In the context of high demand for autonomous aircrafts in cargo transport applications, this work presents a motion control and trajectory generation solution for a system composed of a quadrotor with a cable-suspended load that aims to control the aircraft position and reduce the load swing. First, the dynamic model of the system is derived using the Newton-Euler and EulerLagrange methods and divided into two parts: a fully actuated subsystem associated with the robot altitude and yaw angle, and an underactuated subsystem associated with the other state variables of the quadrotor. Each subsystem is controlled by a sliding mode controller which is proved to be stable in Lyapunov's sense for the task of driving the system to the sliding surfaces and staying on them. It is demonstrated by the Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion that the sliding surfaces associated with the underactuated subsystem are locally stable given some constraint rules obtained for the control parameters that make the tuning process easier. Finally, a new trajectory generation structure is proposed to suppress the load balance which consists on build a polynomial trajectory for the load, apply input shaping on it and compute the desired state of the aircraft by making use of the differential flatness property of the system. The controller is tested together with the designed trajectory generator in simulation for a point-to-point trajectory and for different durations. The controller is effective in controlling the aircraft state even when no filter is applied to the input reference and the trajectory generator greatly reduces the load swing. However, the aircraft trajectory obtained by the differentially flat model becomes prohibitive for the controller when the reference speed and acceleration reach certain limits for which the alternative solution of only applying input shaping to the aircraft trajectory presents moderate performance.


Based on theory of random fields,factors of water balance in the Hetao irrigation distinct were analyzed to find their features in different scales. The results showed that the mean of the factors was invariable with increasing the scales and the standard deviation decreased with increasing scales.The relationship between sscales and the standard deviation was described by exponential function,which response the scale dependency of water balance in irrigation district.


We are studying the treatment method that injects the droplets of waste water into pulsed discharge plasma generating by a pulsed power technology as an advanced water treatment technique. The active species, such as ozone and OH radical that have high oxidizing power, are generated in the place injecting the droplets by the discharge, and can be effectively used to decompose the organic compounds that are difficult to decompose. However, there has been few investigation of interaction between the pulse streamer discharge and the droplet in a configuration of a treatment reactor. In addition, a propagation route of pulse streamer discharge has been few investigated in the space putting the droplets in the configuration of the treatment reactor. In this paper, the propagation route of the pulse streamer discharge in the space with the droplets of water has been investigated at the configuration using the wire electrode. In addition, the influence of the droplets to the discharge has been investigated. From results, it was shown that the pulse streamer discharge propagated on the surface of the droplet. Primary streamers mainly occurred at the positions of the droplets. The propagation lengths of secondary streamer in air with the droplets were shorter than that without the droplets. The existence of the droplets prevents the propagation of the secondary streamer.


Thermal characteristics have been considered as one of the most challenging problems in 3D integrated circuits (3D ICs). The vertically stacked multiple layers of active devices cause a rapid increase of power density and the thermal conductivity of the dielectric layers inserted between device layers for insulation is quite low compared to silicon and metal, which make the peak temperature of 3D ICs rise, leading to the performance degradation. In this paper, instead of inserting Thermal Through Silicon Vias (TTSVs) to reduce the peak temperature, a temperature-aware floorplanning algorithm based on simulated annealing for fixed-outline 3D IC is proposed. The concept of "hot" block is given, by placing the "hot" block of the 3D IC on the bottom layer of the chip (near the radiator) and reasonable intra-layer and inter-layer heat limitation, the peak temperature of the 3D IC is minimized. The number, area and wirelength of the TSVs are also considered in this paper. The results show that the proposed temperature-aware 3D IC floorplanning can effectively reduce the chip peak temperature and the number of TSVs with reasonable area, wirelength and time overhead.


The paper presents the basic understanding of the organizational Culture and its types. These types have been discussed and presented in the paper. It also presents various factors affecting organizational culture and importance of organizational culture. It also suggests suitable culture types for some companies in India.


The usual graphical representation of the virial coefficients is reformulated in terms of graphs containing not only Mayer f functions, but also f functions [f≡f+1≡exp(−φ/kT)].This reformulation has three main advantages:(1) The number of integrals of topological graphs contributing to the virial coefficients is reduced; this simplifies numerical calculations.(2) In Mayer's formulation none of the star integrals contributing to the virial coefficients (for hard potentials, at least) could be ignored; each made a nonnegligible contribution. In the new formulation (again, for hard potentials) many integrals make negligible (or even zero) contributions; the extensive cancellation of positive and negative terms found in Mayer's formulation is reduced.(3) Several new ways of summing the virial series by successive approximation are suggested by the new formulation. One such way is worked out, in the first three approximations, for gases of hard parallel squares and cubes; the third approximation reproduces t...


The origin of the oscillations in the fusion excitation function for the /sup 12/C+ /sup 12/C system is investigated in the framework of the optical model using the concept of internal and barrier waves. It is found that the oscillations are caused by the interference of internal and barrier waves, which satisfy a destructive interference condition. The internal wave also plays an important role in reproducing the correct magnitude of the fusion cross section.


The aim of current research is to identify the impact of strategic fitness on rituals in the workplace in the General Company for the Textile and Leather Industry. Given the importance of the two variables in the future of its work and its ability to make decisions and the capabilities emanating from its orientation towards supporting rituals in the workplace and directing it with its current and future fitness, and trying to solve various issues of concern Iraqi industrial affairs in general and the marketing aspect of the company's products of cotton and leather textiles, and on this basis the importance of the research was in preparing a hypothetical model that is applied for the first time in the company and directed to improve rituals in the workplace. And for the current research to adopt the descriptive analytical approach based on the questionnaire as an approach that depends on the questionnaire as a main source. To collect data and information related to the research variables, their dimensions, and their paragraphs, as well as supporting them with interviews to diagnose the research problem and compare them with the results of the opinion survey, as the data were collected from (90) observations from the research community (98) intentionally and according to administrative levels, and the primary data was analyzed through descriptive statistical methods Inferential and embodied in (percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of difference Love, relative importance, Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple linear regression, confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis). In order to process the data collected by the researcher by the research sample, the statistical analysis program (SPSS V28) and the supporting program (SMART PLS V.3.4) were relied upon. On this basis, strategic fitness was adopted in general and through its dimensions combined


Some demographic changes such as increased life expectancy and increased chronic degenerative diseases make pharmacovigilance is an important opportunity to clarify aspects of drug safety in patients with long-term treatment. A pharmacological alternative which seeks to improve these aspects of safety of using drugs, it is the combination of drugs with different mechanisms of action are analyzed through mathematical models to reduce the therapeutic doses but maintaining and even improving the therapeutic effect and thus reducing the adverse effects to avoid toxicity.


An outbreak of poisoning, characterized clinically by hyperpigmentation and a chloracne‐like eruption, broke out in mid‐Taiwan in Feburary 1979. Probably over a thousand persons were affected. The source of poisoning was found to be a specific brand of rice bran oil which was contaminated accidentally with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). PCB was detected from suspected oil samples in concentrations of 40 to 106 ppm. The blood PCB levels were 70 to 460 ppb in some patients. The amount of oil consumed by the individual patients was approximately one liter per month.


Wind energy is an important pillar of the renewable energy mix and has been growing continuously during recent years. Its acceptance among citizens, however, is not only fostered by the environmentally friendly attitude of wind energy, but also restricted by its visual and acoustic appearance, modifying the picture of nature. In particular, at night, when the red collision avoidance illuminations print blinking lines on the sky, people feel bothered by this safety feature. Moreover, birds are attracted by the red blinking lights and may suffer fatal collisions with the blades of the wind turbines. Hence, switching on the collision avoidance illumination on demand, only when an aircraft appears within a protection sector of a wind park, is a requirement of the wind energy community.


The paper by Sato and Kobayashi in 1977 studied the cosmological effects of a massive neutrino and obtained constraints on its properties. This paper initiated many studies to use cosmology as a laboratory of particle physics or to use particle physics to explore the very early universe. Subject Index: 154, 177, 416


In the logical framework of organizational commitment under the influence of compensation system,literature collection and Delphi Method were applied to select 5 dimension factors of compensation system and 3 dimension factors of organizational commitment.Based on the questionnaire administered to 216 technological innovation talents in Shenyang City,research was done on the relationship between compensation system and organizational commitment as a microeconomic foundation for exploration and analysis.The study indicates that the pay structure in the compensation system impacts greatly all the dimension factors of organizational commitment.The relationship between the other 4 dimension factors of reward system and the dimension factors of organizational commitment is positive.Based on the findings above,a proposal of setting up a reward system at both governmental and corporate levels was put forward.


Quasi-phase matched conditions induced by two photon absorption in a thermally poled glass are reported. The simultaneous formation of a linear non-permanent index grating is also recorded.


Abstract : This Coastal and Hydraulics Engineering Technical Note (CHETN) provides an understanding of the methodology used by Jacksonville Harbor, FL to incorporate the philosophy of Regional Sediment Management (RSM) into the Harbor s Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP). Since RSM begins at the local level, the DMMP provides great insight for disposal opportunities such as near-shore, offshore, or confined placement with maximum environmental considerations. These optimum beneficial uses result from close coordination between the Operations Division and Planning Division of the US Army Engineer District, Jacksonville, FL (SAJ), and Jacksonville Harbor.


