanes), C. (C.) neoguineicus sp. nov. are described from Papua New Guinea. The short discussion about contents and distribution of the genus Caenophanes is presented.


Current-fed DAHB has distinct advantages compared to traditional full-bridge and half-bridge bidirectional converters. However, controller design for such a converter becomes complicated when features like bidirectional power flow, substantial stability margins across the whole working range, and excellent disturbance rejection are required. This paper discusses the design and implementation of a feed-forward controller working with a conventional PI controller for enhanced load disturbance and supply disturbance rejection. The conservative design of the PI controller ensures sufficient stability margins for the entire load range, and the feedforward controller provides tight regulations on the output voltage in the event of a load or supply voltage transient. A duty cycle modulator establishes the optimal operating point for the converter, minimizing transformer RMS current and therefore increasing efficiency. The proposed method is validated using simulations and hardware experiments on a scaled-down model of the converter.


Aim/Purpose To identify and rectify the learning difficulties of online learners. Background The major cause of learners' failure and non-acquisition of knowledge relates to their weaknesses in certain areas necessary for optimal learning. We focus on e-learning because, within this environment, the learner is mostly affected by these vulnerabilities due to the lack of direct contact with the teacher, who would be able to point out the learner's difficulties and help to rectify them. Methodology The research sample was 49 learners enrolled in an online course. We focused on three cognitive factors: language, memory, and reasoning. We propose an approach to optimize learners' performances based on two intelligent agents that model the role of a teacher: the "detector agent" and the "rectifier agent". Contribution The intelligent agents beneficially contribute to e-learning enrichment and the development of cognitive skills and solidification of knowledge acquisition. This is achieved by strengthening the memory, the assimilation of lessons by improving language skills, and the reinforcement of problem solving by developing reasoning and analysis capacity. Findings The results show that the proposed approach efficiently detects the weaknesses of learners and resolves them intelligently. Future Research The approach toward e-learning performance can be improved by focusing on other factors and intelligent agents that can improve the yield for learners and more effectively optimize system operation for their perceived needs.


Fires occurring in metro may cause massive fatality and property damage. The metro fire engine (MFE) is powerful equipment to solve the problem of metro fire rescue. The metro fire will result in 1) its upstream trains being trapped, which may lead to casualties of passengers on these trains; 2) The interruption of train service may lead to severe urban traffic jams; then 3) the MFE dispatched will be blocked by in-service trains on the way to the fire in the tunnel. It is necessary to open a quick rescue passage for the MFE in metro tunnels, evacuate the trapped trains quickly, and maintain uninterrupted metro operation. This paper proposes the Evacuation strategy for trapped trains close to the fire, the Overtaking strategy for the MFE, and the Alternate strategy for the track parallel to the failure track. The objective is to minimize the MFE response time, evacuation time for trapped trains, and delays on other in-service trains. To characterize the processes, this paper develops mixed integer programming (MIP) models with three strategies to jointly reschedule the MFE and trains during fire rescue. Numerical experiments from Suzhou Metro Line 1 are implemented to verify the performance of the rescue strategies. The results show that the proposed model can 1) definitely open up the emergency lifeline for the MFE by jointly rescheduling the MFE and trains, 2) rapidly evacuate the trapped trains, and 3) maintain an uninterrupted operation of the metro during the rescue.


Summary The governor of the State of Ohio signed amended substitute Senate bill 3 on July 6, 1999, requiringOhio's electric industry to change from a monopoly environment to a competitive electric environmentfor generation services. The start date for competitive retail generation services was set for January 1,2001.This new deregulation law allowed all Ohioans to choose the supplier of generation service, but thetransmission and distribution would remain regulated. It also required electric utilities to unbundle thethree main components (generation, transmission, and distribution) and make other changes designed toproduce a competitive electric generation market.While deregulation was taking shape, the NASA Glenn Research Center electrical contract withFirstEnergy Corp. (FE) of Cleveland, Ohio, was to expire on September 7, 1999. Glenn strategicallyevaluated and incorporated the impacts of electric deregulation in the negotiations. Glenn and FE spentover a year in negotiations until the Glenn utility team and the FE negotiating team came to an agreementin the fall of 2000, and a new contract became effective on January 1, 2001.


This paper addresses the road safety consequences of major rural road schemes, many of which are promoted primarily for economic or environmental reasons. It uses the accident histories of six recently completed schemes in Northamptonshire to illustrate typical road safety effects. Over 400 accidents were considered in the analysis. The conclusions identify an important role for the road safety audit function, not only in assessing the primary implications of scheme design, but also in considering the wider aspects which arise from changed traffic conditions in the network. (A)


Access to scholarship is becoming ever more dependent on one's (or one's institution's) financial means. Bjorn Brembs and Guy Geltner argue that one solution to these growing problems is for scholarship to have open, public standards; both for its Web 1.0 tasks, like reading, writing, and citing, but also, crucially, for its Web 2.0 functionalities too. Scholarship is a social endeavour and open, public standards would allow scholars to share, discuss, and reuse knowledge efficiently without being beholden to the whims of the tycoons or startups currently running the most prominent social media platforms. ScholarlyHub aims to make this vision a reality.


This paper investigates an adaptive evolutionary genetic algorithm on combinatorial optimization problem, where the solution space can be organized in form of a subset tree. A kind of genetic gene uniform encode scheme and adaptive evolution idea are used before proceeding crossover operation, and crossover is achieved between the current and previous generations individual. The orthogonal table approach is utilized to produce initial population, which can satisfy the multiplicity of the initial population. Two examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.


Long gone are the days when aviation maintenance technicians were able to maintain an aircraft like a DC-4 with no other technical training than on-the-job training. Today, we are faced with aircraft systems that are so complex and integrated that it is next to impossible to maintain these aircraft without substantial technical training and reference resources. Three of the most important resources that should be used are the expertise of other people on your shift, expertise available within your company, and the manufacturer's maintenance manuals.