ABSTRACT
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
The concept of justice is an integral part of every democratic society. What
exactly it means in any age is always the subject of debate but there is no
doubt that it exists. The aspiration to achieve justice is timeless, transcending
history and national borders and acknowledged by some of the most influential
texts in UK history: The Magna Carta, in 1215, The American Constitution in 1787,
The Great Reform Act in 1867, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
1948, The Human Rights Act in 1998. (1) The UKSC is the means by which this
aspiration is secured: the bricks and mortar and golden robes, are all the physical
manifestation of a national aspiration to be governed justly and in accordance
with the rule of law. It is the highest point of arbitration between the individual
and the state. Its rulings reflecting the constant tensions between competing
interests, shaping the relationship between the state and those it seeks to
govern. This Masters Study explores the interface between the aspiration for
justice, the intangible artefact of the rule of law, and the architectural design
of its physical space : a UK Supreme Court building, hereafter UKSC. It asks the
question what is the appropriate artefact to give physical expression to the
presence of the intangible cultural artefact the rule of law?


Background and Aim: In patients with stable coronary artery disease aortic rigidity may contribute to exercise intolerance and impaired left ventricular (LV) function after coronary intervention. However, this relationship has not yet been investigated. We aimed to assess the impact of aortic stiffness on both exercise tolerance and left ventricular diastolic filling pressure after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A percutaneous coronary intervention and stenting was performed in 98 consecutive patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and positive exercise ECG. Before and after PCI, echocardiographic study, exercise stress test and aortic stiffness indices were calculated. Results: Aortic stiffness index was significantly higher in patients with CAD (19.5 ± 4.9vs 5.6 ± 2.1; P<0.0001), and still elevated even after successful PCI (11.5 ± 2.7; P<0.002). METs was significantly correlated with Aortic beta index (r = 0.64, P< 0.0001), LAVI (r= 0.49, P<0.001) and E/E? (r = 0.53, P < 0.001). ASI of <15 and < 16.5 were the best cut-off values for prediction of improved exercise tolerance and LV filling pressure after PCI. The AUROC was calculated as 0.93 and 0.94 respectively (P<0.001). Conclusion: In patients with stable coronary artery disease, increase in aortic rigidity, as assessed by aortic beta index, was independently correlated with reduced exercise tolerance and increased LV filling pressures, after PCI. ASI<15 and <16.5 were powerful predictors for improved exercise tolerance and decreased LV filling pressures after PCI.


An apparatus for detecting pressure in a hollow fan blade of a turbofan gas turbine engine comprises a magnetostriction transducer arranged in a sub chamber of the fan blade which is interconnected to a main chamber. A magnetic coil is arranged in the fan casing of the turbofan remote from the fan blade, and an alternating current is supplied from a supply to the magnetic coil to produce an alternating magnetic field. The alternating magnetic field causes the magnetostriction transducer to generate vibrations in the fan blade and the magnetostriction transducer. A magnetic search coil detects changes in the magnetic field, which corresponds to the vibrations, and a processor analyses the vibrations to determine if there has been a change in the resonant frequency of the vibrations which is indicative of a change in the pressure in the fan blade. The processor supplies a signal to a display or to an alarm. The change in the pressure is indicative that the fan blade is cracked and needs replacing.


This paper critically examines judicial decisions not to apply the Canadian Charter of Rights to the detention of prisoners by Canadian Forces in Afghanistan given allegations of torture and to reverse a remedy that Canada should request the US to repatriate a Canadian held at Guantanamo Bay. It also examines the Supreme Court's decision to apply the Charter to Omar Khadr's interrogation by Canadian officials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba but to reverse a trial judge's decision that Canada must request Khadr's repatriation as the appropriate remedy for the unconstitutional interrogation. The paper concludes that the Supreme Court's reversal of the repatriation remedy and its refusal to hear the Afghan detainee case cannot be justified on normative or prudential grounds such as those defended by constitutional theorist Alexander Bickel.


The investigation had three main aims: firstly, to characterize cells found in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph using light microscopic, electron microscopic, immunohistochemical and histochemical techniques; secondly, to investigate the in vitro functional properties of lymphocytes and macrophages migrating through tissues drained by utero-ovarian peripheral lymphatics; and, finally, to compile a profile of certain soluble factors, primarily ovarian steroid hormones, present in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph. kD J W -L A -ft-A V } ▼ * * * * ' —' — -------------------— -------------------W increased in jugular venous blood and utero-ovarian peripheral lymph. However, the percentage in the later usually fell to less than 1 % within 7 days of surgery. Multinucleated giant ceils (MGC) were observed in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph and mesometriai tissue adjacent to the cannula. The presence of MGC was thought to have resulted from chronic inflammation caused by the trauma of surgery and the insertion of an indwelling cannula. India ink was injected into various layers of the uterus and ovary to investigate which regions were drained by utero-ovarian peripheral lymphatics. In pregnant and nonpregnant ewes, the deposition of India ink into the uterine subserosa, myometrium and corpus luteum resulted in rapid transport of ink into the lymphatics. In all cases where India ink was placed in the uterine lumen, no movement of ink to the peripheral lymphatics was evident. WBCs within the uterus, ovary and medial iliac and lumboaortic lymph nodes at various stages of the reproductive cycle were noted. Eosinophilic infiltration of the corpus luteum was observed around the time of luteoiysis and mast cells were frequently present in tissue spaces adjacent to developing ovarian follicles. Both eosinophils and mast cells were observed in the medulla of draining lymph nodes. lymphatics Lymph flow rates were recorded in all | cannulated. The rate in pregnant ewes tended to increase as pregnancy progressed, the highest recorded rate being 25 ml/hr at Day 74 of gestation in a ewe carrying 3 foetuses. In nonpregnant ewes, the flow rate was very low during the follicular phase of the oestrous cycle (approximately 0.9 ml/hr on Day 1 of the cycle) and rose dramatically during the luteal phase to reach an average of 9.6 ml/hr at Day 10 of the cycle. Lymph flow rate was found to be directly proportional to the number of corpora lutea. RBC and WBC output and concentration in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph were recorded in both pregnant and nonpregnant ewes, with three ewes being studied during the periovulatory period. In pregnant ewes and nonpregnant ewes in the luteal phase, similar RBC and WBC levels were found, being approximately: 15-40 xlO4 RBC/'hr; 3-7 xlO4 RBC/ml; 20-40 xlO4 WBC/hr; and 3-8 xlO4 WBC/ml. In the period around ovulation these levels increased to approximately 80 xlO4 RBC/hr, 100 xlO4 RBC/ml, 20 xl0'+ WBC/hr and 30 xlO4 WBC/ml. The proportion of various lymphocyte subpopulations, as determined by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and polyclonal antisera, was found to vary between utero-ovarian peripheral lymph and jugular and uterine venous blood. T cell levels were higher in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph (approximately 80 % CD5 + , 50 % CD4+ and 23 % CD8 + ) than peripheral blood (approximately 55 % CD5 + , 18 % CD4+ and 12 % CD8 + ). Conversely, in lymph, 10% of lymphocytes were B cells compared to 30% in blood. There were 20-30 % MHC II+ cells in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph and 40-50 % in blood. The level of CD45R+ cells in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph was low' (2 %) compared to peripheral blood (approximately 55 % in pregnant and 25 % in nonpregnant ewes). The proportion of lymphocyte subpopulations in lymph was similar for pregnant and nonpregnant ewes. However, some differences in levels in peripheral blood were evident between uterine and jugular venous blood and pregnant and nonpregnant ewes. CD4 + cells were higher in the uterine vein (14 %) and the jugular vein (11 %) of pregnant ewes. The uterine and jugular veins in pregnant ewes contained approximately 50 % MHC II+ cells compared to 30 % in nonpregnant ewes. Likewise, the proportion of CD45R+ cells was higher in uterine and jugular venous blood of pregnant ewes (approximately 58 %) compared to nonpregnant ewes (around 25 %). Peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) subpopulations were analysed with the aid of mAbs and flow cytometry following separation by either the FicollHypaque method or erythrocyte lysis of the buffy coat. The percentage of lymphocytes labelled by the mAbs SBU-1, SBU-T4 and SBU-T8 were significantly greater (p<0.05) in samples obtained by erythrocyte lysis. In contrast, a lower percentage of lymphocytes was labelled by SBU-T6 following erythrocyte lysis (p<0.02). These data suggest caution when choosing a method for separation of PBL. The distribution of 3 enzyme histochemical markers in utero-ovarian lymph cells was studied. Sheep T cells showed a cell surface magnesiumdependent adenosine triphosphatase (Mg^ + ATPase) reaction, which is reported to be characteristic of human B cells. In cryostat sections of lymph nodes, spleen and thymus, Mg" + -ATPase positive regions closely matched those labelled by sheep pan T mAbs. An Mg" + -ATPase reaction was also found in fibroblastic reticulum cells of T cell regions in lymph nodes. Double labelling of cells from peripheral blood and peripheral lymph for Mg" + -ATPase and the pan T marker showed that 78 % of the lymphocytes were positive for both of these markers. In cell suspensions enriched for B cells the percentage of ceils positively labelled was decreased to 37 %. Samples of each cell population which were labelled with a pan T mAb and analysed to flow cytometry revealed T cell levels which were not significantly different from those obtained by histochemical or immunohistochemical techniques. Less than 1 % of lymphocytes positive for heavy and light chains of immunoglobulin G were labelled with Mg" + -ATPase. Veiled cells in lymph and monocytes showed a cytoplasmic Mgz ' -ATPase reaction. The distribution of acid phosphatase and nonspecific esterase was similar to that reported in other species. Due to the low cell numbers in peripheral lymph, an in vitro cultivation system was developed which required 1.5 xlO^ cells/ml, 2.5 xlO'^ 2ME and a total volume of 80 /xl/well. Utero-ovarian peripheral lymphocyte response to Con A progressively decreased with increased progesterone levels. Cultivation of irradiated utero-ovarian peripheral lymph cells and medial iliac and lumboaortic lymph node cells with PBL produced greater proliferation of PBL than when the PBL were cultivated with irradiated PBL. Supplementation with autologous lymph plasma proved stimulatory in the preceding assay, whereas autologous blood plasma suppressed lymphocyte proliferation. Spontaneous cellular proliferation in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph was due largely to lymphocyte division. The rate of lymphocyte mitosis in utero-ovarian peripheral lymph of nonpregnant ewes decreased with increasing progesterone content but in pregnant ewes the rate increased with increasing progesterone content. Ovarian peripheral lymph was collected during the periovulatory period. Prior to ovulation it contained high levels of oestrogens and androgens. Following ovulation the level of these hormones declined and progestagen levels then began to rise. The results of experiment described in this thesis show clearly that in the ewe there is no immune response to pregnancy measurable in the lymphatic drainage of the reproductive tract. There also is no evidence that the suppressive effect of progesterone on in vitro lymphocyte responsiveness has a major role in immunosuppression during pregnancy. It is likely that the immunological consequences of pregnancy occur at the maternal foetal interface and are modulated by the location and structure of the MHC 1 antigens on the trophoblast and/or pregnancy specific substances produced by the trophoblast and the endometrium. The results of steroid assays on ovarian lymph collected during ovulation showed with unprecedented precision the sudden changes in steroid synthesis that occur at this time. The presence of androstenedione and testosterone in ovarian lymph has not been reported previously. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A T P A d e n o s in e t r ip h o s p h a te C o n A C o n c a n a v a lin A cpm C o u n ts p e r m in u te C T L C y to to x ic T ly m p h o cy te C T L p C y to to x ic T ly m p h o cy te p re c u rs o r D D W D e io n iz e d d is tille d w a te r D L N D ra in in g ly m p h n o d e E a g le 's M E M E a g le 's m in im u m e s se n tia l m e d iu m E D T A E th y le n e d ia m in e te tra a c e t ic a c id F ( a b ') 2 A n tib o d y b in d in g f ra c tio n o f im m u n o g lo b u lin F A C S F lu o re s c e n c e a c tiv a te d cell s o r te r F C S F o e ta l c a lf s e ru m F IT C F lu o re s c e in iso th io c y a n a te F S H F o llic le s t im u la tin g h o rm o n e G n R H G o n a d o tro p h in re le a s in g h o rm o n e H a n k s BSS H a n k s b a la n c e d s a lt so lu tio n H I H e a t in a c tiv a te d ^ H -th y m id in e T r i t ia te d th y m id in e Ig Im m u n o g lo b u lin II In d ia ink L H L u te in iz in g h o rm o n e m A b M o n o c lo n a l a n tib o d y 2 M E 2 M e rc a p to e th a n o l M G C M u lt in u c le a te d g ia n t cell M g ^ + -A T P a se 2 -fM g -d e p e n d e n t a d e n o s in e t r ip h o s p h a ta s e M H C M a jo r h is to c o m p a tib il i ty c o m p lex M L C M ix ed ly m p h o c y te c u ltu re N S E N o n -sp e c if ic e s te ra s e


Coffin-Lowry syndrome (CLS) – caused by mutations in RSK2: OMIM #303600 – is recognized by the facial dysmorphism ("punched face" appearance) and chubby hands with tapering fingers that go with the learning difficulties that are more severe in boys than affected girls. Although some have epilepsy, the most characteristic paroxysmal events are sound-triggered drop attacks, which occur in about 25% [1].


This paper is devoted to Sample Adaptive Offset (SAO). This technique was recently added into High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. The concept of SAO is to reduce sample distortion of a region by classifying the region samples into multiple categories, obtaining an offset for each category, and then adding the offset to each sample, where the classifier index and the offsets are coded in the bit stream.


An article in the series on the aftermath of Egypt's February 2011 Revolution and the possibilities for legal and constitutional reform.


The present situation of geologic data management is analysed in this paper, pointing out that geologic data disc storage is the first step for realizing its modernized management. The contents and process of geologic data disc storage working and the understanding in the working practice are emphatically intruduced, showing that the new working is an important basis for modernized management of geologic data disc storage.


ART-2A Neural Network is effective in dealing with classification problem of pattern recognition,but it suffers from classification drift because of the shortage in algorithm structure,which may cause network instability,and in turn severely affect the engineering application of the network.The standard ART-2A network structure and algorithm are studied.And the causes of classification drift are analyzed.An improved ART-2A algorithm is presented and is used in Fault Detection and Diagnosis(FDD) experiments for verification of network stability and usability.The Experiments showed that the improved ART-2A algorithm can work steadily in a long term,and can distinguish fault correctly.The improved ART-2A network is helpful for realizing automatic FDD.


: Achieving liveable communities in cities has gained growing interest worldwide over the past twenty years. It is evident in various scientific literature arguing the livability notion from different scientific disciplines, such as social and environmental science. Indeed, the Liveability notion is ambiguous and complex that is perceived differentially according to each scientific discipline's perspective. Moreover, establishing a consensus over a united understanding of the "Liveability Dimensions" term might be unreachable. Despite having appeared repetitively among various academic studies, the intended meaning and content of the "Liveability Dimensions" term is not necessarily held the same. Indeed, several scholars and organizations have defined the Liveability dimensions. However, every one of them has introduced his comprehension of Liveability dimensions based on his perspective or experience drawn from other scholars' research. Through a case study analysis, this paper intends to establish a general understanding and background for the Liveability notion and shed light on the practical meaning of the Liveability Dimensions. The study was conducted in one of the top liveable cities worldwide, the City of Melbourne CBD. It is a city that is referred to be among the pioneers interested in the field of achieving liveable cities over the globe. The case study analysis was performed based on three main categories that combined reflected the livability dimensions: Physical and Environmental Indices, Economic Indices, and Social Indices. Through the study analysis, this paper concluded with a set of urban, economic, and social indices that contribute to creating Liveable city centers, where people, in the same area, can live, work, and entertain.


INTRODUCTION: The objective of this study was to evaluate a recently developed motor unit number estimation (MUNE) method, MScanFit MUNE (MScan), as a measure of disease progression in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) compared to compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitude and two traditional MUNE methods. METHODS: ALS patients were evaluated clinically by ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R). MScan, multiple point stimulation MUNE (MPS) and motor unit number index (MUNIX) were performed in the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) muscle at baseline (27 patients), 4 months (23 patients) and 8 months (16 patients). RESULTS: Of the 5 measures, MScan registered the largest decline (8.7% per month) compared with MPS (3.4%), MUNIX (4.8%), CMAP amplitude (2.0%) and ALSFRS-R (1.9%). Only MScan and ALSFRS-R registered significant decrements over 4 and 8 months. DISCUSSION: MScan may be a sensitive objective tool for quantifying motor unit loss in ALS. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Purpose
This paper examines the relationship between business strategies and employees' intention to leave (ITL), through the mediating role of high-performance work system (HPWS).

Design/methodology/approach
To test their hypotheses, the authors used self-administered questionnaires. They drew up a list of 600 organizations of different nature and structure operating in India that were listed by the Federation of Indian Chambers and Industry. They approved 192 organizations and sent the surveys to 960 executives. They aimed to receive a minimum of one response from an HR executive and two from non-HR executives from each one. In the end, they received 572 useable responses.

Findings
The study found that high-performance work systems (HPWS) mediate the relationship between business strategy and employees' intention to leave (ITL). The two effective approaches were "quality management" and "innovation strategy", both of which reinforced the adoption of HPWS. But a third approach, a "cost-reduction strategy", was not shown to be positively correlated with HPWS. Another important finding was that the influence on ITL did not vary across the types, or ownership structures, of the firms.

Originality/value
The data has lessons for HR departments. First, it shows it is advantageous for firms hoping to retain more employees to invest in HPWS that are consistent with the values of their organizations. A second practical finding is that firms need to take into account the Indian context. A third lesson is HR practitioners should make strong efforts to communicate the goals of the HPWS to employees The study also shows firms adopting cost-reduction strategies should focus more on treating employees as resources.


We propose a cell library development methodology for throughput enhancement of electron beam direct-write (EBDW) systems. First, an ILP (integer linear programming)-based cell selection is proposed for EBDW systems in which both of the character projection (CP) and the variable shaped beam (VSB) methods are available, in order to minimize the number of electron beam (EB) shots, that is, time to fabricate chips. Secondly, the influence of cell directions on area and delay time of chips is examined. The examination helps to reduce the number of EB shots with a little deterioration of area and delay time because unnecessary directions of cells can be removed to increase the number of cells on a CP aperture mask. Finally, a case study is shown in which the numbers of EB shots are examined under several cases.


The vast majority of patient injuries are caused by human error by professional, caring persons acting in good faith. However, these humans are bound and constrained by systems in which they must act. Systems are the appropriate focus to address human factors and errors, rather than the traditional legal and medical paradigm of individually-oriented shame and blame, which is antithetical to system function and improvement. This paper reviews the basic of error, points to how the legal and medical systems represent prototypical shame and blame philosophies, and calls for a new systems-oriented ethical paradigm that expands individual accountability, substantively involves the patient, and focuses upon systems improvement, rather than ineffectual individual punishment, as its goal.


ABSTRACT As the scope and complexity of information technology increases, and the needs of its users continue to grow, a greater emphasis will need to be placed on university libraries and colleges partnering to develop timely and relevant library instruction. It is recommended that freshmen take an introductory library course to gain the skills necessary to competently use library resources and services. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, students with majors in the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources take such a library course as part of their required curriculum.


The invention discloses a tower type powder dressing and sand making device, relating to a sand making device. The tower type powder dressing and sand making device comprises a loading system, wherein the loading system is connected with the upper end of a sand making and powder dressing system, the sand making and powder dressing system is fixed on a frame, and the bottom of the sand making and powder dressing system is respectively connected with a powder material conveying and storing system and a finished product sand conveying system. The tower type powder dressing and sand making device disclosed by the invention has the advantages of compact structure, small floor area and adjustable fineness modulus and powder content of machine-made sand, is simultaneously suitable for making sand from construction waste, changes a traditional way of simply realizing the classification of the construction waste according to the particle size of the construction waste, and is used for solving the problem that an existing construction waste treatment device can not effectively utilize the construction waste to regenerate aggregates.


The aim of this work is to design a robust output-based controller for a robotic manipulator (RM) with a master–slave configuration (MSC). The trajectories of the slave robot manipulator (SRM) must fulfil two types of constraints. The first corresponds to the boundaries of the obstacles placed in the given workspace. The second is related to the boundaries of the workspace. The controller must ensure the collision avoidance of the obstacles and the end-effector of the SRM should remain inside of the workspace. The proposed controller satisfies a state feedback structure with time-varying gains. The time-variable gains include an integral compensation that guarantees the collision avoidance with the obstacle satisfying the boundary of the workspace, which is the main contribution of this study. The solution of a matrix inequality characterises the zone of convergence and the suboptimal control gains. A set of numerical simulations using a MSC based on a couple of two-link RMs illustrates the advantages obtained with the proposed method. Also, a set of experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.


The purpose of this study was firstly to investigate correctional function of custom semi-rigid foot orthotics for excessively pronated people during gait by observing comfort, navicular movement and leg muscles` activity according to short-term and mid-term wearing duration and secondly to understand positive and/or negative point of view of a recently proposed paradigm related to foot orthotics more profoundly. Sixteen subjects who showed excessive pronation at navicular drop test were recruited for this study. Custom semi-rigid foot orthotics were made fitting for foot characteristics of the subjects by podiatry division of Otto Bock Korea company. While wearing the foot orthotics for two months, comfort of wearing were questioned and vertical navicular movement and electromyography of leg muscles during gait were measured at the condition of both immediately after and 2 months after including a control condition, respectively. The subjects were required to walk on a treadmill at the speed of 1.5m/s and four digital video camera filmed the movement of navicular process at the speed of 60 frames/s. In conclusion, in excessively pronated group continuous increase of comfort from short-term to mid-term wearing of custom foot orthotics is assumed to be closely related with short-term and mid term correctional action, of which are consisted the decrease of the range of navicular drop and navicular raisins- the faster timing of minimum navicular position occurring, and the decrease of leg muscles` activities. This conclusion could lead to positively accept new paradigm related to foot orthotics suggested by Nigg and the author suggest that in the future study the variable which could observe navicular movement would be one of major variables to study preferred path of skeleton in the paradigm.


A highly efficient ultrasonic biotelemetry system would be desired to the ocean having a high underwater ambient noise that is especially from the temperate zone to the tropics. The four parameters were defined as the estimated factors for pinger system, long distance transmitting, battery life, pinger size and ability of recognition. The four parameters of the pinger were analyzed and investigated to design for the optimum ultrasonic biotelemetry system. The first parameter, long distance, must be considered the transmitting frequency, modulation, transformation and etc. The second, battery life, must be designed for the effective transducer and the low power dissipation electronic circuit. The third, smallest pinger size, must be adopted the microelectronics components. The last, high recognition, depend on the signal processing method of the underwater transmitting system . As a result, the first need was achieved over 1,200 meters transmission distance, the second was realized 300 days battery life when 30 seconds repetition by using the small battery SR626SW 32mAh. The third, the pinger size was realized theφ8 mm diameter and 40 mm long. The last, the M sequence signal was used the pinger and the correlation processing of the receiving system was adopted for the high recognition against the noise and to avoid the collision of other pingers. The system consisted of the tiny pinger and the high performance receiving equipment including the transducer. The pinger could be transmitted the IDs and the depth information each repetition interval. The receiver processed to correlate the received Msequence signal from the pinger using the FPGA chip and calculates the direction of the pinger. The raw data could be stored to the PC through the data conversion from analog to digital, 16 bits 192 kHz sampling. The actual experimental data will be presented to obtain in the Tokyo Bay and Osaka Bay using the developed system.


FIELD: medicine, veterinary science. SUBSTANCE: invention proposes food and fodder compositions for decreasing inflammation risk containing starch matrix and chicory extract containing the therapeutically effective amount of α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone that is able to inhibit cyclooxygenase-associated enzymatic activity and transcriptional activity of COX-2 in mammal body. Also, invention relates to food and fodder compositions used for prophylaxis or treatment of inflammation disease and comprise chicory extract containing the therapeutically effective amount of α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone. Also, invention relates to using chicory extract containing the therapeutically effective amount of α-methylene-γ-butyrolactone for preparing food or fodder composition that is used for inhibition of COX-2 activity. Invention promotes to prophylaxis or treatment of inflammatory diseases in mammals. EFFECT: valuable biological properties of compositions. 3 tbl


Metamaterials exhibit unique properties that are often not found in nature, making them advantageous in challenging engineering applications. These materials, however, are extremely difficult and time consuming to design, typically requiring custom algorithm development for a specific application. For metamaterials to be more readily created and implemented, an easily accessible design method that uses commercially available tools is needed. With the integration of optimization packages, commercially available finite element analysis software now presents an opportunity for the constrained design of metamaterials. This work investigates using topology optimization (TO) capabilities within commercial finite element analysis (FEA) software to create a methodology for targeted metamaterial design. This study focuses on auxetic materials, those exhibiting negative Poisson's ratio, as an example case. An overview of the design process and topology optimization objectives, constraints, and boundary conditions will be provided, as well as a description of the challenges associated with utilizing a commercial FEA method.


With 107~# silicone rubber as matrix resin,put into the halogen-free,and aluminum hydroxide mixed compound flame-retardant,as well as heavy calcium carbonate etc.Incremental fillers,prepared the halogen-free,flame-retardant,self-levelling the silicone adhesive of electronic assembly.Its were discussed that kinds of flame retardant,best formula ratio,quantities and a amout of fillers for the influence of properties.That flame-retardant grade of electronic adhesive reaches UL 94-V0 level,self-levelling,and suit for bonding and sealing at electronic assembly.


Approaches of predicting hydrocarbon spatial distribution can be categorized into three general groups: genetic method,stochastic method and information integration method.The genetic method considers the geologic factors of hydrocarbon accumulation,but omits the important instruction of the drilling outcomes.It is fit for the area that is in an earlier exploration stage and scarce of exploration wells.The stochastic method is based on drilling outcomes,and in this method,geologic statistics is applied for predicting hydrocarbon distribution,the method doesn't involve in the hydrocarbon accumulation factors.The information integration method contains all kinds of exploration information,such as geological,geophysical and drilling informations,and can comprehensively reflect the characteristics of hydrocarbon spatial distribution on a map,and its result is straightforward and reasonable,so the method is advanced.The information integration method is derived from the research on hydrocarbon distribution of overseas marine basins;it is difficult for directing the exploration of the non-marine basins in China.If the method is used to explore the subtle reservoirs of rifted basins in East China,it is necessary to combine with it advanced geologic theories and techniques,such as the high resolution 3D seismic data and sequence stratigraphy,and other hydrocarbon accumulation factors and exploration data to predict precisely favorable sandbody zones and study the hydrocarbon spatial distribution.


PURPOSE: To obtain an optical device using a spatial light modulator(SLM) which generates an electric signal upon catching an image. CONSTITUTION: An SLM 11 is composed of an array of picture elements which can be switched individually and, when the picture elements are switched to 'ON' positions, they reflect light toward a sensor. When each picture element is switched to the 'ON' position, the light from the picture element is directed to the sensor 15. The sensor 15 generates a signal which is proportional to the light related to each picture element to each picture element. As a result, a series of signals indicating at least one image frame are generated. Therefore, a moving image is generated by repeating the above-mentioned process to many image frames. COPYRIGHT: (C)1993,JPO


Original scientific paper The paper presents an application of the stochastic measurement approach for true RMS and power of noise. The instrument structure is based on two 2bit flash analog-to-digital (A/D) converters whose inputs are the dithered noise, and on accumulation of the product of the converters' outputs. New theoretical expressions for predicting measurement result and measurement uncertainty, with inclusion of input signal's stochastic nature, are derived. Extensive simulations and experiments prove the validity of the proposed method and its low measurement uncertainty, even at a relatively low sampling rate. These indicate that, beside general applications for noise measurements, the instrument is suitable for chemical and biological substances detection that utilizes graphene sensors.


In order to make use of front cuts more reasonably and effectively,balance the clothes body,and make the chest shape more artistic,it expounded the differences of front cuts,the processing methods and the range of application.


TheChemical Substances Threshold LimitValue Committee oftheAmerican Conference ofGovernmental Industrial Hygienists hasrefined itsprocedures forevaluating carcinogens. Typesofepidemiologic andtoxicologic evidence usedarereviewed andadiscussion ispresented onhowtheCommittee evaluates data oncarcinogenicity. Although ithasnotbeenconclusively determined whether biological thresholds exist forall types ofcarcinogens, the Committee willcontinue todevelop guidelines forpermissible


Technological innovation will continue to be essential in the energy system for both economic and public policy reasons. The process of innovation is typically incremental, cumulative, and assimilative. Innovation may produce revolutionary outcomes through the accumulation of small steps, or because it introduces new performance characteristics that the market values. In some circumstances, public policy intervention to overcome obstacles to innovation may be justified to secure public benefits. One obstacle is that innovators may be unable to capture all of the available economic benefits of innovation. Another is that economic benefits may not be available and the value of the public good has not been internalized in the market. Experience with energy innovation suggests government intervention works best when it is carefully targeted on specific obstacles. Why some government policies have not been successful and suggestions for new policy approaches that might be useful are also discussed.


In this paper, we present a Branch and Bound algorithm called QuickBB for computing the treewidth of an undirected graph. This algorithm performs a search in the space of perfect elimination ordering of vertices of the graph. The algorithm uses novel pruning and propagation techniques which are derived from the theory of graph minors and graph isomorphism. We present a new algorithm called minor-min-width for computing a lower bound on treewidth that is used within the branch and bound algorithm and which improves over earlier available lower bounds. Empirical evaluation of QuickBB on randomly generated graphs and benchmarks in Graph Coloring and Bayesian Networks shows that it is consistently better than complete algorithms like Quick-Tree [Shoikhet and Geiger, 1997] in terms of cpu time. QuickBB also has good anytime performance, being able to generate a better upper bound on treewidth of some graphs whose optimal treewidth could not be computed up to now.


░ ABSTRACT: In present era several companies and research group s are developing enhanced technologies which help t o increase the operating lifetime of battery used in w reless sensor devices. Energy harvesting from amb ient radio frequency becomes an attractive and trendy solution for energ izing the devices of wireless sensor networks. Abun dant availability of RF power from number of cell phone towers, Wi-Fi netwo rks and DTH transmitters ensure that ample amount o f power may be harvested from ISM band and after RF to DC conversi on used in various low power applications. In this paper a thorough review on existing techniques of various RF power harvesti ng circuit comprised of different RF to DC converte r and matching network with their characteristics and applications is pres ented. The possibility of harvesting circuit is als o explored. Authors also discussed various design issues for developing the RF nergy harvester.


This research is a quantitative research with the type of correlational research which aims to determine whether or not there is a significant correlation between limited face-to-face learning and high grade student achievement at SDN 9 TA Kabupaten Bone Based on descriptive statistical analysis the results of limited face-to-face learning with an average of 79,80 are in the very good category and student achievement is obtained an average of 84,35 is in the very good category. Based on inferential statistical analysis, it shows that thitung (3,507) value is greater than (>) ttabel value (1,67655) at the 5% significance level. Therefore H0 rejected and H1 accepted, so that the conclusion of this research is that there is a significant correlation between limited face-to-face learning and high grade student achievement at SDN 9 TA Kabupaten Bone.


: In this paper, performance, outcomes and benefits are reported of nearly 140 SPICE-Assessments conducted over a time span of two years in the IT-organization of one of the largest German banking groups. The scope of the assessments includes projects and services covering development, maintenance, migration and production assurance of finance applications. The numerical results of the assessments are used as input for the organization's Balanced Scorecard, while the identified strengths and weaknesses serve as input to refine the organization's standard process and for further improvement of process effectiveness and efficiency. The paper reflects the trend in the finance sector of the increasing awareness and importance of the quality and effectiveness of IT-Processes. It demonstrates that ISO/IEC TR 15504 (SPICE) spans across the landscape of IT Processes in a financial environment and how it can be used for performance evaluation at various levels in an organization. It is described how the assessment process has been optimized to perform the high number of assessments and how the assessment model has been adapted to the particular needs and culture of the organization. In addition, the overall benefits from the assessments are discussed from the organization's point of view.


Fibres are generally used as resistance of cracking and strengthening of concrete. The purpose of this research is to investigate the strength and mechanical properties of plain concrete, steel fibre reinforced concrete and polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete. The main focus of this investigation is to understand the reinforcement material's behaviour on concrete and to compare the effect of increasing fibres on the concrete. The percentages of fibre used for both types of concrete were 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%. Details and results of the experimental study are provided and discussed.


This study determined the influence of the spiral progression approach in teaching junior high school mathematics. The study utilized a descriptive method of research with test and research-made questionnaire as the main data gathering instrument. Frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation, weighted mean, composite mean and Pearson r were utilized as statistical tools to treat gathered data. Findings showed that students have low performance in Mathematics in the National Achievement Test (NAT) and were only in the Beginning level of achievement when it comes to their critical thinking and problem solving in the five areas in Mathematics namely Numbers and Number Sense, Measurement, Patterns in Algebra, Geometry and Probability and Statistics. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between the performance of students in Mathematics on NAT and their level of understanding in critical and problem solving skill in the five areas in Mathematics. Results also revealed that teachers had encountered problems in using spiral progression approach in teaching Mathematics.


The world's first dual leg transplant patient took his first steps two weeks ago at a hospital in Spain, and will eventually be able to walk unaided, doctors say.


This article is devoted to the issue of the organization of ecological education of students in higher educational institutions; methodological recommendations on the use of problem-search and case technologies in the pedagogical process have also been developed. The basis was the task to analyze the causes and consequences of climate change, to provide students with the opportunity to study the observed trends in the Republic of Uzbekistan, to acquaint them with the international movement on climate change. Practical work is offered. The effectiveness of the approach was shown by the assessment of the work result.


The aim of this research paper is to evaluation the service recovery strategy in the cellular industry of Pakistan. The switching of customers from one cellular company to another is common which is shown low satisfaction due to some gap of effective service recovery. Effective service recovery keeps the customer loyal if it is properly implemented after the service failure especially in the service industry. The earlier literature of 2015 study reveals and proved the effective role of service recovery strategies in Cellular Industry of Egypt. The research conducted in the Cellular Industry of Pakistan as such kinds of research does not conduct in Pakistan with a broad spectrum of service recovery. This could lead to effective service recovery strategies for retention of customers. Keeping the service recovery theory this research used service recovery strategies adopted a model from an earlier study in the cellular industry of Pakistan through Convenient Survey of 99 customers of Sukkur & Larkana Divisions of mobile companies. The quantitative method and the five liker scale used from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The SPSS 18 is used for data Reliability, Factor Analysis, correlation analysis, ANNOVA and Multiple regressions. The 41 items of variables used of service recovery dimensions like an apology, compensation, Explanations, Follow-up, Facilitation, Speed of Response, Courtesy, Efforts, Response, Problem Solving and repurchase intentions. The customer recovery scale proved the high reliability (Cronbach's Alpha 0.968), acceptable ratio factor analysis (Above 5 & 6 value in KMO Test & above 1 in Eigen Value), correlations (lower the value 0.7 or 0.6) and ANNOVA (significance value 0.00). The results showed that apology, facilitations, the speed of response, efforts and problems solving are very important aspects that have an impact on customer repurchase intentions with service recovery. This index is potential value for establishing alink between customer repurchase intention and customer service recovery strategy which can contribute to the retention of the client with the company in long term. The manager must focus on immediate complaint resolution system to retain their clients. This study is comprehensive and not done in Pakistan at such scale level and can contribute to effective service recovery. This research was limited in the area because only Sukkur and Larkana Divisions were focused on gathering data, due to time constraint the data was gathered from only 99 respondents only. This research focused on nine dimensions of service recovery while there are many others.


Bacteriophage typing of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of human cholera, is widely accepted as a convenient and highly discriminating method of identifying strains for epidemiological studies. The international set of typing phages, namely group I to V eltor phages (Basu & Mukerjee, 1968), has certain limitations as most of the strains are restricted to only two phage types. In order to develop a new phage typing scheme for V. cholerae biotype E1 Tor, a total of 13 phages from environmental sources were isolated of which five were found to be useful for typing purposes. Using these phages against V. cholerae El Tor strains, different lytic patterns were obtained suggesting that they were different from one another. The present communication deals with the characterization of these newly isolated phages by electron microscopy. Sewage water samples were collected from different places in Calcutta and were processed for phage isolation according to the method described by Adams (1959). The five phages mentioned above were purified by successive single plaque isolations and were designated N 1 to N5. Phage lysates were prepared (Adams, 1959) using MAK-757 as the propagating strain. Phage particles were pelleted by centrifugation at 20000 r.p.m, for 2 h at 5 °C in a Beckman 50.2Ti rotor. The pellet was resuspended in (1/10th of lysate volume) 0-05 M-Tris-HC1 pH 7.4, 0-01 M-MgC12. Concentrated phage stocks were maintained at 4 °C. Carbon-coated 300-mesh grids were used for specimen support. Phage particles were stained with 2% (w/v) uranyl acetate in double-distilled water. Uranyl acetate was chosen as the staining material as it has been reported to give more accurate phage head dimensions than does phosphotungstic acid (Ackermann et al., 1985). Grids were examined in a Philips electron microscope (420T) at an instrument magnification of 60000. Magnification was calibrated with beef catalase crystals. Negatives were enlarged fivefold and all measurements were done on magnified prints. It was observed that all the N1 to N5 phages have a hexagonal head and a very short, noncontractile tail (Fig. 1). The diameter of the head (distance between opposite apices) and the length of the tail are summarized in Table 1. The fact that tails are not visible in all phages may


Objectives To evaluate the sealing ability of five root canal sealers, including two experimental cements (MBP and MTA-Obtura) using the fluid filtration method. Material and Methods Teeth were divided into 5 study groups: G1-AH Plus; G2-Acroseal; G3-Sealapex; G4-MBP; G5-MTA-Obtura; and two controls. Chemical-mechanical preparation was performed with ProFile rotary nickel-titanium instruments 1 mm short of the apical foramen. The sealing ability was evaluated by fluid filtration at 15, 30, and 60 days. Results The statistical analysis showed significant difference between the materials at different periods (p<0.05). AH Plus and MBP had similar leakage values at 15 and 60 days, alternating with significant reduction at 30 days, while the other materials showed progressive increase in leakage values. Acroseal and Sealapex presented the best results at 15 days and the worst at 60 days. Conclusions All sealers evaluated presented fluid leakage, with AH Plus and MBP showing the best results at the end of the experimental period. Acroseal, Sealapex, and MTA-Obtura presented increase in leakage values at longer observation periods.


We have conducted ice deformation experiments across a wide range of temperatures (-2 to -70C) and strain rates (1E-7 to 1E-4). Most experiments are carried out in axial compression and a much smaller number in direct shear (∼ simple shear). Cryo-EBSD data from deformed samples demonstrate that microstructures of deformed ice change as a function of both temperature and differential stress/strain rate.


Telemedicine applications have received increasing attention with significant effects on the traditional mechanism of health care services, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article investigates the values and barriers influencing the adoption and acceptance of telemedicine services during COVID-19 by a systems approach combined with a quantitative analysis. We developed a casual loop diagram showing the interactions between the factors, including technology, policymaking, patient, and care provider in the context of COVID-19. The feedback loops were thematically synthesized from the literature to demonstrate the attitude of adopting telemedicine services while considering the connections and causality of different factors. To further quantify how COVID-19 impacted the adoption of telemedicine, a National Electronic Health Record Survey 021 was utilized to test the usage, barrier, and trend of telemedicine. The results indicate that factors including ease of use, utilization, available tools, facilitating conditions, technology access, and quality of care influence the adoption and acceptance of telemedicine. The results also suggest that the challenges and opportunities associated with telemedicine adoption and use should be explored holistically from multiple perspectives and shed light on various stakeholders at different levels.


Centralised operation of distribution system suffer from inherent difficulties like increased complexities with increased system size, consequent frequent upgradation, delayed decision making and so on. Paradigm shift towards decentralised operations overcomes the aforesaid problems and assist in automated grid operations. Load flow is an indispensable tool, where the system operator does centralised calculation of state variables. This study proposes a novel approach towards decentralised load flow computation for weakly meshed distribution system. Agent technology is employed to design the framework which is based on agent relaying concept. The agents are located on system buses, and have limited access to information pertaining to system topology and nodal injections. By coordinating with neighbouring agents, they aim towards the fulfilment of their own goal, i.e. bus voltage calculation. To achieve this, several behaviours such as forward sweep, backward sweep, break point calculations and scenario generation are incorporated in the proposed system design. The solution thus obtained is decentralised in nature. The agent designing is done under JAVA environment on JADE platform. Two case studies considering 15 bus and 69 bus radial distribution systems are simulated with the proposed concept to show the validity and applicability of the proposed framework for smart grid management systems.


Pulp and paper companies are the natural leaders for the production of transport biofuels and the associated co-products. By diversification using existing staff and plant, pulp and paper producers have a comparative advantage over other potential investors.


The crucial issue for mobile Internet services is to provide the guaranteed mobile QoS for multicalls. In mobile networks, we should not only guarantee handoff dropping probability but also maximize resource utilization. In this paper, we propose a QoS admission control mechanism for macro Mobile QoS based on a dynamic resource reservation. We introduce the requirements for macro Mobile QoS as mobility features and predict required resources in each routing paths thorough the combined analysis of average movement pattern and pre-defined handoff dropping probability. Our simulation results show that the proposed scheme can guarantee the pre-defined handoff dropping probability and maintain lower call blocking probability and higher resource utilization than other schemes. The propose scheme gives a practical solution for mobile networks providing mobile Internet services.


Previous efforts in analyzing productivity in academic journals in marketing have failed to consider collaboration and diversity of authors within journals. We study authorship patterns in five major marketing journals from 1984 through 1993. The analysis focuses not only on productivity, but also on collaboration and diversity. The findings provide valuable insights for productivity comparisons, publication among different ranks, career planning, and journal trends.


The atypical antipsychotic clozapine can have profound clinical benefits for patients with severe schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder when alternative agents have been ineffective.[1][1] In 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pharmacy Benefits Management and Office of Mental Health


Many modern drugs are extremely potent and useful, but often the margin between the therapeutic dose and one which causes adverse reactions is small. Greater skill is needed in using these drugs to the best advantage than was required to prescribe the elegant placebos of the past. Adverse reactions range from minor symptoms such as a dry mouth or sleepiness up to potentially fatal damage to the bone marrow or the liver. It is important to detect and report adverse reactions so that the problem can be recognized and brought to the attention of the profession by the medical journals and the Committee on Safety of Drugs. Two techniques have been used to collect information about adverse reactions. Doctors have been asked to report them to a central body by use of a simple printed form. An example is the yellow warning postcard issued in the United Kingdom by the Committee on Safety of Drugs. Unfortunately, only a small proportion of adverse reactions get reported when this technique is used. At Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore, the number of reports received increased fourfold when a programme of active surveillance replaced one which relied on the resident staff completing a drug reaction card attached to the notes. The second method is for the adverse reactions to be sought by a doctor or nurse who makes regular visits to patients and inquires specifically about adverse reactions. As might be expected, this produces a much higher return. Three articles in this week's B.M.7. report a study of this second method carried out in Belfast, and show that drug reactions occurred in 10 2% of 1,160 patients who received drug therapy. The figure may seem high, but figures of 15% and 18% have been reported from similar surveys carried out in the Johns Hopkins Hospital' and Montreal General Hospital.2 Studies which have relied upon completion of adverse reaction reports have given figures of only 1-3 %.3 I The number of adverse reactions to drugs depends partly upon their toxicity and partly on the frequency with which they are prescribed. It is unwise to assume that one penicillin or phenothiazine is more toxic than another without knowing the relative amounts which are used. Even in hospital it may be difficult to obtain an accurate record of the drugs administered to each patient' and in the community-where patients may be receiving tablets from more than one source-the problems are obviously much greater. Fortunately, most of the reactions are not severe, and in the Belfast survey only four threatened life. Most studies have shown that reactions occur predominantly in the first few days of hospital admission, when sick patients are roaost likely to be treated with drugs. In Montreal 87% of the adverse reactions were due to the main pharmacological action of the drug, and half of these resulted from overdosage. The majority of adverse reactions are caused by a relatively small number of drugs, with digitalis and antibiotics heading the list. The incidence of adverse reactions to drugs rises with the number of different drugs prescribed to each patient. In the Belfast study two-thirds of the patients who were in hospital for more than three weeks had received six or more different drugs. A study of adverse reactions to methicillin carried out in the United States' showed that on average each patient had received 14 other drugs during his stay in hospital. It would be helpful to establish which combinations are particularly likely to be hazardous and try to improve understanding of the mechanisms involved. In Belfast the combination of digitalis and diuretics was a potent source of adverse reactions. There are some important lessons to be learnt from these surveys of unwanted and potentially hazardous drug reactions. The frequency of these reactions enjoins caution on all who prescribe drugs-particularly those such as digitalis, anticoagulants, and antidiabetic and antihypertensive agents whose dose regulation is critical. Nevertheless, it is reassuring to find that many reactions are not severe, and many doctors might not consider some nausea with digitalis or looseness of the bowel with ampicillin worth reporting as an adverse reaction. Active surveillance of adverse reactions to drugs involves a full-time commitment for one or more doctors. Expense alone would rule out such techniques being generally applied, but a few carefully conducted surveys of this kind on a continuing basis should be valuable in detecting changes in the pattern of adverse reactions to drugs.


In this paper physical effects caused by macro- and micro bends of optical fiber including additional mode-dependent loss, mode coupling and spurious mode excitation in fiber MDM-system are considered. The effects described below can dramatically decrease capacity and maximum data rate in such systems because of inevitability of fiber bends due to system exploitation thus making MDM-system commercialization much more difficult and expensive. Mathematical approach used to describe these effects and applied in the simulation model is based on well- known refractive index profile approximation [1] of bent step-index fibers and mathematical field coupling model [8].


Purpose. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common causes of cancer death in Taiwan. According to current treatment guidelines, the number of metastatic lymph nodes is a prognostic factor of the disease. However, the relationship between the ratio of metastatic to examined lymph nodes and overall survival in stage III CRC patients is worth investigation, especially on numbers of retrieved lymph nodes less than 12.Methods. From January 2004 to December 2010, four hundred and sixteen patients with stage III CRC were enrolled. All the patients received surgical intervention. According to the metastatic lymph node ratio (LNR), we divided all the included patients into four groups based on quartiles (LNR: < 0.1, 0.1 to 0.2, 0.2 to 0.4, and 0.4 to 1), and among those patients with 11 or less retrieved lymph nodes, we made two subgroups having a similar patient number depending on median of LNR. Then the correlation between LNR and overall survival was analyzed.Results. The median and mean ages of the studied patients were 64 (range, 24-92) and 63.47±13.39 years, respectively. And the median number of examined lymph nodes was 13 (range, 1-68). The five-year overall survival rates of the four LNR groups were 69.7%, 64.5%, 62.0%, and 37.6%, respectively (p < 0.001), while among patients with less than 12 harvested nodes, the higher LNR subgroup also showed a poorer prognosis.Conclusion. For patients with stage III CRC, LNR might be considered as a crucial prognostic factor. Especially, while the number of retrieved nodes is under 12, high LNR patients might need a more intensive follow-up program compared to those with low LNR.


Objective: To determine the prevalence of H. pylori induced gastritis and its association with development of chronic inflammation and carcinoma with reference to updated Sydney classification, to ensure the proper diagnosis and timely treatment. Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted at the Department of Pathology, Dow Diagnostic Reference and Research Laboratory for the year 2018. Analysis of about 726 gastric biopsy specimens was performed to identify the epidemiological status of the disease. On the other hand, 100 of the specimens were analysed according to Sydney classification to ensure the accurate diagnosis of the gastritis and related disorders. Out of 726 biopsy samples positive samples for carcinoma were investigated in detail histological features. Giemsa stain was used to visualize the h pylori bacteria and the sections of biopsies were subjected to haematoxylin and eosin staining for histological analysis. Results: Out of 727 cases, H. pylori was found in 492 (67.8%) patients. About 1.79% (13) cases were identified as adenocarcinoma, 0.27% (2) squamous cell carcinoma and 0.13% (1) as B cell non Hodgkin lymphoma. Results of Sydney classification. The degree of chronic inflammatory activity was 57% mild; 38% moderate and 3% severe out of a total of 67% cases in an active phase of Hp gastritis. Hp-associated gastritis was the most common form of chronic gastritis, without intestinal metaplasia and with mild activity. The association of h pylori with mild inflammation and Neutrophilic infiltrates of the lamina propria, pits, or surface epithelium was statistically significant (p value < 0.05). Conclusion: The frequency of H. pylori infection is common in our population but the infection is mild to moderate and its Sydney classification reveals that early diagnosis may prevent the later complication.


This study evaluates whether three forms of sprouting occur in the hippocampus of the cat following unilateral entorhinal cortex (EC) lesions: (1) sprouting of projections from the EC contralateral to the lesion; (2) sprouting of the commissural/associational system; and (3) sprouting of mossy fibers.


ADDED TO THE RESULTS OF THE PLANNED OBSERVATIONS ON THE HOCKING COUNTY FILLER TEST ROAD IS INFORMATION ON THE EFFECT OF MECHANICAL WORKING ON THE EXUDING OF ASPHALT FILLERS FOR BRICK JOINTS. IN ADDITION TO OTHER BENEFITS A NON-EXUDING FILLER PRODUCES A SURFACE COURSE NOTICEABLE MORE QUIET THAN A SURFACE COURSE WITH EXUDED FILLER. /AUTHOR/


Notwithstanding its prominence in Law & Order television episodes, the police interrogation room remains shrouded in mystery - and mythology. What actually happens within these walls? Is the interrogation room a modern-day star chamber where aggressive police intimidate overmatched suspects through trickery and occasionally much more? Or is it a venue for well-trained and well-meaning detectives to uncover important, time-sensitive information about pending criminal cases? Or is the truth much more complicated? Professor Barry Feld's terrific book goes far in attempting to answer these questions, specifically in relation to the interrogation of juveniles. He taps into a treasure trove of data from Minnesota, a state that has compelled the recording of police interrogations of suspects since 1994. With the help of chief prosecutors in four counties, Feld gathered and analyzed 307 tapes and transcripts of police interrogations of older juveniles (ages 16 and 17) suspected of committing felony offenses (ix, 6–7). He supplemented his extensive quantitative analysis with qualitative research, including dozens of interviews with criminal justice stakeholders in Minnesota. A rich blend of top-notch empirical scholarship and doctrinal analysis, Feld's book is a significant contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of police interrogations - and a major step forward in achieving justice for juveniles. In a country where more than 90% of criminal defendants accept guilty pleas, "[t]he interrogation room is the trial" in many cases (7). It is critical to shine a spotlight on interrogation practices to enhance the legitimacy and accuracy of American criminal justice. Feld manages to do this with aplomb, skillfully pivoting his scholarly spotlight into the darkest corners of the interrogation room.


An analysis is made of the capabilities of the most widely used methods for calculating the temperature fields in the optical elements of pulsed and cw lasers. The precision and the limits of the validity of each method are considered. Recommendations are made on the most rational use of these methods.


The objective of this study is to simulate and compare the energy consumption between electric and diesel rubber-tire buses suitable for operating in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The dynamic vehicle model together with the velocity and road gradient profiles measured along the real selected road in Chiang Mai were simulated following the backward-facing scheme to find the power of electric motor and diesel engine for the electric bus and diesel bus, respectively. For the electric bus, energy consumption per route, energy consumption per distance, and electricity price were calculated. In a case of the diesel bus, the theoretical diesel cycle model was additionally considered following the forward-facing scheme to determine the diesel consumption and then it was finally converted into energy consumption per route, energy consumption per distance, and diesel price. The simulated results showed that the total energy consumption and energy consumption rate of the electric bus equaled to 10.004 kWh/route and 1.112 kWh/km, respectively. These values were economically equivalent to be 1.250 USD/route and 0.139 USD/km, respectively. For a case of the diesel bus, the total energy consumption and energy consumption rate were 17.256 kWh/route and 1.917 kWh/km, respectively, in turn, they were 1.543 USD/route and 0.171 USD/km, respectively in economic point of view. Finally, the electrical bus has significantly lower energy consumption and lower cost than the diesel bus for 42% and 19%, respectively.


Based on the prior study by a number of researchers, it has been found that English complex sentence are frequently used both in speaking and writing. A number of study also revealed that English Complex Sentences are still a problem for the students, even for the sixth semester students. Because of that reason, this study is conducted. This study provides the information about their problems. This study attempts to find the answer of the type of errors and the dominant of occurrence of errors in each category or classification made by the students' complex sentence composition. The source of data in this study is documentation from 33 sixth grade students' final assignment in writing IV classes. Since this study concerns with the analysis of the type of error and type of dominant error, a desscriptive quantitative is used. The study concerns with the classification of the students' error based on the surface strategy taxonomy, i.e. errors were classified as error of omission, addition, misformation and misordering. Besides, the errors also concern to classify in term of any possible properties of grammar used by the students in constructing English Complex Sentence and any deviations of Complex Sentence Rules. The result shows that in term of any possible properties of grammar the highest frequency of occurrence is omission 52%, followed by addition 32%, followed by misformation 14% and misordering 2%. It is found that the students still have problems in the use of article a/an, comma, third person singular verb, article the and preposition. The area of misconstruction of complex sentences are: Omission of subordinator 24%, followed by addition of linking word 19%, followed by omission of comma 19%, followed by misformation of subordinator 16%, followed by addition of subordinator 14% and followed by addition of comma 8%.


Patients with calcium kidney stones generally should be screened for hypercalcemia and primary hyperparathyroidism — a remediable cause of stone


In this paper, the proposed method is mainly based on analyzing the mel-frequency cepstral coefficients and its derivatives which varies as the voice is disguised. A classifier named the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is used for identification of electronically disguised voice. MFCC statistical moments of training input and test input as a combination of original voice and disguised voice, are given as input to SVM classifier. Now the output obtained will be based on the matching between the training input and the test input. Inorder to provide further enhancement to the particular algorithm, probabilistic neural network(PNN) classifier is used and the performance is evaluated by comparing the accuracy of both classifiers. If the classifier output is matched, then the basic details of the particular person can be transmitted to another location through Email.


Magnetization and Mossbauer spectra were measured for three kinds of Fe 4 N powders made from acicular ?-FeOOH, ?-Fe 2 O 3 and carbonyl iron powders. Except for the Fe 4 N powder from carbonyl iron, the saturation magnetization was lower than the bulk value (190 emu/g). A large amount of oxygen and small amounts of Ni, Zn and Si were detected in the sample obtained from ?-FeOOH. From the Mossbauer spectra, it was concluded that decreases in the saturation magnetization were mainly due to the coexistence of a paramagnetic phase. A large quadrupole splitting of the paramagnetic peak indicates that the paramagnetic phase may be an oxide consisting of Fe(II) ions, e.g. wustite. In addition, it is thought that Ni and Zn preferentially substitute for Fe at the corner sites of fcc Fe 4 N, and also reduce the magnetization.


This report summarizes the results of a coal-feeder development program carried out by Foster-Miller, Inc., for the US Department of Energy (Contract No. DE-AC21-80MC 14601). The Linear Pocket Feeder (LPF) and the test facility at FMA were upgraded to allow testing of pulverized coals as well as dense coals at pressures ranging to 1000 psi. This represents a substantial advance over the previous design limitation of 500 psi. In addition, methods for controlling leakage from the input side of the LPF by the use of a positive contact seal were developed. Preliminary tests were conducted during the installation and start-up phase of the program. In the conduct of these tests one or several system components were evaluated. Particular problems addressed included uniformity of coal feed into the LPF, coal removal into the reactor, measurement and elimination of gas leakage, and operation of the system at 1000 psi and 5 tons/h. Performance tests designed to demonstrate the operating capability of the LPF and to define and prove its range of operating parameters and its limitations were conducted. Performance tests were conducted with different coal types, sizes, and moistures. Operating data obtained from these tests is given in the report. Successful demonstrationmore » of differential pressure capability (1000 psi), throughput capability (5 tons/h), turndown capability (to zero throughput), stop/start capability, capabiliy for handling variations in feedstock, and operational safety and control was obtained. 57 figures, 18 tables.« less


We propose a new image-downsampling method for interlaced-to-progressive transcoding. The proposed image-downsampling method is performed in the discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain. We develop a downsampling filter matrix that transcodes the interlaced picture into the progressive picture. The method shows a good peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) compared with spatial-domain downsampling.


This invention provides coated tobacco product having a hydrophobic coating on at least one surface thereof, the coating comprising a cellulose propionate having an acetyl content of less than about 6% by weight, a hy droxyl content of at least 1.5% by weight, and a content of acyl groups of more than about 3 carbon atoms of less than about 10% by weight. The coating preferably comprises a mixture of the aforesaid cellulose propio nate with a glyceride having the general formula:


This paper presents an application method of a Maintenance Management Program through the implementation of predictive tools and the Total Productivity Maintenance (TPM) methodology as a contribution for the energy efficiency improvement in thermoelectric power plants. The results of the vibration analysis, lubricating oil condition and of the thermograph analysis are registered as diagnostic methods. The innovative advance in this paper was the application of four pillars from the TPM methodology at the control of the internal combustion engines efficiency at a thermoelectric power plant. This research has the objective to provide a more reliable maintenance process through the implementation of the measurement and control of the operating parameters of the plant resulting in a better management by reducing the stops due unforeseen problems. Some results of the methodology application were shown like: annual maintenance cost reduction due corrective maintenance, increase of the mean time between failure (MTBF) and reduction of the mean time to repair (MTTR) in all applied areas. These results reflected in a more reliable power generation without putting the facilities of the plant at risk with an annual cost reduction for the company.


The presence of mercury (Hg) is increasing in Arctic region and the Arctic sea will take short time to reflect changes in atmospheric Hg levels. Hence, monitoring of mercury content in the environmental matrices of Arctic is highly significant. The present study assessed the total mercury (THg) as well as various Hg fractions in the sediments of Kongsfjorden, an Arctic Fjord in Svalbard. The Hg toxicity mainly depends on the form which occurs. Fractionation study will help to understand the different forms of Hg in sediment samples. The mean concentration of THg in sediment was 485 ng/gm dry weight. The results of fractionation indicated the mobility of Hg in the Kongsfjord sediments. The highest percentage of Hg was in fourth fraction (F4) followed by the fractions F2, F1, and F3 and final fraction (F5). The high Hg concentration in the initial fractions indicated the availability of Hg for chemical and biological transformations and transport in the Fjord. Hence potential toxic effects are possible in the system.


The first model of human sexual response was introduced over fifty years ago by Masters and Johnson (1966). It is a linear model that includes four non-overlapping phases – excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. Their model was based predominantly on observation of physiological changes during sexual response. This model was later modified by Helen Singer Kaplan (1979), who added desire as the first stage, followed by excitement and orgasm, making it a triphasic model (it is important to note that some phases are named interchangeably using other terms, i.e., desire is, at times, called libido, and excitement is called arousal). The establishment of models using either four or three phases of sexual response has been the underpinning of the current era of sexual dysfunctions' diagnostic classification, starting with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III) (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 1980). The DSM-III, though outlining four phases of sexual response – appetitive, excitement, orgasm, and resolution – used the impairment of the first three phases for outlining sexual dysfunction diagnoses. The inclusion of desire was an important addition, as it added a "trigger" of the sexual response in more psychological than physiological terms. The focus on desire brought into theoretical thinking and discussion of host of interrelated issues, such as consideration of the role of psychological, interpersonal and sociocultural factors in desire (and the entire sexual response), or the questions of whether the female and male sexual responses are the same or different (DSM-III included just one category for inhibited sexual desire and one for inhibited sexual excitement for both genders). Theoreticians, clinicians and researchers have started to raise questions about female and male sexual responses being different and stating that the female sexual response is not linear. In the late 1990s, Whipple and Brash-McGreer (1997) introduced the notion of the female sexual response being circular. Then in 2000, Rosemary Basson introduced "A Different Model" (Basson, 2000) of female sexual response that appeared "to be a more accurate representation" of women's experience. She reiterated the criticism of others that the traditional model of female sexual dysfunction (e.g., DSM-IV one – (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 1994)) "ignores major components of women's sexual satisfaction: trust, intimacy, the ability to be vulnerable, respect, communication, affection, and pleasure from sensual touching" (Basson, 2000, p. 52), in contrast to traditional indicators of desire, "including sexual fantasies and need to self-stimulate" (Basson, 2000, p. 52). Basson proposed that, "Sensing an opportunity to be sexual, the partner's neediness, or an awareness of one or more potential benefits or rewards that are very important to them (but not necessarily sexual), women move from a sexual neutrality to seeking stimuli necessary to ignite sexual desire. This sexual desire would be experienced as a craving for sexual sensations for their own sake, it also might involve a desire to experience physical and subjective arousal and perhaps release of sexual tension. Sexual desire then is a responsive rather than


A permanent locking underbalanced under well bushing valve, the protruding platform of an upper outer canister and an upper inner canister and the joint of an outer canister constitute two hydraulic pressure cavity, the upper outer canister is provided with axis direction holes, which are respectively communicated with two hydraulic pressure cavities; the inner canister joint inner cavity is provided with a step, a lower inner canister leans against the step and is fixed by a cutting nail, the outer surface of the lower inner canister is provided with a groove with a block ring, a position cover is fixed by the cutting nail on the block ring position of the lower inner canister; a middle outer canister inner cavity is a ladder shape, the smallest part of the inner diameter size is processed with a groove,; the outer surface of the inner canister joint is ladder type and is pitched on the ladder surface of the middle outer canister inner cavity, the appropriate position of the lower inner canister inner cavity is processed with a groove, a tube valve assembly is arranged in the circular space constituted by the lower outer canister and the lower inner canister, the tube valve assembly is covered on the outer surface of the lower inner canister and pitched on the ladder surface of the lower outer canister inner cavity. When the ground hydraulic pressure control can not open the underbalanced under well bushing valve, one can utilizes a matched tool to forcibly and permanently lock the underbalanced under well bushing valve.


Abstract This paper focuses on how narrators convey emotion in the structure of oral narrative discourse in Spanish. To this end, the structure of personal oral narratives of highly emotional events in a sample of radio narratives is analyzed from two different approaches: Labovian and socio-cognitive. This work shows, first, how the Labovian approach to personal oral narratives of "vivid" events is applied to emotionally charged texts and, second, how the theoretical concepts of mental spaces and conceptual integration theory, as well as the latest developments within socio-cognitive theories, can help to better understand the processes that, on the one hand, enable speakers to create bonds with the listener, and on the other hand, enable hearers to make sense of the apparently chaotic information presented in these particular types of narratives.


The vast literature on styles related to learning is characterised by a myriad of models which can be broadly classified as based on either personality, cognition or instructional preference. The present review identifies 26 style models in addition to the 30 classified by previous researchers. The literature also reveals considerable confusion regarding the conceptual distinctions between styles, abilities and types. A detailed analysis is presented of three style models which have been researched extensively. It is concluded that style models ultimately reduce to type classifications of individual differences which are treated as falling into discrete (typically binary) categories when in reality they vary across continuous dimensions. A new model is presented which accommodates styles within the context of abilities, preferences and activities which together determine learning outcomes. This paper argues that designing higher education course delivery in terms of stereotyped styles will not serve all learners and may well disrupt the learning of those whose abilities and preferences do not fall at the extremes of the various dimensions. As well as accommodating individual differences, it is argued that academics need to develop the competencies of students beyond their stylised preferences.; ;


Using various offset times to separate differential services is the most common form of service differentiation in optical burst switching networks. In this approach, a larger offset time is given to a higher priority burst, but it causes this burst to have a longer delay. One solution to this problem is to adjust the burst assembly time so that the buffering delay of the higher priority burst is always shorter than that of the lower priority burst. However, this adjustment causes another problem, called delay unfairness, for bursts with differential priorities that share the same path to their destination. This article proposes a new solution for delay fairness using the burst assembly.


The authors introduced a "hemodynamic profile", a twelve angled figure in which the values of the heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), mean pulmonary arterial pressure (MPAP), pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), right atrial pressure (RAP), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), arteriovenous difference of oxygen (A-VDO2), oxygen consumption (VO2), left ventricular stroke work index (LVSWI), right ventricular stroke work index (RVSWI), and cardiac index (CI) were arranged clockwise from 1 to 12 o'clock respectively. The figure connecting normal values of these parameters was designed to be round. With the input of raw data sampled at the bedside, a microcomputer situated in the critical care ward began to calculate the parameters of the profile and drew it immediately with a computer-directed plotter. During the period from January, 1981 to January, 1983, forty-nine head injured patients complicated with other major traumas (multiple injuries) were transported to the Emergency Department and "hemodynamic profiles" were made for nineteen of them. The "hemodynamic profiles" facilitated understanding of the cardiovascular conditions and systemic water balances because typical figures marking hypovolemic or overhydrative, cardiovascular suppressive, and hyper or hypodynamic conditions were depicted. It was of great use in cases of traumatic diabetes insipidus with difficulty to control fluid supplement because of other coexisting traumatic hemorrhages, in the cardiovascular suppressive state induced by barbiturate therapy, and especially in the hyperdynamic state of sepsis. The "hemodynamic profile" is the embodiment of easier understanding of systemic conditions and will be one of the powerful weapons in caring for brain failure patients.


We proposed a methodology for controlling the threshold voltage (VTH) by adjusting the position of the Al dopant layer within an Al-doped-ZnO (AZO) active channel of a thin film transistor (TFT). The position of the Al dopant layer was controlled by inserting the Al cycle sequences at the 13th, 19th, 38th, and 44th cycles among a total of 50 cycles during the atomic layer deposition process. Each designed position of the Al layers was confirmed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The crystallinity and temperature-dependent electrical conductivity of the prepared AZO films were found to show no remarkable differences irrespective of the changes in position of the Al dopant layers. On the other hand, when the AZO films prepared with various Al dopant positions were used for active channels, the VTH of the TFT was significantly modulated. When the Al source was introduced at the 13th, 19th, 38th, and 44th cycles from the lower side of the channel, the VTH of AZO-TFT showed remarkable variations from −5.1 to −13.9 V without any marked change in field-effect carrier mobility. Furthermore, the negative and positive bias-stress stabilities were shown to be almost the same for all the fabricated AZO TFTs with different Al dopant layer positions. The VTH was effectively modulated for the AZO TFTs without any degradation of carrier mobility or bias stability.